North Korea launches intercontinental ballistic missile

North Korea on Friday launched an intercontinental ballistic missile for the second time in a month, the Pentagon said, a day after US Congress voted to impose new tougher sanctions against Russia, Iran and Pyongyang.

The unusual late-night test launch was North Korea's 12th missile test this year and second intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in less than a month.

"The US Department of Defence detected and tracked a single North Korea missile launch today at about 10:41 AM (New York time)," Pentagon Spokesman Capt Jeff Davis said.

"We assess that this missile was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), as had been expected. The