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North and South Korea are preparing to officially end the war when their two leaders - Dictator Kim Jong-Un and President Moon Jae-in - meet next week. The two Koreas are technically still at war as the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a truce, not a peace treaty. South Korean media reports that the two sides had been discussing plans for a permanent end to the war at the North-South summit, citing an unidentified Seoul official.

North and South Korea are discussing plans to make a stunning announcement at their leaders’ summit next week – a permanent end to the 68-year state of war between the two, according to reports. North strongman Kim Jong Un and South President Moon Jae-in may release a joint statement saying they will seek to end military conflict, an unidentified Seoul official told the Munhwa Ilbo newspaper, Bloomberg reported. The two men are scheduled to meet April 27 in the border village of Panmunjon – the third-ever summit of leaders from the two Koreas. Pyongyang and Seoul have technically been at...

In his first visit to Russia, newly appointed Chinese Defense Minister Wei Feng attended the seventh Moscow International Security Conference. Wei said that he had two major messages for Russia at a time when both nations were attempting to modernize their armed forces and strengthen their hands in global affairs in spite of U.S. fears. "I am visiting Russia as a new defense minister of China to show the world a high level of development of our bilateral relations and firm determination of our armed forces to strengthen strategic cooperation," Wei said at a meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergey...

Syrian air defenses responded to a missile attack over Homs targeting Shayat air base late Monday night, Syria's official news agency SANA reported. Hezbollah's media unit said six missiles were fired towards Shayat and three missiles toward Dumair military airport near Damascus. The SANA report said the missiles targeting the air base were shot down by Syrian air defenses, and Hezbollah's media unit said all nine missiles were intercepted. Later that night, a false alarm was reported near Aleppo........

Western countries accused Moscow on Monday of preventing inspectors from reaching the site of a suspected poison gas attack in Syria and said Russians or Syrians may have tampered with evidence on the ground. The United States, Britain and France launched air strikes on Saturday against what they described as three Syrian chemical weapons targets in retaliation for a suspected gas attack that killed scores of people in the Damascus suburb of Douma on April 7. Syria and its ally Russia deny using poison gas during their offensive this month, in which they seized the town that had been the...

Government forces and Russian troops have been deployed in Douma, which is now controlled by the Syrian government. Opposition activists have said the troops might have removed any evidence of chemical weapons' use...In London, British Prime Minister Theresa May accused Syria and Russia of trying to cover up evidence. She said Syrian officials have been searching evacuees from Douma to ensure samples are not smuggled out. "A wider operation to conceal the facts of the attack is underway, supported by the Russians," she told lawmakers.

When the United States — along with France and Britain — launched military strikes on sites designed to destroy Assad’s chemical weapons program in Syria on Friday, critics blamed Bolton. The liberal group People’s Action described him as “John ‘Bomb ‘em all’ Bolton” in a fundraising appeal to supporters Saturday.

The prospect of a summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un offers a unique opportunity to move Northeast Asia away from more than seven decades of confrontation and conflict. But the meeting might be stillborn or end badly, even if it does occur. An important challenge is the difference between the two leaders’ official expectations. The Trump administration presumably believes it has a commitment by Pyongyang to denuclearize. However, Kim, to the extent that he genuinely contemplates abandoning weapons so expensively acquired and so tightly connected to his own legitimacy, is likely willing to do...

United States' Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Sunday the Trump administration will announce more sanctions against Russia on Monday. On CBS's "Face the Nation," Haley said the Treasury Department will announce the new sanctions and insisted the US has sent "a strong message" about the use of chemical weapons.

Pence also said. “It’s time for Russia to get the message President Trump delivered last night. You're known by the company you keep.” He also said the United State will mount a “sustained effort” against the regime if the attacks continue, echoing what U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said in an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Saturday. Pence also said leaders at the summit, which is focused on the collapse of democracy in Venezuela, saoid they support the missile strikes in Syria.

Israeli jets have reportedly targeted a suspected chemical weapons factory in western Syria. The Syrian National Army said four IAF warplanes hit a military site in Hama province, near Masyaf, in the early hours of Thursday morning, killing two soldiers and causing massive damage. It is believed the site was linked to the sarin gas attack in April, which UN investigators said was the work of the Syrian government. The UN confirmed the chemical attacks in Khan Sheikhoun, which resulted in the deaths of dozens of civilians and prompted a US missile attack, were perpetrated by Assad regime forces. Israel...

