North Korea fired more than 10 ballistic missiles into the sea on Saturday, South Korea’s military said, as the US and South Korean forces conducted military drills and US President Donald Trump renewed overtures towards Pyongyang for dialogue.

Japan’s coast guard said it had detected what could be a ballistic missile that fell ⁠into the sea. It appeared to have fallen outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, public broadcaster NHK said, citing the military.

The missiles were launched from an area near the capital Pyongyang, around 1:20 pm towards the sea off the country’s east coast, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

North Korea has test-launched a wide range of ballistic and cruise missiles for more than two decades in a push to develop the means to deliver nuclear weapons, which it is believed to have successfully built.

As a result, Pyongyang has been under multiple UN Security Council sanctions since 2006 but ⁠it remains defiant, despite severe obstacles they created to its trade, economy and defence.

South Korea and Washington this week launched the annual major drills in South Korea, which they say are purely defensive, aimed at testing readiness against military threats from North Korea.

Hundreds of US and South Korean troops conducted river-crossing drills on Saturday with ⁠hardware including tanks and armoured combat vehicles, overseen by the commander of their combined forces.

The US military has about 28,500 troops and squadrons of fighter jets stationed in South Korea.

North Korea frequently displays its anger at such ⁠exercises, saying they are “dress rehearsals” for armed aggression against it by the allies.

On Thursday, South Korea’s Prime Minister Kim Min-seok met US President Donald Trump in Washington to discuss ways to reopen dialogue ⁠with the North. Trump is eager for any opportunity to sit down with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, South Korea’s Kim told reporters.

• Clerks falsely claimed as crime victims.
• Fake armed robberies caught on surveillance.
• Victims allegedly paid to join scheme.

Eleven Indian nationals have been charged in the United States over an alleged visa fraud conspiracy involving staged armed robberies at stores so clerks could falsely claim to be victims of violent crime on immigration applications.

According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, the alleged purpose of the scheme was to enable participants to seek a U non-immigration status, or a U Visa, which is available to victims of certain crimes who have suffered mental or physical abuse and have helped law enforcement in investigating or prosecuting criminal activity.

Prosecutors alleged that in March 2023, Patel and his co-conspirators set up and carried out staged armed robberies at at least six convenience/liquor stores and fast-food restaurants in Massachusetts and elsewhere.

During the alleged robberies, the “robber” would threaten store clerks and/or owners with an apparent firearm before taking cash from the register and fleeing, while the interaction was captured on store surveillance video, according to court documents.

The clerks and/or owners would then allegedly wait five or more minutes until the “robber” had escaped before calling police to report the “crime”.

Prosecutors said the supposed “victims” each paid Patel to take part in the scheme, while Patel allegedly paid store owners for the use of their stores in the staged robberies.

The statement said Patel, the “robber”, and the getaway driver were previously charged and convicted.

The eleven defendants charged in the latest case are alleged to have either arranged with the organiser to set up each robbery, or paid for themselves or a family member to participate as a “victim”. 

Those charged with one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud are: 

AMSTERDAM: An explosion damaged a Jewish school in Amsterdam early on Saturday, in what the city’s mayor described as “a deliberate attack against the Jewish community”.

The explosion at the school in an upscale residential neighbourhood on the south side of Amsterdam only caused limited damage, Mayor Femke Halsema said in a press release, as police and firefighters arrived at the scene quickly.

No injuries were reported.

An investigation has been opened, and the incident comes after nighttime attacks this week in front of synagogues in the Belgian city of Liege and the Dutch port city of Rotterdam.

Security at synagogues and Jewish institutions in the Dutch capital had already been heightened after an overnight arson attack at a synagogue in the centre of Rotterdam on Friday.

In neighbouring Belgium, an explosion caused a fire at a synagogue in Liege on Monday.

“This is a cowardly act of aggression against the Jewish community,” Halsema said. She added that the police have CCTV footage of a person placing the explosive device.

“Jewish people in Amsterdam are increasingly confronted with antisemitism. This is unacceptable.”

Concerns about possible attacks against Jewish communities around the world have risen following US and Israeli attacks on Iran and a subsequent response from Tehran.