Saturday, April 21, 2018
DNC sues Russia, WikiLeaks, Trump campaign associates, alleging conspiracy - CBS News
By KATHRYN WATSON CBS NEWS April 20, 2018, 4:56 PM
DNC sues Russia, WikiLeaks, Trump campaign associates, alleging conspiracy
The Democratic National Committee has filed a lawsuit against the Russian government, WikiLeaks and the Trump campaign, and its associates, arguing that the parties conspired to influence the 2016 presidential campaign in a way that damaged the Democratic Party.
The complaint, filed Friday in federal court in Manhattan, claims millions of dollars in damages, alleges violations of everything from conspiracy to violations of federal copyright laws and the Trade Secrets Act. One of the most notable things about the complaint is the sheer number of defendants — the 66-page complaint lists WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, Donald Trump, Jr., former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, former campaign worker George Papadopoulos, former campaign associate Rick Gates and "John Does 1-10," among others.
In the months ahead of the election, WikiLeaks released nearly 20,000 internal DNC emails, many of them related to Hillary Clinton. WikiLeaks later released thousands of emails from John Podesta, Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign chairman.
"During the 2016 presidential campaign, Russia launched an all-out assault on our democracy, and it found a willing and active partner in Donald Trump's campaign," DNC chairman Tom Perez said in a statement. "This constituted an act of unprecedented treachery: the campaign of a nominee for President of the United States in league with a hostile foreign power to bolster its own chance to win the presidency."
The DNC complaint alleges, in a nutshell, that Russian hackers' attempts, combined with Trump associates' interactions with Russian officials, amounts to a massive conspiracy to alter the results of the 2016 election cycle.
How did WikiLeaks become associated with Russia?
"No one is above the law," the complaint reads. "In the run-up to the 2016 election, Russia mounted a brazen attack on American democracy. The opening salvo was a cyberattack on the DNC, carried out on American soil. In 2015 and 2016, Russian intelligence services hacked into the DNC's computers, penetrated its phone systems, and exfiltrated tens of thousands of documents and emails. Russia then used this stolen information to advance its own interests; destabilizing the U.S. political environment, denigrating the Democratic presidential nominee, and supporting the campaign of Donald J. Trump, whose policies would benefit the Kremlin."
"In the Trump campaign, Russia found a willing and active partner in this effort," the complaint continues. "In 2016, individuals tied to the Kremlin notified the Trump campaign that Russia intended to interfere with our democracy. Through multiple meetings, emails, and other communications, these Russian agents made clear that their government supported Trump and was prepared to use stolen emails and other information to damage his opponent and the Democratic Party."
Special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating Russian election meddling and any ties to Trump campaign associates. That investigation has led to the indictments of multiple former campaign officials, some of whom are named as defendants in the DNC suit.
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said, in response to the lawsuit, "The DNC's move is nothing more than a desperate fundraising stunt from a party unable to acknowledge they lost the election. This kind of garbage only serves to promote disproven conspiracy theories and fuels exactly what the Russians want - people to question the legitimacy of the most powerful democracy in the world."
WIkiLeaks said it is "constitutionally protected" from such a lawsuit.
"DNC already has a moribund publicity lawsuit which the press has became bored of--hence the need to refile it as a "new" suit before mid-terms. As an accurate publisher of newsworthy information @WikiLeaks is constitutionally protected from such suits," WikiLeaks said in a statement posted to Twitter.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., who was head of the DNC at the time, issued this statement in response to the lawsuit:
"The Democratic National Committee was the first major target of the Russian attack on our democracy, and I strongly believe that every individual who helped carry it out — foreign or domestic — should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law," she said.
Mr. Trump was criticized for expressing his appreciation of WikiLeaks weeks before the election.
"WikiLeaks, I love WikiLeaks," the president said at a Florida rally on Oct. 12, 2016.
The DNC is dealing with significant debt after the 2016 election, and lags behind the Republican National Committee in fundraising. As of the end of February, the DNC had $10.1 million in the bank, but owed $6.3 million, according to Federal Election Commission records.
— CBS News' Steven Portnoy contributed to this report.
Barbara Bush funeral expected to draw 1,500 guests - Fox News ( source : Associated Press )
Barbara Bush funeral expected to draw 1,500 guests
Fox News
Mourners line up to pay respects to Barbara Bush
Former President George H.W. Bush greeted well-wishers at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston ahead of the former first lady's funeral on Saturday.
An invitation-only private funeral service wil be held Saturday in Houston for the late former first lady Barbara Bush, with first lady Melania Trump and former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and their wives expected among some 1,500 guests.
The funeral will be held at St. Martin's Episcopal Church, followed by a burial at the President George H.W. Bush Library at Texas A&M University. St. Martin's is the nation’s largest Episcopal church.
Thousands of people on Friday paid respects to Barbara Bush, wife of the nation's 41st president and mother of the nation's 43rd. Bush died Tuesday at her Houston home. She was 92.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a son of the former first lady, will deliver a eulogy, the family said in a statement Friday.
Also speaking will be Barbara Bush’s longtime friend Susan Baker, wife of former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, and historian Jon Meacham, who wrote a 2015 biography of former President George H.W. Bush.
The White House said in a statement that President Donald Trump will not attend the service “to avoid disruptions due to added security, and out of respect for the Bush Family and friends attending the service.”
The president has offered his sympathies, praising Barbara Bush as “a titan in American life.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Fox News
Mourners line up to pay respects to Barbara Bush
Former President George H.W. Bush greeted well-wishers at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston ahead of the former first lady's funeral on Saturday.
An invitation-only private funeral service wil be held Saturday in Houston for the late former first lady Barbara Bush, with first lady Melania Trump and former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and their wives expected among some 1,500 guests.
The funeral will be held at St. Martin's Episcopal Church, followed by a burial at the President George H.W. Bush Library at Texas A&M University. St. Martin's is the nation’s largest Episcopal church.
Thousands of people on Friday paid respects to Barbara Bush, wife of the nation's 41st president and mother of the nation's 43rd. Bush died Tuesday at her Houston home. She was 92.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a son of the former first lady, will deliver a eulogy, the family said in a statement Friday.
Also speaking will be Barbara Bush’s longtime friend Susan Baker, wife of former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, and historian Jon Meacham, who wrote a 2015 biography of former President George H.W. Bush.
The White House said in a statement that President Donald Trump will not attend the service “to avoid disruptions due to added security, and out of respect for the Bush Family and friends attending the service.”
The president has offered his sympathies, praising Barbara Bush as “a titan in American life.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Sean Hannity Will Remain Trump’s Shadow Chief of Staff - Intelligencer ( New York Magazine )
Sean Hannity Will Remain Trump’s Shadow Chief of Staff
Most weeks, New York Magazine writer-at-large Frank Rich speaks with contributor Alex Carp about the biggest stories in politics and culture. Today, the meaning of the Sean Hannity–Michael Cohen revelation, James Comey’s new book, and the evolution of Nikki Haley.
Now that he’s been named as a client of Trump fixer Michael Cohen, we know that Sean Hannity’s pro-Trump agenda is inseparable from his closeness to Cohen, at least two other Trump-connected lawyers, and Trump himself. Fox News, betting that its viewers won’t care, has agreed with its star that no disclosure was needed. Are they right?
