TOKYO (AP) -- A powerful earthquake in western Japan knocked loose roof tiles, toppled store shelves and caused power outages Friday afternoon, but apparently caused no widespread damage. At least seven people were injured, one seriously. The Japan Meteorological Agency said the 6.6-magnitude quake occurred in Tottori, a prefecture on the Sea of Japan about 700 kilometers (430 miles) west of Tokyo. The epicenter was at a relatively shallow depth of 11 kilometers (7 miles). Shallow quakes potenti

Dance French dance company Compagnie DCA performs “Contact.” (Official website)“Sleeping Beauty”: Korean National Ballet will perform “Sleeping Beauty” at the Seoul Arts Center Opera House from Nov. 3-6. After presenting Rudolf Nureyev’s rendition in 2004, the group is back with a different take of the classic fairy tale, choreographed by Marcia Haydee, a former prima ballerina of the Stuttgart Ballet group. The performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. on weekdays, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on the Saturday a

Strong winds knocked down people and scattered debris as a large typhoon crossed over Taiwan on Tuesday, killing four people and injuring more than 260, officials said. Typhoon Megi’s bands of heavy rain and 162-kilometers- (100 miles-) per-hour sustained winds blanketed the island by midafternoon as the eye of the storm made landfall on the east coast. Authorities had raised alert levels for the island prone to landslides and flooding, said National Fire Agency Director-General Chen Wen-lung. T

An international court on Tuesday found a Muslim radical guilty of committing a war crime by overseeing the destruction of historic mausoleums in the Malian desert city of Timbuktu, and sentenced him to nine years in prison. Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, a former teacher, had pleaded guilty and expressed remorse for his role in overseeing the destruction of nine mausoleums and a mosque door by pickax-wielding rebels in June and July of 2012. His trial, which opened Aug. 22, was a landmark for the Inte

South Korea's Navy said Tuesday that it had found the body of one of three crew members who were aboard a chopper that crashed into the sea off the country's east coast a day earlier.At around 6 p.m., the Navy found the body some 1,030 meters under the sea during its search operation that used a remotely operated underwater vehicle.The body was confirmed to be the Lynx antisubmarine helicopter's main pilot, identified only by his surname Kim. Along with Kim, a secondary pilot and a naval non-com

More evidence of possible water plumes erupting from the surface of Jupiter‘s icy moon Europa has been spotted using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, the US space agency said Monday.　Europa, one of more than 50 moons circling the gas giant, is considered by NASA as a “top candidate” for life elsewhere in the solar system because it is believed to possess a massive, salty, subsurface ocean that is twice the size of Earth‘s.　The latest finding has given scientists fresh hope that a robotic spacecraf

In a combative opening debate, Hillary Clinton emphatically denounced Donald Trump Monday night for keeping his personal tax returns and business dealings secret from voters and peddling a “racist lie” about President Barack Obama. Businessman Trump repeatedly cast Clinton as a “typical politician” as he sought to capitalize on Americans’ frustration with Washington.　Locked in an exceedingly close White House race, the presidential rivals tangled for 90-minutes over their vastly different vision

Theater“Mr. Show”: Produced by renowned musical director Kolleen Park, the naughty male striptease “Mr. Show” is returning to the stage this year. The women-only variety show features strapping young men who dance and perform various themed acts geared toward tantalizing females. The live show, only for those 19 and above, will be staged from Saturday until Dec. 4 at the Shinhan Card Fan Square’s Live Hall in Seoul. Tickets are 52,000 won and 80,000 won. For more details, call (02) 547-5694. A s

The top diplomats of South Korea and Japan will hold a meeting later this week in New York to discuss countermeasures against North Korea's recent nuclear test, Seoul's foreign ministry said Friday.The bilateral meeting between South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida will be held Sunday (local time) on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session, the ministry said.The two diplomats will discuss the current agenda items of the UN Secu

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- US safety regulators announced a formal recall of Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 smartphone Thursday after a spate of fires led to injuries and property damage -- along with a global marketing headache for the South Korean tech giant."Because this product presents such a serious fire hazard, I am urging all consumers ... to take advantage of this recall right away," said Elliot Kaye, chairman of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.Samsung had already initiated a voluntary re

