TOKYO: Three bodies were found inside a crater at the summit of Mount Fuji, Japan’s most famous mountain, with one of them already brought down from the slopes, police said Thursday.
The identities of the people, including gender or age, were not confirmed. An effort to bring back the two other bodies will continue Friday or later, depending on weather conditions, they said. A search was called off for Thursday because of forecasts for heavy rainfall.
It’s unclear whether the three people were climbing the 3,776-meter (12,388-foot) mountain together, as the bodies were found several meters apart.
The official climbing season had not yet started when the climbers entered the mountain from the Shizuoka Prefecture side.
Japanese media reports showed a vehicle with one of the bodies driving into a police station in Shizuoka Prefecture. The rescue team had been searching for a 53-year-old man for whom a missing person report was filed.
Separately, Kyodo News service said professional climber Keita Kurakami, 38, died in a hospital after being found by police while climbing Fuji from the Yamanashi Prefecture side of the mountain.
Fuji can be climbed from both Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures. The climbing season kicks in for Yamanashi starting July 1.
Mount Fuji, made famous in ukiyoe, or woodblock prints, of 18th and 19th Century Edo Era masters Katsushika Hokusai and Utagawa Hiroshige, is a popular tourist destination.
Experts warn it can get extremely cold, even in the summer, and proper gear, climbing boots and clothing are crucial. Trekkers are also at risk of altitude sickness if they ascend too quickly.
The picturesque Fuji has long been an iconic symbol of Japan, with its gracefully sweeping slopes and white icy cap that stand out amid tranquil lakes and rice fields.
As many as 300,000 people climb Fuji every year, and watching the sunrise from the mountaintop is coveted as a spiritual experience. But worries have been growing lately about overcrowding from the influx of tourists.
The town of Fujikawaguchiko in Yamanashi erected a large black screen along a sidewalk to block the view of Mount Fuji to discourage photo-snapping crowds.
Rescuers seek to bring down bodies found on Japan’s Mount Fuji
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Rescuers seek to bring down bodies found on Japan’s Mount Fuji
- Police said Thursday the identities of the people, including gender or age, are still unclear
Afghan women’s rights an internal issue, Taliban government says before talks in Qatar
- The Taliban government imposed restrictions on women since seizing power in 2021, prompting the UN to call it ‘gender apartheid’
- The UN launched the talks in Qatar in May 2023 to increase international coordination on engagement with the Taliban authorities
KABUL: Taliban authorities said on Saturday that demands over women’s rights were “Afghanistan’s issues” to solve, ahead of United Nations-led engagement talks where the exclusion of Afghan women has sparked outcry.
The Taliban government, which has imposed restrictions on women since seizing power in 2021 that the UN has described as “gender apartheid,” will send its first delegation to the third round of talks starting in Qatar on Sunday.
Civil society representatives, including from women’s rights groups, will attend meetings with the international envoys and UN officials on Tuesday, after the official talks.
Rights groups have condemned the exclusion of Afghan women from the main meetings and the lack of human rights issues on the agenda.
The Taliban authorities “acknowledge the issues about women,” government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told a news conference in Kabul on the eve of the latest talks.
“But these issues are Afghanistan’s issues,” said Mujahid, who will lead the delegation.
“We are working to find a logical path toward solutions inside Afghanistan so that, God forbid, our country doesn’t again fall into conflict and discord.”
He said the Taliban government would represent all of Afghanistan at the meetings and, given their authority, should be the only Afghans at the table.
“If Afghans participate through several channels, it means we are still scattered, our nation is still not unified,” he said.
The talks were launched by the UN in May 2023 and aim to increase international coordination on engagement with the Taliban authorities, who ousted a Western-backed government when they swept to power.
The Taliban government has not been officially recognized by any state and the international community has wrestled with its approach to Afghanistan’s new rulers, with women’s rights issues a sticking point for many countries.
Taliban authorities were not invited to the first talks in Doha last year and refused to attend the second conference, demanding that they be the sole Afghan representatives to the exclusion of invited civil society groups.
That condition has been met for the third round.
Mujahid reiterated that the Taliban government sought positive relations with all countries.
However, he added that “no major or key discussions” would take place in Doha and that the meeting was an opportunity to exchange views, particularly with Western countries.
The agenda will include combating narcotics and economic issues, key topics for authorities in the impoverished country.
“We have hurdles blocking economic development, which should be removed,” Mujahid said.
“If the economy were fine, then all other issues could be solved.”
Russian attack on southeastern Ukrainian town kills seven, officials say
- President Volodymyr Zelensky repeated his appeal to allies to provide Ukraine with more long-range weapons and enhanced air defenses
- Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said two missiles were fired on the town, damaging infrastructure, a shop and residential buildings
KYIV: Russian forces on Saturday fired missiles at the town of Vilniansk, outside the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, killing seven people, including two children, and injuring up to 18 others, officials said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky repeated his appeal to allies to provide Ukraine with more long-range weapons and enhanced air defenses to stop what he said were daily attacks.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said two missiles were fired on the town, damaging infrastructure, a shop and residential buildings.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko put the death toll at seven, including two children, with 18 others injured, including four children. “Today the enemy carried out yet another dreadful terrorist act against the civilian population,” Zaporizhzhia Regional Governor Ivan Fedorov said in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app.
