Six months on, businesses in once-busy Itaewon district still reeling from deadly Halloween crowd crush - CNA

She told CNA that credit card spending has shown signs of recovery in the first three months of this year, but it was nowhere near what businesses used to make before the tragedy.

Celebrities who have exhibited their artworks as part of a project to revive Itaewon hoped that the neighbourhood would recover soon.

South Korean rapper Kim Eun-young, known by her stage name Cheetah, said: “It’s not just me, but there are so many other artists here who have brought their beautiful artworks to be displayed here. 

“The hope for all of us, I believe, is to save this Itaewon alley. I think we all feel the same.”

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2023-04-17 08:29:50Z
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'Gunpowder' found at home of Japan PM blast suspect: Report - CNA

TOKYO: Suspected gunpowder has been found at the home of a man accused of throwing an explosive at Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a campaign event, local media said on Monday (Apr 17).

Kishida was unharmed in the attack, in which a suspected pipe bomb was tossed towards him at a port in western Japan's Wakayama, shortly before he gave a speech.

Police spent over eight hours on Sunday searching the home of the man, who has been named as 24-year-old Ryuji Kimura, and local residents were temporarily evacuated over the threat of explosives.

Wakayama police declined to comment on the reports.

National broadcaster NHK said suspected gunpowder, as well as pipe-like objects and tools were found at the home, and investigators now believe the explosive thrown at the event was homemade.

They are analysing Kimura's phone and computer for clues, but he has so far refused to detail any motive in the attack.

He was transferred on Monday to the Wakayama prosecutors' office from a local police station, local media reported. The prosecutors' office declined to comment.

NHK aired footage showing him sitting in the rear seat of a police car looking straight ahead as he was moved.

He is currently under arrest on suspicion of obstruction of business.

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2023-04-17 05:18:00Z
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Great shortfall of China: Australia's biggest tourism market returns with a whimper - CNA

SYDNEY: When China ended a lengthy border closure in January, e-commerce marketer Tianni Ren immediately began planning a team building trip for her 14 staff to Australia, hoping to see its stunning pink salt lakes that had captivated her on social media.

But instead she took her colleagues from the city of Hangzhou to New Zealand after learning Australia was cut from a list of destinations approved by Beijing for group overseas travel, effectively halting a two-decade programme that had helped China dominate Australia's A$45 billion (US$30 billion) international tourism market until early 2020.

"We asked our tour agent but were told that Australia was not on the group tour list," said Ren, 28, referring to the Approved Destination Status (ADS) that China gives some 60 other countries. "It is a pity that we did not get to see the pink lakes."

After three years of struggle and anticipation, the widely expected wave of returning Chinese tourists Down Under has turned out to be a trickle as the visa rules - coupled with relatively high costs, a lack of flights and an exodus of Mandarin-speaking guides - squeeze Australia's fourth-largest export industry.

In February, the first full month since China's border reopened, Australia recorded 40,430 short-term visitors from China, government data showed. That was one-fifth the number who visited in the same month in the record year of 2019 and well behind visits from New Zealand, the UK and the US.

Flights from mainland China to Australia, meanwhile were just one-fifth of pre-pandemic capacity in February, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium, as soaring fuel costs jacked up fares and dented demand.

At the same time, total Chinese outbound border crossings had reached two-thirds of pre-pandemic levels, according to the Chinese Outbound Tourism Research Institute, a consulting group based in Germany.

Beijing did not give a reason for ending Australia's ADS status, but travel industry participants say geopolitics has played a role, with relations at a low ebb amid trade disputes and increasingly strident security rhetoric between the West and China.

Government marketing body Tourism Australia declined to comment.

Trade promotion office Austrade said Tourism Australia's managing director visited China in March to meet strategic partners such as airlines and the body would "continue to work closely with its key distribution partners in the market to realise tourism opportunities between Australia and China".

"It's definitely tied up in geopolitics and trade and other things where we've seen a decline. You can't disentangle that from the current situation," said Paul Stolk, a lecturer at University of Newcastle business school who is working on a university-government collaboration to diversify the tourism sector.

In addition, Chinese travellers often choose destinations where family members are studying abroad, Stolk added. China was Australia's biggest source of foreign students until 2019, but students of other nationalities have filled its foreign student ranks since Australia reopened its border in 2021.

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2023-04-16 23:42:46Z
CBMieGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vYnVzaW5lc3MvZ3JlYXQtc2hvcnRmYWxsLWNoaW5hLWF1c3RyYWxpYXMtYmlnZ2VzdC10b3VyaXNtLW1hcmtldC1yZXR1cm5zLXdoaW1wZXItMzQyMjE2NtIBAA

At least 56 civilians killed in Sudan clashes - CNA

KHARTOUM, Sudan: Fighting in the Sudanese capital raged into the early hours of Sunday (Apr 16) after a day of deadly battles between paramilitaries and the regular army that left at least 56 people dead and nearly 600 wounded.

Explosions and gunfire rang out on the deserted streets of Khartoum, according to witnesses, after the paramilitaries said they were in control of the presidential place, Khartoum airport and other vital facilities.

The army denied the claims, and in a statement late Saturday, the Sudanese air force urged people to stay indoors as it continued air strikes against bases of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Fighter jets were earlier seen flying overhead.

Windows rattled and apartment buildings shook in many parts of Khartoum during the clashes, according to AFP correspondents, with explosions heard early Sunday.

"The total number of deaths among civilians reached 56," said the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors, an independent pro-democracy group of medics, adding there were "tens of deaths" among security forces but they were not included in the new toll early Sunday.

The committee said it had counted around 600 wounded including some among security forces and that many casualties could not be transferred to hospitals due to difficulties in moving during the clashes.

