JAPAN
Driverless trains planned
Shinkansen bullet trains could be operating without drivers from the mid 2030s, one of its main rail operators said on Tuesday. East Japan Railway is to first introduce trains where many of the driver’s tasks are automated, but they will remain in the cab, on parts of one route from 2028, the firm said. The following year, the company said it hopes to trial driverless trains on a short stretch of out-of-service track before rolling them out between Tokyo and Niigata on the Joetsu Shinkansen line in the mid 2030s.
JAPAN
Fuji activity declines
Fewer climbers tackled Mount Fuji during this year’s hiking season after Japanese authorities introduced an entry fee and a daily cap on numbers to fight overtourism, preliminary figures showed. Online reservations were also brought in this year by officials concerned about safety and environmental damage on the country’s highest mountain. The number of climbers fell by 14 percent between early July — when the volcano’s hiking trails opened for the summer — and early this month, the Ministry of the Environment said.
AUSTRALIA
Arms convention protested
Protesters yesterday clashed with police outside a military arms convention in Melbourne. Protesters hurled bottles, rocks and horse manure, a police statement said. Police used pepper spray, flash distraction devices and foam baton rounds. Police arrested 33 people for offenses including assault, arson and blocking roadways. About 1,800 police officers were deployed to a convention center where the Land Forces International Land Defense Exposition is taking place through tomorrow. Roads have been closed and traffic was disrupted by the protesters organized by the Students for Palestine and Disrupt Wars groups. “We’re protesting to stand up for all those who have been killed by the type of weapons on display at the convention,” Students for Palestine national co-convener Jasmine Duff said in a statement.
GERMANY
Dresden bridge fails
A bridge partially collapsed in Dresden early yesterday morning, rescue services said, adding that no one was injured. A roughly 100m section of the Carola Bridge plunged into the Elbe river overnight, the Dresden fire brigade said. The entire area has been sealed off and no river traffic was possible, Dresden police said on X. Rescue services were at the scene and were working on damage control to prevent further parts of the bridge from collapsing, fire brigade spokesman Michael Klahre told reporters, adding that the cause of the collapse was still unknown.
KENYA
Protests stop flights
Hundreds of workers at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport yesterday demonstrated against a planned deal between the government and a foreign investor. Planes have remained grounded, with hundreds of passengers stranded at the airport. The government has said that the build-and-operate agreement with India’s Adani Group would see the nation’s main airport renovated, and an additional runway and terminal constructed, in exchange for the group running the airport for 30 years. The Kenya Airport Workers Union said that the deal would lead to job losses, and “inferior terms and conditions of service” for those who remain.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) greetings with what appeared to be restrained rhetoric that comes as Pyongyang moves closer to Russia and depends less on its long-time Asian ally. Kim wished “the Chinese people greater success in building a modern socialist country,” in a reply message to Xi for his congratulations on North Korea’s birthday, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported yesterday. The 190-word dispatch had little of the florid language that had been a staple of their correspondence, which has declined significantly this year, an analysis by Seoul-based specialist service NK Pro showed. It said
On an island of windswept tundra in the Bering Sea, hundreds of miles from mainland Alaska, a resident sitting outside their home saw — well, did they see it? They were pretty sure they saw it — a rat. The purported sighting would not have gotten attention in many places around the world, but it caused a stir on Saint Paul Island, which is part of the Pribilof Islands, a birding haven sometimes called the “Galapagos of the north” for its diversity of life. That is because rats that stow away on vessels can quickly populate and overrun remote islands, devastating bird
‘CLOSER TO THE END’: The Ukrainian leader said in an interview that only from a ‘strong position’ can Ukraine push Russian President Vladimir Putin ‘to stop the war’ Decisive actions by the US now could hasten the end of the Russian war against Ukraine next year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday after telling ABC News that his nation was “closer to the end of the war.” “Now, at the end of the year, we have a real opportunity to strengthen cooperation between Ukraine and the United States,” Zelenskiy said in a post on Telegram after meeting with a bipartisan delegation from the US Congress. “Decisive action now could hasten the just end of Russian aggression against Ukraine next year,” he wrote. Zelenskiy is in the US for the UN
A 64-year-old US woman took her own life inside a controversial suicide capsule at a Swiss woodland retreat, with Swiss police on Tuesday saying several people had been arrested. The space-age looking Sarco capsule, which fills with nitrogen and causes death by hypoxia, was used on Monday outside a village near the German border. The portable human-sized pod, self-operated by a button inside, has raised a host of legal and ethical questions in Switzerland. Active euthanasia is banned in the country, but assisted dying has been legal for decades. On the same day it was used, Swiss Department of Home