North Korea fired two ballistic missiles towards the sea off the Korean Peninsula’s east coast on Sunday, South Korea and Japan said.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the two medium-range missiles flew about 500 kms (311 miles).

Japan’s Vice Defence Minister Toshiro Ino said the missiles seemed to have landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and there had been no report of damages.

“North Korea’s ballistic missiles were launched at steep angles and landed in the East Sea,” South Korea’s JCS said in a statement.

“South Korean and the United States intelligence authorities are conducting a thorough analysis, factoring recent trends related to North Korea’s missile development.”

The North’s missile launch comes just days after the country tested a high-thrust solid-fuel engine that experts said would allow quicker and more mobile launch of ballistic missiles, as it seeks to develop a new strategic weapon and speed up its nuclear and missile programmes.

The test, overseen by leader Kim Jong Un, was conducted on Thursday at North Korea’s Sohae Satellite Launching Ground which has been used to test missile technologies, including rocket engines and space launch vehicles, the official KCNA news agency reported on Friday.

North Korea has conducted an unprecedented number of missile tests this year, including an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, despite international bans and sanctions.

In November, North Korea test-fired an ICMB that Japanese officials said had sufficient range to reach the mainland of the United States and that landed just 200 kms (130 miles) off Japan

Japan on Friday unveiled its biggest military build-up since World War Two with a $320 billion plan that will buy missiles capable of striking China and ready it for sustained conflict.

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The U.S. Space Force service tapes on a uniform.

Staff Sgt. Kayla White/U.S. Air Force via AP File

• The head of Space Force’s Warfighting Analysis Center was investigated for misconduct.
• Air Force Times reported Andrew Cox kept his job, despite unprofessional behavior and misconduct.
• Cox reportedly wore a chartreuse mankini over his clothes in the office and kept sex toys at work.

A Space Force head analyst kept his job after being investigated for misconduct at work — including wearing a chartreuse mankini in the office and storing sex toys at work — according to new documents released to Air Force Times.

Andrew Cox, while serving as director of the Pentagon’s Space Security and Defense Program, acted “like a 13-year-old boy” and created an environment unsuitable for a federal workplace, Air Force Times reported his co-workers said. His workplace antics launched a six-month investigation that substantiated reports of his misconduct and unprofessional behavior.

Cox did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

In his office, according to the report released to the Air Force Times, Cox kept a framed pair of silver, glittery hot pants and an electric green mankini that he once donned in the workplace — over his clothes — showing off to coworkers during the holiday “Bad Santa” party and displaying it more than once. 

“It was chartreuse green, and he brought it out into the main area,” Air Force Times reported one person familiar with the matter said of Cox’s revealing bathing suit, popularized by the 2006 film “Borat.” “He [told us he] put it on in front of his wife and bent over and said, ‘Honey, how do you like this?'”

Andrew Cox of Space Force donned a chartreuse green mankini over his clothes at work, similar to the one pictured as worn by Radio Nova’s Mankini 2007 winner, Matias Stevens, in 21 March 2007.

Fairfax Media via Getty Images

Cox also kept a “gag gift” silver case containing handcuffs, sex toys, and vaseline in the office, once presenting it to attendees during a meeting with subordinates. He also spoke about male genital piercings and oral sex in public, according to the report.

“Witness testimony about Mr. Cox telling subordinates to search ‘Prince Albert’ on the internet, or [to] grab someone ‘by the balls and squeeze,’ give insight into the culture [he] fostered and encouraged,” Air Force Times reported the report said.

The report detailed the 2020 investigation, which — despite his behavior reportedly making employees feel “ostracized and uncomfortable” and prompting one female employee to quit — did not result in Cox’s suspension or termination. In fact, Cox became the head of the Space Force’s new Space Warfighting Analysis Center in April 2021, continuing to earn a six-figure salary.

“Mr. Cox remains the director of the Space Warfighting Analysis Center,” Air Force Times reported Air Force spokesperson Ann Stefanek said Friday. “The matter was addressed through established civilian personnel processes.”

Representatives for the Air Force and Space Force did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.

Though Cox was not terminated, he did lose out on $27,000 in bonus pay and was no longer eligible to receive a federal award with a $40,000 cash prize. A 30-day suspension was proposed, but he received a formal letter of reprimand instead.

A culture of sexual harassment and violence has long been reported among military officials, even civilian employees like Cox. Though harassing jokes and unprofessional behavior are often dismissed, one military assault expert warned the culture created by such jokes can escalate.

In the workplace, Military Times reported a Navy Sexual Assault Prevention and Response coordinator said, a person may use inappropriate jokes to gauge a reaction to see how much they can get away with.

“They may go from a joke here to a touch there, and they just build that over time, so when the big thing happens, they were building up to that,” Military Times reported the official said. “That’s why they’re able to keep doing it, because then they know, ‘I know she’s not going to say anything. I know he’s just going to laugh.'”

