> Georgescu, an admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has surged to more than 450,000 followers on TikTok, racking up millions of views and five million likes in the country of 19 million people. Romanian news site G4 Media, which conducted an analysis of Georgescu's social media use, found the far-right politician mounted a "propaganda machine" using thousands of supposed "volunteers" to spread his anti-EU, anti-NATO messages.

> It found his online allies received pre-made materials on messaging app Telegram, ready for posting as comments on TikTok and other platforms, where Georgescu produced a wave of viral content around issues such as his call for an end to aid for neighbouring Ukraine.

> Georgescu, 62, finished as the surprise winner of Sunday's first-round election, knocking out incumbent Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu to reach a runoff against pro-European centrist Elena Lasconi on December 8.

> Andrei Curararu, co-founder of the Moldova-based think tank Watchdog.md, said Georgescu managed his first-round success by drawing protest votes driven by economic grievances, framing himself as a "father figure" offering quick solutions that resonated deeply. TikTok played "a decisive role", Curararu said: Georgescu's campaign videos reached more than 52 million views in just four days, mobilising younger voters. "It is clear he would not have this tactical win without the influence he gained on TikTok," Curararu told AFP -- though he added that the platform also amplifies counter-narratives, showing how it can deepen societal divisions. Curararu said several influencers who boosted Georgescu's campaign on TikTok had publicly admitted to being paid for their involvement. "This directly contradicts Georgescu's claim that he spent 'zero' on his campaign," he said.

> TikTok rejected accusations of helping Georgescu. "It is categorically false to claim that his account was treated differently from those of other candidates," a spokesperson told AFP. He "was subject to exactly the same rules and restrictions" as all the other candidates, the company said.

> Curararu said Georgescu's campaign recalled the use of organised Telegram groups in Moldova's recent presidential election, where pro-European incumbent Maia Sandu was reelected after a tense vote overshadowed by allegations of Russian meddling. "In Moldova, we saw a blatant vote-buying operation with over 138,000 accounts set up in a Russian bank, complete with territorial organisations, Telegram authentication, call centres for legal support and even 'quality control' calls from Moscow to ensure the operation ran smoothly," he said.

> The East African country has been deluged by heavy rains in past days, with the government issuing a national disaster alert after reports of flooding and landslides. Landslides late on Wednesday hit the village of Masugu in the eastern Bulambuli district, about five hours from the capital, Kampala.

> "A total of 15 bodies have been retrieved," the Ugandan police said [...] "Unfortunately, 113 people are still missing, but efforts are underway to locate them," it said. The statement said five villages -- Masugu, Namachele, Natola, Namagugu, and Tagalu -- had been impacted.

> District commissioner Faheera Mpalanyi said early Thursday that six bodies, including a baby, had been recovered so far from Masugu village. "Given the devastation and the size of the area affected and from what the affected families are telling us, several people are missing and probably buried in the debris," she said.

> Some 500 soldiers had been deployed to help with the rescue but only 120 had managed to reach the villages, Nabbanja said.

Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja

> The rains caused flooding in the northwest after a tributary of the Nile River burst its banks.

> Ukraine is bracing for what could be its toughest winter of the almost three-year war as Moscow steps up its aerial bombardment of the war-torn country and its troops advance on the frontlines in the east. "There are emergency blackouts all over the country due to the enemy's attack on our energy sector. There is no end in sight," said the CEO of the Yasno energy supplier Sergey Kovalenko.

> President Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff said Russia was "continuing their tactics of terror", seeking to plunge Ukrainian civilians into darkness and cut of heating in the coldest months of the year.

> The combined missile and drone attack, launched in waves throughout the early hours of Thursday, knocked out electricity for more than a million subscribers in Ukraine's west, hundreds of kilometres from the front lines.

> The western region, which borders EU and NATO member Poland, has been spared the worst of the fighting of Russia's 33-month invasion but has been targeted in Russian drone and missile attacks sporadically.

> "Power engineers are working to ensure backup power supply schemes where possible. They have already started restoration work where the security situation allows," the energy ministry said.

> The strikes, which came as temperatures hit 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit) in many Ukrainian cities, are the latest in two weeks of dramatic escalation in the near three-year war. A senior UN official, Rosemary DiCarlo, this month warned Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure may make this winter the "harshest since the start of the war".

