GENEVA (AFP) - The World Health Organization said Friday it would soon call an emergency meeting on the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) as the death toll from the virus rises in South Korea.   South Korea has suffered the largest outbreak of the virus outside Saudi Arabia.   A 72-year-old woman became the latest fatality on Friday after being infected by a MERS patient at a hospital, the health ministry said, taking the death toll in the country to 11.   So far, 126 cases have been

   SANAA, Yemen (AP) _ Saudi-led airstrikes targeting Shiite rebels and their allies destroyed historic houses in the Old City of the capital, Sanaa, a UNESCO world heritage site. At least five civilians were killed and others buried under the rubble, medical officials and witnesses said.   Warplanes dropped missiles apparently targeting a house occupied by a senior rebel commander, witnesses said. The missiles didn't explode but their impact flattened at least three houses and caused cracks in

Samsung C&T Co., a construction and trading arm of Samsung Group, said Friday that it is seeking to delist its depositary receipts (DRs) traded on the British stock market in an apparent move to stem a possible lawsuit there by a U.S. hedge fund over its attempt to merge with its sister firm.   Samsung C&T said it will report its plan to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which oversees the London Stock Exchange to delist its DRs, or certificates of stock ownership that are traded overseas. 

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will visit South Korea next week to discuss pending bilateral issues ahead of President Park Geun-hye's trip to Washington, a diplomatic source said Monday.   "Secretary Kerry is scheduled to arrive in Seoul around May 17.He plans to stay overnight," the source said. "Discussions are under way (between the two nations) about his detailed itinerary."   On the table during his expected meetings with his counterpart Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and President Park

North Korea's nominal head of state, Kim Yong-nam, had briefly met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of an event in Moscow marking the end of World War II in Europe, but the meeting was not meaningful,according to the North's state media and a diplomatic source on Monday.    Kim, president of North Korea's rubber-stamp parliament, "met and exchanged greetings" with leaders, including Xi, who attended the Saturday military parade in Moscow, the North's state Korean Central News A

MOSCOW (AP) _ U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet in Sochi on Tuesday with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, for talks on Ukraine, Syria, Yemen and Iran, Russian news agencies reported Monday.State news agency RIA-Novosti cited a diplomatic source as saying the Kremlin hopes Kerry will bring new proposals on reaching a settlement in Ukraine. There was no immediate confirmation from the State Department on the trip to Russia, although Kerry has made it clear for several months he'd

    Prosecutors said Monday that they have allowed a convicted octogenarian businesswoman to continue to receive medical treatment at a hospital for another six months.   Prosecutors said they reached the unanimous decision last week due to the health conditions of Lee Seon-ae, a former executive of Taekwang Group.   The 87-year-old with Alzheimer's disease was allowed to stay in the hospital for up to three months in July.   In October, prosecutors extended suspension of her sentence for six mo

  Lawyers of investors who were deceived into buying fraudulent debt products claimed Monday that the government should compensate for the losses of their clients.   The lawyers who represented more than 360 small investors said at the first hearing at the Seoul Central District Court that the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) should pay them 1 million won (US$920) each in compensation. The FSC and FSS, however, denied any wrongdoing.   The lawyers said

PRAGUE (AP) _ Czech President Milos Zeman and the U.S. ambassador to Prague are in a rare public dispute over Zeman's decision to attend a Russian military parade, and Czech lawmakers are siding with the American.In an interview with online publication Parlamentni Listy on Sunday, Zeman bristled at the envoy's implied criticism of his decision to attend Moscow's traditional May 9 military parade at a time the army has destabilized Ukraine. Zeman said U.S. Ambassador Andrew Shapiro is no longer w

  Koo Bon-ho, an adviser to Galaxia Communications, on Monday was accused of fraud and embezzlement. 　Prosecutors at the Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office said Koo is accused of receiving more than 1 billion won ($909,000) in cash and a luxury car from a KOSDAQ-listed company executive, in exchange for promising him a 5 billion won investment in 2010. 　However, the investment was never made and the plaintiff had to pay for corporate tax and other costs while squeezing out the 1 billion won kickb

