Foreign News
Japan lifts tsunami warnings but warns quake damage ‘widespread’
At least 30 people have been reported dead after a massive earthquake hit the coast of central Japan on New Year’s Day with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warning that damage was “widespread” and casualties were likely to rise.
The magnitude 7.6 quake struck on Monday afternoon near the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa prefecture, triggering the country’s first major tsunami warning since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that had about 18,500 people declared dead or missing in the northeast.
Speaking on Tuesday, Kishida said “extensive damage” had been confirmed with the quake bringing down buildings and triggering fires. Casualties were “numerous” he said, adding that it would be a “race against time” to rescue victims.
Authorities reported that rescue efforts have been hindered by damaged roads and that they are finding it difficult to assess the full extent of the fallout.
Officials have warned people in some areas to stay away from their homes because of the risk of more strong quakes. Aftershocks have continued to shake Ishikawa prefecture.
However, the initial tsunami warning, which was later downgraded, was lifted on Tuesday morning.
Citing local authorities, Kyodo news agency reported more than 20 deaths from the disaster. Public broadcaster NHK said 15 had died in the hard-hit town of Wajima near the epicentre, where 14 people were reported to be trapped in collapsed buildings. In nearby Suzu, it said some doctors were unable to reach a hospital that was relying on a backup generator for power.
Japan’s disaster management agency said it had received unconfirmed reports of 19 deaths earlier on Tuesday but official updates on the toll have been infrequent.
The Japan Meteorological Office said the country had been hit by 155 earthquakes since the initial tremor on Monday.
Wajima was hit by a tsunami of at least 1.2 metres (4 feet) and aerial news footage showed devastation from a major fire as a seven-storey building collapsed at the port.
The fire engulfed a row of houses with people being evacuated in the dark, some with blankets and others carrying babies.
Nobuko Sugimori, a 74-year-old resident of Nanao city in Ishikawa, said she had never experienced such a quake before. “I tried to hold the TV set to keep it from toppling over, but I could not even keep myself from swaying violently from side to side,” Sugimori told the Reuters news agency from her home, which had a large crack down its front wall and furniture scattered around the inside.
Across the road, 73-year-old Fujiko Ueno was counting her blessings. She said nearly 20 people were in her house for a New Year celebration when the quake happened but nobody was injured. “It all happened in the blink of an eye,” she said, standing in the street among debris from the wreckage and mud that oozed out of the cracked road.
Nearly 100,000 people across nine prefectures were evacuated and spent the night in sports halls and school gymnasiums, commonly used as evacuation centres in emergencies in Japan.
Almost 33,000 households remained without power in Ishikawa prefecture early on Tuesday morning, according to Hokuriku Electric Power’s website. NHK said most areas in the northern Noto Peninsula were also without water.
As a result of the disaster, the Imperial Household Agency cancelled Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako’s New Year’s appearance, which had been expected to take place on Tuesday.
Japan’s allies expressed their concern at the disaster and said they were ready to offer assistance. “As close allies, the United States and Japan share a deep bond of friendship that unites our people. Our thoughts are with the Japanese people during this difficult time,” US President Joe Biden said in a statement.
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed “solidarity”, while Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni offered condolences and assistance.
United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was monitoring developments. “My thoughts are with all those affected by the earthquakes in Japan which have caused such terrible damage,” he said.
(Aljazeera)
A Belgian prince’s attempt to claim social security benefits on top of his six-figure royal allowance has been rejected by a court.
Prince Laurent – the younger brother of King Philippe – received €388,000 (£295,850; $376,000) from state funds last year but said that his work entitles him and his family to social security.
He had argued that he was partly self-employed because of the duties he carries out as a royal, as well as running an animal welfare charity for the past decade.
Laurent, 61, said he was acting out of “principle” rather than for money. The court disagreed.
“When a migrant comes here, he registers, he has a right to social security,” he told Belgian broadcaster RTBF.
“I may be a migrant too, but one whose family established the state in place.”
But on Monday a court in Brussels turned down Laurent’s request on the grounds that the prince can be considered neither self-employed nor an employee.
However, according to broadcaster VTM the judge acknowledged that the prince should actually be entitled to a pension – but said gaps in legislation made that impossible and called for the law to be amended.
