American and South Korean forces are "ready today" should North Korea attack, Adm. Samuel Locklear said.

Secretary of State John Kerry hinted Tuesday that the Obama administration could soon beef up its support for the Syrian rebellion ahead of his meeting with the opposition.

“I will be meeting with the Syrian opposition in London,” he told reporters before leaving for the G-8 foreign ministers summit that starts Wednesday, "and, yes, we will be discussing various means of having an impact on President Assad’s calculations about where the battlefield is going.

"We are left with no choice but to try to find ways to get him to think differently about what lies in the future. That will be part of the discussion in London and in the ensuing weeks."

The escalating violence in Syria was a main topic of discussion during Kerry's meetings with Turkish and Israeli officials over the past three days. The 2-year-old civil war that has caused more than 70,000 deaths is also expected to be a main topic of discussion when President Obama meets with leaders from Turkey, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates this month and next.

“No one is above the law even if you are the diva Beyoncé," said the GOP lawmaker.

Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) said Tuesday that the Obama administration should pressure Beijing to intervene with North Korea, as tensions on the Korean peninsula continued to escalate.

"We need to find what we can do with China, because China could end this tomorrow," Ayotte told Fox News.

The New Hampshire lawmaker said it was especially important to cool the waters because North Korea's new leader, Kim Jong Un, was young and politically untested.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will visit Israel later this month as American officials attempt to broker a peace deal with Palestine and shore up military alliances in the region, Reuters reported Tuesday.

Hagel is slated to visit Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon between April 21-23, an Israeli official told the wire service.

Secretary of State John Kerry is currently visiting the region in an attempt to restart peace talks following the visit of President Obama last month. 

As North Korea warned foreigners visiting the South to evacuate ahead of a potential military strike, American voters say their concern about war in the region has hit an all-time high according to a new poll from CNN and ORC.

According to the survey, 41 percent of Americans now view North Korea as an "immediate threat" to the United States. Another 41 percent of those surveyed say the North should be viewed as a long-term threat, with just 16 percent viewing the country as not an issue.

On Tuesday, North Korea told foreign visitors to the South that they risked involvement in a "merciless, sacred, retaliatory war" if they remained in the country. It was the latest in a series of bellicose threats from the North, which in recent weeks has cut off economic and diplomatic ties and shifted missiles to its coast. But despite the rhetoric from Pyongyang, most foreign policy experts say the regime is unlikely to mount an actual military attack.

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew urged European leaders on Monday to pull back on debt-reduction polices and focus on growth measures to help bolster their economies weakened by a prolonged financial crisis. 

Lew, who is on a two-day swing through the region to meet with several top finance leaders, emphasized the important of the relationship between the United States and the European inion to not only each other but to the stability of the global economy. 

"The European economies face a high level of debt, deep structural medium-term challenges and short-term economic headwinds that we need to confront," Lew said during a joint press conference after meeting with EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy. "There is no room for complacency."

The top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee demanded Monday that President Obama keep Congress informed of his plans for Syria amid reports of increasing U.S. involvement in the two-year-old civil war.

“As you consider further action regarding the deteriorating humanitarian, security, and political situation in Syria, I want to express to you directly that I expect the Senate, and the Foreign Relations Committee in particular, to be kept fully and currently informed of events as they unfold," Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) wrote in his letter to the president.

Treasury declined to comment on whether the celebrities had a license to travel to Cuba.