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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Biden administration says North Korea could be preparing for a nuclear test as U.S. President Joe Biden gets set to visit Asia later this month, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said on Thursday.

Biden is expected to visit South Korea and Japan from May 20-24 and hold talks with his Korean and Japanese counterparts. Psaki said North Korea could launch a missile test as early as this month.

Psaki said Biden was also considering a visit to the Korean Demilitarized Zone, but no final decision has been made.

(This story corrects to drop ‘missile’, add ‘nuclear’ in headline and first paragraph)

(Reporting By Trevor Hunnicutt and Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Chris Reese and Mark Porter)

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By Hyonhee Shin

SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korea fired three ballistic missiles toward the sea off its east coast on Thursday, South Korea said, in the latest such move by the isolated country racing to advance its weapons programmes on the day it first reported a COVID-19 outbreak.

Japan’s coastguard confirmed the launch of a ballistic missile by North Korea, citing its military. The projectile appeared to fall outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, public broadcaster NHK said.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said three short-range ballistic missiles were fired from the Sunan area of the North’s capital, Pyongyang, where an international airport is located and where the North had said it fired its largest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the Hwasong-17, on March 24.

The missiles flew approximately 360 kilometres (224 miles), reaching an altitude of 90 km and a maximum velocity of Mach 5, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

The firing was the first after the inauguration this week of conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who has signalled a hard line against the North’s weapons development.

The launch, the North’s 16th known weapons test this year, also came hours after it reported its first COVID-19 outbreak, declaring a “gravest national emergency” and ordering a national lockdown.

Yoon’s national security office issued a statement condemning the launch and saying it “deplored the duplicitous conduct” of firing ballistic missiles and ignoring the plight of its people in the middle of a COVID outbreak.

In its last weapons test on Saturday, the North used a submarine-launched ballistic missile, which it has been aggressively developing in recent years.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed late last month to expedite the country’s buildup of nuclear arsenal, amid stalled denuclearisation talks with the United States.

U.S. and South Korean officials have said Pyongyang’s first nuclear test since 2017 could take place as early as this month.

(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin;Editing by Alison Williams and Bernadette Baum)

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WARSAW (Reuters) -Russia on Wednesday demanded a formal apology from Poland and threatened possible future reprisals for a protest in which Moscow’s ambassador to Warsaw was doused with red paint.

The ambassador, Sergey Andreev, was accosted by people protesting against Russia’s intervention in Ukraine as he went to lay flowers at the Soviet Military Cemetery in Warsaw on Monday, drawing a furious reaction from Moscow.

The Russian foreign ministry summoned Polish Ambassador Krzysztof Krajewski to receive its protest.

“Russia expects an official apology from the Polish leadership in connection with the incident and demands the safety of the Russian ambassador and all employees of Russian foreign institutions in Poland are ensured,” it said in a statement.

“A decision on further steps will be taken depending on Warsaw’s reaction to our demands.”

On Wednesday afternoon, red paint was splattered over the entrance to the Polish Embassy in Moscow, a spokesman for the Polish foreign ministry said. Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau said authorities had warned Andreev that attending the cemetery on Monday, when Russia was commemorating the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, risked provoking an incident, according to the state-run PAP news agency.

“However, what happened does not in any way change our position that diplomatic representatives of foreign countries are entitled to protection … no matter how much we feel the need to disagree with the policy of the government that the diplomat represents,” Rau was quoted as saying.

Relations between Russia and the West have become fraught since Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what it calls a “special military operation” to disarm the country and protect it from “fascists”.

More than 3 million Ukrainians have fled to Poland, which has consistently argued for the Western sanctions imposed on Moscow to be tough, and has expelled 45 Russian diplomats, prompting a tit-for-tat response from Moscow.

Ukraine and the West say the fascist allegation is baseless and that Moscow launched an unprovoked act of aggression against its neighbour.

(Reporting by Alan Charlish, Marek Strzelecki; Editing by Kevin Liffey, Nick Macfie and Mark Heinrich)

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By Uditha Jayasinghe and Alasdair Pal

COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s president urged people on Wednesday to reject what he called attempts to foment racial and religious disharmony, as clashes broke out in many parts of the country over the government’s handling of a devastating economic crisis.

Violent street protests killed eight people this week and even the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s elder brother as prime minister and a curfew have failed to douse public anger. The government has ordered troops to shoot at anyone damaging public property or threatening lives.

Sri Lankans have blamed the Rajapaksa dynasty for the economic meltdown that has left the country with only about $50 million in reserves, stalling most imports and leading to massive shortages of fuel, cooking gas, and other essentials.

