World News
War in Ukraine: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev

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Sylvie Claire / March 22, 2023
Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is on his way to Kiev for a surprise visit and a meeting on Tuesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Japanese Foreign Ministry announced.
Kishida will “convey to President Zelensky his respect for the courage and perseverance of the Ukrainian people in defending their homeland under his command, as well as the unfailing solidarity and support for Ukraine from Japan and the G7,” which the Asian country is hosting this year, the ministry said in a statement.
Fumio Kishida was the only member leader of the group who had not yet been to Kiev since the Russian invasion in February 2022. He was regularly called upon to visit Ukraine. In February, U.S. President Joe Biden also made a surprise visit to Kiev.
Japanese television NHK said its reporters in Poland filmed a car carrying the prime minister to the town of Przemysl, from where foreign officials often took a train to Ukraine.
“The convoy entered the Przemysl station and parked in front of a platform used by international trains heading to Ukraine. Prime Minister Kishida got out of the first car of the convoy and got into the last car of the train,” she added.
According to the channel, the train left at 01:30.
Mr. Kishida had repeated that the trip was “under consideration”, with government sources mentioning security concerns and logistical challenges to the Japanese media.
He became the first Japanese Prime Minister to visit a war zone since the end of World War II.
His visit comes at a time when Chinese President Xi Jinping is in Moscow for a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and, at the center of discussions, the conflict in Ukraine.
Tokyo joined the Western sanctions against Russia and offered assistance to Kiev.
In February, Japan announced a further $5.5 billion in aid to Ukraine.
Tokyo also sent defensive equipment and offered to host those fleeing the conflict.
Japan did not provide military aid, however, as its pacifist constitution required it to limit its military capabilities to defensive measures.
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World News
At least 63 employees of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees killed in Gaza

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Eva Deschamps / October 31, 2023
Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7, 63 employees of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) have already lost their lives in the Gaza Strip. Ten aid workers have been killed in the last 72 hours, according to this new toll released by the agency on its website on Monday.
At least 22 UNRWA staff were also injured. Since October 7, 44 UNRWA facilities have also been destroyed. Of its 22 health centers, only nine are still operational, the UN agency said, warning that the provision of health care is made even more difficult by the very low fuel supply.
The UN agency had previously reported that several of its warehouses had been looted. “Due to the very limited aid available and overcrowded shelters, growing tensions are being reported within the displaced communities,” it stressed. Some 672,000 refugees are living in 149 UNRWA facilities across the Gaza Strip, “in increasingly difficult conditions”. “The ability to provide vital assistance was further hampered by the 36-hour communications blackout between October 27 and 29”, UNRWA added.
In all, an estimated 1.4 million people have been displaced in the Gaza Strip. Over 120,000 of them have taken refuge in public buildings such as hospitals and schools.
“The aid currently available is insufficient to meet the most basic needs of displaced people and the communities hosting them”, warns the UN agency.
World News
Mouse embryos grown in space for the first time

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Sylvie Claire / October 31, 2023
This research into mammal reproduction in space could prove crucial for future solar system exploration missions.
Mouse embryos were grown on board the International Space Station (ISS) and developed normally, according to a Japanese study published in the scientific journal “iScience” on Saturday, October 28.
This is “the very first study to show that mammals might be able to thrive in space”, claim Yamanashi University and the Riken National Research Institute.
The researchers, including Teruhiko Wakayama, a professor at Yamanashi University’s Center for Advanced Biotechnology, and a team from the Japanese space agency Jaxa, sent frozen mouse embryos aboard a rocket to the ISS in August 2021. The astronauts thawed the embryos at an early stage, using a specially designed device, and cultured them on board the station for four days.
The experiment “clearly demonstrated that gravity had no significant effect”, noted the researchers. After analyzing the blastocysts (cells that develop into fetuses and placentas) that were returned to their laboratories on Earth, they observed no particular changes in the state of DNA and genes.
“In the future, it will be necessary to transplant blastocysts grown in microgravity on the ISS into mice to see if the mice can give birth,” in order to confirm that the blastocysts are normal, say Yamanashi University and the Riken Institute.
This research could prove crucial for future space exploration and colonization missions. As part of its Artemis program, NASA plans to send humans back to the Moon to learn how to live there in the long term, and to prepare for a trip to Mars in the late 2030s.
World News
Bobi, the world’s oldest dog, died aged 31

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Steph Deschamps / October 25, 2023
The world’s oldest dog died last weekend in Portugal. Bobi, a purebred Rafeiro de l’Alentejo, was 31 years and 165 days old, reports the British public broadcaster BBC on Monday.
Last February, Bobi entered the Guinness Book of Records as not only the oldest living dog, but also the oldest dog of all time.
The old record had been held for almost 100 years by Bluey from Australia. He died in 1939 at the age of 29 years and five months.
Bobi has spent his entire life with the Costa family in the village of Conqueiros, near the west coast of Portugal.