Erstellt am: 24. 1. 2013 - 14:28 Uhr

North Korea's nuclear warning

Reality Check: North Korea, uranium in Mali and Niger, reactions in Europe to Cameron's speech, US lifts ban on women in the military, the young anti-creationist who is making waves in Louisiana

Following new UN sanctions against the regime, North Korea is firing back with dramatic threats against its "sworn enemy", the United States.

North Korean rhetoric is famously colourful, but this time it seems to be extreme, even by their own standards.

EPA/KCNA

Any hopes for a softening in North Korea's stance under the new leader, Kim Jong Un, were short lived

Despite efforts by the United States and by South Korea to pursue diplomatic channels, the regime says "Settling accounts with the U.S. needs to be done with force, not with words".

Today's statement by the top military body makes specific nuclear threats directed at the United States, but is it in a position to fulfill them?

Mark Fitzpatrick, Senior Fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, gives his analysis of the dramatic warnings and what may lie behind them.

• Mali and uranium

Some critics are saying France's intervention in Mali was spurred by it wanting to protect its uranium interests in the region. Mark Hibbs explains the role minerals play in the conflicts in the Sahel, and why the conflict in Mali is effectively impossible to contain.

• A two speed Europe?

Is Britain's threat to break away from the EU the start of a two speed Europe? Vanessa Mock reports from Brussels on European response to David Cameron's controversial speech, which promised Britons a a referendum on EU membership if he is re-elected.

• Women allowed to take combat roles in US military

Outgoing Defence Secretary, Leon Panetta, has announced a lifting of the ban on women in combat roles in the military. Joanna Bostock looks as opinions on both sides of the issue.

• The Anti-Creationist Kid

Riem Higazi talks to the young man in Louisiana who is shaking up the state's laws on the teaching of creationism in science classes.

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