The opinion piece in the Asian country’s ruling party newspaper called the US President a “coward” for cancelling a visit to the North Korean border, The Guardian reports.

“The worst crime for which he can never be pardoned is that he dared [to] malignantly hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership,” the editorial said.

“He should know that he is just a hideous criminal sentenced to death by the Korean people,” it added.

It comes after Mr Trump said he would never call Kim Jong-un “short and fat”, after months of trading personal insults and threats of war with the North Korean leader.

“Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me ‘old,’ when I would NEVER call him ‘short and fat?’ Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend — and maybe someday that will happen!”

A sheriff's deputy on April 1 handed Kevin Janson Neal a court order to stay away from his neighbor Hailey Suzanne Poland and her family, and barred him from possessing guns.

Records show Neal certified that he surrendered his weapons in February, but Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston said they had recovered two illegal homemade assault rifles and two handguns registered to someone else.

On Tuesday, Neal shot and killed the 34-year-old woman before embarking on what authorities called a "murderous rampage" through a neighborhood in Tehama County about 130 miles north of Sacramento.

During the rampage that lasted 25 minutes, Neal tried to get into Rancho Tehama Elementary School.

Neal reached the school as teachers were completing lockdown procedures, CBS News correspondent Jamie Yuccas reports. He rammed the gate with his truck at the north end of campus. He then exited the vehicle with a semi-automatic rifle in hand.

"Our head custodian, who was shepherding kids in a class, poked his head around the corner to see what it was, made eye contact with the shooter," school district Superintendent Rick Fitzpatrick told Yuccas. "The shooter engaged him and almost immediately had problems with his rifle. It looks like it jammed. Those few seconds that the custodian was able to distract him allowed us to get those kids into the room."

Without being able to gain entry, the shooter became frustrated, opened fire on school buildings and eventually left.

"His face was full with violence, and quite frankly the word that easily comes to mind is evil," Fitzpatrick said. "There was no doubt in my mind that he intended to take life and as many as he could."

Neal killed five people and wounded at least eight others before sheriff's deputies fatally shot him during a gun battle, Johnston said.

Several other neighbors had repeatedly reported that Neal was firing hundreds of rounds at his property.

At a tense news conference Wednesday, Johnston initially said Neal "was not prohibited from owning firearms" but later acknowledged the protective order against him.

After being pressed by reporters on why police did not act when Neal was in clear violation of his court order, Johnston obliquely replied: "The law is only for people 

Firefighters managed to put out the blaze before it could reach the parliamentary chamber.

There has so far been no indication of any casualties and the cause of the blaze was not immediately clear.

In this week's session, the national assembly had been discussing the budget.

Pictures and video posted on social media show the upper floors in flames, hours after it first took hold.

For almost 10 years Lee So Yeon slept on the bottom bunk bed, in a room she shared with more than two dozen women. Every woman was given a small set of drawers in which to store their uniforms. On top of those drawers each kept two framed photographs. One was of North Korea's founder Kim Il-sung. The second was of his now deceased heir, Kim Jong-il.

It was more than a decade ago that she left, but she retains vivid memories of the smell of the concrete barracks.

"We sweat quite a bit.

"The mattress we sleep on, it's made of the rice hull. So all the body odour seeps into the mattress. It's not made of cotton. Because it's rice hull, all the odour from sweat and other smells are there. It's not pleasant."

One of the reasons for this was the state of the washing facilities.

"As a woman, one of the toughest things is that we can't shower properly," says Lee So Yeon.

"Because there is no hot water. They connect a hose to the mountain stream and have water directly from the hose.

"We would get frogs and snakes through the hose."

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SHUTTERSTOCK

The daughter of a university professor, So Yeon, now 41, grew up in the north of the country. Many male members of her family had been soldiers, and when famine devastated the country in the 1990s she volunteered - motivated by the thought of a guaranteed meal each day. Thousands of other young women did the same.

"The famine resulted in a particularly vulnerable time for women in North Korea," says Jieun Baek, author of North Korea's Hidden Revolution. "More women had to enter the labour force and more were subject to mistreatment, particularly harassment and sexual violence."

Trusting defectors

Juliette Morillot and Jieun Baek say Lee So Yeon's testimony accords with other accounts they have heard, but warn that defectors have to be treated with caution.

