At least 16 people were  killed and 38 wounded Tuesday when a minivan packed with explosives detonated  as security forces were trying to defuse it in southern Afghanistan, officials said.(AP-Yonhap)Security forces in Kandahar had already cleared the area around a bus  station where the van was found, provincial governor spokesman Daud Ahmadi  said. "As the security forces were trying to defuse the van, it detonated," said  police spokesman Mohammad Qasim Azad."The latest figures show 16 dead an

The White House is "still hopeful" the summit between North Korea's Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump will proceed despite Pyongyang's threat to cancel it, spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Wednesday."We're still hopeful that the meeting will take place and we'll continue down that path," Sanders told Fox News. "At the same time ... we've been prepared that these might be tough negotiations." (AFP) White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders arrives for a Senate Republican policy lunch at the US

China called  Wednesday for North Korea and the United States to go ahead with their historic summit as planned after Pyongyang threatened to pull out of the scheduled meeting between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un.The North also cancelled high-level talks due Wednesday with Seoul because of US-South Korean military air exercises, denouncing the drills as a "rude and wicked provocation"."The situation on the peninsula has eased up, which is worth cherishing," Chinese foreign ministry spo

At least two people were killed and 13 others injured in bomb attacks, including a suicide blast, targeting churches in Indonesia's second biggest city Surabaya, police said Sunday, the latest assault on a religious minority in the world's biggest Muslim-majority country."There have been three attacks at three churches," East Java Police spokesman Frans Barung Mangera said.The deadly blasts all occurred within 10 minutes of each other, police said, with the first explosion at 7.30 am (0030 GMT).

Can a hamburger or steak be labeled "meat" if it is plant-based? That question has sparked a debate about US food labels as key US cattle industry players have sought to crack down on marketing of proteins made from soy and other plant-based substances. Jessica Almy, policy director of the non-profit Good Food Institute, which promotes meat-alternatives, said labels must state clearly if a product is made from soy or another plant, but they usually make sense in context. "Regardless of

In the upscale Los Angeles community known as the "Black Beverly Hills" where Meghan Markle's mother lives, the neighbors are delighting in the frenzy around the upcoming Royal Wedding. "This has probably been the number one topic for a long time in this neighborhood," Windsor Hills resident Earl Hutchinson, an author specializing in African American rights and history, tells AFP. In this file photo taken on December 01, 201

China's first domestically manufactured aircraft carrier started sea trials on Sunday, state media said, as the country prepares to add a second such warship to its naval fleet.The carrier, known only as "Type 001A", set out for the trials on Sunday morning, according to official news agency Xinhua, while state broadcaster CCTV said the ship left a port in northeastern China around 6.45 am (2245 GMT Saturday).Expected to be commissioned by 2020, the ship will give China a second aircraft carrier

A knifeman shouting "Allahu akbar" was shot dead by police in central Paris late Saturday after he killed one person and injured four, prompting a terror probe.The attack took place near the city's main opera house in an area full of bars, restaurants and theatres which were brimming on a weekend night.French President Emmanuel Macron said: "France once again pays the price of blood."Saturday's assault is the latest to strike a nation rocked by a series of jihadist attacks in the last three year

US President Donald Trump will greet three Americans released by North Korea at an airbase near Washington Thursday, underscoring a much needed diplomatic win and a stepping stone to a historic summit with Kim Jong-un.Trump will make the short helicopter ride from the White House to Joint Base Andrews to meet Kim Hak-song, Tony Kim and Kim Dong-chul in person, after their release on from North Korea on Wednesday.The North Korean regime granted the three men "amnesty," a US official said, removin

Three Korean-Americans held by nuclear-armed North Korea are expected to be released Wednesday during a visit by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.Despite years of hostility between Washington and Pyongyang, hundreds of Americans visited North Korea every year until the US State Department finally issued a travel ban on the country last September.Americans made the journey to North Korea for a range of reasons, from holidays and business trips to humanitarian work and missionary purposes.Seoul i

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Wednesday he had been formally invited to visit China and would do so at “an appropriate time”, as the regional powers try to warm ties.Chinese premier Li Keqiang is in Tokyo for talks on North Korea and bilateral ties, a month after the two Asian rivals pledged a “new starting point” for relations. (AFP-Yonhap)“As we mark the 40th anniversary of the Japan-China peace and friendship treaty this year, I wish to build a relationship where leaders can easily v

MOSCOW -- Vladimir Putin was sworn in as Russia’s president for a fourth term on Monday, extending his almost two-decade rule by another six years at a time of high tension with his Western rivals.The 65-year-old, in power since 1999, is on course to become the longest-serving Russian leader since Joseph Stalin after his victory in March elections.Putin won nearly 77 percent of the vote in polls in which his most vocal opponent, Alexei Navalny, was banned from running. He has promised to use his

TRIPOLI (AFP) -- A suicide attack on Libya’s electoral commission killed at least 11 people in the capital Tripoli on Wednesday, authorities in the violence-wracked country said, after witnesses reported thick smoke and gunfire.The internationally backed Government of National Accord said it was dealing with “the consequences of the cowardly suicide attack” after the health ministry put the toll at 11 dead and two wounded.  The site of suicide attack on Libyan electoral commission is seen in Tri

Iran on Saturday welcomed steps towards detente between North and South Korea but warned that the United States was unqualified to play a role since it did not "respect its commitments."The foreign ministry said the meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the South's President Moon Jae-in was "a responsible and effective step towards regional and global stability."But ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said the "historic new page for detente on the Korean peninsula" should be worked o

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told the South's President Moon Jae-in on Friday he was willing to visit him in Seoul "any time if you invite me", Moon's spokesman said.Kim made the remarks as the pair chatted ahead of their summit in the Demilitarized Zone that divides the Koreas, the official said.According to the official, Moon told the visitor he could "show you scenes far better than this if you come to the Blue House", with Kim responding: "Really? I will go to the Blue House any time if y