Catalan parties pushing for a referendum on breaking away from Spain won strong backing in an election Sunday, while voters punished the rich region's leader Artur Mas, forcing him to share power.The result could set Catalonia up for a clash with Spain's central government, already riled by Mas's push for greater self-determination as Spain fights to avoid getting bailed out by its EU neighbours.But it was unclear how Mas would move forward after he saw his support plunge in favour of rival part

Standard and Poor's held to a downgraded AA+ rating for France and said the outlook remained negative on Friday, four days after Moody's cut its top rating for the country by one notch and warned that more could come.S&P, which downgraded France from top notch in January, referring to recent French announcements on the economy, said although the government was "determined to carry out budgetary and structural reforms" France's long-term outlook was "negative.""After flat growth this year, we bel

The chief of a local prosecution office offered to resign Friday following revelations a trainee prosecutor under his supervision participated in sexual acts with a woman suspect during questioning.The 30-year-old trainee prosecutor, whose name was withheld, was found to have performed sexual acts in the office with the suspect in her 40s while questioning her over an alleged theft and other charges earlier this month, according to inspectors at the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office (SPO). Four

Argentine experts have discovered the fossils of a two-meter tall penguin that lived in Antarctica 34 million years ago.Paleontologists with the Natural Sciences Museum of La Plata province, where the capital Buenos Aires is located, said the remains were found on the icy southern continent."This is the largest penguin known to date in terms of height and body mass," said researcher Carolina Acosta, who noted that the record had been held by emperor penguins, which reach heights of 1.2 meters ta

South Korea on Friday commemorated the second anniversary of North Korea's shelling of Yeonpyeong Island near the tensely guarded western sea, as it prepared to conduct military drills to prepare for future attacks.North Korea lobbed 170 rounds of artillery onto the front-line island two years ago, killing two Marines and two civilians in the first attack on South Korean soil since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. About 4,000 people, including bereaved family members, government officials and

Japanese police rescued four hostages from a bank Friday and arrested the knife-wielding man who had held them captive for more than 12 hours while demanding the prime minister resign, officials said.In a televised news conference, a police spokesman said the hostage-taker, identified as Koji Nagakubo, was arrested on suspicion of taking a total of five people captive, including one person whom he had released earlier.All the hostages were safe and in protective custody following the pre-dawn po

South Korea is setting an example for the rest of the world to follow in developing new and clean energy sources, including nuclear energy, as part of efforts to fight climate change, a country report by an international organization said Friday.The International Energy Agency (IEA) especially praised the country for its 2009 pledge to voluntarily cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent from its business-as-usual levels in 2020."In its report, the IEA very positively viewed the country's sett

A trainee prosecutor was found to have performed sexual acts with a suspect in the office and later had sexual intercourse with her at a motel, prosecution officials said Thursday, leading to concerns the incident could deal another blow to the scandal-ridden prosecution.Inspectors at the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office have launched an inspection to determine the details of the incident, the officials said."We are conducting an inspection into a law school graduate who is currently working a

Annual growth of manufacturing production in South Korea's provincial areas eased in the third quarter as an indication of the slowing economy, the central bank said Friday.Output by manufacturers in Korea's provincial regions grew a mere 0.4 percent in the July-September period from a year earlier, slowing from a 1.6 percent on-year gain in the second quarter, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).The BOK said that the production by automakers and machinery firms remained lackluster in the third

South Korean stocks started higher Friday as investor sentiment got a boost from improved economic data from China and the eurozone, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 4.69 points, or 0.25 percent, to trade at 1,904.19 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Tech shares led the gain, with market bellwether Samsung Electronics moving up 0.71 percent while its electronics component-making affiliate Samsung Electro-Mechanics gained 2.73 percent. Samsung SDI, the

Argentina has finally run out of wiggle room in a billion-dollar showdown over foreign debts unpaid since the country's world-record default a decade ago, and the stakes couldn't be higher for President Cristina Fernandez. Late Wednesday, a U.S. federal judge in New York ordered Argentina to pay immediately and in full everything it owes to what Fernandez calls ``vulture funds'' that she blames for much of her country's troubles. That adds up to $1.3 billion, due by Dec. 15. The judge also barre

Japan's embattled electronics sector suffered another blow on Thursday as ratings agency Fitch downgraded industry titans Sony and Panasonic to junk status for the first time.The agency slapped a speculative rating on each firm, pointing to their weak balance sheets and declining position in the global electronics sector as they come up against stiff competition from overseas.Fitch said it cut Panasonic by two notches to BB, while it slashed Sony's rating by three notches to BB-, with both firms

Muslim leaders gathered for a rare summit in Islamabad on Thursday as militant attacks killed 36 people across the country on one of the deadliest days of violence claimed by the Taliban in months.The string of attacks on Shiite Muslims and Pakistani security forces underscored the immense security challenge in a country where Taliban and al-Qaida-linked extremists bitterly oppose the US-allied government.Twenty-three people were killed and 62 wounded overnight in Rawalpindi, the twin city of Is

South Korea plans to launch the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1) next week in its third attempt to send a rocket into space from its own soil, a government committee said Thursday."Nov. 29 has been set as the candidate launch date," the Naro Launch Preparation Committee said in a released statement. "The possible time of the launch will be between 4 and 6:55 p.m. with the actual time to be decided on the launch date."It said, however, that both the date and time were still tentative as bad

South Korea's two liberal presidential candidates were to meet on Thursday to seek a breakthrough in setting the rules on selecting a single candidate to take on their conservative rival Park Geun-hye, camp officials said, as time is running short before the Monday deadline.Moon Jae-in of the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) and independent candidate Ahn Cheol-soo have been in talks in forming an alliance before the registration deadline on Nov. 26, but their negotiators have failed

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday as investor sentiment got a boost from overnight gains on Wall Street following improved jobs data, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) climbed 15.25 points, or 0.81 percent, to trade at 1,899.29 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Shares gathered ground across the board, with market bellwether Samsung Electronics increasing 1.08 percent and top steelmaker POSCO adding 0.81 percent. No. 2 carmaker Kia Motors edged up 0.3

 North Korea threatened on Thursday to launch bomb attack on South Korean soil as Seoul prepares to hold events marking the second anniversary of the North's deadly shelling of a South border island two years ago.A memorial service, a naval firing drill and other commemorative events are to take place to commemorate the deaths of two soldiers in the North's artillery bombardment of Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea on Nov. 23, 2010. The attack, which was the first launched by the North against

South Korea's exports are likely to gain ground in November, weathering the global economic slowdown and the local currency's ascent to the U.S. dollar, data showed Thursday.The value of Korea's outbound shipments reached US$28.2 billion during the first 20 days of this month, up 1.7 percent from a year earlier, according to estimates by the finance ministry and the state-run customs agency.The uptrend comes after South Korea's exports grew 1.1 percent in October from a year earlier, the first o

A cease-fire agreement between Israel and the Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers took effect Wednesday night, bringing an end to eight days of the fiercest fighting in years and possibly signaling a new era of relations between the bitter enemies.The Egyptian-sponsored deal delivered key achievements for all involved. It promised to halt years of Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israel and ease border closings that have stifled Gaza's economy, and it affirmed the emergence of Egypt's new Islamist g

Bus operators nationwide restarted operations after a strike that lasted around an hour on Thursday morning, causing minor inconvenience to commuters.The union of bus operators warned, however, of an indefinite strike if the National Assembly passes a revised bill that acknowledges taxis as public transport at the plenary session scheduled on Friday and Saturday. “The bus operators restarted operation from 6:30 a.m. on Thursday since we cannot ignore the massive inconvenience to the citizens,” s