World News
North Korea’s Kim Boasts A New ICBM As US Bombers Flies
(CTN NEWS) – Earlier this week, North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un boasted that a recently tested intercontinental ballistic missile is a “reliable and maximum-capacity” weapon for containing U.S. military threats.
The United States flew supersonic bombers in response to the North’s weapons launch.
Kim reportedly oversaw the launch of the Hwasong-17 missile, according to the North’s Korean Central News Agency.
A day earlier, the North’s neighbours claimed to have detected the launch of an ICBM capable of reaching any location in the United States.
According to KCNA, Kim watched the launch alongside senior officials, his wife Ri Sol Ju, and their “dear daughter.”
State-run media images showed Kim and his daughter, wearing a white coat, strolling hand in hand while admiring a massive missile put onto a launch vehicle.
North Korea has never before published a picture of Kim’s daughter. According to observers, Kim watching a missile launch with his family shows that he feels more confident as his nuclear programme advances.
The North has continued to test missiles, which is considered an effort to build up its arsenal and increase its negotiating power in the future. Friday’s launch was one of these tests.
The Hwasong-17 missile, according to some experts from other countries, is the North’s longest-range ballistic weapon and is designed to carry several nuclear bombs to circumvent American missile defence systems.
According to KCNA, the missile launched from Pyongyang International Airport reached a maximum altitude of approximately 6,040 kilometres (3,750 miles).
And travelled a distance of approximately 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) before it touched down on the designated area in international waters off the nation’s east coast.
“The new major strategic weapon system’s dependability as a representation of (North Korea’s) strategic forces.
And its potent combat performance as the greatest strategic weapon in the world were both amply demonstrated by the test fire,” according to KCNA.
“Kim Jong Un sincerely stated that if North Korea’s enemies continue to threaten it by often using nuclear strike methods.
Our party and government will resolutely respond to nuclear threats with nuclear weapons and to total conflict with complete conflict,” according to KCNA.
As the US pushes to strengthen its security commitment to its allies South Korea and Japan, Kim’s remark signals North Korea would continue its testing efforts.
North Korea may soon perform its first nuclear test in five years, which raises concerns.
In reaction to the North Korean ICBM launch, U.S. B-1B bombers participated in separate joint exercises on Saturday with South Korean and Japanese warplanes.
South Korean and Japanese officials stated that their respective training exercises with American bombers confirmed their joint defensive postures.
Because American B-1B bombers can transport a sizable payload of conventional bombs, North Korea is sensitive to their deployment.
The United States sent B-1B bombers soaring over South Korea earlier this month as part of training—the bombers’ first such flyover in five years.
On Friday, the American military conducted separate aviation exercises with Japanese and South Korean soldiers.
The military of South Korea reported that on Friday, it also conducted its own drills simulating aerial attacks on mobile missile launchers in North Korea.
In response to Japan’s request, the U.N. Security Council set a Monday morning emergency meeting about North Korea’s most recent ballistic missile launch.
However, it’s uncertain if it can impose new sanctions on North Korea given that China and Russia, two of the council members have veto power.
They opposed efforts by the United States and its allies to impose tougher sanctions on the North in response to its earlier this year prohibited ballistic missile tests.
Speaking on behalf of the National Security Council, Adrienne Watson said that the United States will take “all necessary actions” to ensure the safety of its territory, South Korea and Japan.
She also denounced the launch on Friday.
In a separate meeting, Vice President Kamala Harris discussed a coordinated response to North Korea with the presidents of those nations, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, who were in Bangkok for a regional summit.
Yasukazu Hamada, the defence minister of Japan, stated on Friday that the missile could cover the entire mainland of the United States if it had a range of more than 15,000 kilometres (9,320 miles).
Depending on the weight of a prospective warhead.
North’s arsenals of nuclear weapons and missiles remain cloaked in mystery.
According to some experts, North Korea still needs to demonstrate technologies to make sure that warheads survive the extreme conditions of atmospheric reentry before it would have a working nuclear missile.
Others, though, assert that given the length of time invested on its nuclear programme, North Korea has probably already developed such capabilities.
Numerous shorter-range missile tests, which North Korea has described as nuclear strike drills against South Korean and American targets, have been conducted in recent months.
