NKorea unveils new weapons at parade
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned Saturday that his country would “fully mobilize” its nuclear force if threatened as he took center stage at a military parade in which the country unveiled what appeared to be a new intercontinental ballistic missile and other additions to its growing weapons arsenal.
Kim, however, avoided direct criticism of Washington during the event, which celebrated the 75th anniversary of the country’s ruling party and took place less than four weeks before the U.S. presidential election.
Instead, he focused on a domestic message urging his people to remain firm in the face of “tremendous challenges” posed by the coronavirus pandemic and crippling U.S.-led sanctions over his nuclear program.
Kim described the North’s continuing efforts to develop its nuclear deterrent as necessary for its defense and said it wasn’t targeting any specific country with its military force.
But “if any force harms the safety of our nation, we will fully mobilize the strongest offensive might in a preemptive manner to punish them,” he said.
Kim’s speech was punctuated by thousands of goosestepping troops, tanks, armored vehicles, rocket launchers and a broad range of ballistic missiles rolled out in Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square.
The weapons included what was possibly the North’s biggest-yet ICBM, which was mounted on an 11-axle launch vehicle that was also seen for the first time.
The North also displayed a variety of solid-fuel weapon systems, including what could be an advanced version of its Pukguksong family of missiles designed to be fired from submarines or land mobile launchers.
During his speech, Kim seemed to tear up at one point as he repeatedly thanked his “great people” and military for overcoming “unexpected” burdens and carrying out antivirus measures imposed by the ruling party and government to keep the country COVID-19free, a claim that has been widely questioned by outside observers. He also extended an olive branch to rival South Korea, expressing hope that the countries can repair bilateral ties once the threat of the pandemic is over. The North had suspended virtually all cooperation with the South amid the stalemate in larger nuclear negotiations with the United States.
Wisconsin arrests: Police arrested 28 people during a third straight night of protests over the lack of charges against a suburban Milwaukee police officer who fatally shot a Black teen, authorities said Saturday.
About 100 people gathered outside City Hall on Friday past Wauwatosa’s 7 p.m. curfew and refused multiple orders to disperse, according to police.
Police said two of the arrests were for felonies, one was for a misdemeanor and 25 were for municipal citations.
Police said some of the people arrested were blocking traffic, others had tried to start fires, and one person had materials to start a fire, including lighter fluid. Police said one person in the group posted a picture of himself with a handgun — though it was not clear if he was among those arrested.
Two people arrested were evaluated for minor injuries, police said.
Protesters have gathered every day since prosecutors announced Wednesday that they would not charge Officer Joseph Mensah in 17year-old Alvin Cole’s death. Mensah, who is Black, shot Cole after a foot chase outside a Wauwatosa mall in February.
The protests in Wauwatosa are just the latest in a series of demonstrations against police racism and brutality that have erupted across the country since George Floyd’s death. Floyd, who was Black, died in May after a white police officer in Minneapolis pressed his knee into his neck as Floyd gasped that he couldn’t breathe.
Chris Christie out of hospital:
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Saturday he has been discharged from a New Jersey hospital where he spent a week, following his announcement that he had contracted the coronavirus.
“I am happy to let you know that this morning I was released from Morristown Medical Center,” Christie
said in a Saturday morning post on Twitter. “I want to thank the extraordinary doctors & nurses who cared for me for the last week. Thanks to my family & friends for their prayers. I will have more to say about all of this next week.”
Christie announced Oct. 3 that he had tested positive and said hours later that he had checked himself into the hospital after deciding with his doctors that doing so would be “an important precautionary measure,” given his history of asthma.
Christie was part of a string of virus cases connected to President Donald Trump’s inner circle. In addition to Trump and first lady Melania Trump, multiple people who had traveled with the president or attended events with him recently contracted the virus.
Trump’s former 2016 rival told The Associated Press on Oct. 2 that the last time he was with the president was Sept. 29 in Cleveland during preparations for his debate with former Vice President Joe Biden. He tweeted the morning of Oct. 2 that he had last tested negative ahead of that first presidential debate and was not having any symptoms then.
Trump election suit tossed:
A federal judge in Pennsylvania on Saturday threw out a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump’s campaign, dismissing its challenges to the battleground state’s poll-watching law and its efforts to limit how mail-in ballots can be collected and which of them can be counted.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan — who was appointed by Trump — in Pittsburgh also poured cold water on Trump’s claims that Pennsylvania is fertile ground for election fraud.
Trump’s campaign said it would appeal at least one element of the decision, with barely three weeks to go until Election Day in a state hotly contested by Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
The lawsuit was opposed by the administration of Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, the state Democratic Party, the League of Women Voters, the NAACP’s Pennsylvania office and other allied groups.