North Korea fires artillery shells towards South's border island - BBC

South Korea Ministry of Defence

By Yvette Tan

BBC News

North Korea has fired more than 200 rounds of artillery shells off its west coast, towards the South's Yeonpyeong island, Seoul's military has said.

South Korea ordered civilians to seek shelter on the island before holding live fire drills of its own.

The South has condemned the move, calling it a "provocative act".

In 2010, North Korean artillery fired scores of times on Yeonpyeong island, killing four people.

The artillery shells fired on Friday, between 09:00 to 11:00 local time (00:00 to 02:00 GMT) did not enter South Korean territory as they all landed in the buffer zone between the two countries.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the incident caused "no damage to our people or military", but added that the act "threatens peace on the Korean peninsula and raises tensions".

The shelling follows warnings from Pyongyang that it was building up its military arsenal in preparation for war that could "break out at any time" on the peninsular.

Authorities on two nearby islands, Baengnyeong and Daecheong, also told civilians to seek shelter.

"North Korea resuming its artillery fire drills inside the non-hostility zone this morning is an act of provocation which threatens peace on the Korean Peninsula and raises tension," South Korea's Defence Minister Shin Won-sik said in a statement on Friday.

"Our military must assume the readiness to completely wipe out the enemy so that they wouldn't dare another provocation, and to back up the pace through strength," he said.

South Korea Ministry of Defence

His ministry said it did not observe any movements from the North during South Korea's drills.

The latest incident comes months after North Korea fully suspended a military deal with the South that had been aimed at improving relations.

The deal started to sour after Pyongyang claimed to have successfully launched a spy satellite into space in November. This led to South Korea partly suspending the agreement, saying it would resume surveillance flights along the border.

Afterwards, Pyongyang said it would withdraw all measures "taken to prevent military conflict in all spheres including ground, sea and air", and deploy "more powerful armed forces and new-type military hardware" in the border region.

But North Korea had violated the pact multiple times in the two years before, launching missiles and firing artillery rounds into the sea in the South's direction. The last time North Korea fired artillery shells into the sea was in December 2022, with nine such incidents happening in that year alone.

Some analysts therefore argue that Pyongyang officially withdrawing from the deal might not make much of a difference.

"Because North Korea was not adhering to the agreement in the first place, the possibility of limited collision has always been there", said Jo Bee Yun of the Korea Institute for Defence Analysis.

• The tiny South Korean island watching the horizon
• North Korea fully suspends military pact with South

Yeonpyeong island, home to a military base and a small civilian population of about 2,000 people, lies 3km (2 miles) from the disputed maritime border in the Yellow Sea and 12km from the North Korean coast.

It has been the scene of inter-Korean naval clashes over the years.

In 2010 - two soldiers and two civilians were killed after North Korea fired dozens of artillery shells towards the island.

Related Topics

• Asia
• South Korea
• North Korea

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Oscar Pistorius released on parole 11 years after killing Reeva Steenkamp - BBC

Getty Images

By Daniel De Simone in Pretoria & Damian Zane in London

BBC News

Paralympian Oscar Pistorius has been freed on parole from a South African jail, nearly 11 years after murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Officials confirmed Pistorius was "at home" on Friday morning, having served half of his more than 13-year sentence.

Ms Steenkamp's mother said she accepted the decision to release the former athlete - but added her family was the one "serving a life sentence".

Pistorius, now 37, shot Ms Steenkamp multiple times in 2013 through a door.

The double amputee later claimed he had mistaken her for a burglar.

Pistorius was eventually convicted of murder in 2015 after an appeal court overturned an earlier verdict of culpable homicide.

Under South African law, all offenders are entitled to be considered for parole once they have served half their total sentence, which for Pistorius was finally set in 2017 at 13 years and five months.

He will live under strict conditions - including being unable to speak to the media - until his sentence expires in 2029.

He is believed to have gone to live at the home of his uncle Arnold Pistorius in an upmarket suburb of the capital, Pretoria.

Getty Images

June Steenkamp said in a statement that the family had "always known that parole is part of the South African legal system" and had "always said that the law must take its course".

