Beijing / AFP Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to discuss the deteriorating situation on the Korean peninsula with his US counterpart Barack Obama when he visits Washington for a nuclear security summit next week, a senior Beijing official said on Thursday. North Korea’s most recent atomic test in January and a series of rocket launches are likely to be …

Seoul / AFP North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has claimed an “historic” advance in the country’s nuclear strike capability with the successful test of a solid-fuel rocket engine, state media said on Thursday. The announcement came as South Korean President Park Geun-hye ordered the military to “strengthen readiness” in the wake of multiple North Korean threats to launch nuclear and …

Damascus / AFP Pro-government forces pushed a fierce bid to recapture Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra from extremists on Thursday as Moscow hosted top US diplomat John Kerry for talks on the fraught peace process. The IS group called on civilians still living in Palmyra to leave, as army and pro-government militia battled the extremists on several fronts along the …