If there turns out to be a Michael Cohen dossier proving that it was Hannity and Trump who had urinated on each other in that Moscow Ritz-Carlton bedroom, Hannity’s audience would still remain loyal to him, and Fox News would still remain loyal to its biggest star. The notion that journalistic rules or ethics have any meaning at a Murdoch outfit, or that its audience wants them to apply, is a fantasy. Fox News doesn’t give a damn about press watchdogs and Pulitzers. It cares about money and power. That’s all Hannity cares about too, and, as the Washington Post reported this week, he is delighted to function as Trump’s shadow chief of staff even while posing as an honest broker on television: “Basically he has a desk” in the White House, according to one presidential adviser.
But please, let’s pause a moment to appreciate the sheer farce — and sheer joy — of Monday’s moment in Judge Kimba Wood’s New York courtroom when, to audible gasps, it was revealed that Hannity was Cohen’s mystery client No. 3. Since then, in an apparent desire to convince his family that he is the only Cohen client not involved in paying off a porn star or Playboy model, Hannity has changed his story so many times it’s head-spinning. He has claimed that Cohen has never represented him as a lawyer, and yet argues that he is still entitled to attorney-client privilege because they have occasionally chatted about some legal matters. What legal matters? Not any involving a “third party,” says Hannity. Which in turn gives rise to Jimmy Kimmel’s perfectly logical question, “Maybe Sean Hannity was thinking about suing himself?”
Meanwhile, what kind of lawyer has only three clients, at least one of whom doesn’t pay him? (And given Trump’s long history of stiffing vendors, it’s entirely possible two of the three don’t pay.) Maybe Cohen’s law degree is from Trump University. Clearly there’s much more to learn about this theoretical legal eagle thanks to the files, emails, recordings, and who knows what now in law enforcement’s hands. Which brings me to another rare source of joy in this whole rancid affair: the sheer delight of Stormy Daniels’s lawyer Michael Avenatti as he squares off against an adversary as stupid and incompetent as Cohen. “Bad things happen when you don’t surround yourself with competent, intelligent, battle-tested counsel” as he put it in one of the more polite blasts in his essential Twitter feed trolling Trump’s “fixer.” Avenatti sent this tweet around the time Cohen failed to show up at Judge Wood’s first hearing and was found instead playing hooky outside the Loews Regency Hotel on Park Avenue smoking cigars with a posse of unidentified bros. The scene begged to be outfitted with the Sopranos theme song and online soon was.
Last night both The Wall Street Journal and Politico posted stories suggesting that Cohen is a worm who, to save himself from prison, will turn on Trump as fast as you can say “Michael Flynn.” The threat he represents to the White House is clear from its scramble to portray him as a minor figure in the Trump cosmography. Much as Sean Spicer tried to rewrite history by purporting that Paul Manafort, Trump’s indicted campaign manager, had only a “very limited role for a very limited amount of time,” so Sarah Huckabee Sanders is now claiming that Cohen, whom Trump has frequently and recently described as “my attorney,” is only one of “a large number of attorneys” in his employ. One thing that’s certain: Sanders is only one of a large number of liars in this White House.
James Comey’s long-awaited book (and its relentless media tour) has sparked something of an unexpected backlash, with critics drawing attention to Comey’s spotty self-examination and the admission that, despite previous denials, his preelection announcement of the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails was made with political implications in mind. What should we take from Comey’s anti-Trump campaign?
I have to confess that I wish Comey were as entertaining as Avenatti. My only concern about him is that nothing he says in any way will damage his standing or credibility as a crucial witness in Robert Mueller’s case for obstruction of justice. Otherwise his media blitz is best described by the Washington Post television critic Hank Stuever as an object lesson in “just how quickly the 21st century can make work of a 15th-century piece of technology — a book” — as “it chews it down, extracts whatever news and protein it needs from it, and then excretes it out the other end in a matter of days.” I doubt that Comey’s book or interviews are going to change any minds among either his liberal or Trumpist critics, but this marathon excretion is worth it if only because he truly drives Trump nuts.
After Trump walked back Russia sanctions that she had just announced, Nikki Haley didn’t hide her feelings about being hung out to dry, and the New York Times reports that unnamed “Republicans close to the White House” have begun to speculate about a Pence/Haley GOP ticket in 2020. Are we watching Haley grow into Trump’s most powerful Republican foreign-policy critic?
No. And while Haley’s political ambitions have long been apparent, it’s highly unlikely she’d hitch her star to Pence, who is the least likely sitting vice-president to be elected president since Spiro Agnew — even if he should inherit the job temporarily via the 25th amendment.
The sanctions flip-flop and Haley’s public displeasure about it do confirm a few things we already know. First, Trump has no intention of punishing Russia in any sustained or tough way for the simple obvious reason that Putin has something on him and possibly his son, his son-in-law, and others in his orbit. Second, no matter who the players, Trump’s foreign policy remains in complete disarray. He announced we were leaving Syria. Then he launched air strikes on Syria. He let Haley signal more Russian sanctions. Then he called them off. And now what? He’ll go back to figuring out how to bomb Rod Rosenstein.
At the same time he has chosen a new national security adviser and secretary of State — John Bolton and Mike Pompeo, respectively — who, like Haley, are hard-line hawks and neocons with views antithetical to Trump’s (and much of his base’s) America First push toward nationalism and isolationism. He’s come down on this new team’s side with his pardon of a criminal architect of the Iraq War, Scooter Libby, and his bizarre (or is it just clueless?) attempt to rehabilitate “Mission Accomplished” as a presidential brand for “winning.” But will Trump go along with his hawks on challenging Russia and pursuing further action in Syria (or any other battleground)? I doubt it. There will be only incoherent, improvised, from-the-gut policy on any of it; witness how his message about his goals for talks with “little rocket man” seems to change by the hour. This slapstick isn’t even worthy of the Marx Brothers’ Duck Soup — it’s vintage Three Stooges.
One further indicator of the chaos is that it was Larry Kudlow, the newly appointed Trump economic adviser, who slapped down and insulted Haley, accusing her of “some momentary confusion” when she announced new sanctions on Russia last Sunday. That Kudlow, who has nothing to do with foreign policy, was assigned or took on this task himself is what’s truly confusing. If we can be grateful for small favors, at least neither Ben Carson nor Betsy DeVos has yet to weigh in on Kim Jong-un.
How to put your tax refund to good use - NBC News
April 20, 2018, 5:00 AM
How to put your tax refund to good use
Now that tax day (plus one) has come and gone, millions of Americans are looking forward to refunds. After all, nearly 80 percent of individual filers get a check from the IRS. According to the agency's most recent data, it has processed more than 101 million returns and issued more than 79 million refunds totaling $226.6 billion so far. The average refund is $2,864.
Most people like getting that financial boost, and when considering the opposite, who would disagree?
But when you get to the heart of the matter, a refund is the result of overpaying income taxes during the year. Worse, you must file a tax return to ask the IRS to return your overpayment. When else do Americans gladly overpay for something and wait till the next year to get a refund?
Getting a big refund -- more than a thousand dollars -- while carrying expensive debt can be a financial mistake. It's better to reduce your tax withholding, which increases your take-home pay, and use the larger cash flow to pay off your debt. Of course, your tax refund the following year will be smaller, but your debt will be smaller, too.
