Wildfires ravaging western Japan still show no sign of stopping. Two of the blazes have grown while a third suddenly broke out Tuesday. The first wildfire began Sunday in Ehime Prefecture's Imabari City. More than 300 hectares have burned so far, including several homes and warehouses.
Nearly 6,000 people have been told to evacuate. Another wildfire also broke out Sunday, this time in Okayama Prefecture. It had burned more than 400 hectares across Okayama and Tamano cities. Residents of both were urged to evacuate Tuesday night. It's grown to be the largest forest fire ever recorded in the prefecture. Finally, a third blaze broke out in Miyazaki Prefecture midday Tuesday. Officials say there are no known injuries or damages so far, but 70 households have been told to evacuate. As of Wednesday, about 50 hectares have been burned. Authorities say the fire is weakening, however, it's still far from being under control.
NHK World's Kimura Miyako went to Imabari City to check out how the situation is developing. She filed this report.
The smoke has died down a little compared to Tuesday, but the fire is still spreading. Let's take a closer look. This area behind me is an under-evacuation order. It's part of the Asakura-Minami district. Winds are blowing smoke around. The situation appeared more intense the day before. I saw flames rising violently from the mountain, and the smoke filled the sky at times.
Firefighters have been working around the clock. Some have been called in from other prefectures. About two dozen people are helping respond to the emergency.
Wildfires of this scale are rare here. This is an important reminder of how quickly things can change. And thousands of people in Imabari are hoping for a change back to normal as soon as possible.
Now, Japan's neighbor South Korea is also dealing with wildfires. Authorities there say at least 18 people, including firefighters, have been killed as fast-moving flames engulf communities in the country's southeast. The fires started late last week and have intensified due to strong winds and dry conditions. Local media reports some victims have been found dead on roads, suggesting they were caught by the fires while fleeing. Others were found in their homes or gardens. Officials are scrambling to get people to safety, including hundreds of inmates who were transferred to another facility after their prison came under threat from the fires. Flames are also bearing down on a UNESCO-registered historic village in North Gyeongsan Province, putting Korea's heritage service on high alert.
It's been 80 years since US forces invaded Okinawa, beginning one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. More than 200,000 people lost their lives as fighting engulfed Japan's southern prefecture. American troops first landed on Zamami in the Kerama Islands, west of Okinawa's main island. A memorial service was held in the village on Wednesday. Residents gathered to mourn the people who lost their lives there.
About 12-hundred people died in the village in battles between Japanese and US troops. The casualties included those who died in a mass suicide.
The names of the victims are inscribed on the Tower of Peace Cenotaph. In the confusion of the fighting, more than 560 residents of the Kerama Islands, including Zamami Village, took their own lives. Some used hand grenades given to them by the now-defunct Imperial Japanese Army.
93-year-old Takae Sutoshiko is one of the survivors.
I don't want my grandchildren and great-grandchildren to experience the fear and pain I went through at that time. I pray that this peace will continue for a long time.
Locals face challenges passing down memories of the battle to future generations, as the number of living survivors dwindles each year.
Over half a million migrants welcomed into the US under a Biden administration program might be shown the door. The administration of US President Donald Trump is revoking the humanitarian parole status of about 530,000 migrants from four Central and South American countries. The Department of Homeland Security announced on Tuesday that it is terminating the parole programs forwhat it terms inadmissible aliens and their immediate family members. The migrants were allowed in from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. The system was introduced in 2022 as a humanitarian measure.
But the Trump administration has described the people in this program as illegal migrants flown into the US by former President Joe Biden using taxpayers' money. The department is giving the parole recipients 30 days to leave the country if they have no other legal basis for staying. Trump made immigration policy a key theme of his presidential campaign. A support group blasted the order, saying it will cause needless chaos and heartbreak for families and communities across the US.
President Trump is standing by his national security adviser, Mike Waltz.
This comes after a journalist was added to a top secret group chat discussing war plans.
