Kim In-Kyung increased her lead to three strokes in the LPGA Tour’s Portland Classic by shooting a 5-under 67 to reach 12 under after Friday’s second round.The South Korean had seven birdies and two bogeys in her morning round in cloudy, calm conditions at Columbia Edgewater.Spain’s Carlota Ciganda and South Korea’s Mi Jung Hur shot 65 to join Laura Diaz at 9 under. Diaz had a 68.South Korea’s So Yeon Ryu, the Canadian Women’s Open winner on Sunday, was 8 under along with Mina Harigae, China’s X

North Korea's main sports body reaffirmed its decision not to send a cheerleading squad to the upcoming Asian Games, putting the blame on South Korea.The North's Olympic Committee accused Seoul of "abusing sacred sports and cultural exchange" for a "sinister political purpose."The DPRK was compelled to give up the decision to send the cheerleading squad as they (South Korean authorities) decried it decision, far from rejoicing over and welcoming its sincerity," the committee said in a statement

An experimental Ebola drug healed all 18 monkeys infected with the deadly virus in a study, boosting hopes that the treatment might help fight the outbreak raging through West Africa -- once more of it can be made.The monkeys were given the drug, ZMapp, three to five days after they were infected with the virus and when most were showing symptoms. That is several days later than any other experimental Ebola treatment tested so far.The drug also completely protected six other monkeys given a slig

SEOUL, Aug. 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks may gain with a steady flow of foreign funds, but advances are not likely to be large due to lingering geopolitical concerns, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) ended at 2,068.54 on Friday, up 4.6 percent from the previous week's closing.  Korean shares started the week on a good note as foreigners loaded up on blue-chip stocks on hints of quantitative easing in the eurozone and the continuation of a low-r

European Union leaders gather in Brussels Saturday to thrash out a response to Russia's deeper involvement in war-torn Ukraine and to bring new faces to key EU posts.The 28 heads of state and government sit down for talks as accusations rain down on the Kremlin that Russian combat troops are fighting inside Ukraine, with fears growing that Europe may soon face a full-scale war on its eastern borders.It has only been five weeks since EU states toughened their sanctions against Russia, but with th

A U.N. watchdog issued a fresh call Friday to Japan to take full blame for forcing women from Korea and elsewhere in Asia to work as sex slaves during World War II.The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination said that by failing to treat the ageing survivors properly, Japan had let their suffering drag on for decades."What we're asking the Japanese government is to conclude investigations into the violations of the rights of comfort women by the military and to bring to justic

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) _ Officials from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the main groups fighting in Gaza, said Tuesday they have reached a deal with Israel to end a seven-week war that has killed more than 2,000 Palestinians. There was no immediate Israeli comment.Ziad Nakhala, a senior official in Islamic Jihad, said the deal calls for an ``open-ended'' cease-fire, and an Israeli agreement to ease its blockade of Gaza to allow relief supplies and construction materials into the war-battered territ

Tens of thousands of unionized South Korean financial workers on Tuesday voted to go on strike next month to protest what they called government interference in the local finance sector.About 100,000 union members from 37 financial companies took part in the vote, with 91 percent of them endorsing the strike scheduled for Sept. 3, their umbrella union Korea Financial Industry Union said in a news release.Ahead of the planned strike, union members plan to hold a protest rally at Yeouido, the coun

Hundreds of unionized workers at a major university hospital in Seoul will begin an indefinite strike this week in protest of a government push to privatize medical services, the union said Tuesday.The strike, which follows two rounds of similar strikes in June and July, will begin on Wednesday, involving about 300 to 400 of the Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) union's 1,500 members, it said. But the strike will exclude those working in intensive-care and emergency rooms and other essen

The foreign ministers from South Korea and Mongolia agreed Tuesday to set up a government channel to discuss trade, economic and other bilateral issues as part of efforts to strengthen their countries' strategic partnership, Seoul's foreign ministry said.Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se was on a three-day visit to Mongolia starting on Monday. On Tuesday, he held talks with his Mongolian counterpart Luvsanvandan Bold, the South Korean foreign ministry said in a news release.The two top diplomats agr

Turkey said it had summoned the German ambassador Monday to demand an explanation for reports that Berlin has been spying on the country for years. German weekly Der Spiegel reported on Sunday that the country's BND secret service had spied on Turkey since 2009 and had listened in on at least one telephone conversation of US Secretary of State John Kerry.Ambassador Eberhard Pohl was asked to provide a "formal and satisfactory explanation" over the reports and was told that if the claims were tru

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange sowed confusion Monday with an announcement that appeared to indicate he was leaving his embassy bolt hole, but his spokesman later clarified that that would not happen unless the impasse over his extradition were resolved.Assange made the cryptic comments during a press conference at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London following a meeting with Ricardo Patino, the Latin American nation's foreign minister. When asked about speculation _ some of it sparked by a recent