Mrs Steenkamp said she welcomed the conditions imposed by the parole board - which include anger management courses and programmes on gender-based violence - adding that those decisions had "affirmed Barry and my belief in the South African justice system," referring to her late husband.

But, she asked: "Has there been justice for Reeva? Has Oscar served enough time? There can never be justice if your loved one is never coming back, and no amount of time served will bring Reeva back. We, who remain behind, are the ones serving a life sentence."

She added: "My only desire is that I will be allowed to live my last years in peace with my focus remaining on the Reeva Rebecca Steenkamp Foundation, to continue Reeva's legacy."

• Pistorius - the fallen hero and his future
• My friend Reeva Steenkamp

Pistorius first went to prison in October 2014, shortly after his initial conviction. There was a period between 2015 and 2016 when he was released under house arrest before his conviction was changed and sentenced lengthened.

Pistorius's lower legs were amputated when he was less than a year old. He subsequently relied on prosthetics and became a world-renowned athlete known as the "blade runner".

He had a successful career on the track, first at the Paralympics, winning multiple golds, and then cementing his reputation after competing against non-disabled athletes at the London Olympics in 2012. The murder of Ms Steenkamp just six months later, and the subsequent trials, dominated headlines around the world.

South Africa's department of correctional services said that despite his high public profile, the former star will be treated like anyone else on parole.

This means that he will be confined to his home for certain hours of the day and he is banned from drinking alcohol. He is also not permitted to speak to the media.

Ms Steenkamp, who was 29 when she died, was a law graduate and successful model who also worked as a TV presenter and appeared in a reality show called Tropika Island of Treasure.

She had planned to start a law firm to help abused women after graduating.

Ms Steenkamp was three months into her relationship with Pistorius when he fired four shots with a pistol through the door of a toilet cubicle at his house in Pretoria in the early hours of 14 February 2013.

She died almost instantly.

The state charged Pistorius with murder but he was convicted in 2014 of the lesser offence of culpable homicide, or manslaughter.

The following year, judges at the Supreme Court of Appeal changed his conviction to murder, saying that his version of events was inconsistent and improbable and that he had "fired without having a rational or genuine fear that his life was in danger".

The trials of Oscar Pistorius

• August 2012: Competes in London Olympics and Paralympics, where he won a gold medal
• February 2013: Shoots dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp
• March 2014: Trial begins
• September 2014: Judge finds Pistorius guilty of culpable homicide
• October 2014: Begins five-year sentence
• October 2015: Transferred to house arrest
• December 2015: Appeal court changes verdict to murder
• July 2016: Returns to prison after being sentenced to six years for murder
• November 2017: Appeal court increases sentence to 13 years and five months
• June 2022: Meets Ms Steenkamp's father, Barry, as part of a restorative justice programme
• November 2023: Parole board agrees Pistorius should be released
• January 2024: Freed from prison under parole conditions

You may also be interested in:

• The making and unmaking of Oscar Pistorius
• Oscar Pistorius trial: 10 key moments

Related Topics

• Oscar Pistorius
• South Africa

Around the BBC

• Focus on Africa podcasts

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Gaza could remain under Israeli 'security control' after Hamas defeated in war, defence minister says - Sky News

Israel's defence minister has outlined his vision for the next stage of the war in Gaza, including a more targeted approach in the north while fighting Hamas in the south "for as long as necessary".

Yoav Gallant explained his proposal for how Gaza could be run once Hamas is defeated, with Israel keeping security control of the territory while an Israeli-guided Palestinian body runs day-to-day administration, and the US and other countries oversee rebuilding.

He said operations in the north would include raids, demolishing tunnels, air and ground strikes, and special forces operations against Hamas.

While in the south the focus would be on wiping out Hamas leaders and rescuing around 130 Israeli hostages, who are still being held captive after they were abducted on 7 October, Mr Gallant added.

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0:45

Palestinians shelter at Gaza Zoo

Mr Gallant issued his plans in a document, titled a "vision for Phase 3" of the war, before a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the Middle East.

The ideas in the document are Mr Gallant's and not official policy, his office said. Official policy changes would have to be agreed by Israel's war and security cabinets.