> Both sides have fired new weapons in an attempt to gain an upper hand ahead of Donald Trump being inaugurated as US president in January. Russia earlier this week said it was preparing its own retaliation for Ukrainian strikes on its territory using US-supplied ATACMS missiles.

> Under the terms of the ceasefire, the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers were to become the only armed presence in south Lebanon, where Hezbollah has long held sway.

> A Lebanese army source said its forces were "conducting patrols and setting up checkpoints" south of the Litani River without advancing into areas where Israeli forces were still present.

> In the border village of Qlaaya, residents threw rice and flowers to celebrate the arrival of Lebanese soldiers. "We only want the Lebanese army," chanted the residents of the Christian-majority village, as they clapped and cheered for the troops and waved the Lebanese red, white and green flag. Since the ceasefire took effect on Wednesday, tens of thousands of Lebanese who fled their homes have headed back to their towns and villages, only to find scenes of devastation.

> While there was joy around Lebanon that the war has ended, it will take the country a long time to recover. Even prior to the conflict, it had been wracked for years by political and economic crisis, with World Bank data from earlier this year indicating poverty had tripled in a decade.

> Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah told AFP his group was cooperating on the army's deployment in the south. There is "full cooperation" with the Lebanese state in strengthening the army's deployment, he said, adding the group had "no visible weapons or bases" but "nobody can make residents leave their villages".

> In northern Israel, which has come under steady attack from Hezbollah for more than a year, there was hope tinged with scepticism over whether a truce can last.

> Under the ceasefire deal, Israeli forces will hold their positions but "a 60-day period will commence in which the Lebanese military and security forces will begin their deployment towards the south", a US official told reporters on condition of anonymity. Then Israel will begin a phased withdrawal without a vacuum forming that Hezbollah or others could rush into, the official said. The Israeli and Lebanese militaries have both called on residents of frontline villages to avoid returning home immediately. "We control positions in the south of Lebanon, our planes continue to fly in Lebanese airspace," Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said.

---

Update 20241128

> Lebanese official media said Israeli fire wounded two people in a border village on Thursday, a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect.

https://www.rfi.fr/en/middle-east/20241128-lebanon-official-media-says-israeli-fire-wounds-two-amid-ceasefire

> The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied factions launched a surprise attack on the Syrian army in the northern province of Aleppo on Wednesday. The toll "in battles ongoing for the past 24 hours has risen to 132, including 65 fighters from HTS", 18 from allied factions "and 49 members of regime forces", said the Observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria.

> Some of the clashes, in an area straddling Idlib and Aleppo provinces, are less than 10 kilometres (six miles) southwest of the outskirts of Aleppo city.

> HTS, led by Al-Qaeda's former Syria branch, controls swathes of much of the northwest Idlib area and slivers of neighbouring Aleppo, Hama and Latakia provinces.

> A military statement carried by state news agency SANA said that "armed terrorist organisations grouped under so-called 'Nusra terrorist front' present in Aleppo and Idlib provinces launched a large, broad-fronted attack" on Wednesday morning. It said the attack with "medium and heavy weapons targeted safe villages and towns and our military sites in those areas".

> The army "in cooperation with friendly forces" confronted the attack "which is still continuing", inflicting "heavy losses" on the armed groups, the military statement said, without reporting army losses.

> The Observatory said HTS was able to advance in Idlib province, taking control of Dadikh, Kafr Batikh and Sheikh Ali "after heavy clashes with the regime forces with Russian air cover".

> "The villages have strategic importance due to their proximity to the M5 international highway", the monitor said, adding the factions, which already took control of two other locations, were "trying to cut the Aleppo-Damascus international highway".

---

Update 20241128

> The toll in ongoing battles "has risen to 182, including 102 fighters from HTS", 19 from allied factions "and 61 regime forces and allied groups", said the Observatory.

https://www.rfi.fr/en/middle-east/20241128-syria-jihadists-allies-cut-key-highway-as-escalating-violence-kills-around-200

> "Stay motivated, it'll come," answered his 19-year-old contact. He went on to offer the child 150,000 kronor ($13,680) to carry out a murder, as well as clothes and transport to the scene of the crime, according to a police investigation of the exchange last year in the western province of Varmland seen by AFP.

