Guy Taylor
Articles by Guy Taylor
Military strike on North Korea one U.S. option after hydrogen bomb test
The Trump administration was weighing all options Sunday night, including a retaliatory military strike, in response to North Korea's test of a powerful hydrogen bomb that Pyongyang claimed could be mounted on an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the U.S. mainland. Published September 3, 2017
Syria’s Bashar Assad nears civil war victory
Syrian President Bashar Assad is sounding increasingly confident that he will emerge as the victor of his nation's 6-year-old civil war — an assessment that key American allies in the region and a top former U.S. diplomat appear to have accepted. Published August 31, 2017
North Korea missile answers Donald Trump’s rhetoric
President Trump has brought a new toughness to U.S. rhetoric toward North Korea, but the Kim Jong-un regime in Pyongyang showed anew this week that it still has the power to decide when and where to escalate the crisis in the region over its nuclear programs and missile tests. Published August 29, 2017
South Korean jets simulate strike to ‘wipe out’ Kim Jong-un
South Korean fighter jets scrambled Tuesday in response to North Korea's latest ballistic missile test with an aggressive live fire drill that authorities say showed Seoul's ability to surgically destroy Pyongyang's leadership if necessary. Published August 29, 2017
Iran boast on enrichment serves as warning to Trump
Iran's boast this week that it needs only days to ramp up the uranium enrichment needed to produce a nuclear bomb added a new layer of complexity to an internal White House debate over whether President Trump should declare Tehran in violation of the 2015 nuclear accord. Published August 24, 2017
Rex Tillerson tempers Donald Trump’s rhetoric
President Trump is in front of the rhetorical brinkmanship with North Korea, but it's Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson who has the tough behind-the-scenes role of managing fallout from the administration's first genuine international crisis, sparked by reports that Pyongyang may now have a nuclear bomb small enough to fit on a missile that could hit the U.S. mainland. Published August 13, 2017
North Korea says Trump ‘better talk and act properly’
The rhetorical brinksmanship between Pyongyang and Washington escalated anew on Saturday, with North Korean state media circulating a report warning that the Trump administration "had better talk and act properly" unless it wants "the American empire to meet its tragic doom." Published August 12, 2017
Rex Tillerson, James Mattis back up Donald Trump’s message to North Korea
The State and Defense departments provided backup Wednesday to President Trump's threat a day earlier to rain down "fire and fury like the world has never seen" if North Korea did not curb its nuclear programs, but there was little sign Pyongyang was seeking to ease its threats against the U.S. and its allies in the region. Published August 9, 2017
Germany’s Syria refugee integration slow, improving
Germany is struggling to integrate an unprecedented influx of asylum seekers since 2015, when Chancellor Angela Merkel won praise from human rights groups by announcing that the nation would allow in more than 1 million refugees from Syria and other mainly Middle Eastern war zones. Published August 8, 2017
Donald Trump threatens to rain ‘fire and fury’ on North Korea
Concern of an armed clash over North Korea's nuclear weapons program reached new heights Tuesday as an angry President Trump warned that Pyongyang could soon face "fire and fury like the world has never seen" amid reports that the North has managed to build a nuclear bomb small enough to fit inside an intercontinental ballistic missile. Published August 8, 2017
Donald Trump hails U.N.’s vote to further sanction North Korea
The Trump administration says it has new momentum to expand international pressure on North Korea following a unanimous U.N. Security Council vote to ramp up economic sanctions as punishment for Pyongyang's recent long-range ballistic missile tests. Published August 6, 2017
Germany expects Russia election meddling
Intelligence officials here are on high alert, bracing for a wave of cyberattacks, embarrassing information leaks and fake news stories spread on social media as part of an expected Russian campaign to sow political discord ahead of next month's German federal elections. Published August 6, 2017
Donald Trump, Rex Tillerson split on Iran nuclear accord compliance
A heated behind-the-scenes debate is playing out among high-level Trump administration advisers over whether the president should declare Iran in violation of the nuclear accord reached under his predecessor, President Barack Obama. Published August 2, 2017
U.S. Russia sanctions alarm EU due to endangering energy deal with Moscow
Proposed U.S. legislation to expand sanctions against Russia has sparked an angry reaction in Europe, where EU officials warned Wednesday the moves could undermine the sensitive energy security relationship between Moscow and Western Europe. Published July 26, 2017
Saad Hariri confident on aid after meeting Trump
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Tuesday rejected the notion his tiny and diverse country -- home to both Sunni and Shia Muslim populations as well as Christians -- is jammed in the middle of a growing Middle East power struggle between the Sunni Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Shia-dominated Iran. Published July 25, 2017
Donald Trump, with Emmanuel Macron, downplays Russia scandal
President Trump on Thursday hailed the results of the Syrian cease-fire that he negotiated with Russian President Vladimir Putin and downplayed the furor over his son's contact with a Russian lawyer as standard practice in the bare-knuckled world of presidential campaigns. Published July 13, 2017
Nice’s Bastille Day muted by terror attack memories
The enduring pain courses just beneath the surface in Nice, as it does in other French towns and cities that have been targets of attacks orchestrated or inspired by Islamic State in the past year. Published July 13, 2017
Protesters set up ‘No Trump Zone’ in Paris
Protesters angry about President Trump's visit with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron set up a symbolic "No Trump Zone" here Thursday to kick off what activists say will be a series of anti-Trump rallies while he's in town as an honored guest at the nation's Bastille Day ceremonies slated for Friday. Published July 13, 2017
Brexit negotiations stall on counterterrorism strategy
It's one of those ironies that could only happen in the transnational, cross-cultural politics of the European Union: The EU's top counterterrorism cop hails from a nation that will soon no longer be part of the bloc he protects. Published July 12, 2017
Europe braces for ISIS fighters returning from battlefield
NEWSMAKER INTERVIEW: Europe's top intelligence and counterterrorism officials are bracing for a surge of battle-hardened Islamic State foreign fighters returning home to the continent as the jihadi group loses its territorial base in the Middle East, the head of the European Union's main law enforcement agency says. Published July 12, 2017