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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2017
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US NEWS
US, North Korea lock horns
Pyongyang has successfully trialed a hydrogen bomb that could be loaded on to a missile
US wants Kim’s assets to be frozen
Military action not first choice: Trump
WASHINGTON: The US has proposed a range of new UN sanctions against North Korea, including an oil ban and a freeze on the leader Kim Jong-un’s assets. The draft resolution circulated to the Security Council members came after North Korea’s sixth nuclear test and repeated missile launches, BBC reported. Pyongyang also claimed to have developed a hydrogen bomb and continues to threaten to strike the US. China and Russia were expected to oppose further sanctions.
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said that military action was not the “first choice” of his administration on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue. On his way to participate in a tax reform event, Trump told reporters that military action against North Korea was “not a first choice, but we will see what happens”, Xinhua news agency reported. In a related development, the White House said that Trump spoke with British and Australian leaders by phone regarding the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula. The White House said that in his discussion with British Prime Minister Theresa May, Trump stressed that now is not the time to talk to North Korea, and made clear that all options remain open to defend the US.
IANS, WASHINGTON
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entagon chief James Mattis said any threat to the US or its allies by North Korea will be met with a “massive military response”. His comments this week came after a national security briefing with President Donald Trump about the secretive communist state’s latest nuclear test, BBC reported. Pyongyang says it has successfully trialed a hydrogen bomb that could be loaded on to a long-range missile. The move has drawn international condemnation. North Korea has defied UN sanctions and international pressure by developing nuclear weapons and test missiles that could potentially reach the US. But speaking to reporters outside the White House, Defense Secretary Mattis said the US had the ability to defend itself and its allies South Korea and Japan, adding that its commitments were “ironclad”.
But speaking to reporters outside the White House, Defense Secretary Mattis said the US had the ability to defend itself and its allies South Korea and Japan, adding that its commitments were “ironclad”. (Photos: IANS)
US to sell arms to Japan, South Korea WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has announced that he will permit the sale of highly sophisticated military equipment to Japan and South Korea, two neighbors of North Korea threatened by its regime’s latest nuclear trials. “I am allowing Japan & South Korea to buy a substantially increased amount of highly sophisticated military equipment from the United States,” Trump tweeted, reported Efe.
“Any threat to the US or its territories — including Guam — or our allies will be met with a massive military response, a response both effective and overwhelming.” However, he said the hope was for denuclearization, “because we are not looking to the total annihi-
Military hysteria over N.Korea could lead to catastrophe: Putin XIAMEN (CHINA): The Russian president warned that ramping up military hysteria with North Korea over its nuclear missile test could lead to a global catastrophe and instead advocated for renewed diplomatic efforts, a move that could hamper the US’ petition for tighter international sanctions. Vladimir Putin, speaking at a press conference following a BRICS meeting in Xiamen in China, struck a discord with Washington’s approach to the North Korea crisis when he
lation of a country, namely North Korea”. The UN Security Council is to hold an emergency meeting next week to discuss an international response, according to the US mis-
criticized the pursuit of further sanctions as useless and denounced military threats against the regime of Kim JongUn as dangerous, reports Xinhua news agency. “Ramping up military hysteria in such conditions is senseless, it’s a dead end,” Putin said. “It could lead to a global, planetary catastrophe and a huge loss of human life. There is no other way to solve the North Korean nuclear issue, apart from through peaceful dialogue.” —IANS
sion. Meanwhile, President Trump has warned that America may stop trading with any country that does business with the North. The first suggestion that this was
to be a far from normal Sunday in the region came when seismologists’ equipment started picking up readings of an earth tremor in the area where North Korea has conducted nuclear tests before. The US Geological Survey put the tremor at 6.3 magnitude. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said there was no doubt this was North Korea’s sixth nuclear test, calling it “unforgivable”. Then North Korean state media confirmed this was no earthquake. It claimed the country had conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test, detonating a hydrogen bomb that could be loaded onto a long-range missile.
Technology giants condemn DACA program repeal IANS, SAN FRANCISCO
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ech giants, including Apple, Microsoft, Google and Facebook, have unanimously criticized the decision by Donald Trump’s administration to rescind the DACA program that had potentially put 800,000 illegal immigrants at danger of deportation. “I’m here today to announce that the program known as DACA that was effectuated under the Obama administration is being rescinded,” Xinhua news agency quoted US Attorney General Jeff Sessions as saying. Sessions said the Deferred Action
People protest against US President Donald Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. (Photo: IANS)
for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was “implemented in 2012 and essentially provided a
legal status for recipients or a renewable two-year term work authorization and other benefits”.
His announcement came after Trump called on the Congress to take action to address the issue. While Apple and Microsoft have offered defense to their “Dreamers”, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, “This is a sad day for our country.” Google CEO Sunder Pichai asked the “Congress to act now”. “On behalf of the hundreds of employees at Apple whose futures are at stake, on behalf of their colleagues and on behalf of the millions more across America who believe, as we do, in the power of dreams, we issue an urgent plea for our leaders in Washington to protect the Dreamers so their futures
can never be put at risk in this way again,” ReCode quoted Apple CEO Tim Cook as saying. Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith said the company was deeply disappointed by the administration’s decision and they believe this was a big step back for the country. “If Congress fails to act, our company will exercise its legal rights properly to help protect our employees. If the government seeks to deport any one of them, we will provide and pay for their legal counsel,” Smith wrote, of the 39 Dreamers who work at Microsoft, in a blog post shortly after the decision was announced.
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