Nation & World Glance
North Korea says it tested new anti-ship missile
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Friday it has tested a new type of cruise missile that could strike U.S. and South Korean warships “at will” if it is attacked, in an apparent reference to the projectiles detected by Seoul when they were launched a day earlier.
The missiles represent the fourth new missile system North Korea said it has introduced and successfully tested this year, sending a defiant message that it will continue to pursue a weapons program that has rattled its neighbors and Washington.
“This new-type cruise rocket is a powerful attack means capable of striking any enemy group of battleships” attempting to attack North Korea and can be used “at will,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said.
It said leader Kim Jong Un observed the launches and that the missiles “accurately detected and hit” floating targets at sea after making “circular flights.”
The North’s claims cannot be independently confirmed.
Texas grand jury indicts deputy, husband in death of man
HOUSTON — A Texas sheriff’s deputy and her husband were indicted Thursday on murder charges in the death of a man they restrained during a late night confrontation outside of a restaurant while she was off duty.
A Harris County grand jury in Houston returned the indictment against Chauna and Terry Thompson for the fatal altercation with 24-year-old John Hernandez. The Thompsons declined to testify before the grand jury, District Attorney Kim Ogg said. Both turned themselves in about 10 p.m. Thursday, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office Twitter page. Bond has been set at $100,000 apiece.
The grand jury heard from more than a dozen witnesses and viewed video of the May 28 incident that bystanders recorded, Ogg said.
Hernandez died three days after the confrontation, which occurred outside a Denny’s restaurant in Sheldon, 17 miles (27.36 kilometers) northeast of Houston.
Ogg said Chauna Thompson, a Harris County deputy, was indicted on a murder charge because Texas law holds a person equally criminally responsible if that individual aids or otherwise participates in the act.
Japan enacts law for Emperor Akihito, 83, to abdicate
TOKYO — Japan’s parliament has passed a law allowing Emperor Akihito to become the first monarch to abdicate in 200 years.
The 83-year-old emperor expressed his apparent wish to abdicate last August, citing old age and health.