SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea vowed Friday to “deter threats” after testing suicide attack drones, tactical cruise missiles and multiple rocket launchers the previous day, state media reported. The display of its military capabilities coincided with reports from South Korea and Japan on Thursday that North Korea had fired ballistic missiles. South Korea said the North launched around 10 missiles in its first ballistic missile test since Oct. 12. North Korea’s state-run KCNA said Friday that the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, attended an exhibition titled “Unmanned Aeronautical Technology Development-2026” in the capital Pyongyang, where the capabilities and firepower of various drones and major weapon systems were showcased. “Tactical suicide attack drones, air-to-surface missiles from multi-purpose drones and cruise missiles hit the islet target with 100% accuracy.

 

*** 

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - A federal judge has rejected the U.S. Department of Justice’s efforts to set aside the ballots of more than 20,000 California voters it said might not be citizens, slamming the move as brazen pre-election “interference.” The case sparked an uproar ahead of the November 3 midterms, in which President Donald Trump’s Republican Party is at risk of losing its control of Congress, and appears to represent another attempt to cast doubt on electoral results.

 

*** 

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, who lost Sunday’s presidential runoff to incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, declared himself “the leader of Brazil” in an open letter posted on X on Wednesday, after reportedly traveling to the United States via Argentina using an Italian passport. In the letter, Flavio, son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, alleged electoral fraud without providing evidence, accusing Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) of overstepping the electoral court’s authority. He claimed that the order to extend voting hours was communicated only after the official closing time, resulting in unequal treatment of voters. Lula defeated Bolsonaro by more than 4 million votes in Sunday’s runoff. According to Brazilian media, only about 34,300 votes were cast after the original 5 pm (2000 GMT) closing time, far fewer than Lula’s margin of victory.

 

*** 

SEOUL (AP) - A South Korean special prosecutor on Thursday demanded the death penalty for ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol, ahead of an appeals court verdict on rebellion charges over his brief imposition of martial law in December 2024. The Seoul High Court has yet to set a date for a verdict on Yoon’s appeal of a life sentence handed down in February by the Seoul Central District Court. The court found that he illegally mobilized troops and police to seize the legislature, arrest political opponents and establish unchecked rule for a “considerable time.”

 

*** 

ROME (AFP) - Four Italian military personnel were killed and 11 others injured when an Italian army helicopter crashed in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday, Italian news agency ANSA reported, citing Italy’s Defense Ministry. The Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopter, carrying 15 people as part of the European Union’s EUFOR Althea mission, went down near the village of Gorice in the Brcko district. The victims included Italian army Sergeants Simone Ruggia and Claudio Marchesi, as well as Lieutenant Franco Adriano Zecchillo and Sergeant Laura Procacci of the Italian Red Cross Volunteer Military Corps.