Russian airstrikes return to Kharkiv
KYIV, Ukraine -- Russia struck the northeastern city of Kharkiv with aerial bombs Wednesday for the first time since 2022, killing at least one civilian and wounding 16 others, local officials said.
The airstrikes caused widespread damage, hitting several residential buildings and damaging the city's institute for emergency surgery.
Russia has escalated its attacks on Ukraine in recent days, launching several missile barrages on the capital Kyiv and hitting energy infrastructure across the country in apparent retaliation for recent Ukrainian aerial attacks on the Russian border region of Belgorod. Such sporadic attacks, however, have been common throughout the war.
The Kharkiv region cuts across the front line where Ukrainian and Russian forces have been locked in battles for over two years since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Sergey Bolvinov, head of the investigative police in Khakiv, said on Telegram Wednesday's attack marked the first time aerial bombs were used since 2022. Regional governor Oleh Syniehubov also reported the use of aerial bombs.
Products pulled after dozens ill in Japan
TOKYO -- Health supplement products believed to have caused two deaths and sickened more than 100 people have been ordered to be taken off store shelves in Japan.
The products from Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co., billed as helping to lower cholesterol, contained an ingredient called "benikoji," a red species of mold.
In addition to the products from Osaka-based Kobayashi, more than 40 products from other companies containing benikoji, including miso paste, crackers and a vinegar dressing, were recalled, starting last week, a government health ministry official said Wednesday.
At least 106 people had been hospitalized, and many more are believed to have been sickened, although it's unclear if all the illnesses are directly linked to benikoji.
The ministry has put up a list on its official site of all the recalled products, including some that use benikoji for food coloring.
The company is investigating the cause of the problem. The recalled products could be bought without a prescription from a doctor, and could be purchased at drug stores.
Kobayashi apologized and asked in an online statement: "Please stop taking our products, and please do not use them in the future."
Repeated calls to Kobayashi went unanswered. The company president and other top officials held a news conference last week when the problem first surfaced, bowing their heads in apology, as is the standard in Japan.
Thais advance marriage-equality bill
BANGKOK -- Lawmakers in Thailand's lower house of Parliament overwhelmingly approved a marriage equality bill on Wednesday that would make the country the first in Southeast Asia to legalize equal rights for marriage partners of any gender.
The bill passed its final reading with the approval of 400 of the 415 members of the House of Representatives in attendance, with 10 voting against it, two abstaining and three not voting.
Thailand has a reputation for acceptance and inclusivity but has struggled for decades to pass a marriage equality law. Thai society largely holds conservative values, and members of the LGBTQ+ community say they face discrimination in everyday life.
The bill now goes to the Senate, which rarely rejects any legislation that passes the lower house, and then to the king for royal endorsement. This would make Thailand the first country or region in Southeast Asia to pass such a law and the third in Asia, after Taiwan and Nepal.
The bill amends the Civil and Commercial Code to change the words "men and women" and "husband and wife" to "individuals" and "marriage partners." It would open up access to full legal, financial and medical rights for LGBTQ+ couples.
Deaths climb to 143 in Moscow attack
MOSCOW -- The death toll from last week's Moscow concert hall attack rose to 143, Russian authorities said Wednesday. Around 80 other people wounded in the siege by gunmen remain hospitalized.
The Friday night massacre in Crocus City Hall, a sprawling shopping and entertainment venue on the northwestern outskirts of Moscow, was the deadliest extremist attack on Russian soil in nearly two decades. At least four gunmen toting automatic rifles shot at thousands of concertgoers and set the venue on fire.
The updated fatalities from Russia's Emergencies Ministry didn't state the number of wounded, but Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said earlier Wednesday 80 people were in hospitals and another 205 had sought medical treatment from the attack.
Russia's Federal Security Service said it arrested 11 people the day after the attack, including four suspected gunmen. The four men, identified as Tajik nationals, appeared Sunday in a Moscow court on terrorism charges and showed signs of severe beatings. One appeared to be barely conscious during the hearing.
A man evacuates his dog while passing by a body of a man who was killed by a Russian strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
Police officers inspect a crater in front of a damaged residential building hit by a Russian strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
A police officer inspects a crater in front of a damaged residential building that was hit by a Russian strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
Oleksandr Lytvynenko attends a forum in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy replaced Oleksii Danilov as secretary of the National Security and Defense Council with Lytvynenko, who served as the head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
FILE - Oleksii Danilov, Secretary of National Security and Defense Council, speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 17, 2023. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has replaced one of the country's top security officials with the head of Ukraine's foreign spy agency in a new reshuffle as the war with Russia drags into a third year. Zelenskyy dismissed Danilov, who served as secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, thanking him for his service in a video address late Tuesday March 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)
FILE - Oleksii Danilov, Secretary of National Security and Defense Council, speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 22, 2022. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has replaced one of the country's top security officials with the head of Ukraine's foreign spy agency in a new reshuffle as the war with Russia drags into a third year. Zelenskyy dismissed Danilov, who served as secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, thanking him for his service in a video address late Tuesday March 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)
A young woman holds red carnations at a makeshift memorial in front of the Crocus City Hall on the western outskirts of Moscow, Russia, on Wednesday. (AP/Alexander Zemlianichenko)