ACAPULCO, Mexico (AFP) - More than 100 people have been killed and scores are missing in landslides and flooding caused by heavy rain in Mexico, a senior government official said late Friday.Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong delivered the grim news from the resort town of Acapulco, in one of the worst-affected regions, with President Enrique Pena Nieto by his side.The death toll stood at 101, with 68 people missing following a massive mudslide that swallowed half of the village of La P

BRUSSELS (AFP) - European Union governments are bracing for a surge in Syrian refugees that threatens to become a flood as hopes fade for a quick end to the bloody civil war.Some two million Syrians have fled to neighboring countries so far, with four million internally displaced as the death toll mounts to more than 110,000.Thousands are seeking a new life in the EU, especially in the bloc's wealthier member states, with Italy among the worst affected.The European Commission, the EU's executive

WASHINGTON (AFP) - China said Friday that it was ready to talk to Japan over an increasingly heated maritime row, but only if Tokyo declares the islands to be disputed.Foreign Minister Wang Yi faced questions about ties with the US ally during a visit to Washington, where he called for mutual respect in relations between the United States and a growing China.Wang laid blame for tensions on Japan, which in September 2012 nationalized the islands, known as the Senkakus in Japanese and as the Diaoy

WASHINGTON (AP) – China's foreign minister pushed Friday for the restart of international talks on North Korea's nuclear program, saying that Pyongyang is ready to recommit to the goal of denuclearization.North Korea withdrew from the aid-for-disarmament talks in 2009, and over the past year has made clear it wants to be treated as a nuclear weapons state.But Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a Washington think tank the North has recently said it is ready to come back to a 2005 commitment on giving

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The upcoming UN report on climate change is not likely to rattle US deniers of global warming who hold sway in the halls of power, experts say.A hefty analysis of the latest science on global climate change, the report is packed with recommendations for policymakers.It will be released at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) next week, though most Republicans in the US government are expected to dismiss it outright."The IPCC report will help for the observers a

North Korea said Saturday it is postponing the planned reunions for families separated for six decades since the Korean War, accusing the South of seeking confrontation with the communist nation.The two Koreas have prepared to hold a round of family reunions at the North's scenic mountain resort of Kumgang from Sept. 25-30, in one of a series of signs of a thaw in relations between the two sides, along with the reopening of a joint industrial complex in the North.On Saturday, however, the North'

Apple Inc. attracted long lines of shoppers today for the global debut of its latest iPhones, the company’s biggest product introduction this year.In New York, customers lined up around the block to get into Apple’s flagship Fifth Avenue store, while in Munich about 2,000 gathered to buy the new iPhone 5s and 5c, and in London the waiting crowd stretched about a mile. Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook and other executives visited customers at stores in Palo Alto, California, near the compan

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) – Syria has sent the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons an ``initial declaration'' outlining its weapons program, the organization said Friday, in keeping with the agreement Russia and the U.S. brokered to have Syria give up its chemical weapons arsenal.Michael Luhan, the organization's spokesman, told The Associated Press the declaration is ``being reviewed by our verification division,'' but details of it will not be released.U.S. State Department

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Obama administration moved Friday to ensure it does not  lose more than $500 million in potential Egypt aid as it weighs suspending assistance after this summer's coup, U.S. officials and congressional aides said.   In a notification to Congress, the State Department outlined its intention to spend the money. But left unclear in the procedural step was how it would use the funds, with officials still mulling whether to punish Egypt's military by withholding economic and mil

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) – The collapse of North Korea could occur abruptly and with little warning like that of East Germany, a U.S. think tank report said Friday."It is more a matter of 'when' that 'if' it will occur," said the 295-page report by Bruce Bennett, a senior defense analyst at RAND, a nonprofit research organization.South Korea and the United States need to craft detailed contingency plans in case of the communist regime's collapse, which would be far more disastrous than the fall

　김한길 민주당 대표는 여야 대표 및 박근혜 대통령 간 3자회담에 응하겠다면서도 채동욱 검찰총장 사퇴사태가 국정원 선거개입사건의 연장선상이라며 대통령에게 답을 묻겠다고 밝혔다. 　김 대표는 일요일 오후 2시 서울시청 앞 서울광장에서 긴급기자회견을 열고 “회담의 주요 의제는 국정원 등 국가정보기관의 정치개입의 폐해가 돼야 한다. 검찰총장 사퇴 문제 역시 연장선상에 있다”면서 “이에 대한 분명한 답변을 대통령이 준비해야 할 것”이라며 이같이 말했다.　민주당 내에서는 16일 열릴 3자회담을 정권 차원의 ‘채동욱 총장 몰아내기’, ‘국정원 무죄만들기 프로젝트’로 규정하고, ‘유신•공작정치의 부활’ 등의 이유로 반발이 거셌다.　이정현 청와대 홍보수석은 이에 대해 ‘혼외아들 의혹’이 제기된 지 1주일 만에 채동욱 검찰총장이 전격 사의를 표명한 것과 관련, “사표수리를 하지 않았다. 진실규명이 우선”이라고 밝혔다.　이 수석은 이어 “진실이 규명되면 깨끗이 해결되는 문제”라며 “이번 사안을 의도적

