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North Korea shows first photos of banned uranium enrichment site

The photos showed Kim walking between long rows of metal centrifuges, the machines that enrich uranium. The report did not make clear when the visit occurred nor the facility’s location.

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North Korea for the first time showed images of the centrifuges that produce fuel for its nuclear bombs on Friday, as leader Kim Jong Un visited a uranium enrichment facility and called for more weapons-grade material to boost the arsenal.

The state media report on Kim’s visit to the Nuclear Weapons Institute and a production base for weapon-grade nuclear materials was accompanied by the first photos of the centrifuges, providing a rare look inside North Korea’s nuclear programme, which is banned under multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions, Reuters reported.

The photos showed Kim walking between long rows of metal centrifuges, the machines that enrich uranium. The report did not make clear when the visit occurred nor the facility’s location.

Kim urged workers to produce more materials for tactical nuclear weapons, saying the country’s nuclear arsenal is vital for confronting threats from the United States and its allies.

The weapons are needed for “self-defence and the capability for a preemptive attack,” he said.

The North Korean leader said “anti-DPRK nuclear threats” from the “U.S. imperialists-led vassal forces” have crossed the red-line, according to the report.

South Korea condemned North Korea’s unveiling of its uranium enrichment facility and will never accept Pyongyang’s possession of nuclear weapons, the South’s unification ministry said.

North Korea is believed to have several sites for enriching uranium. Analysts say commercial satellite imagery has shown construction in recent years at the main Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center, including its uranium enrichment plant, suggesting possible expansion.

Uranium is a radioactive element that exists naturally. To make nuclear fuel, raw uranium undergoes processes that result in a material with an increased concentration of the isotope uranium-235.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said on Monday that the U.N. nuclear watchdog had observed activity consistent with the operation of a reactor and the reported centrifuge enrichment facility at Yongbyon.

NEW CENTRIFUGES

Kim stressed the need to boost the number of centrifuges so as to “exponentially increase” North Korea’s nuclear arsenal, and expand the use of a new type of centrifuge to strengthen the production of weapon-grade nuclear materials.

The centrifuges seen in the photos appear smaller and shorter than the types previously believed to be used by North Korea, suggesting it had developed its own centrifuges to enhance separation capabilities, said Lee Sang-kyu, a nuclear engineering expert at South Korea’s Korea Institute for Defense Analysis.

The photos also confirmed that the North is using a cascade system where large numbers of centrifuges are interconnected to achieve highly enriched uranium, he added.

The new type of centrifuge shows North Korea is advancing its fuel cycle capabilities, said Ankit Panda of the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“Kim also appears to suggest that North Korean tactical nuclear weapons designs may primarily rely on uranium for their cores,” he said.

This is notable because North Korea is more able to scale up its highly enriched uranium stockpiles, Panda said, compared to the more complicated process for plutonium.

‘INCREASING ARSENALS’

North Korea invited some foreign scientists to view a centrifuge facility at Yongbyon in 2010, but Jenny Town of the U.S.-based Stimson Center said Friday’s report is the first and only photographs of the equipment.

“It shows how advanced their enrichment capability has become, which gives greater credibility to both their ability and commitment to increasing their nuclear weapons arsenals,” she said.

It could also be meant to influence the U.S. election and send a message to the next administration that denuclearisation is no longer possible and it should recognise North Korea as a nuclear state, said Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul.

North Korea has previously shown photos of what it says were nuclear warheads. It has conducted six underground nuclear tests between 2006 and 2017.

Estimates of the number of North Korean nuclear weapons varies widely. In July a report by the Federation of American Scientists concluded that the country may have produced enough fissile material to build up to 90 nuclear warheads, but that it has likely assembled closer to 50.

Kim also oversaw the test launch of a new 600mm multiple launch rocket system on Thursday and visited an army training base on Wednesday, according to separate KCNA reports.

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Saudi Aramco helicopter crash kills 14 nationals, state news agency says

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A helicopter belonging to Saudi ​oil giant Aramco crashed on Sunday ‌in Ras Tanura on Saudi Arabia’s eastern coast on the Gulf, west of the Strait of ​Hormuz, killing 14 nationals, the state ​news agency reported, adding that the ⁠cause was unknown.

Aramco had resumed crude oil loadings ​on Friday at its Ras Tanura terminal ​in the Gulf after they were halted for nearly four months, Reuters reported.

“The relevant authorities have launched a ​full investigation to determine the cause ​of the crash,” the state news agency added.

Aramco did ‌not ⁠respond immediately to an emailed request for comment.

The incident took place at 6 a.m. local time (0300 GMT), the state agency ​said, without providing ​further ⁠details.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, has joined a rush ​to move cargoes after Middle ​East ⁠producers ramped up oil and gas output and exports ahead of an interim deal ⁠to ​halt the war between the ​United States and Iran.

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Israel, Lebanon sign initial agreement after US-mediated talks

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the agreement allows Israeli forces to continue to occupy southern Lebanon if Hezbollah does not disarm.