Saudi Arabia's flag carrier Saudia said earlier one of its planes, with passengers and crew aboard waiting for departure, was "exposed to gunfire damage".

Bakry, 24, who works in marketing, said Khartoum residents had "never seen anything like" this unrest, which left dark smoke hanging over the capital.

"People were terrified and running back home. The streets emptied very quickly", said Bakry, who gave only a first name.

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2023-04-16 06:12:24Z
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G7 pledges to quit fossil fuels faster, no new deadline - CNA

SAPPORO, Japan: The Group of Seven (G7) pledged on Sunday (Apr 16) to speed up the phase-out of fossil fuels and urged other countries to do the same, but did not set any new deadlines on the exit from polluting energy sources such as coal.

In a statement following two days of talks in Japan, climate and environment ministers from the leading developed nations outlined efforts to keep global warming under the key 1.5 degree Celsius limit.

They vowed to "accelerate the phase-out of unabated fossil fuels so as to achieve net zero in energy systems by 2050 at the latest ... and call on others to join us in taking the same action".

But the group did not offer any new deadlines beyond last year's G7 pledge to largely end fossil fuel use in their electricity sectors by 2035.

France's energy transition minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said the wording on a fossil fuel "phase-out" was nonetheless a "strong step forward" ahead of the G20 and COP28 summits later this year.

"The most important progress we have made is clearly the fact that we agree to move away from non-carbon-offset fossil fuels," she told AFP.

Britain and France had proposed a new goal of ending "unabated" coal power - which does not take steps to offset emissions - in G7 electricity systems within this decade.

But with global energy supplies still squeezed by the war in Ukraine, that target faced pushback from other members, including bloc president Japan and the United States.

"I would obviously have liked to have been able to make a commitment to phase out coal by 2030," Pannier-Runacher said.

"This was not possible, and it is one issue on which we can still make progress in forthcoming discussions, particularly at COP28."

CALL TO REDUCE "GAS DEMAND"

The G7, which also includes Germany, Italy, Canada and the EU, all target net-zero emissions by 2050 or sooner after signing the Paris Agreement to cap warming at well under 2 degrees Celsius, and ideally 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The ministers had been under pressure to announce ambitious steps after a major UN climate report warned last month that 1.5 degrees Celsius increases would be seen in about a decade without "rapid and far-reaching" action.

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2023-04-16 05:03:53Z
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Singapore-flagged ship boarded by pirates found; all 20 crew members reported safe - The Straits Times

SINGAPORE - The Success 9 – a Singapore-flagged vessel that was boarded by pirates around 570km off the Ivory Coast on Monday – was found on Saturday evening, and all its 20 crew members, including a Singaporean, are safe.

In a statement issued early Sunday morning, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said the chemical and oil product tanker had been located off the coast of the city of Abidjan by a commercial ship, the Monjasa Sprinter.

The ship had picked up a distress call from Success 9 and MPA was eventually alerted.

MPA, which has been working closely with HS Ocean – Success 9’s owner – as well as multinational agencies through the Information Fusion Centre and the Monrovia Regional Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, subsequently informed the two centres.

A patrol vessel from the Ivory Coast’s navy was deployed to confirm and board the ship, and all crew members were found to be “safe and in good health”.

The ship has since arrived at Abidjan’s port.

During the search for Success 9, MPA had been collaborating with various agencies in the region, including the Maritime Domain Awareness for Trade – Gulf of Guinea, a joint maritime monitoring effort by France and Britain.

It also worked with regional security forces, the French navy, as well as the coast guards and maritime administrations from the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.

“All nearby and passing commercial ships were also cued to help in the search for Success 9,” said MPA.

Since it was boarded by pirates on Monday, the Success 9 had been uncontactable, with its location failing to show up on automatic identification systems as well.

Described as a “black-hulled tanker with a white superstructure, (and a) white funnel with blue stripes”, the search for the vessel had seen Ivory Coast authorities deploying air and sea assets to the vicinity of its last known position.

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2023-04-15 20:33:29Z
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Japan's Kishida vows safety of G7 meetings after 'smoke bomb' attack - CNA

TOKYO: Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, a day after he was evacuated from an apparent attack, vowed on Sunday (Apr 16) to do everything possible to ensure the safety of meetings of the Group of Seven (G7) industrial powers through next month.

Kishida escaped unhurt after a suspect threw what appeared to be a smoke bomb during an election campaign stop at a fishing port in western Japan.

The suspect, identified by police as 24 year-old Ryuji Kimura, was also carrying a knife when he was arrested, as well as a possible second explosive device he dropped at the scene after bystanders and police tackled him, Kyodo news agency reported.

No motive for the apparent attack, in which media said one police officer was slightly injured, has been announced.

Speaking to reporters, Kishida said Japan must not allow acts of violence that attack the foundation of democracy.

"At a time when high-ranking officials from all over the world are visiting ... Japan as a whole needs to maximise its efforts to ensure security and safety," Kishida told reporters on Sunday.

"It's unforgivable such a violent act was committed during an election campaign," he added.

His bomb scare in Wakayama prefecture near Osaka was an eerie reminder of the assassination last July of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was shot with a homemade gun while campaigning for a parliamentary election.

Abe's killing shocked Japan, where gun crimes are exceedingly rare, and prompted a review of security for politicians, who routinely mingle with the public.

Japanese politicians are campaigning for by-elections on Apr 23 for the lower house of parliament.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Saturday that police have been instructed to boost security and the government would do what is necessary to ensure security when Kishida hosts the May G7 summit in Hiroshima.

G7 foreign ministers gather on Sunday for a meeting in the resort city of Karuizawa, while the group's environment and energy ministers are meeting this weekend in Sapporo in northern Japan.

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2023-04-16 01:42:00Z
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