CAIRO (AP) -- Egyptian authorities on Wednesday continued their crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies by arresting two more high-profile Islamist figures, while officials said that they had started a closed hearing in a prison outside Cairo on whether to release jailed ex-president Hosni Mubarak.The arrested Islamists include a preacher known for his fiery sermons who was reportedly caught as he tried to flee to neighboring Libya in disguise, and a spokesman for the Brotherhood said

Vestas Wind Systems A/S, the Danish turbine maker that’s been unprofitable for two years, replaced its chief executive officer after a worse-than-expected loss. Anders Runevad, from Ericsson AB, will take over on Sept. 1 from Ditlev Engel, who has been at Vestas since 2005, the turbine maker said. Its two-year turnaround program "continues according to plan" even as second-quarter margins narrowed. Vestas rose the most in three months in Copenhagen trading. "It is now the appropriate time to mak

Apple Inc.'s share of the Chinese tablet-computer market plunged in the second quarter as Samsung Electronics Co. and dozens of local makers built on gains in smartphones to curb growth in iPad shipments. Apple accounted for 28 percent of tablet shipments during the period, down from 49 percent a year earlier, Dickie Chang, a Hong Kong-based analyst with researcher IDC, said in an e-mail today. Samsung surged to second with 11 percent, while half of shipments were generated by producers with 1 p

BRUSSELS (AP) -- European Union foreign ministers are seeking to forge a joint response to the crisis in Egypt to push for an end to the violence and a return to negotiations, with discussions expected on proposals to halt some aid programs and suspend arms shipments.The 28-nation bloc was likely to tread carefully since radical decisions could mean losing leverage over Egypt's new military-backed government and weaken the EU's position as a mediator accepted by all sides.German Foreign Minister

LONDON (AFP) -- Britain's top civil servant approached The Guardian to demand the newspaper return or destroy secret files leaked by former US intelligence analyst Edward Snowden, reports said Wednesday.The left-liberal daily's editor Alan Rusbridger has claimed he was ordered to destroy some of the newspaper's Snowden files, having published a series of revelations from the thousands of documents given to it by the former US National Security Agency contractor.The Guardian said the British gove

HONG KONG (AFP) -- Currencies in developing Asia struggled Wednesday as concerns grow that the US Federal Reserve will soon begin to unwind its massive stimulus programme, diverting cash back to the West.Asian share markets were mixed as investors awaited the release later in the day of minutes from the Fed's July policy meeting.They are anxious to see if higher US interest rates are in the offing, which would lessen the appeal of emerging markets for investors.The Indian rupee fell to another r

NEW YORK CITY (AFP) -- Facebook and other technology giants launched an initiative Wednesday designed to give the whole world access to the Internet.The project is entitled Internet.org and its goal is to cut the cost of smart phone-based Internet services in developing countries."Everything Facebook has done has been about giving all people around the world the power to connect," Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said."There are huge barriers in developing countries to connecting and joining the

BEIRUT (AFP) -- More than 650 people were killed when the Syrian army bombarded Damascus suburbs with chemical weapons Wednesday, the opposition said, branding it a "massacre" and calling for international intervention.The claim, which could not be independently verified, was vehemently denied by the Syrian regime, saying it was  intended to hinder the mission of U.N. chemical weapons inspectors now in the country."Over 650 confirmed dead result of deadly chemical weapon attack in Syria," the op

The new head of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the country's biggest business lobby group, said Wednesday that problems of wealth divide and fair competition should be solved by more flexible measures than regulations.Park Yong-maan, the chairman of Doosan Group, who took office formally as the KCCI head earlier in the day, told reporters that it is possible to solve the issue for "economic democratization" with in-depth discussions between businessmen and the government without reg

The lack of trust between South and North Korea effectively serves as a chance to push for the creation of a new cross-border order, Seoul's unification minister said Wednesday.Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae made the remark during his press briefing held in Seoul to outline the concept of the so-called Trust-building Process on the Korean Peninsula.As President Park Geun-hye's signature policy towards the North, the process "adopts a two-track approach of dialogue and pressure through which

