Policemen were seen outside Villa Elfvik Strand conference centre in Sweden where US-North Korea nuclear talks took place on October 5. Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP
Nuclear talks between North Korea and the US in Sweden has failed to produce a deal.
That's the word from North Korea's top negotiator Kim Myong Gil, who cast the blame on the US delegation's inability to "give up their old viewpoint and attitude".
"The negotiations have not fulfilled our expectation and finally broke off," Kim told reporters.
The US State Department, however, said those comments did not reflect "the content or spirit" of more than eight hours of talks.
"The US brought creative ideas and had good discussions with its DPRK counterparts," spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said, adding that Washington had accepted Sweden's invitation to return to Sweden for more discussions with Pyongyang in two weeks.
"The United States and the DPRK will not overcome a legacy of 70 years of war and hostility on the Korean Peninsula through the course of a single Saturday. These are weighty issues, and they require a strong commitment by both countries. The United States has that commitment," she said.
Foreign ministers from European countries, Australia and Britain on Friday jointly condemned Israel's plans to construct a settlement east of Jerusalem.
Famine has struck an area of Gaza and will likely spread over the next month, a global hunger monitor determined on Friday, an assessment that will escalate pressure on Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into the war-torn Palestinian enclave.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un lauded his country's "heroic" troops who fought for Russia in the war against Ukraine, in a ceremony where he decorated returning soldiers and consoled children of the bereaved with hugs, state media said on Friday.
Former Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who led the country during a devastating 2019-2024 economic crisis, was arrested and appeared in court on Friday over allegations he misused state funds while in office, police said.
The Arab League has strongly condemned the settlement plan approved by the Israeli government in the area known as E1 east of Jerusalem, stressing that it threatens the territorial continuity of Palestine.