Trump calls out ‘Animal Assad’ for attack, criticizes Putin

As Washington worked to verify the claim by Syrian opposition activists and rescuers that poison gas was used, Trump said there would be a "big price to pay" for resorting to outlawed weapons of mass destruction. A top White House aide, asked about the possibility of a U.S. missile strike in response, said, "I wouldn't take anything off the table."

A look at some of the Russian officials hit by US sanctions

File-This Nov. 10, 2017, file photo shows Russia's President Vladimir Putin, left, and Russian metals magnate Oleg Deripaska, right, walking to attend the APEC Business Advisory Council dialogue in Danang, Vietnam. The United States punished dozens of Russian oligarchs and government officials on Friday, April 6, 2018, with sanctions that took direct aim at President Putin's inner circle, as President Donald Trump's administration tried to show he's not afraid to take tough action against Moscow.

Is the US winning an – infinite war’? Trump and military see it differently

The commander in chief has made winning on the battlefields of Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan a central tenet of his foreign policy, but the army holds frequently opposing ideas about what winning means US President Donald Trump's pronouncement that he would be pulling troops out of Syria "very soon" has laid bare a major source of tension between the president and his generals. Trump has made winning on the battlefields of Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan a central tenet of his foreign policy and tough-guy identity.

Trump floated a Putin visit to the White House in a March 20 phone call

President Donald Trump proposed meeting Vladimir Putin at the White House in a March phone call, the Kremlin said Monday, a fresh revelation about a conversation that stirred controversy over Trump's friendly tone toward the Russian leader amid mounting tensions with the West. After the March 20 phone call - in which Trump congratulated Putin for a reelection victory in a vote widely criticized as not free and fair - Trump told reporters that the two leaders had discussed a possible meeting to discuss Syria, Ukraine, North Korea and "the arms race."

S Korea, US begin joint military drills

Seoul [South Korea], Apr 1 : South Korea and the United States on Sunday began their joint military drills as scheduled, according to defence officials, amid a reconciliatory mood on the Korean Peninsula in recent weeks. As per Yonhap news agency, over 11,500 service members, including those from outside South Korea are planning to participate, along with at least 300,000 South Korean troops in the four-week 'Foal Eagle' training.

Senator says Bolton is wary of North Korea stall tactics

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said he's glad John Bolton will serve as President Donald Trump's national security adviser going into talks with North Korea because of his ''very healthy skepticism.' ' A U.S.-North Korean summit is slated for May. Hopes have been raised that Kim Jong Un may be willing to discuss his nuclear weapons program and other measures to reduce the threat of war, possibly in exchange for security guarantees and an easing of the international sanctions that have severely pinched the already struggling North Korean economy.

Russia to expel 60 US diplomats, close American consulate in St. Petersburg

Russia has said it will expel 60 U.S. diplomats and close the American consulate in St. Petersburg as part of a tit-for-tat retaliation against the coordinated wave of expulsions of dozens of Russian diplomats ordered by the United States and other countries earlier this week over the poisoning of a former spy in Britain.

Trump warns he may freeze SKorea trade deal for NKorea talks

President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to hold up the trade agreement his administration finalized this week with South Korea in an effort to gain more leverage in potential talks with North Korea. Speaking on infrastructure in Ohio, Trump highlighted the recently completed renegotiation of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement.

Families of victims of Russia’s mall fire are angry. What does this mean for Putin’s power?

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to locals and relatives of the victims of a fire in a multistory shopping center in the Siberian city of Kemerovo, Russia, on Tuesday. On March 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin won reelection with 77 percent of the vote at 67 percent turnout.

Here’s Why China Met Its Global Warming Goals Early. They Were Rigged

China's special representative on climate change, Xie Zhenhua, took the stage at the Green Carbon Summit on Monday to announce China had already met its emissions goals for 2020. What Zhenhua neglected to mention, however, is that China's global warming pledge was already in-line with what energy experts expected to happen regardless of climate policies.

Spy expulsions a setback for Trump-Putin courtship

In this file photo taken on July 7, 2017 US President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin shake hands during a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany. AFP / SAUL LOEB Washington: Donald Trump has ordered an unprecedented expulsion of Russian officials and warned the Kremlin needs to change, a setback for his courtship of Vladimir Putin, but perhaps not its end.

NORC Poll: Americans open to Trump’s planned NKorea talks

This combination of two file photos shows U.S. President Donald Trump, left, speaking in the State Dining Room of the White House, in Washington on Feb. 26, 2018, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attending in the party congress in Pyongyang, North Korea on May 9, 2016. Americans appear open to Trump's decision to negotiate directly with the North Korean leader, and are less concerned than in recent months by the threat posed by the pariah nation's nuclear weapons.

Myanmar skirts ‘maximum pressure’ despite North Korea ties

In this March 18, 2018, file photo, Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi listens to the opening speech at the Leaders Plenary during ASEAN-Australia Special Summit in Sydney, Australia. The Trump administration has slapped sanctions on companies across the globe to punish illicit trade with nuclear-armed North Korea, yet Myanmar, which is suspected of acquiring ballistic missile systems from the pariah state, has escaped the full force of the "maximum pressure" campaign.

Navy stages drills to commemorate 2010 Cheonan sinking

South Korea's Navy conducted sea drills in the country's eastern and southern waters Monday on the eighth anniversary of a deadly torpedo attack by North Korea, a defense official said. More than 10 warships were mobilized, along with aircraft, with exercises in the Yellow Sea canceled due to bad weather.