Seoul, July 27 (IANS) The South Korean military is conducting an investigation into a leak of personal information of agents assigned to an intelligence unit tasked with spying on North Korea, sources said Saturday.

The Korea Defense Intelligence Command discovered about a month earlier that classified information, including personal data of its agents stationed overseas, had been leaked, prompting an investigation by the Defense Counterintelligence Command, Yonhap news agency reported.

The leaked information is said to have included those on official cover agents working as diplomats, as well as undercover agents, with some agents reportedly returning home due to concerns over their identities being exposed.

Military authorities have discovered that many of the agents affected by the leak were tasked with operations related to North Korea, and officials have detected signs the leaked data was directed to the North.

Authorities are investigating a civilian official at the Korea Defense Intelligence Command over the leak after discovering that classified files had entered the official’s personal laptop.

Authorities believe the laptop to be the source of the leak, but the official has reportedly claimed that the computer had been hacked.

It is not the first time the Korea Defense Intelligence Command has faced such a major data leak. In 2018, authorities discovered that an official at the command had been selling classified information overseas since 2013.

–IANS

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Sacramento, July 27 (IANS) Crews in northern California continued battling the largest wildfire of the year in the western US state, which has left more than 130 structures destroyed and thousands of people evacuated.

The Park Fire, which started Wednesday afternoon near Chico, north of California’s capital city Sacramento, had rapidly expanded to engulf over 164,000 acres (663.9 sq km) as of Friday morning, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake, Xinhua news agency reported.

The fire has already destroyed 134 structures and threatens 4,200 more, with only 3 per cent contained by Friday morning, according to data from local officials and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).

“Today the Park Fire burned very actively with hot, dry weather over the region. The fire area is currently under a Red Flag Warning due to gusty winds and low humidity. The fire is burning in some grass, brush, mixed timber and dead vegetation,” Cal Fire said in its latest update on Friday.

The fire’s cause has been traced to an act of arson. Authorities have arrested a 42-year-old man, named Ronnie Dean Stout II, a Chico resident, on suspicion of intentionally starting the fire.

According to Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey, the blaze was believed to have begun when a burning car was pushed into a gully, rolling almost 20 meters down an embankment. The motive behind this alleged act remains unclear.

The rapid spread of the Park Fire has forced widespread evacuations across Butte County and the neighbouring Tehama County.

Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said that approximately 4,000 residents were ordered to evacuate, including 400 from Chico itself.

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office reported that by early Thursday, 3,500 people had already been displaced from their homes.

At least two people suffered minor injuries, though the full extent of the fire’s impact on the local population is still being assessed. Officials are urging residents to stay informed about their evacuation zones and be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice.

Cal Fire mobilized various resources to combat the Park Fire. As of Friday morning, 1,633 personnel were engaged in firefighting efforts, supported by 142 engines, 6 helicopters, and 54 bulldozers.

State officials said that firefighters were focusing on evacuations, protecting structures, and constructing containment lines to halt the fire’s advance.

–IANS

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San Francisco, July 27 (IANS) A massive wildfire in the US state of Oregon has grown rapidly to some 600 square miles (1,554 sq km), an area more than half the size of Rhode Island’s land mass, officials have said.

The Durkee Fire, sparked by lightning on July 17, is the largest blaze in the US so far. Officials said the fire was only 20 per cent contained on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Meanwhile, a single-pilot tanker plane contracted by the US Bureau of Land Management went missing Thursday while fighting another wildfire, the Falls Fire, near the town of Seneca on the edge of the Malheur National Forest.

The plane was found Friday morning, authorities said, adding that the pilot on board was killed during the crash.

The Falls Fire has grown to 219 square miles (567 sq km) with 55 per cent contained, according to the government website InciWeb.

As of Thursday, wildfires had burned almost 1 million acres (4,047 sq km) in Oregon and 125,900 acres (509 sq km) in Washington state so far this year, according to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center in Portland, Oregon.

In California, the Park Fire has forced the evacuation of more than 4,000 residents in Butte County, north of California’s capital city Sacramento. The fire grew uncontrolled overnight from 125,000 acres (505 sq km) on Thursday to 164,200 acres (664 sq km) Friday morning, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

More than 110 active fires covering 2,800 square miles (7,250 sq km) were burning across the country on Friday, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

–IANS

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Brussels, July 27 (IANS) The European Union (EU) has announced that it has transferred 1.5 billion euros ($1.62 billion) worth of frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine.

The diversion of funds was made possible after the EU adopted a set of legal acts in May, allowing the use of these net profits for Ukraine’s benefit, Xinhua news agency reported.

In a statement on Friday, the EU said this was the first payment derived from immobilised Russian assets. The funds will be allocated through the European Peace Facility and to the Ukraine Facility.

The 1.4 billion euros allocated to the European Peace Facility will be used to finance the acquisition of priority military equipment, including air defence systems and artillery ammunition, said Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs.

“There is no better symbol or use for the Kremlin’s money than to make Ukraine and all of Europe a safer place to live,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

The Kremlin has condemned the EU’s decision as illegal. “This is certainly a reason for thoughtful actions in response to such illegal decisions that are being implemented by the European Union,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, warning that the move will not go unanswered.

–IANS

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Helsinki, July 27 (IANS) Finland suspects a Russian vessel to have violated Finnish territorial waters in the Gulf of Finland.

The Finnish Ministry of Defence said in a press release that the Finnish Border Guard is investigating the incident that allegedly took place Friday afternoon, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Gulf of Finland is an eastern extension of the Baltic Sea between Finland and Estonia, with Russian territory on both sides towards the East. The centre of the Gulf comprises international waters.

–IANS

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