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North Korea’s recent missile tests involved “tactical nuclear” drills to simulate hitting the South, and were overseen by leader Kim Jong Un in response to US-led joint military exercises in the region, state media said Monday.

Kim made acquiring tactical nukes — smaller, lighter weapons designed for battlefield use — a top priority at a key party congress in January 2021, and this year vowed to develop North Korea’s nuclear forces at the fastest possible speed.

The country revised its nuclear laws last month to allow pre-emptive strikes, with Kim declaring North Korea an “irreversible” nuclear power — effectively ending the possibility of negotiations over its arsenal.

Since then, Seoul, Tokyo and Washington have ramped up combined military exercises, including deploying a nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier to the area twice, infuriating Pyongyang, which sees such drills as rehearsals for invasion.

In response, North Korea “decided to organise military drills under the simulation of an actual war” that gamed out hitting South Korea’s ports, airports and military command facilities, the Korean Central News Agency said.

North Korean army units involved in “the operation of tactical nukes staged military drills from September 25 to October 9 in order to check and assess the war deterrent and nuclear counterattack capability,” the report said.

Kim “guided the military drills on the spot,” KCNA said, with images released by state media showing him clad in a white shirt, cheerfully giving instructions to uniformed soldiers.

Kim, who was also shown watching missiles soaring into the sky trailing columns of fire, dismissed the idea of restarting talks, saying North Korea “felt no necessity to do so,” KCNA reported.

The report also said that North Korea’s October 4 missile launch, which flew over Japan and prompted rare evacuation warnings, involved a “new-type ground-to-ground intermediate-range ballistic missile”.

That test — for which state media images showed Kim observing the missile flight data — aimed to “send more powerful and clear warning to the enemies”.

China’s foreign ministry spokesperson acknowledged KCNA’s reports, and echoed North Korea’s mention of the US-led joint drills in the region.

“We noted the relevant reports. We also noted the recent (US-Japan-South Korea) drills in the seas around DPRK,” Mao Ning told a regular briefing Monday, using the acronym for North Korea’s official name.

– Dangerous dynamic –

North Korea’s claim its missile launches are a “response” to US-South Korea drills is part of a “familiar spiral dynamic” on the Korean peninsula, said US-based security analyst Ankit Panda.

“I worry that this is the start of a dangerous dynamic on the Korean Peninsula, where we have two states in a bitter rivalry and each faces strong incentives to fire first in a serious crisis,” he said.

“We also have no real measures of negotiated restraint or hotlines to manage crises,” he told AFP.

It is significant that North Korea is not framing the recent launches as tests of the missiles themselves, but of the units that launch them, analysts said.

“That suggests these systems are deployed,” Jeffrey Lewis of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies wrote on Twitter.

– ‘Nuclear harbinger’ – 

In addition to the array of “tactical nuclear” drills, North Korea said it had carried out “a large-scale combined air-attack drill”, which was also overseen by Kim.

KCNA said this involved “more than 150 fighter planes” but analysts dismissed this as domestic propaganda, and Seoul said last week it had only detected 12 North Korean warplanes flying in formation.

The volley of KCNA statements about its recent tests — which are unusual, as state media no longer routinely comments on launches — indicates Pyongyang is concerned about the recent US-led joint drills, analysts said.

“To strengthen its self-proclaimed deterrent, it is making explicit the nuclear threat behind its recent missile launches,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.

“The KCNA report may also be a harbinger of a forthcoming nuclear test for the kind of tactical warhead that would arm the units Kim visited in the field,” he added.

Officials in Washington and Seoul have been warning for months that North Korea has completed preparations for another nuclear test — which would be the country’s seventh, and first since 2017.

“The fears of a nuclear war in Ukraine are no longer someone else’s concern,” Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University, told AFP.

“We need to take more seriously the fact that the possibility of a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula has increased.”

North Korea’s recent missile tests involved “tactical nuclear” drills to simulate hitting the South, and were overseen by leader Kim Jong Un in response to US-led joint military exercises in the region, state media said Monday.

