Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he will visit the Fukushima nuclear plant on Sunday, ahead of the discharge of treated water which is scheduled to begin by the end of summer. Tokyo's plan to release treated water from the tsunami-hit nuclear plant into the sea over the next few decades has raised concerns in neighbouring countries, prompting China to ban some food imports and sparking protests in South Korea. Kishida, who was in Washington for a trilateral summit with US Presid

China launched military drills around Taiwan on Saturday as a "stern warning" after voicing anger over a stopover in the United States by the island's vice president, William Lai. Lai, who is the frontrunner in Taiwan's presidential election next year, stopped in New York and returned via San Francisco on a trip to Paraguay, one of a dwindling number of nations that diplomatically recognise Taipei. China on Saturday called Lai a "troublemaker" and vowed to take &quo

US President Joe Biden on Friday will announce new security cooperation with Japan and South Korea including joint exercises at a first-of-a-kind three-way summit with their leaders that has already rattled China. The summit at the Camp David presidential retreat would have been unimaginable until recently, with the two treaty-bound allies -- together the base for some 84,500 US troops -- at loggerheads for decades over the legacy of Japan's harsh 1910-1945 occupation of the Korean peninsul

When Anthony La Puente made it back to the place he had called home for the last 16 years, there was almost nothing left. His house, like most in Lahaina, had been razed by the wildfire that swept through this slice of Hawaiian paradise. "The only thing I can say is that it hurts. It takes a toll on you emotionally," the 44-year old said "It sucks not being able to find the things you grew up with, or the things you remember." La Puente was one of dozens of people who were al

Pope Francis on Wednesday urged Europe to find "courageous courses of peace" to end the war in Ukraine as he opened a five-day visit to Portugal for a major Catholic youth festival. The 86-year-old pontiff has repeatedly called for peace in Ukraine and has sought to play a mediating role, though his efforts have yet to yield results and he has faced criticism for failing to blame Russia for the war. "We are sailing amid storms on the ocean of history, and we sense the need for cou

BEIJING -- China's foreign minister Qin Gang was removed from office on Tuesday, state media reported, after not being seen in the public eye for a month. "China's top legislature voted to appoint Wang Yi as foreign minister... as it convened a session on Tuesday," state media outlet Xinhua said. "Qin Gang was removed from the post of foreign minister." The report did not give a reason for Qin's removal but said President Xi Jinping signed a presidential order

TOKYO -- Thomas Tuchel praised new Bayern Munich signing Kim Min-jae as "very complete" on Tuesday, but said he is likely to sit out the German champions' first match of a pre-season tour of Japan. The South Korean joined Bayern last week, after winning Serie A last season with Napoli. "He played an outstanding season in Italy and in the Champions League," his new coach told reporters in Tokyo. "He was very reliable, very strong defence, good build-up play. Very com

ALGIERS -- Algerian firefighters were Tuesday battling blazes that have killed 34 people across the tinder-dry north, destroyed homes and coastal resorts and turned vast forest areas into blackened wastelands. Witnesses described fleeing walls of flames that raged "like a blowtorch," and TV footage showed charred cars, burnt-out shops and smouldering fields and scrubland as thousands of residents were evacuated. Severe fires raged through the mountain forests of the Kabylia region on t

SAN FRANCISCO -- Elon Musk killed off the Twitter logo on Monday, replacing the world-recognized blue bird with a white X as the tycoon accelerates his efforts to transform the floundering social media giant. The Twitter owner and the company's new chief executive Linda Yaccarino announced the rebranding Sunday, scrapping one of technology's most iconic logos in the latest shock move since the tycoon took over Twitter nine months ago. Musk said that under the site's new identity,

Twitter has lost roughly half of its advertising revenue, according to owner Elon Musk, since he bought the social media platform for $44 billion last October. Musk, who has been outspoken about the difficulties facing the company, broke the figures in a tweet response to a user who was giving suggestions on financing for the platform. "We're still negative cash flow, due to ~50% drop in advertising revenue plus heavy debt load," the billionaire tweeted Saturday. "Need to rea

The Netherlands said Thursday it will hand back hundreds of colonial-era artifacts to Indonesia and Sri Lanka, including a haul of treasure and a gem-encrusted bronze cannon. The decision to return some 478 objects followed recommendations by a government-appointed commission last year looking into illegal Dutch colonial acquisitions now being displayed in museums in the Netherlands. "These recommendations are a milestone in dealing with collections from a colonial context," said Gunay

MOSCOW (AFP) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin faced the most serious challenge to his long rule on Saturday when the leader of the Wagner mercenary group vowed to topple Moscow's military leadership. Yevgeny Prigozhin, 62, released a series of messages from late Friday into Saturday claiming that he and his troops had entered the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and taken control of its military sites. That sparked a series of extraordinarily fast-moving events, with the private ar

Russia on Saturday declared an "anti-terrorist operation regime" in Moscow and the Moscow region, after the chief of the Wagner mercenary group vowed to overthrow Russia's military leadership and claimed control of a key military headquarters in the south. "With the aim of preventing possible terrorist acts on the territory of the city of Moscow and the Moscow region, an anti-terror operation regime has been introduced," the country's national anti-terrorist committ

The head of the Wagner mercenary group said Saturday he had crossed into Russia with his forces to topple Moscow's military leadership, saying he and his 25,000 fighters were "ready to die." Yevgeny Prigozhin, 62, said his forces, who have spearheaded much of Russia's offensive in Ukraine, had entered the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and controlled its military sites. "We are inside the (army) headquarters, it is 7:30 am (0430 GMT)," Prigozhin said in a vi

JENIN, Palestinian Territories -- Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank killed four Palestinians including a militant on Monday, in a raid that saw seven Israeli security personnel wounded and rare helicopter fire. The sound of gunfire was heard across Jenin as wounded Palestinians continued to arrived by ambulance to the northern West Bank city's Ibn Sina hospital into the early afternoon, an AFP journalist said. The Palestinian health ministry said four people had been killed and at le