North Korea launches suspected ballistic missile

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North Korea
North Korea has launched at least one ballistic missile toward the ocean on the country’s east coast. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected a short-range ballistic missile, likely launched from a submarine near Sinpo. In January, Pyongyang unveiled the missile as “the world’s most powerful weapon.”The move, which comes weeks after South Korea unveiled a similar weapon, violates some international sanctions, with the UN prohibiting North Korea from testing ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons. Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Tokyo had detected two ballistic missiles. The US military’s Indo-Pacific Command said that the launch did not pose “an immediate threat to US personnel, territory or that of its allies.”

Russia
Russia has broken diplomatic ties with NATO, suspending its permanent mission to the bloc, following the expulsion of eight Russians by the alliance. NATO has called the eight members “undeclared Russian intelligence officers.” Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Kremlin’s move could come into effect as early as Nov. 1. Moscow is also terminating the NATO information bureau in the capital, which was established at the Belgian Embassy to explain the role of NATO and its policies to the Russian public. Russia still plans to maintain diplomatic relations with the individual governments in the alliance.

Afghanistan
The US special envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, who negotiated the US withdrawal agreement with the Taliban under the Trump administration, has resigned from his post, which he’s held since 2018. He will be replaced by his deputy, Tom West, who plans to work closely with the US Embassy in Afghanistan, now based in Doha, Qatar. “I extend my gratitude for his decades of service to the American people,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said of Khalilzad. His resignation comes after he was excluded from the Biden administration’s first formal talks with the Taliban following the US’ full withdrawal from Afghanistan. Khalilzad has been the target of extensive criticism over the chaotic US exit from the country. He was also a veteran of past Republican administrations who helped former President George W. Bush to plan the overthrow of the Taliban in 2002.

From The World

In the post-Cold War era, Colin Powell became the most ‘popular and influential’ US military leader, biographer says

Political and military leaders from around the world are paying tribute on Monday to Colin Powell, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and secretary of state, who has died at the age of 84.

Powell had been battling multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer that made him more susceptible to complications from COVID-19.

Powell served both Democratic and Republican presidents and became one of the most popular public figures in the US. Powell’s biggest failure, by his own admission, was the faulty claims he made before the UN to justify the 2003 Iraq War.

Jeffrey Matthews has looked carefully at Powell’s role on the world stage. He’s the author of “Colin Powell: Imperfect Patriot.” He joined The World’s host Marco Werman to discuss Powell’s life and military career.

How the West’s obsession with fast fashion compounds an environmental nightmare in Ghana

As the West continues to mass produce cheap clothes, a lot of it ends up barely worn, donated or in a landfill. In Ghana, the deluge of worn-out fashions has overwhelmed the West African country’s infrastructure and poses huge environmental threats to its coastlines.

Bright Spot

On the ground, it’s hard to miss a walrus. They’re loud and huge — sometimes weighing more than 3,000 pounds. But when you’re trying to find them across the vast Arctic landscape where they live, it could be trickier to spot them.

That is why scientists in the UK are looking for “walrus detectives” ? to help browse through hundreds of thousands of images taken from space and count walruses ? hanging out on beaches and rocky coasts.

In case you missed it

Listen: American missionaries held hostage in Haiti

One of the most notorious gangs in Haiti is holding hostage a group of American missionaries, including children. The country has the highest kidnapping rate in the world. The threat of being taken hostage is one that Haitians— rich and poor alike — face every day. And when people in the US and the UK donate clothes they don’t want anymore, those clothes end up for sale in a massive secondhand market in Accra, Ghana. But the boom in quickly made, inexpensive clothing around the world has led to an environmental crisis in countries like Ghana. Plus, TikTok has come a long way from its lip-syncing days for Generation Z. Now, innovators are using the app to help teach and spread the word on Indigenous languages across the globe.

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