"There is such a high demand for knowledge from North Korea," says Baek. "It almost incentivises people to tell exaggerated tales to the media, especially if that comes with nice pay cheque. A lot of defectors who don't want to be in the media are very critical of 'career defectors'. It's worth keeping this in mind."

Information from official North Korean sources, on the other hand, is liable to be pure propaganda.

Lee So Yeon was not paid for her interview with the BBC.

To begin with, buoyed by a sense of patriotism and collective endeavour, the 17-year-old Lee So Yeon enjoyed her life in the army. She was impressed with her allocated hairdryer, although infrequent electricity meant she had little use for it.

Daily routines for men and women were roughly the same. Women tended to have slightly shorter physical training regimes - but they were also required to perform daily chores such as cleaning, and cooking that male soldiers were exempted from.

"North Korea is a traditional male-dominated society and traditional gender roles remain," says Juliette Morillot, author of North Korea in 100 questions, published in French. "Women are still seen ttukong unjeongsu, which literally translates as 'cooking pot lid drivers', and means that they should 'stay in the kitchen where they belong'."

Media captionThe hardships of life as a female soldier in the North Korean army, as recalled by recruit Lee So Yeon

The hard training and dwindling food rations took their toll on the bodies of Lee So Yeon and her fellow recruits.

"After six months to a year of service, we wouldn't menstruate any more because of malnutrition and the stressful environment," she says.

"The female soldiers were saying that they are glad that they are not having periods. They were saying that they were glad because the situation is so bad if they were having periods too that would have been worse."

Who defects?

So Yeon says that the army failed to make provision for menstruation, during her time in the military, and that she and other female colleagues often had no choice but to reuse sanitary pads.

"Women to this day still use the traditional white cotton pads," says Juliette Morillot. "They have to be washed every night when out of men's sight, so women get up early and wash them."

And having just returned from a field visit where she spoke to several female soldiers, Morillot confirms that they often do miss their periods.

"One of the girls I spoke with, who was 20, told me she trained so much that she had skipped her periods for two years," she says.

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SIPA PRESS/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK

Though Lee So Yeon joined the army voluntarily, in 2015 it was announced that all women in North Korea must do seven years' military service from the age of 18.

At the same time North Korea's government took the unusual step of saying it would distribute a premium female sanitary brand called Daedong in most female units.

"This may have been a way to atone for conditions of the past," says Jieun Baek. "That statement may have been to overcorrect for this well-known phenomenon that conditions for women used to be bad. It may have been a way to boost morale and get more women to think, 'Wow, we will be taken care of.'"

A premium cosmetic brand Pyongyang Products was also recently distributed to several female aviation units, following a call by Kim Jong-un in 2016 for North Korean beauty products to compete with global brands like Lancome, Chanel and Christian Dior.

Despite this, female soldiers stationed in the countryside don't always have access to private toilets, with some telling Morillot they often have to relieve themselves in front of men, making them feel especially vulnerable.

Military service in North Korea

Sexual harassment, say both Baek and Morillot, is rife.

Morillot says that when she broached the subject of rape in the army with serving female soldiers, "most women said it happens to others". None said they had experienced it personally.

Lee So Yeon also says that she was not raped during her time in the army between 1992 and 2001, but that many of her comrades were.

"The company commander would stay in his room at the unit after hours and rape the female soldiers under his command. This would happen over and over without an end."

North Korea's military says that it takes sexual abuse seriously, with a jail sentence of up to seven years for men found guilty of rape.

"But most of the time nobody is willing to testify. So men often go unpunished," says Juliette Morillot.

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REUTERS

She adds that silence about sexual abuse in the army is rooted in the "patriarchal attitudes of North Korean society" - the same attitudes that ensure that women in the army do most of the chores.

Women from poor backgrounds recruited into construction brigades, and housed in informal small barracks or huts, are especially insecure, she says.

"Domestic violence is still widely accepted, and not reported, so it is the same in the army. But I should really stress the fact that you have the same kind of culture (of harassment) in the South Korean army."

Lee So Yeon, who served as a sergeant in a signals unit close to the South Korean border, finally left the army at the age of 28. She was relieved to have the chance to spend more time with her family, but also felt she wasn't equipped for life outside the military and struggled financially.

