LONDON - Usain Bolt stayed on track for an Olympic sprint double as he and Jamaican rival Yohan Blake eased into Thursday's final of the 200m with commanding runs in their semi-finals on Wednesday.Blake strolled to victory in his heat in 20.01sec but eased up before the line, while 100m champion Bolt was imperious as he held off the field to win his race in 20.18sec, looking around all the way dow

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 10.75 points, or 0.56 percent to 1,913.98 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Blue chips pushed up shares, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics rising 0.23 percent and No. 4 lender Shinhan Financial climbing more than 2 percent.U.S. mark

LONDON - Russia will have the chance to play for an Olympic medal for the first time since the breakup of the Soviet Union after beating Lithuania 83-74 Wednesday to reach the men's basketball semi-finals.Andrei Kirilenko scored 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and TimofeyMozgov added 17 points to spark Russia into a Friday matchup against reigning European champion Spain, which advanced by defea

The ruling Saenuri Party on Thursday launched an internal investigation into allegations that one of its lawmakers bribed her way into parliament as it tries to minimize the fallouts ahead of December's presidential election.The scandal centers on suspicions that Rep. Hyun Young-hee secured a proportional representative seat in April's general elections after paying 300 million won ($265,960) to H

LONDON -- The South Korean women's handball team will take on the reigning world champion Norway in the semifinal action Thursday. This is South Korea's eighth straight semifinal appearance in Olympic women's handball. South Korea and Norway drew 27-27 in their group stage last week.The women's volleyball squad is also among the last four standing and will battle the U.S. for a berth in the gold m

South Korean stocks closed up 0.87 percent Wednesday as investor sentiment got a boost from heightened optimism over stimulus efforts in the United States and Europe, analysts said. The local currency inched up against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 16.43 points to finish at 1,903.23, extending its winning streak to a third consecutive session and rest

 LONDON - Spain claimed Olympic hockey officials caved into pressure from their British opponents on Tuesday as the hosts reached the semi-finals for the first time since 1988.The game, which finished 1-1, saw a succession of late corners forced by 2008 runners-up Spain overturned by the umpire.When the final whistle sounded, some Spanish players converged on the South African umpire John Wright,