North Korea

America's "new normal" diplomacy under Trump is a page turner... of Trump's own book. 

While Dennis Rodman may not have had a role in this week's release of Otto Warmbier, the American university student who had been imprisoned for 15 years, the NBA Hall of Famer appears to have delivered a symbolic message to North Korea's leader: Rodman gifted Kim Jong Un with a copy of Donald Trump’s “The Art of the Deal” on Thursday, according to the AP.

The Trump administration has asked Beijing to impose what would be the first round of sanctions against nearly 10 Chinese companies and individuals that trade with North Korea, part of a strategy to starve, and ultimately shut down, Kim's nuclear program, the WSJ reports. 

Having chided President Trump for his "selfish" decision to pull of out the Paris Climate Accord, North Korea's Kim Jong Un is reportedly preparing for the 10th ballistic missile test-fire this year, and as Asahi reports, unconfirmed information that North Korea will carry out its sixth nuclear test.

Military sources revealed North Korea had signs of launching ballistic missiles on the morning of the 8th. The detailed location has not been revealed.

Authored by Mac Slavo via SHTFplan.com,

The Japanese are no longer taking any chances against the rogue North Korean regime and Kim Jong-Un’s insistence on the continued testing of ballistic missiles. Japan is now participating in more frequent evacuation drills in the event that they are attacked by North Korea.

Authored by Jeremiah Johnson (nom de plume of a retired Green Beret of the United States Army Special Forces) via SHTFplan.com,

It has been reported that the USS Nimitz will join the USS Ronald Reagan and the USS Carl Vinson for a total of three U.S. carriers and their groups deployed to respond to or initiate actions against North Korea.  There is a small excerpt from an article entitled 3rd US Naval Strike Force Deployed to Deter North Korea that bears mention: