The Korea Herald

U.S. military helps with Okinawa rape investigation

Oct 19, 2012

The U.S. military is cooperating with Japanese police investigating allegations that two U.S. sailors raped a woman on Okinawa.The case has sparked protests from the Japanese government and an outcry on Okinawa, which hosts more than half the U.S. bases in Japan.Cmdr. Kenneth Marshall, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy in Japan, said military authorities are cooperating with and supporting the investigation by Okinawan police, who arrested the two sailors Tuesday. They are still in Japanese custody.
49 die as Syrian jets blast rebel-held town

Oct 19, 2012

Syrian fighter jets blasted the rebel-held town of Maaret al-Numan on Thursday, killing at least 49 people including 29 children, rescuers said.UN peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi pressed for a truce during a key Muslim holiday later this month, while the UN‘s human rights chief appealed to the Security Council for unity over the crisis.Rescuers said bombs destroyed two residential buildings and a mosque, where many women and children had been taking refuge, in the strategic northwestern town. Among
Germans face hefty bill to end nuclear power

Oct 18, 2012

BERLIN (AP) ― There were cheers around Germany when Chancellor Angela Merkel announced last year, in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in Japan, a swift end to nuclear power in favor of renewable energy sources like wind and solar.But only 18 months into the plan, the cost of the switchover is beginning to sink in. Some politicians, fearful of losing popular support for the transition, are demanding an overhaul of the way it is financed.The country’s four main grid operators said Monday that ho
Japan cabinet ministers visit Tokyo war shrine

Oct 18, 2012

TOKYO (AFP) ― Two Japanese ministers were part of a cross-party group of lawmakers who visited a controversial Tokyo war shrine Thursday, the day after opposition leader Shinzo Abe angered China by paying homage there.Dozens of parliamentarians were at Yasukuni Shrine, an AFP journalist witnessed, as part of celebrations for Japan’s autumn festival.Among the lawmakers were Transport Minister Yuichiro Hata of the ruling Democratic Party and Postal Reform Minister Mikio Shimoji of DPJ’s junior coa
Rebels down chopper, envoy says Syria war risk to region

Oct 18, 2012

MAARET AL-NUMAN, Syria (AFP) ― Syrian rebels shot down a helicopter on Wednesday as troops tried to retake a key town, a watchdog said, and peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi warned that the conflict risks setting the region ablaze.The fierce battle for the Damascus-Aleppo highway raged around the northwestern town of Maaret al-Numan even as Brahimi appeared to have won tentative support for a cease-fire.The U.N. and Arab League envoy warned of the conflict spreading as he visited neighboring Lebanon,
Libya militias ‘execute’ Gadhafi loyalists

Oct 18, 2012

CAIRO (AP) ― Libyan rebels appear to have “summarily executed” scores of fighters loyal to Moammar Gadhafi, and probably the dictator himself, when they overran his hometown a year ago, a human rights group said Wednesday. The report by Human Rights Watch on alleged rebel abuses that followed the October 2011 capture of the city of Sirte in the final major battle of the eight-month civil war is one of the most detailed descriptions of what the group says were war crimes committed by the militias
Obama, Romney seek support from women

Oct 18, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) ― President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney vied aggressively for the support of female voters, accusing each other of failing America’s women as they fought to keep up the momentum after their contentious, finger-pointing debate. At issue Wednesday was the candidates’ approach to gender pay equity laws and Romney’s comment during the debate that he was sent “binders full of women” when he was governor of Massachusetts. Romney made the remark while recalling that he looke
Croat ‘playboy priest’ flees with 1 million euros, married woman

Oct 18, 2012

A Croatian priest has run off with almost one million euros ($1.3 million) after illegally selling church property, officials said Tuesday, amid media reports the Catholic clergyman had fled with a married woman.Franciscan priest Sime Nimac earlier this year signed a deal with a local firm to sell a plot of church land, the Split archdiocese said in statement.Nimac, 34, the former parish priest of
Japanese cabinet ministers visit Tokyo war shrine

Oct 18, 2012

Two Japanese ministers were part of a cross-party group of lawmakers who visited a controversial Tokyo war shrine Thursday, the day after opposition leader Shinzo Abe angered China by paying homage there.Dozens of parliamentarians were at Yasukuni Shrine, an AFP journalist witnessed, as part of celebrations for Japan's autumn festival.Among the lawmakers were transport minister Yuichiro Hata of th
U.S. embassy in Stockholm evacuated over 'possible' incident

Oct 17, 2012

The U.S. embassy in Stockholm was evacuated on Wednesday over a possible security incident, a spokesman for the mission told AFP, while police said a suspect envelope had sparked the scare."We've evacuated the embassy while we are investigating a possible security incident," embassy spokesman Jeff Anderson said."We are working together with the Swedish authorities."When contacted by AFP around mid
Pakistani girl shot by Taliban making progress in Britain

Oct 17, 2012

BIRMINGHAM (AFP) ― A 14-year-old Pakistani girl shot in the head by the Taliban is making progress in a British hospital, doctors said Tuesday, as police turned away visitors claiming to be relatives.Malala Yousafzai was in a stable condition on her first full day in Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham after being flown to the city in central England in an air ambulance.The hospital’s medical director David Rosser said she had had a “comfortable night.”“We are very pleased with the progress s
This time, Obama takes offensive on all fronts

Oct 17, 2012

HEMPSTEAD, New York (AP) ― A fired-up President Barack Obama persistently attacked Republican challenger Mitt Romney in a critical debate Tuesday, offering a striking contrast from his listless performance two weeks ago that appeared to damage his re-election prospects. Obama blasted Romney’s economic plans as damaging to the middle class and accused him of flip-flopping on issues like energy and gun control. He appeared angry ― a rare emotion seen in the famously cool Obama ― when Romney, a for
Karadzic denies claims he masterminded killings

Oct 17, 2012

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) ― Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic cast himself as a “mild man, a tolerant man” as he opened his defense Tuesday in his long-running genocide trial, claiming he tried to prevent fighting and then worked to reduce casualties in the bloody 1992-95 Bosnian war. His claims brought snorts of derision and cries of “He’s lying! He’s lying!” from some Muslim survivors of the war who were watching the trial from the public gallery at the U.N. tribunal. Karadzic, who
Colombian rebels head to Oslo for peace talks

Oct 17, 2012

BOGOTA (AFP) ― Colombian government negotiators and leftist FARC rebels headed to Norway on Tuesday for peace talks aimed at ending the longest-running insurgency in Latin America.The first direct talks with the Marxist guerrillas in more than a decade looked set to go ahead in Oslo on Thursday, one day later than planned, with the Colombian government voicing cautious optimism about a possible deal.Four representatives of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) left from Cuba, accordi
Japan's opposition chief visits war shrine

Oct 17, 2012

Opposition leader Shinzo Abe, a man well-placed to become Japan's next prime minister, visited a Tokyo war shrine Wednesday, in a move that risks causing further friction with neighboring countries.Clad in formal evening dress, Abe, a one-time prime minister who was elected president of the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) last month, said he was at Yasukuni Shrine in an official cap