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US Tells Israel that Escalations in Middle East Serve No One

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken shakes hands with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. (Archive-Reuters)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken shakes hands with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. (Archive-Reuters)
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US Tells Israel that Escalations in Middle East Serve No One

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken shakes hands with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. (Archive-Reuters)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken shakes hands with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. (Archive-Reuters)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in a phone call on Friday that the escalation of tensions in the Middle East was "in no party's interest" while also stressing the need for a Gaza ceasefire, the State Department said.
There has been an increased risk of escalation into a broader Middle East war after recent killings of Palestinian group Hamas' leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and of Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut drew threats of retaliation against Israel.
As a result, many fear a widening of Israel's war in Gaza that has already killed tens of thousands and caused a humanitarian crisis, following Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Reuters said.
"The Secretary reaffirmed the United States' ironclad commitment to Israel's security and discussed how escalation is in no party's interest," the State Department said in a statement.
Blinken stressed the "urgent need to reach a ceasefire in Gaza" that could release hostages held in the enclave and "create the conditions for broader regional stability," the State Department added.
A day earlier, Gallant spoke to US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin about the situation in the region.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
The Gaza health ministry says that since then Israel's military assault on the Hamas-governed enclave has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians while also displacing nearly the entire population of 2.3 million, causing a hunger crisis and leading to genocide accusations that Israel denies.
President Joe Biden laid out a three-phase ceasefire proposal in an address on May 31. Washington and regional mediators have since tried arranging the Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal but have consistently run into obstacles.

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Japanese Urged to Avoid Panic-Buying as Megaquake Fears Spread

Customers walk by the entrance of a supermarket as signs written "quake-related media reports are causing some products to run out of stocks and that sales restrictions are likely" (up) and "bottled water is being rationed, with a cap of one case (six bottles) per each customer" in Sumida district of Tokyo on August 10, 2024. (AFP)
Customers walk by the entrance of a supermarket as signs written "quake-related media reports are causing some products to run out of stocks and that sales restrictions are likely" (up) and "bottled water is being rationed, with a cap of one case (six bottles) per each customer" in Sumida district of Tokyo on August 10, 2024. (AFP)
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Japanese Urged to Avoid Panic-Buying as Megaquake Fears Spread

Customers walk by the entrance of a supermarket as signs written "quake-related media reports are causing some products to run out of stocks and that sales restrictions are likely" (up) and "bottled water is being rationed, with a cap of one case (six bottles) per each customer" in Sumida district of Tokyo on August 10, 2024. (AFP)
Customers walk by the entrance of a supermarket as signs written "quake-related media reports are causing some products to run out of stocks and that sales restrictions are likely" (up) and "bottled water is being rationed, with a cap of one case (six bottles) per each customer" in Sumida district of Tokyo on August 10, 2024. (AFP)

Authorities in Japan urged people to avoid hoarding as anxiety over a possible megaquake triggered a spike Saturday in demand for disaster kits and daily necessities.

In its first such advisory, the weather agency said a huge earthquake was more likely in the aftermath of a magnitude 7.1 jolt in the south on Thursday which left 14 people injured.

At a Tokyo supermarket on Saturday, a sign was put up apologizing to customers for shortages of certain products it attributed to "quake-related media reports".

"Potential sales restrictions are on the way", the sign said, adding bottled water was already being rationed due to "unstable" procurement.

On Saturday morning the website of Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten showed portable toilets, preserved food and bottled water topping the list of the most sought-after items.

Some retailers along the Pacific coastline also reported similar disaster-related supplies in high demand, according to local media reports.

The advisory concerns the Nankai Trough "subduction zone" between two tectonic plates in the Pacific Ocean, where massive earthquakes have hit in the past.

- Low risk -

It has been the site of destructive quakes of magnitude eight or nine every century or two, with the central government having previously estimated the next big one can strike over the next 30 years roughly with a 70 percent probability.

Experts however emphasize the risk, while elevated, is still low, and the agriculture and fisheries ministry urged people "to refrain from excessively hoarding goods".

A magnitude-5.3 tremor rocked Kanagawa region near Tokyo Friday, triggering emergency alarms on mobile phones and briefly suspending bullet train operations.

Most seismologists believe the Friday jolt had no direct link to the Nankai Trough megaquake, citing distance.

On social media platform X, spam posts taking advantage of fears over the megaquake are rapidly mushrooming.

Public broadcaster NHK said spam disguised as helpful quake-related tips was being posted every few seconds on X, with links that instead direct users toward porn or e-commerce sites.

Such posts are "making it increasingly difficult for users to reach genuine information about quakes", NHK said.

Sitting on top of four major tectonic plates, the Japanese archipelago of 125 million people sees some 1,500 quakes every year, most of them minor.

On January 1, a 7.6-sized jolt and powerful aftershocks hit the Noto Peninsula on the Sea of Japan coast, killing at least 318 people, toppling buildings and knocking out roads.