French President Francois Hollande's Socialists and allies were poised to secure a majority needed to push through tax-and-spend reforms after Sunday's first round parliamentary vote, exit polls said.The election also saw a surge in support for Marine Le Pen's far-right National Front, which wants to ditch the euro and battles against what she calls the "Islamization" of France.Estimates released

(MCT)A U.S. woman has been arrested for trespassing after workers at her boyfriend's apartment building found she had been sneaking in by hiding in a large suitcase he carried around. The Oregonian reports Kola J. McGrath weighs 43 kilograms. The 50-year-old was banned from the building last year for breaking a fire extinguisher case during an argument.Police were notified when a caller reported a

(Twitter)A missing girl, who was speculated to have been kidnapped and caused a racket on the Internet, turned out to be a simple runaway, according to police.Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said Sunday that 19-year-old Kim was staying in her grandmother’s home. Kim reportedly ran away from her home because of her "family issues," although full details of the case have not yet been released.The s

Capping a record-setting season with a spectacular display, Lionel Messi scored from three dazzling runs to finish with an unprecedented 82 goals for club and country and lead Argentina over South American rival Brazil 4-3 in a friendly Saturday.“It was a very good year, and this was a great way to finish it,” Messi said through a translator.Already a three-time FIFA Player of the Year at age 24,

 Dogs respond to a person who is crying regardless of whether it is their owner or an unfamiliar person, researchers in Britain found.Dr. Deborah Custance and Jennifer Mayer, both of the Department of Psychology at the University of London, developed a procedure to examine whether domestic dogs could identify and respond to emotional states in humans.Eighteen pet dogs -- a range of ages and breeds

Mantis ShrimpThe unique structure of a club-like arm of a crustacean could inspire changes in military body armor and vehicle and aircraft frames, U.S. scientists say.The bright orange fist-like club of the mantis shrimp, a 4-inch-long crustacean found in tropical waters, accelerates underwater faster than a .22-caliber bullet and can smash through mollusk shells and crab exoskeletons, researchers

Spain became the fourth and largest country to ask Europe to rescue its failing banks, a bailout of up to (euro) 100 billion ($125 billion) that leaders hoped would stabilize a financial crisis that threatens to break apart the 17-country eurozone.The rescue offer follows growing pressure from international investors and the Obama administration and comes a week before elections in Greece, whose v

North Korea said Saturday that it has no immediate plan to conduct a third nuclear test.The North's latest announcement made through a statement issued by its foreign ministry spokesman came amid growing international concern about its possible nuclear test following April's failed rocket launch."(South Korea) seeks to rattle the nerves of the DPRK (North Korea) in a bid to cause it to conduct a n

(AP-Yonhap News)The picture she posed for at the beginning foreshadowed a mismatch in the making: the 188-centimeter Maria Sharapova standing at the net, towering over an opponent 25 centimeters smaller than her.The pictures snapped at the end told a different story: Sharapova, down on her knees after a tougher-than-expected win, head buried in her hands, celebrating after completing a comeback th

Tribal leaders denied reports that five women, including four pictured singing and dancing with men at a wedding party in Kohistan, Pakistan, were executed.Two officials said the women were alive and safe in their homes and denied that a jirga -- a tribal assembly of elders -- had sentenced the women to death, the Express Tribune reported Sunday.Muhammad Afzal, a brother of two men accused of shoo

A gas leak accident occurred Thursday afternoon at a polysilicon factory based in Yeosu, a port city 455 kilometers south of Seoul, poisoning more than 40 workers, fire authorities said.A total of 42 affected employees of Hankook Silicon Co. were taken to several nearby hospitals, with 41 of them experiencing bouts of nausea, the fire authorities said, but no casualties were reported.The company h

South Korean banks' household loans rose in May from the previous month due to lowering of interest rates by some lenders and more purchases made with credit cards, the central bank said Thursday. Local banks' household loans, including home-backed loans and credit loans, reached 455.8 trillion won (US$389.1 billion) as of the end of May, up 2.2 trillion won from a month earlier, according to the

  (This photo is not directly related to the article)Housewife Jules Rahim was shocked when a friend tipped her off that her photo was featured on a pornographic website.That was not the only unauthorized use of the picture of her in a bikini, which she had posted on her Facebook account three years ago.Another friend told her that the photo had also popped up on a dating site called sgGirls.com.

The earth's environmental systems ``are being pushed towards their biophysical limits,'' beyond which loom sudden, irreversible and potentially catastrophic changes, the United Nations Environment Program warned Wednesday.In a 525-page report on the health of the planet, the agency paints a grim picture:  The melting of the polar ice caps, desertification in Africa, deforestation of tropical jungl

A 2-year-old North Carolina girl flipped her parents' sport utility vehicle in a neighbor's yard while they were sleeping, authorities said.The York County Sheriff's Office said deputies responding to a call about a child in the roadway arrived at the intersection of Celanese and Twin Lakes Roads in Rock Hill about 4:30 p.m. Sunday and discovered the Chevy Tahoe on its side in a ditch, WBTV-TV, Ch

Security on the Korean Peninsula worsened in the second quarter of the year to one of the lowest levels in recent years, a report showed Wednesday, as North Korea launched a long-range rocket and escalated belligerent rhetoric against the South.The Samsung Economic Research Institute said in a report that its Korean Peninsula Security Index (KPSI), which is calculated based on a survey of about 40

(Viet Nam News)Two people in southern Vinh Long Province caught a 1.7-meter long dragon fish weighing nearly 50 kilos in the Hau River, near the Ninh Kieu pier in Can Tho City on Wednesday.After catching the fish, they killed it and prepared it for sale, not thinking to preserve it as an ornamental trophy.The dragon fish was subsequently buried in Ba Chua Xu Temple yesterday, attracting large crow

 현대자동차가 지난 5월 미국 대형차 시장에서 역대 최고 판매량인 5천232대를 달성했다고 수요일 코리아헤럴드에 밝혔다. 에쿠스, 제네시스(제네시스 쿠페 포함), 그랜저 등의 고급차종의 판매가 5천대를 돌파한 것은 이번이 처음이고 이는 지난 1월 2천600대에 비해 두배가량 증가한 수치다. 현대차 관계자는 브랜드이미지 고급화전략이 북미시장에서 성공적으로 안착해가고 있다며 향후 중소형라인에서뿐 아니라 대형차 부문에서의 선전을 전망했다. 이는 또한 최근 일본 업체들이 부진을 만회하고자 인센티브를 크게 늘려 수익성 하락을 보이고 있는 것과 크게 대비되는 전략이라 업계의 주목을 받고 있다. (코리아헤럴드 이지윤, 정주원 기자) Hyundai’s premium cars post record sales in U.S.H

South Korea's stock market has seen trading volume and market capitalization plunge as investor sentiment worsened with the U.S. and Chinese economies showing signs of slowing down amid the eurozone financial crisis, market watchers said Wednesday.The benchmark KOSPI market's capitalization has dropped to 1,061 trillion won ($898 billion) as of May 31, a level similar to August last year. The seco

Paraguay's president and former priest Fernando Lugo has recognized a second love-child. This time it's a 10-year-old boy, born to a nurse in the northern state where Lugo served as a Catholic bishop before renouncing the priesthood and turning to politics. Lugo's lawyer, Marcos Farina, says the president has told him to file the paperwork needed to change the boy's last name to Lugo. His mother i