SEOUL (AFP) - The special US envoy for North Korea returned to Seoul on Friday after talks with North Korean officials in Pyongyang to set up the agenda for the second summit between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un.　Stephen Biegun‘s three-day trip was expected to have explored a wide range of denuclearisation issues in preparation for the much-anticipated summit in Vietnam on Feb. 27 and 28.　Biegun landed at Osan US Air Base Friday evening, foreign ministry spokesman Noh Kyu-duk told AFP.

HANOI (AFP) - Communist-run but with capitalist leanings, and a friend to both the United States and North Korea, Vietnam will host the next summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jung Un from February 27-28.Like North Korea, Vietnam was once locked in a bloody and bitter war with the US.But unlike Pyongyang, Hanoi now counts Washington among its closest allies, emerging from the ravages of war to become one of the fastest growing economies in Asia -- and one of the most diplomatically savvy.Here a

Carlos Ghosn started his interview like an executive running a board meeting."We don't have too much time, so let's start," he told two reporters from AFP and French daily Les Echos, as if calling unruly shareholders to order.But this was no boardroom or business meeting: this was the 10th floor of the Kosuge detention centre in Tokyo, where he has languished since Japanese prosecutors stormed his private jet brandishing allegations of financial misconduct.Clad in a black tracksuit and transluce

The US Justice Department on Monday unveiled sweeping charges against Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei in two cases likely to ratchet up tensions between the two superpowers -- including that of a top executive arrested in Canada on a US warrant.The department unveiled 13 charges against Huawei Technologies, its chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou -- the daughter of the company's founder who is currently out on bail in Canada -- and two affiliates related to violating US sanctions on Ira

Microsoft is still trying to figure out why its Bing search engine temporarily went offline in China, the company's president said following speculation that it could have been blocked by censors.The US firm's Chinese website, cn.bing.com, was accessible again late Thursday, one day after it suddenly went offline, temporarily taking away the most prominent foreign search engine in China. Bing is back online in China, but Microsoft says it is still trying to figure out why it suddenly became inac

The world's 26 richest people own the same wealth as the poorest half of humanity, Oxfam said Monday, urging governments to hike taxes on the wealthy to fight soaring inequality.A new report from the charity, published ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos, also found that billionaires around the world saw their combined fortunes grow by $2.5 billion each day in 2018. Oxfam found that asking the richest to pay just 0.5 percent extra tax on their wealth "could raise more money than it would

British Prime Minister Theresa May scrambled to put together a new Brexit strategy on Thursday after MPs rejected her EU divorce deal, and insisted she could not rule out a potentially damaging "no-deal" split.The world's fifth-largest economy is in political turmoil and grasping for solutions that could smooth its planned departure from the bloc after 46 years just 10 weeks from now. (AFP)Governments across Europe are triggering plans designed to avoid logjams at ports and airports when trade b

LONDON (AFP) -- British Prime Minister Theresa May on Sunday warned MPs preparing to vote down her EU divorce deal that failing to deliver Brexit would be a "catastrophic and unforgivable breach of trust in our democracy".May, who is fighting to save her withdrawal agreement negotiated with the  bloc over 18 months of talks, told lawmakers they must not let down Brexit-backers in a crunch parliamentary vote Tuesday. Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May leaves after attending a church service on

Aid groups voiced optimism Thursday that the United States would ease restrictions on operations inside North Korea amid warming relations between Washington and the impoverished country.Stephen Biegun, the US special representative on North Korea, met Wednesday in Washington with representatives of aid organizations, which have faced lengthy delays or prohibitions on providing assistance inside the totalitarian state. (AP)The UN Security Council has imposed strict sanctions on North Korea over

Malaysia's king has abdicated, royal officials said Sunday, ending weeks of speculation about his future after he took a leave of absence and amid rumours he married a Russian former beauty queen.Sultan Muhammad V's decision marks the first time a king has abdicated in the Muslim-majority country since it gained independence from Britain in 1957.This file photo taken on July 17, 2018 shows the 15th king of Malaysia, Sultan Muhammad V, saluting a royal guard of honour during the opening ceremony

