North Korea threatened to inflict the "final destruction" of South Korea in a United Nations conference, warning of further measures following its nuclear test earlier this month.During a U.N. Conference on Disarmament meeting held in Geneva on Tuesday, North Korea's diplomat Jon Yong-ryong said, "South Korea's erratic behavior would only herald its final destruction," referring to the North Korean proverb, "a newborn puppy knows no fear of a tiger." His country could take further steps in a fol

About one out of five taxis across the country ceased operations Wednesday in protest of a stalled taxi bill, the government said Wednesday.According to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, 31,730 taxis halted operation in the Seoul metropolitan area, well below the government’s expectation. The strike has not hindered citizens much during the morning rush hour, as only 20.7 percent of taxi drivers nationwide joined the walkout.To minimize citizens’ inconvenience caused by the w

Tunisia's prime minister announced his resignation Tuesday following a failed effort to form a technocratic government to see the country out of its political crisis.The resignation is expected to further deepen the country's political instability, which earlier Tuesday prompted an international ratings agency to downgrade the government's credit rating.Tunisians overthrew a dictator in January 2011, sparking the Arab Spring revolutions. A moderate Islamist party, Ennahda, won subsequent electio

United Airlines said Tuesday it expected to keep its Boeing 787s out of service through March 30, a fresh sign of how long the aircraft could remain grounded worldwide to fix a battery problem.United, the only U.S. airline that operates Boeing's cutting-edge aircraft, said it was scheduling alternate planes through March 30 while its seven 787 Dreamliners remained grounded."We are further adjusting our published flight schedules to show alternate aircraft in place of our six Boeing 787s through

President Barack Obama is looking for a new candidate to lead American and allied forces in Europe after his first choice, Marine Gen. John Allen, bowed out Tuesday and announced his intention to retire for what he called personal reasons.The move further clouds the picture for Obama as he repositions key figures on his national security team and in key military leadership roles. The White House is fighting for Senate confirmation of Chuck Hagel as defense secretary; a confirmation vote was stal

A shooting spree early Tuesday left three people dead and two others injured in Orange County, and the search for the gunman ended when he shot himself to death in a stolen car as police closed in, authorities said.There were multiple crime scenes in the county south of Los Angeles and many more victims who were shot at but unhurt, said Tustin Lt. Paul Garaven.The shootings began at 4:45 a.m. local time when deputies responding to a call found a female shot multiple times in a house in Ladera Ra

Apple on Tuesday said it was hit by hackers who wormed their way into the California company's system but evidently failed to steal any data.The maker of iPhones, iPads, iPods, and Macintosh computers said it is working with law enforcement officials to hunt down the hackers, who appeared tied to a series of recent cyber attacks on U.S. technology firms."The malware was employed in an attack against Apple and other companies, and was spread through a website for software developers," Apple said

Google's stock price topped $800 for the first time Tuesday amid renewed confidence in the company's ability to reap higher profits from its dominance of Internet search and prominence in the growing mobile market.The milestone comes more than five years after Google's shares initially hit $700. Not long after breaking that barrier in October 2007, the economy collapsed into the worst recession since World War II and Google's stock tumbled into a prolonged malaise that eventually led to a change

South Korea's external debt hit a record high in 2012 as foreigners snapped up local bonds amid powerful monetary easing by advanced economies and credit rating upgrades for Korea, the central bank said Wednesday.The country's external debt totaled US$413.4 billion as of the end of December, up $14.7 billion from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).It marked the first time that the country's yearly foreign debt surpassed the $400 billion mark.But in the fourth quarter, Korea's f

A person suffering from a SARS-like virus has died in Britain, hospital officials said on Tuesday, becoming the sixth fatality from the illness worldwide.The patient was being treated for so-called novel coronavirus at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, central England, and died on Sunday, the hospital said.The victim was one of three people in the same family with the virus, which appeared to have been caught by one of the family members during a recent visit to the Middle East and Pakista

A provincial education chief who was probed last month by police for bribery charges was taken to a hospital after an apparent suicide attempt on Tuesday, police said.Kim Jong-seong, chief of the South Chungcheong Office of Education, was rushed to a nearby hospital in Daejeon, 164 kilometers south of Seoul, police said, adding that he is being treated for non-life threatening injuries.The 63-year-old official has been under intense police investigation for allegedly ordering government official

