The Korea Herald

Police say 3 girls beat up woman for fun

Jan 17, 2013

Three girls in New York's Hudson Valley were charged with gang assault after they allegedly beat up a 34-year-old woman on the street just for fun, police said.The unidentified girls -- two age 13 and the other 12 -- allegedly attacked Paola Neri around 7:50 a.m. Tuesday as she put her 8-year-old daughter, Melanie, on a school bus in New Windsor, N.Y., near Newburgh, about 65 miles north of New York City, police said.The girls told police they were "mobbing" or "popping" on Neri just for fun, re
U.S. to recognize first Somali government in 20 years

Jan 17, 2013

The United States will on Thursday recognize the first Somali government in two decades, heralding a significant shift in ties since the deadly 1993 attack on U.S. helicopters over Mogadishu.The beginning of the new chapter will come when U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton exchanges diplomatic notes with visiting Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, a top U.S. official said Wednesday."The visit here this week of the new Somalian president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud represents a significant ch
Cambodia jails French pedophile for abusing teen

Jan 17, 2013

A Cambodian court jailed a 52-year-old French pedophile for 14 months on Tuesday for sexually abusing a teenage boy, prompting child rights groups to criticize the prison term as too lenient.Philippe Lauwers was found guilty of "committing an indecent act against an underage boy in late 2011", Judge Phong Vann at southern Kandal provincial court told AFP, adding that the boy was now aged 16.The Frenchman will walk free in two months having already served a year in jail, unless his victim appeals
2 dead after helicopter crashes in London

Jan 16, 2013

LONDON (AP) -- A helicopter crashed into a crane and fell on a street in central London during rush hour Wednesday, sending black plumes of smoke into the air as it smashed into a crowded street. Two people were killed and nine others injured, officials said.The helicopter crashed just south of the River Thames near the Underground and mainline train station at Vauxhall, and near the British spy agency MI6.Police said one person had critical injuries. Several people were taken to a nearby hospit
Algeria: 8 foreigners kidnapped at gas plant

Jan 16, 2013

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) -- Islamist militants from Mali attacked a natural gas field partly operated by BP in southern Algeria early on Wednesday, killing a security guard and kidnapping at least eight people, including English, Norwegian and Japanese nationals, an Algerian security official and local media said.Algerian forces, however, caught up with and surrounded the kidnappers and negotiations for the release of the hostages are ongoing, the official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity b
Suicide bomber strikes in Afghan capital

Jan 16, 2013

KABUL (AP) ― Afghan police say a suicide bomber has struck in the center of Kabul near the headquarters of the intelligence service and the Afghan Interior Ministry. The explosion sounded about noon local time and could be heard throughout downtown. Gunshots continued to ring out throughout the heavily guarded neighborhood about half an hour later as a plume of smoke rose into the sky. A police officer at the scene named Abdul Shookur said the attack started with a suicide bombing but did not pr
Dozens killed in Syrian university blasts

Jan 16, 2013

BEIRUT (AP) ― Twin blasts ripped through a university campus in Syria’s largest city on Tuesday as students were taking exams, setting cars alight, blowing the walls off dormitory rooms and killing more than 80 people, according to anti-regime activists and a government official. The opposition and the government blamed each other for the explosions inside Aleppo University, which marked a major escalation in the struggle for control of the hotly contested commercial hub. Activists said forces l
Swedish cleaning lady crashes train into house, police say

Jan 16, 2013

STOCKHOLM (AFP) ― A Swedish cleaning lady on Tuesday commandeered an empty Stockholm commuter train, which careered off the tracks when it reached the end of the line and smashed into a block of flats, police said.The woman’s condition was “serious but stable,” Stockholm police spokesman Lars Bystroem said. She was detained on suspicion of destroying public property, a crime punishable by up to eight years in jail.The train slammed into a three-story building in the upscale Saltsjoebaden neighbo
Venezuelan V.P. delivers state-of-the-nation address

Jan 16, 2013

CARACAS (AP) ― Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro took the place of the country’s ailing president Tuesday by delivering a short state-of-the-nation address amid legal debate about his legitimacy. Maduro submitted the report in writing from ailing President Hugo Chavez, who is receiving treatment in Cuba after undergoing his fourth cancer surgery. Opposition politicians had argued that lawmakers should have postponed the annual speech because Chavez was supposed to deliver it. Last January
New York passes tough gun law

Jan 16, 2013

NEW YORK (AFP) ― New York on Tuesday passed what supporters called the toughest gun ownership law in the country, becoming the first U.S. state to impose new restrictions in the wake of last month’s elementary school massacre in Connecticut.Lawmakers in the lower house of the State Assembly voted 104-43 in favor of the measure, which had been approved by the upper house in a 43-18 vote late Monday.Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, who rushed through the legislation, welcomed the assembly’s overw
Syracuse PR man charged with shower videos

Jan 16, 2013

SYRACUSE, N.Y., Jan. 16 (UPI) -- Prosecutors in New York have charged a former Syracuse University media-relations executive with surreptitiously taking videos of athletes in the shower room.Roger Springfield pleaded innocent Tuesday to four counts of unlawful surveillance for the videos, which Onondaga County prosecutors said included at least 108 Orange athletes taking their post-game showers.The videos were shot in the locker room of the Carrier Dome and included members of the Syracuse footb
Facebook adds ‘social’ search function

Jan 16, 2013

Facebook has announced a search feature it says will allow users to search the site for information about their friends‘ interests, and for photos and places.The feature -- dubbed Graph Search and introduced Tuesday by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg -- will allow Facebook users to examine material shared by their friends and use natural language search questions for information like “friends who live in my city” or “Indian restaurants liked by my friends in India,” the company said in a statem
Human heads held up by U.S. customs at Chicago airport

Jan 16, 2013

Officials scrambled Tuesday to get 18 human heads off to their final destination, a crematorium, after they were seized by US customs inspectors before Christmas at Chicago‘s main O’Hare airport.The heads, each tagged with a name plus place and cause of death, had originated in the United States for use at a research facility in Rome, spokeswoman Mary Paleologos of the Cook County medical examiner‘s office said.“The heads were anatomical specimens used for research, properly preserved, wrapped a
Obama to present gun violence proposals Wednesday

Jan 16, 2013

President Barack Obama will reveal the details of how the U.S. will address gun violence on Wednesday, the White House said Tuesday, while New York passed the toughest gun control law in the nation and dared other states to do the same.The Obama administration has been moving quickly on the issue before the shock fades over last month's school shooting in Connecticut, which Obama has called the worst day of his presidency. The White House said Obama would appear Wednesday with children who wrote
Seoul shares open higher on auto, builder

Jan 16, 2013

South Korean stocks began higher Wednesday, buoyed by gains in automobile and construction companies, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 4.42 points, or 0.22 percent to 1,988.16 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Ssangyong Motor, the smallest player, jumped more than 3 percent, with top builder Hyundai Engineering & Construction rising 1.4 percent. Local builders gained ground after the transition team of President-elect Park Geun-hye pledged to boost t