World
North Korea Flies Trash Balloons Over The South As Leader Kim Doubles Down On Satellite Ambitions
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea launched hundreds of balloons carrying rubbish and excrement at South Korea in one of its most unusual provocations in years, causing the South Korean military to deploy chemical and explosive response teams to gather objects and waste around the country.
State media reported Wednesday that the balloon campaign occurred as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un urged his military scientists to overcome a failed satellite launch and continue developing space-based reconnaissance capabilities, which he described as critical for countering US and South Korean military activities.
In his first public comments regarding the launch failure, Kim also threatened South Korea with unspecified “overwhelming actions” following an exercise involving 20 fighter jets near the inter-Korean border hours before North Korea’s failed launch on Monday. In a speech Tuesday, Kim labeled South Korea’s response as a “hysterical attack formation flight and strike drill” and a “direct military challenge” to North Korea, according to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.
North Korea | AP news Image
North Korea Flies Trash Balloons Over The South As Leader Kim Doubles Down On Satellite Ambitions
According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, North Korea has been floating a huge number of trash-carrying balloons toward the South since Tuesday night in retribution for South Korean activists who flew anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets over the border.
The South Korean military reported that over 260 North Korean balloons had been discovered in various regions of the country as of Wednesday afternoon and were being recovered by military fast reaction and explosive clearance teams. According to the military, the balloons carried various forms of rubbish and manure, but no human waste had been discovered thus far. It warned residents not to touch North Korean objects and to report them to the military or police if discovered.
In a statement issued over the weekend, North Korean Vice Defense Minister Kim Kang Il stated that the North planned to scatter “mounds of wastepaper and filth” over border areas and other parts of South Korea in a “tit-for-tat” response to South Korean activists’ leafleting.
Later Wednesday, Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of the North Korean leader, used state media to mock a South Korean military statement asking that the North cease its “inhumane and vulgar activity.” She claimed the North was expressing its freedom of expression, which the Seoul administration has cited as the reason for its inability to prevent anti-North Korean activists from flying leaflets across the border.
“Once you experience how nasty and exhausting it feels to go around picking up dirty filth, you will realize that you shouldn’t talk about freedom of expression so easily when it comes to (leafletting) in border areas,” she stated. “We will make it clear that we will respond with tens more times the amount of filth to what the (South Koreans) spray to us in the future.”
The South Korean military released photos showing rubbish littered across highways and roads throughout the country. In Seoul, military officials discovered what looked to be a timer designed to pop trash bags in flight. Two large balloons holding an unpopped plastic bag packed with dirt-like material were seen on a road in central South Chungcheong province.
There were no early indications of balloon-related damage. However, Similar North Korean balloon activities damaged autos and other property in 2016.
North Korea | AP News Image
North Korea Flies Trash Balloons Over The South As Leader Kim Doubles Down On Satellite Ambitions
Kim Jong Un’s remarks on the satellite came during a speech at the North’s Academy of Defense Sciences, which he attended the day after a rocket carrying what would have been his country’s second military reconnaissance satellite exploded shortly after launch. The North Korean aerospace technology agency stated that the explosion was potentially caused by the reliability of a newly built rocket engine powered by petroleum and using liquid oxygen as an oxidizer.
Animosities between the Koreas have reached their highest point in years, as the tempo of both Kim’s nuclear demonstrations and South Korea’s joint military exercises with the United States and Japan has increased since 2022.
The failed satellite launch set back Kim’s plans to launch three additional military surveillance satellites in 2024, following the launch of North Korea’s first military reconnaissance satellite in November. The November launch came after two failed efforts.
South Korea, Japan, and the United States condemned Monday’s launch because the United Nations prohibits North Korea from performing such rocket launches, perceiving them as a cover for testing long-range missile technologies.
North Korea has persistently maintained that it has the right to launch satellites and test missiles in response to what it sees as US-led military threats. Kim has defined spy satellites as critical for monitoring US and South Korean military activity and increasing the threat posed by his nuclear-capable missiles.
“Although we failed to achieve the results we had hoped to get in the recent reconnaissance satellite launch, we must never feel scared or dispirited but make still greater efforts,” Kim stated. “It is natural that one learns more and makes greater progress after experiencing failure.”
