Lifting of beef ban prompts protests in South Korea

Seoul, South Korea

South Korea's political opposition met today to discuss how to block U.S. beef from entering the country after the government announced it will resume imports within days.

The announcement came despite widespread public opposition to the beef deal with Washington, which critics say fails to protect the nation against mad-cow disease. About 9,000 people protested the move in Seoul on Thursday night. American beef imports were suspended after the first U.S. case of mad-cow disease appeared in December 2003 in a Canadian-born cow in Yakima County.

Opponents' options included filing a case with the Constitutional Court and seeking a court injunction to block the imports, the main opposition United Democratic Party said on its Web site.

Managua, Nicaragua

Storm sweeps into Nicaragua

Tropical Storm Alma, the first of the eastern Pacific storm season, slammed into northwest Nicaragua near the colonial city of León on Thursday, forcing evacuations and flooding low-lying areas along Central America's coastline.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Alma was weakening later Thursday with maximum sustained winds of around 50 mph as it headed toward Honduras.

The eastern Pacific hurricane season began May 15.

Reykjavik, Iceland

Earthquake rattles southern Iceland

A strong 6.2-magnitude earthquake shook southern Iceland on Thursday, injuring at least 15 people as it rocked buildings in the capital, touched off landslides and forced evacuations in outlying towns.

Iceland, population 300,000, is a geologically unstable volcanic island in the North Atlantic.

Also

Panama helicopter crash: Chile's visiting national police chief, Gen. Jose Alejandro Bernales, and 10 others were killed Thursday when the aging Panamanian government helicopter they were riding in crashed into a three-story building in Panama City.

Russian military suicides: A total of 341 Russian servicemen committed suicide in 2007 -- the leading cause of noncombat deaths in Russia's armed forces, ahead of crimes, accidents and hazing -- Russia said on Thursday.

Elephant rampage: An elephant rampaged through a village in northern India on Thursday, killing at least seven people.

Kim Jong Il death report: The South Korean government said North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is alive and well, denying a report by a little-known local Internet news site that Kim had been assassinated.

Seattle Times news services