North Korea Threatens to ‘Cut the Windpipe of U.S. Imperialists’ with Nuclear ‘Sword’

As Secretary of State Rex Tillerson prepares to chair a special U.N. Security Council session Friday on the North Korean nuclear threat, Kim Jong-un’s regime accused the administration of risking “lighting the fuse of a total war” and repeated its threat of a nuclear response to any U.S. military action. Read

Russia, Other Autocracies Are Abusing Interpol Arrest Warrant System to Target Opponents, Critics Say

European lawmakers expressed concern this week that autocratic governments abuse the Interpol “red notice” system to target political opponents and dissidents, with Russia in particular named as a major culprit. Read

Religious Freedom Watchdog For the First Time Urges Blacklisting for Russia

Declaring the general state of affairs for religious freedom around the world to be “worsening,” the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on Wednesday called for the first time for Russia to be blacklisted. Read

Who Voted Saudis Onto UN Gender-Equality Body? Democracies Still Won’t Say

Fallout from Saudi Arabia’s election onto a top U.N. gender equality body continues, with lawmakers in Norway demanding to know whether their government was among a group of democracies which, under the cover of a secret ballot vote, helped to award the post to the kingdom. Read

Palestinians Fume After UK Gov’t Rules Out Apology For Jewish Homeland Declaration

A Palestinian campaign to secure an official British apology for the 100-year-old Balfour Declaration has hit a wall, with Prime Minister Theresa May’s government saying it has no intention to do so. Read

State Dep’t to Turkey: Don’t Wage Your Anti-PKK War at Expense of the Anti-ISIS One

Turkey should not pursue its fight against the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) at the expense of the broader campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS/ISIL), the State Department cautioned on Tuesday. Read

Trump Disappoints Armenian Advocates by Not Referring to ‘Genocide’

Following in the footsteps of his predecessors, President Trump on Monday marked the anniversary of Ottoman Turkey’s mass atrocities against Armenians a century ago without using the weighty term “genocide,” prompting some Armenian critics to decry what they called “capitulation” to Ankara. Read

Trump: ‘You Just Don’t See the United Nations, Like, Solving Conflicts’

President Trump on Monday described the United Nations as an “underperformer,” telling a gathering of Security Council ambassadors that the world body “doesn’t like taking on certain problems.” Read

Unnamed Democracies Voted Saudi Arabia onto UN’s Top Gender Equality Body

When an influential U.N. commission last week voted to fill 13 vacancies on the top U.N. body dealing with gender equality and the advancement of women, 47 out of 54 countries agreed that Saudi Arabia deserved a slot from 2018-2022. Read

Russian-Backed Separatists Blame Kiev For Death of US Observer in Rebel-Held Eastern Ukraine

Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine blamed Ukrainian special forces for the death of an American observer killed in an apparent landmine explosion Sunday – saying it part of the “provocation” increasingly deployed by Russia and its proxies engaged in various conflicts. Read

Le Pen, to Face Centrist Macron in the French Presidential Run-off, Says the ‘Survival of France’ is at Stake

Populist right-wing National Front leader Marine le Pen and independent centrist Emmanuel Macron look set to go through to a run-off in France’s presidential election, after Sunday’s first round ended the presidential aspirations of the country’s two major political trends. Read

Out of 1,600 Iranian Presidential Hopefuls, 6 Deemed Eligible, Including Hardline Cleric

More than 1,600 Iranians formally applied to be allowed to run for the presidency in next month’s election, but a small legal-religious body appointed by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has now announced that just six, including incumbent President Hasan Rouhani, are eligible. Read

Questions on Child Marriage, Genital Mutilation, Wife-Beating Included in New Australian Citizenship Test

Future applicants for Australian citizenship will asked a series of questions on “Australian values,” touching on subjects such as wife-beating, child marriage, genital mutilation and girls’ right to an education. Read

Christian Religious Freedom Group Wins UN Accreditation After Years of Rejection by Repressive Regimes

After having its application slapped down more than a dozen times by a committee often dominated by repressive regimes, a Christian non-governmental organization advocating religious freedom finally won official U.N. accreditation on Wednesday. Read

Tillerson on Iran Deal: ‘Another Example of Buying Off a Power Who Has Nuclear Ambitions … Someone Has to Deal With it Later’