North Korea | AP News Image
North Korea Flies Trash Balloons Over The South As Leader Kim Doubles Down On Satellite Ambitions
According to some South Korean experts, mentioning a liquid oxygen-petroleum rocket engine in state media signals that the North is developing a more powerful space launch vehicle capable of handling greater payloads.
It is thought that North Korea’s prior space rockets used unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine as fuel and dinitrogen tetroxide as an oxidizer. Chang Young-keun, a missile researcher at South Korea’s Research Institute for National Strategy, believes the country’s rapid transformation in space rocket designs may suggest external technological assistance, most likely from Russia.
Kim has increased the exposure of his connections with Russia in recent months, including a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in September, as they converge in the face of their conflicts with Washington. Kim’s meeting with Putin took place at a spaceport in the Russian Far East following North Korea’s repeated failures to launch its first spy satellite. Putin then told Russian media that Moscow was eager to assist North Korea in the development of satellites.
The United States and South Korea have also accused North Korea of helping Russia with artillery shells, missiles, and other military equipment to prolong the conflict in Ukraine.
SOURCE – (AP)
Mount Fuji, a UNESCO World Heritage site and Japanese icon, has implemented new climbing limits in response to concerns about overpopulation.
Beginning July 1, climbers must pay 2,000 yen ($12.40) per person, and there is a daily limit of 4,000 climbers.
Mount Fuji | Japan Times
Japan’s Mount Fuji Implements Tourist Tax In Response To Overcrowding Concerns
“By strongly promoting comprehensive safety measures for climbing Mount Fuji, we will ensure that Mount Fuji, a world treasure, is passed down to future generations,” stated Koutaro Nagasaki, governor of Yamanashi Prefecture, when he announced the new laws earlier this year.
“To revitalize traditional mountain climbing from the foot of Mount Fuji, we shall get a thorough grasp of the Fuji-ko and Oshi cultures that fostered Mount Fuji worship. We hope to connect different civilizations through mountain climbing, which is steeped in religious cultural values.”
Fuji-ko is a religion unique to the mountains.
Human traffic bottlenecks, garbage-strewn hillsides, and poorly dressed hikers – some attempting the trip in sandals – are among the challenges afflicting the renowned Japanese destination.
In addition, new guides will oversee trail safety and notify climbers if they violate mountain etiquette, such as sleeping along the trail, making a fire, or wearing inappropriate attire.
According to prefectural data, five million people hiked Mount Fuji in 2019, up three million from 2012.
“Overtourism – and all the subsequent consequences like rubbish, rising CO2 emissions, and reckless hikers – is the biggest problem facing Mount Fuji,” Masatake Izumi, a Yamanashi prefectural government official, told CNN Travel last year.
In 2023, a volunteer named Tomoyo Takahashi told CNN that she planned to ask tourists to donate 1,000 yen ($6.20) to help maintain the mountain.
“Not everyone pays the 1,000 yen, which makes me sad. “There should be a much higher mandatory entrance fee so that only visitors who truly value Mount Fuji’s heritage come,” she stated.
Takahashi will finally achieve her wish.
Mount Fuji | CNN Image
Japan’s Mount Fuji Implements Tourist Tax In Response To Overcrowding Concerns
The new limitations, however, only apply to Yamanashi prefecture, which has the most popular hiking trails. Fuji is also located in Shizuoka prefecture, which has yet to have any tariffs or visiting restrictions. Governor Nagasaki told reporters that he and Shizuoka’s governor will meet at the end of the climbing season to swap notes.
Overtourism has become a major issue in Japan since the country reopened during the pandemic.
Locals in Kyoto’s historic Gion area have expressed concern over tourists flocking to photograph and sometimes harass the geisha who live and work there, giving them the term “geisha paparazzi.”
While the city has posted signs and boards urging visitors not to photograph geisha, several locals told CNN Travel that more is needed. The neighborhood council proposed issuing fines or penalties.
Hatsukaichi, in Hiroshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, has also been hit. The little hamlet is notable for its orange “floating shrine” torii gate, part of a 1,400-year-old Shinto complex.
