SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea has begun building a promised high-speed railway to shorten travel time between its main airport and the venue of the 2018 Winter Olympics. The promise last year helped the eastern resort of Pyeongchang win the right to host the Olympics. South Korea expects the railway to help reduce travel time between Incheon International Airport in the west and Pyeongchang to one hour. The organizing committee for the games said in a statement that construction will end in 2017 and cost $3.35 billion. The new railway links Wonju in the west of Gangwon province and Gangneung in the east and includes a stop in Pyeongchang. The committee said President Lee Myung-bak attended a groundbreaking ceremony in Gangneung.

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnamese state media says a shortage of the drug used in lethal injections has halted the execution of hundreds of prisoners on death row. Tuoi Tre newspaper quoted vice public security minister Dang Van Hieu as saying that the executions of more than 400 death-row prisoners have not been able to go ahead over the past year due to the shortage of the drug. The report did not name the drug, but said it had to be imported. Hieu said this "proved to be difficult." Vietnam changed its execution method from firing squad to lethal injection last July, but no inmates have been executed since.

YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) — Nissan is supplying New York City with fuel-efficient cabs, including six electric cars for testing, but acknowledged uncertainties about the ongoing war over charging standards for electric vehicles. Nissan Motor Co. said its gasoline engine NV200 vehicles, painted yellow, will start operating as New York taxis in October 2013. Six Leaf electric vehicles will be part of a pilot program this year. Nissan executive vice president Andy Palmer said it’s unclear whether nations will adopt the "CHAdeMo" standard used by Nissan for charging electric vehicles, or the competing one backed by General Motors Co. and others. The standards use different plugs and aren’t compatible.

SINGAPORE (AP) — Police in Singapore say a 25-year-old woman has been arrested for painting graffiti and placing stickers on public property. If convicted, she could be beaten with a cane. Graffiti and other forms of vandalism are very rare in Singapore. Almost all past cases have involved foreign men, including American teenager Michael Fay, who was caned in 1994. Police did not identify the woman or her nationality in the statement. They said if found guilty of vandalism, she faces mandatory caning and a fine or jail term. The paintings and stickers were cryptic messages written mostly in the local English dialect. The statement said police take "a serious view of such irresponsible actions" and they will be "dealt with severely."