국가정보원 직원의 대선개입 의혹 사건과 관련해 수사 초기 경찰 상부에서 수사 축소와 은폐를 지시했다는 주장이 제기돼 파문이 일고 있다.19일 연합뉴스 보도에 따르면 국정원 사건의 수사과정에 대해 잘 아는 경찰 A씨가 “작년 12월 민주통합당이 서울 수서경찰서에 고소장을 제출한 이후 수사 내내 서울경찰청에서 지속적으로 부당한 개입이 이뤄졌다”고 주장했다고 한다. 서울경찰청이 사건을 검찰에 18일 검찰에 넘긴 가운데 경찰 윗선이 부당하게 수사에 개입했다는 정황이 사실로 밝혀진다면 이에 따른 후폭풍이 클 것으로 보인다. 보도에 따르면 수서경찰서는 작년 12월 13일 대선개입의혹을 받고 있는 국정원 직원 김모 씨 (29)의 컴퓨터 2대(노트북, PC)를 서울경찰청 디지털증거분석팀에 분석해 달라고 의뢰했는데, 서울경찰청은 “이러면 신속한 수사가 어렵다”며 키워드의 수를 줄여서 다시 건네달라고 요청했다고 한다.결국 분석 의뢰된 키워드는 ‘박근혜’ ‘새누리당’ ‘문재인’ ‘민주통합당’ 등 단어

France confirmed Friday that seven members of a French family who were kidnapped in Cameroon in February had been released and were "all healthy."The president's office said Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius had immediately left for Cameroon to greet the family, which includes four young children. Cameroonian President Paul Biya had earlier announced that the family had been "handed over last night to Cameroonian authorities." (AFP)

South Korean stocks closed 0.35 percent higher Friday, as gains from non-ferrous metals and financial firms overshadowed concerns over worsening quarterly earnings, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 6.69 points to finish at 1,906.75. Trading volume was moderate at 324.8 million shares worth 4.37 trillion won ($3.91 billion), but decliners outnumbered gainers 422 to 379. "Those that have dipped in the past

The country's ruling and main opposition parties agreed Friday to pass the government's supplementary budget bill on May 3 after sorting out their differences on its allocation, party officials said.The government's proposal, which was unveiled on Tuesday, calls for an extra budget of 17.3 trillion won (US$15.4 billion) to boost the sluggish economy. Of the total, 12 trillion won has been set aside to meet the government's expected revenue shortfalls, while the remaining 5.3 trillion won will be

지난 15일 (현지시간) 일어난 보스턴 마라톤에서 간발의 차이로 폭탄을 피한 남자가 이틀 후에 텍사스에서 일어난 폭발사건을 눈 앞에서 목격하는 사건이 발생했다고 AP통신이 최근 보도했다.텍사스 오스틴 출신의 조 버티 (43)씨는 최근 자선단체 챔피언포칠드런 (Champions4Children)이 주최하는 자선 이벤트를 위해 보스턴 마라톤에 참가했다. 희귀병에 시달리는 아이들을 위한 이 이벤트에서는 아이들이 집에서 자신의 ‘파트너’가 마라톤을 뛰는 것을 보게 된다. 버티 씨는 막판 6킬로미터 정도를 남겨두고 슬슬 한계를 느꼈지만 파트너 ‘드류’를 위해서 끝까지 완주하겠다고 결심했고, 결국 레이스를 마쳤다.사건은 그가 결승선을 지나고 수초 후에 터졌다. 버티 씨는 커다란 폭발음을 들었고 “폭탄이라는 것을 순간적으로 알아차리고” 결승선에서 기다리고 있을 아내 에이미 씨를 생각했다.다행히 에이미 씨와 버티 씨 모두 상처 하나 입지 않았지만 에이미 씨 바로 옆에 서 있던 여성은 한 손의 손가

President Park Geun-hye's nominee for chief of the nation's antitrust watchdog won parliamentary approval Friday following a confirmation hearing that tested his suitability for the job.Noh Dae-lae, a former senior finance ministry official and former head of the state arms procurement agency, was tapped by the president last month to lead the Fair Trade Commission after Park's first nominee resigned over allegations that he kept secret overseas bank accounts in order to evade taxes.In Thursday'

Almost three weeks after China reported finding a new strain of bird flu in humans, experts are still stumped by how people are becoming infected when many appear to have had no recent contact with live fowl and the virus seemingly isn't passing from person to person. The uncertainty adds to challenges the Chinese government is facing in trying to control the spread of the H7N9 bird flu virus that has already killed 17 people and infected 70 others in the country, mostly along the eastern seaboa

The extra budget that the government recently drew up will likely delay achieving a fiscal balance until 2016 due to increased spending coupled with less-than-expected tax revenues, a government report showed Friday.The government earlier unveiled a 17.3 trillion won ($15.4 billion) extra budget aimed at boosting the country's slowing economic growth. This was the second largest since 2009 when it announced 28.4 trillion won in extra spending in response to the fallout from the global financial

Early voting for next week's by-elections kicked off Friday, with a handful of parliamentary candidates casting their ballots in a bid to draw voters to the polls.The early voting system is different from absentee voting in that it does not require voters to sign up in advance. Voters who expect to be busy or away on the election day can simply show up at a polling station during the voting period and cast their ballots.Early voting will run until Saturday.It is the first time for the new system

