SEOUL (Reuters) -Five North Korean drones crossed into South Korea on Monday and South Korea responded by scrambling jets and attack helicopters and opening fire to try to shoot down the North Korean aircraft, the South Korean military said.

As part of its response, the South Korea military also sent surveillance aircraft into the North to photograph its military installations, a South Korean military official said.

“This is a clear act of provocation by the North violating our airspace,” a South Korean official with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Lee Seung-o, told a briefing.

One of the five North Korean drones flew near the South Korean capital, Seoul, and the others flew near the west coast,

Lee said the South Korea military “operated assets to shoot down” the drones.

He did not say if any drones had been shot down but the Yonhap news agency later said South Korea’s military fired about 100 shots but failed to shoot any down.

Lee said South Korea initially fired “warning shots” when it first detected the drones.

South Korean reconnaissance aircraft flew into the North to take photographs in action corresponding to the North Korean drone flights, Lee said, suggesting the North Korean drones were also meant for reconnaissance.

South Korea tracked the drones crossing from North Korea over the so-called Military Demarcation Line between the two countries after detecting them in the skies of the western city of Gimpo at around 10:25 a.m. (0125 GMT), the military said earlier.

The drones are the first confirmed to have come from the isolated neighbour since 2017, when a North Korean drone believed to be on a spy mission crashed and was found on a mountain near the border.

In 2014, a North Korean drone was discovered on a South Korean border island.

Those drones were considered crude aircraft mounted with cameras.

Lee said the North Korean drones on Monday were small, of about two metres, but he gave no further details including what equipment, if any, they were carrying.

North Korea has no government spokespeople and its state media made no mention of the drones.

Relations between North Korea and U.S. ally South Korea have been poor for decades but have recently been growing even more tense after a new, conservative government took over in South Korea and North Korea presses on with its nuclear and missile programmes.

South Korea and U.S. forces have responded to a record number of North Korean missile tests this year with stepped up military exercises. North Korea sees such exercises as preparations for an invasion.

Those have been met with more tests and drills from North Korea, including rare warplane sorties near the border.

South Korea’s transport ministry said earlier that flights departing from its Incheon and Gimpo airports were suspended following a request from the military.

The suspension began at 1:08 p.m. (0408 GMT) at Gimpo and at 1:22 p.m. at Incheon and lasted for about an hour before flight departures resumed at around 2:10 p.m., a ministry official told Reuters.

While scrambling to counter the drones, a South Korean KA-1 light attack aircraft crashed shortly after departing its Wonju base in the country’s east, a defence ministry official said. Its two pilots were able to escape before the crash and are in the hospital.

Road and utility crews faced the task on Monday of digging out and restoring some normalcy around Buffalo, New York, where a blizzard considered the area’s worst in 45 years buried snow plows, stranded motorists in cars and killed at least 13 people.

The lethal blizzard took form late on Friday and pummeled western New York through the Christmas holiday weekend, capping an Arctic freeze and winter storm front that had extended over most of the United States for days, as far south as the Mexican border.

At least 30 people have died in U.S. weather-related incidents since late last week, according to an NBC News tally, while CNN put the total number of fatalities at 26.

The greater Buffalo region, lying at the edge of Lake Erie near the Canadian border was one of the hardest-hit places.

Numbing cold combined with howling winds and heavy “lake-effect” snow – the result of moisture picked up by frigid air moving over warmer lake waters – produced a storm that Governor Kathy Hochul said would go down in history as “the Blizzard of ’22.”

The storm’s official death toll in Buffalo and elsewhere in Erie County climbed to 13 on Sunday, and was expected to rise as more bodies found in snow drifts or buried vehicles were examined and confirmed as weather-related fatalities, authorities said.

The governor called it an “epic, once-in-a-lifetime” weather disaster that ranked as the fiercest winter storm to hit Buffalo, New York state’s second-largest city, since a crippling 1977 blizzard that killed nearly 30 people.

The latest blizzard, which initially overwhelmed emergency crews, came nearly six weeks after a record-setting but shorter-lived lake-effect storm struck western New York.

Despite a ban on road travel imposed since Friday, hundreds of Erie County motorists were stranded in their vehicles over the weekend, with National Guard troops mobilized to help with rescues hindered by blinding white-out conditions.

Authorities were expected to decide Monday morning whether to extend the ban.

County Chief Executive Mark Poloncarz told reporters that snow drifts as high as 8 feet on roadways were too thick and heavy to clear with conventional snow-removal equipment.

Many snow plows, tow trucks, ambulances and other emergency vehicles dispatched on Saturday and Sunday became stuck in the snow, “and we had to send rescue missions to rescue the rescuers,” he said.