> In this case, four men aged 18 to 20 are accused of recruiting four minors aged 11 to 17 to work for a criminal gang. All were arrested before carrying out the crimes. The preliminary inquiry contains a slew of screenshots that the youngsters sent to each other of themselves posing with weapons, some with bare chests or donning hooded masks.

> Questioned by police, the 11-year-old said he wrote the message to seem "cool" and "not show his fear". The case is not an isolated one.

> Sweden has struggled to rein in a surge in gang shootings and bombings across the country in recent years, linked to score-settling and battles to control the drug market. Last year, 53 people were killed in shootings, increasingly in public with innocent victims also dying.

> Sweden's gang crime is organised and complex with gang leaders operating from abroad through intermediaries who use encrypted messaging sites like Telegram, Snapchat and Signal to recruit teens under 15, the age of criminal responsibility.

> "It is organised as a kind of (job) market where missions are published on discussion forums, and the people accepting the assignments are increasingly young," Johan Olsson, the head of the Swedish police's National Operations Department (NOA), told reporters last month.

> Hits are subcontracted with the parties only communicating online, Stockholm University criminology professor Sven Granath told AFP. Others recruit in person, seeking out kids hanging around in their neighbourhoods. [...] Granath said the children who are recruited are often struggling in school, have addiction problems or attention deficit disorders, or have already been in trouble with the law. "They are recruited into conflicts they have no connection to -- they're just mercenaries," he said, adding that they haven't necessarily been a member of a gang before.

> The number of murder-related cases in Sweden where a suspect is under the age of 15 rose from 31 in the first eight months of 2023 to 102 in the same period this year, according to the Prosecution Authority.

> Some children even seek out the contracts, according to a report from the National Council for Crime Prevention (BRA), as they look for cash, an adrenaline rush, recognition or a sense of belonging. They're drawn in by flashy clothes as well as the promise of undying loyalty, experts say.

> "Nowadays everybody wants to be a murderer," Viktor Grewe, a 25-year-old former gang member who had his first run-in with police when he was 13, told AFP. "It's incredibly sad to see that this is what kids aspire to," he said, with some "crimfluencers" glorify criminal lifestyles on TikTok.

> There is a "ruthless exploitation of young people", Tony Quiroga, a police commander in Orebro, west of Stockholm, told AFP. The criminal subcontractors "don't want to take any risks themselves", he said, protecting both themselves and those higher up the chain.

> According to a recent BRA report, recruiting kids is part of the gangs' business model, where children recruit even younger children -- and once they're in, it's hard to leave.

> The vote by the Congress of the State of Mexico on November 25, 2024, to decriminalize abortion in all cases during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy is a significant step forward for reproductive rights in the country’s most populous state.

Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20241128075040/https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/11/28/state-mexico-congress-votes-decriminalize-abortion

SpinScore: https://spinscore.io/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hrw.org%2Fnews%2F2024%2F11%2F28%2Fstate-mexico-congress-votes-decriminalize-abortion

> Study detects synergistic effect making substances more dangerous, raising alarm since humans are exposed to both

Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20241128074938/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/25/pfas-microplastics-toxic

SpinScore: https://spinscore.io/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fenvironment%2F2024%2Fnov%2F25%2Fpfas-microplastics-toxic

> This death toll is expected to rise in the coming years as climate change makes wildfires more frequent and intense, according to the study in The Lancet journal. The international team of researchers looked at existing data on "landscape fires", which include both wildfires that rage through nature and planned fires such as controlled burns on farming land.

> Around 450,000 deaths a year from heart disease were linked to fire-related air pollution between 2000 and 2019, the researchers said. A further 220,000 deaths from respiratory disease were attributed to the smoke and particulates spewed into the air by fire. From all causes around the world, a total of 1.53 million annual deaths were associated with air pollution from landscape fires, according to the study.

> More than 90 percent of these deaths were in low and middle-income countries, it added, with nearly 40 percent in sub-Saharan Africa alone. The countries with the highest death tolls were China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Indonesia, and Nigeria. A record amount of illegal burning of farm fields in northern India has been partly blamed for noxious smog that has recently been choking the capital New Delhi.

