S. Korea: North fires projectile over Japan

S. Korea: North fires projectile over Japan

SEOUL, South Korea

North Korea fired an unidentified projectile from its capital Pyongyang that flew over Japan, officials said, an especially aggressive test-flight that will rattle an already anxious region.

Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said today the South Korean and U.S. militaries were analyzing the launch and didn’t immediately confirm how far the projectile traveled. Japanese officials said the missile flew over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido and landed in the Pacific Ocean. There was no damage to ships or anything else reported. Japan’s NHK TV said the missile separated into three parts.

The launch comes days after the North fired what was assessed as three short-range ballistic missiles into the sea and a month after its second flight test of an intercontinental ballistic missile, which analysts say could reach deep into the U.S. mainland when perfected.

Trump defends decision to pardon Arizona’s Arpaio

WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump on Monday defended his decision to pardon Joe Arpaio, calling the former Arizona sheriff a “patriot” who loves his country.

Asked about his controversial pardon during a joint press conference with the president of Finland on Monday, Trump insisted that “a lot of people” believe he made the right call. He said Arpaio had done a “great job for the people of Arizona” and argued that he’d been treated “unbelievable unfairly” by the Obama administration.

“He’s done a great job for the people of Arizona. He is very strong on borders, very strong on illegal immigration. He is loved in Arizona,” Trump said.

Charge of firing gun at protesters not first for KKK member.

TOWSON, Md.

A man who police say fired a handgun during a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., is a KKK member who’s been charged but not convicted of violent crimes in the past.

Richard Wilson Preston Jr. on Monday said he wouldn’t fight extradition from his home city of Baltimore to Charlottesville. He faces a count of discharging a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school during the Aug. 12 rally.

The ACLU released a video of a man firing a gun toward protesters before Preston was arrested Saturday. No one was hit.

His criminal history in Maryland includes several assault charges that did not lead to convictions.

After deal, IS allowed to leave border area

RAS BAALBEK, Lebanon

Islamic State militants and their families began leaving a border area between Lebanon and Syria on Monday as part of a controversial negotiated deal with the extremist group to end its presence there, Lebanese and Syrian media reported.

The militants and their families headed in buses toward a town held by the Islamic State group in far eastern Syria, near the border with Iraq, effectively ending the presence of Sunni militant groups on the Lebanon-Syria border, after al-Qaida-linked fighters were evacuated earlier this month.

The transfer comes nearly a week after Lebanon launched a military campaign to drive IS from the rugged mountainous area along its border with Syria.

Associated Press