US, Japan bolster alliance against N. Korea, keep military option open

The United States and Japan on Thursday agreed to strengthen their cooperation against North Korea and promised to respond forcefully to any attack by Pyongyang after a close adviser to President Donald Trump said that a military solution to tensions with Pyongyang is not viable.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis welcomed their Japanese counterparts - Taro Kono and Itsunori Onodera, respectively - to Washington for the first bilateral security dialogue since Trump took office in January.

Source: Reuters

Trump issues new ominous warning to North Korea

The president of the United States issued a fresh stark warning to North Korea on Friday, saying a military solution to the nuclear threat posed by the Asian nation had been completely prepared.

"Military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely. Hopefully Kim Jong Un will find another path!" Donald Trump wrote on Twitter.

The tweet marked yet another step in the escalating verbal back-and-forth between Trump and Kim.

Pyongyang said Thursday it was preparing a plan to fire two intermediate-range ballistic missiles that would fly over Japan and land near the territorial waters of the US Pacific territory of Guam - the location of a strategic US naval base.

North Korea said the plan would be ready by mid-August.

Trump replied that same day that if Kim were to order an attack on Guam, the US response would be "an event the likes of which nobody's ever seen before - what will happen in North Korea."

"It's not a dare. It's a statement," the US president added.

Amid the mounting tensions with North Korea, which US intelligence says may already possess a nuclear warhead that can be inserted inside one of its intercontinental ballistic missiles, Trump pledged to increase missile defense spending.

"We're going to be increasing our budget by many billions of dollars because of North Korea and other reasons," Trump told reporters Thursday, saying he would make an announcement next week.

Source: EFE

China should not back US in case of war with North Korea, Global Times says

China should stay neutral if North Korea initiates an armed conflict with the United States, but must prevent any attack by South Korea or the US, said Global Times, a mouthpiece of the Communist Party of China, Friday.

In its latest editorial, the Times acknowledged Beijing's failure to persuade Washington or Pyongyang to back down, but must respond firmly if its regional interests are jeopardized by a possible conflict.

Source: EFE

U.S., South Korea stage show of force after North Korea ICBM test

United States Army/Handout

U.S. and South Korean troops fired missiles into the waters off South Korea, the U.S. military said on Tuesday, in a show of force after North Korea's ICBM test.

"The deep strike precision capability enables the (South Korean)-U.S. alliance to engage the full array of time critical targets under all weather conditions," the U.S. Army said in a statement, adding that the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) and the Republic of Korea's Hyunmoo Missile II were utilized.

Source: Reuters

China says no one should bring chaos to Korean peninsula

China said on Wednesday no one had the right to bring chaos to the Korean peninsula, a day after it pushed for full implementation of U.N. sanctions against neighboring North Korea for its missile and nuclear tests and called for dialogue.

The United States has been trying to persuade China, North Korea's lone major ally, to do more to rein in Pyongyang, which has conducted dozens of missile launches and tested two nuclear bombs since the start of last year, in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

The North has proudly publicized its plans to develop a missile capable of striking the United States and has ignored calls to halt its weapons programs, even from China.

It says the program is necessary to counter U.S. aggression. Its last missile test was on Sunday.

"No matter which party it is, no one has the right to bring war and chaos upon the peninsula," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters after meeting German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel.

He said anyone who did that would bear "historical responsibility".

U.S. President Donald Trump has said "a major, major conflict" with North Korea is possible and that all options are on the table, but that he wants to resolve the crisis diplomatically.

China has been infuriated by the U.S. deployment of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea, saying it is a threat to its own security and will do nothing to ease tensions with North Korea.

The United States and South Korea, which hosts 28,500 U.S. troops, have said the deployment is aimed purely at defending against the North Korean threat.

China fully implements its U.N. Security Council sanction commitments toward North Korea and will continue to play a constructive role in negotiations, Wang said.

