TOKYO: Japanese authorities say 37 people have been confirmed dead from a powerful earthquake that struck the northern island of Hokkaido last week.
The Hokkaido government said Sunday that two people remain missing and one other person has no vital signs. Rescue workers are using backhoes and shovels to search for the missing in a tangle of dirt and the rubble of homes left by multiple landslides in the town of Atsuma. All but four of the victims are from the community of 4,600 people.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited a hard-hit area of Sapporo, the main city in Hokkaido.
The magnitude 6.7 earthquake before daybreak Thursday knocked out power and train service across Hokkaido. It took two days to restore electricity to most of the island of 5.4 million people.
Death toll nears 40 from northern Japan earthquake
Death toll nears 40 from northern Japan earthquake
- All but four of the victims are from the community of 4,600 people
- It took two days to restore electricity to most of the island of 5.4 million people
France’s Macron laughs off ‘harmless’ eye condition as he addresses troops
French President Emmanuel Macron joked about a “completely harmless” eye condition on Thursday during a New Year address to France’s armed forces.
“Please pardon the unsightly appearance of my eye,” Macron said at the beginning of his speech. “It is, of course, something completely harmless.”
Macron appeared with a puffy, red eye during his speech at the military base in Istres, in southern France. He earlier wore sunglasses during an outdoor troop inspection.
“Simply see an unintentional reference to the ‘Eye of the Tiger’ ... For those who catch the reference, it is a sign of determination,” he joked, in an apparent reference to the name of the hit theme song by American rock band Survivor from the 1982 Rocky III movie starring Sylvester Stallone.
Macron’s speech addressed key challenges for the military in 2026, from France’s accelerated rearmament and continued support for Ukraine, to the decision to send troops to Greenland in a show of support for Denmark.
