Passengers overpower teenager ‘brandishing gun’ on Australia flight

A teenager armed with a gun was arrested for breaching a security fence and attempting to board a commercial flight before being tackled by passengers.

Police were called to the Avalon airport in Victoria, Australia, on Thursday after the 17-year-old, allegedly armed with a loaded shotgun, tried to force his way onto a Jetstar flight bound for Sydney.

The teen climbed through a hole in the airport’s fence and tried to go up the front stairs into the aircraft’s cabin in a massive breach of security, police said.

Three passengers reportedly noticed the teenager, who was dressed as a maintenance worker, carrying a gun and overpowered him before police arrived. The flight was carrying about 150 passengers. Police did not identify the teen, as is common in cases involving minors.

Passenger Barry Clark tackled the teenager when he became agitated while speaking to a flight attendant. “Before we knew it, a shotgun appeared,” Mr Clark told ABC Radio Melbourne. “I was worried about it being shot, so all I could do was push her out of the way, get the gun out of the way, break that gun and throw it down the stairs, and then put him in a hold, throw him to the ground until the police came.”

He said the teenager had “other apparatus on him so I didn’t know what his full intention was”, ABC Radio Melbourne reported.

“I didn’t want to see that poor girl get shot, do you just gotta do what you gotta do,” he added, referring to a flight attendant.

Victoria police superintendent Michael Reid said that detectives were still investigating the teenager’s motive and coordinating with counterterrorism officers but added that it was too early to deem the act terrorism-related.

A bomb squad was also called to the airport after two bags were found inside the teenager’s car, which was later deemed safe.

Mr Reid said the teenager mounted or climbed the front stairs of the airplane. “At that point, passengers have identified the male was carrying a firearm. The male was overpowered by three of the passengers at least. And shortly afterwards, police have arrived and taken that male into custody,” he said in a statement. “No doubt this would have been a very terrifying incident for the passengers of that plane and Victorian police really commend the bravery of those passengers who were able to overpower that male.”

The teenager carried ammunition with the shotgun, Mr Reid said. “It is very concerning that a person can firstly breach security, approach an aircraft and make his way potentially close to being inside an aircraft with a firearm. I can’t communicate more clearly how concerning that is,” he said.

Another passenger who tackled the teenager said after everyone had boarded, he heard a “kerfuffle and saw the pilot and this other guy tackling this young boy” wearing a high-vis vest.

“In a split second, the gentleman Barry Clark in 1C saw him and jumped him, tackled him, and got him in a choke lock, disarmed him,” the second man, identified only as Woodrow, told ABC.

He said the pilot jumped in along with him and another man came up to “support and hold him down”.

Jetstar said it was working with the police and the airport to understand what happened. “The safety of our passengers and crew is our number one priority and we can confirm there are no reported injuries,” an airline spokesperson said.

The Avalon airport was shut to visitors until further notice and all flights scheduled for Thursday evening were cancelled or rerouted.

After woman on death row, two more Indian nationals executed in UAE

Two Indian nationals who were on death row have been executed in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the foreign ministry said, just days after a 33-year-old woman was subjected to capital punishment.

The Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi said Muhammed Rinash Arangilottu and Muraleedharan Perumthatta Valappil from the southern state of Kerala had their death sentences carried out after they were upheld in the court.

The two nationals were convicted for separate murders in the UAE and executed on 28 February.

It comes as the family of Shahzadi Khan, 33, expressed shock after she was executed on 15 February in Abu Dhabi for the murder of a four-month-old child where she worked as a caregiver. The family of Khan has alleged that they had no prior information about her execution and the foreign ministry said the UAE only informed them on 28 February.

On the eve of her execution on 14 February, Khan made a last call to her family as her dying wish and informed them about her execution. On 20 February her father filed an application to foreign ministry to seek an update on the legal status of her case.

Arangilottu, who was from the Kannur district, was convicted of the murder of an Emirati national. He worked in a travel agency in Al Ain city before his arrest.

Arangilottu’s mother reportedly submitted a plea to Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan to intervene in the case, claiming that her son accidentally committed murder as he tried to escape a mentally challenged man who was torturing him.

Valappil was sentenced for killing an Indian national in UAE.

The foreign ministry said the Indian embassy in UAE provided all possible consular and legal support to the Indian nationals, including sending mercy petitions and pardon requests to the UAE government.

“The families of the concerned have been informed. The embassy is in touch with them and facilitating their participation in the last rites,” the foreign ministry said.

