Okinawa (Dispatches) – The U.S. military stationed in Japan’s Okinawa prefecture has faced criticism over its COVID response on the island, which has just logged the record number of more than 1,800 new cases of the contagious disease. Authorities of Okinawa, which is the poorest prefecture in Japan, recorded 1,829 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, a figure that is fueled by the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant. Okinawa is the reluctant host to 31 U.S. military bases, which occupy approximately 15 percent of the main island. Although the prefecture comprises less than one percent of Japan’s total landmass, it has 70 percent of the country’s U.S. facilities; 11 of the bases in Okinawa belong to the U.S. Marine Corps. The record number of new COVID-19 cases angered the authorities of the prefecture, whose governor, Denny Tamaki, has already expressed fury over inadequate infection controls at the American military bases there that allowed the prevailing variant to spread to the public.

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NEW JERSEY (Anadolu) – Firefighters battled a massive fire at a chemical plant in New Jersey on Friday night. Towering flames could be seen from miles as the blaze spread through the plant of Qualco, a company that manufactures chlorine for swimming pools, in the city of Passaic. As clouds of smoke wafted through the region, authorities urged residents to keep their windows and doors closed. Multiple structures were on fire at the facility and around 100,000 pounds of chlorine in the plant were impacted, according to Passaic Mayor Hector Lora. Officials said much of the building where the blaze started had collapsed. One firefighter was injured by debris and taken to a hospital. “We won’t be able to fully inspect until the fire is completely put out. It may take some time to establish cause,” Lora said. The Department of Environmental Protection is also assessing air quality in the area, he added. In a tweet, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy reiterated that people living near the plant should keep their windows closed.

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WASHINGTON (Dispatches) – American officials have warned Russia that if it escalates the Ukrainian security crisis, the U.S. may refer the matter to the UN Security Council. “If Russia takes action, we’re not going to hesitate to pursue an appropriate response in the Council and defend the principles of the UN Charter,” one US official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity. “All options for Security Council response are on the table and we’re discussing all of those with other Security Council members and with partners here in New York,” the official added. “We are looking at the appropriate time to raise the issue in the Council.” The warning comes amid an apparently state-sponsored Western media campaign accusing Moscow of plotting to invade neighboring Ukraine. The latest developments highlight steadily soaring tensions between Russia and member nations of the U.S.-led NATO military alliance. “If Russia further escalates tension to really go to the heart of the principles and commitments that all nations states have made in the UN Charter ... there will be obviously an opportunity for discussion at the UN Security Council,” said another U.S. official. This comes after Russia dismissed as “unsubstantiated” the claims made by other unidentified U.S. officials earlier on Friday that Moscow was plotting a “false flag” incident in a bid to invade Ukraine.

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YANGON (AFP) – A Myanmar junta court has hit ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi with five new corruption charges related to the alleged hiring and purchase of a helicopter, sources close to the case told AFP. She has been detained since the February 1 coup last year which triggered mass protests and a bloody crackdown on dissent with more than 1,400 civilians killed, according to a local monitoring group. Suu Kyi is facing a raft of criminal and corruption charges -- including violating the country’s official secrets laws -- and if convicted of all of them could face sentences tallying more than 100 years of prison. The charges were leveled against Suu Kyi and related to the hire, maintenance and purchase of a helicopter, the sources said. Former Myanmar president U Win Myint was also hit with the same charges, they said. In December, state newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar said the pair would be prosecuted for not following financial regulations and causing a loss to the state over the rent and purchase of a helicopter for former government minister Win Myat Aye. He rented the helicopter from 2019 to 2021 and used it for only 84.95 hours out of 720 rental hours, the paper said. He is now in hiding, along with other former lawmakers.

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TOKYO (AP) – Three people, including two students on their way to take university entrance exams, were stabbed Saturday just outside of a test venue, and authorities arrested a 17-year-old student at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder, Tokyo police said. The victims — two 18-year-old high school students and a 72-year-old man — were all conscious and their injuries were not life-threatening when they were rushed to a hospital for treatment, police said. But the elderly victim was later in serious condition, local media reported. Police said the attacker, who was identified only as a high school student from the central Japanese city of Nagoya because he is a minor, slashed the three people in their back on a street just outside of the University of Tokyo’s main campus, one of the venues for Japan’s two-day nationwide entrance exams this weekend. Police said they are investigating the attacker’s motives. He was not taking the exam. Police are also looking into a small fire at a nearby subway station that occurred just before the attack. The suspect claimed to be responsible for the subway station fire, according to local media. The teenage attacker told police he was struggling with his academic performance and that he wanted to kill himself after committing the crimes, NHK public television reported.