WSJ.com What's News - Worldwide News Briefs for Sep 22

NORTH KOREA RAMPS UP INTERNATIONAL RANCOR WITH H-BOMB THREAT

North Korea's latest threat-to detonate a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean-if carried through would mark a new level of defiance in the face of warnings from the U.S. and the international community.

IRAN SHOWS OFF NEW BALLISTIC MISSILE IN DEFIANCE OF U.S.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Iran will continue to build up its ballistic missile program and other capabilities, as it showed off its military hardware in defiance of U.S. criticism.

MAY CALLS FOR TWO-YEAR BREXIT TRANSITION, PLEDGES TO HONOR BUDGET COMMITMENTS

British Prime Minister Theresa May said the U.K. would honor its financial commitments to the European Union's current budget and seek to retain current terms of trade for two years after its planned exit in 2019.

RESCUERS CONTINUE DESPERATE SEARCH FOR SURVIVORS OF MEXICAN EARTHQUAKE

As the death toll rose to 286, authorities raced against the clock to find the last survivors beneath the rubble of Tuesday's temblor.

EVEN IN STAID GERMANY, PROTEST PARTIES POISED TO GAIN GROUND

Germany's seemingly predictable election campaign may well have a twist in its tail. If the last opinion polls before Sunday's parliamentary elections are a guide, the crumbling of Europe's old political order is affecting even the continent's bastion of stability.

LETTER FROM NORTH KOREA: WHAT LIFE LOOKS LIKE AS NUCLEAR CRISIS MOUNTS

A tightly controlled government tour of Pyongyang featured plentiful talk from locals about not backing down to the U.S. The city was filled with symbols of the country's atomic and military ambitions, including rocket-shaped cakes and children playing with toy rocket launchers.

U.S. AGENCY BACKS IMPORT PROTECTION FOR SOLAR-PANEL INDUSTRY

President Trump's pledge to offer American companies more aggressive protection from foreign competition got fresh ammunition Friday, when a government board cleared the way for him to deploy a long-dormant legal weapon to restrict solar panel imports.

U.K. POLICE CHARGE MAN WITH LONDON SUBWAY BOMBING

An 18-year-old Iraqi man charged with a bomb attack last week on a London subway train bought explosives-making materials online and had expressed hatred toward the U.K., British prosecutors said.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 22, 2017 17:22 ET (21:22 GMT)