INTERNATIONAL

North Korea has test-fired another ballistic missile, South Korean and US military officials say. The missile exploded shortly after take-off, they said – the second failed launch in the past fortnight. US President Donald Trump accused North Korea of showing “disrespect” towards China and its president. The missile was fired from a site in South Pyeongan province, north of Pyongyang, ...

The US is open to negotiations with North Korea aimed at removing nuclear weapons from the region, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said. But he said the US would use military force if necessary. The foreign minister of China, North Korea’s greatest ally, said a peaceful settlement was the “only right choice”. Mr Tillerson told a UN Security Council ...

Protesters stormed into Macedonia’s parliament on Thursday after an ethnic Albanian was elected as speaker. A brawl broke out injuring at least 10 people, including the Social Democrat leader Zoran Zaev, who was left with blood pouring down his face. The protesters, supporters of ex-Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski’s VMRO party, are demanding new elections. Politics in the former Yugoslav republic ...

Donald Trump has praised China’s President Xi Jinping for his handling of North Korea, calling him “a very good man” who loves his country. The US president told Reuters he would like to solve the crisis diplomatically but that it was “difficult” and a “major, major conflict” was possible. He also said it had been “very hard” for Kim Jong-un ...

The US says it plans to activate a missile defence system in South Korea “within days” and tighten economic sanctions against North Korea. The announcements from the Trump administration come amid rising fears about the North’s military advances. The Thaad system was originally not expected to be in use until late 2017. Many South Koreans oppose it, fearing they will ...

French presidential hopeful Emmanuel Macron has been heckled by factory workers in Amiens after a visit by his far-right rival, Marine Le Pen. Ms Le Pen upstaged her centrist rival earlier by turning up to speak to the workers as he met their union representatives a few miles away. Mr Macron, who is far ahead in opinion polls, is in ...

China has launched a new aircraft carrier, boosting its military presence amid rising tensions in the region. It is the country’s second aircraft carrier, after the Liaoning, and the first to be made domestically. State media said the unnamed ship was “transferred from dry dock into the water” in the north east port of Dalian. Previous reports said it would ...

Donald Trump has indicated he will scrap plans to find cash for his border wall in this week’s spending bill. The president’s close adviser, Kellyanne Conway, said funding for the wall would be left out of a budget measure that must pass by Friday. Building the wall, paid for by Mexico, was a key campaign promise. Democrats had threatened to ...

Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka was met with groans as she defended her father’s attitude towards women at the G20 women’s summit in Berlin. The First Daughter was taking part in a panel discussion about female entrepreneurs alongside German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and IMF chief Christine Lagarde. But the audience bristled at her praise for the US president. The event is ...

Kenya has arrested an unspecified number of suspects and recovered a gun potentially linked to the shooting of conservationist Kuki Gallmann, the country’s interior minister said. The 73-year old author of I Dreamed of Africa was injured in an ambush at her conservation park on Sunday. Ms Gallmann’s family said she was in intensive care at a Nairobi hospital. She ...