South Korea joins US, Thailand in military landing drill

Troops from South Korea joined their Thai and U.S counterparts on Saturday in an amphibious vehicle landing drill as part of Southeast Asia's largest multinational military exercise. The 300 soldiers from South Korea who joined 2,000 U.S. Marines and Thai soldiers in eastern Thailand marked the highest numbers participating from the East Asian country since it joined the Cobra Gold exercise in 2010, and comes at a time when tensions are particularly high on the Korean Peninsula.

Pentagon report doubts progress against Taliban

A Pentagon watchdog agency raised fresh doubts Friday about progress in the 16-year-old U.S. war in Afghanistan and suggested that restrictions on the public release of information make it difficult to gauge the effectiveness of U.S. strategy. The Pentagon's office of the inspector general, in a report done jointly with the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, said the Afghan government by the end of 2017 had not expanded its areas of control, even as the U.S. added about 3,500 troops and intensified airstrikes against the Taliban.

Meet Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Russian Oligarch Indicted in U.S. Election Interference

Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, left, serving dinner to Vladimir V. Putin in Moscow in 2011, when Mr. Putin was prime minister. Mr. Prigozhin has emerged as Mr. Putin's go-to oligarch for sensitive and often-unsavory missions like the troll factory - called the Internet Research Agency - or recruiting contract soldiers to fight in Ukraine and Syria.

Three ways East Asia can avoid a North Korean refugee ‘crisis’

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets members of the high-level delegation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea which visited South Korea to attend the opening ceremony of the 23rd Winter Olympics in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency February 13, 2018. Source: KCNA/via Reuters WITH tensions in the Korean peninsula seemingly never-ending, the possibility of conflict erupting in East Asia is keeping everyone on edge.

U.S. defense budget with lavish purchase plan faces doubts

The U.S. Department of Defense on Monday rolled out its budget for fiscal year 2019, asking Congress for 716 billion U.S. dollars for arms purchases and a staff expansion, and bringing a slew of questions and doubts. The entire budget consists of three parts -- the base budget of 617 billion U.S. dollars, covering Pentagon operation costs and arms procurement, the war fund, or Overseas Contingency Operations, of 69 billion dollars, and the defense budget of 30 billion dollars to keep other government agencies functioning.

The White House’s latest defense of Rob Porter doesn’t add up, two Obama lawyers say

White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter watches as President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with North Korean defectors in the Oval Office at the White House. CREDIT: Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday that the White House's personnel security office's consideration of former staff secretary Rob Porter, who resigned last week after two of his ex-wives accused him of domestic abusive, was still ongoing when Porter resigned.

Spotlight: Who’s behind the term “Sharp power”?

Recently, a term "sharp power" has become "popular" following a U.S. think tank report and a cover story of the British magazine Economist in December 2017, both of which raised so-called "concerns" over the growing influence of Russia and China. In January, Joseph Nye, the father of "soft power" from Harvard University, published two articles respectively on U.S. magazine Foreign Affairs and international media organization Project Syndicate, attributing "soft power" to the West and labeling China and Russia with "sharp power".

Understanding the Media’s Ugly Weekendby David French When it comes…

Two is a travesty. But what about three, then four, then five? What if some of them adopt a seemingly celebratory tone as they recount alleged diplomatic triumphs over Vice President Mike Pence? That was this weekend - article after article, tweet after tweet.

As Congress Debates Immigration, DREAMers Are In Limbo Along With Their Families

Kim Jong-un's Sister Turns on the Charm, Taking Pence's Spotlight - PYEONGCHANG, South Korea - When the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, decided to send a large delegation to the Winter Olympics in South Korea this month, the world feared he might steal the show. Pence: The United States is ready to talk with North Korea - Despite the mutual chilliness between U.S. and North Korean officials in South Korea last week, behind the scenes real progress was made toward a new diplomatic opening that could result in direct talks without preconditions between Washington and Pyongyang.

