عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

S.Korea 'Seriously' Concerned Over Japanese Radioactive Water Dump

FILE PHOTO: Storage tanks for radioactive water are seen at Tokyo Electric Power Co's (TEPCO) tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture, Japan February 18, 2019. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Storage tanks for radioactive water are seen at Tokyo Electric Power Co's (TEPCO) tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture, Japan February 18, 2019. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo
TT
TT

S.Korea 'Seriously' Concerned Over Japanese Radioactive Water Dump

FILE PHOTO: Storage tanks for radioactive water are seen at Tokyo Electric Power Co's (TEPCO) tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture, Japan February 18, 2019. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Storage tanks for radioactive water are seen at Tokyo Electric Power Co's (TEPCO) tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture, Japan February 18, 2019. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo

South Korea expressed alarm on Thursday about the possibility that Japan will dump more than one million tonnes of contaminated water from the tsunami-damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea.

South Korea's "serious concern" about the contaminated water was conveyed when senior officials from the uneasy neighbors met for talks in Seoul for their first time since Japan's new prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, took office last month, Reuters reported.

"Director-general Kim highlighted our grave awareness and serious concern about the issue of the Fukushima reactor contaminated water," the South Korean foreign ministry said in a statement, referring to Kim Jung-han, director-general for Asia and Pacific affairs, who led the South Korean team.

Media has reported that Japanese authorities have decided to discharge some one million tonnes of radioactive water into the sea nearly a decade after an earthquake triggered a tsunami that slammed into the Fukushima nuclear plant north of Tokyo, causing extensive damage.

The Japanese government has said no decision has been made on the disposal of the water from the damaged plant.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

China’s Xi and Russia’s Putin Reinforce Ties in Video Call

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin holds a video call with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Moscow on February 4, 2026. (Vyacheslav Prokofyev/ Pool/ AFP)
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin holds a video call with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Moscow on February 4, 2026. (Vyacheslav Prokofyev/ Pool/ AFP)
TT
TT

China’s Xi and Russia’s Putin Reinforce Ties in Video Call

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin holds a video call with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Moscow on February 4, 2026. (Vyacheslav Prokofyev/ Pool/ AFP)
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin holds a video call with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Moscow on February 4, 2026. (Vyacheslav Prokofyev/ Pool/ AFP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed his country's growing economic cooperation with China in a video call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday.

The virtual meeting came in the middle of a series of meetings between Xi and Western leaders who have sought to boost ties with China despite differences over Russia’s war in Ukraine. European leaders have pressed China for years to end its support for Russia. China has continued to trade with Russia, providing some relief from Western economic sanctions.

“I would like to once again assure you of firm support for our shared efforts to ensure the sovereignty and security of our countries, our socio-economic welfare and the right to choose our own development path,” Putin said in opening remarks that were broadcast by Russian state television.

Many of America’s closest partners are exploring opportunities with China following clashes with President Donald Trump over tariffs and his demands to take over Greenland from NATO ally Denmark. The Xi-Putin call followed visits by the British and Canadian prime ministers to Beijing last month. The German chancellor is also expected to visit later this month.

The Russian leader noted that “our partnership in the energy sphere is mutually beneficial and has a truly strategic character.”

He added that the two countries were “conducting an active dialogue in peaceful use of nuclear energy and developing high-tech projects, including in the industry sphere and space research.”

Xi said that he and Putin would discuss a new “grandiose plan for the development of bilateral ties” and “exchange views on major strategic issues,” according to a Russian translation of his opening remarks. He noted that the two countries need to “use a historic opportunity to continue deepening strategic cooperation.”

The call may have been in part to reassure Russia that China’s position on the Ukraine war hasn’t changed.

Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu also visited Beijing last weekend, during which he met China’s top foreign policy official, Wang Yi. The two officials agreed their countries should maintain close ties in a turbulent world, state media reports said.

Putin, in his call with Xi, applauded China's decision to allow visa-free entry for Russians, their partnership in energy including the peaceful use of nuclear power, and high-tech cooperation in space and industry.

He also noted that Wednesday marked the beginning of spring in the traditional Chinese calendar and said that “any season is springtime in Russia-China relations.”