In October 2023, the town started charging 100 yen (62 cents) for visitors to the temple. The “tourist tax” funds the site’s maintenance and infrastructure.
SOURCE – (CNN)
Hurricane Beryl is raging over the Windward Islands as a Category 4, bringing high gusts, heavy rain, and a life-threatening storm surge after landfall on Monday.
According to NOAA statistics dating back to 1851, it is the strongest storm to pass through this region.
Beryl | AP news image
Hurricane Beryl Makes Landfall As Life-Threatening Category 4 Storm
Beryl made landfall shortly after 11:00 a.m. EDT on the Grenadines’ Carriacou Island in the Caribbean Sea, with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph. According to the National Hurricane Center, the storm caused power outages, flooded streets, and brought storm surge flooding to sections of the Grenadines, Grenada, Barbados, and Tobago on Monday.
Beryl’s arrival marks a particularly early start to the Atlantic hurricane season. On Sunday, it became the Atlantic Ocean’s earliest Category 4 storm on record and the only one in June. The bathtub-warm ocean conditions that aided Beryl’s worrisome strengthening strongly indicate that this hurricane season will be abnormal due to global warming caused by fossil fuel pollution.
According to Jim Kossin, a hurricane expert and science advisor at the charity First Street Foundation, Beryl is smashing June records because the ocean is as warm as it would be during hurricane season.
“Hurricanes don’t know what month it is, they only know what their ambient environment is,” Kossin told CNN on Wednesday. “Beryl is breaking records for the month of June because Beryl thinks it’s September.”
Kossin noted that the ocean heat driving Beryl’s extraordinary power “certainly has a human fingerprint on it.”
Beryl is the Atlantic’s first big hurricane (Category 3 or higher) in 58 years. According to National Hurricane Center Director Mike Brennan, the storm’s quick intensification is unusual for this early in hurricane season. According to NOAA statistics, tropical systems, particularly strong ones, rarely form in the central Atlantic east of the Lesser Antilles in June.
The storm isn’t simply early in the season. It is presently the Atlantic Ocean’s third-earliest significant storm. The first was Hurricane Alma on June 8, 1966, followed by Hurricane Audrey, which reached major hurricane status on June 27, 1957.
Beryl also broke the record for the easternmost hurricane to form in the Tropical Atlantic in June, surpassing the previous record established in 1933.
Beryl | CNN Image
Hurricane Beryl Makes Landfall As Life-Threatening Category 4 Storm
August is generally a more active month in the Middle and Eastern Atlantic because warmer water temperatures fuel emerging systems.
This year, the Atlantic basin has had above-normal water temperatures and a lack of wind shear due to the shift from El Niño to La Niña season, fueling tropical development.
“Beryl has found an environment with very warm ocean waters for this time of year,” she said.
According to Phil Klotzbach, a hurricane expert and research scientist at Colorado State University, systems forming in this section of the Atlantic early in the summer signify the upcoming hyperactive hurricane season. Normally, water temperatures in June and July do not support tropical ecosystems.
“That’s well above average,” Brennan said.
SOURCE – (CNN)
World
Hurricane Beryl Intensifies Into An ‘Extremely Dangerous’ Category 4 Storm As It Approaches The Caribbean
Beryl, the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic season, strengthened into an extremely hazardous Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph Sunday morning as it approached the Windward Islands.
Beryl is now the earliest Category 4 hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean and the only Category 4 storm to occur in June.
Tropical storm-force winds will likely hit the Windward Islands late Sunday or early Monday.
The early timing of the season’s first storm is rare, considering the average date is August 11.
As of 11 a.m, ET, Beryl was about 355 miles east-southeast of Barbados and headed west.
“A life-threatening storm surge will raise water levels by as much as 6 to 9 feet above normal tide levels in areas of onshore flow near where the eye makes landfall in the hurricane warning area,” the National Hurricane Center stated, adding that the surge could bring huge and damaging waves near the shoreline.
