Son of Samsung chairman questioned in probe

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The son of the chief of powerful Samsung Group appeared for questioning Thursday by special prosecutors investigating allegations of corruption at the huge conglomerate.

I know there are a lot of concerns about me and Samsung, Lee Jae-yong, son of Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, told reporters upon arrival for questioning in live footage broadcast by cable news channel YTN.

Yonhap news agency and other media reported earlier that the younger Lee, an executive at Samsung Electronics — the conglomerate’s flagship — was to be queried about alleged shady dealings involving the group’s corporate structure.

Special prosecutors could not immediately be reached.

A Samsung Group spokesman, Yim Jun-seok, said he had no other details on what subjects Lee was to be questioned.
Son of Samsung chairman questioned in probe – found here.

Airstrike hits Gaza ministry building

JERUSALEM (CNN) — At least three Israeli missiles hit the Palestinian Interior Ministry in Gaza early Thursday, hours after Palestinian militants fired more than 40 Qassam rockets into southern Israel.

One of those rockets struck near a college, killing one person, according to the Israeli military and emergency medical services. The Palestinian rockets are a near daily occurrence but have only occasionally injured or killed people.

The strike at the ministry injured several people, according to Palestinian sources. Another rocket hit the building several minutes later, the sources said. A six-month-old child was struck by shrapnel and killed, the sources said.

The ministry strike was part of a series of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza in retaliation for the rocket attack. They included one outside Gaza City that killed two children, Palestinian medical sources said.

The Israeli military confirmed eight airstrikes in Gaza. The targets were rocket manufacturing and launching sites and a headquarters building, the Israelis said. Palestinian sources said two militants were killed.

The continuing violence came as an opinion poll in a leading Israeli paper suggested most Israelis think their government should negotiate with Hamas — the militants in control of Gaza — for a cease-fire and the release of a captured soldier.

The poll, conducted by the newspaper Haaretz and the polling company Dialog, found 64 percent of Israelis in favor of talks.

It now appears that this opinion is gaining traction in the wider public, which until recently vehemently rejected such negotiations, according to the newspaper.

According to the findings, Israelis are fed up with seven years of Qassam rockets falling on Sderot and the communities near Gaza, as well as the fact that [Gilad] Shalit has been held captive for more than a year and a half, the newspaper said.

Shalit was 19 when he was captured June 25, 2006, by Palestinian militants who tunneled into Israel and attacked an army outpost near the Gaza-Israel-Egypt border.

Apart from the one death and one injury Wednesday by Palestinian rockets that hit Sapir College, near Sderot, no other injuries were reported from the rockets.

Another Israeli airstrike — targeting a rocket cell in northern Gaza — killed one civilian and injured three others just outside Jebalya, Palestinian medical and security sources said.

Five Hamas members were killed in an earlier airstrike in Gaza, the sources said.

The Israeli military confirmed it carried out the airstrikes in northern Gaza, but offered no details.

Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resisted pressure to launch a broader military operation against Palestinian militants in Gaza after a rocket attack seriously wounded an 8-year-old boy in Sderot. The boy’s leg was amputated.

Instead, Israel retaliated with troops carrying out airstrikes in Gaza against Hamas targets.

Olmert has vowed not to slacken against the ongoing attacks on Israel, which he described as an almost daily war.

We will continue to struggle in order to reduce to nil the threat that is upsetting the quality of life of residents of the south, he said.

As part of that struggle, Olmert said, Israel will continue its military operations and its blockade of materials that could serve the terrorist organizations, including energy.

Israel has allowed some fuel and medical supplies into Gaza, but has kept the border crossings closed except to meet emergency humanitarian needs. The block on food, fuel and medicine has led to long lines at stores and left hospitals without heat.

Human rights groups have protested against the blockade, accusing Israel of collectively punishing civilians along with the territory’s Hamas leadership.

