Top Stories Today – August 6, 2019
Top Stories Today – August 6, 2019
N Korea launches more ballistic missiles
North Korea launched a fresh round of ballistic missiles into the sea early Tuesday and warned it could take a “new road” in response to US-South Korean military exercises that began this week. The North fired two short-range ballistic missiles from South Hwanghae province in the western part of the country, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. The missiles traveled about 450 kilometers and reached a height of about 37 kilometers, it added.
North Korea has conducted four rounds of short-range ballistic missile launches in less than two weeks, raising doubts about working-level nuclear talks that US officials had hoped would begin last month. Minutes before the latest test, North Korea’s foreign ministry released a statement slamming the US-South Korean military drills as a “flagrant violation” of its recent agreements with Washington and Seoul. The Voice of America
China vows to counter US deployment of arms in Asia
China said Tuesday that it “will not stand idly by” and will take countermeasures if the US deploys intermediate-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region, which Washington has said it plans to do within months. The statement from the director of the foreign ministry’s Arms Control Department, Fu Cong, follows the US’s withdrawal last week from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a move Fu said would have a “direct negative impact on the global strategic stability” as well as security in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Fu said China was particularly concerned about announced plans to develop and test a land-based intermediate-range missile in the Asia-Pacific “sooner rather than later,” in the words of one US official.
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in Asia over the weekend that he wanted to deploy midrange conventional missiles in the Asia-Pacific within months. Australian officials said Monday that the locations for the bases were not yet known but their country would not be one of them. The Associated Press
Trump vows urgent action after shootings
Speaking out against weekend mass shootings that rocked a nation, President Donald Trump called for bipartisan solutions to the bloodshed but offered few details and faced pointed questions from Democrats about whether he had the moral authority to rally America against the spasm of violence and racism. Trump, back at the White House on Monday after remaining largely out of view for two days at his New Jersey golf club, declared the shootings in Texas and Ohio barbaric crimes “against all humanity” and called for unity to respond to an epidemic of gun violence. He blamed mental illness and video games but made no mention of more limits on the firearms that can be sold.
Trump said he wanted legislation providing “strong background checks” for gun users, though he has reneged on previous promises along that line after mass attacks. He seemed to abandon his latest idea of linking gun control legislation to immigration policy just a few hours after proposing it. The Associated Press
US imposes sweeping sanctions on Venezuela
President Donald Trump has imposed sweeping sanctions on the Venezuelan government, freezing its assets in the US and barring transactions with it. This measure is expected to be far more damaging for Venezuela’s socialist government than previous sanctions. The move is the latest aimed at increasing pressure on President Nicolás Maduro to step down.
The US is one of more than 50 nations that do not recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate president. It has instead given its backing to the head of the National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, who declared himself president in January. BBC
US China trade war update
China’s central bank said on Tuesday that Washington’s decision to label Beijing as a currency manipulator would “severely damage international financial order and cause chaos in financial markets”. Washington’s decision to ratchet up currency tensions on Monday would also “prevent a global economic and trade recovery,” the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said in the country’s first official response to the latest US salvo in the two sides’ rapidly escalating trade war.
Trump on Tuesday dismissed concerns over a protracted trade war with China, saying the United States was “in a very strong position,” a day after his administration ratcheted up tensions by labeling Beijing a currency manipulator. “Massive amounts of money from China and other parts of the world is pouring into the United States for reasons of safety, investment, and interest rates! We are in a very strong position. Companies are also coming to the US in big numbers. A beautiful thing to watch!” Trump said on Twitter. Reuters
China warns Hong Kong protesters not to play with fire
China has issued a strong warning to Hong Kong’s protesters, saying their attempts “to play with fire will only backfire”. A spokesman for China’s top policy office on Hong Kong told protesters not to “underestimate the firm resolve [of] the central government”. Hong Kong has seen nine consecutive weeks of anti-government protests. On Monday, a call for a general strike caused severe disruption, and more than 200 flights were cancelled.
Protesters want an independent inquiry into alleged police brutality, the complete withdrawal of a controversial extradition bill, and the resignation of Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam. The demonstrations have frequently ended in violent clashes with police. They are seen as a challenge to Beijing’s authority in the territory – and a reflection of how many Hong Kongers fear that their freedoms are being eroded. The former British colony is part of China but enjoys unique freedoms not seen on the mainland. BBC
N Korea used $2 billion from cyberattacks on weapons program
A new United Nations report states that North Korea is using “widespread and increasingly sophisticated” cyberattacks to steal money in order to fund its weapons of mass destruction programs, Reuters says. The confidential report, obtained by Reuters on Monday, was submitted last week to the U.N. Security Council’s North Korea sanctions committee, compiled by a group of independent experts.
The report said that by stealing money from banks and cryptocurrency exchanges, North Korea has brought in an estimated $2 billion. The attacks are becoming harder to trace, Reuters reports, and the experts are investigating at least 35 incidents in 17 countries. Reuters via The Week