Politics
North Korea carries out launch of two new missiles
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un personally supervised the test-firing of two newly developed air defence missiles, state media reported Sunday, shortly after Pyongyang accused Seoul of stoking tensions along the border.
According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the launches, conducted on Saturday, demonstrated that the two “enhanced” missile systems possessed “superior combat capability.”
The agency did not provide specific details about the missiles or the test site, only noting that their “operation and reaction mode is based on unique and special technology.” KCNA added that the firing confirmed the projectiles were highly effective in targeting and destroying a range of aerial threats.
Photos released by state media showed missiles streaking into the sky and what appeared to be the interception of incoming targets.
Other images showed Kim receiving a briefing from military officials, with binoculars placed beside him on his desk.
The report also said Kim assigned an “important task” to the country’s defence science sector ahead of a key ruling party meeting.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s military said it fired warning shots on Saturday after several North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the heavily fortified border earlier in the week.
According to UN Command, about 30 North Korean troops crossed the boundary line on Tuesday, Yonhap news agency reported.
Pyongyang’s state media later quoted Army Lieutenant General Ko Jong Chol, who labelled the incident a “premeditated and deliberate provocation.”
“This is a very serious prelude that would inevitably drive the situation in the southern border area where a huge number of forces are stationing in confrontation with each other to the uncontrollable phase,” Ko said.
Ukraine lesson
Analysts say Pyongyang appears to be accelerating the development of air defence missiles aimed at countering drones, citing the KCNA report that specifically mentioned “drones and cruise missiles”.
“The North is bolstering air defence missiles against low-altitude flying drones and cruise missiles,” said Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification.
The development of such air defence missiles attests to “Pyongyang’s recognition of the necessity to enhance its capabilities based on lessons it learned” fighting in Russia’s war against Ukraine, he added.
South Korean and Western intelligence agencies have said the North sent over 10,000 soldiers to Russia in 2024 primarily to the Kursk region along with artillery shells, missiles and long-range rocket systems.
Around 600 North Korean soldiers have been killed and thousands more wounded fighting for Russia, Seoul has said.
New South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has sought warmer ties with the nuclear-armed North and vowed to build “military trust”, but Pyongyang has said it has no interest in improving relations with Seoul.
Indian police this week seized 414 cooking‑gas canisters hidden in a graveyard in Hyderabad city and arrested those involved in trying to sell them on the black market amid shortages due to the Iran war, a government official said on Thursday.
Authorities have stepped up raids to curb hoarding of liquefied petroleum gas canisters after the US-Israeli war against Iran disrupted shipping, causing supply shortages. India, the world’s No 2 LPG importer, meets about 60% of its demand through overseas purchases, mostly from the Middle East.
“Just yesterday, around 2,600 raids were carried out and about 700 cylinders were seized,” Sujata Sharma, a senior official in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, told a regular briefing on the Middle East crisis.
“In addition, around 400 cylinders were recently found at one location inside a graveyard in Hyderabad. Ten people have been detained there, and the distributor involved has been suspended,” she said.
Police said the accused had been selling both commercial and domestic canisters from the graveyard at nearly three times the current market price. A commercial canister that costs about 2,100 Indian rupees ($22) had been sold for as much as 6,000 rupees.
The total value of the seized canisters and some vehicles used by the accused was nearly 2.2 million rupees, police said. Reuters could not immediately contact the accused or their representatives.
“The supply of natural gas to domestic consumers is 100% assured,” Sharma said. “With regard to LPG supply, prices have remained stable despite international volatility, and there has been no increase in the price of domestic LPG cylinders.”
To ease the pressure on LPG supplies, India has been promoting the use of alternatives such as kerosene, coal and biogas, while accelerating the rollout of piped natural gas for households.
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump made fun of the French president and his wife during a private lunch Wednesday, as he lambasted Nato allies for not joining the war against Iran that has roiled the Middle East.
“We didn’t need them, but I asked anyway,” Trump told a private lunch in a video posted briefly on the White House YouTube channel before access was blocked.
“I call up France, Macron — whose wife treats him extremely badly. Still recovering from the right to the jaw,” Trump said.
He was referring to a May 2025 news video that appeared to show Brigitte Macron shoving the French president’s face on a trip to Vietnam, which Macron later rejected as part of a disinformation campaign.
“And I said, ‘Emmanuel, we’d love to have some help in the Gulf even though we’re setting records on knocking out bad people and knocking out ballistic missiles. We’d love to have some help. If you could, could you please send ships immediately,'” Trump continued.
He then mimics a French accent to give Macron’s alleged answer: “‘No no no, we cannot do that, Donald. We can do that after the war is won,'” he said.
“I said, ‘No no, I don’t need after the war is won Emmanuel,'” Trump said.
“So I learned about Nato — Nato won’t be there if we ever have the big one, you know what I mean by the big one,” Trump said, without elaborating.
He also branded Nato a “paper tiger,” the latest salvo by Trump and his top officials against the transatlantic alliance since he returned to the White House last year.
On Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States “is going to have to reexamine” its relationship with Nato once the war against Iran has concluded.
Former Iranian foreign minister Kamal Kharazi was seriously wounded in a strike that also claimed the life of his wife, Iranian media reported.
Still an adviser to the government, Kharazi had given an interview to CNN a few weeks ago.
According to the newspapers Shargh, Etemad and Ham Mihan, his home in Tehran was targeted on Wednesday in a US-Israeli strike.
He was badly injured and hospitalised following the attack, the outlets said.
Kharazi had served as foreign minister from 1997 to 2005 under reformist ex-president Mohammad Khatami.
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