Hard Numbers: China-Japan spat could hurt tourism, Pro-Russian pair accused of attacking Polish railway, Neo-Nazi pleads guilty to poison plot in NYC, South Africa blocks arrivals of Palestinians
650,000: Roughly 650,000 Chinese tourists visited Japan in September, but those levels are under threat amid a diplomatic rift between the two countries. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested that her country would intervene if China attacks Taiwan, prompting Beijing to cancel tour groups to Japan and ban employees of state-owned enterprises from traveling there.
2: Two Ukrainian men, who are believed to have been working with Russia, have been identified as the culprits behind the rail sabotage attacks in Poland over the weekend. The men are believed to have been recruited by Russian intelligence.
18: A Georgian man who hatched a plan to feed poisoned candy to Jewish children in New York City pleaded guilty on Monday to soliciting hate crimes. Prosecutors will seek an 18-year jail sentence. The man led a Russian & Ukrainian neo-Nazi group that has sought to sow violence worldwide.
2,000: The South African government announced that it will block the arrival of any further flights of Palestinians after hundreds arrived by air in recent weeks. Passengers said theypaid $2,000 per ticket to an aid agency offering them a route out of the country, but South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamoladenounced the flights as part of “a broader agenda to remove Palestinians from Palestine.”
