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A Medevac plane that crashed in Northeast Philadelphia killed one person on the ground and left 19 others hospitalized, in addition to killing all six people on board the aircraft, the city’s mayor said Saturday. “This is a tragedy in our City. People lost their lives and many injured in this horrific crash and the damage is significant,” Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker posted Saturday on X. “We can officially disclose 6 perished in the plane. At least one more person perished in the incident,” she said. The Learjet 55 plane crashed shortly after takeoff from a Philadelphia airport, and carried two passengers: A child patient and the youth’s mother, as well as four crew members, according to Shai Gold, an official with operator Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, in a post on LinkedIn. All were Mexican citizens, Mexico’s foreign affairs ministry said in a post on X. Source link

Secondhand shop operators in Japan are focusing on developing channels to procure luxury and other branded goods as demand from foreign visitors surges amid the yen’s historic weakness. Some are teaming up with major department stores to improve their product offerings, while others are beginning to use artificial intelligence to evaluate goods brought in by customers. According to the trade publication Reuse Economic Journal, Japan’s secondhand goods market has been expanding year by year, totaling ¥3.1 trillion in 2023, up 7.8% from the previous year. Of the 2023 total, branded goods accounted for ¥365.6 billion, up 19.4%. Source link

Nihon Hidankyo held a meeting in Tokyo on Saturday to report on its reception of the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize at the award ceremony in Norway in December. Nihon Hidankyo co-chair Terumi Tanaka, 92, who delivered a speech at the ceremony, said: “I wanted it to be known that hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) have been working with pain. I stressed that we must work not only for a nuclear ban, but until the abolition of nuclear weapons.” “We were praised that although each hibakusha is a nameless individual, the power of their testimonies has prevented nuclear weapons from being used for a third time,” said Masako Wada, 81, deputy head of the group’s secretariat. “While the number of hibakusha is decreasing, we will continue to pass on and spread their testimonies in the run-up to the 80th anniversary” of the bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, said Jiro Hamasumi, 78, another deputy secretariat head. Nihon Hidankyo will send Wada and Hamasumi to a meeting of the parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons to be held in the United States in March. Source link

Japan intends to closely monitor the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on the yen and is worried about the international fallout on trade, Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said. “We need to carefully see how the exchange rate and other factors will be affected and what form U.S. monetary policy will take in the future,” Kato said Sunday in an interview with Fuji Television. He also said Japan is very concerned about how the tariffs may impact the global economy. Kato spoke as nations and companies brace for potential repercussions after Trump unleashed the first salvo of his tariff war, with general levies of 25% on Canada and Mexico and 10% on China. Trump signed the orders for the tariffs which will take effect on Tuesday, though it’s unclear whether the period in between provides a last-chance window for a deal. Source link

Yangon, Myanmar – Yangon resident Aung Ko Gyi browses stalls for a solar power kit he can use to weather the blackouts that have become a constant feature of life in Myanmar four years on from a military coup. “I need power supply to use (at) night, to use computer for my business and to use for internet connection,” the 64-year-old said at the country’s biggest annual solar exhibition. Power outages are common in his township, a result of rolling blackouts scheduled by the junta government as it battles for control of areas seized by rebel groups. Source link

China vowed to retaliate against the U.S. — but stopped short of imposing tariffs — after President Donald Trump announced a 10% levy on imports from the world’s No. 2 economy. China’s Commerce Ministry pledged to file a “lawsuit” against the U.S. at the World Trade Organization (WTO), condemning the blanket tariff as a “serious violation” of international trade rules in a Sunday statement. Beijing will “take corresponding countermeasures to firmly safeguard its own rights and interests,” it added, without elaborating. Trump unleashed the first salvo of his tariff war on Saturday, imposing levies of 25% on Canada and Mexico, as well as the lower rate on China, over what he says is a failure to prevent the flow of undocumented migrants and illegal drugs. That action just two weeks into his second term shows the U.S. leader is serious about following through on promised trade curbs against both allies and adversaries. Source link

The Lakers and Mavericks have sent the NBA world into a frenzy, with ESPN reporting early Sunday morning that the teams had completed a trade that will send Luka Doncic to Los Angeles and Anthony Davis to Dallas. While the two stars are at the center of the deal, the Lakers will also get Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris, while the Mavericks will receive Max Christie and a 2029 first-round draft pick, per the report. ESPN reported that the Jazz are also involved in the trade and will get Jalen Hood-Schifino and a 2025 second-round draft pick via the Los Angeles Clippers from the Lakers. Dallas is also sending a 2025 second-round selection to Utah. Source link

Five households in the immediate vicinity of a massive, ever-widening sinkhole near Tokyo were urged to evacuate Sunday, with efforts to rescue a man stuck inside reportedly halted. A 74-year-old truck driver plunged his vehicle into the cavity on Tuesday, which has since expanded to 40 meters across — almost the length of an Olympic swimming pool. The growing hole could be the result of corroded sewerage pipes, according to local authorities. Requests were issued Sunday for five households near the hole in the city of Yashio, Saitama Prefecture, to take shelter, a local government official said. This is on top of other residents within a 50-meter radius of the cavity who are also being encouraged to evacuate, he added. On Saturday, Japanese rescuers completed building a 30-meter slope to send heavy equipment and reach the truck driver. But a good amount of sewage water was discovered underneath the slope, which, combined with rain, led to the rescue mission being suspended Sunday, public broadcaster NHK said. With the walls of the hole — around 15 meters deep, according to NHK — eroding, rescue workers are unable to stay inside it for long. The hole was initially around five meters in diameter but combined with a larger cavity that opened during the rescue operation on Tuesday night. Around 1.2 million people living nearby have so far been asked to cut back on showers and laundry to prevent leaking sewage from hindering the operation. Source link

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, on Sunday successfully launched the fifth H-3 rocket carrying the Michibiki No. 6 satellite for the Japanese version of the U.S. Global Positioning System. The rocket blasted off at 5:30 p.m. from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture. The satellite was placed into its target orbit. The Michibiki satellite series is designed for the Japanese positioning system that provides location data in units of several centimeters. The first satellite in the series was launched in 2010. There are currently four Michibiki satellites in operation. The Japanese government plans to start operating the positioning system with seven Michibiki satellites during fiscal 2025, so it will no longer need supplemental GPS and other data. The government aims to use 11 satellites in the future. The Michibiki No. 6 is about 19 meters long with its solar panels deployed and weighs about 1.9 tons. Development costs for the satellite and two others to be launched during the next fiscal year total about ¥100 billion. The H-3 rocket series, developed by JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, saw the launch of its first rocket fail in March 2023, but the second through fifth rockets have been successfully launched since February 2024. By accumulating successful launches, Mitsubishi Heavy hopes to receive more orders. While improving the launch business to meet various needs, JAXA plans to transfer the business to Mitsubishi Heavy in the future. Source link

Conservative lawmakers in Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party are growing increasingly frustrated with the diplomatic stance of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s administration toward China. In particular, they claim that a recent easing of visa rules for Chinese visitors under the Ishiba administration was too conciliatory. As Ishiba’s foothold in the LDP remains precarious, a mishandling of the situation could spark moves to undermine the prime minister’s administration, observers said. Source link