France is to ask the European Union to put its Free Trade Agreement with South Korea under surveillance as part of a recovery plan for its auto sector, according to elements of the plan obtained by AFP.The plan, to be presented to cabinet Wednesday, will also boost purchasing bonuses for buying environmentally friendly cars and see the government committing to 25 percent of its new vehicles being

They feed the powerful and are most at home in the kitchen. But French President Francois Hollande contends that the chefs who cook for the leaders of the world have a behind-the-scenes role at the negotiating tables of international diplomacy.``If your dish is a miss, it's more difficult to plead a cause,'' Hollande told nearly 20 chefs on a visit Tuesday to the presidential Elysee Palace.What co

 Archaeologists on Tuesday unearthed a skeleton in a rare state of preservation in Florence in what they believe may be a crucial step towards unravelling the mystery of the identity of the woman with the most enigmatic smile in the world.Several bodies have been discovered in the hunt to find the mortal remains of Lisa Gherardini, the Florentine noblewoman widely believed to have served as the mu

Canadian researchers say people who eat high-salt diets tend to develop kidney stones and osteoporosis because when sodium leaves the body, so does calcium.Principal investigator Todd Alexander and his team at the University of Alberta discovered an important link between sodium and calcium -- they both appear to be regulated by the same molecule in the body.When sodium intake becomes too high, th

This photo is not directly related to the article.The hooting and catcalls began as soon as the Cabinet minister stood, wearing a blue and white flowered dress. It did not cease for the entire time she spoke before France's National Assembly. And the heckling came not from an unruly crowd, but from male legislators who later said they were merely showing their appreciation on a warm summer's day.

The number of unmarried male citizens in Seoul aged 35 to 49 has increased more than 10-fold over the past 20 years, data showed Wednesday.According to the data released by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the number of single men of the age bracket in the capital city came to 242,590 in 2010, up from 24,239 in 1990. The rate of unmarried men among the age group has shown an upward trajectory du

Ratings agency Moody's on Tuesday lowered the outlook on the EU's bailout fund from stable to negative, after threatening the triple-A credit ratings of three of the eurozone's major guarantors.Moody's said its decision to lower the outlook on the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) reflected the changes in outlooks on Germany, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. But it maintained the EFSF's

President Lee Myung-bak apologized to the nation Tuesday over a string of bribery scandals involving his former aides and his elder brother-cum-political mentor. "Fellow Koreans, disgraceful incidents have recently happened to my family and surroundings and caused so much anxiety to people," Lee said during a nationally-televised address with a stern expression on his face. "I bow my head and exte

Some parents assume whatever they say about drugs and alcohol may be drowned out by peer pressure, but U.S. researchers say parents are key.Michael Cleveland of the Prevention Research Center at Pennsylvania State University said influences on what teens do often come from their friends, but parents have big roles.Cleveland and colleagues interviewed high school freshmen and sophomores, asking the

Savannah DietrichA Kentucky teenager said she was prepared to go to jail after tweeting the names of two juveniles she said sexually assaulted her.Savannah Dietrich, 17, Louisville told a newspaper she was angered at what she saw as a lenient plea bargain being offered the two assailants and wanted the public to know who was responsible.The tweet revealing the names was in violation of court rules

 A sense of humor and self-confidence are the most irresistible traits in a potential love interest, not physical traits, a U.S. survey indicates.A survey by Tango.com, a Web-based source for love and relationships, indicated 89 percent of respondents agreed that when one or both partners in a couple has poor self-confidence, relationship problems ensue."Conventional wisdom holds that attraction t

Moody's took the first step toward stripping Germany of its coveted AAA credit rating on Monday, cutting the outlook for Europe's largest and most pivotal economy to "negative."Delivering a stark warning that no one is immune from the eurozone's rolling crisis, the ratings agency lowered Germany's credit outlook from "stable" to "negative."A similar move was announced for fellow AAA ranked economi

South Korea held talks with North Korea last year on joint development of minerals including rare earths despite high political tensions, it was disclosed Monday.The Korea Resources Corp (KORES) said its staff visited the North for two rounds of government-approved talks with the National Economic Cooperation Federation in September and December.At the meetings proposed by Pyongyang the North hand

Chinese police have arrested 463 suspects on charges of counterfeiting money and confiscated $18.5 million in fake bills, officials said.The arrests came out of a special operation created in March to crackdown on economic crimes, China‘s state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.“Fake note cases and the amount of fake notes discovered by financial institutes have been decreasing under sustained crack

A former Buddhist monk accused of brutally beating a dog to death has been sentenced to six months in prison, court officials here said Monday.The 53-year-old man only known by his surname Lee was convicted of climbing over the wall of a neighbor's house in this southern port city in December and striking the dog on the head with blunt weapons. The dog was of the Korean Jindo breed, which originat

The death toll from the heaviest rain to hit Beijing in over 60 years has risen to 37, Chinese state media reported on Sunday.Xinhua news agency said more victims of the downpours which battered much of the capital throughout Saturday had been discovered, revising up considerably the number of dead from ten.The rainstorms led to the evacuation of more than 50,000 people from their homes in Beijing

 Graying hair is typically regarded as an indicator of senility, but new study suggested it may actually be a sign of health, according to a report on Livescience.com.Researchers from Museo Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales in Spain recently found that some wild boars with reddish furs tend to be more vulnerable to cell damage. Red fur points to abundant pheomelanin, a pigment that produces col

 A revolutionary discovery is rewriting the history of underwear: Some 600 years ago, women wore bras.The University of Innsbruck said Wednesday that archeologists found four linen bras dating from the Middle Ages in an Austrian castle. Fashion experts describe the find as surprising because the bra had commonly been thought to be only little more than 100 years old as women abandoned the tight co

 Sugary drinks lead to alterations in muscles similar to those in people with obesity problems and type 2 diabetes, researchers in Britain said. Dr. Hans-Peter Kubis of Bangor University in England said the research showed regularly drinking soft drinks changed the way muscles use food as fuel, making them prefer to burn sugars over fats. "This study proved our concerns over sugary drinks have bee

An Air Force instructor was sentenced to 20 years in prison Saturday after being convicted of rape and sexual assault in a sweeping sex scandal that rocked one of the busiest military training centers in the U.S. A military jury at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio found Staff Sgt. Luis Walker guilty Friday night on all 28 charges he faced, including rape, aggravated sexual contact and multip