Two young Britons who stole a penguin from an Australian theme park paid a large fine Wednesday after pleading guilty.Rhys Owen Jones, 21, and Keri Mules, 20, were fined $1,000 Australian ($1,034 U.S.) each for trespassing, theft and keeping a protected animal, The Courier-Mail of Brisbane reported.Dirk, a Fairy penguin, was stolen from Sea World, a popular theme park on the Queensland coast, Apri

May 2, 2012

Sleeping too much does not make one fat -- in fact, sleeping more than 9 hours a night may suppress genetic influences on body weight, U.S. researchers say.Principal investigator Dr. Nathaniel Watson of the University of Washington and colleagues said the study looked at 1,088 pairs of twins and found sleeping less than 7 hours a night was associated with both increased body mass index and greater

Latest News May 2, 2012

South Korea and the United States began on-site consultations Tuesday on the latest case of mad cow disease here.A team of eight South Korean government officials and civilian experts arrived in Washington Monday for discussions with U.S. authorities and inspections of related facilities.Their visit comes amid unrelenting public concern over the safety of American beef in South Korea. The Seoul go

Social Affairs May 2, 2012

Research In Motion (RIM) on Tuesday unveiled a revamped BlackBerry platform that discards the smartphone's trademark keyboard to embrace apps, touchscreens and other trendy features.The long-promised platform was shown to software developers at the Canada-based company's annual BlackBerry World conference in Florida.RIM also released kits for tailoring programs for the new BlackBerry 10platform an

Technology May 2, 2012

A Korean-American former nursing student pleaded not guilty Monday to killing seven people in an execution-style shooting rampage at a religious college in California.One Goh, 43 -- who has refused to eat for several weeks -- is charged with seven counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder for the April 2 shooting at Oikos University, a small Christian school in Oakland.Law enforcement

Social Affairs May 1, 2012

South Korea's consumer prices grew at a slower pace in April than a month earlier as the government sought to tame inflationary pressure, a report showed Tuesday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, the country's consumer price index rose 2.5 percent in April from a year earlier, slowing from a 2.6 percent on-year gain in March. The index was unchanged from a month earlier.April's reading

May 1, 2012

An unfolding scandal over an under-age call girl has shaken Singapore's political and economic elite after businessmen, civil servants and uniformed officers were charged in the case.Prostitution is legal in Singapore, but 48 men ranging in age from their early 20s to late 40s have so far been charged under a 2008 law making it a crime to pay for sex with a girl under 18.Singapore has long been pe

World News April 30, 2012

Iran on Monday slammed a US pastor's burning of a Koran, calling it provocative and demanding US authorities take action to prevent any recurrence.Iran's foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the official IRNA news agency that it "strongly condemns this ridiculous, insulting and provoking act by a so-called American priest in overt contempt of the holy Koran."The condemnation was in reac

World News April 30, 2012

Teen girls happy with the size and shape of their bodies report higher levels of self-esteem, U.S. researchers said. Kerri Boutelle, associate professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, said the study involved 103 overweight adolescents surveyed between 2004 and 2006. The girls were assessed for body satisfaction, weight-control behavior,

Technology April 30, 2012

A Russian man died after being hit on the head with a frying pan by his wife, who was "driven by jealousy," a local investigation committee said Saturday.Police said the man, 50, was hospitalized in the Urals city of Orenburg with acute cerebral circulatory problems and died the next day, RIA Novosti reported."The woman said she was driven by jealousy and hit her husband with a frying pan during a

Social Affairs April 29, 2012

Police tracked the location of the phone of a man who attempted suicide and saved his life on Sunday. The man, who is in his 40s, drank pesticide at a fishing spot in Ansung, Gyeonggi province.Before the suicide attempt, the man made a phone call to his sister and said “I’m sorry.” The sister dialed 112, the state’s emergency hotline, to ask for help.Two officials from Ansung Provincial Police Age

Social Affairs April 29, 2012