Japan: North Korea fires another ballistic missile

North Korea has fired a projectile that may be a ballistic missile, Japan’s coast guard said Sunday.

The projectile has likely already fallen, the coast guard said, while warning ships to not approach they get near it.

The launch comes after North Korea this month set off one of its biggest series of missile volleys since August 2019. It also threatened to end its nearly four-year hiatus on tests of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles designed to deliver warheads to the U.S. mainland.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told a top-level meeting of his ruling party at the end of 2021 that he was more interested in bolstering his arsenal than returning to nuclear disarmament talks with the U.S., which have been stalled for nearly three years.

While Mr. Kim has stayed away from such talks, he has been steadily increasing his nuclear arsenal, testing new systems for quick strikes and those that can maneuver in flight to avoid U.S.-operated interceptors in the region. These have included long-range cruise missiles that could hit almost all of Japan, a new submarinelaunched ballistic missile and a hypersonic system designed to use high speeds and maneuverability to deliver a warhead.

Feds: Kan. woman led Islamic State battalion

A woman who once lived in Kansas has been arrested after federal prosecutors charged her with joining the Islamic State group and leading an all-female battalion of AK-47-wielding militants.

The U.S. Attorney in Alexandria, Virginia, said Saturdaythat Allison Fluke-Ekren, 42, has been charged with providing material support to a terrorist organization.

The criminal complaint was filed under seal back in 2019 but made public Saturday after Ms. Fluke-Ekren was brought back to the U.S. on Friday to face charges. Her alleged participation in the Islamic State had not been publicly known before Saturday’s announcement.

Prosecutors say Ms. Fluke-Ekren wanted to recruit operatives to attack a college campus in the U.S. and discussed a terrorist attack on a shopping mall.

Mitchell joining Young in Spotify protest

Joni Mitchell said Friday she is seeking to remove all of her music from Spotify in solidarity with Neil Young, who ignited a protest against the streaming service for airing a podcast that featured a figure who has spread misinformation about the coronavirus.

Ms. Mitchell, who like Mr. Young is a California-based song writer who had much of her success in the 1970s, is the first prominent musician to join Mr. Young’s effort.

“Ir responsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives,” Ms. Mitchells aid Friday in a message postedon her website.

Following Mr. Young’s action this week, Spotify said it had policies in place to remove misleading content from its platform and has removed more than 20,000 podcast episodes related to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.

But the service has said nothing about Joe Rogan, whose podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience” is the centerpiece of the controversy. Last month Mr. Rogan interviewed on his podcast Dr. Robert Malone, an infectious disease specialist who has been banned from Twitter for spreading COVID-19 misinformation.

Nurses charged in vaccination card scam

Two New York nurses are accusedof collecting over $1.5 million by selling forged COVID-19 vaccination cards, the Suffolk County district attorney’s office said.

The nurses, Julie DeVuono, who owns Wild Child Pediatric Healthcare in Amityville, and Marissa Urraro, her employee, sold fake vaccination cards and entered false information into New York’s immunization database, prosecutors said. They charged $220 for forged cards for adults and $85 for children, according to the district attorney’s office.

Ms.DeVuono, 49, and Ms. Urraro,44, were arraigned Friday,each charged with onecount of second-degree forgery.Ms. DeVuono was alsocharged with one count ofoffering a false instrument for filing.