North Korea is holding a huge parade to mark the 60th anniversary of the armistice that ended the Korean War.
State TV showed soldiers and military hardware parading through the capital Pyongyang in a carefully choreographed display.
Troops and spectators shouted their allegiance to North Korea’s young ruler, Kim Jong-un.
The 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce although North Korea and South Korea remain technically at war.
Correspondents say the lavish parade of weapons and goose-stepping soldiers is reminiscent of marches held by the Soviet Union and China at the height of the Cold War.
The TV pictures showed Kim Jong-un walking up to the podium on a red carpet with a military band playing in the background. The North Korean leader oversaw the parade flanked by military and ruling party leaders.
North Korea is holding a huge parade to mark the 60th anniversary of the armistice that ended the Korean War
Large banners hung from gas-filled balloons and the main square in Pyongyang was filled with North Korean flags.
Over the past week North Korea has staged mass rallies and fireworks displays to commemorate the anniversary.
It comes as North and South Korea try to restore ties following a period of high tension.
Earlier this month, they ended a third round of talks on the re-opening of a jointly-run industrial zone without reaching a deal.
Work at Kaesong has been suspended since mid-April when North Korea withdrew its workers.
The move came amid tense relations between the two Koreas after Pyongyang’s nuclear test in February.
In South Korea, the anniversary was marked with a speech by President Park Geun-hye.
Park Geun-hye vowed not to tolerate provocations from North Korea but also said Seoul would work on building trust with the North.
“I urge North Korea to give up the development of nuclear weapons if the country is to start on a path toward true change and progress,” she said.
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Americans have started celebrating St. Patrick’s Day across the country on Saturday, one day before the March 17 festival.
Chicago held its annual parade on Saturday morning and dyed the Chicago River green while New York held its famous parade greeted by thousands.
Revelers, children and even pets were decked out in green to mark the occasion with Irish flags hanging from street corners across the country.
At the New York parade which claims be the “oldest, biggest, and best in the world”, partygoers withstood the snow and cold to join in the fun.
The massive parade, which predates the United States beginning in the 1700, was led by 750 members of the New York Army National Guard.
The parade lasted for almost five hours with dancers, bands and battalions all taking part. The 1st Battalion of the 69th Infantry has been marching in the parade since 1851.
Michael Bloomberg took in his last St. Patrick’s Day as mayor, waving to a cheering crowd.
Marching just behind him was Irish PM Enda Kenny, who presented Michael Bloomberg with a historic Irish teapot earlier in the day.
In the south of the country, thousands of revelers garbed in green crammed the oak-shaded squares and sidewalks of downtown Savannah, Georgia, for a celebration that’s a 189-year-old tradition.
Led by bagpipers in green kilts, a parade kicked off Saturday morning, hours after customers began lining up at downtown bars.
More than 1,000 worshipers also packed the pews of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist for the Mass that traditionally precedes the parade.
Boston is also getting into the mood ahead of its parade on Sunday.
The 112th St. Patrick’s Day parade is expected to be attended by nearly 1 million people but pub crawls will be going on all weekend.
Chicago held its annual St Patrick’s Day parade on Saturday morning and dyed the Chicago River green
In Maine, St. Patrick’s Day prompted Governor Paul LePage to relent on a vow to veto any bill that reached his desk before lawmakers pass his proposal to pay a state debt to hospitals.He signed a measure Friday allowing bars to serve alcohol a few hours earlier than usual, starting at 6 a.m., on the Sunday holiday.
About 1,500 miles southwest, the city of Houma, Louisiana., was holding its unconventional celebration – an Irish-Italian parade, with a celebration that features both Irish cabbage and Italian sausage – on Sunday.
The event resumed last year after a 10-year hiatus.
In Rolla, Missouri, the Missouri University of Science and Technology continued a St. Patrick’s Day tradition that began in 1908, when students paid homage to the patron saint of Ireland who was the patron saint of engineers.
In Ireland, Dublin’s five-day St. Patrick’s Day festival was unfolding with a new addition.
For the first time, up to 8,000 visitors from around the world were due to march in a so-called people’s parade on Sunday, when Irish capital city also intends hold its usual procession of bands and pageantry.
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During the Labor Day weekend in New York the number of shot people has risen to 43, after violence started at the annual West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn.
In the 24 hours, from Saturday 6 a.m. to Sunday 6 a.m., 24 people were shot, the victims were shot during 15 separate incidents, and so far no arrests have been made.
The latest shooting, left a police officer wounded and a civilian dead just a few blocks off the route where revelers had earlier filled the streets in colorful costumes.
During the Labor Day weekend in New York the number of shot people has risen to 43, after violence started at the 2011 West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn
The police officer was hit in the arm and hospitalized but expected to recover, the civilian died at the scene and at least two others were wounded.
According to police, earlier in the day four people were shot and wounded during the parade along its route. A 15-year-old boy was grazed by a bullet nearby.
Charles Walters, 53 – who’s 11-year-old son was one of the victims on Sunday – to the New York Daily News:
“These people come with guns and shoot at anyone.
“They don’t care if there are children around.”
Shaquan Walters, his son, was the youngest of eight shot in the early hours of Sunday as he partied in his Bronx back yard.
At the same event, a 14-year-old girl was hit in the back, while a 13-year-old girl was hit in the left thigh during the 3:39 a.m. shooting.
In the Williamsbridge shooting, there were five young men wounded, aged 17, 18, 19, 21 and 24.
According to police, Oneil Dasilva, 17 could be the suspect in connection with the incident.
After Brooklyn violence at the Labor Day Parade, Mayor Michael Bloomberg called on politicians in Washington to enact stricter gun laws.
Speaking at the Christian Cultural Centre in Brooklyn yesterday Mayor Bloomberg said:
“It is just unconscionable.We cannot tolerate it.
“There are just too many guns on the streets and we have to do something about it.
“We need the federal government to step up. Both ends of Pennsylvania Ave., both sides of the aisle.”
Michael Bloomberg is a member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns and has rallied Washington for tighter gun laws in the past.
Bloomberg added:
“We cannot continue to have these guns in the hands of kids who don’t understand the value of life.”
The Labor Day weekend’s shootings began at around 6 a.m. on Saturday when a 35-year-old woman was wounded in Brooklyn.
Monday at 2 a.m., a 30-year-old died from bullet wounds to the head and back in Flatbush.
From 2:12 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. on Sunday five men were shot in three separate incidents.
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