More likely testing the defenses
About time on the schedule for it. Wait another 30 min to an hour, the religious stuff starts, then right after the muh joo really cranks up
North Korea tells Japan it plans to launch satellite in the coming days
By Chang-Ran Kim and Jack Kim November 21, 2023
TOKYO/SEOUL Nov 21 (Reuters) - North Korea has notified Japan it plans to launch a satellite between Wednesday and Dec. 1, in what Tokyo and Seoul said could be a third attempt to put a spy satellite into orbit in violation of a U.N. ban.
Japan's Coast Guard said on Tuesday the North gave notice of the launch in the direction of the Yellow Sea and East China Sea. South Korea's state maritime safety agency issued a warning to vessels of the planned launch for the same areas as previous launches.
North Korea had attempted to launch what it called spy satellites twice earlier this year but failed, and South Korean officials have said in recent days that it appeared set to try again soon.
State media KCNA reported on Tuesday it was North Korea's "sovereign right" to strengthen its military power against the U.S.-led space surveillance system and defended its military satellite development, citing a researcher at the nuclear-armed state's space agency.
The notice prompted immediate condemnation from Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who said his country's defence systems, including the Aegis destroyers and PAC-3 air defence missiles, stood ready for any "unexpected situation" that arose.
"Even if the purpose is to launch a satellite, using ballistic missile technology is a violation of a series of United Nations Security Council resolutions," Kishida told reporters.
"It is also a matter that greatly affects national security."
Japan will work with the United States, South Korea and others to "strongly urge" North Korea not to go ahead with the launch, Kishida said.
South Korea's defence ministry said it was watching the North's planned launch. Previous launches came in the early hours of the first day of the window, the ministry said, and it was possible the third attempt would be successful.
FLEET OF SATELLITES PLANNED
North Korea has notified Japan, as the coordinating authority for the International Maritime Organization for those waters, of its satellite launch plans previously.
Pyongyang considers its space and military rocket programmes a sovereign right, and has said it plans a fleet of satellites to monitor moves by U.S. and South Korean troops.
It has made multiple attempts to launch what it called "observation" satellites, two of which appeared to have successfully reached orbit.
Analysts say spy satellites are crucial to improving the effectiveness of North Korea's weapons.
The launch would be the first since North Korean leader Kim Jong Un toured Russia's modern space station in September where President Vladimir Putin promised to help Pyongyang build satellites.
North Korea's notice follows its denouncement on Monday of the potential U.S. sale of hundreds of missiles to Japan and South Korea, calling it a dangerous act and vowing to boost deterrence and respond to increased tension.
More:
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/north-korea-flags-plan-launch-satellite-rocket-between-nov-22-dec-1-japan-says-2023-11-20/
Exclusive: France, US to propose ban on private finance to coal-fired plants at COP28
By Sarita Chaganti Singh, Kate Abnett and Valerie Volcovici November 21, 20234:49 AM EST
NEW DELHI/BRUSSELS/WASHINGTON, Nov 21 (Reuters) - France, backed by the United States, plans to seek a halt to private financing for coal-based power plants during the U.N. climate conference later this month, three sources familiar with the deliberations told Reuters in India and Europe.
The plan, which was communicated to India earlier this month, will deepen divisions at the COP28 summit in Dubai running from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12, with India and China opposed to any attempt to block construction of coal-fired power stations for their energy-hungry economies.
France's minister of state for development Chrysoula Zacharopoulou told the Indian government about the plan, called the "New Coal Exclusion Policy", for private financial institutions and insurance companies, two Indian officials said.
The plan to stop private financing for coal-fired power plants has not been previously reported.
A spokesman for Zacharopoulou did not directly comment on emailed queries from Reuters but said the question of financial investments in coal had been discussed at several different multilateral forums over the past few years.
India's environment, power and renewable energy, coal, external affairs and information ministries, the OECD and the French embassy in New Delhi did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
A source in Europe familiar with the plan said the aim was to dry up private funding for coal power and that it was a top priority for French President Emmanuel Macron during COP28, seen as a crucial opportunity to accelerate action to limit global warming.
The proposal provides for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to set coal-exit standards for private finance firms whose financing could be tracked by regulators, rating agencies and non-governmental organisations, the two Indian officials said.
The U.S., European Union and Canada, among others, have been seeking a plan to expedite the phase-out of coal, which they have cited as the "number one threat" to climate goals.
They are concerned private international financing continues to support large additions to coal capacity in developing nations, according to the plan shared by France with India.
Some 490 gigawatts of new coal capacity, roughly equal to one-fifth of existing global capacity, is planned or under construction, mostly in India and China, the officials said.
Rick Duke, Deputy U.S. Special Envoy on Climate Change, did not comment directly on the proposal but noted the expansion in coal-fired plants.
"We are pushing to set an expectation globally that countries need to join us in the fastest possible power sector transition, including all that clean power deployment," Duke said.
"And countries need to stop digging a deeper hole by building new unabated coal power plants, because unfortunately, there's still some 500 gigawatts of new coal-fired power plants in the pipeline globally, and the IPCC and the International Energy Agency have both been quite clear that that needed to stop already."
Member countries are divided on emissions abatement technologies that are yet to evolve to commercial scale for use in developing countries, one of the Indian officials said.
About 73% of electricity consumed in India is produced using coal, even though the country has increased its non-fossil capacity to 44% of its total installed power generation capacity.
The country intends to resist the push to fix a deadline for a fossil fuel phase-out or phase-down at COP28, as coal will be its main energy source for a few more decades, and may ask members to shift their focus on reducing emissions from other sources. It may also push developed nations to become carbon negative rather than carbon neutral by 2050.
https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/sustainable-finance-reporting/france-us-propose-ban-private-finance-coal-fired-plants-cop28-sources-2023-11-21/
Howdy impersonator troll
Maga Patriots outed themselves as fedbois just over two years ago, they still mess up sometimes and forget to twirl the vpn