By Jessie Yeung, Yoonjung Seo, CNN

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) — A young teenage girl shrouded in mystery and intrigue could very well be the next leader of the isolated hermit nation North Korea.

Some experts believe leader Kim Jong Un is grooming his daughter to be his successor as he brings her along on increasingly frequent and high-profile excursions, fueling speculation in recent years.

The exact age of the girl, believed to be named Kim Ju Ae, is unknown, but she is widely believed to be in her early teens.

The succession theory was boosted further on Thursday after South Korea’s spy agency said it believes the dictator has “entered the stage of nominating her as successor.”

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) delivered this updated assessment in a closed-door briefing with lawmakers, who later shared their findings with reporters.

Besides simply appearing at significant events, Ju Ae now appears to have “expressed opinions on some measures” in policy, the NIS said, according to lawmakers.

None of this has been officially confirmed and much remains unknown about the Kim family. Little information comes in or out of North Korea, one of the world’s most closed-off and repressive countries.

The pandemic deepened this isolation, with borders sealed shut, and most remaining diplomatic missions and international nonprofits leaving the country.

But intelligence agencies watch closely for any events that might offer a clue, especially on the future of the Kim dynasty which has ruled North Korea for generations.

One such event will be a major political gathering expected to take place later in February, the first in five years, with the country possibly setting new priorities and reshuffling officials.

Lawmakers said the NIS will closely monitor if Ju Ae attends the meeting, the level of protocol given to her, as well as any symbolic titles and other clues.

The dictator’s daughter

Western experts believe Kim has three children and that Ju Ae is the middle child, though there’s no way to verify this.

The world first learned about Ju Ae’s existence in 2013 when American basketball star Dennis Rodman made a controversial visit to the capital Pyongyang. He later told The Guardian: “I held their baby Ju Ae and spoke with (Kim’s wife) as well.”

Ju Ae remained hidden in the shadows until her first public appearance in 2022 when accompanying her father as he oversaw the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Remarkable photos showed the leader holding the hand of a young girl, chubby-cheeked with bangs and a long ponytail, against the backdrop of a towering missile.

More public appearances came in the following years, including at military events, such as a parade in the capital where she gazed out at rows of ICBMs.

Her first public trip abroad came last September when she accompanied her father to Beijing to attend Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s military parade.

In a show of force during the parade, Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin flanked Xi, walking ahead of other world leaders, forming a trio of authoritarians aligned in their mission to create a new world order, countering the West.

As they projected that stark message to the world in a spectacle watched by millions, somewhere in Beijing – hidden f

By Jackie Wattles, CNN

(CNN) — A SpaceX capsule will soon ferry four astronauts to the International Space Station, bring the orbiting laboratory back to full staff after a month of operating with a skeleton crew.

The mission, called Crew-12, will lift off no earlier than 5:15 a.m. ET Friday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

NASA, which contracts SpaceX for the astronauts’ transport to and from the space station, had sought to expedite the Crew-12 launch due to the staffing situation. But the agency had to forgo two possible launch windows on Wednesday and Thursday because of unfavorable weather along the rocket’s flight path.

The International Space Station has been operating with three people on board — well below the seven-person staff the space agency desires — since mid-January.

The new launch comes after a previous SpaceX staffing mission, Crew-11, was forced to make an early return to Earth because of an undisclosed medical issue by an unidentified member.

“NASA was ready. The team responded quickly and professionally, as did the teams across the agency, working closely with our commercial partners and executed a very safe return,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said during a news conference in January, adding that the astronaut was in stable condition. “This is exactly why we train, and this is NASA at its finest.”

Upon Crew-11’s splashdown return off the coast of California, all four astronauts went to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla. The crew — which included NASA’s Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov of Russia — later appeared at a news conference.

“How we handled everything all the way through, from nominal operations to this unforeseen operation, really bodes well for future exploration,” Fincke said.

An understaffed space station

On board the Crew-12 mission will be NASA’s Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.

NASA typically likes to have a direct handover between incoming and outgoing crews on the space station, a process that can bring staffing levels up to 11 as the arriving astronauts orient themselves on the laboratory with the help of the departing crew.

Given Crew-11’s emergency medical departure, the Crew-12 astronauts will get no such handover period. But Meir said she and her crewmates were able to exchange information with the Crew-11 astronauts on the ground.

“We ran into them several times and had a little bit of a debrief so they could pass along some pertinent things,” she said during a February 8 news conference.

The Crew-11 astronauts’ premature departure left the football field-size space station with three remaining staff members: two Russian cosmonauts, Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikayev, as well as NASA astronaut Chris Williams, who traveled to the orbiting laboratory as part of a rideshare agreement with Roscosmos, NASA’s Russian counterpart.

