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Belarusian Olympic sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya has arrived at the Polish embassy in Tokyo after refusing to board a flight back to Minsk.

The 24-year-old was seen entering the building after spending the night at an airport hotel.

She said she was seized by officials from her own country on Sunday after she publicly complained about the national coaches and sought police protection.

Olympic officials later said she was “safe and secure”.

Krystsina Tsimanouskaya of Belarus reacts after competing in Heat 6 of the women's 100m at the Tokyo Olympics
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The Olympian says she was seized by officials from her own country

Her arrival at the Polish embassy comes after France’s European affairs minister said it would be an “honour” if Europe were to grant Tsimanouskaya political asylum.

The Olympian said she was seized by officials from her own country on Sunday after she publicly complained about the national coaches.

She spent the night in an airport hotel after seeking the protection of Japanese police at Haneda airport.

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Tsimanouskaya said in a filmed message distributed on social media that she was pressured by Belarus team officials so had asked the International Olympic Committee for help.

She said: “I was put under pressure and they are trying to forcibly take me out of the country without my consent.”

Tsimanouskaya had been due to compete in the women’s 200 metres and the 4×400 metres relay at the Tokyo Olympics this week.

But she criticised team officials on her Instagram account, saying she was put in the relay despite never having raced in the event before.

Belarusian athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya says she has been taken to Tokyo Airport against her will
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Belarusian athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya says she has been taken to Tokyo Airport against her will

She had also claimed some members of her team were judged ineligible to compete because they had not undergone enough doping tests.

Coaching staff went to Tsimanouskaya’s room and told her to pack as a response to what she had said, she claimed.

When she arrived at the airport, she summoned Japanese police and refused to board the flight to Minsk via Istanbul.

An activist group supporting Tsimanouskaya said she believed her life was in danger in Belarus and she would seek asylum with the Austrian Embassy in Tokyo.

A spokesman for the Japanese government, Katsunobu Kato, told reporters that Japan was cooperating with other organisations “to take appropriate measures,” and confirmed the sprinter was safe.

The Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation (BSSF) said Tsimanouskaya contacted them for help over fears she would be deported to Minsk after government supporters targeted her.

“The campaign was quite serious and that was a clear signal that her life would be in danger in Belarus,” BSSF spokesman Alexander Opeikin said.

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Vietnam: Nearly 200 people dead in aftermath of Typhoon Yagi

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Vietnam: Nearly 200 people dead in aftermath of Typhoon Yagi

Almost 200 people have died and more than 125 are missing in Vietnam in the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi, according to local media.

Yagi was the strongest typhoon to hit the Southeast Asian country in decades, making landfall on Saturday with winds of up to 92mph (149kph) and causing flash floods and landslides.

Some 197 people have died and 128 are still missing, while more than 800 have been injured, according to Vietnam’s VNExpress newspaper.

Fatalities peaked earlier this week as a flash flood swept away the entire hamlet of Lang Nu in northern Vietnam’s Lao Cai province on Tuesday.

A family works to clean the mud in Thai Nguyen City, Vietnam. Pic: reuters
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A family works to clean the mud in Thai Nguyen City, Vietnam. Pic: reuters

Hundreds of rescue workers mounted a search for survivors but 53 villagers remained missing on Thursday morning, VNExpress reported.

Seven more bodies were found, bringing the total number of deaths there to 42.

The flooding in the capital, Hanoi, has been reportedly the worst in two decades, and has led to widespread evacuations.

Flood waters from the Red River have receded slightly but many areas are still inundated.

People waded through muddy brown water above their knees to make their way along one street, with some still wearing their bicycle and motorcycle helmets after abandoning their vehicles along the way.

A drone view shows a flooded area following the impact of Typhoon Yagi, in the northern province of Chiang Rai, Thailand, September 12, 2024. REUTERS/Anupong Intawong
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A flooded area in the northern province of Chiang Rai, Thailand. Pic: Reuters

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Others paddled along the road in small boats as rubbish drifted by, while one man pushed his motorbike toward drier ground in an aluminium craft.

