The Korea Herald

Erdogan says Turks can avoid army service for 30,000 liras

Nov. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his government plans to allow men over 30 to pay 30,000 liras ($16,325) to win exemption from compulsory service in the military, the second-largest force in NATO.The change has been on the ruling party's agenda for nine years a

Nov. 23, 2011

Belgium’s mediator quits amid stalemate

BRUSSELS (AFP) ― The man tasked with ending Belgium’s record political crisis, by finally putting a government together, threw in the towel Monday after talks collapsed over budget cuts to counter the eurozone debt crisis.As Belgium hit 526 days without a government, Socialist leader Elio Di Rupo offered his resignation to King Albert II, who delayed any decision and exhorted politicians to find a rapid solution for the sake of the kingdom.The king “recalls the gravity of the current situation a

Nov. 22, 2011

AIDS epidemic stabilizing, but still work to do: U.N.

LONDON (AP) ― The AIDS epidemic is leveling off and the number of people newly infected with the virus that causes it has remained unchanged since 2007, the United Nations said in a report Monday.Critics say that the body’s aim of wiping out the disease is overly optimistic, however, considering there is no vaccine, millions remain untreated and donations have slumped amid the economic crisis.There were 2.7 million new HIV infections last year, approximately the same figure as in the three previ

Nov. 22, 2011

AIDS epidemic stabilizing, but still work to do: U.N.

Europe’s leftists shown the exit amid crisis

As financial crisis wears on, doubts on socialists’ ability to handle economy growsMADRID (AP) ― Throw a dart at a map of Europe now and it takes expert aim to hit a country run by a left-of-center government, especially after Spain’s Socialists were emphatically drubbed out of power over the weekend.Although the shift to the right began years ago in such heavyweights as France and Germany, it is now all but complete three years into the continent’s grinding debt and economic crisis. Why? When t

Nov. 22, 2011

Europe’s leftists shown the exit amid crisis

Rape, murder of teen shocks France

France is reeling after a 17-year-old boy raped and murdered a girl at a chic boarding school while conditionally freed on charges of rape a year ago."It's absurd. It could have been avoided with a little less negligence," the dead 13-year-old's mother, Paola Marin, told Europe 1 radio as a nation s

Nov. 22, 2011

Ai Weiwei and editor of China paper in online spat

BEIJING, Nov 22, 2011 (AFP) - Ai Weiwei fans have again rallied behind the outspoken Chinese artist after he revealed he is being investigated on pornography charges -- by posting naked pictures of themselves online.Supporters of Ai -- who disappeared into custody for 81 days earlier this year -- ra

Nov. 22, 2011

Peru finds 14th century mass grave of children

LIMA, Nov 20, 2011 (AFP) - A Peruvian archeologist on Sunday announced the discovery of the remains of 44 infants and young children sacrificed to appease ancient deities in the 14th century at a site in the high Andes near the border with Bolivia.The remains were found near a stone funeral tower --

Nov. 22, 2011

Peru finds 14th century mass grave of children

Report: Pfizer to settle bribery probe

Pfizer Inc. will pay at least $60 million to settle allegations by the U.S. government that the drugmaker paid bribes to win overseas business, according to The Wall Street Journal.The paper, citing “people familiar with the matter,” said in an article published to its website Sunday that settlements are expected to be made public by the end of the year.In April, health care giant Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay $70 million to settle civil and criminal charges of bribing doctors in Europe and pa

Nov. 21, 2011

Marines recall Yeonpyeong shelling with new perspective

YEONPYEONG ISLAND (Yonhap News) ― To this day, Marine captain Kim Jeong-soo still remembers the sound.“It was as if dinosaurs were stomping on the ground,” Kim said, recalling the fateful day almost a year ago. “The moment was straight out of the film ‘Jurassic Park.’”But when bombs shook this tiny island in the Yellow Sea, it wasn’t part of any Steven Spielberg movie. Right before their eyes, the soldiers and residents were witnessing the first direct attack on South Korea by the North in almos

Nov. 21, 2011

Marines recall Yeonpyeong shelling with new perspective

Libyans will try Gadhafi son; former spy chief caught

ZINTAN, Libya (AP) ― Libya’s new leaders said Sunday they will try Moammar Gadhafi’s son at home and not hand him over to the International Criminal Court where he’s charged with crimes against humanity. The government also announced the capture of the toppled regime’s intelligence minister, who is also wanted by the court.In one of several emerging complications, however, the former rebel faction that captured Seif al-Islam Gadhafi a day earlier is refusing to deliver him to national authoritie

