Five dead as Seoul battered by heavy snowfall for second day

At least five people have died after heavy snowfall blanketed South Korea for a second day.

The snowfall was the third-heaviest in Seoul, the capital, since records began in 1907, the Yonhap news agency said, citing data from the city, and a record for the month of November.

More than 40 cm (16 inches) of snow piled up in parts of Seoul by Thursday morning, forcing the cancellation of more than 140 flights, although weather officials subsequently lifted heavy snow warnings in the city’s metropolitan area.

Yonhap reported at least five snowfall-related deaths in the province of Gyeonggi adjoining Seoul since Wednesday, four people when structures collapsed under the weight of snow, and one in a traffic accident when a bus skidded on an icy road.

Police said 11 people were injured on Wednesday evening in a 53-vehicle pile-up on a highway in the central city of Wonju in Gangwon province.

The season’s first snowfall brought scenes of both dispair and delight in the country.

“It’s been snowing a lot today,” 73-year-old Lee Sook-ja told Reuters at Namdaemun market, one of the biggest in Seoul. “It’s freezing and chilly, but having a cup of hot fish cake soup really helps warm me up.”

Videos and pictures showed both tourists and locals throwing snowballs and building snowmen as trees were covered with fresh snow.

However, many houses were left without power, hundreds of domestic and international passengers suffered flight delays and distruptions and ferry services were suspended.

The Seoul metropolitan government said more than 11,000 personnel were mobilised to remove snow from roads with nearly 20,000 pieces of equipment.

Traffic slowed down for commuters in Seoul and the surrounding capital region as entry was restricted to some roads where trees had fallen due to the weight of snow.

More than 142 flights suffered distruptions as severe weather conditions impacted travel.

Seoul’s main airport, Incheon, was the worst affected, with passengers facing delays of about two hours on average, while 31 per cent of flights were delayed and 16 pe cent cancelled on Thursday, plane tracking website Flightradar24 showed.

The weather also forces school closures with bout 1,285 schools including kindergartens closing until further notice in Gyeonggi province, authorities said.

People in Chungcheong and Jeolla provinces are warned to brace for more snow on Friday while while parts of Jeolla and Jeju Island are expected to receive snow until early Saturday morning.

The unusually heavy November snow has been attributed to warmer-than-usual temperatures of the seas west of the Korean peninsula encountering currents of cold air.

Neighbouring North Korea has also received more than 10cm (4 inches) of snow in some areas between Tuesday and Wednesday, state broadcaster Korean Central Television said.

Additional reporting by agencies

Chinese companies apologise after outrage over shorter sanitary pads

Several Chinese brands have apologised to women in the country after it was found that their sanitary pads were often smaller than advertised.

Earlier this month, viral videos and investigations revealed discrepancies between listed and actual pad lengths, with some products being at least 10mm shorter, the local media said.

After the scandal, amplified by the hashtag “sanitary pad length fraud” on Weibo, Chinese women are now demanding accurate labelling for the usable absorbent length of the pads.

An investigation by the Chinese outlet The Paper earlier found that nearly 90 per cent of sanitary pads were at least 10mm shorter than advertised, with even smaller absorbent layers inside.

While national standards allow a 4 per cent size discrepancy, they don’t regulate absorbent layer lengths.

In one viral clip, an influencer measured the absorbent pads inside products from top Chinese brands, including ABC, revealing that the listed sizes on the packaging reflect total pad lengths, not the usable absorbent area.

In an early video posted on 3 November on Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, a user measured nine sanitary pad brands with a tape measure, revealing that all were shorter than the lengths stated on their packaging.

Earlier this month, ABC said in a statement that it was “deeply sorry” and promised to improve its products to achieve “zero deviation”. Other brands like Shecare and Beishute have also issued public apologies.

Following the widespread outrage, authorities announced plans to revise national standards on sanitary pads.

ABC had also earlier fuelled further outrage when its customer service dismissively told a complainant to “choose not to buy” if they were unhappy with length discrepancies. The brand later apologised for the “inappropriate” response.