It suggests Mr Gallant, who is a member of both cabinets, may be trying to push his personal plan to the Americans ahead of others in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition.

Israel's war in Gaza is nearing the three-month mark and has killed more than 22,400 people, more than two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Its count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Some 85% of Gaza's population of 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes and squeezed into small slivers of the territory. Israel's siege has caused a humanitarian crisis, with a quarter of the population starving because not enough supplies are entering the area, according to the UN.

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after its 7 October attack, in which militants killed around 1,200 people and abducted approximately 240 others.

Read more:
Hamas blames Israel for 'cowardly assassination'
Israel on high alert for attacks from Lebanon
Analysis: Blinken heads to Middle East in firefight mode

Image: An Israeli tank in Gaza

Mr Gallant's statement said the war would go on until Hamas's military and government capabilities were eliminated and the Israeli hostages still in captivity were returned.

His calls for an Israeli-guided Palestinian administration for Gaza differ from Washington's vision of a renewed Palestinian Authority which would take control of the territory and begin negotiations towards creating a Palestinian state alongside Israel - something Mr Netanyahu and other Israeli officials have rejected.

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North Korea fires artillery shells towards South's border island - BBC

Getty Images

By Yvette Tan

BBC News

North Korea has fired more than 200 rounds of artillery shells off its west coast, towards the South's Yeonpyeong island, Seoul's military has said.

Afterwards, South Korea ordered civilians to seek shelter on the island before holding live fire drills of its own.

The South has condemned the move, calling it a "provocative act".

In 2010, North Korean artillery fired scores of times on Yeonpyeong island, killing four people.

The artillery shells fired on Friday, between 09:00 to 11:00 local time (00:00 to 02:00 GMT) did not enter South Korean territory as they all landed in the buffer zone between the two countries.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the incident caused "no damage to our people or military", but added that the act "threatens peace on the Korean peninsula and raises tensions".

The shelling follows warnings from Pyongyang that it was building up its military arsenal in preparation for war that could "break out at any time" on the peninsular.

Authorities on nearby Baengnyeong Island also reported an evacuation order there.

The latest incident comes months after North Korea fully suspended a military deal with the South that had been aimed at improving relations.

The deal started to sour after Pyongyang claimed to have successfully launched a spy satellite into space in November. This led to South Korea partly suspending the agreement, saying it would resume surveillance flights along the border.

Afterwards, Pyongyang said it would withdraw all measures "taken to prevent military conflict in all spheres including ground, sea and air", and deploy "more powerful armed forces and new-type military hardware" in the border region.

But North Korea had violated the pact multiple times in the two years before, launching missiles and firing artillery rounds into the sea in the South's direction. The last time North Korea fired artillery shells into the sea was in December 2022, with nine such incidents happening in that year alone.

Some analysts therefore argue that Pyongyang officially withdrawing from the deal might not make much of a difference.

"Because North Korea was not adhering to the agreement in the first place, the possibility of limited collision has always been there", said Jo Bee Yun of the Korea Institute for Defence Analysis.

• The tiny South Korean island watching the horizon
• North Korea fully suspends military pact with South

Yeonpyeong island, home to a military base and a small civilian population of about 2,000 people, lies 3km (2 miles) from the disputed maritime border in the Yellow Sea and 12km from the North Korean coast.

It has been the scene of inter-Korean naval clashes over the years.

In 2010 - two soldiers and two civilians were killed after North Korea fired dozens of artillery shells towards the island.

Related Topics

• Asia
• South Korea
• North Korea

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Oscar Pistorius released on parole in South Africa - BBC

Getty Images

By Daniel De Simone in Johannesburg & Damian Zane in London

BBC News

Paralympian Oscar Pistorius has been freed on parole from a South African jail, nearly 11 years after murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Officials confirmed Pistorius was "at home" on Friday morning, having served half of his more than 13-year sentence.

Ms Steenkamp's mother said she accepted the decision to release the former athlete - but added her family was the one "serving a life sentence".

Pistorius, now 37, shot Ms Steenkamp multiple times in 2013 through a door.

