Trump and the White House have given no details of the talks, and despite his upbeat comments there has been no indication of any narrowing of differences over US demands that North Korea abandon a nuclear weapons program that threatens the United States and Pyongyang’s demands for a lifting of punishing sanctions. A first summit in June in Singapore – the first-ever between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader – produced a vague commitment by Kim Jong-un to work toward the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, but he has yet to take what Washington sees as concrete steps in that direction. Critics of US efforts say the first summit only boosted Kim’s international stature without much to show for it, and some believe Trump may see a second meeting as a way of distracting from his domestic troubles. Trump did not elaborate on the country chosen to host the summit, but Vietnam has been considered a leading candidate. Kim Yong Chol, regarded as a member of Kim Jong Un’s inner circle, also had talks on Friday with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the US special representative on North Korea, Stephen Biegun. The State Department said the two sides had “a productive first meeting at the working level” and Biegun would travel to Sweden at the weekend to attend an international conference. The conference is also being attended by North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui. Washington has been keen to set up talks between Biegun and Choe but North Korea has resisted, apparently wanting to keep exchanges high-level.

Astronomy buffs across the United States have been promised all the makings of a spectacular total lunar eclipse on Sunday except one – clear skies.

Star gazers from Los Angeles to New York will keep their eyes on the sky for the eclipse, known as a super blood wolf moon, expected to appear at 11:41 pm EST.

Although it is a total eclipse, the moon will never go completely dark but rather take on a coppery red glow – called a blood moon. It is also a full moon that is especially close to Earth, called a supermoon.

And since it appears in January, when wolves howled in hunger outside villages, it has earned the name wolf moon, according to The Farmers Almanac.

But no matter how perfectly the stars align for this stellar event, the thrill or disappointment of the evening really depends on one thing: the weather.

If skies are clear on Sunday night, the spectacular total lunar eclipse will be visible with the naked eye.

Unlike a solar eclipse, which requires eye protection to safely enjoy the view, no extra measures need to be taken for hazard-free lunar eclipse watching.

If cloud cover ruins visibility, there is always a view on the internet.

“Anyone clouded out can go online and see the view from our sky cameras around the world,” said Andrew Fazekas, spokesman for the site AstronomersWithoutBorders.org.

Next chance for Americans to see a total lunar eclipse is 2022.

The blood moon’s red hue is the result of sunlight traveling through the Earth’s dusty, polluted atmosphere, Fazekas said. The shorter, more pliable blue wavelengths of light are scattered outside the Earth’s shadow and the longer, less bendable red wavelengths are refracted toward the moon.

Best viewing of the one-hour total eclipse will be from North and South America, with as many as 2.8 billion people able to see it from the Western Hemisphere, Europe, West Africa and northernmost Russia.