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US Secretary of State John Kerry is looking to breathe new life into dormant Middle East peace talks in meetings on Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli and Palestinian officials, amid talk of modifying a decade-old Arab plan that's long been greeted with skepticism by the Jewish state.

Pyongyang suspended its sole remaining major project with Seoul on Monday after weeks of threats against the United States and the Republic of Korea, as Russian President Vladimir Putin said any nuclear conflict may make Chernobyl look like a fairy tale.

Pyongyang said on Monday it will suspend operations at the Kaesong industrial complex, pulling out more than 53,000 workers and moving closer to severing its last economic link with the ROK.

Cooperation between China and Africa is stronger than ever, with China planning to beef up investment in Africa and Chinese companies starting to consider moving abroad, top economists and former officials have said.

"Now is the best period for Asia, especially China, to cooperate with Africa. There will be a surge of cooperation in not only quantity but also quality," said Wei Jianguo, former vice-minister of commerce and current secretary-general of the think tank China Center for International Economic Exchange Center.

With no deal in sight and remaining differences between Iran and the world powers over the Islamic republic's nuclear issue after the latest round of talks in the Kazakh city of Almaty, analysts said both sides demonstrate "positive will and gestures" to keep the diplomatic track alive for further negotiations.

No country should be allowed to damage world peace or throw a region into chaos for selfish gains, President Xi Jinping said on Sunday.

The remark shows China's determination to maintain regional peace as tensions in northeastern Asia run high, analysts said.

"Countries - big or small, strong or weak, rich or poor - should all contribute their share in maintaining and enhancing peace," Xi said at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2013, which attracted more than 2,500 political and economic leaders from around the globe.

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The Democratic People's Republic of Korea said on Thursday it had approved plans for nuclear strikes on targets in the United States.

Washington, in response, has scrambled to reinforce its Pacific missile defenses, preparing to send ground-based interceptors to Guam.

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the DPRK's increasingly bellicose threats combined with its military capabilities represented a "real and clear danger" to the US and to its allies the Republic of Korea and Japan.

US President Barack Obama is leaning toward picking Caroline Kennedy to be the next US ambassador to Japan, a source familiar with the process said on Monday.

The 55-year-old daughter of assassinated former president John Kennedy would be the first female US ambassador to Japan.

She was one of the earliest backers of Obama in his first presidential campaign in 2008, and her endorsement was significant in helping him defeat then-US senator Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary that year.

The risk of a flashpoint is running high on the Korean Peninsula after Pyongyang announced it would rebuild and restart its nuclear facilities, analysts said.

"What we must be cautious of is accidental events that might be misread, resulting in a firefight or even larger disasters," said Huang Youfu, a professor of Korean studies at Minzu University of China. But he said the chances are slim that Pyongyang will launch a planned attack against the US.

China called for calm and restraint on Tuesday.

Four private daily newspapers out of 16 granted licenses by the Myanmar government hit the streets on Monday, marking the reappearance of private daily newspapers in the Southeast Asian nation after almost five decades.

The four newspapers are Pyidaungsu Daily, Shwe Naing Ngan Thit Daily, San Taw Chein Daily and Voice Daily.

Pyidaungsu Daily is run by the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party.

Legislators in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea gathered on Monday for an annual spring parliamentary session that followed a ruling party declaration that nuclear bomb building and a stronger economy are the nation's top priorities.

The meeting of the Supreme People's Assembly follows near-daily threats from Pyongyang, including vows of nuclear strikes on Seoul and Washington.

US President Barack Obama has chosen veteran agent Julia Pierson as Secret Service director, the first woman to lead the male-dominated agency, a year after its reputation was tarnished by a scandal involving agents and prostitutes in Colombia.