The risk is that you may not withhold enough tax -- and then find that you owe tax when it's time to file your return. Nobody wants that. Which is why we overpay our taxes and are happy to get a refund.
The next question is: What to do with your tax refund?
Some people will need it to pay for essentials, like rent, food and car expenses. Others will pay down debt or boost savings.
The IRS says nearly 90 percent of refunds are directly deposited into a bank account. But that can be a temptation to spend.
So if you really want to do something productive with your refund, the first step is to move it out of your bank and put it into another account that's harder to reach. If you don't already have one, consider opening brokerage account, mutual fund or retirement account.
Here are a few other ideas for making good use of a tax refund:
Contribute to a health savings account. If you have a health insurance plan with a high deductible, you can open an HSA. These accounts allow pretax contributions, which grow tax deferred. And withdrawals used to pay qualifying medical expenses are tax-free. The 2018 HSA contribution limit is $3,450 for individuals and $6.900 for families (those 55 and older can contribute an additional $1,000).
Pay down high interest rate debt. If you carry a balance on a credit card account, listen up. Interest rates are on the rise, and that means that your credit card debt will cost you more. The average rate on newly issued cards in 2018 has risen to 15.59 percent. When you pay down this debt, you'll also save money on interest and fees.
Increase contributions to your employer's 401(k) plan. Using your refund to save for retirement is a great move, especially when you get paid to do it. That's because many employers match their employees' contributions, for instance, 50 percent of the first 6 percent you contribute. That would put 9 percent of your pay into your 401(k).
Save for your child's education. If you're planning to set aside savings for future education costs, consider opening a state-sponsored college savings plan. In one of these 529 savings plans, the money saved can be used tax-free to pay for future college tuition. Many states also offer a deduction on your state income tax return if you contribute to your own state's plan.
Make extra mortgage payments. Finally, think about adding extra principal to your monthly mortgage payments. By making the equivalent of just one additional monthly payment on a 30-year mortgage each year, you can pay off that loan in about 18 years instead -- and save thousands of dollars in interest over that time.
How to put your tax refund to good use
Now that tax day (plus one) has come and gone, millions of Americans are looking forward to refunds. After all, nearly 80 percent of individual filers get a check from the IRS. According to the agency's most recent data, it has processed more than 101 million returns and issued more than 79 million refunds totaling $226.6 billion so far. The average refund is $2,864.
Most people like getting that financial boost, and when considering the opposite, who would disagree?
But when you get to the heart of the matter, a refund is the result of overpaying income taxes during the year. Worse, you must file a tax return to ask the IRS to return your overpayment. When else do Americans gladly overpay for something and wait till the next year to get a refund?
Getting a big refund -- more than a thousand dollars -- while carrying expensive debt can be a financial mistake. It's better to reduce your tax withholding, which increases your take-home pay, and use the larger cash flow to pay off your debt. Of course, your tax refund the following year will be smaller, but your debt will be smaller, too.
The risk is that you may not withhold enough tax -- and then find that you owe tax when it's time to file your return. Nobody wants that. Which is why we overpay our taxes and are happy to get a refund.
The next question is: What to do with your tax refund?
Some people will need it to pay for essentials, like rent, food and car expenses. Others will pay down debt or boost savings.
The IRS says nearly 90 percent of refunds are directly deposited into a bank account. But that can be a temptation to spend.
So if you really want to do something productive with your refund, the first step is to move it out of your bank and put it into another account that's harder to reach. If you don't already have one, consider opening brokerage account, mutual fund or retirement account.
Here are a few other ideas for making good use of a tax refund:
Contribute to a health savings account. If you have a health insurance plan with a high deductible, you can open an HSA. These accounts allow pretax contributions, which grow tax deferred. And withdrawals used to pay qualifying medical expenses are tax-free. The 2018 HSA contribution limit is $3,450 for individuals and $6.900 for families (those 55 and older can contribute an additional $1,000).
Pay down high interest rate debt. If you carry a balance on a credit card account, listen up. Interest rates are on the rise, and that means that your credit card debt will cost you more. The average rate on newly issued cards in 2018 has risen to 15.59 percent. When you pay down this debt, you'll also save money on interest and fees.
Increase contributions to your employer's 401(k) plan. Using your refund to save for retirement is a great move, especially when you get paid to do it. That's because many employers match their employees' contributions, for instance, 50 percent of the first 6 percent you contribute. That would put 9 percent of your pay into your 401(k).
Save for your child's education. If you're planning to set aside savings for future education costs, consider opening a state-sponsored college savings plan. In one of these 529 savings plans, the money saved can be used tax-free to pay for future college tuition. Many states also offer a deduction on your state income tax return if you contribute to your own state's plan.
Make extra mortgage payments. Finally, think about adding extra principal to your monthly mortgage payments. By making the equivalent of just one additional monthly payment on a 30-year mortgage each year, you can pay off that loan in about 18 years instead -- and save thousands of dollars in interest over that time.
Mohammed Haydar Zammar, 9/11 plotter who turned to Isis, captured by Kurds in Syria - Times of London
Mohammed Haydar Zammar, 9/11 plotter who turned to Isis, captured by Kurds in Syria
Hannah Lucinda Smith, Istanbul
April 20 2018, 12:00pm,
The Times
Mohammed Haydar Zammar in Hamburg in 2001, shortly after several members of his al-Qaeda cell carried out the 9/11 attacks
A key member of the al-Qaeda cell that plotted the 9/11 attacks has been captured by Kurdish forces in Syria.
Mohammed Haydar Zammar, 57, a Syrian-born German citizen who later switched his allegiance to Islamic State, was detained more than a month ago, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces said. Described as an “outspoken, flamboyant jihadist”, Zammar was believed to have recruited members of the Hamburg cell that included the 9/11 ringleaders Mohammed Atta, who piloted the first plane into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, Ziad Samir Jarrah and Marwan al-Shehhi.
The group met at the city’s al-Quds mosque in the late 1990s. The US congressional report on 9/11 stated that they were “core members of a group of radical Muslims, hosting sessions that involved extremely anti-American discussions”. It may have been Zammar’s influence that made them volunteer for the attacks on September 11, 2001.
Days after the attack Zammar was in court after police found pamphlets written by Osama bin Laden in his flat. He said that he had been distributing them in the city and that it was “a declaration of war on the US”.
Zammar fled to Morocco in October 2001, but was quickly rendered to Syria under a CIA programme. He was held in the notorious Far’ Falastin prison in Damascus. After the uprising against President Assad in 2011, Zammar was released and joined the jihadist opposition. He resurfaced in Egypt in the Sinai Peninsula, where he forged links between jihadists and Isis.
It is not known when or how Zammar returned to Syria, or why he switched his allegiance to Isis at a time when the groups were becoming rivals. However, his jihadist past stretches back decades. Zammar’s family left their native Aleppo for Hamburg in 1971, to escape the secular regime of Hafez al-Assad, the father of President Assad.
Zammar was radicalised as a youth and went to Afghanistan, where he was trained by al-Qaeda. In 1995 he went to Bosnia to fight Serbian forces. A year later he was back in Afghanistan, where he met Bin Laden.
