Weapons of mass destruction
FILE - North Korea's Hwang Chung Gum and South Korea's Won Yun-jong carry the unification flag during the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea on Feb. 9, 2018. North Korea basked in the global limelight during the last Winter Games in South Korea, with hundreds of athletes, cheerleaders and officials pushing hard to woo their South Korean and U.S. rivals in a now-stalled bid for diplomacy. Four years later, as the 2022 Winter Olympics come to its main ally and neighbor China, North Korea isn't sending any athletes and officials because of coronavirus fears. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
'Someone else's festival': No North Korea at ally's Olympics

By Hyung-Jin Kim And Kim Tong-Hyung Feb. 04, 2022 11:29 PM EST

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, right, speaks to journalists after meeting Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, July 14, 2021.(Kimimasa Mayama/Pool Photo via AP)
IOC's Bach brings attention to Hiroshima -- some unwanted

By Stephen Wade Jul. 14, 2021 10:15 PM EDT

President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Wednesday, June 16, 2021, in Geneva, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
The Latest: Biden and Putin depart Geneva after summit

Jun. 16, 2021 04:00 AM EDT

FILE - In this March 4, 2021, file photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivers a speech during a workshop of chief secretaries of city and county committees of the ruling Workers' Party in Pyongyang, North Korea. State media say Kim vowed to launch an “uncompromising struggle” against anti-socialist elements and build a perfect self-supporting economy. Kim's comments released Thursday, May 27, 2021 come as he seeks greater internal strength to overcome pandemic-related difficulties and U.S.-led sanctions. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)
Kim vows to build N. Korea socialism amid US nuclear impasse

By Hyung-Jin Kim May. 27, 2021 05:00 AM EDT

President Joe Biden attends a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, in the State Dinning Room of the White House, Friday, May 21, 2021, in Washington. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is at left. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Biden, South Korea's Moon 'deeply concerned' about NKorea

By Aamer Madhani, Darlene Superville, And Zeke Miller May. 21, 2021 01:34 AM EDT

In this handout photo released by Russian opposition activist Lyubov Sobol in her twitter.com/SobolLubov account, Russian opposition activist Lyubov Sobol wearing in t-short with the words reading "where is the criminal case for the poisoning of Navalny?" makes a selfie in front of Russian Federal Bailiffs service officers in a courtroom in Moscow, Russia, on Thursday, April 15, 2021. Sobol, a top associate of Russia's imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny was convicted of trespassing Thursday and handed a suspended sentence of one year community service after she tried to doorstep an alleged security operative believed to be involved in Navalny's poisoning with a Soviet-era nerve agent. (twitter.com/SobolLubov via AP)
Top associate of Navalny convicted of trespassing in Russia

By Daria Litvinova Apr. 15, 2021 06:17 AM EDT

Israeli students visit at the museum "From Holocaust to Revival" on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, in Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, Israel, Wednesday, April. 7, 2021. Holocaust remembrance day is one of the most solemn on Israel's calendar with restaurants and places of entertainment shut down, and radio and TV programming focused on Holocaust documentaries and interviews with survivors. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)
On Holocaust Day, Netanyahu issues warning about Iran

By Josef Federman Apr. 07, 2021 03:10 PM EDT

FILE - In this March 2, 2019, file photo, Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, attends a wreath-laying ceremony at Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi, Vietnam. In North Korea's first comments directed at the Biden administration, Kim Yo Jong criticized the United States and South Korea for holding military exercises and warned the U.S. against further provocations if it wants a "good night's sleep for the next four years." Her statement was issued on Tuesday, March 16, 2021, as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Asia to talk to U.S. allies Japan and South Korea about North Korea and other regional issues. (Jorge Silva/Pool Photo via AP, File)
North criticizes US-South Korean drills before allies meet

By Kim Tong-Hyung Mar. 15, 2021 10:05 PM EDT

Secretary of State Antony Blinken testifies before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on the administration foreign policy priorities on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, March 10, 2021, in Washington, (Ken Cedeno/Pool via AP)
Top US, China officials to meet over intense divides

By Matthew Lee Mar. 10, 2021 04:25 PM EST

FILE - In this June 19, 2009 file photo, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivers a sermon with a picture of the late spiritual leader Ayatollah Khomeini in the background, during Friday prayers at the Tehran University campus in Tehran, Iran. Khamenei was among the first and most powerful world leaders to suggest the coronavirus could be a biological weapon created by the U.S. (Meisam Hosseini/Hayat News Agency via AP, File)
The superspreaders behind top COVID-19 conspiracy theories

