SANTIAGO (AFP) -- Chile pulled out of hosting two major international summits on Wednesday as it struggled to restore order after more than ten days of civil unrest that have left at least 20 dead.President Sebastian Pinera said "common sense" dictated the decision to withdraw from the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and the Cop 25 climate change conference.US President Donald Trump had said he was planning to meet Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to lock down a "phase

TOKYO (AFP) -- Exports of beer from Japan to South Korea fell 99.9 percent year-on-year in September, Japan's finance ministry said Wednesday, as a boycott spurred by a bilateral dispute drags on.Relations between South Korea and Japan have fallen to new lows in recent months over long-running tensions on the issue of war-time forced labour.The countries have implemented retaliatory trade restrictions, and in South Korea citizens have called for a boycott of Japanese goods.Japanese beer had long

North Korea has pulled out of a December international women's football tournament in the South, Seoul's football authorities said Tuesday, weeks after Pyongyang hosted a surreal World Cup qualifier in a near-empty stadium.Pyongyang's nuclear talks with Washington are at a deadlock and it has been at loggerheads with Seoul since the collapse of the Hanoi summit between leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump in February.The North has repeatedly excoriated Seoul, saying it has "noth

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) -- WhatsApp on Tuesday sued Israeli technology firm NSO Group, accusing it of using the Facebook-owned messaging service to conduct cyberespionage on journalists, human rights activists and others.The suit filed in a California federal court contended that NSO Group tried to infect approximately 1,400 "target devices" with malicious software to steal valuable information from those using the messaging app.WhatsApp head Will Cathcart said the lawsuit was filed after

LOS ANGELES (AFP) -- A prequel series to "Game of Thrones" titled "House of the Dragon" has been ordered, WarnerMedia announced Tuesday, as it set out launch details for its new HBO Max streaming service.The new show in George RR Martin's epic fantasy world will be set 300 years before the events of TV smash hit "Thrones," and is based on the book "Fire and Blood.""It's my pleasure to announce today that we are ordering 'House of the Dragon' straight

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- US officials said Monday that the body of Islamic State group chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was buried at sea as fresh details surfaced about the US special forces operation that led to his death over the weekend.Syrian Kurds claimed to be a key source of the intelligence that led Americans to Baghdadi after years of tracking the brutal jihadist leader behind a five-year reign of terror across much of Iraq and Syria.And an unnamed US military dog became a unlikely hero of the ra

South Korea's parliament on Monday ratified a trade deal between Seoul and London that will take effect automatically following Britain's departure from the European Union.The free trade agreement essentially replicates the terms of the existing EU-South Korea deal and comes in the face of continuing uncertainty over a Brexit timetable. The new FTA secured "stability and continuity" in South Korea's trade environment with Britain amid "increasingly complex situation over Brexit&qu

European Union members agreed Monday to postpone Brexit for up to three months, stepping in with their decision less than 90 hours before Britain was due to crash out with no divorce deal.The next deadline for departure will be January 31 next year -- although the other 27 capitals would allow an earlier date if London ratifies a withdrawal agreement before then."The EU27 has agreed that it will accept the UK's request for a Brexit flextension until 31 January 2020," the president of t

INZAI (AFP) -- Tiger Woods said it was "crazy"  after he made golfing history Monday by holding off the challenge of home favourite Hideki Matsuyama to win the weather-delayed Zozo Championship by three shots.The 15-time major winner Woods finished 19-under par to equal US legend Sam Snead's all-time record of 82 US PGA Tour victories set 54 years ago.Woods, in his first outing since arthroscopic knee surgery two months ago, broke into a huge smile after he safely got up and down

BUENOS AIRES (AFP) -- Peronist candidate Alberto Fernandez won Argentina's presidential election in the first round on Sunday, official results showed, bringing to an end the crisis-plagued rule of market-friendly incumbent Mauricio Macri. Fernandez, a 60-year-old law professor, had 47.36 percent of the votes -- crossing the threshold for outright victory -- after 75 percent of the votes had been counted, with center-right incumbent Mauricio Macri trailing at 41.22 percent. To win outright, Fern

NEW YORK (AFP) -- LVMH, which owns Louis Vuitton, Dior and the champagne brands Veuve Clicquot and Moet, has made a bid for American jeweller Tiffany, known for its engagement rings and diamonds.The French luxury giant made an offer for the US company at the start of the month, a source told AFP late on Saturday.Tiffany, whose flagship New York store is next to Trump Tower on 5th avenue, has not yet responded to the offer, which comes as the luxury industry is jittery about the possible effects

VATICAN CITY (AFP) -- Catholic bishops gathered at a special Vatican assembly called on Pope Francis Saturday to open the priesthood to married men in the Amazon, as well as giving women a greater role to play and making damaging the environment a sin.The bishops issued a list of recommendations at the close of a three-week "synod" on the Pan-Amazonian region which highlighted challenges such as the destruction of the rainforest, the exploitation of indigenous peoples and a scarcity in

SANTIAGO (AFP) -- More than one million people took to the streets in Chile Friday for the largest protests in a week of deadly demonstrations demanding economic reforms and the resignation of President Sebastian Pinera.The leader told the thronging masses that he had "heard the message" in a post on Twitter, characterizing the protests in a positive light and as a means towards change. Demonstrators carrying indigenous and national flags sang popular resistance songs from the 1973-90

BEIJING -- Chinese embassy staff are heading to Essex in Britain to verify reports that 39 people found dead in a truck were its nationals, the foreign ministry said Thursday.The victims were discovered in a container on the back of a truck in Grays, east of London, on Wednesday, shortly after arriving by ferry from Belgium. The local Essex Police force, which is working with immigration officials, said their initial priority was to try to identify the 39 victims.The truck was moved Wednesday to

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- President Donald Trump ended sanctions against Turkey on Wednesday, drawing a line under American involvement in "blood-stained" Syria, as Turkish and Russian troops seized territory previously held by US troops and their beleaguered Kurdish allies."Let someone else fight over this long blood-stained sand," Trump said in a White House speech that formalized the ceding of power in northern Syria to Ankara and increasingly influential Moscow.Trump said he wa