TOKYO — A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck off the northeastern coast of Japan on Monday, as authorities urged residents to stay away from coastal areas where tsunami waves of up to 3 meters (9.84 ft) were expected.

The biggest waves were forecast to hit Iwate and Aomori prefectures at the top of Japan’s main Honshu island, and the northern island of Hokkaido, authorities said.

In the hour following the earthquake, which struck at 4:52 p.m. (0752 GMT), tsunami waves as high as 80 cm had been detected, while warnings remained for waves as high as 3 meters.

Several port towns including Otsuchi and Kamaishi – both hard-hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011 – issued evacuation orders for thousands of residents, according to public broadcaster NHK.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the government had set up an emergency task force and urged citizens in the affected areas to evacuate to safety.

“Possible damage and casualties are now being looked into,” Ms. Takaichi told reporters at her offices in Tokyo.

Big aftershocks may occur in the following days and weeks, an official from Japan’s Meteorological Agency (JMA) said at a separate televised press conference.

Ships sailed out of Hachinohe port in Hokkaido in anticipation of the waves, footage aired on NHK showed, as a ‘Tsunami! Evacuate!’ alert flashed across the screen. A 3-meter tsunami could cause damage to low-lying areas, flooding buildings, and anybody exposed would be caught in its currents, according to JMA.

Bullet train services in Aomori were halted due to the tremors, Kyodo news agency reported.

NO ABNORMALITIES REPORTED AT IDLED NUCLEAR PLANTS
The quake measured an ‘upper 5’ on Japan’s seismic intensity scale — strong enough to make it difficult for people to move around and cause unreinforced concrete-block walls to collapse. The tremor had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean and was 10 km deep, JMA said.

Located in the “Ring of Fire” of volcanoes and oceanic trenches partly encircling the Pacific Basin, Japan is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries, with a tremor occurring at least every five minutes.

It accounts for about 20% of the world’s earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 or more, such as the 2011 disaster that caused nuclear meltdowns at a Fukushima power plant.

There are no nuclear power plants currently in operation in the affected areas and Hokkaido Electric Power Co. and Tohoku Electric Power Co. said there were no abnormalities reported at their idled facilities there. — Reuters

HONG KONG  — Victims of Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades began government-supervised visits to their ravaged former homes on Monday for the first time since the November blaze, looking to retrieve personal items that might have survived.

The flames that engulfed seven residential towers, each of 31 floors in the northern district of Tai Po, killing 168 people, took nearly two days to douse, and eclipsed London’s Grenfell Tower inferno of 2017.

“I have taken away most of the stuff I wanted, those items of value,” said Steven Chung, 50, adding that he did not know how to describe his emotions after sifting through his old apartment but now worries more about finding affordable housing.

Mr. Chung was among around 270 former residents returning to the complex on Monday, many carrying objects such as paintings, computers, and bicycles as they left the government subsidized housing.

One, who declined to give his name, said he had been unable to retrieve anything, as his entire home was burnt.

Until May 4, former residents of the complex, Wang Fuk Court can spend three hours in their flats on each visit, while wearing facemasks, helmets and gloves for protection.

Firemen are among the 1,000 staff tasked to assist the estimated total of 6,000 visitors, who will be escorted by officials to ensure items are kept safe.

“I hope everyone will abide by the three-hour rule,” Warner Cheuk, Hong Kong’s deputy chief secretary, told reporters outside the complex, patrolled by officers and cordoned off with orange tape and crowd-control barriers.

Up to four people can register to enter each home, but for severely damaged flats the number is limited to one.

Many affected residents are elderly, with more than a third older than 65, Midland Realty’s analysis of government data shows.

Months after the fire, people in the Asian financial hub are still grasping for answers to how it started and demanding accountability.

An independent committee began hearings in March to decide the causes and the scale of bid-rigging by construction firms in building projects.

The panel’s lead lawyer blamed human factors for the failure of most of the fire safety systems.

Authorities have threatened severe punishment for anyone who tries to “politicize” the disaster.

In April, the Housing Bureau ruled out redevelopment of the site, on grounds of the long time required and surrounding uncertainties. In February the government said it aimed to spend about HK$4 billion ($512 million) to buy out the owners. — Reuters

MADRID — Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado expects to be back in her home country before the end of 2026 and is urging the United States to accelerate plans for elections.

