The Korea Herald

Retired tourists embrace Asia

Mar 14, 2011

NEW DELHI (AFP) ― The typical tourist in Asia used to be a young backpacker in need of a shower, but these days there are just as many older and retired people roaming the continent seeking its secrets. With money and time to spare, the new breed of Western visitor is hitting the road in India, China and elsewhere, armed with an adventurous spirit, an inexhaustible thirst for knowledge and a kee...
Chinese farmers sell produce online

Mar 14, 2011

BEIJING (AFP) ― For years, Wang Yulan and her husband drove their three-wheeled vehicle to an outdoor market near Beijing to sell broccoli, peppers, eggplants and tomatoes grown on their small plot of land. Now, thanks to the Web, they don’t even have to leave their living room. Two years ago the couple bought a computer and joined a growing number of Chinese farmers selling their produce onlin...
U.S. scientists recruit crocs to save wetlands

Mar 14, 2011

MIAMI (AFP) ― U.S. scientists in the Florida Everglades are recruiting crocodiles and alligators in their fight to preserve the fragile wetlands by implanting satellite chips in their necks for the first time. As the animals make their way through different parts of the sprawling national park they beam back information on changes in the ecosystem and its impact on their size and movement patter...
Clinton spokesman quits after leaker flap

Mar 14, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Chief State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley quit on Sunday after causing a stir by describing the U.S. military’s treatment of the suspected WikiLeaks leaker as “ridiculous” and “stupid,” pointed words that forced President Barack Obama to defend the detention as appropriate. “Given the impact of my remarks, for which I take full responsibility, I have submitted my resignatio...
China approves economic plan, no political changes

Mar 14, 2011

BEIJING (AP) ― China approved economic plans for the next five years that aim to empower consumers but rejected any hints of political reforms as it closed its annual legislative session Monday. The Five-Year Plan calls for a shift from rapid economic growth to higher quality, more sustainable development with a greater emphasis on services and broader distribution of wealth. If carried out, the...
Japan volcano again sends columns of ash in air

Mar 13, 2011

TOKYO (AFP) - A volcano in southwestern Japan erupted Sunday after nearly two weeks of relative silence, sending ash and rocks up to four kilometres (two and a half miles) into the air, a local official said. It was not immediately clear if the eruption was a direct result of the massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake that rocked northern areas Friday, unleashing a fierce tsunami and sparking fears th...
Japan launches search, rescue effort

Mar 13, 2011

TOKYO (AFP) ― Japan mobilized 50,000 military and other rescue personnel Saturday to spearhead a Herculean rescue and recovery effort, a day after being hit by its most devastating quake and tsunami on record. Every wing of the Self Defense Forces was thrown into frantic service, with hundreds of ships, aircraft and vehicles headed to the Pacific coast area where more than 2,000 people were fear...
World rushes aid to quake victims

Mar 13, 2011

PARIS (AFP) ― International rescue teams were rushing to Japan on Sunday after a 8.8-magnitude earthquake and tsunami left more than 2,000 feared dead, at least 10,000 missing and seriously damaged a nuclear power plant. The world has rallied behind Japan, where tsunami waves up to 10 meters high rolled across the low-lying northeast on Friday, washing away everything in their path. U.S. aircra...
Yemen police fire on protests, 6 killed

Mar 13, 2011

SANAA, Yemen (AP) ― Yemeni security forces killed six people Saturday and wounded hundreds in the second day of a harsh crackdown on anti-government protests, witnesses said. One of the dead was a 15-year-old student. The assault with gunfire and tear gas was the toughest yet by the Yemeni government in a month of protests aimed at unseating President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been in power fo...
Millions without food, water, power in Japan

Mar 13, 2011

TAGAJO, Japan (AP) _ The death toll in Japan's earthquake and tsunami will likely exceed 10,000 in one state alone, an official said Sunday, as millions of survivors were left without drinking water, electricity and proper food along the pulverized northeastern coast. Although the government doubled the number of soldiers deployed in the aid effort to 100,000, it seemed overwhelmed by what's tur...
Japan shaken by magnitude 6.2 aftershock

Mar 13, 2011

TOKYO (AP) -- Japan has been shaken by a strong earthquake off its eastern coast, closer to Tokyo than the massive quake that hit Friday. The latest temblor swayed buildings in the capital. The U.S. Geological Survey says the temblor had a magnitude of 6.2 and struck at 10:26 a.m. Sunday. It was centered about 179 kilometers east of Tokyo, at a depth of 124.5 kilometers. Japan's northeastern co...
Japan-devastation-scene

Mar 13, 2011

Scenes of devastation at heart of Japan disaster SENDAI, Japan (AP) -- She scanned the landscape of debris and destruction, looking at the patch of earth where Japan‘s massive tsunami erased her son’s newly built house so thoroughly that she can‘t even be certain where it once stood. Satako Yusawa teared up but pulled herself together quickly. Because for the 69-year-old widow, there was this ...
Japan says 2nd nuke plant blast possible, reactor would survive

Mar 13, 2011

TOKYO (AFP) -- Japan's top government spokesman Sunday warned of the risk of a second explosion at the quake-hit Fukushima nuclear plant, but said that reactor three could withstand it as reactor one did a day earlier.
Millions without food, water, power in Japan

Mar 13, 2011

TAGAJO, Japan (AP) -- Millions of Japanese were without drinking water or electricity Sunday, surviving on instant noodles and rice balls, two days after a powerful earthquake and tsunami hammered the northeastern coast, killing at least 1,000 people. Although the government doubled the number of soldiers deployed in the aid effort to 100,000, it seemed overwhelmed by what's turning out to be a ...
Seoul municipal gov't prepares team to aid devastated Japan

Mar 13, 2011

The Seoul metropolitan government is assembling a rescue and medical team to assist Japan in search and recovery operations following Friday's devastating earthquake and tsunami, the regional government said Sunday. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon presided over a meeting of the municipal government officials the previous day to come up with measures to help Japan recover from the quake that struck its no...