Trump says he expects to be arrested on Tuesday, calls for protests

Former U.S. president Donald Trump takes the stage to deliver remarks on education as he holds a campaign rally with supporters in Davenport, Iowa, on March 13. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Former U.S. President Donald Trump said he expects to be arrested on Tuesday in a case brought by the Manhattan district attorney's office, and called on his supporters to protest, according to a post on Truth Social on Saturday.

A spokesperson for the district attorney's office, Danielle Filson, said prosecutors "will decline to confirm or comment" on questions related to Trump's post, as well as potential charges. 

Trump said, without providing evidence, that "illegal leaks" from the Manhattan district attorney's office indicated that he would be arrested. He did not say what the charges would be.

"Illegal leaks from a corrupt & highly political Manhattan district attorney's office ... indicate that, with no crime being able to be proven ... the far & away leading Republican candidate & former president of the United States of America, will be arrested on Tuesday of next week," Trump wrote.

"Protest, take our nation back!" Trump said.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office earlier this year began presenting evidence to a grand jury investigating a $130,000 US payment that Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal lawyer and fixer, made to porn star Stormy Daniels in the waning days of Trump's 2016 campaign.

No evidence prosecutors have reached out

In a Saturday morning post on his own social media platform, Trump said he expected to be taken into custody as the Manhattan district attorney eyes charges in the investigation into hush-money payments to women who alleged sexual encounters with the former president.

Should Trump be indicted, he would be arrested only if he refused to surrender. Trump's lawyers have previously said he would follow normal procedure, meaning he would likely agree to surrender at a New York Police Department precinct or directly to Bragg's office.

A Trump lawyer, Susan Necheles, said Trump's post was "based on the media reports," though the origin of Trump's Tuesday reference was unclear. The district attorney's office declined comment.

There is no evidence that prosecutors have made any formal contact to warn Trump that he would be taken into custody. A Trump spokesperson said Saturday that "there has been no notification" of a pending arrest.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, says she had an affair with Trump a decade earlier. Trump has denied the affair happened.

Trump was Republican president from 2017 to 2021 and has said he will make a bid to return to the White House in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

Bragg's office earlier this month invited Trump to testify before the grand jury probing the hush money payments, according to Trump's lawyer, Susan Necheles. Legal experts said that was a sign that an indictment was close.

Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal campaign finance violations tied to his arranging payments to Daniels and another woman, among other crimes. He has said Trump directed him to make the payments. The U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan did not charge Trump with a crime.

Cohen testified before the grand jury on Monday and again on Wednesday, according to his lawyer, Lanny Davis. Grand jury proceedings are not public.

Daniels's lawyer said she spoke with prosecutors last week.

Trump facing other investigations

The probe is one of several legal woes Trump faces as he seeks the Republican nomination for the presidency.

Trump is also confronting a state-level criminal probe in Georgia over efforts to overturn the 2020 results in that state.

A special counsel named by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland is currently investigating Trump's handling of classified government documents after leaving office, as well s his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to President Joe Biden, a Democrat.

Bragg's office last year won the conviction of the Trump Organization on tax fraud charges. But Bragg declined to charge Trump himself with financial crimes related to his business practices, prompting two prosecutors who worked on the probe to resign.

Trump leads his early rivals for his party's nomination, holding the support of 43 per cent of Republicans in a February Reuters/Ipsos poll, compared with 31 per cent for his nearest rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has not yet announced his candidacy.

Putin Visits Crimea to Mark 9th Anniversary of Its Reunification With Russia

A nationwide referendum was held in Crimea and Sevastopol nine years ago, on March 16, 2014. At the time, over 95% of the voters were in favor of reunification with Russia, rejoining the homeland after decades of severance.

On the day of the ninth anniversary of the reunification of Russia and Crimea, Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Sevastopol for the opening of the art school and the Korsun center.

“Our President, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, knows how to surprise us,” Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev wrote on Telegram, adding that the head of state had personally driven his black SUV to Crimea. The governor added that on this historic day the President is always "with Sevastopol and the people of Sevastopol." "Our country has an incredible leader!" remarked the Sevastopol Governor.

"Our country has an incredible leader!" remarked the Sevastopol Governor.