Kim made acquiring tactical nukes — smaller, lighter weapons designed for battlefield use — a top priority at a key party congress in January 2021, and this year vowed to develop North Korea’s nuclear forces at the fastest possible speed.

The country revised its nuclear laws last month to allow pre-emptive strikes, with Kim declaring North Korea an “irreversible” nuclear power — effectively ending the possibility of negotiations over its arsenal.

Since then, Seoul, Tokyo and Washington have ramped up combined military exercises, including deploying a nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier to the area twice, infuriating Pyongyang, which sees such drills as rehearsals for invasion.

In response, North Korea “decided to organise military drills under the simulation of an actual war” that gamed out hitting South Korea’s ports, airports and military command facilities, KCNA said.

North Korean army units involved in “the operation of tactical nukes staged military drills from September 25 to October 9 in order to check and assess the war deterrent and nuclear counterattack capability,” the report said.

Kim “guided the military drills on the spot,” it said, adding he had dismissed the idea of restarting talks, saying North Korea “felt no necessity to do so”.

The report also said that North Korea’s October 4 missile launch, which flew over Japan and prompted rare evacuation warnings, involved a “new-type ground-to-ground intermediate-range ballistic missile”.

That test aimed to “send more powerful and clear warning to the enemies”.

– Dangerous dynamic –

North Korea’s claim its missile launches are a “response” to US-South Korea drills is part of a “familiar spiral dynamic” on the Korean peninsula, said US-based security analyst Ankit Panda.

“I worry that this is the start of a dangerous dynamic on the Korean Peninsula, where we have two states in a bitter rivalry and each faces strong incentives to fire first in a serious crisis,” he said.

“We also have no real measures of negotiated restraint or hotlines to manage crises,” he added.

“The North Koreans haven’t yet defined what exactly they consider to be a tactical nuclear weapon or mission … but we’re starting to see a picture that suggests any nuclear weapon they’d look to use early in a conflict can be defined as a ‘tactical’ capability,” he told AFP.

North Korea also released multiple photographs of the recent missile launches, tests and exercises showing Kim Jong Un overseeing them all, giving orders and posing with smiling soldiers.

It is significant that North Korea is not framing the recent launches as tests of the missiles themselves, but of the units that launch them, analysts said.

“That suggests these systems are deployed,” Jeffrey Lewis of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies wrote on Twitter.

– ‘Nuclear harbinger’ – 

In addition to the array of “tactical nuclear” drills, North Korea said it had carried out “a large-scale combined air-attack drill”, which was also overseen by Kim.

KCNA said this involved “more than 150 fighter planes” but analysts dismissed this as domestic propaganda, and Seoul said last week it had only detected 12 North Korean warplanes flying in formation.

The volley of KCNA statements about its recent tests — which are unusual, as state media no longer routinely comments on launches — indicates Pyongyang is concerned about the recent US-led joint drills, analysts said.

“To strengthen its self-proclaimed deterrent, it is making explicit the nuclear threat behind its recent missile launches,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.

“The KCNA report may also be a harbinger of a forthcoming nuclear test for the kind of tactical warhead that would arm the units Kim visited in the field,” he added.

Officials in Washington and Seoul have been warning for months that North Korea has completed preparations for another nuclear test — which would be the country’s seventh, and first since 2017.

“The fears of a nuclear war in Ukraine are no longer someone else’s concern,” Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University, told AFP.

“We need to take more seriously the fact that the possibility of a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula has increased.”

North Korea’s recent missile tests involved “tactical nuclear” drills to simulate hitting the South, and were overseen by leader Kim Jong Un in response to US-led joint military exercises in the region, state media said Monday.

Kim made acquiring tactical nukes — smaller, lighter weapons designed for battlefield use — a top priority at a key party congress in January 2021, and this year vowed to develop North Korea’s nuclear forces at the fastest possible speed.

