By Adam Kennedy
Monday 1 January 2018
Kim calls on North to mass-produce nukes, missiles
Kim Jong-Un urged North Korea to mass-produce nuclear warheads and missiles in a defiant New Year message today suggesting he would continue to accelerate a rogue weapons programme that has stoked international tensions.
Pyongyang dramatically ramped up its efforts to become a nuclear power in 2017, despite a raft of international sanctions and increasingly bellicose rhetoric from the United States.
Kim, who said today that he always had a nuclear launch button on his desk, has presided over multiple missile tests in recent months and the North's sixth and most powerful nuclear test -- which it said was a hydrogen bomb -- in September.
"We must mass-produce nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles and speed up their deployment," said Kim in his annual address to the nation, reiterating his claims that North Korea had achieved its goal of becoming a nuclear state.
The North says its weapons programme is designed to be able to target the US mainland and tested increasingly longer-range intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) throughout 2017.
US President Donald Trump has responded to each test with his own amplified declarations, threatening to "totally destroy" Pyongyang and taunting Kim, saying the North Korean leader was on "a suicide mission".
But far from persuading Kim to give up his nuclear drive, analysts say Trump's tough talk may have prompted the North Korean leader to drive through with his dangerous quest.
"(The North) can cope with any kind of nuclear threats from the US and has a strong nuclear deterrence that is able to prevent the US from playing with fire," Kim said today.
"The nuclear button is always on my table. The US must realise this is not blackmail but reality."
His comments come after a former top US military officer warned that the United States is now closer than it has ever been to a nuclear war with the North, with little hope of a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
Mike Mullen, a former chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, said the Trump presidency had helped create "an incredibly dangerous climate", in an interview on ABC's "This Week".
"We're actually closer, in my view, to a nuclear war with North Korea and in that region than we have ever been," he said.
Pyongyang claims it needs nuclear weapons to protect itself from a hostile US and sees American military activities in the region -- such as the joint drills it takes part in with the South -- as a precursor to invasion.
As tensions spiked in the region in recent months, the international community has slapped a range of sanctions on the North aimed at curbing its weapons programme and squeezing the country's leadership.
In December the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed new, US-drafted sanctions to restrict oil supplies vital for the impoverished state.
The third raft of sanctions imposed last year, which the North slammed as an "act of war", also received the backing of China -- the North's sole major ally and economic lifeline.
But the embargoes have shown little sign of dampening Kim's enthusiasm for his weapons drive.
Observers say Washington must open talks with the North to defuse tensions -- but that remains a challenge.
The North has always said it will only deal with the US from a position of equality as a nuclear state.
Washington has long insisted that it will not accept a nuclear-armed North and Pyongyang must embark on a path towards denuclearisation before any talk
Texas woman damages $300,000 art on her first date
A woman in Texas, who was on her first date with a notable lawyer, caused a damage to his art collection that worth nearly $300,000.
29-year-old Lindy Lou Layman from Dallas was reportedly drunk when the incident took place.
She has been arrested on Saturday on criminal mischief charges. Layman was dating a trial lawyer from Houston named Anthony Buzbee.
She was, however, released on $30,000 bond.
According to Buzbee, Layman got too drunk on their date and so he called her an Uber. Refusing to leave, she hid inside his house.
It was when Buzbee called another Uber, Layman got aggressive.
She tore several paintings and poured wine on some of them. She even threw two sculptures worth $20,000 each across the room and shattered them, Buzbee alleged.
The damaged Warhol paintings were valued at $500,000 each as per court documents.
29-year-old Lindy Lou Layman from Dallas was reportedly drunk when the incident took place.
She has been arrested on Saturday on criminal mischief charges. Layman was dating a trial lawyer from Houston named Anthony Buzbee.
She was, however, released on $30,000 bond.
According to Buzbee, Layman got too drunk on their date and so he called her an Uber. Refusing to leave, she hid inside his house.
It was when Buzbee called another Uber, Layman got aggressive.
She tore several paintings and poured wine on some of them. She even threw two sculptures worth $20,000 each across the room and shattered them, Buzbee alleged.
The damaged Warhol paintings were valued at $500,000 each as per court documents.
Donald Trump rings in the New Year with self-tribute video
President Donald Trump capped 2017 with a video self-tribute touching on what he sees as the high points of his achievements and rhetoric from his first year in office. He gave a plug to American exceptionalism, too.
President Donald Trump capped 2017 with a video self-tribute touching on what he sees as the high points of his achievements and rhetoric from his first year in office. He gave a plug to American exceptionalism, too.
In the video running three-and-half minutes, scenes of Trump with military personnel, Border Patrol agents and other world leaders are set to a stirring soundtrack as he declares of his country: "We gave birth to the modern world and we will shape tomorrow's world with the strength and skill of American hands."
Trump offered the video with a New Year's Eve message, saying "What a year it's been, and we're just getting started. Together, we are MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Happy New Year!!"
He later offered another Twitter message, loaded with his signature bombast: "As our Country rapidly grows stronger and smarter, I want to wish all of my friends, supporters, enemies, haters, and even the very dishonest Fake News Media, a Happy and Healthy New Year. 2018 will be a great year for America!"
The president is spending the holidays in Palm Beach, where his Mar-a-Lago club hosts an annual New Year's Eve bash.
At the event last year, hundreds of guests gathered in the club's grand ballroom, including action star Sylvester Stallone and romance novel model Fabio.
The White House said Trump been briefed on New Year's Eve security precautions around the country and will continue to monitor those efforts.
Trump offered his condolences today to the victims of a shooting in suburban Denver that killed one sheriff's deputy and wounded six other people, including four deputies. He tweeted: "We love our police and law enforcement - God Bless them all!"
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