"The Interview," a Sony Pictures comedy that has drawn huge attention at home and aboard due to North Korea's alleged cyber-attack and threats against its release, hit the screens at hundreds of theaters in the United States on Christmas Day, Thursday.   The movie, involving a plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has become a symbol of freedom of expression since Sony canceled its Christmas Day release last week after hackers disrupted its computer network and threatened attacks

North Korea has increased the number of its air force troops by 10,000, while reducing that of army soldiers by the same amount, a South Korean government data showed Thursday.   The total number of the North's armed forces stood at 1.19 million as of the end of 2013, according to the defense ministry's update of its assessment of the communist nation's military power.   "There seems to be no change in the general size of the North Korean military. But it transferred some aviation units in the a

Ukraine took a historic step toward NATO on Tuesday in a parliamentary vote that stoked Russia's anger ahead of talks on ending the ex-Soviet state's separatist war.   Lawmakers in the government-controlled chamber overwhelmingly adopted a bill dropping Ukraine's non-aligned status -- a classification given to states such as Switzerland that refuse to join military alliances and thus play no part in wars.   President Petro Poroshenko had vowed to put Ukraine under Western military protection aft

SK Gas Co., a unit of South Korea's third-largest conglomerate SK Group, said Tuesday that it will sell half of its 1.96 percent stake in Hong Kong-listed China Gas Holdings to its affiliate SK E&S Co., a local city gas provider, for 79 billion won ($71.7 million).    The stake sale aims to secure funds to acquire Dongbu Power Dangjin Corp., the operator of a coal-fired thermal power plant in South Chungcheong Province, and push for a project to build a propane dehydrogenation plant which produc

India's birth rate declined dramatically in the last two decades due in part to rising female literacy, a new study shows, but experts warned against complacency in the country of 1.2 billion.   The Total Fertility Rate -- the number of children the average woman will have in her lifetime based on current trends -- fell to just 2.3 last year from 3.6 in 1991, according to official figures released on Monday.   Improvements in female literacy were having "a direct impact on fertility", said the r

French doctors went on strike Tuesday in protest at an upcoming health bill, prompting fears that hospitals already bracing for a busy Christmas period will be seriously overrun.   Three unions have called on general practitioners to close shop in protest at certain aspects of the bill, which notably will allow pharmacists to vaccinate patients -- an act that is currently almost exclusively reserved for doctors.   The bill also wants to set up a system whereby patients will no longer have to be

The Algerian army said on Tuesday that it has killed the head of the jihadist Jund al-Khilafa group that decapitated a Frenchman in September.   The body of Abdelmalek Gouri, who claimed responsibility for the beheading of Frenchman Herve Gourdel, was identified after an operation in the town of Isser "that allowed us to eliminate three terrorists," the army said.   The confirmation of Gouri's death came after the Nahar private television network said soldiers had killed him and two other milita

Sri Lanka's president, under pressure from his main opponent in upcoming elections, on Tuesday promised a judicial inquiry into allegations that his troops killed thousands of Tamil civilians at the end of the civil war.   But President Mahinda Rajapakse reiterated that he would not cooperate with a UN-mandated investigation into the government's 2009 crushing of the Tamil Tiger rebellion.   "If any rights have been violated (during the war), justice will be ensured through a transparent domesti

President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday oversaw the successful test-launch of Russia's newest heavy-class Angara rocket, a rare piece of good news in a week dominated by the economic crisis.   The president oversaw by video link the launch of the Angara-A5 from Plesetsk in northern Russia at 0557 GMT, saying the new rocket would allow the country better protection.   "Indeed, for our space industry and I suppose for the whole of Russia this is a major, very important event," Putin said from the Krem

Wang Jianlin rose from local bureaucrat to China's richest man by transforming a debt-laden state-owned housebuilder into the sprawling Wanda Group, and the flotation of one of its subsidiaries Tuesday may propel him back up a rich list now dominated by Internet moguls.   Wang has penchants for karaoke and collecting, and has an impressive selection of fine art, property projects in top markets around the world, and an ever-expanding portfolio of companies including cinema chain AMC and yachtbui

Rival parties agreed Tuesday to conduct a 100-day parliamentary investigation into alleged irregularities in overseas resources development projects carried out under the administration of former President Lee Myung-bak.   Earlier this month, the ruling Saenuri Party and the No. 1 opposition party, New Politics Alliance for Democracy, agreed to launch an investigation into allegations the Saenuri-affiliated Lee government in office from 2008-2013 spent tens of billions of dollars on various natu