The country revised its nuclear laws last month, outlining a wide array of scenarios in which it could its nukes, with Kim declaring North Korea an “irreversible” nuclear power — effectively ending the possibility of negotiations over its arsenal.

Since then, Seoul, Tokyo and Washington have ramped up combined military exercises, including deploying a nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier to the area twice, infuriating Pyongyang, which sees such drills as rehearsals for invasion.

In response, North Korea “decided to organise military drills under the simulation of an actual war” that gamed out hitting South Korea’s ports, airports and military command facilities, KCNA said.

North Korean army units involved in “the operation of tactical nukes staged military drills from September 25 to October 9 in order to check and assess the war deterrent and nuclear counterattack capability,” the report said.

Kim “guided the military drills on the spot,” it said, adding he had dismissed the idea of restarting talks, saying North Korea “felt no necessity to do so”.

The report also said that North Korea’s October 4 missile launch, which flew over Japan and prompted rare evacuation warnings, involved a “new-type ground-to-ground intermediate-range ballistic missile”.

That test aimed to “send more powerful and clear warning to the enemies”.

– Dangerous dynamic –

North Korea’s claim its missile launches are a “response” to US-South Korea drills is part of a “familiar spiral dynamic” on the Korean peninsula, said US-based security analyst Ankit Panda.

“I worry that this is the start of a dangerous dynamic on the Korean Peninsula, where we have two states in a bitter rivalry and each faces strong incentives to fire first in a serious crisis,” he said.

“The North Koreans haven’t yet defined what exactly they consider to be a tactical nuclear weapon or mission… but we’re starting to see a picture that suggests any nuclear weapon they’d look to use early in a conflict can be defined as a ‘tactical’ capability,” he told AFP. 

North Korea also released multiple photographs of the recent missile launches, tests and exercises showing Kim Jong Un overseeing them all, giving orders and posing with smiling soldiers.

It is also significant that North Korea was not framing the recent launches as tests of the missiles themselves, but of the units that launch them, analysts said.

“That suggests these systems are deployed,” Jeffrey Lewis of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies wrote on Twitter. 

– ‘Nuclear harbinger’ – 

In addition to the array of “tactical nuclear” drills, North Korea said it had carried out “a large-scale combined air-attack drill”, which was also overseen by Kim.

KCNA said this involved “more than 150 fighter planes” but analysts dismissed this as domestic propaganda, and Seoul said last week it had only detected 12 North Korean warplanes flying in formation.

The volley of KCNA statements about its recent tests — which are unusual, as state media no longer routinely comments on launches — indicates Pyongyang is concerned about the recent US-led joint drills, analysts said.

“To strengthen its self-proclaimed deterrent, it is making explicit the nuclear threat behind its recent missile launches,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.

“The KCNA report may also be a harbinger of a forthcoming nuclear test for the kind of tactical warhead that would arm the units Kim visited in the field,” he added.

Officials in Washington and Seoul have been warning for months that North Korea has completed preparations for another nuclear test — which would be the country’s seventh, and first since 2017.

There are no pearls growing on the oyster reefs in San Diego Bay, but scientists hope they will yield an even more valuable treasure: protection against coastal erosion wrought by rising sea levels.

Thousands of the tiny mollusks have begun growing on the artificial reefs dropped in the bay as part of a plan to mitigate damage in California’s far south.

“We look at numerous different ways to help combat sea-level rise, and these reef balls are one of the tools in our toolbox to do that,” Eileen Maher, director of environmental conservation at the Port of San Diego, told AFP. 

The port implanted 360 structures last December, along a peninsula wedged between the salt marshes of Southern California and the Coronado peninsula — home to the naval air base that inspired “Top Gun.”

These hemispheres weigh 300 pounds (135 kilograms) and look like huge thimbles.

They are made from a mixture of cement, sand and crushed oyster shells — a crucial ingredient that attracts living oysters to make their home there.

After 10 months in the water, the reefs are covered with a greenish silt, which hides thousands of still-microscopic oysters, says Maher.  

Eventually, the dozen scientists working on this pilot project hope to see the formation of real oyster reefs, which they believe will have a genuine impact on their local environment.

– Miniature filters –

The reefs are much more than a natural bulwark against tidal erosion; their bivalve occupants are all miniature filtration plants that are essential to the marine ecosystem.  

That’s because to capture the nutrients an oyster needs to survive, each one filters around 50 gallons (190 liters) of water every day, said Maher. 

“They help remove that turbidity out of the water and help clean the water, which will provide additional benefits to eelgrass, the submerged aquatic vegetation,” she said.

“The more eelgrass sits in the bay, the less chance there is of the shoreline eroding, because it helps — any plant will help prevent shorelines from eroding.”

And like the oysters, these long-filament seagrass beds will also provide a crucial food source for the 80 species of fish and 300 varieties of birds that make their home in the area.

– Flooding and erosion –

By 2050, sea levels around California are expected to have risen 20 centimeters (eight inches), according to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) study released early this year.  

This would drastically increase the frequency of flooding on the West Coast, which will also occur more often due to storms and heavy rainfall events exacerbated by human-caused climate change. 

And rising seas will worsen the erosion that threatens California’s coastline. 

Around San Diego, this future is already apparent.

To the south, the streets of Imperial Beach are regularly flooded during high tides. An hour’s drive to the north, the rail line that carries the “Pacific Surfliner” has just been closed at San Clemente, where the rocks that support it are sinking because of erosion. 

In this context, “We have to make sure that we’re resilient,” said Jason Giffen, vice president of planning and environment for the Port of San Diego. 

The $1.3 million oyster reef project is being evaluated over five years. Similar schemes have been established in San Francisco and New York.

The oyster barriers work only in areas of shallow water, Giffen said.

Elsewhere, the port is exploring other solutions. 

In the northern part of the bay, small hollow reinforcements have been attached to the piers.

They not only offer stability but provide refuge to algae, fish and shellfish, helping to bolster biodiversity.

Currently, about 70 percent of the shoreline around San Diego Bay has some type of artificially contructed rock protection.

“We can look at replacing in the long run that infrastructure with something that’s more biologically and environmentally sensitive and actually would be a value-add in terms of environmental quality,” said Giffen.

Nikolas Cruz, the man who shot and killed 17 people at a Florida high school in 2018, will learn his fate in the next few days, when a jury decides between life in prison and execution.

Cruz has pleaded guilty to the massacre, so all that remains after nearly three months of often disturbing testimony is for the jury to decide on his punishment.

It has been a gut-wrenching experience for relatives of those gunned down at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, a town north of Miami. 

Lawyers defending Cruz, who is now 24, will present their final arguments on Tuesday. Jury deliberations begin the following day.

If the jury of seven men and five women does not vote unanimously for capital punishment, Cruz will be sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole.

On February 14, 2018, the then 19-year-old Cruz walked into the school carrying a high-powered AR-15 rifle. He had been expelled from the school a year earlier for disciplinary reasons.

In a matter of nine minutes, he killed 14 students and three school employees, then fled by mixing in with people frantically escaping the gory scene.

Police arrested Cruz shortly thereafter as he walked along the street.

– Cold-blooded killer or troubled kid? –

The next few days in the Fort Lauderdale courtroom will show whether the prosecution, led by Michael Satz, or the defense, under Melisa McNeill, has laid out a more persuasive case.

McNeill, a public defender, centered her strategy on Cruz’s traumatic childhood. She argued that he was born with fetal alcohol stress disorder because his mother, who was homeless, drank heavily while pregnant with him. She also used drugs.

“He was poisoned in the womb,” McNeill told the court back in August. “His brain was irretrievably broken, through no fault of his own.”

Cruz’s birth mother gave him up in a brokered private adoption, McNeill said, but his adoptive mother also became an alcoholic, and he grew up in a broken home.

