The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on seven officials and three entities of North Korea over what Washington described as Pyongyang’s “ongoing and serious human rights abuses.” The Treasury Department is also targeting North Korean financial facilitators who attempt to keep the leadership in Pyongyang afloat with foreign currency earned through forced labour operations. Meanwhie, North Korea warns of nuke test over ocean as US deploys three aircraft carriers in western Pacific for the first time since 2007.