Almost a month ago, Washington began discussions with China on strengthening U.N. sanctions. However, a week ago U.S. U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said Beijing had gone quiet.

Traditionally, the United States and China have negotiated new sanctions before involving the other 13 U.N. Security Council members.

The Security Council first imposed sanctions on Pyongyang in 2006 and ratcheted up the measures in response to five nuclear tests and two long-range missile launches. North Korea is threatening a sixth nuclear test.

Source: Reuters

North Korea launches ferry service to Russia's far east

North Korea launched a ferry service to the Russian city of Vladivostok on Wednesday to develop links and boost economic cooperation, the North's state media said, as it faces increasing isolation over its weapons development.

Experts have said North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, may be hoping closer ties with Russia would help if China, the North's main economic benefactor, steps up sanctions against it over its weapons programs, in defiance of U.N. resolutions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that while Moscow was opposed to any new countries acquiring nuclear weapons, the world should talk to North Korea rather than threaten it.

The ferry, the Mangyongbong, set sail from the North Korean port of Rajin, the North's KCNA news agency said.

"Mangyongbong's operation as the Rajin-Vladivostok international tourist liner will make a positive contribution to developing marine transport and economic cooperation and tourism between the two countries," it added.

The Russian consul general based in the nearby city of Chongjin saw the ferry off, it said.

The Mangyongbong was in service between the North and Japan before Japan suspended its operations in 2006 after a North Korean missile test.

North Korea fired a ballistic missile on Sunday that landed in the sea near Russia.

The United States has been discussing possible new U.N. sanctions with China, which disapproves of the North's development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles to deliver them.

Russia, especially the port of Vladivostok, is home to one of the largest overseas communities of North Koreans in the world, and they send home many thousands of dollars in much-needed hard currency each month.

The ferry service is expected to carry up to 200 passengers and 1,000 tonnes of cargo six times a month between North Korea and Vladivostok.

Source: Reuters

Russia says U.S. missile strike on Syria was a threat to its forces

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu complained on Wednesday that a U.S. missile strike on a Syrian air base earlier this month had posed a threat to Russian troops and was forcing Moscow to take extra measures to protect them.

Speaking at a security conference in Moscow, Shoigu restated Russia's view that the strike -- which Washington conducted in response to what it said was a deadly chemical weapons attack by Syrian government forces -- was "a crude violation of international law."

U.S. officials said at the time that they had informed Russian forces ahead of the strikes. No Russian personnel were injured in the attack.

As well as housing Syrian military jets, satellite imagery suggested that the base which was struck was home to Russian special forces and military helicopters, part of the Kremlin's effort to help the Syrian government fight Islamic State and other militant groups.

"Washington's action created a threat to the lives of our servicemen who are fighting against terrorism in Syria," said Shoigu.

"Such steps are forcing us to take extra measures to ensure the safety of Russian forces." He did not specify what those measures were.

The Russian Defence Ministry said after the U.S. strike that Syrian air defenses would be beefed up, while Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev complained that the attack was just one step away from clashing with the Russian military.

Source: Reuters

Bomb attack hits U.S. base in eastern Afghanistan

Suspected Taliban insurgents on Monday attacked a U.S.-operated base in Afghanistan's eastern province of Khost, officials said, but gave few immediate details of an assault that coincided with a visit to Kabul by U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis.

The attackers had detonated a car bomb at an entrance to Camp Chapman, a secretive facility manned by U.S. forces and private military contractors, said Mubarez Mohammad Zadran, a spokesman for the provincial governor.

But he had little immediate information on any damage or casualties.

"I am aware of a car bomb attack at one of the gates in the U.S. base, but we are not allowed there to get more details," the spokesman said.

A spokesman for the U.S. military in Afghanistan, Capt. William Salvin, confirmed the car bomb attack. He said there appeared to be a number of Afghan casualties but none among U.S. or coalition personnel at the base.