Cruz told the court that a family friend abused him sexually at age nine, and McNeill said his developmental and behavioral problems were never properly addressed.

Given the challenges he faced, she said, life in prison was a more appropriate punishment than execution.

Prosecutors, however, argued that Cruz knew exactly what he was doing when he walked into the school with a semi-automatic rifle and several ammunition clips.

Satz has said Cruz carried out a “cold, calculated, manipulative and deadly” act — one he had announced in a video taped three days earlier.

Satz played a video of the shooting recorded by another student. Screams, cries and moans were punctuated by multiple shots as terrified students sought cover from bullets blasting through the classroom door.

Several anguished relatives of the victims fled the courtroom as the video was played, while others wept openly and hugged their loved ones.

Satz called former students who had witnessed the shooting to testify, and organized a trip for the jury to visit the school.

The prosecutor tried to discredit the idea that Cruz suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome. He elicited testimony from a neuropsychologist, Robert Denney, who accused Cruz of faking brain problems by intentionally doing poorly on psychological tests.

Denney argued that the very fact that Cruz acted with premeditation showed that he understands reality and can control his actions. 

– Gun control –

The shooting stunned the nation and reignited debate on gun control, since Cruz had legally purchased the gun he used, despite his history of mental issues.

On March 24, 2018, nationwide marches inspired by school shooting survivors and parents of victims brought together 1.5 million people — the largest public turnout ever in defense of stricter gun control laws in America.

But the Parkland shooting prompted no significant reform and gun sales have continued to rise.

There have been more mass shootings, including one in Uvalde, Texas, in May that left 19 young children and two adults dead at an elementary school.

After the latest shootings, Congress did pass legislation to increase funding for school security and mental health care.

England’s Jodi Ewart Shadoff captured her first career LPGA title on Sunday, holding off a host of rivals for a wire-to-wire triumph at the LPGA Mediheal Championship.

Shadoff fired a one-under par 71 to finish 72 holes on 15-under 273 for a one-stroke victory at The Saticoy Club in Somis, west of Los Angeles.

The 34-year-old Briton made her victory breakthrough in her 246th career LPGA start.

“Surreal,” Shadoff said of the feeling. “I’ve waited a long time for this. There have been many times in my career I didn’t think this was ever going to happen so really grateful in this moment.”

Japan’s Yuka Saso made a late charge to shoot 66 and finish second on 274 with fast-closing Georgia Hall of England, late co-leader Paula Reto of South Africa and American Danielle Kang sharing third on 275.

World number 93 Shadoff had not won a title in 12 LPGA seasons but was third at June’s ShopRite Classic, her best result since a runner-up effort at the 2017 British Women’s Open.

After battling injuries and self-doubt, Shadoff can finally say she’s an LPGA champion.

“I’ve been through a lot in the past couple of years, injuries, and last year was really tough. I found it a pretty significant mental challenge to get through that,” Shadoff said.

“There were times during last year I didn’t think I would be playing this year so to be stood here today is really awesome. I didn’t give up on myself. I have a lot to be grateful for.”

Shadoff began the day after a restless night with a four-stroke lead but bogeys at the third and at the par-3 ninth after a birdie at the par-5 eighth left her in a fight for the crown.

“That four-shot lead quickly diminished,” she said. “I tried to stay in the moment and commit to every shot I was hitting.”

She responded with birdies at the 12th and par-5 14th and parred her way to the clubhouse, claiming the trophy with a tap-in par at 18.

“That last one-footer felt like 20 feet to me,” Shadoff said.

Reto, who won her first LPGA title in August at the Canadian Women’s Open, birdied four of the first eight holes and seized the lead and another birdie at 14 kept her level with Shadoff late but bogeys at 16 and 17 dropped her two adrift and that’s where she finished.

“Good start, which was nice,” Reto said. “When I got to the back nine I started slowing down and a couple shots got away from me.”

Saso, who began the day six off the pace, eagled the par-5 eighth, birdied 14 and birdied each of the last three holes but it was only good enough to grab second.

