YIGO, Guam (Reuters) — There was a sense of relief throughout Guam on Tuesday (August 15), as Kim Jong Un signalled a pause in his plan to fire missiles to land in waters near the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam. Residents in Guam were reassured about Kim Jong Un’s change of plans, “No attack? Awesome. What else, can I say, right?” said Perez. “(If) he had decided to move on with what he had promised, […]
International
Wildfires burn through the night near Athens
KALAMOS, Greece (Reuters) — Wildfires burned through the night on Monday (August 14) in woodland some three towns near Athens, some 45 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of the capital as firefighters battled to contain the blaze. The fire was burning unchecked for a second day, damaging dozens of homes. It broke out around 1300GMT on Sunday (August 13) in Kalamos, a coastal holiday spot and quickly spread, fanned by strong and changing winds. A state […]
North Korea leader holds off on Guam plan, will watch U.S. bit longer – KCNA
(Reuters) — North Korea’s leader received a report from his army on its plans to fire missiles towards Guam and said he will watch the actions of the United States for a while longer before making a decision, the North’s official news agency said on Tuesday (August 15). North Korea said last week it was finalizing plans to launch four missiles into the waters near the US Pacific territory of Guam, and its army would […]
North Korea leader hints he would hold off on plan to test-fire missiles to Guam after briefing
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has been briefed on a plan to fire missiles near Guam but hinted that he would hold off on the launch, Pyongyang’s state media said Tuesday. Kim “examined the plan for a long time” and “discussed it” with commanding officers on Monday during his inspection of the command of the Strategic Force in charge of the North’s missile units, according to the Korean Central […]
312 dead as mudslides, flooding sweep through Sierra Leone capital
by Saidu Bah Agence France Presse Freetown, Sierra Leone (AFP) — At least 312 people were killed and more than 2,000 left homeless on Monday when heavy flooding hit Sierra Leone’s capital of Freetown, leaving excavators to pull bodies from rubble and overwhelming the city’s morgues. An AFP journalist saw several homes submerged in Regent village, a hilltop community, and corpses floating in the water in the Lumley West area of the city, as the […]
Merkel condemns ‘disgusting’ Virginia far-right violence
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday slammed as “disgusting” the role of white supremacists in a violent protest in Virginia and an “evil attack” against counterdemonstrators that left one woman dead, her spokesman said. In sharply worded remarks, Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert expressed shock at the weekend rally by Ku Klux Klan members and other white nationalists in Charlottesville. “The scenes at the right-wing extremist march were absolutely repulsive — naked racism, anti-Semitism […]
Videographics: What the US anti-missile defense THAAD can do
The United States deployed its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system – known as THAAD – in South Korea in 2017. The billion dollar system is intended to guard against missile threats from the nuclear-armed North. It’s based in a former golf course 250 kilometers south of Seoul. THAAD is designed to intercept and destroy short and medium-range ballistic missiles during their final phase of flight. -Once radar detects the incoming threat, the target is […]
Analysis: Can US stop a N. Korea missile strike?
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea said Thursday it would complete a plan within days to launch a salvo of four intermediate-range missiles towards Guam, the US island territory in the western Pacific. It followed US President Donald Trump’s warning of “fire and fury like the world has never seen” as a war of words with the US escalates tension on the peninsula. Would the North be able to carry out such an exercise? […]
China suspends North Korean iron, seafood imports
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China will halt iron, iron ore and seafood imports from North Korea starting Tuesday as it implements new United Nations sanctions, the commerce ministry said Monday. Beijing had pledged to fully enforce the latest sanctions against its diplomatic ally after coming under pressure from the United States to do more to compel Pyongyang to drop its nuclear weapons programme. The ministry said on its website that all imports of coal, iron, iron ore and […]
Thousands uprooted as floods kill 143 in India, Nepal
by Ashok Dahal KATHMANDU, Nepal (AFP) — At least 143 people have died and thousands have fled their homes as monsoon floods swept across Nepal and India, officials said Monday, warning the toll could rise as the extent of the damage becomes clear. Three days of relentless downpours sparked flash floods and landslides that have killed at least 70 in Nepal and 73 across northern and eastern India. Around 200,000 are living in emergency camps in Assam in […]
Guam leader backs ‘punch on the nose’ for Pyongyang
HAGATNA, United States (AFP)–Guam’s leader said Monday that “sometimes a bully can only be stopped with a punch in the nose,” in a spirited defense of President Donald Trump’s rhetoric against North Korea which has the island in its crosshairs. While Trump’s critics accuse him of inflaming tensions with Pyongyang, Guam governor Eddie Calvo said he was grateful the US leader was taking a strong stance against North Korean threats against his Pacific homeland. “Everyone who grew […]
Race drags Charlottesville into a fight it does not seek
by Sébastien Blanc Agence France Presse CHARLOTTESVILLE, United States (AFP) — A pretty university town imbued with American history, Charlottesville, Virginia has been thrust into the news by right-wing extremists whose views are deeply at odds with the city’s sense of its own values. This weekend was the second time this year that white supremacists occupied the normally peaceful streets of the city of 50,000. Dozens of Ku Klux Klan members had marched there […]





