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Japan Demands Swift Release of National Detained in Iran 

Vehicles drive in downtown Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (AP)
Vehicles drive in downtown Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (AP)
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Japan Demands Swift Release of National Detained in Iran 

Vehicles drive in downtown Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (AP)
Vehicles drive in downtown Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (AP)

The Japanese government demanded the swift release of one of its citizens detained in Iran for over a month on Wednesday, without providing further details of the case. 

The person was detained on January 20 and the government ‌has been in ‌touch with the family ‌and ⁠the Iranian authorities, Deputy ⁠Chief Cabinet Secretary Masanao Ozaki told reporters. He declined to identify the person or give any other details of the incident. 

Radio Free Europe earlier reported that Shinnosuke Kawashima, ⁠the Tehran bureau chief ‌of Japan's ‌public broadcaster, NHK, had been arrested by ‌Iran and transferred to a Tehran ‌prison. 

NHK declined to confirm that an employee of theirs had been detained. 

"As NHK, we always act with the ‌safety of our staff as the top priority. There is ⁠nothing ⁠we can answer at this stage," a spokesperson said. 

The NHK World website identifies Kawashima as an international affairs correspondent who worked as the broadcaster's bureau chief in Jakarta, Indonesia from 2017. 

A LinkedIn account using his name said he joined NHK in 2005. 

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World

US, Canada to Meet in Coming Weeks on Trade, Greer Says

USTrade Representative Jamieson Greer on the day he attends a working lunch with EU ministers responsible for trade, in Brussels, Belgium, November 24, 2025. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
USTrade Representative Jamieson Greer on the day he attends a working lunch with EU ministers responsible for trade, in Brussels, Belgium, November 24, 2025. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
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US, Canada to Meet in Coming Weeks on Trade, Greer Says

USTrade Representative Jamieson Greer on the day he attends a working lunch with EU ministers responsible for trade, in Brussels, Belgium, November 24, 2025. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
USTrade Representative Jamieson Greer on the day he attends a working lunch with EU ministers responsible for trade, in Brussels, Belgium, November 24, 2025. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw

US and Canadian trade officials spoke on Wednesday and plan to meet in coming weeks, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said, adding that the Trump administration was open to their ideas on how to reach an agreement, Reuters reported.

"They have a few ideas on how they might want to have a deal with us. We're obviously open to that," Greer said in an interview on Fox Business Network. Greer said he spoke with his trade counterpart earlier on Wednesday morning and that they would meet in Washington "in a couple weeks."

"We're open to talk, and we'll see what they have to say," Greer told FBN's "Mornings with Maria" program.

Representatives for Canadian Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc could not be immediately reached for comment.

World

First Ukrainian Military Plant Starts Operations in Britain, Ukraine’s Ambassador Says 

Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine's Ambassador to the United Kingdom, speaks on stage as people gather in Trafalgar Square to mark the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in London, Britain, February 24, 2026. (Reuters) 
Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine's Ambassador to the United Kingdom, speaks on stage as people gather in Trafalgar Square to mark the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in London, Britain, February 24, 2026. (Reuters) 
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First Ukrainian Military Plant Starts Operations in Britain, Ukraine’s Ambassador Says 

Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine's Ambassador to the United Kingdom, speaks on stage as people gather in Trafalgar Square to mark the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in London, Britain, February 24, 2026. (Reuters) 
Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine's Ambassador to the United Kingdom, speaks on stage as people gather in Trafalgar Square to mark the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in London, Britain, February 24, 2026. (Reuters) 

The first Ukrainian drone production plant has started its operations in Britain, Ukraine's ambassador Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said on Wednesday.

"Ukraine is ‌fighting a ‌war amid ‌constant ⁠missile strikes, infrastructure destruction ⁠and threats to production facilities. Therefore, the launch of production in the ⁠UK has a ‌deep strategic ‌logic," Zaluzhnyi ‌said on the ‌Telegram app.

"This is not a shift of the center ‌of gravity away from Ukraine. It ⁠is ⁠an expansion of our joint capabilities and the creation of a second line of defense that guarantees continuity of production."

World

Ukrainian Attack on Russian Fertilizer Plant Kills Seven 

Local residents walk past heated tents during a power outage in Odesa on February 18, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
Local residents walk past heated tents during a power outage in Odesa on February 18, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
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Ukrainian Attack on Russian Fertilizer Plant Kills Seven 

Local residents walk past heated tents during a power outage in Odesa on February 18, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
Local residents walk past heated tents during a power outage in Odesa on February 18, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)

A Ukrainian drone attack on a fertilizer plant in Russia's western Smolensk region killed seven people and wounded 10 others, Russian officials said Wednesday.

The plant, just outside the Russian town of Dorogobuzh, lies around 290 kilometers (180 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

Unverified images published on social media purported to show the plant in flames early Wednesday, with columns of smoke billowing into the night sky.

"The enemy struck PJSC Dorogobuzh, a civilian plant producing nitrogen fertilizer," Smolensk region governor Vasily Anokhin said in a post on Telegram.

Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said later seven people were killed, updating a previous toll, in what would be one of the deadliest attacks on a Russian industrial site of the four-year war.

Ukraine fired "at least 30 drones equipped with explosive devices," causing "significant damage" it said in a statement.

Rescuers had on Wednesday morning contained the fires, while authorities were considering evacuating residents from the neighboring village for their safety, governor Anokhin added.

The plant was also attacked in December last year, according to Russian media reports.

Ukraine, which denies targeting civilians, did not immediately comment.

Ukraine has fired thousands of drones over the Russian border since Moscow launched its Ukraine offensive in 2022, some of which have landed hundreds of kilometers from the front line.

The strikes often target Russia's oil and gas industry and other industrial sites and have caused billions of dollars of damage.

Kyiv says the attacks are fair retaliation for Russian strikes on its own civilians that have killed hundreds and crippled Ukrainian energy infrastructure.