Kim boasts new long-range missile as U.S. flies bombers
NorthKorean leader KimJong Un boasted that a recently tested intercontinental ballistic missile is another“reliable and maximum-capacity”weapon to containU.S. military threats,state media reportedSaturday. The UnitedStates responded to theNorth’s weapons launchby flying supersonic bombersin a show of force.
The North’s Korean Central News Agency said Mr. Kim oversaw the launch of the Hwasong-17 missile, a day after its neighbors said they had detected the launch of an ICBM that showed a potential to reach anywhere in the United States.
KCNA said Mr. Kim observed the launch with his wife Ri Sol Ju and their “beloved daughter” as well as senior officials. State media photos showed Mr. Kim walking hand-in-hand with his daughter, who was clad in a white coat, together watching a huge missile loaded on a launch truck. It’s the first time for North Korea to publish the photo of Mr. Kim’s daughter. Observers say Mr. Kim observing a weapons launch with his family suggests that he is emboldened by his advancing nuclear program.
Friday’s launch was part of the North’s ongoing barrage of missile tests that are seen as an attempt to expand its arsenal and boost its leverage in future diplomacy. Some foreign experts said the Hwasong17 missile is still under development but is the North’s longest-range ballistic weapon designed to carry multiple nuclear warheads to defeat U.S. missile defense systems.
KCNA said the missile fired from Pyongyang International Airport traveled up to a maximum altitude of about 3,750 miles and flew a distance of about 620 miles before it landed on the preset area in international waters off the country’s east coast.
“The test-fire clearly proved the reliability of the new major strategic weapon system to be representative of (North Korea’s) strategic forces and its powerful combat performance as the strongest strategic weapon in the world,” KCNA said.
Pope visits father’s hometown for party
Pope Francis made a rare personal getaway Saturday, returning to his father’s birthplace in northern Italy for the first time since ascending the papacy to celebrate the 90th birthday of a second cousin who long knew him as simply “Giorgio.”
Pope Francis’ two-day visit to his ancestral homeland underscored some of the keystones of his papacy, including the importance of honoring the elderly and the human toll of migration. The private visit Saturday will be followed by public one Sunday to celebrate Mass for the local faithful, where Francis could well reflect on his family’s experience migrating to Argentina.
Thepope’s father, Mario JoseFrancisco Bergoglio, andhis paternal grandparentsarrived in Buenos Aires onJan. 25, 1929, to reach otherrelatives who had joinedthe tail end of a mass decadeslongemigration fromItaly that the pope has honoredwith two recent saints:St. Giovanni Batista Scalabriniand St. Artedime Zatti.
Thefuture pope, Jorge MarioBergoglio, was born nearlyeight years later in BuenosAires, after the elder Bergogliomet and married ReginaMaria Sivori, whose familywas also of Italian immigrantstock. Pope Francis grewup speaking the Piedmontdialect of his paternal grandmotherRosa, who caredfor him most days.
The elder Bergoglio was born in the town of Portacomaro, 6 miles east of Asti, an agricultural town that lost population not only to emigration abroad but also to nearby Turin as it became an industrial center.
Malaysia faces crisis over hung Parliament
Malaysia tumbled into fresh political turmoil Sunday after a tightly contested generalelection delivered a hung Parliament with no clear winner and a surprising surge of support for an Islamist party.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’ s reformist alliance secured the biggest gain with82 out of 220 Parliamentary seats, but fell far short of a majority. Trailing close behind was former Prime Minister Mu hy id di n Y ass in’ s Malay-based Perikatan Nasional, or National Alliance with73 seats.
The alliance led by the United Ma lays National Organization, which ruled Malaysia since independence from Britain until 2018, fared worse than in the last polls with upsets in a number of seats in a clear sign of rejection from Malays, who opted for Mr. Muhyiddin’s bloc. It won only 30 seats.
Among other key election losers was two-time former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who at 97 is leadinga separate Malay movement.
Many rural Malays, who form two-thirds of Malaysia’s33 million people, which include large minorities of ethnic Chinese and Indians, fear they may lose their rights with greater pluralism. This, together with corruption in UMNO, has benefited Mr. Muhyiddin’s bloc.Its ally, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, or PAS, emerged the key winner. It morethan doubled its haul to43 seats, making it the singlelargest party in the country.