For the second time in less than a month, the U.S. stock market marched past another milepost on its long, turbulent journey back from the Great Recession, toppling another record left over from the days before government bailouts and failing investment banks.The Standard & Poor's 500 closed at a new high Thursday, three weeks after another popular market gauge, the Dow Jones industrial average, obliterated its own closing record. The S&P capped its best quarter in a year, rising 10 percent, and

The U.N. Security Council authorized a new “intervention brigade” for Congo on Thursday with an unprecedented mandate to take military action against rebel groups to help bring peace to the country's conflict-wracked east.The resolution, which the council adopted unanimously, gives the brigade a mandate to carry out offensive operations alone or with Congolese army troops to neutralize and disarm armed groups.The brigade is unprecedented in U.N. peacekeeping because of its offensive mandate. The

South Korea's industrial output shrank for the second straight month in February, intensifying worries that industrial activities might be slowing due to toughened economic conditions, a government report showed Friday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries dropped 0.8 percent last month from a month earlier. It is the second straight on-month contraction following a revised 1.2 percent fall in January.The output also

The unprecedented U.S. decision to send nuclear-capable B-2 stealth bombers to drop dummy munitions during military drills with South Korea this week was part of normal exercises and not intended to provoke a reaction from North Korea, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Thursday.Hagel acknowledged, however, that North Korea's belligerent tones and actions in recent weeks have ratcheted up the danger in the region, “and we have to understand that reality.”Speaking to Pentagon reporters, both Hage

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered the country's strategic rocket forces to be placed on standby to strike U.S. and South Korean targets, state media reported Friday, after two B-2 stealth bombers conducted first-ever operational drills over the Korean Peninsula.  The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, in an English dispatch, "(Kim) convened an urgent operation meeting on the Korean People's Army's Strategic Rocket Force's performance of duty for firepower strike at the Supreme Command

Models pose with cars being showcased at the Seoul Motor Show. The biennial event kicked off on Thursday with a media preview. (Kim Myung-sub/The Korea Herald)<관련 한글 기사>2013 서울 국제모터쇼 미모의 레이싱걸 '화제'2013 서울 국제모터쇼가 28일 경기 고양 일산 킨텍스에서 프레스데이를 시작으로 개막했다.한국자동차산업협회·한국수입자동차협회·한국자동차공업협동조합이 주최하고, 지식경제부·환경부·국토해양부·고양시가 후원하는 이번 모터쇼는 4월 7일까지 열 린다.

예금보험공사가 저축은행 사태와 관련해 곧 피고의 처지에 놓이게 된다.금융권 관계자는 28일 <전국 저축은행피해자 공동대책위원회> 등으로 구성된 소비자들이 예보를 상대로 소를 제기할 예정이라고 밝혔다.지난 26일 서울 모처에서 열린 손해배상청구 설명회엔 수백명의 신청자가 몰려 사건위임계약서와 소송위임장을 제출한 것으로 확인됐다. 검색포탈 네이버 상의 <저축은행피해자모임> 및 금융소비자연맹을 통한 소송참여신청 마감 시한은 내달 1일이다.담당 변호인단에 따르면 금융위원회로부터 영업정지 처분을 받은 전국 26개 저축은행 어느 곳 예금자라도 공동소송에 참여할 수 있다. 단 5천만원 이하의 예금과 후순위채권이 청구 대상이다.금융소비자연맹 관계자는 “저축은행 사태 관련 예보가 피소되는 첫 사례”라며 “4월10일에서 20일 사이 서울행정법원에 소장을 접수할 예정”이라고 말했다.예금자보호법에 따르면 예금보험공사는 금융회사로부터 보험료를 받아 기금을 적립한 후, 금융회사가 예금을 지급할 수 없을 시

영국에서 한 30대 남성이 자신의 여자친구와 한 13세 소년의 성관계를 주선하는 어이없는 사건이 발생했다. 데일리 메일은 27일 (현지시간) 브라이언 에클스톤 (32)과 엠마니 휴즈 (31) 등 네 명이 16세 이하 미성년자의 성행위를 부추긴 혐의로 스완지 크라운 법원에서 재판을 받고 있다고 보도했다. 에클스톤은 또한 이 행위를 비디오로 촬영한 혐의도 받고 있다.일명 스윙어 (Swinger: 배우자에 구애 받지 않고 자유롭게 성생활을 즐기는 사람)이라고 알려진 에클스톤은 지난 2011년 2월, 자신의 친구 이언 워커의 집에 찾아온 피해 소년에게 자신의 여자친구 휴즈와 관계를 가지라고 부추겼다고 한다.소년은 사건 당시 가족 친구이기도 한 워커의 집을 방문 중이었던 걸로 알려졌다.에클스톤은 워커와 소년을 데리고 자신의 집으로 가서 휴즈가 있는 2층으로 가라고 지시한 것으로 알려졌는데, 소년은 이에 대해 “굉장한 압박감을 느꼈다”고 증언했다. 소년은 행위 도중 에클스톤이 들어와 “잘하고

