Jeff Bezos’s purchase of the Washington Post may look like a steal, yet it came at a rich valuation that newspapers such as the New York Times Co. may only dream of obtaining. The founder of Amazon.com Inc. plunked down $250 million for the Post newspaper division, about 17 times adjusted profit, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That multiple implies a valuation for the New York Times of about $4 billion -- more than double its current market value. Major metropolitan newspapers should f

BRUSSELS (AFP) -- Israeli and Palestinian negotiators' stated goal of reaching a comprehensive peace deal inside nine months is realistic, the European Union's top diplomat said Wednesday, painting the bloc as a "reliable friend" to both sides."I firmly believe that a final end to this conflict is within reach," Catherine Ashton said in a statement."I call on all those who wish to see a negotiated solution to support those now engaged in talks so that the opportunity for peace can be seized."Isr

TOKYO (AFP) -- Japan's gaffe-prone deputy prime minister has said Tokyo could learn from Nazi Germany when it comes to constitutional reform, prompting a rebuke from a Jewish human rights group.In a statement on its website late Tuesday, the US-based Simon Wiesenthal Center called on Taro Aso to clarify his comments that Tokyo, which is mulling a change to its pacifist constitution, should look to the way the Nazis quietly adopted reforms."First, mass media started to make noises (about Japan's

Iran may achieve the “critical capability” to process low-enriched uranium into material for a nuclear weapon without detection by international inspectors by mid-2014, according to a report by a research group.Iran would reach this capability by acting on plans to install thousands of additional enrichment centrifuges at its Natanz and Fordow sites, according to David Albright, a former nuclear inspector, and Christina Walrond of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Secu

The Senate’s second-ranking Democrat said he would “have a lot of questions” if former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers is chosen to replace Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke.Senator Richard Durbin’s comments in an interview at the Capitol reflect anxiety within the Senate that President Barack Obama may nominate Summers. Durbin is among 19 Democratic senators and one independent who signed a July 26 letter to the White House praising Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Janet Yellen and urgi

Germany’s unemployment rate held near a two-decade low, potentially buoying support for the government before September elections, while the rate in the euro area stayed at a record high. The number of people out of work in Germany decreased by a seasonally adjusted 7,000 to 2.93 million in July and the adjusted jobless rate was unchanged at 6.8 percent, according to the Nuremberg-based Federal Labor Agency today. The rate in the 17-nation euro area was 12.1 percent in June, unchanged from a rev

BEIRUT (AP) -- Syrian government troops launched an assault Wednesday to regain control of a northern village that was the site of an alleged chemical weapons attack earlier this year, activists said.The push on Khan al-Assal, a village on the southwestern outskirts of the embattled city of Aleppo comes just over a week after it was captured by the rebels.The capture was a rare success for the rebels on the battlefield as opposition forces recently suffered two major setbacks during a wide-rangi

WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. senators are questioning top Obama administration officials about the National Security Agency's surveillance programs for the first time since the House narrowly rejected a proposal last week to effectively shut down the NSA's secret collection of hundreds of millions of Americans' phone records.The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday will include testimony from the No. 2 officials at the Justice Department, FBI and NSA, plus the top lawyer for the Office of the

Creditors of troubled STX Offshore & Shipbuilding have agreed to provide fresh liquidity to the shipbuilder in a bid to help resolve its cash crunch, industry sources said Wednesday.The creditors have submitted a written consent for the liquidity supply worth about 2.15 trillion won ($1.92 billion) to the company's main creditor Korea Development Bank, according to the sources.The supply of fresh liquidity includes 1.85 trillion won in emergency funds, leading the total volume of liquidity injec

The first United Nations commission on human rights abuses in North Korea began its official investigation by interviewing defectors in South Korea, sources said Wednesday.The sources at Free the NK Gulag said officials from the United Nations Commission of Inquiry for North Korea carried out interviews with people who escaped from the communist country.It said the two officials met eight people from Tuesday onwards and received testimonies that they had been personally subjected to human rights

남북 양측은22일 개성공단 정상화를 위한 제5차 실무회담을 열고 일부 사안에서 진전을 이뤘으나 합의문 도출에는 실패했다. 이들은 합의서 수정안을 교환하는 등 일부 사안에서 진전을 이뤘으나 결국 오는 25일 같은 장소에서 추가 협의를 하기로 합의하고 회담을 종료했다. 양측은 이날 개성에서 열린 회담에서 재발방지문제, 신변 안전 및 투자자산 보호 등 제도적 보호 장치, 외국기업 유치 등 개성공단 국제화, 재가동 문제에 대해 논의했다.우리측 수석대표인 김기웅 통일부 남북협력지구지원단장은 이날 회담 직후 브리핑에서 “일부 협의가 진전된 부분도 있었지만 좀 더 조율이 필요한 부분도 있었다”고 말했다.그는 특히 “재발방지 부분에 대한 입장차가 가장 크고 우리측은 재발방지 보장을 위해 북측의 확고한 약속이 필요하다는 입장을 가지고 있다”고 밝혔다. 그러나 김 단장은 “북한 측도 개성공단을 국제적인 공단으로 발전시켜 나간다는데 대해서는 긍정적인 입장을 보였다”고 덧붙였다. 우리 측은 개성공단 중단

