Instead of doing some last-minute shopping or wrapping gifts, families across the U.S. South spent Christmas Eve taking stock of their losses after an unusual outbreak of December tornadoes and other violent weather killed at least 14 people and damaged or destroyed dozens of homes. "Santa brought us a good one, didn't he?'' Bobby Watkins said as he and his wife took a walk amid the destruction in rural Benton County, Mississippi, where four people -- including a married couple and two neighbors

U.S.-based Intel Corp. was named the most influential firm in the Internet of Things (IoT) segment, data showed Friday, based on how often the company is mentioned on websites and social media with related keywords.According to the data compiled by IoT Analytics, U.S.-based tech companies took the top spots in the report, with Intel followed by IBM, Microsoft Corp., Google Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. over the third and fourth quarters of 2015.South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. came in ninth,

Investigators returned from the  Philippines on Friday after looking into the recent shooting death  of a South Korean man, adding they have found key evidence to narrow down the suspects.A 57-year-old South Korean, identified only by his surname Cho,  was shot to death by four unidentified, armed assailants on Sunday  at his house in Batangas, some 100km south of Manila.The incident raised the number of South Koreans killed in the  Southeast Asian country to 11 this year. Police said they have

A long-standing dispute sparked a shooting at a crowded North Carolina shopping mall on Christmas Eve, police said, and an off-duty officer fatally shot a man who pointed a gun in his direction.  Police said no one else was shot and there were no other reports of injuries. The shooting was not a random act but rather the result of a feud among people who knew each other _ though there was no indication it was gang-related, Chief Kerr Putney of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said.  D

President Park Geun-hye checked military readiness against possible North Korean provocations as she made a rare visit to a military base near the border with North Korea, an official said Thursday.Park, wearing a military jacket, commended the soldiers at the military division in Yeoncheon near the central section of the border, for their "resolute" response to North Korea's shelling attacks on Aug. 20, presidential spokesman Jeong Yeon-guk said.Combined with a land-mine attack earlier in the m

As Europe grapples with its biggest migrant crisis in recent history, Hollywood celebrities are rallying to raise awareness about the issue and lashing out at calls to turn away refugees.Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon this month became the latest star to arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos, a frontline for the crisis, where she is spending the Christmas holiday helping new arrivals and writing about her experience for the Huffington Post and RYOT.org, a virtual reality news company.The 69

Indonesian police said they have arrested two more suspected militants including a member of China's ethnic Uighur minority who was allegedly preparing to be a suicide bomber. National Police spokesman Maj. Gen. Anton Charliyan says the suspects were captured in two separate places Wednesday in Bekasi, a West Java town bordering with eastern Jakarta. The arrests of Arif Hidayatullah, alias Abu Mush'ab, and Alli, the Uighur who used a fake identity card, came as security has been stepped up after

President Park Geun-hye expressed hopes on Thursday that more people will donate, citing her email conversation with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg."I have recently exchanged an email with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about sharing and the spirit of donation," Park wrote in her Facebook post. "I hope that there will be more people in our country who are sharing and donating."Earlier this month, Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan announced that they would donate 99 percent of their Faceboo

South Korea warned Thursday Japan will face an angry backlash from neighbors and the international communist if the country rewrites its modern history with a revisionist view.A controversial history review office of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party held its first meeting on Tuesday as it reportedly seeks to review an array of modern historical events.The move is raising concerns that Japan may rewrite its modern history of World War II aggression and atrocities as the meeting will report

Rival parties once again failed Thursday to agree on redrawing electoral districts for next year's general elections.Ruling Saenuri Party Chairman Kim Moo-sung, main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy Chairman Moon Jae-in and the parties' floor leaders sat together over the demarcation of constituencies earlier in the day, but the meeting fell through without an outcome, according to party officials. It was their seventh negotiation held on the issue this month as the parties gear up

Amid the well-being trend and the rise of conscious consumerism, urban apiaries have started mushrooming in Korea as people seek different and eco-friendly ways of spending. Instead of buying branded honey which is rich in sugar ― business insiders secretly admit that some bees are fed sugar for cost efficiency ― Koreans have started installing beehives on rooftops to attract wandering bees in the bustling city center and give them some honey.Park Jin, head of Urban Bees Seoul, and Fraser Dohert

