The Korea Herald

U.S. sacks diplomat over Okinawa slurs

TOKYO (AFP) ― The United States on Thursday sacked a senior diplomat who infuriated Japan with reported slurs against the people of Okinawa island, which has reluctantly hosted American forces since World War II.The State Department’s Japan desk head Kevin Maher was replaced after he reportedly called Okinawans “lazy” and “masters of manipulation and extortion,” triggering outrage in Tokyo and on

March 10, 2011

Kaspar the friendly robot helps autistic kids emote

STEVENAGE, England (AP) ― Eden Sawczenko used to recoil when other little girls held her hand and turned stiff when they hugged her. This year, the 4-year-old autistic girl began playing with a robot that teaches about emotions and physical contact ― and now she hugs everyone.“She’s a lot more affectionate with her friends now and will even initiate the embrace,” said Claire Sawczenko, Eden’s moth

March 9, 2011

Kaspar the friendly robot helps autistic kids emote

Haiti carnival turns dark as it returns after quake

Carnival has returned to Haiti, a year after the devastating earthquake, but this time it is darker and more menacing rippling with violent under tones as Haitians seek to exorcise their demons.Papier-mache artist Jean-Marc Turin created a sculpture dubbed “Haiti Kolera” for this year’s carnival in the coastal town of Jacmel.The striking cardboard figure of a red and blue woman, vomiting down her front representing the cholera epidemic stalking the nation, is a far cry from the happy, fantasy-fi

March 9, 2011

Philippines fights invading species

MANILA (AFP) ― Like some bad science-fiction movie, Philippine fishermen are encountering strange alien creatures: tough, speckled fish with sharp spines that tear and rip their nets.These suckermouth catfish from South America are just one of a growing number of foreign species that are spreading in local waterways and forests, threatening to edge out the country’s indigenous plants and animals.The catfish, locally known as “janitor fish,” were originally introduced locally for aquariums but ca

March 9, 2011

Sun shining on Asian tourist trade

The sun is shining on the tourism trade in Asia-Pacific with double-digit growth notched up in 2010, spurred largely by Chinese and Indian middle classes packing their bags for a break abroad. Strong economies, the proliferation of low-cost airlines and a burgeoning constituency of online shoppers are adding to the region’s rosy outlook.There was an 11 percent rise in arrivals in the region overall last year, according to preliminary data from the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA). And 2011

March 9, 2011

Christians and Muslims clash in Cairo, one dead

CAIRO (AP) ― Thousands of Christians and Muslims clashed Tuesday, with one Christian man killed and scores wounded as anger rose over the burning of a church in a Cairo suburb.It was the second burst of sectarian fighting in as many days and the latest in a string of violent protests over a variety of topics as simmering unrest continues nearly a month after mass protests led to the ouster of Pres

March 9, 2011

Christians and Muslims clash in Cairo, one dead

Large earthquake hits northeast Japan; no damage

TOKYO (AP) _ A magnitude 7.3 earthquake hit off Japan's northeastern coast Wednesday, shaking buildings hundreds of miles away in Tokyo and triggering a small tsunami. There were no immediate reports of significant damage or injuries. The quake struck at 11:45 a.m. local time and was centered about 90 miles (150 kilometers) off the northeastern coast _ about 270 miles (440 kilometers) northea

March 9, 2011

Large earthquake hits northeast Japan; no damage

World’s youngest granny aged 23

A Romanian woman is the world’s youngest grandmother, aged 23, British tabloid The Sun reported. (MCT)Mother of two, Rifca Stanescu was 12 when she had her first child Maria. A year later she had a son, Nicolae. Stanescu was 11 when she married 13-year-old jewelry seller Ionel Stanescu. They eloped because Stanescu feared her father would want her to marry another man. Stanescu said she had been f

March 9, 2011

Tunisia dissolves state security police

Interim P.M. announces members of government, pledges to revive economyTUNIS (AFP) ― Tunisia on Monday scrapped its feared political police and named a new interim government free of any members of the regime of toppled strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.Affirming a commitment “to apply the law and respect liberties and civic rights,” the interior ministry announced that it was abolishing the gener

March 8, 2011

Elephants are quick learners, offer helping hand

Elephants quickly learned to cooperate to solve a problem, researchers report in Monday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The giant mammals are socially complex, explained lead researcher Joshua M. Plotnik. ``They help others in distress,'' he said. ``They seem in some ways emotionally attached to each other, so you would expect there would be some level of cooperat