Nasa to make announcement about nuclear power in space - Independent
April 19, 2018
Nasa to make announcement about nuclear power in space
The 'Kilopower' project could be used to generate clean energy on the moon, Mars and further into the universe
Andrew Griffin @_andrew_griffin
NNSS
Nasa is to make a major announcement about its project to put nuclear power in space.
The agency has been working on "Kilopower" – a project to use a nuclear reactor to generate clean energy on the Moon, Mars and beyond – for some time. And now it will hold a press conference to reveal the latest results from its plans to unveil a new space exploration power system, it has said.
The conference will see the agency discuss the results of its latest experiments, it said in a release. It has been conducted from November 2017 through until March 2018, at the Nevada National Security Site or NNSS.
That site, deep in the Nevada desert, has long served as a testing ground for nuclear experiments. In the 1950s, for instance, it was used to detonate nuclear bombs that could be felt across the state and into Las Vegas.
Nasa hopes that Kilopower can use some of that same nuclear technology to provide energy for space explorers as they make their way through the solar system. They will need energy for a wide variety of tasks, from generating the light, water and oxygen they need to conducting experiments and sending information back to Earth.
How Nasa's newest satellite could help us find proof of aliens
"That’s why NASA is conducting experiments on Kilopower, a new power source that could provide safe, efficient and plentiful energy for future robotic and human space exploration missions," Nasa wrote in a statement in January.
"This pioneering space fission power system could provide up to 10 kilowatts of electrical power -- enough to run two average households -- continuously for at least ten years. Four Kilopower units would provide enough power to establish an outpost."
Using nuclear fission will allow astronauts to be able to generate energy wherever they are. If people on Mars, for instance, the amount of energy coming from the sun varies wildly; on Moon, the night lasts for 14 days.
“We want a power source that can handle extreme environments,” says Lee Mason, NASA’s principal technologist for power and energy storage. “Kilopower opens up the full surface of Mars, including the northern latitudes where water may reside. On the Moon, Kilopower could be deployed to help search for resources in permanently shadowed craters.
Nasa to make announcement about nuclear power in space
The 'Kilopower' project could be used to generate clean energy on the moon, Mars and further into the universe
Andrew Griffin @_andrew_griffin
NNSS
Nasa is to make a major announcement about its project to put nuclear power in space.
The agency has been working on "Kilopower" – a project to use a nuclear reactor to generate clean energy on the Moon, Mars and beyond – for some time. And now it will hold a press conference to reveal the latest results from its plans to unveil a new space exploration power system, it has said.
The conference will see the agency discuss the results of its latest experiments, it said in a release. It has been conducted from November 2017 through until March 2018, at the Nevada National Security Site or NNSS.
That site, deep in the Nevada desert, has long served as a testing ground for nuclear experiments. In the 1950s, for instance, it was used to detonate nuclear bombs that could be felt across the state and into Las Vegas.
Nasa hopes that Kilopower can use some of that same nuclear technology to provide energy for space explorers as they make their way through the solar system. They will need energy for a wide variety of tasks, from generating the light, water and oxygen they need to conducting experiments and sending information back to Earth.
How Nasa's newest satellite could help us find proof of aliens
"That’s why NASA is conducting experiments on Kilopower, a new power source that could provide safe, efficient and plentiful energy for future robotic and human space exploration missions," Nasa wrote in a statement in January.
"This pioneering space fission power system could provide up to 10 kilowatts of electrical power -- enough to run two average households -- continuously for at least ten years. Four Kilopower units would provide enough power to establish an outpost."
Using nuclear fission will allow astronauts to be able to generate energy wherever they are. If people on Mars, for instance, the amount of energy coming from the sun varies wildly; on Moon, the night lasts for 14 days.
“We want a power source that can handle extreme environments,” says Lee Mason, NASA’s principal technologist for power and energy storage. “Kilopower opens up the full surface of Mars, including the northern latitudes where water may reside. On the Moon, Kilopower could be deployed to help search for resources in permanently shadowed craters.
Palestinian scholar killed in Kuala Lumpur, family blames Mossad- Al Jazeera
April 21, 2018
Palestinian scholar killed in Kuala Lumpur, family blames Mossad
Fadi al-Batsh shot dead by two assailants, as victim's father accuses Israel's intelligence agency of 'assassination'.
Hamas called Fadi al-Batsh a "distinguished scientist who has widely contributed to the energy sector" [Al Jazeera]
Hamas called Fadi al-Batsh a "distinguished scientist who has widely contributed to the energy sector" [Al Jazeera]
A Palestinian scholar has been shot dead by two assailants in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, as he was heading to a mosque for dawn prayers, local police said.
Fadi al-Batsh, a 35-year-old Palestinian academic and member of Hamas, was instantly killed by the unknown gunmen in a residential neighbourhood of the capital on Saturday.
Al-Batsh's father told Al Jazeera that he accuses Israel's intelligence agency Mossad of being behind his son's killing and called on the Malaysian authorities to look into who carried out the "assasination" as soon as possible.
Hazem Qassem, spokesperson for the Hamas movement, the governing party in the Gaza Strip, confirmed to Al Jazeera that al-Batsh was a member of the Hamas organisation.
In a statement on Twitter, Hamas described al-Batsh as a "young Palestinian scholar" from Jabalia in the Gaza Strip. It noted that the "martyr" was a "distinguished scientist who has widely contributed to the energy sector".
قناة الأقصى الفضائية
@AqsaTVChannel
مجهولون يغتالون الأكاديمي الفلسطيني والمحاضر الجامعي د. فادي محمد البطش من جباليا شمال قطاع غزة، أثناء توجهه لأداء صلاة الفجر في مدينة "جومباك" شمال العاصمة الماليزية كوالالمبور
3:36 PM - Apr 21, 2018
Palestinian websites identified al-Batsh as a relative of a senior official in the Gaza branch of the Islamic Jihad movement.
According to police chief Datuk Seri Mansor Lazim, the two gunmen had waited for al-Batsh in front of a residential building in Setapak district for almost 20 minutes, and fired at least 10 bullets, four of which instantly killed him.
Al-Batsh was shot in the "body and head", the police said, adding that they are investigating all angles including "terrorism".
Palestinian Ambassador to Malaysia, Anwar H. Al Agha, was quoted by the New Straits Times newspaper as saying the victim was a second imam at his mosque. He had been reportedly living in Malaysia for 10 years.
Agha said Imam Fadi was supposed to have left for a conference in Turkey on Saturday. He was survived by his wife and three children.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
Palestinian scholar killed in Kuala Lumpur, family blames Mossad
Fadi al-Batsh shot dead by two assailants, as victim's father accuses Israel's intelligence agency of 'assassination'.
Hamas called Fadi al-Batsh a "distinguished scientist who has widely contributed to the energy sector" [Al Jazeera]
Hamas called Fadi al-Batsh a "distinguished scientist who has widely contributed to the energy sector" [Al Jazeera]
A Palestinian scholar has been shot dead by two assailants in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, as he was heading to a mosque for dawn prayers, local police said.
Fadi al-Batsh, a 35-year-old Palestinian academic and member of Hamas, was instantly killed by the unknown gunmen in a residential neighbourhood of the capital on Saturday.
