NO MASK, NO MISTAKE FOR N KOREA’S KIM

AFP, Seoul

As he watches his troops firing rockets and artillery shells, one of the many things that marks North Korean leader Kim Jong Un out from the officers alongside him is his coronavirus mask: it isn’t there.Kim has overseen multiple military drills in recent weeks as Pyongyang mounts an all-out drive to prevent an outbreak of the disease that has swept around the world from neighbouring China.

S’PORE SETS STAGE FOR POLLS DESPITE VIRUS

AFP, Singapore

Changes to Singapore’s electoral boundaries were announced Friday, setting the stage for polls soon, with an opposition party saying any move to conduct elections during the coronavirus outbreak would be “irresponsible”. There had been doubts the election, which must happen by April 2021 at the latest, would take place in the near future due to the virus—the city-state has so far reported 200 cases.

UK SAYS US STRIKES IN IRAQ ‘PROPORTIONATE’ RESPONSE

AFP, London

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab yesterday said US airstrikes in Iraq were a “proportionate” response to the deaths of two Americans and one Briton in a rocket attack. The Pentagon said the strikes were against the pro-Iranian Kataeb Hezbollah armed faction in response to the death of the three soldiers on the Taji air base on Wednesday. “The response to the cowardly attack on coalition forces in Iraq has been swift, decisive and proportionate,” Raab said in a statement.