TOKYO (AFP) - France will not open an embassy in North Korea, but it may open an office to support non-governmental groups, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Thursday.

MOSCOW (AFP) - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday arrived in Russia for crucial talks on disarmament and a meeting of the international quartet on the Middle East, an AFP correspondent reported.

SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea has executed Pak Nam-Ki, a top financial official blamed for a bungled currency revaluation that triggered chaos in the communist state, South Korean news reports said Thursday.

GUATEMALA CITY (AFP) - A Guatemalan criminal court authorized Wednesday the extradition of ex-president Alfonso Portillo to the United States, where he faces money laundering charges, an official said.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - President Barack Obama said Wednesday that there was no crisis in US-Israeli relations, despite one of the worst rows in years over new settler homes in east Jerusalam.