> The disparity between rich and poor nations further highlights "climate injustice", in which those who have contributed the least to global warming suffer from it the most, they added. Some of the ways people can avoid smoke from fires -- such as moving away from the area, using air purifiers and masks, or staying indoors -- are not available to people in poorer countries, the researchers pointed out.

> The call for Kyiv to boost its ranks came amid speculation that incoming president Donald Trump will take a new approach that could include pushing Kyiv into a peace deal with Moscow. A senior Biden administration official said that Ukraine was facing an "existential" recruitment crunch as it confronts a much larger enemy with more advanced weapons, and with its stocks of volunteers dwindling.

> "The simple truth is that Ukraine is not currently mobilizing or training enough soldiers to replace their battlefield losses while keeping pace with Russia's growing military," said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Pressed on what Washington considers an appropriate minimum age, the official replied that "we think there's real value in them considering lowering the recruiting age to 18" -- in line with the US benchmark.

> Biden's White House later clarified that it was not talking about making the huge flow of US military aid to Kyiv dependent on a conscription age change.

> "We're absolutely going to keep sending Ukraine weapons and equipment. We know that's vital. But so, too, is manpower at this point," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in a statement. "In fact, we believe manpower is the most vital need they have. So, we're also ready to ramp up our training capacity if they take appropriate steps to fill out their ranks."

> President-elect Trump signaled a possible change of approach with Biden on Wednesday when he nominated the staunch loyalist and retired general Keith Kellogg as his Ukraine envoy. Kellogg has previously suggested that Washington could leverage the huge flow of military aid to Kyiv as a means of pushing it to enter peace talks with Moscow. He has also proposed promising that NATO would not give Kyiv membership for years in exchange for Russia offering security guarantees.

> A ceasefire was declared in Lebanon, but Israeli and officials gaslight Palestinians in Gaza, giving them a false hope.

Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20241128044859/https://theintercept.com/2024/11/27/lebanon-ceasefire-gaza-palestinians-hope/

SpinScore: https://spinscore.io/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheintercept.com%2F2024%2F11%2F27%2Flebanon-ceasefire-gaza-palestinians-hope%2F

> Istanbul police detained dozens of protesters on Monday during demonstrations calling for stronger protections against violence toward women in Türkiye. The protest, held on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, saw police blocking access to İstiklal Avenue by closing surrounding streets to prevent the gathering.

Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20241128043903/https://www.jurist.org/news/2024/11/turkiye-police-detain-dozens-protesting-violence-against-women/

SpinScore: https://spinscore.io/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jurist.org%2Fnews%2F2024%2F11%2Fturkiye-police-detain-dozens-protesting-violence-against-women%2F

> Adults are spending an average of 4 hours and 20 minutes each day online across smartphones, tablets and computers in the U.K., according to figures from Ofcom’s annual Online Nation report diving into consumer digital habits. The figure is a big jump compared to 2023, when adults over 18 spent an average of 3 hours and 41 minutes online, especially when you consider that the difference with 2022 was just 8 minutes.

Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20241128001426/https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/27/time-spent-online-by-adults-in-the-uk-jumped-by-nearly-an-hour-in-2024-says-ofcom/

SpinScore: https://spinscore.io/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftechcrunch.com%2F2024%2F11%2F27%2Ftime-spent-online-by-adults-in-the-uk-jumped-by-nearly-an-hour-in-2024-says-ofcom%2F

> It said the Israeli leader was covered by immunity rules that apply to states which are not a party to the ICC. Israel is not an ICC member.

> "A state cannot be held to act in a way that is incompatible with its obligations in terms of international law with regards to immunities granted to states which are not party to the ICC," the French statement said. "Such immunities apply to Prime Minister Netanyahu and other ministers in question, and must be taken into consideration should the ICC ask us to arrest them and hand them over," it said.

> Earlier Wednesday, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot had already said that France considered that some leaders could enjoy immunity from ICC prosecution. Asked if France would arrest Netanyahu if he stepped on French territory, Jean-Noel Barrot did not give a specific answer in an interview with Franceinfo radio.

> He said France "is very committed to international justice and will apply international law based on its obligations to cooperate with the ICC." But he added that the court's statute "deals with questions of immunity for certain leaders". "It is ultimately up to the judicial authorities to decide," he added.

