The Korea Herald

Former Miss Pennsylvania ‘shocked’ by $5M ruling against her

Jan 2, 2013

Former Miss Pennsylvania Sheena Monnin says she is shocked she must pay the Miss Universe Organization $5 million for saying the Miss USA pageant was rigged.Former U.S. District Court Magistrate Theodore H. Katz said Monnin‘s unfounded allegations cost the pageant up to $5 million in sponsorship money for 2013, the New York Daily News said.“I was shocked that was ruled against me, frankly,” Monnin told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Saturday. “The most logical course of action is to fight [the ru
1 Indian gang rape suspect may be juvenile

Jan 2, 2013

A bone test is being conducted to confirm the age of a young suspect in custody in the fatal assault and gang rape of a woman on a bus in India's capital, while prosecutors will seek the death penalty for five other men arrested with him, police said Tuesday.The six will be formally charged in court on Thursday on accusations that they kidnapped, gang raped and murdered the 23-year-old woman in New Delhi on Dec. 16, police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said. Media reports say some 30 witnesses have bee
New Year starts deadly in Philadelphia

Jan 2, 2013

A 17-year-old shot following an argument at a New Year‘s Eve party became Philadelphia’s first 2013 homicide victim at 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, police said.Police said they had not made any arrests in the shooting, which occurred at a house party in the West Philadelphia neighborhood. Before daybreak, two more people had been killed, WCAU-TV reported. One was found dead at about 2:30 a.m. in the Frankford neighborhood, while the third died at a hospital a few hours after police responding to a call o
17-foot python spotted, killed in Florida

Jan 2, 2013

A 17-foot Burmese python shocked a family when it slithered into a picnic area in Florida.The family caught the massive snake on camera before a park ranger killed it, WESH-TV, Orlando, Fla., reported Friday. The report did not say where the incident occurred.Pythons are an invasive species in the United States. Researchers say the growing population of the snakes in Florida have devastated rabbit, fox, possum and bobcat populations.In January, the Florida fish and wildlife conservation commissi
U.S. Congress staves off `fiscal cliff' of tax hikes

Jan 2, 2013

A weary U.S. congress sent President Barack Obama legislation to avoid the economy-threatening ``fiscal cliff'' of middle-class tax increases and across-the-board spending cuts late Tuesday night hours before financial markets reopen after the New Year's holiday.The bill's passage on a 257-167 vote in the House of Representatives sealed a hard-won political triumph for the president less than two months after he secured re-election while calling for higher taxes on the wealthy. The economic as w
Teachers criticized for ‘Gangnam style’ parody

Jan 2, 2013

An official in a British county has criticized teachers at a high school for creating a YouTube parody of South Korean pop star Psy‘s “Gangnam Style” video.Peter Britcliffe, a county councilor in Lancashire, England, said he feared the video created by teachers and staff members at Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School in Accrington would cause students to lose respect for their instructors, The Daily Telegraph reported Tuesday.The video depicts the teachers performing the dance moves from the
Ten dead in Angola New Year stampede

Jan 2, 2013

Ten people, including four children, died and 120 were hurt in a stampede at an evangelical vigil in the Angolan capital Luanda on New Year's Eve, Angolan news agency Angop reported.It quoted civil protection spokesman Faustino Sebastiao as saying the victims were crushed by the crowd and asphyxiated at the entrance to the Cidadela Desportiva stadium after only two of the four gates had been opened.Twelve of the injured were still in hospital on Tuesday."We were expecting 70,000 people but far m
Pakistan frees eight Taliban prisoners

Jan 1, 2013

ISLAMABAD (AP) ― Pakistan released eight members of the Afghan Taliban from prison on Monday, including the former justice minister under the Taliban, in a bid to boost the peace process in neighboring Afghanistan, the government said. Pakistan is seen as a lynchpin in efforts to bring about peace in Afghanistan as foreign troops plan to depart the country in 2014. Kabul has been pressing its neighbor to release more prisoners who they hope would bring the Taliban to the negotiating table before
Attackers kill 15 at Nigerian church, rescue official says

Jan 1, 2013

KANO, Nigeria (AFP) ― Attackers have stormed a church service in an area of Nigeria’s volatile northeast and killed 15 people in the latest such violence targeting Christians in recent days, an official said Monday.Nigeria’s military however denied the attack, with a spokesman issuing a statement saying that while he was not present in the area where it was said to have occurred, “all my enquiries indicated that nothing like that happened.”However, Nigeria’s military tends to downplay such incid
Japan mulls U.S. spy drones for marine surveillance: report

Jan 1, 2013

TOKYO (AFP) ― Japan is considering introducing U.S. spy drones to boost surveillance of its territorial waters near islands in the East China Sea at the center of a bitter dispute with Beijing, Kyodo News said Monday.The Japanese Defense Ministry hopes to introduce the unmanned Global Hawk aircraft by 2015 “in a bid to counter China’s growing assertiveness at sea, especially when it comes to the Senkaku Islands,” the news agency said, citing unnamed government officials.Beijing has been sending
Iran test-fires missiles near Strait of Hormuz

Jan 1, 2013

TEHRAN (AP) ― Iran’s navy said Monday it test-fired a range of weapons during ongoing maneuvers near the Strait of Hormuz, the passageway for one-fifth of the world’s oil supply.IRNA quoted Adm. Amir Rastgari, spokesman for the exercise, as saying the Iranian-made air defense system Raad, or Thunder, was among the weapons tested, along with various torpedoes and underwater and surface-to-surface rockets as well as anti-ship missiles. The Islamic Republic said it also deployed domestically-made h
Israel eases restrictions on Gaza

Jan 1, 2013

JERUSALEM (AP) ― In a major concession to Gaza’s Hamas leaders Monday, Israel dropped its five-year ban on construction materials crossing into the territory and raised hopes there that rebuilding could begin following a damaging eight-day Israeli air campaign. The easing of restrictions is an outgrowth of the cease-fire that ended the air strikes and months of daily rocket fire from Gaza at Israel. Contacts mediated by Egypt to follow up the truce produced the concession, and Israel promised to
Blasts aimed at Iraqi Shiites kill 23

Jan 1, 2013

BAGHDAD (AP) ― Insurgents launched a wave of attacks across Iraq on Monday, primarily targeting Shiite communities and pilgrims and killing at least 23 people, officials said. The attacks appeared aimed at undermining security and confidence in the government by fomenting sectarian conflict. Overall violence has dropped since the nation neared a civil war several years ago, but attacks of a sectarian nature come almost daily, and government forces seem powerless to prevent them. The deadliest bl
U.N. sanctions DRC rebels, their Rwandan allies

Jan 1, 2013

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) ―The U.N. Security Council has slapped sanctions on M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and their alleged Rwandan allies the FDLR, diplomats said Monday.The move freezes the assets of entities or individuals linked to the groups and bars them from travel.“We believe these designations will directly help advance the goal of a sustainable peace in eastern DRC,” U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice said in a statement.“We urge the rank and file of both the M23
World gives enthusiastic welcome to 2013

Jan 1, 2013

LONDON (AP) ― Lavish fireworks displays ushered in 2013 across the Asia-Pacific region on Tuesday, and Europe was holding scaled-back festivities and street parties in the hope of beginning a new year that will be kinder to its battered economies. Asian cities kicked off New Year’s celebrations in style and an atmosphere of renewed optimism, despite the “fiscal cliff” impasse of spending cuts and tax increases threatening to reverberate globally from the United States.Huge fireworks lit up skyli