The UAE has the highest number of Indians facing the death penalty abroad.

Before Khan’s death, 29 Indians were facing death sentences in the UAE, Kirti Vardhan Singh, minister of state for external affairs, had informed parliament on 13 February.

As many as 12 were on death row in Saudi Arabia, three in Kuwait and one in Qatar, she said.

In a similar case, an Indian-origin nurse, Nimisha Priya, 34, was sentenced to death in war-torn Yemen for the murder of her former business partner and could be executed soon. She has denied the allegations of killing Talal Abdo Mahdi in 2017.

Her family is now trying to race “blood money” – a sum to be paid to the family of the victim – to secure a pardon.

Hong Kong court overturns conviction of organisers of Tiananmen vigils

Hong Kong’s top court on Thursday overturned the conviction of three pro-democracy activists who had organised an annual vigil in remembrance of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.

Chow Hang Tung, Tang Ngok Kwan, and Tsui Hon Kwong were convicted and sentenced to four and a half months in prison in 2023 for failing to comply with the police demand for data under the city’s national security law. The trio had denied the allegations after Hong Kong authorities accused them of being “foreign agents”.

The trio – members of the disbanded Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China – were arrested during Beijing’s crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy movement.

The alliance was long known for organising candlelight vigils in the city on the anniversary of the Chinese military’s crushing of the 1989 pro-democracy protests in Beijing. But it voted to disband in 2021 under the shadow of a sweeping national security law imposed by China.

Police had sought details about the group’s operations and finances in connection with alleged links to pro-democracy groups overseas. But the group refused to cooperate, insisting it was not.

Hong Kong was one of the few Chinese territories which commemorated the event until China imposed a new, stringent national security law in the wake of the pro-democracy protests, punishing acts of subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.

Critics said the shutdown and the case showed that the former British colony’s Western-style civil liberties were shrinking despite promises they would be kept intact.

Judges at the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal on Thursday unanimously ruled in the trio’s favour, adding that the lower courts “fell into error” in holding that it was sufficient merely that the police commissioner said he had reasonable grounds to believe the alliance was a foreign agent.

In a lower court trial, the appellants also took issue with crucial details that were redacted, including the names of groups that were alleged to have links with the alliance.

The judges ruled that by redacting the only potential evidential basis for establishing that the alliance was a foreign agent, the prosecution disabled itself from proving its case.

“Non-disclosure of the redacted facts in any event deprived the appellants of a fair trial,” they wrote. The trio have completed their prison terms under this case, however, Ms Chow is still behind bars awaiting a separate subversion case where she faces life in prison.

Mr Tang told reporters outside the court that he hoped the ruling proved that the alliance was not a foreign agent and that in the future they could prove that the 1989 movement was not a counter-revolutionary riot.

“Justice lives in people’s hearts. Regardless of the outcome, everyone knows the truth in their hearts,” he said. Ms Chow raised a victory sign as she was led away by corrections officers, while supporters clapped and congratulated her.

During an earlier hearing at the top court in January, Ms Chow, who represented herself, said her case highlighted what a police state is. “A police state is created by the complicity of the court in endorsing such abuses. This kind of complicity must stop now,” she said.

Since the security law was introduced in 2020, several non-permanent overseas judges have quit the top court, raising questions over confidence in the city’s judicial system. In 2024, Jonathan Sumption quit his position and said the rule of law was profoundly compromised.

But chief justice Andrew Cheung in January said the judges’ premature departures did not mean the judiciary’s independence was weakening.

The annual vigil at Hong Kong’s Victoria Park was the only large-scale public commemoration of the June 4 crackdown on Chinese soil for decades. Thousands attended it annually until authorities banned it in 2020, citing anti-pandemic measures.

After Covid-19 restrictions were lifted, the park was occupied instead by a carnival organised by pro-Beijing groups. Those who tried to commemorate the event near the site were detained.

Ms Chow and two other former alliance leaders, Lee Cheuk-yan and Albert Ho, were charged with subversion in a separate case under the security law.

In a separate ruling on Thursday, judges at the top court dismissed jailed pro-democracy activist Tam Tak-chi’s bid to overturn his sedition convictions in a landmark case brought under a colonial-era law that was used to crush dissent.

Tam Tak-chi was the first person tried under the sedition law since the 1997 handover and was found guilty of 11 charges in 2022, including seven counts of “uttering seditious words”.

The activist argued that prosecutors needed to prove he intended to incite violence. The city authorities last year revamped the offence so it explicitly states that people can be convicted of sedition even if no intent to incite violence.

