New North Korean Video Shows Missiles Destroying US City In A Giant Fireball

April 20, 2017

Washington, Apr 20: North Korean propaganda is many things, but it's not subtle.

Case in point: a new video, unveiled at a recent musical performance in honor of Kim II Sung, shows missiles leaving a U.S. city in flames. In the footage, a handful of missiles arc over the Pacific, then explode into a giant fireball. It ends with a burning American flag, superimposed over a cemetery of white crosses.

"When the performance was over, all the performers and participants in the military parade broke into enthusiastic cheers of 'hurrah!' " the state-run KCNA news agency reported. Kim Jong Un smiled and waved afterward.

The clip was shown during a performance by North Korea's "state merited chorus" Sunday. Their concert included songs with such lyrics as "our proud Hwasong rocket blasts off" and "flies as quickly as a flash of lightning to challenge imperialism," according to South Korean newswire Yonhap.

It's not the first time North Korea has offered up a simulated tale of American destruction. In 2016, the country released a video called "Last Chance." It depicted a nuclear strike on Washington, complete with a missile demolishing the Lincoln Memorial. The four-minute video also featured a 1960s Western-style score and a mushroom cloud over the U.S. capital. Oh, and of course - an American flag on fire.

In 2013, a simulated video showed nuclear launches against the District of Columbia, California, Hawaii and "Colorado Springs." (In reality, it was probably stock art of Arkansas.) The country's government has also produced posters showing U.S. soldiers dropping crying babies into wells and America as a dog barking at a passing train.

State media has an outsize influence in North Korea, because most of the country cannot access anything else. Few North Koreans have Internet access. International radio signals are jammed.

Televisions are preprogrammed to only receive government channels. According to the Atlantic: "Every North Korean household and business is outfitted with a government-controlled radio hard-wired to a central station. The speaker comes with a volume control but no off switch."

This latest offering comes as tension between the U.S. and North Korea is heating up.

Analysts say that North Korea is close to a sixth nuclear bomb test, and experts warn that the isolated country is close to finishing an intercontinental ballistic missile able to reach U.S. shores. Last weekend, North Korea debuted several new ICBMs at a parade in Pyongyang, which has country-watchers nervous.

On Wednesday, Vice President Mike Pence warned that the United States would counter any North Korean attack with an "overwhelming and effective" response.

"The era of strategic patience is over," Pence said aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier in Japan. "The United States of America will always seek peace, but under President Trump, the shield stands guard and the sword stands ready."

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Powerful solar storm hits earth; will it disrupt communication, power grids?

News Network

May 11,2024

Washington, May 11: The most powerful solar storm in more than two decades struck Earth on Friday, triggering spectacular celestial light shows from Tasmania to Britain -- and threatening possible disruptions to satellites and power grids as it persists into the weekend.

The first of several coronal mass ejections (CMEs) -- expulsions of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun -- came just after 1600 GMT, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Space Weather Prediction Center.

It was later upgraded to an "extreme" geomagnetic storm -- the first since the "Halloween Storms" of October 2003 caused blackouts in Sweden and damaged power infrastructure in South Africa. More CMEs are expected to pummel the planet in the coming days.

Social media lit up with people posting pictures of auroras from northern Europe and Australasia.

"We've just woken the kids to go watch the Northern Lights in the back garden! Clearly visible with the naked eye," Iain Mansfield in Hertford, England, told AFP.

That sense of wonder was shared in Australia's island state of Tasmania.

"Absolutely biblical skies in Tasmania at 4 am this morning. I'm leaving today and knew I could not pass up this opportunity," photographer Sean O' Riordan posted on social media platform X alongside a photo.

Authorities notified satellite operators, airlines, and the power grid to take precautionary steps for potential disruptions caused by changes to Earth's magnetic field.

Elon Musk, whose Starlink satellite internet operator has some 5,000 satellites in low Earth orbit, described the solar storm as the "biggest in a long time."

"Starlink satellites are under a lot of pressure, but holding up so far," Musk posted on his X platform.

Unlike solar flares, which travel at the speed of light and reach Earth in around eight minutes, CMEs travel at a more sedate pace, with officials putting the current average at 800 kilometers (500 miles) per second.

The CMEs emanated from a massive sunspot cluster that is 17 times wider than our planet. The Sun is approaching the peak of an 11-year cycle that brings heightened activity.

'Go outside tonight and look'

Mathew Owens, a professor of space physics at the University of Reading, told AFP that how far the effects would be felt over the planet's northern and southern latitudes would depend on the storm's final strength.

"Go outside tonight and look would be my advice because if you see the aurora, it's quite a spectacular thing," he said. People with eclipse glasses can also look for the sunspot cluster during the day.

In the United States, this could include places such as Northern California and Alabama, officials said.

NOAA's Brent Gordon encouraged the public to try to capture the night sky with phone cameras even if they couldn't see auroras with their naked eyes.

"Just go out your back door and take a picture with the newer cell phones and you'd be amazed at what you see in that picture versus what you see with your eyes."

Spacecraft and pigeons

Fluctuating magnetic fields associated with geomagnetic storms induce currents in long wires, including power lines, which can potentially lead to blackouts. Long pipelines can also become electrified, leading to engineering problems.

Spacecraft are also at risk from high doses of radiation, although the atmosphere prevents this from reaching Earth.

NASA has a dedicated team looking into astronaut safety and can ask astronauts on the International Space Station to move to places within the outpost that are better shielded.

Following one particularly strong flare peak, the US Space Weather Prediction Center said users of high-frequency radio signals "may experience temporary degradation or complete loss of signal on much of the sunlit side of Earth."

Even pigeons and other species that have internal biological compasses could also be affected. Pigeon handlers have noted a reduction in birds coming home during geomagnetic storms, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Officials said people should have the normal backup plans in place for power outages, such as having flashlights, batteries, and radios at hand.

The most powerful geomagnetic storm in recorded history, known as the Carrington Event after British astronomer Richard Carrington, occurred in September 1859.

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