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N. Korea’s Kim oversees ICBM test, vows more nuclear weapons

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged to counter US nuclear threats with nuclear weapons as he inspected a test of the country's new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), state media KCNA said on Saturday.

The isolated country tested the Hwasong-17 ICBM on Friday a day after warning of "fiercer military responses" to Washington beefing up its regional security presence including nuclear assets, Reuters reported.

Attending the site with his daughter for the first time, Kim said threats from the United States and its allies pursing a hostile policy prompted his country to "substantially accelerate the bolstering of its overwhelming nuclear deterrence."

"Kim Jong Un solemnly declared that if the enemies continue to pose threats ... our party and government will resolutely react to nukes with nuclear weapons and to total confrontation with all-out confrontation," the official KCNA news agency said.

The launch of the Hwasong-17 was part of the North's "top-priority defence-building strategy" aimed at establishing "the most powerful and absolute nuclear deterrence," KCNA said, calling it "the strongest strategic weapon in the world."

The missile flew nearly 1,000 km (621 miles) for about 69 minutes and reached a maximum altitude of 6,041 km, KCNA said. Japanese Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada said the weapon could travel as far as 15,000 km (9,320 miles), enough to reach the continental United States.

South Korea's military said its F-35A fighters and U.S. F-16 jets escorted American B-1B bombers as they conducted joint drills on Saturday, designed to improve their ability to quickly deploy U.S. extended deterrence assets.

On Thursday, North Korea's foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, denounced a trilateral summit on Sunday of the United States, South Korea and Japan, during which the leaders criticised Pyongyang's ongoing weapons tests and pledged greater security cooperation.

Choe singled out a recent series of their joint military drills and efforts to reinforce American extended deterrence, including its nuclear forces to deter attacks on the two key Asian allies, Reuters reported.

Kim said the test confirmed "another reliable and maximum capacity to contain any nuclear threat" at a time when he needed to warn Washington and its allies that military moves against Pyongyang would lead to their "self-destruction."

"Our party and government should clearly demonstrate their strongest will to retaliate the hysteric aggression war drills by the enemies," he said.

"The more the US imperialists make a military bluffing ... while being engrossed in 'strengthened offer of extended deterrence' to their allies and war exercises, the more offensive the DPRK's military counteraction will be."

Kim referred to his country by the initials of its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

He ordered swifter development of strategic weapons, and more intensive training for the ICBM and tactical nuclear weapons units to ensure they flawlessly perform their duty "in any situation and at any moment," KCNA said.

According to Reuters unveiled at a military parade in October 2020 and first tested last March, the latest test of the Hwasong-17 demonstrated the capabilities of a weapon potentially able to deliver a nuclear warhead to anywhere in the United States.

Some analysts have speculated it would be designed to carry multiple warheads and decoys to better penetrate missile defences.

The U.N. Security Council will gather on Monday discuss North Korea at the request of the United States, which together with South Korea and Japan strongly condemned the latest launch, read the report.

China and Russia had backed tighter sanctions following Pyongyang's last nuclear test in 2017, but in May both vetoed a US-led push for more U.N. penalties over its renewed missile launches.

ICBMs are North Korea's longest-range weapon, and Friday's launch is its eighth ICBM test this year, based on a tally from the US State Department.

South Korean and US officials have reported a number of North Korean ICBM failures, including a Nov. 3 launch that appeared to have failed at high altitude.

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ICC issues arrest warrants for Israel’s Netanyahu, Gallant and Hamas leader

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Judges at the International Criminal Court have issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence chief, as well as a Hamas leader, Ibrahim Al-Masri, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, Reuters reported on Thursday afternoon.

The move comes after the ICC prosecutor Karim Khan announced on May 20, that he was seeking arrest warrants for alleged crimes connected to the Oct.7, 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas and the Israeli military response in Gaza.

The ICC said Israel's acceptance of the court's jurisdiction was not required.

Israel has rejected the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court and denies war crimes in Gaza.

Israel has said it killed Al-Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, in an airstrike but Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied this.

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US vetoes UN Security Council resolution on Gaza ceasefire

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The United States on Wednesday vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza, drawing criticism of the Biden administration for once again blocking international action aimed at halting Israel's war with Hamas.

The 15-member council voted on a resolution put forward by 10 non-permanent members that called for an "immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire" in the 13-month conflict and separately demanded the release of hostages, Reuters reported.

Only the U.S. voted against, using its veto as a permanent council member to block the resolution.

Robert Wood, deputy U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said Washington had made clear it would only support a resolution that explicitly calls for the immediate release of hostages as part of a ceasefire.

"A durable end to the war must come with the release of the hostages. These two urgent goals are inextricably linked. This resolution abandoned that necessity, and for that reason, the United States could not support it," he said.

