Crisis Averted
The US Congress narrowly averted a government shutdown with the passage of a bipartisan funding bill, but the process laid bare the persistent challenges of governance in an era of heightened partisanship and external influences.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife hosted a grand banquetto celebrate the July 28 launch of an intercontinental missile, which was attended by top officials from the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, the state-media reported on Monday.
Among those attending the banquet held here on Sunday were Ri Man-gon, vice-chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, and Kim Rak-gyom, head of North Korea's Strategic Rocket Forces, the Rodong Sinmun daily and KCNA news agency reported.
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The event also featured an orchestra performance and a choir.
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"The great success in the second test-fire of Hwasong-14 has established a new world political structure with socialist Korea as its axis," Ri said.
He also urged the country "to ceaselessly produce new-type ballistic rockets … and to make a series of successes in the field of defence scientific research".
North Korea on Friday successfully launched its second intercontinental ballistic missile, reports Efe news.
The Hwasong-14 missile flew 998 km for about 47 minutes and reached a maximum altitude of 3,724.9 km before falling into the Sea of Japan.
After the test, Pyongyang claimed that the rocket could reach any part of the US.
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