The Korea Herald

Fire leaves cruise ship adrift off Seychelles

Feb 28, 2012

NAIROBI (AP) ― An Italian cruise liner carrying more than 1,000 people was adrift without power in the pirate-infested Indian Ocean after a fire erupted in its generator room. The blaze, which was extinguished, caused no injuries, officials said.Two tug boats from the island nation of Seychelles were steaming toward the drifting Costa Allegra, which had 636 passengers and 413 crew members on board, but they were not expected to arrive until Tuesday afternoon at the earliest.Italian coast guard o
Noda Risks Japan Ruling Party Split in Preparing for U.S. Free-Trade Talks

Feb 28, 2012

Leafy green sugar cane stands in a field in Yomitan Village, Japan. (Bloomberg)Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda risks sparking the deepest split in his party since taking office two months ago as he determines whether to join trade talks with the U.S., his country’s No. 2 export destination. No
1 dead, 4 wounded in US 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 appear
Russia, Ukraine foiled plot to kill Putin: report

Feb 27, 2012

MOSCOW (AP) -- Russian and Ukrainian special services have arrested a group of suspects over an alleged plot to assassinate Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Russia's state television reported Monday.The Channel One said the suspects, linked to a Chechen rebel leader, were preparing to kill Putin in Mo
Colombia’s FARC announces halt to kidnapping

Feb 27, 2012

BOGOTA (AP) ― Colombia’s main rebel group said Sunday it is abandoning the practice of kidnapping and will soon free its last remaining “prisoners of war” ― 10 security force members held for as long as 14 years.The leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, announced on its website that it would no longer kidnap civilians “for financial ends,” unequivocally renouncing for the first time a tool it long used against Colombia’s well-heeled as well as foreigners.It is not clear whethe
Israeli P.M. slams Palestinian leader

Feb 27, 2012

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for making an “inflammatory speech” about Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site on Sunday, saying his words undermine peace efforts.Speaking during a visit to Qatar, Abbas charged that Israel was intending to destroy Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, which sits atop the remains of the two biblical Jewish temples. It is the most sacred site in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam. The site is a very sensitive and e
Explosion hits Afghan airport

Feb 27, 2012

KABUL (AP) ― A suicide car bomber struck early Monday at the gates of Jalalabad airport in eastern Afghanistan, officials said, killing nine people in an attack insurgents said was revenge for U.S. troops burning Qurans.The explosion comes after six days of deadly protests in Afghanistan over the disposal of Qurans and other Islamic texts in a burn pit last week at a U.S. military base north of the capital.American officials have called the incident a mistake and issued a series of apologies. Af
Suicide car bomber kills 3 outside Nigeria church

Feb 27, 2012

JOS, Nigeria (AP) ― A suicide car bomber detonated his explosives outside a major church Sunday, killing three people and wounding 38 in a restive central Nigerian city that has seen hundreds die in religious and ethnic violence.The radical Islamist sect Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the attack on the main headquarters of the Church of Christ in Nigeria that hit as worshippers took part in an early morning service. The attack follows other assaults the sect has claimed against Christians
Murdoch’s new Sun on Sunday rolls off presses

Feb 27, 2012

Rupert Murdoch’s Sun on Sunday tabloid rolled off the presses for the first time, with the tycoon saying he wanted the paper replacing the scandal-hit News of the World to sell over two million copies. Stacks of the first Sunday edition of the Sun newspaper, The Sun on Sunday, are displayed at a sup
Philippine man thought dead, not dead

Feb 27, 2012

A man from the Philippines thought to have been dead and buried weeks ago turned out to be alive, his wife said.Jasper Soriano, 25, of the village of Quintong in San Carlos City, Pangasinan province, was last seen alive by his mother on Feb. 2, Gulf News reported Sunday.A body of an unidentified man
G-20 linking IMF hike to bigger EU ‘firewall’ fund

Feb 27, 2012

The G-20 nations are conditioning additional money for the International Monetary Fund on the European Union first increasing its financial stabilization funds to ease concerns about the euro zone debt crisis, officials said Sunday.Officials participating in a meeting of G-20 nations’ finance minist
U.S. girl, 11, fights classmate, dies hours later

Feb 27, 2012

An 11-year-old girl died following an after school fight at a Long Beach elementary school, but authorities say they have no immediate plans for arrests.Police said Saturday night that the girl died at a hospital hours after the fight with another 11-year-old girl outside the school, which sits abou
Violence across Syria on eve of constitution vote

Feb 26, 2012

DAMASCUS (AP) -- Syria defied international calls to halt attacks on rebel enclaves as at least 89 people were killed nationwide Saturday on the eve of a constitutional referendum that the opposition sees as a ploy by President Bashar Assad’s regime.Assad presented the revised charter -- which allows for at least a theoretical opening of the country’s political system -- as an effort to placate critics and quell the 11-month uprising against his rule.But the vote is unlikely to overshadow a new
Judge denies Jackson doctor’s bid for bail

Feb 26, 2012

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― A judge who presided over the trial of Michael Jackson’s doctor refused Friday to release him on bail, saying he would be a danger to any community where he might try to practice medicine.Conrad Murray’s lawyer asked for his release pending appeal of his involuntary manslaughter conviction, but Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor said he saw little chance that Murray would prevail in getting his case overturned.Pastor made it clear that his view of Murray had not softened sinc
Mandela hospitalized with stomach ailment

Feb 26, 2012

JOHANNESBURG (AP) ― Former South African President Nelson Mandela was hospitalized for a test to determine what is behind an undisclosed stomach ailment, and the country’s current leader said the much beloved 93-year-old icon was in no danger.Mandela, a Nobel peace laureate who spent 27 years in prison for fighting racist white rule, has officially retired and last appeared in public in July 2010. He became South Africa’s first black president in 1994 and served one five-year term.Mandela “has h