Joey Chestnut ate his way to a sixth straight win at the Fourth of July hot dog eating contest at Coney Island on Wednesday, downing 68 to tie his personal best in a sweaty, gag-inducing spectacle.Last year, the 28-year-old San Jose, California, man nicknamed “Jaws” won with 62 hot dogs. He bested his main rival this year by 16 dogs, scarfing down all 68 in 10 minutes in the sweltering summer hea

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Thursday it is pushing to ban drinking in public parks starting next year to enhance public health and reduce disturbances. The municipal government said it submitted to the land ministry last month a proposal of revising relevant law to prohibit drinkingin the city's 2,000-odd parks.Smoking is not allowed in public parks according to law, but no similar rule

Mexican electoral authorities said Wednesday they are recounting more than half the ballot boxes used in the weekend's presidential election after finding inconsistencies in the vote tallies.Of the 143,000 ballot boxes used during Sunday's vote, 78,012 will be opened and the votes recounted, said Edmundo Jacobo, executive secretary of Mexico's Federal Electoral Institute.Jacobo said the recount co

(MCT)After a quest spanning nearly half a century, physicists on Wednesday said they had found a new sub-atomic particle consistent with the Higgs boson which is believed to confer mass.Rousing cheers and a standing ovation broke out at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) after scientists presented data in their long search for the mysterious particle.The new find is "consistent

French police searched Nicolas Sarkozy's offices and home Tuesday as part of their probe into suspected illegal financing of his successful 2007 presidential election campaign, his lawyer said.Magistrates are investigating claims that staff for Liliane Bettencourt, heiress to the L'Oreal cosmetics empire and France's richest woman, gave envelopes stuffed with cash to Sarkozy aides to finance the c

A lawmaker from the minor opposition party with alleged pro-North Korean sympathies was humiliated at a rally of farmers Tuesday when protesters who dislike his stance on Pyongyang grabbed him by the collar, witnesses said.Rep. Lee Seok-gi of the Unified Progressive Party (UPP), who is under pressure to resign for his involvement in a rigged vote, joined farmers in central Seoul to protest a free

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday made a repeat trip to one of the four Pacific Kuril islands claimed by Japan, drawing new protests from Tokyo following years of unrelenting tensions.Medvedev arrived on the island of Kunashir which lies just north of Japan's Hokkaido island, pledging to improve the lives of the disputed chain's residents."The farthest region of our state cannot an

Former President Kim Young-sam has been hospitalized after showing signs of a cold, his aides and hospital officials said Tuesday.The 85-year-old Kim, who served as president from 1993 to 1998, was admitted to Seoul National University Hospital in downtown Seoul on Monday afternoon due to light cold symptoms and chest pain, according to the former president's chief secretary and hospital officials

South Korea plans to call off discussions on a military logistics accord with Japan, a government source here said Tuesday, as Seoul deals with the aftermath of a controversial attempt to sign a separate military intelligence-sharing deal with Tokyo.The source said relevant government ministries are "building consensus" toward stopping talks on the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA).

College basketball player Marcus Jordan, the son of retired NBA great Michael Jordan, was arrested in Omaha early Sunday following a disturbance outside a downtown hotel.According to a news release, police responding to a call at the Embassy Suites found hotel security trying to subdue Marcus Jordan, who was having an argument with two women in the hotel driveway.The release said Jordan was ``very

  A set of postage stamps featuring Girls` Generation (Korea Post)The leading K-pop girl group Girls' Generation will be honored with postage stamps, the group's entertainment agency said Tuesday.Korea Post will issue a set of postage stamps featuring the group early next month to mark its 5th anniversary, S.M. Entertainment said. The group will be the first celebrities to be on stamps issued by K

(123rf)Physicists say they have all but proven that the “God particle” exists. They have a footprint and a shadow, and the only thing left is to see for themselves the elusive subatomic particle believed to give all matter in the universe size and shape.Scientists at the world's biggest atom smasher plan to announce Wednesday that they have nearly confirmed the primary plank of a theory that could

Dr. Jim Yong Kim, the new head of the World Bank, said Monday that his institution will endeavor to help boost prosperity and eradicate poverty worldwide.Meeting the press formally for the first time since the start of his five-year tenure, Kim said he assumed the presidency of the World Bank "at a pivotal moment for the global economy."He said the Washington-based organization is the "most import

British tycoon Richard Branson on Sunday became the oldest person to kite-surf the Channel, a day after abandoning an attempt due to his kite being too small.The billionaire adventurer crossed from Dymchurch, Kent, to Wimereux in northern France in three hours, 45 minutes to set a new Guinness World Record.However, Branson failed in his bid to become the fastest person of any age to cross the Chan

Two crew members of a South Korean vessel sailing off Japan's southwestern coast have died, a Japanese media report said Monday.Japan's maritime police received an emergency call from the 994-ton "Chemhana" at about 3:05 p.m. stating two crew members were in critical condition after apparent gas inhalation, Kyodo News said.The two -- one a 56-year-old Korean and the other a 28-year-old from Myanma

Even for infants born full-term, a little more time in the womb may matter.The extra time results in more brain development, and a study suggests perhaps better scores on academic tests, too.Full-term is generally between 37 weeks and 41 weeks; newborns born before 37 weeks are called premature and are known to face increased chances for health and developmental problems.The children in the study

U.S. technology giant Apple has paid a Chinese firm $60 million to settle a long-running dispute over the iPad trademark in China, a court said Monday.The government body overseeing trademarks has been asked to immediately recognise Apple's rights to the iPad name, the High Court of the southern province of Guangdong said on its website.Apple last week paid $60 million to settle the dispute, accor

Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yu-na announced Monday she will retire from competitions after the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.In a news conference at a training center for national athletes in Taenung, Seoul, hastily scheduled to clarify the future of her career, the 21-year-old skater also said she will try to become a member of the International Olympic Committee after the So

A 49-year-old grandmother and veteran endurance swimmer scuttled her quest early Sunday to become the first woman to swim unaided from Cuba to the Florida Keys, unable to close the gap on the last 26 miles of a more than 100-mile ocean odyssey.Penny Palfrey had fended off painful jellyfish stings while keeping an eye on hammerhead sharks as she attempted the crossing without a shark cage. But her

A South Carolina judge sentenced a woman to read the Bible as part of her sentence for severely injuring two men in a drunken driving accident.Circuit Court Judge Michael Nettles sentenced Cassandra Belle Tolley of Rock Hill to eight years in jail followed by five years of probation and substance abuse counseling, as well as reading the book of Job in the Old Testament and writing a summary, The R