PYONGYANG -- A military spokesperson of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea lashed out at the recent military exercise carried out by Seoul, calling it a "reckless move" and "grave provocation," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Friday.

"This is a grave provocation which can never be overlooked and this situation demands a necessary reaction from us," KCNA quoted the spokesperson as saying.

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WASHINGTON -- A senior U.S. Federal Reserve official warned on Thursday that the United States could fall into recession again in 2021 if reopening the economy too quickly with a resurgence of the coronavirus.

"The less optimistic scenario is that we open too quickly and see a significant second wave of the virus. Not only would this be a health catastrophe, but it would reverse the recovery as well," Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker told the Chicago Council on Global Affairs via Zoom.

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UNITED NATIONS -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday launched a global appeal to address and counter "the virus of hate" -- hate speech related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"COVID-19 does not care who we are, where we live, what we believe or about any other distinction. We need every ounce of solidarity to tackle it together. Yet the pandemic continues to unleash a tsunami of hate and xenophobia, scapegoating and scare-mongering," said Guterres in a video message.

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PARIS -- The first suspected cases of COVID-19 infection in France could date back to Nov. 16 last year, some nine weeks earlier than the official record of the country's first confirmed cases, a hospital in eastern France said Thursday.

"Doctor Michel Schmitt, head of the medical imaging department at the Albert Schweitzer hospital in Colmar, has reviewed 2,456 chest scans performed between Nov. 1 and April 30, for all reasons (cardiac, pulmonary, traumatic, tumor pathologies)," said the hospital in a press release.