Regional

The Curse of KFC Grandpa: TECO issues travel warning for Osaka Japan in case baseball fans go wild tonight

composite image showing damaged Colonel Sanders statue and fans jumping into the Dotonburi Canal
Odd News Regional 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Osaka, Japan, issued a travel warning advising Taiwanese visiting the city to avoid crowded places if the Hanshin Tigers win Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball final tonight. The travel warning came as police stepped up security around the city, deploying 1,300 police in expectation of a Hanshin Tigers victory in the Nippon Professional Baseball’s Central League. Hanshin Tigers fans have a notorious reputation for fanaticism that borders on violence. While fights occasionally break

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Japan deploys Patriot III anti-aircraft missiles on islands close to Taiwan

composite picture showing map of Taiwan and Japanese islands in the Miyako Strait
Military Affairs Regional 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , ,

Japan will deploy Patriot III anti-aircraft missiles on Yonaguni Island, just 111 kilometers from Taiwan’s east coast, purportedly in response to North Korea’s long-range ballistic missiles, according to reports in Japanese media outlets today, Monday, May 8. Major Japanese media outlet Jiji Press reported that Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno announced today that the Japan Air Self-Defense Force will deploy Patriot III (PAC-3) anti-aircraft missiles at the Air Self-Defense Miyako Base in Miyakojima City, Okinawa Prefecture. In addition, PAC-3 missiles

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Japan ends distribution of AstraZeneca COVID vaccines with the last of the shots destroyed

Covidian helmets and holy vaccine
Health and Safety Regional 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment , ,

Japan has discarded some 13.5 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, as all of the remaining shots supplied by the British pharmaceutical company have expired, the health ministry announced on Sept. 30, according to Japan’s leading daily newspaper, The Mainichi , October 1, 2022. “Japan is officially ending the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine,” the report said, while explaining that the Japanese government had signed up to purchase 120 million doses of the product in December 2020. Only 200,000 doses

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China lockdown madness: elderly patient put into body bag alive, handed over for cremation

composite image from video of patient in body bag in hearse
Regional 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment , , ,

Government officials have confirmed that the staff of a Shanghai nursing home put a patient into a body bag and handed it over to undertakers for cremation, but had to take “the body” back after the undertakers saw movement, and found the man was still alive, according to Chinese news reports. Video footage of the incident circulated widely on Chinese social media yesterday, May 1. In the videos, taken from two angles, two undertakers are seen pulling a body bag

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Foreign pilot spotted after Chinese air force jet crash suspected to be Russian

composite image showing plane wreckage, Chinese pilot, foreign pilot
Regional 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

Pictures circulating on Chinese social media sites show that one of two pilots who parachuted from a People’s Liberation Army Air Force jet that crashed in Henan Province, China, two days ago, is a foreigner suspected to be of Russian nationality. The L-15 Falcon advanced trainer aircraft allegedly crashed in Caolou Village, Zhangji Township, Yucheng County on April 23. However, some sources report that the crash occurred in Huoshan County, Lu’an City, Anhui Province. Video footage of the incident showed

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Video shows Chinese airliner nosedived from an altitude of 9,000 meters

composite image showing plane nosediving and site of crash
Aviation Regional 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment ,

Video footage from a security camera at mining operation around one kilometer away from the site of a plane crash that killed all 132 passengers and crew aboard in Guangxi Province, China, showed that the airliner nosed dived to the ground from an altitude of 9,000 meters. According to data from Flightradar24, the Boeing 737-800 belonging to China Eastern Airlines plunged “cliff-like” from an altitude of 9,000 meters before disappearing from radar at 900 meters at around 2:50 pm today,

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Missing Boeing 737 with 132 on board confirmed crashed in China

composite image showing forest fire and piece of wreckage
Aviation Regional 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

A China Eastern Airlines passenger plane that went missing from radar earlier today has been confirmed to have crashed in a mountainous area of Guangxi Province, China, according to Chinese state media. CCTV reported that a China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737 flight number MU5735 carrying 123 passengers and 9 crew took off from Kunming at 1:15 pm bound for Guangzhou Baiyun Airport. At around 2:50 pm the plane disappeared from radar screens over Wuzhou, Guangxi Province. At 4:30 pm, the

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7.3 magnitude earthquake strikes Japan, Tsunami alert issued

Japan earthquake March 15, 2022
Regional 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment

A 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan at 11:36 pm Wednesday, March 16, rocking the capital Tokyo, and triggering a tsunami warning. The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake struck at a depth of 60 kilometers, 57 kilometers east northeast of the town of Namie in Fukushima Prefecture. The earthquake was felt over large areas of northern and eastern Japan with shaking of up to 6+ on a scale of 7 felt in Fukushima and

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World’s oldest living person celebrates her 119th birthday in Fukuoka, Japan

Kane Tanaka at age 20 and 119 composite image
Regional 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment

The oldest living person in the world, Kane Tanaka, celebrated her 119th birthday in Fukuoka, Japan today January 2; and a member of her family revealed that Tanaka’s birthday wish is to celebrate her 120th birthday next year, according to the The Sankei News. Tanaka was born in 1903, the year the Wright brothers made the first successful powered flight. Notable people born in 1903 included George Orwell, Anaïs Nin, and John Dillinger, but Kane Tanaka has far outlived her peers

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Taxi in Korea plunges from 5th floor, killing 1, injuring 8

composite image of taxi falling and aftermath of crash
Regional 
Phillip Charlier 2 Comments

A bizarre car accident left one dead and five injured, after a taxi crashed through a wall and fell 5 floors onto a roadway below in Busan, South Korea, yesterday, December 30. According to Korean news agencies, a 70-year-old driver apparently missed a turn, and drove straight into a wall marked with the word “exit” on the 5th floor of a carpark at the Homeplus store in Yeonje District at around 12:30 pm, Thursday. The taxi crashed through the wall

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Taiwan sends 2 air force transport planes of material relief to Philippines typhoon disaster zone

composite image of air force c-130 and typhoon damage
Regional Typhoon 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment ,

Taiwan’s air force dispatched two C-130 flights carrying emergency supplies to the southern Philippines after a destructive category 5 typhoon left 378 dead, and an estimated 2.4 million people in need of emergency assistance. The first flight arrived in Cebu yesterday evening, December 25, and a second flight arrived this morning. Typhoon Rai, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Odette, made landfall on December 16. According to the latest statistics from the Philippine government, the typhoon left 378 dead, 742

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