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Japan’s Suga Pledges Not To Wage War Again

Zoe Maven
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Japan’s Suga Pledges Not To Wage War Again

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has pledged the country won’t wage war again, making the vow on the anniversary of the end of World War Two as members of his cabinet visited a controversial shrine.

Nearly eight decades since the end of the war, the conflict remains a source of tension between Japan and its neighbours, particularly China and North and South Korea.

In a speech at a memorial ceremony in Tokyo on Sunday, Suga said that since the end of the war, Japan has consistently walked the path of a country that values peace

He said never again must they repeat the devastation of war adding they will continue to remain committed to this conviction.

His comments were little changed from those of his predecessor, Shinzo Abe, at last year’s ceremony, and were echoed by Emperor Naruhito who expressed “deep remorse” for Japan’s wartime past, as he has previously done.

Yet visits to the controversial Yasukuni shrine by members of Suga’s cabinet as well as Abe on Sunday were likely to anger China and both Koreas.

The shrine saw a constant stream of visitors from early morning, including families with children and people in military uniform, despite persistent rain and the recent spike in coronavirus cases.

Environmental Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and Education Minister Koichi Hagiuda both paid their respects. Suga is not expected to visit, although he did send a ritual offering through his secretary, the Sankei newspaper said.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said his government remained open to dialogue with Japan to step up cooperation while seeking to resolve historical rows that have frayed bilateral ties.

Hundreds Evacuated As Tinderbox Spain Tackles Wildfires

Angel Gimalo
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Hundreds Evacuated As Tinderbox Spain Tackles Wildfires

At least 800 people were evacuated in Spain as forest fires blazed Sunday in two regions, with extremely dry conditions worsening the risk of more wildfires during the hottest weekend of the year so far.

Two planes, a helicopter and almost 200 firefighers were dispatched to the province of Ávila in central Spain to tackle two separate fires there, Spain’s Military Emergencies Unit said in a tweet. Relative humidity fell as low as 8% in Ávila, according to Spain’s State Meteorological Agency, leading to tinderbox conditions.

Images released by firefighters in the region showed planes dumping water onto blazing agricultural buildings, while the Spanish Red Cross tweeted pictures of first responders bringing elderly residents to safety.

The Castile and León regional government evacuated citizens from several villages.

Reports say more than 500 people were taken to a sports facility to shelter from the blaze as it decimated 5,000 hectares (12,400 acres) of forest.

Jesús Martín, the mayor of Solosancho, one of the villages affected, said: “Our mountains have been burned. It’s a horrible sensation. Everything is black.”

Meanwhile in Spain’s eastern Valencia region, an electrical storm triggered a fire that forced the evacuation of Azuébar, a village of 300 people, according to the local government in Castellón. The military emergency unit sent two helicopters and a plane to tackle the blaze.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez tweeted: “Solidarity to the evacuated residents, I can imagine their pain and worry,” and thanked the emergency services tackling the fires.

On Saturday, Spain set a new provisional heat record of 47.2 degrees Celsius (116.96 Fahrenheit) at Montoro, Cordoba, as much of Southern Europe sweltered under a relentless summer sun. If confirmed, that would exceed the country’s previous record of 46.9 degrees Celsius (116.42 F), set nearby in July 2017.

Climate scientists say there is little doubt that climate change from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas is driving more extreme events — such as heat waves, droughts, wildfires, floods and storms — as the Earth warms.

Ivory Coast Detects First Ebola Case In 25 Years

Zoe Maven
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Ivory Coast Detects First Ebola Case In 25 Years

Ivory Coast has declared a first case of the Ebola hemorrhagic virus in 25 years, the health minister and the World Health Organization (WHO) said separately on Saturday.

Speaking national television, Health Minister Pierre Dimba said it was an isolated case of an 18-year-old girl who travelled from neighbouring Guinea.

The World Health Organization said in a statement that Ivory Coast confirmed the country’s first case of Ebola since 1994.

The WHO said in the statement that this came after the Institut Pasteur in Ivory Coast confirmed the Ebola Virus Disease in samples collected from a patient, who was hospitalized in the commercial capital of Abidjan, after arriving from Guinea.

Guinea – site of the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak, the deadliest on record – experienced a four-month Ebola outbreak earlier this year that was declared over on June 19.

Guinea early this week also confirmed a first case of Marburg virus in West Africa. Marburg virus disease is highly infectious haemorrhagic fever similar to Ebola.

Transmission of both deadly diseases occurs through contact with infected bodily fluids and tissue, while symptoms include headache, vomiting blood, muscle pains and bleeding.

The WHO said there was no indication the current case in Ivory Coast is linked to the outbreak in Guinea earlier this year. It said further investigation and genomic sequencing will identify the strain and determine if there was a connection.