Nov. 21, 2011

Israel: Time has come to act on Iran

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The “time has come” to deal with Iran, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Sunday, refusing to rule out military action to curb the Islamic republic’s nuclear ambitions.Barak, speaking on CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS program, indicated that Israel’s patience was wearing thin ― and provided an ominous response when asked about the growing speculation of an Israeli military strike.“I don’t think that that is a subject for public discussion,” he said. “But I can tell you that th

Nov. 21, 2011

End of era? Putin greeted with catcalls at a match

MOSCOW (AP) ― Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was greeted by catcalls when he stepped into the ring after a mixed martial arts fight at a Moscow arena on Sunday night.The whistles and shouts, heard clearly on the live television broadcast, were an unprecedented rebuke as Putin prepares to return to the presidency next year. A judo enthusiast, Putin has long been an admirer of Russian heavyweight mixed martial artist Fedor Emelianenko and came to see him take on American Jeff Monson.After E

Nov. 21, 2011

Police officers in pepper spray incident placed on leave

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ― A California university placed two of its police officers on administrative leave Sunday because of their involvement in the pepper spraying of passively sitting protesters, while the school’s chancellor accelerated a task force’s investigation into the incident amid calls for her resignation.The president of the 10-campus University of California system also weighed in on the growing fallout from Friday’s incident at UC Davis, saying that he is “appalled” at images of stude

Nov. 21, 2011

Al-Qaida sympathizer arrested in New York

NEW YORK (AP) ― An “al-Qaida sympathizer” accused of plotting to bomb police and post offices in New York City as well as U.S. troops returning home has been arrested on numerous terrorism-related charges.Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced at a news conference Sunday the arrest of Jose Pimentel of Manhattan, “a 27-year-old al-Qaida sympathizer” who the mayor said was motivated by terrorist propaganda and resentment of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said poli

Nov. 21, 2011

Spanish center-right party cruises to power

With unemployment skyrocketing, Spaniards oust ruling socialistsMADRID (AP) ― Spain’s center-right conservatives swept convincingly into power and into an economic hot seat Sunday as voters enduring 21.5 percent unemployment dumped the ruling Socialist government ― the third time in as many weeks that Europe’s debt crisis has toppled an administration.The vote in the country with the eurozone’s highest jobless rate and a center-stage spot in Europe’s debt crisis saga came as the continent’s trou

Nov. 21, 2011

Spanish center-right party cruises to power

Myanmar's Suu Kyi to run in parliamentary polls

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) _ Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi intends to run for parliament in upcoming by-elections.The decision announced Monday was expected after her party decided last week to rejoin mainstream politics in long-isolated Myanmar.Nyan Win, the spokesman of Suu Kyi's National League

Nov. 21, 2011

Myanmar's Suu Kyi to run in parliamentary polls

Moscow martial arts fans greet Putin with catcalls

MOSCOW (AP) _ Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was greeted by catcalls when he stepped into the ring after a mixed martial arts fight at a Moscow arena on Sunday night.The whistles and shouts, heard clearly on the live television broadcast, were an unprecedented rebuke as Putin prepares to retu

Nov. 21, 2011

Moscow martial arts fans greet Putin with catcalls

Suspect in NYC bomb plots arrested

NEW YORK (AP) -- An ``al-Qaida sympathizer'' who plotted to bomb police and post offices in New York City as well as U.S. troops returning home has been arrested on numerous terrorism-related charges, city officials said Sunday.Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced at a news conference the Saturday arre

Nov. 21, 2011

U.S. overtures may lure Myanmar away from China

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The first visit to Myanmar in a half-century by the top U.S. diplomat opens a door for that nation’s military-dominated government to reduce its international isolation and dependence on a staunch but mistrusted ally: China.Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will travel to Myanmar, also known as Burma, on Dec. 1-2, to meet with government and opposition leaders. It is the culmination of a two-year effort to engage with a repressive regime the U.S. had long shunned.Washin

Nov. 20, 2011

U.S. overtures may lure Myanmar away from China

Obama gets little pushback on Asia trip

BALI, Indonesia (AP) ― An assertive President Barack Obama got much of what he wanted during his Asia-Pacific trip because the results didn’t depend on negotiating with the world.He mostly just announced them.Obama expanded the U.S. military presence in southeast Asia, sent tough signals to China in its backyard, ordered his top diplomat on a breakthrough mission to Myanmar and presided over the jobs-creating sale of Boeing planes to an Indonesian airline company.It was a trip on his terms, unli

Nov. 20, 2011