Americans warn Syrian president Assad is plotting new chemical attack, Putin's forces invite beaming dictator to visit their air base

NEW Assad was greeted by officials at Russia's Hmeimim air base in western Syria, and was pictured climbing into the cockpit of a fighter jet. It happened on a day when the Pentagon said it detected 'active preparations' by Syria for a chemical weapons attack, giving weight to a White House statement hours earlier that the Syrian government would 'pay a heavy price' if it carried out such an attack.