Speaking in an interview with Reuters late on Sunday, the Nobel Peace Prize winner said that she “absolutely” saw herself back in Venezuela soon, warning that the longer it took for the country to hold elections the greater the risk of civil unrest.

“We believe that in order to (manage) the anxiety and expectations and the urgency of the Venezuelan people in an orderly, civic way, it is very important to start taking steps towards what the whole country requires and demands, which is free and fair elections,” she said.

The US captured President Nicolas Maduro in January, raising hopes among some of his opponents that Ms. Machado, 58, would play a central role in running the country. US President Donald Trump instead put Delcy Rodriguez, Mr. Maduro’s former deputy, in charge, saying Ms. Machado didn’t have the support needed to run the country in the short term.

Ms. Machado left Venezuela in December, defying a decade-long travel ban to receive the Nobel Prize, after mainly living in hiding for more than a year following disputed elections in 2024.

Mr. Maduro was declared the winner in those elections over opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, leading to countrywide protests. Ms. Machado, an industrial engineer by training, had been barred from running for office.

Ms. Rodriguez has since won praise from the US administration for her performance, but Ms. Machado rejected that as a sign Mr. Trump wanted her in the position for the long term.

“What I heard was President Trump praising how she follows his instructions,” she said.

“They (the Rodriguez government) have never been as weak as they are right now… they are starting to realize that things have changed and this is a totally different moment.”

VENEZUELANS EXPECT ‘MAJOR CHANGE’
Ms. Machado said that with Mr. Maduro’s capture Venezuelans were expecting major changes to the government and economy, and those expectations needed to be met fast to prevent the risk of “anarchy”.

“It’s like a huge dam that’s been (gathering) more and more and more energy, frustration, and courage, and expectations,” she said.

“My challenge, our challenge, is to channel those energies peacefully, civically, with one objective, which is an electoral process. If people feel that this is not the purpose of all that’s going on, these forces could get out of hand.”

She said the electoral roll needs to be updated before elections to include those previously blocked from voting and new electoral council members need to be selected, something that could be achieved “in eight or nine months”.

She demurred from saying that Mr. Trump, to whom she gifted her Nobel Prize medal, wasn’t moving fast enough.

“We wouldn’t be where we are right now, moving ahead, if it wasn’t for the US administration and President Trump’s decision to bring Nicolas Maduro to justice.”

“But certainly I understand the urgency and demands of my people and I think we should move ahead in the democratic and electoral process.”

CRITICAL OF SPAIN
During her trip to Madrid, Ms. Machado held a rally on Saturday for exiled Venezuelans, drawing thousands of people to a square in the Spanish capital to hear her say that they would soon be able to go home.

About a quarter of Venezuela’s population has fanned out across Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and the US since 2014, fleeing an oil-dependent economy crippled by mismanagement.

She met with Spain’s right-wing opposition leaders but declined to meet with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, telling Reuters that the Spanish government had not done enough to challenge the Maduro regime.

“We expected Spain to be perhaps the main voice in highlighting the horrible situation of our country, the crimes against humanity that have been committed, the terrorism of state that has been deployed. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen.”

“Fortunately there are other voices – and I’ve met with some of them this week – and we certainly feel that we do have in Europe an ally to Western values and to build back in Venezuela institutions that will last for centuries.”

Since leaving Venezuela, Ms.  Machado has mainly been based in the US and spoke of her delight at being able to reunite with her three adult children.

“As a mom I’ve always felt very guilty in terms of the consequences my family, especially my children, have suffered because of my decisions,” she said.

“I tell myself every day that I do it for them, for every single young Venezuelan and those that have not been born yet, that they will have a country that they feel proud about and they can live as free citizens.”

Ms. Machado asked her children to live abroad for security reasons after becoming a lawmaker.

She has also enjoyed catching up with technological developments of the past 20 years that hadn’t reached Venezuela, saying finding Uber taxis was one particular revelation.

“On the other hand, I am used to my country. I feel I should be back with my people and I’m counting the days.” — Reuters

SEOUL — South Korean President Lee Jae Myung heads into talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Monday, aiming for a big boost in economic cooperation, particularly in areas such as shipbuilding.

It is the first South Korean presidential state visit to India in eight years.

“The level of economic cooperation between South Korea and India is still very low,” Mr. Lee said on Sunday at a dinner meeting with members of the Korean community in New Delhi.

