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GAZA/CAIRO – Displaced Palestinians returning to their homes in Gaza City this week found a city in ruins after 15 months of fighting, with many seeking shelter amongst the rubble and searching for relatives lost in the chaotic return march. Gaza City, in the north of the enclave, is a shell of the bustling, rough-edged urban center it was before the war, with swaths of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardments and piles of rubble and torn up concrete on every side. “Look at this scene, there is nothing to say,” said a man who gave his name as Abu Mohammad as he searched for a place to settle. “People will sleep on the ground. There is nothing left.” Source link

SINGAPORE – China appears to be building a large laser-ignited fusion research center in the southwestern city of Mianyang, experts at two analytical organizations say, a development that could aid nuclear weapons design and work exploring power generation. Satellite photos show four outlying “arms” that will house laser bays, and a central experiment bay that will hold a target chamber containing hydrogen isotopes the powerful lasers will fuse together, producing energy, said Decker Eveleth, a researcher at U.S.-based independent research organization CNA Corp. It is a similar layout to the $3.5 billion U.S. National Ignition Facility (NIF) in Northern California, which in 2022 generated more energy from a fusion reaction than the lasers pumped into the target: “scientific breakeven.” Source link

The mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have requested that U.S. President Donald Trump visit the atomic-bombed cities this year to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the attacks and the end of World War II. “We hope that you will listen to the voices of civil society, visit the atomic-bombed cities, listen to the firsthand accounts of the hibakusha and fully grasp the inhumanity of nuclear weapons and accept the hibakusha’s earnest desire for peace,” Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui and Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki wrote in a letter sent Tuesday to the new U.S. president. The mayors emphasized Washington’s key role in reining in the proliferation of nuclear weapons as “tensions continue to worsen” across the globe ahead of the anniversary of the attack on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, and on Nagasaki three days later. Source link

A death penalty handed down on Shinji Aoba, the suspect in the 2019 deadly arson attack on a Kyoto Animation studio, has been finalized after the defendant dropped his appeal, sources said Tuesday. On July 18, 2019, Aoba, now 46, poured gasoline at the No. 1 studio of the animation powerhouse, better known as KyoAni, in the city of Kyoto, and set it alight, causing the deaths of 36 people and injuring 32 others. Aoba himself suffered severe burns all over his body. After intensive treatment, Aoba survived and was indicted after being discharged from hospital. In January last year, the Kyoto District Court sentenced him to death, finding him competent to accept criminal responsibility. The defense for Aoba filed an appeal following the ruling. Translated by The Japan Times Source link

Nairobi – African health activists fear a new crackdown on abortion across Africa after U.S. President Donald Trump reinstated an anti-abortion pact that cuts off U.S. funds to foreign charities that provide or promote abortions. When Trump signed the Mexico City Policy, or “global gag rule”, during his first term some African charities were forced to close, denying women safe abortions. It also emboldened local opposition to women’s reproductive choice. The policy also hit antenatal care, contraception and HIV testing and treatment, along with tuberculosis and malaria programs run by African health organizations. Source link

Paris – Slow play dogged the PGA Tour for a second consecutive weekend, as the last group again took five and a half hours to complete their final rounds during the Farmers Insurance Open won by Harris English. The leaders were on the course for almost three hours on Saturday before even completing the front nine at Torrey Pines, prompting two-time women’s major champion Dottie Pepper to express her frustrations. “We’re starting to need a new word to talk about this pace of play issue and its respect for your fellow competitors, for the fans, for broadcasting,” said Pepper in her role as a U.S. television reporter. Source link