On Monday, thousands of people formed a human chain along Gaza’s roads in a Hamas-led protest over the blockade. Hamas does not recognize Israel’s right to exist, and Israel and the United States consider it a terrorist organization.

This may not always be loved but it is an important part of counterterrorist activity, Olmert said.

He also said the Israeli government is building 13 new schools in Sderot and surrounding areas that will be reinforced to protect them from the salvo of rockets.

It is part of a $14 million plan approved by the Knesset in January.

The poll figures were obtained in a Haaretz-Dialog poll conducted Tuesday under the supervision of Professor Camil Fuchs of Tel Aviv University.
Airstrike hits Gaza ministry building – found here.

Son of Samsung chairman questioned in probe

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The son of the chief of powerful Samsung Group appeared for questioning Thursday by special prosecutors investigating allegations of corruption at the huge conglomerate.

I know there are a lot of concerns about me and Samsung, Lee Jae-yong, son of Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, told reporters upon arrival for questioning in live footage broadcast by cable news channel YTN.

Yonhap news agency and other media reported earlier that the younger Lee, an executive at Samsung Electronics — the conglomerate’s flagship — was to be queried about alleged shady dealings involving the group’s corporate structure.

Special prosecutors could not immediately be reached.

A Samsung Group spokesman, Yim Jun-seok, said he had no other details on what subjects Lee was to be questioned.
Son of Samsung chairman questioned in probe – found here.

Son of Samsung chairman questioned in probe

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The son of the chief of powerful Samsung Group appeared for questioning Thursday by special prosecutors investigating allegations of corruption at the huge conglomerate.

I know there are a lot of concerns about me and Samsung, Lee Jae-yong, son of Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, told reporters upon arrival for questioning in live footage broadcast by cable news channel YTN.

Yonhap news agency and other media reported earlier that the younger Lee, an executive at Samsung Electronics — the conglomerate’s flagship — was to be queried about alleged shady dealings involving the group’s corporate structure.

Special prosecutors could not immediately be reached.

A Samsung Group spokesman, Yim Jun-seok, said he had no other details on what subjects Lee was to be questioned.
Son of Samsung chairman questioned in probe – found here.

Music diplomacy draws tears, waves

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — The New York Philharmonic’s unprecedented concert could herald warmer ties between North Korea and the United States. After three encores, some musicians left the stage in tears, as the audience waved fondly.

Between horn fanfares and the flourishes of the conductor’s baton, the U.S. and North Korea found common ground in a concert Tuesday that spanned American and Korean musical traditions.

The goodwill continued Wednesday, with four Philharmonic musicians joining four North Korean musicians in a concert, playing Felix Mendelssohn’s Octet for Strings followed by a piece written by an American girl in honor of North Korean children.

Whether the feeling lingers after the music will depend on the North’s compliance with an international push to rid it of nuclear weapons.

After the New York Philharmonic played the last notes of the folk song Arirang, the adoring audience stood and applauded enthusiastically, waving to the musicians. Watch the audience, people at home respond to the concert

Orchestra members — some moved to tears — paused with their instruments and waved back, an emotional finale to the concert that was the highlight of the Philharmonic’s 48-hour visit.

The enraptured crowd drew music director Lorin Maazel and concertmaster Glenn Dicterow out for a final bow after the rest of the ensemble left the flower-adorned stage at the East Pyongyang Grand Theater.

The concert was broadcast live on North Korean TV, meaning it was heard beyond the 2,500 people in the theater. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, one of the world’s most reclusive leaders, did not attend; there was no way to know whether he watched.

We may have been instrumental in opening a little door, Maazel said after the performance.

He dismissed the significance of Kim’s absence, saying: I have yet to see the president of the United States at one of my concerts. Sometimes a statesman is too busy.

Former U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry attended the performance and called it a historic moment, remembering how close the countries came to war in 1994 amid a crisis over the North’s nuclear program. Watch highlights of the concert

This might just have pushed us over the top in finding a way beyond past discord, he said after the concert, adding that Washington should reciprocate by inviting North Korean performers to the United States.

