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South Korea Summons Russian Ambassador As Tensions Rise With North Korea
SEOUL, South Korea — On Friday, South Korea summoned the Russian ambassador to protest the country’s new defense pact with North Korea, as border tensions remained high due to vague threats and brief, seemingly accidental incursions by North Korean forces.
Earlier Friday, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un issued a vague threat of retaliation after South Korean activists flew balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets across the border, while South Korea’s military said it fired warning shots the day before to repel North Korean soldiers who briefly crossed the rivals’ land border for the third time this month.
Korea AP Image
South Korea Summons Russian Ambassador As Tensions Rise With North Korea
That happened two days after Moscow and Pyongyang signed an agreement promising mutual defense aid if either was attacked, and a day after, Seoul responded by stating that it would consider giving armaments to Ukraine to combat Russia’s incursion.
South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong Kyun summoned Russian Ambassador Georgy Zinoviev to denounce the agreement between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un and urged Moscow to immediately suspend its purported military collaboration with Pyongyang.
Kim, the South Korean official, emphasized that any collaboration that directly or indirectly assists the North in developing its military capabilities would violate United Nations Security Council resolutions, represent a threat to South Korean security, and warned of the ramifications for Seoul’s relations with Moscow.
According to Russia’s embassy’s X account, Zinoviev told Korean officials that any attempts to “threaten or blackmail” Russia were inappropriate and that his country’s agreement with North Korea was not intended for specific third nations. The South Korean ministry said Zinoviev agreed to relay Seoul’s concerns to his superiors in Moscow.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reminded Russia and referenced U.N. Security Council sanctions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the country’s official name, which prohibits all countries from supplying the DPRK with material for nuclear or ballistic missile programs.
“Any relationship that any country has with the DPRK, including the Russian Federation, must entirely abide by those sanctions,” he told reporters at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
Leafleting activities by South Korean citizen activists in recent weeks have resulted in a resurgence of Cold War-style psychological warfare along the inter-Korean border.
South Korean civilian activists led by North Korean defector Park Sang-Hak claimed to have sent 20 balloons with 300,000 propaganda leaflets, 5,000 USB sticks containing South Korean pop music and TV dramas, and 3,000 US dollars from the South Korean border town of Paju on Thursday night.
In a statement released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency, Kim Yo Jong, one of her brother’s top foreign policy officials, referred to the campaigners as “defector scum” and threatened punishment.
“When you do something you were clearly warned not to do, it’s only natural that you will find yourself dealing with something you didn’t have to,” she said, without mentioning what the North might do.
Following previous leafleting by South Korean activists, North Korea released over 1,000 balloons into South Korea, dropping tonnes of rubbish, destroying roof tiles and windows, and causing other property damage. Kim Yo Jong suggested that balloons could become the North’s routine response to leafleting, stating that the North would retaliate by “scattering dozens of times more rubbish than is being scattered on us.”
In response, South Korea resumed anti-North Korean propaganda broadcasts with military loudspeakers deployed at the border for the first time in years, prompting Kim Yo Jong to issue another official media statement warning that Seoul was “creating a prelude to a very dangerous situation.”
Tensions between the Koreas have reached their greatest point in years, as Kim Jong Un advances nuclear weapons and missile development and seeks to bolster his regional position by uniting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a standoff with the US-led West.
South Korea, a rising arms exporter with a well-equipped military backed by the United States, has said it is considering increasing its support for Ukraine in response. Seoul has previously supplied humanitarian aid and other assistance while supporting the US-led economic sanctions against Russia. However, it has not directly provided weaponry, citing a long-standing policy of not sending weapons to countries actively involved in conflict.
South Korea Summons Russian Ambassador As Tensions Rise With North Korea
Putin told reporters in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Thursday that delivering arms to Ukraine would be “a very big mistake,” and that South Korea “shouldn’t worry” about the pact if it isn’t plotting an attack on Pyongyang.
According to South Korea’s Foreign Ministry, Minister Cho Tae-yul spoke with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa separately on Friday to discuss the new accord. According to Cho’s ministry, the diplomats agreed that the pact poses a major danger to regional peace and stability and pledged to deepen trilateral coordination to address the challenges posed by Moscow and Pyongyang’s alignment.
North Korea is particularly sensitive to criticism of Kim’s dictatorial regime and attempts to reach its people through global news and other media.
When South Korea resumed loudspeaker broadcasts in 2015 for the first time in 11 years, North Korea launched artillery rounds across the border, leading South Korea to respond, according to South Korean officials. There were no casualties reported.
South Korea’s military said there are indicators that North Korea is placing its speakers near the border, albeit they are not yet operational.