The Buffalo police department posted an online plea to the public for assistance, asking those who “have a snow mobile and are willing to help” to call a hotline for instructions.

Although power had been restored to most Erie County utility customers, as of Sunday evening about 15,000 homes remained without electricity, according to Poloncarz.

He said one electrical substation knocked offline was sealed off by an 18-foot-tall mound of snow, and utility crews found the entire facility frozen inside.

At the request of state officials, Hochul said, local power companies had pre-positioned some 7,000 utility workers ahead of the storm on Friday, but blinding, drifting snow had made it difficult for crews to reach stricken equipment.

Efforts to clear snow-clogged roads were likewise stymied.

“It is not a matter of resources – bodies and equipment – it is a matter of mobility and access,” Hochul said.

Hochul told reporters on Sunday that the Biden administration had agreed to support her request for a federal disaster declaration and she expected formal approval shortly.

While the official blizzard warning for the greater Buffalo region was lifted on Sunday, officials warned that blizzard-like conditions persisted in some areas, and that more snow was in the forecast through Tuesday.

Related Galleries:

The Boeing 747-8 had stood idle in Switzerland for a decade.

dreamcatcher-68/Flickr

• A Boeing 747-8 that spent just 42 hours in the air is being dismantled, a report says.
• The $280 million jet was ordered for a Saudi prince, who died before it was delivered.
• Boeing repurchased the plane in April, but failed to find a new buyer and decided to scrap it. 

A Boeing Jumbo jet that spent just 42 hours in the air is being scrapped after the Saudi prince it was bought for died unexpectedly, a report said.

Germany’s aero TELEGRAPH reported that the Boeing 747-8 was being dismantled at Pinal Airpark in Arizona after no buyer was found for the plane despite the asking price being slashed to just $95 million.

The aircraft was ordered for Saudi crown prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud at a cost of about $280 million, but he died unexpectedly in October 2011, a year before it was delivered.

Data from planespotters.net showed the plane was flown in 2012 from San Antonio to Basel, Switzerland, where Mail Online reported it was due to be fitted out with a luxury interior.

But when the crown prince died, no other member of the Saudi royal family expressed interest in taking on the jet. As a result it stood unused for a decade at a Swiss airport while a buyer was sought.

Boeing repurchased the plane for an undisclosed sum three days before its final flight to Arizona in April, fueling expectations that the jet could have been saved, the Mail reported.

—Joel Basler | Aviation Photographer (@jbjetss) April 17, 2022

 

The jet has flown for just 42 hours and its “hardly used” status could have been a selling point for potential buyers. A Boeing 747 usually has a lifespan of about 30 years.

However, no buyer emerged for the jet and it is now be scrapped at the Arizona “boneyard”.

The 747-8 continues to be used for cargo and for passenger jets by airlines including Lufthansa, although its four engines mean it is more expensive to operate than newer twin-engine planes such as the 787 Dreamliner or Airbus A350.

Earlier this month the last 747 to be made by Boeing rolled out of its factory in Washington state after half a century of production.

—Boeing Airplanes (@BoeingAirplanes) December 7, 2022

 

Doing business in a country under attack is a challenge. Yet foreign companies in Ukraine are adjusting in a way that will prepare them for the inevitable postwar recovery.

The question of Russia’s veto-wielding permanent seat in the UN Security Council was already being discussed around diplomacy circles.

SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea scrambled warplanes and attack helicopters and fired warning shots on Monday after North Korean drones violated its airspace, the South Korean military said.

South Korea tracked the drones crossing from North Korea over what is known as the Military Demarcation Line between the two countries after detecting them in the skies of the western city of Gimpo at around 10:25 a.m. (0125 GMT), the military said.

The drones are the first confirmed to have come from the isolated neighbour since 2017, when a North Korean drone believed to be on a spy mission crashed and was found on a mountain near the border.

In 2014, a North Korean drone was also discovered on a South Korean border island.

At least one drone came down farther and flew over South Korea’s capital Seoul in the latest intrusion, News1 agency reported, citing an unnamed military official.

The military said it tried to shoot down the drones, but it was not clear if it was successful, and whether any of them were armed.

South Korea’s transport ministry said earlier that flights departing from its Incheon and Gimpo airports were suspended following a request from the military.

The suspension began at 1:08 p.m. (0408 GMT) at Gimpo and at 1:22 p.m. at Incheon and lasted for about an hour before flight departures resumed at around 2:10 p.m., a ministry official told Reuters.

While scrambling to counter the drones, a South Korean KA-1 light attack aircraft crashed shortly after departing its Wonju base in the country’s east, a defence ministry official said. Its two pilots were able to escape before the crash and are now in the hospital.