"It’s often easier, Congress has found, to just let the president do what he wants. "...It would be perfectly normal for the Trump administration to argue it doesn’t need Congress’s approval to go after Assad. It would court a fight over when and why the executive branch can get America’s military involved in operations overseas without input from Congress — but that fight has been going on for decades. "Indeed, the Obama administration made legal arguments for justifiable unilateral force that could be interpreted to validate what Trump did on Thursday night." {snip} "... By May 2016, according to a...

“I applaud the president for taking military action against the Assad regime for its latest use of chemical weapons, and for signaling his resolve to do so again if these heinous attacks continue,” McCain said in a statement. “To succeed in the long run, we need a comprehensive strategy for Syria and the entire region,” he added later. “The president needs to lay out our goals, not just with regard to ISIS, but also the ongoing conflict in Syria and malign Russian and Iranian influence in the region. Airstrikes disconnected from a broader strategy may be necessary, but they alone...

A Russian lawmaker claimed the strikes were aimed at disrupting the work of international investigators looking into whether Syria used chemical weapons in the town of Douma. "The airstrikes were carried out by the U.S.-led coalition consciously to spoil the investigation," Russian parliament member Dmitry Sablin was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying. Alexander Sherin, deputy head of the State Duma's defense committee, likened Trump to Adolf Hitler, and considered the strikes to be a move against Russia. Trump "can be called Adolf Hitler No. 2 of our time — because, you see, he even chose the time...

President Trump on Friday announced that he has approved military strikes in Syria against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The decision follows a suspected chemical gas attack from the Assad regime on a rebel-held town near the Syrian capital last weekend. The United States launched the response, along with assurance from France and the United Kingdom, Trump stated. French President Emmanuel Macron said the operation is currently targeting the "clandestine chemical arsenal" in Syria. "This evening I have authorized British armed forces to conduct coordinated and targeted strikes to degrade the Syrian Regime’s chemical weapons capability and deter...

A Russian warplane this weekend flew over a French warship at low altitude in the eastern Mediterranean, a deliberate breach of international regulations, a French naval source said on Tuesday. The weekly magazine Le Point said the Russian plane had flown over frigate Aquitaine over the weekend and was fully-armed. It also added that the Aquitaine could be used in strikes against the Assad regime. The incident comes as tensions mount between Russia and Western nations following a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria on April 7. At least 60 people were killed in the attack, according to a Syrian...

Under a 2013 US-Russia deal that averted US-led strikes, Syria agreed to give up its chemical weapons stockpile and sign the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) which bans the use of toxic gases in warfare. The United States, Britain and France accuse Syria of violating those commitments by carrying out chemical attacks and failing to fully disclose its stockpile. The Swedish-drafted text calls for the establishment of an investigative panel to identify the perpetrators of chemical weapons use in Syria after Russia this week vetoed a US proposal to set up such a mechanism.

Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad condemned Western powers in remarks during a meeting with a top Iranian adviser on Thursday, asserting that “some Western countries” object to any success Assad’s forces have on the battlefield. On Thursday, Assad met with Ali Akbar Velayati, the Iranian top adviser for International Affairs in Damascus, according to the Syrian government’s Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA). In that meeting, Assad protested that allegations of chemical weapons use against his regime are a sign that Europe and the United States are displeased with his victories against rebels on the ground. “Whenever the Syrian army achieves victory...

BEIRUT — Fears that a major war could be imminent eased across the Middle East on Thursday after a flurry of tweets and statements by world leaders that suggested that they are looking for ways to de-escalate the sky-high tensions of recent days. U.S.-led military strikes in retaliation for the Syrian government’s alleged use of chemical weapons against a Damascus suburb last weekend remained a distinct possibility, but there were indications that efforts to head off a global confrontation are gathering momentum. In Moscow, the Kremlin sought to tamp down fears of a looming conflict with the United States by...

VLADIMIR Putin has belittled British sailors as his foreign office blasted Theresa May over reports the UK has sent submarines to move within striking distance of Syria as tensions escalate with Moscow. Last night it emerged Theresa May had ordered British submarines within range of Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian forces as the Prime Minister moves ever-closer to military intervention, following the sick chemical attack in Douma last week. But Assad's ally Russia has lashed out at the reports and belittled the UK as Moscow declared Mrs May may regret it. Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: “These are young men...