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Child suicides in Japan hit record high in 2024

Child suicides in Japan hit record high in 2024

A record 529 schoolchildren in Japan took their own lives in 2024, up by 16 from the previous year and the highest since data became available in 1980, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, reported Xinhua. The 2024 total comprised 15 elementary, 163 junior high and 351 high school students, with the figure for junior high school students marking the highest on record, according to the 2025 edition of the White Paper on Suicide Countermeasures adopted at a cabinet meeting on Friday. According to the report, school-related issues were the most common factor for suicides among those aged 19 and younger, followed by health and family issues. The report also found that many of the university students who died by suicide were 21 years old, possibly indicating concerns about finding employment or pursuing higher education. Suicide remains high among young people aged 15 to 29, with more than 3,000 deaths occurring annually since 2020, the report showed. The report noted that the number of suicides among young women has been on the rise, with 40 percent of those in their 20s who died by suicide having previously attempted it. Meanwhile, overall suicides in Japan in 2024 stood at 20,320, down 1,517 from the preceding year and the second lowest since statistics began in 1978.

UN chief asks SC to spend resources in peace instead of war

UN chief asks SC to spend resources in peace instead of war

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called on the Security Council to channel the resources often spent on war to development and peace, reported Xinhua. Guterres made the plea at an open debate of the Security Council on the future of the United Nations, held to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the founding of the world body. Via a video link from Hanoi, the secretary-general started his speech by alluding to an anecdote of the Security Council. Guterres said that in the spring of 1946, the first ballot box of the Security Council was opened for inspection before voting, and to everyone's surprise, there was already a slip of paper inside. It was a message from the box's maker, a local New York mechanic named Paul Antonio, who said he wished for lasting peace all over the world, the UN chief said. "That humble note reminds us why the Security Council exists: for people -- sincere, hopeful people who, for the last eight decades, have placed their trust in this institution to save them from the scourge of war," he said. "The privilege to sit at this table carries a duty, above all, to honor the faith of those people. And to channel the resources so often spent on war to the causes of development and peace," said the UN chief. On many pivotal occasions, the Security Council has delivered on that task, and it has prevented the chaos of a great-power war in the past eight decades, he said. "The council is a vital necessity and a powerful force for good. But at the same time, its legitimacy is fragile. Too often, we have seen members of this body act outside the principles of the (UN) Charter -- principles we have all freely agreed to as sovereign nations," said Guterres. "When that happens, it not only stalls action in the moment, it erodes trust in the entire United Nations project. It also puts us all in great danger. When one nation flouts the rules, others think they have license to do the same. And history tells us, with brutal clarity, where that road leads," said the UN chief. Guterres also said that reform of the Security Council is imperative and long overdue to maintain global order and safety, including the expansion of the membership. He stressed Africa as an example, where nearly half of all UN peacekeeping missions, along with numerous special political missions, are carried out, yet Africa has no permanent voice at the council table. The time has come to open the doors of the Security Council Chamber and let in the light, because without a Security Council fit for purpose, the world is in grave danger, he said. "It is our duty to forge a body that can meet the challenges of the next 80 years -- one that delivers justice and safety for all," said Guterres. "Paul Antonio the mechanic never sat at this table. He never gave a speech or signed a treaty. But he believed in everyone here. He believed in you. I urge you: honor that trust, make this chamber worthy of the hopes of every man, woman and child."

Kelloja siirrellään taas

Kelloja siirrellään taas

Kesäaika päättyy ja talvi- eli normaaliaikaan palataan lauantain ja sunnuntain välisenä yönä. Kelloja siirretään tunti taaksepäin ensi sunnuntaina 26.10.2025 aamuyöllä klo 4. Kelloja siirretään kaikissa EU:n jäsenmaissa samoina päivinä ja samalla kellonlyömällä. Samanaikaisuus on tärkeää esimerkiksi kansainvälisen juna- ja lentoliikenteen vuoksi. Kelloja siirretään aina maaliskuun ja lokakuun viimeisenä sunnuntaina. Sunnuntain aamuyö on valittu siirtymisen ajankohdaksi […]

14 migrants die as boat capsizes off Türkiye's coast

14 migrants die as boat capsizes off Türkiye's coast

At least 14 migrants died after a rubber boat sank off Türkiye's southwestern Mugla province in the Aegean Sea on Friday, the Mugla Governor's Office said in a statement, reported Xinhua. The incident occurred near the Ada Burnu area in the province after the boat carrying 18 migrants began taking on water about 10 minutes after setting off, according to the statement. One Afghan national managed to reach the rocky shore and called for help, prompting the dispatch of Coast Guard boats and a special diving team, it said. Rescue teams later found another survivor, bringing the total number of rescued individuals to two, while the bodies of 14 migrants were recovered, the governor's office added. Search and rescue operations backed by a helicopter are continuing to locate the remaining missing persons, it noted.

