N Korea talks held in Malaysia
AFP, Seoul
A group of former US diplomats held closed door talks at the weekend with senior Pyongyang officials, even as international efforts gather pace to further isolate North Korea, diplomatically and economically.
The two-day meeting in Kuala Lumpur, which was confirmed by the South Korean and US governments, was the latest in a series of unofficial talks commonly referred to as Track 2 that are closely monitored in the absence of any official contact between Washington and Pyongyang.
13 killed, 31 injured in California tour bus crash
AP, Palm Springs
A tour bus returning home to Los Angeles from a casino trip plowed into the back of a semi-truck on a California highway early Sunday, killing 13 people and injuring 31 others, authorities said.
A maintenance crew had slowed down traffic on Interstate 10 before the vehicles crashed just north of the desert resort town of Palm Springs, California Highway Patrol Border Division Chief Jim Abele said. The work had gone on for hours without problems, he said.
5 killed in Malta plane crash
Reuters, Valletta
A light aircraft crashed after taking off from Malta’s main airport early on Monday, killing all five people on board, officials there said, in the island nation’s worst peacetime air accident. Airport sources initially said the plane was believed to be carrying officials from European Union border agency Frontex. But the organization later said none of its staff was involved.
A military source at Malta International Airport said all five victims were French, though the French foreign ministry said it could not yet confirm that.