You cannot demonize people when you’re sitting there listening to their music. You don’t go to war with people unless you demonize them first, Perry said.

North Korea’s vice culture minister agreed.

I can say that through the concert tonight, all the members of the New York Philharmonic opened the hearts of the Korean people, Song Sok Hwan told the orchestra. The concert, he said at a banquet, serves as an important occasion to open a chapter of mutual understanding between the two countries.

On Wednesday, North Korea’s main Rodong Sinmun newspaper carried a small article written by the official Korean central News Agency about the concert on page four of the six-page daily.

Performing on a stage flanked by the U.S. and North Korean flags, the Philharmonic played the North Korean national anthem, Patriotic Song, following by The Star-Spangled Banner. The audience stood respectfully and held their applause until both had been performed.

The Philharmonic then presented Dvorak’s New World Symphony, written while the Czech composer lived in the United States — followed by Gershwin’s playful, jazz-influenced An American in Paris.

Someday a composer may write a work entitled ‘Americans in Pyongyang,’ Maazel said in introducing the Gershwin work, drawing warm applause from the audience.

North Koreans in attendance — men in suits and women in colorful traditional Korean dresses — fixed their eyes on the stage. Many wore badges with a portrait of national founder Kim Il Sung, father of the current leader.

Some raised digital cameras to capture the event, an indication of the elite status of the concertgoers in a country with an average salary of just dollars a month.

For one of its three encores, the Philharmonic performed the overture to Leonard Bernstein’s Candide, without a conductor. Maazel yielded the podium to the spirit of the legendary musician with an exhortation of Maestro, please! in Korean.

The concert wrapped up with a final encore of Arirang — beloved in both the North and South and often used as a reunification anthem at friendly events between the two Koreas.

Jon Deak, associate principal bass player, who performed under Bernstein to celebrate the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall, said members of his section had tears in their eyes at the end of the concert, and I just can’t remember that that has happened before.

I don’t think we’ve ever been moved so deeply, he said.

I think the concert is just a wonderful gesture for greater understanding between the peoples of the U.S. and the DPRK, said audience member Pak Chol, using the initials for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the North’s official name.

The concert was not only just an art performance but also embodied the good feelings of the Americans toward citizens of the DPRK, said Pak, counselor with the North’s Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee.

The optimism did not appear to extend to Bush administration officials, who were dismissive over whether the concert could yield better relations without progress in North Korea’s nuclear disarmament. Washington is pressing for Pyongyang to declare its past and present nuclear activity, as it has promised to do.

The concert is not necessarily going to change the behavior of a regime that is not being as forthcoming as we need them to be on their nuclear activities, White House press secretary Dana Perino said.

In China, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the North Korean people should have more opportunities to engage with the world.

It’s a society that certainly needs ways to open up … It’s a long way from playing that concert to changing the nature of the politics of North Korea, but I think it’s a good thing, she said.

Ahead of the performance, Maazel noted the orchestra has been a force for change in the past, citing its 1959 performance in the Soviet Union under Bernstein’s baton.

The Soviets didn’t realize that it was a two-edged sword, because by doing so they allowed people from outside the country to interact with their own people, and to have an influence, he said. It was so long lasting that eventually the people in power found themselves out of power.

Asked if he thought the same could happen in North Korea, he said: There are no parallels in history; there are similarities.

On the streets of Pyongyang, North Koreans said they were aware of the orchestra’s visit.

Ri Myong Sop, an electrical engineering student, repeated the country’s official line that the United States started the Korean War, which ended in a 1953 cease-fire that has never been replaced with a peace treaty.

At present, if the United States takes the decision of a more encouraging policy toward the North then we can embrace the United States, he said through one of the government-provided translators accompanying all journalists covering the trip.

After the Philharmonic, a rock concert could be in the works — officials at North Korea’s embassy in London confirmed Tuesday they had invited British guitarist Eric Clapton to play in Pyongyang.