SANAA, Yemen (AP) _ Tribesmen and witnesses say a US drone strike killed two suspected al-Qaida militants in southern Yemen.The witnesses, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, say the suspected militants were traveling in a car when the strike took place at dawn on Monday in the Shabwa province, in an area called Markha.Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, as the Yemeni franchise is known, is considered the most lethal branch of the global network, and has been linked to sev

Rival political parties agreed Monday on the details of a controversial anti-corruption bill following months of wrangling over whether it violates an individual's constitutional rights, among other issues.The so-called Kim Young-ran Law, named after the former Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission chief who proposed the legislation in August 2012, was a top priority during February's extra parliamentary session ending on Tuesday. Under Monday's bipartisan deal, the bill will be passed thr

A senior Chinese official on Monday criticized Japan for attempting to "cover up" its history of aggression as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is preparing for a speech marking the 70th anniversary of Tokyo's surrender in World War II. Lu Xinhua, a spokesman for the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a government advisory body under China's ruling Communist Party, made the remarks ahead of key political meetings this week. Abe is preparing for the speech, which is expected to

China has told South Korea that it is "not nervous" about the possibility of an unprecedented visit by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to Russia in May, a South Korean diplomatic source said Monday.    Russia has said that Kim would be among those attending the May 9th ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.   While analysts have been differing over whether Kim will eventually visit Russia, his choice of Moscow for his international debut wo

The ruling Saenuri Party chairman Koo Moo-sung pays respect to the late President Roh Moo-hyun at his tomb in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, on Saturday. Kim praised Roh`s “endeavors to cease turf wars and authoritarianism in the country” and said he hopes to bring harmony and reconciliation in the political scene through his visit. Kim is the second Saenuri Party leader to visit Roh`s tomb, following former chairman Hwang Woo-yea in 2011. (Yonhap)

RALEIGH, North Carolina (AP) _ The suspect in the deaths of three Muslim college students in North Carolina had at least a dozen firearms stashed in his home, according to search warrants released as world leaders decried the shootings.Warrants filed in court Friday listed an inventory of weapons seized by police from the Chapel Hill condominium of Craig Stephen Hicks, the 46-year-old charged with three counts of first-degree murder.The warrants list four handguns recovered from the home Hicks s

UNITED NATIONS (AP) _ Over the past year, the United States and other members of the U.N. Security Council have loudly accused Russia of backing separatists in Ukraine, but the threat of a Russian veto has blocked them from taking action in close to 30 meetings on the crisis. Now, Russia is asking for their support. Russia circulated a surprise draft resolution, obtained Friday by The Associated Press, endorsing the new cease-fire agreement on Ukraine and calling on all parties involved to fully

         SALEM, Oregon (AP) _ One of the longest-serving U.S. governors announced his resignation amid allegations his fiancee used her relationship with him to enrich herself.Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber on Friday said he broke no laws and said in a lengthy statement that his resignation would be effective on WednesdaySecretary of State Kate Brown, a Democrat like Kitzhaber, was expected to assume the office and become the first openly bisexual governor in the U.S. Kitzhaber handily won re-electi

U.S. President Barack Obama made yet another push for cyber-security legislation on Friday, hosting a conference with industry leaders and others and signing a new executive order promoting the sharing of threat information.Obama has made cyber-security a top priority in the remainder of his term, capitalizing on North Korea's alleged hacking attack on Sony Pictures late last year to highlight the country's vulnerability to cyber-attacks and the need for stronger protective measures.Last month,

 The chairman of North Korea's parliament plans to visit Russia this year, a Russian news report said Friday, following the recent news of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's plan to visit the neighbor in May.   Choe Thae-bok, chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly, will visit Moscow sometime this year, the Korean-language Voice of Russia said, quoting a high-ranking Russian parliamentary official who attended a banquet celebrating the birthday of former leader Kim Jong-il a day earlier in Nort