“Sanitary pads are already incredibly expensive, and now they’re even falsifying the length,” read one post on Weibo. “Do these people have no morals, trying to make money off women like this?”

Painting of Māori elder sells for record-breaking £1.7m at auction

An oil painting of a Māori elder by New Zealand painter Charles Frederick Goldie was sold at an auction for a record £1.7m, becoming the most valuable work in New Zealand’s art history.

Thoughts of a Tohunga is a portrait of Wharekauri Tahuna, a priest believed to be one of the last tattooed men of his generation. It was painted by Goldie in 1938, and has been called his best work by several art critics and experts.

“In 2016 we sold a Goldie for $1,175,000 which was the first Goldie to sell for more than $1m. Since then we have sold 15 Goldies for more than $1m,” said Richard Thomson, International Art Centre director.

“Goldie is probably the most sought-after painter of Māori elders because of his artistic skill and ability, particularly with Māori subjects. His works are quite simply unmatched. He regularly brings record prices and this painting is now one of his most sought-after works. It is the finest portrait of a Māori elder we have seen in the many years we have been handling Goldie paintings.

“We had an incredibly wide interest in the painting before it was even included in our catalogue,” Thomson said.

The painting, sold for NZ$3.75m (£1.7m), was first shown in Paris, France, in 1939 and shows a kaumātua (tribe elder) with an elaborate moko, which is the traditional Maori system of tattooing, and wearing a large pounamu tiki (a carved human figure made usually from New Zealand greenstone) pendant around his neck, according to The New Zealand Herald.

Purchased by an undisclosed buyer, Thoughts of a Tohunga’s auction price has made it the most valuable Māori portrait in New Zealand art history, and is also the highest amount paid for any Goldie work.

Wharekauri Tahuna was believed to be 103 when he died, and was one of Goldie’s favourite subjects to paint.

News of the sale comes amid racial tensions in New Zealand after a law that would redefine New Zealand’s founding treaty between the British Crown and Māori chiefs was proposed by the government.

New Zealand’s parliament was temporarily halted by Māori politicians performing a haka in protest earlier this month.

Introduced by the libertarian ACT New Zealand party, the bill aims to narrow the interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi, a foundational agreement signed in 1840 between the British Crown and the Maori chiefs.

Over 35,000 people marched on the streets in New Zealand’s capital Wellington to protest against the bill last week, following a Māori tradition called hīkoi, or walking, to bring attention to breaches of the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi.

What’s at stake at Global Plastics Treaty summit in Busan

Delegates from more than 170 nations are gathered in Busan this week to hammer out the details of what could become the world’s first treaty paving the path to end plastic pollution.

The talks in South Korea, starting just days after the UN’s climate summit in Azerbaijan, have the enormous task of addressing the scourge of plastic pollution that is suffocating ecosystems, infiltrating food chains, and posing serious risks to human health.

The fifth and final session of the talks that kickstarted on Monday, called the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5), aims to finalise a draft text for a legally binding plastics treaty.

The proposed agreement could address plastics from production to disposal – an ambitious goal that has exposed deep divides among nations.

“This really is a once-in-a-generation opportunity,” Graham Forbes, Global Plastics Project Leader at Greenpeace USA, told The Independent in Busan. “If we fail here, it sends a signal to financial markets to continue investing in petrochemicals and plastic production with no liability.

“Success means setting limits, creating bans, and holding producers accountable.”

If current trends continue, plastic production is expected to triple by 2060, with devastating consequences for the planet and its people.

Plastic pollution is no longer just an environmental issue. It is a health crisis and a significant driver of the climate crisis. Microplastics, invisible to the naked eye, have been found in human organs, breast milk, and the air we breathe. Scientists link the chemicals in plastics, such as BPA, to cancer, reproductive harm, and other illnesses.

“There’s over 16,000 chemicals in plastics, and many of those are known hazardous chemicals, and the vast majority are unregulated in current multilateral environmental agreements,” professor Trisia Farrelly, senior research scientist at Cawthron Institute and coordinator of the Scientists’ Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty, said.

At the same time, the connection between plastics and the climate crisis is becoming harder to ignore. More than 98 per cent of plastics are derived from fossil fuels, and the production process emits significant greenhouse gases.