It was in 2008 that she decided to escape to South Korea.

At the first attempt she was caught at the border with China and sent to a prison camp for a year.

On her second attempt, shortly after leaving prison, she swam the Tumen river and crossed into China. There, at the border, she had a rendezvous with a broker, who arranged for her to move through China to South Korea.

Listen to BBC Outlook A Woman Inside North Korea's Army

The Cessna 172 airplane crashed into a garage on the 2100 block of Evelyn Avenue in East San Jose at about 3 p.m. All three passengers were transported to a hospital.

Nobody in the house was injured, although several residents were home in the back of the house when the accident occurred. The garage the plane smashed into had been converted into a residential space, but nobody was there at the time.

The accident took place close to the Reid-Hillview Airport, where the plane had been rented earlier that afternoon. The owner of the plane was on site Sunday evening and arranging to remove the aircraft.

Photo: Alex Washburn, Special To The ChronicleIMAGE 1 OF 19Buy PhotoThree people were injured in San Jose when a small plane crashed near Reid-Hillview Airport.

Harry Freitas, director of roads and airports for Santa Clara County, said that agents from the Federal Aviation Agency’s Local Flight Standards Office were on scene to collect evidence from the crash. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will work together to prepare a report on the accident, he added.

MORE BAY AREA NEWS

While the extent of the injuries is still unknown, Freitas said preliminary reports suggest that the crash could have been worse.

“It’s a tragic accident, but preliminary reports indicate that no one was killed and no one hurt on the ground,” said Freitas. “We don’t know the condition of the passengers but hope their injuries are not severe.”

The San Jose Mercury News reported that three people were home at the time of the crash, two sisters and a brother in their teens and early 20s. The siblings, who did not give their names, helped pull a young man and two young women from the plane, the newspaper reported.

Below are images of the EF-1 tornado path from Saturday in Taylor county. I've also attached them in high resolution so that John can easily identify the area for flying his drone tomorrow. The radar images show Storm Relative Motion and "Normalized Rotation" for the storm, which, along with the damage photos Ronnie sent, support the tornado designation.

The US has stood on the brink of nuclear war with a totalitarian regime in Asia before, and in the end it was economics, not military might, that brought the Soviet Union down.

The US's nuclear arsenal has failed to scare North Korea away from developing its own nukes, sanctions have failed to restrict its access to markets, and leveraging the US's relationship with China has failed to starve the country into submission.

But the US's greatest weapon, capitalism, might just do the trick.

“We should have a contest as to which of the Networks plus CNN and not including Fox, is the most dishonest, corrupt and/or distorted in its political coverage of your favorite President (me),” Trump tweeted. “They are all bad. Winner to receive the FAKE NEWS TROPHY!”

CNN's Jake Tapper quoted the president's tweet, sharing a link to a CNN poll from earlier this month, reflecting Trump's approval ratings at a "new low." 

The daring escape of the 24-year-old soldier has provided the South with new ammunition in its propaganda war with Pyongyang. The soldier's escape made headlines around the world as he was caught on CCTV driving a car across the heavily guarded Joint Security Area (JSA), the only point in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) where soldiers of the two countries stand face-to-face, then running across the military demarcation line under a hail of bullets.

South Korea started the “Voice of Freedom” FM radio broadcasts shortly after the defection on November 13, military officials said Sunday, quoted in South Korean news agency Yonhap.

The broadcasts described how the soldier crossed the border and was treated for critical gunshot wounds and preexisting conditions, including a parasitic infectionand hepatitis B, and showed signs of malnutrition.

"The news about an elite soldier like a JSA guard having fled in a hail of bullets will have a significant psychological impact on North Korean border guards," said a military spokesperson quoted in the South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo.

Traces of bullets fired by North Korean security guards at the defector were still visible on the southern side of the JSA. South Korean defense minister Song Young-moo visited the area Monday and denounced North Korea’s behavior.

“Shooting toward the South at a defecting person, that’s a violation of the armistice,” Song said, referring to the 1953 agreement that called a truce in the Korean War.

“Crossing the military demarcation line, a violation. Carrying automatic rifles [in the JSA], another violation,” said Song, quoted in Reuters, before adding, “North Korea should be informed this sort of thing should never occur again.”

