Briefly

JAPAN

School bullying cases hit record high in 2022

A record high of nearly 682,000 bullying cases were recognized in Japanese schools in the 2022 academic year, the country's education ministry said on Wednesday. The number of bullying cases was especially notable at 551,944 in elementary schools, while it reached 111,404 at junior high schools, 15,568 at high schools, and 3,032 at special needs schools, the survey showed. A total of 923 cases were considered "serious" in which the children bullied killed themselves or missed school.

UNITED KINGDOM

PM Sunak kick-starts 2024 election season

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak fired the starting gun on Wednesday on Britain's next general election campaign, with a much-anticipated keynote speech closing his ruling Conservatives' annual conference. Sunak is now facing a daunting challenge rallying his beleaguered Tories to win the election — due some time next year — after several years of damaging scandals and deep economic woes. The party, in power since 2010, has lagged behind the main Labour opposition in polls throughout Sunak's tenure, media reported.

UNITED STATES

Five injured in college shooting in Baltimore

Five people were wounded, though none critically, in a shooting outside a residence hall at Morgan State University in Baltimore on Tuesday, according to authorities, who urged students to take shelter on the campus of the historically black college. Police kept the campus on lockdown for hours and provided little information about their investigation. The gunfire shattered windows of a residential building that is on the same block as a city police station.

Agencies Via Xinhua