Seoul Gazette - News from Seoul, the Dongan District, Manan District, Buk District, Busanjin District, South Korea and the world

Samuel Eto'o left for Europe to become one of the greatest African footballers of all time but it was in the city of Douala that he first made his name and where residents continue to idolise the former Barcelona superstar.

China Unicom said Friday there were no "justifiable grounds" for a US order that banned the company from operating in the country on national security concerns.

Days after buying over-the-counter medicine from a pharmacy in Beijing, university student Yu was stunned to find her prized green health code -- the essential rating needed to enter the city's shops, offices and public transport -- was gone.

France captain Antoine Dupont is expected to play his first game in seven weeks on Saturday as champions Toulouse welcome Racing 92 in the French Top 14 after the scrum-half suffered a knee issue and contracted coronavirus.

Chinese authorities locked down an area neighbouring the capital city of Beijing this week following a handful of reported Covid cases, but made no public announcements about the fresh restrictions with just a week until the Winter Olympics.

Kyrgyzstan said it had reached a ceasefire with Central Asian neighbour Tajikistan on Friday following the latest lethal flare up at the pair's contested border.

In the bone-splitting chill of the Afghan mountains, Mohammad Israr Muradi digs through coarse earth spilling from the open mouth of an emerald mine.

France's Kristina Mladenovic and Croatia's Ivan Dodig were crowned Australian Open mixed doubles champions Friday with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Australian pair Jaimee Fourlis and Jason Kubler.

The Chinese men's hockey team were lined up as lambs to the slaughter for the NHL's stars and nearly barred from their own Olympics. Now, against all hope, they just might not get blown off the ice.

Tucked away like Easter eggs in the most prestigious Paris museums, a unique commemoration of designer Yves Saint Laurent cements his status among the greats of French cultural history.

Canada and the United States stayed on course for World Cup qualification with crucial wins on Thursday as Mexico reignited their campaign with victory over Jamaica.

Myanmar's latest democracy struggle enters its second year with its best-known figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi isolated from the fight, a prisoner of the generals behind the coup and facing the rest of her life in prison.

A new warehouse with a freshly unboxed smell is the consequence of the coronavirus pandemic for the German ladder, stool and scaffold-maker Munk.

Almost a year after she knelt in the dust to beg Myanmar police not to shoot anti-coup demonstrators, Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng still shakes at the memory of the day she says God saved her.

Hours before Myanmar's new parliament was due to convene last February, troops rounded up lawmakers in dawn raids, ending a brief democratic interlude and setting the stage for months of bloodshed.

Asian markets were mixed on Friday, at the end of a broadly damaging week for global investors as the Federal Reserve gave notice that the days of ultra-cheap cash were coming to an end quicker than some had envisaged.

A Winter Olympics overshadowed by diplomatic boycotts and concerns about human rights, Covid and the safety of Peng Shuai begins next Friday in a vast "bubble" in the Chinese capital Beijing.

Karen Hernandez sells mobile phone accessories in El Salvador and says business has been through the roof since the country started using bitcoin as legal tender.

Six members of a notorious criminal gang go on trial in Germany on Friday over a spectacular heist in which 18th-century jewels were snatched from a state museum in Dresden.

Fulham defender Antonee Robinson scored the only goal as the United States edged closer to World Cup qualification on Thursday with a 1-0 win over El Salvador.

North Korea test-fired two different weapons systems this week, state media said Friday, part of a record-breaking streak of launches, as leader Kim Jong Un inspected an "important" munitions factory.

Iran became the first team from Asia to qualify for the 2022 World Cup finals on Thursday with a 1-0 victory over Iraq as Japan and South Korea moved a step closer to Qatar.

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James was named an NBA All-Star Game captain for the fifth-straight season on Thursday as the league revealed the starting players for the mid-season showcase in Cleveland.

Australia unveiled a billion-dollar package to protect the climate-ravaged Great Barrier Reef on Friday, hoping to prevent the vast network of corals from being removed from UNESCO's World Heritage list.

New Zealand's third-ranked Lydia Ko fired a bogey-free nine-under par 63 to seize a two-stroke lead after Thursday's opening round of the LPGA at Boca Rio.

Unheralded Adam Schenk birdied eight holes in a row to share the lead with top-ranked Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas after Thursday's second round of the US PGA Farmers Insurance Open.

Brazil goalkeeper Alisson Becker had two red cards overturned by VAR reviews as Brazil hung on for a controversial 1-1 World Cup qualifier draw with Ecuador on Thursday, with both teams having a player dismissed.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered Pentagon officials Thursday to undertake reforms to reduce the number of civilian deaths from military strikes after multiple unjustified fatal incidents.

Apple reported record $124 billion quarterly revenue on Thursday, despite a global chip pinch and shifting impacts of the pandemic that have weighed down other big tech players.

NASA said Thursday it aims to survey the crater formed when the remains of a SpaceX rocket are expected to crash into the Moon in early March, calling the event "an exciting research opportunity."

Sci-fi epic "Dune," coming-of-age drama "Licorice Pizza" and musical remake "West Side Story" received major boosts in Hollywood's awards season race Thursday as several of the film industry's top guilds unveiled their nominees.

Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger launched on Thursday an educational foundation to support sports literacy in Sierra Leone, the west African nation where his mother was born.