1. North Korea: Get Nukes Ready

2. As announced yesterday, North Korea appeared to be flexing its military muscles in the wake of a United Nations vote meant to cripple the nation's nuclear program. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the country's "nuclear warheads need to be ready for use at any time." It also seems that North Korea conducted a test-fire of a new multiple launch rocket system. Earlier this week, the U.N. Security Council (including China) voted to impose an array of sanctions against North Korea because of that nation's recent nuclear test and missile launch, both of which defied international sanctions. What that means is that countries around the world are punishing North Korea for disobeying the international law. The punishments will continue until North Korea agrees to stop their nuclear testing. Such punishments include banning the sale of small weapons to North Korea, banning the export of its natural resources to other countries, banning of aviation fuel for the country. These (and other measures) are ways to cripple the economic factors that fund North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Because of these sanctions, North Korea says it is preparing to fight back if necessary.

3. In Other News
Astronaut Scott Kelly, who grew about 2 inches during his nearly one year stay on the International Space Station, is back to his normal height. Scott Kelly, whose spine elongated while he spent 340 days in space, took less than two days to shrink. In a phone call, President Barack Obama applauded him for his record-breaking yearlong mission. Mark Kelly volunteered to take part in NASA's "Twins Study" with his brother. NASA wants to see how the identical twins measure up after a year in two very different environments: Scott in space and Mark on Earth.
Authorities in Spain have seized 20,000 uniforms and supplies "able to equip an army" of jihadi fighters. The uniforms were confiscated in a police operation that led to the neutralization of a "very active and effective business network," whose primary purpose was to provide a steady flow of military supplies to the terrorist organization ISIS. The uniforms were hidden in shipping containers and declared as "secondhand clothes" to avoid suspicion and pass through customs inspections.
Mitt Romney has instructed his closest advisers to explore the possibility of stopping Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention. Romney is apparently examining what a fight at the convention might look like and what rules might need revising. Romney is focused on suppressing Trump's delegate count to prevent him from accumulating the 1,237 delegates he needs to secure the nomination. Romney gave a speech Thursday at the University of Utah attacking Trump.
The Syrian government reported a nationwide power outage Thursday -- the latest electricity problem in a country that has seen frequent outages during a five-year war involving the regime, rebels and terror groups.

4. Friday Photos