Hurricane Beryl | CNN Image
Hurricane Beryl Intensifies Into An ‘Extremely Dangerous’ Category 4 Storm As It Approaches The Caribbean
The hurricane is rapidly strengthening, reaching 55 mph in the 24 hours preceding Sunday morning. The National Hurricane Center defines rapid intensification as an increase in maximum sustained wind speed of 35 mph or more within 24 hours.
“We’re forecasting rapid intensification and expect Beryl to become a major hurricane before it reaches places like Barbados and the Windward islands, and to continue to be a powerful hurricane as it moves into the eastern and central Caribbean as we go into the early portions of next week,” Mike Brennan, Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Hurricane Center, told CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield on Saturday.
Brennan advised residents in hurricane-prone areas to prepare for major storm consequences. Beryl increases the possibility of torrential rainfall, damaging hurricane-force winds, and severe storm surges and waves. According to the center, rainfall totals of 3 to 6 inches could cause localized flooding in the Windward Islands on Sunday night and Monday.
According to the weather center, the hurricane is anticipated to dump 3 to 6 inches of rain on Barbados and the Windward Islands through Monday.
Beryl is the Atlantic’s first big hurricane (Category 3 or higher) in 58 years. According to Brennan, the storm’s quick intensification is rare at this early stage of the hurricane season. According to NOAA statistics, only a few tropical systems, particularly powerful ones, formed in the central Atlantic east of the Lesser Antilles in June.
Hurricane Beryl | Getty Image
Hurricane Beryl Intensifies Into An ‘Extremely Dangerous’ Category 4 Storm As It Approaches The Caribbean
Beryl is not only early for this hurricane season but also the third-earliest significant hurricane in the Atlantic. The first was Hurricane Alma on June 8, 1996, followed by Hurricane Audrey, which became a significant storm on June 27, 1957.
The storm has already broken the record for the easternmost hurricane to form in the Tropical Atlantic in June, surpassing the previous record established in 1933.
August is generally a more active month in the Middle and Eastern Atlantic because warmer water temperatures fuel emerging systems.
This year, the Atlantic basin has had above-normal water temperatures and a lack of wind shear due to the shift from El Niño to La Niña season, fueling tropical development.
“Beryl has found an environment with very warm ocean waters for this time of year,” she said.
Warmer waters in the Atlantic Basin have allowed tropical storms and hurricanes to develop at a faster rate in an eastward direction, according to Brennan. This allows storms to become more powerful and thus more destructive earlier in the hurricane season, which lasts from June 1 to November 30.
“These are ocean water you’d normally see like in August or September, but now we’re seeing them in late June,” according to Brennan. “It’s kind of opening up more of the deep tropical Atlantic for formation before we get to what would be the traditional peak of the hurricane season.”
Caribbean islands encourage citizens to prepare ahead of the hurricane.
Authorities are encouraging inhabitants to take precautions, with many Caribbean nations under hurricane watches and warnings as Hurricane Beryl approaches and intensifies.
Hurricane Beryl | CNN Image
Hurricane Beryl Intensifies Into An ‘Extremely Dangerous’ Category 4 Storm As It Approaches The Caribbean
Officials in Barbados believe the hurricane will hit the island as early as late Sunday night. Its meteorological agency predicts storm-force winds, 3 to 6 inches of rain, “hazardous” maritime conditions, and strong thunderstorms that may cause power outages.
“All of the regular hurricane preparations that we do are in full swing,” Minister of Home Affairs and Information Wilfred Abrahams stated. “We have less than 48 hours till we may observe the consequences of this system on Barbados. Please spend your time wisely.”
According to Phil Klotzbach, a hurricane expert and research scientist at Colorado State University, systems forming in this section of the Atlantic early in the summer signify the upcoming hyperactive hurricane season. Normally, water temperatures in June and July do not support tropical ecosystems.
Forecasters at the National Weather Service estimate 17 to 25 named storms this season, with eight to 13 developing into hurricanes, including four to seven major hurricanes.
“That’s well above average,” Brennan said.
The National Weather Service says that’s “due to a confluence of factors, including near-record warm ocean temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean, development of La Nina conditions in the Pacific, reduced Atlantic trade winds and less wind shear, all of which tend to favor tropical storm formation.”
SOURCE – (CNN)
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