Microsoft is working with manufacturers to produce a line of small touch-screen devices powered by Windows, apparently intended to compete with tablets like the iPad Mini and Amazon Kindle Fire.Peter Klein, Microsoft's chief financial officer, told investors and analysts on a conference call Thursday that the new devices will be available in coming months at competitive prices.Microsoft Corp. is struggling to extend its software into smartphones and tablets as consumers are turning away from PCs

President Barack Obama's re-election glow is gone. Congress' reputation remains dismal. And only about one in five Americans say they trust the government to do what's right most of the time, an Associated Press-GfK poll finds.Obama's overall job approval rating is at its lowest point since his re-election: 50 percent, with 47 percent disapproving. His approval rating among opposition Republicans _ 10 percent _ is back to where it was before the election. Among independents, disapproval has crep

France will not support the opening of EU-US free trade talks if audiovisual content is not excluded from the negotiations, French trade minister Nicole Bricq warned Thursday.The European Union and United States intend to begin within months talks on an ambitious transatlantic free trade deal that would create the world's largest free trade area, boosting economic growth and jobs."France is trying in effect to preserve the dynamism and influence of its artistic creation and is particularly attac

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's top maker of smartphones, memory chips and flat-panel TVs, joined the elite 25 companies on the annual Global 2000 list of biggest publicly traded companies released by Forbes, ranking 20th this year, up six notches from last year.Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's leading automaker, ranked 89th, also up from last year's 96th spot, according to the list on the Forbes' Web site on Friday.A total of 65 South Korean firms, including POSCO (184th), Shinhan Financia

The current genocide trial against ex-Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt was dropped Thursday in a surprise legal move, but a judge is likely to launch fresh proceedings, officials said.The development, blamed on procedural technicalities, will delay public deliberations over events that have divided the country for 30 years.The 86-year-old retired general, who insists he was not aware the army was committing massacres, is accused of ordering the execution of 1,771 members of the Ixil Maya pe

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday dismissed North Korea's preconditions for talks as unacceptable. Testifying at a Senate hearing, he stressed Washington will not let Pyongyang play a gambit to get assistance without taking sincere steps toward denuclarization.But he said North Korea's talk of dialogue itself is positive. After weeks of bellicose military threats, Pyongyang has been talking about the terms to restart dialogue.In a statement, the North's military said if the U.S. wan

South Korean stocks got off to a weak start Friday, dented by blue-chip losses amid lackluster corporate earnings here and abroad, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 5.75 points, or 0.3 percent to 1,894.31 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics slid 1.6 percent, with second-largest listed firm Hyundai Motor retreating more than 2 percent. Major banking groups also trended lower, with No. 3 Hana Financial dropping 1.3 per

The FBI released photos and video of two suspects in the deadly Boston Marathon bombings and asked for the public's help in identifying the men. The agency's website crashed within moments Thursday.FBI Agent Richard DesLauriers said the images are from surveillance cameras near the explosion sites shortly before Monday's blasts at the world's most famous marathon. The men are seen walking together in the crowd, and the man in the white cap is seen setting down a backpack at one site near the fin

A suicide bomber detonated explosives at a Baghdad cafe crowded with young people late Thursday, killing at least 26 and wounding dozens ahead of provincial elections scheduled for the weekend. The rare evening attack, which came at the start of the local weekend, brought to 30 the number of people killed across the country Thursday. The cafe bomber struck about 9:30 p.m. Police said that two children and a woman who were passing by at the time of the blast were among the dead. More than 50 peop

국가정보원 직원의 대선개입 의혹 사건과 관련해 수사 초기 경찰 상부에서 수사 축소와 은폐를 지시했다는 주장이 제기돼 파문이 일고 있다.연합뉴스 보도에 따르면 국정원 사건의 수사과정에 대해 잘 아는 경찰 A씨가 “작년 12월 민주통합당이 서울 수서경찰서에 고소장을 제출한 이후 수사 내내 서울경찰청에서 지속적으로 부당한 개입이 이뤄졌다”고 주장했다고 보도했다.경찰 윗선이 부당하게 수사에 개입했다는 정황이 사실로 밝혀진다면 이에 따른 후폭풍이 클 것으로 보인다.보도에 따르면 수서경찰서는 작년 12월 13일 국정원 여직원 김모(29)씨의 컴퓨터 2대(노트북, PC)를 서울경찰청 디지털증거분석팀에 분석해 달라고 의뢰했는데, 서울경찰청은 “이러면 신속한 수사가 어렵다”며 키워드의 수를 줄여서 다시 건네달라고 요청했다고 한다.결국 분석 의뢰된 키워드는 ‘박근혜’ ‘새누리당’ ‘문재인’ ‘민주통합당’ 등 단어 4개로 축소됐고 서울청은 분석에 들어간 지 사흘도 지나지 않아 “댓글 흔적이 없다”는 분

Bangkok, Thailand’s capital city, is celebrating its 231st anniversary with a series of cultural events during April 20-22.The celebration provides knowledge and relates the history of the Rattanakosin Kingdom since its establishment in 1782. Various activities will be held in Bangkok’s Rattanakosin Island area as well as at important sites in the vicinity including the City Pillar Shrine. The organisers are the Thai Ministry of Culture in association with the Crown Property Bureau, Bangkok Metr