Korea expert Robert Kelly says the ‘real concern’ for the Philippines is being on the flight path of North Korea’s missile tests MANILA, Philippines – Remember the dad whose children barged in during his live video interview with the BBC? The man now known as the “BBC dad” is Robert Kelly, a political science professor at Pusan National University in South Korea. Kelly, an expert on Korea, […]
The balance of power within Hamas, which Israel, the United States and much of the West defines as a terrorist organization, has been shifting to Gaza, according to experts. The group seized control of the Palestinian coastal enclave in 2007 after beating its main rival, Fatah, led by President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, in parliamentary elections a year earlier. Continue reading the main story In […]
Authored by Jim Quinn via The Burning Platform blog, In Part One of this article I detailed how propaganda has been utilized by the Deep State for decades to control the minds of the masses and allow those in control to reap the benefits of never ending war. In Part Two I will discuss recent events, false flags, and propaganda campaigns utilized by the Deep State to […]
SEOUL/WASHINGTON North Korea on Friday accused the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and South Korea’s intelligence service of a failed plot to assassinate its leader Kim Jong Un with a biochemical bomb at a military parade in Pyongyang. North Korea has a history of accusing the United States and South Korea of planning preemptive military attacks and to target its leaders, but analysts said it could be the […]
By Mike Stone | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Washington is working to push through contracts for tens of billions of dollars in arms sales to Saudi Arabia, some new, others in the pipeline, ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s trip to the kingdom this month, people familiar with the talks told Reuters this week. Saudi Arabia is Trump’s first stop on his maiden international trip, a sign of his […]
Significantly, the agreement to establish the de-escalation zones has not been accepted by all opposition groups, and it left loopholes for Syria to continue undiminished attacks on the rebels, factors that combined to hinder the last attempt by Iran, Russia and Turkey to forge a cease-fire. Continue reading the main story Nevertheless, one of the representatives of the Syrian opposition groups at talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, Col. […]
By James Pearson and Ju-min Park | SEOUL SEOUL In February 2016, Yoo Chang-geun and around 120 other South Korean businessmen frantically pulled their staff out of the Kaesong Industrial Zone, jointly run with North Korea. Seoul had ordered it closed after Pyongyang defied international warnings and tested a long-range rocket. Now, with South Koreans in next week’s presidential election almost certain to elect liberal Moon Jae-in, […]
I’m a firm believer in always seeing the glass as half-full rather than half-empty, for seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, and so on. When people congratulate me for taking the positive view, I say I’m not – it’s simply all a matter of perspective. Take my country, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. One of the richest countries in the history of the world, […]
By David Brunnstrom | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met Southeast Asian foreign ministers on Thursday to seek their support in pressing North Korea to give up its nuclear and missile programs. Tillerson’s first meeting with all members of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations will also address another pressing regional issue – China’s assertive pursuit of territory in the South China Sea, […]
MANILA Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Thursday his telephone conversation this week with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to discuss the Korean peninsula crisis was at the behest of his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump. Duterte said he spoke with Xi on Wednesday to convince him to play a bigger role in defusing tension in the Korean peninsula after North Korea test fired another missile early on Saturday. […]
North Korea’s state media published a rare criticism of China on Wednesday, saying Chinese state media commentaries calling for tougher sanctions over Pyongyang’s nuclear program were undermining relations with Beijing and worsening tensions. A commentary carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) referred to recent commentaries in China’s People’s Daily and Global Times newspapers, which it said were “widely known as media speaking for the […]
As previewed last night, this morning the US Air Force confirmed that another unarmed Minuteman III ICBM missile capable of sending a nuclear bomb across the world was launched early on Wednesday from California’s Vanderberg Air Force base, in what was a second clear signal of nuclear deterrence aimed squarely at North Korea and took place one week after the US test fired another ICBM under identical […]
