Japanese Island Holds Disaster Drill in Shadow of Taiwan Threat

Japan Self-Defense Forces soldiers take part in an evacuation drill on Yonaguni island, Japan's westernmost inhabited island in Okinawa prefecture, Japan November 12, 2023. (Reuters)

08:59-12 November 2023 AD ـ 29 Rabi’ Al-Thani 1445 AH

Japan Self-Defense Forces soldiers take part in an evacuation drill on Yonaguni island, Japan's westernmost inhabited island in Okinawa prefecture, Japan November 12, 2023. (Reuters)

Japan on Sunday conducted a tsunami evacuation drill on its westernmost island, an exercise that could also help residents respond to an emergency arising from any attempt by China to take control of nearby self-ruled Taiwan, an official said.

About 200 island officials and members of Japan's military, known as the Self-Defense Force (SDF), took part in the exercise on Yonaguni, Japan's westernmost island, 2,000 km (1,240 miles) southwest of the capital, Tokyo.

But SDF helicopters and landing craft from ships that had sailed more than 1,000 km (620 miles) from the main Japanese islands were unable to join the exercise because of strong winds.

"We can't choose the time when we will face a disaster. We have to think about the worst thing that can happen and plan for that," the mayor of Yonaguni, Kenichi Itokazu, told officials at the island's town hall at the start of the drill.

Japan is prone to earthquake-triggered tsunami. Nearly 20,000 people were killed by one on the northeast coast of its main island of Honshu in 2011.

But Koji Sugama, the Yonaguni official in charge of preparing the island's 1,700 residents for disasters, said the community also had to be prepared for the danger of conflict.

"Today we conducted a disaster drill, but it also gives people something to think about that will come in useful in a Taiwan emergency," Sugama said.

Yonaguni is only 110 km (68 miles) from Taiwan. In August last year, China fired missiles into nearby waters in response to a visit to Taiwan by the then US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi.

China claims Taiwan as its territory and has never ruled out the use of force to take control of it.

Concern over China's increased military activity, as well as worry that Russia's attack on Ukraine could embolden Beijing to strike Taiwan, prompted Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to unveil a plan to double defense spending over the next five years.

About 180 Yonaguni residents came to the island's only junior high school to watch the first such exercise in four years. Troops stationed at an island army camp, that was opened in 2016 as part of a program to reinforce Japan's island outposts, provided lunch and foot baths.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Will Leave at the Month’s End

FILE - White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt watches as President Donald Trump speak to reporters while in flight on Air Force One to Joint Base Andrews, Md., Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

Asharq Al Awsat

11:29-13 August 2026 AD ـ 29 Safar 1448 AH

Asharq Al Awsat

11:29-13 August 2026 AD ـ 29 Safar 1448 AH

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Will Leave at the Month’s End

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt will leave the administration at the end of the month to spend more time with her family, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday.

Leavitt, 28, is the youngest person to hold the role. She was a press aide during Trump's first term and has been one of the most visible advocates of his “Make America Great Again” movement. Trump did not outline any plans for who might replace her, The Associated Press said.

Meanwhile, Trump said he slipped away from Air Force One after a trip last month in Türkiye because the Secret Service and military wanted him on a “different plane” due to a threat he insisted did not scare him.

He downplayed the extraordinary nature of the subterfuge involved in his flight, which saw him stow away in an airport catering container to sneak onto another plane while Air Force One was sent into the sky, essentially as a decoy.

World

Iran Says Strait of Hormuz is Under Its Control

An Iranian woman walks next to an anti-US billboard at the Enghelab square in central Tehran, Iran, 13 August 2026. Tensions between Iran and the US remain high as opposing claims persist over shipping control in the Strait of Hormuz. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH

Asharq Al Awsat

11:03-13 August 2026 AD ـ 29 Safar 1448 AH

Asharq Al Awsat

11:03-13 August 2026 AD ـ 29 Safar 1448 AH

Iran Says Strait of Hormuz is Under Its Control

The Strait of Hormuz is "under Iran's control and management", the head of Iran's Basij paramilitary unit, Hossein Taeb, said on Thursday, according to the semi-official Fars news ‌agency.

