North Korea has conducted motor tests to improve its long-range missiles after a failed launch in April, a U.S. think tank said Monday after reviewing new satellite images.Since the embarrassing flop in April, the communist regime appears to have carried out at least two tests of large motors needed for rockets and worked on a launch platform, the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University said.The institute examined commercial images of the Sohae satellite launch station between April and

North Korea Nov. 13, 2012

The United States was re-elected Monday to another three-year term on the U.N. Human Rights Council in the only contested election for the organization's top human rights body.The U.S. was competing with four countries for three open seats belonging to the Western Group on the council. Germany and Ireland were also elected by the 193-member General Assembly. Greece and Sweden lost out.U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice said her country was “pleased and proud to have been re-elected to a seco

World News Nov. 13, 2012

South Korea won another term on the U.N. Human Rights Council on Monday.South Korea's re-election reflects its efforts for promoting human rights around the world as a member of the 37-member council, South Korean diplomats here said.The U.N. General Assembly voted to pick South Korea and 17 other nations as members of the Geneva-based council for three-year terms beginning on Jan. 1, 2013.South Korea first became a member of the organization in 2006, when it was created to replace the U.N. Huma

Foreign Affairs Nov. 13, 2012

A Florida woman was named Sunday as the recipient of allegedly harassing emails from former CIA Director David Petraeus' female biographer.Petraeus, 60, resigned this week after admitting he "showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair" with his 40-year-old biographer, Paula Broadwell, who is married to a doctor and has two children.The Los Angeles Times reported Jill Kelley of Tampa, who it described as a State Department liaison to the military's Joint Special Operatio

People Nov. 12, 2012

The Palestinians will submit a bid to the General Assembly this month for non-state membership of the United Nations, despite U.S. opposition, president Mahmud Abbas said on Sunday.Abbas also spoke out in favour of the exhumation of veteran Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's body to establish the cause of his death and revealed Russia was involved in the efforts."We're going to the United Nations in November 2012, not 2013, or 2014," Abbas said at an event commemorating the eighth anniversary of

World News Nov. 12, 2012

Greek lawmakers approved the country's 2013 austerity budget early Monday, an essential step in Greece's efforts to persuade its international creditors to unblock a vital rescue loan installment without which the country will go bankrupt.The budget passed by a 167-128 vote in the 300-member Parliament. It came days after a separate bill of deep spending cuts and tax hikes for the next two years squeaked through with a narrow majority following severe disagreements among the three parties in the

World Business Nov. 12, 2012

South Korea said Friday minor cracks were found at a nuclear reactor that have not caused a leak but still mean the facility will be kept offline, prompting fears of power shortages in the coming winter.The cracks were found during maintenance work on control rod tubes at a unit in the Yeonggwang nuclear complex, where two other reactors were recently shut down for several months to replace unvetted components.Half of Yeonggwang's six reactors will now be offline until January at the earliest, t

Technology Nov. 9, 2012

Crocodile and alligator jaws are more sensitive than human fingertips and their sense of touch is among the most acute among animals, U.S. researchers say.Scientists, writing in the Journal of Experimental Biology, say the animals' jaws, covered with small, pigmented bumps that dot their skin, particularly around the face, are extremely sensitive to pressure and vibration, Discovery News reported.A previous study suggested the bumps -- known technically as "integumentary sensor organs" or ISOs -

Technology Nov. 9, 2012

A former congresswoman badly wounded in a shooting rampage two years ago came face to face with her attacker as he was sentenced Thursday to seven consecutive life sentence plus 140 years in prison for killing six people and wounding 13.Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, partially blind, her right arm paralyzed and limp, attended the sentencing, standing beside her husband as he spoke of her struggles to recover from being shot in the head.Jared Lee Loughner, 24, pleaded guilty under an agreement that gua

World News Nov. 9, 2012

Interpol on Thursday elected a French police commissioner known for her drive against organized crime in Bordeaux and Corsica as its first female president at its general assembly in Rome."Mireille Ballestrazzi of France becomes first woman to be elected president of Interpol," the world's top association of crime-fighters said on Twitter.Ballestrazzi, 58, became a police commissioner in France in 1975 and was already vice-president for Europe on Interpol's executive committee.She is particularl

World News Nov. 9, 2012

Key greenhouse gas emitter Australia on Friday announced it was ready to sign up for a second round of the Kyoto Protocol environmental protection treaty."Today I can announce that Australia is ready to join a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol," Climate Minister Greg Combet said in a speech.Australia is among the world's worst per capita polluters, with a heavy reliance on coal mining and exports. Most of its electricity comes from coal-fired power stations.Combet's announcement com

World Business Nov. 9, 2012

The bravado sounded familiar. Like the leaders of other countries swept away by Arab Spring uprisings, Syrian President Bashar Assad vowed to never be forced into exile and to die in his homeland.Assad dug in his heels even as world powers move to boost the opposition in Syria's civil war _ the latest turn in a nearly 20-month-old crisis so overwhelming that even the Red Cross says it can no longer cope.“I am not a puppet, I was not made by the West for me to go to the West or any other country,

World News Nov. 9, 2012