North Korea said that its tests were intended to send a message to the US and South Korea on their military exercises, which the North views as a practice for an invasion.
According to Seoul and Washington, the routine training they conduct is defensive in nature.
Before firing a short-range ballistic missile on Thursday, North Korea temporarily stopped all weapon launches.
Choe Son Hui, the foreign minister of North Korea, had vowed to launch “fiercer” military responses prior to that launch if the United States took any action to strengthen its security ties with South Korea and Japan.
In a joint statement that sharply denounced North Korea‘s most recent missile tests and pledged their collaborative efforts to increase deterrence.
U.S. President Joe Biden met with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts on November 13 outside of a regional conference in Cambodia.
In his speech, Biden reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to defending South Korea and Japan with all available means, including nuclear weapons.
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Exit polls in France showed that Marine Le Pen’s right-wing National Rally (RN) party made huge gains to win the first round of election on Sunday. However, the final outcome will depend on how people trade votes in the days before next week’s run-off.
Exit polls from Ipsos, Ifop, OpinionWay, and Elabe showed that the RN got about 34% of the vote. This was a big loss for President Emmanuel Macron, who called the early election after his party lost badly in the European Parliament elections earlier this month.
The National Rally (RN) easily won more votes than its opponents on the left and center, including Macron’s Together group, whose bloc was predicted to get 20.5% to 23% of the vote. Exit polls showed that the New Popular Front (NFP), a hastily put together left-wing alliance, would get about 29% of the vote.
The results of the exit polls matched what people said in polls before the election, which made Le Pen’s fans very happy. But they didn’t say for sure if the anti-immigrant, anti-EU National Rally (RN) will be able to “cohabit” with the pro-EU Macron in a government after the runoff election next Sunday.
Voters in France Angry at Macron
Many French people have looked down on the National Rally (RN) for a long time, but now it is closer to power than it has ever been. A party known for racism and antisemitism has tried to clean up its image, and it has worked. Voters are angry at Macron, the high cost of living, and rising concerns about immigration.
Fans of Marine Le Pen waved French flags and sang the Marseillaise in the northern French district of Henin-Beaumont. The crowd cheered as Le Pen said, “The French have shown they are ready to turn the page on a power that is disrespectful and destructive.”
The National Rally’s chances of taking power next week will rest on what political deals its opponents make in the next few days. Right-wing and left-wing parties used to work together to keep the National Rally (RN) out of power, but the “republican front,” which refers to this group, is less stable than ever.
If no candidate gets 50% of the vote in the first round, the top two candidates and anyone else with 12.5% of the registered voters immediately move on to the second round. The district goes to the person who gets the most votes in the runoff.
France is likely to have a record number of three-way runoffs because so many people voted on Sunday. Experts say that these are much better for the National Rally (RN) than two-way games. Almost right away on Sunday night, the horse trade began.
Macron asked people to support candidates who are “clearly republican and democratic.” Based on what he has said recently, this would rule out candidates from the National Rally (RN) and the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party. Leaders on the far left and the center left both asked their third-placed candidates to drop out.
Minority government
Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of France Unbowed, said, “Our rule is simple and clear: not a single more vote for the National Rally.” But the center-right Republicans party, which split before the vote when some of its members joined the RN, didn’t say anything.
The president of the RN party, Jordan Bardella, who is 28 years old, said he was ready to be prime minister if his party gets a majority of seats. He has said he won’t try to make a minority government, and neither Macron nor the communist NFP will work with him.
“I will be a “cohabitation” Prime Minister, respectful of the constitution and of the office of President of the Republic, but uncompromising about the policies we will implement,” he said.
A few thousand anti-RN protesters met in Paris’s Republique square on Sunday night for a rally of the leftist alliance. The mood was gloomy.
Niya Khaldi, a 33-year-old teacher, said that the RN’s good results made her feel “disgust, sadness, and fear.”
“This is not how I normally act,” she said. “I think I came to reassure myself, to not feel alone.”
Election Runoff
The result on Sunday didn’t have much of an effect on the market. In early Asia-Pacific trade, the euro gained about 0.23%. Fiona Cincotta, a senior markets expert at City Index in London, said she was glad the outcome “didn’t come as a surprise.”
