Russian-backed Syrian army poised to take key Idlib town hit by sarin in 2017 after rebels withdraw
Syrian government forces look set to recover a strategic town that has been in rebel hands since 2014 in a major Russian-backed offensive into the opposition's last major stronghold. An organization that monitors the war and a pro-Damascus military source said insurgents had withdrawn from ...
Syria bars access to chemical weapons investigators, says watchdog
Syrian officials have refused access to a newly created chemical weapons investigation team formed to identify culprits behind attacks with banned munitions, the organization's top official said in remarks published on Wednesday. Member countries of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) voted ...
Tokyo court orders Aum Shinrikyo cult successor Aleph to pay ¥1 billion to victims of sarin attack
Aleph, the main successor to the doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo, was ordered to pay more than ¥1 billion in damages to the victims of the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin gas attack.
Japan marked the 24th anniversary Wednesday of a deadly sarin nerve gas attack on Tokyo's subway system carried out by the Aum Shinrikyo cult, which killed 13 people and injured more than 6,000 others. In a memorial ceremony at Kasumigaseki Station, relatives of the victims ...
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 ...
1995 Aum sarin attack on Tokyo subway still haunts, leaving questions unanswered
Hitoshi Jin describes his younger brother spending the booming 1980s "cult surfing," exploring what new religions had to offer to fill the gaping spiritual void left by a childhood scarred by an abusive father. Like others seeking refuge from the rampant materialism of the era, ...
Assad regime to blame for April sarin attack that killed dozens of civilians: U.N.
The Syrian government of Bashar Assad is to blame for a chemical attack on the opposition-held town of Khan Sheikhoun that killed dozens of people last April, according to a report sent to the United Nations Security Council on Thursday. "The Syrian Arab Republic is ...
Syria investigator del Ponte quits, blames U.N. Security Council for lack of backing
A member of the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria said on Sunday she was quitting because a lack of political backing from the U.N. Security Council had made the job impossible, Swiss national news agency SDA reported. Carla del Ponte, 70, who prosecuted war ...
Assad regime taking U.S. retaliation threat seriously, Mattis says
Syria's government is taking seriously the U.S. warning against launching another chemical weapons attack, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Wednesday. Speaking to reporters traveling with him to Brussels, Mattis noted there has been no such attack since the White House issued a surprise statement Monday ...
Assad's forces still have several tons of chemical weapons: Israel
Israel's military said on Wednesday it believes Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces still possess several tons of chemical weapons, issuing the assessment two weeks after a sarin attack that killed nearly 90 people in Syria. Israel, along with many countries, blames the strike on Assad's ...
North Korea may have sarin-tipped missiles, Abe says
Pyongyang may have missiles armed with chemical weapons like VX and sarin at its disposal, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe tells the Diet.
U.S. vows action over Assad gas attack if U.N. stalls, scorns Russia claim of rebel chemical stash
U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley warned Wednesday that the Trump administration will take action against chemical attacks in Syria that bear "all the hallmarks" of President Bashar Assad's government if the U.N. Security Council fails to act. Haley urged the council at an emergency meeting to ...
