World
Will North Korea Fly Trash Balloons Into South Korea Again? A Look At Rising Tensions Between Them
SEOUL, South Korea — South Koreans were on high alert Friday for probable additional launches by North Korea of balloons carrying garbage into the South, a day after Seoul activists flew their balloons to distribute political messages in the North.
If North Korea resumes its trash balloon launches, South Korea is likely to reply, potentially with anti-North Korean loudspeaker broadcasts or live-fire exercises along their strongly guarded border. North Korea will most likely reply with its measures, heightening tensions between the adversaries.
Here’s a look at the escalating tensions between the Koreas over the balloon launches:
WHY ARE THE KOREAS FIGHTING OVER BALLOONS?
Last week, South Korean officials discovered over 1,000 North Korean-flown balloons containing manure, cigarette butts, textile scraps, trash batteries, and vinyl in various locations in South Korea. No highly harmful materials were discovered, but some South Koreans are concerned that North Korea may launch balloons with biological or other hazardous chemicals in the future.
South Korean officials condemned the North Korean balloon campaign and other recent provocations as “absurd, irrational” and promised an “unbearable” response. They halted a 2018 military deal to reduce frontline military tensions with North Korea.
Will North Korea Fly Trash Balloons Into South Korea Again? A Look At Rising Tensions Between Them
Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, claimed the balloons were in retaliation to South Korean civilian attempts to fly propaganda leaflets into North Korea. Analysts believe the North’s conduct was also intended to stoke tensions in South Korea over its conservative government’s tough stance on North Korea.
For years, South Korean civic activists have used helium-filled balloons to deliver anti-North Korean leaflets and USB drives containing South Korean dramas and international news to the North, where most of the 26 million people are denied access to foreign news. The launches enrage North Korea, which has previously fired at the balloons and destroyed an empty South Korean-built liaison office in the North as a reprisal.
ARE TENSIONS OVER BALLOONS LIKELY TO INCREASE?
Kim Kang Il, the North’s vice defense minister, said Sunday that the government would suspend the balloon campaign but vowed to resume it if South Korean activists sent pamphlets again.
A South Korean civilian group under the leadership of North Korean defector Park Sang-hak claimed that on Thursday, it launched ten balloons from a border town carrying 200,000 anti-North Korean leaflets, USB sticks with K-pop songs and South Korean dramas, and one-dollar US bills.
“We delivered the truth, love, medications, one-dollar notes, and songs. But a barbarous Kim Jong Un delivered us trash and waste, and he hasn’t apologized for it,” Park remarked.
North Korea has not immediately responded. Many analysts believe it will resume flying trash-carrying balloons when the weather is favorable. North Korea’s state media has previously described Park as “human scum without an equal in the world.”
Will North Korea Fly Trash Balloons Into South Korea Again? A Look At Rising Tensions Between Them
Following the suspension of the 2018 tension-easing deal, South Korea is prepared to respond to a fresh North Korean balloon campaign by beginning frontline live-fire drills or loudspeaker broadcasts of anti-North Korean propaganda and foreign news. Such actions are likely to aggravate North Korea.
Is Cold War-style Psychological Warfare Returning?
Flying balloons carrying propaganda leaflets into each other’s land was one of the most common psychological campaigns used by the two Koreas during the 1950-53 Korean War and at the height of the Cold War.
However, the North Korean balloons flown into South Korea in recent days contained simply garbage, not political literature. It marked the North’s first balloon campaign in seven years.
In a Memorial Day speech Thursday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol stated, “North Korea carried out a despicable provocation that would make any normal country ashamed of itself.” Matthew Miller, a US State Department spokesperson, described the trash-carrying balloons as “disgusting” and “childish.”
During the Cold War, rival Koreas employed frontline loudspeaker broadcasts and enormous frontline billboards and propaganda radio broadcasts to conduct psychological warfare.
Will North Korea Fly Trash Balloons Into South Korea Again? A Look At Rising Tensions Between Them
In recent years, the two Koreas had agreed to suspend such activities, but they have occasionally resumed when tensions escalated. South Korean officials claim they have no legal basis for prohibiting private persons from flying balloons to North Korea after the country’s constitutional court overturned a rule that criminalized such leafleting as a breach of free expression.
