The global market for Internet advertisements jumped 12.1 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, growing faster than traditional advertising channels, a report showed Thursday.The increase surpassed a 3.1 percent growth in the overall global advertising market as well as single-digit growth in other advertising channels such as TV, newspaper and radio, according to the quarterly report

The average price of houses in South Korea dropped for the first time in two years, related data showed Thursday, offering another clear indication of the country's struggling housing market.The average price of homes across the country dropped 0.1 percent from a month earlier in July, according to the data released by Kookmin Bank, the largest bank in South Korea. July marks the first time since

South Korean stocks started a whisker higher Thursday as investors remained optimistic on stimulus packages at a key meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB) later this week, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 2.27 points, or 0.12 percent, to 1,882.2 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Large-cap shares lent support to the increase, with the world's bigges

Rebbeca Soni (AP)LONDON - American Rebecca Soni broke the women's 200m breaststroke world record with a time of 2min 20.00sec in the semi-finals at the London Olympics on Wednesday.Olympic champion Soni reached the final in emphatic style as she bettered the previous world record of 2:20.12, set by Canadian Annamay Pierse in July 2009 in Rome.Soni, who earned silver in the 100m breaststroke here,

Serena Williams (Yonhap News)LONDON - Serena Williams' path to Olympic tennis gold will look less daunting to the American after her sister Venus suffered a shock third-round exit on Wednesday.When Serena kicked off the last 16 action at Wimbledon with a 6-1, 6-0demolition of Vera Zvonareva on Centre Court, the Williams sisters were still on course to meet in the semi-finals.Venus had been just as

LONDON - Brazil saw Porto star Alex Sandro sent-off but still overpowered New Zealand 3-0 at Newcastle's St James' Park to ease intothe quarter-finals of the men's Olympic football tournament on Wednesday.By the time he was dismissed for a second bookable offence, after a yellow card for diving following one for an earlier foul, Internacional strikerLeandro Damiao had sent the South Americans on t

Rim Jong Sim (Yonhap News)LONDON - North Korea's Rim Jong Sim relied on her superior clean and jerk to win the women's -69kg class on Wednesday, the reclusive nation's third Olympic gold of the weighlifting competition.Rim, 19, recorded a combined total of 261kg after snatching 115kg and registering a best in the clean and jerk of 146kg.Romanian Roxana Cocos took silver with a total of 256kg (113,

LONDON -- South Korea doubled its gold medal total Wednesday, picking up three Olympic titles to shoot up to six gold medals at the start of the new month in London.The country is now halfway past its stated goal of winning at least 10 gold medals for its third straight top-10 finish in the medal table.Teenage shooter Kim Jang-mi got the ball rolling, taking the women's 25-meter pistol. As the wor

LONDON -- North Koreans are receiving substantial television coverage of the London Olympics as their athletes are off to a strong start in the medal race, officials said Wednesday.Ri Kwang-chol, head of the press delegation from the North's Radio and Television Broadcasting Committee, said Pyongyang is caught up in Olympic fever."People back home are excited about our athletes' great performances

A child cools off under the waterfall at a swimming pool in Seoul Wednesday. Earlier in the day, the state weather agency issued a heat wave warning for Seoul.(Yonhap News)The state weather agency issued a heat wave warning for Seoul on Wednesday in response to predictions that the mercury will rise to a record high of 35 degrees Celsius in the afternoon.The warning, which is issued when temperatu

South Korean fencer Shin A-lam (London Olympic Joint Press Corps)LONDON - The South Korean fencer Shin A-lam who staged a tearful, hour-long sit-in protest over Olympic judging said Tuesday she refuses to receive a consolation medal from the sport's world body."It does not make me feel better because it's not an Olympic medal," said Shin. "I don't accept the result because I believe it was a mista

LONDON - Maria Sharapova set up a revenge mission against Sabine Lisicki as the Russian world number three beat Britain's Laura Robson 7-6 (7/5) 6-3 in the second round of the Olympics on Tuesday.Sharapova lost her world number one ranking after losing to Lisicki in the Wimbledon fourth round earlier this month, but the French Open champion will have a chance to make amends by knocking out the Ger

(London Olympics Joint Press Corps)LONDON - Serbia's Novak Djokovic fired a warning to his Olympic rivals as the world number two crushed three-time Wimbledon finalist Andy Roddick 6-2, 6-1 in the second round on Tuesday.While Roger Federer is the gold medal favourite after his recent Wimbledon triumph, Djokovic, a bronze medallist at the 2008 Games in Beijing, also has his sights firmly set on th

LONDON - World champions Japan advanced into the quarter-finals of the Olympic women's football tournament after a goalless draw with South Africa in Cardiff on Tuesday.Striker Kozue Ando and midfielder Asuna Tanaka wasted the best chances for Japan, who are now set for a last eight clash with Great Britain should the hosts beat Brazil later Tuesday.For South Africa, the draw was their first point

LONDON -- South Korea still remains on course to meet its gold medal target at the London Olympics despite its slower-than-expected start, officials here said Wednesday.South Korea, with 245 athletes in 22 sports, has set out to grab at least 10 gold medals for its third consecutive top-10 finish at the Summer Olympics. Through Tuesday, South Korea had earned three gold medals and eight medals ove

LONDON -- The South Korean men's football team plays its final group stage match against Gabon Wednesday for a chance to reach the quarterfinals. It can do that with at least a draw. South Korea has never won an Olympic football medal in its previous eight attempts.Female shooter Kim Jang-mi, a 19-year-old sensation who set a world record in 25-meter pistol in April this year, will make her Olympi

Choi Byung-chul (London Olympic Joint Press Corps)LONDON -- Fencer Choi Byung-chul took the bronze medal in the men's individual foil Tuesday for South Korea's first fencing medal at the London Olympics.Choi beat Andrea Baldini of Italy 15-14 in the bronze medal contest. Choi is the first South Korean male fencer to win an Olympic medal in a dozen years.He'd lost to Alaaeldin Abouelkassem of Egypt

South Korean stocks finished 2.07 percent higher Tuesday as investors' sentiment was boosted by expectations that stimulus measures from Europe and the U.S. will come, analysts said. The local currency rose sharply against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) soared 38.2 points to close at 1,881.99 Trading volume was moderate at 353.6 million shares worth 5.55 tr

PARIS — A gang of thieves dressed as knights and armed with a sword and an axe robbed the organizers of a medieval festival in northeast France Monday and made off with 20,000 euros ($25,000), police said.The theft took place in the early hours of Monday as organizers were counting revenues from the festival in Bitche, near France's border with Germany, a spokesman for regional police in Lorraine

A Stradivarius violin -- possibly worth several million euros -- was handed in at a Swiss lost-property office after a hapless musician left it on a train, police said Monday.The owner had lent the precious instrument to a musician friend who took it on a train on Friday but forgot it when he got off at Bern, police said.After a fruitless search by train staff, surveillance cameras spotted a passe