Yagi weakened on Sunday but downpours continued and rivers remain dangerously high.

Floods and landslides have caused most of the deaths, many of which have come in the northwestern Lao Cai province, bordering China, home to the popular trekking destination of Sapa, where Lang Nu is located.

On Monday, a steel bridge collapsed in Phu Tho province over the engorged Red River, sending 10 cars and trucks along with two motorbikes into the water.

A bus carrying 20 people was swept into a flooded stream by a landslide in mountainous Cao Bang province.

Meanwhile in Thailand, at least two people were killed and hundreds stranded after heavy rains swept through two northern provinces, swelling rivers, inundating settlements and triggering mudslides, authorities said on Wednesday.

Experts say storms like Typhoon Yagi are getting stronger due to climate change, as warmer ocean waters provide more energy to fuel them, leading to higher winds and heavier rainfall.

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Former model and Miss Switzerland finalist Kristina Joksimovic ‘pureed’ in blender by husband – reports

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Former model and Miss Switzerland finalist Kristina Joksimovic 'pureed' in blender by husband - reports

A former model who was a finalist in the Miss Switzerland contest was allegedly murdered and “pureed” in a blender by her husband, officials in Switzerland are reported to have said.

Kristina Joksimovic, 38, was found dead in her home in Binningen, near Basel, Switzerland, in February this year.

According to local news outlet BZ Basel, a man named Thomas, 41, had an appeal for release from custody denied by the Federal Court in Lausanne on Wednesday after he reportedly confessed to killing his wife, with whom he had two children.

The outlet said he had admitted to the killing during a crime reconstruction in March, and claimed it was in self-defence after she attacked him with a knife.

BZ Basel said the ruling from the court held Ms Joksimovic was strangled to death. An autopsy report included in the ruling said Ms Joksimovic’s body was then dismembered in a laundry room with a jigsaw, knife and garden shears.

It added body parts were then chopped up with a hand blender, “pureed” and dissolved in a chemical solution.

BZ Basel also said Thomas was arrested the day after Ms Joksimovic’s body was found, and initially told investigators he had found her dead and dismembered her body in their laundry room in panic.

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Thomas, who is a Swiss national, was reportedly arrested a day after her remains were found by a “third party”, according to German language outlet Blick.

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According to local outlet 20 Minuten, Ms Joksimovic was crowned Miss Northwest Switzerland pageant and in 2007 was a finalist for Miss Switzerland.

She later ran her own business as a catwalk coach, and mentored model Dominique Rinderknecht for the Miss Universe pageant in 2013.

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UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA says six workers killed in two airstrikes in Gaza

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UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA says six workers killed in two airstrikes in Gaza

Six aid workers have been killed in Gaza after two airstrikes in Nuseirat, according to reports.

In a post on X, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine in the Near East (UNRWA) said: “Six colleagues killed today when two airstrikes hit a school and its surroundings in the middle areas.

“This is the highest death toll among our staff in a single incident.

“Among those killed was the manager of the UNRWA shelter and other team members providing assistance to displaced people.

“Sincere condolences to their families and loved ones. This school has been hit five times since the war began.

“It is home to around 12,000 displaced people, mainly women and children. No one is safe in Gaza No one is spared.

“Schools and other civilian infrastructure must be protected at all times, they are not a target.

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“We call on all parties to the conflict to never use schools or the areas around them for military or fighting purposes.”

Palestine’s health minister on Wednesday said at least 41,084 Palestinians have been killed during the war and 95,029 have been wounded.

Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in their October 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war.

They abducted another 250 and are still holding about 100, with a third believed to be dead.

There have been 340 Israeli soldiers killed since the ground operation began in Gaza in late October, at least 50 of whom have been killed in accidents within Gaza – not as a result of combat with Palestinian militants, according to the military.

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