The Korea Herald

Malaysia deports Saudi journalist in Twitter row

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) -- Malaysia on Sunday deported a young Saudi journalist wanted in his home country over a Twitter post about the Prophet Mohammed, defying pleas from human rights group who said he faced execution.Hamza Kashgari, who was detained in Malaysia on Thursday after fleeing Saudi Arabia,

Feb. 13, 2012

Adele top winner with 6 Grammys

Adele, who captured the world’s heart with an album about a broken romance, emerged as the top winner at Sunday’s Grammy Awards, winning six trophies including the prestigious trifecta of record, song and album of the year.Musician Adele poses with her six trophies at the 54th Grammy Awards in Los A

Feb. 13, 2012

Japan's Fukushima reactor may be reheating: operator

TOKYO (AFP) - Temperature readings at one of the crippled Fukushima nuclear reactors have risen above Japan's stringent new safety standard but there was no immediate danger, its operator said Sunday.Tokyo Electric Power said one of three thermometers on the number-two reactor at the Fukushima Daiic

Feb. 13, 2012

Bin Laden told children ‘live in peace in the West’

Slain al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden urged his children to go live peacefully in the West and get a university education, his brother-in-law said in an interview published Sunday.Zakaria al-Sadah, the brother of bin Laden’s Yemeni fifth wife Amal, told Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper that the Saudi-born extremist believed his children “should not follow him down the road to jihad.”“He told his own children and grandchildren, ‘Go to Europe and America and get a good education,’” al-Sadah told th

Feb. 13, 2012

In complicating move, al-Qaida backs Syrian revolt

BEIRUT (AP) ― Al-Qaida’s leader has called for the ouster of Syria’s “pernicious, cancerous regime,” raising fears that Islamic extremists will try to exploit an uprising against President Bashar Assad that began with peaceful calls for democratic change but is morphing into a bloody, armed insurgency.The regime has long blamed terrorists for the 11-month-old revolt, and al-Qaida’s endorsement creates new difficulties for the U.S., its Western allies and Arab states trying to figure out a way to

Feb. 13, 2012

Santorum plans offensive against Romney

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) ― A day after front-runner Mitt Romney regained some momentum in the Republican presidential contest, he faced the task of convincing Republican voters he is conservative enough to be the party standard-bearer and fending off a spirited challenge from rival Rick Santorum.Santorum went on the attack Sunday, calling the former Massachusetts governor and wealthy businessman “desperate” while promising to compete aggressively to win the upcoming primary in the state where Romney

Feb. 13, 2012

U.S., China look for smoother future with V.P. visit

The United States and China will try to set the stage for a smoother relationship during a visit by China’s likely next president, but neither side is under illusions about resolving deep disputes.Vice President Xi Jinping, who is in line to be the fast-growing Asian power’s leader until 2023, will enjoy treatment usually reserved for a head of state including a White House meeting Tuesday (local time) by President Barack Obama.In a bid to show a softer image both at home and abroad, Xi will als

Feb. 13, 2012

U.S., China look for smoother future with V.P. visit

Pakistan P.M. faces indictment for contempt

ISLAMABAD (AFP) ― Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Monday faces indictment for contempt in Supreme Court which may cost him his job for his refusal to re-open graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.The Supreme Court Friday threw out a last-ditch appeal from the embattled Prime Minister.If convicted, Gilani faces six months in jail and disqualification from office in a case that has fanned political instability and may force elections within months in a country already troubled

Feb. 13, 2012

Pakistan P.M. faces indictment for contempt

Arab League considers revival of Syrian mission

CAIRO (AP) — The Arab League was to consider a proposal Sunday to revive its suspended observer mission in Syria by expanding it to include monitors from non-Arab, Muslim nations and the United Nations, officials from the 22-member group said.The proposal was to be discussed in a meeting in Ca

Feb. 12, 2012

Romney ends losing streak with Maine win

Republican presidential front-runner gets campaign boost after three straight lossesPORTLAND, Maine (AP) ― Mitt Romney eked out a narrow win in Maine’s Republican caucuses, state party officials announced Saturday, providing his campaign for the party’s presidential nomination a much-needed boost after three straight losses earlier last week.But the former Massachusetts governor’s margin of victory over Texas Rep. Ron Paul was so slim it all but guaranteed scrutiny of the party’s decision not t

