SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea lashed out at intensified military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea, characterizing them as “warmongers’ madness” and pledging to bolster its nuclear deterrence, state media KCNA said on Friday. U.S. and South Korean forces have been staging an intensified series of annual springtime exercises since March, including air and sea drills involving a U.S. aircraft carrier and heavy bombers. North Korea has reacted angrily to the exercises, calling them a rehearsal for invasion.

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CANBERRA (Al-Jazeera) - Australian police Tasered a 95-year-old woman as she approached them with a steak knife and a walker in a nursing home. She is now fighting for her life. Clare Nowland, who suffers from dementia, was reportedly in critical condition after the incident in the town of Cooma in New South Wales state. A high-level internal police investigation has been launched. Nowland’s case also sparked debate about the New South Wales state police’s use of Taser-brand conducted energy devices, or stun guns. The officer who fired the Taser was off-duty pending a “level 1 critical incident investigation”, a category police reserve for exceptional cases in which injuries lead to death or imminent death. The homicide squad is involved.

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ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The death toll from an attack by dozens of gunmen in north central Nigeria’s Plateau state has reached 80, local authorities said, with survivors still searching for bodies days after the incident. The gunmen targeted several villages in the remote Mangu district of Plateau during the attack that started Monday, according to residents. Burials continued on Thursday in parts of Mangu located 60 kilometers (37 miles) from Jos, the state capital.

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BEIJING (AP) — Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin will visit Beijing next week for talks, China’s Foreign Ministry said Friday, marking the latest exchange in a relationship in which Russia is becoming increasingly reliant on China for economic and diplomatic support. “During the visit, the two sides will have an in-depth exchange of views on practical cooperation in bilateral relations and issues of common concern,” ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a daily briefing.

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OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canadian officials have warned more wildfires could spread in next few hot and dry days, even as firefighters make progress in tackling widespread blazes that have slowed the outflow of natural gas from Canada into the United States, spiking prices. Record-high temperatures and tinder-dry vegetation have led to an intense, early start to the wildfire season in western Canada this year and forecasters see no improvement in conditions at least until next week.

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PARIS (AFP) - One billion people in 43 countries are at risk of cholera -- a “pandemic killing the poor” -- despite prevention and treatment being relatively straightforward, the United Nations warned on Friday. The UN branded the outlook bleak, saying it did not have the resources to fight the outbreaks, and the longer it took to start waging the battle, the worse the situation would get. Between the World Health Organization and the children’s agency UNICEF, the UN is seeking $640 million to fight the infectious disease, warning of a “cholera catastrophe” if action is not ramped up immediately.