March 8, 2011

Elephants are quick learners, offer helping hand

Soon-to-be Israeli centenarian becomes advertising poster women

Tel Aviv (dpa) - She will soon celebrate her 100th birthday, but Luba Fishman has found a new career - as a poster woman for an international cosmetics company.The Latvian-born, Israel-domiciled great-grandmother was chosen as a new face for Dove Cosmetics' "real beauty" campaign, with the slogan "Does true beauty have an age limit?"The company says the campaign is designed to avoid "beauty stereo

March 8, 2011

Soon-to-be Israeli centenarian becomes advertising poster women

U.S. tornado kills mother, displaces 1,500

RAYNE, Louisiana (AP) – Officials worked Sunday to get people back into their homes a day after a tornado ripped through this southwestern Louisiana town, killing a mother shielding her child from the fierce winds and leaving 12 hurt.Many of the 1,500 residents who had been evacuated were being allowed to return to their homes in this community about 70 miles (112 kilometers) west of Baton Rouge,

March 7, 2011

U.S. tornado kills mother, displaces 1,500

U.S. Bible is a virgin-free zone

The Bible is to change certain expressions in the new American Bible, according to The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Some changes in the new translation of 2011 include changing “virgin,” into “young woman.”Isaiah 7:14 “the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel,” will be using “the young woman” instead. It is because whether the original Hebrew world “almah

March 7, 2011

Obama steers clear of doctrine for Arab region

U.S. administration’s policy faces difficulty in framing consistent messageWASHINGTON (AFP) ― As a wildfire of revolt whips through the Middle East and North Africa, the White House is embracing pragmatism and shying away from embroidering a grand “Obama doctrine” for a region in turmoil.For a politician as fond of the grand gesture as President Barack Obama, the idea of an eponymous school of for

March 6, 2011

Obama steers clear of doctrine for Arab region

‘Two suns’ spotted in Taiwanese sky

The appearance of “two suns” in the Taiwanese sky has made people wonder whether the second one is an exploded Betelgeuse, the second biggest star in the constellation Orion. News.com.au reported in January that Betelgeuse was losing mass in its center and would explode when it ran out, creating a second sun in the night sky, citing Dr. Brad Carter, senior lecturer of Physics at the University of

March 6, 2011

Obama ups pressure, Libya rebels reject talks

BREGA, Libya (AFP) ― U.S. President Barack Obama said all options were on the table for driving Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi out of power as rebels angrily ruled out talking to a dictator with “blood” on his hands.Despite grave reservations expressed by the U.S. military command, Obama said a no-fly zone was among the “full range” of options as he demanded that Gadhafi “step down from power and leave.”

March 4, 2011

‘10 years to rebuild Christchurch’

Quake-hit city concludes there are no more trapped survivorsCHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AFP) ― It will take at least 10 years to rebuild Christchurch, officials said Thursday, warning it would be months before they could even begin to reopen the quake-hit New Zealand city.The timeline, outlining the scale of damage to the country’s second largest city, came as the death toll from last week’s devast

March 3, 2011

Christina Aguilera arrested for drunkenness

WEST HOLLYWOOD, California (AP) _ Fresh from a stumble at the Grammys and muffing the national anthem at the Super Bowl, singer Christina Aguilera was arrested early Tuesday near the Sunset Strip on suspicion of being drunk in public but will not be prosecuted, authorities said.Aguilera, 30, was ``extremely intoxicated'' when a car driven by her boyfriend was stopped, Los Angeles County sheriff's

March 3, 2011

Christina Aguilera arrested for drunkenness

Iran threatens to boycott Olympics 2012 over logo

Official logo for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. (MCT)Iran threatened to boycott the 2012 London Olympic Games unless its logo is changed, insisting that the games’ logo symbolizes Israel, according to news reports.A formal letter of complaint was sent to the International Olympic Committee by the Iranian committee over the logo which it claims spells out “Zion,” a biblical term referrin

March 3, 2011

U.S. and Israel behind unrest, Yemeni president says

SANAA (AP) ― Yemen’s embattled president Tuesday accused the U.S., his closest ally, of instigating the mounting protests against him, but the gambit failed to slow the momentum for his ouster.Hundreds of thousands rallied in cities across Yemen against the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in the largest of the protests of the past month, including one addressed by an influential firebr

March 2, 2011

U.S. and Israel behind unrest, Yemeni president says