> Unconfirmed media reports have said that Netanyahu angrily raised the issue in telephone talks with President Emmanuel Macron and urged Paris not to enforce the decision.

> Article 27 of the Rome Statute -- the foundation of the ICC -- states that immunity "shall not bar the Court from exercising its jurisdiction over such a person." But article 98 says a state cannot "act inconsistently with its obligations under international law with respect to the... diplomatic immunity of a person."

> France's stance on potential immunity for Netanyahu prompted some strong reactions Wednesday, both at home and abroad.

> Amnesty International called the French stance "deeply problematic", saying it ran counter to the government's obligations as an ICC member. "Rather than inferring that ICC indictees may enjoy immunity, France should expressly confirm its acceptance of the unequivocal legal duty under the Rome Statute to carry out arrest warrants," said Anne Savinel Barras, president of Amnesty International France.

> French Green party boss Marine Tondelier, calling the government's stance "shameful", said it was probably the result of an agreement between the French and Israeli leaders. [...] "Again, France is bending over backwards to meet Benjamin Netanyahu's demand to pick him over international justice," she said.

> Karim Khan's request to the court's Hague-based judges is the first application for an arrest warrant against a high-level Myanmar government official in connection with abuses against the Rohingya people.

> "After an extensive, independent and impartial investigation, my office has concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Senior General and Acting President Min Aung Hlaing... bears criminal responsibility for crimes against humanity," Khan said in a statement. This included crimes of deportation and persecution, allegedly committed between 25 August and 31 December 2017, Khan said.

> The ICC prosecutor in 2019 opened a probe into suspected crimes committed against the Rohingya in Myanmar's restive Rakhine state in 2016 and 2017, that prompted the exodus of 750,000 of the Muslim minority in the southeast Asian country to neighbouring Bangladesh. About one million Rohingya now live in sprawling camps near the Bangladesh border city of Cox's Bazaar. Many of those who left accuse the Myanmar military of mass killings and rapes.

> Khan said the alleged crimes were committed by Myanmar's armed forces, the Tatmadaw, supported by the national and border police "as well as non-Rohingya citizens."

> Rohingya who remain in Myanmar are denied citizenship and access to healthcare and require permission to travel outside their townships. Min Aung Hlaing -- who was head of the army during the crackdown -- has dismissed the term Rohingya as "imaginary".

> ICC judges must now decide whether to grant the arrest warrants. If granted, the 124 members of the ICC would theoretically be obliged to arrest the junta chief if he travelled to their country. China, a major ally and arms supplier of Myanmar's ruling junta, is not an ICC member.

> Rights groups applauded Khan's Myanmar move, saying it was "an important step toward breaking the cycle of abuses and impunity that has long been a key factor in fuelling the military's mass violations." "The judges will rule on the prosecutor's request, but ICC member countries should recognise this action as a reminder of the court's critical role when other doors to justice are closed," said Maria Elena Vignoli, a senior international lawyer Human Rights Watch.

> Russian forces had planned to cross the bridge in their attempts to seize the Ukrainian capital Kyiv at the beginning of the war. The Russian army has since retreated hundreds of kilometres away, but launches near-daily missile and drone strikes on the Ukrainian capital that Blasco Ventas chose as his vacation spot.

> "It's my first time in a war zone," the 23-year-old software engineer said. "I'm a little bit scared, I'm not going to lie, because you never know." He was on a "dark tourism" tour offered by one of a dozen or so Ukrainian companies specialising in a marginal but growing sector -- allowing tourists to visit locations of tragic events.

> Before the war, Ukraine already hosted tens of thousands of tourists every year in Chernobyl, which saw the world's worst nuclear disaster in 1986.

> War Tours, which organised his visit, said it has accommodated around 30 customers since January, mainly Europeans and Americans paying between 150 euros ($157) and 250 euros ($262) for the whole tour. Part of the profits are given to the army, said company co-founder Dmytro Nykyforov who insisted the initiative was "not about money, it's about memorialization of the war."

> The visits generally centre around Kyiv and its suburbs that saw alleged massacres from Russian troops in the early 2022. But some companies come closer to the front -- including a visit of several days in southern Ukraine costing up to 3,300 euros.

