North Korean Missile Lands In Japanese Waters

The US has warned it was ready to defend "ourselves and our allies" after North Korea launched a missile, which landed in Japanese waters for the first time in nearly 20 years.

South Korea said the test-firing of the rocket showed Pyongyang's "ambition to attack neighbouring countries".

It is the fourth reported weapons launch the isolated authoritarian state has carried out in recent weeks, in defiance of the UN Security Council.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe condemned the rocket launch as 'an outrageous act'

Seoul said the missile appeared to be a medium-range Rodong missile which flew about 620 miles (1,000km).

Washington has condemned the launch.

Referring to North by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), US State Department spokeswoman Julia Mason said: "We remain prepared to work with our allies and partners around the world to respond to further DPRK provocations, as well as to defend ourselves and our allies from any attack or provocation."

Japanese defence minister Gen Nakatani said the missile landed in the Sea of Japan some 150 miles (250km) off the country's northern coast.

It was the first time a North Korean rocket had come down in Japan's exclusive economic zone since 1998.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said: "It's a serious threat against our country's security.

"This is an outrageous act that cannot be tolerated."

The launch by the North is an apparent show of force against the planned deployment of a US missile defence system in South Korea.

The latest test also comes amid mounting tensions ahead of a planned US-South Korea joint military exercise later this month.

Last year the drills involved 30,000 American soldiers and 50,000 South Korean troops.

North Korea regularly condemns the exercise as a "declaration of war".

Pyongyang has repeatedly warned of pre-emptive nuclear strikes against the South and US targets.

Relations have been further frayed after Washington decided to personally target the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un by putting him on a sanctions blacklist over human rights abuses.

Armed Sea Marshals Set For French Ferries

Armed sea marshals will be operating on French ferries within months in the light of increased terror threats, Sky News understands.

A number of French registered ferry companies are preparing the groundwork for the introduction of the added security, similar to the airline industry, with marshals on US and Israeli flights.

There are no plans at the present to introduce marshals on British flagged vessels but UK officers are training and preparing for an attack at sea.

Security forces in several European countries are actively training to help counter sea-borne terror assaults. 

An exercise by the Irish military in May was specifically designed to improve their rapid boarding procedures.

The prospect of armed sea marshals on French cross-Channel vessels was raised this week after a seaborne security exercise involving military personnel.

The drill was carried out by Brittany Ferries aboard the Mont St Michel ferry as it was travelling from Portsmouth to Caen.

Half-way through the six-hour crossing, at about 5.30pm on Monday, three sea marshals landed on the ship by helicopter.

The personnel, who are effectively part of the French military, patrolled the bridge and passenger areas and conducted other security checks.

Up to 800 passengers onboard were warned about the exercise in advance via announcements in English and French.

They were not allowed on the outside decks at the time of the helicopter's arrival.

As the exercise began, Lyn Thompson wrote: "We are bobbing around in the Channel waiting for the French SAS to arrive - in fact the helicopter has just arrived ... chaps hanging out of it and abseiling down. All very exciting!"The sea marshals remained on board until the ferry docked in Caen several hours later.

The exercise followed the recent terror attacks in France, where the government faces growing demands to improve security, and in Germany.

Spokespersons for DFDS Seaways, Brittany Ferries and P&O Ferries said they were working closely with British and French authorities and would follow any guidance issued on security.

The companies said they were in discussion with security agencies about the deployment of sea marshals on board ships.

Kesha Drops Dr Luke California Assault Claims

Pop star Kesha has dropped sexual assault claims against producer Dr Luke in California, but she will continue to pursue a similar case in New York.

The move comes amid an effort to revive her music career despite her high-profile battle with her former mentor since she accused him of drugging, sexually abusing and emotionally tormenting her.

She is signed to his record label and they co-wrote many of her hits together, including Tik Tok and We R Who We R.

Dr Luke, whose real name is Lukasz Gottwald, has denied the allegations and accused Kesha of suing to try to obtain a better record deal.

Kesha's lawyer, Daniel Petrocelli, said the dismissal was filed so she can focus her legal efforts in New York.

He said she has delivered 28 new songs to Dr Luke's record label and Sony Music Entertainment.

"We have conveyed to Sony and the label Kesha's strong desire to release her next album and single as soon as possible," he said.Kesha is appealing against two rulings in New York that prevented her from breaking her contract with Dr Luke's label, and that dismissed her claims of sexual and emotional abuse.

"If Kesha is voluntarily dismissing her claims in the California case, it is because she has no chance of winning them," Dr Luke's lawyer, Christine Lepera, said.

"Kesha never should have brought her false and meritless claims against Dr Luke in any court."

He has sued the singer for defamation, and that case is still pending.

Kesha first sued Dr Luke in October 2014, alleging his abuse caused her to develop a severe eating disorder that required her to go into rehab.

Endangered Rhinos Killed In India Floods

Twenty endangered Indian rhinos have been killed in floods that have devastated parts of northeastern India, according to officials.

The state of Assam has been battered by floods triggered by monsoon rains, submerging 80% of Kaziranga National Park, which is the largest habitat for the one-horned rhino.

An estimated four million people have been affected in 3,300 villages across the state, with thousands of hectares of agricultural land submerged in the worst flooding since 2004.

Prince William and Kate visited Kaziranga National Park in April

In April this year, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge spent a day touring Kaziranga to raise awareness of illegal poaching.

Dr Satyendra Singh, director of the park, told Sky News: "It's been disastrous, 80% of the park was submerged but the water has receded and only 30% is still flooded.

"Some 270 wild animals have died, this has been one of the worst seasons of flooding."

A rescue team transports a rhino calf from the floodwaters

The 20 rhino deaths are equivalent to the total number killed by poaching in 2015.

