NKorea to liquidate SKorean assets, fires missiles into sea ADVERTISING NKorea to liquidate SKorean assets, fires missiles into sea SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea responded Thursday to new sanctions from South Korea by firing short-range ballistic missiles into
NKorea to liquidate SKorean assets, fires missiles into sea
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea responded Thursday to new sanctions from South Korea by firing short-range ballistic missiles into the sea in a show of defiance and vowing to “liquidate” all remaining South Korean assets at former cooperative projects in the North.
The moves are the latest in an escalating standoff between the Koreas that began in January when North Korea detonated what it said was an “H-bomb of justice,” its fourth nuclear test. Since then, the North has launched a long-range rocket and the South has shut a jointly run factory park, slapped sanctions on the North, and begun large-scale war games with the United States. North Korea responded by threatening nuclear strikes on South Korea and the U.S. mainland.
The missile firing Thursday came a day after North Korean media printed photos of what appeared to be a mock-up of a nuclear warhead.
The North’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said in a statement Thursday that North Korea will “liquidate” South Korean assets at the closed factory park in the North Korean border town of Kaesong and at a scrapped tourism resort at Diamond Mountain. In a continuation of bellicose rhetoric that has spiked in recent weeks, it said North Korea will also impose “lethal” military, political and economic blows on the South Korean government to accelerate its “pitiable demise.”
South Korea’s government called the North Korean statement a “provocative act” and warned the North not to damage any South Korean assets.
California lawmakers vote to raise smoking, vaping age to 21
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers voted Thursday to raise the legal age for purchasing and using tobacco and e-cigarettes from 18 to 21, putting the nation’s most populous state on the brink of becoming only the second after Hawaii to bar teenagers from lighting up, dipping or vaping.
Before it can become law, Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown must sign the legislation, which has already passed the state Assembly. His spokesman said the governor generally does not comment on pending legislation.
Only Hawaii has adopted the higher age limit statewide, although dozens of cities, including New York and San Francisco, have passed similar laws of their own.
“We can prevent countless California youth from becoming addicted to this deadly drug, save billions of dollars in direct health care costs and, most importantly, save lives,” said Democratic Sen. Ed Hernandez, who wrote the bill.
The higher age limit, part of a package of anti-tobacco bills, won approval despite intense lobbying from tobacco interests and fierce opposition from many Republicans, who said the state should butt out of people’s personal health decisions, even if they are harmful.
Obama, Trudeau show like-minded values in White House visit
WASHINGTON (AP) — One is leaving office soon, the other just starting, but President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau basked in mutual affection Thursday over all the things they share, emphasizing common ground on trade and combatting climate change.
Trudeau’s official visit to the United States was the first by a Canadian leader in nearly two decades. He and Obama announced new efforts to curb global warming and to make it easier for the two countries to trade with one another. They also appeared to enjoy each other’s company, with Obama playing the role of elder statesman and Trudeau sounding a youthful “hope and change” theme like the one Obama campaigned on seven years ago.
“From my perspective, what’s not to like?” Obama said.
The 44-year-old Trudeau, son of the late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, won last October’s election borrowing the theme of optimism and said he’s learned a lot from 54-year-old Obama.
“He’s somebody with a big heart, but also a big brain,” Trudeau said. “And for me to be able to count on a friend who has lived through many of the things that I’m about to encounter on the political stage, on the international stage, it’s a great comfort to me.”
