ROME (AP) ― Italy’s new premier-designate economist Mario Monti says he will get to work quickly to try to form a new government, assuring the nation that it can heal its disastrous finances.Monti told reporters Sunday night he will carry out the task “with a great sense of responsibility and service toward this nation.” He added that Italy must “heal its finances” and resume growth because today’s leaders owe it to future generations.The former European Union competition commissioner received t

A Korean tourist was killed this week in a boat crash off the eastern coast of the Philippine island of Cebu, Seoul’s foreign ministry said Monday.A banana boat carrying three South Korean tourists, including a 50-year-old woman identified only by her surname Ji, collided with an outrigger canoe on Sunday morning, causing all three to fall into the water, the ministry said in a statement.The tourists were soon rescued and taken to a nearby hospital, where Ji died and the other two are receiving

The adult obesity rate stood at 30.8 percent of all people over 19 in 2010 as people consumed more food and exercised less, a government report showed Monday.The report by the Ministry of Health and Welfare said 36.3 percent of all men were obese last year, compared to 24.8 percent of women. Obesity was high among men in their 30s and 40s, with numbers for women going up in their 60s and 70s.“Roughly 42 percent and 41 percent of men in their 30s and 40s are obese, while 43 percent women in their

On overseas adoption ...As an adoptive parent and part of a larger Korean family (both adoptees and Korean-born American citizens), I agree, in part, with both of you. Mr. Morrison’s argument is pragmatic, and I concur: as long as Korea continues to have one of the weakest networks of social programs of any industrialized Asian nation, which an infinitesimal amount of tax revenue going toward social programs, international adoption must continue.Dr. Johansson, arguments regarding Americans and E

South Korea will keep pushing to sell a stake in the state-run Incheon International Airport to private investors in a bid to enhance its efficiency and global competitiveness, the nation’s top economic policymaker said Monday.The Lee Myung-bak administration announced a plan in 2008 to sell up to a 49 percent stake in Incheon airport in line with its drive to improve the overall business competitiveness of state-run enterprises. A bill is pending to allow for the stake sale.The process, however

South Korea’s terms of trade worsened to the lowest level in nearly three years in the third quarter as on-year gains in oil prices jacked up import costs, the central bank said Monday.The country’s net terms-of-trade index for goods came in at 78.7 in the July-September period, down 9.9 percent from a year earlier, the Bank of Korea said in a report. The third-quarter data marked the lowest level since 75.1 in the fourth quarter of 2008.The on-year growth rate also was the sharpest fall since t

TOKYO (AFP) ― Japan’s Olympus must bring its wrongdoing out into the open and ousted CEO Michael Woodford is the only man who can do it, a former director said as he sought to rally support to reinstate the Briton.The comments from former board director Koji Miyata come as Olympus faces increasing pressure after revealing last week that it covered up investment losses dating back to the 1990s with inflated acquisition fees. Olympus shares have lost around 80 percent of their value since Oct. 14,

NEW YORK (AP) ― The tremors from Europe’s financial upheaval have reached U.S. shores, rattling consumers and companies. The consequences have been limited so far. Yet the United States and Europe are so closely linked that any slowdown across the Atlantic is felt here. U.S. makers of cars, solar panels, drugs, clothes and computer equipment have all reported effects from Europe’s turmoil. Worries that Europe’s crisis could worsen and spread are spooking investors and consumers just as the holid

BEIJING (AFP) ― China’s property market, a mainstay of the world’s second-largest economy, has started to suffer a downturn that could have a knock-on effect on global trade in commodities, analysts warn.Housebuying demand has fallen across China after authorities, fearing a property bubble, banned second home purchases in places including Beijing, increased minimum down payments and trialled property taxes in some cities.At the same time, property developers have been hit by a lack of funds aft

HONOLULU (AFP) ― U.S. President Barack Obama laid out his vision Sunday of a “seamless” trans-Pacific trade zone that could re-energize global growth as he opened a regional summit in his native Hawaii.Boosted by Japan’s entry into talks on the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership, which could become the world’s largest free trade area, Obama said harnessing the huge trade potential of the dynamic region was vital.“Today we have got a chance to make progress towards our ultimate goal which is a se

Registration started Sunday for overseas Korean residents who want to vote in the parliamentary elections next April. On the first day, about 600 people visited designated Korean missions abroad for registration. We cannot predict how many of the 2.24 million eligible Koreans living abroad will have registered by the Feb. 11 deadline and how many of those registered will actually cast their votes two months later, each time taking the trouble of travelling to Korean offices. But we can make a gr