The Korea Herald

Gates beats Ellison in daily ranking of tech billionaires

World BusinessMar 7, 2012

Gates, chairman of Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft, was worth $61.3 billion as of the close of U.S. trading Tuesday, down $805.4 million for the day, according to a daily ranking of the industry’s wealthiest titans compiled by Bloomberg News. Oracle Corp.’s Larry Ellison and Mark Zuckerberg, who runs Facebook Inc., ranked second and third, respectively. The ranking, published on Bloomberg.com, reflects how changes in markets and the economy affect the executives’ stakes in publicly traded an
Europe economy shrinks as investment, exports fall

World BusinessMar 7, 2012

Europe’s economy contracted in the fourth quarter as investment declined by the most since 2009 and exports and consumer spending dropped. Gross domestic product shrank 0.3 percent from the third quarter, the European Union’s statistics office said Tuesday, confirming an estimate published on Feb. 15. Exports fell 0.4 percent after a 1.4 percent gain in the previous three months, while household spending declined 0.4 percent and investment dropped 0.7 percent. While Europe is facing its second r
65 killed in Madagascar storm: agency

World NewsMar 7, 2012

ANTANANARIVO (AFP) ― Tropical Storm Irina has killed at least 65 people in Madagascar, most of them residents of the Ifanadiana district in the southeast of the island, weather authorities said on Monday.Three people were also reported missing, according to the National Bureau of Natural Catastrophes, which did not provide any other details.Earlier it was reported that only one person had been killed when the storm passed over Madagascar last week before lashing the coasts of South Africa and Mo
Eastern Libya pulls away from central government

World NewsMar 7, 2012

BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) ― Tribal leaders and militia commanders declared oil-rich eastern Libya a semiautonomous state on Tuesday, a unilateral move that the interim head of state called a “dangerous” conspiracy by Arab nations to tear the country apart six months after the fall of Moammar Gadhafi.Thousands of representatives of major tribes, militia commanders and politicians made the declaration at a conference in the main eastern city of Benghazi, insisting it was not intended to divide the coun
U.S. says hackers busted when one turned informant

World NewsMar 7, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) ― The shadowy underworld of Internet hackers was rocked Tuesday by news that one of the world’s most-wanted and most-feared computer vandals has been an FBI informant for months and helped authorities build a case against five people they say were comrades. The FBI said it captured the legendary hacker known as Sabu last June and he turned out to be Hector Xavier Monsegur, a 28-year-old self-taught, unemployed computer programmer with no college education, living on welfare in publ
Congress approves punitive tariffs against China

World BusinessMar 7, 2012

U.S. acts to overturn court ruling that disallowed punitive tariffs against ChinaWASHINGTON (AP) ― Congress on Tuesday overturned a court decision and reaffirmed that the government has the right to impose higher tariffs on goods from China and other state-run economies that subsidize their exports to the United States. The House voted 370-39 to pass the measure and send it to President Barack Obama for his signature. The Senate approved it Monday on a voice vote with no debate. “By passing this
Apple, Google dominate U.S. smartphone market: ComScore

World BusinessMar 7, 2012

Apple Inc. and Google Inc.’s Android consolidated their control of the U.S. smartphone market in the three months ended January, with three out of four devices using their software, ComScore Inc. said Tuesday. Apple software was found in 29.5 percent of U.S. smartphones, on average, in the period, up from 28.1 percent in the prior three months, Reston, Virginia-based researcher ComScore said in a statement Tuesday. Smartphones using Google’s Android had 48.6 percent market share, up 2.3 percent
Woman arrested for painting nails on plane

WorldMar 7, 2012

A California woman was arrested for allegedly cursing at a Southwest Airlines flight attendant who asked her to stop painting her nails, officials said.Jeanie Daniels of Burbank was detained for 10 hours after the Feb. 26 altercation, CBS News reported Tuesday.Daniels was en route from Los Angeles t
U.N. Security Council discusses possible new Syria resolution

World NewsMar 7, 2012

UNITED NATIONS (AP) ― Key U.N. Security Council members began discussing a possible new resolution Tuesday that demands an end to the violence in Syria, first by government forces and then by opposition fighters, in hopes of overcoming opposition from Russia and China.Russia and China have vetoed two previous council resolutions, saying they were unbalanced and only demanded that the government stop attacks, not the opposition. Moscow, which has taken the lead, accused Western powers of fueling
Obama: Diplomacy can stop Iran from getting bomb

World NewsMar 7, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) ― President Barack Obama declared Tuesday that diplomacy can still resolve the crisis over Iran’s possible pursuit of nuclear weapons, and he accused his Republican critics of “beating the drums of war.”“Those folks don’t have a lot of responsibilities,” Obama said. “They are not commander in chief.”Tension with Iran, and Obama’s preference for restraint, dominated his first full news conference of the year, held on the same day that Republican candidates for his job were contest
Principal killed in Florida school shooting

World NewsMar 7, 2012

JACKSONVILLE, Florida (AFP) ― A gunman shot and killed a Florida high school principal Tuesday, before turning the weapon on himself in an apparent murder-suicide, officials and sources said.The Episcopal High School in Jacksonville said it was “deeply saddened” that head of school Dale Regan had been killed on Tuesday afternoon.“Our deepest sympathies are with her family and we ask for your support and prayers at this time,” the school said in a statement.Sources at the school said the shooter
Police: Twins died long before being found

World NewsMar 7, 2012

Patricia and Joan Miller were identical twins who pursued their dreams together. As a team, the Miller sisters met Bing Crosby, appeared on a TV show in the 1950s and purchased a house in California's picturesque South Lake Tahoe.Their shared life ended in a mysterious double death at their home. On
India’s ruling Congress party loses key state poll

World NewsMar 7, 2012

India’s governing Congress party was badly beaten in a key state election Tuesday, a sharp rebuke that could cripple the already embattled national government over the final two years of its term.With early returns showing Congress coming in fourth place in the Uttar Pradesh polls, party icon Rahul
Romney wins 3 states; Gingrich wins Georgia

World NewsMar 7, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Mitt Romney has won the Republican presidential primaries in Massachusetts, Vermont and Virginia. Newt Gingrich has won in his home state of Georgia.Voters across 10 states are choosing among the Republican candidates on Super Tuesday. Romney and Rick Santorum are in a close contes
Tumor-causing chemical found in Coca-Cola, Pepsi, group says

World BusinessMar 6, 2012

U.S. regulators, reviewing an advocacy group’s complaint that a chemical used in colas causes tumors in animals, said there’s no immediate risk to consumers from the substance. A person would have to drink more than a thousand cans of soda in a day to match the doses administered in studies that showed links to cancer in rodents, Douglas Karas, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration spokesman, said in a statement. The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer-health group in Washington,