The Korea Herald

Koreans drawn to freedom of foreign enclave

Just outside the concertina-wire topped concrete walls of a U.S. Army garrison in downtown Seoul, home to the headquarters of some 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea, American soldiers roam the streets, Africans of various nations peddle jewelry, and Pakistani, Indian and Turkish restaurants share street space with Western diners and English-style bars.Itaewon, long established as a foreigner-friendly enclave, has been just that. Locals shunned it as a shady place of drug dealers and pr

Nov. 2, 2011

Koreans drawn to freedom of foreign enclave

China drafts law to encourage people to help each other

BEIJING, (AFP) ― A city in southern China is considering passing a law to protect people who help strangers from being sued, after a case in which an injured toddler was ignored by 18 passers-by, a report said Wednesday.Officials in Shenzhen are drafting rules that would protect well-intentioned rescuers from legal action if their efforts failed “as long as there was no negligence or deliberate sabotage,” the China Daily said.There have been renewed calls for such laws in China after the death l

Nov. 2, 2011

Possible nuclear fission detected at Fukushima

Tokyo Electric Power Co. detected signs of possible nuclear fission at its crippled Fukushima atomic power plant in northern Japan, raising the risk of more radiation leaks. The company, known as Tepco, began spraying boric acid on the No. 2 reactor at 2:48 a.m. Japan time to prevent accidental chain reactions. Tepco said it may have found xenon, which is associated with nuclear fission, while examining gases taken from the reactor, according to an e-mailed statement today. “Melted fuel in the N

Nov. 2, 2011

Possible nuclear fission detected at Fukushima

Plane carrying 231 lands on belly in Poland, none hurt

WARSAW (AP) ― A Boeing airliner from the U.S. carrying 231 people was forced to land on its belly Tuesday in Warsaw after its landing gear failed to open, triggering sparks and small fires. No one was hurt, but some passengers sobbed as they prayed for a safe landing.Capt. Tadeusz Wrona, who handled the descent so smoothly that many on board thought the Boeing 767 landed on its wheels, was instantly hailed a hero in Poland and online, where within hours he was the focus of several Facebook fan p

Nov. 2, 2011

WikiLeaks' Julian Assange loses extradition appeal

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has lost his appeal against extradition to Sweden to answer sex crime allegations. In a judgment Wednesday, Judges John Thomas and Duncan Ousely said that Assange, who was in court to hear the verdict, should be sent to Sweden to be questioned over the al

Nov. 2, 2011

Freak weather likely to get way more wild

Experts say extreme weather will increase; possibly linked to global warmingWASHINGTON (AP) ― For a world already weary of weather catastrophes, the latest warning from top climate scientists paints a grim future: More floods, more heat waves, more droughts and greater costs to deal with them.A draft summary of an international scientific report obtained by the Associated Press says the extremes caused by global warming could eventually grow so severe that some locations become “increasingly mar

Nov. 2, 2011

Freak weather likely to get way more wild

Viking 'sunstone' more than a myth

Ancient tales of Norse mariners using mysterious sunstones to navigate the ocean when clouds obscured the Sun and stars are more than just legend, according to a study published Wednesday.Over 1,000 years ago, before the invention of the compass, Vikings ventured thousands of kilometres from home to

Nov. 2, 2011

Women far behind men in economic participation

NEW YORK (AP) _ The world has make great progress in eliminating inequality between men and women in health and education, but not in economic participation and political empowerment, according to a survey of 135 nations released Tuesday.The annual survey by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum sho

Nov. 2, 2011

Australian government introduces mining tax bills

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) _ Australia's government has introduced legislation to impose a 30 percent tax on the burgeoning profits of iron ore and coal mining companies that are feeding Chinese demand.The legislation introduced to Parliament on Wednesday is not certain to pass since key independent l

Nov. 2, 2011

For wounded Marines, a 'lollipop' to ease pain

US Marines badly wounded in Afghanistan may get a "lollipop" with a powerful pain killer from now on instead of the traditional shot of morphine, a Marine Corps spokesman said Tuesday.The new treatment offers an alternative to the morphine needle "you see in the World War II movies," with medics jab