The attack came just three days after more than 140 Afghan soldiers were killed in an attack on their base by Taliban fighters disguised in military uniforms.

Source: Reuters

Pence warns North Korea of U.S. resolve shown in Syria, Afghan strikes

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence put North Korea on notice on Monday, warning that recent U.S. strikes in Syria and Afghanistan showed that the resolve of President Donald Trump should not be tested.

Pence and South Korean acting president Hwang Kyo-ahn, speaking a day after a failed missile test by the North and two days after a huge display of missiles in Pyongyang, also said they would strengthen anti-North Korea defences by moving ahead with the early deployment of the THAAD missile-defence system.

Pence is on the first stop of a four-nation Asia tour intended to show America's allies, and remind its adversaries, that the Trump administration was not turning its back on the increasingly volatile region.

"Just in the past two weeks, the world witnessed the strength and resolve of our new president in actions taken in Syria and Afghanistan," Pence said in a joint appearance with Hwang.

"North Korea would do well not to test his resolve or the strength of the armed forces of the United States in this region," Pence said.

The U.S. Navy this month struck a Syrian airfield with 59 Tomahawk missiles after a chemical weapons attack. On Thursday, the U.S. military said it had dropped "the mother of all bombs", the largest non-nuclear device it has ever unleashed in combat, on a network of caves and tunnels used by Islamic State in Afghanistan.

North Korea's KCNA news agency on Monday carried a letter from leader Kim Jong Un to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad marking the 70th anniversary of Syria’s independence.

"I express again a strong support and alliance to the Syrian government and its people for its work of justice, condemning the United States’ recent violent invasive act against your country," Kim said.

On a visit to the border between North and South Korea earlier in the day, Pence, whose father served in the 1950-53 Korean War, said the United States would stand by its "iron-clad alliance" with South Korea.

"All options are on the table to achieve the objectives and ensure the stability of the people of this country," he told reporters as tinny propaganda music floated across from the North Korean side of the so-called demilitarized zone (DMZ).

"There was a period of strategic patience but the era of strategic patience is over."

ECONOMIC TALKS

Pence is expected to discuss rising tension on the Korean peninsula with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday when he travels to Tokyo to kick off economic talks with Finance Minister Taro Aso.

Pence will meet business leaders in Seoul before departing - a "listening session" he will reprise at other stops on his tour in Tokyo, Jakarta and Sydney.

His economic discussions will be closely watched to see how hard a line Washington is prepared to take on trade. Trump campaigned for office on an "America First" platform, and has vowed to narrow big trade deficits with nations like China, Germany and Japan.

But Trump has also shown he is willing to link trade to other issues, saying he would cut a better trade deal with China if it exerts influence on North Korea to curb its nuclear ambitions.

Trump acknowledged on Sunday that the softer line he had taken on China's management of its currency was linked to its help on North Korea.

The United States, its allies and China are working on a range of responses to North Korea's latest failed ballistic missile test, Trump's national security adviser said on Sunday, citing what he called an international consensus to act.

China has spoken out against the North's weapons tests and has supported U.N. sanctions. It has repeatedly called for talks while appearing increasingly frustrated with the North.

But Pence and Hwang said they were troubled by retaliatory economic moves by China against the deployment in South Korea of a U.S. anti-missile system known as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD).

South Korea, which accuses China or discriminating against some South Korean companies working in China, and the United States say the sole purpose of THAAD is to guard against North Korean missiles.

China says its powerful radar can penetrate its territory and undermine its security and spoke out against it again on Monday.

Source: Reuters

Expectations low as Syria's warring sides meet

Syria's warring sides met for talks for the first time in nine months on Monday, with frosty initial exchanges suggesting chances of a significant breakthrough were slim as the country's six-year-old conflict ground on.

They sat opposite each other at a round table in a hotel conference room before a day of negotiations - sponsored by Russia, Turkey and Iran in Kazakhstan's capital Astana - got under way.