Last week’s hike in U.S. interest rates, the first in nearly a decade, has ended an era of ultraeasy money in the world’s largest economy that is now deemed to have gone beyond the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.Emerging market countries, many of which have been considered particularly vulnerable to the impact of a U.S. rate rise, seemed barely rattled by the widely expected move.The initial response, however, cannot be allowed to ease concerns about the threat to be posed by a tightenin

What happens when an orchestra conductor marries his violinist, who leaves him for a trumpet player, then ends up falling for a harpist -- only to find out his estranged wife wants to reconcile? The basic premise of Japanese author Koki Mitani and composer Takayuki Hattori’s musical “Orchestra Pit” may sound befuddling, but its combination of light-hearted humor and up-tempo musical interludes make it a refreshing departure from other blockbuster musicals whose scores and lyrics have been memori

Kim Bong-mee conducts the Herald Philharmonic Orchestra, which is slated to hold its year-end concert on Dec. 27 at the Inje Cultural Foundation’s Grand Concert Hall in Inje, Gangwon Province. (Korea Herald file photo)Continuing its forging of orchestral-based, genre-hodgepodge reinterpretations of widely recognized repertoires, the Herald Philharmonic Orchestra will present its final concert of the year on Sunday. Under the baton of Kim Bong-mee, the Herald Phil’s year-end performance will be h

The Academy of Korean Studies on Tuesday unveiled its latest publication series on Korea‘s 70-year history since its liberation from Japanese colonial rule.The new anniversary series consists of six volumes dealing with the past seven decades of Korea from different perspectives: diplomacy, security and unification; environment; culture; education; politics; and economy.  The Academy of Korean Studies’ latest publication series on Korea’s 70-year history since its liberation from Japanese coloni

The once hugely popular 1990s electropop duo Turbo has made its much-awaited return to the spotlight after 15 years -- only this time around, Turbo has returned as a trio.Kim Jung-nam and Kim Jong-kook, reuniting with past member Kim Jung-nam, have joined the ranks of g.o.d and Seo Taiji as ’90s music icons making a comeback to today’s K-pop scene, with the Turbo members dropping the 19-track comeback album “Again” on Monday. Members of the ’90s band Turbo pose during a press conference at the R

iKON (YG Entertainment)YG Entertainment’s latest boy band iKON is preparing its first studio album release, which will feature a track cowritten and composed by fellow labelmate artist G-Dragon, one of the biggest figures in K-pop. The boy band’s upcoming track “I Miss You So Bad” was written in collaboration with G-Dragon and iKON rappers B.I and Bobby, and composed by G-Dragon and Dee.P.The track marks the first time that K-pop veteran G-Dragon has written and composed a song for an artist out

Lee Na-young (left) and Won Bin. (Eden 9)Seven months after tying the knot at their quiet Gangwon Province wedding, celebrity couple Won Bin and Lee Na-young have welcomed their first child. Their baby boy was reportedly born Saturday at a hospital in Gangnam, Seoul. “Lee Na-young has given birth to a son, and the mother and child are both very healthy,” said a representative from Lee’s managing agency. Won and Lee married on May 30 in a low-key wedding, which many in the public eye referred to

Joo Young (Starship Entertainment)Representatives at K-pop management agency Starship Entertainment announced Saturday that its solo singer-songwriter Joo Young had enlisted in the military last month. “Joo Young enlisted on Nov. 26. After going through four weeks of basic training, he will be fulfilling his services as a public welfare solider for two years,” the agency said in a statement.  Joo Young, 24, first made his debut as a R&B soloist in 2010 with his EP “Same as You.” Although still r

Following this year’s Kumho Art Hall Rising Star series participant Christel Lee’s victory at the International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition earlier this month, the series’ musicians are continuing to snag international accolades. Supported by the Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation, the “Kumho musicians” dominated this year’s 9th International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in Novosibirsk, Russia, Tuesday, taking home first place for both violin and piano.  Violinist Kim Dong-hyun