BTS returns with comeback concert in Seoul after four-year hiatus

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – After a four-year break, K-pop supergroup BTS returns Saturday with a massive, free comeback concert in Seoul, where thousands of police are locking down a central boulevard for the Netflix-exclusive spectacle expected to draw tens of thousands of fans.

Stocks rally and oil sinks after Trump hints at possible end to war

NEW YORK (AP) - A cautious relief swept through financial markets after President Donald Trump said the United States has talked with Iran about a possible end to their war.  The S&P 500 rallied 1.1% for its best day since the war began. The Dow Jones rose 1.4%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.4%. Brent crude fell back below $100 per barrel.

Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: Latest Updates

WASHINGTON (AP) – Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi sought to reaffirm her alliance with President Donald Trump on Thursday after the president this week seemed to complain that Japan was among the nations that did not quickly join his call to help protect the Strait of Hormuz.

Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: Latest Updates

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Monday a summit between her brother and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi won’t happen if Japan sticks to “its anachronistic” approach. Takaichi told reporters last week that she had “a very strong desire” to meet Kim Jong Un.

Energy fallout from Iran war signals a global wake-up call for renewable energy

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) – The war in Iran is exposing the world’s reliance on fragile fossil fuel routes, lending urgency to calls for hastening the shift to renewable energy. Fighting has all but halted oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that carries about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, or LNG.

Orbán's opponent says Russian backchannel 'treason' to be investigated

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) – The front-runner in Hungary’s parliamentary election said on Monday that an alleged backchannel between Budapest and Moscow should be investigated as “treason” after the Washington Post reported that Hungary’s government has for years provided Russia with detailed information from EU Council meetings.

3 men charged with conspiring to smuggle US artificial intelligence to China

NEW YORK (AP) – A senior vice president of Super Micro Computer Inc. and two others affiliated with the company were charged Thursday with conspiring to smuggle billions of dollars of computer servers containing advanced Nvidia chips to China.

Editorials from The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian and others

Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:

US to set up 12 regional disaster response hubs

WASHINGTON (AP) – The State Department is setting up 12 regional hubs to coordinate disaster and emergency humanitarian responses under the auspices of a new bureau that will oversee some of the functions that had been handled by the now-dismantled U.S. Agency for International Development.