Eight suspects detained in wake of bomb attack

ST. PETERSBURG - Russian investigators on Thursday detained eight people suspected of involvement in Wednesday's bombing of the St. Petersburg metro as the nation held memorials to honor the 13 victims.

Lotte chief grilled over corruption

SEOUL - Shin Dong-bin, chief of Lotte Group, South Korea's fifth-largest family-controlled conglomerate, was summoned for questioning by prosecutors on Friday over his alleged involvement in a corruption scandal embroiling impeached president Park Geun-hye.

Rickles always lived up to his nickname: 'Merchant of Venom'

LOS ANGELES - Don Rickles, the master insult comic who created laughs with ridicule and sarcasm in a decades-long career that earned him the nickname "Merchant of Venom," died of kidney failure at his Los Angeles home on Thursday.

Atmosphere detected around planet in distant constellation

WASHINGTON - Astronomers have made what they believe to be the first detection of an atmosphere around an Earth-sized planet beyond our solar system.

IN BRIEF (Page 9)

Man reunites with family after 22 years

HANOI - A 56-year-old man with a pallid and wizened face slowly touched his right foot, which was being wrapped in layers of bandages on Wednesday afternoon.

Thousands evacuated from Cyclone Debbie

WELLINGTON - Rescue workers used tractors and boats to evacuate thousands of people at the top of New Zealand's North Island on Thursday as floodwaters from ex-Cyclone Debbie surged in what meteorologists said was a once-in-500-years event.

China supports probe into use of chemical weapons

UNITED NATIONS - China supports the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and related UN entities in carrying out comprehensive, objective and fair investigations into uses of chemicals as weapons in Syria, a Chinese envoy said on Wednesday.

International donors pledge $6 billion in Syria aid

International donors pledged $6 billion in aid for war-ravaged Syria on Wednesday as the UN Security Council held emergency talks over a suspected chemical attack that killed dozens in a rebel-held town.

South Koreans file petition against THAAD

SEOUL - South Korean residents and civic group activists filed a petition on Thursday against the deployment of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile defense system, which they claim is unconstitutional.

Trump drops Steve Bannon from National Security Council

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump removed his chief strategist Steve Bannon from the National Security Council on Wednesday, reversing his controversial decision early this year to give a political adviser an unprecedented role in security discussions.

Norway plans world's first ship tunnel at sea, through mountain

OSLO - Norway on Wednesday unveiled plans to build the world's first sea tunnel to pass through a mountain, avoiding dangerous waters that intimidated even the Vikings.