Rat parts in sliced bread spark wide product recall in Japan
CBSN
Tokyo — More than 100,000 packets of sliced bread have been recalled in Japan after parts of a black rat's body were discovered inside two of them, the manufacturer said Wednesday. Food recalls are rare in Japan, a country with famously high standards of sanitation, and Pasco Shikishima Corporation said it was investigating how the rodent remains had crept in to its products.
The company said it was so far unaware of anyone falling sick after eating its processed white "chojuku" bread, long a staple of Japanese breakfast tables.
Around 104,000 packs of the bread have been recalled in mainland Japan, from Tokyo to the northern Aomori region.
Kyiv, Ukraine — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that American military aid on its way to Ukraine will make a "real difference" on the battlefield, as the top diplomat made an unannounced visit to reassure an ally facing a fierce new Russian offensive. In increasingly intense attacks along Ukraine's northeast border in recent days, Moscow's troops have captured around 40 to 50 square miles of territory, including at least seven villages, according to open source monitoring analysts.
A trove of gold and silver coins that experts believe were swindled out of an ailing population by an 18th-century conman has been discovered in central Poland, officials said. Volunteer metal detectorists found the treasure hidden underground in multiple locations while exploring the Jeleniowskie mountain range with permission from the local government, and the fact that it exists seems to validate a centuries-old legend.
Tel Aviv — Nearly 360,000 people had fled the Gaza Strip's southernmost city of Rafah by Monday, according to the United Nations, in an exodus that tripled in size over just a few days. The Israel Defense Forces sparked the upheaval late last week, issuing evacuation orders by text messages and fliers dropped from the sky to people in the city's eastern half.
Russia's renewed ground offensive in Ukraine's northeast targeted towns and villages with a barrage of artillery and mortar fire, officials said Sunday. Thousands of civilians fled the Kharkiv region as the intense battle capitulated more land to Russian forces across less defended settlements in the so-called contested "gray zone" along the Russian border.