North Korean state media has condemned a US bombing drill on the Korean peninsula, warning that the move could spark a nuclear war.

An editorial published in state newspaper Rodong Sinmun Sunday accused the US of "military provocations" which are raising the threat of nuclear conflict to an extreme level.

"The Korean peninsula is the largest gunpowder area in the world with the highest risk of nuclear war, and is the largest hot spot in the world where there is always a risk of nuclear war. [The US] is surely spreading into a new world war," the piece reads.

Ankara will respond decisively to any threats on its borders, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared at the end of G20 summit in Hamburg, warning against any push by the Kurds to secure their own independent region.

The Kurds have been the main fighting force battling jihadist on the ground in Iraq and Syria, playing an essential role in the US-led coalition's campaign against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terrorists in Mosul and Raqqa.

In May, the US Department of Defense confirmed the delivery of heavier weapons to US-allied Kurdish fighters which the US believes are needed to outmaneuver the Syrian government and retake the city of Raqqa from IS.

"We will definitely not remain silent and unresponsive to the support and arming of terror organizations next to our borders and the forming of terror havens in the region," Erdogan warned Saturday at the conclusion of the G20 in Germany, Turkish Radio and Television Corporation quoted.

Russia has provided evidence to the United Nations indicating that North Korea's latest missile launch on July 4th tested an intermediate range rocket, despite the US' insistence that it was an intercontinental ballistic missile.

"A Voronezh-type radar station deployed in the Irkutsk region monitored the launch of the Hwasong-14 medium-range ballistic missile (IRBM) from North Korea, which flew a distance of 510 kilometers (317 miles) in 14 minutes, reaching an altitude of 535 kilometers (332 miles), before landing in the Sea of Japan," reads a letter from Russia's UN mission addressed to the UN's secretary-general and the chairman of the Security Council.

An illustration of the trajectory of the missile and the territory it covered during flight is included in an addition to the letter.

The evidence, compiled by the Russian Defense Ministry, was sent to the UN after a fierce Security Council debate over North Korea's missile launch earlier this week, in which the UN's assistant secretary-general backed the US assessment that the Hwasong-14 missile does, indeed, possess the technical characteristics to be called an ICBM.

"According to these parameters, the missile would have a range of roughly 6,700 kilometers [4,163 miles] if launched on a more typical trajectory, making it an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) according to a widely used definition," the UN official said on Wednesday.

Israel's ambassador in Budapest called on Hungary on Saturday to halt a nationwide poster campaign targeting US billionaire George Soros, which Jewish leaders say is stoking anti-Semitic feelings.

The posters show a large picture of the Hungarian-born Jewish emigre laughing, alongside the text: "Let's not leave Soros the last laugh", a reference to government claims that the 86-year-old wants to force Hungary to allow in migrants.

The pen is mightier than the sword. CNN may know that, but a tweet just might be more powerful than both. And CNN hasn't yet figured that one out. Last week Trump dealt what may just turn out to be the blow that will put CNN out for the count. After a string of journalistic failures, all it took was Trump re-tweeting a humorous meme of Trump pummelling a cartoon CNN to send the network into a spasm of self-destruction. Funnily enough, CNN is seemingly unaware that they have been played, and defeated, and that they are only digging themselves deeper with every response. It seems they've met their match.

Trump's CNN TKO (Twitter knockout) had good timing too: right before his first meeting with the man CNN considers the most evil in the world. Vlad "the Democracy-Impaler" Putin. After a handshake that most likely sent CNN and anyone dumb enough to watch them into convulsive fits of hysterical outrage, the two presidents apparently had a great time, with the minutes turning into hours. While nothing huge has come out of the meeting, by all accounts it was amicable and agreeable. Topics included: North Korea, Syria, Ukraine, and cyber warfare, among others.

Tune in Sunday, July 9, to Behind the Headlines, 4-6pm UTC (6-8pm CET, 12-2pm EST) as we discuss the G20 and CNN's steady demise.

Running Time: 01:36:30

Download: MP3



Here's the transcript of the show:

US President Donald Trump said he had an "excellent" meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 in Hamburg, despite speculation of growing tensions between the two powers over how to deal with North Korea.

"Leaving Hamburg for Washington, D.C. and the WH. Just left China's President Xi where we had an excellent meeting on trade & North Korea," Trump tweeted late Saturday.

The US and China are developing a "wonderful relationship," Trump told his counterpart, according to the White House transcript of the introductory remarks ahead of the meeting on the margins of the two-day international summit in Germany - which mistakenly named Xi the president of Taiwan, instead of China.

As the Syrian military makes massive gains throughout the country, particularly in the east, it is now painfully obvious that the United States and its Western allies are desperately trying to prevent the Assad government from reaching the Iraqi border and unifying Syria.

One need only look at the strategic positioning of U.S. and allied troops as well as Western-backed terrorists to see that this is the case. For instance, the presence of the United States at al-Tanf was strategically planned to block Syrian military forces from linking up with Iraqi military forces and, thus, Iranian forces via the Damascus-Baghdad highway. This much is evidenced by the fact that the U.S. forces stationed there have repeatedly shot down and attacked anti-ISIS forces moving in their direction under the ridiculous guise of "self-defense."

A major ceasefire deal agreed upon earlier by Russia, the United States, and Jordan has taken effect in the southwestern part of Syria. The truce to end hostilities and deliver aid to war-torn areas will be enforced by the three countries' militaries. The truce extends to Syrian government forces and rebel groups in the provinces of Daraa, Quneitra, and Suwayda.

Commenting on the issue, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russian, American, and Jordanian experts had worked out the details of the truce, which says the US and Russia bear shared responsibility in ensuring that the ceasefire is respected by all parties, the minister said. Lavrov added that the ceasefire is aimed at getting aid deliveries through to war-ravaged areas and arranging contacts with opposition groups. A monitoring center in Amman, Jordan's capital, will oversee the truce.

President Vladimir Putin, who discussed the issue with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, at the G20 summit in Hamburg, called the ceasefire agreement "a breakthrough, to a certain extent," noting that the deal was made possible by Washington's "more pragmatic stance" on working with Russia.

While little is known about how the truce will play out on the ground, it is understood that Russian, American, and Jordanian forces will be deployed to the area to stabilize the situation.

Donald Trump's positive impressions about his "tremendous" first meeting with Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Hamburg is a good thing, but concrete steps are now needed to build mutual confidence and trust, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has said.

Gorbachev said the meeting in itself is a positive sign.

"The very fact of their meeting says a lot. And even more, some constructive agreements have been reached," Gorbachev told Russia's Interfax news agency Saturday.

"The fact that the US President, for his part, gave positive account of the meeting is a good thing," the last Soviet leader stated. "Trump is not an empty-headed man, he is an unpredictable one. And it is amazing that he speaks about the meeting this way."

Now, Gorbachev underlined, it's crucial for both Moscow and Washington to take "concrete steps" towards implementing the agreements reached at the Hamburg meeting. He also urged the leaders to build trust and to re-engage each other.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has welcomed the first meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump, saying, the world can "only benefit" from better relations between Moscow and Washington.

"Everyone would only benefit if Russia and the US establish good and honest direct dialogue with each other," Merkel told journalists during her news conference concluding the G20 summit in the northern port city of Hamburg.

The German Chancellor said the world still faces a range of problems which can only be resolved through the joint efforts of Russia and the US, including the Syrian crisis, the issue of disarmament and the situation around the Korean Peninsula.