The Korea Herald

Egypt puts 43 NGO workers on trial over funds

CAIRO (AP) ― Ignoring a stern U.S. threat, Egypt on Sunday referred 43 NGO workers, including 19 Americans, to trial before a criminal court for allegedly using illegal foreign funds to foment unrest.The decision marked a sharp escalation of the dispute between Cairo and Washington over Egypt’s crackdown on U.S.-funded groups promoting democracy and human rights. The two countries have been close allies for more than three decades, but the campaign against the organizations has angered Washingto

Feb. 6, 2012

Russia, China veto U.N. resolution on Syria

UNITED NATIONS (AP) ― The U.N. Security Council failed again Saturday to take decisive action to stop the escalating violence in Syria as Russia and China blocked a resolution backing an Arab League plan that calls for President Bashar Assad to step down. The double-veto outraged the U.S. and European council members who feared it would embolden the Assad regime.In an unusual weekend session, 13 members of the council, including the United States, Britain and France, voted in favor of the resolu

Feb. 6, 2012

Russia, China veto U.N. resolution on Syria

Queen Elizabeth II prepares to celebrate diamond jubilee

LONDON (AFP) ― Queen Elizabeth II started five months of diamond jubilee celebrations last weekend with the promise of pomp and splendor despite the British monarch’s wishes for restraint.The queen will make a deliberately low-key visit to Norfolk in eastern England on Monday, 60 years to the day since she ascended to the throne after her father King George VI suddenly died on Feb. 6, 1952.The visit kicks off a series of events culminating in a flotilla of 1,000 boats sailing up the River Thames

Feb. 5, 2012

Civilian deaths in Afghan war hit record high: U.N.

KABUL (AP) ― Last year was the deadliest on record for civilians in the Afghan war, with 3,021 killed as insurgents ratcheted up violence with suicide attacks and roadside bombs, the United Nations said Saturday.Taliban-affiliated militants were responsible for more than three-quarters of the civilian deaths in 2011, the fifth year in a row in which the death toll went up, the U.N. said.The figures were a grim testament to the violence the Taliban and allied Islamist militants can still unleash

Feb. 5, 2012

Iran launches new military exercises

Tehran warns of cutting oil exports to European countries as tensions riseTEHRAN (AP) ― Iran began ground military exercises Saturday and defiantly warned that it could cut off oil exports to “hostile” European nations as tensions rise over suggestions that military strikes are an increasing possibility if sanctions fail to rein in the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.Tehran has stepped up its rhetoric as international pressure mounts over allegations that it is seeking to develop atomic weapo

Feb. 5, 2012

Vatican rejects corruption allegations

VATICAN CITY (AP) ― The administration of the Vatican City State on Saturday categorically rejected as groundless a top prelate’s accusations of corruption in the Holy See’s awarding of contracts.Last month, an Italian investigative news program reported that the prelate had unsuccessfully requested not to be transferred to Washington by Pope Benedict XVI after exposing alleged corruption that cost the Holy See millions of euros in terms of higher contract prices.Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano wa

Feb. 5, 2012

European cold snap claims over 250 lives

The death toll from the vicious cold snap across Europe has risen to more than 260, with hundreds having to be rescued after a ferry caught in a snow storm hit a breakwater off Italy.Ukraine has suffered the heaviest toll with 122 deaths, including many who froze to death in the streets as temperatures plunged to as low as minus 38.1 degrees Celsius.Airports were shut, flights and trains delayed, and highways gridlocked as emergency services raced to clear falling snow.In Italy, the ferry Sharde

Feb. 5, 2012

Outrage as Russia, China veto UN move on Syria

DAMASCUS (AFP) - Outrage grew on Sunday after Russia and China blocked a UN Security Council resolution condemning Syria for its crackdown on protests, with the opposition saying it handed the regime a "licence to kill."Saturday's rare double veto drew swift condemnation from world powers, with Wash

Feb. 5, 2012

Rising Australian floodwaters force mass evacuation

SYDNEY (AFP) - Thousands of Australians were forced to abandon their homes on Sunday as a record deluge swept through areas still reeling from last year's devastating floods, claiming its first life.Police ordered the 3,800 residents of the town of St George, in northern Queensland state, to evacuat

Feb. 5, 2012

Rising Australian floodwaters force mass evacuation

Romney rolls to easy win in Nevada caucuses

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney cruised to victory in the Nevada caucuses Saturday night, notching a second straight triumph over a field of rivals suddenly struggling to keep pace.(AP-Yonhap News)The caucuses drew little attention in the nominating campaign, but N

