TOKYO (AP) ― Radioactive debris from melted fuel rods may have seeped deeper into the floor of a Japan’s tsunami-hit nuclear reactor than previously thought, to within a foot from breaching the crucial steel barrier, a new simulation showed Wednesday.The findings will not change the ongoing efforts to stabilize the reactors more than eight months after the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant was disabled, but they harshly depict the meltdowns that occurred and conditions within the reactors, which will be

BERLIN (AP) ― Widespread corruption ignited protests this year across the Middle East and in those nations badly shaken by Europe’s debt crisis as citizens demanded accountability from their governments, an international watchdog said Thursday.A movement for greater transparency took on greater momentum in 2011 forcing leaders and bureaucracies to “heed the demands for better government,” Transparency International said in its annual corruption perceptions index that scored 183 countries based o

MOSCOW (AP) ― Alexei Balitsky, a student at Russia’s top engineering school, is among hundreds of people across the country who have complained of pressure to vote for the Kremlin’s party in this weekend’s parliamentary elections.The independent election watchdog group Golos said Wednesday that about a third of the 4,000 complaints of violations it has received so far come from voters who say they are being pressured ― mostly by bosses at work or professors at universities ― to vote for United R

BRUSSELS (AFP) ― Political parties in Belgium, which has been without a government for 535 days, agreed Wednesday on the blueprint of a ruling coalition to be headed by French-speaking Socialist Elio Di Rupo.“There is a global agreement, on the reform of the state, socio-economic questions and a government platform,” a source close to the negotiations told AFP.Di Rupo emerged from the talks with a smile, but refused comment after days of trying to hammer out a deal between six parties split by p

Major demonstrations nearing end as police dismantle Philadelphia, L.A. sitesNEW YORK (AP) ― The overnight police raids in Philadelphia and Los Angeles that dismantled two of the nation’s biggest Occupy Wall Street encampments leave just a few major “occupations” still going on around the U.S. But activists are already changing tactics and warning of a winter of discontent, with rallies and marches every week.The camps may bloom again in the spring, organizers said, and next summer could bring h

LONDON (AFP) ― The British Museum announced on Tuesday it had acquired an exceptional set of Pablo Picasso’s “Vollard Suite,” comprising 100 etchings produced by the artist between 1930 and 1937.Complete sets of the suite are very rare, held only by a handful of museums in the world including the National Gallery in Washington, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Picasso museum in Paris.The series shows Picasso’s developing interest in sculptural forms and moves from neoclassical images

GENEVA (AP) ― The world’s biggest financier in the fight against three killer diseases says it has run out of money to pay for new grant programs for the next two years ― a situation likely to hit poor AIDS patients around the world.An official with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria said Thursday that its has been forced to cease giving new grants until 2014 because of global economic woes brought on by debt crises in the U.S. and Europe.An independent panel recommended in

Ewha Womans University Medical Center on Nov. 24 invited leaders of the Korea-Arab Society to the center to get a better understanding of Middle Eastern society. “Middle East states are distant from Korean people. Some groundless images of terrorism and oppression have been linked with the region, causing public misunderstanding,” said Choi Seung-ho, head of the organization. “It is about time we have opened our door to the area,” he said. Ewha hospital has started placing emphasis on the Arabic

TnTn Hospital specializing in spine and joint treatments has opened a TnTn Joint Training Center at its Eunpyeong, Guro and Jangan branches in Seoul. The centers will provide comprehensive information and exercise regimes to strengthen the spine and joint areas not only for the patients but for anyone interested. The center has invited Ohm Tae-hyun, former team doctor of Olympic gold medalist swimmer Park Tae-hwan, as a lecturer to provide information about his field experiences in exercise. The

Konkuk University Medical Center said Monday that it has been accredited as a World Health Organization Health Promoting Hospital and Health Service.It conducted a ceremony on the day to hang the accreditation plaque.According to the international organization, the accreditation recognizes four areas: good quality treatment and care in a positive health care setting; extending the treatment of current diseases towards disease prevention and promotion of positive health; strengthening patient ori