News Headlines - 24 March 2021

▽North Korea fires short-range missiles in challenge to Biden administration - The Washington Post

North Korea fired off multiple short-range missiles this past weekend after denouncing Washington for going forward with joint military exercises with South Korea, according to people familiar with the situation.
The missile tests, which had not previously been reported, represent North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s first challenge to President Biden, whose aides have not yet outlined their approach to the regime’s nuclear threat amid an ongoing review of U.S.-North Korea policy.
For weeks, U.S. defense officials warned that intelligence indicated that North Korea might carry out missile tests. The regime elevated its complaints about U.S. military exercises last week, with Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, warning that if the Biden administration “wants to sleep in peace for the coming four years, it had better refrain from causing a stink.”

▽Prince Harry lands new job at tech startup BetterUp - CNN

Prince Harry has officially arrived in California.
The Duke of Sussex has joined Silicon Valley startup BetterUp as its chief impact officer, the company told CNN Business on Tuesday. A spokesperson for Harry also confirmed the prince's new role.
BetterUp provides coaching and mental health services to clients.

▽Nicola Sturgeon cleared of breaching ministerial code over Alex Salmond saga - BBC News

An independent inquiry by senior Irish lawyer James Hamilton had been examining whether the first minister misled the Scottish Parliament over what she knew and when.
His report said Ms Sturgeon had given an "incomplete narrative of events" to MSPs.
But he said this was a "genuine failure of recollection" and not deliberate.

▽CDP to Refuse Diet Debate over Errors in Bills - JIJI PRESS

The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan plans not to participate in House of Representatives deliberations until the government completes its examination of all bills and draft articles of treaties for errors, a senior CDP member said Wednesday.
CDP parliamentary affairs chief Jun Azumi conveyed the stance to his counterpart from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Hiroshi Moriyama. Earlier in the day, the government reported to the CDP that mistakes have been found in a total of 20 bills and treaties and related materials linked to 12 ministries and agencies.

▽Olympic Fans Want Ticket Refunds. But It's Not That Easy. - The New York Times

The announcement last week that international spectators would be barred from this summer’s Tokyo Olympics brought some closure to thousands of fans who had been wondering for months whether they would be traveling to Japan later this year.
Almost immediately, though, many of these newly jilted ticket holders began nursing a new headache: uncertainty about if they would get back the money they had prepaid for tickets and travel - more than $10,000, in some cases - and, if so, when exactly they would get it.