A think tank says North Korean and American delegations have held informal talks in Germany _ talks that come amid tensions over Pyongyang's plans for a long-range rocket launch.Charles King Mallory, the executive director of the Aspen Institute think tank in Berlin, said Sunday that the informal so-called ``track 2'' dialogue took place over the weekend.He wouldn't comment on the contents of the

The government plans to convert existing school loans into lower-interest ones beginning next month as part of efforts to expand the financial support system for young people, President Lee Myung-bak said Monday.The government will utilize 50 billion won (US$44 million) contributed by local banks as a guaranty fund for the interest-lowering measure, Lee said during his biweekly radio address. "As