Nov. 2, 2011

For wounded Marines, a 'lollipop' to ease pain

‘Russians were a new breed of spy’

FBI releases surveillance video on world-famous female spy and her associatesWASHINGTON (AP) -- Anna Chapman wasn’t just a member of one of the largest rings of Russian sleeper agents ever rolled up by the FBI, officials say. The 29-year-old former real estate agent, who became a lingerie model and corporate spokeswoman back in Moscow, represented a new breed of Russian spies adapted to the post-Cold War world.Chapman and fellow ring member Mikhail Semenko, another young deep-cover agent who wo

Nov. 1, 2011

Ancient rules give prince veto rights on planned British laws

LONDON (AP) ― Prince Charles will keep his little-known veto over some planned laws, a power that dates back to the Middle Ages, after the British government said Monday it was not going to rewrite ancient constitutional rules.New evidence that the heir to the throne has been playing an active political role has touched a nerve among anti-monarchists, but Prime Minister David Cameron’s office said it did not plan reforms.Parliamentary records show that Prince Charles has been consulted over at l

Nov. 1, 2011

Palestine joins UNESCO, U.S. cuts funds

Giant leap toward statehood, but relationship with Israel worsens; U.N. body to lose a fifth of its budgetPARIS (AP) ― Palestine won its greatest international endorsement yet, full membership in UNESCO, but the move will cost the agency one-fifth of its funding and some fear it will send Mideast peace efforts off a cliff.In an unusually dramatic session Monday at the Paris-based United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, there were cheers for “yes” votes and grumbles for

Nov. 1, 2011

New signs of Syria-Pakistan nuke tie

WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.N. investigators have identified a previously unknown complex in Syria that bolsters suspicions that the Syrian government worked with A.Q. Khan, the father of Pakistan‘s atomic bomb, to acquire technology that could be used to make nuclear arms.The buildings in northwest Syria closely match the design of a uranium enrichment plant provided to Libya when Moammar Gadhafi was trying to build nuclear weapons under Khan’s guidance, officials told The Associated Press.The U.N.‘s

Nov. 1, 2011

Swedish rally driver not fast enough for son's birth

STOCKHOLM, Oct 31, 2011 (AFP) - Swedish rally driver Per-Gunner Andersson is known for his speed behind the wheel but he wasn't fast enough this weekend when his wife had to give birth in their car on the way to hospital."It was a little strange," Andersson, 31, told the online edition of tabloid Ex

Nov. 1, 2011

[Photo] Halloween celebration

A child plays with pumpkins offered for sale at a roadside stall for Halloween near Warsaw, Poland, Monday, Oct. 31, 2011. Halloween is a new tradition taking root in Poland, a predominantly Catholic nation where Nov. 1 is a national holiday of All Saint's Day and is dedicated to visiting family gra

Nov. 1, 2011

Spying on spies: Chapman shops, contacts 'handler'

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Unaware the FBI has her under surveillance, Russian spy Anna Chapman buys leggings and tries on hats at a Macy's department store. A few months later, cameras watch her in a New York coffee shop where she meets with someone she thinks is her Russian handler. It is really an underc

Nov. 1, 2011

Spying on spies: Chapman shops, contacts 'handler'

Libya names new prime minister

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Libya's interim leadership has chosen an electronics engineer from Tripoli as the country's new prime minister.Abdel-Rahim al-Keeb was chosen Monday by 51 members of the National Transitional Council and will appoint a new Cabinet in coming days. The new government is to

Nov. 1, 2011

Palestine becomes member of UN cultural body

PARIS (AP) -- Palestine became a full member of the U.N. cultural and educational agency Monday, in a highly divisive move that the United States and other opponents say could harm renewed Mideast peace efforts.U.S. lawmakers had threatened to withhold roughly $80 million in annual funding to UNESCO if it approved Palestinian membership. The United States provides about 22 percent of UNESCO's funding.Huge cheers went up in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization afte

Oct. 31, 2011

Cain denies report of sexual harassment

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain's campaign is denying allegations that he was twice accused of sexual harassment while he was the head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s.In a statement Sunday to The Associated Press, his campaign disputed a Poli

Oct. 31, 2011