Prosecutors sought an 18-month jail term on Monday for a Japanese journalist charged with defaming President Park Geun-hye in print.Prosecutors argued that Tatsuya Kato, former Seoul bureau chief for Sankei Shimbun, knowingly published groundless rumors in August last year that Park might have been with her former aide, Jeong Yun-hoe, at the time of the sinking of the Sewol ferry, one of South Korea's worst peacetime disasters on April 16, 2014, and that Kato had clearly intended to slander the

apanese private equity firm Orix has given up its bid to buy Hyundai Securities Co., local financial sources said Monday.According to insiders, Orix informed Hyundai Group, which had placed the brokerage firm on sale, that it will not extend negotiations designed to purchase the company, without disclosing further details. Hyundai Group, which wants to sell the securities firm as part of a wider 3.3 trillion won ($2.9 billion) restructuring effort to reduce the conglomerate's debt, had a so-call

ATHENS (AFP) -- Greece's parliament on Friday narrowly adopted further reforms demanded by the country's international creditors in return for further bailout funds.A majority of 154 lawmakers, out of a total of 300 deputies in the single-chamber parliament, backed the sweeping bill, which provides for further tax hikes and pension cuts.The entire opposition, from the far left communists to the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party voted against the legislation as a whole, even though some of their members

BEIJING (AP) -- A top Chinese general said Saturday that China's newly created islands in the disputed South China Sea are intended mainly to aid shipping and dismissed concerns that Beijing is seeking to strengthen its control over the strategically vital region. General Fan Changlong's remarks came as expectations grow that the U.S. might directly challenge Chinese claims in the South China Sea by sailing a Navy ship inside the 12-nautical mile (21-kilometer) territorial limit surrounding one

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) -- A U.S. jury on Friday declared that Apple owes $234 million in damages for infringing on mobile chip technology patented by University of Wisconsin researchers."This is a case where the hard work of our university researchers and the integrity of patenting and licensing discoveries has prevailed," said Carl Gulbrandsen, managing director of the nonprofit Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation which brought the suit."The jury recognized the seminal computer processing work th

South Korean stocks are expected to move in a tight range next week ahead of key events, including a release of Chinese economic data, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 10.73 points this week to close at 1,930.26 on Friday.Throughout the week, the index swerved in and out of positive territory on rising concerns about a Chinese economic slowdown ahead of the corporate earnings season.This week, KOSPI started bullish on news that a Fed official hinted at

Hundreds of South Korean scholars have declared they are boycotting the writing of state-issued history textbooks out of concern that that they will teach distorted views on the country's recent history.President Park Geun-hye's government plans to require middle and high schools to use textbooks edited by the government after 2017, instead of allowing schools to choose from eight private publishers, as is currently the case.South Korea's move toward state-issued textbooks is the latest in a ser

South Korea's ruling and opposition parties showed a mixed response Saturday to the outcome of summit talks between President Park Geun-hye and her American counterpart, Barack Obama.At the summit in Washington hours earlier, Park and Obama reaffirmed their willingness to engage North Korea if it moves toward denuclearization.The ruling Saenuri Party noted it was the first adoption of a joint statement exclusively on North Korea between the leaders of the allies."It is a declaration of urgency t

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Saturday made a ritual offering to the controversial Yasukuni war shrine seen by neighbouring countries as a symbol of Tokyo's militarist past.Abe donated a sacred "masakaki" tree bearing his name as prime minister to coincide with the start of the four-day autumn festival at the shrine in central Tokyo, a shrine official said. Visitors look at a "masakaki" tree dedicated by Japanese Prime Minsiter Shinzo Abe to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine for its autumn f

As the high-level inter-Korean dialogue dragged on, hopes and doubts were flying around the seemingly incongruous duos from each side driving the rare gathering: rigid former and incumbent military commanders paired with preachers for a cross-border thaw. From the North, Hwang Pyong-so, vice chairman of the powerful National Defense Commission and director of the General Political Bureau of the (North) Korean People’s Army, joined hands with Kim Yang-gon, director of the North’s United Front Dep

BEIJING (AFP) -- Jamaican Usain Bolt trumped American rival Justin Gatlin to retain his world 100m title on Sunday.Bolt, also the double Olympic gold medallist and world record holder in the blue riband event, ran a season's best of 9.79 seconds.Gatlin, who has served two doping bans, was just one-hundredth of a second off Bolt, taking silver in 9.80sec with fellow American Trayvon Bromell rounding out the podium, taking bronze in 9.92sec.