BEIJING (Yonhap News) -- A senior Chinese military official said he sees a chance to resume nuclear talks with North Korea, according to state media on Wednesday, citing recent signs of easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula.Guan Youfei, the director of the external affairs office of China's defense ministry, made the remarks during a press conference in Washington, D.C. as he accompanied Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan on a visit to the United States this week, Xinhua News Agency report

The first summit meeting between South Korea's President Park Geun-hye and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is not likely to take place on the sidelines of the upcoming Group of 20 forum in Saint Petersburg, a government source said Wednesday.The relations between the two nations have been frosty over various historical issues including Japan's renewed territorial claims to South Korean island of Dokdo as well as its leaders' unrepentant remarks regarding its war atrocities.The comments by the

As the heavy death toll from the violent political uprising in Egypt has raised global concern, the country's interim government is now working toward holding elections for a new parliament and administration within the next several months, the Egyptian ambassador to South Korea said Wednesday.About 1,000 Egyptian protesters have been reported killed so far in the interim government's crackdown on violence-wielding supporters of former President Mohamed Morsi, ousted by the military in early Jul

South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won embarks on an eight-day tour of Asian and Middle Eastern countries next week to help boost bilateral economic and cultural exchanges, his office said Wednesday.Chung is scheduled to visit Bahrain, Qatar, Sri Lanka and Turkey for eight days from Sunday. He is expected to be the first South Korean official to make a state visit to Bahrain and Sri Lanka, according to the Prime Minister's Secretariat.On Monday, he will hold bilateral talks with his Bahraini

U.S. Senator John McCain will fly into Seoul Sunday to promote improved human rights conditions in North Korea, sources here said Wednesday.The Arizona senator will stay until Monday while meeting with local activists, promoting the enhancement of human rights conditions in North Korea, the sources said. The U.S. embassy here refused to confirm the visit.McCain, the Republican presidential nominee in 2008, has taken a hawkish stance on the communist North, which is viewed as a country having one

BEIJING (AP) -- Two top Shanghai judges and another court official caught on a videotape apparently taking prostitutes to hotel rooms after dining with a contractor have been stripped of Communist Party membership and will likely lose their jobs.The case, exposed by a disgruntled defendant in a civil case, has aggravated public distrust of the court system and shed new light on continued wrongdoing by officials despite the Chinese leadership's vow to crack down on all corruption.``They slept wit

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Al-Qaida's core leadership remains a potent threat, and experts say it has encouraged the terror network's spread into more countries today than it was operating in immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.President Barack Obama, who ordered the May 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden, has described al-Qaida's headquarters as ``a shadow of its former self.'' White House spokesman Jay Carney on Tuesday called it ``severely diminished.''That bravado didn't match

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- President Barack Obama has confronted Russia over its granting of asylum to fugitive intelligence leaker Edward Snowden and its new anti-gay law, saying Moscow occasionally displays a "Cold War mentality."During an appearance on a late-night talk show Tuesday, Obama said Moscow was still being helpful in Afghanistan and on counter-terrorism but spoke of "underlying challenges that we've had with Russia lately.""There have been times where they slip back into Cold War thinking

On a windy island 500 miles north of Tokyo, Japan is about to experiment with a battery designed to transform the way electricity is supplied and at the same time boost Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic rescue plan.The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is investing 20 billion yen ($203 million) on a Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. device to be used by Hokkaido island’s utility to store excess solar and wind power, stabilizing flows to consumers.Since the earthquake in 2011, Japan has

CAIRO (AFP) -- Western and Arab efforts to mediate an end to Egypt's political deadlock have failed, the presidency said Wednesday, signalling a possible crackdown on Islamists that has sparked fears of more carnage.The statement came hours after US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns left Cairo, having made no headway in finding a compromise between the army-installed government and supporters of deposed Islamist president Mohammed Morsi."The phase of diplomatic efforts has ended today," th