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A house is collapsed due to a massive earthquake in Osaki Town, Kagoshima Prefecture. Photo: Masato Oyamada / The Yomiuri Shimbun via AFP By Shaimaa Khalil, BBC News, Japan and Flora Drury, BBC News, London Japan has - for the first time - issued a warning about an increased risk of a "major earthquake" striking in the near future. The advisory was issued on Thursday night local time, telling people to be alert but not to evacuate. It also stressed that the warning did not mean a large earthquake was imminent, but that the probability was higher than usual. It came hours after a 7.1 magnitude earthquake occurred off the southern island of Kyushu, which reportedly caused no major damage. But experts were put on heightened alert because of where the epicentre sat - at the edge of the Nank...

A house has reportedly collapsed in Miyazaki City due to an earthquake in southwestern Japan on 8 August, 2024. Photo: AFP/ Yomiuri Shimbun- Wataru Hatae An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1 hit southwestern Japan on Thursday, but there were no immediate signs of major damage. The quake initially triggered tsunami advisories for Japan's coastline, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said, though national broadcaster NHK later said they had been lifted. There had been no reports of abnormalities at nuclear power plants following the quake, and the government is checking for damage and casualties, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters. The quake occurred about 4.43pm (0743 GMT) off Miyazaki prefecture on the western major island of Kyushu, the JMA said. In Miyazaki,...

A 19-year-old Austrian terrorism suspect had taken concrete steps in planning an attack on a Taylor Swift concert. Photo: AFP / DAVID GRAY A 19-year-old Austrian terrorism suspect had taken concrete steps in planning an attack on a Taylor Swift concert, with chemical substances found during a search of his residence, Austria's general director for public security said. The teenager, with North Macedonian roots, is considered the main suspect, working closely with a 17-year-old Austrian, general director for public security Frankz Ruf told ORF radio. The two males are part of a small group police are looking into, said Ruf, adding that the 19-year-old had pledged allegiance to the radical Islamic State group. "We are of course investigating their wider surroundings," said Ruf, adding tha...

The red X marks where an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1 hit southwestern Japan on Thursday. Photo: Japan Meteorological Agency An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1 hit southwestern Japan on Thursday, triggering tsunami advisories, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said, but there were no immediate signs of major damage. There have been no reports of abnormalities at nuclear power plants following the quake, and the government is checking for damage and casualties, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters. The quake occurred about 4.43pm (0743 GMT) off Miyazaki prefecture on the western major island of Kyushu, the JMA said. In Miyazaki, waves as high as 50cm have already been observed, public broadcaster NHK said. More to come. - Reuters Source link

By Brajesh Upadhyay, BBC News, Washington Photo: AFP US President Joe Biden has said he is not confident there will be a peaceful transition of power if Donald Trump loses the presidential election in November. In his first interview since he dramatically dropped out of the race last month, Biden told CBS News: "If Trump loses, I'm not confident at all." "[Trump] means what he says, we don't take him seriously. He means it, all this stuff about 'if we lose it will be a bloodbath'." Trump's comment that it would "be a bloodbath for the country" if he loses the election, made as he was talking about the auto industry in March, triggered a wave of criticism. Democrats were quick to reiterate their campaign message that the former president poses a threat to democracy. The Biden campaign ...

Samantha Murphy has been missing for more than six months. Photo: Victoria Police / Supplied Patrick Orren Stephenson, 23, has faced court after being charged with the murder of missing Ballarat woman Samantha Murphy, who disappeared while on a jog over six months ago. Stephenson's defence and prosecutors requested a 12-week adjournment in order to go through a "huge amount" of evidence. What's next? Stephenson will remain in custody until the matter returns to court on November 14. An "unprecedented" amount of evidence, including extensive CCTV footage, is causing delays in court for the matter of Patrick Orren Stephenson, accused of murdering Victorian woman Samantha Murphy. The 23-year-old appeared before the Ballarat Magistrates' Court via video link on Thursday. He wore a white t...

By Mike Wendling, BBC News NASA's Boeing Crew Flight Test Commander Butch Wilmore (L) and Pilot Suni Williams walk out of the Operations and Checkout Building on June 05, 2024 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Photo: JOE RAEDLE / Getty Images via AFP When two American astronauts blasted off on a test mission to the International Space Station on 5 June, they were expecting to be back home in a matter of days. But things did not quite go to plan. In fact, Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita Williams are still there, floating high above the Earth nearly two months later. The pair - who are stuck indefinitely - now face the sudden prospect of missing the summer entirely and even spending Christmas and New Year in space. Wilmore, 61, and Williams, 58, flew a Boeing Starliner spacecraft to the sta...