4/20/17

* N. Korea threatens to 'reduce US to ashes' with 'super-mighty pre-emptive strike' North Korean state media has warned Washington of a "super-mighty pre-emptive strike" which would "reduce the US to ashes."

* Uncertainty in Turkey The 51.4 percent of the Turkish voters that voted 'yes' for the proposed constitutional amendments in Sunday's referendum have changed Turkey from a secular democracy to a quasi-dictatorship dominated by one man, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

* Risk of 'Accidental' Nuclear War Growing, UN Research Group Says On Sept., 26, 1983, shortly after midnight, the Soviet Oko nuclear early warning system detected five missiles launched from the United States and headed toward Moscow.

* Abbas says ready to meet Netanyahu 'anytime' in Washington Palestinian Authority president says settlement building must stop before peace talks can resume.

* Syria moves all its fighter jets to Russian base Syria has moved all its fighter aircraft to the Russian Hmeimim air base in Latakia three weeks after 59 US Tomahawk cruise missiles knocked out one-fifth of its air force at the Shayrat base.

* White House: Trump wants conflict ending Israeli-Palestinian Deal Abbas faces heavy competition that insist on over 95% of the West Bank and part of Jerusalem as its capital.

* 'With Syria in pieces, it's time to recognize Israel's annexation of the Golan' Deputy minister for diplomacy Michael Oren stresses that Israel sought peace before the 1967 Six Day War.

* President Rivlin: Persecution of Mideast Christians 'A Stain on Humanity' Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said the persecution of Middle East Christians is "a stain on humanity" during a meeting Wednesday with the head of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch and other Christian leaders.

* Trump to Host Abbas May 3 at White House, Seeks 'Conflict-Ending' Deal President Donald Trump is set to host Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas May 3 at the White House as he seeks to forge an elusive peace deal between the Israelis and Palestinians.

* Bill Gates warns terrorists could weaponize smallpox Microsoft founder Bill Gates has raised the alarm over a growing threat from bioterrorism, warning that that it could cause tens of millions of deaths.