RIVIERA MAYA, Mexico (AP) -- Park Min-ji shot a 4-under 68 on Thursday to help South Korea take a seven-stroke lead after the second round of the Women's World Amateur Team Championship Choi Hye-jin added a 69 at Mayakoba El Camaleon to give South Korea a 13-under 275 total, with only the best two scores counting each day for the three-player teams. Park Hyun-kyung had a 75. Choi topped the individual standings at 5-under 139, a stroke ahead of Denmark's Puk Lyng Thomsen. Thomsen had a 67 on the

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed opposition Thursday to growing calls in South Korea for nuclear armament, saying such a move runs counter to international norms, a South Korean lawmaker said.Ban made the remarks during a meeting with South Korean National Assembly Speaker Chung Se-kyun and the floor leaders of the ruling Saenuri Party, the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea and the People's Party -- Chung Jin-suk, Woo Sang-ho and Park Jie-won, respectively.UN Secretary-General Ban

North Korea is ready to launch new attacks, the country's foreign minister has said, suggesting the communist regime may take further provocative action following North Korea's recent nuclear test.   "North Korea is ready to launch another attack in defiance of the provocations by the United States," North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho said. He made the remarks during a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Venezuela on Thursday (local time).North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho s

WASHINGTON -- Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump again denounced the free trade agreement between the United States and South Korea as a "job killing trade deal" and a "disaster," and said the Asian ally should pay 100 percent of the cost for the American troops stationed there."It is no great secret that many of the special interests funding my opponent's campaign are the same people profiting from these terrible trade deals. They are terrible. They're terrible for everybody," Trump s

WASHINGTON -- How to respond to North Korea's fifth nuclear test will be the main focus when US Secretary of State John Kerry holds a meeting with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts, the State Department said.The top American diplomat is scheduled to hold discussions in New York on Sunday with South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.  US Secretary of State John Kerry introduces US President Barack

Theater 　　“Mr. Show”: By renowned musical director Kolleen Park, the naughty male striptease show “Mr. Show” is returning to the stage this year. The women-only variety show features strapping young men who dance and perform various themed acts that are geared toward tantalizing females. The live show – only for those 19 and above -- will be staged from Sept. 24 to Dec. 4 at the Shinhan Card Fan Square’s Live Hall in Seoul. Tickets are 52,000 won and 80,000 won. For more details, call 02-547-569

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Police in Philadelphia say they‘ve had to clear an outdoor concert stage after more than 1,000 people rushed it during a Labor Day weekend show.　Fans at the Budweiser Made in America Festival tell Philly.com that hip hop artist Jay Electronica was performing Saturday evening when Philadelphia rapper Lil Uzi Vert walked by the stage, attracting attention. They say Electronica then began calling for people to join him on stage.　The performance was temporarily interrupted when s

VENICE (AFP) - It‘s Jude Law’s first day as pope, and after dropping his nightgown to reveal the sort of toned backside to make nuns blush, he addresses the crowd in Saint Peter‘s Square on the pleasures of masturbation.　Italian master Paolo Sorrentino’s first foray into the world of television series has produced a 10-part wonder set at the heart of the Vatican state, where the College of Cardinals has just elected its first-ever American pope.　Lenny Belardo, aka Pius XIII, is revealed in the f

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Jon Favreau has brought talking animals and smart-alecky superheroes to the big screen. For his next project, he‘s luring miniature goblins into virtual reality to become one of the first major filmmakers to create an original work using VR.　 　The filmmaker, who worked on promotional VR tie-ins to his recent live-action adaptation of “The Jungle Book,” is collaborating with VR studios Wevr and Reality One on “Gnomes & Goblins,” an interactive series based on an original Favrea

When director Kim Jee-woon first started filming his newest historical thriller “The Age of Shadows,” he had set his mind on making a “cold” noir flick featuring a ruthless world of spies. 　But the film turned out to be much more “heated” than originally intended, he told reporters after a press screening of the film in Seoul on Tuesday.　His original references had been classics like the 1949 black-and-white thriller “The Third Man” and the 1965 Western espionage flick “The Spy Who Came In from