Police arrested two teen girls for allegedly threatening the 16-year-old victim in the Steubenville, Ohio, rape case, state Attorney General Mike DeWine said.Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said the threats came Sunday soon after Judge Thomas Lipps found Steubenville High School football players Trent Mays, 17, and Ma'lik Richmond, 16, guilty of juvenile charges equivalent to rape for digitally penetrating an allegedly drunk 16-year-old girl during a series of parties in August.Both teens were

A finding of exceptionally low genetic diversity suggests all giant squid worldwide are members of a single species, Danish researchers say.A study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B reported on DNA studies of the globe-trotting giant squid, which can grow as big as 43 feet long."These observations are consistent with the hypotheses that there is only one global species of giant squid, Architeuthis dux," researcher Inger Winkelmann and colleagues wrote, suggesting the squid coul

The U.S. man charged with killing a woman and raping her 10-year-old daughter after a carjacking was able to remove and reassemble his court-ordered electronic monitoring bracelet to go undetected for hours while carrying out the attacks, authorities said.David Renz, 29, put the ankle bracelet back together so quickly that it may have prompted what appeared to be a false alarm Thursday night. Officials had told the company not to notify them of the briefest interruptions of monitor signals becau

North Korea warned Wednesday that it will take military action should the United States deploy B-52 strategic bombers again on the peninsula."We are keeping close tabs on the activity of the B-52 strategic bomber," a spokesperson for the North's foreign ministry said, according to its official news agency KCNA.If the bomber appears again over the Korean Peninsula, it won't be able to avoid a strong military response, added the unnamed spokesperson.The U.S. sent B-52 bombers based on Guam to Kore

On a trip to Northeast Asia, a couple of senior U.S. officials specializing in economic sanctions have been discussing ways to impose financial restrictions on North Korea as tough as those on Iran, multiple sources said Tuesday.David Cohen, under secretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, and Dan Fried, the State Department's sanctions coordinator, are due in Beijing following trips to Tokyo and Seoul. The two are in charge of Washington's sanctions worldwide."It is unu

The government has decided to establish a second public firm to operate the country's KTX high-speed trains in an effort to inject greater competition into the railway system monopolized by the state-run Korea Railroad (KORAIL), officials said Wednesday.The move is expected to be finalized in a report to President Park Geun-hye slated for later this month, according to the officials from the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.The new railroad company will likely handle the operatio

Syria's government and rebels traded accusations Tuesday of a chemical attack on a northern village for the first time in the civil war, although the U.S. said there was no evidence it had happened.The use of such weapons would be a nightmare scenario in the 2-year-old conflict that has killed an estimated 70,000 people, and the competing claims showed awillingness by both sides to go to new levels to seek support from world powers.One of the international community's biggest concerns is that Sy

A French hostage has been executed in Mali, a man claiming to be a spokesman for al-qaida in North Africa told Mauritania's ANI news agency late Tuesday.A French foreign office spokesman said they were trying to verify the report of the killing of Philippe Verdon, who was kidnapped in November 2011, adding that "we don't know at the moment" whether it is reliable. (AFP)

Lawmakers in Cyprus decisively rejected a plan on Tuesday to seize up to 10 percent of people's bank deposits in order to secure an international bailout and prevent a collapse of the country's banks.The vote leaves the tiny Mediterranean economy in financial limbo, but hundreds of protesters outside Parliament cheered and sang the national anthem when they heard the bill failed.Still, Cyprus needs 15.8 billion euros ($20.4 billion) to bail out its heavily indebted banks and shore up government

The Financial Supervisory Service on Tuesday issued an “institutional caution” against Heungkuk Life Insurance for glossing over irregular practices at a sales branch.“While the Heungkuk branch attracted policyholders via unauthorized practices, the headquarters did not take any disciplinary action despite internal detection,” an FSS official said.Ultimately, the headquarters suffered losses worth 1.22 billion won ($1.1 million) -- as extra costs for resolving unfair contracts between the branch

영국에서 학교 이사로 재직하던 한 여성이 윤락업에 종사한 것이 발각된 이후 사임하는 사건이 발생했다고 현지 언론이 17일 (현지시간) 보도했다.더 선 등 보도에 따르면 최근까지 웨스트 요크셔 허더스필드에 있는 한 중등학교 (secondary school)에서 이사로 재직하던 이 48세 여성은 여가시간을 이용해 윤락여성으로 일했다고 한다.그녀는 실제 신분을 숨기기 위해 얼굴을 가린 노출 사진을 음란물 사이트 등에 올려 광고를 했으며 “끝내주는 (mind-blowing) 서비스”를 제공해줄 것을 약속했다.이 여성은 허더스필드에 거주 중이었으나, ‘고객’들은 리즈에 있는 아파트에서 받았다고 한다.학교 측은 여성이 스스로 사의를 표명했으며 더 이상 학교와 아무 관련이 없다고 밝혔다. 또한 이 여성이 이사로 재직했다는 기록은 학교 측 웹사이트에서 모두 삭제된 상태이다.한편 이 학교는 작년 7월에 있었던 영국 교육기준청(OFSTED) 평가에서 1등급인 “특출남(outstanding)” 평가를

