U.S.: NO MORE CONDITIONS ON NORTH KOREA FOR TALKS

WASHINGTON» Trump administration officials said Sunday there will be no more conditions imposed on North Korea before a first-ever meeting of the two nations’ leaders beyond the North’s promise not to resume nuclear testing and missile flights or publicly criticize U.S.-South Korean military exercises.

The officials’ comments followed the surprise announcement last week that President Donald Trump has agreed to meet the North’s Kim Jong Un by May.

“This potential meeting has been agreed to. There are no additional conditions being stipulated. But again, they — they cannot engage in missile testing, they cannot engage in nuclear testing and they can’t publicly object to the U.S.-South Korea planned military exercises,” deputy White House spokesman Raj Shah said.

Pentagon chief warns Syrian forces on use of chemical weapons.

OMAN» U.S. MUSCAT,

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Sunday warned the Syrian government not to use chemical weapons in its civil war and said the Trump administration has made it clear that it would be “very unwise” to use gas in attacks.

Mattis told reporters traveling with him to the Mideast that he was disturbed by reports of civilian casualties from bombings by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces.

“Right now we’re getting reports — I don’t have evidence that I can show you — but I’m aware of the reports of chlorine gas use,” he said before arriving Sunday in Oman.

The U.S. responded militarily last year to reported Syrian government use of sarin gas, and Mattis was asked whether the administration is now considering retaliating for chlorine gas use.

“I’m not going to strictly define it. We have made it very clear that it would be very unwise to use gas” as a weapon, Mattis said.

Helicopter crashes in New York City’s East River.

NEW

A helicopter crashed into New York City’s East River on Sunday night and flipped upside down in the water, killing two of the six people aboard and leaving three others in critical condition, officials said.

Video taken by a bystander and posted on Twitter shows the red helicopter landing hard in the water and then capsizing, its rotors slapping at the water.

The helicopter went down near Gracie Mansion, the mayoral residence.

Hong Kong pro-democracy movement loses ground in by-election.

KONG» Prodemocracy HONG candidates won back only two of four seats in a crucial by-election in the semiautonomous Chinese region, final results showed Monday.

The results mean the opposition wasn’t able to recapture all its territory, losing some to formidably resourced pro-Beijing rivals in the city’s semidemocratic legislature.

The four seats were among six left empty when a group of lawmakers were expelled after a 2016 controversy over their oaths, which they used to defy China.

Four weeks in, “Black Panther” still on top.

LOS ANGELES»

T’Challa still rules the box office, even with the fresh rivalry of another Walt Disney Studios release in “A Wrinkle in Time.”

“Black Panther” took the No. 1 spot at the North American box office with $41.1 million according to studio estimates Sunday, leaving another newcomer in its wake. The Marvel and Disney phenomenon crossed the $1 billion mark worldwide this weekend and became the seventh-highestgrossing domestic release, with $562 million.