Hong Kong Group Behind Huge Democracy Rallies Disbands

Zoe Maven
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Hong Kong Group Behind Huge Democracy Rallies Disbands

The Hong Kong protest coalition that organised record-breaking democracy rallies two years ago, on Sunday said it was disbanding in the face of China’s sweeping clampdown on dissent in the city.

The dissolution comes as China remoulds Hong Kong in its own authoritarian image and purges the city of any person or group deemed disloyal or unpatriotic.

The Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) was a major player in the months of democracy protests that convulsed Hong Kong in 2019. But the group said Beijing’s subsequent crackdown on democracy supporters and a de facto ban on protests had left it with little future.

According to a statement announcing why it was disbanding the Civil Human Rights Front said All member groups have been suppressed and civil society is facing an unprecedented severe challenge.

The statement added, that Its remaining HK$1.6 million ($205,000) in assets would be donated to “appropriate groups”,.

The 2019 protests began in response to a deeply unpopular law that would have allowed extraditions from the semi-autonomous city to authoritarian mainland China.

But they soon morphed into calls for greater democracy and police accountability after huge crowds were dispersed with tear gas and rubber bullets.

The CHRF, founded in 2002, espoused non-violence and routinely got crowds of hundreds of thousands strong onto the streets.

Some estimates said more than a million people marched at some rallies, in a city of 7.3 million residents.

But the deliberately leaderless democracy movement became increasingly fierce as clashes escalated between riot police and smaller groups of more hardcore, often young, protesters.

Lebanon Fuel Tanker Explosion Kills At Least 20

Zoe Maven
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Lebanon Fuel Tanker Explosion Kills At Least 20

At least 20 people were killed and nearly 80 others injured when a fuel tank exploded in northern Lebanon Sunday, burning crowds clamouring for gasoline in the crisis-hit country.

The tragedy overwhelmed medical facilities and spurred a search for the missing, heaping new misery on a nation already beset by an economic crisis and severe fuel shortages that have crippled hospitals and caused long power cuts.

Taking to Twitter, the Lebanese Red Cross said their teams have transported 20 dead bodies … from the fuel tanker explosion adding that 79 other people were injured during the blast, which took place in al-Talil in the northern region of Akkar.

The official National News Agency said that a container of fuel that the army had confiscated, part of an effort to stop suppliers from hoarding amid the shortages, had exploded.

It said the blast followed scuffles between “residents that gathered around the container to fill up gasoline” overnight.

George Kettaneh of the Lebanese Red Cross told local media that first responders received reports of an explosion shortly before 2:00am (2300 GMT).

He warned that the tragedy will pile pressure on the burns centre at Geitawi hospital in Beirut, and the country’s other specialist facility, in the northern city of Tripoli.

Lebanon, hit by a financial crisis branded by the World Bank as one of the planet’s worst since the 1850s, has been grappling with soaring poverty, a plummeting currency and dire fuel shortages.

The Lebanese army on Saturday said it seized thousands of litres of gasoline and diesel that distributors were stockpiling at stations across the country.

Haiti Searches For Survivors After Devastating Earthquake

Zoe Maven
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Haiti Searches For Survivors After Devastating Earthquake

Rescue workers in Haiti have been scrambling to find survivors after a powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck the country, killing at least 304 and toppling buildings in Caribbean nation.

The epicenter of the shaking, which rattled homes and sent terrified locals fleeing for safety starting around 8:30 am local time Saturday, was about 160 kilometers by road west of the center of the densely populated capital Port-au-Prince.

the country’s civil protection agency said Churches, businesses, schools and homes crumbled in the quake that trapped hundreds of victims under rubble and left at least 1,800 people injured,.

Rescuers raced against the clock to find survivors, with the civil protection tweeting that efforts by “both professional rescuers and members of the public have led to many people being pulled from the rubble,” adding that already overburdened hospitals continue to receive injured.

Hours after the quake, the agency announced the death toll had jumped to 304, ticking upwards throughout the day from a first report of 29 fatalities.

The long initial quake was felt in much of the Caribbean, emanating from the epicenter at Haiti’s southwestern peninsula.

The civil protection said at least 160 people were killed in the country’s South department alone.

According to Jerry Chandler, head of the civil protection agency, Hospitals in the regions hardest hit by the quake were already struggling to provide emergency care and at least three were completely full,

The health ministry quickly dispatched personnel and medicine to the southwestern peninsula, but their arrival could be hampered by insecurity that has for months plagued the poorest country in the Americas.

Torrential Rains Cause Floods, Mudslides In Japan

Zoe Maven
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Torrential Rains Cause Floods, Mudslides In Japan

A mudslide early Sunday hit a house in Okaya City in the central Japanese prefecture of Nagano, burying eight residents.

