TOKYO (AP) — Juro Kara, who helped shape Japan’s postwar avant-garde theater, defiantly yet playfully transforming the essence of Kabuki aesthetics into modern storytelling, has died. He was 84.

The playwright, director and troupe leader died late Saturday from a blood clot in the brain after he collapsed at home and was rushed to a Tokyo hospital on May 1, his theater group Karagumi said in a statement on Sunday.

Kara, whose real name was Yoshihide Otsuru, rose to stardom in the so-called Japanese underground movement of the 1960s known as “un-gura,” characterized by a kitsch rebellious style also found in his contemporaries Shuji Terayama and Tadashi Suzuki.

Kara’s colorful shows, often in makeshift tents evocative of a traveling circus, rejected the established theatrical modes then dominating modernizing Japan that were mostly Western, middle class and well-behaved.

His plays, such as “Koshimaki Osen,” were characterized by a raw energetic physicality, blatantly devoid of any pretense at naturalism.

Kara once compared his approach to “a womb covered in blood.” His theater came to be known as “the red tent.” A wandering group would put on his shows wherever the tents went up, most famously in a spot near a shrine in Shinjuku in downtown Tokyo.

Audiences found themselves immersed in otherworldly, dreamlike settings. The flashy posters that artist Tadanori Yokoo often created for Kara’s works exemplified that signature pop surrealist style.

Kara’s group is still active today, performing shows that carry on his legacy. His theater also served as a breeding ground for some of Japan’s top actors, including Kaoru Kobayashi and the late Jinpachi Nezu.

Born in Tokyo, Kara majored in theater at Meiji University in Tokyo, which boasts an extensive archive of Kara’s works.

In 1983, Kara won the prestigious Akutagawa Award for new writers for his novel “Letters from Sagawa.” He also acted in various films, often in bit character roles, including “Demon Pond,” directed by Masahiro Shinoda.

Funeral arrangements weren’t set but will be for family and friends, Karagumi said. Kara is survived by his wife Michiko, sons Gitan Otsuru and Sasuke Otsuru, and daughter Minion Otsuru, all actors.

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Yuri Kageyama is on X: https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

By Munsif Vengattil, Saurabh Sharma and Rishika Sadam

BENGALURU/LUCKNOW (Reuters) – Manipulated videos are taking centre stage as campaigning heats up in India’s election, with fake clips involving two top aides of Prime Minister Narendra Modi triggering police investigations and the arrest of some workers of his rival Congress party.

In what has been dubbed as India’s first AI election, Modi said last week fake voices were being used to purportedly show leaders making “statements that we have never even thought of”, calling it a conspiracy “to create tension in society.”

Indian police — already investigating the spread of fake videos showing Bollywood actors criticizing Modi — are now investigating a doctored online clip that showed federal home minister Amit Shah saying the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party will stop certain social guarantees for minorities, a subject sensitive for millions of voters.

Shah retorted on X, posting his “original” and the edited “fake” speech and alleging — without providing any evidence — that the main opposition Congress was behind the video it created to mislead the public. The minister said “directions have been issued to the police to address this issue.”

Indian police arrested at least nine people, including six members of Congress’ social media teams, in the states of Assam, Gujarat, Telangana and New Delhi last week for circulating the fake video, according to police statements.

Five of the Congress workers were released on bail, but the most high-profile arrest made by the cyber crime unit of New Delhi police came on Friday, when they detained a Congress national social media coordinator, Arun Reddy, for sharing the video. New Delhi is one region where Shah’s ministry directly controls police. Reddy has been sent into three-day custody.

The arrest has sparked protests from Congress workers with many posting on X using the #ReleaseArunReddy tag. Congress lawmaker Manickam Tagore said the arrest was an example of “authoritarian misuse of power by the regime.”

Congress’ head of social media, Supriya Shrinate, did not respond to messages and an email seeking comment.

MISINFORMATION

India’s election from April 19 to June 1 will be the world’s largest democratic event.

With nearly a billion voters and more than 800 million internet users, tackling the spread of misinformation is a high stakes job. It involves round-the-clock monitoring by police and election officials who often issue take down orders to Facebook and X as investigations start.

In India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, more than 500 people keep tabs on online content, flagging controversial posts and coordinating with social media companies for their removal when needed, police chief Prashant Kumar told Reuters on Saturday.

Another fake video that sparked a storm last week showed Yogi Adityanath, the state’s chief minister, criticizing Modi for not doing enough for families of those who died in a 2019 militant attack. Though fact checkers said the video was created using different parts of an original clip, state police called it an “AI generated, deepfake”.

Using internet address tracking, state police arrested a man named Shyam Gupta on May 2 who had shared the fake video post on X a day earlier, receiving over 3,000 views and 11 likes.

The police have accused Gupta of forgery and promoting enmity under Indian law provisions that can carry a jail term of up to seven years if convicted. Reuters could not reach him as he is currently serving a 14-day custody period.

“This person is not a tech guy. Had he been tech savvy, arresting him quickly would not have been possible,” said police officer Kumar.

(Reporting by Munsif Vengattil, Saurabh Sharma and Rishika Sadam; Additional reporting by Sumit Khanna and Tora Agarwala; Editing by Aditya Kalra and Kim Coghill)

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australian police said on Sunday they had shot dead a boy after he stabbed a man in Western Australia’s capital Perth, in an attack authorities said indicated terrorism.

There were signs the 16-year-old, armed with a kitchen knife, had been radicalised online, state authorities said, adding they received calls from concerned members of the local Muslim community before the attack, which occurred late on Saturday night.

The attack, in the suburb of Willetton, had “hallmarks” of terrorism but was yet to be declared a terrorist act, police said.

“At this stage it appears that he acted solely and alone,” Western Australia Premier Roger Cook told a televised press conference in the state capital Perth, regarding the attacker.

The victim, stabbed in the back, was stable in hospital, authorities said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had been briefed on the incident by police and intelligence agencies, which advised there was no ongoing threat.

“We are a peace-loving nation and there is no place for violent extremism in Australia,” Albanese said on social media platform X.

The incident comes after New South Wales police last month charged several boys with terrorism-related offences in investigations following the stabbing of an Assyrian Christian bishop while he was giving a live-streamed sermon in Sydney, on April 15.

The attack on the bishop came only days after a stabbing spree killed six in the Sydney beachside suburb of Bondi.

Gun and knife crime is rare in Australia, which consistently ranks among the safest countries in the world, according to the federal government.

(Reporting by Sam McKeith in Sydney; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and William Mallard)

MOSCOW (AP) — Worshippers including President Vladimir Putin packed Moscow’s landmark Christ the Savior Cathedral for a night-time Easter service led by Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church and an outspoken supporter of the Kremlin.

The traditional sung service begun late Saturday, with Kirill delivering well-wishes to Orthodox believers which were broadcast on Russian TV. A procession of white-robed clergy then circled the vast cathedral, rebuilt in post-Soviet times and widely seen as symbolic of Russia’s rejection of its atheist past, as they swung smoking incense censers and chanted the liturgy.

Most Western churches observed Easter on March 31, but the Russian Orthodox Church follows a different calendar.

In his Easter address, Kirill wished for “God’s blessing over Russia,” its people and all countries where the church has a presence.

In a written message published earlier on Saturday on the church’s website, Kirill noted that “awareness of God’s love … gives us strength to overcome the most difficult mental states and difficult circumstances, elevates us above the bustle of everyday life, helps correct previous mistakes and destroys despondency.”

The patriarch this year appeared to steer clear from political pronouncements, unlike last April when he lamented “grave events taking place on our Russian historical land,” referencing Moscow’s military actions in Ukraine and reinforcing the Kremlin’s narrative that Ukrainian statehood is essentially a fiction.

The service, featuring a mixed-voice choir and standing worshippers holding thin red candles, was set to extend well into Sunday.

Putin was shown among the worshippers, standing next to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin as the two joined in the traditional Easter greetings. The Russian leader was later seen exchanging festive gifts with Kirill.

Earlier on Saturday, Orthodox Russians headed to churches to have baskets of festive foods, including hand-painted eggs and traditional Easter cakes, blessed by a priest.

Putin has been eager to portray himself as defending “traditional values” espoused by the Russian Orthodox Church in the face of what he repeatedly casts as the West’s “degrading” influence. The country has increasingly taken a conservative turn, with attempts to restrict abortion and broad bans against LGBTQ+ activism and gender transitioning that have met with the church’s support.

SEOUL (Reuters) -Efforts led by the U.S. and other Western countries to form new groups to monitor sanctions on North Korea will fail, the country’s U.N. envoy said on Sunday, according to state media KCNA.

Ambassador Kim Song made the comment in response to a joint statement the U.S. and its allies issued this week calling to continue the work of a U.N. panel of experts monitoring longstanding sanctions against Pyongyang for its nuclear weapons and missile programs.

Earlier this year, Russia vetoed the annual renewal of the panel amid U.S.-led accusations that North Korea has transferred weapons to Russia for use in its war in Ukraine.

“The hostile forces may set up the second and third expert panels in the future but they are all bound to meet self-destruction with the passage of time,” KCNA quotes Kim as saying in a statement.

