South Korean pop sensation Psy has been hailed as a "ready-made star" by the U.S. weekly music magazine Billboard in its latest issue.Psy, whose real name is Park Jae-sang, was featured on the cover of the Nov. 3 issue of Billboard, the magazine said on its Web site on Friday (local time).The cover story analyzes several factors that helped the 34-year-old entertainer succeed with his hit song "Gangnam Style," which features comical horse-riding dance moves. The video went viral on YouTube in Ju

Less than two weeks before China's once-in-a-decade leadership transition, a top official said economic reforms should center on its state-owned enterprises that have been the major driving force behind the country's explosive growth."Facing the current political and economic circumstances inside and out of the country, it is necessary to further promote and enhance the reform of state-owned enterprises, so that they can fully play the leading role in the national economy," said Wu Bangguo, Chin

China's health authorities have ordered a recall of Nongshim Co.'s instant noodle products that were found to have been tainted in its home country South Korea, officials said Saturday.China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine made the announcement on its Web site against six types of instant noodles products made by South Korea's largest instant noodle maker.The affected noodles include popular Neoguri, bowl-type Neoguri and Saeng Saeng Noodle. They were f

South Korean police and military launched an investigation after a solider was allegedly shot by a poacher during training on Friday night in Eumseong County, North Chungcheong Province. The 21-year-old corporal surnamed Lee was allegedly hit by an air gun pellet in the collarbone at around 11:20 p.m., authorities said. His unit based in Gyeonggi Province was staging a weeklong drill in nearby mountains. “While Lee and another corporal were engaged in ambush exercises, a sport utility vehicle su

TOKYO (AFP) -- A Japanese court dismissed a sexual harassment and unfair dismissal suit against fashion house Prada after management told a female worker to lose weight and keep in shape.Rina Bovrisse, 38, who also claimed a Prada human resources manager had branded her "ugly", said she would appeal the case and that the ruling by a female judge at Tokyo District Court was unacceptable.Bovrisse was demanding Prada pay her 58 million yen ($728,000) for emotional distress."This decision by the jud

Chinese industrial companies' profits rose in September for the first time in six months, adding to signs economic growth is picking up following a seven-quarter slowdown.Net income rose 7.8 percent from a year earlier to 464.3 billion yuan ($74.3 billion), the National Bureau of Statistics said today in Beijing. That compared with a 6.2 percent decline in August, the year's largest drop.Today's report followed data showing industrial production and retail sales accelerated in September and a ma

UBS AG, Switzerland's largest bank, will cut as many as 10,000 jobs companywide as the trading business shrinks, a person with knowledge of the plan said.Many of the reductions will come in the trading businesses overseen by investment-bank co-head Carsten Kengeter and probably will occur over several quarters, said the person, who requested anonymity because the plans haven't been publicly announced. An announcement may come when UBS reports third- quarter earnings Oct. 30, the person said.Chie

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republican challenger Mitt Romney used a government report showing tepid economic growth to hammer President Barack Obama less than two weeks before Election Day, but the report also had some good news for the president.With the Commerce Department reporting a modest 2 percent growth rate unlikely to make a big dent in unemployment, Romney said Obama inherited a bad situation when he took office and "made the problem worse." He criticized Obama for failing to reduce borrowing

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- It used to be that Microsoft was the evil empire, and Apple the scrappy underdog.Now the roles are reversed, and Microsoft is challenging a dominant Apple, which has staked its claim as the leader of the sizzling mobile sector for tablets and smartphones, as well as the biggest seller of digital music.Microsoft, still the biggest force in the PC market with its Windows operating system, is making a new, belated effort on Apple's turf.The Redmond, Washington-based giant has la

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (AP) -- Democratic candidate for Congress Michelle Lujan Grisham is part of the next generation of college-educated, middle-class Latino congressional candidates. Unlike many of their early predecessors, the new Latino candidates don't come from labor backgrounds, and some are seeking seats outside of predominantly Hispanic districts.They are the beneficiaries of civil rights gains, demographic changes and new congressional seats created by recent redistricting. They incl

