Tour to visit North and South Korea

NEW YORK - Few Americans have visited North Korea not because of restrictions by the U.S. government but because North Korea does not usually permit them in.

However, North Korea is issuing visas for travel between Aug. 10-Oct. 10, and several tours are being offered by U.S.-based companies.

The New York-based Korea Society and Chicago-based tour operator Asia Pacific Travel ...

NASA Names Rockets for Moon and Mars Missions

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA's next rockets to reach towards the Moon and Mars finally have a name: Ares.

NASA officially unveiled the monikers Ares 1 and Ares 5 for the rockets that will boost future astronauts and heavy cargo into space Friday, one day before the Discovery shuttle is set to launch into orbit.

“There were hundreds of names,” Scott Horowitz, NASA's associate admi...

Microsoft to chop 200 sales jobs
Microsoft said Thursday that it is cutting about 200 jobs as part of a realignment of its U.S. sales force.

The software maker is cutting 214 positions, including telesales and marketing jobs at its Redmond, Wash., headquarters as well as other positions in its field offices and in its public sector sales unit.

"They are aligning their organization to be more efficient and responsive...

Casino Boom in Bucharest
Over the past months, slot machine halls have sprung up like mushrooms in the crowded parts of Bucharest, alluringly adorned with light garlands, daily news papers write on Friday, commenting on the current boom of gambling in Romania, which is also confirmed by the large number of licenses issued by the Finance Ministry.

Apart from the several dozens of classical casinos, the paper says, t...

Italy Conducts Referendum to Change the Constitution
Monday represents the second day the Italians are summoned to come to vote in a referendum whose main purpose is to detect political public opinion trends with regard to the potential change of the constitution, Reuters informs.

The changes would be related to the attributes of the Prime Minister, which will be multiplied under the new constitution, as well as to the greater autonomy the re...

Turkish Resort Faces Deadly Explosion
According to the local governor, Fikret Dayioglu, Antalya, the most popular and largest Turkish summer resort near the Mediterranean Sea, was the scene of a deadly explosion on Sunday, which killed three foreign tourists, a Russian, a Norwegian and a Hungarian, as well as a Turkish waiter, and injured 25 others. The blast occurred at a restaurant near a waterfall in Manavgat tourist area, around 1...

Baghdad sees end to Al-Qaeda as more than 100 rebels killed
Iraq said Al-Qaeda's reign of terror was nearing its end, as the US military announced the killing of 104 rebels since the slaying of the group's leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon said the US military death toll in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion reached 2,500.

And the practice of abducting foreigners again reared its head, with Al-Jazeera television reporting th...

Two men found dead in underground bunker at Indonesia's volcano
MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia (AP) — Two men who sought shelter from an erupting volcano in an underground bunker were found dead from burns Friday, officials said. The men fled to the steel shelter on Wednesday while evacuating villagers during a burst of volcanic activity on Mount Merapi, and the bunker was later covered with up to 6 feet of fiery debris.

Rescuers found the two bodies after o...

37 million expected to travel this weekend
NEW YORK - As millions of Americans prepare for the first big holiday of the summer season, the price of gasoline is the talk of the town. Despite prices hovering above $2.85 a gallon, AAA says it expects a slight increase in the number of travelers this year.

The auto club has estimated that 37.6 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more this Memorial Day weekend, up about one percen...