The Korea Herald

Amanda Knox mulls return to Italy as book launched

May 1, 2013

LOS ANGELES (AFP) ― Amanda Knox may return to Italy to be re-tried for murder, she said Tuesday as she launched a memoir about her case, including frank details about sex, drugs and her harrowing time behind bars.In interviews to promote the book, which recounts how she considered suicide in jail, she said she hoped her slain former roommate Meredith Kercher’s family would read it, although she has not had any contact with them.“It matters to me what Meredith’s family thinks ... I really hope th
Former Havana-based AP correspondent Wheeler dies

May 1, 2013

COLUMBIA, Missouri (AP) ― John Fenton Wheeler, an Associated Press foreign correspondent who was the last U.S. reporter expelled from Cold War-era Cuba, has died. He was 88.Wheeler died on April 21, according to an obituary from Parker Funeral Service in Columbia, Missouri.Wheeler’s 21-year AP career began in 1964 in Columbus, Ohio. He then transferred to the foreign desk in New York before being sent to Havana in 1967. Wheeler was kicked out of the country in 1969 for coverage deemed unfavorabl
Public gets glimpse of Jackson’s private life in AEG Live trial

May 1, 2013

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Jurors in the civil case between Michael Jackson’s mother and concert giant AEG Live got another glimpse of the singer’s private life on Tuesday through the eyes of a paramedic who described the singer’s bedroom and the frantic efforts to revive the King of Pop on the day he died.Many other private moments from the singer’s life will be exposed as the case progresses over the next several months, with witnesses expected to testify about secret medical treatments, lavish spendi
Ponytail stuntman dies while stuck on a zip-line in India

May 1, 2013

KOLKATA, India (AFP) ― A daredevil Indian who held the Guinness World Record for the distance travelled on a zip-line while hanging by his hair has died while performing a new stunt, officials said Monday.Sailendra Nath Roy, a 49-year-old police driver, was attempting to cross the turbulent River Teesta on Sunday in the state of West Bengal on a 180-meter wire above the water.After attaching his shoulder-length hair to a pulley on the zip-line, Roy had completed about half of the distance when h
Tests link ricin poison to Obama letter suspect

May 1, 2013

Ricin was found in the former martial arts studio of the man suspected of sending poison letters to President Barack Obama and other officials, and it was discovered on a dust mask and other items he threw in the trash, federal prosecutors said in a court document made public Tuesday.The affidavit says an FBI surveillance team saw James Everett Dutschke remove several items from the studio in Mississippi on April 22 and dump them in a trash bin down the street. The items included a dust mask tha
Hezbollah warns of possible Syria intervention

May 1, 2013

The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group said Tuesday that Syrian rebels will not be able to defeat President Bashar Assad's regime militarily, warning that Syria's “real friends,” including his Iranian-backed militant group, were ready to intervene on the government's side.In Damascus, a powerful bomb ripped through a bustling commercial district, killing at least 14 people and bringing Syria's civil war to the heart of the capital for the second consecutive day.Hezbollah, a powerful Sh
Obama wants more certainty on Syrian chemical arms

May 1, 2013

President Barack Obama said he wants more information about chemical weapons use in the Syrian civil war before he decides on escalating U.S. military or diplomatic responses, despite earlier assertions that use of such weapons would be a “game-changer.” With the U.S. disengaging from the unpopular war in Afghanistan and still smarting from the difficult conflict in Iraq, Obama has been reluctant to unleash American military power in the Syrian fighting, a civil war that has killed tens of thous
Russia, Japan vow new push to end island dispute

Apr 30, 2013

MOSCOW (AFP) ― Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged Monday to renew efforts to find a solution to a decades-long territorial row that has prevented the two sides from signing a World War II peace treaty.After two hours of talks in the Kremlin, they agreed to order their foreign ministers to reopen talks on finding options for a solution that could be presented to the leaders.Abe, making the first high-level official visit by a Japanese prime minister to
Iraq’s instability tested further with wave of car bomb blasts

Apr 30, 2013

BAGHDAD (AP) ― A wave of car bomb blasts tore through Shiite areas south of Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 36 and deepening fears that Iraq is rapidly spiraling back out of control. The attacks capped a week of turmoil that is posing the greatest test of Iraq’s stability since U.S. troops left the country in late 2011. At least 218 people have been killed in attacks and battles between gunmen and security forces that began with clashes at a Sunni protest camp in northern Iraq last Tuesday.
Bangladesh questions building’s owner

Apr 30, 2013

SAVAR, Bangladesh (AP) ―A Bangladesh court on Monday gave police 15 days to interrogate the owner of a building that collapsed last week, killing at least 382 people, as rescuers used heavy machinery to cut through the destroyed structure after giving up hopes of finding any more survivors. Mohammed Sohel Rana, who was arrested Sunday as he tried to flee to India, will be held for questioning on charges of negligence, illegal construction and forcing workers to join work. His father, Abdul Khale
Dutch queen abdicates, son becomes new king

Apr 30, 2013

THE HAGUE (AFP) ― Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander becomes Europe’s youngest monarch on Tuesday when his mother, Queen Beatrix, abdicates and his country hails the avowedly 21st-century king with a massive, orange-hued party.Willem-Alexander, 46, will be the first Dutch king since 1890 and the first of a new wave of European monarchs, with the average age of the current cohort at 71.Amsterdam’s population is set to double with at least 800,000 visitors flooding the city’s streets and canals a
Obama tells Putin concerned by Syria’s chemical weapons

Apr 30, 2013

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― President Barack Obama stepped up pressure on Russia over Syria on Monday, telling President Vladimir Putin of his concern about the reported use of chemical weapons by the Damascus regime.Obama also thanked Putin in the telephone call for his help after the Boston marathon bombings, and expressed condolences over a fire that killed 36 patients in a Russian psychiatric facility on Friday, the White House said.The call came with Obama facing increasing political heat himself, a
Boston suspect’s defense team gets boost

Apr 30, 2013

BOSTON (AP) ― The defense team representing the Boston Marathon bombing suspect got a major boost Monday with the addition of a prominent anti-death penalty lawyer who has managed to get life sentences for several high-profile clients, including the Unabomber and the gunman in the rampage that injured a former Arizona congresswoman. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been charged with using a weapon of mass destruction during the April 15 marathon. Three people were killed and more than 260 injured when two
Cancer victim faces China land battle

Apr 30, 2013

CHANGZHOU, China (AFP) ― His frail body is ravaged by cancer and age, his wife and son are in a Chinese prison and Yao Baohua is awaiting trial himself, but he is still determined to fight for his house and land.The Yao home is the last one standing in the rubble of a vast development site in Changzhou, a Chinese “nail house”, the moniker earned for both their physical appearance and their owners’ stubborn resistance.The former mathematics teacher is one of the few to make a stand against the de
Mandela in ‘good shape’

Apr 30, 2013

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) ― South Africa’s former president Nelson Mandela is in “good shape” after his recent hospitalization, the ruling ANC said Monday, after President Jacob Zuma visited the democracy icon.“They found President Mandela in good shape and in good spirits,” the party said in a statement.Zuma and the top brass of the African National Congress dropped in on the ailing 94-year-old at his Johannesburg home, where he has been recuperating under high-care since his hospital release earlier