AFP | Top Stories - September 12, 2009 5:00am CDT

• US offers to talk directly to N.Korea

  WASHINGTON (AFP) - In a policy shift, the Obama administration said it is prepared to hold direct talks with North Korea in a bid to bring Pyongyang back to six-nation nuclear disarmament negotiations. Full Story »

• Afghanistan awaits results from fraud-tainted poll

  KABUL (AFP) - Afghans are awaiting the latest tranche of results from key elections amid concerns that investigations into vote-rigging claims could drag on, creating a dangerous political vacuum. Full Story »

• China jails Xinjiang syringe attacker: report

  BEIJING (AFP) - A teenager has been jailed for 15 years in Urumqi in the first legal action to be taken over a series of syringe attacks in China's Muslim-majority Xinjiang region, state television reported Saturday. Full Story »

• EU meets Mugabe to ease tension with Zimbabwe

  HARARE (AFP) - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe welcomed a high-level EU delegation "with open arms" on Saturday as Brussels and Harare began their first talks in seven years. Full Story »

• Space shuttle Discovery lands safely in California

  HOUSTON, Texas (AFP) - The Discovery astronauts found sunny skies in California on Friday as they descended to a weather-delayed landing at Edwards Air Force Base to end a demanding two-week mission to the International Space Station. Full Story »

• China slams US tyre tariffs, threatens retaliation

  BEIJING (AFP) - Beijing lashed out at the US on Saturday after Washington slapped steep tariffs on imported Chinese tyres, calling the measure "protectionist" and threatening retaliation in China's first trade spat with the Obama administration. Full Story »

• Wells Fargo probing Malibu mansion parties

  LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Wells Fargo said the company was investigating allegations an employee held a series of parties in a Malibu mansion seized by the bank from a couple swindled in the Bernard Madoff fraud.