“Going forward, we will expand that space and make the relationship between South Korea and India completely different from what it is now.”

The two countries are seeking to improve their Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with the aim of nearly doubling bilateral trade to $50 billion by 2030 from $25.7 billion last year, according to presidential adviser Wi Sung-lac.

During his stay, Mr. Lee will also take part in business events with corporate leaders. Other areas where the countries might work together include finance, artificial intelligence, and defense, Mr. Wi said.

SEOUL LOOKS TO NEW DELHI FOR NAPHTHA
Mr. Lee said on Sunday that supply chain instability and global economic strains linked to the Iran war will make the countries “the most important strategic partners” for each other. He also described India as no longer just a consumer market, but a key country in global production and supply chains.

Last month, South Korea urgently asked India to expand naphtha supplies, seeking to cushion potential disruption from Middle East tensions.

India accounted for about 8% of South Korea’s naphtha imports last year. South Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo said greater imports could also help ease trade imbalances between the two countries.

South Korea had a $12.8 billion trade surplus last year, with exports worth $19.2 billion and imports of $6.4 billion, according to Korea International Trade Association data.

In a policy seminar at South Korea’s parliament last week, Maeng Hyun-chul, a research fellow at Seoul National University’s Asia Center, noted India’s longstanding complaint of a widening trade deficit with South Korea and said that political ties had not kept pace with commercial ties.

He said shipbuilding could emerge as an area for greater cooperation because it matches India’s priority on job creation while drawing on South Korean industrial strengths. Food and consumer sectors linked to the popularity of Korean culture could also be areas for growth, he added.

Mr. Lee will be visiting Vietnam after India. — Reuters

SOFIA — Pro-Russian former President Rumen Radev is set for a runaway victory in Bulgaria’s election and may even secure a parliamentary majority, exit polls showed, potentially ending years of weak coalition governments and altering the European Union member’s foreign policy.

An updated exit poll conducted by Sofia-based Alpha Research showed Radev’s Progressive Bulgaria with 44%, far ahead of the long-dominant GERB party, led by former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, at 12.5%.

If confirmed, the performance, which outstripped opinion polls, would mark one of the strongest results by a single party in a generation, sideline a party that has ruled on and off for decades, and may see an end to the instability that has resulted in eight elections in five years.

“Progressive Bulgaria won decisively. This is a victory of hope over distrust, a victory of freedom over fear, and finally, if you will, a victory of morality,” Mr. Radev said of the exit poll results during a press conference.

Mr. Radev, a eurosceptic and former fighter pilot who opposes military support for Ukraine’s war effort against Moscow, stepped down from the presidency in January to run in the parliamentary election, which comes after mass protests forced out the previous government in December.

He rode a wave of frustration with political instability in the Balkan country of 6.5 million people, where voters are sick of corruption and veteran parties that have dominated politics for decades. Alpha Research put turnout at 47% with one hour of voting to go, up from the 39% total in the last election in October 2024.

“There is now an opportunity for the things people have been hoping to see change to actually become visible,” Evelina Koleva, a manager at digital marketing company in Sofia, told Reuters.

Final election results are expected on Monday.

RADEV MAY HAVE TO COMPROMISE
In his campaign, Mr. Radev drew comparisons with Hungary’s pro-Kremlin former Prime Minister Viktor Orban when he talked about improving relations with Moscow and resuming the free flow of Russian oil and gas into Europe. He also criticized the EU for relying too heavily on renewable energy.

It is not clear how much his views will impact the foreign policy of Bulgaria, a NATO member on the EU’s southeastern flank which joined the euro zone in January — a move Mr. Radev has criticized.

He said he would be willing to work on judicial reform with the pro-European reformist We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB) coalition, which came third in the Alpha Research exit polls with 11.3%. A minority government was also an option in the 240-seat parliament, Mr. Radev said.

“Bulgaria will make efforts to continue its European path,” he said. “But a strong Bulgaria and strong Europe… needs pragmatism because Europe has fallen victim to its own ambition to be a moral leader in a world without rules.”

GERB’s Mr. Borissov appeared to concede in a post on Facebook, but added a note of caution: “To win the elections is one thing; to govern is quite another. Elections decide who comes first, but negotiations will decide who governs.”

