The US Senate unanimously approved Marco Rubio as secretary of state on Monday, putting the fellow senator on the front line of President Donald Trump's often confrontational diplomacy.

The loose arrangement of hostile powers could pose a series of conundrums for President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of state.

Mr Rubio called for efforts to prevent a war by North Korea with US allies South Korea and Japan. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Trump in his last term took the unusual step of meeting with Kim three times. He and his then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo refrained from critical language on Kim, with Trump saying the two “fell in

Rep. Elise Stefanik is likely to face questions at her confirmation hearing to become the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations about her lack of foreign policy experience, her strong support for Israel and her views on funding the U.

Trump’s secretary of state pick said the incoming administration would consider ‘broader’ policies to deal with ‘dictator’ Kim.

"Venezuela, sadly is not governed by a government," said Rubio. "It's governed by a narcotrafficking organization that has empowered itself with a nation state"

There is zero doubt in my mind that they meet all the qualifications for being a state sponsor of terrorism,” he said.

That would be Marco Rubio, the Florida senator and secretary ... Another Trump nominee who is expected to garner some Democratic support, UN ambassador pick Elise Stefanik, won’t have a hearing ...

Kim Jong Un has been using the development of North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme as his “insurance policy” to stay in power, Marco Rubio, Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state ...

US Senator Marco Rubio, nominated by President-elect Donald Trump as Secretary of State, has promised to exert diplomatic pressure on Thailand to prevent the deportation of 48 Uyghur detainees who have been held in the country since 2014.