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Man stabs 8, injures 7 more in Japan
TOKYO — A man was arrested after stabbing eight people and injuring seven others with what was believed to be bleach at a tire factory in central Japan on Friday, officials said. There was no immediate explanation of his motive.
Eight people were taken to hospitals after being stabbed by the man with a knife at a factory of the tiremaker Yokohama Rubber Co. in the city of Mishima, in the Shizuoka prefecture west of Tokyo, according to the Fujisan Nanto Fire Department.
The fire department told The Associated Press that five of the people who were stabbed were in serious condition but other details were not available.
Shizuoka prefectural police said the attacker, a 38-year-old man, was arrested and accused of attempted murder at the factory, but did not give further details.
The attacker is believed to be a former employee at the factory, Kyodo news agency said, quoting investigative sources.
The suspect was carrying a survival knife and wearing what appeared to be a gas mask, the Japanese newspaper Asahi reported, citing investigators.
Seven others were also injured by the bleach thrown at them during the attack and taken to hospitals for treatment, the fire department said.
Japan has strict gun control laws and is known for rare violent crimes, but there have been a number of high-profile knife attacks in recent years.
Iran seizes tanker in Strait of Hormuz
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran seized a foreign oil tanker as it traveled the strategic Strait of Hormuz, state media said Friday.
Mojtaba Ghahramani, a provincial chief of the justice department, said the oil tanker was carrying more than 1 million gallons, or 25,000 barrels, of smuggled fuel when the Revolutionary Guard naval forces seized the vessel, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Ghahramani said the forces also detained 16 foreign crew members of the tanker, adding that the seizure was a remarkable “blow” to smugglers. He did not disclose the nationality of the crew or the flag of the tanker.
Iran occasionally seizes oil-carrying vessels over similar charges in the region. In November, Iran seized a ship as it traveled through the narrow Strait of Hormuz over what it said were violations, including carrying an illegal consignment.
The West has blamed Iran for a series of limpet mine attacks on vessels that damaged tankers in 2019, as well as for a drone attack on an Israeli-linked oil tanker that killed two European crew members in 2021. Those attacks began after U.S. President Donald Trump, in his first term in office, unilaterally withdrew from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
Russia, Kazakhstan delay rocket launch
Russia and Kazakhstan have delayed the first launch under their joint Baiterek space project, pushing back the debut of the Russian Soyuz 5 rocket to allow for additional checks.
The launch was postponed to carry out additional checks of onboard systems and ground equipment, Russian space agency Roscosmos said in a Telegram post. The Baiterek program is in its final stage and extra tests are aimed at creating optimal conditions for a safe and successful first launch, it added.
The Soyuz 5 rocket was scheduled to lift off by the end of the year from the Baiterek complex, a new facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, which has served as Russia’s main space launch site for decades. The program is positioned as a competitor to SpaceX.
Development of the new rocket has been running behind schedule for years, hindered by sanctions first imposed after President Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and later expanded after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Roscosmos said Friday that the Soyuz 5’s launch date will be determined once all testing is completed and approved by all participants in the program. Kazakhstan’s authorities expect it to happen in the first quarter of next year, Deputy Prime Minister Zhaslan Madiyev told reporters, according to Tass newswire.
Pakistan summons UK envoy over threat
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan summoned Britain’s deputy high commissioner on Friday after a viral video showed a woman at a rally in a northern English city saying the Pakistani army chief would die in a possible attack.
The Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs called Matt Cannell to demand an investigation into a woman who discussed the possible killing of Pakistan’s chief of defense staff, Asim Munir, in a car bombing, officials and local media said.
The woman was rallying in Bradford, England, in support of Pakistan’s imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Khan, ousted in a no-confidence vote in April 2022, has been in prison for two years on a corruption conviction. He remains popular with many supporters.
The Bradford rally came days after a Pakistani court sentenced Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, to 17 years in prison for reportedly retaining and selling state gifts, including jewelry from Saudi Arabia, below market value while Khan was in office.
The video was posted by the British chapter of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party on X and was later deleted.
AloJapan.com