The Korea Herald

Scandal claims jobs of three Secret Service agents

Apr 19, 2012

The US Secret Service said Wednesday that three employees will leave their jobs over the sex scandal in a hotel in Colombia which tarnished the elite presidential protection agency's image.Two leading congressmen meanwhile revealed in a letter to Secret Service chief Mark Sullivan obtained by ABC News that agents accused of consorting with prostitutes may have been careless with "sensitive securit
U.S. regrets photos with corpses in Afghanistan

Apr 19, 2012

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta apologized Wednesday for newly published photographs that purport to show U.S. soldiers posing with the bloodied remains of dead insurgents in Afghanistan, and without excusing their ``very foolish'' action the Pentagon chief suggested that it could be explained by the rigors of war. The front page of the Los Angeles Times newspaper is shown at the Hollywood Universa
Tokyo mega-quake would kill over 9,000: simulation

Apr 18, 2012

TOKYO (AFP) - More than 9,600 people would die with nearly 150,000 injured if a mega-quake struck Tokyo, a disaster that would also level large parts of the Japanese capital, a government projection said Wednesday.The frightening simulation was released by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government as Japan slowly rebuilds its northeast coast, which was devastated by a magnitude 9.0 quake in March last yea
India to test nuclear missile that can hit Beijing

Apr 18, 2012

NEW DELHI (AP) _ India is planning to test launch a new nuclear missile that for the first time would give it the capability of hitting the major Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai.The government has hailed the Agni-V missile, with a range of 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles), as a major boost to its efforts to counter China's regional dominance and become an Asia power in its own right. The test
Warren Buffett says he has prostate cancer

Apr 18, 2012

OMAHA, Nebraska (AP) ― Billionaire Warren Buffett said Tuesday he has been diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer, but he tried to reassure his company’s shareholders that the condition is “not remotely life-threatening.” The 81-year-old chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said in a letter to shareholders that the two-month radiation treatment he and his doctors plan to start in mid-July will restrict his travel but shouldn’t otherwise affect his routine. “I feel great ― as if I were
Pippa Middleton‘s racy party photos cause a stir

Apr 18, 2012

LONDON (AP) -- The Parisian costume party featured a man in a dog collar, a dwarf, a nearly naked nun -- and a rather well known guest named Pippa Middleton, younger sister of the Duchess of Cambridge.Middleton, 28, was in the headlines Tuesday, with photographs of her appearance at a friend‘s decadent birthday party splashed across the Daily Mail tabloid.The pictures are striking: women in revealing, low-cut period costumes from the 18th-century playacting with men in fancy clothes and spiky le
Palestinian prisoners begin hunger strike

Apr 18, 2012

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories (AFP) ― At least 1,200 Palestinian inmates of Israeli jails began an open-ended hunger strike on Tuesday as thousands of people rallied across the occupied territories for Prisoners’ Day.As crowds gathered in towns and cities across the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, three-quarters of the 4,700 Palestinians held by Israel began refusing food, said the Israel Prisons Service.Of that number, 2,300 men said they would refuse food throughout the day, while another 1,
China says committed to probing political scandal

Apr 18, 2012

BEIJING (AP) ― China’s ruling Communist Party said Wednesday that it is committed to probing a political scandal that includes an investigation into the suspected murder of a British businessman, following new appeals from Britain’s senior politicians for a swift investigation that is free from political meddling.The statement by the official Xinhua News Agency came hours after British Prime Minister David Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague both held talks with China’s propaganda chief,
20 women involved in U.S. Secret Service scandal: senator

Apr 18, 2012

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― About 20 women were brought to the hotel in Colombia where Secret Service agents were accused of inviting prostitutes back to their rooms, a U.S. lawmaker said Tuesday after being briefed on the widening scandal.The security breach ahead of last weekend’s Summit of the Americas attended by President Barack Obama is “potentially extremely serious,” Senator Susan Collins, ranking Republican on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said after being briefed by
Norway killer expounds on fanatical views at trial

Apr 18, 2012

OSLO (AP) ― In a scene unimaginable in many countries, Norway’s worst mass killer got the chance to explain his fanatical views to the court and the world, unrepentant and dressed in a business suit. Prosecutors and lawyers for the families of his 77 victims even shook his hand.Two days into Anders Behring Breivik’s terror trial, the way Norway’s legal system deals with a confessed killer who rejects its authority is baffling ― even to some Norwegians.The 33-year-old far-right militant gave a ra
Top Republicans in U.S. Congress back Romney

Apr 18, 2012

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― They didn’t come with a flourish or in a much-plugged TV appearance, but endorsements by the top two Republicans in the U.S. Congress finally arrived Tuesday for Mitt Romney, the party’s all-but-certain nominee.Sensing the inevitability of a Romney victory in the battle to see which Republican squares off against President Barack Obama, House Speaker John Boehner ended his neutrality, saying he’d be “proud” to help him win the November election.“It’s clear now Mitt Romney is g
Last flight for Discovery space shuttle

Apr 18, 2012

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Piggybacking aboard a Boeing 747, the space shuttle Discovery made a dramatic flyover of Washington Tuesday before touching down near its final resting place, a museum outside the U.S. capital.Riding atop a modified plane kept by NASA specifically for transporting space shuttles, Discovery lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, just after sunrise for its last journey in the skies.Then the shuttle, which first flew in 1984, circled over the U.S. capital for about an hour befo
U.S. eases Myanmar restrictions for NGOs

Apr 18, 2012

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The United States on Tuesday eased financial restrictions to allow U.S.-based non-governmental groups to operate in Myanmar, putting into place an incentive to encourage democratic reforms.The Treasury Department said that it would no longer bar financial transactions in the country formerly known as Burma if the money is going toward projects that “meet basic human needs” or promote democracy.Such projects include assistance to internally displaced people, English-language sc
Police handcuff US 6-year-old for tantrum

Apr 18, 2012

A 6-year-old who threw a tantrum at her U.S. school was taken away in handcuffs, firing up a debate over whether teachers and police are overreacting with disruptive students.Salecia Johnson's family lashed out Tuesday over her treatment and said she was badly shaken, while the school system and the police defended their handling of the incident.Civil rights advocates and criminal justice experts
China says committed to probing political scandal

Apr 18, 2012

China's ruling Communist Party said Wednesday that it is committed to investigating a political scandal that includes the suspected murder of a British businessman, following new appeals from Britain for a swift probe free from political meddling.The statement carried by the official Xinhua News Agency came hours after Prime Minister David Cameron and British Foreign Secretary William Hague both h