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U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday spurned the Taiwanese president’s suggestion that the two leaders hold another phone call, saying he did not want to create problems for Chinese President Xi Jinping when Beijing appears to be helping efforts to rein in North Korea. In a White House interview, Trump brushed aside the idea after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen told Reuters on Thursday she would not rule out talking directly again to the U.S. president, an act certain to incense China. The status of self-ruled Taiwan is possibly the most sensitive issue between Washington and Beijing. “Look, my problem is I have established a very good personal relationship with President Xi. I really feel that he is doing everything in his power to help us with a big situation,” Trump told Reuters, referring to signs that China may be working to head off any new missile or nuclear test by Pyongyang, Beijing’s neighbor and ally. “So I wouldn’t want...

Taking the strongest ever stand against its neighbour, China has reportedly warned North Korea that it would impose unilateral sanctions against the regime if it conducts any more nuclear tests. The Kim Jong-un regime has conducted two nuclear tests in 2016 - the first in January followed by another in September, in addition to multiple ballistic missile tests. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told Fox News on Thursday (27 April) that China has informed the White House about the warnings it issued to the North. "We were told by the Chinese that they informed the regime that if they did conduct further nuclear tests, China would be taking sanctions actions on their own." However, there has been no confirmation from Beijing. It is also not clear when the threat was issued and what sanctions the Chinese government was referring to. Earlier on 21 April, US President Donald Trump lauded his Chinese co...

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the crisis over North Korea’s nuclear program is deepening after the issue dominated talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Moscow. He and Abe believe the situation on the Korean peninsula has “seriously deteriorated,” Putin said Thursday after the Kremlin meeting. “We call on all states involved in the region’s affairs to refrain from military rhetoric and seek peaceful, constructive dialogue.” Abe said he and Putin spent a long time discussing North Korea during the three hours of talks that also focused on resolving a seven-decade long dispute over four islands seized by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II. The issue has prevented Russia and Japan from signing a peace accord. The 17th meeting between the two leaders took place after Russia warned on Wednesday that the Korean peninsula is “on the brink of war.” Japan has sent warships to join drills with the U.S. aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, which...

(The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system.Thomson Reuters) President Donald Trump hinted at stipulations for the US deployment of the  Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system that is being activated in South Korea. Trump said that he wanted South Korea to pay for the anti-missile defense system, which he estimates to cost $1 billion, and also intended to renegotiate or terminate a free-trade pact with the country because of a "deep trade decificit," Reuters reported . When asked when he planned on renegotiating the "horrible" trade agreement, he said, "Very soon. I'm announcing it now." However, South Korea's defense ministry rebuffed Trump's remarks, saying that there was no shift in the "basic position" and that the US should pay the cost of installing and operating the THAAD, as stated in the Status of Forces Agreement, Yonhap News reported on Friday. The defense ministry reiterated that Sou...

South Korea has slammed US President Donald Trump's suggestion that Seoul should pay for the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) missile system that is now being deployed in the country. Trump had earlier questioned why the US was paying for the system that he valued at $1bn (£775m). "I informed South Korea it would be appropriate if they paid. It's a billion dollar system," Trump said in an interview with Reuters on Thursday (27 April). "It's phenomenal, shoots missiles right out of the sky." "There is no change in South Korea and the United States' position that our government provides the land and supporting facilities and the US bears the cost of Thaad system's deployment, operation and maintenance," South Korea's defence ministry responded. Despite strong opposition from China, the US military started deploying the Thaad in early March in a bid to help South Korea intercept Pyongyang's ballistic m...

What you need to know about the missile defense system US is setting up in S. Korea   The United States has begun moving parts of an antimissile system into their deployment site in South Korea to help protect that nation from a possible North Korean missile attack. The system has been long-planned but the overnight deployment was ahead of the expected schedule, surprising some South Koreans and sparking protests by hundreds of residents. Parts of the antimissile defense systems were moved to a former golf course in the southern area of the country, about 135 miles southeast of Seoul. The system will be operational by the end of the year, according to the South Korean defense ministry. Here's what you need to know about the latest developments in the region.

