The Korea Herald

Syrian troops massacre more than 150: monitors

Jul 13, 2012

BEIRUT (AFP) ― Syrian government troops using tanks and helicopters Thursday massacred more than 150 people in the central province of Hama, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, while a rebel leader put the toll at more than 200.Government troops bombarded the village of Treimsa using tanks and helicopters, according to the Observatory, which earlier put the death toll at more than 100.Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP by telephone that the bodies of 30 villagers had already
Girl allegedly wore shock collar for dogs

Jul 13, 2012

Police say a Georgia couple whose adopted daughter wore a dog shock collar around her neck has been arrested on child abuse and false imprisonment charges.Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents said the 15-year-old girl had told authorities the shock collar had been used on her several times, WTVM-TV, Columbus, Ga., reported.The station said a remote key fob was used to shock the girl.WTVM said t
Tonga celebrates royal wedding

Jul 13, 2012

Bride Sinaitakala Tu'imatamoana 'i Fanakavakilangi Fakafanua (center), escorted by her brother Tongan noble Lord Fakafanua (center right), enters the Centenary Church in Nuku'alofa to wed Tonga's Crown Prince Tupouto'a 'Ulukalala on Thursday. (AFP-Yonhap News)Tonga's crown prince married his cousin at a ceremony Thursday attended by 2,500 people in the Pacific island nation's capital Nuku'alofa.Cr
More than 100 dead, 50 injured in Nigeria oil tanker blaze

Jul 12, 2012

LAGOS (AFP) -- More than 100 people who went to scoop up oil from an overturned oil tanker were burned to death on Thursday after the vehicle caught fire, the information commissioner in Nigeria's southern Rivers state said."More than 100 people were killed in the inferno from the petrol tanker, while around 50 with severe burns have been hospitalized," Ibim Semenitari told AFP.
‘Settle China sea disputes without coercion’

Jul 12, 2012

PHNOM PENH (AFP) ― U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged countries around the South China Sea to settle their territorial disputes “without coercion” as she prepared to meet her Chinese counterpart.Clinton is to sit down with Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi at an Asian security summit in Cambodia, with the top U.S. diplomat keen to avoid souring ties amid a fraught background of rows between Beijing and its neighbors.The U.S. has made a military and economic “pivot” towards Asia in a strate
Liberals sweep party seats in east Libya: partial tally

Jul 12, 2012

TRIPOLI (AFP) ― Libya’s Islamists suffered a major defeat on their eastern hometurf with preliminary results Wednesday giving a net advantage to a liberal coalition contesting party seats.In the eastern city of Benghazi ― cradle of the revolt that toppled Moammer Gadhafi last year ― the liberal National Forces Alliance took 95,733 votes against 16,143 for the Islamist Justice and Construction Party.Libyans on Saturday cast their votes for a General National Congress, a legislative assembly of 20
Pressure on Assad as West plans Syria sanctions

Jul 12, 2012

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) ― Pressure mounted on Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday as Western powers sought a U.N. resolution that would give him 10 days to silence his heavy guns or face tough sanctions.At the United Nations, Britain, France, Germany and the United States submitted a draft text that would impose tough measures on Damascus if Assad fails to implement U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan’s plan.If Security Council members, including a reluctant Russia, approve it, the resoluti
Syrian envoy to Iraq defects: diplomat

Jul 12, 2012

BAGHDAD (AFP) ― Syria’s ambassador to Iraq Nawaf Fares has defected from the regime of embattled President Bashar al-Assad, an Arab diplomat in Baghdad told AFP Wednesday.“He submitted a letter to the Iraqi MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs),” the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.“They (Iraqi officials) will have a meeting tomorrow (Thursday). They are going to discuss sending him to another country.”The United States said it could not conf
Suicide attack on Yemen police cadets kills 10

Jul 12, 2012

SANAA (AP) ― A suspected al-Qaida suicide bomber detonated his explosives among a crowd of Yemeni police cadets as they were leaving their academy Wednesday, killing at least 10 of them, according to security officials. The Interior Ministry said al-Qaida was behind the bombing, which struck in the capital Sanaa. Security officials said 20 cadets were wounded, including three critically. They were leaving the Police Academy for a weekend with families when the bomber hit at the facility’s southe
U.S. House votes to repeal health law, likely to fail in Senate

Jul 12, 2012

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― U.S. lawmakers voted Wednesday to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care law, a contentious election-year move by Republicans aimed at striking down one of Obama’s key achievements.The bill, which passed in a 244-185 vote, came as outraged Democrats accused Republicans of seeking to score political points.But the legislation has virtually no chance of passing the Democratic-held Senate, and the White House has issued a veto threat should the legislation reach the presiden
Settle China sea disputes 'without coercion': Clinton

Jul 12, 2012

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged countries around the South China Sea to settle their territorial disputes "without coercion" as she prepared to meet her Chinese counterpart.Clinton is to sit down with Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi at an Asian security summit in Cambodia, with the top U.S. diplomat keen to avoid souring ties amid a fraught background of rows between Beijing and its nei
Neb. man jailed for bomb threat on job application

Jul 12, 2012

A central Nebraska man landed in jail for writing a bomb threat on the back of a restaurant job application.The Kearney Hub reports that the Legacy 272 Lounge employee who reviewed 38-year-old Jason Dornhoff's application last Thursday called police when he read the threat that closed with: "If you be quiet and help me, you won't die."Police arrested Dornhoff, of Heartwell, Neb., at gunpoint and s
New app to save you from unwanted date or meeting

Jul 12, 2012

American dating website eHarmony released a free iPhone app called “Bad Date Rescue,” which helps people who want to escape from an unwanted situation.“There are all sorts of reasons for why people would want to get out of a date,” said Arvind Mishra, the director of product management at eHarmony. “We can all sympathize because we have all been on bad dates in our lifetime.”In the app, users can choose a personal contact to call them during a date or a situation. To seem real, pre-recorded mess
Chinese couple paid for forced abortion

Jul 12, 2012

A Chinese couple forced to abort their child at seven months in early June was paid an $11,200 settlement by the local government Wednesday.Deng Jiyuan said the government agreed to pay $11,200 after already firing two officials, sanctioning five officials and issuing a former apology for forcing Deng‘s wife, Feng Jianmei, to have an abortion when she was seven months pregnant, The New York Times
Police arrest drunken nude walkers

Jul 12, 2012

Police in South Carolina said they arrested a pair of drunken men who were spotted walking around a city's downtown "completely in the nude."Charleston police said an officer spotted Christoph Robin Egan, 19, and Andrew Stephen Dunford, 21, both of Montclair, N.J., walking "completely in the nude" around 2 a.m. Monday on Logan Street, the Post and Courier, Charleston, reported Wednesday.The office