개성공단 정상화를 위한 제3차 남북 당국간 실무회담이 합의문을 채택하지 못한 채 종료, 오는 17일 같은 장소에서 4차 회담을 갖기로 합의했다.정부는 15일 개성에서 열린 회담에서 “개성공단을 왕래하는 우리 측 인원의 신변안전과 기업들의 투자자산 보호를 위한 법적• 제도적 장치들을 완비해야 한다”고 북한에 요구했다.우리측 수석대표인 김기웅 통일부 남북협력지구지원단장은 이날 회담 직후 브리핑에서 “‘발전적 정상화’의 구체적 조치로 ‘일방적인 공단 가동 중단에 대한 재발방지 약속’과 ‘우리측 입주기업에 대한 신변안전과 기업들의 투자자산 보호를 위한 법적, 제도적 장치’, ‘공단에 입주하는 우리기업과 외국기업들에 대한 국제적 수준의 기업활동 보장을 통한 공단의 국제화’를 요구조건으로 제시했다”고 말했다. 그러나 북측은 “개성공단의 빠른 재가동을 주장하며 개성공단 가동 중단 원인에 대해 기존의 북측 주장을 되풀이 했다”고 그는 덧붙였다.김 단장은 또 “북측이 지난 2차 회담 당시 들고왔던

정부는 15일 개성에서 열린 남북 당국간 3차 회담에서 “개성공단을 왕래하는 우리 측 인원의 신변안전과 기업들의 투자자산 보호를 위한 법적•제도적 장치들을 완비해야 한다”고 북한에 요구했다.우리측 수석대표인 김기웅 통일부 남북협력지구지원단장은 개성에서 열린 공단 재가동을 위한 회의에서북측의 개성공단 가동중단 조치로 인한 문제의 심각성을 지적하고 이와 같은 일이 다시는 발생하지 않도록 해야 한다“고 강조했다고 통일부 당국자가 전했다.김 단장은 기조발언을 통해 “개성공단에 입주하는 우리 측 기업과 외국 기업들에 대해 국제적 수준의 기업 활동을 보장함으로써 국제적 공단으로 발전시켜 나가야 한다”고 피력했다.반면 북측 수석대표인 박철수 중앙특구개발지도총국 부총국장은 재발방지책 등과 관련, 구체적 방안 제시 없이 기존의 조속 재가동 입장만 주장했다고 알려졌다. 이 당국자는 “북측은 이번 회담이 개성공업지구를 빠른 시간 내에 복구 가동시키는 방향으로 나가야 한다는 입장을 표명했으나 구체적인 방

　신선호 유엔 주재 북한 대사의 기자회견을 통한 북한의 연이은 평화 공세에도 한•미 양국은 비핵화를 위한 진정성 있는 태도 변화를 촉구하며 초지일관하는 모습을 보였다. 　신 대사는 21일(현지시간) 뉴욕 유엔본부에서 기자회견을 열고 지난 16일에 있었던 고위급 회담 제의를 언급하며 “미국과의 대화에서는 한반도 긴장완화, 정전협정의 평화협정으로의 교체, 비핵화 문제 등을 모두 논의할 수 있다”고 말했다. 　같은 날 중국을 방문중인 북한 김계관 외무성 제1부상도 중국 양제츠 외교담당 국무위원을 만나 북한은 한반도의 긴장완화를 희망하고 있으며 핵 문제 해결을 위한 대화자세를 견지하고 있다면서 “6자회담을 포함한 어떤 형태의 대화도 환영한다”고 말했다고 신화통신이 보도했다.　그러나 신 대사는 경제제재 철회와 더불어 “아시아•태평양 지역의 평화와 안정을 수호하기 위한 필수적 도구”라며 유엔군사령부 해체를 요구했다. 　그는 “비핵화는 우리의 최종목적이지만 일방적인 비핵화는 있을 수 없다”면서

PARIS (AFP) -- Russian fourth seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina won the French Open women's doubles title on Sunday by defeating top seeds Sara Errani amd Roberta Vinci of Italy 7-5, 6-2 in the final.It was a first Grand Slam title for the Russian pair and it was the first time they had beaten the Italians in five attempts, their last encounter being a semi-final loss at the Australian Open in January.Errani and Vinci have been the dominant women's doubles team in the world over the las

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) -- Clashes between protesters and militias aligned with the military in Libya's eastern city of Benghazi left 27 people killed and dozens wounded, a health official said Sunday.The violence broke out Saturday after protesters stormed a base belonging to Libya Shield, a grouping of militias with roots in the rebel groups that fought in the country's 2011 civil war who are tasked with maintaining security.The protesters were demanding that militias leave their camp and submit t

BERLIN (AP) -- Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes in a region of eastern Germany where the Elbe river has flooded and burst through a dam, officials said Sunday.At least 21 people have been killed by a week of flooding in central Europe, as rivers such as the Danube, the Elbe and the Vlatava have overflowed after heavy rains and caused extensive damage in central and southern Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary.The latest fatality was an 80-year-old m

ISTANBUL (AFP) -- Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan rallied supporters on Sunday after anti-government protesters burned tyres and hurled fireworks at riot police firing back tear gas in unrelenting civil unrest.The fresh clashes raised pressure on Erdogan's Islamic-rooted conservative government after he ordered an end to the protests, which have thrown up the fiercest challenge to his decade of rule.Overnight tens of thousands poured into the streets in Istanbul, cradle of the 10 da

BEIJING (AP) -- The man who once ran China's powerful railways ministry wept as he admitted his guilt and sought leniency Sunday at his trial on corruption charges, one of the country's highest-level graft cases in years.Liu Zhijun, 60, who oversaw the ministry's high-profile bullet train development, has been accused of taking massive bribes and steering lucrative projects to associates. The case is seen as an indicator of how top-level officials might fare in an anti-corruption campaign that C

President Park Geun-hye will hold a meeting with foreign affairs and security-related ministers on Monday, an official said, a day after officials from the two Koreas opened their first government-level talks in two years at a border village of Panmunjom.It will be the third time that Park has held such a meeting since she took office in February.The inter-Korean meeting in Panmunjom on Sunday was aimed at paving the way for Seoul and Pyongyang to hold ministerial-level talks on Wednesday.The Su