A British court holding a second inquest into the death of Amy Winehouse has confirmed that the singer drank herself to death.The inquest was held for a second time after the coroner in the first inquest was found to lack the proper qualifications.The soul singer was found dead at her London home in July 2011 at the age of 27. An inquest later that year found that the star had died from accidental alcohol poisoning.The coroner later resigned after her qualifications were questioned. She had been

　Bringing a last-minute change to the election dynamics, Lee Jung-hee of the minor Unified Progressive Party quit the race Sunday, vowing to help the opposition forces win Wednesday’s presidential election.　Meanwhile, the opposition Democratic United Party was dealt a blow after police announced that their initial probe found no evidence to back its claim that a National Intelligence Service official engaged in a smear campaign against its candidate. 　“I withdraw my presidential candidacy in ord

(AFP)

A local Christian group has called off its plan to light up Christmas towers near the tense border with North Korea, Seoul's defense ministry said Monday, in consideration of concerns among residents the moves could provoke the communist nation.It had been an annual tradition for South Korea to light a Christmas tree on top of a hill called Aegibong near the western border with the North before it was suspended in 2003 under a reconciliation agreement with the communist rival to end border propa

Ahn Cheol-soo, the popular liberal independent who dropped out of the presidential race last week, could meet with his former rival Moon Jae-in of the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) as early as this week to discuss ways to jointly defeat the ruling party in the Dec. 19 election, officials from both sides said Monday.Ahn, a 50-year-old software mogul-turned-politician, withdrew his candidacy Friday amid a deadlock in talks to select either him or Moon as the unified opposition cont

Prosecutors on Monday demanded three years in prison for independent lawmaker Hyun Young-hee for bribing a former ruling party official in return for her nomination ahead of the April general elections.Hyun was indicted in September on suspicion of giving 50 million won ($45,766) to Cho Ki-moon, who worked at Saenuri Party's branch office in the southern port city of Busan, in return for securing her a spot on the proportional representation ticket ahead of the elections, according to the prosec

Google on Tuesday rejected accusations by European data protection agencies that its new privacy policy does not comply with EU legislation."Our new privacy policy shows our continued commitment to protecting our users' data and creating quality products. We are confident that our privacy policies respect European law," the Internet giant said in a statement.(AFP)

A Chinese fisherman aboard a boat illegally fishing in South Korean waters in the Yellow Sea was shot dead on Tuesday by a South Korean Coast Guard officer during a raid, officials said.The South Korean Coast Guard caught 30 Chinese boats that were illegally fishing in the southwestern sea about 90 kilometers northwest of Hong Island in Shinan County, South Jeolla Province, at around 3:10 p.m.The

"Gangnam Style" star Psy has appeared in a video promoting South Korea's bid to host the secretariat of an international fund aimed at fighting climate change, with his viral song playing in the background alongside promotional images of the bid.South Korea's Songdo, west of Seoul, is among the six competitors vying for the right to host the secretariat of the Green Climate Fund, a mechanism estab

Global financial ministers called Saturday for quick and effective action to safeguard faltering economic growth and rebuild shaken confidence as they ended an annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund.The IMF's International Monetary and Financial Committee also urged emerging economies to adapt their own policies to help counter slowing growth in Europe and the United States.The IMFC sai

Hunger situation in North Korea this year worsened from the 1990s despite considerable amount of international aid to the communist nation, a Washington-based food institute showed Saturday.The 2012 Global Hunger Index (GHI) published by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) said hunger remains a serious problem worldwide, with alarming levels in some countries.North Korea's hun

TOKYO -- South Korea's top central banker said Saturday that emerging countries must beef up their domestic consumption via free trade agreements to maintain stable growth and help spur the global economy."Following the global financial crisis, the rapid growth rate in Asian and Latin American countries has played an important role in the recovery of the global economy," Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. K

The three leading presidential candidates gathered in a marathon event on Saturday, the first time for the contenders to appear together for a photo session with the showdown only two months away.Rep. Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Party, Rep. Moon Jae-in of the main opposition Democratic United Party and Ahn Cheol-soo, an independent candidate, showed up at the marathon event held at World C

Mark Webber of Red Bull claimed the pole position at the Formula One (F1) Korean Grand Prix on Saturday.The Australian had the fastest qualifying lap time of one minute 37.242 seconds on the Korea International Circuit in Yeongam, about 400 kilometers south of Seoul. Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel, the defending Korean Grand Prix champ, was second at 1:37.316, followed by Lewis Hamilton of McL

Apple Inc. is set to reveal a smaller, cheaper version of the iPad at an event on Oct. 23, according to several reports published Friday.The reports from Bloomberg News, Reuters and the AllThingsD blog are based on unnamed sources with ``familiar with the plans.''Apple Inc. hasn't said anything about a smaller tablet, a concept company founder Steve Jobs derided two years ago. But company watchers

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. budget deficit has topped $1 trillion for a fourth straight year, but a modest improvement in economic growth helped narrow the gap by $207 billion compared with last year.The Treasury Department said Friday the deficit for the 2012 budget year totaled $1.1 trillion. Tax revenue rose 6.4 percent from last year to more than $2.4 trillion, helping contain the deficit.The gover

Hong Sa-duk, a close aide to ruling party presidential candidate Park Geun-hye, confessed that he received illegal political funds from a businessman, during a recent questioning, prosecution sources said Saturday. Hong, a former co-chairman of Park's primary campaign team and former six-term lawmaker, was summoned by prosecutors on Friday on suspicion of receiving kickbacks from the businessman,

Senior officials and business leaders of major African countries will gather in South Korea next week to discuss cooperation and joint business opportunities, the foreign ministry said Saturday. South Korea and the African Union (AU) will jointly hold the Korea Africa Economic Cooperation Conference (KOAFEC) in Seoul from Oct. 15-18, bringing 150 ministers and heads of 18 African nations and inter

WASHINGTON -- Chun Jae-su, the South Korean-born head coach of the U.S. short track skating team, has resigned, bowing to weeks of pressure amid ugly accusations of stake tampering and physical abuse, a news report said Friday.Chun's top assistant from South Korea, Yeo Jun-hyung, also stepped down, according to the Washington Post.hey have been accused of physically and emotionally abusing players

A detention warrant for the elder brother of South Korea's renowned conductor Chung Myung-whun was sought by prosecutors on suspicion of embezzlement on Sunday.  Prosecutors at Incheon District Prosecutors' Office said the 70-year-old brother is suspected of pocketing billions of won from 14 billion won in subsidies for a joint project with the Incheon metropolitan government called "Incheon & Art