Rival Koreas start talks meant to set up leaders’ summit — Senior officials from the rival Koreas met Monday to set a date and venue for a third summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, part of an effort to breathe new life into resolving the nuclear standoff between Washington and Pyongyang. The two leaders, who first met in April in a highly publicized summit and then again in May for more informal talks, previously agreed to meet again sometime in the fall in Pyongyang but released no concrete details. The meeting Monday at a North Korea-controlled building in the border village of Panmunjom comes amid growing worries about whether North Korea will begin abandoning its nuclear weapons, something officials suggested would happen after Kim’s summit with President Donald Trump in June in Singapore. North Korea is thought to have a growing arsenal of nuclear bombs and long-range missiles and to be closing in on the ability to reliably target anywhere on the U.S. mainland. A string of weapons tests last year, during which Pyongyang claimed to have completed its nuclear arsenal, had many in Asia worried that Washington and Pyongyang were on the brink of war. After a peace offering by Kim Jong Un in January, Moon was able to orchestrate his own summits with Kim, which were followed by Kim and Trump’s meeting in June.

China’s Xi beset by challenges — As China’s leaders gather for their annual Yellow Sea retreat, the country’s political waters are looking choppy. Chinese President and ruling Communist Party leader Xi Jinping is beset by economic, foreign policy and domestic political challenges just months after clearing his way to rule for as long as he wants as China’s most dominant leader since Mao Zedong. Mounting criticism of the Xi administration’s policies has exposed the risks he faces from amassing so much power: He’s made himself a natural target for blame. “Having concentrated power, Xi is responsible for all policy setbacks and policy failures,” said Joseph Cheng, a retired City University of Hong Kong professor and long-time observer of Chinese politics. Notably, Xi used to dominate state-run newspapers’ front pages and the state broadcaster CCTV’s news bulletins on a daily basis but has in recent weeks made fewer public appearances. “He can’t shift the blame, so he’s responding by taking a lower profile,” Cheng said.

U.S. ambassador denies Ecuador threats —Todd C. Chapman, the U.S. ambassador to Ecuador who was involved in an effort by the Trump administration to prevent the introduction of a breast-feeding resolution at a global health conference this spring, denied making threats to Ecuador, the country that initially sponsored the resolution. Chapman said that allegations that he threatened Ecuadorean officials with trade sanctions and withdrawal of some military assistance were “patently false and inaccurate.” The claims, based on interviews with three Ecuadorean officials, said that Chapman had made such threats in an effort to get the country to drop the resolution.

Russia’s Caspian Sea agreement — Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan — the five countries with shorelines on the Caspian Sea — agreed Sunday to a formula for dividing up the world’s largest inland body of water and its potentially vast oil and gas resources. Landlocked and less salty than an ocean, the Caspian Sea was regarded by Iran and the Soviet Union — until the Soviet collapse — as a lake. The pact signed Sunday treats the surface as international water and divides the seabed into territorial zones. The agreement says no country without a Caspian shoreline can deploy military vessels in the sea.

Meet Bill Shine, Trump’s new image man — For years he dutifully carried out Roger Ailes’ orders, earning himself the nickname “the Butler” at Fox News. Now, Bill Shine is serving the same role under President Donald Trump. The former news executive, who was formally brought into the White House last month as deputy chief of staff for communications, has yet to move into a permanent office or bring on his own staff. But he is already putting his mark on the West Wing, clashing with reporters, improving the production quality of White House events and trying to shape the message of an administration whose communication strategy has always seemed haphazardly dictated by tweet. Shine is most often described by people close to the White House as a well-respected professional with the age and experience to be trusted by a president who is uniquely obsessed with his image and coverage. “I think that Bill commands the respect that is needed on such a priority based on his management experience and knowledge of the media,” said Sean Spicer, the former White House press secretary and communications director. Shine, he said, “entered the White House with the respect, maturity and experience that is more of a peer than a staffer.”

FBI finds data recorder from plane taken for fatal ride — He cracked jokes, complimented the professional demeanor of an air traffic controller and apologized for making a fuss. But the friendly tone of a 29-year-old airport worker who stole a commercial plane Friday night, performing acrobatic stunts before the fatal plunge into a thick island forest, belied his desperate actions. “I think I’m going to try to do a barrel roll, and if that goes good I’ll go nose down and call it a night,” Richard Russell said from the cockpit, according to a recording of his conversation with the controller. The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Sunday that Russell had died in the fiery wreckage, but whether the crash was deliberate or accidental was one of several topics remaining for investigators. Others include how, nearly 17 years after the 9/11 attack, someone can simply take a passenger plane from a major U.S. airport without authorization.