The Japan Times
The newspaper reports that the country's lower house yesterday (Tuesday) adopted a resolution expressing solidarity with Ukraine, saying Tokyo was “gravely concerned and always with the Ukraine people who hope for the stability of their country and the region”.
It said the house of representatives resolution called on the countries concerned to restore stability to areas around Ukraine through diplomacy as soon as possible, saying “any change in the status quo by force is unacceptable”.
The resolution came as tensions have been escalating between Western nations and Russia, which has amassed around 100,000 troops on the border of Ukraine, having previously annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. However, it did not directly mention that Russia’s deployment of soldiers was the cause of the tension, just saying: “The situation remains tense, destabilised by developments outside” Ukraine.
The paper said the lower house “strongly urges the government to utilize all diplomatic resources to do the utmost to reduce tensions in Ukraine and bring peace as soon as possible”.
The resolution stressed Japan’s position that it has consistently supported Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. It explained that Japan has been supporting and cooperating with the international community.
Prime minister Fumio Kishida is said to have pledged to take “strong action in response to any attack” on Ukraine by Russia during a virtual summit with US president Joe Biden late last month.
San Francisco Chronicle
The newspaper reports that, standing in the loading dock outside Alameda County Coroner’s Bureau on a recent morning, Sgt Erik Bordi took in a grim scene: five biohazard cans, two refrigeration containers stacked with human remains, a gurney (a wheeled stretcher) ready to load in a truck. He pondered the day’s work ahead.
More than 100 bodies sat in coolers at the bureau, and staff had 21 autopsies to perform by end of the day
A growing backlog of bodies awaiting autopsies has reportedly reached a critical point in Alameda County, making it more difficult to close cases amid a rise in Covid-19 deaths, a regional overdose crisis and surging homicides in Oakland.
The bureau’s once-empty dock had become a triage area, with coroner vans wedged between the overflow containers. Alameda County sheriff’s spokesman Lt Ray Kelly said he’d never seen it this bad.
“It’s crazy,” Sgt Bordi is quoted as saying, noting a trend that escalated during the pandemic. Once the virus swept in, Alameda County saw “an explosion of people dying”, which persisted through 2021. At the peak last year, the refrigeration trailers held up to 120 bodies at a time, he said, as investigators grappled with possible suicides, accidents and overdoses while tracking down family members.
The newspaper reports that data released following a public records request showed the Alameda County coroner reported 4,031 deaths in 2019, 5,233 in 2020 and 5,622 last year. That uptick, coupled with staff shortages and Covid protocols requiring pathologists to test bodies for coronavirus infections, has slowed the timeline for autopsies. Procedures that used to take an average of two to five days reportedly now take two to three weeks.
Last year, the coroner’s bureau is said to have handled 165 homicides, including 139 people killed by gunshots.
China Daily
The news site reports that manufacturers of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics mascot products are quickly resuming operations after the Chinese New Year holiday to meet surging demand for the popular panda.
The Beijing Winter Olympics organisers said yesterday (Tuesday) that a special Chinese New Year version of the Bing Dwen Dwen doll will hit the market soon and sales of the licensed merchandise will continue to at least the end of June.
In response to supply shortages of Bing Dwen Dwen products, the organisers have coordinated with manufacturers and licensed toy-making factories to resume work to boost production.
Bing Dwen Dwen, a panda cub dressed in a full-body ice "shell", has become a major attraction of the Winter Olympics, "winning the hearts of athletes, politicians, media and audiences over the globe with its chubby appearance".
The mascot has reportedly become so popular that all related products, including Bing Dwen Dwen miniatures, dolls and keychains, sold by licensed online retailers and brick-and-mortar shops, have almost run out of stock since the games opening ceremony last week.
Het Laatste Nieuws, Belgium
The Flemish-language newspaper, based in Antwerp, reports that a backpack belonging to a missing Belgian tourist, Natacha de Crombrugghe, 28, has been found in Peru. It said the Brussels prosecutor's office had confirmed this to HLN.
The young woman from Linkebeek disappeared just over two weeks ago in Cabanaconde, in the south of the country. No-one has heard from her since then.
Her parents have now arrived in Peru and will help rescuers look for their daughter in the nature reserve where she wanted to go. However, the public prosecution service would not rule out a crime and has opened an investigation.
Folha de S.Paulo, Brazil
The news site reports that the platform Fogo Cruzado, which records the occurrence of shootings in Rio de Janeiro, identified 1,154 schools that were affected by at least one exchange of fire with the presence of police in 2019.
It said the number corresponds to 74 per cent of public (state) schools in Rio, with an estimated impact of more than 450,000 students.
Among them, 57 per cent had up to 10 episodes of these shootings in 2019, 11 per cent suffered more than 30 cases, and four schools concentrated 95 exchanges of fire with the presence of security forces, most of them linked to operations to repress drug trafficking. and weapons.
"My perception, as an observer of this reality for many years, is that there will be some impact," sociologist Julita Lemgruber, coordinator of the Center for Studies on Security and Citizenship, is quoted as saying.
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