“Plastics are blowing out the carbon budget,” Bjorn Beeler, executive director of the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN), told The Independent.

“If we continue at this speed, we will not reach where we need to go. The clock does not stop, and it is time to expedite the process,” Inger Andersen, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, said.

“We entered this with a combination text of 77 pages, and we are now talking about article numbers and headings. Is it simple? No. Are there differences in views? Of course. But we are a lot further than when we started.

“The frustration in the room is powerful. It’s very simple: we have to deliver this treaty by Sunday,” Mr Andersen said.

The treaty is seen as a critical step in addressing these overlapping crises. Without intervention, a 2024 report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development projects that global plastic production will soar from 435 million tonnes in 2020 to 736 million tonnes by 2040, with recycling unable to keep pace.

At the heart of the negotiations is a fundamental question: Should the treaty tackle the full life cycle of plastics or focus on managing waste?

Countries in the High Ambition Coalition, including many African, Asian, and European nations, are pushing for strong production caps, bans on toxic chemicals, and commitments to phase out single-use plastics. They argue that addressing the root causes of plastic pollution is the only way to stem its rapid growth.

On the other side are nations with significant fossil fuel and petrochemical industries, such as Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the United States. These countries favour an approach centred on recycling and waste management, avoiding any measures that might restrict plastic production.

“It’s absurd to let the people responsible for causing the problem dictate the solutions,” Mr Forbes said. “We need mandatory, legally binding global targets to reduce plastic production. Voluntary measures have proven to be completely inadequate.”

The stakes are particularly high for the fossil fuel industry. As demand for oil and gas declines in the energy sector, plastics and other petrochemicals have become a crucial market for oil producers. Without production caps, the industry is poised to expand plastic manufacturing further, exacerbating pollution and emissions.

Plastic’s impact extends far beyond littered beaches and clogged rivers. “We’re recycling toxic chemicals again and again,” Mr Beeler explained. “Exposure increases with each cycle, and the health impacts – cancer, infertility, developmental disorders – are only going to escalate.”

For small island states and developing nations, the burden of plastic pollution is an equity issue. Micronesia’s legal adviser, Dennis Clare, pointed out that these nations contribute little to global plastic waste but bear its worst impacts, from polluted coastlines to economic damage in fisheries and tourism.

“If the countries with the most wealth and resources take a pass, it’s an inequitable burden shift,” Mr Clare said.

As negotiators debate behind closed doors, civil society groups are making their voices heard in Busan. Greenpeace activists unfurled a massive banner featuring an eye composed of thousands of portraits, symbolising the global public’s watchful gaze.

“This is a make-or-break moment,” said Hellen Kahaso Dena, Pan-African Plastics project lead at Greenpeace Africa. “Will our leaders rise to the occasion or dance to the tune of fossil fuel lobbyists?”

A petition launched by Greenpeace demanding strong production caps has amassed nearly three million signatures, reflecting widespread public demand for decisive action. But frustration is growing over the slow pace of negotiations and the influence of industry interests.

“This treaty isn’t just about plastic,” Mr Forbes said. “It’s about creating accountability for industries and governments that have contributed to this crisis. The world is watching.”

Negotiations have been fraught with delays and political roadblocks. Midway through the talks, there is still no consensus on the text of the treaty, and delegates are scrambling to bridge the divide between opposing camps.

“The meeting is being held hostage by oil states that refuse to move forward,” Mr Beeler said. “We’re halfway through, and there’s still no draft text. At this rate, it’s impossible to deliver a meaningful agreement by the end of the week.”

Even within the High Ambition Coalition, questions remain about the strength of Europe’s commitment to production caps. “If they sleepwalk through this, they’ll take everyone else off the cliff with them,” Mr Beeler warned.

“It’s not just about cleaner oceans,” Mr Beeler said. “It’s about whether we can survive the toxic tide of plastic that’s already overwhelming us. The time for action is now.”

Japan launches ‘drinkable mayonnaise’ for fans of mayo

Love mayo and can’t get enough of it? You might be interested in the latest food that’s made its way to Japan’s convenience stores – drinkable mayonnaise.

