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Japan is longtime ally of the United States, but has longstanding relations and interests with Iran. Japan's prime minister Shinzo Abe called for calm at the start of his visit to the Gulf region in Saudi Arabia [Bandar Aljaloud/Saudi Royal Palace via AP Photo] Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, on a visit to the Middle East hoping to calm ease tensions sparked by the killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, has warned that military confrontation with Iran will harm peace and stability across the world. Abe's comments came at the start of a five-day Gulf tour that had been thrown into doubt after Tehran responded to the  assassination of Soleimani  by firing missiles at bases hosting American troops in Iraq, prompting fears of all-out war. But as those concerns receded, the Japanese prime minister decided to go ahead with the visit and on Sunday discussed regional tensions during an hour-long meeting with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in northweste...

Thousands of residents evacuated and Manila airport closed amid fears the Taal volcano is about to erupt. Thousands of people have been evacuated from around the volcano, the second most active in the Philippines [Aaron Favila/AP] A volcano south of Manila gushed red hot lava on Monday, as thousands of people in communities nearby moved to evacuation centres and flights from the Philippines capital's international airport were cancelled amid fears of a violent eruption. There were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage.  Evacuations from arouind the Taal volcano began on Sunday after the volcano sent a column of ash and steam as high as 15km (9 miles) into the sky. Lightning crackled inside the smoke and tremors shook the ground. The government’s disaster-response agency reported about 8,000 villagers had moved to at least 38 evacuation centres, but officials expect the number to swell with hundreds of thousands more being brought out of harm’s way. Some residents could...