North Korea fires ballistic missile into sea ahead of visit by US VP Kamala Harris
North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the sea off its east coast on Sunday, ahead of planned military drills by South Korean and US forces involving an aircraft carrier and a visit to the region by US Vice President Kamala Harris, Reuters reported.
South Korea's military said it was a single, short-range ballistic missile fired from near the Taechon area of North Pyongyan Province just before 7 a.m. local time and flew about 600 km (373 miles) at an altitude of 60 km and a speed of Mach 5.
"North Korea's launch of a ballistic missile is an act of grave provocation that threatens the peace and security of the Korean peninsula and international community," South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
After the launch, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Kim Seung-kyum and the US Forces Korea Commander Paul LaCamera discussed the situation and reaffirmed their readiness to respond to any threat or provocation from North Korea, it added.
South Korea's National Security Council held an emergency meeting to discuss response measures and condemned the launch as an apparent violation of the UN Security Council Resolutions and an unjustifiable act of provocation, according to Reuters.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who arrived in Seoul late on Saturday from a trip to Britain, the United States and Canada, was briefed on the launch, the presidential office said.
Iran protests: Raisi to 'deal decisively' with widespread unrest
Iran's president has vowed to take action against protesters after more than a week of anti-government demonstrations, BBC reported.
President Ebrahim Raisi pledged to "deal decisively" with the protests, which have now spread to most of Iran's 31 provinces.
Officials say some 35 people have been killed since protests broke out over the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.
Clashes continue in several cities.
Ms Amini had been detained for allegedly breaking headscarf rules. Officers reportedly beat her head with a baton and banged her head against one of their vehicles. The police have said there is no evidence of any mistreatment and that she suffered "sudden heart failure".
And while Mr Raisi says her death will be investigated, his Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi has insisted that Ms Amini was not beaten.
Videos circulating on social media have captured violent unrest in dozens of cities across the country over the past few days, with some showing security forces firing what appeared to be live ammunition on protesters in the north-western cities of Piranshahr, Mahabad and Urmia.
New images have also appeared on social media showing protesters hurling petrol bombs at the security forces, according to BBC.
Meanwhile reformist group the Union of Islamic Iran People's Party has called for the mandatory dress code to be repealed and for "peaceful demonstrations" to be allowed.
Amnesty International has warned that evidence it gathered pointed to "a harrowing pattern of Iranian security forces deliberately and unlawfully firing live ammunition at protesters".
Mr Raisi has dismissed the protests as "riots". Iran, he said, must "deal decisively with those who oppose the country's security and tranquillity".
Hundreds of people have been detained by security forces, with the police chief in the north-western province of Guilan announcing on Saturday that some 739 people - including 60 women - have been detained in his region alone.
The BBC has heard testimony from some of those arrested who allege they were beaten. One said he was beaten "ruthlessly" before being jailed in a small cell with hundreds of others, where they were deprived of food, water and access to a bathroom.
Government forces have also launched a crackdown on independent media and activists. The US-based media watchdog the Committee to Protect Journalists says 11 journalists have been detained since Monday.
In the western border town of Oshnavieh, sources told the BBC that demonstrators briefly took control of sections of the town from government forces, BBC reported.
Ukraine war: Hundreds arrested as Russian draft protests continue
Hundreds of people have been arrested by authorities as protests against Russia's new "partial mobilisation" continue across the country, an independent rights group has said, BBC reported.
OVD-Info said 724 people were detained across 32 different cities on Saturday.
Widespread demonstrations have broken out since President Vladimir Putin announced plans to draft 300,000 men to fight in Ukraine.
Unsanctioned rallies are banned under Russian law.
But Mr Putin's move to draft civilians into the military has sparked large scale protests in urban areas, with more than 1,000 people being detained at demonstrations earlier this week.
Nepal and Korea sign MoU for returnee worker reintegration, strengthening of Nepal Police Cyber Bureau
Nepal and the Republic of Korea today signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for two projects - Strengthening Stage-Wise Support System for the Stable Reintegration of Korea Returnee Migrants in Nepal and Establishment of Cyber Bureau with Capacity Building for Nepal Police. The MoU signing was held at the Ministry of Finance. For these two projects, the Government of Korea agrees to extend a total of USD 16 million (approximately NRs 2.00 billion) and USD 8 million each as grant assistance to Nepal, the Ministry of Finance said. The MoU to this effect were signed by Krishna Hari Pushkar, Finance Secretary and Chong-suk Park, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Nepal. The projects will be implemented by Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) in close collaboration and coordination with respective line ministries and other government agencies. The Korea Returnee migrant support project aims to contribute to the socio-economic development of Nepal and increase employment through stable reintegration of Korea returnee migrants and enhancement of their entrepreneurship capacity. The project will also create a virtuous cycle and support system for Korea returnee migrants in Nepal for their enhanced information accessibility, and increased access to financial support through Agricultural Development Bank Limited (ADBL). Similarly, the main objective of the Cyber Bureau project is to strengthen the anti-cyber-crime capabilities of Nepal Police wherein, the main component of the project is to construct a state-of-art building of the Cyber Bureau, provide equipment related to cyber-crime investigation and digital forensic lab and capacity building of relevant human resources of Nepal Police. Finance Secretary Pushkar, in his brief remark, expressed the importance of these two projects in equipping and capacitating Cyber Bureau to control increasing cases of cyber-crime as well as reintegrating the returnee migrant workers from Korea to establish themselves in their society and to increase their employability in Nepal. During the event, Ambassador Park expressed his concerns on the rate of cybercrimes that is massively increasing worldwide and in Nepal as well and he hoped that the Cyber Crime Control Project shall be an important support to strengthen the capacity of Nepal Police to control cyber crimes in Nepal. Similarly, Park stated that through the Korea Returnee Migrants project the large number of Korea returnees can utilize their skills and establish enterprise, which can generate employment and contribute to the economic growth of the country. The government of Nepal has expressed its sincere appreciation to the government of the Republic of Korea for this financial support as well as other support extended to Nepal.