Both delegations said the focus was on the country's ceasefire, a fragile precursor to a wider political solution.

But Bashar al-Jaafari, the head of the delegation representing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said negotiators for the rebel forces had been rude and unprofessional, accusing them of defending "war crimes" committed by Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, the militant group formerly known as Nusra Front.

A rebel source said opposition representatives planned to negotiate with the government side only via intermediaries.

Mohammed Alloush, the head of the opposition delegation, told delegates he wanted to stop "the horrific flow of blood" by consolidating the shaky ceasefire and freezing military operations, saying Iran-backed militias had to leave Syria.

Russian news agency TASS cited a draft communique in which Moscow, Ankara and Tehran would commit to jointly fighting Islamic State and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham and set up a mechanism for trilateral monitoring of the ceasefire, which took effect on Dec. 30.

But fundamental divisions also remain between pro-Assad Russia and Turkey, which has supported anti-Assad rebels - including whether Syria's president should stay in power or, as the rebels are demanding, step down.

There were no senior government figures among the delegations in Astana and Kazakhstan's foreign ministry said it expected the meetings to be over by midday on Tuesday.

OVERSEEING CEASEFIRE

Some observers said the talks, which UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura is attending, could help jump-start U.N.-led negotiations that were suspended in late April.

De Mistura said it was crucial to get a mechanism to oversee and implement a nationwide ceasefire in place to build confidence.

"That by itself ... would be a major achievement," he said, adding he hoped Astana could pave the way for direct talks between the government and opposition in Geneva next month.

The Astana talks pointedly exclude the West, though Kazakhstan, with the backing of Moscow and Ankara, extended an invitation to the new U.S. administration last week, which Washington declined.

Iranian officials have said they strongly oppose U.S. involvement, though George Krol, the U.S. ambassador to Kazakhstan, attended as an observer.

Turkey and Russia - each for their own reasons - both want to disentangle themselves from the fighting. That has pushed them into an ad hoc alliance that some people believe represents the best chance for progress towards a peace deal, especially with Washington distracted by domestic issues.

The opposition arrived in Astana aware that the fall of their former urban stronghold, Aleppo, has shifted the momentum in the fighting in favor of Assad.

On Sunday, war planes bombed rebel-held areas of western Syria, killing 12 people in one location, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, while insurgent shelling of Aleppo killed six.

"The ceasefire is clinically dead, but the Russians and Turks want to keep it alive to send a message to the international community that they are the ones in charge of the Syrian situation," said Observatory director Rami Abdulrahman.

Source: Reuters

Iraq army begins offensive to retake northern city of Mosul

Iraqi army troops, with the help of allied forces, have launched a military offensive to oust the Islamic State group from the northern city of Mosul, the Iraqi prime minister said on Monday.

Haider al-Abadi, flanked by top military commanders, addressed the nation on Iraqi television to inform the country that he had ordered the start of the offensive.

"We started fighting IS in the outskirts of Baghdad, and thank God we are now fighting them in the outskirts of Mosul, and God willing the decisive battle will be soon," al-Abadi said.

The military operation to retake Mosul in the northern Niniveh province, which has been under IS control since June 2014, had been planned for months.

The governor of Niniveh province Nofal Hammadi said that the Mosul offensive would be a fatal blow to the IS.

In a televised speech he called upon al-Abadi to protect the civilians of Mosul during the long-awaited military operation and asked the inhabitants of Niniveh to cooperate fully with troops advancing through the outlaying towns and villages.

Addressing his international support, he asked the United States-led military coalition to ensure precision when conducting airstrikes against the IS in the city to avoid civilian casualties.

The US, which has been providing aerial support to various local fighting factions in both Iraq and Syria since 2014, welcomed the onset of the Mosul offensive.

In a statement issued shortly after al-Abadi's official announcement, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said the US and the rest of the international coalition stood ready to support the Iraqi Security Forces, Peshmerga fighters and the people of Iraq.