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Obama administration officials defended their response to the September attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, amid new claims that the White House failed to send help quickly enough as militants overran the mission. The U.S. ambassador and three other Americans died in the hourslong battle.Fox News reported that security officers working for the CIA in Benghazi heard the attack on the consulate but were twice told to wait before rushing to the compound. Fox also rep

BEIJING (AP) -- A 23-year-old man has become the fifth Tibetan in a week to set himself on fire and die in a county in far western China to protest against Chinese rule, a rights group said Saturday.Tsewang Kyab set himself on fire Friday evening on the main street of Amuquhu town in Xiahe county, London-based Free Tibet said.Earlier Friday, a 24-year-old Tibetan farmer, Lhamo Tseten, died from self-immolation near a military base and a government office in Amuquhu, the group said. China's offic

SITTWE, Myanmar (AFP) -- Thousands of displaced people have surged towards already overcrowded camps in western Myanmar, the U.N. said Saturday, after vicious new communal violence that has left dozens dead.Seething resentment between Buddhists and Muslims erupted this week in a wave of fresh unrest in Rakhine state, prompting international warnings the unrest imperils the nation's nascent reform process.The official death toll stood at 67. Roughly half the dead were women, according to a state

The South Korean stock market may gain ground next week, but advances are not likely to be large amid nagging concerns about the global economy, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index finished at 1,891.43 this week, down 2.7 percent from a week earlier, beset by the eurozone debt problems and weak corporate earnings results.The KOSPI fell below the 1,900-point for the first time in more than one month Friday after the central bank said that Korea's third-quarter g

The United States' special envoy for North Korea said there would be no major changes in U.S. policy toward Pyongyang no matter who wins the November presidential election, a report said Saturday.Glyn Davies, the U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, said in a recent forum at Stanford University that since the Reagan administration, the U.S. government has pursued a "dual approach" of using both dialogue and pressure in dealing with North Korea, regardless of whether a Democrat or

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Changes could be in store for U.S.-Asian relations, but that has little to do with presidential race. Lost in the backbiting between President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney over China is that they generally agree on their approaches to Asia. But whoever wins the Nov. 6 vote will have to deal with a region in flux -- and figure out how to keep simmering tensions from boiling over.Leadership changes are imminent in East Asia's dominant economies -- China, Japan and Sou

The third game of the South Korean baseball championship series was rained out Saturday here in Incheon.The Korean Series matchup between the Samsung Lions and the SK Wyverns was pushed back by a day amid heavy downpours, the Korea Baseball said. The game had been scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. at Munhak Stadium, home of the Wyverns, just west of Seoul. It will instead be played at 2 p.m. Sunday at Munhak.The fourth game will be back at Munhak on Monday at 6 p.m.The Lions have won the first two ga

A former chief prosecutor said Saturday that presidential candidates should not politicize the issue of investigative rights of the prosecution and police as campaign pledges ahead of the December election.Former Prosecutor-General Kim Joon-gyu stepped down from his post in July 2011 in protest over the parliamentary approval of a contentious bill that prosecutors claim limits their investigatory power. The resignation came less than two months before his term was scheduled to end in mid-August.

YANG MEI, Taiwan (AP) -- Norway's Suzann Pettersen shot a 7-under 65 on Friday to share the second-round lead with South Korea's Inbee Park in the LPGA Taiwan Championship.The winners the last two weeks in the opening events on the tour's Asian Swing, Pettersen and Park had 10-under 134 totals at the Sunrise Golf and Country Club. Park shot a 69.Yani Tseng, the top-ranked Taiwanese star who won the tournament last year, was two strokes back along with Scotland's Catriona Matthew. Tseng shot a 69

A failure of Japan's parliament to approve budget legislation by the end of November risks an impact on bond sales, a Ministry of Finance official said.Opposition lawmakers are blocking authorization for 38.3 trillion yen ($478 billion) in government borrowing to cover this year's deficit as they press Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to call elections. The legislation needs to be approved by November for the finance ministry to hold debt auctions as planned, the official told reporters in Tokyo ye