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BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityAsiaChinaIndiaRussia shuts down UN watchdog tracking North Korea sanctionsPublished29 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsWar in UkraineImage source, ReutersImage caption, Earlier in 2023, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (L) met his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong UnBy Frances MaoSingaporeRussia has shut down a panel of UN experts that have for years monitored sanctions against North Korea.The panel last week said it was probing reports that Russia violated rules by buying North Korean weapons like ballistic missiles for use in Ukraine.The UN’s Security Council has imposed a series of sanctions on Pyongyang since 2006 for its nuclear weapons programme.Those restrictions are still in force – but the experts group set up to monitor violations will now be disbanded.In a Security Council vote on Thursday, Russia used its veto power as a permanent member to block the renewal, while 13 of the other 14 member states present voted for it. China, Pyongyang’s closest ally, abstained.Russia’s block triggered a wave of condemnation from the US, UK, South Korea and other Western allies and comes after a year of high-profile public meetings between Moscow and Pyongyang leaders.This is the first time Russia has blocked the panel – which has been renewed annually by the UN Security Council for 14 years.Russia said to be using N Korean missiles in Ukraine Is North Korea’s leader actually considering war?Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on social media Russia’s veto was tantamount to “a guilty plea” that it was using North Korean weapons in the war.The US, UK and France all told the Council that Russia was silencing the watchdog because it had begun to report on Moscow’s own violations of the rules- specifically purchasing weapons from North Korea for the battlegrounds in Ukraine.Meanwhile, South Korea’s representative at the UN criticised Russia’s “blind self-centeredness” and said it had no justification “for disbanding the guardians” of the sanctions regime.”This is almost comparable to destroying a CCTV to avoid being caught red-handed,” Ambassador Hwang Joon-kook said.Russia has consistently denied using North Korean weapons and its representative at the UN again dismissed the accusations on Thursday.Vasily Nebenzia also argued that the panel of experts had no added value.”The panel has continued to focus on trivial matters that are not commensurate with the problems facing the peninsula,” said Mr Nebenzia, who also added that sanctions had imposed a “heavy burden” on the North Korean people.Image source, ReutersImage caption, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un showed off his country’s missiles to Russia’s Defence Minister on a visit last yearSince 2019, Russia and China have sought to persuade the Security Council to ease sanctions.The Security Council first imposed sanctions in 2006 in response to a North Korean nuclear test, and has since passed 10 more resolutions strengthening them as Pyongyang’s nuclear activity has continued.However Kim Jong Un’s regime has largely ignored the sanctions- despite their impact on the economy. The North Korean leader has rapidly continued nuclear weapons development and has pursued a more aggressive and dangerous military strategy in recent years.The UN experts say North Korea continues to flout sanctions through increased missile test launches and developing nuclear weapons. The regime launched a spy satellite this year – with technology believed to have been provided by Russia.In breach of the sanctions, it also continues to import refined petroleum products and send workers overseas, and the UN panel’s most recent report detailed a campaign of cyber attacks.Related TopicsWar in UkraineRussiaNorth Korea missile testsUnited NationsNorth KoreaTop StoriesSecret papers show Post Office knew case was falsePublished6 hours agoBus plunges off South Africa bridge, killing 45Published8 hours agoTop UN court orders Israel to allow aid into GazaPublished3 hours agoFeaturesWaiting for Evan, Putin’s ‘bargaining chip’ in Russian jailThe Papers: Water bosses a ‘disgrace’ and Easter honours ‘row’Why is Thames Water in so much trouble?Weekly quiz: How much did Kate’s Titanic piece of wood sell for?’We’ve won £80k by entering 50 competitions a day’Could artificial intelligence benefit democracy?Vice, Vice, Baby: Who’ll be Trump’s running mate?AttributionSoundsLife after Pontins swapped tourists for tradespeopleI’m not ashamed of who I am any more, says LionessElsewhere on the BBCHow are jelly beans made?Gregg Wallace visits a Dublin factory that makes over ten million of the sweets per day!AttributioniPlayerIf aliens existed, what would they look like?Let Brian Cox and Robin Ince guide you through the universe’s big questionsAttributionSoundsThe ultimate bromanceEnjoy the genius of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore with a journey through the archivesAttributioniPlayerThe deadly history of wallpaper…Discover the extraordinary stories of the ordinary items all around youAttributionSoundsMost Read1Bus plunges off South Africa bridge, killing 452Water bosses a ‘disgrace’ and Easter honours ‘row’3Questions raised over Temu cash ‘giveaway’ offer4Easter getaway begins with flood alerts in place5Beyoncé’s country album: The verdict6Man arrested after death of Gogglebox star7Tory donor and four Conservative MPs given honours8Secret papers show Post Office knew case was false9Charge of £90 to clear problem debt axed for poorest10’We’ve won £80k by entering 50 competitions a day’
