Tsunami alert after quake hits Japan

TOKYO • An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 struck Japan's north-west coast around Niigata prefecture yesterday, prompting a 1m tsunami warning.

The quake struck at 10.22pm local time (9.22pm Singapore time) at a depth of 10km.

There were no immediate reports of damage, although the areas hardest hit by the quake could not be contacted by telephone, public broadcaster NHK said.

REUTERS

10 fishermen kidnapped off Borneo

KUALA LUMPUR • Ten fishermen were kidnapped off Borneo island yesterday and taken to the southern Philippines, police said.

The heavily armed assailants snatched the group of nomadic sea gypsies in the early hours as they sailed in two boats in the waters off eastern Sabah state, in the Malaysian part of Borneo. Six others escaped.

Philippine kidnap-for-ransom gang Abu Sayyaf is thought to be responsible, Malaysia's official news agency Bernama reported.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

WHO steps up fight against superbugs

GENEVA • The World Health Organisation launched a global campaign yesterday to curb the spread of antibiotic-resistant germs through safer and more effective use of the life-saving drugs.

The United Nations health agency said it had developed a classification system listing which antibiotics to use for the most common infections and which for the most serious ones, as well as which drugs should be available at all times, and which should be used only as a last resort.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE