Like many Indian girls, Suchitra was taught her future profession by her mother. In her village, there was only one path. Even before she’d reached puberty, Suchitra had learned different sexual positions and other ways to please a customer. At age 14, a man she had never seen before showed up one day at the family’s house near Bharatpur in northern India. At her mother’s urging, Suchitra got into his car. Six hours later they reached their destination. It was a brothel in New Delhi’s red-light

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) -- Passengers screamed "Stop! Stop!'' seconds before their bus crashed through a crossing barrier and into a commuter train during morning rush hour in Canada's capital on Wednesday, killing six people and injuring 34."He smoked the train," witness Mark Cogan said of the bus driver, who was among those killed. "He went through the guard rail and just hammered the train, and then it was just mayhem."It was not immediately clear what caused the bus to smash through the lowered

ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP) -- The death toll from days of flooding in southern and central Mexico rose to 80 on Wednesday, and new reports of landslides in a village near the resort of Acapulco threatened to drive the number of casualties even higher.Interior Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said federal authorities had reached the village, known as La Pintada, by helicopter and had airlifted out 35 residents, four of whom were seriously injured in the slide, but they had not yet seen any bodies.“

South Korea's government will release the list of roughly 4,000 mid- and senior-level officials as part of its plan to increase transparency and enhance public access, the Ministry of Security and Public Administration said Thursday.It said the list of officials in the top four grades from 46 ministries and agencies will be placed on the state-run public data portal (https://www.data.go.kr) by the end of October.Information to be released for reference includes names, positions, responsibilities

Iranian President Hassan Rohani said in an interview with a U.S. television network that his country would never seek nuclear weapons. Reaching out to an American audience from his presidential compound in Tehran, Rohani said he had “full authority” to resolve issues surrounding Iran’s nuclear program. Iran has repeatedly pledged that “under no circumstances would we seek any weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, nor will we,” Rohani, who took office on Aug. 4, said in the inte

Asian stocks rose, with the benchmark regional equities gauge climbing to a four-month high, after the Federal Reserve unexpectedly refrained from cutting economic stimulus.The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 1.3 percent to 140.54 as of 10:02 a.m. in Tokyo as all 10 industry groups on the gauge advanced. Markets are yet to open in Hong Kong, while those in mainland China, South Korea, Taiwan and Sri Lanka are closed for holidays.The Federal Open Market Committee said that it wants to see more mo

NEW YORK (AP) -- Investors plowed money into U.S. stocks and bonds Wednesday after the Federal Reserve's surprise decision to keep its economic stimulus in place.The news sent the Standard & Poor's 500 index and Dow Jones industrial average to a record highs. Bond yields fell sharply, and gold jumped as traders anticipated that the Fed's decision could cause inflation.In a statement, Fed policymakers voted to maintain the central bank's $85 billion-a-month bond-buying program, which has been in

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve has decided against reducing its stimulus for the U.S. economy, saying it will maintain the pace of its bond purchases because it thinks the economy still needs the support.The Fed says it decided to hold off on slowing the $85 billion a month in bond purchases to see more conclusive evidence that the recovery will be sustained.In a statement after its meeting, the Fed says that the economy is growing moderately and that some indicators of labor market cond

Twin powerful explosions detonated outside mosques in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli Friday, killing at least 27 people, wounding 350 and wreaking major destruction in the country's second largest city, Lebanese Health Ministry officials said.Footage aired on local TV showed thick, black smoke billowing over the city and bodies scattered beside burning cars in scenes reminiscent of Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war.The blasts hit amid soaring tensions in Lebanon as a result of Syria's civil war

Five men gang-raped a woman photographer in India's financial hub Mumbai, police said Friday, fuelling protests and stirring memories of a similar attack last December in New Delhi.The attack took place on Thursday evening in an upmarket district of central Mumbai as the 23-year-old woman and a male colleague were taking photos of old buildings for a magazine.The pair were approached by members of the gang and told they should not be there. The man was then tied up with a belt while the woman wa

The foreign ministry said Friday it has extended its travel restrictions on Yemen, citing security instability and terrorist threats.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided in an emigration review committee to prolong its travel ban on Yemen by six months until the end of February next year, according to a statement on its website.South Korea currently holds travel restrictions on four other Middle Eastern and African countries: Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Somalia.In the same committee, the min

