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[ad_1] The IRIS Alborz, pride of the Iranian navy, isn’t much of a warship. Commissioned in 1971, the frigate is both long in tooth and lacking in teeth: Decades of sanctions have obliged Iran to jerry-rig it with homemade combat systems, well short of the firepower of equivalent vessels in the world’s major naval fleets.The ship serves important symbolic purposes, though. It is a reminder that the Islamic Republic is […]

[ad_1] SEOUL – Moving into 2024, relations between the United States and China are as fraught as ever. But what do tensions between the world’s leading superpowers mean for smaller actors?The answer depends on the country, sector and even firm. South Korean companies, for example, appear to be reaping significant benefits from U.S. trade and technology restrictions on China, which have at least slowed — and possibly even reversed — […]

[ad_1] Doha – Asian Cup favorites Japan survived a scare in their tournament opener on Sunday against Vietnam before winning 4-2 in a roller-coaster clash.Hajime Moriyasu's side is looking for a record-extending fifth Asian title and looked set for a comfortable start to their campaign in Qatar when Takumi Minamino gave them an 11th-minute lead.But Vietnam, which is coached by Japan's 2000 Asian Cup-winning boss Philippe Troussier, turned the game […]

[ad_1] A Kyodo News survey released Sunday shows that 86.6% of respondents back tougher political funds control laws in Japan amid a fundraising scandal embroiling the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. A total of 61.6% were also dissatisfied with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's handling of the aftermath of a magnitude-7.6 earthquake that struck the Noto Peninsula on New Year's Day. The telephone survey, which started on Saturday, put the approval rating […]

[ad_1] Calais, France – Four migrants died overnight and a fifth was in critical condition on Sunday after trying to reach Britain from northern France in freezing temperatures, the French maritime authority said.About 70 migrants, including small children, were rescued, said a source familiar with the situation.The fatalities were the first reported migrant deaths on the Channel in 2024. [ad_2] Source link

[ad_1] North Korea launched an apparent intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) on Sunday — its first launch this year — with the missile falling into the Sea of Japan outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.The launch, the North's first since it tested a Hwasong-18 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile on Dec. 18, landed in waters outside the EEZ, which extends 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from Japan's coast, the Defense Ministry in Tokyo […]

[ad_1] Lone yokozuna Terunofuji was victorious in his return from injury, while ozeki Kirishima made a winning start to his promotion bid as the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament opened Sunday at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan.Having withdrawn from the past three meets with severe back pain, the 32-year-old Terunofuji is aiming to complete his first 15-day tournament since winning last May's championship with a 14-1 record.He faced a potentially tricky opening-day […]

[ad_1] When you walk through a fresh clearcut in British Columbia, you are surrounded by a “one-dimensional, dead landscape,” says Michelle Connolly of Conservation North, a volunteer conservation group based in the Canadian province. The forest’s soft, mossy ground, the birdcalls and the cool moisture in the air are gone. In their place, twigs and debris lay everywhere, occasionally interspersed with pieces of garbage. Sound and movement from plants or […]