Members of an ill-fated British expedition to the South Pole in 1912 were effectively killed by the equivalent of a modern slimming diet, research has shown.Capt. Robert Falcon Scott's disastrous attempt to be the first to the South Pole resulted in his death and the death of four comrades.British researchers say the men expended more energy than Olympic athletes as they hauled their supplies acro

The ordeal of a 14-year-old girl who was kidnapped and raped repeatedly for three days has infuriated Jordanians, especially when her attacker agreed to marry her to avoid going to jail.In conservative Muslim societies like Jordan, rapists can walk free thanks to penal code Article 308, known as the "rape-law."In April, the unidentified girl was shopping in the northern city of Zarqa when a 19-yea

South Korean pitcher Lim Chang-yong of the Yakult Swallows in Japan will miss the rest of the season after suffering a torn ligament in his right elbow, his Seoul-based agent said Thursday.Park Yu-hyun, Lim's agent, said the right-hander has opted to go under the knife to repair the ligament damage."We've informed the team of the decision to undergo surgery today," Park said. "The operation will t

Japanese prosecutors Wednesday demanded 12 years in prison for a former Japanese police officer accused of killing his Korean wife.Hideo Yamaguchi, 51, is charged with beating his wife to death in 2010, dismembering her body, and throwing away the pieces into a garbage dump and a river.Prosecutors told a court hearing in Yokohama, the site of the alleged murder, that the suspect killed his wife af

South Korea's current account surplus hit a six-month high in May due mainly to a fall in dividend payouts to foreign investors, the central bank said Thursday.The current account surplus reached $3.61 billion in May, up from a revised $1.73 billion the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The current account is the broadest measure of cross-border trade.The May data marked the la

An Indian "laughter therapist" said he wants to set a world record by having 25,000 laugh in unison in the same place.Kamlesh Masalawala, who described himself as a full-time "laughter therapist," said he has taught the merits of laughing to more than 700,000 people and he now wants to use his skills to break the record of 10,000 people laughing together in the Netherlands, The Times of India repo

About 60 people gathered in a Massachusetts city to protest a bylaw allowing police to fine people who use profanities in public.Protest organizer Adam Kokesh, 30, a Marine veteran, led the crowd Monday in repeating curses and flashing their middle fingers to protest the Middleboro bylaw, which was passed 183-50 at a town meeting this month, The (New Bedford) Standard-Times reported Tuesday."I'd l

Iran may halt all South Korean imports in protest against Seoul's decision to ban Iranian oil following European Union sanctions against the Middle East nation, Iran's top envoy here warned Wednesday.Iranian Ambassador Ahmad Masumifar said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency that his country "may decide to fully stop importing Korean goods" if Seoul imposes the import ban on Iranian oil.He als

Spurred by a classroom demonstration involving a sex toy, Tennessee recently enacted a pro-abstinence sex education law that is among the strictest in the nation.The most debated section of the bill bars educators from promoting "gateway sexual activity." But supporters seemed too squeamish during floor debate to specify what that meant, so critics soon labeled it the "no holding-hands bill."One t

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down key provisions of a border state's harsh crackdown on illegal immigrants, but did little to finally settle the nation's raging political dispute on immigration, a divisive issue on which President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney are deeply at odds.While the conservative-dominated high court ruling released Monday found much of the Arizona law u