Al-Batsh's father told Al Jazeera that he accuses Israel's intelligence agency Mossad of being behind his son's killing and called on the Malaysian authorities to look into who carried out the "assasination" as soon as possible.
Hazem Qassem, spokesperson for the Hamas movement, the governing party in the Gaza Strip, confirmed to Al Jazeera that al-Batsh was a member of the Hamas organisation.
In a statement on Twitter, Hamas described al-Batsh as a "young Palestinian scholar" from Jabalia in the Gaza Strip. It noted that the "martyr" was a "distinguished scientist who has widely contributed to the energy sector".
قناة الأقصى الفضائية
@AqsaTVChannel
مجهولون يغتالون الأكاديمي الفلسطيني والمحاضر الجامعي د. فادي محمد البطش من جباليا شمال قطاع غزة، أثناء توجهه لأداء صلاة الفجر في مدينة "جومباك" شمال العاصمة الماليزية كوالالمبور
3:36 PM - Apr 21, 2018
Palestinian websites identified al-Batsh as a relative of a senior official in the Gaza branch of the Islamic Jihad movement.
According to police chief Datuk Seri Mansor Lazim, the two gunmen had waited for al-Batsh in front of a residential building in Setapak district for almost 20 minutes, and fired at least 10 bullets, four of which instantly killed him.
Al-Batsh was shot in the "body and head", the police said, adding that they are investigating all angles including "terrorism".
Palestinian Ambassador to Malaysia, Anwar H. Al Agha, was quoted by the New Straits Times newspaper as saying the victim was a second imam at his mosque. He had been reportedly living in Malaysia for 10 years.
Agha said Imam Fadi was supposed to have left for a conference in Turkey on Saturday. He was survived by his wife and three children.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
The U.S. Government Used Disney Cartoons to Convince Americans That Paying Taxes Is a Privilege - TIME
The U.S. Government Used Disney Cartoons to Convince Americans That Paying Taxes Is a Privilege
Posted: 16 Apr 2018 02:00 PM PDT
Before tax preparation software guided Americans through the process of filing tax returns before the Tax Day deadline — which falls on April 17 in 2018, though Tax Day is usually but not always April 15 — there were quacks like Donald Duck.
During World War II, the federal government needed an easily recognizable face to explain a process that was unrecognizable to many Americans at the time. As TIME previously reported, while the modern income tax was introduced in 1913, only the richest Americans paid it in the early years. That changed with the attack on Pearl Harbor, which prompted Congress to pass a new Revenue Act in 1942 to fund the U.S. war effort. The number of tax returns filed skyrocketed from 7.7 million in 1939 to 36.7 million in 1942, and about 50 million in 1945, according to the Tax Foundation, a tax-policy think tank.
So Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau tapped Walt Disney — who was already heavily involved in making films to boost the war effort — to crash-produce The New Spirit, a motivational film explaining income taxes to Americans in 1942.
In the clip, a voice coming from Donald Duck’s radio calls for “taxes to beat the Axis!” and reminds the cartoon icon that paying taxes should be seen as a privilege. Then, armed with a fountain pen, ink well and stamp, Donald Duck lists three dependents — his adopted nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie — and pays a $13 tax on his income of $2,501 made from his Hollywood acting.
TIME didn’t think the film’s explanation of how exactly to do taxes was “crystal clear,” but acknowledged that production was a rush job, completed in the record-short time frame of four weeks, rather than the usual six to eight months for such a project. However, “it gets its propaganda across with the anesthetic blessing of laughter and great good humor. As cinema, The New Spirit is a most effective job.” It also called “Yankee Doodle Spirit,” the brand-new score by Oliver Wallace (one of the composers of the 1941 Disney classic Dumbo) “a humdinger.”
Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter
And it was a “phenomenal success,” the magazine conceded later. In fact, the results of the tax effort helped encourage Disney to become more broadly involved in educational videos, TIME explained:
What prompted this prolific pedagogy was the phenomenal success of his famed Donald Duck film on income-tax paying. The New Spirit, whose $80,000 cost Congress refused to pay. This film, made for the Treasury Department, played to 26,000,000 people, 37% of whom. Gallup-polled, said it animated their willingness to pay taxes…
Says FORTUNE: “In one respect Walt Disney is a man of almost godlike power, for there is literally no limit to the things he can create on the screen. He can set forth anything from a world in evolution to the whirling of electrons invisible to the human eye. He can produce a mosquito big enough to tower over a village. . . . He can get inside a complex machine, slow down its action, explain its operation to apprentices with a clarity impossible in any other medium.”
So it should be no surprise that a second video was created for 1943, showing Donald Duck’s taxes funding the manufacturing of “all kinds of guns,” dive bombers, battle ships and other weapons to “blast the aggressor from the sea.” Meanwhile a narrator booms, “Just remember, every dollar you don’t spend for something you don’t need is a dollar spent to help the Axis! That’s right. And every dollar you sock away for taxes is another dollar to sock the Axis.”
Today, though those PSAs may be defunct and tax day has since moved, the influence of that moment in tax history continues.
Posted: 16 Apr 2018 02:00 PM PDT
Before tax preparation software guided Americans through the process of filing tax returns before the Tax Day deadline — which falls on April 17 in 2018, though Tax Day is usually but not always April 15 — there were quacks like Donald Duck.
During World War II, the federal government needed an easily recognizable face to explain a process that was unrecognizable to many Americans at the time. As TIME previously reported, while the modern income tax was introduced in 1913, only the richest Americans paid it in the early years. That changed with the attack on Pearl Harbor, which prompted Congress to pass a new Revenue Act in 1942 to fund the U.S. war effort. The number of tax returns filed skyrocketed from 7.7 million in 1939 to 36.7 million in 1942, and about 50 million in 1945, according to the Tax Foundation, a tax-policy think tank.
So Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau tapped Walt Disney — who was already heavily involved in making films to boost the war effort — to crash-produce The New Spirit, a motivational film explaining income taxes to Americans in 1942.
In the clip, a voice coming from Donald Duck’s radio calls for “taxes to beat the Axis!” and reminds the cartoon icon that paying taxes should be seen as a privilege. Then, armed with a fountain pen, ink well and stamp, Donald Duck lists three dependents — his adopted nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie — and pays a $13 tax on his income of $2,501 made from his Hollywood acting.
TIME didn’t think the film’s explanation of how exactly to do taxes was “crystal clear,” but acknowledged that production was a rush job, completed in the record-short time frame of four weeks, rather than the usual six to eight months for such a project. However, “it gets its propaganda across with the anesthetic blessing of laughter and great good humor. As cinema, The New Spirit is a most effective job.” It also called “Yankee Doodle Spirit,” the brand-new score by Oliver Wallace (one of the composers of the 1941 Disney classic Dumbo) “a humdinger.”
Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter
And it was a “phenomenal success,” the magazine conceded later. In fact, the results of the tax effort helped encourage Disney to become more broadly involved in educational videos, TIME explained:
What prompted this prolific pedagogy was the phenomenal success of his famed Donald Duck film on income-tax paying. The New Spirit, whose $80,000 cost Congress refused to pay. This film, made for the Treasury Department, played to 26,000,000 people, 37% of whom. Gallup-polled, said it animated their willingness to pay taxes…
Says FORTUNE: “In one respect Walt Disney is a man of almost godlike power, for there is literally no limit to the things he can create on the screen. He can set forth anything from a world in evolution to the whirling of electrons invisible to the human eye. He can produce a mosquito big enough to tower over a village. . . . He can get inside a complex machine, slow down its action, explain its operation to apprentices with a clarity impossible in any other medium.”
