New North Korean Video Shows Missiles Destroying US City In A Giant Fireball

April 20, 2017

Washington, Apr 20: North Korean propaganda is many things, but it's not subtle.

missileCase in point: a new video, unveiled at a recent musical performance in honor of Kim II Sung, shows missiles leaving a U.S. city in flames. In the footage, a handful of missiles arc over the Pacific, then explode into a giant fireball. It ends with a burning American flag, superimposed over a cemetery of white crosses.

"When the performance was over, all the performers and participants in the military parade broke into enthusiastic cheers of 'hurrah!' " the state-run KCNA news agency reported. Kim Jong Un smiled and waved afterward.

The clip was shown during a performance by North Korea's "state merited chorus" Sunday. Their concert included songs with such lyrics as "our proud Hwasong rocket blasts off" and "flies as quickly as a flash of lightning to challenge imperialism," according to South Korean newswire Yonhap.

It's not the first time North Korea has offered up a simulated tale of American destruction. In 2016, the country released a video called "Last Chance." It depicted a nuclear strike on Washington, complete with a missile demolishing the Lincoln Memorial. The four-minute video also featured a 1960s Western-style score and a mushroom cloud over the U.S. capital. Oh, and of course - an American flag on fire.

In 2013, a simulated video showed nuclear launches against the District of Columbia, California, Hawaii and "Colorado Springs." (In reality, it was probably stock art of Arkansas.) The country's government has also produced posters showing U.S. soldiers dropping crying babies into wells and America as a dog barking at a passing train.

State media has an outsize influence in North Korea, because most of the country cannot access anything else. Few North Koreans have Internet access. International radio signals are jammed.

Televisions are preprogrammed to only receive government channels. According to the Atlantic: "Every North Korean household and business is outfitted with a government-controlled radio hard-wired to a central station. The speaker comes with a volume control but no off switch."

This latest offering comes as tension between the U.S. and North Korea is heating up.

Analysts say that North Korea is close to a sixth nuclear bomb test, and experts warn that the isolated country is close to finishing an intercontinental ballistic missile able to reach U.S. shores. Last weekend, North Korea debuted several new ICBMs at a parade in Pyongyang, which has country-watchers nervous.

On Wednesday, Vice President Mike Pence warned that the United States would counter any North Korean attack with an "overwhelming and effective" response.

"The era of strategic patience is over," Pence said aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier in Japan. "The United States of America will always seek peace, but under President Trump, the shield stands guard and the sword stands ready."

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News Network
May 21,2020

London, May 21: Working mothers in Europe and the United States are taking on most of the extra housework and childcare created by lockdown - and many are struggling to cope, a survey showed on Thursday.

Women with children now spend an average 65 hours a week on the unpaid chores - nearly a third more than fathers - according to the Boston Consulting Group, which questioned parents in five countries.

"Women have been doing too much household work for too long, and this crisis is pushing them to a point that's simply unsustainable," Rachel Thomas, of U.S.-based women's rights group LeanIn.Org, said in response to the data.

"We need a major culture shift in our homes and in our companies ... We should use this moment to build a better way to work and live – one that's fair for everybody."

Researchers say fallout from the pandemic weighs on women in a host of ways, be it in rising domestic violence or in lower wages, as some women cut paid work to take on the new duties.

With lockdowns shutting schools and keeping citizens at home, creating a mountain of domestic work, public campaigns from Georgia to Mexico have urged men to do their fair share.

But women, who on average already do more at home than men, are now shouldering most of the new coronavirus burden, too, said the survey of more than 3,000 working parents in the United States, Britain, Italy, Germany and France.

Women's unpaid hours at home have nearly doubled to 65 hours a week, said the survey, against 50 logged by an average father.

British women are more likely to support others in the COVID-19 pandemic and are finding it harder to stay positive, according to separate analysis released this week by polling firm Ipsos MORI and feminist organisation The Fawcett Society.

It is "no surprise" to see women do more childcare and housekeeping on top of their day jobs, Jacqui Hunt of women's rights group Equality Now, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

However, there are "hopeful signs" that men in West Africa are sharing more childcare during the pandemic in a shift in social norms, found a small rapid analysis by humanitarian organisation CARE International released on Wednesday.

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Agencies
March 15,2020

Tehran, Mar 15: Two hundred and thirty-four Indians stranded in coronavirus-hit Iran have arrived in India, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday.

The batch comprises 131 students and 103 pilgrims, he said.

“234 Indians stranded in Iran have arrived in India; including 131 students and 103 pilgrims. Thank you Ambassador Dhamu Gaddam and @India_in_Iran team for your efforts. Thank Iranian authorities,” Jaishankar tweeted.

The third batch of Indians from Iran arrived early Sunday. A second batch of 44 Indian pilgrims had arrived from Iran on Friday.

Iran is one of the worst-affected countries by the coronavirus outbreak and the government has been working on plans to bring back Indians stranded there.

The first batch of 58 Indian pilgrims were brought back from Iran on Tuesday.

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News Network
March 12,2020

Beijing, Mar 12: The number of fresh infections at the epicentre of China's coronavirus epidemic dropped to a new low on Thursday but the country imported more cases from abroad.

Another 11 people died, the lowest daily increase since late January, bringing the toll in China to 3,169 deaths, according to the National Health Commission.

There were only eight new cases in Wuhan, the city where the virus first emerged in December before growing into a national crisis and a pandemic.

It is the first time that new cases in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, have fallen to single-digits since figures started to be reported in January.

With cases falling dramatically in recent weeks, authorities this week began to loosen some restrictions on Hubei's 56 million people, who have been under quarantine since late January.

Healthy people living in low-risk areas of the province can now travel within Hubei. While Wuhan is not included, some of the city's companies were told they could resume work.

Only one other non-imported case was recorded elsewhere in the country.

But as global hotspots emerge elsewhere, China fears that cases arriving from abroad could undermine its progress.

On Thursday there were six more imported cases reported, bringing the total of infections from overseas to 85, health officials said.

Beijing has ordered a 14-day quarantine for everyone arriving in the city from any country.

Travellers flying into Beijing Capital International Airport from high-risk countries are now handled separately from other passengers.

A total of 80,793 people have now been infected in China.

President Xi Jinping said this week during his first visit to Wuhan since the crisis erupted that the spread of the disease has been "basically curbed" in China.

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