North Korea's Kim Inspects Spy Satellite Photos of 'Target Regions'

23 November 2023, North Korea, Pyongyang: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C), alongside his daughter Ju-ae (2nd L), joins a photo session with a group of engineers and scientists, who have contributed to the country's successful launch of a military spy satellite, at the National Aerospace Technology Administration. Photo: -/KCNA/dpa
23 November 2023, North Korea, Pyongyang: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C), alongside his daughter Ju-ae (2nd L), joins a photo session with a group of engineers and scientists, who have contributed to the country's successful launch of a military spy satellite, at the National Aerospace Technology Administration. Photo: -/KCNA/dpa
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North Korea's Kim Inspects Spy Satellite Photos of 'Target Regions'

23 November 2023, North Korea, Pyongyang: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C), alongside his daughter Ju-ae (2nd L), joins a photo session with a group of engineers and scientists, who have contributed to the country's successful launch of a military spy satellite, at the National Aerospace Technology Administration. Photo: -/KCNA/dpa
23 November 2023, North Korea, Pyongyang: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C), alongside his daughter Ju-ae (2nd L), joins a photo session with a group of engineers and scientists, who have contributed to the country's successful launch of a military spy satellite, at the National Aerospace Technology Administration. Photo: -/KCNA/dpa

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected photos taken by the country's new spy satellite of "major target regions", including the South Korean capital of Seoul and cities that host US.military bases, state media said on Saturday.
Nuclear-armed North Korea launched the satellite on Tuesday, but South Korean defense officials and analysts said its capabilities have not been independently verified, Reuters reported.
Kim examined photos of Seoul and other cities of Mokpo, Kunsan, Pyeongtaek and Osan, where US and South Korean military bases are located. The photos were taken as the satellite passed over the peninsula on Friday morning, state news agency KCNA said.
Kim examined the photos, as well as images of some areas within North Korea, during a visit on Friday to the control center of the National Aerospace Technology Administration (NATA) in Pyongyang.
On Saturday, Kim visited the control center once again to examine more photos taken in the morning of different target regions in South Korea: Jinhae, Busan, Ulsan, Pohang, Daegu and Gangneung.
One photo showed US aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, which arrived at a port in the South Korean city of Busan on Tuesday, according to KCNA.
During the visit, Kim also inspected photos of US Naval Station Pearl Harbor and Hickam Air Force Base taken by the satellite as it passed over Hawaii early on Saturday.
In a separate commentary carried by KCNA on Saturday, North Korea criticized the United States for providing advanced weapons to its "puppets", saying that even a small spark on the Korean peninsula would result in a global nuclear war.
"The United States had better ponder over the catastrophic consequences entailed by the arms offer to the puppet forces," it said.
Top diplomats of Japan, South Korea and the United States spoke on Friday and "strongly condemned the (Nov. 21) launch for its destabilizing effect on the region," the US State Department said in a statement.
Earlier this week, KCNA said Kim viewed images taken above the US Pacific territory of Guam of US military installations.



Sweden Jails Syrian Man for Life over 2012-2013 War Crimes

Police patrol at the scene of a shooting at an office of Israeli military technology firm Elbit Systems in Gothenburg on October 10, 2024.  Photo by Adam Ihse/TT / various sources / AFP) / Sweden OUT
Police patrol at the scene of a shooting at an office of Israeli military technology firm Elbit Systems in Gothenburg on October 10, 2024. Photo by Adam Ihse/TT / various sources / AFP) / Sweden OUT
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Sweden Jails Syrian Man for Life over 2012-2013 War Crimes

Police patrol at the scene of a shooting at an office of Israeli military technology firm Elbit Systems in Gothenburg on October 10, 2024.  Photo by Adam Ihse/TT / various sources / AFP) / Sweden OUT
Police patrol at the scene of a shooting at an office of Israeli military technology firm Elbit Systems in Gothenburg on October 10, 2024. Photo by Adam Ihse/TT / various sources / AFP) / Sweden OUT

A Swedish court on Monday sentenced a 55-year-old man to life in jail for his role in war crimes during the Syrian civil war in 2012 and 2013.

