CARLSBAD, New Mexico (AP) -- Back-to-back accidents and an above-ground radiation release have closed the U.S. government's only deep underground nuclear waste dump indefinitely, raising questions about a cornerstone of the Department of Energy's $5-billion-a-year program for cleaning up waste scattered across the country from decades of nuclear bomb making.On Feb. 5, the mine was shut and six workers sent to the hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation after a truck hauling salt caught fire.N

BEIJING (AFP) -- China this month arrested more than 1,000 people suspected of involvement in baby-trafficking, in a police operation which also rescued 382 infants, local media reported on Friday.A total of 1,094 suspects involved in four baby trafficking rings were detained in a nationwide operation which began on February 19, the Beijing News daily said, citing a police statement.China has a flourishing underground child trafficking industry, for which tens of thousands of children are believ

BEIJING (AFP) -- China on Friday issued a report on human rights in the US, denouncing it for foreign drone strikes, state-sponsored spying and “rampant” gun crime after Washington criticized its rights record.Beijing said the U.S. "concealed and avoided mentioning its own human rights problems,” such as a government-run intelligence program known as PRISM which it said "seriously infringes on human rights.”The document came after the State Department issued its annual global human rights report

North Korea rejected Seoul's call for the release of a South Korean Christian missionary who has been held in the communist country for more than four months, officials said Friday.South Korea had demanded that North Korea quickly release Kim Jong-uk and guarantee his safety before his repatriation to the South, according to the officials at the unification ministry, which handles inter-Korean relations.It was not immediately clear if the North gave a reason for its refusal of the request delive

Struggling to dispel rising public concerns over a massive leak of personal data, South Korea's financial regulator reasserted Thursday that the information stolen from several credit card firms has not been circulated.Over the weekend, the Financial Services Commission revealed that some 20 million bank clients' personal data, including bank account numbers, addresses and credit ratings, had been leaked from KB Kookmin, Nonghyup and Lotte.A leak also occurred at Kookmin Bank, which shared its c

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- Luxury carmaker BMW AG has posted record sales for 2013, keeping its No. 1 spot in the market for high-priced cars against its German competitors Audi and Mercedes.The Munich-based company said Monday it sold 1.66 million vehicles under the BMW brand, 7.5 percent more than last year.The figure was boosted by strong sales of the brand's mainstay 3-series sedan and X1 small SUV as well as by rising demand in China and the United States. Sales of the 3-series rose 23 perc

BRUSSELS (AP) -- The European Union's antitrust watchdog is investigating whether some clauses demanded by major U.S. film studios in their contracts with Europe's largest pay TV broadcasters hurt competition.The probe, unveiled Monday, covers Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, NBCUniversal and Paramount Pictures.Studios mostly sell film rights for use in only one country, rather than across the EU's 28 nations. The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said it is investi

NEW YORK (AFP) -- Time magazine on Wednesday named Pope Francis its person of the year, saying that in nine months in office the head of the Catholic Church had become a new voice of conscience."Rarely has a new player on the world stage captured so much attention so quickly -- young and old, faithful and cynical -- as Pope Francis," explained Time managing editor Nancy Gibbs.

The Samsung Lions are the champions of South Korean baseball for the third straight year.The Lions defeated the Doosan Bears 7-3 on Friday to capture the Korean Series in seven games, earning their third consecutive Korea Baseball Organization championship.At their home Daegu Stadium, about 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, the Lions blew the game wide open with a five-run sixth inning, as they became the first club to win the pennant and the Korean Series in three straight years.They are also

The U.S. economy will probably expand at a 2 percent annualized rate in the final three months of the year, less than economists projected at the start of the budget impasse that resulted in a 16-day government shutdown.The median projection of 71 economists surveyed by Bloomberg yesterday compares with a 2.4 percent forecast in an Oct. 4-9 survey.Gross domestic product, the sum of all goods and services produced in the nation, will accelerate to a 2.6 percent growth rate in the first three mont

BERLIN (AFP) -- The German government said Friday it would like to talk to US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden in Russia but that he did not meet the requirements for asylum.After a meeting between a German lawmaker and Snowden in Moscow in which the former NSA contractor offered to provide insider knowledge on U.S. espionage activities, Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said Berlin was interested.“If the message is that Mr Snowden wants to give us information, then we would gladly accept

BAGHDAD (AP) -- The United Nations says that 979 Iraqis died in attacks in October, a monthly death toll that is exactly the same as the figure for September.U.N. envoy to Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, is urging Iraqi political leaders to take bold actions to halt the “current mayhem.”Violence has spiked recently amid political and sectarian tensions, raising fears that Iraq might be heading toward a second round of sectarian strife.The grim report released on Friday by the U.N. mission says that out

