Tokyo, 18 March, /AJMEDIA/
International court issues war crime warrant against Putin over Ukraine deportations
BRUSSELS – The International Criminal Court on Friday issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin on the grounds he has overseen the war crime of forcible deportation of Ukrainian children during Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the ICC’s action as “historic.” The Kremlin reacted strongly, with Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov calling it “outrageous” and “unacceptable,” according to Interfax news agency.
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China’s Xi to pay 3-day state visit to Russia from March 20
BEIJING – Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay a three-day state visit to Russia from Monday at the invitation of his counterpart Vladimir Putin, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Friday, his first trip to the country since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year.
The two leaders are expected to discuss the Ukraine crisis, as well as ways to boost bilateral ties. In February, China sought a comprehensive cease-fire in Ukraine in a position paper issued on the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of the neighboring country.
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Tokyo gov’t ordered to pay damages for death of arrested Nepalese man
TOKYO – A Japanese court on Friday ordered the Tokyo metropolitan government to pay damages of around 1 million yen ($7,500) over the 2017 death of a Nepalese man who was forcibly restrained while in police custody.
The Tokyo District Court determined that the authorities’ failure to provide Arjun Bahadur Singh with proper treatment was illegal and that his death was caused by him being inappropriately fitted with restraining devices at a police station in the capital’s Shinjuku Ward.
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3 killed as predawn fire guts house in central Japan
NAGANO, Japan – A fire gutted a two-story house in the central Japan prefecture of Nagano early Saturday, leaving three dead, police and firefighters said.
Three bodies were found in the house in Nagano that was occupied by Hitoshi Nakamura, his wife, their two children and his mother in her 90s, according to police.
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Teenage girl arrested after saying she strangled man in central Japan
TOYAMA, Japan – A teenage girl was arrested on Saturday for allegedly killing a man at a hotel in Toyama Prefecture in central Japan, police said.
The 17-year-old has admitted to killing 21-year-old Kazuki Izumoto, saying she “strangled” him to death, according to the police. The two are believed to have known each other.
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Japan egg prices soar amid record 16 mil. bird flu cullings
TOKYO – Egg prices are soaring in Japan as the current avian flu season sees a record 16 million birds marked for culling, impacting both the restaurant sector and households already struggling with inflation.
Egg-laying hens make up more than 90 percent of birds in the process of being culled, according to the agriculture ministry, limiting the supply of eggs and pushing prices higher.
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U.N. chief condemns North Korea’s latest ICBM test-launch
NEW YORK – U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Friday condemned North Korea’s recent test-launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile in violation of resolutions adopted by the world body’s Security Council.
A statement from his spokesman said that Guterres urges North Korea to “immediately desist” from such destabilizing actions and “fully comply with its international obligations under all relevant Security Council resolutions.”
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U.S. to oppose call for Ukraine cease-fire if made by Xi in Russia
WASHINGTON – The United States will oppose a call for a cease-fire in Ukraine if Chinese President Xi Jinping makes one during his upcoming state visit to Russia, a high-ranking White House official said Friday.
“We certainly don’t support calls for a cease-fire that would be called for by (China) in the meeting in Moscow that would simply benefit Russia,” John Kirby, White House national security spokesman, said in an online press briefing.
