North Korea lashed out at the US for risking stability on the Korean peninsula Thursday, even as Pyongyang and Seoul push towards a third leadership summit.The uneasy neighbours will hold high-level talks next week to prepare for a meeting between the South's President Moon Jae-in and the North's leader Kim Jong-un, Seoul said on Thursday, as a diplomatic rapprochement takes hold.But the North Korean foreign ministry issued an angry statement hours later warning that Washington's push for full s

North Korea on Thursday accused the United States of acting in bad faith, saying Washington's push for full sanctions pressure against Pyongyang would stall progress on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.During landmark talks with US President Donald Trump in June, the North's leader Kim Jong-un signed up to a vague commitment to denuclearization, far from the longstanding American demand for the complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantling of Pyongyang's atomic arsenal.Trump has

Thousands of firefighters, backed by US troops and crews from as far away as Australia and New Zealand, were on Wednesday making progress battling the biggest wildfire on record in California -- but the weather forecast for the rest of the week is not promising, officials said.Nearly 20 major fires have ravaged the sprawling western state over the past two weeks, fanned by strong winds and sweltering temperatures.The wildfires have left at least nine people dead, including four firefighters, and

Officials from South Korea's top rights body have met some of the 12 North Korean waitresses at the centre of a blazing row between Seoul and Pyongyang to determine whether they were tricked or coerced into coming to Seoul in 2016.The National Human Rights Commission announced a probe into the high-profile case last month, after the top UN human rights official on North Korea met some of the women and urged an investigation. (Yonhap)The issue has long been controversial, with Pyongyang saying th

SYDNEY (AFP) -- Australia has pressed North Korea over the remains of 43 soldiers still missing after the Korean War in a rare encounter between the two nations, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Tuesday.Some 17,000 Australians fought as part of the United Nations multinational force defending South Korea from communist North Korea during the 1950-1953 conflict.Of these, 340 were killed and over 1,216 wounded. Forty-three were listed as missing in action and presumed dead. Australian Foreign Mi

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- As North Korea reportedly continues to build missiles and produce plutonium, a top aide to US President Donald Trump said Sunday that "there's nobody in his administration starry-eyed about the prospects of North Korea actually denuclearising."National Security Advisor John Bolton said that the "point may well come" when the US concludes that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is not serious about his promises to denuclearise.But Bolton, speaking on "Fox News Sunday," said Trump

Seoul said Thursday it had deployed a warship to Libya in an apparent show of force to secure the release of a South Korean national kidnapped along with three Filipinos in the North African country.The 4,000-tonne vessel, Munmu the Great, which takes part in anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden, was now on its way to Libya, officials said.In addition to “carrying out its duty of protecting commercial vessels, (the warship) is also preparing for all possibilities including the need for mil

BRUSSELS (AFP) -- The European Union on Monday said elections in Cambodia that handed strongman Hun Sen full control of parliament lacked credibility and did not reflect the will of the people. "The lack of genuine electoral competition and the absence of an inclusive political process mean that the July 29 election is not representative of the democratic will of the Cambodian electorate," a statement from the EU's foreign affairs office said.  (European Union Website)"Therefore its outcome lack

LONDON (AFP) -- Asian and European stock markets slid Monday in a downbeat start to the week as investors waited on key global interest rate decisions.Nearing midday in London, the British capital's benchmark FTSE 100 index shed 0.1 percent, while Frankfurt dipped 0.2 percent and Paris pared 0.3 percent in eurozone early afternoon deals. (AFP-Yonhap)"Monday's barren economic calendar (has been) allowing the markets to stew ahead of the week's trio of central bank get-togethers," noted Spreadex a

WASHINGTON  -- Dozens of US legislators are demanding that the Trump administration explain a recent agreement to allow the free distribution of plans for using 3D printers to make plastic handguns that will be easy to hide and almost impossible to control.After a lengthy legal battle, the government reached agreement last month with Cody Wilson, a militant gun rights advocate from Texas. He successfully argued that the US Constitution‘s Second Amendment, which guarantees the right to private gu

REDDING, California -- The US federal government approved aid Saturday for California as thousands of firefighters battled to contain a series of deadly raging wildfires that have killed six people, including two young children and their great grandmother, and destroyed hundreds of buildings.The largest of the fires menacing the state has nearly doubled in size, while another pushed thousands of people to flee and a third forced the partial closure of the popular Yosemite National Park.A huge co

WASHINGTON -- North Korea appears to have started dismantling key facilities at a rocket-engine test center, a group of experts said Monday, potentially marking a significant step after last month‘s summit between Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump.According to the 38 North group, commercial satellite imagery of the Sohae satellite launching station indicates Pyongyang has begun taking down a processing building and a rocket-engine test stand that had been used to test liquid-fuel engines

LONDON - Britain will only pay its EU divorce bill if the bloc agrees the framework for a future trade deal, the new Brexit Secretary warned in an interview published Sunday.Dominic Raab, who replaced David Davis earlier this month after he quit the role in protest over the government's Brexit strategy, said "some conditionality between the two" was needed."Article 50 requires, as we negotiate the withdrawal agreement, that there's a future framework for our new relationship going forward, so th

The US appeal at the United Nations for "full enforcement" of sanctions against North Korea underscored the difficulty of attaining real progress on denuclearization, more than a month after the much-vaunted Donald Trump-Kim Jong Un summit.In their joint declaration after the historic meeting June 12 in Singapore, the North Korean leader "reaffirmed his commitment" to the "complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." But the actual details of the process, including how and by what timetab

Japan and the EU signed a sweeping free trade deal Tuesday saying they were sending a "clear message" against protectionism, as Washington puts up barriers and threatens a trade war.  The deal signed in Tokyo is the largest ever negotiated by the EU and creates a massive free trade zone, eliminating tariffs for everything from Japanese cars to French cheese.It also provides a stark counterpoint to US President Donald Trump's aggressive "America First" protectionism, which has seen Washington imp