North Korea on Friday blasted South Korea's "arrogant" attitude after talks on salvaging the jointly-run Kaesong industrial zone collapsed, sparking a shoving match between officials from both sides.
The North also accused the South of using "delaying tactics" by demanding that Pyongyang take responsibility for the closure of the estate and compensate for financial losses.
Full StoryNine people were buried and four missing after landslides hit a Chinese province where at least 95 were killed this week by earthquakes, state media reported on Friday.
Two separate landslides hit Gansu following heavy rains, China's official Xinhua news agency said.
Full StoryChinese coastguard ships entered the territorial waters of Japanese-controlled islands at the center of a bitter row, Japan's coastguard said Friday, the first such incursion by the organization.
Although Chinese government ships have been in and out of the waters for many months, this is the first time they have ventured there since Beijing combined several agencies under the coastguard flag this week, a development that observers said would involve the arming of more crew.
Full StoryThe United Nations on Friday said it was "troubled" by Australia's decision to send asylum-seekers arriving by boat to Papua New Guinea given conditions there failed to adequately protect refugees.
In it's first assessment of the hardline policy announced a week ago by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said it was concerned greater numbers of asylum-seekers could be sent to the poor and developing nation.
Full StoryU.S. President Barack Obama said Thursday he spoke frankly to Vietnam's leader about human rights but called for greater cooperation between the former war adversaries in areas from trade to security.
President Truong Tan Sang was only the second Vietnamese head of state to visit the White House since the normalization of relations in 1975 and he was jeered on his arrival by hundreds of Vietnamese Americans, many waving the flags of the former Saigon regime and chanting slogans that were occasionally audible inside the White House.
Full StoryU.S. President Barack Obama expressed dismay Thursday at the train crash in Spain that left at least 80 people dead, including one American.
"Michelle and I were shocked and saddened by the news of yesterday's tragic train derailment in Santiago de Compostela, Spain," he said.
Full StoryRussia has received a letter from the United States spelling out its position over intelligence leaker Edward Snowden whose month-long stay in a Moscow airport has led to new tensions in diplomatic ties, the justice ministry said Thursday.
"On July 24, 2013, the Russian justice ministry received a letter from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder which explains certain aspects of the U.S. position on the issue of ex-CIA employee Edward Snowden's status," the ministry said in a written statement sent to Agence France Presse.
Full StoryU.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday led calls at the United Nations for an end to foreign backing for rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Without naming any country -- but in a message aimed at Rwanda -- Kerry told the U.N. Security Council the United States is "deeply concerned" about reports of new external support for M23 rebels battling government forces.
Full StoryA 21-year-old Swedish lawmaker on Thursday said he has decided to step down after just one term, disappointed by parliament's inability to enact change.
Anton Abele became the Scandinavian country's youngest member of parliament at 18 after running for office in 2010 for Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt's conservative Moderate Party.
Full StoryPope Francis waded into Brazil's ramshackle slums and onto the front line of its fierce national battle over poverty and corruption on Thursday, borne along by adoring crowds.
The Argentine pontiff urged young Brazilians not to be discouraged in their fight against exploitation and appealed for greater social inclusion during a visit to a Rio shantytown.
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