The Korea Herald

Gold mine contamination kills 400 Nigerian children

The hunt for gold in northern Nigeria has left 400 children dead of lead poisoning and many more ill in the past two years, a human rights organization says.A doctor from Medecins sans Frontiers (MSF), right, takes a blood sample to determine a young girl's lead level at a clinic in the village of A

Feb. 10, 2012

Gold mine contamination kills 400 Nigerian children

FBI releases background check file on Steve Jobs

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation on Thursday released a 191-page file on Steve Jobs that paints an occasionally unflattering portrait of the late Apple founder. Steve Jobs (AP-Yonhap News)The report was compiled during a 1991 background investigation of Jobs by the FBI after former pre

Feb. 10, 2012

FBI releases background check file on Steve Jobs

Famous Spain judge convicted of misusing authority

The superstar Spanish judge who won global fame for aggressively taking on international human rights cases has been convicted of overstepping his jurisdiction in a domestic corruption probe and barred from the bench for 11 years, marking a spectacular fall from grace for one of the nation’s most pr

Feb. 10, 2012

Women at war: Pentagon is easing its job limits

New orders from the Pentagon: The military formally opened thousands of jobs to women on Thursday in units that are closer to the front lines than ever before, reflecting what already has been occurring as female American soldiers fight and die next to their male comrades.The new rules, affecting th

Feb. 10, 2012

New supercontinent in Earth’s future

The Earth’s next supercontinent will form as North and South America fuse together and head for an eventual collision with Europe and Asia, U.S. scientists say.Researchers at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., have proposed a theory that both the present-day Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea wi

Feb. 10, 2012

Toxic liquor kills 30 in India: officials

BHUBANESWAR, India (AFP) - At least 30 people died after consuming toxic home-made liquor in eastern India, officials said Thursday, warning that the toll could rise with more victims in hospitals.The deaths -- just the latest from dangerous bootleg liquor in India -- were reported from severa

Feb. 9, 2012

Toxic liquor kills 30 in India: officials

Romney losses show conservative woes

DENVER (AP) ― Mitt Romney just can’t shake his difficulty attracting conservatives. And that reality is undercutting the former Massachusetts governor’s effort to cast himself as the inevitable Republican presidential nominee and prolonging a race that each day exposes deep divisions within the party.Newt Gingrich also now faces a fresh challenge to his claim that he’s the chief conservative alternative to Romney, the Republican front-runner.Those were the big takeaways from former Pennsylvania

Feb. 9, 2012

India upgrades its military with China in mind

NEW DELHI (AP) -- India has decided to buy 126 fighter jets from France, taken delivery of a nuclear-powered submarine from Russia and prepared for its first aircraft carrier in recent weeks as it modernizes its military to match China‘s.India and China have had tensions since a 1962 border war, and New Delhi has watched with dismay in recent years as Beijing has increased its influence in the Indian Ocean.China has financed the development of ports in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar

Feb. 9, 2012

EU threatens new sanctions against Syria

BEIRUT (AP) ― The European Union will impose harsher sanctions on Syria, a senior EU official said Wednesday, as Russia tried to broker talks between the vice president and the opposition to calm violence. Activists reported at least 50 killed in the regime’s siege of the restive city of Homs.Russia, a close ally of Syria, and the West are pushing down starkly different paths in trying to deal with Syria’s nearly 11 months of bloodshed. After blocking a Western and Arab attempt to bring U.N. pre

Feb. 9, 2012

EU threatens new sanctions against Syria

3 ministers resign in porn scandal in south India

Three government ministers in the southern Indian state of Karnataka resigned Wednesday after they were accused of watching a pornographic video during an assembly session.The right wing Bharatiya Janata Party, which rules Karnataka, ordered the three ministers to resign after local television chann

Feb. 9, 2012

Ahmadinejad seeks rebound in elections

TEHRAN (AP) ― There’s a Persian saying used to describe an under-the-radar political effort: “Driving at night with the lights off.’’ Allies of embattled President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may be doing just that as they campaign in Iran’s hinterlands in hopes of scoring a comeback in next month’s parliamentary elections.The voting March 2 should ― momentarily, at least ― shift attention from Iran’s international standoffs over its nuclear program back to the country’s internal power plays: The ruling

