VATICAN CITY -- Other than St. Peter's Basilica, there is hardly better real estate in Vatican City than the sprawling penthouse apartment in the Vatican gardens, where the rooftop terrace has in-your-face views of the dome itself and overlooks the hotel that Pope Francis calls home. The 300-square-meter (3,230-square-foot) bachelor pad, belonging to the previous pope's second-in-command, looked even better after undergoing a 422,000-euro ($481,000) face-lift. Who footed the bill? The Bambino Ge

NEW YORK -- Activist investor Nelson Peltz is attempting to secure a seat on the board at Procter & Gamble, seeking faster changes at the consumer products company.Peltz's Trian Fund Management LP, which owns about $3.3 billion worth of shares at Procter & Gamble, said Monday that it's interested in helping Procter & Gamble improve its performance, saying that its financial performance over the last 10 years has been disappointing. David Taylor was named CEO of the company two years ago and P&G

European Union regulators on Monday filed antitrust charges against Israeli drug-maker Teva for colluding to delay a cheaper generic version of modafinil, a blockbuster sleep drug.The European Commission said in a statement that it had informed Teva of its "preliminary view" that an agreement concluded with rival Cephalon was in breach of EU antitrust rules.Under the agreement, Teva committed not to market a cheaper generic version of modafinil, Cephalon's drug for sleep disorders, the EU said.T

South Korea's trade minister nominee said Monday that he does not rule out the possibility of filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) over US protectionist measures.Paik Un-gyu said the US has slapped excessive anti-dumping and countervailing duties on South Korean steel products at a time when they are neither being dumped nor benefiting from government subsidies.He outlined his views in a written answer to a question raised by an opposition lawmaker ahead of a parliamentary

A lawsuit filed against McDonald’s Korea claiming that a 4-year-old contracted a condition causing kidney failure after consuming a hamburger at the fast-food chain has been spreading fear about the safety of burger patties. (Yonhap)Earlier this month, a woman surnamed Choi filed a suit against McDonald’s Korea claiming that her daughter became sick with hemolytic uremic syndrome after eating a Happy Meal at a McDonald’s branch in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.The child suffered kidney failure a

The Korean duty-free industry may see a drop in on-year annual sales in 2017, which would make it the first decline in 14 years, according to data from the customs regulator Sunday.Since the outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome virus in 2003, the duty-free industry had seen steadily rising sales until last year. Especially in 2016, sales had risen sharply to 12.3 trillion won ($10.83 billion), breaking the 10 trillion-won mark thanks to the popularity of Korean music and dramas and

Despite being in the red since its launch three years ago, Shinsegae announced it will be investing 300 billion won ($264 million) over the next three years into its convenience store business, rebranding it from Withme to Emart24, redesigning its stores’ layout and introducing private label products.Describing Emart24 as an “innovation program” at a press event held at Coex on Thursday, the company’s Chief Executive Kim Song-yong said that the chain hopes to find its place “in the intensely com

Korea’s two full-service carriers were questioned by police over allegations that they were running illegal restaurant operations at their lounges in Incheon Airport, the airlines confirmed Wednesday.Korean Air and Asiana Airlines’ airport lounges, which are technically convenience facilities, are not licensed to operate as restaurants. However, Korean Air heats and mixes some of the food it serves to its business class and first class passengers on-site, which police construe as cooking. Asiana

Upon the conclusion by the audit board that Lotte Duty Free was wrongfully denied duty-free licenses by the Korea Customs Service in 2015, the prosecution has launched its own investigation into the case that is also connected to the ongoing trial of impeached former President Park Geun-hye.The Board of Audit and Inspection has said Tuesday that after two rounds of its investigation, they have found the KCS knowingly manipulated data submitted by duty-free operators to prevent Lotte Duty Free fr

Retail giant Shinsegae said Tuesday that its affiliate Jeju Soju will be releasing a new brand of soju called “Pureunbam,” marking the group‘s entry into the market.The name “Pureunbam,” literally meaning “Blue Night,” was chosen because it reflected images that are often associated with the southern island of Jeju such as tranquility and purity. Promotional image for Shinsegae‘s upcoming soju brand “Pureunbam” (Shinsegae)The company said that it has created a “new recipe utilizing Jeju's clear,

