The Korea Herald

Nastiness reigns in Obama-Romney race

Aug 20, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The U.S. presidential race is turning ever nastier as Republican challenger Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama battle to break out of one of the closest presidential contests in recent history. After months of hammering Obama over the struggling U.S. economy ― the incumbent president’s greatest vulnerability ― Romney has not been able to erase his opponent’s slight lead in the polls.So, the Republican has changed tactics, going after Obama’s greatest strength. Voters like t
Gu Kailai gets suspended death sentence for murder

Aug 20, 2012

HEFEI, China (AP) ― The wife of a disgraced Chinese politician was given a suspended death sentence Monday after confessing to killing a British businessman by poisoning him with cyanide in a case that rocked the country’s top political leadership. A suspended sentence is usually commuted to life in prison after two years. Sentenced along with Gu Kailai was a family aide who was given nine years’ imprisonment for his involvement in the murder of Neil Heywood, a former family associate, said He Z
Officials: Crazed gunman kills 9 Yemenis in prayer

Aug 20, 2012

SANAA (AP) ― Medical and security officials say a crazed gunman opened fire Sunday on worshippers marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in southern Yemen, killing nine. The gunman targeted men praying outside a crowded mosque in al-Dhale, a governorate about 190 kilometers south of the capital, Sanaa, during morning Eid el-Fitr services. Nine people were killed and another 10 wounded, the officials said. The gunman was arrested at the scene, officials said. About 100 people have be
Syria’s Assad makes rare appearance

Aug 20, 2012

ALEPPO, Syria (AFP) ― President Bashar al-Assad made a rare public appearance for the Muslim holiday of Eid on Sunday as activists staged protests across Syria to rage against the regime.The new U.N. peace envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, said it was no longer a question of “preventing civil war” in Syria but rather stopping it.Assad joined prayers at a Damascus mosque for the Eid al-Fitr festival, his first appearance in a public place since a bomb blast last month killed four top security offi
Suicide bomber kills seven in Russian Caucasus

Aug 20, 2012

MOSCOW (AFP) ― A suicide bomber killed seven policemen as they arrived Sunday at a colleague’s funeral in the volatile Russian North Caucasus, hours after gunmen opened fire in a mosque, killing one and wounding seven.The attack at the funeral in the region of Ingushetia left seven policemen as well as the suicide bomber dead, a spokesman for the regional emergency situations ministry said.Fifteen people were wounded in the blast that rang out as the mainly Muslim region celebrated the end of th
Assange urges U.S. to end WikiLeaks ‘witch hunt’

Aug 20, 2012

LONDON (AP) ― WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange portrayed himself Sunday as a victim of an American “witch hunt” over his secret-spilling website in a defiant address from the balcony of an embassy where he has holed up to avoid extradition to face sex assault allegations. Surrounded by British police who want to detain him, Assange made no mention of the sex assault case in Sweden or how long he would remain in Ecuador’s embassy in London, where he took refuge two months ago. Instead he shifted
Obama dishes on friendship with Clooney

Aug 20, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) ― President Barack Obama says actor George Clooney is a good friend and a good person who is sensitive about protecting that friendship. Obama says Clooney is low-maintenance and doesn’t take advantage of their friendship. He says Clooney keeps his distance so that Obama won’t be criticized for hanging out with Hollywood celebrities. First lady Michelle Obama said of Clooney: “He’s cute, too.” In May, Clooney held a fundraiser for Obama at his Los Angeles home that raised nearly
Don’t try this at home -- or elsewhere!

Aug 20, 2012

No matter how thirsty you are, don‘t try stealing milk in Melbourne, Australia.That would be don’t try stealing a tanker truck with 6,000 gallons of milk, especially if the truck has a tracking device that tips off the owners that the milk is on the move when it shouldn‘t be.Even with tires of the truck blown out by stop sticks, the thieves kept driving, The Age reported.After a 2-hour drive, police corralled the truck, but then had to break the windows, because the thieves would not get out.Don
Mass. man gets ‘wrong’ lottery ticket, wins $1M

Aug 20, 2012

When a store clerk gave a Massachusetts man a different kind of scratch-off lottery ticket than he asked for, he didn‘t make a big deal about the mistake; he said he just “rolled with it.”It was a good decision: He won $1 million.Richard Brown of Taunton said he went into Gulf Taunton recently and asked for a $5 “Blue Ice 7s” ticket, but the clerk was distracted and instead gave him a “Sizzlin 7s” ticket.Brown selected the cash option on the prize and received a one-time lump sum payment of abou
China court gives Gu Kailai commuted death sentence: lawyer

Aug 20, 2012

This file image of a frame grab taken from CCTV video on August 9, 2012 shows Gu Kailai (C), the wife of disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai, facing the court during her murder trial in Hefei. (AFP-Yonhap News)The wife of a disgraced Chinese politician was given a suspended death sentence Monday after confessing to killing a British businessman by poisoning him with cyanide in a case that rocked
S. American nations back Ecuador on Assange

Aug 20, 2012

South American nations on Sunday backed Ecuador's decision to grant asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, urging dialogue to end the crisis pitting Quito against London.Foreign ministers of the Union of South American Nations, meeting in Ecuador's biggest city Guayaquil, expressed "solidarity" with Quito and urged the parties "to pursue dialogue in search of a mutually acceptable solution,"
Assange urges U.S. to end Wikileaks 'witch hunt'

Aug 20, 2012

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange portrayed himself Sunday as a victim of an American “witch hunt” over his secret-spilling website in a defiant address from the balcony of an embassy where he has holed up to avoid extradition to face sex assault allegations. Surrounded by British police who want to detain him, Assange made no mention of the sex assault case in Sweden or how long he would remain in
South Africa seeks answers after mine killings

Aug 19, 2012

MARIKANA, South Africa (AFP) ― Families of workers missing from a mine where 34 people were shot dead in the worst police violence since apartheid on Saturday struggled to discover the fate of their loved ones as the nation sought answers.Armored cars and police trucks patrolled the area around London-listed Lonmin’s Marikana platinum mine while a helicopter circled above the spot where officers on Thursday opened fire on hundreds of workers on a wildcat strike.More than 1,000 miners gathered ne
Militants attack Yemen intelligence HQ, killing 20

Aug 19, 2012

SANAA (AP) ― The death toll of an al-Qaida suspected attack on a Yemeni intelligence headquarters rose to 20 on Saturday, in the worst such attack in a year that highlights the challenges faced by the country’s new leadership as it struggles to bring security and reconcile a military with split loyalties. The attack, in the heart of the port city of Aden, underscored al-Qaida’s ability to launch deadly strikes despite a two-month Yemeni military offensive backed by the U.S. that earlier this yea
U.K., Ecuador seek solution on Assange

Aug 19, 2012

LONDON (AP) ― Britain is seeking an amicable solution with Ecuador to their diplomatic standoff over WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, a U.K. official insisted Saturday, as the secret-spiller prepared to make his first public statement since the Latin American nation confirmed it would offer him asylum.Assange, who took shelter in the Ecuadorian Embassy on June 19 after he exhausted all routes of appeal in the U.K. to avoid extradition to Sweden for questioning over sexual misconduct allegations