Feb. 5, 2012

Romney rolls to easy win in Nevada caucuses

Romney heavily favored to win Nevada caucuses

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at a campaign rally, Friday, Feb. 3, 2012, in Elko, Nev. AP-Yonhap LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Mitt Romney, heavily favored to win Nevada's presidential caucuses Saturday, focused on the state's unemployment rate _ which is w

Feb. 4, 2012

Romney heavily favored to win Nevada caucuses

Syrian activists: 200 dead in government assault

BEIRUT (AP) -- In a barrage of mortar shells, Syrian forces killed 200 people and wounded hundreds in Homs in an offensive that appears to be the bloodiest episode in the nearly 11-month-old uprising, activists said Saturday. The assault in Homs, which has been one of the main flash

Feb. 4, 2012

Syrian activists: 200 dead in government assault

163 dead as Europe cold snap persists

WARSAW (AFP) ― A cold snap kept Europe in its icy grip Thursday, pushing the death toll to 163 as countries from Ukraine to Italy struggled with temperatures that plunged to record lows in some places.Entire villages were cut off in parts of eastern Europe, trapping thousands, while road, air and rail links were severed and gas consumption shot up during what has been the severest winter in decades in some regions.In Ukraine, tens of thousands headed to shelters to escape the freeze that emergen

Feb. 3, 2012

Madonna's guarantee: no half-time wardrobe malfunction

Superstar singer Madonna promised no wardrobe malfunctions for her Super Bowl 46 half-time show, saying she has never worked so hard on preparing for a performance. Singer Madonna gestures as she speaks at the podium during a press conference for the Bridgestone Super Bowl XLVI halftime show at

Feb. 3, 2012

Madonna's guarantee: no half-time wardrobe malfunction

Syrian dissident executed in front of family: activists

A Syrian dissident was killed by security forces before his body was thrown off the rooftop of his home in front of his wife and children, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Thursday.The Britain-based monitoring group said the incident took place on Wednesday in the town of Al-Maadamiyeh,

Feb. 3, 2012

163 dead as cold snap grips Europe

A cold snap kept Europe in its icy grip Thursday, pushing the death toll to 163 as countries from Ukraine to Italy struggled with temperatures that plunged to record lows in some places.A church stands frozen near Bayrischzell, southern Germany on Thursday. (AP-Yonhap News) A woman looks out of a wi

Feb. 3, 2012

Russia still far from its ‘Arab Spring’

MOSCOW (AFP) ― Russia is seeing a significant political awakening amid mass protests against the rule of Vladimir Putin but is unlikely to witness an Arab Spring-style uprising to oust him from power, analysts say.Nevertheless, Putin will face a rocky ride in the years to come if he turns a deaf ear to the protesters’ demands after his expected return to the Kremlin following March 4 presidential elections, they added.The scale of rallies and opposition mobilization ― unprecedented since Putin’s

Feb. 2, 2012

Poland’s Nobel Prize-winning poet Szymborska dies at 88

WARSAW, Poland (AP) ― Poland’s 1996 Nobel Prize-winning poet Wislawa Szymborska, whose simple words and playful verse plucked threads of irony and empathy out of life, has died. She was 88.Szymborska, a heavy smoker, died in her sleep of lung cancer Wednesday evening at her home in the southern city of Krakow, her personal secretary Michal Rusinek said.She died surrounded by relatives and friends, said Katarzyna Kolenda-Zaleska, a journalist and a friend of the poet.The Nobel award committee’s c

Feb. 2, 2012

Poland’s Nobel Prize-winning poet Szymborska dies at 88

U.S. combat in Afghanistan to end next year: Panetta

BRUSSELS (AP) ― Defense Secretary Leon Panetta laid out the administration’s most explicit portrayal of the U.S. drawdown in Afghanistan, saying Wednesday that U.S. and other international forces in Afghanistan expect to end their combat role in 2013 and continue a training and advisory role with Afghan forces through 2014.Panetta’s remarks to reporters traveling with him to a NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels showed how the foreign military role in Afghanistan is expected to evolve fro

Feb. 2, 2012

74 killed in Egyptian soccer violence

CAIRO (AP) ― At least 74 people were killed and hundreds injured after soccer fans rushed the field in the seaside city of Port Said Wednesday following an upset victory by the home team over Egypt’s top club, setting off clashes and a stampede as riot police largely failed to intervene.It was a bloody reminder of the deteriorating security in the Arab world’s most populous country as instability continues nearly a year after former President Hosni Mubarak was swept out of power in a popular upr

Feb. 2, 2012