- Bangladesh into Super Eights with win over Nepal
- Nuclear arms spending soars as global tensions swell: studies
- Sri Lanka deliver big win over Dutch as they bow out of T20 World Cup
- 'Outsiders,' 'Stereophonic' top Tony Awards
- Weghorst reprises super sub role to offer Dutch plan B at Euros
- Portugal's record collector Ronaldo 'thinking big' at Euro 2024
- Philippine, Chinese ships collide near hotspot reef: Beijing
- Asian stocks struggle after tepid Wall St lead, euro dips further
- Once fruitful, Libyan village suffers climate crisis
- 'Meaty rice'? South Korean professor aims to change global protein
- Sri Lanka make 201-6 against Netherlands in T20 World Cup
- 'Shot of my life' helps lift DeChambeau to second US Open title
- Philippine ship, Chinese vessel collide in South China Sea: Beijing
- France begins frenetic campaign after Macron poll gamble
- Wu makes Australian diving history with fifth Olympics
- Illegal gold mining eats into Peruvian Amazon
- Shareholders OK with soaring executive pay in US
- On thin ice: Greenland's last Inuit polar bear hunters
- McIlroy silence speaks volumes after US Open collapse
- Walsh follows up 100m fly world record with Olympic berth
- McIlroy departs Pinehurst without talking to media after US Open collapse
- Team 'Melodi' woos India as Meloni-Modi video goes viral
- DeChambeau outlasts McIlroy to win second US Open crown
- DeChambeau edges McIlroy by one stroke to win US Open
- In hostile Boston, Mavs' Irving aims to keep focus on NBA Finals challenge
- Southgate says England will benefit from Serbia suffering
- Vu wins LPGA Meijer Classic after playoff thriller
- Nuclear arms more prominent amid geopolitical tensions: researchers
- Lucu boots Bordeaux-Begles into Top 14 semis
- England begin Euro 2024 quest with win over Serbia, Dutch edge Poland
- Bellingham sparkles as England star takes centre stage at Euros
- Bellingham gets unconvincing England off to winning Euros start
- Water crisis batters war-torn Sudan as temperatures soar
- 'Best manager' Ten Hag reveals Tuchel was approached for his United job
- DeChambeau and McIlroy share US Open lead as drama builds
- Zuma's party joins S.African opposition alliance
- Love double as Boulter and De Minaur win tennis titles on same day
- Denmark's Eriksen glad for 'very different' Euros experience
- Eriksen scores on emotional Euros return as Denmark held by Slovenia
- Rangnick optimistic as he leads Austria into Euros in home country
- French Open champion Alcaraz eager to take clay form into grass season
- Babar delivers captain's knock as Pakistan bow out with win over Ireland
- US Open leader DeChambeau tees off in last round at Pinehurst
- Belgium coach Tedesco 'sure' De Bruyne ready for Euros
- Eriksen scores on emotional Euro return as Denmark held by Slovenia
- 'Inside Out 2' posts smashing debut at N.American box office
- Andy Murray uncertain if he'll play in fifth Olympics
- France braces for frenetic campaign as Mbappe warns against extremes
- German police shoot man wielding weapons ahead of Euros match
- Afghan Taliban govt says to attend next round of UN talks in Doha
N. Korea ICBM launch appears to have failed, Seoul says
North Korea unsuccessfully fired an intercontinental ballistic missile during a new salvo of launches Thursday, the South Korean military said, with Washington urging all nations to enforce sanctions on Pyongyang.
People in parts of northern Japan were ordered to seek shelter during the North's latest launches, which included two short-range missiles and followed a blitz of projectiles fired Wednesday.
The largest of Thursday's launches, however, "is presumed to have ended in failure", the South Korean military said.
The United States condemned the ICBM launch despite its apparent failure.
"This action underscores the need for all countries to fully implement DPRK-related UN Security Council resolutions," US State Department spokesman Ned Price said, using the North's official name of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Washington also confirmed information provided by the South Korean military, which said earlier it had detected the launch of the long-range ballistic missile at around 7:40 am (2240 GMT Wednesday) in the Sunan area of Pyongyang.
Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the ICBM appeared to have failed during "second stage separation".
"The range of the long-range ballistic missile is around 760 kilometres, altitude of 1,920 kilometres at speed of Mach 15," the military said.
It also detected what were "believed to be two short-range ballistic missiles fired at around 08:39 am from Kaechon, South Pyongan province."
South Korea's military "is maintaining a full readiness posture while closely cooperating with the US and strengthening surveillance and vigilance," it said.
- 'The most horrible price' -
Pyongyang fired more than 20 missiles on Wednesday, including one that landed near South Korea's territorial waters.
One short-range ballistic missile crossed the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border, on Wednesday, prompting President Yoon Suk-yeol to call it "effectively a territorial invasion".
The launches come as Seoul and Washington stage their largest-ever joint air drills, involving hundreds of warplanes from both sides.
Pyongyang has called the exercise, dubbed Vigilant Storm, "an aggressive and provocative military drill targeting the DPRK," and warned that, if it continues, Seoul and Washington will "pay the most horrible price in history."
Tokyo confirmed Thursday's launches, with the Japanese government issuing a special warning to residents of northern regions to stay indoors or seek shelter.
Tokyo initially said the missile had flown over Japan, prompting a "J-Alert" to be issued, but defence minister Yasukazu Hamada later said "the missile did not cross the Japanese archipelago, but disappeared over the Sea of Japan."
- 'Tactical nuclear drills' -
Washington and Seoul have repeatedly warned that Kim Jong Un's recent missile launches could culminate in another nuclear test -- which would be Pyongyang's seventh.
"Quite possible tactical nuclear weapons test(s) will be next. Possibly very soon," Chad O'Carroll of Seoul-based specialist site NK News said on Twitter.
Ahn Chan-il, a North Korean studies scholar, agreed.
"These are North Korea's pre-celebration events ahead of their upcoming nuclear test," he told AFP.
"They also seem like a series of practical tests for their tactical nuclear deployment."
North Korea revised its laws in September to allow for pre-emptive nuclear strikes, with leader Kim declaring the country to be an "irreversible" nuclear power -- effectively ending negotiations over its banned arms programs.
On October 4, North Korea fired a missile over Japan that also prompted evacuation warnings. Pyongyang later claimed it was a "new-type ground-to-ground intermediate-range ballistic missile".
It was first time North Korea had fired a missile over Japan since 2017.
Pyongyang later claimed that the launch and a blizzard of other tests around the same time were "tactical nuclear drills" that simulated showering South Korea with nuclear-tipped missiles.
J.Fankhauser--BTB