Convenience-store chain Lawson has launched Nomu mayo, or drinkable mayonnaise, which comes packed in a sleek, upmarket cup adorned with a whimsical squeeze-bottle illustration. Priced at ¥198 (£1.04) for 200ml, Lawson describes it as “the chilled drink mayo fanatics have long been waiting for”, according to Sora News24.

Mayo is used heavily in sandwiches and pizzas in the country, as well as in traditional Japanese food like sushi and onigiri (rice balls).

The only catch for pedantic mayonnaise lovers is that the label clarifies that Nomu mayo is a “mayonnaise-style drink” and “not mayonnaise”.

Currently in a “test sale period”, it still remains to be seen if Nomu mayo actually appeals to Japanese customers, who are used to the thicker and richer taste of Japanese mayo, as opposed to more Western varieties.

Reviews on social media suggest it tastes exactly like mayonnaise, and Gigazine’s review clarified that it has “foods whose main ingredient is milk, mayonnaise-flavored seasoning”, and “processed whole eggs”.

“Drinkable mayo?! It’s unbelievably bad! Avoid at all costs! No true mayo lover would enjoy this! Why the heck did they make this???” posted one customer on X.

“I don’t mind mayonnaise but this is a step too far. Necessity is not always the mother of invention,” posted another.

A customer who tried it posted a review on Reddit, writing: “I just tried it and it’s awful, just like you’d expect. Liquid mayo, salty, mayo-y, maybe a bit dilly? Not sure about the last one, but I couldn’t handle more than one sip.”

Another posted on Reddit: “As much as I cringeingly love Japanese mayo… This made me gag just thinking of it.”

Convenience stores in Japan, known as konbini, are almost an institution unto themselves, selling not just a wide range of food, beverages, daily groceries, but also function as multipurpose terminals for tickets and other services.

It is not uncommon to see tourists inside Japanese convenience stores posing for photos in front of the neatly lined stacks of instant ramen and onigiri, and many people know the iconic Lawson’s konbini in front of Mount Fuji that influencers love.

With over 56,000 konbini spread across Japan, the different chains are in near-constant competition to woo customers by trying to maintain a diverse and creative inventory.

Train conductor’s toilet break disrupts morning commute for 125 trains

A four-minute toilet stop by a subway conductor on Seoul’s Line 2 during rush hour delayed 125 trains and affected hundreds of passengers on Monday morning, according to reports.

The incident occurred at 8.11am in South Korea when the conductor, operating a train on the outer loop of the circular route, made an urgent stop at a station to use a restroom located on another floor.

While the train remained stationary, an engineer stood guard until the conductor returned four minutes and 16 seconds later, Seoul Metro reported, according to the Korea Herald.

Although trains continued to run at regular intervals, the necessary rescheduling resulted in delays of up to 20 minutes for 125 subsequent trains. Seoul Metro noted that the disruption was largely mitigated, and most passengers experienced minimal inconvenience.

Conductors on circular lines typically operate for two to three hours without breaks, Seoul Metro stated. While portable toilets are available for emergencies, in some cases, staff are compelled to seek restrooms far from platforms.

Social media users took to X, expressing concerns about labour rights and demanded additional mechanisms to mitigate such circumstances.

“This incident shows the realistic limitations of a one-man system,” wrote a user on X in Korean. “Although train punctuality and passenger safety are top priorities, a structure that requires one person to take responsibility for everything alone will inevitably reveal its limitations in an emergency situation. To solve this, it seems necessary to establish a system that can deploy support personnel in an emergency situation.”

“If we hire enough people so that there are no delays when going to the bathroom and protect workers’ rights, the system will run smoothly without any problems. What the heck, it has to be open until bathroom hours?” wrote another user.

The incident comes days after government data revealed that 33 Seoul subway conductors were caught operating the train while under the influence of alcohol. The alcohol content in their blood ranged from 0.02 per cent to 0.29 per cent, revealed Seoul Metro data submitted to Seoul Metropolitan Council.

However, only three faced punitive action, reported the Korea Herald. Two were received a month long suspensions and others received deducted wages.

