JAPAN
JAL hit by cyberattack
Japan Airlines (JAL) said it was hit by a cyberattack yesterday, causing delays to more than 20 domestic flights, but the carrier said it was able to stop the onslaught and restore its systems hours later. There was no impact on flight safety, it said. JAL said that the problem started yesterday morning when the company’s network connecting internal and external systems began malfunctioning. The airline said it was able to identify the cause as an attack intended to overwhelm the network with massive transmissions of data. Such attacks flood a system or network with traffic until the target cannot respond or crashes. The attack did not involve a virus or cause any customer data leaks, JAL said. It said that as of late morning, the cyberattack had delayed 24 domestic flights for more than 30 minutes. JAL’s ticket sales for domestic and international fights scheduled for departure yesterday were suspended temporarily, but resumed several hours later. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told a regular news conference that the Ministry of Transportation told JAL to hasten efforts to restore the system and to accommodate affected passengers. Other Japanese airlines, including ANA Holdings, Skymark and Starflyer, were not affected. Television footage showed many passengers at Tokyo’s Haneda airport crowded into its terminals as the attack hit the year-end holiday travel season.
Photo: AFP
CAMBODIA
Opposition leader sentenced
A court yesterday sentenced the head of an opposition party to two years in jail for inciting social disorder, in the latest criminal case against government opponents. The court in Phnom Penh found Nation Power Party president Sun Chanthy guilty of the charge, which has been used repeatedly against critical voices in the nation. Rights groups have long accused the government, headed by Prime Minister Hun Manet, of using legal cases as a tactic to silence opposition voices and legitimate political dissent. As well as the prison term, the court also fined Sun Chanthy 4 million riel (US$997) and removed his right to vote or stand for election. The charges related to social media posts by Sun Chanthy, including a video clip in which he criticised the government during a meeting with supporters in Japan. Defense lawyer Choung Choungy said the ruling was an “injustice” to his client and they were considering whether to appeal. “It is very serious [punishment], as what Sun Chanthy said in Japan wasn’t a mistake, but constructive criticism for development,” he said.
UNITED STATES
Taxi hits six people
A taxicab on Wednesday hit six people in midtown Manhattan, police said, with three people — including a nine-year-old boy — transported to hospitals for their injuries. A New York Police Department spokesperson said that the taxi driver might have had a medical episode, but an investigation had yet to confirm that. Two people, including the boy, were taken to Weill Cornell Medical Center, and one person was taken to Bellevue Hospital, the spokesperson said. The other three people who were hit by the taxi refused medical attention. All were in stable condition. The taxi cab jumped the curb near Macy’s flagship store at Herald Square at about 4pm and hit the pedestrians on the sidewalk, police said, adding that the driver remained at the scene. Video footage at the scene showed a damaged yellow taxi on the sidewalk cordoned off by police tape. The taxi was towed away later in the evening.
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
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