There was no classified information, as I understand it. They used a a app, if you want to call it an app, that a lot of people use, a lot of people in government use, a lot of people in the media use.
Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, made the news public Monday. He said he was added to a group with key national security officials as they planned strikes on a rebel group in Yemen. He said the post included information about targets, weapons and attack sequencing. In an interview with Fox News Channel's The Ingram Angle, Waltz admitted that he organized a group chat. He called the incident embarrassing.
I take full responsibility. I built the I built the group to meet. My job is to make sure everything's coordinated.
The Trump administration has downplayed their reported security breach. National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee Tuesday. She said there was discussion around targets in general, but she repeated Trump's claims.
There was no classified material that was shared in that.
Democratic senators have called on the administration to share their information if it is not classified. The White House released a statement on Tuesday emphasizing the success of the attack in Yemen. They suggested the leak was a coordinated effort to distract the public. The White House says it has reached agreements with Russia and Ukraine to ensure safe navigation and eliminate the use of force on the Black Sea.
The two countries have also agreed to prevent commercial vessels from being used for military purposes on the sea.
The White House made the announcement on Tuesday after engaged in separate technical level talks with the two nations. The meetings were held in Saudi Arabia from Sunday through Tuesday.
the US said the two countries also agreed to take steps to ban strikes against energy facilities in Russia and Ukraine. The US added it will help restore Russia's access to the world market for agricultural and fertilizer exports. Washington will help Kiev achieve the exchange of prisoners of war and the return of forcibly transferred Ukrainian children.
Russia's presidential office also made an announcement about the agreement on Tuesday, but it noted certain conditions must be met in order for the agreement to go into effect. The office said some restrictions must be lifted, such as those on trade and financial transactions. It said sanctions must also be lifted on producers and exporters of fertilizers, fishery products and other foods.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky commented on the agreement. He said it will be implemented immediately.
The president added he will urge Trump to impose sanctions on Russia and provide weapons to Ukraine if Moscow violates the deal.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators continue to gather in the streets of Istanbul one week after their city's mayor was detained. They're demanding Ekrem Imamoglu be released and have clashed with security services.
The government says more than 1,400 protesters have been detained. President Rajib Type Eldawan denounced the protests as street terrorism. He says more than 100 security personnel have been injured.
Imamoglu is seen as Eldawan's main rival and was likely to lead the opposition in the next presidential election. He was arrested on suspicion of corruption but has denied all charges.
An opposition leader urged people to continue fighting and says Turkey should not be controlled by what he called a few corrupt individuals.
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It's time for a check on the weather with our meteorologist Jonathan Oh, so Jonathan, it was a warm day on Wednesday across a good portion of Japan, but we also had some strong winds during the morning as well. What can you tell us?
We've already seen that pressure gradient relax as the low pushes away from the area, but we're going to exchange the warm weather with the sunny skies to more of a rainy pattern as we have a couple of lows coming in from the West. So as that pushes on through, we'll be seeing the rain increasing with the cloud also part of the story as you go through Thursday. Snow possibilities in this Sapporo showers from Niigata into Osaka and Fukuoka now high of 26. Again, partly cloudy skies for Tokyo as you go through day, but clouds will be increasing as we head towards Friday with the rain in the forecast. So we did see a lot more of the first blossoms taking place, especially on the Pacific side of Japan as we went through Wednesday. But Thursday might not be the best day to check those out as we see the rain coming into the picture.
Speaking of the rain, Quick note on the Pacific Northwest in the United States here, we're looking at a low pressure storm that could lead to some strong, possibly severe thunderstorms. And so that's going to be a bit of a problem.
And then down to the South as we head toward Thursday, we may be talking about some thunderstorms popping up into places like Texas as we go throughout the day.
Looking at the forecast here again, thunderstorms from Vancouver into Seattle, showers into Oklahoma City for Wednesday.
Hope you have a good day wherever you are.
♫～
And that is all for this edition of NHK Newsline. I'm Yamamoto Miki in Tokyo.
Thank you for staying with us.
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