S. Korea launches jets, fires at N. Korea drones

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s military fired warning shots, scrambled fighter jets and flew surveillance assets across the heavily fortified border with North Korea on Monday, after North Korean drones violated its airspace for the first time in five years in a fresh escalation of tensions.

South Korea’s military detected five drones from North Korea crossing the border, and one traveled as far as the northern part of the South Korean capital region, which is about an hour’s drive away, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

The military responded by firing warning shots and launching fighter jets and attack helicopters to shoot down the North Korean drones. The attack helicopters fired a combined 100 rounds but it wasn’t immediately known if any of the North Korean drones were shot down, according to the Defense Ministry.

Unrest: Peru arrests six generals

LIMA. Peru (Reuters) – The anti-corruption unit of Peru’s attorney general’s office on Monday detained six generals amid an investigation into allegations the government of ousted former President Pedro Castillo illegally promoted police and military officers.

Police also seized “documents and devices” during a raid of the home of Castillo’s former Defense Minister Walter Ayala, the anti-corruption unit said.

Castillo, who was arrested earlier this month after lawmakers voted him out of office for attempting to illegally dissolve Congress, is being investigated for influence peddling. He faces six separate charges of corruption, all of which he has denied.

“Through these interventions, six of those investigated were arrested. The proceedings … include 26 raids nationwide,” the attorney general’s office said on Twitter.

The leftist former president is serving 48 months of pretrial detention while he is being investigated on charges of “rebellion.”

The attorney general’s office said on Twitter the detained generals are being investigated for “allegedly having paid to rise in rank in 2021 with the authorization of former President Pedro Castillo.”

Former Defense Minister Ayala criticized the search of his home and the arrest of the generals.

Deep freeze breaks pipes, creates water crisis

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Days of freezing temperatures in Deep South areas that usually freeze for only hours are threatening dozens of water systems as burst pipes leak millions of gallons of water.

The problems were happening Monday in large, troubled water systems like Jackson, Mississippi, where residents were required over Christmas to boil water months after most lost service because of a cascade of problems from years of poor maintenance.

They also are happening in Shreveport, Louisiana, where some residents had no water Monday. In Selma, Alabama, the mayor declared a state of emergency because they city worried it would run out of water. Workers at a food bank in Greenville, South Carolina, opened their doors to a rush of water and were trying to save $1 million in food. Police departments around Atlanta said their 911 systems were being overwhelmed by unnecessary emergency calls about broken pipes.

NEWS SERVICES