South Korea is now in a dilemma over what stance it should take as the United States recently asked for its cooperation in toughening sanctions on Iran for its alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons programs, officials and experts said Tuesday.The request comes after the U.S. and some other countries slapped sanctions on Iran's financial, petrochemical and energy sectors last month following a United Nations report that Tehran is researching nuclear weapons.Robert Einhorn, the U.S. State Department'

Out of curiosity, television viewers are channel surfing between the four “general programming” pay-TV channels that went on air simultaneously last week. All of a sudden, they now have seven channels to choose from instead of three for prime time news as well as dramas and documentaries. It is fun, if a little cumbersome, but many viewers also feel uncomfortable hearing the political noise concerning this so-called “big bang” in the media industry.Opposition lawmakers declined invitation to a j

This week, we have news reports revealing two significant statistics. One has it that Korea is to achieve $1 trillion in annual two-way trade volume this week. The other is not so encouraging: the nation’s total household debt is expected to hit 1,000 trillion won by 2013 ― roughly equivalent to $1 trillion.These two figures are of course not directly related to each other in economics. Yet, they are related to the general perception among Koreans regarding how far they have come through the pas

ISLAMABAD (AP) ― Battered by Pakistani military operations and U.S. drone strikes, the once-formidable Pakistani Taliban has splintered into more than 100 smaller factions, weakened and is running short of cash, according to security officials, analysts and tribesmen from the insurgent heartland.The group, allied with al-Qaida and based in the northwest close to the Afghan border, has been behind much of the violence tearing apart Pakistan over the last 4 1/2 years. Known as the Tehrik-e-Taliban

Tehran warns of  retaliation against violation of its airspace; Washington denies drone was downedTEHRAN (AP) ― Iran’s armed forces have shot down an unmanned U.S. spy plane that violated Iranian airspace along the country’s eastern border, the official IRNA news agency reported Sunday.An unidentified military official quoted in the report warned of a strong and crushing response to any violations of the country’s airspace by American drone aircraft.“An advanced RQ-170 unmanned American spy plan

ROME (AP) ― Claudio Marchisio scored the sixth goal of his breakthrough season and Arturo Vidal converted a controversial penalty as Juventus beat Cesena 2-0 Sunday to reclaim the Italian league lead.Cesena’s 42-year-old goalkeeper, Francesco Antonioli, kept Juventus in check at the Turin club’s new stadium until Marchisio fired in a 72nd-minute shot between two defenders with his weaker left foot.In the 80th, Antonioli punched away a cross and then collided with Juventus forward Emanuele Giacch

THOUSAND OAKS, California (AP) ― Two years after his life and career came crashing down, Tiger Woods is a winner again.One shot behind with two holes to play, Woods finally looked like the player who dominated golf for so much of his career. He birdied his last two holes Sunday, making a 6-foot putt on the 18th, to win the Chevron World Challenge by one shot over former Masters champion Zach Johnson.Woods closed with a 3-under 69, sweeping his arm when the final putt dropped, then slamming down