By Steve Holland and David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said a "major, major conflict" with North Korea was possible over its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, while China said the situation on the Korean peninsula could escalate or slip out of control. Trump, speaking to Reuters on Thursday, said he wanted to resolve the crisis peacefully, possibly through the use of new economic sanctions, although a military option was not off the table. "There is a chance that we could end up having a major, major conflict with North Korea," Trump said in an interview at the Oval Office. "We'd love to solve things diplomatically but it's very difficult," he said, describing North Korea as his biggest global challenge. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said there was a danger that the situation on the Korean peni...

Israel received three F-35s from the US on Tuesday, bringing its total inventory of the revolutionary fighter up to five, but according to a French journalist citing French intelligence reports, Israeli F-35s have already carried out combat missions in Syria. In Air Forces Monthly, Thomas Newdick summarized a report from Georges Malbrunot at the French newspaper Le Figaro that said Israel took its F-35s out on a combat mission one month after getting them from the US. Malbrunot reported that on January 12, Israeli F-35s took out a Russian-made S-300 air defense system around Syrian President Bashar Assad's palace in Damascus and a Russian-made Pantsir-S1 mobile surface-to-air missile system set for delivery to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israel has repeatedly and firmly asserted that its goal to make sure weapons cannot reach Hezbollah, a terror group that has sworn to seek the destru...

BEIRUT (AP) — An apparent Israeli missile attack on a Syrian military installation near Damascus International Airport shook the capital early on Thursday morning and raised tensions between the two hostile neighbors. The Syrian military said in a statement that the attack, which could be felt at least 15 kilometers (9 miles) away, was carried out by Israel and aimed to "raise the morale of terrorist groups" the government maintains are waging war against President Bashar Assad's forces. The military said it would continue its "war on terror" — government parlance for the battle against all groups trying to oust Assad. Israel appears to be striking at military convoys and installations in Syria at a quickening pace, maintaining it has the right to prevent authorities in Damascus from transferring weapons across the border to the Lebanese militant Hezbollah gro...

China launches its first domestically built aircraft carrier, which will join an existing one bought second-hand, amid rising tensions over North Korea and worries about Beijing's assertiveness in the South China Sea. Graham Mackay reports.

AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Israel struck an arms supply hub operated by the Lebanese group Hezbollah near Damascus airport on Thursday, targeting weapons sent from Iran via commercial and military cargo planes, Syrian rebel and regional intelligence sources said. Video carried on Arab TV and shared on social media showed the pre-dawn airstrikes caused a fire around the airport east of the Syrian capital, suggesting fuel sources or weapons containing explosives were hit. Syrian state media said Israeli missiles hit a military position southwest of the airport, but did not mention arms or fuel. It said "Israeli aggression" had caused explosions and some material losses, but did not expand on the damage. In a sign of the heightened tensions surrounding a conflict that has already caught up regional and international powers, Damascus' ally Russia criticised the Israeli strike and said Syrian sover...

The commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific Ocean took personal responsibility Wednesday for a series of White House and Pentagon misstatements that led to global confusion about an aircraft carrier strike group supposedly headed to North Korea. "That’s my fault," Adm. Harry Harris told the House Armed Services Committee. "I’ll take the hit for that." The embarrassing episode began on April 8 when the Navy announced that the Carl Vinson strike force was being diverted north from Singapore as a show of force during rising tensions with North Korea. The carrier group instead conducted exercises in the Indian Ocean for a week, and was still in Indonesian waters last weekend. It is now east of Okinawa, or about 1,000 miles southeast of North Korea, Harris said. The carrier's announced detour north contributed to concerns that a conflict might be imminent, especially because it came shortly after the Trump administration had launched a missile strike...

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian naval reconnaissance ship sank Thursday after colliding with a freighter off Istanbul, but all crew members were rescued, the Defense Ministry said. Turkey's coastal safety authority said all 78 personnel from the Russian frigate Liman were safe, as were all crew aboard the freighter, the Togo-flagged Youzarsif H. The freighter was carrying livestock. The Defense Ministry said a hole was punched in the starboard side of the Liman during the collision, which occurred around midday Thursday about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of the Bosphorus Strait. The cause of the collision wasn't immediately clear. The Liman was part of the Black Sea Fleet. The Interfax news agency reported that it spent much of the winter in the Mediterranean off the coast of Syria and returned to the Black Sea to monitor NATO exercises in February. The rescued Russian sai...

