Japan Lifts Tsunami Advisory after Russia Quake

This general view shows Heisaura Beach in the city of Tateyama of Chiba Prefecture after the tsunami advisory was lifted on July 31, 2025. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)
This general view shows Heisaura Beach in the city of Tateyama of Chiba Prefecture after the tsunami advisory was lifted on July 31, 2025. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)
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Japan Lifts Tsunami Advisory after Russia Quake

This general view shows Heisaura Beach in the city of Tateyama of Chiba Prefecture after the tsunami advisory was lifted on July 31, 2025. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)
This general view shows Heisaura Beach in the city of Tateyama of Chiba Prefecture after the tsunami advisory was lifted on July 31, 2025. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)

Japan's weather office on Thursday lifted a tsunami advisory imposed a day earlier after Russia's Far East was rocked by one of the strongest earthquakes on record.

"There is currently no coastal area for which tsunami warnings or advisories are in force," the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said on its website.

Millions of people were put on high alert in countries around the Pacific Ocean after the 8.8-magnitude quake off Russia's Kamchatka peninsula on Wednesday.

The worst damage was seen in Russia, where a tsunami crashed through the port of Severo-Kurilsk and submerged the local fishing plant, officials said.

Russian state television footage showed buildings and debris swept into the sea.

The initial quake caused limited damage and only light injuries.

Fears of a repeat of the December 2004 tsunami that killed 220,000 people in 11 nations -- the legacy of which was to improve early warning systems -- were not realized.

In Japan, where a massive earthquake and tsunami killed 15,000 people in 2011, almost two million people were ordered to higher ground, but the biggest wave was 1.3 meters (4.3 feet).

The only reported fatality was a woman killed when her car fell off a cliff in Japan as she tried to escape on Wednesday, local media reported.

Japan downgraded its tsunami alert to an advisory later on Wednesday, and waves of up to 0.7 meters were still being observed on Thursday.

"The tsunami warning was lifted at 4:30 pm (0630 GMT) after it was determined that the tsunamis would not grow any larger," the JMA said.

The beaching of four sperm whales on a beach in Japan was initially blamed on the earthquake but officials said the animals had washed up a day earlier.

Local surfer Fumiko Udagawa said that it was the first time that such big whales were washed up in the 20 years she has lived in the area.

"As surfers, we are constantly worried now about the sea water being so warm, even towards winter," the 56-year-old told AFP.

"I wonder if this (stranded whales) is also a result of global warming."

Akira Komatsu, a seasonal visitor, wondered if the whales washing up were a precursor of the quake.

"I heard that earthquakes affect the magnetic condition underwater, and whales detect magnetics," the 61-year-old told AFP.



Ukraine Tried to Attack Russia's Kirishi Oil Refinery, Governor Says

02 May 2026, Ukraine, Donetsk: A woman inspects a house that has been struck by Russian drones in the Donetsk's Kiyevsky District. Photo: Dmitry Yagodkin/TASS via ZUMA Press/dpa
02 May 2026, Ukraine, Donetsk: A woman inspects a house that has been struck by Russian drones in the Donetsk's Kiyevsky District. Photo: Dmitry Yagodkin/TASS via ZUMA Press/dpa
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Ukraine Tried to Attack Russia's Kirishi Oil Refinery, Governor Says

02 May 2026, Ukraine, Donetsk: A woman inspects a house that has been struck by Russian drones in the Donetsk's Kiyevsky District. Photo: Dmitry Yagodkin/TASS via ZUMA Press/dpa
02 May 2026, Ukraine, Donetsk: A woman inspects a house that has been struck by Russian drones in the Donetsk's Kiyevsky District. Photo: Dmitry Yagodkin/TASS via ZUMA Press/dpa

Ukraine sought to attack one of Russia's biggest oil refineries on Tuesday, sparking a fire in an industrial area of the Russian town of Kirishi in the Leningrad region, Governor Alexander ‌Drozdenko said.

"The ‌enemy’s main target ‌was ⁠the (Kirishinefteorgsintez) oil refinery," Drozdenko ⁠said, adding that there were no casualties as a result of the attack, according to Reuters.

The fire was contained, and fire-fighting operations were nearing ⁠completion, he said.

