U.S. President Donald Trump is expected this week to extend relief from economic sanctions to Iran as part of the nuclear deal, citing progress in amending U.S. legislation that governs Washington's participation in the landmark accord, according to U.S. officials and others familiar with the administration's deliberations.

But Trump is likely to pair his decision to renew the concessions to Tehran with new, targeted sanctions on Iranian businesses and people, the six people briefed on the matter said. The restrictions could hit some firms and individuals whose sanctions were scrapped under the 2015 nuclear agreement, a decision that could test Tehran's willingness to abide by its side of the bargain.

A Lebanese prosecutor has begun questioning an Uber driver suspected in the murder of a British woman who worked at the UK Embassy in Beirut.

Rebecca Dykes was found dead on Dec. 16 on the side of a road, strangled and reportedly showing signs of sexual assault. The suspect, Tarek Houshi, was arrested days later.

North Korea agreed Tuesday to send a delegation to next month's Winter Olympics in South Korea, Seoul officials said, as the bitter rivals sat for rare talks at the border to discuss how to cooperate in the Olympics and improve their long-strained ties.

The Koreas' first talks in two years were arranged after North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un recently made an abrupt push for improved ties with South Korea after a year of elevated tensions with the outside world over his expanding nuclear and missile programs. Critics say Kim may be trying to divide Seoul and Washington in a bid to weaken international pressure and sanctions on the North.

The two Koreas' rare high-profile talks Tuesday took place at the jointly controlled area inside the world's most heavily fortified border — the same place where North Korean soldiers recently sprayed bullets at a comrade who was making a daring dash for freedom.

The defecting soldier was hit five times, but he survived and is now recovering in South Korea. The dramatic video of his defection, released by the American-led U.N. command, showed again why the area, called Panmunjom, is known as one of the scariest places on Earth.

With three strong hurricanes, wildfires, hail, flooding, tornadoes and drought, the United States tallied a record high bill last year for weather disasters: $306 billion.

The U.S. had 16 disasters last year with damage exceeding a billion dollars, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday. That ties 2011 for the number of billion-dollar disasters, but the total cost blew past the previous record of $215 billion in 2005.

Oprah Winfrey's impassioned call for "a brighter morning even in our darkest nights" at the Golden Globes has Democratic Party activists buzzing about the media superstar and the 2020 presidential race — even if it's only a fantasy.

Even so, for Democrats in early voting states, and perhaps for a public that largely disapproves of President Donald Trump's job performance, the notion of a popular media figure as a presidential candidate is not as strange as it once seemed, given the New York real estate mogul and reality TV star now in the White House.

What a difference a year makes.

North and South Korea sat down to talk Tuesday after a year of mounting tensions, with North Korea testing ever-more capable missiles and conducting its largest nuclear detonation ever, and the U.S. and its allies responding with sanctions and harsh rhetoric.

Pope Francis urged concerted international efforts Monday to rebuild trust on the Korean peninsula and in Syria, using his annual foreign policy address to demand that political leaders put the dignity of their people before war, profit or power.

In a wide-ranging speech to ambassadors from some 185 nations, Francis reaffirmed the need to respect the status quo of Jerusalem and refrain from any initiative that exacerbates hostilities.

Jordan's intelligence service has foiled a "massive" scheme of simultaneous attacks on military installations, shopping centers and other targets by a cell linked to Islamic State extremists, the state news agency said on Monday.

The Petra agency said the cell planned to carry out the attacks last November, seeking to harm national security and create chaos. It says security forces arrested 17 people and seized weapons and other materials.

Iran's foreign minister has warned neighboring countries over fomenting insecurity in his country, a reference to anti-government protests that have roiled Iran over the past two weeks.

Mohammad Javad Zarif addressed a security conference in Tehran on Monday, echoing the Iranian authorities' stance which alleges that foreign countries have stirred up unrest linked to the protests.