Hunger, disease have not stopped in Gaza: WHO

Hunger, disease have not stopped in Gaza: WHO

Despite a ceasefire in Gaza and an increase in aid, hunger and disease persist, putting children's lives at risk as the flow of aid remains only a fraction of what is needed, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday, reported Xinhua. "The situation still remains catastrophic because what's entering is not enough," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told an online press briefing from the UN health agency's Geneva headquarters. Since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect on Oct. 10, he warned, there has been "no dent in hunger, because there is not enough food." "We welcome the return of hostages, the release of prisoners, the cessation in violence and the increase in aid flows. But the crisis is far from over and the needs are immense. More than 170,000 people have injuries in Gaza ... At least 42,000 people have injuries that require long-term rehabilitation," said Tedros. "Hunger and disease have not stopped, and children's lives are still at risk," he said. "The destruction has been physical but also psychological. An estimated one million people need access to mental health care. The demands on the health system are huge, but significant parts of the system have been destroyed or badly degraded." "There are no fully functioning hospitals in Gaza, and only 14 out of 36 are functioning at all. There are critical shortages of essential medicines, equipment and health workers," Tedros pointed out. Since the ceasefire took effect, the WHO has been sending more medical supplies to hospitals, deploying additional emergency medical teams, and scaling up medical evacuations. There are still 15,000 patients who need treatment outside Gaza, including 4,000 children. More than 700 have died while waiting for evacuation, said Tedros, calling for the restoration of referrals to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. "We call for more countries to receive patients from Gaza for specialized care; and we call for the Rafah crossing -- and all crossings -- to be opened, to allow more patients to be treated in Egypt, and to enable the scale-up of aid," said Tedros. The Rafah crossing was supposed to be opened last week, he said, noting that a significant amount of aid has built up at Al-Arish in Egypt that is ready to enter Gaza as soon as the crossing is opened.

Lithuania temporarily closes Vilnius, Kaunas airports over weather balloons

Lithuania temporarily closes Vilnius, Kaunas airports over weather balloons

Lithuania's Vilnius and Kaunas airports were temporarily closed on Friday night due to meteorological weather balloons flying toward their airspace, the Lithuanian transport ministry said, reported Xinhua. Lukas Pakeviius, advisor to the minister of transport, said air traffic was suspended at Vilnius Airport at 8:31 p.m. and at Kaunas Airport at 8:36 p.m. Initially, flights at both airports were suspended until 10:00 p.m., but the closure was later extended by four hours, until 2:00 a.m. According to data from Lithuanian airports, four flights may have been affected at Vilnius Airport and three at Kaunas Airport. Lithuanian airports said they were taking prompt action to manage the situation, diverting flights to Palanga Airport where possible and arranging bus transfers for passengers. Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene also confirmed the incident, saying "a large group of smuggled weather balloons were again launched from Belarus into Lithuania." In response, the State Border Guard Service temporarily closed the Salcininkai and Medininkai border checkpoints with Belarus until 12 noon on Saturday, she posted on Facebook. Earlier this month, Vilnius Airport had already been temporarily closed twice due to balloons detected flying toward Lithuanian airspace.

Pentagon sending aircraft carrier to Latin America

Pentagon sending aircraft carrier to Latin America

The U.S. military is sending the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group and embarked carrier air wing to the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced on social media Friday, reported Xinhua. The U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility includes the land mass of Latin America south of Mexico, the waters adjacent to Central and South America, and the Caribbean Sea. The deployment was made "in support of the President's directive to dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) and counter narco-terrorism in defense of the Homeland," Parnell said on X. "These forces will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle TCOs," he said. Local analysts view the move as an indication that the Trump administration intends to broaden its anti-cartel campaign, shifting from targeting small vessels in international waters to potentially striking land-based operations across Latin America. The U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean is already the largest in the region in more than three decades, since the American invasion of Panama, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Earlier on Friday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the military sank a suspected drug-smuggling vessel overnight in international waters of the Caribbean, killing all six people on board. It was the first nighttime strike on a suspected narcotics vessel and the 10th such operation since September, bringing the total death toll from these U.S. strikes to more than 40. On Oct. 2, the Trump administration notified Congress in a memo that the United States is in a "non-international armed conflict" with drug cartels it has designated as terrorist organizations and will treat their members as "unlawful combatants." The strikes have drawn sharp criticism from congressional Democrats. Senator Jack Reed from Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services, said the U.S. government "offered no credible legal justification, evidence or intelligence" for the strikes. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has repeatedly accused the United States of invoking cartel threats as a pretext for pursuing regime change and expanding its military presence in Latin America. Colombian President Gustavo Petro accused the U.S. government of "murder" for killing drug suspects at sea.