Protesters set the family’s ancestral home in the south on fire earlier in the week.

“This is the time for all Sri Lankans to join hands as one, to overcome the economic, social & political challenges,” Rajapaksa said on Twitter.

“I urge all #Srilankans to reject the subversive attempts to push you towards racial & religious disharmony. Promoting moderation, toleration & coexistence is vital.”

It was not immediately clear what prompted the president to issue the warning. However, Sri Lanka has a long and bloody history of ethnic tensions.

Rajapaksa and his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa, who resigned as prime minister on Monday, were in key government positions when a 26-year civil war ended in 2009 after security forces overcame militants from the minority Tamil community.

Sinhalese Buddhists are the majority in the country of 22 million which also has Muslim, Hindu and Christian minorities.

A police spokesperson said two shooting incidents were reported on Tuesday night, including one in the southern town of Rathgama that wounded four people.

“The situation is now calm,” Nalin Thalduwa said.

In Weerakettiya, a southern town that is home to the Rajapaksas, police and military patrolled the streets, with shops and businesses shut due to the curfew.

On Monday, video footage from local media showed the ancestral home of the family ablaze, while multiple attacks on houses and election offices of lawmakers were also reported.

(Reporting by Uditha Jayasinghe and Alasdair Pal; Writing by Krishna N. Das; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

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(Reuters) – Fighting between Russia and Ukrainian forces has continued on Zmiinyi Island, also known as Snake Island, with Russia repeatedly trying to reinforce its exposed troops.

“If Russia consolidates its position on Zmiinyi Island with strategic air defence and coastal defence cruise missiles, they could dominate the north-western Black Sea,” the UK Ministry of Defence tweeted in a regular bulletin.

Russia’s resupply vessels have minimum protection in the western Black Sea, following the Russian Navy’s retreat to Crimea after the loss of the Moskva, the tweet said.

(Reporting by Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Tom Hogue)

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MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Tuesday he would not attend the U.S.-hosted Summit of the Americas if all countries in the region were not invited, and would send Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard in his place.

Lopez Obrador said during his regular news conference, just days after his trip to the Cuban capital Havana, that his absence at the summit in Los Angeles next month was unlikely to cause tensions with the United States.

U.S. officials have previously said it is unlikely Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government will receive an invitation to the summit that is meant to showcase democracy in the hemisphere.

“If they’re excluded, if not all are invited, a representative from the Mexican government would go, but I wouldn’t,” Lopez Obrador said.

(Reporting by Kylie Madry and Anthony Esposito; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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(Reuters) – Armenian police detained 61 protesters on Tuesday as hundreds of people marched in the capital Yerevan calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, news agencies reported.

Video footage showed groups of officers making arrests amid violent tussles with demonstrators.

Pashinyan has faced heavy criticism for agreeing to a Russian-brokered ceasefire after a six-week war in 2020 when Armenia was defeated by Azerbaijan and lost significant territory in and around the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The landlocked South Caucasus country has seen a string of protests in recent weeks as pressure mounts on the embattled prime minister, with at least 92 protesters detained last Thursday.

(Reporting by Reuters)

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MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Two Mexican journalists were killed on Monday in the eastern state of Veracruz, the state attorney general’s office said, adding to the toll in one of the deadliest years on record for media workers in the country.

Yessenia Mollinedo and Sheila Garcia died in the municipality of Cosoleacaque, the office said on Twitter. Local media said unidentified gunmen shot the two as they sat in a car.

Violence against media workers has jumped during President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s administration, according to a report published in April by Article 19, a freedom of expression advocacy group.

The latest killings come four days after veteran journalist Luis Enrique Ramirez was found dead on the side of a highway in the northern state of Sinaloa.

Prior to the death of Ramirez, eight journalists had been killed this year in Mexico, according to Article 19 data.

(Reporting by Kylie Madry and Valentine Hilaire; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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BEIJING (AP) — Authorities in Shanghai have again tightened anti-virus restrictions, just as the city was emerging from a month of strict lockdown due to a COVID-19 outbreak.

Notices issued in several districts said residents were ordered to stay home and are barred from receiving nonessential deliveries as part of a “quiet period” lasting at least until Wednesday. The tightened measures could be extended depending on the results of mass testing, the notices said.

“Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. Together we can lift the lockdown at an early date,” said one notice issued in the city’s Huangpu district and posted online.

It wasn’t clear what prompted the renewed tightening, with numbers of new COVID-19 cases in the city continuing to fall.

Shanghai on Monday reported 3,947 cases over the previous 24 hours, almost all of them asymptomatic, along with 11 deaths. Authorities have been gradually lifting isolation rules on the city’s 25 million residents, but the new orders appear to be returning to conditions at the early stage of the outbreak.