The last two people unaccounted for after an avalanche in the Lech/Zuers skiing area in western Austria contacted authorities late on Sunday, and a search and rescue operation was suspended, the Austrian Press Agency (APA) reported on Monday.

The avalanche occurred shortly before 3 p.m. (1400 GMT) on Sunday, APA said, adding the initial suspicion that 10 people were buried by the avalanche was based on a skier’s video.

One person was quickly rescued from the snow and flown to the hospital in Innsbruck with serious injuries. Four were injured in total.

The remainder of those who could be seen on the video came forward during the course of Sunday evening, APA said. Some had descended into the valley on their own and did not report their involvement in the avalanche incident at first.

Lech/Zuers markets itself as “one of the best ski areas in the world” and part of the cradle of Alpine skiing.

Three people died in the incident, according to Russian news agencies.

Começarei por uma reminiscência profissional.

Certa vez viajei a uma cidade do sertão baiano situada às margens do Rio São Francisco para entrevistar um juiz acusado de assediar sexualmente funcionárias do gabinete e ter despesas bancadas pelas prefeituras da região.

Antes de encontrá-lo, passei dias entrevistando mulheres que foram submetidas a recorrentes episódios de assédio sexual e checando seus relatos com de testemunhas, além de obter provas de que ao menos um prefeito pagava a feira do juiz. Havia ainda fortes indícios de que cestas básicas doadas por condenados em processos de pequena monta eram surrupiadas por ele.

O magistrado me recebeu tarde da noite em sua casa, que era guardada por policiais fortemente armados — ele dizia ser ameaçado por traficantes locais. Levou meu colega fotógrafo e a mim a um pequeno escritório que mais se assemelhava a um cativeiro.

Naquele espaço exíguo, se sentou de frente pra mim. Estávamos muito próximos um do outro. Ele não permitiu ser fotografado e meu colega acabou sendo testemunha de uma entrevista no mínimo curiosa. Enquanto eu fazia perguntas sobre as acusações, o juiz me dava tapinhas supostamente amistosos nas minhas pernas. “Seu Flávio, você vai publicar isso mesmo?”, ele me perguntava. Eu respondia que sim e emendava com outra pergunta.

Eu publiquei a reportagem dias depois. O juiz me processou, mas sua ação não foi adiante. Passaram alguns meses e ele foi condenado administrativamente pelo Tribunal de Justiça da Bahia e recebeu como pena uma aposentadoria compulsória. Condenação esquisita, eu sei, afinal ser condenado a parar de trabalhar com vencimentos bem acima dos padrões do brasileiro médio não é lá exatamente uma coisa ruim. Na época, eu contornei minha irritação ao perceber que ao menos o juiz tinha perdido o poder que lhe auferia a toga, de usar seu cargo público para ter acesso a regalias e assediar mulheres. Era uma pequena vitória.

Conto esta anedota pessoal porque quando fui convidado a dirigir a redação do Intercept Brasil, percebi que iria trabalhar com colegas que também não negociam seus princípios para exercer a missão principal do jornalismo investigativo: fiscalizar o poder, os poderosos e interferir para melhorar a realidade. É nisso que acredito e sempre acreditei, desde meu começo de repórter.

O fim do governo de Jair Bolsonaro não torna nosso trabalho mais fácil daqui para frente. Na verdade, impõe outras dificuldades. Bolsonaro e sua trupe não são a causa dos males nacionais. São sintomas. Graves sintomas. É preciso investigar e revelar todos os malfeitos cometidos por um governo de fascistas, que apenas não deram um golpe de estado por falta de oportunidades.

Bolsonaro legou ao país um quadro institucional deteriorado, promoveu uma destruição ambiental e alimentou com gosto um movimento nazista que cada vez mostra suas caras. Armou o crime organizado, promoveu a fome e negligenciou o combate à pandemia do coronavírus. Ainda há muito a ser descoberto sobre os quatro anos em que Jair assolou o país e o jornalismo independente terá um papel preponderante.

Assim como terá um papel essencial no governo de Lula: na defesa dos direitos da população negra e indígena; nos direitos das mulheres; na luta pela preservação ambiental e no combate à fome e na aplicação de políticas públicas que busquem um avanço. Fiscalizaremos e investigaremos não só os atos do executivo nacional. Estaremos atentos ao que se passa no Congresso e no Judiciário e não esqueceremos dos donos do dinheiro.

Nossa redação trabalhará em 2023 com a independência que é essencial para o bom jornalismo, elogiada e reconhecida por nossos leitores. Aos tapinhas nas pernas e as perguntas intimidatórias, a resposta será sempre a mesma: “sim, vamos publicar”.

E faremos a próxima pergunta.

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