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Japan says a second Japanese person is detained in Iran and demands their early release

TOKYO (AP) — A second Japanese national has been detained in Iran, Japan’s Foreign Ministry said Friday and demanded the early release of both people.

The ministry confirmed the second person had been detained before the Feb. 28 military strikes on Iran by the United States and Israel.

The ministry said the detainee is safe and in good health but gave no other details such as the timing of the detention or whether it is related to the detention of a Japanese journalist reported last month.

Japanese officials had confirmed the first person’s detention though they refused to give the detainee’s identity.

Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told a parliamentary panel Friday that officials were able to contact the two after the Feb. 28 strikes and confirmed their safety. The government is “doing everything to support them, their families and others involved,” Motegi said.

Motegi said he insisted on the importance of their protection and early release when he met with the Iranian ambassador this week.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has named the first detainee as Shinnosuke Kawashima, the Tehran bureau chief of Japanese public broadcaster NHK. Its report quoted an unidentified source who spoke on condition of anonymity due to fear of retribution.

CPJ said Kawashima was arrested Jan. 20 by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and was transferred Feb. 23 to Evin Prison.

The organization demanded the immediate release of Kawashima and other journalists detained for their work.

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Beijing banned four New Zealand lawmakers from traveling to China for a year and demanded they apologize because they visited Taiwan on a parliamentary trip, according to a message from the Chinese embassy conveyed via parliamentary officials and shown to The Associated Press on Thursday. China has hit lawmakers from other countries with sanctions related to contact with Taiwan before, but it's the first time for New Zealand parliamentarians, the government in Wellington said. Beijing has been increasing pressure in recent years on the democratically governed island that it claims as its own territory. Two lawmakers reached by the AP on Thursday rejected the demand for an apology, while the other two could not be immediately reached. New Zealand's government said it would express concern about the travel bans to Beijing. The elected officials visited Taipei in May, as New Zealand parliamentarians have done “for decades,” a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
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