Hyundai Motor Co.'s 2015 Santa Fe sport utility vehicle (SUV) has received a low rating in a crash test carried out in the United States, a U.S. motor safety institute said Tuesday.  The latest edition of the SUV was rated as "marginal" in the small overlap front crash test, which reviews a vehicle's frontal crash protection when the front corner of the car hits another vehicle or other objects, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The IIHS test rates the vehicles' saf

Prosecutors raided the homes and offices of two close aides to a local provincial governor on allegations they covered up evidence of an alleged bribery scandal, authorities said Tuesday.  Hong Joon-pyo, governor of South Gyeongsang Province, is currently under suspicion of violating political funding laws by pocketing some 100 million won ($91,190.95) from Sung Wan-jong, the chairman of a construction firm who committed suicide last month.Authorities said they confiscated financial statements a

South Korea said Tuesday it will send an emergency response team to Nepal, which was hit by another massive earthquake less than three weeks after it was devastated by a quake of a similar magnitude.  Nepal suffered another massive earthquake with a 7.3-magnitude in a remote area near Mount Everest earlier on Tuesday.A three-member team will head to Nepal on Wednesday to help determine whether there are any South Korean casualties as well as their exact whereabouts and current condition, accordi

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin with an eye on easing badly strained relations over conflicts in Ukraine and Syria.Kerry laid a wreath at a World War II memorial in the Black Sea resort city Tuesday before holding talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Later, he was to meet Putin on the brief visit, his first to Russia since May 2013 and the advent of the Ukraine crisis.The top U.S. diplomat plans to test Putin's willingness to push pr

Verizon Communications agreed to buy AOL in a deal valued at $4.4 billion, giving the largest U.S. wireless carrier digital content and Web advertising platforms.Verizon will pay $50 a share, a 17 percent premium over AOL’s stock price on Monday. AOL Chief Executive Officer Tim Armstrong will continue to lead AOL’s operations after the deal is completed, the companies said Tuesday in a statement.AOL has once again become a digital trailblazer, and we are excited at the prospect of charting a new

 A major earthquake hit a remote mountain region of Nepal on Tuesday, killing at least 37 people while triggering landslides and toppling buildings less than three weeks after the Himalayan nation was ravaged by its worst quake in decades.Indian hospital staff attend to a schoolgirl who fainted as a tremor struck at Siliguri Hospital in Siliguri on Tuesday. (AFP-Yonhap)The magnitude-7.3 quake -- centered midway between the capital of Kathmandu and Mount Everest -- hit hardest in districts northe

A new earthquake and several powerful aftershocks hit devastated Nepal on Tuesday, killing at least four people and sending terrified residents running into the streets of the traumatized capital.The 7.3-magnitude quake struck at 12:35 pm, some 76 kilometers east of Kathmandu, the U.S. Geological Survey said, more than two weeks after a 7.8-magnitude quake which killed more than 8,000 people.Tuesday's quake was felt as far away as New Delhi, and officials said it caused buildings to collapse in

Three of Japan’s oldest nuclear reactors will be decommissioned, the start of what is expected to be a series of shutdowns because of costs to meet tougher safety standards introduced after the Fukushima disaster. Kansai Electric Power Co., the utility most dependent on nuclear power, will close two reactors in western Japan’s Fukui prefecture. Japan Atomic Power Co. will scrap a reactor in its Tsuruga plant, also in Fukui, the utilities announced Tuesday in statements. The three reactors -- Kan

Russia's foreign minister says the leader of North Korea is among 26 world leaders who have accepted invitations to Moscow to take part in celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany.A highlight of the May 9 celebrations will be the annual military parade on Red Square, where tradition calls for President Vladimir Putin to speak.Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday that in addition to North Korea's Kim Jong-un, the leaders of China, Cuba, Indi

Emerging markets must prepare for the impact of U.S. interest rate rises, whose timing could surprise markets, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde warned in India on Tuesday.Speaking alongside India's central bank governor Raghuram Rajan, Lagarde said the so-called "taper tantrum" that hit emerging economies hard in 2013 could be repeated. The U.S. Federal Reserve caused panic in 2013 when it first signaled a reduction in its multi-billion dollar asset purchases to stimulate the

