UN Council condemns North Korea missile test

The UN Security Council denounced North Korea’s latest missile test conducted on Tuesday, unanimously demanding that Pyongyang halt the programme after a rocket was fired over Japan into the Pacific.

The 15-nation body maintained its unity after Kim Jong-Un’s latest provocation, with China and Russia agreeing to sign up to a statement condemning his isolated regime’s action.

“The Security Council stresses that these DPRK actions are not just a threat to the region, but to all UN member states,” said the statement, issued after closed-door talks at UN headquarters. “The Security Council expresses its grave concern that the DPRK is, by conducting such a launch over Japan as well as its recent actions and public statements, deliberately undermining regional peace and stability.”

The Council demanded that North Korea — already the target of seven rounds of UN sanctions that have done little to quell Kim’s nuclear missile ambitions — obey all existing resolutions.

64 killed as Syrian Forces clash with ISIS

Fierce fighting between Syrian government forces and the Islamic State group has killed 64 combatants in Raqa province over a 24-hour period.

The clashes come with the army pressing an advance through Raqa, in northern Syria, towards neighbouring Deir Ezzor, the only remaining province of the war-ravaged country still in the hands of IS.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said the fighting had claimed the lives of 38 jihadists and 26 pro-regime combatants since yesterday morning. It takes to 145 the overall death toll in six days of fighting in villages on the banks of the Euphrates River in the east of Raqa province, near Deir Ezzor.

IS said in a statement yesterday that its members had killed dozens of regime combatants in “intense fighting lasting hours”. Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP that the regime was fighting to secure a foothold in Raqa province “in order to advance in Deir Ezzor.”

Number plate sells for $2 million

A black-and-white Sydney number plate with the single digit “4” has sold at an auction for a record-breaking near $2 million, reportedly to Chinese-Australian sex toy billionaire Peter Tseng. Just nine of these New South Wales number plates were ever issued, making them ultra-collectible and irreplaceable.

Guinness record for most pull-ups in a minute    

An American fitness enthusiast has set a new Guinness World Record by performing the most number of pull-ups in one minute. Adam Sandel, 31, completed 51 pull-ups, breaking the previous record of 50. Guidelines include making sure the body remains straight throughout and that the chin is raised above the level of the bar for each pull-up. “A long-term goal of mine is to set as many Guinness World Records titles in pull-ups as I can,” he said.

Manchester bomber’s brother faces trial in Libya

Hashem Abedi, the younger brother of Manchester bomber Salman Abedi, will be tried in Libya over his suspected role in the attack, media from England has reported. The 20-year-old was arrested in Libya shortly after the suicide attack in May that killed 22 people. Libya’s chief investigator in the case, Asadiq Al Sour, said Abedi is suspected of having helped his brother and collected materials for the attack.

Their father Ramadan, who was also detained in Libya, has been freed. Hashem Abedi will be taken to court within two months at most, Mr Sour told media in Libya. British police have already questioned Abedi in Tripoli several times, he added.

The authorities said they had no concrete evidence against his father, who has returned to the family home on the outskirts of Tripoli.