The mayors of three towns on a Japanese island reportedly slated to host a US military base said yesterday they will write to US President Barack Obama to tell him they reject their government’s plan.
The row centers around their government’s decision to review a 2006 agreement to allow the relocation of the Marine Corps Air Station at Futenma, on Okinawa, from an urban area to a quieter coastal part of the island.
Media have reported that Japan’s government is planning to transfer the base to Tokunoshima, an island in Kagoshima Prefecture, north of Okinawa.
The government has not confirmed the reports, but Tokunoshima’s residents have voiced opposition to any such plan, with about 4,000 holding a rally in protest against it last month.
The mayors of the three towns on Tokunoshima, with a combined population of around 27,000, have now drafted a letter to send to Obama, said one of the three mayors, Akira Okubo.
A draft of the letter says: “We, all the islanders, protest against the Futenma air base relocation to Tokunoshima.”
“Our island is subtropical and still remains a rich natural environment,” the mayors write. “We would love to leave this beautiful Tokunoshima as it is now to the next generation.”
The island is part of the Amami archipelago, seen as strategically important as it is close to both North Korea and the Taiwan Strait — two potential hotspots that could require US military deployment.
The mayors are preparing to stage another protest rally on Sunday, which they say will involve about 10,000 residents.
“We’ll also send the photos of the rally to the president,” Okubo said.
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has struggled for months to find a solution that will satisfy the people of Okinawa island, part of Japan’s southernmost prefecture, and the security demands of the US, its key ally.
Hatoyama said on Tuesday in Washington that he had promised Obama he would resolve the row by the end of next month, despite the fact that Okinawa’s residents have long resented the heavy US military presence.
Japanese media have speculated that Hatoyama might have to resign if he fails to resolve the row before this self-imposed deadline expires.
The Obama administration insists on adhering to the 2006 relocation plan, but has promised to consider any counter-proposals by Japan.
However, some US officials have privately voiced exasperation at what they see as the Japanese government’s indecisiveness.
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
Counting was under way in Nepal yesterday, after a high-stakes parliamentary election to reshape the country’s leadership following protests last year that toppled the government. Key figures vying for power include former Nepalese prime minister K. P. Sharma Oli, rapper-turned-mayor Balendra Shah, who is bidding for the youth vote, and newly elected Nepali Congress party leader Gagan Thapa. In Kathmandu’s tea shops and city squares, people were glued to their phones, checking results as early trends flashed up — suggesting Shah’s centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was ahead. Nepalese Election Commission spokesman Prakash Nyupane said the counting was ongoing “in a peaceful manner”
RSS