Ahead of the visit, on Friday, Putin held a meeting on the socio-economic development of the region. Dmitry Peskov, Press Secretary of the Russian President, previously told reporters that Vladimir Putin had planned an event on the occasion of the anniversary of the reunification of Crimea with Russia via video conference on March 18.

A decree adopted by the USSR Supreme Soviet on February 19, 1954, had transferred Crimea to the Ukrainian SSR. The decree is believed to have been the personal initiative of Nikita Khrushchev, then general secretary of the Central Committee of the USSR Communist Party. While inhabitants of the Crimean Peninsula several times attempted to hold an independence referendum, it was deemed illicit by the central authorities.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Crimea became part of independent Ukraine, and the 2014 referendum finally saw it incorporated into Russia.

On the eve of the anniversary of the reunification, a poll conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) showed that a majority of Russians (86%) believe that the 2014 decision to incorporate the Crimean peninsula into Russia was correct, and 56% of those surveyed feel proud about the reunification of the territories.

Russia rescued Crimea from Ukrainian poverty – local leader

Crimea’s progress after joining Russia in 2014 has been much greater than it ever was under Ukrainian rule, the head of the republic’s State Council, Vladimir Konstantinov, said in an interview with Russia 1 TV on Saturday. His remarks came during the celebration of the ninth anniversary of the peninsula’s reunification with Russia.

"We escaped poverty and infrastructural desolation, now turning into a prospering region with a road system, infrastructure, preschools, kindergartens, water and gas," Konstantinov said. He added that "we achieved everything generations of Crimeans have been dreaming of since Soviet times."

The official also wrote on Telegram the same day that the "successes and achievements would have been impossible without the help of Russian regions and Moscow’s attention to Crimea."

Similarly, the head of the Republic of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, said on Saturday that reunification with Russia was symbolic of "the birth of a new world order, one based on justice and mutual respect."

Crimea held a referendum to join Russia in 2014, shortly after the Maidan coup in Kiev. Around 80% of those eligible to vote took part, with 96.7% voting in favor of reunification.

Kiev then tacitly approved a blockade of the Dnieper River in 2015, which supplied water for Crimea’s agricultural industry. This was lifted in February 2022 at the beginning of Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said last month that Kiev is preparing for an offensive to re-capture Crimea. The deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council and former president, Dmitry Medvedev, said that if Kiev were to attack the peninsula, "there would be no negotiations, just retaliatory strikes."

Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Crimea on the day of the ninth anniversary of the peninsula’s reunification Russia, according to a footage shown by TV broadcasters on Saturday.

According to Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the head of state is to take part in the opening of a significant cultural and historical site. Earlier, it was expected that Putin would join the event by video link.

On Friday, the president's schedule was also partly devoted to the situation on the peninsula. Putin held a meeting devoted to the socio-economic development of Crimea and Sevastopol.

Putin traditionally participates in festive events on March 18. He repeatedly attended gala concerts dedicated to this date at Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium, held special meetings with the public and visited Crimea personally.

Last time Putin visited the peninsula in July 2020. He inspected the Zaliv shipyard in the city of Kerch to take part in a keel-laying ceremony for several naval ships. In December 2022, he visited the Crimean Bridge, which was being repaired after a terrorist attack.

Ramzan Kadyrov Janjikan Hadiah Untuk Menangkap Prajurit Ukrania Yang Membakar AlQuran

Ramzan Kadyrov
©Getty Images/Anadolu Agency

Kepala Republik Chechnya Rusia, Ramzan Kadyrov, telah menawarkan hadiah yang murah hati untuk "menangkap" prajurit Ukraina yang terekam dalam video yang menodai Alquran. Rekaman, yang diposting ulang oleh pejabat Rusia, menunjukkan dua pria yang tampak seperti seragam militer Ukraina menggunakan halaman dari kitab suci umat Islam untuk menyalakan api.

Dalam akun Telegram pada hari Jumat, Kadyrov bersikeras bahwa hanya dengan mengeluarkan “kecaman resmi atas tindakan hama Ukraina yang baru-baru ini membakar halaman-halaman dari Alquran” tidak akan cukup.