The U.S. test fired the Boeing (NYSE:BA)-made Minuteman III missile amid growing tensions with North Korea over the Kim regime’s nuclear program. The Minuteman III is an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of carrying nuclear warheads. When it was built in the 1970s, each missile had a price tag of $7 million, or more than $40 million in current dollars. Since the initial production run, the Air Force has made upgrades to the Minuteman III including modern targeting systems. The missile test, conducted from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, sent a Minuteman III about 4,200 miles to a test range in the Marshall Islands. Col. John Moss, 30th Space Wing commander, said the launch “was an important demonstration of our nation’s nuclear deterrent capability.” “Test launches like this one are vital to validating the effectiveness and readiness of our operational n...

Donald Trump is reportedly considering disbanding the US ninth circuit of appeals after court judges blocked two of his executive orders. Mr Trump said he was "absolutely" considering proposals to breakup the "outrageous" court. "Absolutely, I have," Mr Trump told the Washington Examiner of considering breakup proposals. "There are many people that want to break up the 9th Circuit. It's outrageous." "Everybody immediately runs to the 9th Circuit. And we have a big country. We have lots of other locations. But they immediately run to the 9th Circuit. Because they know that's like, semi-automatic." The US President also took to Twitter to criticise the body earlier in the day, saying: "First the Ninth Circuit rules against the ban & now it hits again on sanctuary cities-both ridiculous rul...

R. Kelly still has a way with the ladies. Kenny Bryant, a deputy sheriff from Hinds County, Miss., has filed a lawsuit against the R&B singer for allegedly having an affair with his wife. He says he suffered “ emotional, psychological and financial loss ” due to the actions of Kelly. In documents filed, the plaintiff claims that his wife, Asia Childress, admitted to having an intimate relationship with Kelly prior to their wedding in July 2012. She allegedly said that it was over but rekindled their romance after attending an R. Kelly concert three months later. “Thereafter, Childress did not have sexual relations with Plaintiff from October 2012 until February 2013,” the lawsuit reads. “Childress was treated for chlamydia during this time period. Childress contracted this sexual disease from her extramarital relationship with R. Kelly.” Soon after t...

It is the same federal high court that allowed Jonathan unfettered access to her money just on Tuesday - The court made the order based on an ex-parte motion before the presiding judge Justice Mojisola Olatoregun News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) is reporting that former First Lady Patience Jonathan has forfeited her $5.8m to the Nigerian government. The report said that Justice Mojisola Olatoregun of a Federal High Court, sitting in Lagos on Wednesday, April 26 granted a fresh ex-parte application ordering the forfeiture of Patience Jonathan's money. Read more:  NAIJ.com recalls that The Punch had reported just few hours ago on Tuesday, April 25 that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had withdrawn its application seeking a stay of the execution of a court order which unfroze the Skye Bank account of the wife of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Patience with a balance of $5.9m. A counsel for the EFCC Rotimi Oyedepo appeared before the same Federal High Court in Lagos...

- The Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senator Danjuma Goje, has told the Senate that the 2017 budget documents have been declared missing - Goje told the Senate that the police carted away laptops and 18 documents that contained the work of his committee on the 2017 budget - Operatives of the EFCC had raided the Abuja home of Danjuma Goje, a former governor of Gombe state Senator Danjuma Goje has told the Nigerian Senate that files containing work on the 2017 budget proposal, including 18 files, and have been declared missing. Goje who serves as the chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriations, told the upper chamber that the report on the 2017 Appropriation Bill has been stalled by the recent raid on his Abuja home by policemen. Read more: 

- The minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed, says President Buhari needs rest - Lai Mohammed discloses that Buhari asked for all the files on his table be brought to him at his official residence at the presidential villa - The minister says Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo would be meeting the president at his official residence later in the day President Muhammadu Buhari will henceforth stop going to the office and will be working from his official residence at the presidential villa. The minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed, disclosed this new arrangement to journalist at the end of the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday, April 26, Vanguard reports. Mohammed said that the president needed some rest and has asked that all the files on his table be brought to him at his official residence at the presidential villa, Abuja for treatment. Read more: 

The Federal High Court of Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, has granted bail to the leader of a separatist group on grounds of ill health as long as he meets some conditions, the News Agency of Nigeria reported.    Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob) and director of UK-based Radio Biafra radio station, is standing trial on treasonable felony charges . He was arrested in Lagos on October 14, 2015. Ipob and other Pro-Biafra movements are calling for the independence of contested Biafran territories that were forcibly annexed to Nigeria during British colonization. The territories lie in southeastern Nigeria and are inhabited mainly by the Igbo, one of the country’s largest ethnic groups. Nigeria gained independence in 1960, but after two coup d'etats and massacres of Igbo people in northern Nigeria in 1966, a former Nigerian military officer named Odumegwu Ojukwu declared a Biafran Republic in 1967. The establishment of the Republic of Bi...

