The Middle East respiratory syndrome virus is hitting the local airline industry hard, forcing them to keep flights grounded. South Korea’s two major airlines and other five budget carriers have canceled a total of 1,102 international flights to and from the country scheduled from June 1 through October, a report from the Transport Ministry showed Thursday.  (Yonhap)“The blow by MERS is much tougher than SARS. The second-quarter performance will likely sharply drop compared with last year or the

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says demands by the country's rescue lenders to slash pensions are “incomprehensible” and warned that a failure in bailout talks would hurt all of Europe.His comments were made as the country's central bank warned of “dramatic” economic consequences of not reaching a deal this week, and a day before a meeting of eurozone finance ministers.Creditors had until last week pegged Thursday's meeting as a key date by which a breakthrough in the talks would have to be

European Union governments struck a preliminary accord to extend sanctions against Russia by six months to the end of January, to keep up the pressure on the Kremlin to bring peace to eastern Ukraine.Representatives of the 28 governments agreed on Wednesday in Brussels to prolong the trade and investment curbs, two EU officials said on condition of anonymity under EU media rules. Final confirmation of the move is due June 22, they said.The behind-the-scenes decision marks a victory for EU Presid

Global credit appraiser Standard & Poor's (S&P) said Wednesday it has revised up its credit outlook for South Korean steelmaker POSCO Co. to "stable" from "negative," citing the firm's recent efforts to improve cash flow. "We expect credit metrics for POSCO to improve this year, and for the company to start generating positive free operating cash flow for the first time since 2010 thanks to significant nondebt financing, declining capital investment, and stabilizing operating performance," said

A U.S. Navy admiral whose command is responsible for an advanced missile-defense system will visit South Korea next week, government sources said Wednesday, amid ongoing debates here over whether Seoul should adopt the U.S.-led system.Adm. Cecil Haney, the commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, will arrive in Seoul on Sunday for a four-day stay, to meet with key military officials in South Korea, including Defense Minister Han Min-koo, sources familiar with the matter said. Haney also plans to

Representatives from a consortium of prospective buyers met with the chief of Pantech Co. on Wednesday to discuss its bid for the embattled handset maker, industry sources said, accelerating its move to conclude the deal.The officials from the consortium, led by optical manufacturer Optis, visited Pantech's headquarters in Seoul and had a meeting with President Lee Joon-woo and other executives to talk about their proposed 40 billion won ($35.7 million) takeover bid, the sources familiar with th

Pope Francis arrived in Sarajevo on Saturday for a one-day visit to encourage the dwindling number of Catholics to stay and help forge a peaceful future with Bosnia's Muslims and Orthodox Christians following the devastating three-way war of the 1990s. Looking somber, Francis emerged from his Alitalia jet at Sarajevo's main airport, where he was greeted by Dragan Covic, the Croat member of Bosnia's three-way presidency, and Bosnian Cardinal Vinko Puljic. The pontiff beamed, though, as he greeted

Rescuers on Saturday recovered the bodies of nine more climbers from Malaysia's highest peak a day after it was struck by a strong earthquake, bringing the total number of dead to 11. Eight more people are missing on the 4,095-meter Mount Kinabalu, where a magnitude-5.9 earthquake on Friday sent rocks and boulders raining down the trekking routes and trapping dozens of climbers. Most of them made it down the mountain, some with broken limbs and one is in a coma. Among the dead retrieved on Frida

Saudi Arabia said it intercepted a Scud missile fired on its territory by rebel forces in neighboring Yemen early Saturday as momentum gathers for peace talks in Switzerland next weekend."The Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces intercepted it with a Patriot missile," said a statement from the Saudi-led coalition which has been waging an air war against the rebels since March 26.Coalition aircraft destroyed the launchpad for the 2:45 am (2345 GMTFriday) attack on the southwestern city of Khamis Mushai

South Korea and Japan have agreed to hold a second round of talks next week to resolve a row over Tokyo's push to win world heritage status for industrial facilities linked to wartime Korean slave labor, the Seoul government said Saturday.Japan has applied to list a package of 23 coal mines, shipyards and other early industrial zones as UNESCO world heritage sites.South Korea is strongly against the bid as the facilities include seven sites where nearly 60,000 Koreans were forced to work during

