Author: Press Room

TOKYO: The Japanese government said on Friday (Mar 21) it was committed to bolstering its military alliance with Washington, after reports said the Pentagon was considering scrapping a plan to expand US Forces Japan. The United States has around 54,000 military personnel in Japan who currently report back to Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii. But the countries are planning to upgrade this command structure with a new Japan-based headquarters under an agreement made a year ago between former leaders Joe Biden and Fumio Kishida. The move is meant to make US and Japanese forces more nimble in response to threats such…

Warren Hu had just settled into his flight from New York to London, where he planned to visit his girlfriend, when he became one of the thousands of passengers whose travel was thrown into disarray early Friday because of a fire near Heathrow Airport.The plane carrying Mr. Hu, a college student in New York, would be returning to the United States, a crew member announced. “I’m a bit surprised, but we can find a solution, so I’m trying to stay calm,” he said in a text message from the plane.The fire, at an electrical substation near Heathrow, knocked out power…

Washington — President Trump this week joined the growing chorus of calls to punish federal judges who rule against his administration. But impeachment and removal are unlikely under the current makeup of Congress.The recent calls to impeach federal judges increased earlier this week when Mr. Trump posted on social media that a U.S. district judge overseeing his administration’s efforts to deport Venezuelan migrants suspected of being gang members should be impeached.While the attack by Mr. Trump marked the first time he called for a judge to be impeached, his Republican allies and Elon Musk, a senior White House adviser, have for…

Shane Love has warned there will be strings attached to any deal to share resources with likely new Liberal Leader Basil Zempilas.The Nationals leader is reluctant to hand over the job of Opposition Leader for free after it emerged the Liberals and Nationals were tied on six seats each on Friday, with only two seats remaining undecided 13 days after the State election.Kalamunda, where Liberal candidate Adam Hort is ahead by less than 100 votes, could break the deadlock.If the two opposition parties remain tied, Mr Love said he won’t give up the role without getting value in return.“It’s a…

The Justice Department made an unusual effort on Thursday to short-circuit a series of civil lawsuits seeking to hold President Trump accountable for his supporters’ attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.Department lawyers argued in court papers filed to the judge overseeing the cases that Mr. Trump was acting in his official capacity as president on Jan. 6 and so the federal government itself should take his place as the defendant. That move, if successful, could protect Mr. Trump from having to face judgment for his role in the Capitol attack and from having to pay financial damages if…

JOHOR BAHRU: Over 10,700 people in Johor have been evacuated as of Friday (Mar 21) due to floods that also caused massive traffic congestion in the Johor Bahru city centre. “The victims from 3,018 families have been sent to temporary flood relief centres,” Johor’s Disaster Management Committee said in a statement on Friday (Mar 21) morning.  The 10,763 people evacuated as of 8am on Friday is more than double the 5,092 recorded just 10 hours earlier, local news outlet The Star reported.  Johor Bahru has the highest number of flood evacuees, at 4,291 people, said Azmi Rohani, chairman of the…

South African authorities have put a crew member of a remote research team at the South African National Antarctic Expedition (SANAE) IV base in Antarctica under psychological evaluation after reports of his violent behaviour emerged, including physical assault and sexual harassment of his teammates. Reports of assault were first reported last weekend by South Africa’s Sunday Times newspaper, which claimed to have seen a distress email sent by a crew member to government officials. That person pleaded for rescue and said the violent staff member had made death threats. Officials said psychological counsellors have since “constantly” intervened remotely and that…

Elon Musk has said that “Canada is not a real country,” just one of his social media jabs at the U.S. neighbor.But people in Canada have done real damage to the vehicles and dealerships belonging to his electric car company, Tesla, according to the police.More than 80 Teslas had their tires punctured and bodies scratched at a lot in Hamilton, Ontario, the police said on Thursday. Several acts of vandalism against Tesla property have also been committed in the United States.Hamilton, west of Toronto, is the heart of Canada’s steel manufacturing industry and a battlefront in the country’s trade war…

Urban buildings in Huai’an city, Jiangsu province, China, on March 18, 2025.Cfoto | Future Publishing | Getty ImagesBEIJING — UBS analysts on Wednesday became the latest to raise expectations that China’s struggling real estate market is close to stabilizing.”After four or five years of a downward cycle, we have begun to see some relatively positive signals,” John Lam, head of Asia-Pacific property and Greater China property research at UBS Investment Bank, told reporters Wednesday. That’s according to a CNBC translation of his Mandarin-language remarks.”Of course these signals aren’t nationwide, and may be local,” Lam said. “But compared to the past,…

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