[ad_1] The group was investigating Russia’s reported violations in using North Korean weapons in Ukraine.
![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityScience & EnvironmentClimate change: The ‘insane’ plan to save the Arctic’s sea-icePublished37 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsClimateImage source, Real IceImage caption, Saving the ice – a daring experiment or a dangerous distraction?By Mark PoyntingBBC News climate reporterPerched on sea-ice off Canada’s northern coast, parka-clad scientists watch saltwater pump out over the frozen ocean.Their goal? To slow global warming.As sea-ice vanishes, the dark ocean surface can absorb more of the Sun’s energy, which accelerates warming. So the researchers want to thicken it to stop it melting away.Welcome to the wackier side of geoengineering – deliberately intervening in the Earth’s climate system to try to counteract the damage we have done to it.Polar bears face starvation as ice meltsMore snow and rain is falling in the ArcticHottest February marks ninth new monthly record in a rowGeoengineering includes more established efforts to lock up planet-warming gases, such as planting more trees and burying carbon underground.But more experimental measures aim to go a step further, seeking to reduce the energy absorbed by the Earth.Many scientists are strongly opposed, warning that such attempts distract from the critical step of cutting carbon emissions and risk doing more harm than good.But a small number of advocates claim their approaches could give the planet a helping hand while humanity cleans up its act.The ultimate goal of the Arctic experiment is to thicken enough sea-ice to slow or even reverse the melting already seen, says Dr Shaun Fitzgerald, whose team at the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Climate Repair is behind the project.Will it work or is it, as one scientist put it, “quite insane”?”We don’t actually know enough to determine whether this is a good idea or bad idea,” admits Dr Fitzgerald.Image source, Real IceImage caption, “It’s quite cold,” the researchers say. Wind chill in Cambridge Bay can make it feel like -45CThe researchers have been braving bitter conditions in Cambridge Bay, a tiny Canadian village in the Arctic Circle.”It’s quite cold,” Andrea Ceccolini of Real Ice, a British company leading the trip, tells me via a patchy Zoom connection from inside a flapping white tent.”It’s about -30C with a strong wind, which brings the temperature to -45C with wind chill factor.”They are drilling a hole in the sea-ice that naturally forms in winter, and pumping around 1,000 litres of seawater per minute across the surface. Exposed to the cold winter air, this seawater quickly freezes, helping to thicken the ice on top. The water also compacts the snow. As fresh snow acts as a good insulating layer, now ice can also form more easily on the underside in contact with the ocean.”The idea is that the thicker the ice [at the end of winter], the longer it will survive when we go into the melt season,” Mr Ceccolini explains.Image source, Real IceImage caption, A pump is used to flood the sea-ice surface with seawater, which will then freezeSpeaking to me towards the end of their trip, they’ve already seen the ice thicken by a few tens of centimetres across their small study area. The ice will be monitored by locals in the months ahead.But it’s still far too early to say whether their approach can actually make a difference to the rapid decline in Arctic sea-ice.”The vast majority of polar scientists think this is never going to work out,” cautions Martin Siegert, an experienced glaciologist at the University of Exeter, who is not involved in the project.One issue is that the saltier ice may melt more quickly in the summer. And then there’s the huge logistical challenge of scaling the project up to a meaningful level – one estimate suggests that you could need about 10 million wind-powered pumps to thicken sea-ice across just a tenth of the Arctic. “It is quite insane in my opinion that this could be done at scale for the entire Arctic Ocean,” says Julienne Stroeve, a professor of polar observation and modelling at University College London.Some of the more experimental geoengineering suggestions include trying to make clouds more reflective by generating extra sea spray, and mimicking volcanic eruptions to reflect more of the Sun’s energy back into space.A number of scientists – including the UN’s climate and weather bodies – have warned that these approaches could pose grave risks, including disrupting global weather patterns. Many researchers want to see them banned altogether. “Geoengineering technologies come with enormous uncertainties and create novel risks for ecosystems and people,” explains Lili Fuhr, director of the Fossil Economy Program at the Center for International Environmental Law.”The Arctic is essential to sustaining our planetary systems: pumping