The Korea Herald

French police kill ‘al-Qaida’ militant

TOULOUSE (AFP) ― Armed police stormed a house and killed a gunman whose murders of Jewish schoolchildren and soldiers traumatized France and briefly halted the presidential election campaign.Officers from an elite unit moved in after a 32-hour siege, killing the self-proclaimed al-Qaida militant as he tried to shoot his way out of his apartment in the southwestern city of Toulouse.An al-Qaida linked group, Jund al-Khilafah, claimed responsibility on jihadist websites for the killings by a man wh

March 23, 2012

U.S. warns of 'strong response' if N. Korea launches rocket

North Korea will face a "strong response" if it goes ahead with a plan to launch a long-range rocket next month, a special adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama said Friday, calling the North's planned liftoff a "big mistake." "If they go ahead anyway, we will want to work with our allies and partn

March 23, 2012

U.S. intel: water a cause for war in coming decades

Drought, floods and a lack of fresh water may cause significant global instability and conflict in the coming decades, as developing countries scramble to meet demand from exploding populations while dealing with the effects of climate change, U.S. intelligence agencies said in a report Thursday.An

March 23, 2012

Pakistan PM 'will meet Obama' at Seoul summit

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani expects to meet US President Barack Obama during a nuclear security summit in South Korea next week, a Pakistani official said Friday.US officials were not immediately reachable to confirm the meeting, which would be the most senior face-to-face meeting between Paki

March 23, 2012

Japan prepares defences against N. Korean rocket

Japan on Friday readied its missile defence systems to shoot down a North Korean rocket if it threatens the country, as the UN chief warned that next month's launch could jeopardise food aid.The nuclear-armed North has announced it will launch a rocket in mid-April to put a satellite into orbit, a m

March 23, 2012

Soldiers loot Mali presidential palace

BAMAKO (AP) ―Drunk soldiers looted Mali’s presidential palace hours after they declared a coup on Thursday, suspending the constitution and dissolving the institutions of one of the few established democracies in this troubled corner of Africa.The whereabouts of the country’s 63-year-old president Amadou Toumani Toure, who was just one month away from stepping down after a decade in office, could not be confirmed.The soldier heading the group of putschists said on state television late Thursday

March 23, 2012

U.N. rights council orders first probe of Israeli settlements

The U.N. Human Rights Council on Thursday passed a resolution ordering a first probe into how Israeli settlements may be infringing on the rights of the Palestinians.The resolution was adopted by the 47-member council with 36 votes in favor and 10 abstentions. Only the United States voted against it.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu branded the resolution “hypocritical” and charged that the council “has an automatic majority hostile to Israel”, saying the body “should be ashamed of itsel

March 23, 2012

US soldier to be charged with 17 Afghan murders

Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales will be charged with 17 counts of murder, assault and a string of other offenses in the massacre of Afghan villagers as they slept, a U.S. official said.The charges against Bales include 17 counts of murder, six counts of attempted murder and six counts of aggravated ass

March 23, 2012

French police kill 'al-Qaida' militant as battle ends siege

Police used massive firepower Thursday to end the 32-hour siege of a killer whose murders of Jewish schoolchildren and soldiers traumatized France and briefly halted the presidential election campaign.French polices officers arrive near a building where the chief suspect in an al-Qaida-linked killin

March 22, 2012

French police kill 'al-Qaida' militant as battle ends siege

Senegal braces for cliffhanger presidential poll

DAKAR (AFP) ― Senegal votes Sunday in a cliffhanger poll to determine whether 85-year-old President Abdoulaye Wade secures a contentious third term in a bid that has rattled the stability of the west African state. Having failed to deliver a crushing first-round victory a month ago, Wade faces a stiff challenge from his former prime minister Macky Sall, who has gathered the full weight of the opposition behind his presidential bid.While laden with suspense, this latest pre-election period was ca

