Why it matters: "The new reactor could be a central issue in the Trump-Kim talks, if the goal, as the United States insists, is complete denuclearization. Even if Mr. Kim agrees to a freeze on nuclear and missile testing, he would still be able to accumulate more bomb fuel for a larger arsenal as long as the negotiations dragged on."
A day after a North Korean armored train arrived in Beijing there has been no official confirmation that Kim Jong-un was on board, but “three people with knowledge of the visit" tell Bloomberg Kim did in fact make the trip, while the Financial Times reports Kim visited Beijing and "it was assumed he had met Chinese president Xi Jinping."
Why it matters: This would be Kim's first known trip outside of North Korea since he took power in 2011 and, if he did meet Xi, his first meeting with a foreign leader. It comes ahead of a possible summit between Kim and President Trump, and at a tense time for relations between Beijing and Pyongyang.
Prime Minister Theresa May's expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats sent a strong message to Russia after its nerve-agent attack on British soil earlier this month. She has refrained, however, from bringing the dispute to one of the largest world stages: the soccer field.
Why it matters: Boycotting the FIFA World Cup in Moscow this June is arguably the most powerful symbolic retaliation Britain could take against Russia. But there may simply be too much money and public emotion invested for May to do so.
The U.S. decision to expel 60 Russian diplomats came after the U.K. told the Trump administration that was roughly the total number that European countries were expected to throw out, a European diplomat tells Axios.
Why it matters: The U.S. is expelling far more Russians than any other country, including the U.K., where double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with a nerve agent March 4. President Trump's move is particularly surprising given the many times he has been criticized for not taking a stronger stand on Russian aggression.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance is expelling 7 staff from Russia’s mission and denying accreditation to 3 more, per NATO.
Why it matters: "Russia will have a reduced capability to do intelligence work in NATO countries,” Stoltenberg said. NATO's move comes amid a unified response to the nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy and his daughter in England. The U.S. is expelling 60 suspected intelligence operatives, with 24 other countries also expelling Russians.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed European countries are effectively being blackmailed by the U.S. into taking such steps, per BBC. Russia has said there will be a tit-for-tat response over what it's calling a "grave mistake" by the West.
Former President Jimmy Carter, who said he has spent about 20 hours in detailed talks with top North Korean leaders, told CBS' Nora O'Donnell that he is glad President Trump has agreed to sit down with Kim Jong-un.
"I'm glad to hear that and I hope he will be successful. I pray that he will."
A day after a deadly fire at a shopping center in Kemerovo, Russia, authorities are facing questions over the slow response to the blaze and possible negligence that allowed the tragedy to occur. Many of the victims were children, who had been locked inside a movie theater.
Go deeper: Meduza, the Russian news site, has a harrowing report from the scene of the fire, where parents waited for hours for news about their children.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told French and German foreign ministers who visited Jerusalem today that he predicts "with high probability" that President Trump is going to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal on May 12th and urged the Europeans to agree to significant changes in the deal, Senior Israeli officials who attended the meetings told me.
Why it matters: The European powers — Germany, France and the U.K. — have been engaged in intense negotiations with the U.S. in an attempt to reach a formula that would save the Iran deal. The Europeans believe the chances of finding a formula which will satisfy Trump are very slim.
Americans who are very or extremely concerned about a North Korean nuclear threat to the U.S. has dropped from 67% last October to 50% today, according to an AP/NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll.
Trump's approval rating on his handling of North Korea is at 42% now, up from 34% in October. 48% of those polled favored Trump’s potential talks with North Korea’s leader over denuclearization, while 29% oppose them. The poll was conducted after Trump announced his plans to meet with Kim Jong-un.
Russia plans to expel at least 60 U.S. diplomatic staff in response to the actions announced today by the White House, the deputy chairman of the International Affairs Committee in the Russian parliament's upper chamber has said, the Moscow Times reports citing Russian state media. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has also said a reciprocal response is likely.
The big picture: The U.S., Canada and 13 E.U. countries have joined the U.K. in retaliating over the poisoning of Russian ex-double agent Sergei Skripal in the English town of Salisbury three weeks ago. This tit-for-tat response from the Kremlin is not a surprise.
At least 14 European Union member countries and the U.S. took coordinated action on Monday over Russia's alleged nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy in the U.K. earlier this month.
Why it matters: The organized effort among the countries, just one week after Vladimir Putin was reelected as president, is intended to send a clear message to Russia that its shadow operations will not go unpunished among global allies of the EU.
President Trump has signed an order expelling 60 Russian intelligence and diplomatic officers from the U.S. and closing a Russian consulate in Seattle in response to Russia's involvement in the poisoning of a former Russian spy in the U.K., senior administration officials told reporters on a Monday morning call.
Why it matters: This comes a week after President Trump did not condemn Russia's actions toward the spy, but instead congratulated Putin on his reelection in a phone call. The administration officials said that "the door to discourse is open" to Russia, but only once they have acknowledged their responsibility in the attack. “When you attack our friends, you will face serious consequences," one of the officials said.
