The Korea Herald

Hu arrives in Denmark for landmark visit

Jun 15, 2012

COPENHAGEN (AFP) ― China’s President Hu Jintao arrived in Copenhagen on Thursday accompanied by a large trade and business delegation, the first-ever visit by a Chinese head of state to Denmark.Hu was met at Copenhagen airport by Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II and her husband Prince Henrik, as well as other members of the royal family, television footage showed.The Chinese leader made no remarks on his arrival.China froze relations with Denmark in 2009, after two successive prime ministers welcome
Suu Kyi seeks investment on European tour

Jun 15, 2012

BERN(AFP) ― Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi made a call for international investment on the first day of a landmark European tour Thursday, but cut short her engagements in the Swiss capital due to exhaustion.The opposition leader, on her first visit to Europe in 24 years, apologized after vomiting during a press conference in Bern, saying she was “totally exhausted” from travelling.“I am not used to the time difference,” she told reporters after holding talks with Swiss Foreign Minister
Mother devoting herself for saving her daughter

Jun 15, 2012

Sharmila Collins, 43, has cradled her eldest daughter only once since her birth.Collins’ nine-year-old daughter, Sohana, suffers from a rare skin disease called Recessive Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa, or RDEB.“I can’t do anything to protect her; it’s heartbreaking,” Collins said.At the slightest touch, her daughter’s skin can break out into third-degree burns with blisters, peeling and red wounds. In addition, RDEB can also lead to maliginant skin cancer. Nine-year-old Sohana cannot have a n
First Canadian judge ever guilty of murder

Jun 15, 2012

A jury of 12 in Quebec City Thursday found a 77-year-old retired Quebec provincial judge guilty of the first-degree murder of his wife.The verdict against Jacques Delisle, 77, came after three days of deliberations about the shooting death of 71-year-old Marie-Nicole Rainville in November 2009, The (Montreal) Gazette reported.The murder conviction is thought to be the first ever for a Canadian ju
Falling ice puts hole in roof

Jun 15, 2012

A Washington state man said he does not know the origins of the giant ice chunk that crashed though his roof and into his home.Sam Edmon of Edgewood said he was in bed at 11 p.m. June 4 when he heard a noise that sounded like an explosion, The Seattle Post Intelligencer reported Thursday.Edmon said he investigated the next morning and found a hole in his roof surrounded by chunks of ice.The homeow
Cardinal Cheong to hold farewell Mass on Friday

Jun 14, 2012

Cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk, who is retiring from his post as head of the Seoul Archdiocese, will hold a Mass Friday at the Myeongdong Cathedral to express his gratitude to Korean Catholics for their support over the years.“It would have been impossible without your prayers and love to work as the archbishop of Seoul for the last 14 years. I would like to express my gratitude,” said Cheong, 81, in a hand-written letter released last week. The retiring archbishop will move to the Catholic Un
U.S. drone ‘kills three militants’ in Pakistan

Jun 14, 2012

A U.S. drone attack killed at least three militants early Thursday in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal region, known as a hotbed of Taliban and al-Qaida militants, security officials said.The drone fired two missiles on a building in the central market of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan near the Afghan border, Pakistani officials said.“A U.S. drone fired two missiles on the first floor of a shop in the main market and at least three militants were killed,” a senior official told AFP.T
Indian navy ships on first China visit in 6 years

Jun 14, 2012

BEIJING (AP) ― Ships from the Indian navy are visiting China for the first time in six years as the nations seek to build trust on the high seas.Four ships led by the guided missile destroyer Rana and carrying 1,400 sailors pulled up at Shanghai’s cruise ship dock on Wednesday. Their five-day goodwill visit will include ship tours, band concerts and other friendly exchanges with Chinese naval forces.Both countries are spending heavily on their militaries, especially their navies, as they seek gr
U.S., India see progress with nuclear power deal

Jun 14, 2012

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The United States and India sought Wednesday to dispel doubts over their relationship as a U.S. company signed a deal on nuclear power, long a source of disappointment between the countries.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who once called U.S. affection for India an “affair of the heart,” said that the world’s two largest democracies had entered a “new and more mature phase” in their partnership.“With respect to affairs of the heart, they usually have ups and downs, but tha
Syria violence kills 11, two car bombs reported: NGO

Jun 14, 2012

BEIRUT (AFP) -- Nine civilians and two rebels were killed early Thursday in violence across Syria, while car bombs exploded in the northwest city of Idlib and the capital Damascus, monitors reported. The car bomb in Idlib city targeted a military checkpoint, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that a number of soldiers were killed or wounded in the blast. No further details were immediately available.In Damascus, a car bomb exploded early morning in a suburb that houses a popula
Cameron set for tough day at press inquiry

Jun 14, 2012

LONDON (AFP) ― Prime Minister David Cameron faces an uncomfortable appearance before Britain’s press-ethics inquiry on Thursday, with the spotlight set be shone on his links to Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.Cameron’s testimony is scheduled to take up a full six-and-a-half-hour day of the televised inquiry at London’s Royal Courts of Justice, and is likely to focus on his relationships with former Murdoch high-fliers Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson.Brooks, a friend of the Camerons and former edit
U.N. environment summit opens, but prospects grim

Jun 14, 2012

RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) ― Twenty years after the first Earth Summit, a renewed bid to rally the world behind a common environmental blueprint opened Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro against a backdrop of discord and economic gloom.Kicking off the so-called Rio+20 summit, Dilma Rousseff, president of host nation Brazil, called on “all countries of the world to commit” to reaching an accord that addresses the most pressing environmental and social woes.The U.N. conference, which marks the 20th anniversary
Australia to create world’s largest set of marine parks

Jun 14, 2012

SYDNEY (AFP) ― Australia on Thursday announced plans to create the world’s largest network of marine parks to protect ocean life, with limits placed on fishing and oil and gas exploration off the coast.The new reserves would cover 3.1 million square kilometers, or more than one-third of Australian waters, taking in significant breeding and feeding grounds.The announcement, after years of planning and consultation, came ahead of the Rio+20 summit on sustainable development next week in Brazil, wh
Birthday party turns into riot

Jun 14, 2012

At least five patrol cars backed by taser cops were sent to suppress 40 teenagers who went on a rampage at a birthday party in Essex, England, on Friday.Those who were in the riot torched a balcony, beat the neighbors’ doors and threatened to kill each other.Sue Sutheran, who was at the party with her daughter, said it started when she found that her purse was stolen and confronted them. “I told them no one was leaving until everyone’s been searched. That’s when they started kicking off,” she sa
U.S. town Oks $20 fines for swearing in public

Jun 14, 2012

Residents in a town outside Boston voted Monday night to make the foul-mouthed pay fines for swearing in public.At a town meeting, residents voted 183-50 to approve a proposal from the police chief to impose a $20 fine on public profanity.Officials insist the proposal was not intended to censor casual or private conversations, but instead to crack down on loud, profanity-laden language used by tee