The Korea Herald

Woman dies in fall at party

Dec 26, 2012

A woman died of head injuries after falling down stairs at an office Christmas party in a Reading, England, hotel, police said.The unidentified woman, 23, attended a party Saturday for real estate agents at the four-star Millennium Madejski Hotel, on the grounds of Reading Football Club stadium, the British newspaper The Sun reported Tuesday.“We are treating her death as unexplained. There are a number of inquiries taking place. No one has been arrested in connection with this incident,” said De
Russian warships begin military exercises

Dec 26, 2012

About a dozen Russian warships are conducting a large-scale strategic exercise in the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Aden, a Russian military leader said.The operations include docking at several foreign ports of call, including Tartus, Syria, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported Tuesday.“This part of the world‘s oceans is very important from the point of view of Russia’s geopolitical interests, including the fact that the Russian Navy has a logistical base” in Syria, the representati
Russia, India sign weapons deals

Dec 25, 2012

NEW DELHI (AP) ― Russia and India signed weapons deals worth billions of dollars Monday as President Vladimir Putin sought to further boost ties with an old ally. Putin and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hailed cooperation between their countries as officials signed a $1.6 billion deal for 42 Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets that will be license-built in India from Russian components and a $1.3 billion contract for the delivery of 71 Mil Mi-17 military helicopters. “We agreed to further strengthe
Japan’s defeated ruling party picks new leader

Dec 25, 2012

TOKYO (AFP) ― Japan’s defeated Democratic Party of Japan on Tuesday picked as its new leader the industry minister during last year’s Fukushima nuclear crisis, after suffering a landslide electoral defeat. Banri Kaieda, 63, who broke down in tears in parliament last year as he faced heavy criticism over his handling of the accident, notched up 90 of 144 votes from party members, beating Sumio Mabuchi, a 52-year-old former infrastructure and transport minister. “I will do my best to reconstruct t
Airliner makes emergency landing on Myanmar road

Dec 25, 2012

An Air Bagan flight made an emergency landing Tuesday on a road in central Myanmar, killing two people and injuring 11, officials said.Four foreigners traveling on the Christmas morning flight were among the injured, Deputy Information Minister Ye Htut said on his Facebook page. He said the fatalities included an 11-year-old child believed to be a Myanmar citizen and a man riding a motorcycle on the road where the plane landed.The flight was carrying 65 passengers and six crew members from Yango
After 48 years, marriage found unofficial

Dec 25, 2012

A California couple said they had to have a second wedding after discovering their 48 years of marriage were not legally official.Bob and Norma Clark of Redlands said they were preparing legal paperwork to get their affairs in order and soon discovered the San Mateo County Hall of Records had no documentation of their Aug. 29, 1964, ceremony, the Redlands Daily Facts reported Monday.The couple said the church where they held their wedding had a copy of the certificate, but they were unable to fi
N.Y. surfer who survived Sandy drowns in Puerto Rico

Dec 25, 2012

The Belle Harbor section of the Rockaways in New York where so many heroes emerged during Superstorm Sandy has lost one of them to a tragic surfing death in Puerto Rico.Friends of 23-year-old Dylan Smith and his family expressed sorrow Monday that someone who saved so many lives during the October storm could lose his own on vacation. A local funeral parlor said funeral arrangements were being made.The New York City lifeguard was widely praised after the storm for using his surfboard to move sev
Thousands enjoy merry Christmas in Bethlehem

Dec 25, 2012

Thousands of Christians from the world over packed Manger Square in Bethlehem Monday to celebrate the birth of Jesus in the ancient West Bank town where he was born.For their Palestinian hosts, this holiday season was an especially joyous one, with the hardships of the Israeli occupation that so often clouded previous Christmas Eve celebrations eased by the United Nations' recent recognition of an independent state of Palestine.Festivities led up to the Midnight Mass at St. Catherine's Church, n
Egypt’s Islamists tighten grip on power

Dec 24, 2012

CAIRO (AP) ― With the passage of a divisive constitution, Egypt’s Islamist leadership has secured its tightest grip on power since Hosni Mubarak’s ouster nearly two years ago and laid the foundation for legislation to create a more religious state.The opposition’s response ― a vow to keep fighting the charter and the program of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi ― ensured that the turmoil of the past two years will not end as many, especially the tens of millions of poor craving stability, had fe
Swedish princess to marry next June

Dec 24, 2012

Sweden's royal family says Princess Madeleine's wedding will take place on Saturday, June 8, at the Royal Palace chapel in downtown Stockholm.King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia's youngest daughter was engaged to U.S.-British boyfriend Christopher O'Neill, a 38-year-old New York banker, in late October. The 30-year-old Madeleine is fourth in line to the Swedish throne. The royal family's chief spokesman Bertil Tenert said Sunday that wedding organizers will now start planning details of the n
Unwavering NRA opposes any new gun restrictions

Dec 24, 2012

The largest U.S. gun-rights lobbying organization declared its unwavering opposition to any new gun regulations in the aftermath of the massacre at a Connecticut elementary school, accusing the White House of trying to undermine the constitutional right to bear arms.Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the influential National Rifle Association, said Sunday that not a single gun regulation would make children safer. He criticized ``a media machine'' for blaming the gun industry for each new attack like the on
U.S. senator arrested for drunk driving

Dec 24, 2012

Republican Senator Michael Crapo of Idaho has been arrested in Virginia for drunk driving, police said Sunday.Police officials said a vehicle driven by Crapo was stopped in the Washington suburb of Alexandria, Virginia, early Sunday after he had run a red light.Crapo underwent and failed several field sobriety tests and was taken into custody without incident, the officials said. He was released on $1,000 bond a few hours later.The senator is due in court January 4.In a statement, Crapo said he
SEAL commander an apparent suicide

Dec 24, 2012

The Navy said Sunday a senior SEAL commander died of a non-combat injury and there were reports his death was an apparent suicide.The Defense Department said in a release that the death of Cmdr. Job W. Price, 42, of Pottstown, Pa., Saturday in Uruzgan province was under investigation. Price was assigned to a Naval Special Warfare unit based in Virginia Beach, Va.CNN reported a U.S. military official with direct knowledge of the event said Price‘s family had been notified his death from an appare
Romney didn't want to run for president, son says

Dec 24, 2012

No one wanted to be president less than Mitt Romney, his son said in an interview out Sunday that raises new questions about the candidacy of the losing Republican nominee.In an interview with the Boston Globe examining what went wrong with the Romney campaign, his eldest son Tagg explains that his father had been a reluctant candidate from the start.After failing to win the 2008 Republican nomination, Romney told his family he would not run again and had to be persuaded to enter the 2012 White
Spain will block Catalan independence vote, minister tells ABC

Dec 24, 2012

Spain’s government will block any independence referendum held in Catalonia, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said, according to ABC. “The government is prepared to make sure the referendum doesn’t happen: the legal instrument it uses to do so is secondary,” the Madrid-based newspaper quoted him as saying in an interview. “Spaniards can be confident that it won’t tolerate secession in any part of the territory.” (Bloomberg)