TEHRAN (AP) -- Iran's top leader on Sunday warned Saudi Arabia of "divine revenge" over the execution of an opposition Shiite cleric while Riyadh accused Tehran of supporting terrorism, escalating a war of words hours after protesters stormed the Saudi Embassy in Tehran.Saudi Arabia announced the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr on Saturday along with 46 others, including three other Shiite dissidents and a number of al-Qaida militants. It was largest mass execution carried out by the kingdom in

A passenger jet bound for South Korea’s southeastern port city of Busan had to return to Cebu soon after takeoff on Sunday due to safety concerns, company officials said.The LJ038 flight of Jin Air Co. carrying 163 passengers left Mactan-Cebu International Airport at 1 a.m. local time. Its return was decided about 20-30 minutes after its takeoff as some “strange noise” was heard from the front door area, according to officials.Jin Air is a low-cost carrier owned by South Korea’s top flag carrier

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- The European Central Bank cut one of its key interest rates and promised to unveil more stimulus measures on Thursday in an attempt to boost lending and help the growth in the 19-country eurozone economy.  The bank said it is reducing the interest rate on deposits from commercial banks from minus 0.2 percent to minus 0.3 percent. The negative rate is intended to push banks to lend excess cash by imposing a penalty for leaving it at the central bank.  The size of the cu

The court ruled on Thursday that the police ban on the second mass anti-government rally planned for this weekend is "unjust," giving the event the greenlight.The Seoul Administrative Court said that one cannot assure that the protest will pose a threat to the public safety simply because the event will be led by some of the groups who were in charge of last month's violent protest.Following the ruling, police said that it will respect the court decision but will take stern measures if the rally

BERLIN (AP) -- The European Space Agency launched a rocket Thursday carrying two cubes of gold and platinum almost a million miles from Earth so scientists can see how they'll behave in a freefall -- at a cost of more than $450 million.What may sound like a frivolous enterprise is actually the prelude to a far more ambitious mission that hopes to measure ripples in space time caused by black holes and other massive objects lurking unseen in dark corners of the galaxy.Also known as gravitational

ANKARA (AFP) -- President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday said Turkey had proof Russia was involved in illegal oil trade with the Islamic State group in Syria, countering "immoral" Russian allegations that his own family was importing oil from the jihadists."We have the proof in our hands. We will reveal it to the world," Erdogan said in a televised address in Ankara.The Russian defence ministry on Wednesday accused Erdogan and his family of involvement in the illegal oil trade with IS jihadist

MOSCOW (AFP) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday vowed Turkey's leadership would be made to regret the downing of one of Russia's warplanes as Moscow announced a halt to talks on a major gas pipeline project.As Putin fired another salvo in his mounting war of words with NATO member Turkey his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared he had "proof" that Russia was involved in illegal oil trading with the Islamic State group in Syria.Turkey has become Moscow's prime internatio

HANOI (AFP) -- South Korea's Charlie Wi plundered 10 birdies on his way to nine-under 62 and the first-round lead at the inaugural, $1.5-million Ho Tram Open in Vietnam on Thursday.Wi made five birdies in a row on the front nine, and another five on his way back against just one bogey as he stole the limelight from Spanish star Sergio Garcia at Vietnam's richest sport event.The South Korean leads by two from the Thai pair of teenager Danthai Boonma and the experienced Thaworn Wiratchant, who bot

ZURICH (AP) -- The FIFA executive committee has deferred a decision on expanding the World Cup to 40 teams starting at the 2026 tournament.The German soccer federation says the FIFA administration will have further talks about the plan, which is supported by Asia and Africa. The idea to add eight teams was part of FIFA reform proposals being considered Thursday. The executive committee had the power to make it FIFA policy without approval of the 209 member federations.The 2026 bidding should sta

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Google is nearly doubling the amount of renewable energy feeding its massive data centers that enable more than 1 billion people to search for information, watch video clips and communicate virtually anytime they want.The long-term commitments announced Thursday cover up to 842 megawatts of power that will flow from six different wind and solar power projects scheduled to be finished within the next two years in the U.S., Chile and Sweden. Google isn't disclosing how much i

BRUSSELS (AFP) -- The European Union launched a probe Thursday into US fast food giant McDonald's tax deals with Luxembourg, widening an investigation into alleged tax dodging by major multinationals that includes Amazon and Apple.The European Commission, the EU's competition regulator, "has opened a formal probe into Luxembourg's tax treatment of McDonald's," a statement said."Its preliminary view is that a tax ruling granted by Luxembourg may have granted McDonald's an advantageous tax treatme

LONDON (AP) -- British Tornados struck oil fields that help finance the activities of the Islamic State group and Germany prepared to send reconnaissance aircraft to the Middle East as coalition forces stepped up efforts to fight the militants Thursday. The strikes at the Omar oil field in eastern Syria came only hours after Britain's Parliament authorized military action in Syria against the Islamic State group, also known as Isil, Isis or Daesh. Though several of the oil fields have already be

MANILA (AP) -- China's economy will grow slightly faster than expected this year at 6.9 percent and its shift to fostering services and private consumption is helping to support regional growth, the Asian Development Bank said Thursday.An ADB report said Asia's developing economies remain resilient to economic weakness in industrialized countries and are on track to grow 5.8 percent in 2015 and 6 percent in 2016.It said Asia's growth is supported by vibrant private consumption and services in Ch

BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa (AFP) -- Oscar Pistorius was found guilty of murder on Thursday after South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal threw out a manslaughter conviction for killing his girlfriend, and he now faces a 15-year prison term.The judge described the Paralympian's testimony over the 2013 shooting of Reeva Steenkamp as "untruthful" and delivered a damning indictment of the original verdict.The double-amputee athlete known as the "Blade Runner" was released on parole in October after s

PARIS (Yonhap) -- President Park Geun-hye pledged Tuesday to provide more than $11 million to 10 African countries over the next five years for vocational training, calling education a solution to ending violent extremism and "an integral ingredient" to economic success.South Korea has helped five African countries -- Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo -- in developing and distributing textbooks under the $10 million project since 2011. The project is set