By James Pearson and Alexei Chernyshev | SEOUL/VLADIVOSTOK, Russia SEOUL/VLADIVOSTOK, Russia When North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent Lunar New Year greetings this year, the first card went to Russian President Vladimir Putin, ahead of leaders from China and other allies of the isolated country, according to its official news agency. Some academics who study North Korea argue Kim could be looking for Russia to ease […]
(Corrects to show plane took a ground test, not a flight test) BEIJING China’s domestically developed AG600, the world’s largest amphibious aircraft, took its maiden ground test on Saturday in the southern city of Zhuhai, according to the official Xinhua news agency. The AG600 was designed to extinguish forest fires and carry out rescue missions at sea, Xinhua said, adding that it could also “be used to […]
By Ben Blanchard | BEIJING BEIJING China on Wednesday called on all parties in the Korean standoff to stay calm and “stop irritating each other” a day after North Korea said the United States was pushing the region to the brink of nuclear war. The United States has urged China, reclusive North Korea’s lone major ally, to do more to rein in its neighbour’s nuclear and missile […]
By Matt Spetalnick | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Donald Trump’s national security adviser described his boss’s foreign policy approach as “disruptive” on the eve of the U.S. president’s first White House meeting with the Palestinian leader, saying his unconventional ways could create an opportunity to ultimately help stabilize the Middle East. Trump faces deep skepticism at home and abroad over his chances for a breakthrough with Palestinian President Mahmoud […]
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin discussed paths towards peace in Syria on Tuesday, in the first sign of practical interaction between the American and Russian presidents since Rex Tillerson, US secretary of state, visited Moscow last month. The call, only the second time the two leaders have spoken since Mr Trump took office in January, was the first sign that Moscow and Washington might be acting on […]
May 2, 2017 by: Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran Iran’s hardliners are committed to the nuclear deal with world powers even as they use the accord to attack President Hassan Rouhani ahead of elections this month, a senior hardline politician said. The agreement was a “done deal” and there would be no attempts to sabotage it, said Alireza Zakani, a senior figure in the hardliners’ camp and a […]
May 2, 2017 by: Katrina Manson in New York President Donald Trump said on Monday that he would be “honoured” to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un under the right circumstances, despite historic levels of mistrust and tension between the world’s superpower and the rogue state over its nuclear ambitions. Mr Trump’s comments contrast with his hardline stance on Pyongyang and Friday’s call from Rex Tillerson, […]
By Ayesha Rascoe and Soyoung Kim | WASHINGTON/SEOUL WASHINGTON/SEOUL U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday opened the door to meeting North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, saying he would be honoured to meet the young leader under the right circumstances, even as Pyongyang suggested it would continue its nuclear weapons tests. “If it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, I would absolutely, I would be […]
Hamas, the militant Islamist group, on Monday dropped a call for Israel’s destruction and endorsed the creation of a Palestinian state inside 1967 borders, in a rhetorical shift that analysts said reflected the group’s political ambitions and changing priorities in a new Middle East. A policy paper released in Doha by Khaled Meshaal, Hamas’s political leader, described the creation of an interim Palestinian state in the 1967 […]
The Syrian government and its main ally, Russia, deny that it uses such tactics. At a news conference held at United Nations headquarters in New York to release the report’s findings, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, Kenneth Roth, ridiculed what he described as “preposterous” assertions by the Syrian and Russian governments denying responsibility. Photo An inspection of damage to a hospital in the Aleppo area […]
LONDON Europeans took to the streets on Monday, celebrating the international workers’ holiday of May Day with an assortment of rallies and demonstrations, which in France turned violent as protesters threw petrol bombs at police. One Paris police officer was seriously burnt and two others injured in confrontations with protesters. In Turkey, police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to break up demonstrations and arrested hundreds. A […]
DOHA The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas will drop its long-standing call for Israel’s destruction as well as its association with the Muslim Brotherhood in a new policy document to be issued on Monday, Gulf Arab sources said. Hamas’s move appears aimed at improving relations with the West, Gulf Arab states and Egypt, which label the Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation. Many Western countries classify Hamas as a […]