North Korea’s state-controlled media had not reported on the defection or its aftermath, but a South Korean intelligence source said all border security guards, who were handpicked for the position to ensure ideological commitment to the regime, were removed and replaced for failing to prevent the defection.

Diplomats visiting the JSA last week saw men digging a trench and planting trees at the spot the soldier ran across to reach South Korea—an attempt by Pyongyang to strengthen the border and close gaps that could spur other defections.

But no physical barrier can stop the sound from South Korea's loudspeakers, which, according to the military, can reach North Korean soldiers and civilians as far as 12 miles from the border.

The South suspended the broadcasts in 2004 but resumed the anti-Pyongyang messaging—a mix of news items and K-pop music—in 2015, during a period of rising tension between the neighbors which escalated to the point of exchanging fire in August that year.

South Korea promised to silence the speakers as part of a two-way deal toward defuse those tensions, but resumed broadcasting in January 2016, after North Korea's fourth nuclear test.

The disputed appointment has pitted the Trump White House and Justice Department against top congressional Democrats, with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., saying Deputy Director Leandra English should serve as acting director until a new boss is confirmed.

“[T]he Trump administration is ignoring the established, proper, legal order of succession that we purposefully put in place, in order to put a fox in charge of a hen house,” Schumer said in a statement.

English, who was named the successor to the top position at the agency by its outgoing director, is now seeking in court a declaratory judgment and temporary restraining order to block White House budget director Mick Mulvaney from taking over the bureau. She claims Trump did not have the authority to make that appointment. 

The White House said Monday it is “aware” of the suit, but cited an opinion in their favor from the bureau’s own general counsel and said “the law is clear.”

“Now that the CFPB’s own General Counsel - who was hired under [outgoing director] Richard Cordray - has notified the Bureau’s leadership that she agrees with the Administration’s and DOJ’s reading of the law, there should be no question that Director Mulvaney is the Acting Director,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. “It is unfortunate that Mr. Cordray decided to put his political ambition above the interests of consumers with this stunt. Director Mulvaney will bring a more serious and professional approach to running the CFPB.” 

The White House also cited an opinion issued Saturday by the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel saying it is within the president’s right to appoint an acting director. Steven A. Engel, newly confirmed head of the office, wrote that while the deputy director could serve as acting director under the statute, the president has the power to make appointments under the Vacancies Reform Act.

But English argues that the Dodd-Frank Act, a law championed by Democrats that created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, prohibits the White House from naming the director for the agency.

English said she became the acting director of the bureau under the law after Richard Cordray, the now-former director, resigned last Friday.

Cordray was appointed by President Barack Obama and has been the subject to criticism from congressional Republicans who said he was overzealous.

The new director will have to go through the Senate confirmation process. South Dakota Republican Sen. John Thune said Sunday the Republicans will act quickly to confirm the successor to Cordray.

Thune added that Mulvaney “will be on the job and he'll be calling the shots over there” but was aware that the issue may end up in court.

The consumer protection agency was created following the fallout of the 2008 financial crisis and was given an authority as a watchdog for consumers dealing with banks and credit card, student loan and mortgage companies.

 

 

 

South Korea warns North Korea over armistice 'violation'

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A South Korean official on Tuesday warned that North Korea is increasing its nuclear capability more rapidly than previously estimated as it seeks to build a nuclear missile capable of reaching the mainland U.S.

"North Korea has been developing its nuclear weapons at a faster-than-expected pace,” said Cho Myoung-gyon, the unification minister for South Korea, as reported by the Yonhap News Agency.

“We cannot rule out the possibility that North Korea could announce its completion of a clear force within one year,” Cho said.

Cho cited 2018, the 70th anniversary of the Korean peninsula's separation into two states, as a crucial year for Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, which have proven to be a thorn in the side of President Trump during his first year in office.

Pyongyang in September said it had successfully tested a miniaturized hydrogen bomb that can be placed on an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), causing the United Nations Security Council to unanimously vote to ramp up sanctions.

The North’s aggression has caused increased concern in the region, particularly from its southern neighbor and Japan. Pyongyang fired a ballistic missile over Japan in August and again in September.

"It is a fact that we have witnessed some noteworthy movements in North Korea. But it remains to be seen whether Pyongyang would make further provocations," Cho said in the reported remarks.

