BEIJING (China Daily) - A Chinese defense spokesman has called the acts of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi in relation to the country’s notorious Yasukuni Shrine “a blatant desecration of historical justice”. Takaichi made a ritual offering to the war-linked shrine, while Koizumi visited the location in central Tokyo on the anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II. According to Jiang Bin, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of National Defense, the shrine, enshrining war criminals whose hands are stained with the blood of the people of Asia-Pacific countries, is a spiritual tool and symbol of the Japanese militarism that waged wars of aggression against other countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

 

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BERLIN (RT) - GERMANY’S governing CDU/CSU bloc has fallen to its lowest level of support in almost five years, trailing the opposition AfD by eight points, according to an INSA poll published by Bild. Approval ratings for Merz’s coalition, comprising the Christian Democratic CDU/CSU bloc and the Social Democratic Party, have declined steadily since it took office in May 2025. The government has faced criticism over continued economic stagnation and its failure to deliver on pre-election promises.

 

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SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reaffirmed the deepening of ties with Russia in a message to President Vladimir Putin as Pyongyang marked the anniversary of independence from Japan’s colonial rule, KCNA state news agency said on Sunday. Kim was replying to a message of congratulations from Putin marking Saturday’s 81st anniversary of Tokyo’s surrender in World War Two. The Russian leader said the bond was forged as Soviet soldiers fought against Japan and that cooperation would continue “in all the sectors”. The North Korean leader expressed hope for the future of ties that had “carried forward the history of common struggle for justice and precious traditions of friendship”.

 

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WASHINGTON (AP) - Hurricane Lala skirted Hawaii’s Big Island sunday without making landfall and is expected to gradually weaken after lashing the region with strong winds and drenching rain that flooded roads and turned rivers into raging torrents. The possibility the island could witness its first direct hit from a hurricane in 155 years faded as the eye of the storm passed the island’s southern tip. Landfall is not expected at this point, said National Weather Service meteorologist Joseph Clark. However, hurricane-force winds are expected to continue into the overnight hours, with the strongest wind gusts likely in areas of higher terrain, the National Hurricane Center said. Heavy rainfall into Sunday could produce flooding and mudslides, while powerful waves pound the coast, the agency said.

 

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SAKA (AFP) – Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema has called for calm as the country awaits the results of the general elections. Hichilema made the call late Friday amid reports of violence in some parts of the country. “Elections anywhere take time, and so do the results,” Hichilema said on social media. “This is the nature of a thorough, credible, and methodical process. In moments like these, the role of leaders is to urge calm, as we wait with patience together, as one nation.” Hichilema urged citizens to maintain peace and follow the rule of law while awaiting the outcome of the elections.