However, Clapton spokeswoman Kristen Foster said there is no agreement for him to perform in North Korea.
Music diplomacy draws tears, waves – found here.

Early morning quake rocks UK

(CNN) — A magnitude 4.7 earthquake shook Britain early Wednesday, centered on the east coast north of London, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The British Geological Survey put the preliminary magnitude for the earthquake at 5.3 on the Richter scale, according to the British Press Association.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The quake’s center was about 125 miles (205 km) north of London, or about 30 miles (50 km) south of Kingston upon Hull, the USGS said. It struck just before 0100 GMT.

It felt pretty scary, Haydn Jones of Nottingham, who lives in a third-floor apartment, told CNN. He said he has lived abroad in Japan and knew immediately what it was, but felt that a lot of those in England didn’t really know what was going on.

Jones likened the feeling to someone very big and angry jumping on the ceiling below you, rather than the floor.

He believed the shaking lasted about 10 seconds, but said, time sort of stands still for you. He said there was no damage in his area.

The USGS classifies earthquakes of magnitude 4.0 to magnitude 4.9 as light.

Earthquakes frequently hit Britain — between 200 and 300 annually, according to the British Geological Survey, although most have a magnitude of less than 2. Earthquakes with a magnitude of 4.0 to 4.9 hit mainland Britain about once every two years and strike beneath the North Sea about once per year.

Britain’s strongest recorded quake was the North Sea quake of June 7, 1931, with a magnitude of 6.1. It was felt across the British isles and in northwestern Germany. The quake killed one person.

The most powerful onshore quakes occurred on July 19, 1984, in north Wales (magnitude 5.1) and on April 2, 1990, along the Welsh border with England (5.1 magnitude).

A 4.6 magnitude quake in Colchester on April 22, 1884, was Britain’s most damaging earthquake, knocking spires from churches and masonry from roofs. Turrets and parapets also fell, and brick walls and chimneys collapsed. Two people were killed.
Early morning quake rocks UK – found here.

Early morning quake rocks UK

(CNN) — A magnitude 4.7 earthquake shook Britain early Wednesday, centered on the east coast north of London, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The British Geological Survey put the preliminary magnitude for the earthquake at 5.3 on the Richter scale, according to the British Press Association.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The quake’s center was about 125 miles (205 km) north of London, or about 30 miles (50 km) south of Kingston upon Hull, the USGS said. It struck just before 0100 GMT.

It felt pretty scary, Haydn Jones of Nottingham, who lives in a third-floor apartment, told CNN. He said he has lived abroad in Japan and knew immediately what it was, but felt that a lot of those in England didn’t really know what was going on.

Jones likened the feeling to someone very big and angry jumping on the ceiling below you, rather than the floor.

He believed the shaking lasted about 10 seconds, but said, time sort of stands still for you. He said there was no damage in his area.

The USGS classifies earthquakes of magnitude 4.0 to magnitude 4.9 as light.

Earthquakes frequently hit Britain — between 200 and 300 annually, according to the British Geological Survey, although most have a magnitude of less than 2. Earthquakes with a magnitude of 4.0 to 4.9 hit mainland Britain about once every two years and strike beneath the North Sea about once per year.

Britain’s strongest recorded quake was the North Sea quake of June 7, 1931, with a magnitude of 6.1. It was felt across the British isles and in northwestern Germany. The quake killed one person.

The most powerful onshore quakes occurred on July 19, 1984, in north Wales (magnitude 5.1) and on April 2, 1990, along the Welsh border with England (5.1 magnitude).

A 4.6 magnitude quake in Colchester on April 22, 1884, was Britain’s most damaging earthquake, knocking spires from churches and masonry from roofs. Turrets and parapets also fell, and brick walls and chimneys collapsed. Two people were killed.
Early morning quake rocks UK – found here.

