Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: Latest Updates

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile toward the sea on Thursday, its neighbors said, resuming weapons tests days before its rivals the U.S. and South Korea begin annual military drills that North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal. The launch from North Korea's eastern coastal Wonsan area was detected around 5 p.m., South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, adding that South Korea's military has bolstered its surveillance posture and is closely coordinating with the U.S. and Japan. Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told reporters the missile landed in the waters off North Korea's east coast and that there were no reports that the weapon reached Japanese territory.

BANGKOK (AP) - The head of Myanmar's military-backed government arrived in Thailand on Thursday for an official visit that could serve as a major steppingstone in his effort to win political legitimacy more than five years after seizing power from an elected civilian government. President Min Aung Hlaing's two-day visit with members of his Cabinet included meetings with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and other officials at Government House, where several memorandums of understanding were signed covering Myanmar migrant workers, water quality management in rivers shared by the two countries and space technology for Earth observation. At the meeting with Anutin, Min Aung Hlaing sought to reassure Thailand that his government was restoring stability and steering Myanmar toward democracy.

TOKYO (AP) - Hiroshima on Thursday marked the 81st anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the western Japanese city, with its mayor criticizing major powers for waging wars and urging them to stop justifying the possession of nuclear weapons as a method of deterrence. "Downplaying the inhumanity of nuclear weapons and accepting the use of force to pursue one's own prosperity risk cycles of violent retaliation that could ultimately result in another Hiroshima or Nagasaki," Mayor Kazumi Matsui said. Too many political leaders still consider nuclear deterrence a realistic approach and legitimize violence, which "simply pushes a world without nuclear weapons further into the distance," Matsui said in his peace declaration at the ceremony at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.

Sometimes inventions save countless lives. Sometimes they end just as many. Sometimes, they do both. The United States dropped the first atomic bomb ever used in warfare on Aug. 6, 1945. The olive-green steel cylinder called "Little Boy" exploded above Hiroshima, Japan, killing tens of thousands of people, sickening many more and reshaping global politics forever. Three days later, the U.S. did it again. The second bomb, named "Fat Man," went off over Nagasaki where another 70,000 people died and tens of thousands more were wounded. The airplane, the polio vaccine, the personal computer and other American inventions moved the world into a mostly better future.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - The U.S. military said Thursday its investigations confirmed there were no white phosphorus leak at one of its air bases in South Korea, days after local authorities urged residents to evacuate over concerns about a suspected leak. On July 28, the Pyeongtaek city government sent text messages advising its residents to move to safe places and avoid skin exposure, saying white phosphorus was leaked at the Osan Air Base in the city, which is just south of Seoul, the capital. White phosphorus is a controversial chemical substance used in incendiary munitions and smoke shells. When ignited, it burns at extremely high temperatures and can set buildings ablaze and burn human flesh to the bone.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - Through this year's military drills, Taiwan has chosen to emphasize its army's and society's flexibility and resilience as opposed to primarily putting advanced weapons on display. Experts say the exercises' structure indicate closer ties with the U.S. military in the face of China's ongoing military threat. The annual Huang Kuang drills kicked off on Wednesday and are set to extend through Aug. 14 in various locations around the island. The live-fire exercises will test the Taiwanese army's ability to sustain 24-hour defense operations as well as counter China's "gray-zone tactics," which stop just short of open warfare.

ISLAMABAD (AP) - Pakistani military helicopters on Thursday airlifted the bodies of five climbers from the snow-covered slopes of Broad Peak nearly a week after an avalanche swept away a 10-member international expedition, officials said. Irfan Arshad Khan, president of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, said the remains of the climbers killed in the July 31 avalanche were being transferred to a military hospital in the northern city of Skardu. Three bodies were brought off the mountain on Aug. 1. Thursday's airlift raised the number of recovered bodies to eight, including renowned British-Nepali climber Nirmal Purja. Two climbers remain missing and the search is ongoing following what the Alpine Club described as one of Pakistan's deadliest mountaineering disasters.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - Two members of the Iranian women's soccer team who claimed asylum in Australia in March have been granted citizenship. Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramezanisadeh said in a statement Thursday that Immigration Minister Tony Burke swore them in the day before at a citizenship ceremony in their Australian home city of Brisbane. Friends and supporters from the local Iranian community attended the ceremony. "Yesterday was a truly special and unforgettable day for me. I feel proud and deeply grateful to become an Australian citizen. Australia has given me the opportunity to build my life and my future, and I feel, more than ever, that I belong here," Ramezanisadeh said in the statement.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - A fire destroyed 60 hectares (148 acres) of land in the Mount Bromo area in a national park in Java, Indonesia's most populous island, since Monday, officials said on Thursday. The burning area, equivalent to more than 80 soccer fields, is located within the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, one of the most popular tourist destinations in East Java Province. The National Disaster Management Agency in a written statement said that the terrain has posed a significant challenge to firefighting efforts. Local authorities have not yet determined the cause of the fire. "A number of hot spots are located on the slopes of Bromo, which are steep and difficult for ground-based firefighters to reach.

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) - A conference on Tibetan studies scheduled to be held this month in Nepal was called off at the request of government officials who gave no reason for the decision, organizers said Thursday. The International Association for Tibetan Studies seminar was scheduled to be held in Nepal Aug. 23-26, to be attended by delegates from many countries and hosted by the Himalaya Centre for Asian Studies at Kathmandu University. Prof. Sagar Raj Sharma of the Center confirmed they made the decision to cancel after top government officials asked them not to hold the conference. No specific reasons were given.