DUBAI (AP) -- An Emirates flight from India with 300 people on board crash landed at Dubai's main airport on Wednesday, sending black smoke billowing into the air and halting all traffic at the Middle East's busiest airport. Authorities said all passengers were evacuated safely. Dubai-based Emirates said the accident happened around 12:45 p.m. local time as Flight EK521 was arriving from the southern Indian city of Thiruvananthapuram. It confirmed there were no fatalities and said "all passenger

PAJU (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Army spotlighted a tactical drill conducted by one of its reconnaissance teams near the Demilitarized Zone on Wednesday amid a steady rise in cross-border provocations that were punctuated by North Korea firing off two missiles earlier in the day.The exercise was carried out by the Army unit located just a few kilometers south of the DMZ and took place one day before the first anniversary of the North Korea-planted land mine blasts that maimed two South Korean sold

A Chinese visa agency that handled South Korean business travelers was stripped of its business license, a move that could be seen as a retaliatory measure undertaken by Beijing after South Korea's decision to deploy an advanced United States missile defense system on its soil, a local source here said Wednesday. The source said the closed agency handled Chinese letters of invitation for South Koreans, which is a key piece of paperwork needed to get multiple entry visas for business trips and cu

President Park Geun-hye's planned visit to Russia aims to address tensions between Seoul and Moscow over the decision to deploy an advanced U.S. antimissile system to South Korea and further bolster economic ties, analysts here said Wednesday.Park will fly to Vladivostok on Sept. 2 for a two-day visit during which she will attend an annual economic forum on the development of the Russian Far East and hold a summit with her Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, her office Cheong Wa Dae said.Her tri

A family of North Korean defectors has filed a suit against the South Korean government, saying they were illegally investigated by the state intelligence agency, a liberal civic group said Wednesday.The husband, identified only by his surname Ji, his ex-wife and two sons filed the suit with the Seoul Central District Court, seeking a total of 218 million won ($195,000) in compensation.Ji and his ex-wife, identified only by her surname Pae, said they were unlawfully investigated by the National

BRUSSELS (AFP) -- NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Monday he was sure Britain's new government would remain committed to the alliance despite the Brexit vote and the resignation of Prime Minister David Cameron.Britain's ruling Conservative party is seeking a new leader to lead negotiations on an exit from the European Union, which has sparked fears for the Western security establishment of which both the EU and NATO are key parts."Brexit will change the relationship between the UK and the EU but

WASHINGTON (AP) -- They've been bitter rivals, allies and colleagues.When they take the stage at their first joint campaign appearance on Tuesday, President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will show off a new phase in their storied relationship: co-dependents.Clinton's chances of winning the White House hinge on rallying Obama's coalition to her cause. Obama's legacy depends on her success. Eight years after they spent millions tearing each other down in pursuit of the White House, they will no

BEIJING (AFP) -- China has passed a new wild animal protection law banning the sale of food from endangered species, but allowing other products to be made from them, state media said, amid controversy over its wildlife policies.The measure, approved by China's Communist Party-controlled parliament on Saturday, "strengthens regulation of the use of wild animals and products derived from them," the official Xinhua news agency said.Environmental campaigners previously slammed a draft of the law fo

ENTEBBE, Uganda (AFP) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Uganda on Monday for a rare tour of sub-Saharan Africa, seeking new trade partners and marking the 40th anniversary of a hostage rescue in which his brother died.Speaking in Entebbe, close to the site of the 1976 airport raid in which over 100 hostages were released, Netanyahu said the visit was "deeply moving" and symbolised the changing relationship between Israel and Africa."Exactly 40 years ago Israeli soldiers car

BAGHDAD (AFP) -- Iraqis on Monday mourned more than 200 people killed in a Baghdad suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State group and accused the government of not doing enough to protect them.The search continued for bodies at the site of the attack, which ripped through the Karrada district early on Sunday as the area was packed with shoppers ahead of this week's holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced efforts to address longs

