An avalanche swept down a climbing route on Mount Everest early Friday, killing at least 12 Nepalese guides and leaving three missing in the deadliest disaster on the world's highest peak.The Sherpa guides had gone early in the morning to fix ropes for other climbers when the avalanche hit just them below Camp 2 at about 6:30 a.m., Nepal Tourism Ministry official Krishna Lamsal said from the base camp where he is monitoring rescue efforts.Rescue workers pulled out 12 bodies from under mounds of

Rescuers accelerated their search operations to find survivors on the sunken ferry Sewol in waters off Korea’s southwestern coast on Friday as grieving families made desperate appeals for more efforts to save their loved ones.Navy and Coast Guard divers injected air into the ship for possible survivors and installed buoys to keep it from sinking further. They also entered the ship’s interior for the first time since the 6,825-ton vessel capsized on Wednesday, but failed to find survivors. (Yonha

Pantech Co., South Korea's smallest smartphone manufacturer, on Friday raised concerns over a mobile carrier's decision to cut the factory price of its smartphone, saying the two did not have an agreement on the matter.LG Uplus said it will slash the price of Vega Secret Up smartphones by 37 percent to 599,500 won ($577.92) from the previous 954,800 won, claiming the move is meant to help Pantech expand its sales amid stagnant market conditions."The matter (pricing) needs to be discussed among a

Honolulu police officers have urged lawmakers to keep an exemption in state law that allows undercover officers to have sex with prostitutes during investigations, touching off a heated debate.Authorities say they need the legal protection to catch lawbreakers in the act. Critics, including human trafficking experts and other police, say it's unnecessary and could further victimize sex workers, many of whom have been forced into the trade.Police haven't said how often - or even if - they use the

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday the Ukrainian crisis could only be resolved through a diplomatic solution that respected the territorial integrity of the splintered ex-Soviet state.Ban arrived in Ukraine a day after holding talks in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin during which he expressed his deep concern over the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War.“This current crisis can only be resolved through peaceful diplomatic solutions based on the princip

The four gunmen were swift as they entered the luxury hotel in Kabul, although it took them a few minutes to find the restaurant that was their target, Afghan officials said Friday as they pieced together details of the brazen attack that killed nine people, including four foreigners and two children who were shot in the head.The Afghan capital has been hit by several attacks, but authorities appeared stunned that the militants had managed to get through the tight security at the Serena hotel -

Iran’s top leader said Friday that his nation can best counter Western sanctions by strengthening its economy and rallied Iranians to exert “extraordinary efforts” to take their country forward.Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s remarks came in his annual speech for the Persian New Year, Nowruz. Friday, the first day of spring, marks the beginning of the year 1393 on the Persian calendar.Khamenei spoke in Mashhad, in northeastern Iran, and dedicated 1393 as the year of “economy and culture.” Iranians, he

There is no need for Russia to further retaliate against U.S. sanctions, President Vladimir Putin said Friday as Russia's upper house of parliament endorsed the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.Moscow made its first retaliatory shot on Thursday by banning nine U.S. officials and lawmakers from entering Russia, but Putin indicated that Russia would likely refrain from curtailing cooperation in areas such as Afghanistan. Moscow appears to hope to limit the damage from the latest U.S. and EU sanct

Ukraine has joined two weeks of multinational military exercises that involve troops from 12 NATO member and partner nations, and demonstrate that cooperation continues between the alliance and the crisis-torn former Soviet republic.The drills, dubbed Saber Guardian, began Friday at the Novo Selo training facility in eastern Bulgaria and will include some 700 troops from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine and the United States, as w

Ukraine interim prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk put his country firmly in the Western camp Friday, signing the political provisions of a landmark association accord with EU leaders in defiance of Russia."This gesture symbolizes the importance both sides attach to this relationship ... and the joint will to take it further," EU president Hermann Van Rompuy said.The EU was offering Ukraine its "steadfast support," Van Rompuy said, promising help to get the country's struggling economy back on tra

Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and Credit Suisse Group AG were among 16 of the world’s biggest banks sued by the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for allegedly manipulating the London interbank offered rate from 2007 to 2011.The FDIC, acting as receiver for 38 failed banks including Washington Mutual Bank, IndyMac Bank FSB and Colonial Bank, claimed that institutions sitting on the U.S. dollar Libor panel “fraudulently and collusively suppressed” the rate. Also named in the suit, file

North Korea threatened to boast its "nuclear deterrence" if the United States continues to make "nuclear threats" against the communist nation, a possible warning of an additional nuclear test or long-range rocket launch.The so-called nuclear threats from the U.S. have long been the basis for North Korea's development of nuclear weapons."If the U.S.'s nuclear threats and blackmail continue, the struggle of our military and people to strengthen our self-defensive nuclear deterrence will continue,

Disappearance of Malaysian jet appears ‘deliberate’: PMMalaysia's leader Saturday said communications aboard a missing jet were switched off and its course deliberately changed by someone on board before the aircraft disappeared a week ago, but stopped short of saying it had been hijacked.Final satellite communication with the Boeing 777 flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing came more than six-and-a-half hours after it vanished from civilian radar at 1:30am on March 8, Prime Minister Najib Razak t

A Malaysian investigation into the missing flight 370 has concluded that one or more people with flying experience switched off communications devices and deliberately steered the airliner off-course, a Malaysian government official involved in the investigation said Saturday.The official called the disappearance a hijacking, though he said no motive has been established and no demands have been made known. It's not yet clear where the plane ended up, said the official, who spoke on condition of

South Korean President Park Geun-hye welcomed Japan's announcement that it would stand by past historical apologies, her spokesman said Saturday, raising hopes of a turnaround in strained Seoul-Tokyo relations."We are glad that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed his intention to inherit the Murayama and Kono statements," Park was quoted as saying by presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook."We hope this will be a chance to ease the pain of victims from Japan's wartime sex slavery, and further bols

A South Korean group campaigning for the return of Korea's national treasures and artifacts abroad has reached out to the White House in a bid to get its voice heard.The International Organization on Retrieval of Korean National Treasures Inc. filed an online petition with the "We the People" page of the White House website.It asked the U.S. to formally return the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1901) Royal Seal and several other Korean treasures apparently stolen by American soldiers during the 1950-53 Ko

A nuclear reactor at South Korea's Wolseong nuclear power plant automatically stopped operating early Saturday, plant operators said, adding that they are still investigating the cause.The 700,000-kilowatt reactor stopped operating at 6:50 a.m. when its safety shutdown system became engaged, according to Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. It added that power supply will remain stable throughout the weekend.The reactor, located in the country's southeastern provincial city of Gyeongju, began comme

Two South Korean military aircraft left for Malaysia Saturday to assist with ongoing international search efforts for a missing Malaysia Airlines passenger jet, military sources said.The P-3C Orion patrol aircraft and C-130 military transport airplane will arrive in Kuala Lumpur at 7:00 p.m., Seoul time.They will lend support in searching for the Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 that disappeared somewhere over waters between Malaysia and Vietnam last week.The plane disappeared less than an hour aft

NEW YORK (AP) -- A huge explosion leveled two apartment buildings in New York City, killing two women and injuring 17 people. A utility company says a resident in a nearby building reported smelling gas shortly before the blast.Sidewalks for blocks around the building in Harlem were littered with broken glass from shattered storefront and apartment windows. Witnesses say the explosion was so powerful it knocked groceries off the shelves of nearby stores.Police, some wearing gas and medical masks

The chairwoman of Hyundai Group vowed to invigorate the embattled conglomerate, currently undergoing a self-imposed debt reduction program, and its shipping affiliate as she launched a new vessel on Friday.“The launching of the ship will help Hyundai Group and Hyundai Merchant Marine make the next leap forward," Hyun Jeong-eun said at the christening ceremony for Hyundai Dream, a 131,000 twenty-foot equivalent container unit vessel on Geoje Island, some 470 kilometers southeast of Seoul.Hyun's a