The Korea Herald

NASA’s Mars rover set for first ‘test drive’

Aug 22, 2012

LOS ANGELES (AFP) ― A little more than two weeks after its arrival on Mars, NASA’s Curiosity rover will on Wednesday make its first “test drive” before setting off on its Red Planet mission, the U.S. space agency said.The $2.5 billion rover, which landed on Mars on Aug. 6, has performed a battery of tests and appears ready to embark on its two-year mission to explore the Red Planet in the hunt for signs of life, NASA said Tuesday.On Monday, NASA “did the wheel steering test,” said the Mars Scien
Romney urges Akin to leave Senate race

Aug 22, 2012

JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri (AP) ― Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney called on a Republican congressman to abandon his U.S. Senate bid in the Midwest state of Missouri after his comments about rape undermined the party’s bid to gain control of Congress of in November. Rep. Todd Akin did not heed Romney’s call however, as he continued to defy top Republicans on Tuesday to forge ahead with his besieged Senate campaign. Akin declared that his party’s leaders were overreacting by abandoning
Apology offered to athlete on black power podium

Aug 22, 2012

CANBERRA (AP) ― An American athlete who took part in a controversial black-power salute at the 1968 Olympics says an Australian parliamentary apology to silver medalist Peter Norman may have come too late. On Monday night, federal lawmakers in Canberra praised the “heroism and humility” of the late Australian sprinter for standing in solidarity with gold medalist Tommie Smith and bronze medalist John Carlos on the podium following the 200-meter race at Mexico City. Norman was later chastised at
Gu Kailai “lookalike” took her place in court?

Aug 22, 2012

Gu Kailai, the wife of Chinese politician, Bo Xilai, was handed a suspended death sentence on Aug. 19 for the murder of Neil Heywood, a British businessman.However, speculation on the Internet suggests that Gu employed a lookalike to take her place in court, according to news sources. 　Gu, 53, appears plumper in images taken in the courtroom, which struck many as odd because most Chinese prisoners lose weight in jail. Two security experts knowledgeable about facial recognition software stated t
U.K. prosecution blunders let thug walk free

Aug 22, 2012

A drunken thug in the U.K. who assaulted a woman so badly she now uses a wheelchair was allowed to walk free after authorities let the time limit on the case elapse.Nikki Brewer, 18, was on her way home in Colchester, England, in April 2009 when a 31-year-old man attacked her, according to news sources. CCTV footage shows the man grabbing her by her hair before punching her so hard that she was thrown into the air.The assailant verbally abused Brewer and spat on her before walking away.The man w
Mali announces new government 5 months after coup

Aug 21, 2012

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) ― Mali’s interim leaders announced a new government late Monday, months after a military coup unleashed political chaos that allowed an Islamist takeover of the north and forced nearly half a million people to flee their homes. The government has 31 ministers, including five who are viewed as close to coup leader Capt. Amadou Sanogo, who nominally handed over power to a civilian interim government months ago but still has not completely relinquished control. None of the ministe
Japan’s island disputes show malaise

Aug 21, 2012

TOKYO (AFP) ― Tokyo’s seeming fixation with squabbles over the outposts of its former empire are symptomatic of a foreign policy drift as Japan struggles to find its place in the 21st century, analysts say.In a little over a month, three long-running territorial disputes have flared up.Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev inflicted the first wound in early July with a visit to the Kurils, off the coast of Hokkaido, seized by the Soviet Union in the last days of World War II.“I do not care,” Me
Colombian ex-general pleads guilty in U.S. court

Aug 21, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) ― A retired Colombian police general who served as chief of security for his country’s former hardline president, Alvaro Uribe, pleaded guilty Monday to helping a drug-trafficking paramilitary force classified by the U.S. as a terrorist group. Mauricio Santoyo Velasco, 53, entered his plea in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. He acknowledged aiding the far-right United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, known by its Spanish initials AUC. Prosecutors say the AUC, which emerged
NASA picks another Mars flight to explore its core

Aug 21, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) ― After driving all around Mars with four rovers, NASA wants to look deep into the guts of the red planet. The space agency decided Monday to launch a relatively low-cost robotic lander in 2016 to check out what makes the Martian core so different from Earth’s. NASA’s Discovery program picked a project called Insight over missions to a Saturn moon and a comet, drawing complaints from scientists who study other places in our solar system that NASA is too focused on Mars. All three
Japanese journalist killed covering Syria fighting

Aug 21, 2012

TOKYO (AP) ― A Japanese journalist has been killed in Syria while covering the civil war there, Japan’s government said Tuesday. Mika Yamamoto, a veteran war correspondent with the Japan Press, an independent TV news provider that specializes in conflict zone coverage, was killed Monday in the northwestern city of Aleppo, said Masaru Sato, a spokesman with the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo. Sato said the 45-year-old was hit by gunfire while she and a colleague were traveling with the rebel Free Syri
Ethiopian prime minister has died: government

Aug 21, 2012

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, a regional strongman in power for over two decades, has died in hospital abroad, the government said Tuesday."Prime Minister Meles Zenawi passed away yesterday evening at around midnight," Bereket Simon said, adding that the 57-year-old "was abroad" when he died, without giving further details.Meles had not been seen in public for two months, and had been rep
Myanmar government ends direct media censorship

Aug 21, 2012

Myanmar abolished direct censorship of the media Monday in the most dramatic move yet toward allowing freedom of expression in the long-repressed nation. But related laws and practices that may lead to self-censorship raise doubt about how much will change.Under the new rules, journalists will no longer have to submit their work to state censors before publication as they for almost half a century
Venezuela prison battle leaves 25 dead

Aug 21, 2012

Twenty-five people were killed and 43 others hurt in a prison battle in Venezuela as two armed gangs vied for control of a penitentiary near Caracas, authorities said Monday.One of the dead was a visiting relative while the 24 others were prisoners, some of whom were shot in the face at point-blank range during clashes Sunday in the Yare I prison, said minister for prison affairs Iris Varela.The facility was back under control on Monday after the latest bout of violence in Venezuela‘s overcrowde
The real power behind Obama

Aug 21, 2012

U.S. President Barrack Obama seems to be only a figurehead of power, according to an explosive new book coming out titled “Leading from Behind: The Reluctant President and the Advisors Who Decide for Him.” According to a news source, author Rich Miniter, a former Wall Street Journal, Washington Times and Sunday Times journalist, said Obama is under the strong influence of a number of dominant women -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, top adviser Valerie Jarrett, and first lady Michelle. He ci
Cholera emergency declared in Sierra Leone

Aug 21, 2012

An outbreak of cholera in West Africa has infected more than 13,000 people and killed at least 258 people in Sierra Leone and Guinea, authorities said as they appealed for international assistance.Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma has declared the outbreak there an ``emergency issue,'' and has set up a task force to prepare the budget that will be needed to stem the outbreak.``All of this