The Korea Herald

Ex-nurse wants aiding-suicide conviction reversed

Dec 20, 2012

An attorney for a former Minnesota nurse convicted of going online and encouraging two people to kill themselves says his client was merely supporting his alleged victims and had no influence on their actions.William Melchert-Dinkel as convicted last year on two counts of aiding suicide. His attorney is asking the Minnesota Supreme Court to overturn those convictions.In court documents filed Wednesday, attorney Terry Watkins says Melchert-Dinkel did not directly participate in the suicides of an
U.S. to deploy newest weapons to Asia-Pacific

Dec 20, 2012

The United States plans to deploy some of its newest warships and other high-tech weapons to the Asia-Pacific as part of a strategic shift to the region, a U.S. defense official said Wednesday.The Pentagon will send P-8 submarine-hunting aircraft, cruise missiles, Virginia-class submarines, coastal combat ships and F-35 fighter jets to Asian ports and bases in coming years, the senior official told reporters"What you're seeing is part of a bigger effort, the Pacific theatre will get the newest w
Eagle snatching toddler video is a hoax

Dec 20, 2012

A video seeming to show a golden eagle grabbing a small child in its talons in Montreal is actually the work of animation school students, the school said.The clip, titled “Golden Eagle Snatches Kid,” depicts the bird grabbing the child in front of his mother and carrying the toddler a few feet into the air before dropping him, The Independent reported Wednesday. The child is then seen crying, but does not appear to be seriously hurt.The video had been viewed more than 5 million times on YouTube
Time names Obama person of the year for second time

Dec 19, 2012

Time magazine on Wednesday named the recently re-elected US President Barack Obama as its person of the year for 2012 -- the second time it has accorded him this honor.The venerable American news magazine said the United States is in the midst of huge cultural and demographic changes and Obama is "both the symbol and in some ways the architect of this new America."The magazine noted that Obama was the first president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt to win more than 50 percent of the vote in two
Gunmen kill 5 polio workers in Pakistan

Dec 19, 2012

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) ― Gunmen shot dead five women working on U.N.-backed polio vaccination efforts in two different Pakistani cities on Tuesday, officials said, a major setback for a campaign that international health officials consider vital to contain the crippling disease but which Taliban insurgents say is a cover for espionage. Pakistan is one of only three countries where polio is endemic. Militants however accuse health workers of acting as spies for the U.S. and claim the vaccine make
Weak voter turnout fuels crisis in Egypt

Dec 19, 2012

CAIRO (AP) ― Thousands of Egyptian protesters marched on the presidential palace and Cairo’s downtown Tahrir Square on Tuesday to protest a contentious Islamist-backed draft constitution, after the country’s Justice Ministry ordered a probe into allegations of widespread voting irregularities during Saturday’s first round of voting on the document. Since the country’s political crisis erupted more than three weeks ago, the opposition has kept the pressure on the government of President Mohammed
Benghazi review finds systematic security faults

Dec 19, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) ― An independent panel charged with investigating the deadly Sept. 11 attack in Libya that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans has concluded that systematic management and leadership failures at the State Department led to “grossly” inadequate security at the mission in Benghazi. “Systematic failures and leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels within two bureaus of the State Department resulted in a Special Mission security posture that was inadeq
U.N. court acquits Congo rebel leader of war crimes

Dec 19, 2012

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) ― The International Criminal Court acquitted a Congolese militia leader Tuesday of all charges of commanding fighters who destroyed a village in eastern Congo in 2003, raping and hacking to death some 200 people, including children. The acquittal of Mathieu Ngudjolo on charges including rape, murder and pillage was only the second verdict in the court’s 10-year history and the first time it had cleared a suspect. The only other ICC verdict, handed down earlier this ye
Israel to face condemnation for settlements

Dec 19, 2012

UNITED NATIONS (AP) ― The Palestinians said Tuesday that all of the U.N. Security Council members except the United States will condemn Israel’s recent announcements of new settlement construction which are making a two-state solution more difficult to achieve. Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour said the 14 other council members will tell reporters after the council’s monthly Mideast meeting on Wednesday that continuing settlement activity is illegal and must be stopped. The United States delivered
Obama backs bill to ban assault weapons

Dec 19, 2012

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― U.S. President Barack Obama backs a new bill to revive an assault weapons ban and other new gun laws, the White House said Tuesday, fleshing out his nascent response to a shocking school massacre.Obama also called an ardently pro-gun senator who has shifted his position on firearms laws since Friday’s carnage in Connecticut and has begun meeting top cabinet officials to consider his options, his spokesman Jay Carney said.The killings of 26 people, including 20 children, at a N
U.S. Army general faces court-martial in sex charges

Dec 19, 2012

An Army general will face court-martial on a series of sexual misconduct charges, including forcible sodomy, in connection with several illicit affairs, and could receive life in prison if convicted, the Army said Tuesday.Included in the allegations against Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair are that he carried on affairs with and mistreated subordinate officers and later tried to impede the investigation of some of the offenses by deleting nude photos and other emails.The case is the latest in a serie
Israeli leader vows more east Jerusalem building

Dec 19, 2012

Israel's prime minister on Tuesday rejected international criticism of plans to build thousands more Jewish homes in east Jerusalem, insisting that construction will move forward.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued the tough response as European diplomats were discussing plans to condemn Israel in the U.N. Security Council. A U.N. resolution would be the latest in a wave of angry international reactions to Israeli plans to build in areas the Palestinians claim for a future state.“Jerusalem
Iraqi President Talabani suffers a stroke

Dec 19, 2012

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has suffered a stroke and was in intensive care at a Baghdad hospital Tuesday, injecting new uncertainty into the country's political future a year after the U.S. military left.Although his official powers are limited, Talabani, 79, is respected by many Iraqis as a rare unifying figure seen as able to rise above the ethnic and sectarian rifts that still divide the country. Known for his joking manner and walrus-like moustache, Talabani has been actively involved in
Some Republicans say gun control should be debated

Dec 19, 2012

Some U.S. Republicans now say they're willing to discuss the politically treacherous issue of gun control, along with mental health issues and violent video games, while President Barack Obama said he supports efforts in Congress to reinstate an assault weapons ban in the wake of last week's Connecticut school shooting.Republicans in the House of Representatives discussed the gun issue at their regular closed-door meeting Tuesday, and at least some were willing to consider gun control as part of
Bangladesh factory fire ‘an act of sabotage’

Dec 18, 2012

DHAKA (AFP) ― A fire that killed 111 workers at a Bangladesh garment factory last month was an act of sabotage and managers at the plant prevented victims from escaping, the head of an official inquiry said Monday.Speaking to AFP after submitting his report on the tragedy to the government, Main Uddin Khandaker also said his team had recommended the owner should face murder charges over the deadliest fire ever at a Bangladeshi garment factory.The factory, based on the outskirts of Dhaka, was sup