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Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreement in Washington on Friday following several days of talks to secure an end to fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollahmilitants, though ‌both sides framed the deal as an initial step, Reuters reported.

Lebanese Ambassador Nada Moawad and her Israeli counterpart Yechiel Leiter signed the trilateral document with the U.S. at the State Department in Washington, providing few details.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the agreement allows Israeli forces to continue to occupy southern Lebanon if Hezbollah does not disarm.

“Today we’ve taken the first step in what will be a difficult journey, without a doubt, but an important and an essential ​and a necessary one,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said before the agreement was inked.

In a later statement he said that the U.S. would facilitate the implementation of ​the deal through a trilateral “Military Coordination Group for Lebanon” and that Washington would commit significant resources, including an immediate $100 million in humanitarian assistance in ⁠coordination with the U.N.

Rubio added that the U.S. reaffirmed its intent to improve the capabilities of the Lebanese Armed Forces “to more effectively establish sovereignty throughout Lebanese territory” with more than $30 million in funds ​under existing U.S. authorities and appropriations.

The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah broke out when the armed group fired at Israel on March 2, days after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran. The Hezbollah ​attacks triggered Israeli air and ground attacks that have killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon and displaced more than a million.

Lebanon’s Moawad also called it a “first step” on the road to restoring Lebanese sovereignty.

“Iran is out, Hezbollah is out, and the road to peace between Israel and Lebanon is in,” Leiter said.

Netanyahu said in a statement that the deal would also allow the Lebanese army “to begin organizing to take control of territory,” starting with ​what he described as two “pilot zones” from which Israeli troops would withdraw from land they occupied during the war.

Israel describes that territory as a “security zone” or “buffer zone” where its troops can thwart ​Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the agreement should allow Lebanese to return to “fully liberated” land and rebuilt homes with “no partner” in its sovereignty.

Israel’s death toll from this round of hostilities with Hezbollah ‌includes at least ⁠32 soldiers and four Israeli civilians. Hezbollah does not release figures on its war dead. Reuters reported on May 4 that several thousand Hezbollah fighters had been killed in the war.

A State Department official told Reuters on Thursday that Israel had agreed to pull back from some of the territory it has occupied, something Israeli and Lebanese officials denied.

Before the talks resumed this week, Israel and Hezbollah agreed to halt fire even as Israel kept troops in southern Lebanon.

Violence has persisted since the ceasefire, with Israel saying on Friday its troops had struck and killed what the military described as seven ​Hezbollah members who were operating near the territory ​it is occupying. Reuters could not confirm ⁠this.

“To the degree that the Lebanese army performs in dismantling and disarming Hezbollah, we will proceed with additional pilot zones and the ultimate determination of an internationally recognized, secure, and agreed upon border,” Leiter told reporters after the signing.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said Lebanese authorities would not be ​able to enforce the agreement unless, with U.S. support, “they go to civil war,” pro-Iranian broadcaster Al Mayadeen reported, read the report.

Hezbollah would confront any measure taken ​by Lebanese authorities and ⁠would hold on to its weapons even more, adding that the group’s opposition was “serious” and would not allow authorities to implement their commitments on the ground, Fadlallah said.

Israeli forces dropped leaflets over the southern Lebanese town of Mansouri on Friday ordering residents to leave, Lebanese state media reported, the first such order issued since the latest ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect.

A senior Lebanese military ⁠official said Israel ​had recently added Mansouri to its occupation zone. The official said Lebanese farmers had continued to enter and leave ​the town, but had not been living there.

An Israeli military spokesperson said the military issued what it described as a “reminder” to the civilian population that “the area is within the security zone in which (Israeli) soldiers operate. It’s a reminder not to be ​in the area so they won’t be harmed.”

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Venezuela earthquake death toll rises to 188 as rescue efforts continue

According to officials, 138 aftershocks have been recorded since the twin 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes struck late Wednesday, causing widespread destruction.

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The death toll from the powerful earthquakes that struck Venezuela’s northern Caribbean coast has risen to 188, authorities confirmed on Thursday, as emergency crews continue search and rescue operations.

Jorge Rodriguez, President of Venezuela’s National Assembly, said 1,520 people have been hospitalized with injuries, while 157 people remain missing. Rescue teams are still searching for more than 200 people believed to be trapped beneath collapsed buildings.

According to officials, 138 aftershocks have been recorded since the twin 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes struck late Wednesday, causing widespread destruction.

Rodriguez said 346 infrastructure sites sustained damage, including 250 buildings, 20 shopping centers, and eight hospitals, forcing authorities to transfer patients to other medical facilities.

The Venezuelan government has announced the establishment of a $200 million emergency reconstruction fund to support the rebuilding of damaged homes, hospitals, and other critical infrastructure.

Following the disaster, Acting President Delcy Rodriguez declared a national state of emergency, while tsunami warnings were issued across parts of the Caribbean region after the powerful earthquakes.

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