So it should be no surprise that a second video was created for 1943, showing Donald Duck’s taxes funding the manufacturing of “all kinds of guns,” dive bombers, battle ships and other weapons to “blast the aggressor from the sea.” Meanwhile a narrator booms, “Just remember, every dollar you don’t spend for something you don’t need is a dollar spent to help the Axis! That’s right. And every dollar you sock away for taxes is another dollar to sock the Axis.”
Today, though those PSAs may be defunct and tax day has since moved, the influence of that moment in tax history continues.
Why has Kim Jong-un halted North Korean tests now? - BBC News
April 21, 2018
Why has Kim Jong-un halted North Korean tests now?
Kim Jong-un's announcement that North Korea is to halt nuclear and missile tests immediately comes as he prepares for two major diplomatic events. Analyst Ankit Panda asks what the North Korean leader hopes to gain with his latest move.
North Korea's declaration will no doubt lead to effusive headlines touting an end to nuclear and long-range missile testing, but a look at the country's historical record and the context of its nuclear and missiles programme suggests that we might temper our expectations.
First, regarding nuclear testing, the statement released on Saturday makes clear that the reason Kim Jong-un is submitting voluntarily to a testing freeze and to the closing of the Punggye-ri nuclear testing site - the scene of all six of North Korea's nuclear tests since 2006 - is because he feels that his country has mastered the design of nuclear weapons.
Although difficult to verify, this claim is not obviously an exaggeration or unbelievable.
Consider that India and Pakistan, by 1998, had each conducted six nuclear tests and are now counted among the pantheon of nuclear weapons possessors, without conducting further tests.
North Korea, with an additional eight years of access to knowledge available in open source material concerning nuclear weapons design, can feel similarly comfortable with its six nuclear tests.
North Korea crisis in 300 words
North Korea's nuclear programme explained
Did sanctions push N Korea into US talks?
'City-busting yields'
On a more granular level, North Korea's fifth and sixth nuclear tests - in September 2016 and 2017 respectively - marked important benchmarks. The September 2016 test, according to North Korean state media, involved a standardized and compact nuclear device, one that could be mounted on any of its various short, medium, intermediate, and intercontinental-range missiles (ICBMs).
Kim Jong-un has taken a close personal interest in the North Korean missile programme
The expected yield - or explosive power - of those weapons might be of the order of two-to-three times the weapon that the United States used against Nagasaki in the final days of the World War Two - but that's quite powerful enough for North Korea's purposes.
More seriously, North Korea's most recent nuclear test demonstrated that it had the capability to generate seriously powerful nuclear yields.
While independent experts and various national intelligence agencies haven't reached a consensus on whether North Korea had truly mastered a thermonuclear bomb design, as it claimed to have done, the seismic data recorded on 3 September 2017 gave the world enough information to conclude that North Korea had a nuclear device capable of "city-busting" explosive yields.
The bottom line is that just as Kim Jong-un's recent trip to Beijing was a show of strength - a signal that he felt comfortable enough in his consolidated domestic power to leave North Korea - so too is the declaration of a nuclear test ban a sign that he feels renewed confidence.
Limited costs to halting missile tests
Regarding his missiles, Kim has said that he will no longer test ICBMs.
On the one hand, that's surprising.
North Korea has conducted just three tests in total of missiles that could deliver nuclear weapons to the contiguous United States. None of these tests have involved a missile flying on a trajectory similar to what might be necessary for a nuclear strike, leaving further flight-testing something of a necessity for North Korea to become sufficiently confident in its ability to strike the US homeland.
But North Korea may have other plans. For instance, while it has mastered most of what is necessary on a technical level to threaten the United States, its missile forces continue to be limited by a small number of launchers. Currently, North Korea has probably only six launch vehicles for its ICBMs.
Even though Kim Jong-un, during his 2017 New Year's address, declared his nuclear forces "complete," there is good reason to believe that he would want to increase his ICBM launchers and even work on components of North Korea's nuclear command and control systems.
North Korea may now want to concentrate on developing launch vehicles, not missiles themselves
Tactically, then, submitting to a self-imposed ICBM flight-testing ban would have limited costs.
Easy to break ban
Ultimately, these test bans are restricted in their extent.
The nuclear test ban could be made credible by a bona fide gesture at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site. North Korea, for instance, could demolish its test tunnels; the statement released on Saturday notes only that the site will be "dismantled".
But as long as North Korea hangs on to its missiles, it can break its self-imposed ban with little warning. In 1999, North Korea submitted to a missile testing moratorium, but that eventually broke down in 2006, a few years after the collapse of the 1994 Agreed Framework.
Beyond the bans, Mr Kim used the latest Central Committee meeting to tout the success of his fundamental national strategic project, which is summarized in what he has called the byungjin line. This concept refers to the simultaneous development of a powerful state nuclear force alongside a more prosperous economy.
On Saturday, Kim Jng-un clearly indicated that with the cessation of nuclear testing, he will "concentrate all the efforts on building a powerful socialist economy and markedly improving the standard of people's living."
That should be taken seriously. North Korea will seek relief from international sanctions at the forthcoming summits to realise this objective.
The summit is the prize
The concessions from North Korea have come before the two anticipated summits with the United States and South Korea.
The meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Kim comes just months after the pair exchanged deeply personal insults
One may wonder why Mr Kim should give up so much in advance instead of hanging on to a nuclear test-ban and an ICBM moratorium as aces up his sleeve to give up when he meets US President Donald Trump.
The answer is simple: a summit with a US president is enough of a prize in itself. For Mr Kim, it's something that neither his grandfather nor his father could attain.
In the end, what North Korea loses by demolishing its nuclear test site and submitting to a unilateral moratorium on ICBM launches is entirely tolerable compared to what Mr Kim gains by sitting alongside President Trump.
Reading KCNA's announcements on Saturday, there is also absolutely no hint of the "denuclearization" intent that South Korean officials have been eager to tout on North Korea's behalf.
On the contrary, North Korea's announcement sounds like the declamations of a nuclear weapons state - one that has no intention of giving up those weapons which give the country its ultimate guarantee of survival.
Even though President Trump has lauded Mr Kim's move as "big progress," the sooner he recognises Kim's ultimate objectives, the better.
Ankit Panda is an adjunct senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists and a senior editor at The Diplomat.
Why has Kim Jong-un halted North Korean tests now?
Kim Jong-un's announcement that North Korea is to halt nuclear and missile tests immediately comes as he prepares for two major diplomatic events. Analyst Ankit Panda asks what the North Korean leader hopes to gain with his latest move.
North Korea's declaration will no doubt lead to effusive headlines touting an end to nuclear and long-range missile testing, but a look at the country's historical record and the context of its nuclear and missiles programme suggests that we might temper our expectations.
