Kim Jong Un and daughter inspect North Korean military spy satellite
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter were pictured examining a military spy satellite which the country is expected to launch soon.
The leader visited an aerospace facility where he described space-based reconnaissance as crucial for countering the US and South Korea.
During his visit, Kim approved an unspecified “future action plan” in preparations for launching the satellite, North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
Kim and his daughter Kim Ju Ae, who is thought to be aged about nine years old, were seen dressed in white lab coats talking to scientists near an object that looked like the main component of a satellite in images released by the country’s Rodong Sinmun newspaper.
The newspaper did not identify the object, which was surrounded by a perimeter of red tape.
Spy satellites are among a slew of advanced weapons systems Kim has vowed to develop.
The Rodong Sinmun newspaper did not identify the object, which was surrounded by a perimeter of red tape. Pic: KCNA/Reuters
Pic: KCNA/Reuters
Last month, the leader said construction of the satellite was completed and gave it the go-ahead for its launch.
KCNA said it was deemed ready to be loaded onto a rocket after scientists put it through tests to confirm whether it would withstand the environment of space.
North Korea has not disclosed a target date for the launch, which some analysts say may be in the next few weeks.
That launch would use long-range missile technology banned by past UN Security Council resolutions, although previous missile and rockets tests have demonstrated North Korea’s ability to deliver a satellite into space.
Pic: KCNA/Reuters
But some South Korean analysts say the satellite shown in state media photos appears too small and crudely designed to support high-resolution imagery.
South Korea said a North Korean satellite launch would violate various UN Security Council resolutions banning the North from any launches involving ballistic technologies and “threaten regional peace and stability”.
Kim said acquiring a spy satellite would be crucial for his efforts to bolster defence as “US imperialists and (South) Korean puppet villains escalate their confrontational moves” against the North, KCNA said.
Read more:
Meet Kim Jong Un’s ‘precious’ child Ju Ae
Kim Jong Un’s sister warns of more military drills
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
North Korea releases missile launch footage
He was apparently referring to the expansion of joint military exercises between the US and South Korea.
North Korea placed its first and second Earth observation satellites into orbit in 2012 and 2016, but foreign experts say neither transmitted imagery back to North Korea.
The UN Security Council issued sanctions over those launches.
Spain is to legalise about 300,000 undocumented migrants a year – at a time that many European countries are seeking to limit or deter migration.
The policy, approved on Tuesday by Spain’s left-wing minority coalition government, aims to tackle the country’s ageing workforce and low birthrate.
Around 250,000 registered foreign workers a year are needed to maintain the country’s welfare state, according to migration minister Elma Saiz.
The scheme, due to run from May next year until 2027, will allow foreigners living in Spain without proper documentation to obtain work permits and residency.
The exact number of foreigners living in Spain without documentation is unclear.
However, around 54,000 undocumented migrants reached Spain so far this year by sea or land, according to government figures.
Many arrive via the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago located off the coast of northwestern Africa.
Spain’s minister of inclusion, social security and migration, Elma Saiz. Pic: AP
Read more from Sky News:
Anger in the Spanish town smashed by floods
Spain seizes 13 tonnes of cocaine worth £659m
The figure compares to the 30,000 people who have arrived in the UK via small boats across the Channel so far in 2024.
The UK, as well as other European nations, including Germany, France, and the Netherlands, have in recent years taken tougher stances on migration.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
However, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has often described his government’s migration policies as a way to combat the country’s low birthrate.
The government’s new policy simplifies the administrative processes for short and long-term visas and provides migrants with additional workplace protections.
It also extends a visa offered previously to job-seekers for three months to one year.
Many migrants make a living in Spain’s underground economy as fruit pickers, caretakers, delivery drivers, or other low-paid jobs.
Migration minister Ms Saiz said the government’s new policy would help prevent abuse and “serve to combat mafias, fraud and the violation of rights”.
World
Alec Baldwin’s Rust premieres three years after fatal shooting – but cinematographer’s mother refuses to attend
Alec Baldwin’s Western film Rust has premiered at a festival in Poland, three years after the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on set.
The movie debuted at the Camerimage Festival in Poland, an event focusing on achievements in cinematography, to an audience of a few hundred – a more low-key affair than the typical fanfare of Hollywood releases.
Director Joel Souza, who was wounded in the shooting, said he hoped the completed film would now be a tribute to Ms Hutchins – who died after a prop gun held by Baldwin went off during filming in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in October 2021.
Rust director Joel Souza attended the film’s premiere in Poland. Pic: Reuters
Baldwin was charged with involuntary manslaughter and went on trial in July – but the case was dismissed in dramatic fashion during the hearing after the prosecution was accused of concealing ammunition evidence.
The star did not attend the premiere in Poland.
Speaking beforehand, Souza said it “wasn’t an easy decision by any means” to continue the film after Hutchins’s death, “but it became important to me and important to her husband that people see her final work”.
The church scene they were working on when Hutchins was shot has gone from the film, he said.
“It doesn’t exist anymore. We were never going to finish that… I changed the script and so I wiped that out of it.”
Cinematographer’s mother criticises Baldwin
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Pic: Swen Studios/Handout via Reuters
Bianca Cline, the cinematographer who completed the film, also attended the event.
Ms Hutchins’s mother Olga Solovey, who has filed a lawsuit against Baldwin, did not attend and criticised the star for allegedly “unjustly” profiting from the tragedy.
In a statement issued by her lawyer, Gloria Allred, she said she had always hoped to watch her daughter’s “work come alive on screen” alongside her.
However, this opportunity was “ripped away”, she said.
Ms Solovey said Baldwin had not apologised to her and that her pain was increased by his “refusal to take responsibility”. She said there had been “no justice” for her daughter.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Watch: Alec Baldwin’s case dismissed
Read more:
Fans warned not to sing along to Wicked
Dictionary’s word of the year revealed
Rust’s armourer Hannah Gutierrez, who was in charge of weapons on the set, was jailed for 18 months earlier this year, after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter during a trial separate to Baldwin’s. She is appealing the sentence.
Rust is billed as the story of a 13-year-old boy who, left to fend for himself and his younger brother following their parents’ deaths in 1880s Wyoming, goes on the run with his long-estranged grandfather after being sentenced to hang for the accidental killing of a local rancher.
The Polish festival’s ticketing website reportedly crashed on Tuesday morning due to high demand for tickets to the world premiere.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports8 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment1 year agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway