Japan Coast Guard aircraft struck and damaged at Haneda Airport two days after fatal collision - The Straits Times

TOKYO – Another incident involving a Japan Coast Guard (JCG) aircraft occurred at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on Jan 4, two days after a fatal collision between a JCG aircraft and a Japan Airlines (JAL) plane.

The JCG aircraft was damaged after being struck by a JAL groundwork vehicle, but the plane was unmanned and no injuries were reported, sources said.

The Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry and others are investigating the incident.

According to the sources, the incident occurred at an aircraft parking apron located between an international terminal and Runway B at around 6pm (5pm Singapore time), when a JAL high-lift truck for loading cargo struck the parked JCG aircraft.

The aircraft, an LAJ501 manufactured by Gulfstream Aerospace, belongs to Haneda Air Station.

The aircraft, which was not scheduled to fly at the time, was damaged, including a crack on the edge of the wing, and was rendered unable to fly.

The damage is being examined in detail. When the aircraft will be able to resume operations is not yet known.

The ministry will investigate the incident as an accident that occurred in a restricted area of the airport.

The aircraft is equipped with high-precision radar and infrared search systems, and is capable of long-range flights between Japan and the United States.

The JCG has had two planes of this model deployed at the air station since 2005.

THE JAPAN NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

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2024-01-07 02:15:00Z
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'I was fighting for my life': Man on being cornered, robbed in KL after turning into dark alley - AsiaOne

We have all heard of the saying: "It's better to be safe than sorry".

And Singaporean Fathsiam learnt this the hard way after he was allegedly cornered and robbed in Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur (KL). 

Sharing his terrifying encounter on TikTok on Dec 31, he captioned the video: "How a short trip to KL turned into a nightmare."

Recounting the incident, Fathsiam said: "I did not expect it to happen to me. Usually, It's something that you see in a movie or dramas."

But he added that he had put his life in jeopardy when he ignored the dangers of walking alone in a dark alley.

"What's worse that could happen to me right?" Fathsiam shared of his thoughts at the time.

Fathsiam said that he made a right turn into a dark alley, where he was immediately attacked from the back. 

"I was on the floor, fighting for my life," he recalled.

Fathsiam shared that he was robbed of his phone, money and bank card. He added that the robbers used about RM800 ($230) from his stolen bank card. 

"This what happens when you gamble your life," he lamented.

Warning others to not make the same mistake that he did, he cautioned that one should not put themselves in situations where they feel unsafe. 

At the end of the video, Fathsiam shared that he is currently recovering from the incident.

AsiaOne has reached out to Fathsiam for comment. 

Garnering 101,000 views at the time of writing, netizens flooded the comments section of his video, wishing him a speedy recovery.

Others commented that he should have known better to not take the dangerous route knowing that it would be unsafe. A netizen pointed out: "Always trust your gut!"

Some also mentioned that his video made them more aware of taking safety precautions when travelling and to be extra cautious of such situations in the future. 

ALSO READ: 'It was traumatic': Singaporean's bag gets snatched by motorcyclist in JB, says he won't go there any more

ashwini.balan@asiaone.com

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2024-01-07 02:27:00Z
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US braces itself for high-stakes decisions over Houthi Red Sea strikes - The Straits Times

WASHINGTON – The United States and its allies have weighed striking Yemen’s Houthi militants after telling them to either halt their attacks on ships in the Red Sea or face unspecified action.

Washington and a dozen nations this week warned that the Houthis would “bear the responsibility of the consequences” if they persisted with their attacks in the crucial maritime trade artery.

Several military and naval experts interviewed by Bloomberg have interpreted this as a threat of imminent strikes against the group, though such a move runs the risk of making matters worse, so more limited action is also a possibility.

Challenges include the potential for further regional instability, with tensions already high due to Israel’s war against Hamas.

US President Joe Biden must also consider the effect of conflict during an election year.