"Saya mengumumkan hadiah lima juta rubel untuk menghilangkan sampah ini," tulisnya, menambahkan bahwa hadiahnya akan dua kali lebih tinggi jika penoda itu ditangkap hidup-hidup.

Pemimpin Chechnya itu menekankan bahwa penghargaan tersebut dapat diklaim kapan saja di masa depan. “Kapan pun itu terjadi - hari ini, besok, dalam setahun - uang akan menunggu. Dan tidak peduli siapa yang melakukannya: satu peleton, kelompok, satu orang, tetangga di parit, uangnya akan diserahkan sepenuhnya.

Dalam postingan terpisah, Kadyrov bersumpah bahwa dia tidak akan membiarkan siapa pun memperlakukan kitab suci Islam dengan tidak hormat. Dia mengungkapkan harapan bahwa hukuman Tuhan akan diberikan kepada para penghujat “melalui prajurit kami yang ingin menghancurkan Anda lebih dari yang Anda inginkan untuk hidup.”

Menurut Kadyrov, rekaman terbaru mewakili ideologi negara Ukraina dan menggambarkan sifat "fasis-setan". Dia juga menyatakan keraguan bahwa pria dalam video tersebut akan berani melakukan ini seandainya ada satu orang Chechnya atau Muslim di sekitarnya pada saat itu.

Pemimpin Chechnya itu juga mencemooh "orang-orang yang disebut Muslim yang diduga berperang sebagai bagian dari angkatan bersenjata Ukraina." Orang-orang seperti itu tidak memiliki alasan untuk memihak “musuh Allah,” Kadyrov menyimpulkan.

Mengomentari video kontroversial tersebut, Ibrahim Aydin, seorang anggota parlemen dari partai Keadilan dan Pembangunan yang berkuasa di Türkiye, mencirikan adegan di dalamnya sebagai "provokasi dan serangan terhadap agama kita." Dia, bagaimanapun, menyatakan skeptis atas kebenaran rekaman tersebut, menyebut media sosial sebagai sumber yang tidak dapat diandalkan.

Sementara itu, perwakilan militer dan diplomat Ukraina pada hari Kamis membantah bahwa personel militer negara itu terlibat dalam insiden tersebut.

Hendra/Ahsan Bikin Sport Jantung Untuk Kembali ke Final All England

Pasangan ganda putra Indonesia, Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan, berpose setelah memastikan diri ke semifinal All England Open 2023 di Utilita Arena, Birmingham, Inggris, Kamis (17/3/2023). (PP PBSI)

BIRMINGHAM - Laga ganda putra Hendra Setiawan/Mohammad Ahsan lawan ganda Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang berlangsung seru, menegangkan dan bikin sport jantung, diakhiri dengan kemenangan The Daddies dengan skor 21-15, 19-21, 29-27. Kembali untuk ketiga kalinya Hendra/Ahsan meraih tiket final All England 2023 di Utilita Arena Birmingham, Inggris, Sabtu malam WIb, 18/03/2023.

Kemenangan yang diraih pasangan berjuluk The Daddies itu tidaklah mudah. Mereka harus melewati perlawanan sengit dari pasangan muda China dengan rubber set berdurasi 68 menit.

The Daddies mendapat perlawanan sejak pertama, di mana kedua pasangan sama-sama bermain ngotot agar bisa melaju ke partai puncak turnamen berkategori BWF Super 1000 tersebut. Perolehan poin The Daddies berjalan tanpa hambatan berarti, yang sanggup meninggalkan Liang/Wang dengan skor terpaut cukup jauh 10-5, 17-11, dan berakhir dengan 21-15.

Di set kedua The Dadies kesulitan menghadapi permainan cepat Liang/Wang. Sempat merebut keunggulan pada skor 12-10 dan 17-14, Hendra/Ahsan kembali tertinggal setelah Liang/Wang merebut sejumlah poin beruntun dan mengambil alih kemenangan gim kedua.

Keseruan terjadi pada set penentu, saat kedua pasangan terlibat kejar mengejar poin. The Daddies dan Liang/Wang tak mau kalah dan saling balas merebut poin satu sama lain sejak awal gim. Bahkan saat The Daddies unggul 15-9, Liang/Wang sanggup mengejar dengan tiga poin bertubi-tubi dan terus mempersempit jarak poin.

