South Korean swimming star Park Tae-hwan finished fourth in the men's 1,500-meter freestyle race Saturday, missing the podium in his third and final race at the London Olympics.Park touched the pad at 14 minutes and 50.61 seconds. Sun Yang of China broke his own world record by more than three seconds at14:31.02 to win the gold medal.Park won silver medals in both the 200ｍ and 400ｍ freestyle here.

A total of 169 people were killed and 400 others missing in heavy downpours that swept through large parts of North Korea in recent weeks, the country's media said Saturday.The downpours between late June and the end of July also left 144 people injured and some 212,200 others homeless, the Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) said. About 8,600 homes were destroyed and 43,700 others submerged, it said

North Korea on Saturday denounced an upcoming South Korea-U.S. military exercise, calling it preparations for a nuclear war against it.South Korea and the United States are scheduled to stage the Ulji Freedom Guardian exercise from Aug. 20 through Aug. 31. North Korea typically denounce it and other joint military drills staged by the allies annually as war preparations."Such projected saber-rattl

The European Central Bank has moved to stave off Greece bankrupcty for the time being by guaranteeing additional emergency loans from the country's central bank, a German newspaper reported Saturday.The ECB's governing council decided at a meeting Thursday on the move which will give Greece access to another four billion euros (almost $5 billion) of funds and ensure its financial survival until Se

Cardiorespiratory fitness -- a healthy heart and lungs -- had an impact on boys' and girls' grades on reading and math tests, U.S. researchers said.Study co-author Trent A. Petrie, director of the Center for Sport Psychology at the University of North Texas, and colleagues gathered data at five Texas middle schools from 1,211 students, of whom 54 percent were female -- with an average age of about

 Iran claims it has successfully test-fired an upgraded version of a short-range ballistic missile.Defense Minister Gen. Ahmad Vahidi says the solid-fueled Fateh-110 has a range of 300 kilometers. He claims it can pin-point targets at sea, making it the most accurate weapon of its kind in Iran's arsenal.Iran has been pushing to upgrade its missiles, which already can target Israel and other parts

The spokesman of the ruling Saenuri Party offered to resign Saturday, holding himself responsible for recent chaos over an alleged money-for-nomination scandal.The party has been engulfed in a potentially explosive scandal where Rep. Hyun Young-hee allegedly became a lawmaker on a proportional representation ticket after giving 300 million won($265,000) to Hyun Ki-hwan, then a member of the party'

The capital city of South Korea has experienced the most consecutive "tropical nights" since 2000, the state weather agency said Saturday.The so-called tropical night phenomenon is defined by nighttime lows staying above 25 degrees Celsius, with nighttime being from 6 p.m. to 9 a.m. It often happens when monsoon season ends, which falls in July in general for the country. The overnight low in Seou

The United Nations' aid group said Saturday it will send 336 tons of emergency food aid to flood-ravaged North Korea.The World Food Program (WFP) "is sending a first batch of emergency food aid to flood-hit areas" in the southern part of the communist country, the agency said in a news release.Tropical storms and subsequent floods swept through the North in July, leaving at least 88 people dead an

Samsung Electronics Co. defeated a bid for judicial sanctions sought by Apple Inc. over a release of evidence in the iPhone patent dispute now on trial in San Jose federal court in California. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh today dismissed Apple’s request to punish a Samsung lawyer’s public disclosure of evidence excluded from trial. Koh polled jurors on the matter and concluded they could remain in

It was a day of milestones for South Korea at the London Olympics on Friday.Archer Oh Jin-hyek won the country's first Olympic gold medal in men's individual archery. The male sabre fencers then grabbed gold for the country's first fencing team medal for men.The fencers' gold medal was No. 100 for South Korea in its Olympic history, covering both Winter and Summer Games. The country hit the centur