His lawyer, Olivier Rijckaert, told Belgian newspaper Le Soir that Laurent’s request had not been based on a “whim” and insisted on its symbolism, saying that social security is “granted by Belgian law to all residents, from the most deprived to the richest”.
Mr Rijckaert also said that most of the prince’s allowance is spent on his assistant’s salary and various travel expenses.
This means Laurent is left with about €5000 (£4300; $5500) a month but no social security benefits, such as the right to claim back some medical expenses.
The prince – who has three adult children with British-born wife Claire Coombs – has also expressed his concerns over his family’s wellbeing since the royal allowance will be cut when he dies.
Laurent took legal action against the Belgian state after his application for social security was refused. A first hearing was held in November 2024.
According to RTBF, the prince and his legal counsel have not yet decided whether to appeal the court’s decision.
Laurentm who is the 15th in the Belgian line of succession, is no stranger to controversy and is sometimes termed the prince maudit – the “cursed prince” – in Belgium.
In 2018, the Belgian federal parliament voted to dock his monthly allowance for a year after he attended a Chinese embassy reception without government permission, in full naval uniform.
He has also racked up several speeding fines and has been criticised for attending meetings in Libya when the late Muammar Gaddafi was still in power.
[BBC]
Heavy rains have lashed parts of earthquake-hit Myanmar, complicating relief efforts and raising the risk of disease as the death toll from the powerful quakes that struck the country on March 28 rose to at least 3,471.
Aid workers in the hard-hit city of Mandalay, near the epicentre of the earthquake, said on Sunday that rains and winds hit tent camps in the area overnight and in the morning, soaking survivors and their belongings.
More bouts of rain were expected later in the day, while temperatures were also forecast to climb to 37 degrees Celsius (98 degrees Fahrenheit).
“The weather is very extreme,” Tun Tun, a specialist with the United Nations Development Programme, told the AFP news agency.
Aid agencies have warned the combination of unseasonable rains and extreme heat could cause outbreaks of disease, including cholera, among quake survivors, who are camping in the open.
The magnitude 7.7 earthquake hit a wide swath of Myanmar, home to 50 million people, causing significant damage to six regions and states, including the capital, Naypyidaw.
It left many areas without power, telephone or mobile phone connections, and damaged roads and bridges, making the full extent of the devastation hard to assess. It also worsened an already dire humanitarian crisis triggered by the country’s civil war that has internally displaced more than three million people and left nearly 20 million in need, according to the UN.
State media in the military-led country now say the earthquake has caused 3,471 deaths and injured 4,671 people, while 214 remain missing.
It has damaged some 5,223 buildings, 1,824 schools, 4,817 pagodas and temples, 167 hospitals and clinics, 169 bridges, 198 dams and 184 sections of the country’s main highway.
Damage has been particularly severe in the city of Sagaing near the epicentre, as well as in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city.
UN aid chief Tom Fletcher, who is in Mandalay, described the scale of the damage as “epic” and said survivors, who are “traumatised and fearful”, need food, water, shelter and electricity urgently.
In a video posted to X, Fletcher noted the quake had brought devastation to communities that were already in crisis. “It’s a compounding crisis,” he said. “It’s earthquake, on top of conflict, on top of huge existing need.”
[Aljazeera]
Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa has announced he will suspend tariffs on goods imported from the US in an attempt to build a “positive relationship” with President Donald Trump’s administration.
The move comes days after Trump imposed 18% tariffs on Zimbabwean exports to the US.
“This measure is intended to facilitate the expansion of American imports within the Zimbabwean market, while simultaneously promoting the growth of Zimbabwean exports destined for the United States,” Mnangagwa said on X.
Zimbabwe has had strained diplomatic relations with the US since it adopted a controversial land policy about 25 years ago, and because of its poor human rights record.
Trade between the two countries amounted to only $111.6m (£86.6m) in 2024, US government data shows.
The US exported goods worth $43.8m to Zimbabwe in 2024, up 10.6% from the previous year, while imports were down 41% to $67.8m.
Zimbabwean political analyst Tendai Mbanje told AFP news agency that the decision would not result in substantial economic benefits for Zimbabwe and would would only benefit the US.
Prominent Zimbabwean journalist and government critic Hopewell Chin’ono said the president appeared to be trying to “appease” the Trump administration.
Mnangawa possibly hopes that the administration would lift sanctions imposed on him, but it was a “long shot”, he added on X.
[BBC]
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