MOSCOW (AP) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday in a July Fourth message to President Barack Obama that he hopes ties between the two countries will get back on track.Relations between Moscow and Washington hit a post-Cold War low in 2014, when Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and threw its weight behind separatists in eastern Ukraine. The Kremlin, however, has recently sought rapprochement with the United States.In the Independence Day message released by the Kremlin, Puti

LONDON (AFP) -- Leading Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage on Monday stepped down as leader of the UK Independence Party as the shockwaves from Britain's decision to quit the EU continued to rock the political order."I have decided to stand aside as leader of UKIP," he told a London press conference. "The victory for the 'Leave' side in the referendum means that my political ambition has been achieved."The 52-year-old vowed watch Britain's renegotiation process with the EU "like a hawk" as he contin

A nuclear reactor in South Korea was halted Monday while undergoing a test run, but there was no danger of a radiation leak, reactor operators said.The Shin Kori No. 3 reactor shut down at around 4:50 p.m. while undergoing a test to see if the reactor remains stable when its circuit breaker is manually pulled down to prevent an overload, according to officials from the state-run Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co.The reactor was running at about 80 percent of its maximum capacity."The reactor shut

RIYADH (AFP) -- A suicide bomber blew himself up near the American consulate in Saudi Arabia's western city of Jeddah in the early hours of US Independence Day on Monday, wounding two security officers.The Saudi interior ministry said the two officers suffered minor injuries, while the American embassy in Riyadh said there were no casualties or injuries among US consulate staff. The ministry did not specify if the bomber intended to target the consulate, saying an investigation was underway.The

BEIJING (AP) -- A former top presidential aide and consummate Chinese political insider was sentenced Monday to life in prison for taking bribes, illegally obtaining state secrets and abusing his power in a downfall set off by an alleged cover-up of his son's death in a speeding Ferrari.A court in the northern port city of Tianjin delivered the verdict against Ling Jihua nearly one month after the trial, which was held behind closed doors because the case involved state secrets, the official Xin

TOKYO (AP) -- Japanese police arrested an American serviceman for alleged drunken driving on Okinawa early Monday morning, days after the lifting of an off-base drinking ban imposed after other alcohol offenses and the arrest of a former Marine in a high-profile murder case.Tech Sgt. Christopher Platte, 27, stationed at Kadena Air Base on the southern island, was arrested after a police officer spotted him driving erratically on the road in the town of Chatan on Okinawa's central region. Police

BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraqi authorities on Monday raised the death toll to 149 from Sunday's devastating truck bombing at a bustling Baghdad commercial street as Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered new security measures in the country's capital. The bombing, claimed by the Islamic State group, was the deadliest terror attack in Iraq in a year and one of the worst single bombings in more than a decade of war and insurgency. It underscored the IS group's ability to strike the Iraqi capital despite a

NEW DELHI (AP) -- Bangladesh's prime minister visited a stadium where the bodies of three of the 20 slain hostages were taken after a weekend attack in the capital, while security officials Monday questioned some of the people rescued and pursued information on the possible masterminds.An official involved in the investigation said authorities were still holding five of the 13 people rescued when commandos stormed the restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic zone Saturday morning, killing six of the att

Park Yu-chun, the troubled member of popular K-pop boy band JYJ, lodged a counterclaim against one of the women who filed complaints against him last month, saying she falsely accused him of raping her, police said Monday.The 30-year-old singer-actor's legal representatives filed the case with the Gangnam Police Station in southern Seoul, which is handling a series of allegations raised against Park. Park has been mired in a scandal as four different women, all working at local bars, lodged comp

The leader of South Korea's second-largest umbrella labor union received a five-year jail term Monday for last year's violent rallies in downtown Seoul.The Seoul Central District Court found Han Sang-gyun, head of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, guilty of orchestrating a massive antigovernment protest in November that led to clashes with the police and a dozen other rallies between 2012 and 2015. The court also ordered the 53-year-old to pay 500,000 won ($436) in fines.On Nov. 14, tens