Feb. 9, 2012

Clinton meets freed Myanmar activists

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton welcomed activists from Myanmar including a comedian recently freed from prison as part of Washington’s efforts to encourage reform in the country.Clinton stretched out both hands to greet Zarganar, a poet, filmmaker and performer who has been a prominent source of dissent in the country formerly known as Burma.Zarganar, who was repeatedly incarcerated and sentenced to decades in prison after helping survivors of devastating Cyclone Nargis in 2008, was rel

Feb. 9, 2012

Afghan forces will be ‘good enough’ to take over: US

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Afghan forces will be “good enough” to take over their country‘s security by the end of 2014, even though only a small number of them now operate independently from NATO-led troops, a top U.S. general said Wednesday.Lieutenant General Curtis Scaparrotti, deputy commander of U.S. forces and the head of the NATO-led force’s joint command, acknowledged that Afghan army and police still had a way to go before overseeing security without major assistance from foreign troops.But he

Feb. 9, 2012

Washington state lawmakers pass gay marriage bill

Washington state lawmakers voted to approve gay marriage Wednesday, setting the stage for the state to become the seventh in the nation to allow same-sex couples to wed. Robin Tyler (right) who with her partner Diane Olson, not shown, became the first same-sex couple to wed in Los Angeles County in

Feb. 9, 2012

Washington state lawmakers pass gay marriage bill

U.S. sanctions on Iran aim to head off Israel

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Additional U.S. sanctions on Iran are more significant for their timing than their immediate effect on Iran’s economy, coming as the United States and its allies are arguing that Israel should hold off on any military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities to allow more time for sanctions to work.The U.S. ordered tough new penalties Monday to give U.S. banks additional powers to freeze assets linked to the Iranian government and close loopholes that officials say Iran has used to

Feb. 8, 2012

U.S. sanctions on Iran aim to head off Israel

Maldives leader quits after protests; V.P. sworn in

MALE, Maldives (AP) ― The first democratically elected president of the Maldives resigned Tuesday and was replaced by his vice president after the police and army clashed in the streets of the island nation amid protests over the arrest of a top judge.Mohammed Waheed Hassan, who previously worked as a top UNICEF official, was sworn in as the new Maldivian president in the afternoon. Soon after, the judge was released.In a televised address, Hassan promised to protect his predecessor, Mohamed Nas

Feb. 8, 2012

Maldives leader quits after protests; V.P. sworn in

Santorum sweeps Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A resurgent Rick Santorum won Republican presidential caucuses in Minnesota and Colorado on Tuesday night, a stunning sweep that raised fresh questions about front-runner Mitt Romney‘s ability to appeal to the ardent conservatives at the core of the party’s political base.Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, triumphed, as well, in a nonbinding Missouri primary that was worth bragging rights but no delegates to the party‘s national convention.Romney, the former Massachusett

Feb. 8, 2012

Santorum sweeps Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri

US, Japan pave way to send Okinawa Marines to Guam

The transfer of thousands of U.S. Marines to Guam will not require the prior closure of a base on the southern Japan island of Okinawa, the United States and Japan announced Wednesday in a compromise they hope will break a stalemate over opposition to the large U.S. military presence there.The annou

Feb. 8, 2012

Chinese police hunt for man who stabbed 2 students

BEIJING (AP) -- Police in eastern China are hunting for a knife-wielding man who broke into a middle school Wednesday and stabbed two students before fleeing, local officials said.The victims were not seriously wounded and no motive was given for the attack, which echoes a string of such assaults ag

Feb. 8, 2012

Venezuela investigates 11 baby deaths at hospital

Venezuelan prosecutors announced Tuesday they would investigate the deaths of 11 prematurely born infants in four days at a public hospital in the northern state of Aragua.A newborn baby is being given a medication. (AP)Bacterial contamination is suspected in the deaths.A statement from the Venezuel

Feb. 8, 2012

Venezuela investigates 11 baby deaths at hospital