Additional inputs from agencies

New Zealand sacks diplomat for questioning Trump’s grasp on history

New Zealand’s ambassador to the UK has been dismissed from his position after he made remarks seen as critical of US president Donald Trump, foreign minister Winston Peters said.

Phil Goff, New Zealand‘s high commissioner to the UK, made the comments at an event held by the international affairs think tank Chatham House in London on Tuesday, where Finland’s foreign minister Elina Valtonen was a guest speaker.

Mr Goff, who was in the audience, asked a question to Ms Valtonen after she spoke about how to keep the peace with Russia, with which Finland shares a border.

He spoke about Mr Trump restoring the bust of wartime prime minister Winston Churchill to the Oval Office, and referred to his speech from 1938 when he was an MP in the government of Neville Chamberlain.

Mr Goff said he had been re-reading the speech in which Churchill denounced his own government for signing the Munich Agreement with Adolf Hitler, allowing Germany to annex part of Czechoslovakia.

He quoted Churchill telling Chamberlain: “You had the choice between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour, yet you will have war.”

Mr Goff then went on to ask Ms Valtonen: “President Trump has restored the bust of Churchill to the Oval Office. But do you think he really understands history?”

Ms Valtonen responded by saying that she would “limit herself” to saying that Churchill “has made very timeless remarks”.

Foreign minister Peters said it was “seriously regrettable” that he had to take the decision to remove Mr Goff over the remark, adding that he would have done the same regardless of which world leader was on the receiving end of them.

He said the comments were “disappointing” and “untenable”.

“They do not represent the views of the NZ government and make his position as high commissioner to London untenable,” he said.

“We have asked the secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Bede Corry, to now work through with Mr Goff the upcoming leadership transition at the New Zealand High Commission in London,” Mr Peters added.

Ms Valtonen’s speech on Tuesday was billed as covering Finland’s approach to European security at an event entitled “Keeping the peace on Nato’s longest border with Russia”’.

“When you are in that position you represent the government and the policies of the day,” Mr Peters said. “You’re not able to free think, you are the face of New Zealand.”

Former prime minister Helen Clark – who was Mr Goff’s boss during his time as a minister – denounced his sacking in a post on X, where she wrote the episode was “a very thin excuse” for removing a “highly respected” former foreign minister from his diplomatic role.

Mr Goff has been New Zealand’s envoy to the UK since January 2023. He is yet to issue a response to his sacking.

Putin thanks Myanmar for gift of 6 elephant calves

Russian president Vladimir Putin hosted the Myanmar junta chief and extended his gratitude to the military leader who faced a potential arrest warrant at the international criminal court for alleged crimes against Rohingya Muslims.

It was military General Min Aung Hlaing’s fourth visit to Russia since he directed a coup in 2021 and ousted the administration of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, throwing the country into a civil war.

However, it was the first time the general personally met the Russian president and held bilateral talks, where the two leaders heaped praises on each other.

Myanmar’s military-run government had sent six elephants to Russia in January to mark the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The gift coincided with Russia’s completing delivery of six fighter jets to Myanmar, as part of so-called “elephant diplomacy” between two governments viewed dimly in Western capitals.

In the televised meeting at the Kremlin, General Hlaing referred to Mr Putin as a “king” and offered support for his war in Ukraine which has entered its fourth year.

“I believe that victory must be yours under your strong and decisive leadership,” he told Mr Putin.

Mr Putin hailed the steadily developing ties and “substantive and constructive” talks with General Hlaing, adding that Moscow and Naypidaw were “bound by truly strong bonds of friendship, traditions of support, and mutual assistance,” according to a statement from his office.

“And of course, I cannot but thank you for your very warm gift: You brought us six elephants last year, and they have already been given to the Moscow Zoo,” Mr Putin said.

The warming of ties between head of the Myanmar’s beleaguered military and Mr Putin reflected closeness in strategic and diplomatic relations between the two countries that are viewed as pariahs by Western nations and faced a slew of sanctions.

Western nations have imposed economic and political sanctions on Myanmar in response to the takeover and the violent repression of the opposition, which has led to the deaths of thousands of civilians and given rise to an armed conflict widely seen as a civil war.

Russia, along with China, is a major supporter and arms supplier to Myanmar. Russian-made fighter jets are used in attacks on territory under control of ethnic minority groups, many of them allies with pro-democracy resistance forces.

