KABUL (AP) ― Taliban spokesmen are denying reports that the insurgent group’s leader Mullah Omar is dead.Zabiullah Mujahid told the Associated Press on Wednesday that a text message sent to journalists on his behalf was fake and the result of a phone hack.Rumors spread that Mullah Omar had died when an earlier text message allegedly sent from Mujahid announced on behalf of the group that the “Amir

SHANGHAI (AP) ― Yao Ming has made it official Wednesday, telling a packed news conference in his hometown that a series of foot and leg injuries have forced him to retire from basketball.“I will formally end my career,” said Yao, the 7-foot-6 center who became a household name in China before starting his NBA career with the Houston Rockets as the top draft pick in 2002.Yao played eight seasons in

New season brings new aspirations, and for Bundesliga club Hamburg their teenage striker Son Heung-min is a new inspiration.Thanks to the young South Korean, the Hamburg SV continued their successful preseason campaign by defeating league rivals Bayern Munich 2-1 in Mainz on Tuesday. Playing against the world’s top footballers, such as Dutch midfielder Arjen Robben and France international Frank R

Double amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius qualifies for athletics worldsWith less than 40 days to go until the kickoff of the World Athletics Championships, Daegu is gearing up to make the biennial event a unique competition. And it is now looking certain to be a special event with double amputee athlete Oscar Pistorius expecting to compete in the men’s 400-meter race. The South African, who is nick

LA PLATA, Argentina (AP) ― Luis Suarez scored in the 53rd and 58th minutes to lead Uruguay past Peru 2-0 on Tuesday and into the Copa America final.Uruguay, which reached the semifinals of last year’s World Cup, will be looking for a record-15th Copa America title in Sunday’s final against either Paraguay or Venezuela, which meet in the other semifinal Wednesday in Mendoza. The final will be playe

STOCKHOLM (AP) ― Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva will make her Diamond League debut at the DN Galan meet in Stockholm on July 29.Isinbayeva took a break from competition last year and skipped the inaugural Diamond League season. The world record-holder made her season debut in Belgium last weekend, jumping 4.60 meters to win a meet in Heusden ― her first outdoor competition since September

TAIPEI (AP) ― Taiwan’s Defense Ministry says China’s military advantage over the island is increasing, amid Beijing’s attempts to block foreign forces from intervening in a possible conflict.In its annual defense report, released Tuesday, the ministry says China’s declared 2010 defense expenditures of $77 billion dwarfed Taiwan’s $9 billion, but that the actual Chinese outlay may have exceeded $20

CARACAS (AP) ― An aide to Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez said Monday that there is no doubt the president will run for re-election next year despite his struggle with cancer.The remark by Finance Minister Jorge Giordani came as Chavez was in Cuba undergoing cancer treatment.“There’s no doubt he’s going to be there in the 2012 elections, and afterward for many more years,” Giordani said in an interv

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ― The night was hot and the air was thick, and Fausto Carmona didn’t care. He needed to take his time, between every pitch, and carefully focus on each throw.The Indians were more than happy to let the big right-hander work whatever way he wanted to.Lou Marson hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the seventh inning and Cleveland completed a doubleheader sweep with a 6-3 win over the Mi

SANDWICH, England (AP) ― Darren Clarke’s bleary, bloodshot eyes told it all.The party began shortly after he walked off the 18th green at Royal St. George’s with the claret jug in hand. Beer and red wine flowed through the night, the revelry not letting up until Clarke had to return Monday morning for a few more interviews and some picture-taking at the spot where he tapped in the final putt to wi

Thousands of fans turn out in Tokyo to greet WC championsTOKYO (AP) ― This Japanese flower bloomed just when the country needed it most.A nation reeling from months of tragedy united in joyous celebration Monday after its women’s soccer team ― nicknamed “Nadeshiko” for a pink mountain flower ― won the World Cup by beating the United States.Fans decked out in the team’s dark blue colors hugged and

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) ― Korea was the top foreign destination for the Chinese outbound travelers during the first six months of this year, the Chinese government said Monday, suggesting that the neighboring country is attracting a growing number of Chinese tourists.China’s Ministry of Public Security said in an online statement that South Korea ranked the No. 3 destination after Hong Kong and Ma

Korea is set to adopt weekly forecasts of water quality near the four major rivers under a multi-billion dollar refurbishment project next month in a bid to better control water pollution there, the Environment Ministry said Monday.The government plans to start the weekly forecast of water conditions in key stream spots of the Han, Nakdong, Geum and Yeongsan rivers in August. The preliminary Augus

The number of counterfeit South Korean banknotes rose 8.4 percent in the first half from a year earlier mainly due to a jump in the discovery of fake banknotes in the second-highest denomination, the central bank said Monday.The number of counterfeit bills found in the country reached 5,153 in the January-June period, compared with 4,755 the previous year, according to the Bank of Korea. Compared

A match-fixing scandal in South Korean football shows little sign of slowing down with a growing number of players and teams implicated. The one consolation for the Korean Football Association and the K-League is that they are not alone. It is an international issue.In June, 10 South Korean players were charged by prosecutors with accepting bribes to fix the result of games. In July, 46 more were

The time has come. South Korean swimming star Park Tae-hwan arrived in Shanghai on Monday to compete in the 2011 World Swimming Championships. For Park, the biennial event, which is running until July 31, is an opportunity to erase the memory of his meltdown two years ago. At the previous championships in Rome, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist failed to make it into the finals in any race.Last month

South Korean striker Ji Dong-won has expressed his excitement for the upcoming season in the English Premier League. The 20-year-old Ji, who signed last month with Sunderland AFC, is enjoying being on the pre-season tour with his new club. Sunderland’s new striker Ji Dong-won (right) of Korea speaks with manager Steve Bruce on Friday. (Sunderland)“If I stay injury free and have time to adapt prope

So much has happened in this K-League season, some good and quite a lot fairly bad. It seems a long time since it all started back at the beginning of March. Champions FC Seoul and FA Cup holders Suwon Bluewings met in the capital in front of almost 50,000 fans. It wasn’t the best of games but it saw Suwon win 2-0. Whatever the result, the expectation was that both teams would have a good seasonTh

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) ― Israeli aircraft struck Gaza overnight for the fourth time in as many days, wounding a militant who was about to fire a rocket, Palestinian security sources said on Saturday.The Palestinian was admitted to hospital but his injuries were not life-threatening, the sources said.An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed that an air strike had targeted a Pales

TORONTO (AP) ― CC Sabathia ensured the New York Yankees didn’t have to wait another day for their next win.Sa-bathia won his seventh straight start to become the first 14-game winner in the majors, Brett Gardner had three hits and the Yankees beat Toronto 4-1 on Saturday, ending the Blue Jays’ five-game winning streak. “To not win for a week, and that’s what it felt like because we hadn’t played f