Seoul

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has urged his country to be ready to launch nuclear strikes at any moment, accusing the US and South Korea of expanding joint military exercises involving US nuclear-capable weapons, BTA and Reuters reported, citing local media: state agency KCNA.

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles Tuesday, Seoul said, Pyongyang's second launch in three days and the first since South Korea and the United States began their largest joint military drills in five years.

The Paris Opera on March 11 appointed 23-year old dancer Guillaume Diop to its Etoile category, the first time a black person has received the ballet's coveted top rank.

In Tokyo's Asakusa tourist district, caricaturist Masashi Higashitani is dusting off his Chinese as he prepares for an influx of travelers after Beijing ends inbound quarantine rules.

"We used to say 'ni hao' all the time," he said with a laugh as he whipped up a portrait in minutes.

South Korea reconfirmed Tuesday that Seoul and Washington are discussing its involvement in U.S. nuclear asset management in the face of intensifying North Korean nuclear threats, after President Joe Biden denied that the allies were discussing joint nuclear exercises.

More than 150 people were killed in a stampede at a Halloween event in central Seoul, officials said Sunday, with South Korea's president vowing a full investigation into one of the country's worst-ever disasters.

Concerned relatives raced to hospitals in search of their loved ones Sunday as South Korea mourned the deaths of at least 151 people, mostly in their teens and 20s, who got trapped and crushed after a huge Halloween party crowd surged into a narrow alley in a nightlife district in Seoul.

At least 151 people have been killed and 82 others injured after scores of mostly young people celebrating Halloween in Seoul were trapped and crushed after a crowd entered a narrow street in the South Korean capital, world news agencies reported. This is the worst such incident in the country in years.

The United States, Japan and South Korea warned Wednesday that a North Korean nuclear test would warrant an "unprecedentedly strong response", vowing unity after a blitz of missile launches from the hermit state.

Following talks in Tokyo, the three nations' deputy foreign ministers said they would ramp up their deterrence in the region.

Art Basel launched its inaugural fair in Paris on Oct. 20, seen as capping the re-emergence of the French capital as a major arts hub following the impact of Brexit on its main rival, London.

But the event also raised eyebrows for controversially replacing a longstanding local art event.