The double amputee later claimed he had mistaken her for a burglar.

Pistorius was eventually convicted of murder in 2015 after an appeal court overturned an earlier verdict of culpable homicide.

Under South African law, all offenders are entitled to be considered for parole once they have served half their total sentence, which for Pistorius was finally set in 2017 at 13 years and five months.

He will live under strict conditions - including being unable to speak to the media - until his sentence expires in 2029.

He is believed to have gone to live at the home of his uncle Arnold Pistorius in an upmarket suburb of the capital, Pretoria.

June Steenkamp said in a statement that the family had "always known that parole is part of the South African legal system" and had "always said that the law must take its course".

Mrs Steenkamp said she welcomed the conditions imposed by the parole board - which include anger management courses and programmes on gender-based violence - adding that those decisions had "affirmed Barry and my belief in the South African justice system," referring to her late husband.

But, she asked: "Has there been justice for Reeva? Has Oscar served enough time? There can never be justice if your loved one is never coming back, and no amount of time served will bring Reeva back. We, who remain behind, are the ones serving a life sentence."

She added: "My only desire is that I will be allowed to live my last years in peace with my focus remaining on the Reeva Rebecca Steenkamp Foundation, to continue Reeva's legacy."

• Pistorius - the fallen hero and his future

Pistorius first went to prison in October 2014, shortly after his initial conviction. There was a period between 2015 and 2016 when he was released under house arrest before his conviction was changed and sentenced lengthened.

Pistorius's lower legs were amputated when he was less than a year old. He subsequently relied on prosthetics and became a world-renowned athlete known as the "blade runner".

He had a successful career on the track, first at the Paralympics, winning multiple golds, and then cementing his reputation after competing against non-disabled athletes at the London Olympics in 2012. The murder of Ms Steenkamp just six months later, and the subsequent trials, dominated headlines around the world.

South Africa's department of correctional services said that despite his high public profile, the former star will be treated like anyone else on parole.

This means that he will be confined to his home for certain hours of the day and he is banned from drinking alcohol. He is also not permitted to speak to the media.

Getty Images

Ms Steenkamp, who was 29 when she died, was a law graduate and successful model who also worked as a TV presenter and appeared in a reality show called Tropika Island of Treasure.

She had planned to start a law firm to help abused women after graduating.

Ms Steenkamp was three months into her relationship with Pistorius when he fired four shots with a pistol through the door of a toilet cubicle at his house in Pretoria in the early hours of 14 February 2013.

She died almost instantly.

The state charged Pistorius with murder but he was convicted in 2014 of the lesser offence of culpable homicide, or manslaughter.

The following year, judges at the Supreme Court of Appeal changed his conviction to murder, saying that his version of events was inconsistent and improbable and that he had "fired without having a rational or genuine fear that his life was in danger".

You may also be interested in:

• The making and unmaking of Oscar Pistorius
• Oscar Pistorius trial: 10 key moments
• My friend Reeva Steenkamp

Related Topics

• Oscar Pistorius
• South Africa

Around the BBC

• Focus on Africa podcasts

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Defence minister Yoav Gallant calls for no Israeli civilian presence in Gaza after war - Financial Times

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Jeffrey Epstein: Prince Andrew and Bill Clinton named in court files - bbc.co.uk

Reuters

By Max Matza & Bernd Debusmann Jr

BBC News

Bill Clinton and the UK's Prince Andrew are among high-profile figures named in US court papers detailing connections of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The newly-released records form part of a case against Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's girlfriend who has been jailed for helping him abuse girls.

Other names include singer Michael Jackson and magician David Copperfield, though no wrongdoing is alleged.

Prince Andrew is accused of groping a woman, which he denies.

Some of the more than 100 people on the list make allegations about other individuals, or are potential witnesses.

However, the released documents contain no new bombshell revelation about Epstein, who died in jail awaiting trial over sex-trafficking charges.

The much-hyped trove - covering about 900 pages - was released on Wednesday, after an order by New York Judge Loretta Preska who said many of those named had already been identified by the media or in Maxwell's criminal trial.

