North Korea says US has 'declared war', warns it could shoot down American bombers
North Korea's foreign minister said on Monday (Sept 25) that President Donald Trump had declared war on North Korea and that Pyongyang reserves the right to take countermeasures, including shooting down US bombers even if they are not in its air space.
The Pentagon later responded by saying that it would provide US President Donald Trump with options to deal with North Korea if such provocations continue.
Ri Yong Ho said a Twitter message by Trump on Saturday in which the president warned that the minister and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "won't be around much longer" if they acted on their threats, amounted to a declaration of war.
US says it has not 'declared war' on North Korea, but analysts warn angry rhetoric could spark it
The US has not "declared war" on North Korea, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said, dismissing as "absurd" North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho's statement to that effect in New York on Monday morning (Sept 15).
"Our goal is still the same : peaceful denuclearisation of North Korea through maximum diplomatic and economic measures," she said.
But Mr Ri's brief statement confirmed the worst forebodings of North Korea experts in the US - that the US and North Korea, propelled by angry rhetoric between volatile leaders, are lurching closer to war.
Key Antarctic glacier loses piece of ice four times the size of New York's island of Manhattan
An enormous Antarctic glacier has given up an iceberg more than 260 kms in size, the second time in two years it has lost such a large piece in a process that has scientists wondering if its behaviour is changing for the worse.
The Pine Island Glacier is one of the largest in West Antarctica, a region that is currently Antarctica's biggest ice loser. Pine Island, which loses an extraordinary 45 billion tons of ice to the ocean each year (equivalent to 1 millimeter of sea level rise every eight years), is 40 kms wide where its floating front touches the sea, and rests on the seafloor in waters over half a mile deep.
The single glacier alone contains .52 metres of potential global sea level rise and is thought to be in a process of unstable, ongoing retreat.
Dubai starts tests in bid to become first city with flying taxis
Dubai staged a test flight on Monday (Sept 25) for what it said would soon be the world's first drone taxi service under an ambitious plan by the United Arab Emirates city to lead the Arab world in innovation.
The flying taxi developed by German drone firm Volocopter resembles a small, two-seater helicopter cabin topped by a wide hoop studded with 18 propellers.
It was unmanned for its maiden test run in a ceremony arranged for Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed.
Painting by abstract master Zao Wou-ki fetches nearly $7 million at Shanghai auction
Christie's sold nearly $20 million worth of art at its autumn auction in Shanghai on Sunday, with a painting by abstract master Zao Wou-ki fetching $6.8 million.
The combined 98.5 million yuan ($20 million) sale was 35 per cent higher than the previous year, the company said.
Zao's "24.12.2002 - Diptyque" sold for 33.6 million yuan, the most expensive work of art to be sold in Christie's Shanghai.
