Man in US gets 8 years in prison for sending weapons to North Korea
A Chinese national has been sentenced to eight years in prison for smuggling firearms and other military items to North Korea, the US justice department said, BBC reported.
Shenghua Wen, 42, received around $2m (£1.5m) from North Korean officials to ship the items from California, according to a statement from the agency on Monday.
A resident of Ontario, California, Wen has been detained since December 2024. He pleaded guilty in June to conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and being an illegal agent of a foreign government.
Wen's case shines a light on the various ways in which North Korea circumvents international sanctions on its arms trade, according to BBC.
Dozens of Afghan deportees from Iran killed in bus crash
A traffic accident in western Afghanistan has killed 73 people, including 17 children, most of whom were on a bus carrying Afghan migrants deported from Iran, a Taliban official confirmed to BBC Pashto.
The bus, en route to Kabul, caught fire on Tuesday night after colliding with a truck and motorcycle in Herat province, said Ahmadullah Mottaqi, the Taliban's director of information and culture in Herat.
Everyone aboard the bus was killed, as well as two people from the other vehicles, he said.
In recent months Iran has stepped up its deportations of undocumented Afghan migrants who have fled conflict in their homeland, according to BBC.
China to stage massive military parade marking WW2 surrender of Japan
China will stage a massive military parade in Beijing on September 3 to mark 80 years since Japan’s surrender in World War Two. Tens of thousands of troops, hundreds of aircraft, and new military equipment including advanced missiles and hypersonic weapons will be on display, according to Reuters.
President Xi Jinping will review the 70-minute “Victory Day” parade at Tiananmen Square, joined by foreign leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin. Authorities have tightened security across the city, reflecting the scale of the event and global attention on China’s growing military strength.
American Academy of Pediatrics urges COVID shots for young children
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommended Tuesday that all children aged 6-23 months receive COVID-19 vaccines, regardless of prior doses or infection, differing from federal guidance that leaves vaccination up to parents and doctors, Reuters reported.
The group cited high hospitalization rates among the youngest children, comparable to adults aged 50-64, and stressed the importance of protecting those at highest risk.
Earlier this year, the AAP and other medical groups sued the government over the removal of routine vaccination recommendations, while federal officials recently revived a task force on safer childhood vaccines.
