TODAY's brief, Thursday, Feb 11

N Korea's reaction to industrial park shutdown
All eyes will be on North Korea’s reaction today after South Korea announced that it would shut down a joint industrial park between the two sides, and escalate its propaganda broadcasts along its border, in response to Pyongyang’s rocket launch last Sunday. In a statement yesterday, Seoul said that an estimated US$560 million (S$780 million) poured into the Kaesong Industrial Park over the years were "harnessed in the service of upgrading North Korea's nuclear weapons and long-range missiles".

US-led IS coalition meets
United States Defense Secretary Ashton Carter meets with other defence ministers from the US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS) in Brussels today, where he is expected to cajole his counterparts into contributing more resources or military assets to the campaign. In addition, the meeting will also discuss whether to widen its counter-IS operations in Libya, where the terror group has captured the city of Sirte and begun making inroads to the rest of the country.

Weather forecast
Thundery showers are expected over many areas in the early hours and pre-dawn, with temperatures ranging from 23°C to 31°C.