JAPAN
Thousands told to evacuate
Authorities yesterday told tens of thousands of people to evacuate the quake-hit Ishikawa Prefecture as “unprecedented” rains triggered floods and landslides. A dozen rivers in the region had burst their banks by 11am, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism official Masaru Kojima said. Three people were missing in Ishikawa, public broadcaster NHK reported, two of them carried away by strong river currents. At least one person was missing further north in Wajima, and rescue workers were trying to confirm a report of another person missing, a local official said. The cities of Wajima and Suzu, and the town of Noto, ordered about 44,700 residents to evacuate, officials said.
VIETNAM
Activist released early
Prominent climate activist Hoang Thi Minh Hong has been released early from jail, her husband said yesterday, hours ahead of a visit by Communist Party General Secretary To Lam to the US. A second high-profile detainee, dissident Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, was also released, his friend and former human rights lawyer Le Cong Dinh said. In September last year, Hong was sentenced to three years in prison for dodging US$275,000 in taxes related to her environmental group. She was one of five environmentalists jailed for tax evasion, in what activists have called a campaign to silence them.
AUSTRALIA
Murder suspect arrested
A 65-year-old man has been arrested in Rome over the “horrific, frenzied” 1977 murder of two women in their home in Melbourne, Victoria Police said yesterday. The bodies of Suzanne Armstrong, 27, and Susan Bartlett, 28, were discovered at their house in Easey Street, Melbourne, on January 13, 1977, with multiple stab wounds. Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton told a news conference the 47-year-old crime was the state’s longest and most serious cold case. The suspect, a dual Greek-Australian citizen, had been living in Greece where he was protected by the country’s statute of limitations, Patton said. Police waited for him to leave the country and he was finally arrested on Thursday at Fiumicino airport.
UKRAINE
EU, US prepare aid, loans
The US is preparing a US$375 million military aid package for Kyiv, breaking a months-long trend towards smaller packages for its military operations against Russia, two US officials said Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity. Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced plans for Brussels to lend Ukraine 35 billion euros (US$39.11 billion) backed by revenues of frozen Russian assets and promised to help Ukraine “keep warm” ahead of a third winter of war with Russia.
ICELAND
Police kill polar bear
A rare polar bear that was spotted outside a cottage in a remote village was shot by police after being considered a threat, authorities said on Friday. The bear was killed on Thursday afternoon in the northwest after police consulted the Environment Agency, which declined to have the animal relocated, Westfjords Police Chief Helgi Jensson said. “It’s not something we like to do,” he said. The bear was rummaging through the garbage at a summer house, when a woman called for help. Polar bears are not native to Iceland, but occasionally come ashore on ice floes from Greenland, Icelandic Institute of Natural History scientific collections director Anna Sveinsdottir said.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
‘DISCRIMINATION’: The US Office of Personnel Management ordered that public DEI-focused Web pages be taken down, while training and contracts were canceled US President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday moved to end affirmative action in federal contracting and directed that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staff be put on paid leave and eventually be laid off. The moves follow an executive order Trump signed on his first day ordering a sweeping dismantling of the federal government’s diversity and inclusion programs. Trump has called the programs “discrimination” and called to restore “merit-based” hiring. The executive order on affirmative action revokes an order issued by former US president Lyndon Johnson, and curtails DEI programs by federal contractors and grant recipients. It is using one of the
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