The remarks ‌came a day ‌after ⁠US President Donald ⁠Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that the US had "total control" of the strategic waterway.

Taeb said the United States ⁠had sought to ‌disrupt ‌what he described as Iran’s popularity in the ‌region by launching another war in the Strait of Hormuz, but had once ‌more been defeated despite claiming Iran had neither an ⁠air ⁠force nor a navy.

"Today you see that the Strait of Hormuz is under the management and control of the Islamic Republic," Taeb said, adding that Iran was continuing on its course in complete security.

World

Colombia Enters ‘Final Phase’ of Quake Search as Toll Hits 265

This aerial view shows heavy machinery used by rescuers in the search for survivors amid the rubble of a collapsed building after an earthquake in Pereira, Colombia on August 12, 2026. (AFP)

09:44-13 August 2026 AD ـ 29 Safar 1448 AH

Colombia Enters ‘Final Phase’ of Quake Search as Toll Hits 265

This aerial view shows heavy machinery used by rescuers in the search for survivors amid the rubble of a collapsed building after an earthquake in Pereira, Colombia on August 12, 2026. (AFP)

Rescuers in Colombia were making last-ditch efforts to locate earthquake survivors early Thursday, as the critical 72-hour window for rescue operations neared its end.

The magnitude 7.4 quake, the strongest to hit Colombia this century, has killed 265 people, injured more than 3,500 and left almost 500 missing, according to local authorities.

In cities such as Cali and Pereira, emergency crews worked through a third night with their bare hands, cranes and sniffer dogs, stopping not to rest but to listen for signs of life.

Thursday morning will mark 72 hours since the quake, a period when survivors are considered most likely to be found alive beneath collapsed buildings.

Cali resident Martha Perez said she felt "helpless" as two relatives were thought to still be trapped under rubble.

"We will hold on to (hope) until the very end," Perez told AFP on Wednesday night.

"As you can see, all of us here -- the entire city of Cali -- are hoping to find more survivors," volunteer rescuer Fernando Loaiza said.

Cali Mayor Alejandro Eder said Wednesday that rescue efforts were "entering the final phase."

Colombia's newly installed president Abelardo de la Espriella has declared the disaster an "economic emergency" and announced three days of national mourning.

"We will do what is necessary," he said in a statement, vowing to "emerge again as a country and as a society."

More than 11,000 dwellings have been destroyed and thousands of families have been rendered homeless, according to official figures.

- Holding onto 'hope' -

In Pereira, crews focused on a collapsed bakery where they believe a street vendor trapped since Monday's earthquake may still be alive beneath the rubble.

Rescuers using equipment that detects vibrations said they had picked up possible signs of life from Pablo Loaiza, prompting anxious relatives to gather near the wreckage.

"They tell us it could be him," said his 16-year-old niece, Sara Loaiza. "My heart is about to burst out of my chest."

Relatives said the trapped man appeared to respond when rescuers asked him to knock twice, then three times from beneath the rubble, drawing applause from those gathered at the scene.

"Every half hour we make everyone be quiet to see if we can find people alive," volunteer rescuer Johana Sanchez told AFP.

"So far, three people have been pulled out alive and three dead."

Many have already spent consecutive nights outdoors, either because their homes were damaged or because they feared aftershocks.

In the town of Roldanillo, Yuliana Mendez picked through the wreckage of the beauty products store where she worked, one of many businesses damaged in the disaster.

"It's like starting over from scratch," she said.

In Pereira's Providencia neighborhood, residents hauled furniture and household items from damaged buildings. Among them was lawyer Ana Paulina Crosthwaite, whose apartment block was left unsafe by the quake.

"We're in a state of shock," she told AFP. "We're not prepared to tell our children that we have to pack whatever we can and start a new life."

Many Colombians have mobilized to help, bringing water, food and supplies to affected neighborhoods, while long lines formed outside blood donation centers.

"It's about wanting to help your community, your city and your country," said blood donor Ferney Cabrera.

The United States announced $15.5 million in emergency aid to Colombia, and the European Union pledged two million euros ($2.3 million).

Japanese Island Holds Disaster Drill in Shadow of Taiwan Threat

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