Last month, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield visited the Demilitarized Zone, a heavily fortified border between the two Koreas, which remain technically at war and urged Russia and China to stop rewarding North Korea for its bad behaviour.

Her trip came after Russia rejected the annual renewal of the multinational panel of experts that has over the past 15 years monitored the implementation of U.N. sanctions aimed at curbing North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.

(Reporting by Hyunsu Yim; Editing by Josie Kao and Kim Coghill)

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Several thousand Georgians marked Orthodox Easter with a candlelight vigil outside Parliament on Saturday evening as daily protests continue against a proposed law that critics see as a threat to media freedom and the country’s aspirations to join the European Union.

The proposed bill would require media, non-governmental organizations and other nonprofits to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad.

Protesters and the Georgian opposition denounce it as “the Russian law,” saying Moscow uses similar legislation to stigmatize independent journalists and those critical of the Kremlin.

Demonstrators crowded along a broad avenue in Tbilisi late Saturday, clutching Georgian and EU flags, as a small choir sang Easter songs and activists bustled about distributing food, including hand-painted eggs and traditional Easter cakes.

Unlike at mass rallies earlier in the week, which met with a heavy police response, the atmosphere was peaceful. Unarmed police officers stationed sparsely at the vigil’s sidelines received festive foods along with the protesters.

Most Western churches observed Easter on March 31 this year, but Orthodox Christians in Georgia, Russia and elsewhere follow a different calendar.

“It is the most extraordinary Easter I have ever witnessed. The feeling of solidarity is overwhelming, but we should not forget about the main issue,” activist Lika Chachua told The Associated Press, referring to the proposed legislation.

The legislature approved a second reading of the bill Wednesday. The third and final reading is expected later this month.

The proposal is nearly identical to a measure that the governing Georgian Dream party was pressured to withdraw last year after large street protests.

Georgian Dream argues the bill is necessary to stem what it deems as harmful foreign influence over the country’s political scene and to prevent unidentified foreign actors from trying to destabilize the country’s political scene.

But EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has described the parliament’s move as “a very concerning development” and warned that “final adoption of this legislation would negatively impact Georgia’s progress on its EU path.”

Russia-Georgia relations have been strained and turbulent since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the two fought a brief war in 2008 that ended with Georgia losing control over two Russia-friendly separatist regions. In the aftermath, Tbilisi severed diplomatic ties with Moscow, and the issue of the regions’ status remains a key irritant, even as relations have somewhat improved.

The opposition United National Movement accuses Georgian Dream, which was founded by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire who made his fortune in Russia, of serving Moscow’s interests. The governing party vehemently denies that.

By John Irish and Ingrid Melander

PARIS (Reuters) – China’s President Xi Jinping heads to Paris on Sunday for a rare visit, with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron set to press him to reduce trade imbalances and try to convince him to use his influence on Russia over the war in Ukraine.

Neither aim will be easily fulfilled during Xi’s two-day stay in France, where he arrives at a time of growing trade tensions between Europe and China.

France is backing a European Union probe into Chinese electric vehicle exports and in January Beijing opened an investigation into imports of brandy – which is mostly made in France – a move widely seen as tit-for-tat retaliation amid a growing set of EU probes.

“We must continue to push Chinese authorities to give us more guarantees on trade issues,” an Elysee advisor said ahead of Xi’s visit, his first trip to Europe in five years.

Xi was due to arrive at around 4 p.m. (1400 GMT). His official meetings will include joint talks with Macron and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.

Divisions within European Union’s 27 members – and in particular between France and Germany – undermine their ability to influence China. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will not join Macron and Xi in Paris due to prior commitments, sources said.

“Leverage flies out the window if European leaders are sending different messages to Xi,” said Noah Barkin, a senior adviser at the Rhodium Group and close follower of EU-China relations.

France will also seek to make progress on opening the Chinese market to its agricultural exports and resolve issues around the French cosmetic industry’s concerns about intellectual property rights, officials said.

UKRAINE TALKS

France has been keen to nudge China into pressuring Moscow to halt operations in Ukraine, with little progress so far, apart from Xi’s decision to call Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for the first time shortly after Macron visited Beijing last year.

“China being one of Russia’s main partners, our objective is to use the leverages it has on Moscow to change Russia’s calculations and help contribute to solving the conflict,” the same Elysee adviser said.

A French diplomatic source said: “If the Chinese seek to deepen the relationship with European partners, it is really important that they hear our point of view and start taking it seriously.”

On Tuesday, Macron will take Xi to the Pyrenees, mountains he holds especially dear as his maternal grandmother’s birthplace.

