The Korea Herald

31 inmates killed in northern Mexico prison fight

Jan 5, 2012

CIUDAD VICTORIA, Mexico (AP) _ A fight among inmates armed with makeshift knives, clubs and stones left 31 people dead in a prison in a drug-plagued state in northern Mexico, authorities said.Another 13 prisoners were wounded in the brawl in the penitentiary in the Gulf Coast city of Altamira, Tamau
EU reaches preliminary agreement on Iran oil ban: diplomats

Jan 5, 2012

European Union governments have reached a preliminary agreement on an oil embargo against Iran but are debating when it should come into force, EU diplomats said Wednesday."There is an agreement in principle to forge ahead" with an oil embargo, a diplomat told AFP, but added "there is still a lot of
Iran defiant amid appeals for European sanctions

Jan 4, 2012

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Iran has closed out naval war games in the Persian Gulf much the way they began last month: striking a tone of military defiance while Western powers rallied behind tougher oil and financial sanctions as a crippling tool against Tehran's nuclear program.The standoff atmosphere _ less than a week after Iran warned it could block one of the world's key oil tanker sea lanes in response to economic pressures _ appeared to deepen further with an Iranian general sug
Romney edges Santorum by 8 votes

Jan 4, 2012

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) ― Mitt Romney edged Rick Santorum by eight votes to win Iowa’s Republican presidential caucuses in the opening contest in the campaign to pick a challenger to President Barack Obama, the state party chairman said.Appearing early Wednesday hours after the caucuses had ended, Iowa Republican chairman Matt Strawn said Romney had 30,015 votes, to 30,007 for Santorum, whose campaign only recently gained momentum.The narrow margin, out of more than 122,000 ballots cast, was a fit
Sinopec invests $2.2b in shale firm

Jan 4, 2012

NEW YORK (AFP) ― Chinese oil and gas giant Sinopec will invest $2.2 billion in Devon Energy, giving the firm a stake in exploring five U.S. shale fields, a company statement said on Tuesday.In return for the investment state-run Sinopec would take a one-third stake in fields across the United States, in 125 wells, according to a Devon statement.Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy will be responsible for running the projects and commercial marketing, it said.The deal, if approved by watchdogs, would
Starbucks to raise prices regionally

Jan 4, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) ― Starbucks said Tuesday it is raising some prices regionally as it faces rising ingredient costs. The Seattle coffee chain is raising prices about 1 percent in the Northeast and Sunbelt regions. Starbucks wouldn’t disclose all of the states its raising prices, but the regions include New York; Washington, D.C.; and most Southern states. They exclude California and Florida. Other cities where it will raise prices include Boston, Atlanta, Dallas and Albuquerque, N.M. The price for a
Extra nuclear safety to cost up to $13b: EDF

Jan 4, 2012

PARIS (AFP) ― Recommendations by France’s nuclear watchdog agency to beef up safety at plants will cost the state-owned electricity provider EDF up to 10 billion euros ($13 billion), a senior executive told AFP on Tuesday.“We had scheduled investment of around 40 billion euros (over 30 years) in our 58 reactors on the basis of plant operational life of up to 60 years,” Jean-Marc Miraucourt, head of engineering for nuclear facilities at Electricite de France, said.“Our preliminary estimates are t
150 children lose parents in S. Sudan violence

Jan 4, 2012

NAIROBI (AP) ― Red Cross volunteers are trying to reconnect 150 young children with their missing parents after tens of thousands of residents of South Sudan ran into the bush while fleeing a massive wave of tribe-on-tribe violence, an official said Tuesday.Many of those parents, though, are feared to be dead.Violence broke out late last month between two South Sudanese tribes in the town of Pibor, sending tens of thousands of residents into the surrounding countryside. A death toll is not known
Egyptians vote in last round of election

Jan 4, 2012

CAIRO (AP) ― Egyptians voted Tuesday in the final round of elections likely to seal the domination by Islamists over the country’s new parliament as secular activists grew increasingly worried over the possibility of an alliance between the powerful Muslim Brotherhood and the ruling military.Activists point to what they call mounting signs of a confluence of interests between the Brotherhood, who are set to be the biggest bloc in the next parliament, and the ruling generals. The result, they fea
Taliban confirm deal to open office overseas

Jan 4, 2012

KABUL (AFP) ― The Taliban announced on Tuesday that they had come to an “initial agreement” to set up an overseas political office, possibly in Qatar, in their first public gesture towards peace talks with the U.S.In a statement on their purported website “Voice of Jihad,” the Islamists said they had held “preliminary talks with relevant sides including Qatar” to open an office outside Afghanistan, without confirming where it would be.It is the first time the insurgent group has publicly raised
Nigeria gas price protest turns violent

Jan 4, 2012

LAGOS (AP) ― Protesters furious over spiraling gas prices set fires on an expressway Tuesday and at least one person was killed in the violent unrest after Nigeria’s government did away with a subsidy program that had kept fuel costs down for more than two decades.One union leader described the federal government’s hugely unpopular move as “immoral and politically suicidal,” and urged Nigerians to resist “with everything they have.” But Tuesday’s protest showed that, once unleashed, the pent-up
Cat survives two euthanasia attempts

Jan 4, 2012

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah (AP) ― A stray cat that survived two trips to a Utah animal shelter’s gas chamber now has a new home.Officials at West Valley City’s animal shelter in Utah say the cat named Andrea hadn’t been adopted for 30 days when shelter officials tried to put her to death in October. She survived, so they gassed her again.Shelter officials detected no vital signs and presumed she was dead after the second try, so they put her in a plastic bag in a cooler. But when they checked the ba
U.S. still considering Saleh’s visa request

Jan 4, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The White House says it is still considering a visa request for Yemen’s outgoing autocratic president.Spokesman Jay Carney says the request is being considered for the sole purpose of President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s coming to the U.S. for medical treatment. Carney says he has no timeline for when a decision will be made.Saleh’s aides said over the weekend that he had reversed his plans to leave Yemen and would be staying in the country. However, a senior administration official
Wikipedia fundraising hits new high

Jan 4, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) ― An annual Wikipedia fundraising campaign ended Tuesday with donors around the world pumping a record $20 million into the foundation that runs the free online knowledge repository.Non-profit Wikimedia Foundation launched the campaign in November, getting an early boost in the form of a $500,000 grant from Google co-founder Sergey Brin and his wife. The total amount of money donated has climbed each year since Wikimedia began the fundraising campaigns in 2003. “Our model is
Slim victory in Iowa hints tough road ahead for Romney

Jan 4, 2012

DES MOINES (AFP) -- Mitt Romney is still the favorite to win the U.S. Republican presidential nomination, but a quick knock-out of his more conservative rivals seems out of reach after a near-draw in Iowa, experts said Wednesday.“Iowa is a reminder that if Romney wins, it will be because he’s the last guy standing -- not because he has strong Republican support,” said Matt Dickinson, a political scientist at Middlebury College in Vermont.The former Massachusetts governor and millionaire venture