Pope Francis on Sunday urged EU leaders to show "concrete solidarity" with 49 migrants stranded on NGO ships off the coast of Malta who have been refused permission to land."Forty nine migrants rescued in the Mediterranean by two NGO ships have been onboard for several days now, waiting to be able to disembark," Francis told thousands of people gathered in Saint Peter's square in Rome.Pope Francis leads the Epiphany mass, on January 6, 2019 at the Vatican. (AFP-Yonhap)"I address a pressing appea

BERLIN (AFP) -- Hundreds of German politicians, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, have fallen victim to a massive online leak of private data, the government said Friday."Personal data and documents belonging to hundreds of politicians and public figures were published on the internet," government spokeswoman Martina Fietz told reporters."The government is taking this incident very seriously."She said the political officials included members of the Bundestag lower house of parliament, the Euro

OSLO (AFP) -- Norwegian Air Shuttle said Friday one of its Boeing 737s has been stuck in Iran for three weeks after an unscheduled landing due to engine problems, as US restrictions reportedly create headaches for the airline and possibly passengers.The aircraft was en route from Dubai to Oslo with 192 passengers and crew members on board when it carried out a "safety landing" in Shiraz in southwestern Iran because of engine trouble on December 14, a Norwegian Air Shuttle spokesman, Andreas Hjor

STOCKHOLM (AFP) -- A patient in Sweden has been admitted to hospital with a suspected case of Ebola, a highly infectious and potentially fatal disease, health care officials said Friday."Test results will probably be received sometime this evening. At this stage it is just a suspicion, other illnesses are entirely possible," a statement from regional health authorities in Uppsala, about 70 kilometres (45 miles) north of Stockholm, said."The patient is being treated at the infectious diseases cli

US President Donald Trump met top Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday, but they failed to hammer out an agreement that would end a partial government shutdown over his demand for billions of dollars to build a border wall with Mexico.One day before Democrats take over the House of Representatives, Trump showed no signs of backing away from his insistence that Congress cough up $5.6 billion for his "beautiful" southern wall. (AFP)Trump met behind closed doors at the White House with Nancy Pelosi, t

Outgoing White House chief John Kelly said in an interview published Sunday that he had "nothing but compassion" for undocumented migrants crossing into the US, and undercut President Donald Trump's claims to be building a "wall" at the Mexico border.As a partial government shutdown entered a ninth day due to an impasse over Trump's demands for funding the US-Mexico border barrier, the president's chief of staff told the Los Angeles Times: "To be honest, it's not a wall." Outgoing White House Ch

A charity rescue vessel carrying 311 mainly African migrants plucked off Libya docked in Spain on Friday, ending a traumatic journey which saw them spend Christmas at sea and several European nations denying the ship entry.The migrants cheered and applauded as the vessel docked in the port of Crinavis near the southern city of Algeciras.Proactiva Open Arms, the Spanish charity which runs the Open Arms vessel carrying the migrants, feted the arrival with a "Mission accomplished" tweet.The migrant

Influential German news weekly Der Spiegel, shaken by a scandal over a reporter who admitted faking stories for years, said it has suspended two senior editors.The contracts of Ullrich Fichtner, an editor in chief, and Matthias Geyer, a chief editor, have been "suspended until the (magazine's) internal commission has completed its investigation into the affair," the editor in chief Steffen Klusmann said in an internal letter, of which AFP obtained a copy on Friday.On December 19, Der Spiegel stu

A 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck off the Philippine island of Mindanao on Saturday triggering a tsunami warning, with small waves expected to hit southern parts of the country and neighbouring Indonesia.The quake struck southeast of Davao City at a depth of 59 kilometres (35 miles), the US Geological Survey said, a week after a volcano-triggered tsunami killed more than 400 people in Indonesia.The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said "hazardous tsunami waves from this earthquake are possible" al

A Canadian teacher arrested in China for administrative reasons -- a case officially unrelated to the ongoing diplomatic row between Beijing and Ottawa -- has been freed, authorities said Friday.Global Affairs Canada "confirms that a Canadian citizen, who was detained in China in December, was released and has now returned to Canada," spokesman Richard Walker said, without providing further details. The arrest of Sarah McIver, a teacher accused of working illegally in China, was announced shortl