| | | | | | | Hello. About 1,000 people used to escape from North Korea each year. Now it's limited to a handful. Jean Mackenzie hears from one man about his dramatic defection to the South - and about how desperate life had become in his homeland. As a political standoff in the US threatens to stall aid to Ukraine, Jessica Parker finds the mood darkening in Kyiv. And take a stroll down memory lane, with a reminder of must-have toys of Christmases past. |
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| | | | Get up to speed | | • | With house-to-house fighting reported in Gaza, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has warned Security Council members of a "severe risk of humanitarian collapse". Get the latest. | | • | Former US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted from the role in October, has said he will retire from Congress at the end of December. | | • | US prosecutors say they have charged four Russian soldiers with war crimes for allegedly abducting and torturing a US citizen living in Ukraine. |
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| AT THE SCENE |  Seoul, South Korea | | A daring escape from North Korea |  | | Mr Kim described repression and starvation in his village during the Covid pandemic. Credit: BBC | | Defections from North to South Korea have become extremely rare - and almost impossible by sea. However, in an interview offering rare insight into life in the North, one man tells us how he managed to flee with his entire family. While the BBC cannot independently verify all of his account, much of the detail tallies with information from other sources. |  | | Jean Mackenzie, Seoul correspondent |
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| The night of the escape was a turbulent one. Fierce winds swept up from the south, bringing a storm in their wake. This was all part of Mr Kim's plan. The rough seas would force any surveillance ships to retreat, he hoped. He had been dreaming of this night for years, planning it meticulously for months, but this did little to temper his fear. His brother's children were asleep, knocked out by sleeping pills. He and his brother now had to carry them through a minefield in the dark, to where their getaway boat was secretly moored.
They inched along, careful to avoid the beams from the guards' searchlights. Once they reached the boat, they hid the children in old grain sacks, disguising them to look like bags of tools. With that, the family set sail for South Korea: the men armed with swords, the women with poison. Each clutched a single eggshell, hollowed out and filled with chilli powder and black sand, to crack into the faces of the coastguards if a confrontation ensued. |
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| Questions Answered | | Mood dims in Kyiv as US stand-off imperils war effort |  | | The EU and US have committed most aid to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion. Credit: BBC |
| | The White House has warned that US aid for Ukraine could run out by January. And with Republicans expected to block legislation partly intended to provide Kyiv with $61bn (£46bn) in support, there are concerns in Ukraine about wavering support from the West. |  | | Jessica Parker, BBC News, Kyiv |
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| | What has been the reaction in Kyiv? | | While officials are outwardly positive - and a sense of public defiance remains - you can also detect a darker mood. "Confidence in victory has become a bit thinner than it was a year ago," says Iryna, who is with her husband Oleksandr, on Kontraktova Square. "We really need help from abroad, because it's very hard for us." | | What does Ukraine need? | | Oleksandr Musiienko, at Kyiv's Centre for Military and Legal Studies, says it will be important not to let the Russians "rest" this winter. Long-range strikes in occupied territory and localised offensive operations must continue, he believes, while Ukraine could prepare for a fresh offensive next year. "We need long-range missiles, drones and more artillery shells." | | What about funding from elsewhere? | | Plans to sign off €50bn (£43bn; $54bn) in EU economic assistance, and start formal talks for Ukraine to one day join the EU, are also in doubt. "Everything is in danger," said one Brussels diplomat, as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban - who has kept up bilateral ties with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin - has threatened to veto the proposals ahead of a summit next week. | | | | • | In Washington: US President Joe Biden is urging Congress to pass an aid bill for Ukraine, offering Republicans southern border compromises to push it through. Get the latest. | | • | Assassination: Ukraine's SBU security service has shot dead a former MP who fled to Russia, after publicly calling for the occupation, law enforcement sources have told BBC Ukraine. |
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| | The big picture | | Inside the secret complex making gadgets for spies |  | | It’s the first time Hanslope Park has opened its doors to the media. Credit: BBC |
| | Getting locked in to Stargate feels like being in a "modern version of a medieval torture chamber", according to our security correspondent Gordon Corera. In reality, the container is used to test patterns emitted by communication devices. It's among the many intriguing sights he found at Hanslope Park, the secret complex that makes gadgets for British spies. | | | | |
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| | | For your downtime | | Festive must-haves | | How some toys become the one-year hit of Christmas. | | |
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| | And finally... | | Four members of the Korean boy band BTS will soon enlist for their mandatory military service. But before doing so, they had one request for fans: please don’t show up at army bases. Or, as member RM put it more graciously in a video message: “I would appreciate if you avoid coming to see us on the day.” |
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