To mark the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, the country has held the Communist Olympics in Qingyang, Gansu Province between June 26 and 28, said the U.K.’s Telegraph newspaper.Each team wore uniforms and performed in a series of dramatic events including grenade chucking, model explosive carrying and "shoulder pole carrying." A race named “Storming the blockhouse”

From news reports Young South Koreans learn the best from computers and the Internet according to a survey of 15 year-olds in 19 countries, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said on Monday. The OECD, which groups 34 of the world’s most advanced economies, tested the digital literacy of students in 16 member countries as well as Colombia and the Chinese cities of Hong Kong a

VATICAN CITY (AP) _ Pope Benedict XVI has tweeted for the first time, announcing the launch of a Vatican news information portal.Benedict's tweet on Tuesday read: ``Dear Friends, I just launched News.va Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI''.The portal www.news.va for the first time aggregates information from the Vatican's various print, online, radio an

North Korean universities are to be closed for the next ten months in order to supply laborers for construction projects.As the next year marks 100th anniversary for the birth of the “eternal leader” Kim Il-sung, the government is striving to restore its economy in order to create a “strong and powerful nation of socialism.”Pyongyang announced that all universities would be closed from June 27, al

Gina RinehartGina Rinehart, Australia’s richest person, is also projected to become the wealthiest person in the world, the Telegraph reported.With her fortune doubling to more than $10.8 billion in the past year due to a commodities boom, her asset value will soon surpass wealthy figures such as Carlos Slim, the Mexican magnate worth $73 billion and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, who is worth $56

Kim Jung-un, heir apparent to North Korean leader Kim Jon-il, allegedly had several plastic surgeries before his public debut.The secret was revealed during a conference held by Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security at London. According to Ha Tae-kyung, representative of Open Radio for North Korea, Kim Jung-un was designated as the successor in 2007, and had about six plastic su

A Canadian teenager is set to become the youngest-ever space traveler next year. According to Canadian press, the 17-year-old had his name reserved on the list of boarding passengers to Virgin Galactic, the first commercial space shuttle.As soon as the boy becomes 18, passing the minimum age limit, he will have become the first teenager to travel to space. Teenage passengers are required to accomp

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ One of baseball's proudest franchises is in tatters, its future to be decided not on the field but in the courtroom.The Los Angeles Dodgers filed for bankruptcy protection in a Delaware court Monday, blaming Major League Baseball for refusing to approve a multibillion-dollar TV deal that owner Frank McCourt was counting on to keep the troubled franchise afloat.McCourt, upset tha

GOETTINGEN, Germany, June 27, 2011 (AFP) - A court in Germany Monday ruled that a 26-year-old man who murdered two teenagers, chewing on parts of one of them and drinking her blood, will never be free again.Jan O. was given a life sentence by the court in Goettingen, central Germany. He will be sent to a psychiatric unit and will never be released because of the danger he posed to the public.The d

Four Korean apps have made it to the top ten paid iPhone app list in the Asian region, signaling a positive trend for Korean developers wanting to jump into the fast-growing mobile software market. Birzzle, a puzzle game developed by Korea firm Enfeel Inc., ranked first and 10th at the same time in the list compiled by the Netherlands-based market research firm Distimo, which analyzed the data bas

SINGAPORE, June 27, 2011 (AFP) - New recruits to Singapore's military, air force and navy are to get a new standard-issue item of equipment besides their rifle -- the iPad.The defence ministry said Monday it will be issuing "about 8,000" of the sleek, touch-screen tablet computers -- already wildly popular with the city-state's tech-savvy youth -- to recruits from November.The ministry said it was

Six out of 10 Korean teens would rather “go abroad”About six out of 10 Korean teenagers said they would go abroad in case of another war, suggesting the lack of patriotism among students.Korea Advanced Youth Association and Teengora media conducted research on about 2,500 Korean teenagers from 400 middle and high schools, finding out that only 19.5 percents replied they would fight.Meanwhile, in a

Children with both older and younger siblings have a higher chance of becoming bullies, according to research.Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex and the University of Warwick conducted the study covering some 40,000 British households.It was traditionally assumed that the oldest child is likely to dominate or use violence against his or her siblings. However, it

(MCT)A dog traumatized by its memory of a car accident chewed four tires, damaging two police cars and an animal control vehicle.New Zealand media reported that Bruno, a 7-year-old dog, has been taken to an animal shelter after attacking the tires of police cars.The owner of Bruno, Fay Gock told the police that Bruno was hit by a car when he was 1 year old. Thereafter, the registered memory of the

The Chinese crested-Chihuahua Yoda claimed the honor as the World’s Ugliest Dog held at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in California. Owner Terry Schumacher hugged and kissed her dog as they won the $1,000 top prize. Yoda won a trophy after being crowned the winner of the 2011 World's Ugliest Dog Contest (AP)During this year’s competition, Yoda defeated defending champion, Princess Abby, one-eyed Chihuahua

  SEOUL, June 24 (Yonhap) -- HSBC Bank and several other European companies in South Korea plan to offer a rare internship program to dozens of North Korean defectors in a move to give them work experience, an official said Friday.   Under the initial program, 20 North Korean college students and graduates in the South are scheduled to work as interns at about 10 European firms for about three mon

Some people might be unlucky enough to wake up to find their car on bricks, but not many find their vehicle made out of bricks.　That happened at Legoland California, where staff organized the perfect prank by replacing their boss’ car with a Lego version, the Daily Mail reported.On Monday morning, Peter Rochetti, the general manager of Legoland parked his Volvo SUV in his usual spot. Little did he

SEOUL, June 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's drug safety agency will likely approve a stem cell therapeutic drug this month in what could be the world's first move to permit the sale of a stem-cell medicine, officials said Friday.The Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) is expected to finalize all procedures needed to permit the sale of "Hearticellgram-AMI," a stem cell therapy for acute myocardi

(MCT)LOS ANGELES — Public Enemy No. 1 in America's battle of the bulge isn't cupcakes, soda or double bacon cheeseburgers. It's the simple potato, according to Harvard University researchers.Daily consumption of an extra serving of spuds — french fried, sliced into crispy chips, mashed with butter and garlic, or simply boiled or baked — was found to cause more weight gain than downing an additiona

Police concluded Friday that the death of a motorcyclist was caused by a car driven by Big Bang member Daesung. They said Daesung would be booked without detention. The police made a briefing Friday morning based on the autopsy result of the motorist, who was pronounced dead at the scene. The vehicle driven by the 22-year-old singer, hit both a motorcyclist who was lying in the road and a taxi dri