Thousands of soldiers representing different religious and ethnic communities across Iraq were reported to be gathering in tactical towns and cities on the periphery of Mosul.

Providing support to the central Iraqi Army offensive are the Shiite-led Popular Mobilization Forces, Kurdish Peshmerga, Sunni-majority Arab tribal coalitions and the international air support coalition, among others.

Tens of thousands of leaflets were dropped over the city before the operation to warn citizens that the start of the armed offensive was imminent.

The number of people who remain in Mosul, the second largest city in the country, is unknown, but there were two million citizens living there when the IS took control.

It was in this city that IS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a "caliphate" of the territory controlled by this group in Iraq and Syria.

In recent months the IS have lost swathes of land in Iraq and Syria, with various international and internationally-backed military groups pushing against their territory on all fronts.

On Sunday, Turkish-backed rebels in Syria regained control of the symbolically important town of Dabiq from the IS, less than 24 hours after launching an offensive.

Source: EFE

Britain, France seek EU condemnation of Russia over Syria

Britain and France sought to persuade the European Union on Monday to condemn Russia's devastating air campaign in Syria and pave the way for imposing more sanctions on President Bashar al-Assad's government.

After a weekend of U.S.-led diplomacy that failed to find a breakthrough, EU foreign ministers met in Luxembourg to call for an end to the bombing of rebel-held east Aleppo, where 275,000 people are trapped, and to rush humanitarian aid into the city.

"The pressure (on Russia) must be strong," France's Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said. "The more the European Union shows unity and determination, the more we can move forward in what is a moral obligation: to stop the massacre of the population of Aleppo," he told reporters.

But the bloc is split over strategy towards Russia, its biggest energy supplier, with divisions about how harsh any criticism of Moscow should be and whether there was ground for also putting Russians under sanctions.

Britain and France want to put another 20 Syrians under travel bans and asset freezes, suspecting them of directing attacks on civilians in Aleppo, in addition to the EU's existing sanctions list and its oil and arms embargo.

Paris and London have also raised the prospect of sanctions on 12 Russians involved in the Syrian conflict, adding them to the EU's list of some 200 people that also includes three Iranians, diplomats told Reuters.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who held talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday in London, said Russia's Aleppo bombing "shames humanity" and called Russia the Syrian government's "puppeteers."

On Sunday in London, Britain and the United States said they were considering imposing additional sanctions on Assad and his supporters, without naming Russia.

Chairing the Luxembourg meeting, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said there was a chance that ministers would agree to put more Syrians on the EU's list of people blocked from traveling to Europe or accessing money there.

European Union leaders are expected to discuss Russia and possible new sanctions at a summit in Brussels on Thursday but Russia's closest EU allies such as Greece, Cyprus and Hungary are against. Austria also voiced its opposition on Monday.

"The idea to have additional sanctions against Russia would be wrong," Austria's Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz told reporters. "We do not need a further escalation," he said.

Germany also appeared cautious, with Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier rejecting adding punitive measures against Russia, although a German newspaper has cited sources saying that Chancellor Angela Merkel was in favor.

The West imposed broad economic sanctions on Moscow over its 2014 annexation of Crimea and its support for rebels in Ukraine.

EU AID BLOCKED

In another sign of divisions over Russia, diplomats were still grappling with the wording of the diplomatic statement to be delivered on Monday by foreign ministers, split over whether to name Russia at all.

According to one draft seen by Reuters, EU ministers will condemn the "catastrophic escalation" of the Syrian government offensive to capture eastern Aleppo, where 8,000 rebels are holding out against Syrian, Russian and Iranian-backed forces.

They will say that air strikes on hospitals and civilians "may amount to war crimes", calling on "Syria and its allies" to go to the International Criminal Court

Diplomats say the European Union will also call for a ceasefire with an observation mission, a renewed push for peace talks to include Mogherini and immediate access for an EU aid package announced on Oct. 2.