Bulgaria has developed rapidly since the fall of communism in 1989 and joined the European Union in 2007. Life expectancy has risen sharply, unemployment is the lowest in the EU, and the economy has greater safeguards since joining the euro zone in January.

But it lags behind other EU countries in many metrics, and graft remains endemic, including in elections, where vote-buying is rife.

The cost of living has become a particular issue since Bulgaria adopted the euro. The previous government fell amid protests against a new budget proposing tax increases and higher social security contributions. — Reuters

WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD — The United States said on Sunday that it had seized an Iranian cargo ship that tried to run its blockade and Iran said it would retaliate, raising the possibility that the ceasefire between the two countries might not last for even the two days it is set to remain in force.

Efforts to build a more lasting peace in the region likewise appeared to be on shaky ground, as Iran said it would not participate in a second round of negotiations that the US had hoped to kick off before the ceasefire expires on Tuesday.

A weeks-long blockade of shipping that has driven global oil prices higher likewise might remain in place.

The United States has maintained a blockade of Iranian ports, while Iran has lifted and then reimposed its own blockade on marine traffic passing through the Strait of Hormuz, which typically handles roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply.

The US military said Sunday it had fired on an Iranian-flagged cargo ship as the vessel sailed toward Iran’s Bandar Abbas port. “We have full custody of their ship, and are seeing what’s on board!” President Trump wrote on social media.

Iran’s military said the ship had been traveling from China. “We warn that the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will soon respond and retaliate against this armed piracy by the US military,” a military spokesperson said, according to state media.

Iranian state media also reported that Tehran had rejected new peace talks, citing the ongoing blockade, threatening rhetoric, and Washington’s shifting positions and “excessive demands.”

“One cannot restrict Iran’s oil exports while expecting free security for others. The choice is clear: either a free oil market for all, or the risk of significant costs for everyone,” Iran’s First Vice President Mohammadreza Aref wrote on social media.

Mr. Trump had earlier warned Iran that the United States would destroy every bridge and power plant in Iran if Tehran rejected his terms, continuing a pattern of such threats throughout the war.

Iran has said that if the United States were to attack its civilian infrastructure it would hit power stations and desalination plants of Gulf Arab neighbors.

Brent crude futures jumped about 7% to $96.85 a barrel and S&P 500 futures fell about 0.9% in early Asian trading, as investors dealt with conflicting messages about the war.

PREPARING FOR TALKS THAT MIGHT NOT HAPPEN
Mr. Trump said his envoys would arrive in Islamabad on Monday evening, one day before a two-week ceasefire ends.

A White House official had said the US delegation would be headed by Vice President JD Vance, who led the war’s first peace talks a week ago, and also include Mr. Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner. Mr. Trump had separately told ABC News and MS Now that Mr. Vance would not go.

Pakistan, which has served as the main mediator, appeared to be preparing for the talks. Two giant US C-17 cargo planes landed at an air base on Sunday afternoon, carrying security equipment and vehicles in preparation for the US delegation’s arrival, two Pakistani security sources said.

Municipal authorities in the capital city of Islamabad halted public transport and heavy-goods traffic through the city. Barbed wire was rolled out near the Serena Hotel, where last week’s talks were held. The hotel told all guests to leave.

The apparent diplomatic setback could set the stage for a renewed surge in oil prices when markets reopen after the weekend.

Now in its eighth week, the war has created the most severe shock to global energy supplies in history, sending oil prices surging because of the de facto closure of the strait.

Thousands of people have been killed by US-Israeli strikes on Iran and in an Israeli invasion of Lebanon conducted in parallel since the war began on February 28. Iran responded to the attacks with missiles and drones against its Arab neighbors that host US bases.

Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who has led Iran’s side in the talks, had earlier said the two sides had made progress but were still far apart on nuclear issues and the strait.

European allies, repeatedly criticized by Mr. Trump for not aiding his war effort, worry that Washington’s negotiating team is pushing for a swift, superficial deal that would require months or years of technically complex follow‑on talks.

Iran’s semi‑official Tasnim news agency reported that two liquefied petroleum gas tankers that attempted to transit the strait were turned back by Iran’s armed forces on Saturday. One of the tankers – the Angola‑flagged LPG tanker G Summer – later exited the Gulf on a second attempt, according to MarineTraffic vessel tracking data. — Reuters