Japan
Earthquake, snow hit country
A strong earthquake shook the same area in Japan hit by a magnitude-7.4 earthquake two days ago. No tsunami warning was issued. The Japan Meteorological Agency says a magnitude-6.1 earthquake struck Thursday morning off the shore of southern Fukushima prefecture. Meanwhile, Tokyo residents woke up to the first November snowfall in more than 50 years. An unusually cold air mass brought wet snow to the capital on Thursday. Above-freezing temperatures kept the snow from sticking, but forecasters said there could be an accumulation of up to 1 inch. The last time it snowed in central Tokyo in November was in 1962.
South Korea, Japan sign pact
An intelligence-sharing agreement between South Korea and Japan took effect Wednesday after the countries signed the pact to better monitor North Korea, Seoul officials said. South Korea and Japan had exchanged military intelligence via the United States under a trilateral agreement signed in 2014. But the Asian neighbors had no direct intelligence-sharing system largely because of disputes stemming from Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945. South Korea’s defense minister and Japan’s ambassador in Seoul signed the deal Wednesday.
England
Chef found guilty of killings
A British chef was convicted Wednesday of murdering four young men whom he met online, plied with lethal drug-spiked drinks and raped, then left their bodies in and around a graveyard near his home. Twelve jurors at London’s Central Criminal Court unanimously found serial killer Stephen Port guilty of three murders, and convicted him of a fourth killing by a majority of 11 to one. He was also found guilty of 18 other offenses, including four rapes and four sex assaults, against several other men who survived their encounters with Port. Port, 41, denied all the charges against him.
Mexico
Cancun rounds up Uber cars
Officials in the Mexican resort of Cancun and nearby cities have rounded up scores of Uber cars and taken them to impound lots until drivers pay fines of about $2,800 apiece. The government of the Caribbean coast state of Quintana Roo says the ride-sharing service is illegally offering transport services. Uber says about 100 of its drivers’ vehicles had been impounded in the last week and 96 of them were carrying Cancun residents, not tourists.
Compiled from wire reports