Wood said the U.S. had sought compromise, but the text of the proposed resolution would have sent a "dangerous message" to Hamas that "there's no need to come back to the negotiating table."

Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed nearly 44,000 people and displaced nearly all the enclave's population at least once. It was launched in response to an attack by Hamas-led fighters who killed 1,200 people and captured more than 250 hostages in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Members roundly criticized the U.S. for blocking the resolution put forward by the council's 10 elected members: Algeria, Ecuador, Guyana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, South Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia and Switzerland.

"It is deeply regretted that due to the use of the veto this council has once again failed to uphold its responsibility to maintain international peace and security," Malta's U.N. Ambassador Vanessa Frazier said after the vote failed, adding that the text of the resolution "was by no means a maximalist one."

"It represented the bare minimum of what is needed to begin to address the desperate situation on the ground," she said.

Food security experts have warned that famine is imminent among Gaza's 2.3 million people.

U.S. President Joe Biden, who leaves office on Jan. 20, has offered Israel strong diplomatic backing and continued to provide arms for the war, while trying unsuccessfully to broker a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas that would see hostages released in exchange for Palestinians held by Israel.

After blocking earlier resolutions on Gaza, Washington in March abstained from a vote that allowed a resolution to pass demanding an immediate ceasefire.

A senior U.S. official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity ahead of Wednesday's vote, said Britain had put forward new language that the U.S. would have supported as a compromise, but that was rejected by the elected members.

Some members were more interested in bringing about a U.S. veto than compromising on the resolution, the official said, accusing U.S. adversaries Russia and China of encouraging those members.

'GREEN LIGHT'

France's ambassador Nicolas de Riviere said the resolution rejected by the U.S. "very firmly" required the release of hostages.

"France still has two hostages in Gaza, and we deeply regret that the Security Council was not able to formulate this demand," he said.

China's U.N. ambassador, Fu Cong, said each time the United States had exercised its veto to protect Israel, the number of people killed in Gaza had steadily risen.

"How many more people have to die before they wake up from their pretend slumber?" he asked.

"Insistence on setting a precondition for ceasefire is tantamount to giving the green light to continue the war and condoning the continued killing."

Israel's U.N. ambassador Danny Danon said ahead of the vote the text was not a resolution for peace but was "a resolution for appeasement" of Hamas.

"History will remember who stood with the hostages and who abandoned them," Danon said.

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US imposes sanctions on senior Hamas officials

“Treasury remains committed to disrupting Hamas’s efforts to secure additional revenue and holding those who facilitate the group’s terrorist activities to account.”

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The U.S. on Tuesday imposed sanctions on six senior Hamas officials, the U.S. Treasury Department said, further action against the Palestinian militant group as Washington has sought to achieve a ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza, Reuters reported.

The Treasury Department said in a statement the sanctions targeted the group's representatives abroad, a senior member of the Hamas military wing and those involved in supporting fundraising efforts for the group and weapons smuggling into Gaza.

"Hamas continues to rely on key officials who seemingly maintain legitimate, public-facing roles within the group, yet who facilitate their terrorist activities, represent their interests abroad, and coordinate the transfer of money and goods into Gaza," Treasury's Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Bradley Smith, said in the statement.

"Treasury remains committed to disrupting Hamas's efforts to secure additional revenue and holding those who facilitate the group’s terrorist activities to account."

Hamas condemned the sanctions in a statement that called on the U.S. administration to "review this criminal policy and stop its blind bias towards the terrorist occupation entity."

Among those targeted was Abd al-Rahman Ismail abd al-Rahman Ghanimat, a longtime member of Hamas's military wing who is now based in Turkey, the Treasury said, accusing him of being involved in multiple attempted and successful terrorist attacks, read the report.

Two other officials based in Turkey, a member based in Gaza who has participated in Hamas's engagements with Russia and a leader authorized to speak publicly on behalf of the group and who previously oversaw border crossings at Gaza were also among those targeted, according to the Treasury.

The statement by Hamas said: "The Treasury Department's lists are based on misleading and false statements and foundations aimed at distorting the image of the movement's leaders ... while ignoring the imposition of sanctions on the occupation leaders who commit the most heinous war crimes."

The U.S. on Monday warned Turkey against hosting Hamas leadership, saying Washington does not believe leaders of a terrorist organization should be living comfortably.

Asked about reports that some Hamas leaders had moved to Turkey from Qatar, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller did not confirm the reports but said he was not in a position to dispute them. He said Washington will make clear to Turkey's government that there can be no more business as usual with Hamas, Reuters reported.

Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 43,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza over the past year, Palestinian health officials say, and Gaza has been reduced to a wasteland of wrecked buildings and piles of rubble, where more than two million Gazans are seeking shelter in makeshift tents and facing shortages of food and medicines.

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