sea water onto sea-ice on a large scale could change ocean chemistry and threatens the fragile web of life.”And there’s a more fundamental, widespread concern with these types of projects.”The real danger is it provides a distraction, and people with vested interests will use it as an excuse to keep burning fossil fuels,” Prof Siegert warns.”Frankly, it’s insane and needs to be stopped. The way to solve this crisis is to decarbonise: it’s our best and only way forward.”A simple guide to climate changeWhat is net zero, and how are the UK and other countries doing?The Arctic researchers are acutely aware of these concerns. They stress that they are simply testing the technology, and wouldn’t unleash it more widely until the risks are better known.”We’re not here promoting this as the solution to climate change in the Arctic,” Dr Fitzgerald stresses. “We’re saying that it could be [part of it], but we’ve got to go and find out a lot more before society can then decide whether it’s a sensible thing or not.”They agree that geoengineering is no silver bullet to tackling climate change, and that steep cuts to fossil fuels and carbon emissions are most important to avoid the worst consequences of warming.But they point out that even with rapid action, the world still faces a difficult future.The Arctic Ocean is likely to be effectively free of sea-ice by the end of summer at least once by 2050, and possibly even sooner. As the graph below shows, it’s already experienced steep declines since the 1980s.”We need other solutions,” argues PhD student Jacob Pantling, a researcher at the Centre for Climate Repair who braved the icy winds in Cambridge Bay. “We have to reduce emissions, but even if we do them as quickly as possible, the Arctic is still going to melt.”Map by Erwan RivaultRelated TopicsArcticClimateMore on this storyPolar bears face starvation threat as ice meltsPublished13 FebruaryMore snow and rain is falling in the ArcticPublished14 December 2022Hottest February marks ninth new monthly recordPublished7 MarchWhy is the world getting warmer?Published8 FebruaryTop StoriesAid reaches shore in Gaza after first sea deliveryPublished3 hours agoAll 35 bodies in Hull funeral inquiry identifiedPublished7 hours agoRussian arrests as ballot boxes targeted in Putin votePublished7 hours agoFeatures’Tory PM ousting plot’ and ‘Gran’s death row wait’Trying to stay alive in a town tormented by drugs, alcohol and suicideFive Champions League match-ups to look forward toAttributionSportWeekly quiz: Which exclusive Oscars club did Emma Stone join?Battle between West Bank farmers divides Israel and US Listen: Putin’s Russia: An election without democracy? 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![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaNigeria kidnap crisis: Schoolboy recounts daring escape from banditsPublished49 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage caption, Musa Garba was taken, along with more than 280 others, from his school in Kuriga, northern NigeriaBy Chris EwokorBBC News, KurigaMusa Garba,17, had to slither on the ground like a snake to avoid being detected by his kidnappers as he made his escape through the bush of northern Nigeria.Earlier, camouflaged by his school uniform, the teenager had managed to hide in a heap of cut grass as the group of schoolchildren he was abducted with were taking a break from their forced trek.More than 280 of them were snatched last week from a school in the town of Kuriga, in Kaduna state, traumatising a community.”We saw motorbikes on the road. We thought they were soldiers, before we realised they had occupied the school premises and started shooting,” Musa tells the BBC as he recalls Thursday morning’s terrifying events. We have changed his name for his own safety, along with that of another kidnapped boy mentioned in the article.”We tried to run away, but they chased us and caught us. They gathered us like cows into the bush.”These armed men on motorbikes – referred to locally as bandits – had been menacing the community for some time, with the security forces apparently unable to deal with the threat. Kuriga had been persistently attacked by gangs seeking to kidnap people and make money from ransom payments.The scale of this latest abduction and the fact that it involved children as young as seven has been overwhelming for many here.”We watched them carrying our children away just right here and there’s nothing we could do. We don’t have military, we don’t have police in the community,” a distressed Hajiya Hauwa says, through tears. Image source, AFPImage caption, The school in Kuriga now lies emptyMusa was one of those taken away.”While we were moving in the bush, at some points, we were all thirsty, but there was no water. Some girls and boys were just falling as we moved because they were all tired,” he says. “The bandits had to carry some of them on the bike.”At one point, deep into the bush, they were able to quench their thirst at a river which came as a big relief for the children who had not had breakfast and had been forced to walk for several hours under the hot sun.Musa kept looking for ways to escape and tried to encourage others to join him but they were too afraid. He saw his chance as the sun was setting. Looking around to ensure he was not being