가수 장재인 (22)이 말초신경 손상으로 투병 중이라고 소속사가 19일 밝혔다.장 씨의 소식사 나뭇잎 엔터테인먼트는 이날 “장재인이 지난해 가을부터 마비 증세가 있었다”고 밝히면서 "이후 통증이 동반돼 종합병원에서 말초신경 손상이란 진단을 받았다. 어제 신경 및 혈관계 검사 30여 개를 받았으며 오늘 추가 진단을 받은 후 입원 치료를 고려하고 있다”고 설명했다. 장 씨는 전날 트위터에 “작년 가을부터 몸이 좀 안좋더니 말초신경에 손상이 와서 저번달부턴 몸 감각이 이상해요…. 몸 왼쪽은 좀 진행이 되서 내거가 아닌거 같아요. 통기타를 잡는 게 예전같지 않네요”라고 적었다.장 씨는 집중 치료를 받으면서 연습과 작업을 조금씩 병행할 예정이라고 알리면서 병을 “꼭 완치시킬 것”이라고 다짐했다.장 씨의 소속사 측이 “건강 회복에 우선을 둘 계획”이라고 전함에 따라 최근 동료 김지수와 함께 발표한 싱글 ‘김밥’의 활동도 불투명해졌다. <관련 영문 기사>Singer Jang Jae-in suff

Defense Minister-designate Kim Byung-kwan came under further pressure to withdraw Tuesday after he was found to have shares in controversial overseas resource developer KMDC and to have failed to report them in asset disclosure and confirmation hearings.Following the latest revelation of his irregularities, the Democratic United Party once again called on the retired general to withdraw his nomination. KMDC is a resource developer founded in 2010. It was alleged in 2011 that an influential figur

Syria's opposition coalition early Tuesday elected a little-known American-educated IT manager and Islamic activist to head an interim government to administer areas seized by rebel forces from President Bashar Assad's troops.Ghassan Hitto received 35 votes out of 48 ballots cast by the opposition Syrian National Coalition's 63 active members during a meeting in Istanbul. The results were read aloud by coalition member Hisham Marwa to applause from a few dozen of his colleagues who had waited un

Prosecutors raided the Korea Exchange Bank’s main office Tuesday as part of an investigation into allegations that the nation’s fifth-largest lender took profits by illegally raising interest rates on loans to small and medium-sized firms.The Financial Supervisory Service requested the investigation on March 5 claiming that the bank gained some 18.1 billion won ($16.2 million) through rate manipulations between 2006 and 2009. The prosecutors seized computer hard drives and data from CEO Yun Yong

A top governor at a prestigious British school stepped down after it was revealed that she had worked as an escort under a fake name, British media reported Sunday.According to the Sun, the 48-year-old held a post as the chief governor at a secondary school in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, while secretly working as an escort via an erotic website in her free time.She used a false identity and posted revealing photos -- with blurred faces to hide her identity -- on the Internet and offered what s

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for concentrated efforts to build up the country's light industrial sector that has direct bearing on the lives of everyday people, state media reported Tuesday.The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) monitored in Seoul said Kim stressed the importance of the sector in a speech given at a national light industry gathering held in Pyongyang.The official news wire service said the leader made clear that light industry, along with agriculture, is critical for tr

Lindsay Lohan isn't headed back to jail _ but she won't be free to party for a while either.The troubled 26-year-old actress accepted a plea deal on Monday in a misdemeanor car crash case that includes 90 days in a locked-down rehabilitation facility that she won't be able to leave.Lohan who has struggled for years with legal problems and been briefly jailed five times, pleaded no contest to reckless driving and lying to police who were investigating the accident involving the actress in June al

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has named Kang Kyung-wha, a former South Korean diplomat, as deputy head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Ban's office announced Monday. Kang will replace Catherine Bragg of Canada as assistant secretary general for humanitarian affairs and deputy emergency relief coordinator, it added.Kang has served as the deputy U.N. high commissioner for human rights since January 2007.Prior to joining the U.N., she worked as chief

B-52s participating in the ongoing South Korea-U.S. joint military drills are meant to demonstrate a strong alliance capability in the face of North Korean threats, the Pentagon said Monday."This mission highlights the extended deterrence and conventional capabilities of the B-52 Stratofortress while participating in exercises such as Foal Eagle," Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters.Foal Eagle, an annual joint exercise, began on March 1 for a two-month run. South Korea and the U.S. a