Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Tuesday, December 31, 2019

BREAKING: North Korea's Kim says world will soon witness 'new strategic weapon'



North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends the 5th Plenary Meeting of the 7th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in this undated photo released on December 31, 2019 by North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends the 5th Plenary Meeting of the 7th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in this undated photo released on December 31, 2019 by North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). KCNA via REUTERS
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday said his country will continue developing nuclear programmes and introduce a "new strategic weapon" in the near future, state media KCNA said, after the United States missed a year-end deadline for a restart of denuclearisation talks.
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Kim convened a rare four-day meeting of the ruling Workers' Party's policy-making committee since Saturday as the United States had not responded to his repeated calls for concessions to reopen negotiations, dismissing the deadline as artificial.
Kim had warned he might have to seek a "new path" if Washington fails to meet his expectations. U.S. military commanders said Pyongyang's actions could include the testing of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which it has halted since 2017, alongside nuclear warhead tests.
There were no grounds for North Korea to be bound any longer by the self-declared nuclear and ICBM test moratorium as the United States continued joint military drills with South Korea, adopted cutting-edge weapons and imposed sanctions while making "gangster-like demands", Kim said, according to KCNA.
He pledged to further develop North Korea's nuclear deterrent but left the door open for dialogue, saying the "scope and depth" of that deterrent will be "properly coordinated depending on" the attitude of the United States.
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"The world will witness a new strategic weapon to be possessed by the DPRK in the near future," Kim said, using the acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"We will reliably put on constant alert the powerful nuclear deterrent capable of containing the nuclear threats from the U.S. and guaranteeing our long-term security." 


BREAKING: US embassy in Iraq 'stormed' by protesters angry at air strikes on militia


Protesters set fire to the wall of the US embassy compound in Baghdad, Iraq (31 December 2019)Image copyrightREUTERS
Image captionProtesters started fires next the walls of the US embassy compound in Baghdad
by Leila Mohamed and Biodun Iginla, BBC News, Baghdad
Protesters angered by recent US air strikes on an Iran-backed Iraqi militia have reportedly broken into the US embassy compound in Baghdad.
US forces are said to have fired tear gas to disperse a crowd that breached the outer wall of the compound, which is in the heavily fortified Green Zone.
One of the guard towers was also apparently set alight.
At least 25 fighters died when the US bombed bases associated with Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq and Syria on Sunday.
The US said it was retaliating for a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base in Kirkuk on Friday that killed an American civilian contractor.
Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said the air strikes had violated his country's sovereignty and would force it to review its relations with the US.
Kataib Hezbollah's commander, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, warned that the militia's response "would be very tough on the American forces in Iraq".
Iran described the attacks as a "clear example of terrorism".
(This is a breaking story. Please come back here for more details.)
Map of Baghdad
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