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North Korea-South Korea Relations
South Korea fires warning shots at North Korean soldiers

South Korean military fired warning shots after several North Korean soldiers entered the demilitarized zone between the countries last week, Yonhap reports.

The North Korean soldiers are said to have turned back after that.

This is the first time this year that North Korea has violated the so-called demarcation line.

Last year, 17 violations were recorded.

Art Coups
Three Renaissance Works Stolen from Italian Museum – Suspected Commissioned Work

Three works worth millions by the Italian Renaissance painter Antonello da Messina have been stolen from a museum in Sicily. This is reported by Italian media. Police suspect that the works were stolen on commission.

– We are shocked. It is a huge loss for the museum, the city, society and the art world, says museum director Marisa Mercurio to the Ansa news agency.

The alarm in the Messina Museum sounded but was quickly turned off when the masked thieves broke in and took the wooden panels with religious scenes painted in the 1470s.

The work “Madonna and Christ in the Pietà” was hanging in a protective case, which they opened “like a sardine can,” according to Corriere della sera. They took five paintings, but threw away two of the largest, which are 125 centimeters high, outside the museum, according to Rai.

On Friday, Italian police recovered three stolen paintings with a total value of the equivalent of 100 million kronor. 

Five dead and power outages after major floods in the United States

At least five people have died when the White River in Indiana, USA, has overflowed, reports NBC. Over 90 people and their pets have been rescued, but the water continues to rise.

The river has already risen several meters in some areas after just under 30 centimeters of rain fell in two days, according to TT. In some areas, residents can only get around by boat. Everyone living along the river is urged to evacuate.

A state of emergency has been declared throughout the state, according to Bloomberg. President Donald Trump has promised federal emergency aid for the state's disaster management. 

US Defense
Trump's wishes: Redesign the ships to resemble World War II boats

The US Navy is considering a completely new design for its aircraft carriers because Donald Trump wants them to look like they did during World War II, seven sources with insight told the Washington Post.

What the president reportedly wants to do more specifically is move the command tower further forward on the ship, so that it is more centrally located.

The sources raise concerns that such a change would be time-consuming and cost several billion dollars.

It would also affect both weight and buoyancy, says former Navy officer Bryan Clark of the right-leaning Hudson Institute think tank.

“It could be changed, but it would involve a very extensive intervention.”

The White House has not commented.