 U.S. Army warns Ukraine becomes North Korean missile test site. The U.S. Army is concerned that Ukraine has become a testing ground for North Korean missiles. This marks the first time North Korea could test its missiles in actual combat situations according to the Pacific Army Commander General Charles Flynn as quoted by Bloomberg. I don't believe that in my recent memory that the North Korean military has had a battlefield laboratory quite like the Russians are affording them to have in Ukraine, he said. As General Flynn noted, this gives North Korea the opportunity to gain valuable information on technical issues, procedures and the missiles themselves. The U.S. will closely monitor how this unfolds. Flynn emphasized that he and other commanders are concerned about the information North Korea may learn about its weapons. They would otherwise not have access to absent a conflict. In December 2023, the White House announced that Russia had purchased ballistic missiles from North Korea. In early January, there was information that the occupiers had struck Kharkiv with North Korean missiles. Vadim Skibitsky, a representative of the main intelligence directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, told RBC Ukraine in an interview that North Korea actively supplied ammunition to Russia throughout the fall. According to intelligence estimates, the Russian army could have received around a million shells from North Korea. Ukrainian prosecutor General Andrew Kostin said that the Russians have already used at least 24 ballistic missiles of North Korean production to shell Ukraine. The United States and its allies condemned what they described as Russia's firing of North Korean missiles at Ukraine, with Washington calling it abhorrent, and Seoul calling Ukraine a test site for Pyongyang's nuclear-capable missiles. Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood and other U.S. allies said that these violate UN resolutions. It's abhorrent that a permanent member of the UN Security Council is flagrantly violating Council resolutions to attack another UN member state, violations that further the suffering of the Ukrainian people, support Russia's brutal war, and undermine the global non-proliferation regime. Wood said Moscow and Pyongyang have both denied conducting any arms deals, but they vowed last year to deepen military relations. Dmitry Medvedev, let's not capture the NATO soldiers, let's kill them. If NATO members fight in Ukraine, they should not be captured, the maximum reward should be set for each killed soldier of the Alliance countries and their bodies should not be handed over. Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev wrote about this on the V-Contact Network. Medvedev noted that NATO has made statements about the lack of plans to send troops to Ukraine. Separate units can enter the Lviv and Kiev region to provide for the Ukrainian army and perform only economic and organisational functions. Former Russian President said that bounties should be offered for the killing of NATO soldiers if they are deployed to Ukraine to fight against Russian troops. Medvedev lashed out at Kiev's western backers, arguing that they are taking the world for fools if they believe that sending foreign forces to Ukraine would not lead to a dangerous escalation. If NATO soldiers do end up in Ukraine, they will not be limited to non-combat roles, he claimed. They will become part of the regular forces that are fighting against us. That is why they will have to be treated only as the enemy, Medvedev wrote. We should take no prisoners. The highest rewards must be given out for every killed NATO soldier. Russian businessmen and activists have previously set bounties for the destruction of western-made tanks in Ukraine. The idea of having NATO boots on the ground in Ukraine was repeatedly floated by French President Emmanuel Macron, who argued that all options are possible. He stressed, however, that Paris has no such plans. During a rare phone conversation between Defence Chiefs, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoygu warned his French counterpart, Sebastien Lekornou, that sending French troops to Ukraine would have disastrous consequences for Paris. Moscow has repeatedly warned that deploying NATO troops to Ukraine would put the block on the brink of a full-blown conflict with Russia. President Vladimir Putin warned earlier that it would be one step shy of a full-scale World War III. Azerbaijani, COP 29 leader, urges US to keep climate pledges, even if Trump elected. The incoming host of the next COP summit has called on the US and other nations to maintain their climate commitments, even if Donald Trump is elected as President in November. In his interview since being named President-Elect of the COP 29 summit, due to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan the week after the US election, Mukhtar Babayev told Newsweek, We hope that all the countries including the United States will demonstrate their readiness to fulfill their obligations to fulfill their readiness to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. Trump has premised his 2024 presidential campaigns energy policy on increasing domestic fossil fuel production, telling supporters at a rally in January that we're going to drill, baby, drill, in order to keep gas prices low. Those close to the former president have also intimated his intention to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, a landmark piece of Biden administration legislation that provides $500 billion in investment for the infrastructure necessary for the transition to a green economy if re-elected. Asked about how he might convince an incoming President Trump to maintain America's pledges to curb emissions, Babayev responded, I think it is a very critical time for the world. We hope that all countries will fulfill their obligations and intentions to provide for that 1.5 Celsius, 2.7 degrees limit, that's why I think and I hope that all countries will demonstrate their readiness and, by action, their activities to provide this target. Azerbaijan's Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources added that his team would continue to work with the current White House administration in the lead-up to COP29 on maintaining the climate agenda it has already adopted. He also laid out his intentions for the climate conference to secure continued cooperation on curbing global warming and broker a financing agreement for poorer countries and urged nations to consider all possibilities on reducing carbon emissions amid the ongoing and environmentally costly Russian invasion of Ukraine. Babayev says his nation has already shown its commitment by transitioning to renewables. Babayev also touted Azerbaijan's very strong policy on energy efficiency programs and said it was using revenues from its oil and gas production to invest in its burgeoning green economy. A method he suggested could be adopted by other fossil fuel-rich nations.