The Korea Herald

Berlusconi to resign amid debt woes

Nov 9, 2011

ROME (AP) ― Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi conceded Tuesday he no longer had the support to govern and announced he would resign like his Greek counterpart, becoming the biggest political casualty yet of the European debt crisis.Berlusconi promised to leave office after Parliament passes economic reforms demanded by the European Union to keep Italy from sinking into Europe’s debt mess. He came to the decision hours after a vote on a routine piece of legislation made it clear he no longer comm
From pine box to U.S. casket, coffin culture evolves in Russia

Nov 9, 2011

MOSCOW (AFP) ― Under the Soviets, they were plain wooden boxes upholstered in red satin. Today they come in different shapes and sizes and cater to a variety of tastes.Many are made of pine or mahogany hardwood, have a silk or satin lining, and some are encrusted with Swarowski crystals. Russian consumers are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their tastes ― and coffins are no exception.“We are acquiring traditions,” said Yury Alampikov, general director of Saint Petersburg-based Akropol Ser
Punk rock at crossroads in Korea

Nov 9, 2011

Stripped-down sounds inspire wave of youth fed on a steady diet of prefabricated popSouth Korea’s punk scene has been in steady decline over the last few years with many clubs in Seoul closing down, but the phoenix of Korean punk music may be rising from the ashes. Last month, at Club Spot near Hongdae, a university campus neighborhood in western Seoul, the compilation album “Them and Us” was released showcasing 11 local punk bands who aim to give the Korean scene a shakeup.“Them and Us” featur
Sarkozy to Obama: Netanyahu is a liar

Nov 9, 2011

PARIS (AP) ― The French president’s overheard remark to President Barack Obama that Israel’s prime minister is a “liar” laid bare escalating international frustration at deadlocked peace efforts ― and left all three world leaders looking blemished.Obama, heard through an interpreter, responded, “I have to work with him every day.”Some Israelis felt French President Nicolas Sarkozy uttered out loud what many think in private about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Others were shocked, an
‘No consensus on Palestinian U.N. bid’

Nov 9, 2011

UNITED NATIONS (AP) ― There is no consensus among the 15 Security Council nations on the Palestinian application for U.N. membership, according to a draft report summing up members’ views circulated Tuesday.The four-page report obtained by The Associated Press says the council is divided among those who support Palestinian membership, those who can’t support it now and therefore would abstain, and those who believe the application doesn’t meet the criteria for membership and oppose it.Palestinia
U.N. says Iran work ‘specific’ to nuke arms

Nov 9, 2011

There are indications of nuclear weapons testing, warhead and detonator development, IAEA saysVIENNA (AP) ― The U.N. atomic agency said for the first time Tuesday that Iran is suspected of conducting secret experiments whose sole purpose is the development of nuclear arms, an assessment that draws on 1,000 pages of intelligence and nearly a decade of research.The report by the International Atomic Energy Agency is its most unequivocal yet suggesting that Iran is using the cover of a peaceful nuc
Asteroid in closest swing by Earth in 35 years

Nov 9, 2011

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― An asteroid as big as an aircraft carrier zipped by Earth on Tuesday in the closest encounter by such a massive space rock in more than three decades.Scientists ruled out any chance of a collision but turned their telescopes skyward to learn more about the object known as 2005 YU55.Its closest approach to Earth was pegged at a distance of 325,088 kilometers at 6:28 p.m. EST. That’s just inside the moon’s orbit; the average distance between Earth and the moon is 384,633 kilomet
Warrantless GPS tracking raises question of principles

Nov 9, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The U.S. Supreme Court invoked visions of an all-seeing Big Brother and satellites watching us from above. Then things got personal Tuesday when the justices were told police could slap GPS devices on their cars and track their movements, without asking a judge for advance approval.The occasion for all the talk about intrusive police actions was a hearing in a case about whether the police must get a search warrant before using GPS technology to track criminal suspects. The out
NASA plans 2014 test-flight of deep-space capsule

Nov 9, 2011

WASHINGTON (AFP) ―NASA said Tuesday it will launch in 2014 an unmanned test flight of its Orion deep space capsule, made by Lockheed Martin to someday carry astronauts to the moon, an asteroid or Mars.The test launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida aims to send the capsule into orbit, where it will circle the Earth twice, then attempt to make an intact re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere before plunging into the ocean.The U.S. space agency said in a statement it hopes the data will help “influence des
Defiant Cain says he won’t quit despite harassment allegations

Nov 9, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) ― A defiant Herman Cain declared he would not end his bid for the Republican presidential nomination in the face of allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior and called his latest accuser a troubled woman and tool of the “Democrat machine” in America.Cain spoke at a news conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Tuesday, one day after Chicagoan Sharon Bialek became the fourth woman to lodge complaints of unwanted sexual advances.He denied that he even knew Bialek, saying he watche
Russian craft fails to head for Mars moon

Nov 9, 2011

Moscow’s ambitious step toward deep space fails due to technical problemsMOSCOW (AP) -- A daring Russian mission to fly an unmanned probe to Phobos, a moon of Mars, and fly samples of its soil back to Earth was derailed right after its launch by equipment failure.The Phobos-Grunt (Phobos-Soil) craft was successfully launched by a Zenit-2 booster rocket at 12:16 a.m. Moscow time Wednesday from the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. It separated from the booster about 11 minutes lat
Russian probe launched to Mars' moon fails

Nov 9, 2011

Russian probe launched to Mars' moon failsMOSCOW (AP) _ A daring Russian mission to fly an unmanned probe to Phobos, a moon of Mars, and fly samples of its soil back to Earth was derailed right after its launch by equipment failure.The Phobos-Grunt (Phobos-Soil) craft was successfully launched by a
In GPS case, US court debates '1984' scenario

Nov 9, 2011

The US Supreme Court delved Tuesday into the issue of privacy amid 21st century technology, hearing arguments on whether police can use a GPS device attached to a vehicle to track a suspect without a search warrant.The US government asked the justices to reinstate the conviction of Washington nightc
Defiant Berlusconi taken down by markets

Nov 9, 2011

ROME (AP) _ Silvio Berlusconi survived sex scandals and corruption trials. Tawdry accounts of sexy ``bunga bunga'' parties turned him into an international laughing stock. Prosecutors pursued him over a mind-boggling array of suspected improprieties.Every time he seemed finished, the perma-tan
Italy's Berlusconi to resign after reforms pass

Nov 9, 2011

Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's prime minister, right, leaves after attending the the Group of 20 (G20) Cannes Summit, in Cannes, France, on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011. (Bloomberg)ROME (AP) _ Premier Silvio Berlusconi promised Tuesday to resign after Parliament passes economic reforms demanded by the Europea