WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President Barack Obama Friday hailed a hard-fought deal with Republicans to avert a government shutdown, saying the budget cuts he agreed to were painful but necessary to cut the huge deficit.Obama delivered remarks in the Blue Room of the White House against a backdrop of the soaring white obelisk of the Washington monument on the National Mall."Tomorrow, I am pleased to ann

Tteokbokki was the most popular food sold on the streets among foreigners living in Korea, survey showed.　In a survey conducted by Kyung Hee University Institute of International Education, Tteokbokki (rice cakes in hot sauce) was the No. 1 street food foreigners liked to eat (31.1 percent) followed by dak-kkochi (skewered chicken grilled with spicy sauce) with 29 percent and sundae (pig’s intesti

A trace amount of radioactive contaminants has been detected in rainwater on Jeju Island off South Korea's southern coast, a state nuclear safety agency said Thursday.The Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS) said tests conducted on rainwater that fell in the early morning hours of the day showed minuscule traces of iodine-131, cesium-134 and cesium-137.Concentration levels of 2.02 becquerels (

(MCT)An OECD report rates South Korea highest in antibiotic usage, a troubling sign for those concerned about antibiotic-resistant diseases. OECD Health Data 2010 Report said that Korea’s antibiotic use is 31.4 DDD (defined daily dose), the highest among all nations surveyed. Netherlands has the lowest usage of antibiotics at 12.9 DDD. The report was presented at an international symposium Wednesd

(MCT)STOCKHOLM (AP) - Honeymoons aren't always easy for newlyweds, but six natural disasters?When Stefan and Erika Svanstrom of Stockholm set out on their 4-month-long honeymoon with their baby girl on Dec. 6, they say they got more than they bargained for: Immediately they were stranded in Munich, Germany, due to one of Europe's worst snowstorms, he said.But that was just the beginning.After that

The government said Wednesday that it plans to inject 54.3 billion won (US$49.8 million) this year to help local companies maintain their lead in the global smart TV market.The joint plan announced by the ministries of knowledge economy and culture, and the Korea and Communications Commission calls for concerted efforts to build up smart TV-related contents and the establishment of a viable Intern

MILAN (AFP) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's trial on charges of sex with an underage prostitute and abuse of power opens in Milan on Wednesday after a dramatic build-up that has dented his popularity.The billionaire tycoon is no stranger to the dock after years of investigations and trials linked to his business interests but this will be the first time that his tumultuous personal li

British football superstar David Beckham and his former Spice Girl wife Victoria are "very excited" about attending the royal wedding later this month, she said in an interview broadcast on Sunday. Prince William will marry long-time girlfriend Kate Middleton on April 29 at Westminster Abbey in Britain's biggest royal wedding for 30 years."I think we're both going to be there and we're very, very

President vows to complete military reform, reinforce Dokdo sovereigntyPresident Lee Myung-bak on Friday apologized for failing to keep his election pledge to build a new international airport in the southeastern part of the country and said that the high-speed KTX train network would help reduce inconvenience for people traveling abroad.“I am sorry that (the government) failed to keep the pledge

After months of preparation, NCsoft, a South Korean online game company, launched a new professional baseball team on Thursday.At the Changwon Convention Center here, about 400 kilometers southeast of Seoul, NCsoft celebrated the first expansion in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) since 1991.You Young-koo, commissioner of the KBO, said, "A new history has been written" in South Korean basebal

South Korea has already begun work to renovate a heliport on its easternmost islets of Dokdo in an effort to reinforce the country's sovereignty over the territory amid Japan's continued attempts to lay claims to the islets, officials said Thursday."It is difficult to make a public announcement on this, given the issue's sensitivity, but the heliport repair work has already been launched and is qu

SANAA, Yemen (AP) _ Yemen officials say 78 people were killed in a blast at an explosives factory after it was briefly taken over by militants and then looted by civilians.Medical and security officials in the southern Abyan province where the blast took place Monday said many women and children from surrounding villages were killed and wounded in the attack.On Sunday, Islamic fundamentalist milit

ADEN, Yemen (AFP) - A blast at an ammunition factory killed at least 40 people and wounded 90 others near the south Yemeni town of Jaar on Monday, a day after the plant was looted by Al-Qaeda, a local official said.

TOKYO – Emergency workers struggling to pump contaminated water from Japan's stricken nuclear complex fled from one of the troubled reactors Sunday after reporting a huge increase in radioactivity — a spike that officials later apologetically said was inaccurate.The apology came after employees fled the complex's Unit 2 reactor when a reading showed radiation levels had reached 10 million times hi

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - The Syrian government says 12 people were killed in violence rocking a seaside Mediterranean city.Syria's state-run news agency said unknown armed elements on Saturday attacked neighborhoods in Latakia, shooting from rooftops and terrorizing people.Ten people, including security forces, residents as well as two members of the shadowy ``armed elements'' died in the violence.S

AL-EGILA, Libya (AP) - Libyan rebels took back a key oil town and pushed westward Sunday toward the capital, seizing momentum from the international airstrikes that tipped the balance away from Moammar Gadhafi's military.Brega, a main oil export terminal in eastern Libya, fell after a skirmish late Saturday and rebel forces moved swiftly west, seizing the tiny desert town of Al-Egila _ a collectio

   SANAA, Yemen (AP) _ Yemeni security officials say suspected al-Qaida gunmen have killed seven soldiers and wounded seven others in an attack on a military post.   The officials said the attack Sunday took place at Ubaida area in the in the central Marib province, an al-Qaida stronghold and one of several areas where the central government has little authority.   The officials, speaking on condi

MOSCOW (AFP) - Russia permanently switched its clocks to summer time on Sunday in a change backed by President Dmitry Medvedev, who has said people and even cows suffer stress from getting up at a different time.The move means that Moscow will be permanently four hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) but experts said people suffer no ill effects from changing clocks and questioned the need for

It is an 8.5 centimeter-long and 0.8 centimeter-thick dried herb stick wrapped in white paper, slim enough to fit between your second and third fingers. But it contains at least 250 harmful chemicals, more than 50 of which cause cancers of the mouth, head, lung, breast, bladder, stomach and other parts of the body. It is also linked to coronary heart disease and many other fatal disorders. It is s

South Korean stocks are likely to remain shackled next week as unrelenting political unrest in the Middle East is expected to keep fueling worries over oil price gains, analysts said Saturday.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) endedthe week at 1,995.54, falling 49.14 points, or 2.45 percent, from aweek earlier as the unceasing protests in the Arab world are fearedto result