Early morning quake rocks UK

(CNN) — A magnitude 4.7 earthquake shook Britain early Wednesday, centered on the east coast north of London, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The British Geological Survey put the preliminary magnitude for the earthquake at 5.3 on the Richter scale, according to the British Press Association.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The quake’s center was about 125 miles (205 km) north of London, or about 30 miles (50 km) south of Kingston upon Hull, the USGS said. It struck just before 0100 GMT.

It felt pretty scary, Haydn Jones of Nottingham, who lives in a third-floor apartment, told CNN. He said he has lived abroad in Japan and knew immediately what it was, but felt that a lot of those in England didn’t really know what was going on.

Jones likened the feeling to someone very big and angry jumping on the ceiling below you, rather than the floor.

He believed the shaking lasted about 10 seconds, but said, time sort of stands still for you. He said there was no damage in his area.

The USGS classifies earthquakes of magnitude 4.0 to magnitude 4.9 as light.

Earthquakes frequently hit Britain — between 200 and 300 annually, according to the British Geological Survey, although most have a magnitude of less than 2. Earthquakes with a magnitude of 4.0 to 4.9 hit mainland Britain about once every two years and strike beneath the North Sea about once per year.

Britain’s strongest recorded quake was the North Sea quake of June 7, 1931, with a magnitude of 6.1. It was felt across the British isles and in northwestern Germany. The quake killed one person.

The most powerful onshore quakes occurred on July 19, 1984, in north Wales (magnitude 5.1) and on April 2, 1990, along the Welsh border with England (5.1 magnitude).

A 4.6 magnitude quake in Colchester on April 22, 1884, was Britain’s most damaging earthquake, knocking spires from churches and masonry from roofs. Turrets and parapets also fell, and brick walls and chimneys collapsed. Two people were killed.
Early morning quake rocks UK – found here.

Historic concert in North Korea brings violinist to tears

SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) — An American orchestra performed a historic concert Tuesday in the communist state of North Korea — one of the most secretive societies in the world. A group of 105 musicians made the journey to Pyongyang, but for one of them this trip was not just about music. It was about family history.

35-year old Michelle Kim is a violinist with the New York Philharmonic, which performed a nearly two-hour concert in Pyongyang. Watch highlights of today’s historic concert

Kim’s parents were born in the North and fled the country during the Korean War. For Kim, the concert was an opportunity to see the land where her parents were born and where they suffered before leaving the country forever.

Kim’s father, Chung Kil-Kim was only 5 years old when the war broke out in 1950, but what he experienced was so horrific that he said he would never forget it.

I still clearly remember that so many people were dying around me, and I walked over dead bodies. Chung Kil said.

Chung Kil’s family was under tight supervision because his uncle was a minister, he said.

There is no organized religion in North Korea, other than the worship of the country’s founder and what they call their Eternal President, Kim Il Sung.

Chung Kil remembers one day after the war started, his uncle went to his church to pray. North Korean soldiers came to the church, locked everyone inside and set it on fire. Everyone, including Chung Kil’s uncle, died, he said.

After Chung Kil’s uncle was killed, his family decided it was too dangerous to remain in the North so they abandoned their home and fled to the South.

Kim’s mother, Kyung Ja-Kim, also fled with her family from the North during the war. Kyung Ja’s mother carried the then-1-year-old on her back the entire way.

Kim’s parents eventually met and married in Seoul, where Kim was born. They moved to the United States and settled in California when she was 16. She already was gaining attention as a talented musician and won an international music competition, which led to an unusual invitation to perform in Pyongyang for President Kim Il Sung’s birthday.

At the time, Chung Kil and Kyung Ja were too scared to let her go. They were afraid their daughter would be abducted and forced to stay in the North, her father said.

Their attitude changed, he said, because this time she would be traveling not only with the Philharmonic, but also with an American press corps. Her father said in his heart, he felt it was time for her to go.