싱가포르에서 최근 화상채팅 도중 상대남성이 성적인 행위를 하도록 유도한 다음, 이 장면을 찍어 협박하는 사기행위가 급증하고 있다고 CNN 등 외신이 18일 (현지시간) 보도했다. 현지 경찰이 밝힌 바에 따르면, 이러한 사기꾼들은 먼저 매력적인 여성들을 동원해 페이스북 등 SNS사이트를 통해 남성들에게 접근한 다음, 웹캠 (컴퓨터와 연결해 인터넷 상에서 사용되는 카메라) 을 이용해 화상채팅을 시도한다고 한다.이 여성들은 먼저 옷을 벗는 등 성적인 행위를 하여 상대 남성도 비슷한 행위를 하도록 유도한 다음, 이 장면을 녹화하여 피해자들을 협박, 돈을 갈취한다.싱가포르 경찰이 밝힌 바에 따르면 이러한 협박건수는 2012년에만 무려 50건 이상 접수되었는데, 이는 2011년의 11건에서 네 배 넘게 증가한 수치이다.경찰은 이런 피해사례를 피하기 위해서는, 낯선 사람들이 SNS 상에서 접근 하는 것을 주의해야 하며 개인정보를 이들에게 주거나 “남부끄러운 행위를” 하는 것을 삼가야 한다고 경고

Armenian President Serge Sarkisian, who has overseen a modest economic recovery in his country, was re-elected in a national election on Monday, according to an exit poll. The poll of 19,130 voters conducted by Gallup and other pollsters and carried by ArmNews TV showed Sarkisian winning 58 percent of the ballots. The closest of his six rivals, the American-born Raffi Hovanessian, who was post-Soviet Armenia's first foreign minister, polled 32 percent.Just over 60 percent of Armenia's 2.5 millio

President-elect Park Geun-hye on Tuesday named her long-time right-hand man Lee Jung-hyun as senior presidential secretary for political affairs and former career diplomat Ju Chul-ki as senior secretary for foreign affairs and national security, a spokesman said.Park also named former finance ministry technocrat Cho Won-dong as economic secretary; social and labor affairs scholar Choi Sung-jae as labor and welfare secretary; former culture ministry technocrat Mo Chul-min as education and cultura

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said Monday the 17-country eurozone must move swiftly to set up a joint fund to restructure and wind down troubled banks, claiming it is a necessary step to stabilize the financial system.The fund should be financed by levies on financial institutions to ensure it will not have to tap taxpayers' money over the medium term, guaranteeing that “resolution costs are first and foremost borne by the private sector,” he told European lawmakers.  The fund mus

South Korean firms' sales of yen-denominated bonds are expected to increase this year as local companies seek to diversify funding sources amid Japan's quantitative easing, analysts said Tuesday.The combined value of Samurai bonds issued by local firms reached 317.7 billion yen ($3.38 billion) in 2012, rising sharply from 171.2 billion yen tallied two years earlier, industry data showed. Samurai bonds refer to yen-denominated debts issued by non-Japanese firms in the Japanese market.Market watch

Major foreign investment banks expect the South Korean central bank to cut the key interest rate in March or April to support the country's economic growth, a report showed Tuesday.In a split decision, the Bank of Korea (BOK) froze the benchmark 7-day repo rate at 2.75 percent for the fourth straight month last Thursday on signs of the global economic recovery although a stronger won and geopolitical risks pose threats to the Korean economy.More than five foreign investment banks said that the B

Four foreigners detained on suspicion of proselytizing Christianity in Libya have been accused of espionage, a senior security official said on Monday.Libyan officials say that the group includes a Swedish-American, a South Korean, a South African and an Egyptian.The police chief behind the detention, Abdel-Salam el-Barghathi, told the Associated Press that embassy officials have been allowed access to the four, but that the group has raised suspicions by refusing to meet any.Speaking to the AP

Jerry Buss built a glittering life at the intersection of sports and Hollywood.After growing up in poverty in Wyoming, he earned success in academia, aerospace and real estate before discovering his favorite vocation when he bought the Los Angeles Lakers in 1979. While Buss wrote the checks and fostered partnerships with two generations of basketball greats, the Lakers won 10 NBA titles and became a glamorous worldwide brand.With a scientist's analytical skills, a playboy's flair, a businessman'

The European Union agreed a raft of new sanctions on Monday against North Korea in retaliation for the country's nuclear test last week which it condemned again in the strongest possible terms.The measures range from additional financial sanctions to travel bans and asset freezes against individuals and are intended to bolster the international regime against the proliferation of nuclear weapons, a statement said.The number of people subject to a travel ban and asset freeze was put at 26 while t