Yang Kun, chief of the Board of Audit and Inspection, offered to resign Friday amid controversy over the agency’s reports on the former President Lee Myung-bak’s project to refurbish four major rivers. He conveyed his intention to step down to President Park Geun-hye, Cheong Wa Dae officials said. He was appointed by Lee on March 11, 2011 for a four-year term. Yang has been under pressure from the ruling Saenuri Party for its inconsistent assessments of the river project. In 2011, the BAI said t

알리안츠생명보험이 고객들에게 수취한 보험료로 부당한 회계처리를 해오다 금융당국에 적발됐다.21일 금융감독원에 따르면 알리안츠생명은 파생상품에 투자한 금액을 보험료 적립금에서 차감하는 방법을 썼다.이 생보사는 지난 2011년 1270억원에 달하는 책임준비금을 재무제표상에 과소 표시한 것으로 드러났다. 책임준비금은 고객에게 지급해야 할 보험금 등을 포함한다.또 2008회계연도와 2009회계연도 장부에선 총 280억원가량의 오류가 적발됐다.금감원은 알리안츠생명이 금융감독원장 또는 금융위원회의 지시를 준수하지 않은 것으로 보고 있다.한편 알리안츠생명은 보험계약자에게 불리한 내용은 수년간 공지하지 않은 것으로 전해졌다.금감원 관계자는 이 회사가 지난 2012년까지 특정 상품을 판매하면서 “관련 안내자료에 유리한 내용만을 골라 기재했다”고 밝혔다.금감원은 해당 기관에 과징금 2천6백만원을 부과하고 임원 1명에 ‘주의’ 처분을 내렸다. 직원 16명도 제재 대상이다. (코리아헤럴드 / 김연세, 정

PARIS (AFP) -- Egypt's military rulers Thursday faced international condemnation over the bloody crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood protesters, with France warning of the threat of "civil war" and Turkey demanding UN action.More than 500 people were killed in Wednesday's assaults on two Cairo protest camps of supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in the country's worst violence in decades.The United States led global outcry against the "deplorable" violence, while Paris, London, Ber

CAIRO (AFP) -- At least 525 people were killed in Egypt on Wednesday, including 202 protesters in a Cairo Islamist sit-in, a health ministry official told AFP.The death toll included 43 policemen who died in violence across the country and 202 protesters killed in the Rabaa al-Adawiya protest camp, senior health ministry official Khaled al-Khatib said on Thursday."Eighty-seven also died in Giza and the rest elsewhere across the country," Khatib said. Giza is the Cairo district where police broke

BAGHDAD (AP) -- A wave of car bombs hit the Iraqi capital on Thursday, killing 33 people and wounding dozens, the latest attacks in a months-long surge in violence.Attacks have been on the rise in Iraq since a deadly security crackdown in April on a Sunni protest camp. More than 3,000 people have been killed in violence during the past few months, raising fears Iraq could see a new round of widespread sectarian bloodshed similar to that which brought the country to the edge of civil war in 2006

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain (AP) -- Spanish police on Friday detained the driver of a train that crashed in northwestern Spain, lowered the death toll from 80 to 78 and took possession of the “black box” of the train expected to shed light on why it was going faster than the speed limit on the curve where it derailed.And in an interview with The Associated Press, an American passenger injured on the train said he saw on a TV monitor screen inside his car that the train was traveling 194 kph (1

Three workers were killed and 12 others injured Friday when a water tank burst during a stress test at a polysilicon plant construction site inside Samsung Fine Chemicals, police said.Hospital officials said the death toll could rise as some of the injured were in critical condition.According to the police, the 1,300-ton water tank was being filled for the third day to detect any cracks or defects in it. The steel tank exploded when about 1,000 tons of water were injected.Investigators suspected

After fiddling with his lineup in the first two games of the East Asian Cup tournament, South Korean men's football head coach Hong Myung-bo said Friday he has virtually settled on his starting 11 for the finale against Japan.This Sunday South Korea will take on Japan at 8 p.m. in Seoul for the teams' final game at the regional tournament. South Korea had a 0-0 tie against Australia last Saturday, and for a game against China on Wednesday, Hong replaced nine starters from the earlier match.The g

Police said Friday they were searching for a male rights activist who jumped off a bridge into the Han River in Seoul in an apparent attempt to carry out his open threat to commit suicide if he failed to raise funds for his financially troubled organization.Citing witnesses, police said Sung Jae-gi, 45, jumped off the Mapo Bridge in western Seoul shortly after 3 p.m.  Photographs soon appeared on Sung's Twitter showing him holding onto the outer side of the bridge, ready to jump. The photos also