Mr Putin noted that the bilateral trade has soared to 40 per cent between the two countries and signed an agreement on the construction of a small-scale nuclear plant in Myanmar.

Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear power corporation, said the plant would have a capacity of 100mw with the possibility of trebling that capacity.

Mr Putin also announced that a military unit from Myanmar would take part in the military parade in Moscow on 9 May marking the 80th anniversary of the World War Two victory over Nazi Germany. He said General Hlaing would also attend.

General Hlaing, 68, rarely travels abroad and avoids the media limelight as he struggles with an ongoing civil war in the country, a tattered economy in the country of 55 million which the United Nations says is in urgent need of aid.

In November 2024, the International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan requested an arrest warrant for General Hlaing, alleging crimes against humanity related to the persecution of the Rohingya Muslim minority. This request is currently under review by ICC judges, who will determine whether to issue the warrant.

In February this year, an Argentine court, invoking the principle of universal jurisdiction, issued an arrest warrant against General Hlaing. Myanmar’s military spokesperson dismissed the ruling as “baseless” and accused Argentina’s judiciary of political interference

Nay Phone Latt, a spokesperson for Myanmar’s main opposition National Unity Government, said the military leader is in desperate need of international recognition and willing to trade the country’s resources in exchange.

“So, to maintain his power, he will go to countries that will recognise him and provide him with some kind of assistance,” Nay Phone Latt told the Associated Press.

Modi feeds lion cubs as he inaugurates zoo run by Ambani family

Prime minister Narendra Modi was seen feeding lion cubs as he inaugurated India’s largest private zoo run by the country’s most prominent business family.

The zoo in the western state of Gujarat, inaugurated by the prime minister to mark World Wildlife Day, is a pet project of Anant Ambani, 28, the son of Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani.

He refers to it as a private wildlife rescue and rehabilitation facility with 43 species “rescued from around India and the world”.

It is a controversial project, however, with wildlife experts questioning the sourcing of the animals.

Mr Modi was welcomed to the sprawling sanctuary, spread over 3,000 acres, by Mukesh Ambani, his wife Nita Ambani, son Anant Ambani and daughter-in-law Radhika Merchant Ambani.

The zoo is officially called Greens Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (GZRRC) but is commonly known as Vantara, meaning “Star of the Forest”.

Mr Modi “interacted with several cubs of Asiatic lions, including a white lion, a rare clouded leopard and a caracal, and fed them milk and food”, a release by Vantara said.

In a post on X, Mr Modi hailed Vantara for its work and shared pictures of his visit.

“An effort like Vantara is truly commendable, a vibrant example of our centuries old ethos of protecting those we share our planet with,” he said.

Photos and a seven-minute video showed Mr Modi playing with orangutans, feeding white lion cubs, patting an okapi, and posing with adult lions and tigers.

The zoo has faced scrutiny from wildlife experts and groups since before it was unveiled last summer during Anant Ambani’s extended wedding ceremony.

Vantara is not open to the public yet and Anant Ambani has personally led high-profile tours for guests like Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, journalists and influencers in recent months.

Critics have raised questions about the legality and ethics of relocating wildlife from various parts of India to the facility in Jamnagar with investigators alleging that many of these animals were trafficked, not legitimately rescued.

In 2021, the Assam State Zoo transferred two black panthers to the private facility under an exchange programme approved by the Central Zoo Authority. The Assam zoo was to receive four zebras from Israel in return, according to a report in The Times of India.

The transfer sparked controversy and protests from wildlife activists and politicians in the northeastern state, which is ruled by Mr Modi’s party.

Bobbeeta Sharma, spokesperson for the opposition Congress party in Assam, condemned the “hush-hush” transfer and said that wild animals in captivity should not be subject to the interests of large corporate houses.

A similar transfer of 21 elephants in ambulances from Assam state sparked outrage among conservationists with many questioning why the animals were made to travel more than 3,500km. Animal welfare activist Apurba Ballav Goswami asked, “If Reliance Group is really worried about the welfare of such elephants, they should open such care centres in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, instead of taking them so far away from their homes”, according to a Deccan Herald report.

An investigative report by Himal Southasian magazine by M Rajshekhar in March 2024 alleged some of the animals smuggled into India through the porous borders in the northeast ended up in Vantara while many were intercepted by authorities.

A report for the Washington DC-based Pulitzer Centre, “The Costs of Reliance’s Wildlife Ambitions”, said the Al Bustan Zoological Centre in UAE, from where Vantara revealed it sourced animals in its annual report, is a privately-owned breeding centre, with an interest in “endangered, exotic and endemic” species and the Kangaroo Animals Shelter is also a live-animal exporter.

