Russia's unprecedented rapprochement with North Korea has raised concerns about the re-emergence of a Russia-China-North Korea alliance which could increase the probability of conflict on the Korean Peninsula, explains Dr Rajaram Panda.
The US president puts Pyongyang back on list of state sponsors of terrorism for first time since 2008.
North Korea has been suspended from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) until the end of 2022, meaning it will miss out on the Beijing Winter Games, after failing to send a team to the Tokyo Olympics, IOC President Thomas Bach said on Wednesday.
In an alarming development, North Korea on Friday cancelled all non-aggression pacts with South Korea and cut off a hotline with Seoul after the United Nations Security Council unanimously approved new sanctions on Pyongyang to punish it for its February 12 nuclear test.
North Korea had recently called on its citizens to be ready for a nation-wide struggle against 'war thirsty' Trump.
While trying to persuade North Korea to give up its provocative actions, engaging China is the first hurdle that world leaders will have to deal with, says Rajaram Panda.
The US president lauded the announcement on Twitter, writing "Great progress being made but sanctions will remain until an agreement is reached. Meeting being planned!"
The White House has said that it has put all options on table to tackle the threat posed by nuclear-armed North Korea.
The bill now heads to the White House for President Donald Trump's approval.
'No matter how severe sanctions the UN security council imposes on North Korea, the impact of the sanctions would depend on how faithfully they are enforced by China,' says Dr Rajaram Panda.
Even as Pakistan continues to urge the international community to accept its membership to the Nuclear Suppliers Group, highly placed sources in the United States who are involved with the tracking of nuclear commerce have claimed that Islamabad is still selling nuclear materials to North Korea.
Tillerson said he hoped that at some point the North Koreans will begin to understand that the US would like to sit and have a dialogue with them.
Holders Iraq and secretive North Korea could face sanctions from the AFC for failing to send a player to their media conferences on Monday ahead of their opening Asian Cup matches.
North Korean have proven to be priceless when measured in diplomatic currency at South Korea's Winter Games
North Korean pair Ryom Tae Ok and Kim Ju Sik ended their Olympic adventure winning over the home crowd's hearts.
17 Republican lawmakers want Nobel for his work to end the Korean War.
'There are reports that the Biden administration is contemplating imposing CAATSA sanctions against India, the largest democracy on Earth'
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
The External Affairs Ministry on Thursday discarded the article titled 'India's embarrassing North Korean connection' by Nilanjana Bhowmick in Al Jazeera, a Doha-based broadcaster, saying the insinuation regarding New Delhi's assistance to North Korea in United Nations proscribed activities is 'baseless and without any merit.'
The US, in coordination with allies and partners, continued to forcefully respond to Russia's "unjustified, unprovoked and premeditated" invasion of Ukraine by imposing sanctions on Putin and Lavrov.
Kim did not rule out diplomacy with the Biden administration despite that Pyongyang called Biden a 'rabid dog' after Biden labelled Kim a 'thug'.
Trump had said that North Korea changed its approach towards the summit after Kim had his second meeting with President Xi Jinping in China.
The trip was the highest level meeting with a North Korean leader since 2000 when then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright met Kim Jong-il, the father of the current leader, in Pyongyang.
The BRICS also called upon all nations to adopt a comprehensive approach in combating terrorism including countering radicalisation and blocking terror financing sources.
'Hardliners who are against denuclearisation may be working secretly on North Korea's nuclear activities, despite official claims that dismantling its nuclear arsenal has already begun.'' 'Does it mean that Kim does not have full control over the military,' asks Dr Rajaram Panda.
However, Kim gave no indication of Pyongyang willing to give up its nuclear weapons
The Russians had appealed their exclusion from the Games by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over the doping scandal from the 2014 Sochi Games.
After taking receipt of 15,000 eggs instead of the 1,500 they wanted, Norway's team at this month's Pyeongchang Winter Olympics may have a pretty limited menu
'Trump forgets that Kim is not one who likes to be treated publicly as a pauper; he wants to come to the table as an equal, and from a position of perceived strength, not as a suppliant,' says Dr Rajaram Panda.
'Xi Jinping is keen that the second Trump-Kim summit happens soonest.' 'Kim is reported to have told Xi that he expects to achieve a result from a second summit that the international community would welcome,' points out Dr Rajaram Panda.
The US stepped up pressure on Pakistan to get access to disgraced nuclear scientist A Q Khan, accused of proliferating nuke technologies to Iran and North Korea, for questioning.
The cyber attack affected the internet-connected televisions at the media centres and also shut down the official Winter Olympics website for around 20 minutes.
Donald Trump's exaggerated opinion of his dealmaking capacity can get him into trouble, observes R Sriram.
'Much depends on Moon's persuasive skill to make both Trump and Kim shed some of their rigidity and be flexible to accommodate contrarian viewpoints,' says Dr Rajaram Panda.
Friends of India in the US hope that New Delhi will receive a presidential waiver, given that Trump Administration has recognised India as a major defence partner and is in advance stage of selling billions of dollars' worth of equipment to India in the next few years.
In its set of recommendations, the China Committee said that economic sanctions against China in case of an attack on Taiwan will be most effective if key allies such as G7, NATO, NATO+5, and Quad members join, and negotiating a joint response and broadcasting this message publicly have the added benefit of enhancing deterrence.
Seeking to wriggle out of the FATF's grey list, Pakistan has imposed tough financial sanctions on 88 banned terror groups and their leaders, including Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar and Dawood Ibrahim, by ordering the seizure of all of their properties and freezing of bank accounts, a media report said.
Dawood Ibrahim is wanted in India to face the law of the land for carrying out serial blasts in Mumbai in 1993 in which scores of people were killed and injured.
If confirmed by the US Senate, Haley, 44, would be the first Indian-American to serve in a Cabinet-level position in any presidential administration.
Chinese observers believe the Sino-US relationship will be impacted by issues in North Korea, Japan, India, Ukraine and Iran and that conflicts with these 'third parties' will without exception ultimately become conflicts between China and the US, points out former RA&W officer Jayadeva Ranade.
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