PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) – In a courtroom, not an Olympic stadium, there was no click-click-click of Oscar Pistorius' prosthetic limbs. His only sound Friday was loud, uncontrollable sobs as prosecutors charged him with premeditated murder in the shooting death of his model girlfriend."Take it easy," Chief Magistrate Desmond Nasir told the Olympic star-turned-murder-defendant as his father, Henke, and his brother, Carl, reached out to touch his shoulder to comfort him.The 26-year-old Pistoriu

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea's military has erected two surveillance towers along the Joint Security Area (JSA) near the border village of Panmunjom to better monitor South Korean military in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), a military official said Sunday. The 60-meter-high steel towers equipped with security cameras were set up in December last year inside the North's portion of the JSA, the official said on the condition of anonymity. The towers were erected following the defection of two North

NEW DELHI (AFP) - South Korea took both the reverse singles to complete a 4-1 victory over depleted India in the Asia-Oceania group one first round Davis Cup tie in New Delhi on Sunday.Jeong Suk-Young gave the Koreans an unbeatable 3-1 lead by outplaying Virali-Murugesan Ranjeet 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in the day's first match.Nam Ji-Sung beat Vijayant Malik, the other Indian debutant, 6-2, 6-4 in the inconsequential fifth rubber that was reduced to best-of-three sets.South Korea will now meet Japan in th

PYEONGCHANG -- Figure skating star Kim Yu-na on Sunday began offering news and information about the ongoing 10th Special Olympics World Winter Games here in PyeongChang through her Twitter account, calling herself a "Twitter Jockey" for the event. In her Twitter postings, Kim explained the difference between the Special Olympics and the Paralympics.She also hailed all athletes who participated in the Special Olympics as "heroes." Kim, an honorary PR ambassador for the Special Olympics World Win

A fortified installation, believed to be a "command bunker," has been found at North Korea's nuclear test site where the country may likely conduct another nuclear test soon, a U.S. think tank said Friday.According to "38 North", an analysis program of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, the "command bunker" is located about 150 meters from the entrance to a tunnel that may be used to carry out the nuclear test.The Punggye-ri test site on the North's northeastern co

South Korea's efforts to help North Korean defectors adapt themselves to its capitalist system have been called into question as an increasing number of them return to their communist home country.North Korea's state-run television station reported a day earlier that a defector family of three members and another woman defector have recently returned to the North after living in South Korea for a while.Referring to a news conference held by the four in Pyongyang, the North's TV report claimed th

SEOUL, Nov. 22 (Yonhap) – Seoul blasted Tokyo Thursday over its reported move to name peaks on South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo, saying it would amount to a "serious violation" of its territorial sovereignty.Tokyo has long laid claim to the islets, which lie closer to South Korea in the body of water dividing the Korean Peninsula and Japan, often leading to diplomatic tensions between the neighboring countries.According to Japan's Kyodo News Service, the Japanese government decided earl

SEOUL, (Yonhap) -- North Korea repeated its claim Saturday that the only maritime border in the western Yellow Sea is the one drawn by Pyongyang, condemning the South Korean president's recent trip to an island near the border where he urged increased efforts to deter any border violation by the communist nation.South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Thursday said the country's service members must stake their own lives if necessary to safeguard the Northern Limit Line (NLL), a de facto maritim

BEIRUT (AP) _ A powerful car bomb tore through the heart of Beirut's Christian sector Friday, killing a top security official and seven others in a devastating attack that threatened to bring the war in Syria directly to Lebanon's doorstep. The blast sheared the balconies off apartment buildings, upended cars and sent dazed rescue workers carrying bloodied children into the streets.Dozens of people were wounded in the blast, the worst the Lebanese capital has seen in more than four years. The st

HAVANA (AP) _ The rumor mill surrounding the health of Fidel Castro churned anew Friday despite a letter from the aging Cuban revolutionary published by state media and denials by relatives at home and in the United States that he is on death's door.Social media sites and some news organizations have reported allegations by a Venezuelan doctor that Castro, 86, suffered a massive stroke, was in a vegetative state and had only weeks to live, though the same doctor, Jose Rafael Marquina, has made s

SEOUL, Oct. 9 (Yonhap) -- The Lotte Giants defeated the Doosan Bears 2-1 on Tuesday to take a commanding 2-0 series lead in the opening round of the playoffs in South Korea's top professional baseball league.In the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) action at Jamsil Stadium here, backup catcher Yong Deok-han hit a go-ahead solo home run in the top ninth for the Giants' second straight come-from-beh

GUMI, South Korea, Oct. 9 (Yonhap) -- Police said Tuesday that workers not properly following safety guidelines caused the gas leak at a chemical factory last month that killed five employees and sickened thousands of nearby villagers.On Sept. 27, some eight tons of hydrofluoric acid, an acute poison that can damage lungs and bones and affect the nervous system, leaked from a chemical factory in G