Briefs, February 9, 2013
South Korean president-elect Park Geun-hye has nominated former prosecutor Chung Hong-won as prime minister. Chung, 68, began his legal career as a prosecutor and until August 2011 served as chief director of the Korean Legal Aid Association.
SEOUL - South Korean president-elect Park Geun-hye has nominated former prosecutor Chung Hong-won as prime minister. Chung, 68, began his legal career as a prosecutor and until August 2011 served as chief director of the Korean Legal Aid Association. Park, 61, will be inaugurated on February 25 as South Korea's first woman leader. Bloomberg
TOKYO - Farmers and householders hit by radiation from the Fukushima nuclear plant will file class-action lawsuits next month against the Japanese government. At least 350 residents would sue in the Fukushima District Court on March 11, the second anniversary of the disaster, lawyers said. AFP
NEW YORK - UN leader Ban Ki-moon warned that a nuclear test by North Korea could end hopes of reconciliation by "tying the hands" of the South's incoming president. Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, said incoming president Park Geun-hye is "very much committed" to improving relations with North Korea. AFP
KUALA LUMPUR - Activists have slammed a two-year prison term for a Malaysian man convicted over the seizure of tiger parts as too short and a "demoralising finale" to the case. Eight tiger skins, and 22 tiger skulls and bones were discovered at the home of Nor Shahrizam Nasir in northern Malaysia in February last year. AFP
KARACHI, Pakistan - Schools and businesses went on strike in Pakistan's financial capital Karachi against record levels of unrest. Security and human rights officials estimate that about 300 people have died in the city since January 1 due to violence. General elections are due by mid-May. AFP
COLOMBO - A Sri Lankan prisoner who tried to hide his mobile phone during a search of his cell was caught out when guards heard ring tones from inside his pants, a hospital official said. The convict, 58, had to be admitted to the national hospital in Colombo where doctors later retrieved the handset from his rectum. AFP