The court found that the man was guilty of participating in a shooting against a peaceful protest in July 2012 in the Damascus suburb of Yarmouk, where several demonstrators were killed, it said in a statement.

It also found that he had served at a roadblock set up by the Syrian government in the same area from December 2012 to July 2013, where "a very large number of civilians" had been arrested and taken away to be tortured and in some cases killed.

According to the court, both offences happened as part of the Syrian civil war, triggered by popular discontent with the rule of longtime leader Bashar al-Assad.

"The district court has found the offences to be aggravated because they were directed at a large number of civilians and several people have died and been injured," judge Hampus Lilja said, explaining this had warranted the life sentence.

The man, who denied the charges, was born in Yarmouk, left Syria in 2013 and was granted asylum in Sweden, according to court documents viewed by AFP. He then gained Swedish citizenship in 2017.

The court noted that the trial had taken 54 days and that a large number of people had been called as both plaintiffs and witnesses.

Sweden has adopted a principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows it to try cases of serious crimes against international law regardless of where the offences took place.


Rights Group Says Gaza Flotilla Activists Facing Abuse in Israel Jail

Brazilian activist Thiago Avila gestures upon his arrival at a court in Ashkelon on May 3, 2026.(Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)
Brazilian activist Thiago Avila gestures upon his arrival at a court in Ashkelon on May 3, 2026.(Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)
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Rights Group Says Gaza Flotilla Activists Facing Abuse in Israel Jail

Brazilian activist Thiago Avila gestures upon his arrival at a court in Ashkelon on May 3, 2026.(Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)
Brazilian activist Thiago Avila gestures upon his arrival at a court in Ashkelon on May 3, 2026.(Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)

Two foreign activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla who have been detained in Israeli prison are facing psychological abuse, death threats and poor detention conditions, a rights group representing them said Monday.

"Thiago Avila (one of the activists) reported being subjected to repeated interrogations lasting up to eight hours. Interrogators have explicitly threatened him, stating he would either be 'killed' or 'spend 100 years in jail'," rights group Adalah, whose attorneys visited both activists in their detention Monday, said in statement.

Adalah added that a court would decide Tuesday whether to further extend Spanish national Saif Abu Keshek and Brazilian Avila's detention.


US Denies Iran Struck a Military Vessel during New Effort to Reopen Strait of Hormuz

Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz near Bandar Abbas, Iran, May 4, 2026. Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz near Bandar Abbas, Iran, May 4, 2026. Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
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US Denies Iran Struck a Military Vessel during New Effort to Reopen Strait of Hormuz

Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz near Bandar Abbas, Iran, May 4, 2026. Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz near Bandar Abbas, Iran, May 4, 2026. Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

The US military on Monday denied claims that Iran struck a Navy vessel as US forces now offer to guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, where hundreds have been stuck since the Iran war began. Tehran over the past two months has attacked some vessels and blocked others that don’t receive its authorization.

The US military’s Central Command also said two American-flagged merchant ships have “successfully transited through the Strait of Hormuz" and that that Navy guided-missile destroyers in the Arabian Gulf are helping to restore commercial shipping traffic.

The statement on X said the destroyers transited the Strait of Hormuz “in support of Project Freedom” and that the merchant ships are "safely headed on their journey." It did not say when the Navy ships arrived or when the merchant vessels departed.

Meanwhile, Iranian news agencies had earlier claimed that Iran struck a US vessel near an Iranian port southeast of the strait, accusing it of “violating maritime security and navigation norms.” The reports said the vessel was forced to turn back.

Also, Iran's state television reported that the Iranian navy fired cruise missiles, rockets and combat drones near US destroyers crossing the Strait of Hormuz on Monday,

It said the navy had identified US destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz and fired multiple warning shots, adding, "following the Zionist American destroyers' disregard for the initial warning, the Navy issued a warning shot by firing cruise missiles, rockets, and combat drones around the aggressor enemy vessels".