KATHMANDU (AFP) -- Nepal Sunday opened Everest for the autumn season, granting its first climbing permit four months after a deadly earthquake triggered an avalanche at its base camp.Hundreds of climbers had to abandon attempts when the avalanche struck in April, marking a second summer season with virtually no one reaching the summit of the world's highest mountain.The deaths of 16 Nepalese guides in an avalanche in 2014 sparked a shutdown that year.Japanese climber Nobokazu Kuriki will return

TEHRAN (AP) -- British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond reopened the British Embassy in Tehran on Sunday, nearly four years after it was closed following an attack by hard-liners.Hammond arrived in Tehran on Sunday to attend the reopening ceremony and to hold talks with Iranian officials. The trip marked the first time a British foreign secretary has visited Tehran since 2003. Britain has had no diplomatic presence in Tehran since hard-liners protesting the imposition of international sanctions

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) -- Lingering health problems afflicting many of the roughly 13,000 Ebola survivors have galvanized global and local health officials to find out how widespread the ailments are, and how to remedy them.The World Health Organization calls it an emergency within an emergency. Many of the survivors have vision and hearing issues. Some others experience physical and emotional pains, fatigue and other problems. The medical community is negotiating uncharted waters as it tries to me

PARIS (AFP) -- A heavily-armed gunman previously flagged by intelligence services who was overpowered by passengers in a crowded train said he was "dumbfounded" by accusations of terrorism levelled against him, his lawyer said Sunday.The alleged attacker, named as 25-year-old Moroccan national Ayoub El Khazzani, on Friday evening boarded a high-speed train in Brussels bound for Paris armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle, Luger automatic pistol, nine cartridge clips and a box-cutter.Witnesses s

VIENNA (AFP) -- OPEC on Tuesday revised upward its growth forecast for global oil demand in 2015 and maintained projected record levels of world consumption next year, despite turbulent market conditions spurred by financial instability in Greece and China.In its August monthly report, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said it was expecting world oil demand to grow by 1.38 million barrels per day -- some 90,000 more than announced in its July estimates.The cartel also stuck t

DUBLIN (AFP) -- Amnesty International was going through a fraught vote Tuesday on whether the human rights organisation should back decriminalising prostitution, following a heated debate on the divisive issue.Some 400 delegates from 70 countries have gathered in Dublin and will vote on the draft policy. If it passes, it will help form Amnesty's policy on the global sex trade."We want to see a legal framework in place whereby all elements of sex work are decriminalised," Thomas Schultz-Jagow, Am

STOCKHOLM (AFP) -- The two suspects in a knife attack at an Ikea store in Sweden that left two dead are Eritrean asylum-seekers, one of whom has denied any involvement while the other is in critical condition, police said Tuesday.The motive for the midday attack on Monday in the central town of Vasteras was still unknown, deputy prosecutor general Eva Moren told reporters."The two suspects are both from Eritrea. They have been living at an asylum centre," she said, adding that the pair knew each

ATHENS (AP) -- Greece has agreed on the broad terms of a new three-year bailout package with international creditors, with a few last details expected to be ironed out Tuesday.Finalizing quickly the deal for about 85 billion euros ($93 billion) in new loans would prevent the country from defaulting on its debts next week and secure its future in the euro."We are very close. Two or three very small details remain,'' Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said as he emerged Tuesday morning from all-ni

JERSEY CITY, New Jersey (AP) -- Billionaire and Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump returned to Fox News Tuesday morning for the first time since attacking the network's host during a debate last week and again refused to rule out running for president as an independent candidate. While still considered a long-shot candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2016 election, Trump has been leading in the polls after stirring much controversy with contentious remarks about Mexican