N. Korea threatens nuclear test in response to sanctions

The North Korean leader didn't rule out the possibility of entering into dialogue with Washington but said his country should be more prepared to have an adversarial relationship with the Joe Biden administration.

Pyongyang has told the World Health Organization that it has yet to find a single coronavirus infection. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to arrest people who refuse a vaccine.

The North Korean leader said failures during the pandemic and a "grave incident" had threatened the safety of the people. Elsewhere, Romania is selling off excess vaccines. Follow DW for the latest.

The US Geological Survey said the quake measured 8.2, triggering a tsunami warning for the US Pacific territories of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

Heavy rain and flooding in provinces along North Korea's east coat have inundated wide swathes of farmland as the impoverished country organizes relief efforts.

North Korea appears to have restarted activities at its main plutonium-producing reactor in Yongbyon, the UN atomic agency, IAEA, has said in an annual report. The apparent resumption of operations comes as Pyongyang has been voicing threats to expand its nuclear arsenal amid continued tensions with the United States.

Analysts say cash-strapped Pyongyang is returning to its strategy of trying to obtain concessions from the international community by threatening nuclear proliferation.

North Korea escapee Hiroko Saito says she and 97,000 others were deceived into relocating to the North in the 1960s with promises of "paradise on Earth." Instead, she suffered starvation, repression and loss.

The US and UK will share nuclear-powered submarine technology with Australia as part of the new three-way defensive alliance. The move comes amid tense relations with China.

Beijing has applied to join a free trade agreement, once called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which had been originally designed to counter Chinese economic clout. Now, China sees economic opportunity.

Pyongyang has said it would take action if a new Indo-Pacific alliance between the US, Australia and the UK had "even the smallest negative effect" on North Korea's security.

Taiwan has formally filed to join the trans-Pacific trade deal initially negotiated by the US. Intended to freeze China out, Trump walked away from the deal but now China and Taiwan want in.