In this Dec. 16, 2002 file photo Russian Col. Yuri Budanov sits in a defendant‘s box during a trial in Rostov-on-Don. (AP-Yonhap News)MOSCOW (AP) -- A disgraced Russian army colonel convicted of murdering a Chechen teenage girl was gunned down contract-style in downtown Moscow Friday, investigators said.Yuri Budanov was sentenced to 10 years in jail for kidnapping and murdering 18-year-old Heda

BUENOS AIRES (AFP) – An Argentine laboratory announced that it had created the world‘s first transgenic cow, using human genes that will allow the animal to produce the equivalent of mothers’ milk.“The cloned cow, named Rosita ISA, is the first bovine born in the world that incorporates human genes that contain the proteins present in human milk,” Argentina‘s National Institute of Agrobusiness Tec

DHAKA (AFP) – A “benevolent burglar” hailed as a modern-day Robin Hood for donating his ill-gotten gains to local orphanages has been arrested in southeastern Bangladesh, police said.Badiul Haq Nasir, 45, who had earned millions in well-planned heists, was revered in dozens of villages for making large donations to orphanages and mosques, local police chief Babul Akhter told AFP.“The villagers say

(Yonhap News)PARIS (Yonhap News) -- Five South Korean pop bands held their first concert in Paris on Friday, making a successful debut on the European stage in front of more than 7,000 eager fans.Popular acts TVXQ, Girls‘ Generation, Super Junior, SHINee and f(x) put on a three-hour performance at Le Zenith de Paris concert hall, singing a total of 44 songs for the fans, who had come from all part

   SINDANGAN, Philippines (AP) _ A poor Filipino blacksmith's son who stands less than 2 feet (60 centimeters) tall was declared the world's shortest man by Guinness World Records on his 18th birthday Sunday, sparking a celebration in his hometown.   The title was bestowed on Junrey Balawing in Sindangan on the Philippines southern coast, with Balawing's parents, villagers and officials showering

BERLIN (AP) -- German vegetable sprouts caused the E. coli outbreak that has killed 31 people and sickened more than 3,000, investigators announced Friday after tracking the bacteria from patients in hospital beds to restaurants and then farm fields.Reinhard Burger, president of the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's national disease control center, said the pattern of the outbreak had produced enou

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The entire top echelon of Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign resigned on Thursday, a stunning mass exodus that left his bid for the Republican nomination in tatters. But the former House speaker vowed defiantly to remain a candidate. "I am committed to running the substantive, solutions-oriented campaign I set out to run earlier this spring," the Gingrich said in a posting to

SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) -- A group of North Korean taekwondo athletes arrived in the United States Thursday for a rare performance tour abroad.The 17-member team, which left Pyongyang on Saturday, arrived in San Francisco via Beijing. Leaving the San Francisco airport, they refused to answer reporters' questions.It is the second time that North Korean taekwondo athletes have visited

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Apple has eased the subscription policies for its hot-selling iPad and iPhone in a move that should help newspaper and magazine publishers make more money from mobile devices.The change will make it easier for publishers to sell subscriptions for the devices outside Apple's online store.That's important to publishers because they have to give Apple 30 percent of the revenue f

NEW YORK (AP) -– About 200,000 Citibank credit card customers in North America have had their names, account numbers and email addresses stolen by hackers who broke into Citi's online account site.Citigroup Inc. said it discovered that account information for about 1 percent of its credit card customers had been viewed by hackers. Citi has more than 21 million credit card customers in North Americ

Korea's central bank raised the key interest rate by a quarter percentage point on Friday following a two-month freeze, resuming its monetary tightening to curb persistent inflationary pressure.Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Kim Choong-soo and his fellow policymakers hiked the benchmark seven-day repo rate, dubbed the base rate, to 3.25 for June.The June rate hike, which marked the third increase this y

A man who killed his father with a sofa cushion is to be released, as the judge agreed with his claim of insanity. Stephen Coffeen of Florida allegedly murdered his 83-year-old father after drinking several cans of Red Bull, a popular energy drink.He maintained that he was not getting enough sleep and suffered from temporary insanity.“The defendant is found not guilty by reason if insanity due to

A British boy allegedly struck his mother to death with a bat, after she became engaged to a man eight months after the death of his father.James Gethen, 15, allegedly killed his mother a few hours after she announced her engagement on her Facebook.The accused suffered from meningitis, which may have affected his behavior, reports said. The boy has a record of being in trouble including throwing a

North Korea threatened Thursday to disclose voice recordings of a secret meeting it had with South Korea last month, during which Seoul allegedly proposed holding a series of inter-Korean summits.In a surprise move earlier this week, North Korea reported that the two Koreas held a secret meeting, during which Seoul negotiators had "begged" for three inter-Korean summits, the first in late June at

President Lee Myung-bak on Thursday replaced some of his aides, including senior presidential secretaries for political affairs and public relations.Rep. Kim Hyo-jae of the Grand National Party was named to succeed Chung Jin-seok as senior presidential secretary for political affairs.The presidential office also appointed Kim Du-woo, executive presidential secretary for planning and management, to

FULLERTON, California (AP) -- A U.S. computer repairman suspected of installing spyware on laptops that enabled him to snap and download photographs of women showering and undressing in their homes was arrested Wednesday at his home, police said. This photo provided by the Fullerton (Calif.) Police Department on Wednesday shows Trevor Harwell. Police say Harwell, a Southern California computer rep

 CUPERTINO, California (AP) -- Its ubiquitous products have already invaded the tech marketplace, and now Apple Inc. is seeking a fitting new Northern California home: a massive spaceship-like structure that will house an estimated 12,000 employees. Apple CEO Steve Jobs (AP-Yonhap News)Apple CEO Steve Jobs made a surprise appearance at a Cupertino City Council meeting late Tuesday to announce plan

An American woman named Karen Butler went to the dentist to remove several teeth and came out speaking a foreign -- slightly Irish -- accent.  She is believed to be suffering from a rare neurological disorder called foreign accent syndrome (FAS). This complication was first diagnosed in Norway in 1941 when a woman was hit by shrapnel from an air raid in World War II. Since then, there have only be

MANILA (AFP) – Laughing cicadas and small "cat sharks" are among scores of species believed new to science discovered by US and Filipino researchers in waters and islands of the Philippines, the team said Wednesday. Picture provided by California Academy of Sciences This picture provided by California Academy of Sciences shows species of starfish found by a team of US and Filipino researchers in w

Local police in Essex, Britain, came under fire after they ignored 100 text messages by a man threatening to kill his ex-partner. He shot the woman and their 2-year-old dead in their home on Sunday, according to Daily Mail Online. The killer also shoved his shotgun into the mouth of her 10-year-old daughter, who saved her life by climbing through the window onto the kitchen roof, according to the