In the most recent border incident, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said that several North Korean soldiers engaged in undefined construction work temporarily breached the military demarcation line that separates the two countries around 11 a.m. Thursday.
South Korea Summons Russian Ambassador As Tensions Rise With North Korea
The South Korean military issued a warning and fired warning shots, prompting the North Korean soldiers to retreat. The joint chiefs did not immediately provide any information, such as why the material was released a day late.
South Korea’s military believes recent border incursions were unintentional, as North Korean soldiers did not return fire and left after the warning shots.
The South’s military has spotted the North sending massive numbers of soldiers on the front lines to construct suspected anti-tank barriers, reinforce roads, and place mines in an apparent attempt to bolster their side of the border. Seoul says the actions are intended to deter North Korean people and military from fleeing to the South.
SOURCE – (AP)
On Thursday, Patrick Bertoletti a 39-yearold Chicago native chocked down 58 hotdogs in 10-minutes to win his men’s title at the annual Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest. While reigning champion Miki Sudo set a new world record of 51 hotdogs to win her tenth victory in the women’s tournament.
The current men’s champion, Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, who has won 16 of the last 17 events, opted not to attend this years Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July event due to a disagreement with his sponsor. Instead he competed later in the day against four soldiers at a U.S. Army base in El Paso, Texas, where he wolfed down 57 hot dogs in five minutes, AP reported.
The 39-year-old Chicagoan Bertoletti beat out thirteen international rivals in a close 10-minute race in which the lead changed hands multiple times. He claimed to have trained for the event for three months with “an urgency” and shed pounds in the belief that he could win.
According to Bertoletti, “I knew I had a shot” when Joey was not present. “I found a way to open something, but I have no idea what it was.”
At the annual Independence Day festival on New York’s Coney Island, a beachside attraction featuring amusement parks and summer atmosphere, Bertoletti shattered his previous record of 55 hot dogs in 10 minutes.
Miki Sudo – Getty Images
New World Record Set
Earlier, in the women’s division, 38-year-old Florida dental hygiene student Sudo maintained her dominant performance and set a new record, following her successful consumption of 39 1/2 hot dogs in 2023.
“I’m just happy to call this mine for another year,” Sudo remarked after winning the pink belt.
Mayoi Ebihara of Japan, a 28-year-old participant, finished second after devouring 37 hot dogs, but Sudo still managed to overcome 13 of her rivals. She finished in second place in 2023 as well.
In the men’s division, Sudo consumed more hot dogs than her competitor, Nicholas Wehry, a former Florida bodybuilder. Wehry ate 46 hot dogs. This is the first time since 2015 that the prestigious mustard belt has not gone to Chestnut; Bertoletti does it.
Every year, thousands of people gather outside the original Nathan’s on Coney Island for the event, with some donning foam hot dog hats. Even without Chestnut, the event drew a large crowd, according to Rich Shea, CEO of Major League Eating, who organized the gathering.
According to him, the well-known eating champion is “just a great competitor, a great guy, a grown man, and a man who’s made a choice not to be here today” (ESPN). Tens of thousands of people are swarming around Nathan’s Famous, which is quite lucky for us. It’s an annual journey. You won’t find a paid Hollywood crew here.
Contestants from around the world
With hopefuls from Brazil, Japan, the UK, South Korea, Australia, and the Czech Republic among the more than a dozen states and five continents competing for the prestigious title and $10,000 reward money, the event was truly global in scope.
Chewing his way to victory last year, Chestnut of Indiana devoured 62 dogs and buns in under 10 minutes. He set the record in 2021 with 76.
An earlier decision to not invite Chestnut stemmed from his sponsorship arrangement with plant-based meat alternative company Impossible Foods, which ran ads on ESPN during Thursday’s event.
Chestnut chose to celebrate the holiday with the military despite Major League Eating’s subsequent statement that it rescinded the prohibition. If the Coney Island contest did not accept his apologies, Chestnut threatened to withdraw from it.
Joey “Jaws” Chestnut – Getty Images
Joey “Jaws” Chestnut downs 57 hotdogs
An Army base, which is not easily accessible by the public, was the site of the El Paso incident. Despite this, a few hundred Chestnut supporters turned out, with some donning hotdogs costumes and one sporting a “Let Joey eat” T-shirt. Out of the four men from Fort Bliss, who consumed a total of 49, Chestnut managed to consume 57 hotdogs.
Chestnut had voiced his concern before the show that he would struggle to perform without the enthusiastic backing of the Coney Island audience. However, he later claimed to have achieved a “record-setting pace.”
