World news in brief
Japanese journalist held captive in Syria freed
A Japanese journalist has been freed after being held captive for more than three years in Syria. Jumpei Yasuda is currently staying at an immigration centre in southern Turkey, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said, adding that officials had met with the freelance journalist.
Mr Yasuda was kidnapped in 2015 by al Qaeda’s branch in Syria, known at the time as the Nusra Front, after contact with him was lost in June that year. A war monitoring group said he was most recently held by a Syrian commander with the Turkistan Islamic Party, which mostly consists of Chinese jihadis in Syria.
“My name is Jumpei Yasuda, Japanese journalist. I have been held in Syria for 40 months,” Mr Yasuda said in English in comments broadcast by Japan’s NHK public television. “Now I am in Turkey. Now I am in safe condition. Thank you very much.” NHK said the video was shot inside the immigration centre and was released by the local government in Turkey’s Hatay province. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary
Yoshihide Suga said no ransom was paid for the release. AP
Cuba president to visit Russia, China, North Korea
Cuba’s president Miguel Diaz-Canel will visit Russia and Communist-run allies China, North Korea, Vietnam and Laos in early November on his first tour abroad, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said yesterday.
Following a news conference focused on what Mr Rodriguez called the US decision to advance down a “path of confrontation”, he said Mr Diaz-Canel would also transit through some western European capitals, without offering details. Cuba and the Europe Union have improved relations in recent years, with the EU dropping all sanctions on the Communist-run island and negotiating a political dialogue and cooperation agreement.
China and Vietnam are leading trading partners for Cuba, and trade with Russia has increased in the last two years as the countries renewed commercial, military and political ties. Cuba has little trade with North Korea and Laos but maintains strong bilateral relations with them. Reuters
High levels of stress linked to poorer memory
Adults with high levels of the body’s main stress hormone have impaired memory and smaller brains than those with average levels, according to a new study. The results, published in the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, suggest stress negatively affects memory and thinking skills.
Levels of cortisol, a hormone which helps the body respond to stress, were measured in 2,231 people with an average age of 49 over nearly a decade. The results showed people with high levels of cortisol had lower scores on tests for memory and thinking skills than those with normal levels. Nearly all of the participants (2,018) were also given an MRI brain scan to measure brain volume.
Justin B Echouffo-Tcheugui of Harvard Medical School, who authored the study, said: “Our research detected memory loss and brain shrinkage in middle-aged people before symptoms started to show, so it’s important for people to find ways to reduce stress, such as getting enough sleep, engaging in moderate exercise, or asking their doctor about their cortisol levels and taking a cortisol-reducing medication if needed.”
Iron Dome fails to down rocket fired at Israel from Gaza
Israel’s military says a rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip toward southern Israel yesterday, the first since a missile hit a house in the city of Beersheba a week ago. Air raid sirens blared in southern Israel after a week of relative calm. The military said in a statement early today that an Iron Dome interceptor missile attempted to down a rocket launched from Gaza but failed.
The rocket attack came as Egypt and the United Nations are trying to mediate a long-term truce between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist militant group that rules the Gaza Strip. The two sides came to the brink of all-out conflict over the summer amid weekly border protests organized by Hamas since March aimed in part at easing a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade. AP