Chinese authorities ended the search for the remaining eight missing in a massive chemical warehouse explosion last month, setting the final death toll at 173 in China's worst industrial disaster in years.     The announcement on the Tianjin city government's microblog said there was no hope of finding the eight people, and the court will now start issuing death certificates.     ``After thorough investigations by all parties, it is certain that there is no possibility of survivors,'' said the s

Defense Sept. 12, 2015

The head of the U.N.'s nuclear test ban treaty organization says Iran should follow up on its historic nuclear deal with world powers by ratifying the treaty and assuring it will never conduct a nuclear test explosion.    Lassina Zerbo said in an interview Friday with The Associated Press that if Iran doesn't ratify the treaty, ``it will leave room for the doubt that people have put in this deal and the good intentions of Iran.''    Zerbo said Iran should have signed the Comprehensive Nuclear Te

Defense Sept. 12, 2015

A powerful gas cylinder explosion in a packed restaurant in India's Madhya Pradesh state left 25 people dead Saturday, police said.     The death toll rose after rescuers recovered five more bodies from the debris of the shattered restaurant and surrounding buildings.    The blast occurred at around 8:30 am (0300 GMT) at the restaurant in the town of Petlawad in Jhabua district, as dozens of office workers and schoolchildren were having breakfast, senior district police official Seema Alava said

Defense Sept. 12, 2015

The two Koreas will exchange lists of their candidates for the upcoming reunions for families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War at the truce village of Panmunjom next week, the local Red Cross said Saturday.   The Korean Red Cross said it will send a list of 250 candidates from the South while receiving a list of 200 candidates from its North Korean counterpart on Tuesday.   The move came as South and North Korea agreed earlier this month to hold the reunions for 100 separated families each fr

Defense Sept. 12, 2015

The northeastern Chinese province of Liaoning plans to attract more tourists to border areas near North Korea, a Chinese official has said, in the latest sign of boosting tourism with the reclusive neighbor.    North Korea joined a three-day travel fair, which was held by the Liaoning province at the Chinese border city of Dandong and ended on Saturday. Tourism representatives from about 20 nations, including South Korea, Russia and Japan, also attended the annual fair.    Tong Zhiwu, deputy dir

National Sept. 12, 2015

The United States said Friday it deeply appreciates the strong support its ambassador to South Korea received following a knife attack in March after a Seoul court handed down a heavy prison term to the attacker.   The Seoul District Court sentenced the 55-year-old attacker, Kim Ki-jong, to 12 years in prison on conviction of attempted murder and other charges. Kim slashed Amb. Mark Lippert on his face and wrist at a breakfast function in Seoul on March 5.   The attack left Lippert with deep gas

National Sept. 12, 2015

FIFA presidential contender Chung Mong-joon has criticized election monitors who cleared the Asian Football Confederation of improperly supporting Michel Platini.    The former FIFA vice president from South Korea says the FIFA-appointed committee investigated for only three days and forfeited its ``duty to ensure the fairness of the election.''    He filed a complaint after the AFC sent members a template letter soliciting support for Platini, the UEFA president.    Asian leaders publicly suppo

Defense Sept. 11, 2015

South Korea is considering a test-launch of a ballistic missile with a range of 800 kilometers, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Friday, unveiling the test plan of the missile the country is developing to guard against North Korea's advancing missile threats.   "We are reviewing a plan to do a launch into the international sea south of the Korean air defense identification zone (KADIZ) and the island of Ieodo," Maj. Gen. Yang Byung-hee of the JCS said during a parliamentary audit.    His com

Defense Sept. 11, 2015

A nuclear test or a test-launch of long-range missiles by North Korea would constitute an "abnormal situation," in which South Korea would be compelled to resume its loudspeaker broadcasts against the North under a recent inter-Korean deal, the chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Friday.   "North Korea's nuclear test and long-range missile launch should be deemed as an abnormal situation," JCS Chairman Choi Yoon-hee said in a parliamentary audit, indicating that Seoul will resume its p

Defense Sept. 11, 2015