North Korea: Bigger rocket man
Also: Israel, Iran, Iraq, Botswana, and bird flu.
In today’s dispatch:
NORTH KOREA. Kim Jong Un sends his own October surprise.
ISRAEL. IRAN. Khamenei mulls retaliation as Netanyahu considers austerity.
IRAQ. Foreign problems create domestic consequences.
BOTSWANA. Gaborone changes government amid a gem market slump.
BIRD FLU. The first case of H5N1 is detected in a US pig.
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NORTH KOREA. Bigger rocket man
Kim Jong Un sends his own October surprise.
Pyongyang tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile in almost a year Thursday, with North Korea’s leader calling it "an appropriate military action". Around 8,000 DPRK soldiers were on the border with Ukraine, Antony Blinken said.
INTELLIGENCE. The Hwasong-19 reached an altitude of 7,688 kilometres, putting it within range of most of the US. The timing was clearly meant as a Halloween greeting to Washington on the eve of the election, but with its likely integration of Russian technology, the nuclear-capable rocket was also a message for Beijing, which has seen its influence decline in recent months, and Seoul, which has increased its lobbying against the North’s provocations.
FOR BUSINESS. Volodymyr Zelensky has complained that NATO has had "zero" response to the involvement of North Korea in Russia's war in Ukraine, but it's not the West that needs to react but China. Kim’s “madman theory” of military threats has seemingly deterred it so far (and even South Korea is cracking down on civil society propaganda balloons), but China still has levers to employ, notably greater sanctions enforcement and tighter financial controls.
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ISRAEL. IRAN. Second thoughts
Khamenei mulls retaliation as Netanyahu considers austerity.
Iran's supreme leader was considering retaliation after being briefed on the extent of damage in Isael’s recent strikes, the New York Times said. Strikes may come before 5 November, CNN reported. Israel's cabinet was eyeing budget cuts..
INTELLIGENCE. Reports of retaliation, potentially via proxies Iraq, seem like pre-election sabre-rattling, but there will be