Report: North Korea restoring nuclear facilities

Report: North Korea restoring nuclear facilities

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea is in the final stage of restoring its nuclear facilities, a news report said today, as leader Kim Jong Il expressed a conditional willingness to end Pyongyang’s boycott of international nuclear talks.

South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities reached the conclusion after scrutinizing about 10 atomic facilities in North Korea since April when the communist regime vowed to restart its nuclear program in anger over a U.N. rebuke of its long-range rocket launch.

Pyongyang claimed the launch was a peaceful attempt to put a satellite into orbit, but the liftoff was widely condemned as a test of the North’s long-range missile technology.

The report came as North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao that his country was prepared to return to six-party nuclear disarmament talks depending on progress in its two-way negotiations with the United States.

Twin doctors to be tried

HAMILTON, Ohio — Twin brother pediatricians are going on trial on charges that for years they used their practices in a middle-class Ohio community to recruit boys for sex, illegally sold them prescription drugs and bribed them not to tell authorities.

Jury selection began Monday in the trial of 53-year-old Mark Blankenburg in a state court in Butler County, about 30 miles north of Cincinnati. Blankenburg’s twin, Dr. Scott Blankenburg, faces a separate trial in April.

Details are few on the number of victims, their ages or where the alleged crimes occurred. The charges include multiple counts of corruption of a minor with at least two youths who were 13 to 15 at the time.

Mark Blankenburg also is accused of trafficking in prescription drugs that at least one victim became addicted to, and of bribing prospective witnesses and paying money for sex.

Progress fighting wildfire

WRIGHTWOOD, Calif. — Firefighters made progress Monday against a wildfire near a Southern California mountain town as weather turned calm and cool.

Evacuation orders remained in effect for several thousand residents of the Wrightwood area, but there was little flame visible in the burn area covering 7,824 acres, or more than 12 square miles, on the east end of the San Gabriel Mountains about 40 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles.

Containment grew to 30 percent Monday.

British supermarket chain pulls ads from Fox News

LONDON — Upscale British supermarket chain Waitrose said Monday it was pulling its advertisements from Fox News in the U.K. after customers complained about the cable news channel’s Glenn Beck program.

The popular and controversial talk-show host is already the target of a boycott campaign in the United States after he accused President Barack Obama of harboring “a deep-seated hatred for white people.”

Waitrose, known for its upmarket fare and focus on organic foods, said in a statement it was responding to customer concerns, and that the move was not politically motivated.

Gourmet magazine closing

NEW YORK — After nearly 70 years of fine eating, the lavish meal known as Gourmet magazine is over.

Cond Nast blamed the tough economic climate Monday when it told its staff it was closing the stalwart of the food media world, long considered the dean of culinary publishing.

“It’s the center of gravity, a major planet that’s just disappearing,” said chef and author Anthony Bourdain, who said Gourmet was the first food publication to give him a chance as a writer.

Cond Nast also said it was shuttering Modern Bride, Elegant Bride and Cookie, a parenting magazine.

University locked down

TAMPA, Fla. — The University of South Florida was locked down for a time Monday after someone reported a man with a gun and a bomb near the library, and police had one person in custody.

No one reported shots being fired or injuries. Students were told to return to their normal routine about three hours later.

Vincent Thomas-Perry McCoy, 23, a USF student, was arrested and charged with making a false report. The Tampa Police Department’s bomb squad examined his backpack and determined it was safe, police said. He had no weapons on him and was cooperative, USF Police Lt. Meg Ross said.

McCoy was being held on $7,500 bond.

A second person who was reportedly carrying a knife on campus was detained, but police said they believe it was unrelated.

Associated Press