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  After  another North Korean missile launch  on Friday, the US and South Korean military responded by holding a joint missile exercise "to exercise assets countering North Korea's missile launch," a joint statement read. The exercise utilized the Army's Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) and South Korea's Hyunmoo Missile II - which were said to be capable of rapidly deploying in order to provide "deep-strike precision capability." The missiles were also said to have been  fired  into the East Sea, where North Korea's latest missile was also rumored to have landed. ATACMS missiles can carry a 500-pound high-explosive warhead and can travel up to a distance of 186 miles. The newest provocation from North Korea appeared to demonstrate the country's advances in its missile program, given that the latest missile was estimated to be capable of reaching major US cities, such as New York and Washington, D.C.,  according to experts . President Donald

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watches the test of a new-type anti-aircraft guided weapon system organised by the Academy of National Defence Science in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) May 28, 2017. KCNA/via          North Korea fired a missile on Friday in an unusual late-night test launch, and details announced by Japanese officials and media suggested it could be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The launch from North Korea's northern Jangang province took place at 11:41 p.m. (1441 GMT), an official at South Korea's Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The U.S. Defense Department confirmed the launch, saying it was making further assessments.       "As a result of their launches of ICBM-level missiles, this clearly shows the threat to our nation's safety is severe and real," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that the North Korean

Hawaii's  Emergency Management Agency released  an ominous statement on how to survive and proceed in the event of a nuclear attack. Citizens of Hawaii are advised to look out for emergency sirens, alerts, wireless notifications, or flashes of "brilliant white light" that will indicate that a nuclear detonation is incoming or underway. From there, the agency instructs citizens to get indoors, stay indoors, and stay tuned via radio as "cell phone, television, radio and internet services will be severely disrupted or unavailable." Instead, expect only local radio stations to survive and function. If indoors, citizens should avoid windows. If driving, citizens should pull off the road to allow emergency vehicles access to population centers. Once inside, Hawaiians should not leave home until instructed to or for two full weeks, as dangerous nuclear fallout could sicken or kill them. Read the full release below:

Alex Lockie The test-fire of Pukguksong-2. This photo was released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on February 13.KCNA/Handout On Sunday, North Korea launched a missile into the Sea of Japan for the first time since US President Donald Trump took office. South Korean officials  told Reuters  that the missile, a land-based adaptation of the submarine-launched KN-11, doesn't have the range to strike the US but has another trait that's just as troubling, if not more: solid fuel. North Korean missiles usually rely on liquid fuel and have to be gassed up similar to how you'd fill up a car. North Korea, like many nuclear powers, mounts its nuclear-capable missiles on trucks. Road-mobile missile launchers can hide easier, launch from almost anywhere, and take an enemy by surprise - but liquid fuel complicates all that. To launch a liquid-fueled missile, a giant convoy of military trucks must drive out to a location, fuel up the rocket with the multiple types

NIKOLAI LITOVKIN ,   RBTH The missile defense forces guarding Moscow were put on high alert in a snap drill. RBTH reports on how the Russian capital’s skies are kept safe at all times. The Pantsir-S1 has an effective range of between six and nine miles. Source: Vitaly Nevar/TASS Russian air defense troops guarding Moscow  scrambled  in accordance with the presidential decree on a snap inspection of the Air Force. This also involves anti-missile defenses such as the S-300, S-400, and Pantsir-S surface-to-air (SAM) batteries stationed just outside Moscow. The drill called for troops deploying to their assigned railroad loading positions and defending against saboteurs. The units involved in the exercise are just a tiny part of the shield protecting Moscow against all sorts of attack from the sky. Radar far from Moscow The Moscow anti-air and anti-missile system starts well beyond the city limits, with radars for the ballistic missile early warning system, said Viktor Litovkin, a mi

