North Korea claims successful test of a hypersonic missile
CBSN
Seoul — North Korea has successfully tested a new hypersonic gliding missile, state media reported Wednesday, in what would be the nuclear-armed nation's latest advance in weapons technology. Tuesday's launch was of "great strategic significance," the official Korean Central News Agency said, as the North seeks to increase its defense capabilities a "thousand-fold."
Hypersonic missiles move much faster and are more agile than standard ones, making them much harder for missile defense systems — on which the U.S. is spending billions — to intercept. However, South Korean officials said the North still appeared to be a "considerable time" from finalizing the new weapon, and that defense systems shared with the U.S. were capable of stopping it.
The launch from Jagang province "confirmed the navigational control and stability of the missile", along with its "guiding maneuverability and the gliding flight characteristics of the detached hypersonic gliding warhead" and the engine, according to KCNA, which called it the Hwasong-8.
Noumea — France's president held a flurry of meetings with local representatives in the restive Pacific territory of New Caledonia on Thursday, urging calm after deadly rioting, and vowing thousands of military reinforcements will stay in place to quell what he called an "unprecedented insurrection."
Kathmandu — Nepali climber Phunjo Lama on Thursday reached Mount Everest's summit in 14 hours and 31 minutes, smashing the record for the world's fastest ascent of the mountain by a woman. Climbers usually take days to reach the top of the 29,032-foot mountain, spending nights on its different camps to rest and acclimatize.
New Delhi — Indian justice officials have changed course amid outrage over the bail terms set for a teenager accused of killing two people while driving a Porsche at high speed while drunk and without a license. The 17-year-old son of a wealthy businessman had been ordered to write a 300-word essay and work with the local traffic police for 15 days to be granted bail — a decision that was made within 15 hours of his arrest.
Zurich — A woman jogger was killed by a naked man who was screaming and attacking people in a lakeside park in Switzerland, police said Wednesday. The attack happened Tuesday evening in Mannedorf on Lake Zurich, around 12 miles southeast of Switzerland's biggest city, the Zurich cantonal police said.