TOKYO (NHK World) -- The Japanese government said Monday it has lodged a stern protest with Russia after one of its airplanes entered Japan’s airspace. The Defense Ministry says a Russian aircraft twice flew into Japan’s airspace over the eastern tip of the Shiretoko Peninsula in Hokkaido on Sunday morning. The Air Self-Defense Force scrambled fighter jets, and the plane left the area after the fighters warned it to leave by radio. On Monday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato Katsunobu told reporters that the government lodged a protest through senior diplomats in Tokyo and Moscow on the previous day, urging the Russian side to prevent a recurrence. Kato said that the government is analyzing why the Russian plane entered the airspace. He added that he wants to refrain from commenting on the reason for the violation of airspace. The Defense Ministry said on Sunday that the Russian plane was an Antonov An-26 transport aircraft.

***
ABUJA (AFP) -- Gunmen have killed 12 Nigerian security forces members in a weekend attack on a military base in northwest Zamfara state, before stealing weapons and torching buildings, two security sources said Monday. It was not immediately clear who carried out the Saturday raid in Mutumji, but the army is engaged in operations in Zamfara against armed criminal gangs known as bandits who are blamed for a series of mass abductions. Telecommunications have also been cut in Zamfara and in parts of neighboring state Katsina in an attempt to disrupt bandit communications about army movements during the crackdown. “The attackers stormed the base around 10:30 am and engaged the troops in a fierce gun battle,” one security source said. “They subdued the troops and killed 12 of them. They included nine navy, a soldier and two policemen.” Takfiris in Nigeria’s northeast frequently attack military bases in Borno State, the heart of a 12-year insurgency that has killed 40,000 people. But large, heavily armed criminal gangs who raid villages and kidnap for ransom in the northwest and central states have also become more brazen.

***
PARIS (AFP) -- France confirmed that Greece had agreed to buy six more of its Rafale jets, bringing to 24 the number of French fighters sold to Athens for billions of euros. Greece was the first European country to buy the combat jets made by Dassault Aviation. In January, Athens placed an order for 18 of the planes, 12 of them second-hand, in a 2.5-billion-euro deal aimed at boosting Greece’s defenses faced with growing tensions with neighboring Turkey. On Saturday, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis revealed plans to acquire an additional six Rafales. France has struggled to find takers for its warplanes among its EU neighbors. In May, Croatia became only the second European country to buy Rafales, opting for 12 previously used aircraft. Qatar, Egypt and India are Dassault’s biggest Rafale clients.

***
YANGON (Reuters) -- Deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi was unable to attend a scheduled court hearing for health reasons, a member of her legal team said on Monday, describing her condition as dizziness caused by motion sickness. Min Min Soe told Reuters Suu Kyi, 76, who has been detained on various charges since the Feb. 1 army coup, did not have the coronavirus but felt ill having not traveled in a vehicle for a long time.

***
RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) -- Several hundred Brazilians protested against President Jair Bolsonaro and demanded his impeachment in demonstrations called by conservative groups, days after a massive mobilization supporting the country’s embattled far-right leader. The street protests in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte, among other cities, were convened by conservative-leaning social organizations like Movimento Brasil Livre (Free Brazil Movement, or MBL), which pressed for the impeachment of leftwing president Dilma Rousseff in 2016. MBL now advocates a third way for Brazil’s 2022 presidential elections, under the slogan “Neither Bolsonaro nor Lula,” referring to the current president’s political nemesis Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Organizers expected large crowds, but without the support of groups like Lula’s Workers’ Party (PT) the demonstrations were smaller than anticipated.

***
PARIS (AP) — Two French politicians kicked off their presidential campaigns Sunday, seeking to become France’s first female leader in next year’s spring election. The far-right National Rally party’s Marine Le Pen and Paris’ Socialist mayor, Anne Hidalgo, both launched their presidential platforms in widely expected moves. They join a burgeoning list of challengers to centrist President Emmanuel Macron. This includes battles among multiple potential candidates on the right — including another female politician Valerie Pecresse — and among the Greens. Hidalgo, 62, mayor of the French capital since 2014, is the favorite to win the Socialist Party nomination. She launched her candidacy in the northwestern city of Rouen. Le Pen, the 53-year-old leader of France’s far-right party, started her campaign in the southern city of Frejus with a pledge to defend French “liberty.” In keeping with a hard-right message that critics say has vilified Muslim communities, Le Pen promised to be tough on “parts of France that have been Talibanized.”