Japan’s Kishida visits quake-hit region as concerns rise about diseases in evacuation centers

TOKYO — Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited Sunday the country’s north-central region of Noto for the first time since the deadly Jan. 1 earthquakes to alleviate growing concern about slow relief work and the spread of diseases in evacuation centers. The magnitude 7.6 earthquake left 220 dead and 26 others still missing while injuring … Read more

A timeline of key moments leading to Japan planes colliding. Human error is seen as a possible cause

It only took 18 minutes to evacuate the 379 passengers of Japan Airlines Flight 516 after their plane burst into flames just after touchdown at Tokyo’s Haneda airport Tuesday evening. A smaller coast guard Bombardier Dash-8 aircraft, preparing to take off to deliver urgent aid to quake-hit central Japan, was using the same runway when … Read more

German chancellor tours flooded regions in the northwest, praises authorities and volunteers

BERLIN — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz took a helicopter flight Sunday to check the flooded regions in the northwest of the country, where rivers have swelled and overflowed homes, roads and fields after weeks of heavy rain. In recent days, hundreds of people have been evacuated from affected areas in northern and eastern Germany as … Read more

Rivers remain high in parts of northern and central Europe after heavy rain

BERLIN — Parts of northern and central Europe continued to grapple with flooding on Thursday after heavy rain. A barrier near the German city of Magdeburg was opened for the first time in a decade to ease pressure from the Elbe River, and some animals were removed from their enclosures at a safari park in … Read more

Live updates | Israel pushes deeper south after calling for evacuations in southern Gaza

Israel’s military pushed deeper south Tuesday in Gaza after it called for more evacuations in the southern portion of the enclave in its pursuit to wipe out the territory’s Hamas rulers. The war has already killed more than 15,000 Palestinians and displaced over three-fourths of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents, who are running out of safe … Read more

Israel widens evacuation orders as it shifts its offensive to southern Gaza amid heavy bombardments

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Israel’s military on Sunday ordered more areas in and around Gaza’s second-largest city of Khan Younis to evacuate, as it shifted its offensive to the southern half of the territory where it says many Hamas leaders are hiding. Heavy bombardments were reported overnight and into Sunday in the area of … Read more

Israeli offensive shifts to crowded southern Gaza, driving up death toll despite evacuation orders

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Israel pounded targets in crowded southern Gaza on Saturday and ordered more neighborhoods designated for attack to evacuate, driving up the death toll even as the United States and others urged it to do more to protect civilians a day after a truce collapsed. The prospect of further cease-fires in … Read more

Taliban’s new ambassador to China arrives in Beijing as they court foreign investment

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban government’s new ambassador to China arrived in Beijing on Friday — the first time Afghanistan’s rulers have officially sent an ambassador to another country since returning to power more than two years ago. No country recognizes the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan, but some, including China, have embassies … Read more

Patients and staff leave Gaza’s biggest hospital, and dozens are killed at a crowded refugee camp

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Hundreds of patients, medical staff and people displaced by Israel’s war against Hamas left Gaza’s largest hospital Saturday, with one evacuee describing a panicked and chaotic scene as Israeli forces searched and face-scanned men among those leaving and took some away. Israel’s military has been searching Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital … Read more

A ferry that ran aground repeatedly off the Swedish coast is leaking oil and is extensively damaged

STOCKHOLM — A ferry that ran aground off southeastern Sweden was leaking oil into the Baltic Sea and suffered “extensive damage,” a spokesman for the Swedish Coast Guard said Monday. On Oct. 22, the Marco Polo, operated by TT-Line of Germany, was running between two Swedish ports, Trelleborg and Karlshamn when it touched ground, sustained … Read more