Sharply criticizing previous administrations’ approaches to dealing with rogue regimes, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday described the Iran nuclear deal as “another example of buying off a power who has nuclear ambitions.” Read

WH Says Trump’s Congratulatory Call to Erdogan Was Not an Acceptance of Election Result

Defending President Trump’s decision to congratulate Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following Sunday’s controversial referendum win, a White House spokeswoman said Tuesday “the president’s number one job is to keep Americans safe.” Read

Pence Warns North Korea That ‘the Sword Stands Ready’

Vice President Mike Pence sent another clear warning to North Korea on Wednesday, telling personnel aboard a Japan-based U.S. aircraft carrier that “all options are on the table” when dealing with the Stalinist regime. Read

Incumbent Christian Governor Faces Muslim Challenger in Jakarta Election Marred by Blasphemy Allegations

After a campaign marred by religious tensions, charges of blasphemy, and threats of violence, millions of voters in the Indonesian capital go to the polls Wednesday to choose between the incumbent Christian governor and a Muslim challenger. Read

NYT Concedes It Should Have Mentioned That Palestinian Op-Ed Writer Is Convicted Killer

After a storm of protest, the New York Times on Monday acknowledged it should have informed readers that the author of an op-ed excoriating Israel over the imprisonment of Palestinians was in prison for terrorist murders. Read

North Korea Pledges to ‘React to Any Mode of War Desired by the Americans’

United States’ policy in the Korean peninsula has created “a dangerous situation in which a thermonuclear war may break out at any minute,” North Korea’s deputy ambassador to the U.N. said in New York on Monday. Read

Syrian Dictator Urges UN to Act Against U.S. and Others It Accuses of Supporting Terrorists

The Assad regime on Sunday called on the United Nations to act against the United States and other governments that it says support terrorists in Syria. Read

A Deeply Divided Turkey Votes to Give President Far-Reaching New Powers

In a victory for Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish voters have decided by a narrow margin to usher in constitutional changes giving the president far-reaching new powers, after a campaign marked by tensions between NATO’s only Muslim member-state and European partners. Read

Assad Says U.S. ‘Fabricated’ Chemical Weapons Claims as Pretext for Airstrike

Claims that his regime used chemical weapons against civilians in Khan Sheikhun on April 4 were “fabricated” by the U.S., colluding with al-Qaeda terrorists, to provide a pretext for Friday’s cruise missile strike on a Syrian airbase, President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview released Thursday. Read

Ahead of Vote, Erdogan Tells Supporters to Show ‘Turkey Is Not a Country to Mess With

Ahead of a fiercely-contested referendum Sunday on constitutional changes that would give him greater powers, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Turks Thursday to give a clear response to his critics in the West by voting “yes.” Read

Putin Says Level of Trust Has ‘Probably Worsened’ Since Trump Succeeded Obama

The level of trust between Russia and the United States has not improved since President Trump took office, but has “probably worsened,” President Vladimir Putin has said in a new interview. Read

In Moscow, Tillerson Defends Trump’s ‘Animal’ Comment: Assad ‘Brought [it] Upon Himself’

Blasting what he called “media hysteria” over a April 4 chemical weapons attack in Syria, Russian Foreign Secretary Sergei Lavrov disagreed sharply with his U.S. counterpart Wednesday over the Assad regime’s responsibility for the deadly assault, and delivered a curt lecture about past Western efforts to dislodge dictators. Read

Putin on US Chemical Weapons Allegations: ‘It’s Boring, Ladies. We Have Seen This All Before’

Russian President Vladimir Putin charged Tuesday that the U.S. was wielding allegations of chemical weapons use by the Assad regime as a pretext for military action, just as it did in 2003 with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. Read

Obama to Return to Limelight Next Month, Alongside Candidate Merkel in Germany

President Obama looks set to return to global headlines in late May, four months after leaving the White House, when he takes part in a discussion on democracy alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a religious festival in Berlin. Read

Pentagon, Russian Military at Odds Over U.S. Airstrike Damage

The Pentagon’s assessment of the damage caused by last week’s cruise missile strike on a Syrian airbase stands in stark contrast to the Russian military’s claims that the effectiveness of the strike was “extremely low.” Read

