North Korea on Monday threatened the U.S. with “thousands-fold” revenge for tough new U.S.-drafted sanctions approved by the United Nations Security Council over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs. President Trump said Sunday night that he spoke with South Korean President Moon Jae-in about the sanctions, approved Saturday. Trump tweeted the pair were “very happy and…
Top officials in Syria and at the Kremlin dismissed the White House’s accusations late Monday that Bashar al-Assad’s regime appears to be preparing another chemical attack on civilians. Ali Haidar, Syria’s minister for national reconciliation, told the Associated Press on Tuesday that the Trump administration’s charges were just part of a new diplomatic campaign against…
In an interview with Reuters on Thursday, President Trump said “there is a chance that we could end up having a major, major conflict with North Korea,” but he is hopeful that the U.S. can find other ways to work with the country regarding its nuclear and missile programs. “We’d love to solve things diplomatically,…
New airstrikes have targeted a town in northwest Syria that was hit by a deadly chemical attack earlier this week, activists said. It wasn’t immediately clear who conducted the strikes on Khan Sheikhoun, which hit on Friday and Saturday, though only Russian and Syrian regime aircraft have been bombing that area of rebel-held Idlib province.…
The Kremlin has warned the US it is ‘one step from war’ over Syria – but the Trump administration hit back by saying it would be prepared to carry out airstrikes again. In the first direct American raid on Bashar al Assad’s forces, President Trump authorised the firing of 59 cruise missiles at a military…
Russia confirmed Friday that it received advanced warning from the U.S. about its strike on Syria, in which the United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles in the first American assault on President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Moscow condemned the strike and gave notice that Russia is pulling out of all agreements to minimize risk of…
Speaking to reporters a week before his scheduled trip to Moscow, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Wednesday there is “no doubt in our mind” that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government is behind a chemical attack that killed dozens of Syrians on Tuesday, and “it’s time that the Russians really need to think carefully about…
President Trump’s administration is reviewing ways to enact the “extreme vetting” practices that often mentioned during his campaign, The Wall Street Journal reported. Administration officials told the newspaper they are evaluating whether to require foreign nationals who visit the U.S. to divulge cell phone contacts and passwords for social networking websites. “If there is any…
Dozens of people are dead in a northern Syria province after a suspected chemical attack on a rebel-held town. Activists and monitoring groups reported early Tuesday that strikes carried out by the Syrian government or Russian jets dumped a substance on Idlib that caused at least 58 people to choke to death, with responders on…
President Trump is ready to find a way to deal with the threat of a nuclear North Korea on his own, he told the Financial Times. “If China is not going to solve North Korea, we will,” he said. “That is all I am telling you.” Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit the…
The Senate on Tuesday confirmed South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in a 96-4 vote. Haley resigned shortly after the vote, and Lt. Gov Henry McMaster (R) was sworn in to replace her for the final two years of her term. During her confirmation hearing, Democrats challenged…
President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly working with advisers on a plan to restructure the country’s top spy agency due to a belief that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has become politicized. This comes after Trump has publicly mocked U.S. intelligence agencies and their conclusion that Russian-backed hackers were involved in disrupting the…
President-elect Donald Trump says he knows “things that other people don’t know” about Russia’s alleged hacking during the presidential election. Speaking to reporters outside his Mar-A-Lago estate while on his way to a New Year’s Eve party on Saturday night, Trump promised to disclose the information in a few days, saying “you will find out…
On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia will not expel 35 U.S. diplomats in response to new U.S. sanctions, as was recommended by Russia’s foreign ministry. Instead, Putin said he will wait and see what President-elect Donald Trump does when he takes office before deciding what steps to take. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov…
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury responded to Russia’s alleged interference in the U.S. presidential election by announcing sanctions against six individuals and five entities — including two Russian intelligence services — thought to be involved in “malicious cyber-enabled activities.” The economic penalties followed President Obama’s issuance of an executive order expanding the…
President-elect Donald Trump on Monday afternoon took to Twitter to air his thoughts about the United Nations, calling the international diplomacy group “just a club for people to get together, talk, and have a good time.” Trump said the organization has “such great potential” but neglects to use it, saying the state of the U.N.…
Israel has summoned ambassa-dors from countries that voted against for a United Nations resolution this week against settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The measure passed after the United States did not vote instead of vetoing the measure. “From the information that we have, we have no doubt that the Obama administration initiated…
President-elect Donald J. Trump publicly pressured President Obama on Thursday to veto a United Nations resolution critical of Israel, the newly elected leaders most direct intervention in foreign policy during his transition to power. Mr. Trump called on the president to use the United States veto in the United Nations Security Council to block the…
Syrian government troops in Aleppo have been reportedly going door-to-door killing civilians Tuesday in the holdout city’s sole remaining rebel-held enclave—a development the United Nations human-rights office termed “a complete meltdown of humanity.” The UN office said it had reliable evidence that at least 82 civilians, including 11 women and 13 children, have been shot…
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has accepted President-elect Donald Trump’s offer to be his U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, NBC News confirmed Wednesday morning. Although Haley has little diplomatic or foreign-policy experience, a Post and Courier report notes that Trump is probably relying on her communication and problem-solving skills to be the U.S. representative…
Russia and Syria on Tuesday claimed they would halt their airstrikes on the besieged city of Aleppo to prepare for a “humanitarian pause” on Thursday. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the strikes were suspended at 10 a.m. Tuesday to prepare for the temporary truce from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday—a cease-fire that is…
US President Barack Obama is giving his final address to the United Nations’ General Assembly, on the first day of its 71st regular session in New York. Obama is expected to underscore his continued commitment to collective action as the best means of tackling shared challenges, from the refugee crisis and terrorism to international peace…
The Islamic State (ISIS) has committed the crime of genocide against the Yazidis in Syria and Iraq, seeking to destroy the ethno-religious group of 400,000 through killings, sexual slavery and other crimes, United Nations investigators said on Thursday. “The genocide of the Yazidis is ongoing,” the independent investigators said in a report, which urged major…
A United Nations war-crimes tribunal in The Hague has convicted Radovan Karadzic, the former Bosnian Serb leader, of genocide for the 1995 massacres of 8,000 Muslim boys and men. On a separate charge, the panel found Karadzic criminally responsible for murder, but not a separate charge of genocide in a conflict that drove Bosnian Muslims…
Secretary of State John Kerry announced Thursday that world powers have agreed to implement a “cessation of hostilities” in Syria to begin in a week after talks in Germany. However, this would not apply to the fighting between ISIS and the al-Nusra Front within the country. According to Kerry, a United Nations task force will…
The United Nations Security Council will hold a special meeting on Friday to discuss the recent spate of violence between Israel and the Palestinians in which 39 people have been killed over the past two weeks.
Pope Francis is expected Friday morning to address the UN General Assembly in New York, where he will call for peace and discuss the global refugee crisis. Afterward, the pontiff will head downtown to lead a multifaith prayer service at the 9/11 Memorial, followed by a processional through Central Park. The pope will then depart…
President Barack Obama is expected to meet with Vladimir Putin at the Russian president’s request, the White House said Thursday. The two leaders will meet Monday on the sidelines at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said. The meeting comes amid mounting tension over Ukraine and Syria,…
The U.S. and Iran make significant strides towards reaching a historic nuclear deal, but Congress Republicans and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu are not impressed.
More than 1,300 people have been killed in Ukraine since a supposed ceasefire took effect in September, according to the UN. The report, which was released Monday, states that 4,707 people have been killed since pro-Russian rebels seized parts of eastern Ukraine in April. Of those casualties, 1,357 have been recorded following the Sept. 5…
