North Korea has been stepping up its efforts to idolize leader Kim Jong-un, recent documents show, in an apparent indication that Kim's grip on the communist state has grown tighter.According to the Chosun Sinbo, a pro-North Korean newspaper in Japan, on Sunday, the ruling Workers' Party in Pyongyang has published a book extolling the extraordinary skills of the young leader.The paper reported that the book describes Kim as a worldly man who is well-versed in international politics and military

Lee Hae-chan, head of the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP), resigned on Sunday in order to help break a stalemate in talks over fielding a single liberal candidate in December's presidential poll.Lee said "the change of government" is the top priority for the opposition. He took over as party chief just five months ago.Along with Lee, eight other senior members of the party's Supreme Council also quit Sunday.Lee's decision was an apparent response to independent presidential candida

The Mars rover Curiosity found radiation levels on Mars are not lethal to humans, U.S. researchers say."Absolutely, astronauts can live in this environment," said Don Hassler, principal investigator for the rover's Radiation Assessment Detector, at a news conference Thursday.Hassler said characterizing the radiation on the surface of another planet has never been done before now, CNN reported.Researchers plan to collect radiation numbers over time to create a better assessment of exactly how muc

Fish caught near Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant have radiation levels 100 times higher than normal, officials say.Japan's Environment Ministry carried out a study that found fish caught near the plant had more radiation than fish caught elsewhere, RIA Novosti reported.The levels found ranged from 4,400 becquerels per kilogram to 11,400 becquerels per kilogram, against the maximum "safe" level of 100 becquerels per kilogram.The findings have prompted a government investigation into the phy

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian got death threats for posting a message praying for Israel after Hamas rocket attacks on Jerusalem, The Hollywood Reporter said.Kardashian tweeted, "praying for everyone in Israel," in response to Friday's violence.Dozens of her 17 million Twitter followers tweeted threatening posts in response, some of them anti-Semitic, The Hollywood Reporter said."Kill yourself," one wrote, while another said "Die in HELL!" Other tweets included:"You are a disgrace to your peopl

U.N. attack helicopters targeted M23 rebels in eastern Congo on Saturday after fighting resumed following a monthslong lull in violence, a local official said.Two army officers and 151 rebels were killed in a battle beginning Thursday that the U.N. called the worst clash between the M23 group and the military since July. Attack helicopters for the U.N. mission in Congo, known as MONUSCO, had been on standby.``MONUSCO helicopters this morning bombarded the M23 positions in the city of Kibumba,''

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Saturday rejected as "unacceptable" a proposal from EU President Herman Van Rompuy to cut the bloc's 2014-2020 budget by 75 billion euros ($95 billion)."The government does not like this budget and we have made that known to the (European) institutions and we hope that there will be another proposal that will be more reasonable," Rajoy said.Rajoy said Spain objected to Van Rompuy's proposed spending cuts to agriculture funding, money for Spain's regions an

France on Saturday welcomed a member of the Syrian opposition as the country's ambassador, a bold bid to confer legitimacy on the week-old opposition coalition and encourage other Western nations to follow suit.The new envoy, Mounzir Makhous, appeared before the press after talks at France's presidential palace between President Francois Hollande and the head of the newly formed Syrian opposition coalition.France has swiftly stepped out ahead of Western allies nearly since the start of the Syria

Israel destroyed the headquarters of Hamas' prime minister and blasted a sprawling network of smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday, broadening a blistering four-day-old offensive against the Islamic militant group even as diplomatic efforts to broker a cease-fire appeared to be gaining steam. In neighboring Egypt, President Mohammed Morsi hosted leaders from Hamas and two key allies, Qatar and Turkey, to seek a way to end the fighting.“There are discussions about the ways to

South Korean stocks dropped 1.23 percent Thursday as investor sentiment was muted by widespread uncertainties over the stalled U.S. budget deal and European fiscal woes, analysts said. The local currency lost ground against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 23.32 points to close at 1,870.72. Trading volume was moderate at 446.2 million shares worth 4.14 trillion won ($3.8 billion) with decliners far outnumbering gainers 608 to 230."Investors are worried

