The uncle of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and a key guardian of Kim's new leadership embarked a visit to China on Monday for talks on joint development projects with China over two special economic zones in the North, Pyongyang's official news agency said. The visit by Jang Song-thaek, vice chairman of the North's powerful National Defense Commission, came after Kim met with Wang Jiarui, chief

Prosecutors on Monday detained with a court-issued warrant a former official of the ruling Saenuri Party believed to have served as a go-between in a money-for-nomination scandal for further investigation.The Busan District Court approved the prosecutors' request to issue an arrest warrant for Cho Ki-moon, a former official at the party's Busan branch.Cho is suspected of relaying 300 million won (

The uncle of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un headed to China Monday for talks on the joint development of two special economic zones, the North's state media reported.Jang Song-thaek is leading a North Korean delegation for a third round of talks on the Rason Economic Trade Zone and the Hwanggumphyong and Wihwado Economic Zone, the Korean Central News Agency reported.Jang -- the husband of former

South Korea's arms procurement agency said Tuesday it has approved bid proposals by three foreign defense companies for a multi-million dollar fighter jet project and will start flight tests from next week.The F-15 Silent Eagle by U.S. firm Boeing, the F-35A by another American company Lockheed Martin, and the Eurofighter by Europe-based multinational defense group EADS are in the running to win t

Chimpanzees sit at the Chimp Eden rehabilitation center near Nelspruit, South Africa, where a man was brutally attacked by two chimpanzees on Thursday. (AP-Yonhap News)Chimpanzees at a sanctuary founded by famed primatologist Jane Goodall pulled a Texas graduate student into their fenced-off enclosure, dragging him nearly a half-mile and biting his ear and hands. Andrew F. Oberle was giving a lect

A cruise to North Korea's scenic mountain resort from China has officially been launched, Chinese media reported Saturday.According to the China News, some 100 Chinese tourists from the northeastern province of Jilin sailed along the North's east coast to visit Mount Kumgang on a four-day itinerary early Friday.After crossing the border to North Korea by land from the city of Hunchun in the Yanbia

China's Civil Affairs Ministry says mudslides caused by heavy rains have killed 50 and left another 42 missing.The national agency said in an online statement Friday that storms have ravaged 11 provinces and regions -- mainly in south China -- since June 20 and triggered the deadly mudslides.The ministry says about 440,000 people have been relocated and that tens of thousands of homes are severely

Investigators were trying to determine Friday if a man who collapsed in a Phoenix courtroom moments after being convicted of arson took his own life.Michael Marin, 53, died Thursday soon after paramedics rushed him from the courtroom, The Arizona Republic reported.A jury found Marin guilty Thursday of setting his mansion in the Biltmore Estates neighborhood in Phoenix on fire in 2009. A few minute

An official at the New York company that hired a man who rescued a baby from Brooklyn subway tracks says the company is honored to employ the "hero."Delroy Simmonds, who rescued 9-month-old David Zamara Monday, had been unemployed for more than a year before accepting the offer Wednesday from ABM Janitorial services at Kennedy Airport, the New York Daily News reported."It says a lot about his char

A Vancouver-based Web site is marketing an anti-infidelity wedding ring that leaves the imprint of the words "I'm married" on the wearer's finger.TheCheeky.com is selling the titanium bands, which have the letters carved into the inside of the wedding band to leave an imprint on the wearer's finger, for $550, the New York Daily News reported Friday."With Arnold, Tiger and two-timing IMF guy in min

The U.S. government said Friday that a Seoul-Tokyo accord on sharing military information, if signed, will be "useful, but it maintained a largely cautious stance on the sensitive bilateral issue."Such agreements would be useful but we recognize that this is a bilateral issue for the ROK and Japan," a State Department spokesperson told Yonhap News Agency on the customary condition of anonymity. “T

 A trilateral council comprised of the government, labor and management on Saturday agreed to raise the country's minimum wage by 6.1 percent to 4,860 won ($4.24) per hour next year.Representatives of the Minimum Wage Council reached the deal in a 10-8 vote with nine abstentions at the end of overnight negotiations, the council said.The decision will increase the monthly salary of those who work 4

TOKYO (AFP)--Three-quarters of the tons of meat from Japan's controversial whale hunt last year was not sold, despite repeated attempts to auction it, officials said on Wednesday.The Institute of Cetacean Research, a quasi-public body that organises the country's whaling, said around 75 percent of roughly 1,200 tons of minke, Bryde's and sei meat from the deep-sea mission did not find buyers.It is

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)--Bulldozers dug through tons of rocks and dirt on Wednesday in hopes of recovering 71 victims of a landslide that occurred after two earthquakes struck in northern Afghanistan earlier this week.Two bodies have been recovered so far and 69 other people are feared dead--entombed in the rubble in Baghlan province's Burka district, Mahmood Haqmal, the spokesman for the province

BEIJING (AFP)--Graphic images posted online showing the bloody corpse of a baby whose mother was allegedly forced to terminate her pregnancy at seven months have caused an uproar in China.Rights groups say authorities in north China's Shaanxi province forced Feng Jianmei to abort her pregnancy on June 2 because she was unable to pay a 40,000 yuan ($6,270) fine for exceeding China's "one-child" pop

WARSAW, Poland (AP)--At least 24 people were injured and more than 180 hooligans detained in clashes before and during a European Championship match between Poland and Russia, officials said Wednesday.Edyta Galazkowska, spokeswoman for the Warsaw ambulance service, said that 14 Russians, one German, one U.S. citizen and one Pakistani were among the injured. The nationality of seven others was bein

 JAKARTA (AFP) -- Lady Gaga broke her silence about a jeopardised concert in Jakarta, saying on Twitter Tuesday that she was facing censorship from Indonesian authorities and threats of violence from Islamic hardliners.Indonesian police have said they would not issue a permit for the June 3 show after objections from Islamic groups, but the promoters say they are still fighting for a way to stage

KATMANDU, Nepal (AP)--Days after four people died amid a traffic jam of climbers scrambling to conquer Mount Everest, Nepal officials said a similar rush up the world's tallest peak will begin soon, and there's little they can do to control it.About 200 climbers are expected to attempt to scale the summit of the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) mountain between Friday and Sunday, Nepali mountaineering of

KABUL (AFP)--The US ambassador to Afghanistan, Ryan Crocker, is to leave his post this summer, the embassy in Kabul confirmed Tuesday."Amb Crocker has confirmed with regret that he will be leaving Kabul this summer," the embassy said on its Twitter feed, a day after the conclusion of a NATO summit in Chicago in which leaders charted a path out of the Afghan war.The veteran diplomat, who was appoin

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) -- A first-of-its-kind commercial supply ship rocketed toward the International Space Station following a successful liftoff early Tuesday, opening a new era of dollar-driven spaceflight.The SpaceX company made history as its Falcon 9 rocket rose from its seaside launch pad and pierced the pre-dawn sky, aiming for a rendezvous in a few days with the space station. The