I still have a grudge against the Korean War, however I understand the people in North Korea are not to blame, Chung Kil said. This is a really good opportunity for my Michelle to go to the North and give them an opportunity to open their door to our culture.

Kim said her first emotion when she arrived in Pyongyang was a sense of awe. Seeing the North Koreans makes her feel sad that the country has been divided, she said.

North Koreans, South Koreans, we’re just Koreans. They’re the exact same people as I am. We have the exact same culture. We have the exact same songs.

Tuesday’s concert ended with the Korean folk song Arirang, which is a love song about reunion. The song brought back memories of Michelle’s childhood in South Korea.

A lot of us actually stood out on the stage and just waved to them. Many people had tears in their eyes. And, of course, all of us were crying, the Korean- Americans were crying.

The New York Philharmonic leaves North Korea Wednesday, and Kim is taking a lot of pictures to show her family when she gets home. She is the eyes and ears for her parents, she said, and hopes the pictures and her experiences will allow her parents to see North Korea in a new way — a better way than they did when they fled more than 50 years ago. E-mail to a friend

Historic concert in North Korea brings violinist to tears – found here.

Pakistan lifts block on YouTube

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan’s telecoms regulator said Tuesday it has lifted restrictions on the YouTube Web site that led to the knocking out of access to the popular video-sharing site in many other countries for a few hours over the weekend.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority ordered 70 domestic Internet service providers to restore access to the site after removal of what government officials had deemed a blasphemous video clip.

Pakistan ordered YouTube blocked on Friday over a clip featuring a Dutch lawmaker who has said he plans to release a movie portraying Islam as fascist and prone to inciting violence. As a result, most of the world’s Internet users lost access to YouTube for several hours on Sunday.

While a number of other videos featuring the politician, Geert Wilders, would remain visible to Pakistani Internet users, the one which was removed had been totally anti-Quranic … very blasphemous, said Pakistan Telecommunication authority spokeswoman Nabiha Mahmood.

She said it promoted Wilders’ upcoming movie, but provided no details of its content.

An Internet expert said Sunday’s problems came after a Pakistani telecommunications company complied with the block by directing requests for YouTube videos to a black hole. So instead of serving up videos of skateboarding dogs, it sent the traffic into oblivion.

The problem was that the company also accidentally identified itself to Internet computers as the world’s fastest route to YouTube, which is owned by Google Inc. That led requests from across the Internet to the black hole.

Mahmood said the Pakistani regulator was not responsible for technical hitches that may have lead to problems elsewhere. She said it was not clear how those occurred.

The authority, which aimed to restrict the site only in Pakistan, posted a complaint through the Web site but had not been in contact with the administrators of YouTube.

The outage highlighted yet another of the Internet’s vulnerabilities, coming less than a month after broken fiber-optic cables in the Mediterranean took Egypt off line and caused communications problems from the Middle East to India.

Pakistani officials do not want a repeat of the violent anti-Western protests in early 2006 after a Danish newspaper published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad regarded by many Muslims as offensive.

Danish editors reignited the controversy earlier this month by reprinting a cartoon that shows the prophet wearing a bomb-shaped turban.

On Tuesday, some 300 students rallied at a university in Multan, carrying banners denouncing Denmark, the United States and President Pervez Musharraf — the latest in a series of small protests held by Islamic students in Pakistan.

Umer Abbasi, a leader of the protest, urged all Muslim countries to follow Pakistan in blocking offensive material on the Internet.

If you look deeply, America can be seen behind all anti-Muslim moves around the world, Abbasi told the crowd, which later burned Danish and American flags.

Authorities wanted to prevent Islamic hard-liners from seizing on the Wilders clips, said Abdullah Riar, Pakistan’s minister for information technology and telecommunications.

We are already in the spotlight on the issue of intolerance and extremism and terrorism, Riar said, and this is something that somebody is doing by design to excite and insinuate Islamic sentiments.
Pakistan lifts block on YouTube – found here.