Opposition editor convicted in Belarus
LVIV, Ukraine -- A woman who ran a Belarusian opposition messaging app channel was convicted Friday of charges that included inciting social hatred.
Following her conviction, Sophia Sapega was sentenced to six years in prison. Sapega is a Russian citizen, and her lawyer, Anton Gashinsky, said she would appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin to intervene.
Sapega and Raman Pratasevich were flying from Athens, Greece to Vilnius, Lithuania, a year ago when their plane was ordered to land in Belarus accompanied by a fighter jet because of an alleged bomb threat.
Pratasevich was the editor of Nexta, a channel on the Telegram messaging app that was a key factor in organizing protests in Belarus after President Alexander Lukashenko won a disputed sixth term in August 2020.
Sapega ran another Telegram channel that published the personal data of civil servants and military personnel who took part in mass repressions of the protests.
Okinawan: Lower tensions with China
TOKYO -- Japan should focus more on peaceful diplomacy with China instead of military deterrence as tensions rise around Chinese-claimed Taiwan, the governor of the nearby southern Japanese island of Okinawa said Friday. He also urged that the burden on Okinawa of hosting a majority of the American troops in Japan be reduced.
"We are strongly alarmed," Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki said of discussions in parliament about the possibility of a security emergency involving Taiwan, and concerns that Okinawa, 370 miles away, could become embroiled in it.
In what Beijing calls a warning to advocates of Taiwanese independence and their foreign allies, China has been staging threatening military exercises and flying fighter planes near Taiwan's airspace.
"Any escalation of problems over the Taiwan Strait and the contingency of Okinawa being a target of attack must never happen or be allowed to happen," Tamaki said.
The ongoing tension has rekindled fears among Okinawans that they may be sacrificed again by mainland Japan.
On Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Japan "has been taking advantage of diplomatic activities to make an issue of China, play up regional tensions and hype the so-called China threat," and Tokyo is "looking for excuses for its military expansion."
Noting that China is Japan's biggest trading partner and that Japan is China's second largest, Tamaki said their close economic ties are indispensable.
"I call for the Japanese government to always maintain calm and peaceful diplomacy and dialogue to improve its relations with China, while working toward easing U.S.-China tension," he said.
Australian says Solomons still a friend
SYDNEY -- Australia's defense minister said Friday that his nation wants to continue having a strong friendship with the Solomon Islands despite it signing a security pact with China.
Speaking on Australia's Nine Network "Today" show, Peter Dutton said Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has been very clear that he is not going to allow a Chinese military base to be built on the islands and Australia is taking him at his word.
"The deal that has been signed between the Solomon Islands and China allows for a security presence on the Solomon Islands. That's the whole basis of the agreement," Dutton added.
He said Sogavare "didn't have a bad word to say about Australia" in the leadup to signing the pact with China last month.
"He's not saying that he doesn't trust Australia or that he's unhappy with the relationship, quite the opposite, in fact, but the Chinese operate by a very different rule than we do," Dutton said.
Sogavare told lawmakers in Parliament this week that opponents of the security pact have demonstrated a lack of trust and insulted his country.
Sogavare did not name the opponents. The United States and Australia have said a Chinese military presence in the Solomons would not be tolerated. They haven't been more specific.
Madrid explosion kills 2, injures more
MADRID -- An explosion ripped through a four-story residential building in central Madrid on Friday, killing two people and injuring at least 18 others, authorities said.
Spanish emergency services initially said they were searching for two missing workers doing work on the building. After an hourslong search, firefighters said the bodies of two people, ages 21 and 27, had been found in the rubble.
Four of the injured were taken to a hospital, including one person in serious condition, after the blast sent plumes of smoke billowing into the air. Emergency crews combed the building to check the structure and to search for anyone trapped inside, Madrid Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida told broadcaster Telemadrid.
Asked about reports that a gas leak had caused the explosion, the mayor said it was too early to know.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a tweet that his office was closely following the situation and offered his support to the victims.
An emergency team works at the scene of Friday’s explosion in Madrid. (AP/Manu Fernandez)