“I made some putts. I gave myself a chance,” Saso said. “I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing and have fun.”

Hall birdied five of the last seven holes and both par-5 holes on the front nine to shoot 65, but couldn’t deny her compatriot the crown.

“I was really pleased the way I finished,” Hall said. “I’ve always had good chances at birdies.”

Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein goes on trial in Los Angeles on Monday, where he faces charges in the city whose main industry he dominated for decades.

The 70-year-old “Pulp Fiction” producer is already serving 23 years in jail in New York after being convicted there of a series of sex crimes.

He now faces 11 more charges including sexual battery by restraint, forcible rape and forcible oral copulation against women in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles hotels between 2004 and 2013, in a trial expected to last two months.

If convicted, Weinstein — who has pleaded not guilty to all counts — could be sentenced to 140 additional years behind bars.

Jury selection was set to begin Monday in a downtown Los Angeles court.

Widespread sexual abuse and harassment allegations against Weinstein exploded in October 2017, and his conviction in New York in 2020 was a landmark in the #MeToo movement.

In June, he lost a bid to have that sex crimes conviction overturned. He has also been separately charged by British prosecutors with the 1996 indecent assault of a woman in London.

In total, nearly 90 women, including Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Salma Hayek, have accused Weinstein of harassment or assault. 

He says that all his sexual encounters were consensual, and his lawyer told reporters that the Los Angeles accusations “stem from many years ago” and cannot “be substantiated or corroborated by any forensic evidence” or “credible witnesses.”

The New York Film Festival this week will premiere “She Said,” a film about the 2017 newspaper investigation into Weinstein that sparked the demise of his movie empire.

Before the allegations against him emerged, the producer and his brother Bob were Hollywood’s ultimate power players.

They co-founded Miramax Films, a distribution company named after their mother Miriam and father Max, in 1979. It was sold to Disney in 1993.

Their hits included 1998’s “Shakespeare in Love,” for which Weinstein shared a best picture Oscar. Over the years, Weinstein’s films received more than 300 Oscar nominations and 81 statuettes.

Instagram and Twitter said they have restricted the accounts of US rapper Kanye West over posts slammed as anti-Semitic.  

A spokeswoman for Twitter told AFP on Sunday that West’s account was locked due to a violation of the social media platform’s policies. 

And a spokesperson for Instagram parent Meta told AFP the group had deleted content — without specifying which posts — from West’s account for violating its rules.

Instagram also restricted his account, which may involve preventing him from posting, commenting or sending private messages, according to the same source.

In the tweet, which is no longer visible on West’s account, the rapper said, “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE,” in apparent reference to a US military readiness code known as DEFCON.

The restrictions come after West, a Black artist who now goes by Ye, stirred controversy by wearing a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt during the recent Paris Fashion Week, in a misappropriation of the slogan “Black Lives Matter.”

The phrase “Black Lives Matter” became a rallying cry for protests against racism and police brutality sparked by the 2020 murder of George Floyd.

On Friday, 45-year-old West posted screen shots on Instagram of a conversation with rapper Diddy, who called out West over the T-shirt and its message.

“Ima use you as an example to show the Jewish people that told you to call me that no one can threaten or influence me. I told you this was war. Now gone get you some business,” he wrote. The posts have since been deleted from the platform but images can still be found online. 

He then said on Twitter that he would target Jewish people in a post that has been blocked by the platform for violating its rules. 

The American Jewish Committee (AJC) hit out at West for having “fomented hatred of Jews.” 

“Kanye West should figure out how to make a point without using antisemitism,” the organization said.

No stranger to controversy, West, who has been open about his struggles with bipolar disorder, was previously banned from posting on Instagram for 24 hours in March, amid an acrimonious divorce from reality TV star Kim Kardashian.

Earlier this week, German sportswear giant Adidas said it was reconsidering its partnership with West after he reportedly became disgruntled with how the brand was marketing his products.

Last month, West and retail brand Gap also announced an end to a partnership.