Many South Koreans believe that resuming loudspeaker broadcasts would severely sting North Korea’s leadership, as they fear that the broadcasts will demoralize frontline troops and inhabitants of the tightly controlled society, gradually weakening Kim Jong Un.
When South Korea resumed loudspeaker broadcasts after an 11-year hiatus, North Korea launched artillery rounds across the border, leading South Korea to respond. There were no casualties reported.
SOURCE – (AP)
World
Do Microplastics in the Atmosphere Endanger Your Fertility?
(VOR News) – It is quite possible that the presence of small microplastic particles in the air may be a contributing factor to a wide variety of health problems, including malignancies of the lungs and colon.
This is something that needs additional research to be determined. There is one more item to take into consideration, and that is the potential that this is the exact circumstance.
A recent study found that tires and debris that are decomposing shed minute fragments of plastic that go airborne, so creating a form of air pollution that is not particularly widely known. This type of pollution is caused by the degradation of plastic. An example of this type of pollution is that which is discharged into the atmosphere.
The industry refers to microplastic as “air pollution.”
According to the findings of a researcher named Tracey Woodruff, who is a professor of obstetrics, gynaecology, and reproductive sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, “These microplastics are basically particulate matter from air pollution,” and it is common knowledge that this particular type of air pollution is particularly hazardous.
The researchers who supplied background notes stated that the size of microplastics is less than 5 millimetres, which is smaller than a grain of rice.
This information was provided, according to researchers. These details were supplied by the researchers who conducted the study. These particulars were provided by researchers who were responsible for carrying out the study.
The amount of plastic that is created on a yearly basis by enterprises all over the world is roughly 460 million tonnes, as indicated by the data that were provided by academics all over the world. The forecasts indicate that by the year 2050, this quantity is anticipated to have increased to 1.1 billion tonnes.
Driving is a substantial contributor to the amount of plastic that is floating around in the atmosphere, according to the conclusions of the experts who conducted the study about the phenomenon. When tires are worn down to the point where they scrape against the surface of the road, they allow microplastics to be released into the environment.
As a result of the tires wearing down, this occurs. This impact is brought about as a consequence of the inevitable amount of wear and tear that tires are subjected to.
A study that was published on December 18 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology was the result of researchers conducting an examination of data collected from over 3,000 previous investigations.
The paper was published as a consequence of this procedure. The review was constructed with the help of this analysis that was carried out.
Microplastic used this analysis to put together the review.
A number of diseases, such as cancer, lung problems, and infertility, may be influenced by the presence of microplastics in the air, according to the data, which led to the conclusion that this may be the case.
Despite the fact that the vast majority of the studies that were incorporated into the study were carried out on animals, the researchers claimed that it is very certainly plausible that the findings can also be applied to people. The fact that the majority of investigations were conducted on animals does not change the reality that this is the case.
“We urge regulatory agencies and policy leaders to consider the growing evidence of health harms from microplastics, including colon and lung cancer,” stated Nicholas Chartres, the principal investigator and senior research fellow at the University of Sydney.
The organisation reported this comment. The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) issued a press release on behalf of the organisation that contained this statement. The news release was disseminated to the public. We are convinced that state officials will act quickly to make sure that no leaks of this kind occur, which is of the highest importance.
SOURCE: USN
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World
Russian Oil Ships In The Kerch Strait Are Undergoing Rescue Operations.
(VOR News) – Following Sunday’s powerful storm, a Russian oil tanker carrying hundreds of tonnes of oil products ultimately broke apart, causing an oil spill into the Kerch Strait below. Additionally, Russian officials reported that the damage was causing problems for another vessel.
Sunday, Russian authorities announced an emergency rescue operation.
According to the Russian state news agency TASS, which claimed the Emergency Situations Ministry as its source, the Volgoneft-212 tanker, carrying fuel oil and carrying thirteen crew members, ran aground and suffered damage to its bow. A shipment of fuel oil was being transported by the tanker.
Authorities have told the public that the damage was brought on by the extreme weather conditions that are currently occurring.
A second tanker, the Volgoneft-239, was damaged during the storm and is currently stranded in the same area with 14 crew members on board, according to the Ministry of Emergency Situations. The tanker was discovered abandoned and alone in the same spot.
Additional tankers also suffered damage. The 132-meter-long cruiser, which was constructed in 1973, hangs the Russian flag around its neck.