Dr Singh added: "Nine calves have been rescued and have been shifted to a rehabilitation and treatment centre.

"But the devastation to the park's infrastructure, roads and bridges has been very severe."

People on a makeshift raft in Morigoan district

Prince William and Kate were pictured feeding rhino and elephant calves during their royal tour to India and Bhutan.

In 2015, there were an estimated 3,555 rhino living in the wild in India.

The flooding has hit north and east India, leaving around 90 people dead and affecting an estimated seven million others.

India's National Disaster Response Force has placed 42 flood rescue teams across the country. Teams have evacuated people and moved them to relief camps.

The country is still in the midst of the monsoon season, with most of the rivers in the north flowing above dangerous levels.

Briton Burned After iPhone Explodes In Pocket

A British man has suffered severe burns after his iPhone exploded following a fall from his mountain bike.

Gareth Clear's iPhone 6 bore the brunt of the impact when the 36-year-old took a tumble during a ride around Australia's Manly Dam on Sunday afternoon.

He noticed smoke and searing heat coming from his phone seconds before it exploded, melting through his shorts and two layers of skin on his upper right thigh.

Mr Clear suffered severe burns. Pic: Gareth Clear/Storyful

Mr Clear, who lives in Bondi but is originally from Winchester, Hampshire, needed a skin graft at the burns unit of the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney.

He told Australia's Daily Telegraph newspaper: "The phone did hit the ground, it didn't just spontaneously combust.

The damaged iPhone. Pic: Gareth Clear/Storyful

"It was a one in one million chance I hit a part of the phone which pierced the lithium battery and it exploded.

"I'm 36, I've had a mobile phone for 18 years of my life and for that thing to explode or short circuit and cause it to temporarily ignite.

The mountain biker needed a skin graft. Pic: Gareth Clear/Storyful

"I could see the metal bending and all the lithium leaking out of the bottom end."

While the top of his phone is perfectly intact, Mr Clear said the base of the phone looks like "something from a chemical explosion".

Mr Clear is on a drip to stop infection. Pic: Gareth Clear/Storyful

For now, he is hooked up to a drip to prevent infection of his wound and doctors have said his recovery will take weeks.

Mr Clear said Apple has promised to investigate the incident, although the firm has not commented officially.

Weak Pound Holds Back Petrol Price Falls - AA

Drivers are paying 5p-a-litre less for petrol this summer, but it is "more a case of pump paradise lost than pump paradise found”, according to the AA.

It said that while motorists were still reaping the benefits of the plunge in world oil prices, the dive in value of the pound against the dollar since the UK's vote to leave the EU meant drivers were missing out on the cheapest summer holiday petrol for seven years.

Its fuel spokesman, Luke Bosdet, said: "The pound has lost 15% of its value compared to this time last year, down from $1.55 to $1.32.

"That is equivalent to a saving of 4p a litre, or more than £2 a tank, being lost to UK drivers.

"With the average petrol price already beginning to show the fall in wholesale costs last week and 111p this week, a further 4p drop would have taken the average pump price to 107p - a summer price last seen in September 2009."

The effects of currency fluctuations on UK fuel prices are limited - as fuel duty accounts for more than half the cost of a litre - but it is still a factor.

Brent crude, like sterling, also fell in value in the wake of the Brexit vote. But its 5% fall on 24 June was far less severe than the 8% tumble for the pound against the dollar.

Because Brent crude is priced in dollars, it meant the two largely cancelled each other out. 

Although campaign group FairFuelUK last month accused the fuel supply chain of holding back a 3p-per-litre cut in wholesale costs.

UK fuel costs reached six-year lows early this year at a time when oil costs stood at levels not seen for 13 years - below $30 a barrel in January.

Brent remains more than 50% down on two years ago, currently trading at $43 a barrel.

Recent falls in its value, attributed to supply continuing to outstrip demand, has allowed supermarkets to start to cut petrol costs back as the shifts reach wholesale prices.

Asda said its new national price cap would bring diesel down to 106.7p per litre and unleaded down to 105.7p at all its 272 petrol stations.

Tesco and Sainsbury's later confirmed they too would be cutting prices by 2p.

Warning That Amazon Drones Could Be Hacked

Amazon's delivery drones could be hacked and hijacked - turning them into flying killing machines, a security expert has warned.

The Government has given Amazon permission to extensively test its drones over the skies of Britain, which could one day allow the firm to deliver items by air.

But Colin Bull. from software specialists, SQS, has urged Amazon to install an emergency jamming system to alleviate the threat of hijack.

He told InfoSecurity Magazine: "They might look pretty innocent, but on closer inspection, what you find can be terrifying.

"Combined with 3D printing these can be easily configured and adapted into support any kind of use case.

"Putting it bluntly, these devices are in fact a flying payload system with the ability to deliver anything including incendiary devices or grenades in to uncontrolled airspace in the way that only Unmanned Aerial Vehicles have been able to do in the past."

He said that one solution could be to standardise the radio frequencies on which drones can operate, so police could take control of compromised devices.

Over the next few months Amazon will test drones at specified sites around the country.

Amazon has special permission to fly drones that are no longer within sight of their operators, and have one person operate several drones.

The Government is working with the Civil Aviation Authority to draw up new controls for drones which balances public safety with encouraging innovation.

In a blog post Cesare Garlati, chief security strategist at the non-profit prpl Foundation, said: "Just think about the havoc that one could cause if it were dropped onto a freeway, or flown into a plane on take-off.

"Are we confident they can't be hacked? No - especially as systems with far more research and development spend like connected cars, smart rifles and aircraft guidance systems - have already been hacked by researchers."

Sky News has contacted Amazon for a response.