North Korea launches test in development of spy satellite, Russia and China taking part in joint naval drills.
1. North Korea said Monday it fired a test satellite in an important final-stage test for the development of its first spy satellite, a key military capability coveted by its leader Kim Jong Un along with other high-tech weapons systems. The North’s official Korean Central News Agency also released low-resolution, black-and-white photos showing a space view of the South Korean capital and Incheon, a city just west of Seoul, in an apparent attempt to show the North is pushing to acquire a surveillance tool to monitor its rival.
2. Russian warships set off Monday to take part in a joint naval drills with China, an exercise that showcases increasingly close defense ties between the two countries as they face tensions with the United States.
3. Multiple explosive drones attacked Ukraine’s capital before dawn Monday, local authorities reported, as Russian President Vladimir Putin prepared to visit ally Belarus, which provided the Kremlin’s forces with a launch pad for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine almost 10 months ago.
4. Also over the weekend, North Korea test-fired a pair of ballistic missiles with a potential range of striking Japan on Sunday, in a possible protest of Tokyo’s adoption of a new security strategy to push for more offensive footing against North Korea and China.
5. Tens of thousands of volunteers turned out to lay some 257,000 wreaths on veterans’ headstones inside the hallowed grounds of Arlington National Cemetery early Saturday. It was the 31st time Morrill Worcester, the founder of Wreaths Across America, made the journey from Maine to Arlington for the wreath-laying project.
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