JAPAN
Elderly man held for graffiti
Police yesterday arrested a man in his 90s for allegedly graffitiing a sign at a prosecutor’s office in Osaka, a local officer said. A security guard at the government building made an emergency call saying “graffiti had been scrawled on a sign with red lacquer paint,” the senior Osaka police officer said. The stone sign at the front of the building bearing the words “Public Prosecutor’s Office” had been defaced, the officer said. The elderly man — who the officer said was in his 90s, but declined to specify his exact age — later admitted to investigators that he had “dirtied” the sign. The man did not appear to be politically motivated, the officer said.
Photo: AFP
KENYA
Recruiter for Russia arrested
Police have arrested a key figure in a network that sent more than 1,000 Kenyans to Russia, where many were forcibly conscripted into the army and sent to Ukraine. Festus Omwamba, 33, was caught in Moyale, a border town with Ethiopia, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations wrote on X late on Wednesday. He is “believed to be a key player in [an] extensive human trafficking syndicate,” it said. Omwamba founded a recruitment agency, Global Face Human Resources, used to funnel Kenyans to Russia. More than 1,000 Kenyans have joined the Russian army in the past few months, lawmaker Kimani Ichung’wah told parliament last week, citing a report from the intelligence services and directorate.
JAPAN
Births fall for 10th year
The number of births in Japan fell for the 10th consecutive year last year, official data showed yesterday, highlighting the challenges for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. A total of 705,809 babies were born, the preliminary health ministry data showed, down 2.1 percent from 2024. The data include births to Japanese nationals in Japan, foreign births in Japan and babies born to Japanese nationals overseas.
UNITED STATES
Astronaut reveals he was ill
NASA’s Mike Fincke on Wednesday identified himself as the astronaut whose medical condition prompted the space agency’s first medical evacuation. In a written statement, the 58-year-old spaceflight veteran revealed he was the ailing crew member last month aboard the International Space Station. He did not say what was wrong with him, but explained that his condition quickly stabilized thanks to his crewmates and flight surgeons on the ground. “Spaceflight is an incredible privilege, and sometimes it reminds us just how human we are,” he said in the statement, adding that he is well.
AUSTRALIA
Albanese sorry for comment
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday apologized for any “misinterpretation” after describing a sexual assault survivor who became an advocate for women as “difficult.” The comments were condemned by the outspoken activist Grace Tame who labeled them a “patronizing cop out from a total coward.” The prime minister was asked at a forum the previous day to give one-word reactions to various personalities. When the host named Tame, who was the 2021 Australian of the Year, Albanese said: “difficult.” The prime minister yesterday attempted to clarify his remarks. “I was asked to describe people in one word and Grace Tame, you certainly can’t describe in one word,” he told reporters. “She has had a difficult life and that was what I was referring to.”
LIKE FATHER, LIKE DAUGHTER: By showing Ju-ae’s ability to handle a weapon, the photos ‘suggest she is indeed receiving training as a successor,’ an academic said North Korea on Saturday released a rare image of leader Kim Jong-un’s teenage daughter firing a rifle at a shooting range, adding to speculation that she is being groomed as his successor. Kim’s daughter, Ju-ae, has long been seen as the next in line to rule the secretive, nuclear-armed state, and took part in a string of recent high-profile outings, including last week’s military parade marking the closing stages of North Korea’s key party congress. Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) released a photo of Ju-ae shooting a rifle at an outdoor shooting range, peering through a rifle scope
India and Canada yesterday reached a string of agreements, including on critical mineral cooperation and a “landmark” uranium supply deal for nuclear power, the countries’ leaders said in New Delhi. The pacts, which also covered technology and promoting the use of renewable energy, were announced after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hailed a fresh start in the relationship between their nations. “Our ties have seen a new energy, mutual trust and positivity,” Modi said. Carney’s visit is a key step forward in ties that effectively collapsed in 2023 after Ottawa accused New Delhi
Gaza is rapidly running out of its limited fuel supply and stocks of food staples might become tight, officials said, after Israel blocked the entry of fuel and goods into the war-shattered territory, citing fighting with Iran. The Israeli military closed all Gaza border crossings on Saturday after announcing airstrikes on Iran carried out jointly with the US. Israeli authorities late on Monday night said that they would reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel to Gaza yesterday, for “gradual entry of humanitarian aid” into the strip, without saying how much. Israeli authorities previously said the crossings could not be operated safely during
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”
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