“Le Pen had a slightly smaller margin than some of the polls had pointed to, which may have helped the euro a little bit higher on the open,” she noted. “Now everyone is waiting for July 7 to see if the second round supports a clear majority or not. So it does feel like we’re on the edge of something.”
Some pollsters thought the RN would win the most seats in the National Assembly, but Elabe was the only one who thought the party would win all 289 seats in the run-off. Seat projections made after the first round of voting are often very wrong, and this race is no exception.
On Sunday night, Reuters reported there were no final results for the whole country yet, but they were due in the next few hours. In France, exit polls have usually been very accurate.
Voter turnout was high compared to previous parliamentary elections. This shows how passionate people are about politics after Macron made the shocking and politically risky decision to call a vote in parliament.
Mathieu Gallard, research head at Ipsos France, said that at 1500 GMT, nearly 60% of voters had turned out, up from 39.42% two years earlier. This was the highest comparable turnout since the 1986 legislative vote. It wasn’t clear when the official number of people who voted would be changed.
(CTN News) – Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States, Masood Khan, has urged Washington to provide Pakistan with sophisticated small arms and communication equipment to ensure the success of Operation Azm-e-Istehkam, a newly approved counter-terrorism initiative in the country.
The federal government recently approved the reinvigorated national counter-terrorism drive, which comprises three components: doctrinal, societal, and operational.
Ambassador Khan noted that work on the first two phases has already begun, with the third phase set to be implemented soon.
Addressing US policymakers, scholars, and corporate leaders at the Wilson Center in Washington, Khan emphasized the importance of strong security links, enhanced intelligence cooperation, and the resumption of sales of advanced military platforms between Pakistan and the US.
He argued that this is crucial for regional security and countering the rising tide of terrorism, which also threatens the interests of the US and its allies.
“Pakistan has launched Azm-i-Istehkam […] to oppose and dismantle terrorist networks. For that, we need sophisticated small arms and communication equipment,” said Ambassador Khan.
Pakistan–United States relations
The ambassador observed that the prospects of Pakistan-United States relations were bright, stating that the two countries “share values, our security and economic interests are interwoven, and it is the aspiration of our two peoples that strengthens our ties.”
He invited US investors and businesses to explore Pakistan’s potential in terms of demographic dividend, technological advancements, and market opportunities.
Khan also suggested that the US should consider Pakistan as a partner in its diplomatic efforts in Kabul and collaborate on counterterrorism and the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.
He stressed that the bilateral relationship should be based on ground realities and not be hindered by a few issues.
“We should not base our engagement on the incongruity of expectations.
Our ties should be anchored in ground realities, even as we aim for stronger security and economic partnerships. Secondly, one or two issues should not hold the entire relationship hostage,” said the ambassador.
China has reassured Taiwanese citizens that they can visit the mainland “without the slightest worry”, despite Taiwan raising its travel alert to the second-highest level in response to Beijing’s new judicial guidelines targeting supporters of Taiwanese independence.
Last week, China published guidelines that could impose the death penalty for “particularly serious” cases involving “diehard” advocates of Taiwanese independence.
In response, Taiwan’s government urged the public to avoid “unnecessary travel” to mainland China and Hong Kong, and raised its travel warning to the “orange” level.
However, Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for a Chinese body overseeing Taiwan affairs, stated that the new directives are “aimed solely at the very small number of supporters of ‘Taiwan independence’, who are engaged in malicious acts and utterances”.
She emphasized that “the vast majority of Taiwan compatriots involved in cross-strait exchanges and cooperation do not need to have the slightest worry when they come to or leave mainland China”.
“They can arrive in high spirits and leave fully satisfied with their stay,” Zhu added.
What’s Behind The China-Taiwan Tensions?
The tensions stem from the longstanding dispute over Taiwan’s status. Mainland China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has refused to rule out using force to bring the democratic island under its control, while Taiwan sees itself as a sovereign state.
Beijing has not conducted top-level communications with Taipei since 2016, when the Democratic Progressive Party’s Tsai Ing-wen became Taiwan’s leader. China has since branded her successor, President Lai Ching-te, a “dangerous separatist”.
“The DPP authorities have fabricated excuses to deceive the people on the island and incite confrontation and opposition,” Zhu said in her statement.
Despite the political tensions, many Taiwanese continue to travel to mainland China for work, study, or business.
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