North Korea says more missiles to come as UN condemns launch

SEOUL/UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has promised more missile flights over Japan, insisting his nuclear-armed nation's provocative launch was a mere "curtain-raiser", in the face of UN condemnation and US warnings of severe repercussions.

The Hwasong-12 intermediaterange missile that Pyongyang unleashed on Tuesday represented a major escalation in the face of tensions over its weapons programs.

In recent weeks it has threatened to send a salvo of missiles towards the US territory of Guam, while President Donald Trump has warned of raining "fire and fury" on the North.

After the latest launch Trump said that "all options" were on the table, reviving his implied threat of pre-emptive US military action just days after congratulating himself that Kim appeared to be "starting to respect us".

The UN Security Council -- which has already imposed seven sets of sanctions on Pyongyang -- said in a unanimous statement the North's actions "are not just a threat to the region, but to all UN member states".

Both the North's key ally China and

HOUSTON (AP) – With its flood defenses strained, the crippled city of Houston anxiously watched dams and levees Tuesday to see if they would hold until the rain stops, and meteorologists offered the first reason for hope - a forecast

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan’s gaffe-prone deputy prime minister Taro Aso on Wednesday retracted comments in which he cited Adolf Hitler, but insisted he did not mean to praise the Nazi leader.

Aso used Hitler -- responsible for the death of millions of Jews and others Russia, which also has ties to it, backed the US-drafted declaration, but it will not immediately lead to new or tightened measures against Pyongyang.

The Rodong Sinmun newspaper, the mouthpiece of the North's ruling party, on Wednesday carried more than 20 pictures of the launch near Pyongyang, one showing Kim smiling broadly at a desk with a map of the Northwest Pacific, surrounded by aides.

Another showed him gazing upwards as the missile rose into the air.

South Korea's military said Tuesday that it had travelled around 2,700 kilometers (1,700 miles) and reached a maximum altitude of 550 kilometers.

The official Korean Central News Agency cited Kim as saying that "more ballistic rocket launching drills with the Pacific as a target in the future" were necessary.

Tuesday's launch was a “meaningful prelude to containing Guam, advanced base of invasion", he said, and a "curtain-raiser" for the North's "resolute countermeasures" against ongoing US-South Korean military exercises which the North regards as a rehearsal for invasion.

Tuesday's missile overflight trig- with less than an inch of rain and even a chance for sunshine.

The human toll continued to mount, both in deaths and in the ever-swelling number of scared people made homeless by the catastrophic storm that is during World War II -- in a bizarre reference about the importance of leaving a legacy in politics.

“What is important are results,’’ the veteran politician told a meeting of his faction of the governing Liberal Democratic Party on Tuesday.

“Even if the motive is correct, Hitler, gered consternation in world capitals and on the ground, with sirens blaring out and text message alerts being sent in Japan warning people to take cover.

"Threatening and destabilizing actions only increase the North Korean regime's isolation in the region and among all nations of the world," Trump said in a White House statement. "All options are on the table." now the heaviest tropical downpour in US history.

The city's largest shelter was overflowing when the mayor announced plans to create space for thousands of extra people by opening two and possibly three more mega-shelters.

“We are not turning anyone away. But it does mean we need to expand our capabilities and our capacity,'' Mayor Sylvester Turner said. “Relief is coming.''

Louisiana's governor offered to take in Harvey victims from Texas, and televangelist Joel Osteen opened his Houston megachurch, a 16,000-seat former arena, after critics blasted him on social media for not acting to help families displaced by the storm.

Meteorologists said the sprawling city would soon get a chance to dry out.

When Harvey returns to land Wednesday, “it's the end of the beginning,'' National Hurricane Center meteorologist Dennis Feltgen said.

Harvey will spend much of Wednesday dropping rain on Louisiana before moving on to Arkansas, Tennessee and parts of Missouri, which could also see flooding.

But Feltgen cautioned: “We're not done with this. There's still an awful lot of real estate and a lot of people who are going to feel the impacts of the storm.''

The National Weather Service predicted less of an inch of rain for Houston on Wednesday and only a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms for Thursday. Friday's forecast called for mostly sunny skies with a high near 94.

In all, more than 17,000 people have sought refuge in Texas shelters, and that number seemed certain to increase, who killed millions of people, was no good.’’

On Wednesday Aso, who is also finance minister, retracted the remark but said he did not mean to defend Hitler’s motives.

“If you take my comment in its entirety, it is clear that my perception

At the UN Security Council emergency meeting Washington's Ambassador Nikki Haley warned that "enough is enough" and that tough action had to be taken.

"It's unacceptable," Haley said. "They have violated every single UN Security Council resolution that we've had, and so I think something serious has to happen." the American Red Cross said.

The city's largest shelter, the George R. Brown Convention Center, held more than 9,000 people, almost twice the number officials originally planned to house there. The crowds included many from outside Houston.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said he expected Texas officials to decide within 48 hours whether to accept his offer, which comes as Louisiana deals with its own flooding. About 500 people were evacuated from flooded neighborhoods in southwest Louisiana, Edwards said.

In an apparent response to scattered reports of looting, the mayor also imposed a curfew. Police Chief Art Acevedo said violators would be questioned, searched and arrested.

Four days after the storm ravaged the Texas coastline as a Category 4 hurricane, authorities and family members have reported more than 10 deaths from Harvey. They include a woman killed when heavy rain sent a large oak tree crashing onto her trailer and another woman who apparently drowned after her vehicle was swept off a bridge.

Houston police confirmed that a 60-year-old officer drowned in his patrol car after he became trapped in high water while driving to work. Sgt. Steve Perez had been with the force for 34 years.

Six members of a family were feared dead after their van sank into a drainage channel in East Houston. A Houston hotel said one of its employees disappeared while helping about 100 guests and workers evacuate the building.

Authorities acknowledge that fatalities from Harvey could soar once the floodwaters start to recede from one of America's largest metropolitan centers. about Hitler is extremely negative and that Hitler was wrong in his motivation,’’ he said in a statement issued by the finance ministry.

“It was inappropriate that I cited Hitler as an example and I would like to retract that.’’

It was not the first time Aso and other Japanese politicians have made casual references to Hitler and the Nazis.