- Despite hurricanes, Floridians refuse to leave 'paradise'
- Israel observes Yom Kippur amid firestorm over Lebanon strikes
- Trump demonizes migrants in dark, misleading speech
- X says 'alert' to manipulation efforts after pro-Russia bots report
- US, European markets rise before Boeing unveils sweeping job cuts
- Small Quebec company dominates one part of NHL hockey: jerseys
- Comoros shock Tunisia, Salah, Mbeumo strike in AFCON qualifiers
- Boeing to cut 10% of workforce as it sees big Q3 loss
- Germany win in Nations League as 10-man Dutch rescue point
- Undav brace sends Germany to victory against Bosnia
- Israel says fired at 'threat' near UN position in Lebanon
- Want to film in Paris? No sexism allowed
- Ecuador's last mountain iceman dies at 80
- Milton leaves at least 16 dead, millions without power in Florida
- Senegal set to announce breakaway development agenda: PM
- UN says 2 peacekeepers wounded in south Lebanon explosions
- Injury-hit Australia thrash 'embarrassing' Pakistan at Women's T20 World Cup
- Internal TikTok documents show prioritization of traffic over well-being
- Israel says fired at 'immediate threat' near UN position in Lebanon
- New US coach Pochettino hails Pulisic but worries over workload
- Brazil orders closure of 2,000 betting sites
- UK govt urged to raise pro-democracy tycoon's case with China
- Sculptor Lalanne's animal creations sell for $59 mn
- From Tesla to Trump: Behind Musk's giant leap into politics
- US, European markets rise as investors weigh rates, earnings
- In Colombia, children trade plastic waste for school supplies
- Supercharged hurricanes trigger 'perfect storm' for disinformation
- JPMorgan Chase profits top estimates, bank sees 'resilient' US economy
- Djokovic proves staying power as he progresses to Shanghai semi-finals
- Sheffield Utd boss Wilder 'numb' after Baldock death
- Little progress at key meet ahead of COP29 climate summit
- Fans immerse themselves in Marina Abramovic's first China exhibition
- Israel says conducting review after UN peacekeepers wounded in Lebanon
- 'Party atmosphere': Skygazers treated to another aurora show
- Djokovic 'overwhelmed' after 'greatest rival' Nadal's retirement
- Zelensky in Berlin says hopes war with Russia will end next year
- Kyrgyzstan opens rare probe into glacier destruction
- European Mediterranean states discuss Middle East, migration
- Djokovic proves staying power as progresses to Shanghai semi-finals
- Hurricane Milton leaves at least 16 dead as Florida cleans up
- Britain face 'ultimate challenge' in America's Cup duel with New Zealand
- Lebanon calls for 'immediate' ceasefire in Israel-Hezbollah war
- Nihon Hidankyo: Japan's A-bomb survivors awarded Nobel
- Thunberg leads pro-Palestinian, climate protest in Milan
- Boat captain rescued clinging to cooler in Gulf of Mexico after storm Milton
- Tears, warnings after Japan atomic survivors group win Nobel
- 'Unspeakable horror': the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
- Stock markets diverge before China weekend briefing
- Christian villagers 'trapped' in south Lebanon crossfire
- Sabalenka sets up Gauff showdown in Wuhan semis
North Korea fires ballistic missile in latest show of force
North Korea fired a ballistic missile Wednesday, Seoul said, a week after Kim Jong Un vowed to boost Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal and just days before the South inaugurates a new, hawkish president.
Pyongyang has conducted 14 weapons tests since January, including firing an intercontinental ballistic missile at full-range for the first time since 2017.
Last week Kim oversaw a huge military parade, vowed to rapidly expand and improve his nuclear arsenal, and warned of possible "pre-emptive" strikes -- as satellite imagery indicates he may soon resume nuclear testing.
The Wednesday test comes days before the May 10 inauguration of South Korea's President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, who has vowed to take a hard line with North Korea and ramp-up security cooperation with the US after years of failed diplomacy.
North Korea fired the ballistic missile at 12:03 pm (0303 GMT), Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, likely from the Sunan Airfield near Pyongyang, the site of previous recent ICBM tests.
The missile flew 470 km (300 miles) and reached an altitude of 780 km, the JCS said, adding it was a "blatant violation of UN Security Council resolutions."
Japan's minister of defence Makoto Oniki confirmed the launch and the missile's trajectory, saying it had landed "outside of Japan's exclusive economic zone."
North Korea's "repeated launches of ballistic missiles threaten peace and safety of our nation, the region, and the international community," he added.
Since high-level diplomacy with then-US president Donald Trump collapsed, North Korea has doubled-down on Kim's plans for military modernisation, seemingly impervious to threats of more sanctions as it ignores the United States' offers of talks.
- More nukes? -
Kim Jong Un said at last week's military parade that he would take measures to develop "the nuclear forces of our state at the fastest possible speed", according to footage of his speech broadcast on state media.
Repeated negotiations aimed at convincing Kim to give up his nuclear weapons have come to nothing.
"There is a good chance that they test-fired a missile that can be equipped with a nuclear warhead," Ahn Chan-il, a North Korean studies scholar, told AFP Wednesday.
Kim also warned that he could "pre-emptively" use his nuclear force to counter so-called hostile forces at a meeting with top military brass last week.
Analysts said Kim's messaging on his nuclear weapons, plus the recent test, could be seen as a signal to President-elect Yoon, who has threatened a pre-emptive strike on Pyongyang.
"It could be a warning message to... Yoon," said Hong Min of the Korea Institute for National Unification.
Yoon has suggested he is only willing to talk about peace if North Korea confirms it is willing to denuclearise -- something Pyongyang will never accept, Hong said.
"It could also signal Pyongyang's stance that it has no choice but to further enhance its arsenal if Seoul and Washington decided to deploy strategic military assets to the South," he added.
- Seoul's hard line -
For five years under President Moon Jae-in, Seoul has pursued a policy of engagement with Pyongyang, brokering high-level summits between Kim and Trump while reducing joint US military drills the North sees as provocative.
But for President-elect Yoon this "subservient" approach has been a manifest failure.
He said on the campaign trail he would like more US missile defences -- and even tactical nuclear weapons -- deployed in South Korea, and has vowed to ramp up joint military exercises, which infuriate Pyongyang.
US President Joe Biden is due to visit South Korea later this month to meet with Yoon.
Other analysts said that North Korea's testing blitz could be aimed at taking advantage of gridlock at the United Nations following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
It is "virtually impossible" for the Security Council to sanction North Korea -- which has supported Moscow's attack on Kyiv -- due to Russia's veto power, said Cheong Seong-chang of the Center for North Korea Studies at the Sejong Institute.
"The North therefore will try to test as many missiles as possible that it has not been able to do so far, enabling it to enhance capabilities of its arsenal at a fast pace."
M.Fischer--AMWN