The Korea Herald

At least 12 dead as tornado strikes U.S.

Mar 1, 2012

HARRISBURG, Illinois (AP) ― A pre-dawn twister flattened entire blocks of homes in a small Illinois town Wednesday as violent storms ravaged the Midwest and South, killing at least 12 people in three states.Winds also ripped through the country music mecca of Branson, Mo., damaging some of the city’s famous theaters just days before the start of the busy tourist season.The tornado that blasted Harrisburg in southern Illinois, killing six, was an EF4, the second-highest rating given to twisters b
At least nine dead as tornadoes strike US midwest

Mar 1, 2012

HARRISBURG, Illinois (AFP) - A deadly string of tornadoes cut a swath of destruction across the US midwest, killing at least nine people and threatening scores more as a massive storm pushed eastward Wednesday.Homes were smashed to bits, cars were tossed into lakes, huge trees were torn from ground
Deadly violence rocks China’s restive Xinjiang

Mar 1, 2012

BEIJING (AFP) - Twenty people died when a group armed with knives attacked a market in Xinjiang, the latest outbreak of violence in the ethnically divided Chinese region, authorities said Wednesday.The motive behind the attack late on Tuesday was not immediately clear, but Xinjiang -- a vast region
Romney wins primary races in Michigan, Arizona

Feb 29, 2012

NOVI, Michigan (AP) -- Mitt Romney scored a hard-fought victory in his native state of Michigan and won handily in Arizona, slowing the advance of his top Republican presidential rival Rick Santorum and gaining precious momentum ahead of a key set of primary contests next week.Romney's sweep of
Harvard group seeks degrees for gays expelled

Feb 29, 2012

Students and faculty at Harvard University are calling on the school to award posthumous degrees to seven students expelled nearly a century ago for being gay or perceived as gay, and they're timing a rally for their cause to coincide with a visit by Lady Gaga.But Harvard says it doesn't award posth
China says at least 12 killed in Xinjiang riot

Feb 29, 2012

Clashes left a dozen people dead in a region of northwestern China that sees periodic violence between Muslim Uighurs and majority Han Chinese, with the latest unrest flaring at a sensitive time just ahead of the national legislature.The bloodshed late Tuesday in the Xinjiang region's Yecheng county
Wounded British journalist smuggled from Syria

Feb 29, 2012

A wounded British photographer who had been trapped in the besieged Syrian city of Homs was spirited safely into Lebanon on Tuesday in a risky journey that killed 13 rebels who helped him escape the relentless shelling and gunfire.A Syrian diplomat stormed out of an emergency U.N. meeting amid renewed calls for a cease-fire to deliver humanitarian aid. A top human rights official said a U.N. panel‘s report concluded that members of the Damascus regime were responsible for "crimes against humani
School gives kids 'brain snack'

Feb 29, 2012

At least one teacher at a Florida elementary school says feeding a "special brain snack" to students preparing to take an exam is a "dirty trick."Hagan Road Elementary School in Boynton Beach is feeding a "special brain snack," labeled the "FCAT power bar," to students preparing to take the Florida
Top French court strikes down Armenian genocide law

Feb 29, 2012

PARIS (AFP) ― France’s top court ruled Tuesday that a law backed by President Nicolas Sarkozy to punish denial of the Armenian genocide was unconstitutional as it infringed on freedom of expression.Turkey welcomed the ruling but Sarkozy, whose right-wing party had put forward the bill, swiftly vowed to draft a new version of the law that plunged France’s relations with Turkey into crisis.Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their forebears were killed in a 1915-16 genocide by Turkey’s former Ottom
Japan feared Fukushima could ‘finish’ Tokyo: panel

Feb 29, 2012

A worst-case scenario sketched out by the Japanese government foresaw the end of Tokyo in a chain of nuclear explosions that would mean evacuating the city, an independent panel said Tuesday. Plans were drawn up for the mass withdrawal from the capital as at least one senior minister fretted that meltdowns at Fukushima might spark crises at reactors all along the coast and engulf the city of 13 million people.The revelations came in a 400-page report published by a panel of experts who were give
Woman dies after trying to save work bonus

Feb 29, 2012

A Chinese woman who delayed seeing a doctor for a work injury to avoid losing a $95 bonus for good attendance died of a brain hemorrhage, local media reported.Du Juan, 23, an assembly line worker, had suffered serious injuries when she hit her head on a bathroom door at her Belton Co. workplace in S
Romney hopes to avoid Michigan bear-trap

Feb 28, 2012

DETROIT, Michigan (AFP) -- Mitt Romney hopes to avoid an embarrassing slip-up in his native Michigan on Tuesday as he looks to wrest the momentum back from surging Republican presidential rival Rick Santorum.The state-by-state voting process that will decide which of the four remaining Republican contenders will face off against Democratic President Barack Obama in November's general election is reaching a pivotal phase.Santorum edged out Romney in the first contest in Iowa on January 3 by a han
1 dead, 4 wounded in U.S. high school shooting

Feb 28, 2012

CHARDON, Ohio (AP) ― A teenager opened fire in the cafeteria at his suburban high school Monday, killing one student and wounding four others before he was chased from the building by a teacher and captured a short distance away, authorities said.A student who saw the attack up close said it appeared that the gunman targeted a group of students sitting together and that the one who was killed was gunned down while trying to duck under the cafeteria table.FBI officials would not comment on a moti
‘Yemen’s Saleh to seek exile in Ethiopia’

Feb 28, 2012

SANAA (AP) ― Aides to Ali Abdullah Saleh said Monday that the ousted Yemeni president plans to go into exile in Ethiopia, as pressures mounted on him to depart the country for fear of sparking new cycles of violence.The news that the longtime Yemeni leader might leave to Ethiopia marks the latest twist in the meandering story of Saleh’s fall from grace.As rumors have circulated of Saleh seeking refuge in a myriad of countries including Oman, and the United Arab Emirates where some of his family
Scientists see red on NASA cuts of Mars missions

Feb 28, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) ― NASA said Monday it is not giving up on Mars, but it will have to get there later and at a lower price.President Barack Obama’s budget announced this month canceled joint U.S.-European robotic missions to Mars in 2016 and 2018. Now top science officials say they are scrambling to come up with a plan by the end of the summer for a cut-rate journey to the red planet in 2018.NASA sciences chief John Grunsfeld said he thinks there is a better than even chance that NASA will not mis