The bloc, the biggest aid donor in the Syrian conflict, is in almost daily contact with charities to move in, but diplomats say the trucks cannot get through checkpoints to eastern Aleppo.

"There is no point-blank refusal, but drivers are asked for things they don't have, like special driving licenses," said one EU official. "We need a facilitation letter from the Syrian authorities."

Source: Reuters

Clinton says she supports investigating Russia for war crimes in Syria

Democratic candidate for the White House Hillary Clinton on Sunday said she supported investigating Russia and the regime in Damascus for committing war crimes in Syria.

Meanwhile her Republican rival Donald Trump claimed Moscow was "killing" the Islamic State (IS) in that country, during the second televised debate between the pair.

Source: EFE

French warplanes join attack against IS in Iraq's Mosul

French fighter jets took off from an aircraft carrier in the eastern Mediterranean on Friday to engage in aerial attacks against the Islamic State in the Iraqi city of Mosul, according to French media sources.

At around 04:00 am GMT, eight Aéronavale Rafale-M fighters took off from the French "Charles de Gualle" aircraft carrier, which was navigating close to Cyprus as part of France's Operation Chammal in the region, according to French BFM-TV.

The fighters' mission is to assist Iraqi government troops in their bid to expel IS members from Mosul, a current stronghold for the terrorist group.

The "Charles de Gaulle" had just arrived to the area for its third combat tour along with the international coalition led by the United States against IS in Syria and Iraq

The French minister of Defence, Jean-Yves Le Drian, announced that the aircraft carrier's deployment will take place from the end of Sept. to the end of Oct. when the ship is due for a major 18 month maintenance overhaul.

Source: EFE

Pope Francis says hospitality is greatest security against terrorism

Pope Francis said on Saturday that the "authentic hospitality" is the "greatest security against hateful acts of terrorism" referring to the crisis of immigration in Europe and around the world.

"Remember that authentic hospitality is a profound gospel value that nurtures love and is our greatest security against hateful acts of terrorism," Pope Francis said.

Source: EFE

Can social media save Syria's children?

As the image of five-year-old Omran Daqneesh looking dazed and bloodied after an airstrike on his Aleppo home went viral, the online conversation once again focused on children and war.

Omran Daqneesh is not the first Syrian child whose image has been shared thousands of times on social media this month. A high profile Twitter campaign resulted in the evacuation of a wounded girl from the besieged Syrian city of Madaya. More than 34,000 people used the hashtag #SaveGhina in order to focus attention on 10-year-old Ghina Wadi - Amnesty International said she was shot by a sniper when she went out to get medicine for her mother.

The Syrian government initially refused to let Wadi leave the town for medical treatment, but a social media campaign, as well as pressure from humanitarian authorities including Amnesty International and the United Nations, culminated in the Syrian Red Crescent arranging her transit to Damascus for treatment.

Madaya, which is 25km (16 miles) north of Damascus, has been under siege since mid-2015 by government forces and their allies from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The situation has been described as "critical" by aid agencies. Some 40,0000 residents are said to be affected by food and medicine shortages.

Since Wadi's story went viral, several video appeals have sprung up on social media asking for the evacuation of children in similar situations.

On 15 August, a video showing a boy called Yaman Izz al-Din, also said to be in Madaya, was shared by a Facebook group called Hashtag Revolution. He is said to be suffering from acute meningitis.

"The boy has a high grade fever - if this lasts, he might lose his sight or become paralysed," says a man, who introduces himself as a doctor, as the boy screams in his bed.

The clip, which was viewed more than 5,500 times on Facebook, ends with an appeal by the doctor to the UN and Syrian Red Crescent to save his life.

Another clip on the Hashtag Revolution page shows the mother of a girl named Nisreen al-Shamaa appealing for her evacuation. The mother looks into the camera and says that her daughter has been ill for 25 days and can neither see nor move.