A trilateral committee of labor, management and government representatives agreed Tuesday on the basic principles of their future discussions on reforming the labor market and to finish discussing three top topics, including easing discrimination against irregular workers, by March.   The Economic and Social Development Commission adopted a basic agreement on labor market reform at the end of a main session held at the main government building in Seoul.   The three parties shared the need to ref

China called on the United States and North Korea on Tuesday to talk to each other about the hacking of Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. that Washington has blamed on Pyongyang, while sidestepping questions about whether Beijing would cooperate with the U.S. over the North's alleged cyber attack.    China's foreign ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, also strongly denied media reports that China was involved in the Internet outage in North Korea, slamming such reports as "not trustworthy" and "i

Prosecutors said Tuesday that they will seek an arrest warrant for the former vice president of Korean Air at the center of a controversial incident dubbed "nut rage."   Cho Hyun-ah, the eldest daughter of Korean Air chairman Cho Yang-ho, resigned earlier this month after a national uproar over her conduct aboard a Seoul-bound Korean Air flight from New York's JFK Airport.   She ordered the cabin crew chief of the plane that was already on the taxiway to get off because she was displeased about

US Senator Mary Landrieu, one of the last standing elected Deep South Democrats, lost her bid Saturday for re-election in Louisiana, further clinching Republicans' dominance in the Senate following mid-term elections last month.   Her loss to Republican rival Bill Cassidy in the runoff vote consolidates a conservative majority in the southern state, in a region where political winds have shifted strongly in the Republicans' favor in recent years.    The vote -- the last in the Senate contest and

Mourners heard a rallying cry for justice Saturday at the New York funeral of an unarmed black man shot dead by police as nationwide protests against similar killings continued for a fourth night.   Akai Gurley, 28, father of a two-year-old daughter, was shot dead when a police officer opened fire in a dimly lit staircase at a Brooklyn apartment building where he was walking with his girlfriend late on November 20.   Friends and relatives filed past Gurley's open gray casket to pay their respect

South Korea's Park Geun-hye administration is willing to provide North Korea with appropriate incentives if needed for the reunion of separated families, a senior government official said Sunday.   The official stressed it is a "very important issue associated with the government's responsibility." The majority of people with families on the other side of the heavily-fortified border due to the 1950-53 Korean War are now in their 80s or 90s.   "If we fail to resolve the problem, it means the gov

President Barack Obama on Friday named Ashton Carter, a highly regarded technocrat, to lead the Pentagon as the US military embarks on the latest phase in its 13-year war against Islamic extremists.Obama praised the 60-year-old Carter, saying that as US defense secretary he would bring to the job "a unique blend of strategic perspective and technical know-how.""All of which means on day one, he will hit the ground running," Obama said, making the announcement from the White House. President Bara

3살 여아를 음주 상태에서 수술한 응급의료센터 전공의 1년차가 병원측으로 부터 파면 조치를 받았다. 인천에 있는 이 대학병원측은 1일 오전 긴급 회의를 열고 '음주 수술' 당사자인 전공의는 물론, 일부 보직자에 대해서도 지휘감독 미흡의 책임을 물어 징계하기로 결정했다. 해당 전공의는 이 병원 소속 성형외과 레지던트 1년차인 것으로 밝혀졌다.(YTN 뉴스 캡쳐)병원 관계자는 "음주 상태에서 여아를 수술한 담당 의사를 파면하고 응급의료센터 보직자도 징계하기로 결정했다"면서 "파면은 병원 차원에서 내릴 수 있는 최고의 징계 수위"라고 말한 것으로 밝혀졌다.앞서 이 의사는 지난 28일 한밤중인 11시경, 3살 여아를 음주 상태에서 상처 봉합 수술을 강행해 비난의 중심에 섰다.  이 여아는 물이 고인 바닥 위에서 미끄러져 턱 부위가 찢어져 긴급 내원하였으나, 시야가 뚜렷하지 않을 정도로 취한 것으로 알려진 ‘음주 의사’가 제대로 수술하지 못해, 다른 의사로부터부터 재수술을 받은 것으로 알려졌

A university hospital decided on Monday to fire a doctor who reportedly carried out a sloppy operation on a child patient while under the influence of alcohol.Gacheon University Gil Medical Center took the disciplinary action against him in an emergency meeting. The hospital also decided to punish some of its senior officials for poor management of its staff.The embattled doctor is a first-year resident of the hospital’s plastic surgery department, with one year of experience in the emergency ro