The footage posted by state media showed the 136-meter Volgoneft-212 tanker, which was cut in two with its bow underwater, and waves crashing over its deck. At least one person lost his life as a result of this tragedy. This led to the opening of two distinct criminal investigations by the Russian authorities to look into potential violations of certain safety regulations.
Having flown the Russian flag since 1969, the yacht was finished.
Rosmorrechflot, the Russian government agency in charge of water transportation, reported a petroleum product spill.
It is believed that the cargo capacity of each tanker is around 4,200 tonnes of oil products.
The magnitude of the leak and the cause of the substantial damage one of the tankers received were not specified in the official remarks. This is in accordance with the official remarks.
Several news sites cited Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov as saying that President Vladimir Putin directed the formation of a working committee to handle the rescue effort and lessen the effects of the oil disaster.
Peskov recommended that the government appoint the working committee’s members. This comment was made public right after Putin met with the ministries responsible for ecology and disaster management.
The Russian government has said that it will be sending more than fifty individuals and pieces of equipment to the area in response to the current crisis. Mi-8 helicopters and rescue tugboats are examples of these people and tools.
The news that experts are presently investigating the damage at the event site was announced by Svetlana Radionova, who is in charge of Rosprirodnadzor, Russia’s natural resources regulating entity.
Kommersant reports that Volgoneft-212 used 4,300 tonnes of fuel oil.
The footage, which showed a partially submerged ship and murky water on rough seas, was posted to Telegram without the owner’s consent.
The warships were located in the Kerch Strait, which separates Crimea from the Russian mainland, when the distress signals were sent out.
The Kerch Strait is a crucial international marine passage that connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov, allowing for easier traffic between the two bodies of water. It also acts as a border between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, which is under Russian occupation. The Kerch Strait is located in the centre of the two nations.
The peninsula has remained a major source of contention between the two national governments ever since Russia annexed it from Ukraine in 2014. Russia was the one who seized the peninsula. Ukraine brought legal action against Russia before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016.
Specifically, the lawsuit claimed that Russia intended to illegally take over a location. The argument was supported by evidence pertaining to Russia’s conduct in the region. In 2021, the Russian Federation closed the strait for several consecutive months
SOURCE: VN
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World
Japan List Cannabis as Narcotic Criminalizes Recreational Use
TOKYO – Japan updated its cannabis and narcotics control legislation on Thursday, criminalizing cannabis (Marijuana) use and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), imposing a maximum seven-year prison sentence.
While the possession, transmission, and cultivation of cannabis and THC were already prohibited in Japan, the new rules will classify them as narcotics and criminalize their use as well, with a prison sentence of up to seven years for violations.
The amended regulations also legalize medical items containing cannabis-derived compounds that are beneficial and safe.
In 2019, 1.8 percent of the Japanese population had used cannabis at least once, making it the country’s second most popular illicit substance behind methamphetamine.
In 2023, a record 6,703 people were probed in cannabis-related criminal cases in Japan, topping methamphetamine cases for the first time, according to the Health, Labour, and Welfare Ministry. Seventy percent of instances involved people under the age of thirty.
A nationwide poll performed the same year by the ministry’s research group estimated that approximately 200,000 people had consumed marijuana within the previous year.
Japan previously did not penalize cannabis usage, apparently taking into account farmers who may have accidentally ingested the drug while producing cannabis plants for use in hemp products.
The amendments will also lift a restriction on cannabis-derived medicines, putting them under a licensing system similar to other drugs used for pain relief and other purposes.
Drugs derived from cannabis plants were only allowed in clinical studies in Japan, but patient groups have been advocating for access to cannabis-derived cannabidiol treatments already licensed in Europe and the United States for illnesses like severe epilepsy.
Cannabis cultivation dates back to the Jōmon period of Japanese prehistory, roughly six to ten thousand years ago (source: Wikipedia).
Cannabis hemp, as one of Japan’s first cultivated plants, provided an essential supply of plant fibre for clothing, cordage, and Shinto ritual goods, among other uses.
For much of Japanese history, hemp was common for fabric and food before cotton emerged as the country’s dominant fibre crop during industrialization during the Meiji period.
Following the end of World War II and the occupation of Japan, the Cannabis Control Law prohibited cannabis possession and manufacturing.
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