U.S. plans response to North Korean missile threat

NORTH KOREA launched early Tuesday its longest-range rocket to date, an intercontinental ballistic missile potentially capable of hitting the East Coast of the United States. The test flight was the first in two months, coming after tightened sanctions and U.S. efforts to stop the country’s nuclear weapons program. At the White House, President Donald Trump said, “It is a situation that we will handle.” But others expressed more concern. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said, “We’re headed toward a war if things don’t change.”

THE HAGUE: In a climactic gesture Wednesday morning caught on camera before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Slobodan Praljak raised a small vial to his lips and announced to the panel, “I have taken poison.” The court had just upheld final verdicts in the war crimes cases of six former Bosnian Croat political and military leaders, sentencing Praljak, 72, to 20 years in prison for crimes in the city of Mostar during the Bosnian War. Croat state television an hour later reported that Praljak had died.

MYANMAR: Pope Francis made a historic visit to Myanmar, also known as Burma, but avoided in his speech to leaders mention of the Rohingya Muslim crisis, in which government units have forced more than 600,000 residents from their homes into neighboring Bangladesh.

NORWAY: An appellate court ruled in favor of a doctor, saying she has the right to practice medicine in accordance with her conscience. Dr. Katarzyna Jachimowicz had been dismissed from her clinic position after saying her Christian beliefs prohibited her from inserting intrauterine birth control devices, which can act as abortifacients.

TURKEY: The FBI is opening an investigation into the murders of Syrian-American journalist Halla Barakat and her mother in Turkey two months after the two were found strangled and stabbed to death in the apartment they shared in Istanbul. U.S. officials have issued no word on the case since a Sept. 22 State Department statement.

PAKISTAN: In a press conference called after violent protests, leaders of Pakistan’s extremist Islamist parties accused Christians and other minorities of leading a crackdown in which at least seven people died. Weeks of protests organized by rising cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi forced army intervention and the resignation of Minister of Law Zahid Hamid. Rizvi has called for killing those lobbying for blasphemy law reform.

INDONESIA: Yes, Mount Agung is erupting, closing Bali’s airport a second day and its looming ash cloud potentially triggering global cooling and changes to rainfall patterns.