Month: April 2023

State media hailed Thursday’s launch, which led to a brief evacuation order in Japan, a “miraculous success”.

Solid-fuel missiles can be fired more quickly than liquid-fuel ones, making them harder to intercept. But analysts say they are not without downsides.

South Korea maintains that the North will need more time to develop a fully operational solid-fuel ICBM.

This is the first time the North has test-fired a solid-fuel ICBM after years of testing solid-fuel short-range missiles. It has tested various ICBMs, but these were powered by liquid propellants, which must be fuelled directly ahead of launch – a process that can take hours.

Experts describe this is a breakthrough in Pyongyang’s weapons programme, as solid-fuel ICBMs come ready-fuelled, and would therefore enable North Korea to strike the US with far less warning.

South Korea’s Defence Ministry on Friday said the technology is not new, and described North Korea’s test on Thursday as a “middle step” in developing a full-fledged solid-fuel ICBM system.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who supervised the test with his daughter, wife, and sister, reportedly said the test would make rivals “suffer from extreme fear and anxiety”.

He also said the test-fired weapon, known as the Hwasong-18, supports the North’s aggressive military strategy.

Thursday morning’s launch was primarily aimed at “confirming the performance of the high-thrust solid-propellant multistage motors, the stage separation technology and the reliability of various functional control systems”, the state’s Korean Central News Agency said in its report on Friday.

The launch sparked confusion in northern Japan, where an evacuation order was issued and then retracted within 30 minutes. Schools in Japan’s Hokkaido island delayed their start times and some train services were suspended.

Authorities in Japan, South Korea and the US strongly condemned the move, which comes days after Mr Kim reportedly ordered his military to adopt a “more practical and offensive” manner in war deterrence.

Analysts said the North’s launch of a new, more powerful weapon did not come as a surprise.

“Given that North Korea has been testing large diameter solid rocket motors for the Pukguksong-series (a range of medium-range missiles, including submarine-launched missiles) for several years, it’s been clear that since 2020, a test like this could have come at any time,” says Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Non-proliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Non-proliferation Studies in California.

Long-range solid fuel missiles may be operationally superior to their liquid counterparts, but are harder to maintain and store, says Ankit Panda, a nuclear weapons specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. They are more sensitive to humidity, temperature and physical stress, and may degrade over years in storage.

This is an important week for North Korea as it celebrates Mr Kim’s 11th year in power – the country tends to mark these anniversaries with displays of military progress.

North Korea has been working to increase its nuclear arsenal and build ever-more sophisticated weapons. It has also criticised joint military exercises between the US and South Korea, accusing them of escalating tensions.

The latest missile launch also comes two days before the birthday of North Korea’s founding leader Kim Il Sung – the biggest annual holiday on the country’s calendar.

Humza Yousaf said he was shown a police warrant to seize items from the party, which included the vehicle.

The motorhome was seized from outside a property in Dunfermline last week.

Party sources are reported to have said it was intended to be used as a “campaign battle bus” ahead of the last Holyrood election in 2021.

They told the Daily Record that it would have acted as a “mobile campaign room” if Covid restrictions prevented other forms of mixing, but was never used.

Mr Yousaf was asked during a visit to a Glasgow nursery school when he first learned that the party had bought the Niesmann + Bischoff vehicle, which can retail for more than £100,000.

He replied: “Shortly after I became leader of the party”.

The first minister said: “The police of course give us a warrant for items that they are looking to take in their possession.

“I can’t go into the detail of that but of course the police have done the responsible thing and I as leader have seen the warrant in terms of the items that they’ve confiscated, including the motorhome that you referenced.”

The Mail on Sunday reported at the weekend that the vehicle had been parked outside the home of Peter Murrell’s 92-year-old mother since January 2021. Mr Murrell is married to Nicola Sturgeon, and was until recently the SNP’s chief executive.

It was said to have been taken away on the same day that officers searched Ms Sturgeon and Mr Murrell’s home in Glasgow, and the SNP’s headquarters in Edinburgh. Mr Murrell was arrested before later being released without charge.

Officers are investigating the SNP’s finances in response to complaints about how the party spent more than £600,000 of donations that it had received from activists.

Mr Yousaf said the public had “very reasonable” questions to ask regarding the issue of transparency within the SNP.

It has been revealed that the SNP has been without auditors since September. Accountants Johnston Carmichael, which audited its accounts for more than a decade, said the decision to no longer work with the party was taken after a review of its clients.

Mr Yousaf said he had not been aware of the issue until he became leader, adding that “it would have been helpful to have known beforehand” and that “there should have been more transparency around the party finances”.

He said he was now committed to finding replacement auditors for the party as soon as possible.

The first minister was speaking the day after the Scottish government confirmed it would be launching a legal challenge to the UK government’s block on its gender recognition reforms.

Mr Yousaf said he did not “know the full costs” that would be involved in taking legal action, but insisted that “it’s an important principle”.

He said: “Spending taxpayers’ money on defending the will of the Scottish Parliament, on defending devolution, for me that’s important.”

He said he would launch the challenge even if it was a bill he “fundamentally disagreed” with, claiming that if he did not do so then the UK government would “veto legislation after legislation” passed at Holyrood.

However, former Supreme Court judge Lord Sumption told the BBC that the Scottish government’s position was “weak” and the legal challenge would be “very difficult”.

The case for judicial review will initially be heard in the Court of Session in Edinburgh, but is widely expected to end up in the UK Supreme Court for a final decision.

Lord Sumption told the BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “Section 35 empowers the UK government to stop a Scottish bill becoming law if it modifies the law relating to a matter reserved to Westminster in a way that adversely affects how the law works.