According to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, three of the people were presumed dead when rescue workers found them, and two others were injured. The other three people were safely rescued.

The Agency added that by Sunday, dozens of people in flooded areas in the southern Kyushu region as well as Hiroshima were rescued. Heavy rain has dumped on south western Japan since last week.

Meanwhile, the Japan Meteorological Agency said more rain is expected in the coming days as a front is stuck above the Japanese archipelago.

Nearly 200 municipalities under high risks of floods or mudslides have issued evacuation instructions, affecting more than 4 million residents, though there is no penalty for those who ignore.

More than 500 homes around the country have been damaged by floods and mudslides, the disaster management agency said.

University Students Safely Evacuate Tigray Region

Zoe Maven
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University Students Safely Evacuate Tigray Region

More than 1,000 students arrived in Addis Ababa on Saturday after being evacuated from the fast-moving conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.

A convoy of 18 buses transported the students from the embattled region where Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) fighters recently regained control from government forces.

At the end of the two-day trip, eager relatives were waiting for them at the capital’s Lamberet Bus Terminal.

There was also a candle-lit vigil was also held there for Bereket Dessie, a second-year student from Mekele University, who was killed by government soldiers.

The Tigray region is home to four of Ethiopia’s 45 universities and has 82,000 students from all regional states enrolled. Worried parents had demanded the federal government ensure the safe return of their children.

Despite a communications blackout imposed on Tigray by the military since they declared a unilateral ceasefire in June, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) had been helping students to communicate with their families.

The nine-month war in Africa’s second-most populous country, with 110 million people, widened this week after the government summoned all capable citizens to war, urging them to join the country’s military to stop resurgent rebel forces.

Zambia Polls – Opposition Calls On Lungu To Concede Defeat

Zoe Maven
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Zambia Polls – Opposition Calls On Lungu To Concede Defeat

Zambian opposition on Sunday called on incumbent President Edgar Lungu to concede defeat, as the first results of the presidential election give a clear lead to his long-time opponent, Hakainde Hichilema.

Representing an alliance of ten opposition parties with Hichilema’s UPND Charles Melupi asked Lungu to act as a statesman, by conceding quickly to Hakainde Hichilema, so that the process of handing over power and reconciliation of this country can begin

On Saturday evening, the electoral commission had announced the results of 62 constituencies, out of a total of 156, or about 40%, giving 1,024,212 votes to Hichilema against 526,523 for Mr. Lungu.

Both the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) party and main opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) claim their respective candidates are in the lead, citing their own tabulations.

Some analysts have expressed concern that Lungu might not accept anything other than victory.

On Saturday evening, the presidency announced that the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) was considering possible appeals in three provinces traditionally favored by the opposition, saying that the votes in those given regions had been “characterized by violence”, making the exercise “null and void”.

Melupi said the accusations were “unfounded”, saying that if there had been tension in some polling stations, it was rather because “ordinary citizens had reacted against the PF officials who were trying to act in an unfounded way.”

At the press briefing, he called on the electoral commission to speed up the announcement of the results, which may still take until Monday morning.

Referring to the piecemeal nature of these results announcements, he recalled that “in the past, this has given the opportunity to those who want to manipulate the results to do so, as in 2016” during the previous election, which Hichilema lost by just over 100,000 votes to Mr. Lungu.

Nigeria Imposes Partial Curfew After Deadly Attack

Zoe Maven
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Nigeria Imposes Partial Curfew After Deadly Attack

Nigeria Imposes Partial Curfew After Deadly Attack Nigerian authorities on Sunday imposed a curfew in parts of central Plateau state, a day after a suspected militia attack on a convoy of 90, killed 23. Confirming the incident, police spokesman Ubah Ogaba said that on Saturday, “a group of attackers suspected to be Irigwe youths attacked a convoy of five.

Police had initially said 22 of the 90 travellers were killed, but the death toll was revised upwards on Sunday.

Also, Plateau state governor Simon Lalong said in a statement that Twenty-three of those attacked lost their lives and 23 persons sustained injuries.

Condemning the attack, President Muhammadu Buhari said in a statement that this was “not an agriculturalist-on-pastoralist confrontation, but rather a direct, brazen and wickedly motivated attack.”

Concerned about “persisting tensions and reported attempts by some persons to take the laws into their hands,” the governor “directed the imposition of a curfew on Jos North, Bassa and Jos South,” between 6:00 pm and 6:00 am.

In the meantime, Police said 20 suspects have been arrested while 33 victims have been rescued.

One of the members of the convoy who escaped, Muhammad Ibrahim, said the assault happened along Rukuba road, on the outskirts of Jos, the capital of Plateau state.

The travelers were returning from Bauchi State, he said, after attending an event to celebrate the Islamic New Year.

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