Dictator's Daughter New SKorea President -- The Australian
SOUTH Korea has elected its first female president, handing a slim but historic victory to conservative ruling party candidate Park Geun-Hye, daughter of the country's former military ruler.
As leader of Asia's fourth-largest economy, Park, 60, will face numerous challenges, handling a belligerent North Korea, a slowing economy and soaring welfare costs in one of the world's most rapidly ageing societies.
With 85 per cent of the national vote counted, Park had an insurmountable lead of 51.6 per cent to 48 per cent over her liberal rival, Moon Jae-In of the main opposition party.
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MIDDLE EAST
Lebanese take sides
in Syrian civil war.Rebels seize towns
in central Syria.
Syrian troops battle rebels
in Damascus suburbs.
U.N. seeks $1.5 billion
to address Syria crisis.Abbas urges UN to help
Palestinian refugees in Syria.
Yemeni president curbs rival's power
in army overhaul.
Israelis, Palestinians
face sharp challenges in 2013.
UN, EU, Russia
condemn Israeli settlements.
Kurdistan Peshmerga troops fire on Iraqi army helicopter
in dispute areas.
Iraq President Jalal Talabani's
health 'improving'.
Iraqi president stroke
fuels succession talk.
West Bank workers strike
over unpaid salaries.
Arab Spring energizes
Gulf's stateless.
ASIA
U.S. soldier referred to court martial
in Afghan killings.
UN suspends polio drive in Pakistan
after killings.
Britain to cut Afghanistan
troop numbers in 2013.South Korean president
congratulates Park on win. South Korea's Park seen
winning presidential race.
China says geology
boosts island claims.
Amid China tensions,
Southeast Asia looks to India.
More attacks on
polio workers in Pakistan. Three more polio workers shot in Pakistan;
eight dead in 48 hours.
China's multimillionaires
emigrating in droves.
AFRICA
Africa says it’s ready to conduct own missions –
with West’s money.
Egypt: deposed President Mubarak transferred to a
Cairo military hospital after head injury.Egyptian Islamists plan mass protest
ahead of constitution vote.
Chad deploys troops
to help fight CAR rebels.
All signs point to an
epic catastrophe in Mali.Sudan, South Sudan to discuss
rebel support next month.
EUROPE
Report blames chaos, not cover-up,
for BBC scandal.
Down to -50C: Russians freeze to death as
strongest-in-decades winter hits (PHOTOS).
Greece hit by
public sector strike.
Russian parliament moves
to ban U.S. adoptions.UN security council's EU members to
condemn Israeli settlements expansion.
Ireland to clarify law on abortion
when mother's life is at risk.Court upholds Strauss-Kahn
sex inquiry in France.AMERICAS
Obama calls on Congress
to act on gun control. Obama urges Congress to ban
military-style assault weapons.Guns out of stock at Wal-Mart
as magazine prices surge on.U.S. State Dept officials resign under pressure
over Benghazi killings.
Benghazi attack report blames State Department for security failures,
makes no mention of anti-Islam video.
Seized Argentina navy ship
Libertad leaves Ghana.
Inmate and guards killed in
Mexico jailbreak attempt.Venezuela could postpone
Chavez inauguration: lawmaker.
Venezuela's Hugo Chavez
'stable after infection'.Obama tasks Biden with
US gun law review.
Victory for Chilean students as minister resigns
over corruption scandal.
TERRORISM/THE LONG WAR
Al Qaeda's Al Nusrah Front denies reports
of death of its emir.
Yemeni’s death in Guantánamo
still under investigation.
US: Al-Qaeda's core seriously
degraded in South Asia.
Ansar al Sharia
in Mali.
ECONOMY/FINANCE/BUSINESS
Google captures
2012 zeitgeist.
Treasury announces GM exit strategy;
automaker buying 200 million shares from U.S..
Google strikes back
against big thumbs.
UBS fined $1.5bn
for Libor rigging.
Coal may pass oil as world's No. 1 energy source by 2017,
study says.
New-wave economies
going for growth.