The US may also rely on diplomacy, with Mr Biden’s special envoy for Yemen, Mr Tim Lenderking, travelling to the Middle East next week to join Secretary of State Antony Blinken on his tour.

Mr Lenderking said while there is “no tolerance” for the ship attacks that have created “a climate of alarm” globally, the Houthis still have a chance to opt for the “wisest course” of ending violence in the Red Sea and focusing on the needs of Yemeni people. He spoke to Qatar-based Al-Jazeera news channel on Jan 5. 

If diplomacy fails, the US and its allies will have to carefully “choose options that are clearly defensible” and which target the Houthis’ ability to continue disrupting Red Sea navigation while “avoiding getting involved in a regional conflict”, says Mr Nick Childs, senior fellow for naval forces and maritime security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

According to more than a dozen people interviewed by Bloomberg including experts on Yemen, shipping and defence as well as security, these options include:

Targeted strikes

These would be focused on eliminating or degrading the Houthis’ ability to fire ballistic missiles at ships and shipping lanes by striking launch sites, radars, missile warehouses and other supporting infrastructure and logistics.

Since mid-November, the Houthis have fired more than 100 drones and ballistic missiles in two dozen separate attacks, according to the Pentagon. More than 15 vessels have been targeted.

Yet this approach leaves the Houthis with other means like drones, sea mines and attack speedboats, while running the risk of escalating the situation further – stepping up the battle with Yemeni militants that could draw in their Iranian backers. 

“What we have yearned for from day one is for the war to be directly between us and the American and Israeli” enemy, said Houthi leader Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi in a speech in December.

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2024-01-06 12:53:00Z
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Blinken tackles Gaza, NATO growth with Türkiye's Erdogan - CNA

ISTANBUL/ CHANIA, Greece: Washington's top diplomat Antony Blinken arrived on the island of Crete on Saturday (Jan 6) to meet with the Greek prime minister and address Greece's concerns about the looming sale of US fighter jets to Ankara, after talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Türkiye.

Athens has fiercely contested the US jet sales because of longstanding territorial disputes with Türkiye in the energy-rich eastern Mediterranean region.

Greece is seeking to purchase a batch of more advanced F-35 jets from the United States to counter the perceived Turkish threat.

Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis said in an interview with Skai TV on Saturday that it was only a matter of time before Greece joined the F-35 programme, saying that Greek-US relations "have reached their peak".

He said the talks between Blinken and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at his family home in Chania would focus on two issues: international developments regarding war in Gaza and Ukraine, and bilateral relations, especially on energy and defence cooperation issues, including the supply of F-35s.

"Greece in the last five years has followed a policy of strengthening its armed forces. The country is gaining a special weight, the upgrading of the armed forces is an important issue," Gerapetritis said.

"For us, it is completely irrelevant what Türkiye does in relation to the United States," he added.

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2024-01-06 12:46:04Z
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After two years on the road, van life and tandem biking couple home at last - The Straits Times

SINGAPORE – Ms Gracia Ng, 26, and Mr Ooi Yee Jia, 28, spent most of 2023 riding a tandem bike from Britain to Singapore, covering a distance of more than 20,000km.

Starting from London in March 2023, they cycled to the south-east of England to catch a ferry to the Hook of Holland, a town in the Netherlands that was their entry to Europe.

Riding a pre-loved, breakdown-prone tandem bike older than them, they wended their way through countries such as Germany, Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, China, Laos and Thailand, before arriving home in time for Christmas on Dec 21.

The plan for 2024 is for Mr Ooi to find a job in finance – he has a post-graduate degree from the United States – while Ms Ng plans their next project: sharing their love of adventure by organising bicycle tours in countries such as New Zealand and Thailand in the coming months.

He says: “I wanted to bring this experience to other Singaporeans. I think there’s an adventure out there for everyone. It’s a very different kind of education.”

The couple’s momentous bike ride came on the heels of another epic road trip. Mr Ooi’s dream, fanned by YouTube videos about van life, had been to live out of his own van to save costs while taking in new vistas.

