South Korea demands talks with North Korea on closed factory

Published April 24, 2013

Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea –  South Korea is warning of a "grave measure" if North Korea rejects a call for talks on a jointly run factory park that has been shut down for nearly a month.

Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-suk on Thursday refused to describe what Seoul would do if Pyongyang doesn't respond by a deadline Friday to a demand for formal working-level talks.

But Seoul may be signaling it will pull out its remaining workers from the factory across the border in Kaesong. That could lead to the end of a complex considered the last remaining symbol of inter-Korean cooperation.

Pyongyang suspended operations in early April and withdrew its 53,000 workers.

Pyongyang has recently eased the near daily threats it issued for several weeks. But tensions between the rivals are still high.

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Space Mountain closed as Disney reviews safety

Published April 15, 2013

Associated Press

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  Disneyland has temporarily shut down the popular ride because of safety concerns.AP

ANAHEIM, Calif. –  Three rides at Disneyland, including the famous Space Mountain roller coaster, were temporarily closed over the weekend as the company reviewed its employee safety protocols after citations from state regulators.

The citations were received Friday from the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, according to Disneyland Resorts spokeswoman Suzi Brown.

The closures Saturday of Space Mountain, the Matterhorn Bobsleds and Soarin' Over California were voluntary and were made out of an abundance of caution, Brown said Sunday.

"We constantly strive to maintain a safe work environment for our cast members and contractors — and we are reviewing certain protocols," she said.

The citations were related to an incident in November when a contracted worker was injured while performing maintenance on the exterior of the Space Mountain attraction.

Disneyland failed to adequately correct "known fall hazards" that existed on the exterior of Space Mountain, according to a description of the citation on the Cal/OSHA website.

"Furthermore, Disneyland Resort failed to have approved anchorages or approved tie-backs for contract employees to attach to when performing scheduled exterior building maintenance," the description reads.

The Matterhorn reopened Sunday. Brown said Sunday it is unclear how long the other two rides will remain closed.

Space Mountain and the Matterhorn Bobsleds are at Disneyland. Soarin' Over California, a simulated hang-glider flight, is at Disney California Adventure.

Officials with Cal/OSHA did not immediately reply Sunday to a request for comment.

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Alcatraz marks 50 years since infamous prison closed

Published March 21, 2013

Associated Press

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SAN FRANCISCO –  The National Park Service on Thursday celebrated the 50th anniversary of Alcatraz Island's closure as a federal penitentiary with an exhibit of newly discovered photos of the prison's final hours.

The new display opened five decades after the last shacked prisoners were taken off the infamous prison in San Francisco Bay that once held the likes of gangsters Al Capone and Mickey Cohen.

On that day in 1963, prison guard Jim Albright led the Navy-coat clad prisoners -- considered the nation's most dangerous -- to waiting boats as cameras clicked and hundreds of reporters chronicled The Rock's last hours as a prison.

Albright wasn't deterred by the ruckus, keeping his eye on his wards and his focus steely.

"What I was worried about was that one of these god-darned fools was going to give the inmates something that they could get out of their cuffs with," said the 77-year-old Albright, standing in his prison-gray uniform in front of a photograph of himself 50 years earlier.

Alcatraz started as a fort and became an Army disciplinary barracks before the Bureau of Prisons took it over in 1934 to house some of America's most notorious criminals.

Nine years after the prison closed, Alcatraz became a national park -- and one of California's most popular tourist attractions.

The photographs on display at Alcatraz were taken by Los Angeles-based freelance photographer Leigh Wiener for Life Magazine. Wiener's son recently discovered the negatives in his father's archive and contacted the parks service.

The black-and-white images tell the story of the famous prison's final hours, and will be on display to the public for the next three months.

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Large shark kills man in New Zealand; beach closed

AUCKLAND, New Zealand –  A shark possibly 14 feet long killed a swimmer near a popular New Zealand beach on Wednesday, then disappeared after police attempting to save the man fired gunshots at the enormous predator.

Muriwai Beach near Auckland was closed after the fatal attack, one of only about a dozen in New Zealand in the past 180 years.

Pio Mose, who was fishing at the beach, told The New Zealand Herald he saw the swimmer struggle against the "huge" shark. He told the man to swim to the rocks, but it was too late.

"All of a sudden there was blood everywhere," Mose said. "... I was shaking, scared, panicked."

Police Inspector Shawn Rutene said in a statement that the swimmer, who was in his 40s, was about 200 meters (650 feet) offshore when the shark attacked. He said police went out in inflatable surf-lifesaving boats and shot at the shark, which they estimate was 12 to 14 feet long.

"It rolled over and disappeared," Rutene said, without saying whether police are certain that they killed the creature.

About 200 people had been enjoying the beach during the Southern Hemisphere summer at the time of the attack. Police said Muriwai and other beaches nearby have been closed until further notice.

Police did not say what species of shark was involved in the attack. Clinton Duffy, a shark expert with the Department of Conservation, said New Zealand is a hotspot for great white sharks, and other potentially lethal species also inhabit the waters.

Attacks are rare. Duffy estimated that only 12 to 14 people have been killed by sharks in New Zealand since record-keeping began in the 1830s.

"There are much lower levels of shark attacks here than in Australia," he said. "It's possibly a function of how many people are in the water" in New Zealand's cooler climate.

He said that during the Southern Hemisphere summer, sharks often come in closer to shore to feed and to give birth, although that doesn't necessarily equate to a greater risk of attack.

"Ninety-nine percent of the time they ignore people," he said. "Sometimes, people get bitten."

Around the world, sharks attacked humans 80 times last year, and seven people were killed, according to the University of Florida's International Shark Attack File. The death toll was lower than it was in 2011 but higher than the average of 4.4 from 2001 to 2010.

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