(CNN) An Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ship acted "unprofessional but also provocative" while approaching the USS Mahan, an American destroyer in the Persian Gulf on Monday, according to a US official. The official said the Iranian vessel had its weapons manned and came within approximately 1,000 yards of the US destroyer. The Mahan attempted bridge-to-bridge communication with the Iranians but got no response. The US destroyer then fired a flare but despite the obvious signs from the Mahan, the Iranian ship continued on its course, forcing the US ship to alter direction, the official said. But he said despite the provocations, the Mahan did not fire any warning shots. It isn't the first time the US and Iranian navies have seen a tense standoff in the Persian Gulf. In January, the USS Mahan fired warning shots at Iranian vessels after they came "within 900 yards or so" of the US destroyer, according to Pentagon officials. ...

ere is the most frightening thing you’ll read all day: Growing numbers of US intelligence officials believe North Korea can produce a new nuclear bomb every six or seven weeks . That’s one of the most jarring takeaways in an exhaustive New York Times story about North Korea’s rapidly expanding nuclear program — and the decades of US efforts that have tried, and failed, to slow it. The Trump administration plans to detail its own approach Wednesday when it brings the entire US Senate to the White House for a highly unusual briefing on the North Korean threat. The threat is real. Here are a few more details, courtesy of the Times’s David Sanger and William Broad. North Korea is on pace to have 50 nuclear weapons by 2020. It already knows how to miniaturize those weapons so they can fit into missiles capable of hitting Japan, South Korea, and the tens of thousands of US troops stationed in those two countries. And a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) ...

Three militants loyal to the Islamic State group (ISIS) have been killed by wild boars as they planned to ambush Iraqi tribesmen opposed to the group, according to a local anti-ISIS leader. At least eight ISIS fighters had reportedly taken cover among dense reeds in Iraq's al-Rashad region, about 55 miles southwest of Kirkuk, in preparation for a surprise attack on local anti-ISIS tribesman when a herd of wild boars attacked the jihadists on Sunday, killing three. The militants likely disturbed the notoriously short-tempered animals, said Sheikh Anwar al-Assi, a chief of the local Ubaid tribe and head of the group of local tribesmen who took up arms after ISIS took control of the nearby town of Hawija. The event was corroborated by local Kurdish fighters who have joined Iran-backed Shiite Muslim militias in attempting to oust ISIS from nearby Hawija. The jihadists' mutilated bodies were reportedly discovered by refugees fleeing the violence that has beset t...

An upset passenger seen in a now-viral video , which depicted tension after a mother’s stroller was “violently” grabbed by a flight attendant , is speaking out about the onboard tension. “A baby almost got hurt. That’s what just fired me up, so that was it. I don’t want to make a big deal about it,” Tony Fierro, who was identified as the man who approached the attendant after the incident, said about the situation to WFAA-TV . The video began with the mom in tears with her baby in her arms, asking for her stroller back while the plane was still at the gate in San Francisco. According to the man who originally posted the video on Facebook, a flight attendant had grabbed the woman’s stroller as she attempted to place it in an overheard bin, nearly hitting her and her child. Fierro had gotten up and approached the front of the plane where the attendant, young mother, and other crew members were gathered. He asked ...

China is about to launch its first homebuilt aircraft carrier, once the tidal conditions are right at the dock where the vessel has been under construction in Dalian. Weighing 70,000 tonnes and 315 metres long and 75 metres wide, the still unnamed carrier is slightly larger than the Liaoning, China’s only other aircraft carrier, which was made in Ukraine. Although the launch has been heralded by some as a sign that China is mastering naval technology, other military observers have noted China still only has about four per cent of the United States’ naval capability. China’s new carrier will not be heading off into the seas alone when it is fully operational. Carriers operate in a formation, with the main vessel at the centre while other air and sea vessels provide defence and support. So how does China’s aircraft carrier formation stack up against other military powers? China Aircraft carriers: one in ser...