NEWSWORTHY
Chemical arms team to assign blame for Syrian attacks despite Russia, Iran opposition
The global chemical weapons watchdog will in February begin to assign blame for attacks with banned munitions in Syria's war, using new powers approved by member states but opposed by Damascus and its key allies Russia and Iran. The agency was handed the new task ...
U.S. to impose new Russia sanctions over spy poisoning in U.K.
The Trump administration says it is consulting with Congress about additional sanctions on Russia over the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy in Britain this spring. The State Department says Russia has failed to meet a 90-day deadline that fell on Tuesday to comply with a ...
U.S. prepares for biggest-ever Agent Orange cleanup in Vietnam
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Wednesday visited a former American air base in southern Vietnam that will soon become the biggest-ever U.S. cleanup site for contamination left by the defoliant Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. Standing near a skull-and-crossbones warning sign meant to ...
The United States on Thursday charged seven Russian intelligence officers with conspiring to hack computers and steal data from the nuclear energy company Westinghouse Electric Co. as well as anti-doping watchdogs, sporting federations and an international agency probing the use of chemical weapons. The charges ...
'No James Bond': Dutch hotel says four alleged Russian spies went quietly
Four alleged Russian spies were arrested by Dutch agents as they walked out of a hotel elevator in The Hague without force and with "no James Bond involved," the manager said Thursday. Dutch security forces said they had seized the men on April 13 as ...
U.N. documents further Syrian regime use of banned chemical arms, fears Idlib 'massacre'
U.N. investigators said on Wednesday that they had documented three further uses of banned chlorine weapons by Syrian government forces that constituted war crimes, and urged major powers to help avert a "massacre" in the final battle for Idlib. The attacks caused injuries in the ...
Assad has been warned against using chemical weapons in Idlib: Jim Mattis
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis stressed Tuesday that Syrian President Bashar Assad has been well warned against any chemical weapons use in an anticipated assault on Idlib province. The Assad regime has twice been targeted by U.S. air and missile strikes after previous alleged chemical ...
Syria is preparing chemical weapons for attacks in Idlib, U.S. envoy says
There is "lots of evidence" that chemical weapons are being prepared by Syrian government forces in Idlib in northwest Syria, the new U.S. adviser for Syria said on Thursday as he warned of the risks of an offensive on the country's last big rebel ...
Planes, trains and fake perfume: How Novichok arrived in Britain
The sheer audacity of Russia's chemical-weapon attack on the U.K. can be traced through the journey of a small — and fake — Nina Ricci Premier Jour perfume bottle. It contained Novichok, a lethal Soviet-era nerve agent, and was smuggled from Russia into Britain on ...
Iran called on Monday for militants to be "cleaned out" of Syria's Idlib province, as it prepared for talks with Syria and Russia about confronting the last major enclave held by rebels opposed to President Bashar Assad. Syrian government forces are planning a phased offensive ...
Several U.N. Security Council ambassadors on Tuesday voiced concern over the fate of civilians in the rebel-held Syrian province of Idlib, as Damascus appears ready to militarily re-take the region. Following a council meeting on the humanitarian situation in Syria, Western nations warned of the ...
The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Wednesday against five groups and eight individuals linked to Syria's chemical weapons program, the department said in a statement. The targeted groups and people were key to a network that procured electronics for the Syrian agency that develops ...