First, regarding nuclear testing, the statement released on Saturday makes clear that the reason Kim Jong-un is submitting voluntarily to a testing freeze and to the closing of the Punggye-ri nuclear testing site - the scene of all six of North Korea's nuclear tests since 2006 - is because he feels that his country has mastered the design of nuclear weapons.
Although difficult to verify, this claim is not obviously an exaggeration or unbelievable.
Consider that India and Pakistan, by 1998, had each conducted six nuclear tests and are now counted among the pantheon of nuclear weapons possessors, without conducting further tests.
North Korea, with an additional eight years of access to knowledge available in open source material concerning nuclear weapons design, can feel similarly comfortable with its six nuclear tests.
North Korea crisis in 300 words
North Korea's nuclear programme explained
Did sanctions push N Korea into US talks?
'City-busting yields'
On a more granular level, North Korea's fifth and sixth nuclear tests - in September 2016 and 2017 respectively - marked important benchmarks. The September 2016 test, according to North Korean state media, involved a standardized and compact nuclear device, one that could be mounted on any of its various short, medium, intermediate, and intercontinental-range missiles (ICBMs).
Kim Jong-un has taken a close personal interest in the North Korean missile programme
The expected yield - or explosive power - of those weapons might be of the order of two-to-three times the weapon that the United States used against Nagasaki in the final days of the World War Two - but that's quite powerful enough for North Korea's purposes.
More seriously, North Korea's most recent nuclear test demonstrated that it had the capability to generate seriously powerful nuclear yields.
While independent experts and various national intelligence agencies haven't reached a consensus on whether North Korea had truly mastered a thermonuclear bomb design, as it claimed to have done, the seismic data recorded on 3 September 2017 gave the world enough information to conclude that North Korea had a nuclear device capable of "city-busting" explosive yields.
The bottom line is that just as Kim Jong-un's recent trip to Beijing was a show of strength - a signal that he felt comfortable enough in his consolidated domestic power to leave North Korea - so too is the declaration of a nuclear test ban a sign that he feels renewed confidence.
Limited costs to halting missile tests
Regarding his missiles, Kim has said that he will no longer test ICBMs.
On the one hand, that's surprising.
North Korea has conducted just three tests in total of missiles that could deliver nuclear weapons to the contiguous United States. None of these tests have involved a missile flying on a trajectory similar to what might be necessary for a nuclear strike, leaving further flight-testing something of a necessity for North Korea to become sufficiently confident in its ability to strike the US homeland.
But North Korea may have other plans. For instance, while it has mastered most of what is necessary on a technical level to threaten the United States, its missile forces continue to be limited by a small number of launchers. Currently, North Korea has probably only six launch vehicles for its ICBMs.
Even though Kim Jong-un, during his 2017 New Year's address, declared his nuclear forces "complete," there is good reason to believe that he would want to increase his ICBM launchers and even work on components of North Korea's nuclear command and control systems.
North Korea may now want to concentrate on developing launch vehicles, not missiles themselves
Tactically, then, submitting to a self-imposed ICBM flight-testing ban would have limited costs.
Easy to break ban
Ultimately, these test bans are restricted in their extent.
The nuclear test ban could be made credible by a bona fide gesture at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site. North Korea, for instance, could demolish its test tunnels; the statement released on Saturday notes only that the site will be "dismantled".
But as long as North Korea hangs on to its missiles, it can break its self-imposed ban with little warning. In 1999, North Korea submitted to a missile testing moratorium, but that eventually broke down in 2006, a few years after the collapse of the 1994 Agreed Framework.
Beyond the bans, Mr Kim used the latest Central Committee meeting to tout the success of his fundamental national strategic project, which is summarized in what he has called the byungjin line. This concept refers to the simultaneous development of a powerful state nuclear force alongside a more prosperous economy.
On Saturday, Kim Jng-un clearly indicated that with the cessation of nuclear testing, he will "concentrate all the efforts on building a powerful socialist economy and markedly improving the standard of people's living."
That should be taken seriously. North Korea will seek relief from international sanctions at the forthcoming summits to realise this objective.
The summit is the prize
The concessions from North Korea have come before the two anticipated summits with the United States and South Korea.
The meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Kim comes just months after the pair exchanged deeply personal insults
One may wonder why Mr Kim should give up so much in advance instead of hanging on to a nuclear test-ban and an ICBM moratorium as aces up his sleeve to give up when he meets US President Donald Trump.
The answer is simple: a summit with a US president is enough of a prize in itself. For Mr Kim, it's something that neither his grandfather nor his father could attain.
In the end, what North Korea loses by demolishing its nuclear test site and submitting to a unilateral moratorium on ICBM launches is entirely tolerable compared to what Mr Kim gains by sitting alongside President Trump.
Reading KCNA's announcements on Saturday, there is also absolutely no hint of the "denuclearization" intent that South Korean officials have been eager to tout on North Korea's behalf.
On the contrary, North Korea's announcement sounds like the declamations of a nuclear weapons state - one that has no intention of giving up those weapons which give the country its ultimate guarantee of survival.
Even though President Trump has lauded Mr Kim's move as "big progress," the sooner he recognises Kim's ultimate objectives, the better.
Ankit Panda is an adjunct senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists and a senior editor at The Diplomat.
North Korea 'halts missile and nuclear tests', says Kim Jong-un - BBC News
April 21, 2018
North Korea 'halts missile and nuclear tests', says Kim Jong-un
Kim Jong-un says there is no need for further missile tests
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un says he has suspended all missile tests and will shut down a nuclear test site.
"From 21 April, North Korea will stop nuclear tests and launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles," the country's state news agency said.
Mr Kim said further tests were unnecessary because Pyongyang's nuclear capabilities had been "verified".
The surprise announcement comes as North Korea prepares for historic talks with South Korea and the US.
Mr Kim is due to meet his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in next week for the first inter-Korean summit in over a decade, and US President Donald Trump by June.
Both countries have been pushing Pyongyang to denuclearise and they reacted positively to the latest development.
"This is very good news for North Korea and the World - big progress!" Mr Trump tweeted after the announcement.
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
North Korea has agreed to suspend all Nuclear Tests and close up a major test site. This is very good news for North Korea and the World - big progress! Look forward to our Summit.
8:50 AM - Apr 21, 2018
On Thursday, the US leader said there was a "bright path available to North Korea when it achieves denuclearisation".
A spokesperson for the South Korean president called the North's move "meaningful progress".
"It will also contribute to creating a very positive environment for the success of the upcoming South-North summit and North-United States summit," a statement from Mr Moon's office said.
North Korea crisis in 300 words
North Korea's nuclear programme explained
Did sanctions push N Korea into US talks?
Media captionThe news was announced on North Korean state TV
China, North Korea's main ally, also welcomed the move, saying it would "help ameliorate the situation on the peninsula".
Why has Pyongyang halted tests?
The decision to suspend missile launches was made during a meeting of the ruling party's central committee on Friday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
In a statement quoted by the agency, Mr Kim said it was no longer necessary to conduct missile tests because "nuclear weaponisation" had been achieved.
"The northern nuclear test site has completed its mission," he said.
This echoes a previous statement made during a New Year address in which Mr Kim declared his nuclear and ballistic missile programmes completed.
After six nuclear tests North Korea may feel it does not need to upgrade its existing designs, says the BBC's Laura Bicker in Seoul.