There have also been several tributes to children who have been killed in Syria's conflict.

The UN children's agency has warned that thousands of children in the Syrian city of Aleppo are at risk of disease, while the UN envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, angrily condemned all parties for not doing enough to stop the fighting.

Research by BBC Monitoring

Source: BBC

Nuclear terrorist attack would 'change our world', says Obama

The world has taken "concrete" steps to prevent nuclear terrorism, he told the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington.

But the so-called Islamic State (IS) obtaining a nuclear weapon is "one of the greatest threats to global
security," he added.

More than 50 nations are represented at the summit.

IS has already used chemical weapons in Syria.

"There is no doubt that if these mad men ever got their hands on a nuclear bomb or nuclear material, they would certainly use it to kill as many people as possible," he said.

"The single most effective defence against nuclear terrorism is fully securing this material so it doesn't fall into the wrong hands in the first place."

He said the world cannot be "complacent" and must build on its progress in slowing the stockpiling of nuclear weapons.

Mr Obama hailed his own nuclear agreement with Iran, which has been criticised by Republicans and other groups for the sanctions relief it provides. He called it a "substantial success".

"This is a success of diplomacy that hopefully we will be able to copy in the future," he said.

World leaders convening in Washington for the summit expressed concern about North Korea's nuclear weapons programme, and Russia's lack of attendance exemplified the struggle of worldwide unity on preventing nuclear attacks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin refused to attend the summit, and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan cancelled his trip after the deadly bombing in Lahore. Both countries are nuclear-armed.

Source: BBC

Syrian conflict: UN first air drop delivers aid to Deir al-Zour

UN aid chief Stephen O'Brien told the Security Council that the plane dropped 21 tonnes of humanitarian items on a government-held part of Deir al-Zour.

Initial reports indicated that the aid had successfully reached the target area, Mr O'Brien said.

The UN says 200,000 civilians are living under siege in Deir al-Zour.

In a recent report, the UN said those trapped in the besieged areas were facing "sharply deteriorating conditions" with reports of "severe cases of malnutrition and deaths due to starvation".

Last week, more than 100 lorries carrying food and other basic goods reached 80,000 people in five other besieged areas of Syria. Two more convoys were sent to two towns besieged by government forces on Tuesday.

"Earlier this morning, a WFP (World Food Programme) plane dropped the first cargo of 21 tonnes of items into Deir al-Zour," Mr O'Brien told the Security Council.

He said teams from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent on the ground confirmed that "pallets have landed in the target area as planned".

BBC UN correspondent Nick Bryant says the air drop is a last resort by aid agencies after warring parties blocked access to the city.

Convoys of lorries are considered the most efficient form of delivery for much-needed supplies, he says.

The World Food Programme had previously ruled out humanitarian air drops in Syria due to the complexities of obtaining use of airspace, organising distribution on the ground, and finding suitable drop zones.

The UK government also said air drops were "high risk and should only be considered as a last resort when all other means have failed".

But Jan Egeland, who chairs a humanitarian taskforce, said last week that the strategy was the only way to feed people in Deir al-Zour.

The UN estimates that more than 480,000 Syrians are living in besieged areas, with four million more people in "hard-to-reach" areas.

Last week, convoys of aid lorries reached rebel-held Muadhamiya, Madaya and Zabadani, near Damascus, and pro-government northern villages of Foah and Kefraya.
The supplies are expected to last for about a month.

All sides in the civil war are believed to have used siege warfare, in which forces surround an area and cut off essential supplies, in breach of international law.

A temporary "cessation of hostilities" is scheduled to take effect across Syria on Saturday after midnight Damascus time (22:00 GMT Friday).

It excludes IS and the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.

The Syrian government has said it will observe the partial ceasefire, but insists it will continue to fight IS, al-Nusra and "other terrorist groups linked to them".

Source: BBC