Trump to Israel Hayom: The Palestinians are not looking to make peace

Kim Jong-un's Sister Turns on the Charm, Taking Pence's Spotlight - PYEONGCHANG, South Korea - When the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, decided to send a large delegation to the Winter Olympics in South Korea this month, the world feared he might steal the show. Pence: The United States is ready to talk with North Korea - Despite the mutual chilliness between U.S. and North Korean officials in South Korea last week, behind the scenes real progress was made toward a new diplomatic opening that could result in direct talks without preconditions between Washington and Pyongyang.

Abuse Case Exposes Fissures in a White House in Turmoil

Pence: The United States is ready to talk with North Korea - Despite the mutual chilliness between U.S. and North Korean officials in South Korea last week, behind the scenes real progress was made toward a new diplomatic opening that could result in direct talks without preconditions between Washington and Pyongyang. Kim Jong-un's Sister Turns on the Charm, Taking Pence's Spotlight - PYEONGCHANG, South Korea - When the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, decided to send a large delegation to the Winter Olympics in South Korea this month, the world feared he might steal the show.

Kim Jong-un asks South Korean leader to Pyongyang summit

SECOND Trump staffer resigns over claims he beat his wife: Speechwriter steps down after former partner says he ran over her with a car, put a cigarette out on her hand and threw her into a wall 'Hypocrite' Trump refuses to release Democrat rebuttal to GOP memo on Russian election meddling for 'security' reasons after overruling the FBI to make the Republican report public 'We sold everything to do this and lost it in 20 minutes': Couple, who ditched their lives to move to a 28-foot sailboat despite having no experience on the water, have to be rescued when their boat SINKS two days in Hope is fading: Trump is 'increasingly frustrated with Hope Hicks' amid the Rob Porter scandal and believes she 'let her relationship with the wife-beater cloud her judgement' White House Chief of Staff John Kelly told Trump he was willing to resign over botched handling of Rob Porter case, sources say ... (more)

Amid a White House in tumult, Trump defends former aide

FILE - In this Aug. 4, 2017 file photo, from left, White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner walk to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White Ho... . FILE - In this Feb. 2, 2018, file photo, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly listens during a meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean defectors in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington.

North Korea says it’s not interested in meeting Us VP Pence

South Korean army's armored vehicles move during a military exercise in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018. Vice President Mike Pence said the U.S. is preparing to announce the "tough... .

Is Fred Warmbier Grieving or Warmongering?

North Korean cheering squads wave upon their arrival at the Korean-transit office near the Demilitarized Zone in Paju, South Korea Fred Warmbier, whose son Otto Warmbier, a student here at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, died shortly after returning from North Korea, is reportedly traveling to the Winter Olympics with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence. It's hard to imagine the incredible grief of losing a son and of having seen a son suffer.

News 6 Mins Ago Us adding air power, intelligence gathering in Afghanistan

The U.S. is shifting combat and intelligence-gathering aircraft to Afghanistan as part of an intensified focus on the Taliban, now that the campaign against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria is winding down, the commander of coalition air forces in Afghanistan said Wednesday. Air Force Maj.

Pence says US to unveil ‘toughest’ sanctions on N. Korea

Vice President Mike Pence said the U.S. is preparing to announce the "toughest and most aggressive" economic sanctions against North Korea in the coming days, boosting pressure on the bellicose government during the Winter Olympics. Pence, who is set to lead the U.S. delegation at the opening ceremonies Friday, made the announcement in Japan on Wednesday, following meetings with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Sister of North Korean leader to come to South for Olympics

The U.S. government is negotiating with three Native American tribes to return the 500-year-old bones of a young adult and child found at a southwestern Idaho site that authorities first thought was a more recent... The U.S. government is negotiating with three Native American tribes to return the 500-year-old bones of a young adult and child found at a southwestern Idaho site that authorities first thought was a more recent crime scene. Dutch lender Rabobank's California subsidiary is scheduled to enter a plea Wednesday in a long-running investigation that led to allegations the bank was used to launder millions of dollars in Mexican drug money.