North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrived in Beijing for an unannounced visit, at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Mr Kim will be in China until 10 January with his wife Ri Sol-ju, according to state media reports. The visit comes amid reports that negotiations are under way for a second summit between Mr Kim and US President Donald Trump. The two met last June, the first such meeting for a sitting US president.

Speculation had grown that Mr Kim was possibly making his way to China after South Korea's Yonhap news reported that a North Korean train had been seen crossing the border. Dozens of security vehicles and officials blocked roads around the train station in the border town of Dandong. Hotel guests in Dandong had also not been allowed to enter rooms that faced the border, with news outlet Kyodo calling this an "apparent move to prevent the train from being seen".

India's top court has reinstated the chief of a federal investigation agency who was suspended by the government. The Supreme Court said there was no "provision" for the government to "divest the powers" of Alok Verma of the Central Bureau of Investigation. Mr Verma and his deputy, Rakesh Asthana had accused each other of corruption last year. They were both relieved of their duties pending an inquiry. Mr Verma had challenged the decision in the Supreme Court.

The court, however, said that Mr Verma could not take "major policy decisions" until the completion of investigation of corruption cases against him. The ruling is being seen as a setback for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP-led government. Opposition parties have welcomed the court's decision - they had accused the government of overreach and interference in the CBI's internal matters.

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has announced plans to punish people who hold unsanctioned protests after seven weeks of anti-government unrest. His government wants to draft new legislation that will ban troublemakers from protests and clamp down on the wearing of masks at demonstrations. He said 80,000 members of the security forces would be deployed for the next expected wave of protests.

Protesters smashed down the gates to a government office this weekend. In other chaotic scenes in Paris, demonstrators fought riot police, and cars and motorbikes were burnt. Protests against fuel tax erupted on 17 November when people across France donned high-visibility vests, giving them their nickname the "gilets jaunes" ("yellow vests"), and went out to disrupt traffic.

Former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn appeared in court for the first time since his shock arrest in Japan in November last year. He is accused of financial misconduct, including under-reporting his pay. Mr Ghosn, who was led into court in handcuffs with a rope around his waist, said in a prepared statement that he had been "wrongly accused and unfairly detained". Mr Ghosn, a towering figure of the car industry, also looked visibly thinner.

He told the Tokyo District court: "I have been wrongly accused and unfairly detained, based on meritless and unsubstantiated accusations." The 64-year-old said he never received any compensation from Nissan that was not disclosed. Mr Ghosn said he had "never been accused of any wrongdoing," and had dedicated two decades to "reviving Nissan".