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley (R) and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at UN headquarters in New York City on January 27, 2017 (Photo by Reuters) The United Nations Security Council has announced an emergency meeting to discuss North Korea’s recent launch of a nuclear-capable ballistic missile. The United States, Japan, and South Korea on Sunday requested the meeting on an “urgent basis.” North Korea launched the missile near the western city of Kusong on Sunday. It flew east about 500 kilometers before falling into the Sea of Japan, according to South Korea’s Defense Ministry. North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) later on Monday confirmed that Pyongyang had “successfully” tested a “surface-to-surface medium long-range ballistic missile.” The North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, “expressed great satisfaction over the possession of another powerful nuclear attack means, which adds to the tremendous might of the country,” the KCNA said. A man wat

The leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, in an undated photo. Military experts in the region say that the country is still years away from achieving capabilities that it has claimed, like striking the continental United States, as well as its military bases in the Pacific. KOREAN CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY, VIA AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES SEOUL, South Korea —  North Korea  said on Monday that it had successfully tested a new nuclear-capable intermediate-range ballistic missile, claiming important progress in being able to strike its enemies with long-range missiles tipped with nuclear warheads. Confirming  the missile test  detected by the United States and South Korean authorities on Sunday, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said it had launched an intermediate-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile named Pukguksong-2, or Polaris-2. North Korea’s leader,  Kim Jong-un , inspected the test, the news agency said. “He expressed great satisfaction over the possession

President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivered an abrupt joint statement Saturday night, addressing reports that North Korea test fired a ballistic missile into its eastern sea. "I just want everybody to understand and fully know that the United States of America stands behind Japan, its great ally, 100%," Trump said. In his remarks, Abe called the launch "absolutely intolerable." Trump and Abe made their remarks from Mar-a-Lago, Trump's estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and did not take questions from reporters. The launch was North Korea's first such test of the year and an implicit challenge to Trump's new administration. But details of the launch, including the type of missile, were scant. There was no immediate confirmation from the North, which had recently warned it is ready to test its first intercontinental ballistic missile. The reports come as Trump was hosting Abe and just days before the North is to mark the birth

Terrell Jermaine Starr Last night, the U.S. Air Force test-launched an unarmed Minuteman III ICBM from the Vandenberg Air Force Base. It’s not an event that happens every day, but it’s done to verify the reliability and accuracy of the weapons system. While it could be seen as a message to a belligerent North Korea, it’s still a test of a system wildly outdated compared to what Russia is arming up with. The missile, equipped with a reentry vehicle, flew 4,200 miles to a test range near the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. It was pulled at random from a silo at Minot Air Force Base, in North Dakota, then transported and reassembled at Vandenberg. There are no more details on how the test went. See the video below: Though, given how North Korea  recently announced  that it is developing an ICBM that can reach the U.S. mainland, the Minuteman III launch may have just been a message to Pyongyang that Washington can strike it with little notice. ADVERTISEM

Spokesman of Pakistan's Foreign Ministry Nafees Zakaria speaks at a press conference in Islamabad on September 29, 2016. (Photo by AFP) A senior Pakistani official says India has accumulated a stockpile of nuclear weapons which threatens to undermine the balance of power in the troubled South Asian region. Pakistan’s foreign office spokesman, Nafees Zakaria, said during his weekly briefing on Thursday that India has built a “secret nuclear city” where a stockpile of nuclear weapons has been accumulated, Pakistan's English-language newspaper  Dawn  reported. The spokesman added that India has been conducting tests on intercontinental missiles, adding that such acts are impacting the existing balance of power in the region. Zakaria also stressed that the Indian government should reciprocate the steps taken by Pakistan for peace in the region.   “Pakistan remains committed to the principles of peaceful existence with all of its neighbors, including India,” he said. Elsewher

Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin (Photo by AFP) A senior Russian diplomat has expressed surprise at an outcry provoked by the new US administration over Iranian missile work, saying Tehran’s missile tests are not violating any UN bans, legally speaking. “This outcry about Iran’s ballistic missile launches. I was surprised to hear even American experts speaking on CNN and calling it a violation of bans by the UN Security Council,” said Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin in an interview with RT published Tuesday. He was referring to Resolution 2231 adopted by the Security Council in July 2015 to underpin the landmark nuclear deal inked days earlier between Tehran and the P5+1 group of states, namely Russia, China, France, Britain, the US plus Germany. The document terminated the provisions of previous UN resolutions, calling on Iran “not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivers a speech in a meeting with military commanders in Tehran, Iran, February 7, 2017. Leader.ir/Handout via REUTERS Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves as he delivers a speech in a meeting with military commanders in Tehran, Iran, February 7, 2017. Leader.ir/Handout via REUTERS (Reuters) - Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump's warning to Tehran to stop its missile tests, and called on Iranians to respond to Trump's "threats" on Friday's anniversary of the 1979 revolution. "No enemy can paralyze the Iranian nation," Khamenei was quoted as saying by his website in a meeting with military commanders in Tehran. "[Trump] says 'you should be afraid of me'. No! The Iranian people will respond to his words on Feb 10, (the anniversary of revolution) and will show their stance against such threats."

This file photo shows a missile being fired from the direction of Yemen toward Saudi Arabia. Yemen's local media have reported a ballistic missile attack on Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh. The Yemeni army made the announcement of their first ever attack on the city via a  statement  released by the official state Yemen news agency on Sunday. In the statement, they claimed that the missile had been launched at a Saudi military base located to the west of the capital in retaliation for the kingdom’s relentless war against their country. It went on to stress that the attack shows that Riyadh is well within the range of Yemen’s missiles. Saudi officials have not made any comments on the reports yet, but locals have said on Twitter that the missile struck a military camp to the west of al-Mazahimiyah town near Riyadh. The regime in Riyadh has been incessantly pounding Yemen since March 2015 in a bid to reinstall the country’s ex-government and crush the Houthi Ansarullah movement.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani gestures as he speaks during a ceremony marking National Day of Space Technology in Tehran, Iran February 1, 2017. President.ir/Handout via Iran said on Monday a recent missile trial launch was not intended to send a message to new U.S. President Donald Trump and to test him, since after a series of policy statements Iranian officials uite well". Iran test-fired a new ballistic missile last week, prompting Washington to impose some new sanctions on Tehran. Trump tweeted that Tehran, which has cut back its nuclear program under a 2015 deal with world powers easing economic sanctions, was "playing with fire". Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi was quoted by Tasnim news agency as saying: "Iran's missile test was not a message to the new U.S. government. "There is no need to test Mr Trump as we have heard his views on different issues in recent days... We know him quite well." Iran has test-fired seve

Iran is holding a military exercise on Saturday to test its missile and radar systems, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump's administration imposed sanctions on Tehran for a recent ballistic missile test. The United States sanctioned 13 individuals and 12 entities related to Iran's missile programme and Trump's national security adviser Michael Flynn said the United States was putting Iran on notice over its "destabilising activity". Iran's Revolutionary Guards website said that the aim of the military exercise in Semnan province was to "showcase the power of Iran's revolution and to dismiss the sanctions." Iranian state news agencies reported that home-made missile systems, radars, command and control centres, and cyber warfare systems would be tested in the drill. Although tensions between Washington and Iran have risen, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Saturday he was not considering raising the number of U.S. forces in the Mi

Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi says the Islamic Republic is progressing well in the process of manufacturing an air defense system similar to the Russian S-300. “We previously announced that manufacturing the system was on the agenda and although this important objective cannot be fulfilled quickly, the manufacturing stages are making good progress,” Vahidi said on Saturday.  Alluding to the latest breakthroughs by Iran’s Defense Ministry, Vahidi said, “We hope to present our missile and naval achievements in the near future.”  In early September, Commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Air Defense Base Brigadier General Farzad Esmaili said that Iran has completed 30 percent of the production of the system, called Bavar (Belief) 373. Iranian experts have completed the long-range missile system's threat detection mechanism and manufactured its sensitive parts, Esmaili noted.  He expressed hope that the system will be complete by the end of the curr