The Doosan Bears defeated the Samsung Lions 7-2 to open the Korean Series here on Thursday, taking a major first step toward the Korea Baseball Organization championship.Visiting Daegu Stadium, the Bears pounded the Lions' pitching for 12 hits, including two solo home runs, in the resounding victory to start the best-of-seven showdown.Shortstop Son Si-heon, making his first postseason start this year, went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs to pace the Bears' offense.The second game will be ba

More Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week as California continued to work through a backlog.Jobless claims decreased by 12,000 to 350,000 in the week ended Oct. 19 from a revised 362,000 in the prior period, a Labor Department report showed today in Washington.The median forecast of 48 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a decrease to 340,000. Applications in California remained elevated and analysts weren’t able to determine how many non- federa

MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia on Thursday angrily dismissed espionage accusations against a Russian cultural exchange official in Washington, saying the U.S. claims were unfounded.The FBI is looking into whether Yury Zaytsev, the head of a Russian government-run cultural exchange program, tried to recruit young Americans as intelligence assets, a U.S. intelligence official told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the probe was still underway.The magazi

South Korean workers at the inter-Korean factory park in North Korea's border city of Kaesong marked the Chuseok holiday away from home Thursday by jointly holding ceremonies to pay respects to their ancestors.The Kaesong Industrial District Management Committee, which supports South Korean businesses in the factory park, said it held joint Chuseok rites for 80 to 90 workers who stayed there.Chuseok, the Korean version of Thanksgiving, is a major holiday in both Koreas. On the day, Koreans visit

Apparently rebuffing North Korea's call for "unconditional" nuclear talks, the U.S. government urged the communist nation Wednesday to first demonstrate its seriousness on dialogue through action, not just rhetoric."The onus is on North Korea to take meaningful actions toward denuclearization and refrain from provocations," a State Department official said, adding it reflects Washington's formal stance.The official pointed out Pyongyang committed to abandoning all nuclear weapons, including in t

미국 정부는 18일(현지시간) 북한이 비핵화를 위한 사전 조처를 해야 북핵 6자회담 등 대화 재개가 가능하다는 입장을 재확인했다.전제 조건 없이 대화에 나서라는 북한 측의 주장을 일축한 것이다.국무부 대변인실은 "북한은 지난 2005년 9•11 공동성명을 포함해 모든 핵무기와 핵 프로그램을 포기하겠다는 약속을 했다"면서 "우리는 북한에 대해 이런 약속과 국제의무를 지킬 것을 거듭 촉구할 것"이라고 밝혔다.이어 "비핵화를 위한 의미있는 조치를 하고, 도발을 삼가야 할 책임은 북한에 있다"고 강조했다.국무부는 또 "미국은 진정성 있고 신뢰할 수 있는 비핵화 협상을 지속적으로 약속했다"면서 "이는 북한이 9•19 공동성명을 이행하고, 비핵화를 위한 불가역적 조치를 통해 유엔 안전보상이사회의 결의안을 준수하도록 하는 협상이어야 한다"고 지적했다.이에 앞서 일본 정부도 북한에 대해 대화 재개를 위해서는 한반도 비핵화 약속이 전제돼야 한다고 지적했다.정부 대변인인 스가 요시히데(菅義偉) 관방장

현오석 부총리 겸 기획재정부 장관은 미 연방준비제도(Fed)의 양적완화 정책 유지 결정이 조만간 출구전략 실시를 강력히 시사한 것으로 볼 수 있다며 한국이 긴장감을 유지해야 한다고 강조했다.현 부총리는 19일(현지시간) 아시아태평양경제협력체(APEC) 재무장관회의 참석차 방문한 인도네시아 발리에서 "미국이 테이퍼링(tapering•자산매입축소)을 실시하지는 않았지만 (이번 발표는) 상당부분 출구전략을 실시하겠다는 강력한 시사로 받아들이는 것이 좋을 것"이라고 말했다.이어 "테이퍼링이 시작되지 않아 신흥국이 충격을 덜 받는 등 긍정적인 면이 있겠지만 한국은 앞으로의 전망을 받아들여 긴장감을 가져야 한다"고 언급했다.정부는 금융시장 불안에 대비해 선물환 포지션 한도 규제•외환건전성 부담금•외국인채권투자 비과세 폐지 등 거시건전 3종세트를 마련해 놓고 있다. 또 각종 시나리오에 따른 컨틴전시 플랜 등을 준비, 시장 변동에 따른 충격에 대비중이다.그는 "미국의 출구전략은 갑자기 나타나는 것

South Korea Thursday welcomed Washington's decision to delay tapering its quantitative easing measures, saying that it could have a "positive" impact on the Korean economy, officials here said.The reaction came after the Federal Reserve decided to keep its current bond-purchasing program in place during the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday (local time). The decision is based on less optimistic views of its economy and employment."Many market players expected a reduc