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Voters suffering from the president’s terrible economic policies might have finally had enough

Courts in Turkey generally bow to the wishes of the country’s authoritarian president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. This is unsurprising, given his purges of judges and prosecutors during his two decades in power. So last week’s court verdict sentencing Istanbul’s popular opposition mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, to more than two years in jail and banning him from public life followed a familiar pattern.

That this decision was politically motivated goes without saying. Little of importance happens in Erdoğan’s Turkey without his direction or consent. In short, a working-class populist who began life as a reformer fighting for social justice has developed into a cantankerous, dictatorial bully.

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Farmer Bill Pannbacker got a call earlier this month from a representative from TC Energy Corp , telling him that its Keystone Pipeline, which runs through his farmland in rural Kansas, had suffered an oil leak.

But he was not prepared for what he saw on his land, which he owns with his wife, Chris. Oil had shot out of the pipeline and coated what he estimated was nearly an acre of pasture uphill of the pipe, which is set into a valley.

The grass was blackened with diluent bitumen, one of the thickest of crude oils, which was being transported from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.

The rupture on Dec. 7 is the third in the last five years for the Keystone Pipeline, and the worst of the three – more than 14,000 barrels of crude has spilled and cleanup is expected to take weeks or months.

TC has not said when repairs could be completed and a 96-mile (155-km) segment of the pipeline will restart. Crews will remain busy on site through the holidays and completion of the cleanup depends on weather and other factors, the Canadian company said in a statement.

“We are committed to restoring the affected areas to their original condition or better.”

Keystone’s two previous spills happened in unincorporated areas in North Dakota and South Dakota. And while the city of Washington, Kansas, is small with just over 1,000 residents, it is surrounded by farms where wheat, corn, soybeans are planted and cattle are raised. The spill in Washington County affected land owned by several people.

The once-quiet valley is currently a construction site buzzing with some 400 contractors, staff from pipeline operator TC Energy, and federal, state and local officials. They are working into the night, leaving a glow from the high-intensity lamps seen from miles away.

Cranes, storage containers, construction equipment and vehicles stretch for more than a half mile from the site of the rupture. The valley has become almost a small town, with several Quonset-style huts erected for workers.

Aerial photos showed a large, blackened swath of land that almost looks like an airborne object is throwing a shadow over the land. Pannbacker said that pasture was used for cattle grazing and calving, but with calving season over, there were no livestock there at the time.

The oil-blackened grass on the land, which is owned by Pannbacker and his sisters as part of a family trust, is now completely gone. It was scraped away and is now confined to a giant mound of dirt that is noticeably darker at the bottom. But oil droplets on plants further up the hill were still visible.

Living in rural Kansas, the Pannbackers are used to preparing for harsh weather, but not an oil spill. Residents have been largely unconcerned despite the accident, even as the area will resemble a work site for the near-future.

“How many people have experienced an oil spill? Who knows what it’s like?” said Chris Pannbacker. “It’s not like a tornado or a natural disaster.”

Kansas State Representative Lisa Moser in a Facebook post said there are 14 landowners who are being compensated for either the spill or the use of their property during cleanup.

TC said it is discussing compensation with landowners but would keep details private. The company said it has stayed in regular contact with landowners. Pannbacker said TC has not yet discussed compensation with them yet.

Pannbacker says he does not expect the grass on the pastureland to return for at least two or three years; there is a well site on the pasture used for the cattle that they will not be using either.

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Streets in major Chinese cities were eerily quiet on Sunday as people stayed home to protect themselves from a surge in COVID-19 cases that has hit urban centres from north to south.

China is currently in the first of an expected three waves of COVID cases this winter, according to the country’s chief epidemiologist, Wu Zunyou. Cases could multiply across the country if people follow typical travel patterns of returning to their home areas in a mass transit movement for the Lunar New Year holiday next month.

China is also yet to officially report any COVID deaths since Dec. 7, when the country abruptly ended most restrictions key to a zero-COVID tolerance policy following unprecedented public protests against the protocol. The strategy had been championed by President Xi Jinping.

As part of the easing of the zero-COVID curbs, mass testing for the virus has ended, casting doubt on whether officially reported case numbers can capture the full scale of the outbreak. China reported some 2,097 new symptomatic COVID infections on Dec. 17.

In Beijing, the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant has already hit services from catering to parcel deliveries. Funeral homes and crematoriums across the city of 22 million are also struggling to keep up with demand.

Social media posts also showed empty subways in the city of Xian in China’s northwest, while internet users complained of delays to deliveries.

In Chengdu, streets were deserted but food delivery times were improving, said a resident surnamed Zhang, after services began to adapt to the recent surge in cases.

Getting hold of antigen test kits was still difficult however, she said. Her recent order had been redirected to hospitals, she said, citing the provider.

