Tokyo
CNN
 — 

School principal Yoshiro Tobo is one of the few people left on his remote Japanese island, where the earth is constantly shaking from earthquakes, having chosen to stay behind while his family are on safer ground.

The 52-year-old said he is exhausted and frightened to sleep, as “endless” quakes rumble around Akusekijima in the Tokara Islands, which have endured more than 1,800 earthquakes in the past three weeks.

His colleagues were among 49 evacuees, about 75 per cent of the population, who were evacuated to the mainland by ferry on Sunday after the strongest quake hit on July 3, toppling furniture and making it difficult to stand, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

Tobo, however, told CNN how he stayed behind as gatekeeper of the island’s only school, now an evacuation center.

“It has been shaking repeatedly for many days. I’ve been feeling very anxious and scared and it’s difficult to sleep,” he said.

“At their worst, the earthquakes seem endless. I can sense when a big one is coming. Even in my sleep, I can feel it approaching from a distance.”

In an emergency evacuation on Sunday, Tobo opened the school playground to the other 19 remaining islanders and five contractors, providing an open space away from any buildings which could be felled by the tremors. So far, the school remains unscathed.

“I evacuated at around midnight and went back to bed around 1:30 a.m., but I could not sleep enough. Some of the quakes were very strong,” he added.

But he said the responsibility comes with the job.

“As school administrator, I’ve chosen to stay on the island and support the effort by coordinating with government officials and local residents,” said Tobo, whose family live in Kagoshima city, on mainland Kyushu island.

“I stay home at night but I always feel ready to evacuate (to the school) at any moment, even in the middle of the night.”

Takashi Arikawa, an official at Toshima Village Office which manages the region, said the community is “sleep deprived” and “exhausted” from “constant earthquakes that have continued day and night.”

As well as Tobo, the people still on the island include firefighters, farmers, power company workers, one doctor and one nurse.

Tobo’s students resumed lessons on Tuesday via online classes. It follows a period where children were walking to school in helmets as a precaution, according to local media, and the school was closed for two days.

“Until then, some children were still on the island,” the principal said. “They seemed anxious and frightened by the ongoing earthquakes. I did my best to encourage and reassure them.

“We pray that those who remain on the island stay safe and that their homes are spared from damage.”

On neighboring Kodakarajima – which like Akusekijima is one of Tokara’s seven inhabited islands – local authorities confirmed 15 residents have been evacuated and 44 remain along with four contractors.

Kozo Matsuno, the island’s school principal who also stayed behind, said all supermarkets and stores were originally closed and daily necessities are still being delivered by ferry from Kagoshima.

But he expressed optimism, after days of sleepless nights, saying “the intervals between earthquakes have become longer.”

“The earthquakes seem to be subsiding gradually, and I hope this continues,” he told CNN.

Matsuno confirmed that all students are “in good health,” with half attending classes online after evacuating and the other half continuing in person.

The approximately 700 inhabitants of the 12-island archipelago appear well versed in such procedures. One school website shows children sheltering under their desks during a drill in Akusekijima last month.

In addition to the strongest quake on July 3, the region has experienced 128 level-three quakes, according to Japan’s unique, seven-level Shindo intensity scale, categorizing them as strong enough to wake sleeping people.

There have also been at least 39 at level four, felt by most people walking; four at level five, where windows could shatter; and three at upper five, where it’s difficult to move without support.

The region has experienced long periods of tremors before, with one significant event in 2023 bringing 346 recorded quakes.

Officials said there is currently no tsunami risk, but cautioned that the ground remains unstable, according to local media. Residents have been warned of the possibility of collapsing buildings and landslides.

Japan’s government on Saturday warned of more possible strong earthquakes in the area, but urged the public not to believe unfounded comic book predictions of a major disaster striking the country on July 5.

This stems from rumors inspired by the manga “The Future I Saw,” which warns of a major disaster in March 2011, a date which turned out to coincide with the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan’s northern Tohoku region that month, which caused the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

The “complete version,” released in 2021, claims that the next big earthquake will hit this July.

Earthquakes are common in Japan, which accounts for about one-fifth of the world’s tremors of magnitude 6 or greater.

The country sits on the so-called Ring of Fire, home to 75 per cent of the world’s active volcanoes, where roughly 90 per cent of all earthquakes occur. Stretching almost 25,000 miles, the horseshoe-shaped Ring of Fire encircles most of the Pacific Ocean.

This is where many tectonic plates meet and move against each other, causing friction that releases energy and creates the shaking that is unleashed during an earthquake.

Hanako Montgomery contributed to this report.

CNN
 — 

India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation bureau has released a preliminary report on the Air India flight that crashed in June, pointing to a possible issue with the engine fuel supply.

The London-bound plane had barely left the runway at Ahmedabad airport before it careened back to earth. Everyone on board was killed, except for one passenger.

According to the report obtained by CNN, the fuel control switches in the cockpit of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner had been flipped, resulting in engine problems.

Investigators were able to get data out of the black boxes, including 49 hours of flight data and two hours of cockpit audio, including the crash.

The aircraft had reached an airspeed of 180 knots when both engines’ fuel cutoff switches were “transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another with a time gap of 01 sec,” according to the report.

“In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cutoff. The other pilot responded that he did not do so,” the report reads.

Fuel was cutoff to the engines, according to the report.

Airport footage shows the Ram Air Turbine, an emergency power source on an aircraft, deployed during the plane’s initial climb after take-off, the report said. The plane started to lose altitude before crossing the airport perimeter wall.

