The Korea Herald

Cervical cancer virus fuels oral cancer type, too

PodcastOct 4, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) — A prolonged sore throat once was considered a cancer worry mainly for smokers and drinkers. Today there‘s another risk: A sexually transmitted virus is fueling a rise in oral cancer. The HPV virus is best known for causing cervical cancer. But it can cause cancer in the upper throat, too, and a new study says HPV-positive tumors now account for a majority of these cases of what...
Man believed to be Kim Jong-il's grandson offers apology to NK people

PodcastOct 4, 2011

A young man assumed to be the 16-year-old grandson of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il apologized to his compatriots for their hunger in a 2007 YouTube posting seen by Yonhap News Agency on Monday. "Anthem North Korea," a YouTube posting by a person nicknamed 'gliango' in December 2007, drew more than 1,500 comments, which included about 10 written by 'kimhs616,' a nickname believed to be used by...
Female hormonal contraception linked to higher HIV risk

PodcastOct 4, 2011

PARIS (AFP) -- Women who use hormonal birth control are roughly twice as likely to become infected with HIV or pass on the AIDS virus to their partner, according to a study published on Tuesday. The research was carried out among 3,790 heterosexual couples in Africa where one partner had the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) while the other was uninfected. The findings, if confirmed, could hav...
Apple expected to unveil new iPhone Tuesday

PodcastOct 4, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Apple fans are amped. The computer and gadget maker is expected to announce a new, more powerful version of its wildly popular smartphone this week _ more than a year after it unveiled the iPhone 4. Last week, Apple Inc. e-mailed invitations to a media event at its headquarters in Cupertino on Tuesday morning. The invite says ``let's talk iPhone,'' implying the normally sec...
Italy appeals court clears Knox of murder

PodcastOct 4, 2011

PERUGIA, Italy (AP) -- Amanda Knox left prison Monday, a free woman for the first time in four years, after an Italian appeals court threw out the young American’s murder conviction in the sexual assault and stabbing death of her British roommate. Knox, 24, collapsed in tears after the verdict was read, her lawyers draping their arms around her in support. Her co-defendant and former boyfriend, ...
Anti-Wall Street protests spread nationwide

PodcastOct 4, 2011

NEW YORK (AP) -- Protests against Wall Street spread across the country Monday as demonstrators marched on Federal Reserve banks and camped out in parks from Los Angeles to Portland, Maine, in a show of anger over the wobbly economy and what they see as corporate greed. In Manhattan, hundreds of protesters dressed as corporate zombies in white face paint lurched past the New York Stock Exchange ...
Math genius refused to join prestigious academy

PodcastOct 4, 2011

Russia’s reclusive math genius Grigory Perelman has de facto refused to join the ranks of the Russian Academy of Sciences, local media reported. The St. Petersburg-based Steklov Institute of Mathematics proposed Perelman’s candidacy but he did not reply to the invitation, Interfax reported Monday. “He hasn’t responded to our telegrams or phone calls. And he has not made any attempt to communica...
Scientist wins Nobel 3 days after cancer death

PodcastOct 4, 2011

NEW YORK (AP) -- Ralph Steinman, a pioneer in understanding how cells fight disease, tried to help his own immune system thwart his pancreatic cancer. Steinman survived until Friday. Three days later, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine. The Nobel committee, unaware of his death, announced the award Monday in Stockholm. Steinman’s employer, Rockefeller University in New York, learned of...
USFK to turn over soldier suspected of rape to S. Korean prosecutors

PodcastOct 3, 2011

A U.S. soldier, suspected of raping a South Korean teenage girl, is expected to be turned over to South Korean authorities this week, local law enforcement sources said Monday. The 21-year-old U.S. Army private, assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division, was placed under U.S. military custody after confessing that he raped an 18-yer-old Korean girl in the early hours of Sept. 24 near his unit in Don...
Lawyer-turned-activist wins opposition-bloc ticket for Seoul mayoral race

PodcastOct 3, 2011

Lawyer-turned-activist Park Won-soon was picked as the unified opposition-bloc candidate to run in the upcoming Seoul mayoral by-election. The founder of the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, a major civic activist group, had been a front-runner in a series of public polls since he received endorsement from popular software entrepreneur, Ahn Chul-soo early last month. Park is exp...
Immune system discoveries earn Nobel in medicine

PodcastOct 3, 2011

STOCKHOLM (AP) -- Three scientists won the Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for discoveries about the immune system that opened new avenues for the treatment and prevention of infectious illnesses and cancer. American Bruce Beutler and French scientist Jules Hoffmann shared the 10 million-kronor ($1.5 million) award with Canadian-born Ralph Steinman, the Nobel committee at Stockholm's Karolinsk...
Hand gestures replacing keys, power switches

PodcastOct 3, 2011

A Taiwanese scientist has developed technology that allows doors to be unlocked with just a wave of the hand rather than with traditional keys, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported. A researcher at the Technology and Science Institute of Northern Taiwan said Saturday they have invented an "invisible key" that allows gestures to be preset that can unlock doors. The creation by Tsai Yao-Pin, an ...
Number of mentally ill criminals to hit 2,000 this year

PodcastOct 3, 2011

The number of mentally ill criminals who have committed felonies such as murder is expected to rise to 2,000 this year, said a government report released on Monday. According to the report by the National Police Agency, there are 1,879 mentally ill criminals, causing worry as their tendency to become repeat offenders is higher than that of the average criminal. Submitted to the National Assembl...
Body count grows in a South African murder mystery

PodcastOct 3, 2011

JOHANNESBURG (AP) -- More than a year after the owner of a string of South African strip clubs was shot and killed, police are still chasing his killer. Now the recent deaths of men linked to Lolly Jackson have added to the mystery. Police reports read like a crime thriller, complete with graphic violence, sex and cash. It began May 3, 2010, when police received a call from a man who said he wa...
'Flying carpet' developed in U.S. lab

PodcastOct 3, 2011

A miniature "magic carpet" made of flexible conductive plastic and driven by electrical current has taken flight in a U.S. laboratory, researchers said. Researchers in Princeton University reported to in Applied Physics that the prototype 4-inch sheet moved at speeds of about a centimeter per second. It is driven by "ripple power"; waves of electrical current driving thin pockets of air from fro...