Puncak ketegangan terjadi saat kedua pasangan mencapai match point 20-20. Kedua pasangan saling balas pengembalian dan mematikan lawan lewat reli-reli singkat.

Bahkan, Ahsan sempat terluka pada sikut tangan kanannya akibat berusaha menahan pukulan lawan hingga terjatuh.

Pasangan China belum menyerah, mereka masih bisa menyamakan kedudukan lagi lewat duel sengi hingga skor kembar mencapai 27-27.

Ahsan/Hendra yang terus dikejar akhirnya bisa keluar dari tekanan, mereka mencetak dua poin tambahan dan mengamankan kemenangan pada 29-27.

Hendra/Ahsan Ungkap Kunci Sukses

"Pastinya mengucap syukur alhamdulillah bisa memenangkan pertandingan hari ini. Lawan bermain sangat bagus, sangat tidak mudah bagi kami," ujar Ahsan dalam rilis PBSI.

"Kami coba tampil terus maksimal di poin-poin kritis itu. Kami tidak tahu siapa yang bakal menang, kami hanya berupaya dan alhamdulillah kami bisa menang," ia melanjutkan.

Sedangkan Hendra mengatakan kontrol emosi turut menjadi kunci di balik sukses lolos ke final All England untuk kali keempat bersama Ahsan.

"Di gim ketiga, pelatih mengingatkan kami untuk mengatur tempo permainan. Jangan kencang-kencang terus, karena mereka semakin kita main kencang, mereka malah semakin kencang juga. Jaga dan kontrol emosinya yang penting," katanya.

"Harapan sih pastinya mau All Indonesian Final tapi kan Fajar/Rian belum main. Ya semoga saja terwujud."

LIVE UPDATES - Russian Air Defenses Intercept 15 HIMARS, Smerch, Uragan Rockets in Past Day

©Russian Defense Ministry

Russian air defenses intercepted 15 HIMARS, Smerch and Uragan rockets in the past day, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov said on Saturday.

"Air defenses intercepted 15 HIMARS, Smerch and Uragan rockets in the past day. In addition, nine Ukrainian drones were destroyed near Novaya Tarasovka in the Kharkov Region, Rubezhnoye and Chervonopopovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic and Staromayorskoye, Vladimirovka, Yegorovka and Valeryanovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic," he specified.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, a total of 402 aircraft, 221 helicopters, 3,457 drones, 414 missile systems, 8,330 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,066 multiple rocket launchers, 4,381 field artillery mounts and mortars, as well as 8,996 special military motor vehicles.

Russian forces hit 89 Ukrainian artillery units in firing positions

"Tactical and army aircraft, together with missile and artillery units of the Russian Armed Forces, hit 89 Ukrainian artillery units in firing positions, as well as enemy troops and equipment in 107 areas. The command post of the 110th Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces was hit near the Tonenkoye settlement in the Donetsk People’s Republic," Konashenkov reported.

Russian forces kill up to 120 Ukrainian troops along Donetsk frontline

"The Southern group of forces, aircraft and artillery units killed up to 120 Ukrainian troops on the Donetsk frontline, destroying two armored combat vehicles, two cars, two Uragan multiple rocket launchers and a D-30 howitzer," he noted.

Russian forces kill up to 60 Ukrainian troops on Kupyansk frontline

"Artillery units of the Western group of forces hit enemy troops near Dvurechnaya, Sinkovka and Kotlyarovka in the Kharkov Region and Stelmakhovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic," Defense Ministry Spokesman specified.

According to him, three cars were destroyed on the Kupyansk frontline.

Russian forces kill up to 50 Ukrainian troops along South Donetsk, Zaporozhye frontlines

The general added, that Ukrainian troops were also hit near Novomikhailovka and Ugledar in the Donetsk People’s Republic and Levadnoye and Orekhovo in the Zaporozhye Region.

"The enemy lost up to 50 troops and two pickup trucks on these frontlines in the past day," Konashenkov concluded.

