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Japan resumes seafood exports to China 2 years after Fukushima wastewater release

Japan announced Friday that its seafood exports have resumed for the first time since China imposed a ban over the discharge of treated radioactive wastewater from the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant more than two years ago.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told reporters that 6 metric tons (6.6 tons) of scallops harvested in Hokkaido were shipped to China on Wednesday, the first shipment to that country since Beijing banned all Japanese seafood in August 2023.

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Multiple explosions shake mosque in Indonesian high school and injure 54

Multiple explosions shook a mosque at a high school during Friday prayers in Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, injuring at least 54 people, mostly students, police said.

Witnesses told local television stations that they heard at least two loud blasts around midday, just as the sermon had started at the mosque at SMA 27, a state high school within a navy compound in Jakarta's northern Kelapa Gading neighborhood. Students and others ran out in panic as gray smoke filled the mosque.

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Typhoon Kalmaegi rampages across Vietnam as Philippines prepares for new storm

Typhoon Kalmaegi brought fierce winds and torrential rains to Vietnam on Friday, killing at least five people, flattening homes, blowing off roofs and uprooting trees. In the Philippines, where the storm left scores dead earlier in the week, survivors wept over the coffins of their loved ones and braced for another typhoon.

As the storm moved on, recovery work began in battered towns and villages in both countries. Across central Vietnamese provinces, people cleared debris and repaired roofs on their homes.

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Pope Leo and Palestinian President discuss urgent need for Gaza aid, two-state solution

Pope Leo XIV met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for the first time on Thursday, and the two men discussed the urgent need to provide assistance to civilians in Gaza and to pursue a two-state solution to end the conflict in the region.

The meeting, which lasted about an hour and was described as "cordial" in a brief Vatican statement, comes nearly a month after the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement came into effect in the Gaza Strip.

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UN approves US-backed effort to lift sanctions on Syria's president

The U.N. Security Council voted Thursday to lift a series of sanctions on Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and members of his government days before he is set to arrive in the U.S. for a historic visit to the White House.

The U.S. resolution to drop U.N. sanctions tied to al-Sharaa and Syria's interior minister, Anas Hasan Khattab, stemming from their ties to the al-Qaida militant group, was adopted with 14 members in support. China abstained from the vote.

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Kazakhstan to join Abraham Accords with Israel

Kazakhstan is set to join the Abraham Accords between Israel and Arab and Muslim majority countries in a symbolic move aimed at boosting the initiative that was a hallmark of President Donald Trump's first administration.

The action, announced Thursday, is largely symbolic as Kazakhstan has had diplomatic relations with Israel since 1992 and is much farther geographically from Israel than the other Abraham Accord nations — Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates.

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North Korean and Russian military officials discuss further cooperation in Pyongyang

Senior North Korean and Russian military officials discussed strengthening cooperation in their latest talks this week in Pyongyang, North Korean state media said Friday, as the two countries continue to align over Russia's war in Ukraine.

The report came days after South Korea's spy agency, in a closed-door briefing to lawmakers, said it had detected signs of recruitment and training activities in North Korea, possibly in preparation for additional troop deployments to Russia.

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Lebanon lifts travel ban on Gadhafi's son and reduces bail to $900,000

Lebanese authorities lifted a travel ban and reduced bail for the son of late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi paving the way for his release, judicial officials and one of his lawyers said Thursday.

The decision by the country's judicial authorities came days after a Libyan delegation visited Lebanon and made progress in talks for the release of Hannibal Gadhafi.

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Most major US airports among 40 targeted by shutdown-related flight cuts

Airports in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago along with hubs across the U.S. are among the 40 that will see flights cut starting Friday due to the government shutdown, according to a list distributed to the airlines and obtained by The Associated Press.

The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday that it will reduce air traffic by 10% across 40 "high-volume" markets to maintain travel safety as air traffic controllers exhibit signs of strain during the ongoing government shutdown.

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Trump has other tariff options if Supreme Court strikes down his import taxes

President Donald Trump has warned that the United States will be rendered "defenseless'' and possibly "reduced to almost Third World status'' if Supreme Court strikes down the tariffs he imposed this year on nearly every country on earth.

The justices sounded skeptical during oral arguments Wednesday of his sweeping claims of authority to impose tariffs as he sees fit.

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