Corporate earnings in the energy-rich Gulf states rose 10 percent last year, for the first time surpassing their highest level before the global financial crisis, a report said on Tuesday.Net profits of the 658 listed companies on the seven bourses of the Gulf Cooperation Council states reached $68 billion in 2014 compared with $61.7 billion the previous year, investment firm Kuwait Financial Center (Markaz) said in a report.It was the first time Gulf corporate earnings had surpassed $63.2 billi

Hyundai Motor Co. and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors Corp. saw their sales grow at a lower-than-market average pace in Europe last month, with their combined market share declining from a year earlier, data showed Tuesday.According to the data by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, Hyundai Motor's sales in Europe came to 30,943 units, up 0.2 percent from a year earlier, while Kia Motors' sales grew 6 percent on-year to 25,671 units. Their growth rates were lower than the 7 perce

North Korean main propaganda outlet on Tuesday criticized the inaugural speech by Seoul's unification minister in charge of inter-Korean affairs as a "sophistry" that lacks sincerity.During his inauguration ceremony on Monday, Hong Yong-pyo pledged efforts to open a channel for practical inter-Korean cooperation while maintaining the keynote of its policy to deal sternly with North Korea's misbehavior but exert flexibility if dialogue is a possibility.He also said his ministry will cooperate clo

The White House on Tuesday said President Barack Obama will hold a secure video conference with European leaders to discuss the crisis in Ukraine and other "global security issues."Obama will confer with British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and the European Union president Donald Tusk, aides said. (AFP)

A volcano in southern Chile erupted early Tuesday, spewing heavy smoke and lava and prompting officials to evacuate thousands of people in the surrounding area.The Villarica volcano erupted around 3 a.m., according to the National Emergency Office, which issued a red alert and ordered evacuations. Local media showed images of the volcano bursting at the top, tossing laving and heavy smoke into the air.Villarica is one of South America's most active volcanoes. The 9,000 foot (2,847-meter) volcano

Top automakers are vowing to press ahead with weak-selling electric vehicles and zero-emissions technology _ even as they unveil powerful, expensive luxury cars aimed at a growing global automarket.At the Geneva International Motor Show, BMW AG CEO Norbert Reithofer said Tuesday his company “cannot do without” battery powered vehicles such as its i3 urban compact. He said that “in the future electric drive vehicles will be in demand” and that the Munich-based automaker could not meet its targets

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has already lost three ministers to political funding scandals, faced questions Tuesday over claims that a branch of his ruling party received illegal donations.Abe, who swept to power in late 2012 on a ticket to revive the economy, told parliament he "didn't know" that two firms had given money to the Liberal Democratic Party within a year of receiving government subsidies  -- a violation of strict political funding laws.The comments followed reports Tues

Traffic gets moving with people head to the capital city near a toll station on a highway in Gyeonggi Province on Friday (Yonhap)Major highways across South Korea were heavily jammed on Friday as motorists made their way back to Seoul after celebrating the Lunar New Year's holiday at their hometowns. The Lunar New Year's is one of the biggest public holidays in South Korea, along with the Chuseok holiday, the Korean version of Thanksgiving Day. The three-day  Lunar New Year's holiday that began

Two of the most powerful members of the U.N. Security Council are rejecting Libya's call to lift a U.N. arms embargo so it can defend itself against the Islamic State group, saying Thursday that the chaotic country needs a national unity government first.Libya's foreign minister told an emergency council meeting Wednesday that lifting the embargo is necessary as the militant group establishes a presence in northern Africa and moves closer to Europe. Alarm soared after a video released over the w

Apple, which has been working secretly on a car, is pushing its team to begin production of an electric vehicle as early as 2020, people with knowledge of the matter said. The timeframe -- automakers typically spend five to seven years developing a car -- underscores the project’s aggressive goals and could set the stage for a battle for customers with Tesla Motors Inc. and General Motors Co., both of which are targeting a 2017 release of an electric vehicle that can go more than 200 miles on a