In many ways the two leaders on either side of North Korea-United States missile stand-off could not be more different. In others they are startlingly similar.　North Korea’s Kim Jong-un has just overseen his second test of an intercontinental ballistic missile, bringing much of the US mainland within reach and presenting US President Donald Trump with a crisis.　But while Pyongyang has long issued bellicose threats of nuclear war, this time it is the leader of the United States of America who is

JAKARTA -- A strong 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit off the Indonesian island Sumatra on Sunday but there was no tsunami risk, seismologists said as panicked residents fled their homes.The quake hit at a depth of 35 kilometres (22 miles) at 10:08 am (0308 GMT) 73 kilometres west of Bengkulu, according to the United States Geological Survey."The earthquake was quite strong and shallow, it was felt all the way to Padang, West Sumatra, but there was no threat of a tsunami," Mochammad Riyadi, an offici

WASHINGTON -- The United States demanded that North Korea “must stop its provocative and escalatory behavior” early Saturday after President Donald Trump stepped up his warnings against Pyongyang and spoke with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping by phone.Meanwhile, US military forces “stand ready” to safeguard Guam after the North threatened to fire ballistic missiles toward the American Pacific island territory, the White House said.US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during a workfor

Pop superstar Taylor Swift was in court on Monday as trial began in a case pitting her against a DJ accused of groping her at an event.Eight jurors were selected Monday with Swift looking on in the courtroom, a court employee confirmed to AFP. According to local media, she sat with her lawyers, dressed in a light top and dark blazer.Swift, 27, could take the stand to give details of the alleged assault during a meet and greet four years ago. Tree Paine, publicist for pop singer Taylor Swift, wal

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani warned the US against tearing up the nuclear deal as he was inaugurated for a second term Saturday, but he also faces challenges closer to home amid accusations he is rolling over to conservatives.Rouhani met with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini before the ceremony and called for greater efforts to safeguard the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers in the face of new US sanctions."Iran will not be the first to violate the nuclear deal... bu

Chinese cities had fewer "good air" days in the first half of 2017 compared to the same period last year despite government efforts to curb incessant smog, according to official data.China has vowed to target coal-burning and vehicle emissions, increase investment in clean energy and punish polluters in a bid to improve the air quality of the world's second largest economy.But the measures had yet to bear fruit in the six months of the year. (AFP-Yonhap)The Ministry of Environmental Protection's

Salvador Dali's remains are to be exhumed on Thursday from his Spanish hometown in an effort to test a fortune teller's claims the renowned surrealist is her father.The artist's body is buried in the elaborate museum of his work Dali designed himself in the northeastern Spanish town of Figueres, where he was born over 110 years ago.Pilar Abel, a 61-year-old who long worked as a psychic in Catalonia, says her mother had a relationship with the artist when she worked in Port Lligat, a tiny fishing

Despite a push to quickly slap new UN sanctions on North Korea, the United States is bogged down in “slow-going” negotiations with China on a response to Pyongyang's first ICBM launch, diplomats said Wednesday.US Ambassador Nikki Haley told the Security Council two weeks ago that she would present “in the coming days” a draft sanctions resolution to confront what she described as a “clear and sharp military escalation.”The United States promptly opened negotiations with China, North Korea's main

Britain's public broadcaster BBC came under fire on Wednesday for its gender pay imbalance after it was forced to reveal how much it pays its top-earning talent.For the first time in its 94-year existence, the BBC was this year forced to release a list of its employees paid more than £150,000 (A$246,010) between 2016/2017, after a change in its charter last year.More than 200 names feature on the list -- which includes executives, actors, presenters, writers and technicians -- but only one third

South Korea is investigating the case of a North Korean defector who became a celebrity refugee in Seoul, but recently appeared on Pyongyang television to claim she had returned home from the “hell” of the capitalist South.Lim Ji-Hyun, a female defector in her 20s, arrived in Seoul in 2014 and soon became a public figure after starring in several South Korean TV shows featuring escapees from the North. But on Sunday Lim abruptly appeared in a video on the North's propaganda network, describing h

A Swiss couple that disappeared in the Alps 75 years ago has been found preserved in a receding glacier, ending decades of uncertainty for their family, relatives and media said Tuesday.The bodies were found lying near each other in the Diablerets massif in southern Switzerland on Thursday, along with backpacks, a bottle, a book and a watch, according to Le Matin daily. A DNA search has been planned to definitively establish their identities, but Maryline Dumoulin told AFP police were “99 percen

The young woman labored up the steps, past brightly decorated walls akin to a child’s nursery, her daughter in her arms. Opening a hatch in the wall, she put her inside, turned around and walked away.She ran her hands over her head but did not look back, surveillance camera footage showed. She may never see the girl again.South Korea has risen from the ruins of war to become Asia’s fourth-largest economy and a member of the OECD club of developed countries. It was for a time one of the world’s b

At least 64 people were killed and hundreds  wounded Wednesday when a massive truck bomb ripped through Kabul's diplomatic quarter, shattering the morning rush hour and bringing carnage to the streets of the Afghan capital.Bodies littered the scene and a towering plume of smoke rose from the area, which houses foreign embassies, after the blast blew out the windows in several missions and residences hundreds of metres away.Witnesses described dozens of cars choking the roads as wounded survivors