High winds are blowing so hard that street trees can’t stand upright. Cars were flipped upside down in the neighborhood. Some areas recorded instantaneous maximum wind speeds of over 50 meters per second. As Typhoon No. 6 “Kanun” slowly moved southwest of Okinawa at a speed of 10 kilometers per hour, the entire region entered […]
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have staged a large-scale military exercise near islands disputed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE). According to Iranian state broadcaster IRIB, the Revolutionary Guards held the drills to “demonstrate the navy’s power and combat defense readiness to protect the security of the Persian Gulf and the islands that are Iranian territory.” The […]
Russia has carried out another airstrike on a Ukrainian Danube port, Reuters and the Associated Press reported today. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said on social media that a grain silo at the port of Izmail in the southern Odessa region was damaged by Russia earlier in the day. Izmail is a port city in the southern […]
Fitch, one of the world’s three major credit rating agencies, has downgraded the sovereign credit rating of the United States. It was downgraded to double-plus from its previous highest rating of triple-A. Fitch was particularly concerned about “deteriorating government finances. Last year, the U.S. deficit was 3.7% of GDP. Fitch expects that deficit to rise […]
Russia has accused the United States and South Korea of undermining the UN Security Council system by launching a coordinated program to counter North Korea’s nuclear weapons development. According to the United Nations on Feb. 2 local time, during the Preparatory Committee for the 11th Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference in Vienna, Austria, the previous […]
Niger’s military junta that staged a coup has reopened some of the country’s borders, prompting an exodus of nationals from some European countries. Niger’s military reopened the country’s land and air borders with five bordering countries, excluding Nigeria, the night before, according to Reuters and others. “The land and air borders of Algeria, Burkina Faso, […]
Asian stock markets are down in unison. South Korea’s KOSPI dropped 1.9%, while Japan’s Nikkei and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell more than 2%. This was largely due to the news of the US credit rating downgrade before Asian markets opened. International credit rating agency Fitch lowered the US sovereign credit rating to ‘AA+’ from […]
The Chinese government is set to introduce guidelines that will limit the use of mobile devices by minors under the age of 18 to no more than two hours per day and make them inaccessible from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. in the future. According to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency, China’s National Internet Information […]
Local fishermen in Japan’s Aomori Prefecture asked the minister in charge of nuclear power today (Feb. 2) to “take strong measures to avoid rumors, even if it means delaying the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.” According to Kyodo News, Harumi Nikki, president of the Aomori Prefectural Federation of Fishermen’s […]
Okinawa, southern Japan, is in the path of a typhoon. Trees are snapping, and cars in parking lots have been flipped over to reveal their undersides. The effects of Typhoon No. 6, Kanun, are still being felt as it moves slowly at 10 kilometers per hour southwest of Okinawa. Casualties are mounting, with a man […]