APEC is set to put digitally-driven growth and employment opportunities within greater reach across the Asia-Pacific in 2018, boosted by APEC member economies’ capacity to adapt to trade and economic policy disruptions demonstrated over the past year.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold an annual press conference on Thursday in his first major public appearance since announcing he would seek a new six-year term in March 2018 elections.

The World Trade Organisation concluded a ministerial meeting on Wednesday with nothing significant to boast -- a meager outcome for its first gathering in the Donald Trump era.

British Prime Minister Theresa May heads to a Brussels summit on Thursday reeling from a parliamentary defeat over Brexit that threatens to undermine her just as EU leaders back the opening of trade talks.

French President Emmanuel Macron hosts Germany's Angela Merkel and five African presidents on Wednesday, hoping to bolster the fledging G5 Sahel force fighting jihadists in an area the size of Europe.

Crews battling wildfires ravaging southern California for a week have managed to slow the spread of the worst of the blazes, officials said on Tuesday, as residents were taking stock of the catastrophic damage.

 A crack has been found in a Japanese "bullet train" that could have caused a derailment, officials said on Wednesday, in the first-ever "serious incident" for the iconic mode of transport.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday chairs an emergency summit of the world's main pan-Islamic body, seeking to marshal Muslim leaders towards a coordinated response to the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

The United States is ready to talk to North Korea "without preconditions" but remains determined to force it to abandon its nuclear arsenal, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Tuesday.