Six railcars carrying dozens of South Korean officials and engineers will inspect 1,200km (745 miles) of track over 18 days, according to the South’s unification ministry. The survey required special permission from the United Nations to take prohibited goods into the North, which remains under heavy economic sanctions over its nuclear weapons programme. South Korean officials will use the study to draw up plans for modernising the North’s ageing rail lines, most of which date from the early 20th century. South China Morning Post
Taiwan said on Monday its armed forces have the right to self-defence and counterattack amid “harassment and threats”, in an apparent warning to China, which last week sent numerous jets across the mid-line of the sensitive Taiwan Strait. Source Reuters
People have begun arriving at a military barracks in Kent which is being used to house migrants.
The first of up to 400 asylum seekers were seen at Napier Barracks in Folkestone on Monday evening.
The arrivals are understood to be migrants who crossed the Channel aboard small boats.
The Home Office is using the space as “contingency accommodation”, but Folkestone and Hythe MP Damian Collins said the arrangement needed clarifying. Source BBC
Madrid’s regional government chief requested the army’s help on Monday in fighting the coronavirus surge in the Spanish capital where local authorities ordered a partial lockdown of some poorer districts, prompting protests. Source Reuters