Questioning the transfer of wildlife to Vantara, the report noted that Gujarat’s Sakkarbaug Zoo had sent 101 leopards to Jamnagar from March 2021 to March 2023 without making clear the reasons for such a large transfer.

Mr Rajshekhar wrote: “I asked Greens how it ensures these animals are not wild-caught, and how it ensures that the entities it sources from will not go on to acquire more wildlife to replenish the animals they send on”.

He said they replied that “Our organisation is strongly opposed to any disturbance of wildlife, whether its illegal trade, poaching or targeted destruction of habitat”.

Daniel Stiles, an independent illegal wildlife trade investigator, questioned the claims of rescue and rehabilitation claims in his article “Greenwashing on an industrial scale with billionaire’s private zoo in India”. He alleged that the animals were being purchased from UAE and Mexico.

“I think what has been happening is that Anant Ambani has an obsession to be known as the greatest saviour of animals in need the world has ever known, and also as the creator of the largest rare and endangered exotic animal collection the world has ever seen, a magnificent place to entertain and impress the world’s richest, most famous and powerful people in the world. People such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he told The Independent.

Mr Stiles implied that these factors diminished the positive image of Vantara, framing it as more of a prestige project than a genuine wildlife rehabilitation effort.

In a statement, Vantara previously denied the allegation and said: “Animals are accepted at our facilities solely from recognised zoos, rescue centres, conservation breeding centres, statutory governmental departments, and elephant owners registered as per the provisions of the Wild Life Protection Act.”

Despite the concerns, Vantara received the prestigious “Prani Mitra” National Award – India’s highest honour in animal welfare – in the ‘Corporate’ category, conferred by the government of India last week. The award recognised the work of Radhe Krishna Temple Elephant Welfare Trust (RKTEWT), a charity dedicated focused on the rescue, treatment, and lifelong care of elephants, that works with Vantara for elephant rehabilitation.

The Independent has reached out to Vantara and Radhe Krishna Temple Elephant Welfare Trust for comments.

British national granted bail in India after six years in custody

A High Court in India has granted bail to Christian Michel, a British national accused in a high-profile money laundering case, citing prolonged incarceration without trial.

Mr Michel, who has been in custody for over six years after being accused of paying bribes to Indian officials to win a helicopter deal for Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland, was granted bail on Tuesday in the case pursued by India’s anti-financial crimes agency Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The decision follows a similar ruling by the Supreme Court, which granted him bail earlier last month in a parallel investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma of Delhi High Court, while delivering the ruling, described Mr Michel’s continued detention as an “exceptional situation” and a violation of his fundamental right to a speedy trial under the Indian constitution. Despite spending more than six years behind bars, his trial has not yet commenced due to an incomplete investigation, the court noted.

“He is happy that he has secured bail after serving six years and two months in jail without trial,” his lawyer Aljo K Joseph told The Independent. “At least some justice has been delivered.”

Mr Michel’s release is contingent upon meeting bail conditions, including a bond and surety of Rs500,000 (£4,500) each and surrendering his passport to the trial court. The ED has been directed to request the trial court to impose additional conditions as deemed necessary before his release.

The British national was extradited from Dubai in December 2018 and subsequently arrested by Indian authorities.

He is accused of acting as a middleman in a now-scrapped controversial deal involving the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from Italian manufacturer AgustaWestland. Investigators allege that bribes were paid to Indian officials to secure the contract, with Michel reportedly receiving €30m (£2.01m) in commissions.

The ED has opposed Mr Michel’s bail, arguing that he remains a flight risk and does not meet the stringent criteria under India’s anti-money laundering laws. However, his legal team contended that his detention had already exceeded six years – close to the maximum seven-year sentence prescribed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) – even before trial proceedings had begun.

Justice Sharma, in her ruling, acknowledged that while the PMLA sets a high threshold for bail, the provision could not be interpreted in a way that indefinitely confines an accused without trial.

“The applicant has been in custody for over six years and two months – alarmingly close to the maximum punishment – without being adjudicated guilty,” the court observed. “Given that the trial is unlikely to conclude before the applicant completes even seven years in jail, further incarceration would render the entire purpose of a trial meaningless.”

The bail order also highlighted the extensive nature of the case, noting that the prosecution has listed over 100 witnesses and relied on nearly 1,000 documents. Given the complexity of the trial, the court stated that there was no reasonable likelihood of its conclusion in the near future.

