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North Korea makes nuclear policy ‘irreversible’ with new law

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North Korea makes nuclear policy ‘irreversible’ with new law

Laws permits it to hold out a nuclear first strike, amid concern nation is on verge of resuming nuclear assessments.

North Korea has handed a legislation permitting it to hold out a preventive nuclear strike and declaring its standing as a nuclear-armed state “irreversible”, in line with state media.

The announcement comes amid stalled talks on denuclearisation and concern Pyongyang could quickly resume nuclear testing for the primary time since 2017, following the failure of a collection of high-level summits with then-United States President Donald Trump over sanctions reduction.

The nation has carried out an unprecedented variety of weapons assessments this yr — launching greater than 30 ballistic weapons, together with the primary intercontinental ballistic missile in 5 years.

The brand new legislation, handed on the Supreme Folks’s Meeting on Thursday, will permit North Korea to hold out a preventive nuclear strike “routinely” and “instantly to destroy hostile forces,” when one other nation poses an imminent menace to Pyongyang, the official Korean Central Information Company (KCNA) stated.

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With the legislation, “the standing of our nation as a nuclear weapons state has grow to be irreversible,” KCNA quoted chief Kim Jong Un as saying.

The legislation additionally bans any sharing of nuclear arms or know-how with different nations, KCNA reported.

“The utmost significance of legislating nuclear weapons coverage is to attract an irretrievable line in order that there might be no bargaining over our nuclear weapons,” Kim stated in a speech to the meeting.

Leif-Eric Easley, affiliate professor of worldwide research at Ewha Womans College in Seoul, stated that Kim’s feedback didn’t seem like produced from a place of confidence.

“Regardless of boasting of his nuclear weapons capabilities, he’s apparently terrified of regime decapitation in a battle and even of a U.S. or South Korean preemptive strike in opposition to North Korea’s strategic belongings,” Easley stated in an e-mail. “These issues can be finest addressed by means of diplomacy and lowering self-isolation, however as an alternative Pyongyang is promoting an irresponsibly dangerous and aggressive nuclear doctrine. Such pariah state habits is prone to deepen arms race dynamics in Asia as different nations act to counter North Korean threats to stability.”

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America has supplied to carry talks with Kim at any time or place, whereas South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol, who was elected in Could, has stated his nation would supply large quantities of financial assist if Pyongyang started to surrender its arsenal.

North Korea, nonetheless, has accused the US of hostility and rejected Yoon’s supply.

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US military conducts successful airstrikes on Houthi rebel forces in Yemen

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US military conducts successful airstrikes on Houthi rebel forces in Yemen

The U.S. military confirmed it conducted airstrikes in Yemen, saying it targeted a missile storage site and a command-and-control center operated by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced the successful strikes in a release Saturday, saying they were meant to “disrupt and degrade” Houthi operations.

“CENTCOM forces conducted the deliberate strikes to disrupt and degrade Houthi operations, such as attacks against U.S. Navy warships and merchant vessels in the Southern Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb and Gulf of Aden,” CENTCOM said in a news release.

DISAPPROVAL MOUNTS BOTH AT HOME AND ABROAD AS US AVOIDS DIRECT ACTION AGAINST HOUTHI REBELS

The U.S. military successfully conducted airstrikes in Yemen, saying it targeted a missile storage site and a command-and-control site operated by Iran-backed Houthi rebels. (CENTCOM via X)

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Footage from CENTCOM showed F/A-18’s taking off. The agency said it also used assets from the Navy and the Air Force.

US NAVY SHIPS REPEL ATTACK FROM HOUTHIS IN GULF OF ADEN 

“The strike reflects CENTCOM’s ongoing commitment to protect U.S. and coalition personnel, regional partners and international shipping,” it said.

Houthi rebels

Houthi followers burn the Israeli and American flags on the outskirts of Sana’a, Yemen. (Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images)

The attacks against shipping are ongoing, and Houthi militants have vowed to continue until Israel ends its campaign in Gaza.

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The terrorist group has targeted more than 100 merchant vessels since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023.

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Fact check: How deadly was 2024 for journalists?

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Fact check: How deadly was 2024 for journalists?

An estimated 104 journalists lost their lives in 2024, with Palestine the most dangerous territory.

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An estimated 104 journalists were killed worldwide over the past year, according to data shared earlier this month by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).

Another report by NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) puts the figure at 54, but its methodology means it only includes killings that are considered “directly related” to journalists’ professional activity.

Both organisations say that Palestine is the deadliest place on earth for journalists. More than half (55) of the 104 killings reported by IFJ were Palestinian media professionals in Gaza, while a further six were killed in Lebanon.

At least 138 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out on 7 October 2023, making the country one of the “most dangerous in the history of modern journalism, behind Iraq, the Philippines and Mexico,” according to the IFJ.

Reporters without Borders has described the number of killings in Gaza as “an unprecedented bloodbath”.

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Israel firmly denies it has intentionally targeted any journalists, but has recognised some that have been killed in its airstrikes on Gaza.

The 104 total killings reported by the IFJ is a slight decrease on the 129 they reported on in 2023, which is considered the bloodiest year for journalists since 1990.

How do other world regions fare?

Asia Pacific is the world’s second most dangerous region for journalists, after the Middle East, according to the IFJ.

It recorded 20 deaths in the region in 2024, of which 70% happened in the southern Asian countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh and India.

The region has seen an “upsurge” in violence, according to the IFJ, with deaths increasing sharply from the 12 recorded in 2023.

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Africa was the third most dangerous region for journalists at eight deaths, five of them in war-torn Sudan.

The number of journalists killed in south, central and north America has dropped sharply over the past two years, from 30 in 2022 to six in 2023, and another six in 2024. Mexico, considered to be one of the deadliest places in the world to do journalism, continues to see “threats, intimidation, kidnappings and murders” against journalists, particularly due to reporting on drug trafficking.

Number of journalists behind bars on the rise

According to IFJ estimates on 10 December, there were 520 journalists in prison across the world, considerably more than in 2023 (427) and 2022 (375).

China, including Hong Kong, accounts for most of journalists behind bars, followed by Israel and Myanmar.

The IFJ says the figures show how “fragile” the independent press is and how “risky and dangerous” the profession of journalism has become.

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Italian state railways plans 1.3 bln euro investment in solar plant

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Italian state railways plans 1.3 bln euro investment in solar plant
Italian state railways Ferrovie dello Stato plans to invest 1.3 billion euros ($1.36 billion) in a photovoltaic plant with an initial 1 gigawatt (GW) capacity that would cover 19% of its energy needs by 2029, the CEO said in a newspaper interview.
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