The Seoul municipal government said Monday it will give a subsidy of 1 million won ($847) per child to parents with disabilities starting this year.The support is aimed at easing the financial burden of childbirth on mothers and fathers with disabilities, as they often earn less than their nondisabled counterparts, a city government spokesman said.Last year, the average monthly salary of a family

Social Affairs May 28, 2012

Authorities have arrested a man in southwestern China accused of killing 11 people and dismembering, burning and burying their bodies to destroy the evidence.The Ministry of Public Security said in a statement Sunday that 56-year-old Zhang Yongming was arrested by police in Yunnan province on murder charges.It said Zhang is suspected of attacking male victims who were walking alone on a quiet road

World News May 28, 2012

Iran is to build a new nuclear power plant, alongside its sole existing one in the southern city of Bushehr, by early 2014, state television reported on Sunday, quoting the head of the country's Atomic Energy Organization."Iran will build a 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plant in Bushehr next year," the television quoted Fereydoon Abbasi Davani as saying. He was referring to the Iranian calendar yea

World News May 27, 2012

Tehran has "no reason" to suspend its enrichment of uranium to 20 percent -- one of the key demands of world powers engaging Iran in talks -- the head of its Atomic Energy Organisation said."We have no reason to cede on 20 percent, because we produce only as much of the 20 percent fuel as we need. No more, no less," Fereydoon Abbasi Davani was quoted as saying late Saturday by the ISNA and Mehr ne

World News May 27, 2012

North Korea is stepping up its fight against drought as a prolonged dry spell in the rice-planting season could deal a blow to food production and negatively impact the rule of the its new young leader.The impoverished nation's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper, state television and other media outlets are urging citizens to utilize every possible source of water to irrigate rice paddies, while also of

North Korea May 27, 2012

South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan held talks with his Chilean counterpart this week and agreed to work together to elevate relations between the two countries to a comprehensive cooperative partnership, officials said Saturday.Chile was the third stop in Kim's four-nation tour of South America that already took him to Colombia and Peru. After Chile, Kim plans to visit Brazil. The Latin A

Foreign Affairs May 27, 2012

The private company SpaceX made history with the docking of its Dragon capsule to the International Space Station, the most impressive feat yet in turning routine spaceflight over to the commercial sector.The docking Friday marked the first time a business enterprise delivered a supply ship to the space station.“There's so much that could have gone wrong and it went right,” said an elated Elon Mus

Technology May 27, 2012

A British man who plunged 2,400 feet in his wing suit and landed on cardboard boxes said he is the first to survive jumping from the height without a parachute.Gary Connery, 42, of Henley-on-Thames, England, jumped from a helicopter Wednesday at 2,400 feet and used his wing suit to slow his descent to 15 mph before landing on a pile containing 18,600 cardboard boxes, The Daily Telegraph reported T

People May 27, 2012

Police in Florida said a man allegedly pointed a gun at three women so they would let him cut in at a McDonald's drive-through lane.West Palm Beach Police said James Lee Cruz, 58, allegedly pulled his car up to another vehicle at the McDonald's on Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard around 1:35 a.m. May 13 and pointed a gun at the women inside their car, the Palm Beach (Fla.) Post reported Friday.Police sa

World News May 27, 2012