Feb. 12, 2012

Romney ends losing streak with Maine win

Obama’s course correction shifts dynamic

WASHINGTON (AP) ― President Barack Obama’s opposition is now the divided one.For three weeks of heated rhetoric, Republicans cast the president’s new rule that religious schools and hospitals must provide insurance for free birth control to their employees as an attack on individual liberty. The contentious issue united recently fractured Republicans, Catholic bishops and religious groups while badly splitting Democrats who feared an election-year fallout.Obama’s leading Republican rivals ― Mitt

Feb. 12, 2012

Obama’s course correction shifts dynamic

Staff at the Sun arrested in bribe inquiry

LONDON (AP) ― Britain’s biggest-selling newspaper was fighting to contain the damage after five employees at the Sun tabloid were arrested Saturday in an inquiry into the alleged payment of bribes to police and other officials.Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., which owns the newspaper, said police had searched their homes and the group’s London offices, potentially deepening the scandal over British tabloid wrongdoing.The Sun’s deputy editor Geoff Webster, picture editor John Edwards, chief reporter

Feb. 12, 2012

Snow blocks in tens of thousands as cold death toll rises in Europe

BELGRADE (AFP) ― Snow drifts reaching up to rooftops kept tens of thousands of villagers prisoners in their own homes Saturday as the death toll from Europe’s big freeze rose past 550.More heavy snow fell on the Balkans and in Italy, while the Danube river, already closed to shipping for hundreds of kilometers because of thick ice, froze over in Bulgaria for the first time in 27 years.Montenegro’s capital of Podgorica was brought to a standstill by snow 50 centimeters deep, a 50-year record, clo

Feb. 12, 2012

Libya asks Niger to hand over Moammar Gadhafi’s son

TRIPOLI (AP) ― Libya demanded Niger hand over one of Moammar Gadhafi’s sons who is under house arrest in the neighboring African nation after he warned in a television interview that his homeland was facing a new uprising.Mohammed Hareizi, spokesman for the ruling National Transitional Council, said Saturday that Niger must extradite Al-Saadi Gadhafi and other ex-regime officials to “preserve its relationship and interests” in Libya.The demand came days before the first anniversary of the Feb. 1

Feb. 12, 2012

Libya asks Niger to hand over Moammar Gadhafi’s son

Tibetan nun sets herself on fire in west China

BEIJING (AP) _ An overseas activist group says an 18-year-old Tibetan nun has set herself on fire in western China to protest Beijing's handling of its vast Tibetan regions. It's the latest in a series of self-immolations by Tibetan nuns, monks and ordinary people.Free Tibet said in a statement Sund

Feb. 12, 2012

Ahmadinejad: Iran to reveal new nuke achievements

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran will soon unveil ``big new'' nuclear achievements, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday while reiterating Tehran's readiness to revive talks with the West over the country's controversial nuclear program.Ahmadinejad spoke at a rally in Tehran as tens of thousand

Feb. 12, 2012

$25b settlement for foreclosures

Deal reached with 5 largest mortgage lendersWASHINGTON (AP) ― A landmark $25 billion settlement with the nation’s top mortgage lenders was hailed by government officials Thursday as long-overdue relief for victims of foreclosure abuses. But consumer advocates countered that far too few people will benefit. The deal will reduce loans for only a fraction of those Americans who owe more than their homes are worth. It will also send checks to others who were improperly foreclosed upon. But the amoun

Feb. 10, 2012

Biden meets China rights activists

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― U.S. Vice President Joe Biden called for China to address a “deterioration” of its human rights record as he met activists ahead of a key visit by his Chinese counterpart, the White House said Thursday.Biden ― the host for next week’s visit by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, who is widely tipped to be the Asian power’s next leader ― met jointly Wednesday with four advocates for human rights.In the meeting, Biden and the activists “discussed the deterioration of China’s huma

Feb. 10, 2012

Enraged father kills couple after daughter gets defriended on Facebook

When Billy Clay Payne, Jr. and Billie Jean Hayworth defriended Jenelle Potter on Facebook, they had no idea they were dooming themselves.Tennessee police uncovered Thursday a brutal murder of a couple by jilted woman’s father and another man, Reuters reported“It’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen,” sa

Feb. 10, 2012

Biden meets China rights activists

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― U.S. Vice President Joe Biden called for China to address a “deterioration” of its human rights record as he met activists ahead of a key visit by his Chinese counterpart, the White House said Thursday.Biden ― the host for next week’s visit by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, who is widely tipped to be the Asian power’s next leader ― met jointly Wednesday with four advocates for human rights.In the meeting, Biden and the activists “discussed the deterioration of China’s huma

Feb. 10, 2012