  　서울시교육청 (교육감 조희연)이 자율형사립고등학교 재지정 여부 결정을 위한 평가를 10월말까지 실시하고, 평가에 따른 일반고 전환시점은 2016학년도로 하기로 결정했다.　조희연 서울시교육감은 25일 시교육청 기자실에서 기자회견을 열고 이러한 내용을 포함한 자사고 정책 관련 입장을 표명했다. 　조 교육감은 이날 학교 현장의 혼란을 쵝소화하기 위해 2015학년 입학 전형은 예정대로 실시한다고 밝혔다. 그는 “공교육영향 평가지표의 타당성에 대해 일부에서 문제 제기를 하는 등 논란이 있었”고 “현 시점에서 2015학년도 전형 일정에 차질을 줄 경우 지금까지 자사고 전형을 준비하고 있는 학생 및 학부모에게 혼란을 줄 수 있다”고 설명했다.　또한 1차 운영성과 평가와 자사고들의 반발을 일으킨 2차 공교육영향평가 등을 재검토해 8월말까지 종합평가를 실시할 예정이다. 조 교육감은 1차 평가에서는 14개 대상 고등학교가 모두 재지정 기준을 넘고, 시뮬레이션으로 실시한 2차 평가에서는 모두 기준

Jakarta governor Joko Widodo, who captured the hearts of millions of Indonesians with his common man image, won the country's presidential election with 53 percent of the vote, final results showed Tuesday.Widodo, a former furniture exporter known to most as “Jokowi,” is the first candidate in a direct presidential election with no ties to the former dictator Suharto, who ruled for 30 years before being overthrown in 1998. The other contender, former general Prabowo Subianto, declared he was wit

The remains of the victims of the Malaysia Airlines crash arrived in territory held by the Ukrainian government on Tuesday on their way to the Netherlands, after delays and haphazard treatment of the bodies that put pressure on European foreign ministers meeting in Brussels to impose tougher economic sanctions on Russia.The crash site itself, in farmland held by the pro-Russian separatists whom the West accuses of shooting down the plane, remained unsecured five days after the disaster _ another

미국 언론은 10일 (한국시간) NBA 휴스턴 로켓츠가 제레미 린을 필라델피아 세븐티식서스로 보낸다고 전했다. 이로서 린의 말도 많고 탈도 많았던 휴스턴 생활은 정리될 전망이다. 비록 로켓츠 시절 기복 심한 경기력과 잦은 실책, 에이스 제임스 하든과의 호흡문제로 논란의 중심에 선적도 있지만, 뉴욕 닉스 시절 “린새니티(린+insanity)”라 불렸던 린에 대한 한국 팬들의 관심은 여전해 보인다. 2011-12시즌 당시 부진하던 닉스에 구세주처럼 등장해 연승을 이끄는 등 전세계 언론의 관심을 받았던 린이지만 한국에서 가장 큰 이슈가 된 점은 그가 아시아계라는 것, 그리고 미국 최고 명문인 하버드 졸업생이라는 점이었다.하버드는 스탠포드 등 다른 명문 미국 대학과 달리 체육특기자 장학생이 없다. 즉, 하버드에 진학하는 운동부 학생들은 험난한 입시와 농구부 활동을 병행해야 하는 것이다. 이와 같은 린의 이력은 “운동부는 수업을 받지 않는다”는 인식을 갖고 있던 한국인들에게 큰 충격을 주었다

인천광역시교육청 (교육감 이청연)이 원어민영어보조교사 선발지원사업(EPIK)을 통해 선발된 인원에 대한 가을학기 채용을 모두 취소한 것으로 알려져 원어민 강사들 사이에서 불만이 일고 있다.EPIK 관계자가 1일 밝힌바에 따르면 현재 인천 교육청 측에서 7월이나 8월 중에 예정되었던 원어민교사들에 대한 채용을 취소했다고 한다. 이 관계자는 “인천시(교육청)에서 예산상의 계획이나 변동이 생겨서 원어민 자리가 다 취소가 되었다”면서 이런 식의 갑작스런 변동은 매우 드물다고 설명했다.EPIK은 인천 지역의 학교에서 일할 예정이었던 교사들은 다른 희망지역으로 배치될 것이라고 밝혔다.국내 원어민 교사들이 제보한 바에 따르면 인천시교육청은 이들에게 “새로운 교육감 취임으로 인해 기존 정책 시행을 연기함에 따라 2014년 가을학기를 위한 채용 제의를 모두 취소한다”고 밝히며 인천에서 채용될 예정이었던 원어민 교사들에게 사과의 뜻을 표명했다고 한다. 인천시교육청에 따르면 채용 취소는 예산 문제로 인

Israel's parliament has chosen Reuven Rivlin, a stalwart in the ruling Likud Party, as the country's next president.It chose Rivlin, a former parliament speaker and Cabinet minister, in a secret runoff ballot Tuesday, over longtime legislator Meir Sheetrit, by 63 to 53.Rivlin now faces the difficult task of succeeding Shimon Peres, a Nobel peace laureate who brought the position international prestige.The job of the presidency is largely ceremonial. But Rivlin's political views could be a liabil

The captain and crew members in charge of navigating the sunken ferry Sewol have denied charges of their alleged role in the deadly tragedy leaving more than 300 people dead or missing in a trial held Tuesday.The trial of captain Lee Joon-seok and 14 other crew began at 2 p.m. at Gwangju District Court in the country's southern city of Gwangju. The 69-year-old skipper and three crew members have been charged with murder, prosecutors said. If convicted, they could face the death penalty.The other

Five Americans troops were killed in an apparent friendly fire incident in southern Afghanistan, a U.S. defense official said Tuesday, in one of the worst such incidents involving United States or coalition troops since the start of the nearly 14 year war.The official insisted on anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly to journalists. The U.S.-led international coalition said the service members were killed in an apparent friendly fire incident, which an Afghan official said to