His comments add to the ongoing threat from North Korea, which in July conducted two ICBM tests.

Trump, who recently returned from a 12-day tour of Asia where North Korea’s aggression was a key focal point, has cautioned Pyongyang against making provocations toward the U.S.

“Today, I hope I speak not only for our countries but for all civilized nations when I say to the North: Do not underestimate us, and do not try us. We will defend our common security, our shared prosperity and our sacred liberty,” Trump said during a speech earlier this month to South Korea’s National Assembly.

 

South Korea warns North Korea over armistice 'violation'

Reuters

01:0601:29

Autoplay: On | Off

A South Korean official on Tuesday warned that North Korea is increasing its nuclear capability more rapidly than previously estimated as it seeks to build a nuclear missile capable of reaching the mainland U.S.

"North Korea has been developing its nuclear weapons at a faster-than-expected pace,” said Cho Myoung-gyon, the unification minister for South Korea, as reported by the Yonhap News Agency.

“We cannot rule out the possibility that North Korea could announce its completion of a clear force within one year,” Cho said.

Cho cited 2018, the 70th anniversary of the Korean peninsula's separation into two states, as a crucial year for Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, which have proven to be a thorn in the side of President Trump during his first year in office.

Pyongyang in September said it had successfully tested a miniaturized hydrogen bomb that can be placed on an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), causing the United Nations Security Council to unanimously vote to ramp up sanctions.

The North’s aggression has caused increased concern in the region, particularly from its southern neighbor and Japan. Pyongyang fired a ballistic missile over Japan in August and again in September.

"It is a fact that we have witnessed some noteworthy movements in North Korea. But it remains to be seen whether Pyongyang would make further provocations," Cho said in the reported remarks.

His comments add to the ongoing threat from North Korea, which in July conducted two ICBM tests.

Trump, who recently returned from a 12-day tour of Asia where North Korea’s aggression was a key focal point, has cautioned Pyongyang against making provocations toward the U.S.

“Today, I hope I speak not only for our countries but for all civilized nations when I say to the North: Do not underestimate us, and do not try us. We will defend our common security, our shared prosperity and our sacred liberty,” Trump said during a speech earlier this month to South Korea’s National Assembly.

 Victor Kalganov, vice director of Russia’s National Defense Command Center, was pictured at Pyongyang’s airport alongside three other officials from the country’s defense ministry in an image released by the state-run KCNA news agency. 

<img class="img-responsive img_inline" src="https://media2.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2017_50/2259556/171213-world-northkorea-russian-delegation-gv-0422_90bf94cba461798adfdfa62c36c7e305.nbcnews-fp-360-360.jpg" alt="Image: Victor Kalganov with three unidentified Russian defense ministry officials" title="Image: Victor Kalganov with three unidentified Russian defense ministry officials" />  

Victor Kalganov, vice-director of the National Defense Command Center of the Russian Federation (center-left), visits Pyongyang with three unidentified Russian defense ministry officials. KCNA/HANDOUT / Reuters

 The visit comes days after Russian President Vladimir Putin made a triumphant trip to the Middle East to hail the success of a military effort to shore up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and announce deeper ties with Turkey and Egypt — including a $21 billion nuclear energy deal. 

 The Russian state news agency Interfax gave no details of Wednesday's North Korea visit, but reported that Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov had welcomed Tillerson’s comments. 

 Tillerson told an audience at the Atlantic Council think tank on Tuesday that it was “not realistic” for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program before discussions can begin, adding that President Donald Trump was also “very realistic” on the issue. 

 "We've said from the diplomatic side, we're ready to talk any time North Korea would like to talk and we're ready to have the first meeting without precondition," Tillerson said. 

 "Let's just meet and we can talk about the weather if you want. We can talk about whether it’s going to be a square table or a round table if that's what you're excited about. But can we at least sit down and see each other face to face and then we can begin to lay out a map, a roadmap of what we might be willing to work towards." 

 The apparent softening comes nearly two weeks after North Korea test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that could put the entire United States mainland within range of its nuclear weapons, in defiance of United Nations resolutions and international sanctions imposed on the regime. In September, North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test. 

 Tillerson said that the U.S. is ready to talk to North Korea but would need "a period of quiet" without new tests for talks to be productive. 

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