Shortly after, the switches were reversed back to where they should have been, and the engines were in the process of powering back up when the crash happened.

Investigators also noted much of the aircraft was found in normal condition. The plane’s fuel was tested and found to be of satisfactory quality and no significant bird activity is observed in the vicinity of the flight path, according to the report.

“When fuel control switches are moved from CUTOFF to RUN while the aircraft is inflight, each engines full authority dual engine control automatically manages a relight and thrust recovery sequence of ignition and fuel introduction,” the report states.

Seconds after the engines attempted to relight, one pilot called out, “MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY.” The controller called out for the plane’s callsign, but didn’t get a response and watched the plane crash in the distance.

The captain of the flight was a 56-year-old male who flew over 15,000 hours in his career. The first officer was a 32-year old male with over 3,400 flying hours.

The take-off weight for the plane was found to be within allowable limits, and there were no “Dangerous Goods” on the aircraft. Investigators found the flaps on the wings of the plane were set in the 5-degree position, which is correct for takeoff, and the landing gear lever was in the down position.

The left engine was installed on the plane on March 26 and the right hand was installed on May 1, the report said.

In addition to those on board, a number of people on the ground were killed when the plane crashed into the BJ Medical College and Hospital hostel.

The Air India flight, AI171, took off from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in India’s western state of Gujarat on June 12. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was headed to London Gatwick, and scheduled to land at 6:25 p.m. local time (1:25 p.m. ET).

Air India had said 242 passengers and crew members were on board. That included 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

CNN
 — 

There is a “high probability” that US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will meet this year, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday.

“The odds are high,” Rubio told journalists gathered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Friday. “I think both sides want to see it happen.”

Rubio said he was unable to provide a date for any potential meeting but said there was a “strong desire on both sides to do it.”

The US top diplomat met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Kuala Lumpur on Friday for the first in-person meeting between the two foreign ministers, which comes as the US and China navigate trade frictions – and compete for influence in Asia.

The roughly hour-long meeting was “very constructive” and “positive,” Rubio said on Friday evening local time.

“We’re two big, powerful countries, and there are always going to be issues that we disagree on,” Rubio said, adding “I thought it was (a) very constructive, positive meeting, and (there’s) a lot of work to do.”

Both Rubio and Wang were attending regional meetings in the Malaysian capital this week, where foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, gathered alongside regional partners including Russia, Japan, South Korea and Australia.

The US and China have endured fraught trade relations since Trump’s return to office earlier this year, escalating and then de-escalating a tit-for-tat tariff spat sparked by the US president’s global trade war and sparring over export controls.

Tensions were eased as the two sides agreed to a trade framework during talks between negotiators in London last month, and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier this week he would meet with Chinese counterparts to continue discussions in the coming weeks. A 90-day pause negotiated between the two sides in May was set to expire in August.

Chinese officials have decried the US tariffs and threatened to retaliate if the US reaches deals with other trade partners at the expense of Chinese interests – a sign that Beijing sees the US as using agreements with other countries as a means to squeeze its economy.

But both sides signaled that the meeting between Wang and Rubio was a productive one with a positive tone – and a step toward expanding cooperation, rather than frictions, between them.

On Friday, Rubio said his meeting with Wang gave the two sides an opportunity to identify areas to work together, but he did not detail areas of possible cooperation.

“That was our message – that (we have) the opportunity here to achieve some strategic stability and identify areas where we can cooperate together on and build better communications and a working trust,” he said.

The Chinese foreign ministry called Friday’s meeting “positive, pragmatic and constructive” in a statement published after Rubio spoke to the media.

Both sides “agreed to strengthen diplomatic channels and communication and dialogue at all levels in all fields,” the statement said. It also said Wang reiterated calls for Washington to view China with an “objective, rational and pragmatic attitude” and treat it in an “equal” manner.

Trump’s trade war has added a layer of complexity to Rubio’s first trip to Asia as Washington’s top diplomat. The US in recent days sent letters to a number of countries announcing the tariff rates they would face in less than a month unless they strike trade deals with the US.

Eight of the 10 countries in ASEAN – along with South Korea and Japan – will face tariffs from the US on August 1, if the implementation deadline holds.

That’s created an opening for Chinese Foreign Minister Wang, who has looked to project a message that China remains a stable economic partner for the region. In meetings with ASEAN counterparts Thursday, Wang said China “always regards” ASEAN as a “priority” for China’s regional diplomacy.

US government officials have positioned Rubio’s trip as part of an effort to show that Washington remains committed to the region, where China is a key economic partner but also has friction with nations like the Philippines over its aggression in the South China Sea.

“In his first trip to Asia as secretary of state, Secretary Rubio is focused on reaffirming the United States’ commitment to advancing a free, open and secure Indo-Pacific region,” Tammy Bruce, the State Department spokeswoman, said in a statement earlier this week.

On Friday, Rubio pushed back on the idea that US tariffs could create an opportunity for China economically in the region, and said Washington is committed to addressing “tremendous trade imbalances” with countries that have accumulated over the past few decades.

“We’re resetting tariff levels with virtually every country in the world,” he told journalists, noting that such imbalances are “unfair to America and American workers.”

Last year, the US notched a $295 billion goods trade deficit with China, according to data from the US Census Bureau.

“I think countries are going to trade with multiple countries. We don’t view this as an opening for anyone. We don’t view it that way. We view it as an opportunity to reset global trade in a way that’s fair for Americans after two or three decades of unfairness,” he said.

CNN’s Anna Cooban and Shawn Deng contributed to this report.