Starbucks Korea said Tuesday that it will be introducing nine new products exclusively at 15 stores in Jeju, made with specialty products from the southern island. Starbucks’ new Jeju Hallabong Green Tea Sherbert, available exclusively at 15 stores in Jeju (Starbucks)The products include drinks such as Jeju Hallabong Green Tea Sherbert and Jeju Summer Lemonade, as well as food such as the Jeju Tangerine Cheesecake.They were developed based on an analysis of big data, according to the company. Cu

Lotte Chemical Titan went public on the Malaysian stock market, creating a foundation for the global operations of Lotte Chemical, according to the company Tuesday.The listing included 2.38 billion shares including 580 million new shares, with a retail price of MYR6.5 ($1.51) per share. Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin (Lotte)LC Titan is the first affiliate under the Lotte umbrella to be listed in Southeast Asia.The initial share price was lower than the MYR8 that had been initially expected a

Incheon International Airport Corp. said Tuesday that it had created a cooperative alliance with two European airline groups, the first of its kind.Incheon Airport, Dutch company Royal Schiphol Group and the French Groupe ADP created the Leading Airport Alliance, modeled after alliances between airlines such as Skyteam, which houses Korean Air and the Star Alliance, home to Asiana Airlines.The three airport companies have been sister airports since 2011 and strategic partners since 2014. With th

STOCKHOLM -- Apple on Monday said it would invest six billion Danish kroner ($920 million, 810 million euros) in a data centre in Denmark, its second in the country to run entirely on clean energy.Ground-breaking at the plant in Aabenraa, which will employ between 50 and 100 people, will start in the final quarter of 2017, with construction due to be completed in early 2019.The facility will help to handle data from iMessages, answers from the voice-activated assistant Siri and song downloads fr

K-pop boy group Super Junior will return to the K-pop music scene in October with less members, its management agency said Monday. Super Junior (S.M. Entertainment)Originally consisted of 11, the restructured team will be made up of seven members -- Leeteuk, Heechul, Shindong, Yesung, Eunhyuk, Donghae and Siwon -- said Label SJ, the special label created by S.M. Entertainment exclusively for the globally well-known K-pop group. Eunhyuk, Donghae and Siwon, currently serving in the military, are e

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Six female students from war-torn Afghanistan who had hoped to participate in an international robotics competition in the US this month will have to watch via video link after their visa applications were denied -- not once, but twice.The girls wanted to show the world that Afghans can also construct a hand-made robot. But of 162 teams who planned to participate, the Afghan girls are the only nation's team to be denied visas by the U.S. and must participate from afar, watc

SINGAPORE (AFP) - A statue of a Chinese goddess that became a social media sensation after being pictured flying business class for a Southeast Asian tour has headed home after putting her feet up at a premium airport lounge in Singapore, organisers said Monday.Adorned in brightly coloured clothes, an extravagant headdress and garlands of flowers and cash, Chinese sea goodness Mazu got the chance to relax a little in the lounge early Friday before a flight home -- on business class, no less -- f

LONDON -- The European Parliament's chief Brexit negotiator on Monday threatened to veto a plan by the British government on the status of EU nationals after Britain leaves the bloc, calling it a "damp squib".Guy Verhofstadt signed the letter published in Britain's Guardian daily and other European newspapers, along with the leaders of the main centre-right and centre-left groupings in the European Parliament."The European Parliament will reserve its right to reject any agreement that treats EU

McDonald’s Korea responded to growing fears that its patties may cause renal failure with an official statement Monday.“The patties involved in the recent controversy are not made with beef but with Korean pork, and are cooked in facilities that follow government HACCP guidelines,” the company said.  A McDonald's store in Seoul (Yonhap)“Some claim that the ground meat in the patties include intestines, but none of our company‘s patties use intestine meat.”The company is currently facing a lawsui

Denmark-based toy company Lego is bringing its plastic brick toys into the digital era with the introduction of an online social media platform and programmable Lego sets.“We see digitalization as a great opportunity,” said Lego Korea General Manager Michael Ebbesen at a press conference at the Four Seasons Seoul on Monday, saying that the company‘s toys were not endangered by children’s growing preferences for digital entertainment. Lego Korea General Manager Michael Ebbesen speaks to reporters