HONG KONG (AFP) - Asia's markets were mixed in edgy trade on Wednesday after Russia ratcheted up tensions in Eastern Europe by formally absorbing Crimea from Ukraine.Investors are also awaiting the end of the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting, hoping for some guidance from its new head Janet Yellen on her plans for interest rates.Tokyo rose 0.36 percent, or 51.25 points, to end at 14,462.52 and Sydney added 0.21 percent, or 11.0 points, to 5,355.6.But Seoul lost 0.13 percent, or 2.53 point

LONDON (AFP) - British Prime Minister David Cameron said Wednesday that G7 nations meeting next week must discuss the permanent expulsion of Russia from the wider G8 following the crisis in Crimea."I think we should be discussing whether or not to expel Russia permanently from the G8 if further steps are taken" by Russia to destabilise Ukraine, Cameron told parliament.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) – Investigators are trying to restore files deleted last month from the home flight simulator of the pilot aboard the missing Malaysian plane to see if they shed any light on the disappearance, Malaysia's defense minister said Wednesday. Hishammuddin Hussein told a news conference that the pilot, Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah, is considered innocent until proven guilty of any wrongdoing, and that members of his family are cooperating in the investigation. Files containing

China's top negotiator on the North Korean nuclear issue, Wu Dawei, has been holding talks with his North Korean counterpart in Pyongyang on restarting the six-party talks aimed at ending the North's nuclear weapons program, the Chinese foreign ministry said Wednesday. Wu arrived in Pyongyang on Monday, the North's state media said in a one-line report, without giving details of his itinerary.China's foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters during a regular press briefing that Wu has b

TOKYO (AP) – Japan says it won't change its 1993 apology over a system of forced prostitution for its military during World War II, but will continue to re-examine a 20-year-old study on which it was based. Japan has come under fire from Asian neighbors for setting up a team to review history and verify the accuracy of interviews with women who said they worked as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers before and during the war.Historians say tens of thousands of women served as sex slaves, called ``c

SEOUL, March 10 (Yonhap) – Pope Francis will meet with President Park Geun-hye and attend a gathering of Catholic youths from more than a dozen Asian nations in his first visit to South Korea this August, Seoul's presidential office said Monday.The Aug. 14-18 visit by the symbol of modest living and neighborly love will be a good opportunity to spread a message of love and peace not only to the Korean Peninsula, but also Northeast Asia, presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook said.During the trip,

North Korea has canceled for a second time its invitation for a senior U.S. envoy to visit the country to discuss a long-detained American's possible release, the State Department said Monday. The cancellation comes only days after detained American missionary Kenneth Bae told a pro-Pyongyang newspaper that he expected to meet this month with the envoy. It signals an apparent protest of upcoming annual military drills between Washington and Seoul and an alleged mobilization of U.S. nuclear-capab

South Korean short track speed skater Lee Han-bin finished sixth in the men's 1,500 meters on Monday at the Sochi Winter Olympics.Lee, the only South Korean in the finals, came up short of winning the country's first medal at the ongoing Winter Games.In the seven-man final, Lee started the 13 1/2-lap race in the back of the pack. He moved up to fifth place with nine laps to go, and passed another skater in the next lap. That was as close as Lee came to winning a medal, however, as he slipped to

South Korean short track speed skater Lee Han-bin reached the finals in the men's 1,500 meters on Monday at the Sochi Winter Olympics, while three female short trackers reached the quarters in the 500ｍ.Lee was the only one of three South Koreans to make it out of the semifinals at Iceberg Skating Palace, keeping South Korea's hopes alive for its first medal in Sochi.The finals will start at 4:05 p.m. (9:05 p.m. in South Korea) on Monday.Joining Lee in the finals will be Viktor Ahn of Russia. Bor

 Three South Korean short track speed skaters advanced to the semifinals in the men's 1,500 meters on Monday at the Sochi Winter Olympics.Park Se-young, Sin Da-woon and Lee Han-bin all made it out of heats to keep their medal hopes alive at Iceberg Skating Palace.The semifinals will start at 3:04 p.m. on Monday (8:04 p.m. in South Korea), followed by the finals at 4:05 p.m. (9:05 p.m. in South Korea.)They will try to win South Korea's first medal at the ongoing Winter Games.In heats, 36 skaters