After he graduated from the US, and Ms Ng finished her master’s in English Literature in Britain, they set off in December 2021 in a van they outfitted themselves across 48 states in the US, excluding Hawaii and Alaska. In Singapore, Mr Ooi had never used a drill, but they learnt how to wire their vehicle for electricity and installed solar panels.

Shortly after their American travels were over a year later in December 2022, he proposed to her with a ring made out of the spoke of a wheel from their van. She said “yes”. They then wondered how they would get back to Singapore and decided to return home “on wheels”, says Ms Ng.

They bought their second-hand Ford Transit Connect 2013 van for US$6,000 (S$7,900) and, after outfitting it for their travels, sold it for US$12,500, which they used to fund their next tandem bike adventure in 2023. They bought a second-hand, 32-year-old Santana tandem for US$300.

Confining themselves to spending an average of US$1,000 a month over the past two years, they post about their budget travels as The Proper Paupers on Instagram and YouTube.

Whether living in a van or travelling on a tandem, they have been sustaining themselves on financial investments made by Mr Ooi, their personal savings and part-time work. While travelling, Ms Ng provides online consulting services for university admissions or teaches English online. When expenses spiked, due to unexpected van repairs, they lived on beans and rice to tide themselves over.

But bike life, they soon found, was a very different beast from van life.

Before, they always had a (van) roof over their heads and could take showers whenever they wanted at Planet Fitness gyms across the US, using a US$10 monthly membership pass they bought.

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2024-01-06 06:00:00Z
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Philippines remains open to diplomatic discussions with China: National security advisor - CNA

Two Chinese navy vessels had shadowed Philippine and US ships conducting the recently concluded joint patrols, the Philippine military said on Thursday.

The two-day maritime exercises involved four vessels from the Philippine navy and four ships from the US Indo-Pacific fleet, including Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson. The patrols ended on Thursday and the US vessels called at the port of Manila on Friday.

The joint patrols were the second held by the Philippines and the US in less than two months in the South China Sea, where tensions over disputed territorial claims are flaring.

"The Philippines remains open to diplomatic discussions with China and reaffirms its commitment to fostering good relations with all nations," Ano said.

"We believe that through peaceful dialogue and adherence to international law, we can achieve a resolution that serves the best interest of all parties involved in the region," he said.

China lays claim to almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than US$3 trillion in annual ship commerce. China's claims of sovereignty overlap territorial waters claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.

In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague said China's claims had no legal basis. China has rejected that ruling.

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2024-01-05 10:03:06Z
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Japan quake death toll rises to 92, with 242 missing - CNA

ANAMIZU, Japan: The death toll from a devastating earthquake in central Japan rose to 92 on Friday (Jan 5), regional authorities said, with the number of missing jumping to 242.

Two elderly women were pulled from the rubble, but hopes of finding other survivors faded as thousands of rescuers raced against the clock four days after the 7.5 magnitude quake on New Year's Day.

Thousands of rescuers from all over Japan have been battling aftershocks and roads littered with gaping holes and blocked by frequent landslides in the Ishikawa region to reach hundreds of people in stranded communities.

On Thursday afternoon, 72 hours after the quake, the two older women were miraculously pulled alive from the remains of their homes in Wajima, one of them thanks to a sniffer dog called Jennifer.

The port city of Wajima on the Noto Peninsula was one of the worst hit, with a pungent smell of soot still in the air and faint columns of smoke visible from a huge fire that destroyed hundreds of structures on the first day.

"I was relaxing on New Year's Day when the quake happened. My relatives were all there and we were having fun," Hiroyuki Hamatani, 53, told AFP amid the burnt-out cars, wrecked buildings and fallen telegraph poles.

"The house itself is standing but it's far from livable now ... I don't have the space in my mind to think about the future," he told AFP.

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2024-01-05 02:38:00Z
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