JAPAN
Quake injures four people
An earthquake shook Tokyo and surrounding areas yesterday, injuring several people and causing minor damage, officials and media said. The epicenter of the magnitude 5.4 quake was in Chiba Prefecture, southeast of Tokyo, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. No tsunami warning was issued. Four people were injured, including a man who was hit by a falling ceiling light, and some rail services were canceled or delayed, Kyodo news agency said. The country is in one of the world’s most earthquake-prone regions, and a massive 2011 quake and subsequent tsunami killed thousands and caused a meltdown at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.
SOUTH KOREA
Cattle culled over disease
Authorities have ordered the culling of several hundred cattle and put in place biosecurity measures after confirming cases of foot-and-mouth disease in farms in a central province, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said. The cases mark the first confirmed outbreak since January 2019, media reports said. The contagion occurred in three farms in North Chungcheong Province, the ministry said. “Related agencies and local governments are asked to make all-out efforts on preventive measures ... to stop further spread of foot-and-mouth disease,” Vice Minister of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Kim In-joong said. The disease is highly transmissible and causes lesions and lameness in cattle and other cloven-hoofed animals, but does not affect humans. A team has been sent to the area to investigate the outbreak, disinfect farms and enforce a 48-hour halt on the movement of people and livestock, the ministry said.
ASEAN
Myanmar progress stalls
Myanmar’s ruling military has made no meaningful progress on implementing a peace plan agreed two years ago and the bloc must show unity in deciding how to address the escalating crisis, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said yesterday. Widodo, who chairs the bloc this year, was speaking on the second day of a summit in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia, where the “five-point consensus” peace plan is in the spotlight. “I must speak candidly. On implementation of the peace plan, there has not been significant progress,” he said. “Therefore, ASEAN unity is required to decide on the next steps.” The president called on the 10-member grouping, of which Myanmar is a member, to chart a way forward to de-escalate violence in Myanmar since a coup in 2021.
UNITED STATES
Modi invited for state dinner
President Joe Biden is to host Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a state dinner on June 22, the White House said on Wednesday. It would be the third such formal event hosted by Biden after dinners for the leaders of France and South Korea. “The upcoming visit will affirm the deep and close partnership between the United States and India, and the warm bonds of family and friendship that link Americans and Indians together,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in the statement. The two leaders are to focus on a secure Indo-Pacific region and technology partnerships on defense, clean energy and space, Jean-Pierre said. The state visit comes as the Biden administration is working to deepen its relationship with key countries to counter what it sees as a growing threat posed by China. The two leaders would “explore ways to strengthen India-US collaboration in plurilateral and multilateral fora, including in the G20,” the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
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