North Korea appears to have conducted a secret nuclear test in 2010 and the explosion could have gone unnoticed by the outside world, scientists have claimed, adding to a series of similar allegations.   Researchers Michael Schoeppner of Princeton University and Ulrich Kuhn of the University of Hamburg made the claim in an article on the website of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, citing a seismic analysis published last month.   In May 2010, multiple radionuclide and noble gas stations in

The United States and South Korea are discussing a wide range of military issues, including missile defense, but no consultations are under way about the controversial THAAD system, the Pentagon press secretary said Friday."We discuss a wide range of military missions and capabilities with our allies there. Some of those do include -- they would have to, of course, include the idea of missile defense. But there's no formal consultations on THAAD," Rear Adm. John Kirby said at a regular briefing.

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) _ Boko Haram staged an overnight assault on a border town in Niger and a suicide bomber detonated explosives near a market in the same town a few hours later, witnesses said Sunday, in a sign the extremists' offensive against the West African nation was intensifying.The attack on the town of Diffa began Saturday night, and fighting between Boko Haram and Niger's army lasted until 5 a.m. toward the town's southern entrance before the extremists were forced to flee and calm was

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif Sunday appeared to rule out any new extension to tough negotiations with world powers over his country's suspect nuclear programme, as he met top US diplomat John Kerry for new talks.   "I do not think another extension is in the interest of anyone, as I do not believe this extension was either necessary or useful," Zarif told a global security conference, meeting in the southern German city of Munich.   "In my view extension is not useful, not condu

  TOKYO (AP) _ In a year that marks the 70th anniversary of World War II's end, a question weighs on the minds of policymakers in Asia and as far away as Washington, D.C.: What will Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe say about his country's role in the war?   At a year-opening news conference Monday, he sought to reassure the world that he wouldn't veer from past official statements on Japan's wartime responsibility. Many analysts have speculated that Abe, known for his nationalist views, might

South Korea plans to return some 60 sets of remains of Chinese soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War to their homeland, a defense ministry official here said Monday.   In a symbolic gesture of friendship toward its former battlefield foe, South Korea pledged to repatriate the bodies to China by March during the Seoul-Beijing security talks held in Seoul earlier in the day, according to the official.   "After the repatriation last year, we've unearthed some 60 more bodies of the Chinese s

HONG KONG (AP) _ Friction between pro-democracy protesters and opponents of their weeklong occupation of major Hong Kong streets persisted Saturday as police denied any connection to criminal gangs suspected of inciting attacks on largely peaceful demonstrators.Police arrested 19 people during a night of running brawls in which at least 12 people and six officers were injured. Eight men were believed to have backgrounds linked to triads, or organized crime, said Senior Superintendent Patrick Kwo

North Korea's foreign ministry said Saturday that its nuclear weapons development is the inevitable result of a country trying to protect itself from threats posed by the United States.In a foreign ministry spokesman's statement, the communist country said efforts by Washington to bring forth human rights and nuclear proliferation can only be seen as a ploy to subvert and topple the country.It said under such circumstances, Pyongyang is left with no choice other than to take necessary safeguard

The Asian Games wrapped up on Saturday with China dominating the gold-medal count and North Korea stealing the limelight.As the final events played out ahead of the closing ceremony, China had won 151 gold medals _ well ahead of the 79 won by host South Korea and the 47 golds that went to Japan. All told, 14 world records were set during the games, which brought together more than 9,500 athletes from 45 countries. More than 40 Asian records also fell.``These numbers show the development of sport

North Korea's presumptive No. 2 led members of Pyongyang's inner circle in a rare trip Saturday to South Korea for the close of the Asian Games, with the rivals holding their highest level face-to-face talks in five years. After months of tensions, including a steady stream of insults between the divided neighbors and an unusual number of North Korean missile and rocket test firings, expectations for any breakthrough weren't high, but even the visit itself was significant, allowing valuable cont