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Japan births fall to record low as population crisis deepens

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The number of births registered in Japan plummeted to another record low last year – the latest worrying statistic in a decades-long decline that the country’s authorities have failed to reverse despite their extensive efforts. The country saw 799,728 births in 2022, the lowest number on record and the first ever dip below 800,000, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health on Tuesday. That number has nearly halved in the past 40 years; by contrast, Japan recorded more than 1.5 million births in 1982. Japan also reported a record high for post-war deaths last year, at more than 1.58 million. Deaths have outpaced births in Japan for more than a decade, posing a growing problem for leaders of the world’s third-largest economy. They now face a ballooning elderly population, along with a shrinking workforce to fund pensions and health care as demand from the aging population surges. Japan’s population has been in steady decline since its economic boom of the 1980s and stood
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10 Palestinians killed, including Islamic Jihad commanders, in rare IDF daylight operation in West Bank

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At least 10 Palestinians, including two Islamic Jihad commanders, were killed Wednesday in a major IDF operation in the West Bank that also left more than 100 injured, Palestinian officials said. In an unusual daytime raid, Israeli military forces entered Nablus in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said. The Islamic Jihad militant group said two of its commanders were killed in ensuing clashes. The Lion’s Den militant group also confirmed its members were involved in the fighting, but did not say if any of their members were killed. The Israel Defense Forces said only that “security forces are currently operating in the city of Nablus” and said more details would follow. The IDF usually waits until an operation finishes before releasing a full statement. Israel Army Radio reported that the raid was to stop an “imminent attack.” IDF raids into the West Bank usually occur overnight; the last time the military conducted a daylight operation, they said it was becau
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Amnesty accuses Peruvian authorities of ‘marked racist bias’ in protest crackdown

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Amnesty International has accused Peruvian authorities of acting with “a marked racist bias” in its crackdown on protests that have roiled the country since December, saying “populations that have historically been discriminated against” are being targeted, according to a report released on Thursday. Drawing on data from the Peruvian Ombudsman’s Office, Amnesty says it “found that the number of possible arbitrary deaths due to state repression” were “disproportionately concentrated in regions with largely Indigenous populations.” Amnesty also says that areas with majority indigenous populations have accounted for the majority of deaths since the protests began. “While the regions with majority Indigenous populations represent only 13% of Peru’s total population, they account for 80% of the total deaths registered since the crisis began,” Amnesty wrote. The Ministry of Defense declined to comment on the report, telling CNN that there is an ongoing investigation being carried out by the
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Nicola Sturgeon unexpectedly quits as first minister of Scotland amid swirl of political setbacks, citing ‘brutality’ of public life

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Nicola Sturgeon, the figurehead of the faltering Scottish independence movement, dramatically announced on Wednesday that she would resign after eight years as Scotland’s first minister. The Scottish National Party leader made the announcement at a press conference in Edinburgh. She will stay in office until a new SNP leader is appointed. Sturgeon said she knows the “time is now” for her to stand down, adding that it is “right for me, for my party and for the country.” “First, though I know it will be tempting to see it as such, this decision is not a reaction to short-term pressures,” said Sturgeon, who has been facing increasing tensions with the UK government in London over Scottish independence, as well as Westminster’s decision to block a Scottish law intended to allow trans people in Scotland to change their legal gender without a medical diagnosis. “This decision comes from a deeper and longer term assessment.” She added that she could no longer give her full energy to the job,
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China protests after US jets shoot down suspected spy balloon

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China has expressed its “strong dissatisfaction and protest” against the United States’ decision to shoot down its high-altitude balloon, accusing it of “overreacting” and “seriously violating international practice.” US military fighter jets on Saturday shot down the balloon over the Atlantic Ocean in a mission President Joe Biden hailed as a success. The United States believes the balloon was involved in espionage, but China has refuted this, insisting it was a civilian research vessel blown off course. Shortly after the downing of the balloon, China’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Sunday morning local time expressing its “strong dissatisfaction and protest against the US’s use of force to attack a civilian unmanned aircraft.” “The Chinese side has repeatedly informed the US side after verification that the airship is for civilian use and entered the US due to force majeure – it was completely an accident,” the Foreign Ministry said. “Force Majeure” is a legal term which mea
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Ukraine war live updates: Boris Johnson says Putin threatened him with missile strike in pre-call; Berlin rules out fighter jets for Kyiv

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Ukraine is pressing its allies for faster weapons supplies as intense fighting continues in the eastern Donetsk region. Following a weekend of attacks on the cities of Kharkiv and Kherson and ongoing battles around Bakhmut in Donetsk, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that “Russia hopes to drag out the war, to exhaust our forces. So we have to make time our weapon. We must ... speed up the supply and opening of new necessary weaponry options for Ukraine.” Ukraine’s allies agreed last week to provide the country with heavy battle tanks, with Kyiv then pressing for fighter jets too. One Ukrainian governent advisor was reported stating Saturday that “negotiations” were taking place over the possibility of sending fighter aircraft. Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz insisted over the weekend that fighter jets would not be provided to Ukraine, however, telling a German newspaper that “the question of combat aircraft does not arise at all,” Scholz told the Tagesspiegel newspa
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Ukraine’s new tanks won’t be the instant game-changer some expect

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Those hoping that main battle tanks donated by NATO allies to Ukraine will have an immediate impact in its war with Russia may have to adjust their expectations. After confirming it will receive deliveries of the American M-1 Abrams, German Leopards and British Challengers, Kyiv is now confronted with the logistical and operational realities of incorporating an assortment of vastly different and complex heavy armor into effective fighting units. But first, the Ukrainians must factor in the time line for delivery. Even the most optimistic estimates say it will take months for the tanks to enter the battlefield in numbers to make a big difference, while in the case of Abrams tanks it could be more than a year before Ukraine is able to deploy them. Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said Thursday that the United States would provide Ukraine with an advanced version of the Abrams, the M1A2. The US does not “have these tanks available in excess in our US stocks,” she said, adding
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