UNITED NATIONS (AFP) -- North Korea on Saturday said denuclearization talks with the United States were "out of the negotiation table," while slamming European UN Security Council members who had recently denounced its "provocative" ballistic missile launches.The statement from North Korea's ambassador to the UN Kim Song came after Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom on Wednesday condemned North Korea's "continued testing of ballistic missile

LONDON (AFP) -- Jose Mourinho hailed Son Heung-min's wonder-strike in Tottenham's 5-0 thrashing of Burnley as the best goal he has seen since an equally stunning effort from Brazilian legend Ronaldo.On the day he was presented with the AFC Asian International Player of the Year award by compatriot Park Ji-sung, Son underlined his place among the game's elite with arguably the greatest goal of his glittering career.With Spurs already rampant after early goals from Harry Kane and Lucas Moura, Son

BEIJING (AFP) - China said on Friday it will offer a tariff waiver to "some" imports of US soybean and pork, in the latest sign of easing trade tensions between Beijing and Washington.The world's two biggest economies have exchanged blows for over a year, with tariffs now impacting hundreds of billions of dollars in two-way trade. The olive branch comes at a time when the two sides are edging towards a partial deal that includes a promise to increase the purchase of US farm produce.&qu

LONDON (AFP) -- US President Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron exchanged fire over the future of NATO on Tuesday, as the French leader attacked Turkey and demanded the alliance rethink its strategy. The three-way battle overshadowed the start of the alliance's 70th anniversary summit in London, threatening to derail efforts to show unity in the face of Russia and China.In recent weeks Macron has tried to shake up the agenda of the meeting by demanding a review of NATO's "brain dead" str

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States on Monday threatened to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on $2.4 billion in French goods in retaliation for a digital services tax it says is discriminatory.French sparkling wine, yogurt and Roquefort cheese are on the list of goods that could be targeted as soon as mid-January after a report from the US Trade Representative's office found the tax penalizes American tech companies such as Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon.The decision "sends a clear

PARIS (AFP) -- Lionel Messi won a record sixth men's Ballon d'Or award at a ceremony in Paris on Monday, beating Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk to take the honours.Now aged 32, it is Messi's first Ballon d'Or since 2015 and his sixth overall as he moves one ahead of his old rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who finished third in the voting.Messi, who attended the ceremony at the Chatelet Theatre in the French capital with his wife and children, succeeds Luka Modric, the Real Madrid and Croatia midfie

PARIS (AFP) -- Lionel Messi and USA women's World Cup superstar Megan Rapinoe are tipped to leave Paris later on Monday with the 2019 Ballon d'Or awards.It would be an enormous shock if Rapinoe did not depart the Chatelet Theatre with the women's prize as she returns to the country where she was the driving force on and off the field for the United States as they retained their title.The suspense surrounds the identity of the men's winner, 12 months after Croatia's Luka Modric claimed the crown

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- US President Donald Trump's attorney said on Sunday that the White House will not participate in congressional hearings set to begin this week that will consider passing impeachment articles against the president."We cannot fairly be expected to participate in a hearing while the witnesses are yet to be named and while it remains unclear whether the Judiciary Committee will afford the President a fair process through additional hearings," White House counsel Pat Cip

HONG KONG (AFP) -- Police fired tear gas and pepper spray in Hong Kong on Sunday as tens of thousands of black-clad protesters flooded into the streets, a week after pro-democracy candidates scored a landslide local election victory.The rally heralded an end to a rare lull and a return to the large-scale demonstrations that Hong Kongers have staged for nearly six months, fuelled by growing fears that authoritarian China is stamping out the city's liberties.It also marked a resumption of the incr

LONDON (AFP) -- British police on Sunday named the two victims who died in the London Bridge terror attack, as their families paid glowing tributes to the pair.Jack Merritt, 25, from Cambridgeshire in eastern England, and 23-year-old Saskia Jones of Warwickshire in the West Midlands, were both killed by convicted terrorist Usman Khan during his rampage Friday, the Metropolitan Police said.Merritt, a course coordinator at Cambridge University's criminology institute, and Jones, a volunteer, died

BEIJING (AFP) -- China will require telecom operators to collect face scans when registering new phone users at offline outlets starting Sunday, according to the country's information technology authority, as Beijing continues to tighten cyberspace controls.In September, China's industry and information technology ministry issued a notice on "safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of citizens online", which laid out rules for enforcing real-name registration.The notice said t

HONG KONG (AFP) -- Hong Kong police on Friday ended their two-week siege of a university campus that became a battleground with pro-democracy protesters as activists vowed to hold fresh rallies and strikes in the coming days.Renewed calls to hit the streets came after Beijing and city leader Carrie Lam refused further political concessions despite a landslide victory for pro-democracy parties in local elections last weekend.Sunday's district council polls delivered a stinging rebuke to the finan

TOKYO (AFP) -- Former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, an ardent conservative who worked to forge a stronger military alliance with the United States, has died at the age of 101, local media said Friday.In office for five years from November 1982 to November 1987, Nakasone was known for trying to integrate the nation defeated in World War II as a full-fledged member of the West during the Cold War era. He poured his efforts into strengthening security ties with the US at a time of inte

BAGRAM (AFP) -- President Donald Trump said Thursday the US had resumed talks with Taliban insurgents as he made a surprise trip to Afghanistan to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with troops.On a brief visit to Bagram Airfield outside the capital Kabul, Trump served turkey dinner to soldiers, posed for photographs and delivered a speech after meeting Afghan President Ashraf Ghani."The Taliban wants to make a deal and we're meeting with them and we're saying it has to be a ceasefire,"

BEIJING (AFP) -- China warned Thursday that it was ready to take "firm countermeasures" against the United States after President Donald Trump signed a law supporting pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong."The nature of this is extremely abominable, and harbours absolutely sinister intentions," the foreign ministry said in a statement, without specifying what measures Beijing might take.Trump signed the law on Wednesday, after it received almost unanimous US congressional sup