A Chinese company that develops online games bid more than $2.3 million Friday to win a private lunch with Warren Buffett.Beijing-based Dalian Zeus Entertainment Co. bid $2,345,678 to win the online auction. The Glide Foundation uses the auction proceeds to help the poor and homeless in San Francisco. The 2015 bid was still well below the 2012 winning bid of $3,456,789 _ the most expensive charity item ever sold on eBay. Last year's winning bid was $2,166,766.Many people want Buffett's advice be

The South Korean finance minister called for fundamental reform in the financial industry in order to make the sector drive the country's economic development, according to the ministry on Saturday.“This is the time for financial reform that transforms the basis of South Korea's financial industry,” Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan said in a meeting with Lord Mayor Allen Yarrow of City of London on Friday (local time). “The British economy has made a second take-off after carrying out the Big Ba

President Park Geun-hye vowed Saturday to resolve difficulties posed by North Korea's nuclear program and historical disputes with Japan.Tensions persist on the Korean Peninsula over North Korea's provocative actions in recent months, including the launch of a ballistic missile from a submarine.Seoul-Tokyo relations also remain badly frayed largely because of Japan's refusal to atone for its past wrongdoings stemming from its colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910-45. One of the key pen

North Korea is unlikely to conduct another nuclear test at least until this fall, a U.S. think tank said Friday, citing satellite imagery showing no signs of preparations at the country's underground test site."Recent commercial satellite imagery indicates that North Korea is conducting regular spring construction and maintenance activities at its Punggye-ri nuclear test site," the website 38 North said in a report by analyst Jack Liu."There are no indications of nuclear test preparations at thi

A total of 331 people have been confirmed dead after rescuers lifted a Chinese cruise ship that capsized in central China out of the water, state media reported Saturday.Just 14 people have been confirmed alive out of the 456 -- mostly tourists aged over 60 -- on board when the "Eastern Star" rapidly sunk on the Yangtze river in a storm on Monday.Authorities gave the a death toll of 331 as of 08:00 a.m. Saturday, the state-run Xinhua news agency said, in what looks likely to be China's worst shi

South Korea confirmed nine more cases of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome on Saturday, bringing the total number of people infected with the disease to 50.Five of them were infected with MERS after visiting Samsung Medical Center in southern Seoul, where a doctor was recently diagnosed with the illness, according to the health ministry.Another three were patients and medical staff at Saint Mary Hospital in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, where the first MERS case originated weeks ago.The total n

Huang Jing rushed to the office of the Shanghai Xiehe Tourism Agency as soon as he heard Tuesday morning about the sinking of a riverboat cruise with his brother- and father-in-law and another 456 people on board.He demanded an official passenger list from the travel company that had arranged the cruise along China's famed Yangtze River. When the agency didn't respond, he and other relatives turned on the local government, storming city district offices and cornering officials to ask that they f

Hey Siri, turn off the kitchen light.The first ``smart'' home gadgets that can be controlled by Apple's voice-activated digital assistant are going on sale this week, just days after rival tech giant Google announced it's building its own software for Internet-connected home appliances and other gadgets.The new products could be an important step forward for the emerging industry of ``smart'' or ``connected'' homes, where appliances, thermostats and even door locks contain computer chips that co

The Russian maker of the Buk air defense missile system said Tuesday that it has concluded that Malaysian Airlines flight 17 was downed by an older version of the missile, which isn't in service with the Russian military but is in Ukrainian arsenals.Controversy continues over who shot down the plane last summer over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people aboard. Ukraine and the West suspect it was destroyed by a Russian surface-to-air missile fired by Russian forces or separatist rebels fightin

Greece has submitted a proposal for an agreement with its creditors, the country's prime minister said Tuesday, as Athens seeks a deal that will unlock desperately needed rescue money.Alexis Tspiras said the ball was now in Europe's court to prevent the potential breakup of the European Union. Without more rescue loans, Greece could default on its debts this month and potentially drop out of Europe's currency bloc.“It is now clear that the decision for whether they want to adapt to realism and e