Although Pyongyang said it would abolish its nuclear test site, there is no indication it is planning to get rid of its existing weapons.
The decision to halt missile tests is also aimed at pursuing economic growth, according to KCNA. Mr Kim reportedly pledged to "concentrate all efforts" on developing a socialist economy during Friday's meeting.
Media captionHow would war with North Korea unfold?
The summit is the prize
By Ankit Panda, senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists
These concessions from North Korea have come before the two anticipated summits with the US and South Korea.
One may wonder why Mr Kim should give up so much in advance instead of hanging on to a nuclear test-ban and an ICBM moratorium as aces up his sleeve.
The answer is simple: a summit with a US president is enough of a prize in itself. For Mr Kim, it's something that neither his grandfather nor his father could attain.
What North Korea loses by demolishing its nuclear test site and submitting to a unilateral moratorium on ICBM launches is entirely tolerable compared to what Mr Kim gains by sitting alongside President Trump.
Read Ankit Panda's full analysis here
When and where might a Trump-Kim summit take place?
Mr Trump surprised the international community last month by accepting Pyongyang's suggestion for direct talks. It would be unprecedented for a sitting US president to meet a North Korean leader.
He has said the summit will take place either in early June or "a little before that" and that several sites are under consideration.
Experts have speculated that a location for talks could be the Demilitarised Zone between North and South Korea, another Asian country, or a neutral European country.
Speaking on Thursday, President Trump said that if he did not think the meeting would be successful he would not go, and if the meeting went ahead but was not productive, he would walk out.
"Our campaign of maximum pressure will continue until North Korea denuclearises," he said.
How to talk to North Korea
Major North Korean missile tests
North Korea has carried out numerous missile tests. Some of these exploded shortly after launch, but others travelled for hundreds of miles before landing in the sea. Here are some of the major tests reported so far:
12 February 2017 - A medium-range ballistic missile launched from Banghyon air base near the west coast. It flew east towards the Sea of Japan for about 500km.
4 July 2017 - Pyongyang claimed to have successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time. Officials said it reached an altitude of 2,802km and flew for 39 minutes.
29 August 2017 - North Korea fired what is thought to be its first nuclear-weapon capable ballistic missile over Japan. It was launched from near Pyongyang and reached a height of about 550km.
15 September 2017 - A ballistic missile was fired across Japan for the second time and landed in the sea off Hokkaido. It reached an altitude of about 770km and travelled 3,700km.
29 November 2017 - North Korea said it had successfully tested a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile that could reach the whole of the continental US. The Hwasong-15 missile landed in Japanese waters but flew higher than any other missile the North had previously tested.
North Korea 'halts missile and nuclear tests', says Kim Jong-un
Kim Jong-un says there is no need for further missile tests
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un says he has suspended all missile tests and will shut down a nuclear test site.
"From 21 April, North Korea will stop nuclear tests and launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles," the country's state news agency said.
Mr Kim said further tests were unnecessary because Pyongyang's nuclear capabilities had been "verified".
The surprise announcement comes as North Korea prepares for historic talks with South Korea and the US.
Mr Kim is due to meet his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in next week for the first inter-Korean summit in over a decade, and US President Donald Trump by June.
Both countries have been pushing Pyongyang to denuclearise and they reacted positively to the latest development.
"This is very good news for North Korea and the World - big progress!" Mr Trump tweeted after the announcement.
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
North Korea has agreed to suspend all Nuclear Tests and close up a major test site. This is very good news for North Korea and the World - big progress! Look forward to our Summit.
8:50 AM - Apr 21, 2018
On Thursday, the US leader said there was a "bright path available to North Korea when it achieves denuclearisation".
A spokesperson for the South Korean president called the North's move "meaningful progress".
"It will also contribute to creating a very positive environment for the success of the upcoming South-North summit and North-United States summit," a statement from Mr Moon's office said.
North Korea crisis in 300 words
North Korea's nuclear programme explained
Did sanctions push N Korea into US talks?
Media captionThe news was announced on North Korean state TV
China, North Korea's main ally, also welcomed the move, saying it would "help ameliorate the situation on the peninsula".
Why has Pyongyang halted tests?
The decision to suspend missile launches was made during a meeting of the ruling party's central committee on Friday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
In a statement quoted by the agency, Mr Kim said it was no longer necessary to conduct missile tests because "nuclear weaponisation" had been achieved.
"The northern nuclear test site has completed its mission," he said.
This echoes a previous statement made during a New Year address in which Mr Kim declared his nuclear and ballistic missile programmes completed.
After six nuclear tests North Korea may feel it does not need to upgrade its existing designs, says the BBC's Laura Bicker in Seoul.
Although Pyongyang said it would abolish its nuclear test site, there is no indication it is planning to get rid of its existing weapons.
The decision to halt missile tests is also aimed at pursuing economic growth, according to KCNA. Mr Kim reportedly pledged to "concentrate all efforts" on developing a socialist economy during Friday's meeting.
Media captionHow would war with North Korea unfold?
The summit is the prize
By Ankit Panda, senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists
These concessions from North Korea have come before the two anticipated summits with the US and South Korea.
One may wonder why Mr Kim should give up so much in advance instead of hanging on to a nuclear test-ban and an ICBM moratorium as aces up his sleeve.
The answer is simple: a summit with a US president is enough of a prize in itself. For Mr Kim, it's something that neither his grandfather nor his father could attain.
What North Korea loses by demolishing its nuclear test site and submitting to a unilateral moratorium on ICBM launches is entirely tolerable compared to what Mr Kim gains by sitting alongside President Trump.
Read Ankit Panda's full analysis here
When and where might a Trump-Kim summit take place?
Mr Trump surprised the international community last month by accepting Pyongyang's suggestion for direct talks. It would be unprecedented for a sitting US president to meet a North Korean leader.
He has said the summit will take place either in early June or "a little before that" and that several sites are under consideration.
Experts have speculated that a location for talks could be the Demilitarised Zone between North and South Korea, another Asian country, or a neutral European country.
Speaking on Thursday, President Trump said that if he did not think the meeting would be successful he would not go, and if the meeting went ahead but was not productive, he would walk out.
"Our campaign of maximum pressure will continue until North Korea denuclearises," he said.
How to talk to North Korea
Major North Korean missile tests
North Korea has carried out numerous missile tests. Some of these exploded shortly after launch, but others travelled for hundreds of miles before landing in the sea. Here are some of the major tests reported so far:
12 February 2017 - A medium-range ballistic missile launched from Banghyon air base near the west coast. It flew east towards the Sea of Japan for about 500km.
4 July 2017 - Pyongyang claimed to have successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time. Officials said it reached an altitude of 2,802km and flew for 39 minutes.
29 August 2017 - North Korea fired what is thought to be its first nuclear-weapon capable ballistic missile over Japan. It was launched from near Pyongyang and reached a height of about 550km.
15 September 2017 - A ballistic missile was fired across Japan for the second time and landed in the sea off Hokkaido. It reached an altitude of about 770km and travelled 3,700km.
29 November 2017 - North Korea said it had successfully tested a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile that could reach the whole of the continental US. The Hwasong-15 missile landed in Japanese waters but flew higher than any other missile the North had previously tested.
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