Prosecutors on Tuesday sought a six-year prison term for food and entertainment conglomerate CJ Group chairman for alleged corporate crimes.Lee Jay-hyun was indicted on charges of embezzling around 165.7 billion won (US$156 million) to create slush funds and evade taxes in the process.Prosecutors also demanded that the chief of the country's 14th-largest conglomerate pay a fine of 110 billion won.  The 53-year-old tycoon is currently standing trial without being detained after a Seoul court exte

BANGKOK (AP) – Thailand's prime minister reiterated Tuesday she wouldn't quit as protesters seeking her ouster blocked key roads in the heart of Bangkok for a second day, leaving the country's political crisis firmly deadlocked.The demonstrators had pledged to “shut down” the city of 12 million people, but life in most of the vast metropolis was unaffected, with school classes restarting, commuters heading to work and most businesses open.The Southeast Asian nation's latest bout of unrest began

Major League Baseball (MLB) has requested a status check on South Korean star pitcher Yoon Suk-min, baseball officials here said Tuesday, a formal administrative step before a big league club can sign any professional player from Korea.The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said it informed MLB that Yoon is eligible for free agency after being asked about the 28-year-old's status in the top domestic league.The request is the second of its kinds after MLB first tendered a status check to the KBO i

Leaders of a rail union wanted by police for leading last month‘s intensive strike voluntarily turned themselves in to police for questioning Tuesday.The eleven leaders of the state-run Korea Railroad Corp. union, including the head of the union, Kim Myung-hwan, showed up at Yongsan Police Station in central Seoul later in the day.For the past one month, they have been defying police summons and taking refuge in two groups in the headquarters of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, the more

BANGKOK (AP) – Tens of thousands of protesters are marching through central Bangkok, paralyzing traffic and facing off with police outside the prime minister's residence in their latest mass rally against Thailand's government.The crowds of protesters Sunday split into more than a dozen groups, including the one outside Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's home. Yingluck was not inside at the time.The rally comes a day after Thailand's main opposition Democrat Party announced it would boycott ge

CAIRO (Reuters) - Three leading Egyptian activists were sentenced to three years in prison each on Sunday in a case brought over their role in recent protests, escalating a crackdown on dissent by the army-backed government. Ahmed Maher, Ahmed Douma and Mohamed Adel are symbols of the protest movement that ignited the historic 2011 uprising against President Hosni Mubarak. Each one was also fined 50,000 Egyptian pounds ($7,200) by the court. As the verdict was read, the courtroom erupted in chan

DHAKA (AFP) - Bangladesh police Sunday brought charges over the nation's deadliest-ever garment factory fire, accusing the owners and 11 others of negligence that led to the loss of 111 lives.Police charged owners Delwar Hossain and his wife, along with security guards and managers, over the blaze 13 months ago that gutted the nine-storey Tazreen factory on the outskirts of Dhaka where workers stitched clothes for Western retailers. "Delwar and his wife Mahmuda Akter ... and 11 others have been

SEOUL, Dec. 22 (Yonhap) -- More than 100 striking railway workers were taken into custody Sunday after the police forced their way into a union office with tear gas to round them up for questioning.Some 600 police officers were deployed to raid the headquarters of a militant labor umbrella group, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), in central Seoul around 11 a.m. to arrest union leaders of the state-run Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) who have been defying summons by prosecutors. The

The two Koreas agreed Friday to start work to set up an electronic tag system along the inter-Korean border that can facilitate movement of people and materials to and from the joint factory park of Kaesong in North Korea, officials said.Seoul's Ministry of Unification said construction of the radio frequency identification tag (RFID) system will begin next week and that North Korea agreed to give its full cooperation.The understanding was reached at a sub-panel meeting of the joint Kaesong mana

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – South Korea said Friday it will start negotiations to join a U.S.-led trade pact covering a dozen Pacific and Asian nations.The finance ministry said in a statement that officials will explore the possibility of joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership through the preliminary negotiations.The move is a first step and doesn't commit South Korea to becoming part of the agreement but the trade ministry has been talking up its benefits for the economy.Joining the trade bloc of