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Washington: US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis threatened a "massive military response" to any attack on the United States or its allies after North Korea conducted its most powerful nuclear test to date.
Speaking outside the White House on Sunday US time, Mattis said: "Any threat to the United States or its territories, including Guam or our allies will be met with a massive military response, a response both effective and overwhelming."
Despite a smattering of rain and easing temperatures, Los Angeles officials and residents remain on edge as firefighters battle the largest wildfire in Los Angeles history.
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Growing anger over Myanmar's violence against Rohingya Muslims
Growing anger over Myanmar's violence against Rohingya Muslims
Nearly 90,000 Muslim Rohingya have fled the country's violence since August, as protests across Asia mount on leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, to do more to protect the minority.
The US says countries trading with North Korea were aiding its âdangerous nuclear intentionsâ as the UN Security Council mulled tough new sanctions on the isolated regime.
As North Korea conducts its sixth and most powerful nuclear test, US President Trump considers his response.
Mattis said Washington was not looking for the "total annihilation of a country, namely North Korea. But as I said, we have many options to do so."
North Korea claimed "perfect success" in an underground test of what it called a hydrogen bomb - potentially vastly more destructive than an atomic bomb.
It was the North's sixth nuclear test since 2006, but the first since Donald Trump took office in January.
Trump called North Korea's nuclear test, its biggest to date, "very hostile and dangerous to the United States" and said his administration was considering sweeping new economic sanctions to pressure China and every other country that trades with North Korea.
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Asked as he left church services whether he was planning to attack North Korea after a nuclear test that defied his blunt warnings, Trump told reporters, "We'll see."
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Joseph Dunford Photo: AP
Trump convened a White House meeting on Sunday afternoon of military leaders, his national security team and Vice President Mike Pence, where Mattis said they reviewed each of the United States' military options in the Asia-Pacific.
Trump's response to North Korea's announcement that it had detonated a hydrogen bomb that could be attached to a missile capable of reaching the mainland United States included an admonishment of South Korea for its handling of the crisis.