monitored, he hid in one of the heaps of grass and lay still. “After all was quiet, [to avoid detection] I started dragging myself like a snake on the ground.” Once it was totally dark, he got up and walked off until he got to a village where he got help. He took a huge risk that could have led to him being killed at the slightest mistake, but some are saying that God protected him. When he appeared the next day in Kuriga, his parents were jubilant, but he came with harrowing tales of the children still in captivity.The parents of 10-year-old Sadiq Usman Abdullahi are still waiting for news about him.The last time the family saw the jovial and much-loved boy was when he had dashed back home on Thursday morning saying he had forgotten his pencil for school – shortly before the kidnappers drove into the town.”He came to ask me: ‘Hassan do you have a pencil?'” his 21-year-old brother says.”I told him to check my bag. Sadiq was in a rush, so he scattered my things. He found the pencil. I told him to tidy my bag. Then he took his socks and ran out.” Image caption, Rahmatu Usman Abdullahi says she has not slept since her son was kidnapped last weekHis mother, Rahmatu Usman Abdullahi, says she has not been able to sleep since that day.”I always think about him, I can’t sleep. What kind of sleep can I even have? Look at my eyes! What kind of sleep? May God just help us,” she says, looking up to seek divine intervention.But Musa and Sadiq are just two among the more than 4,000 people who have been kidnapped in Nigeria in the past eight months, according to one estimate.In the last decade and a half, people in northern Nigeria have come under intense attack by armed militant groups. At first, this mainly happened in the north-eastern states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, where the Islamist group, known as Boko Haram (meaning “Western education is forbidden”) is active. A second force, linked to the Islamic State group, has also emerged.Both sets of jihadist groups were involved in kidnapping, targeting farmers, travellers and even razing villages to the ground. Schools, seen as the home of Western education, became a target. The notorious attack on the girls’ school in Chibok 10 years ago set a template.”There has been an escalation in attacks on schools in northern Nigeria. Primary schools, secondary schools and universities have come under attack,” says Shehu Sani, a former senator for Kaduna state. He argues that the aim is to discourage parents from sending their children to school.”At the same time, when they attack and kidnap, they do it with the intension of raising funds – to buy more arms and also to continue their criminal activities.”But their methods have spread across the north with the criminal gangs known as bandits adopting the same approach, as they have seen that kidnapping schoolchildren often attracts attention, and therefore ransoms.”They are motivated by money. They simply kidnap people, and once ransom is paid to them, they release their hostages. They have no political agenda and no clear-cut leadership,” Mr Sani says.Image caption, Chief Jibril Gwadabe was himself the target of bandits two years agoThe government has invested a lot of time and money in tackling the issue, but there are still communities that feel unprotected.Kuriga is one of those.Jibril Gwadabe, a local traditional chief, says that the place is plagued by the bandits, due to the absence of security forces in the area. “I have been a victim myself,” the 64-year-old says. “I was going to my farm one day, two years ago when they stopped me. I started struggling with them and they shot me in my stomach. The bullet came out from my back. I was hospitalised for one month here in Kaduna, but I survived.”The authorities have promised that the children will soon be returned home alive. But people in Kuriga are still worried. “We don’t know the condition of our children up till now. We don’t know how they are, where they are,” Chief Gwadabe says.More about Nigeria’s kidnap crisis: Why mass abductions have returned to haunt NigeriaWhat in the World Podcast: Nigeria’s kidnap crisisThe motorcycle bandits terrorising northern NigeriaWhy Nigeria’s economy is in such a mess’How I survived my train hijacking’Kidnapping and debt: A Nigerian legacyRelated TopicsNigeriaTop StoriesUK must build new gas power plants or risk blackouts, minister warnsPublished51 minutes agoIs pressure on Kate after photo chaos unfair?Published6 hours agoTory donor accused of racist Diane Abbott remarksPublished2 hours agoFeaturesOn Russia’s Arctic border, Nato’s new members prep for warIs pressure on Kate after photo chaos unfair?Seven of the best moments from the OscarsBarbie, Oppenheimer & a wardrobe mishap? The Oscars in 60 seconds. VideoBarbie, Oppenheimer & a wardrobe mishap? 