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The U.S. Navy is sending an aircraft carrier to Vietnam for the first time since the Vietnam War more than forty years ago. The reason for this courtship is an attempt to woo one of China’s neighbors and rivals to counter rising Chinese military influence in the region. (see article link, for full story)

President Donald Trump ripped Russia on Monday by accusing Moscow of undermining U.S. and international sanctions on North Korea. Addressing a gathering of state governors at the White House, Trump lauded China for its efforts to curb North Korea’s economic activity but said "Russia is sending in what China is taking out". The Trump administration has been leading international efforts to curb Pyongyang's ballistic missile and nuclear programs through robust UN and Washington-imposed sanctions regimes.

The materials include acid-resistant tiles, valves and pipes, reports say. An as-yet-unreleased UN report also says Pyongyang's missile specialists have been seen at Syrian weapon-making facilities, the New York Times says. The allegations come after fresh reports of chlorine gas being used by Syrian forces, which the regime denies. North Korea is under international sanctions over its nuclear programme. The supplies reported to have been illicitly sent to Syria by North Korea included high-heat, acid-resistant tiles, corrosion-resistant valves and thermometers. The tiles are said to be used to construct facilities where chemical weapons are produced. Five shipments were sent to...

Japan suspects yet another North Korea sanctions breach at sea Reuters Staff 2 Min Read TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan has discovered another North Korean tanker it suspects of transferring goods with a vessel in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday. It was the fourth time Japan has suspected such an illegal transfer in recent weeks and comes as the Trump administration and key Asian allies prepare to expand interceptions of ships suspected of violating sanctions on North Korea. North Korea last year conducted dozens of missile launches and its sixth and largest nuclear test...

EXCLUSIVE Canadian sub on mission to bolster North Korea surveillance 'We are operating much more than any Canadian thinks,' HMCS Chicoutimi captain says By David Common, CBC News Posted: Feb 06, 2018 10:59 AM ET Last Updated: Feb 07, 2018 8:29 AM ET The last time HMCS Chicoutimi crossed an ocean, the boat flooded, caught fire, and a sailor died. Nearly a decade and a half later, the diesel-electric submarine has deployed to Asia — farther from home than any Canadian sub in five decades — on a mission the Canadian military hopes will erase doubts about the vessel's effectiveness....

THE PRESIDENT: Okay, thank you very much. We have a very special group of people with us today. These are escapees from North Korea. There have been many of them over the last year, and there seems to be more and more. It’s a tough place to live, and people aren’t liking it. There’s great danger, great risk. Seong-ho was with us the other night at the State of the Union Address, and really made an incredible impression on me and on everybody else, both on television and in that magnificent room. And I had an opportunity to meet with...

Washington’s decision to drop Victor Cha as its next US ambassador to South Korea was not due to his disagreement with the Trump administration’s consideration of a limited strike on North Korea, a diplomatic source said Friday. “As far as I know, the reason Victor Cha was withdrawn was not his differing views on North Korea policy,” the source said, asking to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the matter. “I believe there were many other factors. It is extremely difficult to give a detailed answer on what other factors were,” he said. He refused to discuss his source...

Theresa May has agreed a joint trade and investment review with China as the first step towards an "ambitious" post-Brexit deal, Downing Street said. The prime minister said "we will be free to strike our own trade deals" after leaving the EU, following talks with China's President Xi Jinping. Mr Xi said China's markets would be further opened to the UK, including in beef, dairy and other food products. Mrs May said £9bn in business deals would be signed on her three-day trip. There was no specific discussion of a particular model for a trade deal between the two countries...

Donald Trump used the harrowing story of a North Korean defector to highlight the brutality of Kim Jong-un's regime during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night. Ji Seong-ho, who was among the guests of honour for the president's speech to Congress, was hailed as "an inspiration to us all" and received a standing ovation from the lawmakers. The president described how Mr Ji was a "starving boy in North Korea" 22 years ago when he tried to steal coal from a train to barter for food. "In the process, he passed out on the train tracks, exhausted...

North Korea has disparaged President Donald Trump's trademark "America First" stance, predicting that it would ultimately bring down the U.S. and its global sphere of influence. Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the ruling Korean Workers' Party Central Committee, published an article Monday claiming that Trump's doctrine "accelerates isolation and ruin of the empire of evils in all aspects of politics, economy, military affairs and diplomacy." The outlet, which reported the views of North Korea's own internationally ostracized administration, highlighted the foreign criticism Trump has faced trying to defend the nationalist slogan that he insisted "does not mean 'America alone.'" "'America...

Kim Jong Un Slush Fund ‘Running Out’ as North Korea Tests Weapons Despite Sanctions 2018-01-25 A critical slush fund controlled by North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un is nearly depleted following a series of nuclear weapon and missile tests, and the nation’s decision to participate in the upcoming Winter Olympic Games is part of a plot to bolster its failing economy, according to sources. Two Chinese sources with connections to North Korea’s ruling elite told RFA’s Korean Service Wednesday that Kim—now in his seventh year of leading the North—has nearly exhausted the slush fund he inherited from his predecessor and...

Bush administration faces wide choices, none guaranteed to offset nuclear threat By BARRY SCHWEIDThe Associated Press12/25/02 1:28 AM WASHINGTON (AP) -- North Korea's decision to abandon its policy of nuclear restraint leaves the Bush administration with a range of options, none of which is guaranteed to stem the threat from Pyongyang. Distracted by its fixation on Iraq and that country's suspected caches of biological and chemical weapons, the administration is trying to regroup and sort out its choices on the escalating North Korea crisis. They range from a U.S. military attack to full-fledged unconditional negotiations. Top administration officials are signaling...

Just a few years ago, she was reportedly executed by a North Korean firing squad. Now, Pyongyang's top pop diva is a senior ruling party official and a surprise headliner in the run-up to the South Korean Winter Olympics. Hyon Song Wol, the photogenic leader of Kim Jong Un's hand-picked Moranbong Band, has made two excursions across the Demilitarized Zone as a negotiator and advance team leader working out the details of Kim's surprise offer for the North to participate in the Pyeongchang Games. South Korea's media have been treating her like a true K-pop celebrity. On Monday, as she...

NBC's Lester Holt is under fire for his "cushy" coverage of North Korea, despite the regime’s long record of cruelty, murder and oppression. The star journalist traveled to the Hermit Kingdom weeks before the Peacock Network will cover the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, and viewers slammed his coverage as being sycophantic, decidedly uncritical and feeding "propaganda." Holt was criticized in particular for saying he was treated “with respect” by the regime, where he reported from a ski slope as seemingly happy North Koreans were enjoying a wintry day. Viewers said the ski scene appeared to have been...

The governor of Hawaii wanted to inform the public that they would not die in a ballistic missile attack — but he forgot his Twitter password. Gov. David Ige said on Sunday that he could not access his Twitter account on the morning of Jan. 13 — while Hawaiians were reeling after receiving the false emergency missile alert on their cell phones. “I have to confess that I don’t know my Twitter account log-ons and the passwords,” Ige said, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “So certainly that’s one of the changes that I’ve made. I’ve been putting that on my...

“The prospect of regime change is a serious concern. The Kremlin understands that (U.S. President Donald) Trump is unpredictable. They felt more secure with Barack Obama that he would not take any action that would explode the situation, but with Trump they don’t know.” Kortunov, the think-tank chief close to the Russian Foreign Ministry, said he did not think the Kremlin’s defense of Kim Jong Un was based on any personal affection or support for North Korea’s leadership, likening Moscow’s pragmatic backing to that it has given Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad. Moscow’s position was motivated by a belief the status...

I woke up abruptly. Overzealous JROTC Cadets ran and yelled on the high school track across the street. I rolled over and grabbed my reading glasses. Time to return to the book which I’d fallen asleep reading. It’s Leo Strauss and the Politics of Exile by Eugene Sheppard. Thirty minutes later, I faced a tough choice. Should I go down and check on my children? Or watch an old Lomachenko fight on Youtube? Then my wife called up, “Babe, it’s garbage day. Take out the trash!” So I rushed downstairs. My typical Saturday ritual. As I dragged the trash out...

Rush repeated today what we everyone has been saying, what we are being told does not add up. To add to the strangeness, we just learned that the Clinton's were in Hawaii to meet with their senators. Coincidence? What is your theory?

Well. Mr. & Mrs. America, you got a grand taste & good hard glimpse of Democrat Party incompetent, dangerous and lack of civil control leadership in the great state of Hawaii a few days back. The panic caused by "Democrat Party" poor management, and inept public servants is the hallmark seal of "all" Democrat Party political and governing actions. The entire political leadership in Hawaii is guilty of causing an unforgivable sin of terrorizing both, all the citizens and tourists living or vacationing on the Hawaiian Island Paradise. None of them, from A-Z, has any idea of what they are...

Hawaii State Sens. Kai Kahele and Brickwood Galuteira got to meet with him on Friday, Jan. 12, 2018, for about 45 minutes