“One of those matters is equal opportunities, and what the UK government says is the Scottish bill modifies the law relating to equal opportunities in a way that adversely affects how it works.

“So if you think about it, the result will be that some UK citizens, if this bill comes into force, will have a different legal gender in different parts of the UK depending on where they happen to be.”

Asked if he would resign as first minister if the legal challenge was unsuccessful, Mr Yousaf replied: “No”.

The decision frees up €5m (£4.4m) in funds and coincides with the arrival of 3,000 migrants in three days.

A number of boats have landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa and the coastguard has rescued some 2,000 people since Friday.

Four hundred people on a fishing boat off the coast are yet to be helped.

Migrant arrivals to Italy have risen sharply compared with the same period last year, despite efforts by Italy’s right-wing coalition government to clamp down on irregular migration.

At least four people died and more than 20 others were missing when two migrant boats sank off Tunisia on Saturday. German aid group ResQship said it rescued 22 people from the water and took them to Lampedusa.

Tunisia has become the biggest point of departure for migrant boats in recent months and Saturday’s disaster was only the latest in a series of incidents off the coast. Lampedusa is 185km (115 miles) from the Tunisian port of Sfax.

Sea and Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci spoke of a 300% increase in migrant flows and said it was an “absolute emergency” that had put Italy’s infrastructure at risk. “We are talking about a phenomenon never seen in the past. The islands alone cannot deal with this state of emergency,”

The state of emergency would not solve the problem, the minister stressed. It required a responsible intervention by the European Union.

Besides extra funding, it is unclear how the Italian measure will tackle rising numbers in the Mediterranean, but reports say officials will be able to speed up reception procedures and repatriation of those not allowed to remain in Italy.

The Italian coastguard has been escorting two boats in the Ionian Sea off Sicily.

One of the boats carrying 400 people is believed to have set out from Tobruk in Libya and the coastguard said difficult sea conditions were affecting the rescue.

It was last located by an unofficial hotline for migrants called Alarm Phone in the Ionian Sea east of Sicily on Tuesday. “[People on board] report several medical emergencies, water filling the vessel and no fuel left,” the hotline said, describing the situation as dramatic.

A second boat also under coastguard escort is carrying around 800 people. It is unclear where the boat set out from and the Italian coastguard said it was overcrowded.

An urgent alarm was first raised with the authorities of Italy, Greece and Malta on Sunday when the boat was found adrift in Maltese waters, Alarm Phone said.

German non-governmental organisation Sea-Watch International said two merchant vessels near the boat had been ordered not to help with rescue efforts by Malta while the boat was in Maltese waters. Instead, one of the ships had been allowed to supply it with fuel and water.

The Armed Forces of Malta told The Malta Independent that “no rescue was requested by the people on board”.

According to monitoring group IOM Missing Migrants Project, more than 26,000 people have died or gone missing at sea in the Central Mediterranean since 2014.

MSPs backed the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill but it was blocked by Scottish Secretary Alister Jack.

He claims it will have an adverse impact on British equality laws.

Humza Yousaf said he was considering legal advice.

The UK government is blocking the legislation under what is known as a Section 35 order.

It prevents legislation passed by Holyrood from being given royal assent if the Scottish secretary believes it would have a detrimental impact on areas reserved to Westminster.

The deadline for lodging a legal challenge to Mr Jack’s decision falls in the middle of April, shortly after the Scottish Parliament returns from its Easter recess.

Asked whether he would confirm the launch of an appeal, Mr Yousaf said he would “confirm very imminently”.

It comes less than a month after he took over as SNP leader following a campaign during which he repeatedly questioned on the subject.

On Tuesday he told reporters: “I made it clear during the election contest that my first principle was to challenge what I consider to be an undemocratic veto over legislation that was passed by a majority of the Scottish Parliament.

“And there’s a range of views over the GRR Bill, but actually almost regardless of what the Bill is, the fact that a Section 35 order has been used is something that I think is unacceptable in this circumstance.

“So I’ll make that decision known very, very soon. I’m considering, as you’d imagine with any court case or any potential court case, the legal advice.

“I can’t go into the detail of that legal advice, as you’d imagine. And as I say, I’ll make a decision on very imminently.”

Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called the decision to block the bill a “full-attack” on the Scottish Parliament, and vowed to oppose it before her resignation earlier this year.

The bill, which passed by 86 votes to 39 in the Scottish Parliament, would streamline the process in Scotland for changing legal gender.

The Scottish government argued that it was necessary because the current process was too difficult and invasive, and caused distress to an already marginalised and vulnerable minority group.

No diagnosis or medical reports would be required, and the period in which adult applicants need to have lived in their acquired gender would be cut to three months.

Sixteen and 17-year-olds applying for a gender recognition certificate would have to live in their acquired gender for at least six months.

However it led to concerns from some women’s groups about safeguards to protect single sex spaces including women’s prisons and refuges.

Ash Regan, who went on to challenge Mr Yousaf in the SNP leadership race, resigned from the government over the issue.

Another leadership candidate, Kate Forbes, was on maternity leave when the vote took place but she said she would not have backed the bill.

They both said they would not challenge the Section 35 order in court.

The Scottish secretary has said that having two systems of gender recognition north and south of the border risks creating “significant complications”.

In the UK government’s statement of reasons, concerns are also raised about the safety of women and girls given the “significantly increased potential for fraudulent applications to be successful”.

It also highlights an impact on the Equality Act 2010, which makes “sex” a protected characteristic.

A former Supreme Court judge has said the Scottish government’s chance of winning a legal challenge are “very low” and called for both sides to find a compromise.