Mr Michel’s lawyers – advocates Aljo K Joseph, Vishnu Shankar, and Sriram P – argued that his prolonged detention amounted to “pre-trial punishment”. They also pointed out that he had spent two months in custody in the UAE before his extradition to India.

On the other hand, the ED, represented by counsel Zoheb Hossain, alleged that Mr Michel had previously evaded investigation and ignored court warrants before being brought to India. The agency further argued that granting him bail could hinder ongoing probes into the corruption scandal.

The case against Michel stems from a 2013 investigation into irregularities in the helicopter deal, which was signed in 2010 between India’s Defence Ministry and AgustaWestland, a subsidiary of the Italian defence conglomerate Finmeccanica. The contract, worth €556.262m (£322.4m), was later scrapped following corruption allegations. Indian authorities estimate that the deal caused a loss of around €398.21m (£232m) to the exchequer.

Mr Michel is one of three alleged middlemen implicated in the case, alongside Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa. The CBI’s chargesheet accuses him of facilitating illicit payments to Indian officials to secure the contract, while the ED’s case focuses on laundering the proceeds of the alleged crime.

The Supreme Court, in its 18 February ruling granting Mr Michel bail in the CBI case, criticised the prolonged nature of the investigation, noting that “despite three charge sheets and two supplementary charge sheets, the investigation is still ongoing”. The court further remarked, “You will not be able to conclude the trial in another 25 years going by what your conduct has been.”

North Korean tourist village shuts down after just three weeks

North Korea has abruptly stopped international trips to a northeastern border city near China, less than three weeks after it opened it up for tourists since the pandemic.

Multiple Western travel agencies that organise tours to Rason, a city that lies near North Korea’s border with China, had posted updates last month detailing tours they had organised for foreign tourists after they received permission from their North Korean partners.

However on Wednesday, they announced on their social media that tours to Rason were currently suspended.

“Oh no! Just received news from our Korean partners that Rason is closed to everyone. We will keep you posted,” Spain-based travel agency KTG Travels posted on their Facebook.

Rayco Vega, tours coordinator for KTG, confirmed the suspension to news agency AFP and added: “We do not know the reason nor how long this will last.”

Beijing-based agency Young Pioneer Tours posted a similar announcement: “We have been advised by our partners in the DPRK that tours to Rason are currently paused. We are in the process of clarifying how this will impact your upcoming trips. We recommend that those planning tours in April and May refrain from booking flights until we have more information.”

Travel agency Koryo Tours, which organised a five-day tour of Rason for foreign tourists just last month, announced: “There has been news that the Rason border may be temporarily closing for tourism. We are currently working to confirm and understand the situation with our partners and will announce any further updates as soon as possible.”

The tourists that visited Rason via Koryo Tours were the first international travellers to enter the reclusive country in five years, besides Russian tourists.

“Since January of 2020, the country has been closed to all international tourists, and we are glad to have finally found an opening in the Rason area, in the far north of North Korea,” Koryo Tours general manager Simon Cockerell said at the time.

Last week, German travel influencer Luca Pferdmenges, 23, who was on the tour, was interviewed by Business Insider about his trip to Rason. The influencer detailed his trip, adding: “But what surprised me most was that they didn’t hide the country’s visible poverty.”

“People in the rural areas were clearly very poor, and we weren’t allowed to photograph them. Many of them were using oxen and carriages. Our guides also very strictly told us not to photograph the farmers’ houses in the countryside because they are very run-down and shabby,” he said.

“Surprisingly, they didn’t close the curtains so we couldn’t see it. The guides also didn’t deny that there is poverty; they just don’t like people taking photos of it and presenting it as the sole truth.”

North Korea closed down its borders in early 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic struck.

Rason, established in 1991 as a special economic zone to attract foreign investment, was never as popular a destination as the capital Pyongyang, which remains closed to all but Russian tourists.

International flights to and from North Korea resumed only in 2023, with a small group of Russian tourists flying in for a private tour in February. The group consisted of people from the tourism industry and “travellers from literally all parts of Russia from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok”, the Russian embassy in Pyongyang said at the time.

Before the pandemic, Chinese visitors accounted for about 90 per cent of all foreign arrivals, with 350,000 entering in 2019 alone, reported The Straits Times.

South Koreans remain barred from entry and the US has prohibited its citizens from travelling to North Korea since 2017 following the detention and subsequent death of American student Otto Warmbier.