Chinese factory activity slips amid strong tech show

North Korea blasted Saturday a joint statement recently issued by the United States, South Korea and other partner nations calling for continued enforcement of sanctions against Pyongyang's nuclear and weapons programs, branding the move as a "strategic failure." A spokesperson from the North's foreign ministry issued the criticism in a statement, after 11 countries and the European Union (EU) released the joint statement earlier this week reaffirming their commitment to monitoring the North's activities in violation of U.N. Security Council (UNSC) sanctions resolutions. The joint statement also highlighted the findings of the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT) on the North's illicit activities and welcomed fresh independent sanctions imposed by the U.S., Australia and the EU over the North's cyberactivities and dispatch of its workers overseas to finance its nuclear weapons and missile programs. "This is another case that reminds us that the hostile forces' bad habit of denying the constitutional status of our state," the spokesperson said in the statement carried by the Nor

North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui met one-on-one with her Swiss counterpart visiting Pyongyang earlier this week and discussed promoting dialogue and cooperation, the North's state media reported Saturday. Choe held the talks with Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, who was on a two-day trip since Friday following Switzerland's recent opening of its first diplomatic office in Pyongyang. The two sides discussed "the issue of promoting dialogue and cooperation between the diplomatic fields of the two countries and exchanged the appraisal and views of the international situation of common concern," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. "The talks proceeded in a friendly atmosphere," the news outlet said, without elaborating. Also attending the talks from the North's side were Jong Tong-hak, the North's vice foreign minister, and Jo Chol-su, North Korea's top envoy to Switzerland, among other officials. In a separate dispatch, the KCNA reported that Cassis paid a courtesy call on Jo Yong-won, secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, on the same

WASHINGTON — The top diplomats of South Korea, the United States and Japan on Friday reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea during trilateral talks, the U.S. State Department said. South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi on the sidelines of a Group of 20 (G20) meeting in Atlanta, according to a State Department readout. "The Secretary and Foreign Ministers reaffirmed their resolute commitment to the complete denuclearization" of North Korea and the full implementation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, the department said. The three ministers also underscored the need to enforce U.N. sanctions prohibiting activities that generate revenue for Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, while commending the work of the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team in exposing North Korea's sanctions violations and evasion. They emphasized the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. Rubio also raised concerns about China's

A huge pumpkin weighing the same as a grand piano has been growing at a Kent garden centre with help from university scientists.

China’s social credit system, stereotypically imagined as an all-powerful numerical scoring project for authoritarian control, has gained notoriety in the West – although people inside the country actually feel little of its presence or practical influence. In a government-funded study, however, a Chinese legal scholar warned that deploying artificial intelligence (AI) risked turning the rating system into a “large-scale surveillance tool”. The paper was published in the Journal of Sichuan...

Premier Chris Minns had the common sense to reverse his government’s initial decision to change train timetables following the unpopular backlash

Democrats running for Senate in Maine, Alaska and New Hampshire are zeroing in on the rising cost of home heating as winter — and Election Day — quickly approach. Republican candidates have been on defense in key Senate battlegrounds, arguing against the claim that the GOP has enabled President Trump’s war in Iran, which has...

Minister urges media companies facing financial difficulties to approach him for help.

Punters have braved the elements to pack Flemington for Derby Day on a wet and windy start to the Melbourne Cup Carnival.

The comedian did not appear on Friday night's special edition of spin-off show Uncloaked

Waller came tantalisingly close to making it a clean sweep of Derby Day’s three group 1 races but, in a sign of the times, was not even at Flemington as star jockey McDonald had another day out.