News in Brief

Date: 20 October 2021 - 21:04

News ID: ۹۵۶۷۵

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Wednesday that it had test-fired a newly developed ballistic missile from a submarine, in its first such underwater test-launch in two years and one it says will bolster its military’s undersea capabilities. The test Tuesday was the fifth round of missile launches since September and came as North Korea steps up pressure on Washington and Seoul to abandon what Pyongyang sees as hostile policies such as joint U.S.-South Korea military drills and international sanctions on the North.

***
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -
Poland’s clash with Brussels over a court ruling that questioned the supremacy of European Union law has been added to the agenda of a leaders’ summit this week at the request of several countries that see it as a serious crisis for the bloc. “We will ... touch upon recent developments related to the Rule of Law during our working session,” European Council President Charles Michel said in a letter to leaders of the 27 member states ahead of the Oct. 20-21 summit he will chair.

***
NEW YORK (AL Jazeera) - A new report by the United Nations has warned that more than 100 million “extremely poor” people across Africa are threatened by accelerating climate change that could also melt away the continent’s few glaciers within two decades. The report released on Tuesday by the World Meteorological Organization presented a grim reminder that Africa’s 1.3 billion people remain “extremely vulnerable” as the continent warms more and at a faster rate than the global average – when the continent’s 54 countries are responsible for less than 4 percent of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.

***
HAITI (Dispatches) - A gang that kidnapped members of a Christian missionary group from the United States is demanding $1m in ransom per person, a top Haitian official told The Associated Press. The official, who was not authorised to speak to the press, said someone from the 400 Mawozo gang called in the ransom demand shortly after kidnapping the missionaries on October 16. A person in contact with the Christian Aid Ministries, who also spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation, confirmed the $1-million-per-person demand to the AP.

***
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — New airstrikes hit the capital of Ethiopia’s Tigray region, residents said Wednesday, as video showed injured people with bloodied faces being rushed to vehicles and thick black smoke rising in the sky. Ethiopia’s government said it targeted facilities to make and repair weapons, which a spokesman for the rival Tigray forces denied. Meanwhile, the United Nations said it is slashing by more than half its Tigray presence as an Ethiopian government blockade halts humanitarian aid efforts and people die from lack of food.