North Korea fires two suspected ballistic missiles toward Sea of Japan, British tanker struck entering Strait of Hormuz, and President Trump says new arch will be ‘top grade military complex.’
1. North Korea fired two suspected ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan — also known as the East Sea — on Sunday, according to South Korean and Japanese officials. The first short-range ballistic missile was launched around 3 p.m. and traveled about 279 miles, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. About three hours later, North Korea fired a second short-range ballistic missile, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs said. The second missile flew more than 373 miles. Japan’s Defense Ministry reported a suspected North Korean missile Sunday but said it did not land in its territorial waters. South Korea said it is working with the U.S. on a detailed analysis of the launches.
2. The British military says an “unknown projectile” struck a tanker as it entered the Strait of Hormuz. Two crew members were injured in Monday’s attack as the ship headed to port under its own power. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center (UKMTO) said a tanker was struck by an “unknown projectile” as it headed into the Strait of Hormuz. Two crew members sustained minor injuries. The UKMTO said Monday the vessel is reportedly continuing to its next port of call under its own power. No reports indicated any environmental impact at this time. Tehran has asserted control over much of the Strait of Hormuz since the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28. In peacetime, about 20 million barrels — roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply — passed through Hormuz each day.
3. President Donald Trump said Sunday that the massive arch he wants to build between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery would become a “top grade military complex” able to host drones and snipers while storing ammunition. It is one more example of how Trump is insisting that his initiatives to beautify the White House and the city are also serving a defensive purpose. Trump has been calling the new White House ballroom a “military complex” and arguing it is necessary for national security purposes. The Pentagon said it had no information beyond the president’s statement. Trump’s announcement also comes as the arch, like his other projects, faces legal challenges. Though the arch has received early approval from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, whose members were all tapped by Trump, a group of three veterans and an architectural historian sued, saying the project needs to be approved by Congress.
4. A senior official with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels is warning countries against joining Saudi Arabia in Yemen’s revived civil war, telling The Associated Press on Sunday that his group has assured the Trump administration that it won’t attack U.S. vessels in the Red Sea. Mohamed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthis’ political bureau, said Washington reached out to the rebels after their rapid advance down Yemen’s western coast to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait earlier this month. “We confirmed that we are not targeting the United States, or any other nation, in the strait, with the sole exception of the Saudi enemy,” he told the AP in a Zoom interview from the rebel-held Yemeni capital, Sanaa. “That remains the case.”
5. Three South Korean military personnel were injured Monday in an “unidentified explosion” while operating inside the western sector of the Demilitarized Zone, according to the country’s military. Two of the injured personnel were airlifted by emergency medical helicopter to the Korean Armed Forces Capital Hospital near Seoul, where they were receiving treatment, a Ministry of National Defense spokesman said in a text message to reporters that afternoon. The third injured person and other personnel involved in the operation were also taken to the hospital for medical examinations, the spokesman said. Some South Korean government spokespeople must speak to the media on condition of anonymity. The military is investigating the explosion and has not identified its cause or released details about the condition of those injured.
- Security