The Korea Herald

The 78-year-old runner behind the Boston photo

Apr 16, 2013

A 78-year-old man running his third Boston Marathon was near the finish line when he was knocked down by one of two bomb blasts and caught in a news photograph that quickly went viral.Bill Iffrig, of Lake Stevens, told the Herald of Everett that he heard a noise Monday and found himself on the ground. “It was only 1.5 meters away from me,” he said. “It was really loud.”He said he ended up with a scrape on his knee, and that a race official helped him to his feet.Iffrig said most of the other run
Iraq attacks kill 55 less than a week before vote

Apr 16, 2013

Insurgents in Iraq deployed a series of car bombs as part of highly coordinated attacks that cut across a wide swath of the country Monday, killing at least 55 on the deadliest day in nearly a month.The assault bore the hallmarks of a resurgent al-Qaida in Iraq and appeared aimed at sowing fear days before the first elections since U.S. troops withdrew. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but coordinated attacks are a favorite tactic of al-Qaida's Iraq branch.Iraqi officials believe
Brazen escape lands French bandit on Interpol list

Apr 16, 2013

Redoine Faid's escape from a French prison landed him on Interpol's most wanted list Monday, two days after he took four guards hostage and used explosives hidden inside tissue packets to blast his way out of a prison in Lille. Faid freed his hostages along his getaway route. It wasn't the first time that Faid, an armed robber being held in the death of a police officer, had gone on the lam. He was arrested in 1998 after three years on the run in Switzerland and Israel, according to the French m
Security beefed up worldwide after Boston blasts

Apr 16, 2013

Police in Los Angeles, New York City, Washington, London and other cities around the world stepped up security Monday following deadly explosions at the Boston Marathon.In Los Angeles, the Sheriff's Department activated its emergency operations center and increased patrols at transit hubs, schools and county buildings, while in New York, critical response teams were deployed citywide and officials stepped up security at hotels and other prominent locations.California emergency management officia
Video captures Boston terror at the 4:09:44 mark

Apr 16, 2013

The digital clock over the finish line read 4:09:44 when two explosions in the historic heart of Boston turned the 117th running of the city's iconic marathon into a horrific scene of carnage.Still images and video footage posted on the Internet by journalists and onlookers depicted in vivid detail how the blasts killed at least two people, injured dozens more and sowed terror on a sunny spring afternoon.The first blast -- on Patriots' Day, a state holiday in Massachusetts -- occurred two hours
Jordan extremist praises Boston bombing

Apr 16, 2013

The head of an extremist Jordanian Muslim Salafi group said early Tuesday that he was “happy to see the horror in America” after the explosions in Boston.“American blood isn't more precious than Muslim blood,” said Mohammad al-Chalabi, who was convicted in an al-Qaida-linked plot to attack U.S. and other Western diplomatic missions in Jordan in 2003. “Let the Americans feel the pain we endured by their armies occupying Iraq and Afghanistan and killing our people there,” he said early Tuesday. Al
Obama: Unclear who is responsible for explosions

Apr 16, 2013

President Barack Obama urged a nervous nation to avoid jumping to conclusions about Monday's explosions at the Boston Marathon, while acknowledging that officials “still do not know who did this or why.” A White House official later said the incident was being treated as terrorism.Speaking from the White House just three hours after the explosions, Obama was cautious in his remarks, stopping short of calling the incident an act of terror.Obama said the explosions were the act of an individual or
3 killed as 2 bombs explode at Boston Marathon

Apr 16, 2013

Two bombs exploded in the crowded streets near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday, killing at least three people and injuring more than 140 in a bloody scene of shattered glass and severed limbs that raised alarms that terrorists might have struck again in the U.S.A White House official speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation was still unfolding said the attack was being treated as an act of terrorism.President Barack Obama, speaking from the White House late
Syrian regime air strikes kill 25: activists

Apr 15, 2013

BEIRUT (AP) ― Syrian government warplanes carried out air strikes on a rebellious neighborhood in the capital and a village in the country’s northeast on Sunday, killing at least 25 people, including a dozen children, activists said. With its ground forces stretched thin, President Bashar Assad’s regime has relied heavily on its fighter jets and helicopters to try to stem rebel advances in the country’s civil war. The air raids frequently hit civilian areas, drawing criticism from the internatio
Cambodia, Thailand take temple dispute to U.N.’s highest court

Apr 15, 2013

THE HAGUE (AFP) ― Thailand and Cambodia are to face off at the U.N.’s highest court Monday in a dispute over land surrounding a flashpoint temple that has seen deadly clashes along their joint border.The International Court of Justice in The Hague is to hold a week of hearings after Phnom Penh asked two years ago for an interpretation of a 1962 ruling on the Preah Vihear temple.Thailand does not dispute Cambodia’s ownership of the temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site. But both sides claim an adj
16 killed in attack on Somali Supreme Court

Apr 15, 2013

MOGADISHU (AP) ― A barrage of bullets and two car bomb blasts rattled Mogadishu on Sunday when nine al-Shabab Islamic extremists stormed Somalia’s main court complex, officials said, in a two-hour attack that shows the country’s most dangerous militant group may be down but not defeated. A preliminary death toll stood at 16, including all nine attackers. The government didn’t immediately publicize the number of security forces, government employees and civilians who died during the attack. The a
Canada’s Liberals pick Trudeau as new leader

Apr 15, 2013

OTTAWA (AFP) ― Canada’s beleaguered Liberal Party on Sunday chose Justin Trudeau, eldest son of late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, as its new leader as it seeks to rebound from a major defeat at the polls in 2011.The 41-year-old former French teacher won by a landslide, getting 80 percent of the vote, the party announced during a meeting in Ottawa. He was greeted by chants of “Justin time” from supporters.The party’s last leader, Michael Ignatieff, resigned in the wake of the 2011 drubbing, whi
Japan’s book cafes find their niche

Apr 15, 2013

The charm lies in the potential for customers to encounter books that they might not otherwise.As Takeshi Okazaki sipped on a coffee and looked around, he could not help but feel relaxed. Surrounded by books at a book cafe, he felt as though something emanating from the pages was putting him at ease.“I feel as though something coming from the spine of a book calms everyone down,” Okazaki, a book reviewer, said at beco cafe that opened three years ago near Nishi-Ogikubo Station in Suginami Ward,
Indonesia finds its own flavor of jazz

Apr 15, 2013

Unique style of jazz in Southeast Asian country evolving into its own genre
Film shows Yousafzai’s global influence

Apr 15, 2013

A new film documents the kind of impact the remarkable story of Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai has had on the region and beyond.Pakistani-Canadian journalist Mohsin Abbas is soaring high on the wings of a new project ― a documentary film he is making about the remarkable courage of a school girl from his native Pakistan.Malala: A Girl from Paradise tells the story of Malala Yousafzai, who was shot last October while on a school bus with classmates.Abbas recently spent four months in Pakis