Britain Shuts Cairo Embassy for Security Fears

Britain has shut its embassy in Cairo over mounting security concerns in Egypt.

British officials gave no details Sunday of the threat or when the embassy would reopen. One source told the Reuters news agency that a suspected militant recently detained by Egyptian authorities had confessed to a plan to target foreign embassies.

The U.S. Embassy, in the same area of Cairo, was open Sunday.

The British Embassy's closing follows an Australian warning Saturday that terrorists could be planning attacks against tourist sites, government ministries and embassies in Cairo.

Egypt has been battling an Islamic insurgency aimed at the government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, the former military chief who ousted the popularly elected Mohamed Morsi last year and then was elected himself in a new election.

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UN Security Council to Tackle N.Korean Human Rights

The UN Security Council is to put North Korea's human rights violations on its agenda later this month, U.S. human rights envoy Robert King told a forum in Washington on Friday.

"We'll see that the North Korea human rights issue is put on the agenda of the Security Council," King said. "There may be a discussion at the Security Council later this month."

Among the 15 member nations of the Security Council, South Korea, Australia, Chile, France, Jordan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Rwanda, the U.K. and the U.S. signed a letter to the council's president seeking to place the issue on its agenda. But Argentina, Chad, China, Nigeria and Russia did not sign.

The council consists of five permanent members and 10 nations rotating as non-permanent members every two years. An issue is placed on the council's agenda if more than nine out of its 15 member nations support it.

The council has held several meetings on North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, but this is the first time that its human rights abuses will be discussed.

A government official here said, "If an issue is placed on the agenda, it is customarily discussed for three years."

Last April, the council was briefed on North Korea's human rights abuses by Michael Kirby, a former Australian High Court judge who led the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea. But the meeting was held behind closed doors.

The council's official meetings, by contrast, are open to the media and will lead to increased international attention on the North's horrific human rights abuses.

The council has the right to refer high-ranking North Korean officials to the International Criminal Court or impose additional sanctions on the North, but China and Russia, which have friendly ties with the North and veto power, oppose the move.

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Hanwha Promises 1-Year Job Security for Samsung Execs

Hanwha Group has pledged to retain for at least one year all of management of four chemical and defense firms it is buying from Samsung Group under a controversial deal.

High-performing executives will be retained even longer, Hanwha said. The conglomerate earlier pledged to retain 8,200 non-management staff at the companies, but executives were expected to be let go.

A senior Hanwha executive said Monday, "We will of course offer longer-term contracts to managers who perform well."

Another Hanwha executive said, "There were rumors that managers would be laid off, which raised concerns, but we will try to retain all staff."

Samsung Techwin CEO Kim Cheol-kyo also tried to calm fears in an email on Monday, saying, "Job security and even the treatment of management-level staff will be maintained and guaranteed."

Samsung Techwin workers last week formed an emergency committee and are preparing to form a labor union, which is prohibited in the Samsung Group, to protest against the massive deal.

Hanwha announced last week it is buying the chemical and defense firms from Samsung for W1.9 trillion (US$1=W1,112).

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Microsoft Employs Robots as Security Guards

Several 1-1/2-meter-tall, 136-kilogram robots have recently started patrolling Microsoft's compound in California's Silicon Valley as security guards.

Autonomous movable platforms equipped with lasers, cameras and various sensors are already being used for operations such as looking for explosive devices or earthquake victims. But the U.S. software giant has taken robotic surveillance a step further with its fleet of bullet-shaped automatons.

This photo from California manufacturer Knightscope shows the company's K5 security robot keeping tabs on a parking area.

The K5s, as they're called, move around outdoor areas, garages and parking lots, scanning situations with their HD cameras and a whole range of sensors, much like human guards would do.

They can read cars' license plates, check them against a database, and detect and report unusual activities to a supervisor.

The robotic guards are not armed. Instead, they are programmed to assess situations and defuse them or sound an alarm and summon human support.

The battery in each robot runs for 24 hours, after which the device returns to a station for a 20-minute recharge.

The manufacturer, the California company Knightscope, says its robot guards will take over the monotonous and tiresome work, leaving humans to deal with more complicated tasks.

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UN Committee Urges Security Council to Refer N.Korea to ICC

A key UN human rights committee has passed a resolution urging the UN Security Council to consider referring North Korea to the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity.

The nonbinding resolution, drafted by Japan and the European Union, passed overwhelmingly Tuesday.?

It is based on a February UN Commission of Inquiry that detailed decades of systematic executions, torture, rape and mass starvation in the North. That report also called for the Security Council to refer Pyongyang to the ICC.

North Korea has repeatedly denied committing human rights atrocities, and it accuses the United States and its allies of seeking to discredit and overthrow the leadership in Pyongyang.

Debate on the resolution is expected next month in the General Assembly, where it is also expected to pass. But it is not clear whether it can clear the 15-member Security Council, where China has traditionally protected North Korea, its ally.

Motohide Yoshikawa, Japan's UN ambassador, speaks during a meeting of the UN General Assembly's human rights committee on a proposal to refer North Korea to the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity on Nov. 18, 2014. /AP

Speaking before Tuesday's vote, the executive director of the nongovernmental Committee on Human Rights in North Korea, Greg Scarlatoiu, said the push to hold Pyongyang accountable will have been worthwhile, even if China vetoes the initiative.

"Let China place itself in the position where it is repeatedly attempting to block initiatives to refer the North Korean case to the International Criminal Court," he said. "Let China place itself in a position where it is clearly and obviously aiding and abetting a regime that is committing crimes against humanity. The political price of doing that is only going to get higher."

Facing the looming UN votes, the Pyongyang government has in recent weeks sought to ease mounting international criticism of its rights record. It has released three detained Americans and expressed a willingness to allow top UN rights officials to the visit the country.

Despite those gestures, Human Rights Watch called for UN members to pass what it described as the? "landmark resolution." Amnesty International and the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights also urged committee members to resist pressure to delete references to accountability for "decades of terrible abuse."

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