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War Countries - SERIES 92 {12 articles}

Photos over 70 years show how North Korea's Kim family went from starving guerilla fighters to going toe-to-toe with Trump

9/9/2018, 9:40:53 AM
September 9, 2018 marks the 70 years of North Korea defying major world powers to exist as a bastion of Korean identity and revolutionary, and often brutal politics. This is how the strange and mysterious Kim family shaped North Korea into the land of contradictions it is today. ✔ Korean Central Television/Yonhap via Getty Source: Brookings, South Korea Ministry of Unification 27/ As leader, he had to travel in and out of the country often ✔ But he was reportedly afraid of flying, so he had a bulletproof armored train made instead ✔ Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Previous 1/ Next



North Korea stages huge parade but holds back on top missiles to focus on the economy 

9/9/2018, 11:31:17 AM
North Korea staged a huge military parade on Sunday to mark its 70th anniversary as a nation but held back its most advanced missiles and devoted nearly half of the parade to civilian efforts to build the domestic economy. ✔ With tensions once again on the rise, a parade featuring the very missiles that so unnerved Mr Trump last year, and led to a dangerous volley of insults from both leaders, could be seen as a deliberate provocation ✔ The economy was also a big part of a concert held on the eve of the anniversary for foreign dignitaries and a large foreign media contingent allowed in for the events



Syria and Russia resume Idlib air strikes: residents, rescuers

9/9/2018, 10:51:43 AM
Russian and Syrian jets resumed intensive strikes in Idlib and Hama on Sunday, residents and rescuers said, as Damascus stepped up its assault on the rebels' last major stronghold after a Russian-Iranian-Turkish summit failed to agree a ceasefire. ✔ Turkey and Western powers have warned of a bloodbath if a major Russian-backed bombing campaign is launched in the heavily populated northwestern province that borders Turkey ✔ The United Nations also said it feared a full-scale offensive could cause a humanitarian catastrophe involving tens of thousands of civilians ✔ Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles



Behind the Latest U.S. Policy Zag in Syria

9/9/2018, 11:20:54 AM
President Trump is making a course correction in Syria to roll back Iran’s role ensure that Islamic State can’t make a comeback—a shift in tune with the instincts of advisers determined to push back against longstanding adversaries. ✔ While the White House hasn’t said precisely how long U.S. forces will stay or how many troops may be needed, delivering a lasting defeat to extremists will require more than taking back the remainder of Islamic State-controlled territory, U.S. officials said



Syria’s Idlib hit by ‘most violent’ strikes in a month after Tehran talks fail

9/9/2018, 8:46:15 AM
Syria's last major rebel bastion Idlib was Saturday targeted by the "most violent" Russian air strikes in a month, a monitor said, after the failure of a three-way summit on the Syrian conflict. ✔ The United Nations has warned that any offensive could force up to 800,000 people to flee their homes and urged key powerbrokers to avoid a bloodbath ✔ With US-led support, Syria's Kurds played a key role in the war against the Islamic State group, during which they seized large swathes of northern and northeastern Syria ✔ In late July, it opened talks with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces



Pentagon sends Marines for snap live-fire drill in Syria as ‘strong message’ to Russia – reports

9/9/2018, 10:48:18 AM
More than 100 US Marines flew to southeast Syria for a snap live-fire exercise, sending a “strong message” to Russia not to conduct operations near the US base, two Pentagon officials told Fox News. ✔ The Marines were deployed via assault helicopter to Al-Tanf military base, located in Syria’s Homs Province, which borders Iraq ✔ .@CJTFOIR Coalition conducts defeat-ISIS exercise in eastern #Syria#AtTanf#Tanfhttps://t.co/2aG0IVMpwd U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) 7 сентября 2018 г



3rd summit to test Moon again as negotiator

9/9/2018, 8:01:44 AM
undefined ✔ On Aug. 30, the U.S. State Department extended the ban on American citizens traveling to North Korea for another year, whereas the impoverished Pyongyang regime is stepping up its tourism campaign to earn cash ✔ As a practical way of building trust, it would be great if a declaration ending the war, which would mark the end of hostile relations on the Korean Peninsula, could be made this year, he added



Trump told Jim Mattis he would 'become Nato rent collector'

9/9/2018, 10:07:47 AM
In an emergency meeting in February 2017 to discuss whether the US was 'in or out' of the organisation, Trump reportedly told Mattis: 'You can have your Nato' after a lengthy debate. ✔ Eventually Trump capitulated, according to the book, telling Mattis that the US would support Nato but its allies must pay ✔ The new book by legendary Watergate reported Bob Woodward claims Trump also nearly declared war on North Korea with a tweet earlier this year Woodward's book has drawn criticism from the President, with Trump claiming 'I don't talk the way I'm quoted'



Sweden goes to the polls as far-right leader threatens to shake it up

9/9/2018, 11:33:05 AM
Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Akesson has said the election is a choice between immigration and the welfare of Swedes. ✔ Their support was widely underestimated before the previous election and some online surveys give them as much as 25 per cent, a result that would be likely to make them the biggest party, dethroning the Social Democrats for the first time in a century



Can Pyongyang become the next Berlin?

9/9/2018, 9:17:29 AM
undefined ✔ Tocqueville's dictum that the most dangerous moment for a bad government is when it begins to reform may apply to the Kim dynasty just as it did to the Soviet satellite ✔ Lee Jun-youb (lee@hds.harvard.edu) is a freelance journalist and literary translator based in Seoul



done DMZ marathon offers rare peek inside heavily fortified border

9/9/2018, 9:17:27 AM
undefined ✔ The other four were full marathon, 10 kilometers, five kilometers, and a four-kilometer walk ✔ Once North Korean territory, Cheorwon was considered North Korean founding leader Kim Il-sung's potential choice for a capital but ended cut in half by the Military Demarcation Line dissecting the 248-kilometer-long and four-kilometer-wide DMZ



Minister slams Boris over ‘suicide vest’ jibe at May’s Brexit plan

9/9/2018, 9:52:36 AM
The former foreign secretary was branded 'disgusting' and not 'fit to govern' after delivering the extraordinary jibe about the PM's plan for 'soft' Brexit. ✔ Boris Johnson is facing a massive Tory backlash today after he accused Theresa May of wrapping a 'suicide vest' around Britain ✔ We have agreed to the EU's timetable; we have agreed to hand over £39 billion, for nothing in return,' he wrote ✔ Billions would also be spent on schools, the NHS and defence – including a 'nuclear missile shield'



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