The gesture is meant as an echo of Xi’s decision to take Macron to share a tea ceremony in the former residence of Xi’s father in the city of Guangzhou.

“Macron is always in charm mode, he is trying to get foreign leaders on side by establishing a personal rapport with them,” Barkin said.

“But I hope that he isn’t under any illusions that bringing Xi to a place that is important to him from his childhood is going to bring Xi to tears and lead to compromises from Beijing.”

Xi will leave France on Tuesday afternoon to head to Russia-friendly Serbia and Hungary.

(Reporting by John Irish, Michel Rose; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Frances Kerry)

LOME (Reuters) – Togo’s ruling party has won 108 out of 113 seats in parliament, according to the final provisional results of last month’s legislative election announced on Friday.

The sweeping majority secured by President Faure Gnassingbe’s UNIR party follows the approval of controversial constitutional reforms by the outgoing parliament that could extend his 19-year rule.

The new charter adopted in March also introduced a parliamentary system of government, meaning the president will be elected by parliament instead of by universal suffrage.

Opposition parties were hoping to gain seats in the April 29 vote to enable them to challenge the UNIR party after they boycotted the last legislative poll and left it effectively in control of parliament.

The election had been delayed twice because of a backlash from some opposition parties who called the constitutional changes a manoeuvre to allow Gnassingbe to rule for life.

Constitutional amendments unanimously approved in a second parliamentary vote earlier in April shortened presidential terms to four years from five with a two-term limit.

This does not take into account the time already spent in office, which could enable Gnassingbe to stay in power until 2033 if he is re-elected when his mandate expires in 2025.

(Reporting by Alice Lawson; Writing by Sofia Christensen; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

TOKYO (AP) — Japan and India on Saturday decried remarks by U.S. President Joe Biden describing them as “xenophobic” countries that do not welcome immigrants, which the president said during a campaign fundraising event earlier in the week.

Japan said Biden’s judgment was not based on an accurate understanding of its policy, while India rebutted the comment, defending itself as the world’s most open society.

Biden grouped Japan and India as “xenophobic” countries, along with Russia and China as he tried to explain their struggling economies, contrasting the four with the strength of the U.S. as a nation of immigrants.

Japan is a key U.S. ally, and both Japan and India are part of the Quad, a U.S.-led informal partnership that also includes Australia in countering increasingly assertive China in the Indo-Pacific.

Just weeks ago, Biden hosted Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on an official visit, as the two leaders restated their “unbreakable alliance” and agreed to reinforce their security ties in the face of China’s threat in the Indo-Pacific.

Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi also made a state visit to Washington last year, when he was welcomed by business and political leaders.

The White House said Biden meant no offense and was merely stressing that the U.S. was a nation of immigrants, saying he had no intention of undermining the relationship with Japan.

Japan is aware of Biden’s remark as well as the subsequent clarification, a Japanese government official said Saturday, declining to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.

The official said it was unfortunate that part of Biden’s speech was not based on an accurate understanding of Japanese policies, and that Japan understands that Biden made the remark to emphasize the presence of immigrants as America’s strength.

Japan-U.S. relations are “stronger than ever” as Prime Minister Kishida showed during his visit to the U.S. in April, the official said.

In New Delhi, India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Saturday also rebutted Biden’s comment, saying India was the most open society in the world.

“I haven’t seen such an open, pluralistic, and diverse society anywhere in the world. We are actually not just not xenophobic, we are the most open, most pluralistic and in many ways the most understanding society in the world,” Jaishankar said at a roundtable organized by the Economic Times newspaper.

Jaishankar also noted that India’s annual GDP growth is 7% and said, “You check some other countries’ growth rate, you will find an answer.” The U.S. economy grew by 2.5% in 2023, according to government figures.

At a hotel fundraiser Wednesday, where the donor audience was largely Asian American, Biden said the upcoming U.S. election was about “freedom, America and democracy” and that the nation’s economy was thriving “because of you and many others.”

“Why? Because we welcome immigrants,” Biden said. “Look, think about it. Why is China stalling so badly economically? Why is Japan having trouble? Why is Russia? Why is India? Because they’re xenophobic. They don’t want immigrants.”

Japan has been known for a strict stance on immigration. But in recent years, it has eased its policies to make it easier for foreign workers to come and stay in Japan as a way to mitigate its declining births and rapidly shrinking population. The number of babies born in Japan last year fell to a record low since Japan started compiling the statistics in 1899.

India, which has the world’s largest population, enacted a new citizenship law earlier this year by setting religious criteria that allows fast-tracking naturalization for Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians who fled to India from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, while excluding Muslims.

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AP writers Ashok Sharma in New Delhi and Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed to this report.