According ‌to industry ‌sources, the Kirishinefteorgsintez oil refinery, one ‌of the largest in ‌the country, processed 17.5 million metric tons of oil (350,000 barrels per day) in 2024, which ‌amounted to 6.6% of Russia's total oil refining ⁠volumes.

It ⁠produced 2 million tons of gasoline, 7.1 million tons of diesel, 6.1 million tons of fuel oil and 600,000 tons of bitumen.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defense forces destroyed 289 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions overnight.


Washington Presses China to Ramp Up Pressure on Tehran to Open ‘Hormuz’

In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency on May 4, 2026, vessels are pictured anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas in southern Iran. (Photo by Amirhossein KHORGOOEI / ISNA / AFP) /
In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency on May 4, 2026, vessels are pictured anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas in southern Iran. (Photo by Amirhossein KHORGOOEI / ISNA / AFP) /
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Washington Presses China to Ramp Up Pressure on Tehran to Open ‘Hormuz’

In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency on May 4, 2026, vessels are pictured anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas in southern Iran. (Photo by Amirhossein KHORGOOEI / ISNA / AFP) /
In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency on May 4, 2026, vessels are pictured anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas in southern Iran. (Photo by Amirhossein KHORGOOEI / ISNA / AFP) /

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday pressed China to ramp up diplomatic pressure on Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping, adding that the subject will be discussed when President Donald Trump meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping next week.

“China, let's see them step up with some diplomacy and get the Iranians to open the strait,” Bessent said on Monday during a live Fox News interview.

He said China was buying 90% of Iran's energy and accused Beijing of “funding the largest state sponsor of terrorism.”

The US official said that he was urging China to "join us in this international operation" to open the strait, but he did not specify what action Beijing should take.

He added that China and Russia should stop blocking initiatives moving through the United Nations, such as a resolution encouraging steps to protect commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Bessent said Trump and Xi have been discussing the Iran situation and will exchange views on this in person during their May 14-15 summit in Beijing.

But he emphasized that the two will strive to maintain stability in the US-China relationship that was established with their trade truce reached last October in Busan, South Korea.

“We've had great stability in the relationship, and again, that comes from the two leaders having great respect for each other,” he said.

Bessent also insisted that Washington is fully in control of the Strait of Hormuz through its blockade of Iranian shipping and that the new US Navy operation to guide shipping through the strategic waterway will bring oil prices down.

The market, because of the war around the strait, is in deficit of between eight and 10 million barrels of oil a day right now, Bessent added.

“Every crude carrier that goes through has about two million barrels,” he said.

He expects there are “more than 150, 200 crude carriers that can come out,” and that the “market is going to be very well supplied.”

Bessent called high fuel prices a “temporary aberration” that will end in a matter of weeks or months.

“Again, we are cognizant that this short-term blip up in prices is affecting the American people, but I am also confident on the other side of this, prices are going to come down very quickly,” he said, adding that the oil market will be well-supplied.

 


Driver Plows into People in German City of Leipzig, Killing 2 People

 04 May 2026, Saxony, Leipzig: A police car is parked behind a police cordon at the spot where a car has driven into a group of people in Leipzig. (dpa)
04 May 2026, Saxony, Leipzig: A police car is parked behind a police cordon at the spot where a car has driven into a group of people in Leipzig. (dpa)
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Driver Plows into People in German City of Leipzig, Killing 2 People

 04 May 2026, Saxony, Leipzig: A police car is parked behind a police cordon at the spot where a car has driven into a group of people in Leipzig. (dpa)
04 May 2026, Saxony, Leipzig: A police car is parked behind a police cordon at the spot where a car has driven into a group of people in Leipzig. (dpa)

A driver plowed into people in the center of the German city of Leipzig on Monday, leaving two people dead, authorities said.

The city's fire service director, Axel Schuh, said that another two people were seriously injured and taken to hospitals. He said that about 20 additional people were “affected,” without offering details.

Much about the incident remained unclear.

Mayor Burkhard Jung said authorities didn’t know of a motive. But he said that “there is no longer any danger ... it is under control. The police have caught the suspected perpetrator.”

Photos from the scene showed a silver car with a battered front after the incident, which happened at about 5 p.m.

The incident happened in Grimmaische Strasse, a street that leads into central Leipzig's shopping area.

Leipzig is located southwest of Berlin and has more than 630,000 inhabitants, making it one of the biggest cities in eastern Germany.