Jill Kelley, a Tampa socialite who helped expose CIA Director David Petraeus's career-ending affair, serves as an honorary consul of South Korea, diplomats here confirmed Wednesday."The appointment of Kelley as honorary consul followed normal procedures," said Kim Hee-beom, South Korea's consul general in Atlanta. He emphasized that there was no irregularity in tapping her for the largely symbolic post.Kim's jurisdiction covers Florida, since South Korea has no consulate there. Kelley, 37, is at

Following are brief sketches of the seven members of the Chinese Communist Party's new Politburo Standing Committee, the country's most powerful body revealed on Thursday, in order of seniority.XI JINPINGThe son of a revered communist revolutionary, Xi, 59, is the new general secretary of the party. He is expected to become national president in March.Xi is said to be backed by former president Jiang Zemin, who remains influential today, but is widely considered a consensus figure in China's fac

BEIJING (AP) ― Xi Jinping succeeded Hu Jintao as China’s leader Thursday, assuming the top posts in the Communist Party and the powerful military in a once-a-decade political transition unbowed by scandals, a slower economy and public demands for reforms.Xi was formally appointed as general secretary after a morning meeting of senior communists that capped a weeklong congress, events that underlined the party’s determination to remain firmly in power. Xi also was appointed chairman of the milita

An Air Force aerobatic jet crashed in northeastern South Korea on Thursday, killing its lone pilot and sparking a brush fire, police said.The T-50B plane went down at 10:28 a.m. on a mountain in Hoengseong, about 90 kilometers east of Seoul, and its pilot, identified only as Capt. Kim, 32, is believed dead, officials said.A parachute was found hanging from a tree about 70 meters from the scene, but the pilot was believed to have failed to eject, officials said. It was one of two planes that took

Indian police on Monday charged an international gold medal-winning athlete with raping her former partner after medical tests showed she was actually a man.Pinki Pramanik, who retired in 2007 after winning team gold in the 4x400m relay at the 2006 Asian Games, was charged after a report was completed by a medical board set up to determine her gender."Medical tests have confirmed that Pinki is not a female," B.N. Kahali, chairman of the board, told AFP. "Pinki is a male pseudo-hermaphrodite. We

Authorities say singer Jon Bon Jovi's 19-year-old daughter is hospitalized after overdosing on heroin in a dorm at her New York state college.Town of Kirkland police say an ambulance was sent to Hamilton College early Wednesday after a report that a female had apparently overdosed on heroin.Investigator Peter Cania says Stephanie Bongiovi is recovering at a hospital he declined to name.Police say Bongiovi and 21-year-old Ian Grant were charged with drug possession. Both were issued tickets and o

Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan's new cabinet was sworn in on Wednesday at the national assembly and officially took up their posts, in the absence of eight contested nominees.Outgoing premier Abdel Rahim al-Kib transferred power to Zeidan in front of General National Congress members and diplomats in Tripoli and saw the appointment of the new premier and 23 of his 31 nominated ministers, who were approved by the GNC in October.Four of the proposed ministers were rejected by Libya's anti-corrup

Israel carried out a blistering offensive of more than 50 airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, assassinating Hamas' military commander and targeting the armed group's training facilities and rocket launchers in Israel's most intense attack on the territory in nearly four years.Israel said the airstrikes, launched in response to days of rocket fire out of Hamas-ruled Gaza, were the beginning of a broader operation against the Islamic militants codenamed “Pillar of Defense.” Israeli defense

A 58-year-old man was sentenced to 25 years behind bars for raping his underage niece as well as impregnating her, a Suwon court said Wednesday, amid growing calls for tougher punishments for brutal sex crimes against minors. The Suwon District Court handed down the hefty prison term to the man, only identified by his surname Cheong, convicted of raping his niece on multiple occasions between September 2005 and July this year in his house in Pyongtaek, south of Seoul.  The niece, who is now 16 y

The volume of emails uncovered between a top U.S. general and the woman who triggered a probe that ended the career of CIA director David Petraeus is "astounding," a top senator said Tuesday."The number of emails between the two was sort of an astounding number of emails, but if you can get over that number, then the question is, 'hey, let the IG (inspector general) do the appropriate investigation," said Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Carl Levin, a Democrat."I'm not going to jump to c