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![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityAsiaChinaIndiaImages show North Korea sealing its border with ChinaPublished4 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, ReutersImage caption, There has been a major ramping up of security along the border between North Korea and China. This image shows North Korea from an area near the Chinese border city of Hunchun in 2015By Michael Sheils McNameeBBC NewsNorth Korea has used the Covid-19 pandemic to seal up its northern border with China, new images from a leading human rights group show. Human Rights Watch (HRW) describes a situation which has seen “intensifying repression”, with “drastically reduced” cross-border movement and trade. In the research, North Koreans spoke of the increasingly restrictive measures.UN member states should “immediately address” North Korea’s isolation and humanitarian crisis, HRW stresses.North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has reinforced a crackdown on border security in recent years, coinciding with the pandemic.The border was only reopened a few months ago, largely to improve trade with China.The report, entitled A Sense of Terror Stronger than a Bullet: The Closing of North Korea 2018-2023, describes the “overbroad, excessive, and unnecessary measures during the Covid-19 pandemic”. North Korea country profileFocusing on satellite images, it shows authorities in North Korea constructing 482km (299 miles) of new fencing in the areas it investigated, and enhancing another 260km of fencing which was already in place. Taken between 2019 and 2023 and covering about a quarter of its northern border, the images also detail things like new guard posts and the creation of buffer zones – things which further restrict life in the country. Image caption, In this image, we can see that in March 2019, on the east bank of the Tumen River, a primary fence is visible – but is interrupted with a large gap for the Hoeryong stream. Three years later, in April 2022, a bridge had been added, along with a secondary fence, creating a buffer zoneAlong with the border infrastructure has come a more authoritarian enforcement of rules – including a shoot on sight order for border guards. HRW noted a 20-fold increase in the number of border security facilities in the area observed, with guard posts rising from just 38 to more than 6,500. Lina Yoon, senior Korea researcher at HRW, said North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un should “end the policies that have essentially made North Korea a giant prison, reopen its borders for trade, relax internal travel restrictions, and allow monitored international emergency assistance”. One escapee, who spoke to her relative back home, said rice and wheat could no longer be smuggled into the country. “Not even an ant can make it across the border now”, her relative told her. This has also made it harder for North Korean escapees to send money back home to support their families, the report says, further increasing the suffering of the North Korean people.A family’s escape from North Korea through a minefield and stormy seasAnother person who had left the country described the situation for their relatives in late 2022, when many parts of the world were facing tough Covid-19 restrictions.”My [relative] said now people are more worried of starving to death than of dying of Covid-19,” they said. “They are all worried of dying from simple diseases.”The crackdown has also stopped the flow of cash from people in South Korea to their relatives and contacts in the North.HRW estimated that by the start of 2023, only about one in 10 money brokers were able to send money across, when compared to the situation pre-pandemic. Also highlighted in the report is the toll UN sanctions, imposed on Pyongyang in 2017 following nuclear tests, have had on people. The report calls them “broad-based”, and says they have “exacted a toll on the population at large by undermining people’s rights to an adequate standard of living, and thus to food and health”. “This had an especially hard impact on women, the main breadwinners in most households, by reducing the activities in the markets in which they traded.” One former trader who had been in contact with relatives in North Korea said a relative used to catch squid and crabs, and was able to live off the informal trade with China. Because of Covid-19 and the sanctions, this trade was stopped – and his relatives had to sell for domestic consumptions for a much lower return, making it “hard to survive”. You may also be interested in:This video can not be playedTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.Media caption, Myung-hui and her daughter SongmiRelated TopicsHuman rightsUnited NationsNorth KoreaMore on this storySecret calls and code names: How money makes it to N KoreaPublished30 JanuaryAlarm raised over N Koreans deported from ChinaPublished8 December 2023A family’s escape from North Korea through a minefield and stormy seasPublished5 December 2023The daughter who fled North Korea to find her motherPublished6 April 2023North Korea country profilePublished19 July 2023Top StoriesConstance Marten: ‘I did nothing but show baby love’Published19 minutes agoLabour and Tories accused of silence over cutsPublished1 hour agoHorner says ‘time to draw a line under’ controversyAttributionSportPublished10 minutes agoFeaturesBiden faces high-stakes address to calm Democrat nerves’We know what’s coming’: East Ukraine braces for Russian advanceHow are the child benefit rules changing?Budget: Key points at a glancePampered pooches descend on NEC for CruftsAuthor Dame Jacqueline Wilson reads to zoo animals’Stampede’ of kangaroos invades Melbourne golf course. 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