By David Klepper, Farnoush Amiri And Beatrice Dupuy Feb. 15, 2021 12:10 AM EST

FILE - In this Sept. 4, 2020 file photo, Russian national Igor Nikulin speaks during a news conference in Moscow, Russia. Nikulin argues the U.S. created the virus and used it to attack China. Nikulin says he is a former U.N. arms inspector, but the man who would have been his boss said he's never heard of him. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)
COVID conspiracy shows vast reach of Chinese disinformation

By Erika Kinetz Feb. 15, 2021 12:04 AM EST

FILE - In this March 19, 2020 file photo, biological science specialists, background, wear biosafety protective clothing for handling viral diseases at U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Md. On March 9, 2020, a public WeChat account called "Happy Reading List" reposted an essay claiming the U.S. military created SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, at a lab in Fort Detrick and loosed it in China during the Military World Games, an international competition for military athletes, held in Wuhan in October 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Anatomy of a conspiracy: With COVID, China took leading role

By Erika Kinetz Feb. 15, 2021 12:03 AM EST

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends at a meeting of Central Committee of Worker’s Party of Korea in Pyongyang, North Korean, Monday, Feb. 8, 2021. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
UN experts say North Korea still modernizing nuclear arsenal

By Edith M. Lederer Feb. 08, 2021 10:08 PM EST

Police officers detain a man during a protest against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow, Russia, on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021. Thousands of people took to the streets Sunday across Russia to demand the release of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, keeping up the wave of nationwide protests that have rattled the Kremlin. Hundreds were detained by police. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Over 5,100 arrested at pro-Navalny protests across Russia

By Jim Heintz And Vladimir Isachenkov Jan. 31, 2021 03:27 AM EST

Russian Rosguardia (National Guard) soldiers stand blocking enter to the Palace Square a day before Sunday's protest in St. Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2021. As part of a multipronged effort by the authorities to discourage Russians from attending Sunday's demonstrations, the Prosecutor General's office ordered the state communications watchdog, Roskomnadzor, to block the calls for joining the protests on the internet. The Prosecutor General's office and the Interior Ministry also issued stern warnings to the public not to join the protests, saying participants could face criminal charges of taking part in mass riots if the rallies turn violent. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
Russia warn Navalny supporters not to attend Sunday protests

By Jim Heintz Jan. 30, 2021 09:57 AM EST

FILE In this file photo taken on Friday, Aug. 21, 2020, Oleg Navalny, Alexei Navalny's brother speaks to the media at the Omsk Ambulance Hospital No. 1, intensive care unit where Alexei Navalny was hospitalized in Omsk, Russia. Navalny's brother, Oleg; his top ally, Lyubov Sobol; Oleg Stepanov, the head of Navalny's Moscow office; Dr. Anastasia Vasilyeva from the Navalny-backed Alliance of Doctors; and Maria Alekhina from the Pussy Riot punk collective were detained for 48 hours as part of a criminal probe into alleged violations of coronavirus regulations during last weekend's protests. Moscow's Tverskoy District Court put Stepanov under house arrest until March 23 as requested by investigators. The cases of the four others were to be heard later Friday. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Sofiychuk, File)
Moscow court puts Navalny's allies under house arrest

By Vladimir Isachenkov Jan. 29, 2021 10:15 AM EST

Lyubov Sobol, ally of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, speaks during her news conference via video conference in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021. Allies of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny are calling for new protests next weekend to demand his release, following a wave of demonstrations across the country in a defiant challenge to President Vladimir Putin. The words on her tribune reading "Free Navalny". (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)
Navalny defiant as Russian court rejects his bid for freedom

By Daria Litvinova And Vladimir Isachenkov Jan. 28, 2021 08:13 AM EST

FILE - This Jan. 14, 2021, file photo provided by the North Korean government shows missiles during a military parade marking the ruling party congress, at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea. Last year was a disaster for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who helplessly watched his country's economy decay amid pandemic border closures while brooding over the collapse of made-for-TV summits with former President Donald Trump that failed to lift sanctions from his country. Now he must start over with President Joe Biden, who has previously called him a thug and accused Trump of chasing spectacles instead of meaningful reductions of Kim’s nuclear arsenal. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)
After Trump setbacks, Kim Jong Un starts over with Biden

By Kim Tong-Hyung Jan. 22, 2021 12:04 AM EST

President-elect Joe Biden leaves after speaking at an event at The Queen theater, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Trump's presidency not just a blip in US foreign policy

By Deb Riechmann And Matthew Lee Jan. 16, 2021 01:08 AM EST

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, acknowledges to the applauds after he made his closing remarks at a ruling party congress in Pyongyang, North Korea Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021. Kim vowed all-out efforts to bolster his country's nuclear deterrent during the major ruling party meeting where he earlier laid out plans to work toward salvaging the broken economy. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
North Korea ends party meeting with calls for nuclear might

By Kim Tong-Hyung Jan. 12, 2021 07:50 PM EST