N Korea carries out second nuclear test

NORTH KOREA claimed it carried out a powerful underground nuclear test yesterday – much larger than one conducted in 2006 – a major provocation in the escalating international standoff over its rogue nuclear and missile programmes.

The regime “successfully conducted one more underground nuclear test as part of measures to bolster itsnuclear deterrent for self-defence”, the country’s official Korean Central News Agency said.

Russia’s Defence Ministry confirmed an atomic explosion at 9.54am (00.54 GMT) in north-eastern North Korea, estimating the blast’s yield at 10 to 20 kilotons – comparable to the bombs that flattened Hiroshima and Nagasaki.