Tokyo residents dug themselves out from under a record snowfall that left at least seven dead nationwide, as the weather appeared to slow voter turnout in the election for the Japanese capital’s next governor.
Central Tokyo was left under 24cm of snow yesterday morning after Saturday’s storm, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Public broadcaster NHK said the snowfall was the heaviest in 45 years. Other parts of greater Tokyo saw as much as 50cm, a record for the region, the meteorological agency said.
Photo: EPA
The snow, which disrupted flights, train service and power lines, was blamed for seven deaths and at least 1,000 injuries across the country, NHK said.
The fatalities included a 50-year-old man who was driving a car that slid into a pole in central Japan’s Aichi Prefecture and a 69-year-old man who collapsed while shoveling snow outside his home in Chiba Prefecture near Tokyo.
The accumulation appeared to affect turnout for Tokyo’s gubernatorial election, with 4.1 percent of eligible voters having cast ballots as of 11am, down eight points from the same time during elections three years earlier, NHK reported.
Former Japanese health minister Yoichi Masuzoe was leading the race, according to a survey conducted by the Nikkei newspaper from Jan. 30 to Feb. 2. Masuzoe remained ahead of former Japanese prime minister Morihiro Hosokawa and Kenji Utsunomiya, the former head of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations.
Japan Airlines halted 122 domestic flights due to the weather yesterday as of 12:30pm, affecting more than 20,000 passengers, according to a faxed statement. ANA Holdings said it had halted 101 flights, affecting about 15,000 passengers, as of 10:30am
Train lines operated by East Japan Railway may be delayed by 30 minutes or longer, the company said on its Web site. Central Japan Railway also announced some delays and suspensions.
Parts of Tokyo Electric Power Co’s service area saw sporadic power outages yesterday morning due to the snow, the company said on its Web site. All service had been restored as of 9am.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
IN PURSUIT: Israel’s defense minister said the revenge attacks by Israeli settlers would make it difficult for security forces to find those responsible for the 14-year-old’s death Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday condemned the “heinous murder” of an Israeli teenager in the occupied West Bank as attacks on Palestinian villages intensified following news of his death. After Benjamin Achimeir, 14, was reported missing near Ramallah on Friday, hundreds of Jewish settlers backed by Israeli forces raided nearby Palestinian villages, torching vehicles and homes, leaving at least one villager dead and dozens wounded. The attacks escalated in several villages on Saturday after Achimeir’s body was found near the Malachi Hashalom outpost. Agence France-Presse correspondents saw smoke rising from burned houses and fields. Mayor Amin Abu Alyah, of the