Lincoln Tribune

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• Associated Press Opens News Bureau in North Korea
• Huntsman to Drop Out of Republican Race for US President
• Strong earthquakes strike off Antarctica, no tsunami threat
• US Honors Slain Civil Rights Hero MLK
• California police arrest suspected serial killer of homeless men

Associated Press Opens News Bureau in North Korea Posted: 15 Jan 2012 11:55 PM PST The Associated Press has opened a bureau in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, becoming the first international news organization with a full-time presence to cover news from the reclusive nation in words, pictures and videos. AP opened the office Monday, after almost a year of negotiations and less than a month after the death of longtime ruler Kim Jong Il. AP President and CEO Tom Curley says the organization's newest bureau allows the news agency to "document the people, places and politics" of North Korea across all media platforms at a "critical moment in its history."   Curley says the Pyongyang bureau will operate under the same standards and practices as AP bureaus worldwide. The bureau expands AP's presence in North Korea, which has remained largely off-limits to international journalists.  In 2006, AP was the first international news organization to open a video bureau in Pyongyang.   The president of the state-run Korean Central News Agency said Monday the opening of the AP office was "significant." AP's North Korean office will be staffed by two natives of North Korea who will be supervised by two American journalists with broad international experience.  The Americans will also train local reporters.

Huntsman to Drop Out of Republican Race for US President Posted: 15 Jan 2012 11:29 PM PST Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is one step closer to securing the U.S. Republican Party nomination for president after news broke late Sunday that former U.S. Ambassador to China John Huntsman plans to drop out of the race and endorse his rival. The news came hours after the southern state of South Carolina's largest newspaper, The State, endorsed Huntsman's candidacy. Officials with Huntsman's campaign told media outlets the formal announcement will come late Monday morning.  A campaign spokesman said Huntsman "did not want to stand in the way" of Romney - a fellow Mormon who is considered a moderate conservative - on his way to challenge the Democratic incumbent, President Barack Obama. Huntsman had decided against competing in the first state to vote - Iowa in the Midwest - and instead focus most of his campaign resources on the second contest in the northeastern state of New Hampshire.  However, he placed third in that primary, behind Romney and Texas Congressman Ron Paul. It is now a five-way race among Romney, Paul, conservative Rick Santorum, former House of Representatives speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Governor Rick Perry for the Republican nomination. Romney heads into South Carolina's January 21 primary, not only with momentum from his two first-place finishes, but also with the endorsement of the state's Republican governor, Nikki Haley, a favorite of the conservative, grassroots Tea Party movement. The candidates have a televised debate Monday night. Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

Strong earthquakes strike off Antarctica, no tsunami threat Posted: 15 Jan 2012 06:54 PM PST ELEPHANT, SOUTH SHETLAND ISLANDS (BNO NEWS) -- Two strong earthquakes struck near an uninhabited island off Antarctica on late Sunday morning, seismologists said, but there were no reports of damage or casualties. The first earthquake at 9.40 a.m. local time (1340 GMT), which had a moment magnitude of 6.6, struck about 37 kilometers (23 miles) northwest of Elephant, a mountainous island in the outer reaches of the South Shetland Islands in the Southern Ocean. It struck about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). About 40 minutes later, a 6.2-magnitude aftershock struck the same area at a depth of about 14.2 kilometers (8.8 miles), the USGS reported. Seismologists said a 5.1-magnitude aftershock followed several hours later. With the exception of more than a dozen research stations, there are no permanent residents on the South Shetland Islands, which is administered under the Antarctic Treaty System. "There are likely to be no affected structures in this region," the USGS said. Because earthquakes with a magnitude below 7 do normally not generate tsunamis, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not issue a tsunami watch or warning. "A destructive widespread tsunami threat does not exist based on historical earthquake and tsunami data," the center said in a bulletin. Although the earthquakes on Sunday struck along a transform fault near Elephant Island, the region does usually not experience earthquakes. The last notable earthquake in the area happened in June 2011 when a 4.9-magnitude earthquake struck northwest of Sunday's epicenter. In September 2003, a powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck the Scotia Sea, about 614 kilometers (381 miles) east of Sunday's epicenter. The earthquake in 2003 caused minor damage at Orcadas Base on Laurie Island. (Copyright 2012 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

US Honors Slain Civil Rights Hero MLK Posted: 15 Jan 2012 06:40 PM PST Americans are honoring the memory of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., 44 years after he was assassinated. Martin Luther King Day, on Monday, is an annual federal holiday marking the birthday of King, who fought discrimination and racism in the 1950s and 1960s.  King would have been 83 years old this year. New this year is the towering monument to the Baptist preacher and activist on the National Mall in Washington, DC. President Barack Obama, the nation's first black president, spoke at a ceremony for the new memorial in October, declaring that the United States must follow King's example by continuing to strive and struggle for a better country. Mr. Obama said King "stirred our conscience" through his campaign for racial equality. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He gained prominence after leading a successful protest against segregation on the buses in Montgomery, Alabama. Under that system, blacks were required to sit in the back of the bus and, if the vehicle was full, they had to give their seats to white people. The landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 made segregation illegal. King, an advocate for non-violent protests, won the Nobel Peace Prize the same year.

California police arrest suspected serial killer of homeless men Posted: 15 Jan 2012 05:07 PM PST ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA (BNO NEWS) -- A 23-year-old man, who was arrested in Southern California on Friday evening after allegedly killing a homeless man, is also believed to have been responsible for three similar murders, police said on Sunday. Itzcoatl Ocampo, of Yorba Linda in Orange County, was taken into custody on Friday evening after police responded to calls of an assault in progress in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant in Anaheim. Upon arrival, officers found a homeless man who had been stabbed to death. "Several brave individuals from the community were able to pursue the suspect at a slight distance and provide critical information to the police department which led us to detain a suspect we believe was responsible for this incident here tonight," Deputy Anaheim Police Chief Craig Hunter told reporters on Friday evening. Anaheim police chief John Welter on late Saturday announced that police believe Ocampo was also responsible for three other murders since mid-December. "We are extremely confident that we have the man who is responsible for the murders of all four homeless men in Orange County," the Los Angeles Times quoted Welter as saying on Sunday. As the killings continued, sparking fear among homeless people and local residents, authorities had established a task force of police officers, sheriff's deputies and FBI agents to find the serial killer. Friday's victim was identified as 65-year-old John Berry, a Vietnam War veteran. According to the Los Angeles Times, Ocampo was a former Marine who appeared to be 'deeply troubled' after his return from service in Iraq in the summer of 2010, although his motive is still unclear. His uncle, Ifrain Gonzales, told the Times that Ocampo said he was 'seeing and hearing things' after returning from Iraq. (Copyright 2012 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

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