Nine Dead, Includinng Children , In a Six-Car Deadly Crash in Las Vegas

^{PHOTO: POLICE ACTIVITY NEAR OF SITE OF ACCIDENT, SOUNDBITES BY THE NORTH LAS VEGAS PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER ALEXANDER CUEVAS.}

INTERNATIONAL: A six-car deadly crash in North Las Vegas on Saturday ,January 29, took the life of 9, when a Dodge Challenger traveling at a "high rate of speed" ran through a red light and crashed with multiple vehicles at an intersection. Six others were injured.

The driver of the Dodge Challenger was among the dead, police has confirmed, adding that "speed is a factor" in the crash that took place on Saturday afternoon.

The ages of those who died ,one juvenile and middle-aged adults. In total, 15 people were involved in the incident. One person remained in critical condition at the University Medical Center.

Oil Spread into the River in the Piedra Fina Area in Ecuador

^{PHOTO: BLACK SUBSTANCE APPEARS TO BE OIL SPILL, TRAILING DOWN THE HILLSIDES TOWARDS THE RIVER, VARIOUS CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT WORKING AROUND LINE OF PIPES}

A drone footage shows an oil spreading around the a part of Ecuador affected by the rupture of a crude pipeline. Black oil could be seen flowing into the river in the Piedra Fina area. The pipeline has burst on Friday,January 28, in Ecuador's Amazon where regressive erosion has caused the OCP Ecuador pipeline and the state-owned SOTE pipeline to halt pumping in December, forcing the government to declare force majeure over its oil exports and production.

OCP Ecuador, the operator of the pipeline,has said on Friday that the pipeline burst in an area which is not directly exposed to rivers, and that it had controlled the oil flow. However, Indigenous organization CONFENIAE has said communities were already being affected.

North Korea’s “All-Out-Drive”to Produce “Powerful Cutting-Edge Arms” North Korea has launched another one suspected ballistic missile into the sea off its east coast on Sunday, January 30, governments in the region has reported, in what would be the nuclear-armed country's seventh test this month.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff has reported that a projectile believed to be a single ballistic missile was launched at around 7:52 a.m. on Sunday from North Korea's Jagang Province toward the ocean off its east coast.

The Japanese government has also said North Korea had launched a "possible ballistic missile."

^{PHOTO: FILE FOOTAGE OF NORTH KOREA'S MISSILES AND PROJECTILE LAUNCHES, MILITARY PARADES AND EXHIBITION FROM 2019 TO 2022}

Jagang Province was the site of two earlier launches this month of what North Korea said was a "hypersonic missile," which could reach high speeds while flying and maneuvering at relatively low altitudes.

If has also confirmed, it could make January the busiest ever for North Korea's missile programme, which analysts say is expanding and developing new capabilities despite strict sanctions and United Nations Security Council resolutions that ban the country's ballistic missile tests.

Japanese government spokesperson Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno has told a televised briefing that if the projectile was a standard ballistic missile it is estimated to have reached an altitude of 2,000 km, flown for 30 minutes, to a distance of 800 km.

Analysts has said if confirmed, those numbers could indicate one of the largest missile tests by North Kora in years.

North Korea has not tested its longest-range intercontinental ballistic missiles or nuclear weapons since 2017, but the country's rulers suggested this month they could restart those activities.

"All signs suggest this is a big test -- not performing as well as prior North Korean ICBMs, but could have been deliberately flown on a more limited trajectory," Chad O'Carroll, CEO of Korea Risk Group, which monitors North Korea, said on Twitter.

The tests come less than a week before the opening of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, which is North Korea's main political and economic partner. Pyongyang has said it would be skipping the Games because of the COVID-19 pandemic and "hostile forces."

In an address ahead of the New Year, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for bolstering the military with cutting edge technology at a time when talks with South Korea and the United States have stalled.

Since then, North Korea has conducted a series of launches displaying a dizzying array of weapon types, launch locations, and increasing sophistication.

From hypersonic missiles and long-range cruise missiles to missiles launched from railcars and airports, the tests highlight the nuclear-armed state's rapidly expanding and advancing arsenal amid stalled denuclearisation talks.

"The ballistic missile launch and the ones before it are a threat to our country, the region and the international community," Matsuno said. "This series of launches violate U.N. resolutions and we strongly protest this action by North Korea."

The tests appear aimed at modernizing North Korea's military, bolstering national pride ahead of several major North Korean holidays, and sending a message of strength as the country grapples with economic crises caused by sanctions and COVID-19 lockdowns, said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha University in Seoul.

"The Kim regime hears external discussions of its domestic weaknesses and sees South Korea's growing strength," he said. "So it wants to remind Washington and Seoul that trying to topple it would be too costly."

Its latest launches have included a test of two short-range ballistic missiles and their warheads on Thursday, and an update to a long-range cruise missile system was tested on Tuesday.

Pyongyang has defended the launches as its sovereign right of self defence and say they are not directed at any specific country, but accused Washington and Seoul of having "hostile policies."

Kim has visited a munitions factory last week, where he called for "an all-out drive" to produce "powerful cutting-edge arms," and its workers touted his devotion to "smashing ... the challenges of the U.S. imperialists and their vassal forces" seeking to violate their right to self-defence, calling it "the harshest-ever adversity.