In Shanghai, authorities said schools should move most classes online from Monday, and in nearby Hangzhou most school grades were encouraged to finish the winter semester early.

In Guangzhou, those already doing online class as well as pre-schoolers should not prepare for a return to school, said the education bureau.

Speaking at a conference in Beijing on Saturday, chief epidemiologist Wu of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said the current outbreak would peak this winter and run in three waves for about three months, according to a state media report of his speech.

The first wave would run from mid-December through mid-January, largely in cities, before a second wave would start from late January to mid-February next year, triggered by the movement of people ahead of the week-long New Year holiday.

China will celebrate Lunar New Year starting on Jan. 21. The holiday normally sees hundreds of millions of people travelling home to spend time with family.

A third wave of cases would run from late February to mid-March as people returned to work after the holiday, Wu said.

A U.S.-based research institute said this week that the country could see an explosion of cases and over a million people in China could die of COVID in 2023. read more

Wu said severe cases in China had declined over the last years, and that vaccination that has already taken place offered a certain degree of protection. He said those in the community that are vulnerable should be protected, while recommending booster vaccines for the general public.

Almost 87% of over 60s have been fully vaccinated, but only 66.4% of people over the age of 80 have completed a full course of vaccination, said official news agency Xinhua.

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Israel deported French-Palestinian human rights lawyer Salah Hamouri on Sunday, accusing him of security offences against the state of Israel, the Israeli interior ministry said in a statement.

Hamouri was escorted to the airport early on Sunday morning where he boarded a flight to France with his campaign saying there was no legal recourse for him to take.

Hamouri, 37, a Jerusalem resident without Israeli citizenship, had his residency status revoked on Dec. 1 on charges that he was active in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, classified by Israel and its Western allies as a terror group.

“During his life he organized, inspired and planned to commit terror attacks on his own and for the organization against citizens and well-known Israelis,” a statement from the interior ministry said.

A statement from the Hamouri campaign called the deportation a “war crime” and said it constitutes a breach of international law.

“Wherever a Palestinian goes, he takes with him these principles and the cause of his people: his homeland carried with him to wherever he ends up,” Hamouri said in a statement.

Hamouri was most recently detained by Israel under administrative detention without charge on March 7 until Dec. 1 when Israel revoked his residency and stated he would be deported.

He was previously detained by Israel between 2005 and 2011 after being accused of attempting to assassinate Sephardi rabbi Ovadia Yossef, the founder of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, but has always maintained his innocence.

Hamouri was released in December 2011 as part of an exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier released in October 2011 after five years in captivity in the Gaza Strip at the hands of Hamas.

The French consulate in Jerusalem had no immediate comment on Sunday.

The overwhelming majority of East Jerusalem’s more than 340,000 Palestinians hold Israeli residency permits but few have citizenship in Israel, which considers the entire holy city as its eternal, undivided capital. The Palestinians have long sought the city’s east, which Israel captured in a 1967 war and later annexed in a move not recognised internationally, as capital of a future state.

Jessica Montell, executive director of HaMoked which represents Hamouri, told Reuters that other Jerusalem residents have been charged with breach of allegiance and had their residency revoked in the past but could not be deported as they hold no other citizenship. Hamouri’s case, therefore, sets a precedent for the deportation of Jerusalemites who hold alternative citizenship, Montell said.

“Because he holds a second nationality, that makes him more vulnerable to deportation,” said Montell, adding that she expects similar cases will emerge more frequently with a new right-wing coalition expected to form Israel’s next government.

“We can only expect that all of these measures will accelerate with this new government coming in,” said Montell.

There is a respectful compromise to be had – but it requires politicians to chose balance over toxicity

What is a woman? The answer to this question has become a highly contentious political issue. It lies at the heart of a rights conflict that has turned toxic, between those who believe someone’s self-declared gender identity should override biological sex for the purposes of single-sex services and sports and those who think biological sex remains a relevant concept in law and society. That conflict comes to a head this week in Scotland, where MSPs will vote on the SNP’s reforms to require people to be legally treated as the opposite sex on the basis of self-identification.

The UK was one of the first countries to introduce important legal protections against discrimination for trans people in 1999; these are todayenshrined in the 2010 Equality Act under the protected characteristic of “gender reassignment”. It also protects women against sex discrimination and sets out that it is lawful to provide female-only services and sports – excluding anyone male, regardless of gender identity – if they are a proportionate way of achieving a legitimate aim. It is a sophisticated legal balancing act. A small group of trans people – around 5,000 – have, however, changed their sex for most legal purposes under provisions in the 2004 Gender Recognition Act. Obtaining a gender recognition certificate (GRC) requires a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria and proof that someone has been living as the opposite sex for at least two years. But it has been unclear whether a GRC changes someone’s sex for the purposes of the Equality Act.

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