Russian MoD briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪️In the Kupyansk direction, Russian artillery destroyed up to 60 Ukrainian troops and three motor vehicles in the Kharkov region and LPR;

▪️In Krasny Liman direction, Ukrainian losses amounted to over 100 troops, two armored fighting vehicles and one Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer;

▪️In the Donetsk direction, Russian forces eliminated up to 120 Ukrainian troops, two armored fighting vehicles, two motor vehicles, two Uragan MLRS vehicles and one D-30 howitzer;

▪️In the South Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions, Russian troops eliminated up to 50 Ukrainian troops and two pick-up trucks;

▪️In the Kherson direction, the Russian Army destroyed over 25 Ukrainian servicemen, four motor vehicles, and two D-30 howitzers;

▪️Russian Forces eliminated a Ukrainian command post in the Donetsk People's Republic;

▪️Russian air defense systems intercepted 15 HIMARS, Smerch, and Uragan missiles in DPR.

Twitter pushed to censor ‘true stories’ on Covid – Matt Taibbi

Protesters gather for a rally against Covid-19 vaccine mandates in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, January 23, 2022 © AP / Patrick Semansky

A government-linked academic group pushed Twitter to censor factually correct stories about Covid-19 if they risked “fueling hesitancy” about vaccines, according to the latest batch of internal documents released by the platform’s new owner, Elon Musk.

Published by journalist Matt Taibbi on Friday, the documents show that from February 2021 onwards, senior Twitter management – including former trust and safety chief Yoel Roth – signed up to a Stanford University initiative that would alert them to the latest “vaccine-related disinformation narratives” spreading on the platform.

‘The Virality Project’ was led by a former CIA employee and comprised academics from several universities, as well as researchers from organizations funded by the Pentagon, the National Science Foundation, and the US State Department.  It claimed on its website that it “built strong ties” with the Office of the Surgeon General, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Department of Homeland Security, among other agencies and departments.

42.VP’s partners: DOD-funded Graphika, the National Science Foundation funded Center for an Informed Public (CIP), the GEC-funded DFRLab, and the NYU Center for Social Media and Politics, or CSMaP. pic.twitter.com/G4QsMQyr3h

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) March 17, 2023

In its briefings to Twitter, the Virality Project recommended that “true content which might promote vaccine hesitancy” – such as stories of side effects and certain vaccines being banned abroad – be censored. Posts raising concern about vaccine mandates were viewed as “anti-vax” misinformation, while “just asking questions” was deemed “a tactic commonly used by spreaders of misinformation,” and posting about the “surveillance state” was deemed a bannable “conspiracy” theory.

It is unclear how often Twitter acceded to the Virality Project’s demands, though Taibbi claimed that within a month, the platform’s staff began using the project’s recommendations when evaluating content to censor.

At the time, Twitter’s rules on Covid-19 “misinformation” required a specific post to be “demonstrably false,” while permitting “strong commentary,” opinion writing, and satire. The Virality Project, however, urged Twitter management to ban “repeat offenders” before they even made new posts. 

Sharing the leaked emails of White House coronavirus czar Anthony Fauci could “exacerbate distrust in Dr. Fauci and in US public health institutions,” the Virality Project warned in a June 2021 briefing, while a follow-up report highlighted the spread of “worrisome jokes” about harassing the door-to-door vaccine promoters deployed by the administration of US President Joe Biden.

“As Orwellian proof-of-concept, the Virality Project was a smash success,” Taibbi wrote on Friday. “Government, academia, and an oligopoly of would-be corporate competitors organized quickly behind a secret, unified effort to control political messaging.”

Since purchasing Twitter in October and installing himself as the platform’s new CEO, Musk has been releasing regular batches of internal documents and communications in a bid to shed light on its previously opaque censorship policies. A tranche of files released in December revealed that Twitter censored “legitimate content” on Covid-19 at the direct request of the White House.

Twitter Files detail Covid censorship campaign

The latest batch of Twitter files released by CEO Elon Musk show how the platform censored posts about Covid-19 that didn’t align with the White House’s message. Qualified doctors and epidemiologists were suppressed and banned at the direct request of the Biden administration, the documents suggest.

