While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Aug 21
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversees a strategic cruise missile test aboard a navy warship.
PHOTO: REUTERS
N. Korea’s Kim Jong Un oversees cruise missile launch
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited a navy unit and oversaw a strategic cruise missile test, state media reported on Monday, ahead of the start of joint military drills between South Korea and the United States.
Mr Kim inspected one of his fleets in the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, and watched as the crew staged a drill launching “strategic cruise missiles”, state-run news agency KCNA reported.
It did not say when the visit took place, or give further details on the types of missiles launched – though it said they “rapidly hit target without even an error”.
The announcement came ahead of the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield drills, a major joint exercise between Seoul and Washington that will run through Aug 31.
Ukrainian commanders are buoyed to be on the offensive
REUTERS
In 18 months of war, Ukrainian land has mostly changed hands in sudden bursts, with Russia snatching a mass of territory at the start and Ukraine recapturing chunks in dramatic counterattacks. Now 10 weeks into its most ambitious counteroffensive, with heavy casualties and equipment losses, questions have been growing about whether Ukraine can punch through Russian lines.
Despite gruelling fighting, Ukrainian forces along much of the 1,000km front are moving forward, and commanders and veteran soldiers say they are in better shape now than six or 12 months ago.
“If a year ago we were conducting defensive operations and we had the task of holding back the enemy, now we have the ability to attack,” Colonel Dmytro Lysiuk, commander of the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade, said in an interview in his front-line bunker.
Spain’s World Cup hero learns of father’s death after final
EPA-EFE
Spain captain and World Cup final hero Olga Carmona found out after the match that her father had died, the Spanish FA (RFEF) said on Sunday.
Carmona scored a 29th-minute goal to earn Spain a 1-0 win over England as they secured their first Women’s World Cup title.
An RFEF spokesman told Reuters that Carmona’s father had been fighting a long illness and passed away on Friday.
‘Summer of Coco’ continues as Gauff triumphs
Getty Images via AFP
Coco Gauff beat Karolina Muchova 6-3 6-4 to win the biggest title of her young career at the Cincinnati Open on Sunday and extend her outstanding run of form on North American hard courts ahead of the US Open.
The American teenager, seeded seventh, broke the Czech three times in the first set and confidently served out the opener to love in her first WTA 1000 final appearance.
Muchova was too inconsistent on a hot day in Ohio, committing 35 unforced errors in the match and badly missing a backhand down the line to hand Gauff the break and a 3-2 second-set lead.
American Noah Lyles delivers with 100m world gold
EPA-EFE
Noah Lyles has been talking up his 100 metres chances in the World Athletics Championships all week and the American 200 metres specialist backed up the chat where and when it mattered on Sunday as he took gold in a personal best 9.83 seconds.
It was a blanket finish behind him as Letsile Tebogo of Botswana took silver by one thousandth of a second from Briton Zharnel Hughes. Fourth-placed Oblique Seville of Jamaica was three thousandths of a second off the podium as all three men clocked 9.88.
Former champion Christian Coleman was also in the mix after a great start but was just overhauled to finish fifth in 9.92.