Speaking to the Fort Bliss crowd, Chestnut expressed his admiration for them after paying tribute to his family’s military service: his father, grandfather, and brother. “You all gave me a tremendous push, and I’m really grateful.”
Despite the non-inclusion of Impossible Foods’ vegan products in the competition, the company served as event sponsor. Along with Chestnut and officials from the charity Operation Homefront, who assist military families, company CEO Peter McGuinness made an appearance on stage. He gave the group a check for $106,000, or $1,000 for every hot dog consumed.
Source: The Associated Press
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A woman from Oakville Ontario say she totally freaked out after she found a black widow spider in a bag of grapes that her husband bought from Walmart a day earlier.
Ginette Guidi told CTV News that she suspected something was wrong with her grapes when she noticed webs all over them, and eventually traced them back to the venomous spider that was crawling across the bag.
While finding a black widow spider in Canada is uncommon, there is one species that migrated into British Columbia and another into southern Ontario according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
The CFIA reports that pests — including black widow spiders, scorpions, and iron cross blister beetles — have been found in imported grapes, berries, and leafy green vegetables.
Black widow spiders are distinctive due to their shiny round body, brown or black colour, and two reddish or yellowish triangles forming an hourglass on the underside of their abdomen.
Black Widow Spiders Rare in Ontario
The venomous spiders live in most warm regions of the eastern and central U.S., North American deserts, and southern Canada. While they are rarely found in imported grapes, the presence of the arachnids does not damage or poison the grapes.
“When grapes are harvested, they are carefully examined before being placed into their packaging; however, some spiders may camouflage with the grape vines and escape being found,” the agency says.
“Refrigeration of the product prior to being transported reduces the spiders’ activity, making them harder to detect.”
The black widow spider is not normally aggressive but may bite in self-defence. In most cases, the symptoms following a bite are a sharp pain followed by localized swelling and redness. Thankfully, in Guidi’s case, no one was injured or bitten by the spider.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time a shopper in Ontario has found a black widow spider in their produce.
Other pesky incidences
Back in October 2023, a customer discovered the hair-raising creature in a pack of green grapes from President’s Choice, although the original poster did not clarify which supermarket chain the grapes were purchased from.
In another case the month prior, a shopper found a dead scorpion in a pack of raspberries from Metro. The creepy critter appeared to be a striped bark scorpion, which is common throughout the U.S. and Mexico where the raspberries came from.
If you find any of these pests in your food, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recommends reporting it to confirm the species. After reporting it, the agency says black widow spiders, scorpions, or blister beetles should be “promptly” killed and carefully disposed of, ensuring that a barrier (such as a glove or a fly swatter) is used between the insect and your skin.
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NBC is bringing a version of legendary sportscaster Al Michaels back to the Olympics this summer, but with an unexpected twist: his voice will be powered by artificial intelligence.
On Wednesday, NBC said that it will utilize AI software to reproduce Michaels’ voice to offer daily Summer Games summaries to users of its Peacock streaming platform. This marks a significant milestone in the application of AI by a major media firm.
NBC | CTV Image
NBC To Use AI Version Of Announcer Al Michaels’ Voice For Olympics Recaps
The employment of an artificial intelligence voice for the Olympics comes at a time when technology has advanced dramatically, particularly in its ability to generate images, sounds, and text. This has sparked concerns in creative industries, such as journalism, regarding how artificial intelligence may—or should—be utilized.
A new tool, “Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peacock,” will allow subscribers to create 10-minute highlights packages incorporating event updates, athlete back stories, and other related content based on their preferences.
The company stated that the highlights could be packaged in approximately 7 million distinct ways, based on 5,000 hours of live coverage in Paris, thereby making AI (artificial intelligence, not the guy) a far more efficient way to give individualized summaries.
“When I was approached about this, I was skeptical but obviously curious,” Michaels stated in a press statement. “Then I saw a demonstration of what they had in mind. I replied, ‘I’m in.'”
An NBC representative told CNN that Michaels is being rewarded for his participation.
A veteran broadcaster, Michaels is now the play-by-play sportscaster for Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime. He is well noted for his work on earlier Olympic Games broadcasts for NBC and ABC and for announcing the Miracle on Ice Game at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.
NBC | Fox Image
NBC To Use AI Version Of Announcer Al Michaels’ Voice For Olympics Recaps
NBC stated that the AI system was trained using previous NBC broadcast audio from Michaels.
The business stated that a team of NBC Sports editors will evaluate all of the content, including audio and footage, to ensure that it is factually correct and that names are pronounced correctly.
Beginning July 27, the highlights tool will be available on Peacock in web browsers and iOS and iPad apps.
SOURCE – CNN
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