Briefly

KOREAN PENINSULA

DPRK condemns US-ROK military drills

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea on Monday slammed the ongoing military exercises jointly held by the Republic of Korea and the United States, and warned of possible retaliation, the official Korean Central News Agency reported on Tuesday. "We will watch the future attitude and actions of the South Korean (ROK) authorities. If they dare resort to more provocative acts, we may take a special measure of resolutely abrogating even the north-south military agreement," said Kim Yo-jong, vice-department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, in a statement. The ROK and the US started their annual springtime military drills on March 8, which will last till Thursday. This year's military drills were much reduced in size due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Kim also warned the new US administration against any provocative acts, saying "if it wants to sleep in peace for the coming four years, it had better refrain from causing a stink at its first step".

BRAZIL

4th health minister in pandemic nominated

With COVID-19 still raging in Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro picked his fourth health minister since the pandemic began, this time the head of the country's cardiology society who in the past has spoken favorably of the conservative leader. Marcelo Queiroga will replace Eduardo Pazuello, an active-duty army general with expertise in logistics who landed the position in May despite having no prior health experience. Earlier on Monday, Pazuello acknowledged that Bolsonaro aimed to replace him. The first candidate for the job, cardiologist Ludhmila Hajjar, rejected it.

ISRAEL

Discovery of new Dead Sea Scroll fragments

Archaeologists on Tuesday announced the discovery of dozens of new Dead Sea Scroll fragments bearing a biblical text found in a desert cave and believed hidden during a Jewish revolt against Rome 1,900 years ago. The fragments of parchment bear lines of Greek text from the books of Zechariah and Nahum and have been dated around the 1st century AD based on the writing style, according to authorities. They are the first new scrolls found in archaeological excavations in the desert south of Jerusalem in 60 years. The Dead Sea Scrolls, a collection of Jewish texts found in desert caves in the West Bank near Qumran in the 1940s and 1950s, date from the 3rd century BC to the 1st century AD.

UNITED STATES

Elon Musk crowned 'Technoking' at Tesla

Electric carmaker Tesla has crowned its brash billionaire founder and CEO Elon Musk with a new title: Technoking. And Zach Kirkhorn, the company's chief financial officer, will now be known as "Master of Coin", Tesla said on Monday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company did not say whether the new titles, which are effective immediately, would bring with them any additional duties. Musk has more than 41 million followers on Twitter and his fortune is now estimated at more than $180 billion.

Xinhua - Agencies