Latest news with #NHKJapan
Al Bawaba
30-07-2025
- Climate
- Al Bawaba
Japan reports 1.3-metre tsunami triggered by Russia earthquake
Published July 30th, 2025 - 06:02 GMT ALBAWABA - Authorities in Japan recorded a 1.3-metre tsunami, triggered by the powerful earthquake, which hit Russia earlier, NHK Japan said. One of the strongest quakes in history hit Russia's sparsely populated Far East early Wednesday, causing tsunami alert across the Pacific. Thousands were evacuated from Hawaii to Japan due to the tsunami warning. An 8.8-magnitude earthquake shook off Petropavlovsk on Russia's remote Kamchatka peninsula and was one of the 10 biggest recorded in the history of the country, according to the USGS report. Many videos were posted on social media showing buildings shaking due to the quake in Russia, which left several people slightly injured. Local authorities evacuated around 2,000 people. © 2000 - 2025 Al Bawaba (
The Independent
10-04-2025
- The Independent
Three people injured in Japan bear attack spree
Authorities in Japan 's Nagano prefecture are on high alert after a bear attacked three people in Iyama, leaving two seriously injured. The animal entered residential properties, broke through glass and attacked two men and a woman, local media reported. The bear was last seen fleeing into a vacant house but was gone by the time authorities arrived, The Japan Times reported. According to NHK Japan, the bear attack occurred at around 4.30pm local time on Wednesday. The first victim was a 65-year-old man working in a shed on his property. The animal then entered a nearby home, injuring a 96-year-old man and a 66-year-old woman. Police and fire officials told the news outlet that the men were believed to have suffered serious injuries but all three victims were conscious. 'I was in the kitchen and heard a crashing sound. I wondered what it was and then saw a large black figure in the living room,' one of the victims told Yomiuri Shimbun. Prefectural data shows there were 1,430 bear sightings in rural communities in the year ending March – the second-highest figure in the past decade – along with 13 reported cases of bear-related injuries. Last year, it was reported that several municipalities were turning to AI to tackle bear threats. In Hanamaki, a city in Iwate prefecture, AI-enabled cameras were installed at 23 sites to detect bears nearing urban areas. The system would alert city officials whenever it spotted a bear, and they would respond alongside police and local hunters. Fluctuating harvests of staple foods for bears, combined with rural depopulation, have been identified as key factors behind the rise in their encounters with humans. Experts have also pointed to the declining number of children in country towns and villages – whose naturally noisy presence once helped deter bears – as another contributing factor. In early 2024, the environment ministry reported to an expert panel that there were 19,192 sightings of Asian black bears between April and October 2023, the highest figure ever, exceeding the 18,000 sightings logged in 2020. Typically, bear sightings peak in June and decline through October, before rising again in subsequent months. However, in 2023, the numbers began climbing earlier, with some 6,000 sightings reported in October of that year alone, according to Nippon.
The Independent
19-02-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Man who attacked Japan's ex-PM Kishida sentenced to 10 years in jail
A Japanese man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for attempting to assassinate former prime minister Fumio Kishida with a pipe bomb at a 2023 campaign event. A court in Wakayama prefecture in western Japan sentenced 25-year-old Ryuji Kimura to 10 years in prison for attempting to kill Mr Kishida at an election event at a small fishing port in the western city of Wakayama in April 2023. Prosecutors had sought 15 years, arguing it was a 'malicious terror act', while Kimura's defence claimed he only wanted public attention. The explosion injured a police officer and a bystander, but Mr Kishida was unharmed. Kimura was arrested on the spot. He was convicted of attempted murder and violations of laws controlling explosives and deadly weapons. The court ruled he knowingly threw a lethal explosive at Mr Kishida, confirming his intent to kill, according to public broadcaster NHK Japan. A key issue in the trial was whether Kimura intended to kill. On Wednesday, presiding judge Fukushima Keiko ruled that expert tests confirmed the explosive was lethal. She concluded that Kimura hurled it knowing it could kill the then-prime minister, finding him guilty of attempted murder. The attack occurred less than a year after former prime minister Shinzo Abe 's assassination during a campaign speech in Nara, another city in western Japan. The judge said that the attack had a significant societal impact, as it targeted a sitting prime minister and spread fear. She said that Kimura had previously sued the government over Japan's election system and, after receiving little attention on social media, deliberately targeted a high-profile figure to gain publicity. Calling the crime premeditated, she stressed the need for severe punishment to deter similar acts, adding that Kimura's actions seriously disrupted the electoral system, a cornerstone of democracy. Earlier, prosecutors revealed that Kimura had brought two explosive devices to the campaign event, one of which he hurled at Mr Kishida. Social media posts later indicated that Kimura harboured grievances about Japan's election system. Authorities discovered fragments of the pipe bomb embedded in a container 60m from the site, with prosecutors asserting that the device was potentially lethal. Kimura had previously sued the government disputing the eligibility criteria for political candidates, including the minimum age requirement and the need to have at least three million yen (£18,000) to run for national office. Under Japanese law, candidates must be at least 30 to contest upper house elections and 25 for the lower house. Earlier this month, Kimura denied the charge of attempted murder, claiming he had no intention of killing Mr Kishida. However, he admitted to manufacturing the explosives and acknowledged the other charges. He had a history of seeking damages from the government. Japan's Yomiuri newspaper reported that Kimura filed a lawsuit in the Kobe district court in June 2022 and claimed he could not run for the election held on 10 July due to his age and inability to prepare a three-million yen (£18,000) deposit. The report said the 24-year-old had sought 100,000 yen (approximately £600) in damages for his mental anguish. Kimura claimed, at the time, that the election law violates the constitution, which stipulates equality under the law among other provisions. Gun-related crime is rare in Japan due to strict firearm regulations, but a series of high-profile knife attacks on subways and other public spaces in recent years has raised concern.
