What Mattered This Week

KOREAN PENINSULA — On September 20 at about 8:54 AM UTC (5:54 PM Japan time), North Korea launched at least one ballistic missile from the vicinity of its east coast toward the northeast, the Japanese Defense Ministry and Cabinet Secretariat said.

The ministry estimated that missile reached a peak altitude of about 43 miles (70 km), flew about 367 miles (590 km), and fell in the Sea of Japan outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, the maritime belt extending up to 200 nautical miles from the coast in which a coastal state holds resource rights. Government notices to nearby aircraft and ships had produced no damage reports at the time of the release.

EUROPE — Russian President Vladimir Putin told the Military-Industrial Commission in the Kremlin on September 18 that a new State Armament Program and a companion defense-industry program will set what the army and other security services design and build in series. In the same session he said Russia has no plans to attack Europe.

The session opened in public and then moved into a closed portion. He listed six program lines: the nuclear triad; air defenses meant to stop aircraft, missiles, and other airborne and space weapons; unmanned robotic systems; precision munitions; a finished orbital satellite group; and further work on digital systems and artificial intelligence. He put Strategic Missile Forces modernization at 92 percent.

EUROPE — The International Atomic Energy Agency said on September 18 that it had been informed a drone struck the cooling tower of a reactor unit at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant in Russia early on Thursday.

The agency said the unit was operating at the time, that its operating mode did not change, and that there was no fire.

ETHIOPIA — The U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa said on September 16 that it is aware of possible threats to foreigners, including U.S. citizens, in Doolo Zone, also spelled Dollo Zone, of the Somali Region.

The embassy said U.S. government personnel are no longer permitted to travel to Doolo Zone without special authorization and advised U.S. citizens not to travel there. It told citizens to avoid the area, stay alert, avoid crowds, keep contingency plans to leave, and review personal security plans.

SAUDI ARABIA — The Joint Forces of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen said Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces brought down a drone south of Mecca at 6:50 p.m. Saudi time on September 15 (3:50 p.m. UTC), before the aircraft entered prohibited airspace over the city.

Coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, in a Saudi Press Agency statement dated September 16, attributed the drone to the Houthi group and said the security of the Two Holy Mosques and Umrah visitors was a red line.

MIDDLE EAST — Saudi Arabia’s General Directorate of Civil Defense posted all-clear notices for Abha city and Khamis Mushait Governorate at about 4:01 AM UTC on September 14, minutes after the National Early Warning Platform for Emergencies pushed a new potential-danger warning to both locations.

The all-clear told residents to keep following Civil Defense instructions, avoid gathering and filming, and call 998 in an emergency.