World

15 Killed in Collision Between Greek Coastguard Vessel and Migrant Boat

An ambulance is seen at the port on the eastern Aegean island of Chios, on February 3, 2026, following a migrant boat collision with Greek coastguards. (Handout / Eurokinissi / AFP)
An ambulance is seen at the port on the eastern Aegean island of Chios, on February 3, 2026, following a migrant boat collision with Greek coastguards. (Handout / Eurokinissi / AFP)
TT
TT

15 Killed in Collision Between Greek Coastguard Vessel and Migrant Boat

An ambulance is seen at the port on the eastern Aegean island of Chios, on February 3, 2026, following a migrant boat collision with Greek coastguards. (Handout / Eurokinissi / AFP)
An ambulance is seen at the port on the eastern Aegean island of Chios, on February 3, 2026, following a migrant boat collision with Greek coastguards. (Handout / Eurokinissi / AFP)

A Greek coastguard vessel and a boat carrying migrants have collided in the Aegean sea, killing 15 people, authorities said Wednesday, updating the previous toll.

The incident occurred Tuesday off the island of Chios, near Türkiye.

"The pilot of a high-speed boat without navigation lights and carrying foreign passengers failed to comply with the Coast Guard's visual and audible signals," according to a Coast Guard statement.

"Instead, the pilot turned around, and the boat then collided with the starboard side of the Coast Guard patrol boat," the statement said, adding that "the force of the impact caused the boat to capsize and sink".

Fourteen bodies were retrieved from the sea, including three women. Another woman who was plucked out alive later died of her injuries, the coastguard said.

Among those rescued were 11 children who have been taken to hospital, along with two injured coastguards.

Rescuers in five boats and a helicopter were scouring the sea early Wednesday for any other survivors or victims. Authorities said the total number of people aboard the migrant boat was unknown.

Large numbers of migrants seek to cross the Mediterranean each year to reach Europe.

The UN refugee agency said in November that more than 1,700 people died or went missing in 2025 on migration routes to Europe in the Mediterranean and in the Atlantic off the coast of west Africa.

The International Organization for Migration says about 33,000 migrants have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean since 2014.

World

Trump Says Time to Turn the Page on Epstein Scandal

President Donald Trump smiles after signing a spending bill that ends a partial shutdown of the federal government in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in Washington. (AP)
President Donald Trump smiles after signing a spending bill that ends a partial shutdown of the federal government in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in Washington. (AP)
TT
TT

Trump Says Time to Turn the Page on Epstein Scandal

President Donald Trump smiles after signing a spending bill that ends a partial shutdown of the federal government in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in Washington. (AP)
President Donald Trump smiles after signing a spending bill that ends a partial shutdown of the federal government in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in Washington. (AP)

US President Donald Trump made a fresh plea Tuesday for Americans to move on from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, even as it left a prominent British politician facing a criminal probe on the other side of the Atlantic.

Former British ambassador to Washington Peter Mandelson resigned from the upper house of parliament amid allegations he passed confidential information to late sex offender Epstein.

The fallout from the latest release of millions of documents linked to Epstein continued in the United States too, where former president Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary will testify in Congress later this month.

Republican Trump insisted once again that he had been cleared by the newest trove of files as he faced renewed questions at the White House over the disgraced financier.

"Nothing came out about me other than it was a conspiracy against me, literally, by Epstein and other people. But I think it's time now for the country to maybe get on to something else like health care or something that people care about," Trump said.

Trump added that it was "not a Republican, it's a Democrat problem," in a bid to turn the issue back to the Clintons, and away from the mention in the files of allies including his Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and billionaire Elon Musk.

"It's a shame," he said of the Clintons.

- 'Too bad' -

Hillary Clinton, the Democratic former US secretary of state who lost to Trump in the 2016 election, and her husband will now testify in a US House investigation into Epstein on February 26 and 27.

Neither Trump nor the Clintons have been accused of criminal wrongdoing related to Epstein's activities.

Trump spent months trying to block the disclosure of files linked to Epstein, before relenting late last year when an initial tranche of files was released.

Fresh documents released by the US Justice Department last week contained emails between prominent figures and Epstein, who died by suicide in prison in 2019, often revealing warm relations, illicit financial dealings and private photos.

The names of some alleged victims, who were supposed to be anonymized, were left unredacted, prompting them to petition a US federal court for an "immediate takedown" of the government website showing the files.

However, a US federal judge on Tuesday canceled a court hearing set for Wednesday, saying that "the parties were able to resolve the privacy issues."

US attorney general, Pam Bondi, wrote to the judge on Monday that all documents requested by victims or counsel had been removed for further redaction.

Nevertheless, Trump's efforts to move on from the Epstein scandal have been hampered as it engulfs key figures from royals to politicians at home and abroad.

"I don't know too much about it," Trump said when an AFP reporter asked him to comment on Mandelson's resignation. "I know who he is. It's too bad."

Mandelson appeared in the Oval Office in May 2025 and shook hands with Trump as they announced a trade deal, but was sacked in September over earlier Epstein revelations.