Sydney woman charged after ‘attempt to drown her children’

A 37-year-old woman has been charged with attempting to drown her two young girls in Sydney’s south-west in September last year.

Emergency services were first called to Riverpark Drive, Liverpool, at about 10.30am, where the woman was found critically injured after falling from Light Horse Bridge on 11 September 2023.

Later that day, two girls, aged 7 and 8, were rescued from Sydney’s Georges River by a passerby and taken to the hospital for assessment. Police alleged she threw the children into the river.

Paramedics treated the then 36-year-old woman before she was transported to a hospital in critical condition.

“Officers attended and were told two girls – aged seven and eight – had been rescued from the river by a passer-by,” a statement from NSW Police read.

Police established a crime scene and have been investigating the incident ever since.

On Wednesday, the woman was arrested upon her release from the hospital and charged with two counts of attempted murder. She was taken to Liverpool police station, where she was charged with two counts of attempting to drown a person with intent to murder, police said.

“Police will allege in court the woman threw the two girls into the water,” a police statement read.

The 37-year-old was refused bail and appeared before Liverpool local court on Wednesday.

In 2019, a woman identified as Tanja Ludwig and her two-year-old daughter died after going over a cliff at Robertson Lookout near Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia. Authorities investigated the incident as a potential murder-suicide.

Kathleen Folbigg, once labelled Australia’s worst female serial killer, was exonerated last year two decades after her conviction for killing her four young children between 1989 and 1999.

Uniqlo boss says retailer does not use Xinjiang cotton

Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo does not use cotton from the Xinjiang region in northwest China, the company’s boss said.

Fast Retailing’s chief executive Tadashi Yanai broke his silence on the supply of fabric for his brand’s clothing for the first time amid allegations of human rights violations in the supply chain and concerns over forced labour in Xinjiang, which produces some of the world’s best cotton.

Companies that buy clothing, cotton, tomatoes and other goods from Xinjiang have come under pressure from Western consumers over the alleged genocide of the minority Uyghurs and Hui Muslims under the Xi Jinping administration over the past decade.

Beijing has routinely denied allegations of “crimes against humanity”, calling them the “lie of the century”.

The violations have prompted Western nations, led by the US, to impose tough regulations on the import of goods from Xinjiang in 2022. Several global brands, such as H&M, Nike, Tommy Hilfiger and Adidas have faced backlash in China for removing products using Xinjiang cotton from their shelves expressing concern for the alleged use of forced labour.

Uniqlo, which has 2,500 stores worldwide, had remained neutral “between the US and China” over the Xinjiang row to keep the business floating in the Asian country with the second-largest population in the world.

“We’re not using [cotton from Xinjiang],” Mr Yanai told BBC in Tokyo. “By mentioning which cotton we’re using … actually, it gets too political if I say anymore so let’s stop here,” he said without adding further details.

A US federal report published in 2022 estimated that cotton from Xinjiang accounted for roughly 87 per cent of China’s production and 23 per cent of the global supply in 2020 and 2021.

Mr Yanai said Uniqlo “was not a known brand globally” and China and the Asian subcontinent were still the brand’s biggest market. In November this year, he told the Associated Press that “there is more potential for growth in Europe and the US, as well as China and India, given the 1.4 billion population in each country”.

He told the BBC that there were only 900 to 1000 stores for China’s mammoth population. “I think we can increase that to 3,000,”

Uniqlo’s parent company Fast Retailing had earlier in 2021 claimed that the company does not use any materials linked to human rights violations.

Meanwhile, Volkswagen on Wednesday said it will sell all its operations in China’s Xinjiang after years of mounting pressure to abandon its presence in the region. The carmaker announced the decision at the same time as saying it would extend its partnership with Chinese partner SAIC by a decade to 2040.

Rights groups hailed Volkswagen’s decision to exit Xinjiang as a “positive step, albeit long overdue”.

“Car companies should map their supply chains and disengage from any supplier sourcing material directly or indirectly from Xinjiang,” said Jim Wormington, senior researcher and advocate in the Economic Justice and Rights Division at Human Rights Watch.