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s government risks rejection of its annual budget if it doesn’t concede more ground to the Democratic Party for the People as it seeks a higher tax-free allowance, according to the small opposition party’s policy chief. The DPP will continue to push for the ceiling on tax-free income to be lifted to ¥1.78 million ($11,500) and will not accept the ruling coalition’s current proposal, DPP policy chief Makoto Hamaguchi has said. He also largely ruled out a possible ramped-up government offer cited in a local media report. “I don’t think we can agree to that,” Hamaguchi said in an interview when asked whether the DPP will give the ruling bloc the additional votes it needs to pass the budget if the tax-free ceiling is bumped up to ¥1.5 million without a commitment to keep raising the allowance or an agreement to scrap a gasoline tax. Ishiba needs to secure passage of the annual budget to show he can run policy effectively with his minority coalition and shore up his leadership of the ruling party ahead of a summer election. The DPP has enough members in the Lower House of parliament to ensure Ishiba’s coalition can push the budget through. Budget difficulties have spelled trouble for minority governments around the world in recent months, contributing to the fall of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French Premier Michel Barnier and the impeachment of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol after he declared a short-lived martial law. While Ishiba’s coalition secured support from the DPP over an earlier spending package, ongoing talks stalled in December. The prime minister’s Liberal Democratic Party and its Komeito partner decided to lift the tax-free ceiling from ¥1.03 million to ¥1.23 million in December without a nod from the DPP. That party has continued to argue that the ceiling must keep going up. “It’s not about settling it at a particular level,” Hamaguchi said. “We need to continue striving to raise the ceiling to ¥1.78 million,” he added. Raising the ceiling to ¥1.23 million would cut annual tax receipts by up to ¥700 billion, a far lower figure than the ¥8 trillion or so of lost revenue if the allowance is raised to the DPP’s target, according to the government. Giving more ground to the DPP would further complicate the government’s efforts to balance its budget books in the upcoming fiscal year and rein in its huge debt burden, while potentially eroding support for Ishiba within his own party. Japan’s government debt load is projected at 249% of gross domestic product this year. With the DPP refusing to accept the ¥1.23 million proposal, the ruling LDP and Komeito are also negotiating with a larger opposition group, Nippon Ishin no Kai, as they seek to expand their options. In return for its support, Nippon Ishin wants the government to make school education free for all students — another costly option. A higher tax-free ceiling and free education would further worsen the nation’s fiscal situation at a time when it’s getting more expensive for the government to issue debt to fund spending measures. Last week, the Bank of Japan raised the benchmark interest rate to the highest level since 2008 and signaled further hikes to come. Hamaguchi said the timing of the BOJ’s rate hike seemed too early. He thought the central bank should have waited for the conclusion of annual wage talks in March. “It would have been better if they made that call when we could be sure that wages aren’t falling behind inflation,” Hamaguchi said. Source link

Ajay loves living in America, and he says until recently, it felt like America loved having him. An immigrant from India who came with his wife and infant son for graduate school in 2021, he stayed after finding a tech job at a Fortune 500 company that provided him with an H-1B visa. His family has embraced the most American style of vacationing — epic road trips that have taken them to 28 states. Their son, now 4, loves cheeseburgers and chicken nuggets and the Woody Guthrie song “This Land Is Your Land,” which he learned at preschool. Last month, he and his wife were thrilled to discover she’s pregnant. But just two weeks later, excitement turned to apprehension when President Donald Trump announced a new rule under which children born to parents who aren’t permanent residents won’t automatically be U.S. citizens. Source link

China Vanke has been thrown a lifeline by state authorities, a rare show of support that signals the developer may be too big to fail even after dozens of property firms defaulted amid China’s punishing housing slump. As part of an overhaul unveiled late Monday, Vanke’s two top veteran executives stepped down after the company warned of a record $6.2 billion loss. An official from Shenzhen Metro Group, its largest state shareholder, will take over as chair. Shortly after the surprise announcement, local and state governments in Vanke’s home base of Shenzhen vowed to “proactively support” its operations through state media. Vanke’s bonds soared as investors bet that the embattled developer will avoid the fate of China Evergrande Group and Country Garden Holdings that defaulted in recent years with little help from Beijing or other government entities. Source link

The suspect in the Nagano Station stabbings remained inside his home from at least Friday evening until his arrest on Sunday, police said Tuesday, as investigators probe whether he changed his appearance to evade detection. Yusuke Yaguchi, 46, is suspected of stabbing three people near Nagano Station on Jan. 22. The attack, which occurred shortly after 8 p.m., left 49-year-old company employee Hiroyoshi Maruyama dead, while a 37-year-old male company employee was seriously injured and a 46-year-old female company employee suffered minor wounds. Investigators believe Yaguchi left his home that evening, walked to Nagano Station, carried out the attack and then fled southwest. He crossed a railway pedestrian bridge, moved east and returned home later that night. Authorities pieced together his movements using security footage and citizen tip-offs, ultimately tracking him down at his apartment complex 3 kilometers away from the scene. According to police sources, officers had been monitoring his residence since Friday evening but saw no signs of him leaving until his arrest at around 7:10 a.m. on Sunday on charges of attempted murder of the 46-year-old woman. Surveillance footage had captured a man with a beard, but Yaguchi was clean-shaven and had possibly cut his hair at the time of his arrest, raising suspicions that he altered his appearance to avoid capture. He was transferred to prosecutors on Monday. When questioned about the attack, he has remained uncooperative, reportedly saying only, “I don’t know.” Authorities seized two knives from Yaguchi’s home, along with a jumper, pants and glasses similar to those seen in security footage. Forensic analysis is under way to determine if the items were used in the crime. Yaguchi appears to have had no prior connection to the victims. Investigators are working to determine his motive. Translated by The Japan Times Source link