The Miami Heat's 27-game winning streak was ended Wednesday by the Chicago Bulls, 101-97, when a furious comeback by LeBron James and his teammates fell short.The Heat finished six games short of the record held by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers.Luol Deng scored 28 points and Carlos Boozer added 21 points and 17 rebounds as the Bulls brought the Heat's pursuit of NBA history to a screeching halt.Miami's superstar James did all he could to keep the run going, scoring 32 points and even collecting

A group of swingers in Britain were tried Wednesday on charges of inciting a 13-year-old boy to have sex, British media reported.Brian Ecclestone, 32, allegedly invited the unnamed boy to have sexual intercourse with his girlfriend Emmanie Hughes in February 2011, the teenage victim told Swansea Crown Court. Ecclestone is also accused of videotaping the incident.The victim said Ecclestone took him to the room where Hughes was staying, and said that he “felt really pressured.” The couple and two

North Korea imported an unusually massive amount of silver from China in January, possibly in relation to leader Kim Jong-un's birthday that month, sources and China's customs office said Thursday.Data from China's customs office showed that North Korea imported 661.71 kilograms of Chinese silver for $653,128 in January.The monthly import is unusually enormous given that the North took in only $77,593 worth of precious metal and other jewels for the whole of 2012. The corresponding amount for 20

When the then presidential transition team announced last month that the incoming government will create a new ministry in charge of science and information technology, many English-language media reporters were at a loss over what to call it in English.The difficulty was because its Korean title was seen as too grand and perhaps rhetorical as well. When translated literally, it should be the ministry of "future creation and science." The name was coined apparently to underscore the new governme

South Koreans commuting to an inter-Korean industrial complex in North Korea's Kaesong crossed the border without a hitch on Thursday, despite the North's severance of a military hotline with the South on the previous day, officials said.On Wednesday, Pyongyang, citing hostility from the United States and South Korea, abruptly cut off its western coastal military hotline with Seoul, which is responsible for guaranteeing the safety of South Korean personnel commuting to and from Kaesong, raising

The head of South Korea's state-run KDB Financial Group Co. has offered to resign, its officials said Thursday, amid growing pressure from the government for a big reshuffle of major banking chiefs. Kang Man-soo, the chairman of KDB Financial Group and its banking unit Korea Development Bank, has already tendered his resignation to the government, soon after President Park Geun-hye named the new chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the country's top regulator, according to people

South Korea's current account surplus widened in February from the previous month as imports declined faster than exports, and a deficit of the service account narrowed, the central bank said Thursday.The current account surplus reached US$2.71 billion in February, up from a revised $2.33 billion the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The current account is the broadest measure of cross-border trade.The February gain was the largest since November, marking the 13th straight mo

An upcoming forum will address one of the most contentious issue between South Korea and the United States -- whether Seoul should develop its own nuclear weapons.The North Korean nuclear crisis will also be discussed at the 2013 Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference, set to begin April 8 for a two-day run.The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will participate in the event, which will include a session on a renewed call in South Korea for "nuclear sovereignty," acc

The Supreme Court, concluding two days of intense debate, has suggested it could strike down the law that prevents legally married gay couples from receiving a range of federal benefits that go to married people.The court wrapped up its arguments Wednesday over the federal Defense of Marriage Act that bans recognition of same-sex marriages in the U.S., affecting several benefits available to married couples, including survivor benefits and tax breaks. Justice Anthony Kennedy _ often the decisive

Cyprus confirmed banks would reopen on Thursday after a nearly two-week lockdown on the bailed-out country, but only under draconian capital controls, the first of their kind in the eurozone.Finance Minister Michalis Sarris issued a decree Wednesday for temporary limits on daily withdrawals to 300 euros ($385) to prevent the "collapse of credit institutions".The central bank confirmed that branches shuttered since March 16 -- leaving homes and businesses short on cash -- would open from 1000 GMT

A 14-year-old girl was found dead in Britain on Tuesday after apparently being mauled by five "out of control" dogs, police said.Police were called to a house in Atherton, near Manchester in northwest England, where they found the body and "were confronted by a number of dogs that were aggressive and out of control", a statement said.Four of the dogs, believed to be bull mastiffs and Staffordshire bull terriers, were put down humanely by armed response officers, while the fifth was secured insid

The Fair Trade Commission on Wednesday launched an investigation into five construction companies on allegations that they colluded in a controversial project to refurbish the nation's major rivers pushed under the Lee Myung-bak administration.Those included were Doosan E&C, Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Co., Samwhan Corp., Hall Engineering & Construction Corp. and Kyeryong Construction, which joined a consortium to earn the river project.  Earlier in the day, investigators were dispa