Skip to main content

Record-breaking heat wave grips western United States

A record early heat wave striking the western United States on Friday is a one-in-500-year event and almost certainly the result of human-caused climate change, experts say. The heat has been toppling records this week and is set to continue into the weekend across western cities while expanding eastward. Four locations in the desert area near the California-Arizona border registered 44.4 degrees Celsius on Friday, a US national record for March. The readings were recorded near Yuma and Martinez Lake in Arizona, and around Winterhaven and Ogilby in California. Read: Intense heatwave grips US, triggering record-breaking temperatures Already, 65 cities have recorded new March highs, ranging from Arizona and California to Idaho, Weather.com reported. Death Valley reached 40°C on Thursday, while typically cool and foggy San Francisco tied its historic March record at 29°C. In Colorado, skiers were seen hitting the slopes shirtless. The National Weather Service issued extreme heat warni...
Post a Comment

Kim Jong Un reveals new 'suicide drones' in North Korea

North Korea has unveiled a new "suicide drone", state media said Monday, with leader Kim Jong Un overseeing a performance test of the weapons, which experts said could have come from Russia. Wearing a cream baker boy hat, Kim was shown beaming as he watched, aided by high-powered binoculars, as the drones blew up targets, images in state media showed. Kim said that "it is necessary to develop and produce more suicide drones", the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, in addition to "strategic reconnaissance and multi-purpose attack drones". Suicide drones are explosive-carrying unmanned drones designed to be deliberately crashed into enemy targets, effectively acting as guided missiles. The nuclear-armed North's growing drone fleet will "be used within different striking ranges to attack any enemy targets on the ground and in the sea", KCNA said. All the drones North Korea tested on August 24 "correctly identified and destroyed the designated targets after flying along different preset routes", it added. Kim also said his country would work towards "proactively introducing artificial intelligence technology into the development of drones". Experts said the drones in the images released by state media looked similar to the Israeli-made "HAROP" suicide drone, Russian-made "Lancet-3" and Israeli "HERO 30". North Korea may have acquired these technologies from Russia, which in turn likely obtained them from Iran -- with Tehran itself suspected of accessing them through hacking or theft from Israel. "The suicide drone that looks similar to HAROP can fly over 1000 km (600 miles)," said Cho Sang-keun, a professor at South Korea's Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. This is a significant threat to South Korea's national security and its critical facilities, added Cho. "They are showing off that they have the ability to hit everything from the tactical level to the strategic level." "Should there be a provocation or an international conflict, the South Korean army would inevitably sustain significant damage from these suicide drones," said Cho. In 2022, Pyongyang sent drones across the border which Seoul's military was unable to shoot down, saying they were too small. In 2023, South Korea launched a drone operation command to better address the growing threat. Pyongyang and Moscow have been allies since North Korea's founding after World War II and have drawn even closer since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The United States and South Korea have accused North Korea of providing ammunition and missiles to Russia for its war in Ukraine.

from Latest World News, International News | Breaking World News https://ift.tt/LZc5qge
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

At least 32 miners dead after bridge fails at cobalt site in southeast DR Congo

A bridge collapsed at a cobalt mine in southeast Democratic Republic of Congo killing at least 32 wildcat miners, a regional government official said Sunday. The bridge came down Saturday onto a flooded zone at the mine in Lualaba province, Roy Kaumba Mayonde, the provincial interior minister, told reporters. He said 32 bodies had been recovered and more were being searched for. The DRC produces more than 70 percent of the world supply of cobalt, which is essential for batteries used in electric cars, many laptop computers and mobile phones. More than 200,000 people are estimated to be working in giant illegal cobalt mines in the giant central African country. Local authorities said the bridge collapsed at the Kalando mine, about 42 kilometres (26 miles) southeast of the Lualaba provincial capital, Kolwezi. "Despite a formal ban on access to the site because of the heavy rain and the risk of a landslide, wildcat miners forced their way into the quarry," said Mayonde. He said ...
Post a Comment
Read more

US, Philippines kick off joint military drills in South China Sea with 16,000 troops

Some 16,000 US and Philippine troops kicked off the annual joint military drills on Monday in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), local media reported. WPS is the official designation by Philippines to the parts of the South China Sea that are included in the country's exclusive economic zone. The 19-day exercises, dubbed "Balikatan 2024," will involve around 5,000 Philippine and 11,000 US troops, making it the largest joint military drills between the two allies conducted in decades, local English daily Manila Times reported citing the military. A total of 14 nations, including Japan and India, will take part in the drills as observers amid mounting maritime tensions in the South China Sea. Contingents from the Australian Defence Force and the French Navy will also join the exercise as participants. Read also: China urges US to stop using Philippines as a pawn to destabilise South China Sea France will join the group sail but will only navigate on the edge of the Philippine E...
Post a Comment
Read more

Indian devotees splurge on jets, gold idols as Hindu temple opens

The private jet parking lots at airports near the Indian city of Ayodhya are full and the shops have run out of gold-plated idols, as wealthy devotees prepare for the invite-only opening ceremony of one of Hinduism's holiest temples. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani are among the 8,000 or so attendees at Monday's inauguration event for the Ram Temple, which devotees believe is built on the birthplace of Lord Ram, a sacred Hindu deity. The construction of the temple, which began after the Supreme Court awarded the site to Hindus in 2019 more than two decades after a Hindu mob razed a mosque there, triggering deadly riots, fulfils a key campaign promise of Modi and his Hindu nationalist party. Read BJP-promised temple transforms Ayodhya: Muslims, locals feel neglected The opening ceremony, organised by the trust that built the temple, comes months before a national election which the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is widely expected to w...
Post a Comment
Read more