North Korea's Kim Yo Jong, sister of leader Kim Jong Un, said on Monday that the US should avoid any "foolish act" that could put its security at risk and rejected offers of talks as a ploy, state media KCNA news agency reported.
Kim made her comments after White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the US remains concerned that North Korea would carry out another intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test, after it last week fired an ICBM off its east coast.
"The US should stop a foolish act that could put its security at risk by provoking us," Kim said in a statement carried by KCNA.
She criticised US plans for a nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine to visit South Korea and said that such efforts to increase "extended deterrence" would only push Pyongyang further from the negotiating table.
Kim also rejected US calls for unconditional talks and said that Washington is wrong if it believes North Korea's disarmament was possible.
"The United States is being delusional if it believed that it could stop our advancement and achieve irreversible disarmament by temporarily halting joint military drills, deployment of strategic assets or easing of sanctions," she said.
North Korea has in recent days accused American spy planes of flying over its exclusive economic zone, condemned a recent visit to South Korea by an American nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine, and vowed to take steps in reaction.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, seen as a potential successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in a helicopter crash in mountainous terrain near the Azerbaijan border, officials and state media said on Monday.
Israel intends to broaden its military operation in Rafah, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday told a senior aide to US President Joe Biden, who has warned against major action in the southern Gazan city that may risk mass civilian casualties.
Israel describes Rafah, which abuts the Gaza Strip's border with the Egyptian Sinai, as the last stronghold of Hamas Islamists whose governing and combat capabilities it has been trying to dismantle during the more than seven-month-old war.
After weeks of public disagreements with Washington over the Rafah planning, Israel on May 6 ordered Pale
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te asked China on Monday to stop its military and political threats, saying in his inauguration speech that peace is the only choice and that Beijing had to respect the choice of the Taiwanese people.
South Africa's constitutional court ruled on Monday that former president Jacob Zuma was not eligible to run for parliament in this month's election, a decision that was closely watched as it has the potential to affect the outcome of the election.