US, Japan, Australia summit planned next month

The US, Japan and Australia plan to hold their first-ever summit next month to discuss North Korea's nuclear ambitions and China's military build-up, Japanese government officials said on Friday. The three countries' leaders would meet in Sydney on the sidelines of the APEC summit due to open on Sept 8.

"Details have yet to be sorted out, but we hope that such a meeting will further cement security coordination and cooperation between the three countries," said a government official. (Reuters)