Shanghai originally ordered mass testing along with a limited lockdown, but extended that as case numbers rose. Thousands of residents have been forced into centralized quarantine centers for showing a positive test result or merely having been in contact with an infected person.

Two Shanghai residents reached through social media said they’d had no prior notice of the new restrictions, which they were told could last for up to a week.

“We’re unprepared,” said Zhang Chen, a researcher with a technology company. “I packed my luggage thinking it would be my turn next” to be taken to a quarantine facility.

“I don’t know what will happen in May, but after the lockdown, I think I’ll need psychological help,” Zhang said.

A marketing professional in the western Pudong district said quality of life has been declining even as living expenses continue to rise under lockdown.

“Every time, they say lockdown will be eased after a few days, but there seems to be no end,” said the woman, who asked that she be identified only by her surname, Lu, to avoid repercussions from authorities who have cracked down heavily on dissent.

“All aspects of work are affected. I don’t know when it will be time for the lockdown to come to an end,” Lu said.

In Beijing, authorities closed down the largest city district, with residents told to stay home and stores closed. Beijing has ordered daily testing of all residents, closed parks and other leisure venues and limited restaurants to takeout business only.

The usually bustling Sanlitun area crammed with restaurants, boutiques and an Apple store was all but deserted. Despite that, retiree Yang Xiaochang said Beijing appeared to be far better prepared to weather the surge than its southern cousin.

“Even though at the beginning there were some panic buying … Beijing will not be like that,” Yang said, referring to Shanghai.

Still, companies and investors worry the ruling Communist Party’s “zero-COVID” strategy that closed most businesses in Shanghai and other industrial centers is disrupting global trade and activity in autos, electronics and other industries.

China’s export growth tumbled in April as global demand weakened, adding to pressure on the world’s second-largest economy.

Exports rose 3.7% over a year earlier to $273.6 billion, down sharply from March’s 15.7% growth, customs data showed Monday. Reflecting weak Chinese demand, imports crept up 0.7% to $222.5 billion, in line with the previous month’s growth below 1%.

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LONDON (AP) — The U.K. and Irish governments have urged rival parties in Northern Ireland to come together to resurrect its power-sharing government after Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein scored a historic victory in local elections to become the biggest party in Northern Ireland’s Assembly.

Sinn Fein, which seeks union with Ireland, won 27 seats in the 90-seat legislature, beating the Democratic Unionist Party, which secured 25 seats. It’s the first time in Northern Ireland’s history that an Irish nationalist party has topped the voting.

But it’s not clear whether Sinn Fein will lead a new government because of Northern Ireland’s delicate power-sharing politics and ongoing tussles over the legacy of Britain’s exit from the European Union.

While Sinn Fein’s vice-president Michelle O’Neill now has the right to the post of first minister, a functioning Northern Ireland Executive — or devolved government — cannot be formed unless the largest unionist party agrees to join in the role of deputy first minister.

In February the DUP’s Paul Givan quit as first minister in protest against post-Brexit border arrangements, collapsing the Executive. His party has said it will not return to government unless their demands over the customs arrangements are met.

Leaders in London and Dublin said all parties must now re-establish the government as soon as possible.

Irish prime minister Micheál Martin said late Saturday that “it is now incumbent on all political parties and elected representatives to deliver on their mandate.”

“Power-sharing and principles of partnership, equality and mutual respect are at the heart of the Good Friday Agreement, through which peace has been secured and progress achieved for almost 25 years,” he added. “A new power-sharing Executive is vital for progress and prosperity for all in Northern Ireland.”

In London, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said he will meet with party leaders Monday to discuss how to re-establish a functioning government.

Lewis reiterated his position that the U.K. government would like to reach an agreement with the EU to resolve disputes over post-Brexit rules known as the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The DUP is strongly opposed to the rules, which have imposed customs and border checks on some goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K. Unionists say the new checks have created a barrier between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K. that undermines their British identity.

Britain’s Conservative government is trying to get the EU to agree to major changes, but negotiations have reached an impasse.

“The U.K. government’s position is we want to secure a deal with the EU. We’re very clear about that,” Lewis told the BBC Sunday. “We have worked very hard on that for over a year now across a series of conversations. We made proposals. The EU haven’t shown any flexibility.”

Northern Ireland’s delicate system, which splits power between the largest British unionist party and largest Irish nationalist party, was created by the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement that ended decades of Catholic-Protestant conflict.

If no power-sharing Executive can be formed within six months, a new election may be triggered.

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