The legal filings highlight the well-connected social circle in the orbit of Epstein, who pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2009.

Judge Preska said that many others did not raise an objection to the release of the documents.

She also ordered that some names remain redacted because they would identify victims of sexual abuse. However, more documents in the case are expected to be released in the coming days.

Prince Andrew grope claim

The newly-released files include references to Johanna Sjoberg, who has claimed that Prince Andrew groped her breast while sitting on a couch inside Epstein's Manhattan apartment in 2001.

• Prince Andrew named in grope claim in Epstein house

• What we learned from the Epstein court documents

Buckingham Palace has previously said her allegations are "categorically untrue".

In one deposition, which has already been reported, Ms Sjoberg alleged that Prince Andrew put his hand on her breast to pose for a photo with another accuser, Virginia Giuffre, and a puppet that said "Prince Andrew" on it.

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In 2022, the British royal paid millions to Ms Giuffre to settle a case she filed alleging he sexually abused her when she was 17 years old.

Prince Andrew said he had never met Ms Giuffre and denied her allegations.

Bill Clinton's travels

Former US President Clinton is also named in the court documents, although there is no implication of any illegality. When contacted for comment, his representatives referred to a statement he issued in 2019 saying he "knows nothing" about Epstein's crimes.

According to the records, Ms Sjoberg testified that Epstein once told her that Mr Clinton "likes them young, referring to girls". Mr Clinton had an affair with a 22-year-old White House intern while he was US president.

The files include testimony from Maxwell confirming that Mr Clinton had travelled on board Epstein's private jet, but she did not know how many times.

Mr Clinton travelled on Epstein's plane on what were described as humanitarian trips to Africa in the early 2000s and at the time praised Epstein as a committed philanthropist, though said he later cut ties with him.

The former US president's 2019 statement said he was accompanied on his trips aboard Epstein's jet by staff and supporters from his charity, the Clinton Foundation.

"His Secret Service detail travelled on every leg of every trip," his statement added.

Reuters

The court documents include a section where Maxwell's lawyer seeks to debunk a media report that, shortly after he left office in January 2001, Mr Clinton travelled to Epstein's private island in the Caribbean.

A lawyer for Maxwell said that the former US president "did not, in fact travel to, nor was he present on, Little St James Island between January 1, 2001 and January 1, 2003".

The lawyer added that if the claim were true, Secret Service agents would have been required to submit travel logs of the trip.

Why is Trump mentioned?

The document also includes testimony from Ms Sjoberg saying that Epstein told her he would contact Donald Trump on their way to one of his New Jersey casinos in 2001.

"Jeffrey said, 'Great, we'll call up Trump'," she testified, after pilots said their plane could not land in New York and would need to stop in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The documents contain no alleged wrongdoing by Mr Trump.

Ms Sjoberg is asked at one point in the deposition whether she ever gave Mr Trump a massage, and she replies: "No."

Who are some of the others?

Michael Jackson and David Copperfield: Ms Sjoberg said she had met the singer and the magician through Epstein, although she did not allege any wrongdoing by them.

Jean-Luc Brunel: The French modelling agent who killed himself in a Paris jail in 2022 while awaiting rape charges, is also mentioned multiple times.

In her deposition, Ms Giuffre says she was forced to have sex with prominent figures including New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. Before his death last year, Mr Richardson denied ever meeting Ms Giuffre, and he was not charged with any crime.

Alfredo Rodriguez: A household employee who was tasked with security for Epstein, described Maxwell as "the boss" in his testimony, according to the court files.

Mr Rodriguez, who died in 2015, was told to carry cash at all times to give to high school girls, and the girls who were helping recruit for Epstein, the documents say.

Epstein and Maxwell

Epstein's death in 2019 was ruled to be a suicide by the New York medical examiner.

Maxwell, the daughter of publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell, is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role as a recruiter for Epstein. Her lawyers are appealing against the sentence.

Lawyers for Maxwell said in a statement cited by CNN on Wednesday: "She has consistently and vehemently maintained her innocence."

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Related Topics

• Ghislaine Maxwell
• Jeffrey Epstein
• New York
• United States

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