Thailand’s ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra said Wednesday he has taken lessons from Korea’s mega river project for his own country’s flood prevention mechanism. The 62-year-old fugitive former leader embarked on a two-day tour on Tuesday to sites that have been refurbished under the 22 trillion won ($19.1 billion) program to ratchet up water security, flood control and beauty in the basins of Korea’s four main rivers ― the Han, Geum, Yeongsan and Nakdong. Thaksin is the older brother of the curren

ATHENS (AP) ― Greece’s largest trade union called Tuesday for a 24-hour general strike next week to protest austerity measures ― the first major walkout since the appointment of an interim coalition government earlier this month.The GSEE union, which represents mainly private sector workers, called for the strike on Dec. 1 to protest the 2012 austerity budget due to be voted on in Parliament later that month. A similar announcement was expected from the country’s civil servants’ union. Greece’s

Tokyo, Osaka bourses’ merger will create world’s No. 3 exchangeTOKYO (AFP) ― Japan’s two main bourses on Tuesday announced a plan to merge their operations in January 2013 as they look to overcome a slow Japanese market in a move that will create Asia’s biggest exchange.The Tokyo Stock Exchange Group and Osaka Securities Exchange issued a joint statement confirming plans for a “business combination” as they look to respond to strong overseas competition.The deal follows months of talks amid conc

Economy grew at modest 2 percent in third quarter, lower than estimatedThe economy in the U.S. expanded less than previously estimated in the third quarter, reflecting a drop in inventories that points to a pickup in growth as 2011 comes to a close. Gross domestic product climbed at a 2 percent annual rate from July through September, less than projected and down from a 2.5 percent prior estimate, revised Commerce Department figures showed Tuesday in Washington. The median forecast of 81 economi

BERLIN (AP) ― German Chancellor Angela Merkel rejected a new push by the European Commission for bonds issued jointly by the 17 euro nations, saying Tuesday they wouldn’t resolve the debt crisis and now is the wrong time to discuss them.She appeared to be joined in her resistance to immediate talk of so-called “eurobonds” by eurozone chief Jean-Claude Juncker and Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, which is made up of the 27 European Union heads of government.Van Rompuy’s comme

PARIS (AFP) ― Resistance heroine, humanitarian and widow of a president, Danielle Mitterrand, who died Tuesday aged 87, was never content with the ornamental role of a traditional French first lady.Whether it was backing the Kurds or Tibetans or Cuban leader Fidel Castro, pleading for an equitable share-out of water resources or denouncing slavery, the causes that she defended ardently were numerous.Born Danielle Gouze on Oct. 29, 1924 in the eastern town of Verdun, her father was a teacher and

Historian Park Byeng-sen, who contributed enormously to the return of Korea’s looted ancient royal texts, Uigwe, died of colorectal cancer in Paris, France, on Tuesday. She was 83.The historian, who studied history at Seoul National University, moved to Paris at age 27. She had heard that the royal books of the Joseon dynasty (1392-1910), looted by French troops during its 19th century invasion of Korea, were housed at the National Library of France.She started working at the national French ins