The Korea Herald

Biggest solar storm in years races toward Earth

Mar 8, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The largest solar storm in five years was due to arrive on Earth early Thursday, promising to shake the globe‘s magnetic field while expanding the Northern Lights.The storm started with a massive solar flare earlier in the week and grew as it raced outward from the sun, expanding like a giant soap bubble, scientists said. When it strikes, the particles will be moving at 4 million mph.``It’s hitting us right in the nose,‘’ said Joe Kunches, a scientist for the National Oceanic
Chimps have ‘police,’ too

Mar 8, 2012

(123rf image)Scientists have revealed that certain members in a chimpanzee group act as an impartial “police” to mediate conflicts and preserve peace, Science Daily and livescience.com reported Wednesday.Animal groups handle conflicts in a variety of ways, but the arbiters in chimps, gorillas, orang
Syrian deputy oil minister joins rebel ranks

Mar 8, 2012

DAMASCUS (AFP) ― Syria’s deputy oil minister resigned on Thursday, becoming the most senior official to join the rebel ranks, as Washington revealed it is mulling non-lethal aid to the insurgency.Abdo Hussameddin announced his resignation in a video posted by activists on YouTube, saying he was joining the revolt.“I, the engineer Abdo Hussameddin, the deputy oil minister... announce my defection from the regime and my resignation,” he said in the video. “I am joining the revolution of the people
Iran may be cleaning up nuclear work

Mar 8, 2012

VIENNA (AP) ― Satellite images of an Iranian military facility appear to show trucks and earth-moving vehicles at the site, indicating an attempted cleanup of radioactive traces possibly left by tests of a nuclear-weapon trigger, diplomats told the Associated Press on Wednesday.The assertions from the diplomats, all nuclear experts accredited to the International Atomic Energy Agency, could add to the growing international pressure on Iran over its nuclear program, which Tehran insists is for pe
Romney must ease independents’ concerns

Mar 8, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Mitt Romney’s uninspiring showing in Super Tuesday’s primaries nonetheless moves him closer to the Republican presidential nomination. But a string of events and voter data underscore his challenge in winning independent voters turned off by the long, divisive primary.Romney won a tight race against Rick Santorum in Ohio, where he heavily outspent his main rival, and posted victories in Massachusetts, Virginia, Vermont , Idaho and Alaska. Tuesday’s mixed results will not change
China calls Tibetan immolators criminals, outcasts

Mar 8, 2012

Chinese officials sought Wednesday to discredit Tibetans who have set themselves on fire to protest China‘s rule over their region, calling them outcasts, criminals and mentally ill people manipulated by the exiled Dalai Lama.The Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader has said he does not encourage the self-immolations. However, Chinese officials have sought to portray the past year’s wave of about two dozen immolations -- including three since Saturday -- as the result of outside orchestration rathe
Mar 8, 2012
EU: Hungary must answer more questions to get aid

Mar 8, 2012

The Hungarian parliament building stands illuminated in evening light beside the Danube river, in Budapest, Hungary, on Monday, March 5, 2012. (Bloomberg)The European Union said Wednesday that Hungary has more questions to answer about its respect for democratic rights and freedoms before talks can
French premier reaches out to Jews, Muslims

Mar 8, 2012

PARIS (AP) ― France’s prime minister scrambled Wednesday to dispel concerns in the Jewish and Muslim communities after criticizing the ritual slaughter of animals for kosher and halal meat.Halal meat in particular has emerged as a hot-button issue in the campaign for presidential elections starting next month in France, a country with at least 5 million Muslims, the largest such population in western Europe.Francois Fillon’s call for religions to “reflect” upon what he called outdated traditions
Romney eyes win, but long slog ahead for Republicans

Mar 8, 2012

Mitt Romney‘s campaign said Wednesday it would take “an act of God” for rivals to win the Republican presidential nomination, but the party is bracing for a rough, divisive fight well past Super Tuesday.Romney collected six victories in the 10-state voting bonanza including Ohio, the pivotal battlefield which he won in a nailbiter against his most persistent challenger, Rick Santorum.While Romney boosted his pole position in the race to become the Republican Party’s nominee against President Bar
Romney tightens grip on Republican nomination

Mar 7, 2012

BOSTON, Massachusetts (AFP) -- Mitt Romney edged out rival Rick Santorum in a nail-biter vote in Ohio as he tightened his grip on the 2012 Republican presidential nomination with a string of Super Tuesday wins.Santorum kept his hopes alive with a trio of victories in North Dakota, Oklahoma and Tennessee, but Romney took six states: Idaho, Massachusetts, Virginia, Vermont, Alaska and -- in the most closely watched contest -- Ohio.Former House speaker Newt Gingrich won resoundingly in his home sta
Olympus, ex-officials charged: prosecutors

Mar 7, 2012

OKYO(AFP) ― Japanese prosecutors said Wednesday they had charged scandal-hit Olympus and three former senior executives over a huge loss cover-up.It came as the 20-day detention period of former president Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, named as a key player in a scheme to shift $1.7 billion of losses from the camera-maker’s balance sheet, expired.Tokyo District prosecutors said Kikukawa, two other former Olympus executives, Hideo Yamada and Hisashi Mori, and three financial advisers conspired to falsify the
65 killed in Madagascar storm: agency

Mar 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

Mar 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

Mar 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