The attack occurred in “the middle of the day, a non-working day, in the town center, where people were out relaxing, where there were no military targets,” Fedorov said.
Zelensky posted photos from the site showing a large crater, downed trees and a pair of tarpaulins spread out on the ground of what looked like a park.
“Our cities and communities suffer daily from such Russian strikes. But there are ways to overcome this,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram.
“Destroying terrorists where they are. Destroying Russian missile launchers, striking with real long-range capability and increasing the number of modern air defense systems in Ukraine” were ways to defend the country from such attacks, Zelensky said.
Australian PM distances government from King Charles’ decision to award medal to soldier accused of Afghanistan war crimes
- Ben Roberts-Smith among those handed commemorative medals marking British monarch's coronation
- Australian Federal Court judge last year dismissed defamation case brought by Roberts-Smith over unlawful killing claims
LONDON: The Australian government has distanced itself from the awarding of an honor from the UK’s King Charles III to a former special forces soldier accused of committing war crimes in Afghanistan.
Buckingham Palace decided to present commemorative medals to all living Victoria Cross recipients, which includes Ben Roberts-Smith, who attended a ceremony at Western Australia’s Government House this week to receive the honor.
Last year an Australian Federal Court judge concluded that Roberts-Smith was involved in the unlawful killings of four Afghan prisoners. The ruling came after a lengthy trial brought about when the former soldier sued three newspapers for defamation.
Roberts-Smith brought a case against The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and the Canberra Times, as well as two journalists, over reports that alleged he had committed war crimes while deployed in Afghanistan. Last June, the judge dismissed the case.
Roberts-Smith, who has faced no criminal charges, has appealed the verdict and has maintained his innocence.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Saturday it would be wrong for his government to get involved.
“Well, this isn’t a decision of the government, this was a decision of (Buckingham Palace) to give all VC recipients a further award,” he said.
“There’s ongoing legal action potentially on these issues, so given the government’s engagement, it’s important that there not be interference in that. But it certainly wasn’t a government decision,” he added.
Court order bans encampments in LSE building after pro-Palestine protest
- Students had been camped in Marshal Building for about a month
- ‘No breaches of the interim order,’ LSE spokesperson says
LONDON: Pro-Palestine students have lost their legal battle against the London School of Economics after a court indefinitely barred them from setting up an encampment on campus, The Guardian reported on Saturday.
The students had vowed to remain in a camp they had set up on the ground floor atrium of Marshal Building on May 14 until the LSE met their demands. They were reported to have been there for about a month until the LSE initiated legal action.
On Friday at Central London county court, District Judge Morayo Fagborun-Bennett granted a possession order, indefinitely banning the establishment of encampments at the location.
Another judge granted LSE an interim possession order on June 14, which meant the camp had to be removed within 24 hours. The students disbanded their camp on June 17.
Commenting on behalf of LSE, Olivia Davies said there had been “no breaches of the interim order” by the defendants since the interim possession order was granted.
Daniel Grutters, representing three students, said: “Those instructing me had only opposed the making of the interim possession order. Since that was made, we indicated that we would not defend the possession order. We are agreed that the possession order can be made.”
During Friday’s hearing, Davies told the court that no students had faced any disciplinary action over the encampment.
“That’s good to know,” the judge said.
The encampment was set up following the release of the Assets in Apartheid report by the LSE Students’ Union Palestine society.
It claims that the LSE has invested £89 million ($112.6 million) in 137 companies involved in the conflict in Gaza, fossil fuels, the arms industry or nuclear weapons production.
The entrenched students had said they would remain in their camp until the LSE took several steps, including divestment and democratization of the financial decision-making process.
Wildfire fanned by strong wind rages in forest area near Athens
- About 80 firefighters assisted by 10 water-carrying planes were trying to control the fire on Mount Parnitha
- A thick cloud of smoke could be seen in the sky over Athens
ATHENS: Dozens of firefighters were battling on Saturday to stop a wildfire from spreading to a nature reserve in a mountainous forest area on the outskirts of the Greek capital, the fire service said.
About 80 firefighters assisted by 10 water-carrying planes were trying to control the fire on Mount Parnitha, some 20 km (12 miles) north of Athens, which was being fueled by gale-force winds, a fire brigade official said.
A thick cloud of smoke could be seen in the sky over Athens, which is flanked by mountains, but a local governor said no homes were threatened by the fire.
“The situation is stable so far,” a deputy governor for part of Athens, Costas Zobos, told state television.
With hot, windy conditions across much of the country, authorities advised people to stay out of forest areas. Winds are not expected to weaken before Sunday, meteorologists said.
Wildfires are common in the Mediterranean country, but they have become more devastating in recent years as summers have become hotter, drier and windier, which scientists link to the effects of climate change.
After last summer’s deadly forest fires and following its hottest winter on record, Greece developed a new doctrine, which includes deploying an extra fire truck to each new blaze, speeding up air support and clearing forests.
A big part of Mount Parnitha’s nature reserve, full of pines and fir trees, was destroyed by a large fire in 2007.
