🇯🇵 Japan · AI, Disasters & accidents
36 storiesThree typhoons active near Japan as Typhoon 27 moves north, JMA says
The Japan Meteorological Agency announced on Oct. 5 that Typhoon 28 (Nolo) and Typhoon 29 (Koguma) had formed, making three active typhoons near Japan with Typhoon 27 (Choi-wan). Typhoon 27 was large and very strong, moving north-northwest …
Typhoon No. 27 moves north near Ogasawara as typhoons 28 and 29 form
Typhoon No. 27, described by the Japan Meteorological Agency as large and very strong, moved north over waters near the Ogasawara Islands and was forecast to approach the islands at very strong intensity from the evening of Oct. 5 to early …
2-year-old boy dies after being hit by car in Kamakura city-owned parking lot
A 2-year-old boy died after being hit by a car in a city-owned parking lot in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, on the morning of Oct 6, police said. The vehicle was starting to move when it struck the boy, according to the Kamakura police sta…
Nepal ends landslide search; over 5,000 missing, including five Japanese
Nepal's government decided on Oct. 5 to call off search and rescue operations for the Aug. 26 landslide on the China-Nepal border, except where searches are still needed or new information emerges, and to shift its focus to recovery and rec…
Kesennuma house fire: two residents out of contact, two firefighters transported
A fire broke out in a wooden partly two-story house in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, around 21:50 on Oct. 5, according to TBS NEWS DIG. Two people at the house were out of contact, and the fire department sent 13 pump trucks; as of 23:00 no…
Italy's Meloni files to register her voice as EU trademark to counter AI fakes
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni applied on October 5 to the European Union Intellectual Property Office to register her voice as a trademark, according to reports cited by Nikkei. The filing is a four-second Italian recording in which…
Nigeria military aircraft with 32 aboard crashes in Ondo state, many feared dead
A Nigerian air force aircraft carrying 32 people, including seven crew, crashed in Ondo state in southern Nigeria on October 5. Reports say many of those on board may have died. The aircraft, an ATR42, was flying from Edo state to Lagos, ac…
Google to limit free Gemini users to Flash-Lite model from October 9
Google is changing which AI models personal Gemini users can access, based on their Google AI subscription plan. From October 9, users without a paid plan will be limited to Flash-Lite; Flash requires AI Plus and the top Pro model requires …
Man, 56, dies after being hit by car on national route in Fukuoka
A 56-year-old man died after being hit by a light passenger car while crossing a road in Higashi Ward, Fukuoka City, on the night of October 5. Police said the man, identified as Yanase Hiroyuki, was taken to hospital but later confirmed de…
Explosion at Toray group plant in Otsu injures three; gas-like substance detected
An explosion at a Toray group company plant on the Toray Shiga business site in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, on the afternoon of Oct 5 sent three people to hospital. Livedoor News said a 35-year-old man doing machine maintenance in the room next…
Three-car collision at Tsuruoka intersection kills 68-year-old man; driver arrested
A passenger car and two light cars collided at a signalized intersection in Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture, on the night of Oct 5. The 68-year-old driver of one light car died and three other people were injured, according to police accounts…
Large, very strong Typhoon No. 27 moves north near Ogasawara; high-wave warnings
Typhoon No. 27, described as large and very strong, was moving north near the Ogasawara waters on 4 October, and is forecast to continue north through those waters until 6 October. Waves of up to 8 metres and gusts of about 35 metres per se…
Cargo falls from truck on Chuo Expressway; 10-plus vehicles collide, two hurt
A truck's load of construction material fell onto the upbound line of the Chuo Expressway in Maki, Otsuki City, Yamanashi Prefecture, around 18:40 on October 5, and following vehicles collided with it. Two people were injured, according to …
Van rear-ends motorcycle in Fukuoka; 16-year-old rider dies
Police say a light van rear-ended a motorcycle on National Route 200 in Keisen, Fukuoka Prefecture, at around 11 p.m. on Oct. 5. The rider, 16-year-old Tanaka Mirai, was taken to hospital and his death was later confirmed. The van driver sa…
Typhoons 28 and 29 form off Japan, joining 27 for three active storms
Typhoons 28 and 29 formed on the morning of Oct 5, joining typhoon 27 to make three active typhoons over waters off Japan, Yahoo! News Japan and TBS NEWS DIG reported. As of 9am on Oct 6, TBS said large and strong typhoon 27 was near the Og…
Musk says SpaceX will rename AI division from SpaceXAI to SpaceXSI
Elon Musk, chief executive of the US space company SpaceX, said on October 4 that the company's AI division will be renamed from “SpaceXAI” to “SpaceXSI”. The “SI” stands for Super Intelligence, a term US President Donald Trump has pushed a…
Reflection AI unveils Beam, a 501B open-weight model for coding and agents
US startup Reflection AI announced Beam, an open-weight Mixture-of-Experts model with 501 billion total parameters and 23 billion active parameters, built for coding, reasoning and agent workloads. The model is still in final red-teaming an…
Trump announces “Super Intelligence Force” to coordinate US AI policy
US President Donald Trump said on October 4 that he is creating a “Super Intelligence Force” (SIF) to coordinate federal artificial intelligence policy, announcing it on social media. Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton and Federa…
Eight divers rescued after going missing off Tokyo's Hachijojima; all conscious
Eight people—one diving instructor and seven customers—went missing while diving off Hachijojima in Tokyo on October 3. The boat's captain reported they had not surfaced as scheduled, and the Japan Coast Guard searched with patrol boats and…
Boy, 15, dies after express train hits him at unguarded crossing in Nagano
A 15-year-old middle school student was hit by a JR Oito Line limited express train at a level crossing in Omachi, Nagano Prefecture, shortly before 4 p.m. on Oct 4 and died about an hour and a half later at a hospital in Matsumoto. The cro…