The Korea Herald

Boston suspect charged, could face death

Apr 23, 2013

BOSTON (AFP) ― Boston bomb suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev could face the death penalty after being charged on Monday for his alleged role in the attacks which left three people dead and 200 wounded.Tsarnaev, 19, was arraigned in his hospital bed on charges of using and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction, and malicious destruction of property by means of deadly explosives, the U.S. Department of Justice said.The charges came as America marked the one-week anniversary of the twin marathon b
Woodstock festival star Richie Havens dies

Apr 23, 2013

LOS ANGELES (AFP) ― Veteran U.S. folk singer Richie Havens, who shot to stardom with his distinctive style at the iconic 1969 Woodstock music festival, died Monday, his agent said. He was 72.Havens’ frenzied rhythmic strumming and searing vocal delivery on “Freedom/Motherless Child” mesmerized the crowds at Woodstock, which became a key symbol of 1960s counter-culture explosion.The African American singer ― who was only drafted in at the last minute to open the three-day event because other band
French embassy in Tripoli bombed, 2 injured: sources

Apr 23, 2013

A car bomb blasted the embassy of France in Tripoli early Tuesday, injuring two French guards and causing serious damage to the building, embassy and Libyan sources said.An AFP correspondent at the site said the wall surrounding the property was destroyed and the embassy building extensively damaged. Two cars parked near the embassy were also destroyed.The explosion occurred around 7:00 am (0500 GMT), residents said.A French source confirmed an "attack" against the embassy and said one guard was
Japan P.M. vows force if Chinese land on disputed isles

Apr 23, 2013

Japan's prime minister Tuesday vowed to "expel by force" any Chinese landing on islands at the centre of a territorial row, after eight government vessels from China sailed into the disputed waters. The latest clash over the islands came as 168 Japanese lawmakers visited the controversial Yasukuni war shrine in central Tokyo, seen as a potent symbol of Japan's imperialist past, riling its neighbours China and South Korea. Tokyo summoned the Chinese ambassador to Japan on Tuesday after the eig
Officials: Bomb suspects appear driven by faith

Apr 23, 2013

The two brothers suspected of bombing the Boston Marathon appear to have been motivated by their religious faith but do not seem connected to any Muslim terrorist groups, U.S. officials said Monday after interrogating the severely wounded younger man. He was charged with federal crimes that could bring the death penalty.Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, was charged in his hospital room with using a weapon of mass destruction to kill. He was accused of joining with his older brother, Tamerlan _ now dead _ i
IAEA: Japan nuke cleanup may take more than 40 years

Apr 23, 2013

A U.N. nuclear watchdog team said Japan may need longer than the projected 40 years to decommission its tsunami-crippled nuclear plant and urged its operator to improve plant stability. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency team, Juan Carlos Lentijo, said Monday that damage at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant is so complex that it is impossible to predict how long the cleanup may last.“As for the duration of the decommissioning project, this is something that you can define in your plan
Police: 2 arrested in al-Qaida linked Canada plot

Apr 23, 2013

Two men were arrested and charged with plotting a terrorist attack against a Canadian passenger train with support from al-Qaida elements in Iran, police said Monday. The case bolstered allegations by some governments and experts of a relationship of convenience between Shiite-led Iran and the predominantly Sunni Arab terrorist network.Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, and Raed Jaser, 35, had “direction and guidance” from al-Qaida members in Iran, though there was no reason to think the planned attacks wer
2nd man arrested in rape of 5-year-old Indian girl

Apr 22, 2013

NEW DELHI (AP) -- A second suspect was arrested Monday in the rape of a 5-year-old girl who New Delhi police say was left for dead in a locked room, a case that has brought a new wave of protests against how Indian authorities handle sex crimes.Pradeep Kumar, a 19-year-old garment factory worker, was arrested Monday in the eastern state of Bihar, about 1,000 kilometers from New Delhi, and was being brought to the capital, police said.Police said questioning of the first man arrested in the case,
Serbia approves Kosovo deal: government

Apr 22, 2013

BELGRADE (AFP) -- Serbia's government on Monday approved an EU-brokered deal to normalise ties with breakaway Kosovo, a historic agreement aimed at turning the page on the Balkans' last simmering trouble-spot 14 years after the end of hostilities.The government has accepted the "first accord on principles which regulate normalisation of relations, reached during the dialogue on Kosovo in Brussels" on Friday, said a statement issued after a cabinet meeting.The government has instructed ministries
Portable ATMs, phone-charging in China quake zone

Apr 22, 2013

LUSHAN, China (AP) -- The tent village that sprang up in two days to house quake survivors in mountain-flanked Lushan is no ordinary refugee camp. China's full range of disaster response is on display: Trucks with x-ray equipment, phone-charging stations, bank tellers-on-wheels -- even a tent for insurance claims.The efforts under way Monday in mountainous Sichuan province after a quake Saturday that killed at least 188 people showed that the government has continued to hone its disaster reacti
Rights group: Myanmar unrest is 'ethnic cleansing'

Apr 22, 2013

BANGKOK (AP) -- A leading international rights group on Monday accused authorities in Myanmar, including Buddhist monks, of fomenting an organized campaign of ethnic cleansing against the country's Rohingya Muslim minority that killed hundreds of people and forced 125,000 from their homes.Human Rights Watch also described the bloody wave of violence and massacres in western Rakhine state last year as crimes against humanity, and slammed the government of President Thein Sein for failing to bring
North Korea-U.S. diplomacy an almost impossible task

Apr 22, 2013

The focus of weeks of hostile rhetoric on the Korean peninsula has shifted from nuclear war to dialogue, but analysts warn the road to formal talks is longer and more challenging than it has ever been.So challenging, in fact, that some experts believe dialogue is not even a realistic option given that North Korea is as committed to its demand for recognition as a nuclear power as the United States is to refusing it.With three nuclear tests under its belt, these experts argue, North Korea is no l
At least 185 killed in Nigeria attack

Apr 22, 2013

BAGA, Nigeria (AP) ― Fighting between Nigeria’s military and Islamic extremists killed at least 185 people in a fishing community in the nation’s far northeast, officials said Sunday, an attack that saw insurgents fire rocket-propelled grenades and soldiers spray machine-gun fire into neighborhoods filled with civilians. The fighting in Baga began Friday and lasted for hours, sending people fleeing into the arid scrublands surrounding the community on Lake Chad. By Sunday, when government offici
China rushes relief to quake-hit region

Apr 22, 2013

LUSHAN, China (AP) ― After dynamiting through landslide-blocked roads, Chinese relief crews hurried food, water and other supplies into the rural hills of China’s Sichuan province Monday, two days after an earthquake killed at least 188 people and injured more than 11,000. Rescuers reached the most cut-off communities in Baoxing and Lushan counties, though heavy machinery and trucks bearing supplies moved slowly along roads partly blocked by landslide debris. Repairmen hoisted ladders up against
Orbital Sciences launches its first Antares rocket

Apr 22, 2013

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Orbital Sciences, one of two private U.S. firms chosen by NASA to shuttle cargo to the International Space Station, launched its first Antares rocket Sunday.Liftoff of the two-stage launch vehicle ― 40 meters tall and 12.8 feet in diameter ― took place at 5:00 p.m. at the Wallops Flight Facility on an island off the coast of the U.S. state of Virginia, some 270 kilometers from Washington.As this is a test mission, Antares was not transporting the company’s Cygnus capsule but r