> But Mykhailyna Skoryk-Shkarivska, local councillor in Irpin and former deputy mayor of Bucha, said most residents are fine with "dark tourism" but some consider the profits from it as "blood money". "There are accusations -- 'Why do you come here? Why do you want to see our grief?'," she said, recalling conversations with locals.

> Mariana Oleskiv, head of the National Agency for Tourism Development, said the development of war tourism posed many ethical questions but that the market was bound to grow.

> Ukraine even recorded 4 million foreign visitors last year, according to Oleskiv. The number is twice as high as it was in 2022, but comprises mainly business travellers. Ukraine is already preparing for the post-war period, including by signing deals with Airbnb and TripAdvisor.

> The octogenarian spent 46 years on death row for a quadruple murder in 1966 but a court acquitted him in September, ruling that evidence had been fabricated. Last month the local police chief came to Hakamada's home to say he was sorry and on Wednesday it was the turn of regional chief prosecutor Hideo Yamada.

> "We feel terribly remorseful that Mr Iwao Hakamada was put into legally unstable conditions for a significantly long period of time, forcing you and (your sister) Hideko to face hard times that are barely possible to put into words," local media quoted Yamada as saying as he bowed in apology. His sister Hideko, 91, who often speaks for her brother, said they were "extremely happy that he was found innocent. Thank you for coming today."

> Japan is the only major industrialised democracy other than the United States to retain capital punishment, a policy that has broad public support. Hakamada, 88, is the fifth death row inmate granted a retrial in Japan's post-war history. All four previous cases also resulted in exonerations.

> Thai police found and confiscated 1,117 of the live and dead animals in the southern province of Chumphon in May -- the kingdom's largest ever seizure, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Thailand is a major transit hub for wildlife smugglers, who often sell highly-prized endangered creatures on the lucrative black market in China, Vietnam and Taiwan.

> The repatriation of the 963 animals -- ring-tailed lemurs, brown lemurs, spider tortoises and radiated tortoises -- is a "significant step" in anti-trafficking operations, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Chalermchai Sri-on said Wednesday.

> Lemurs, which starred as loveable supporting characters in the Dreamworks "Madagascar" movies, are found only on the Indian Ocean island, and experts say they are threatened by trafficking into the pet trade. The furry primates and the tortoises will be sent to special centres once they return to Madagascar, said its environment minister Max Andonirina Fontaine who was in Thailand to oversee the repatriation.

> The four species, which are endemic to Madagascar, are listed as near-extinct or threatened by the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

> Thailand is Southeast Asia's biggest legal importer and exporter of CITES-listed wildlife from Madagascar, according to a report from TRAFFIC, a wildlife NGO. But according to the 2023 report, illegal trafficking persists and "the true extent is likely to be greater than those reflected by seizure records alone," it says.

> The Korea Meteorological Administration said 16.5 centimetres (6.5 inches) of snow fell by 7:00 am (2200 GMT Tuesday), compared to Seoul's previous record of 12.4 cm on November 28, 1972. Coincidentally being the first snow of the season in Seoul, it is the highest figure in November since the agency set up nationwide observation posts in 1907.

> As heavy snow fell nationwide, multiple accidents occurred due to vehicles sliding on icy roads, though no major injuries have been reported. Falling trees caused power outages, affecting more than 150 households around Seoul in the morning. Main roads were closed for maintenance, leading to severe traffic congestion, while at least 22 domestic flights were cancelled, and several others were delayed, according to the transport ministry.

> The heavy snowfall was caused by the "significant temperature difference between the sea surface and the cold air," Youn Ki-han, director at Seoul's Meteorology Forecast Division, told AFP. "Over the West Sea, moisture forms, and when cold air from the north moves down as it typically does, if the West Sea is also cold as in previous years, the temperature difference is smaller," said Youn.

> Up to 20 cm of additional snowfall is expected to fall around the capital, according to the weather agency.

---

Update 20241128

> Heavy snowfall blanketed South Korea for a second consecutive day Thursday, resulting in three deaths overall and disrupting flights and ferry services, authorities said.

https://www.rfi.fr/en/international-news/20241128-south-korea-officials-say-three-dead-in-heavy-snowfall