The situation is less than ideal. NASA has routinely indicated that a robust crew presence on the space station is crucial for maximizing value and productivity on board the orbiting laboratory — which costs about $3 billion per year to operate and maintain.

However, as Meir noted, before SpaceX began offering NASA routine trips to orbit for the space agency’s astronauts, it was common for only three astronauts to helm the space station.

“The time of my last flight — around six, seven years ago — we did these indirect handovers,” Meir said, referring to the process of conducting a handoff with new crewmates on

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (KEYT) – San Luis Obispo Police received notification of a death near a homeless encampment near Los Osos Valley Road and Calle Joaquin this afternoon.

SLOPD detectives and the County Sheriff's Coroner's Office are investigating the death and more information will be provided once avaialble.

The post One dead at homeless encampment near Los Osos and Calle Joaquin appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

The post Santa Cruz Surfers Hailed for Rescuing Family of Six After Boat Capsizes at Steamer Lane appeared first on edhat.

Por Hugo Manu Correa, CNN en Español

El cartel en la ruta que dice “Mundial 2026” está a la vuelta de la esquina, y elegir la sede donde plantar bandera es algo de especial relevancia en los cuerpos técnicos. La calidad de las instalaciones y la distancia hasta la ciudad en donde jugarán sus partidos son dos aspectos que exige peinar distintas alternativas ofrecidas por la FIFA.

Desmenuzar pros y contras exige un riguroso análisis para luego decantarse por una de ellas. Cinco de las seis selecciones sudamericanas que están clasificadas (podrían ser siete si Bolivia pasa el repechaje) ya confirmaron oficialmente las ciudades donde fijarán sede, y la sexta ya dio un adelanto de donde estaría anclando su campamento.

Argentina se decantó por Kansas, ciudad ubicada en el medio oeste de Estados Unidos, cerca del centro geográfico del país. La Asociación del Fútbol Argentino (AFA) indicó que es “el sitio ideal para afrontar la competencia, de acuerdo con las distancias entre ciudades, pero, principalmente, por las comodidades para la delegación”.

La AFA no brindó precisiones en cuanto a la logística, los campos de juego y demás detalles que ofrece el lugar, pero sí ahondó en que el cuerpo técnico de Lionel Scaloni estudió varias opciones.

La Albiceleste forma parte del Grupo J con Argelia, Austria y Jordania.

El plantel comandado por Carlo Ancelotti tendrá su centro de operaciones en el hotel The Ridge, en Basking Ridge, en el estado de Nueva Jersey, Estados Unidos. Su centro de entrenamiento, sin embargo, estará en el Columbia Park, que pertenece al club New York Red Bulls y que está ubicado en la vecina ciudad de Morristown.

La Confederación Brasileña de Fútbol (CBF) indicó en un comunicado que el lugar posee “áreas de entrenamiento modernas, gimnasio, vestuarios y oficinas administrativas con diseños sustentables y accesibilidad”.

También puntualizó que actualmente en el complejo se están realizando trabajos con el objetivo de ampliar las estructuras edilicias, además de modernizar las instalaciones y las zonas de entrenamiento.

Brasil forma parte del Grupo C que comparte con Marruecos, Haití y Escocia.

Si bien la Celeste jugará dos partidos de la fase de grupos en Miami y el restante en Guadalajara, el cuerpo técnico encabezado por Marcelo Bielsa elegir hacer base en Playa del Carmen, México.

En un comunicado, la Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol sostuvo que también analizaron “como segunda opción Tampa, tercera Atlanta, cuarta Boca Ratón y quinta Austin (todas estas en Estados Unidos), con el objetivo de garantizar las mejores condiciones de rendimiento deportivo, privacidad y calidad de vida para la delegación durante una estadía estimada de 30 días”.

Finalmente, señaló que “Playa del Carmen fue presentada como la favorita a la FIFA, al ser la única sede que cumple con la totalidad de criterios para la concentración”.

Uruguay forma parte del Grupo H, que integra junto a Arabia Saudita, Cabo Verde y España.

El combinado ecuatoriano comandado por el argentino Sebastian Beccacece se decantó por el complejo Ohio Health Performance Center, perteneciente al Columbus Crew, institución que forma parte de la MLS. Este moderno establecimiento posee un centro de rendimiento de aproximadamente 4.000 metros cuadrados, que están dentro de un terreno de seis hectáreas.

Las instalaciones del Columbus Crew poseen gimnasio de última generación, salas de recuperación y descanso, áreas médicas, cocinas y comedores, la correspondiente sala de prensa y un cine diseñado para poder ver los partidos y sesiones de video.

La FIFA le asignó como lugar de hospedaje el hotel Le Meridien Columbus, de la cadena Marriott, a pocos minutos de distancia del centro de entrenamiento.

Ecuador es parte del Grupo E, que comparte con Alemania, Curazao