Both the Trump and Biden administrations pushed Twitter to moderate coronavirus-related content, journalist David Zweig reported on Monday, citing the company’s internal communications. While Trump’s team wanted to suppress rumors of shortages at grocery-stores to combat panic-buying, Biden switched focus to “misinformation” about vaccines once his team took over in January 2021.

According to files seen by Zweig, Biden’s staff directly pressured Twitter to ban “high-profile anti-vaxxer accounts,” including that of former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson, who has persistently claimed that the risks of vaccination outweigh the benefits.

Twitter complied and suspended Berenson in July 2021, but employees said afterwards that “the Biden team” was still “not satisfied” with the platform’s censorship efforts, and angrily demanded that it “de-platform several accounts.”

12. Culbertson wrote that the Biden team was “very angry” that Twitter had not been more aggressive in deplatforming multiple accounts. They wanted Twitter to do more. pic.twitter.com/lZTQV3yKeZ

— David Zweig (@davidzweig) December 26, 2022

Twitter placed a warning label on the account of a Harvard epidemiologist who argued that “those with prior natural infection” do not need to be vaccinated, and flagged as “misleading” tweets that cited the Biden administration’s own data on Covid death rates. It used a combination of AI “bots” and contracted moderators in foreign countries to make these decisions.

A physician was flagged for sharing the results of a peer-reviewed study linking vaccination with cardiac arrests in young people, while another doctor was permanently suspended for referring to a published study suggesting that vaccination temporarily impairs male patients’ sperm count.

“Dissident yet legitimate content was labeled as misinformation, and the accounts of doctors and others were suspended both for tweeting opinions and demonstrably true information,” Zweig tweeted.

When former President Donald Trump urged his followers not to “be afraid of Covid” following his own recovery from the illness, Twitter’s senior moderators debated taking action against the tweet, before concluding that Trump’s “optimistic” assessment did not count as misinformation.

Since purchasing Twitter for $44 billion in October, Elon Musk has released batches of documents shedding light on the platform’s previously opaque censorship policies.

Published by several independent journalists, these document dumps have shown how Twitter suppressed information damaging to Joe Biden’s election campaign, colluded with the FBI to remove content the agency wanted hidden, assisted the US military’s online influence campaigns, and censored “anti-Ukraine narratives” on behalf of multiple US intelligence agencies.

Over 800,000 youths volunteer to join military – North Korean media

The Korean Children's Union of the Central Committee of the Socialist Patriotic Youth League performing to mark the 80th birthday of former leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang. © STR / KCNA VIA KNS / AFP

Hundreds of thousands of young people in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea have expressed willingness to enlist in the armed forces, the country’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Saturday. The outlet said this was due to aggressive US posturing toward North Korea, which was “reaching the limit that can no longer be tolerated.”

The state-run outlet named Kim Il-sung University, Kim Chaek University of Technology, Hamhung University of Chemical Technology, and Nampo Normal University among the educational facilities where students have volunteered to serve in the military.

The young people’s “zeal” comes at a time when American “war maniacs” as well as “their puppet traitors,” – an apparent reference to South Korea – were embarking on an effort to destroy the North, the agency said. The report accused the two allies of “aggressively violating” Pyongyang’s sovereignty and security interests “to the greatest extent in history.”

On Thursday, North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un oversaw the launch of a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), saying the show of force was intended to “strike fear into enemies” and to “deter war,” as quoted by the KCNA.

Pyongyang conducted three other ballistic missile tests earlier this week.

Explaining the need for the uptick in testing, Kim cited American and South Korean “open hostility toward the DPRK” which has manifested itself in the two nations staging “reckless” and “large-scale” exercises on the Korean Peninsula.

Pyongyang has repeatedly stated that it views such drills by Washington and Seoul as preparation for an attack.

Codenamed ‘Freedom Shield,’ the maneuvers kicked off on Monday and are set to continue into next week. The two allies have described the drill as the largest of its kind in five years, and blamed the North for destabilizing actions they say warrant increased readiness.

Codenamed ‘Freedom Shield,’ the maneuvers kicked off on Monday and are set to continue into next week. The two allies have described the drill as the largest of its kind in five years, and blamed the North for destabilizing actions they say warrant increased readiness.

The US and South Korea have already held several other military exercises this year, some of them involving B-52H strategic bombers.