March 22, 2012

Senegal braces for cliffhanger presidential poll

Toulouse attacks push terror to heart of election

PARIS (AFP) ― The self-declared al-Qaida fighter holed up in a besieged flat in southern France on Wednesday has forced the issue of Islamist terror to the heart of the French presidential race.Analysts say the drama around the suspected killer of seven people will likely give a boost to far-right candidate Marine Le Pen of the National Front, known for her fierce anti-immigration and anti-Islamist rhetoric.As President Nicolas Sarkozy called for national unity, some of the candidates seeking to

March 22, 2012

Toulouse attacks push terror to heart of election

US says 5 nations clear out weapons-grade uranium

The U.S. has helped five nations completely clear out their stocks of highly enriched uranium since President Barack Obama outlined his plans for securing all weapons-usable materials worldwide, officials say, citing it as progress in the administration's efforts to prevent nuclear weapons from gett

March 22, 2012

Groom gets 6 years for wedding fire

A bridegroom who set fire to the historic English castle where his wedding reception was being held was sentenced Wednesday to six years in prison.Max Henry Kay, 37, of Liverpool, pleaded guilty to arson in Chester Crown Court. He showed little emotion when the sentence was handed down, the Chester

March 22, 2012

Australia's most wanted fugitive captured

Australia's most wanted fugitive -- a survival expert and suspected murderer who outwitted police for seven years by living in rugged forest -- was finally captured in a remote cabin on Thursday.Malcolm Naden, whose ability to evade police evoked comparisons to famous 19th century Australian outlaw

March 22, 2012

Soldiers overthrow government in Mali

Soldiers stormed state television and announced early Thursday that they had seized control of the country, dissolving all of its institutions due to the nation's mishandling of an insurgency in the north.On national television, a group of about 20 soldiers were shown in fatigues crowding around a d

March 22, 2012

Australian mountaineer Hall dies at 56

SYDNEY (AFP) ― Pioneering Australian climber Lincoln Hall, who miraculously survived after being given up for dead on Mount Everest in 2006, has died from mesothelioma aged 56.Hall, who was a member of the 1984 first Australian Everest expedition, died peacefully in a Sydney hospital on Tuesday, chairman of the Australian Himalayan Foundation Simon Baulderstone told reporters.As well as being a founding director of the Australian Himalayan Foundation, Hall was the author of several books, includ

March 21, 2012

Iran: Any attacks bring ‘same level’ reply

TEHRAN (AP) ― Tehran will retaliate against any attack by Israeli or American forces “on the same level,” Iran’s top leader said Tuesday in a defiant address just moments after U.S. President Barack Obama appealed directly to the Iranian people with a message of solidarity.The contrasting approaches highlighted the broad range of political posturing and tactics as the standoff deepens over Tehran’s nuclear program.Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, speaking on state TV to mark the Ira

March 21, 2012

Iran: Any attacks bring ‘same level’ reply

Strong earthquake shakes Mexico

MEXICO CITY (AP) ― A strong 7.4-magnitude earthquake hit southern Mexico on Tuesday, damaging some 800 homes near the epicenter and swaying tall buildings and spreading fear and panic hundreds of miles away in the capital of Mexico City.One of the strongest to shake Mexico since the deadly 1985 temblor that killed thousands in Mexico City, Tuesday’s earthquake hit hardest in border area of southern Oaxaca and Guerrero states. In Guerrero, officials confirmed that some 800 homes had been damaged,

March 21, 2012

Romney wins Illinois presidential primary

Republican front-runner pads his delegate count with key state victorySCHAUMBURG, Illinois (AP) ― Mitt Romney easily won the Republican presidential primary in Illinois on Tuesday night, padding his already-formidable lead over chief rival Rick Santorum with another victory in a key industrial state.Romney, a multimillionaire who has the backing of most of the Republican establishment but struggles with the party’s more conservative wing, is leading the overall race for delegates to choose a can

March 21, 2012

Romney wins Illinois presidential primary

101-year-old woman sets world paragliding record

A 101-year-old U.S. woman who ushered in her birthday with a tandem paraglide ride last year is soaring into the record books Tuesday.Great-great grandmother Mary Hardison has been officially recognized as the ``Oldest Female to Paraglide Tandem'' by Guinness World Records. She supplanted a 100-year

March 21, 2012