BEIJING (Yonhap News) – A senior Chinese military official renewed his country's "clear-cut" goal of ending North Korea's nuclear program through dialogue during a meeting with South Korean defense officials last week, China's defense ministry said Tuesday. Sun Jianguo, the deputy chief of general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, made the remark on Friday when he met a delegation of the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, which is affiliated with South Korea's defense ministry, i

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Syria's neighbors are bracing for an influx of refugees fleeing their country in fear of U.S.-led military action, compounding what the UN has branded a "disgraceful humanitarian calamity."The movement could deepen an already enormous regional refugee crisis.The numbers of Syrians seeking safety abroad have increased nearly 10-fold from a year ago, the latest grim milestone in a 29-month battle between President Bashar al-Assad and rebels bent on overthrowing him.Correspondents a

LONDON (AFP) - Oil briefly jumped on Tuesday after Russia said it had detected the launch of two ballistic missiles heading towards the eastern Mediterranean, dealers said.Brent North Sea crude oil for October delivery climbed to $115.74 per barrel, before pulling back to $115.25, up 92 cents from Monday's closing level.New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for October, rallied as high as $107.77 per barrel. It later stood at $107.28, down 37 cents from Monday."This morning saw

ADEN (AFP) - A gun battle in the southern Yemeni province of Abyan left two suspected Al-Qaeda militants and a pro-government militiaman dead on Tuesday, an official from the militia said. Fighting between Al-Qaeda militants and the Popular Resistance Committees, which back the government, took place in Batis, northwest of the city of Jaar, the official said.Tuesday's violence erupted a day after a failed attack on the chief of the Committees in Abyan, Abdullatif Sayed. A blast targeted Sayed's

 이석기의원 내란음모협의로 궁지에 몰린 통합진보당이 야당들에게마저 외면당하며 점차 고립되어가고 있다. 　새누리당과 민주당이 이석기의원에 대한 체포동의안을 내주 통과시킬 가능성이 커지고 있는 가운데, 한때 같은 당 동료였던 정의당 심상정 원내대표마저 “엄중한 수사”를 촉구하고 나섰다. 심의원이 이끌고 있는 정의당은 지난해 이석기, 김재연의원의 비례대표선발과정의 비리혐의가 붉어지기 까지만 해도 한솥밥을 먹었던 사이였다. 　심의원은 1일 원내대표단회의에서 “국민들은 헌법 밖의 진보를 결코 용납하지 않을 것이다” 며 이석기의원과 통합진보당에 수사에 임할 것을 촉구했다. 　“헌법에 의해 보호받는 공당과 국민으로부터 헌법적 권한을 위임받은 국회의원은 국민들이 제기하는 모든 의혹과 의구심을 해소시켜야 할 책무가 있다” 며 당당하다면 수사에 성실히 임하는 것만이 국민의 신뢰를 되찾을 길이라고 강조했다. 　한편 새누리당과 민주당은 이번 주 중으로 이석기의원에 대한 체포동의안을 처리 할 것으로 보인다

민주당이 26일 양건 감사원장의 이임사를 ‘외풍’을 인정하는 것이라면 정부에 대한 압박을 높이고 있다. 김관영 수석대변인 한 통신사와 통화에서 양 원장의 이임사에 ‘역류와 외풍을 막고 직무의 독립성 끌어올리려고 안간힘을 썼지만 역부족임을 절감한다’는 문구가 포함된 것을 거론하며 이같이 주장했다. 김 수석대변인은 “결국 양 원장이 외풍을 막지 못해 흔들렸다는 것을 인정한 것”이라며 “이번 기회에 감사원이 제대로 독립성을 유지할 수 있도록 인사제도를 정비할 필요가 있다”고 강조했다. 국회 법제사법위원회 민주당 간사인 이춘석 의원도 “감사원에 외풍을 넣을 수 있는 기관은 청와대밖에 없을 것”이라며 “청와대가 이 부분에 대해 확실히 해명 해야 한다”고 말했다. 앞서 전병헌 원내대표는 이날 오전 서울광장 천막당사에서 열린 최고위원회의에서 “양 감사원장의 사퇴를 둘러싼 의혹 자체가 헌법에 대한 위협이자 도전”이라면서 “의혹에 대해 진실을 밝혀야 한다”고 말했다.전 원내대표는 “청와대가 논공행상

MOSCOW (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold his first meeting with new Iranian President Hassan Rowhani on the sidelines of a regional summit in Kyrgyzstan next month, the Kremlin said Friday.Russia has agreed to a proposal from Tehran for the meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit on September 13 in Bishkek, Putin's top foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov said, quoted by Russian news agencies.

BEIJING (AFP) - A detained Chinese activist has managed to release a video from behind bars urging citizens to fight for their rights in an act likely to further antagonize authorities. Xu Zhiyong, who has been detained since mid-July, is among two dozen activists rounded up this year for criticizing corruption and other sensitive topics -- despite a government campaign to fight graft. "Let us come together and work to make the rights of citizens’ matter, the identities of citizens’ matter, and

MOSCOW (AP) _ The International Olympic Committee is waiting for more clarifications from the Russian government on the anti-gay law that is overshadowing preparations for the Winter Games in Sochi, IOC President Jacques Rogge said Friday. The law, signed by President Vladimir Putin in June, bans ``propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations'' and imposes fines on those holding gay pride rallies. It has caused a major international outcry and spawned calls for protests ahead of the Feb. 7-23 O