Obama in 2015: ‘Assad Gave Up His Chemical Weapons…Those Have Been Eliminated’

The Obama administration’s assertions about the surrender and destruction of President Bashar al-Assad’s stockpile of chemical weapons are back under the microscope following last week’s toxic gas attack on a town in northwestern Syria. Read

Stockholm Terror Suspect a Rejected Asylum-Seeker; Trump Was Earlier Berated For Raising Sweden’s Immigration Policies

The man suspected of driving a truck into a crowd of people in Stockholm on Friday was a rejected asylum-seeker from Uzbekistan who four months ago was ordered to be deported, according to Swedish police. Read

Ben Rhodes: Assad Gave Up ‘All’ Chemical Weapons; Tony Blinken: ‘We Always Knew' Some Remained

Obama administration deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes, who has been active on social media defending his former boss’s policies, suggested on Sunday that “all” of the Assad regime’s chemical weapons had been surrendered under a 2013 deal – echoing the line being repeated by Assad’s allies Russia and Iran. Read

McMaster: Trump Has Asked for ‘Full Range of Options to Remove’ North Korean Threat

President Trump has asked his national security team to provide “a full range of options to remove” the threat posed by the North Korean regime to the U.S. and its allies, national security advisor H.R. McMaster said Sunday, a day after U.S. Pacific Command directed an aircraft carrier strike group to the region. Read

Rohrabacher: Turkish Referendum Is Choice Between ‘Terrorist-Oriented’ Gov’t and Friendship With US

The people of Turkey voting in a referendum this month will be deciding whether they want a radical, Islamic and “terrorist-oriented government” or whether they want to remain the friends of the United States, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) said at a House subcommittee hearing this week. Read

Trump Orders Cruise Missile Strike on Syrian Airbase Linked to Chemical Weapons Attack

U.S. Navy destroyers on Thursday night fired almost 60 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian military airbase in Homs province, in the first deliberate U.S. military assault on the Assad regime. Read

Expert: Not Designating Iran’s IRGC for Terrorism ‘Would Hold American Policy Hostage’

Designating Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for terrorism would not violate the nuclear deal, and the U.S. should make clear that if the deal falls apart as a result, Iran will be to blame both for walking away and for sponsoring terror in the first place, U.S. lawmakers were told Wednesday. Read

U.S., Other Nations Challenge Russia’s Claim That Toxic Gas Came From Rebel Weapons Facility

Amid a barrage of international criticism directed at its Syrian ally, Russia argued Wednesday that those killed by a toxic agent in Syria’s Idlib province were the victims not of chemical-laced bombs dropped by the regime’s planes, but of chemicals released when the air force bombed a rebel storage facility. Read

Tillerson After N. Korea Launches Another Missile: ‘The United States Has Spoken Enough’

In response to another ballistic missile firing by North Korea – the third since President Trump took office – Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday night gave what may be the bluntest U.S. response yet to the provocative action. Read

At UN, Syria Tries to Divert Chemical Weapons Focus Onto Israel

Hours after Tuesday’s deadly chemical weapons attack in Syria’s Idlib province, an Assad regime representative in New York said the Syrian government condemned the use of all weapons of mass destruction, and then tried to turn the attention onto Israel and other critics instead. Read

Reversing Another Obama Policy, Trump Pulls Funding for UN Population Fund

The Trump administration said Monday it was ending funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), long a target of conservatives over concerns that its work in China abets the communist authorities’ controversial population limitation programs. Read

Muslim Brotherhood Lobbying Battle Underway as Trump Meets With Sisi

Monday’s meetings between President Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi came amid an energetic lobbying battle over how the new administration should deal with the Muslim Brotherhood. Read

2,070 Refugees Arrived in U.S. in March; 54% Drop From February

The number of refugees admitted to the United States dropped in March to its lowest monthly tally of the current fiscal year, even as the implementation of President Trump’s latest immigration executive order continues to be held up by federal courts. Read

North Korea Signals Possible ‘Big’ Events in April

Ahead of a meeting between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping where North Korea is expected to feature prominently, the regime in Pyongyang signaled plans Monday to hold major events to coincide with two auspicious dates in April. Read