Tokyo is the most expensive of six major world cities, including New York and London, when it comes to mobile phone service fees. Customers in the Japanese capital shell out ¥7,562 ($67) per month — 4.2 times more than the ¥1,783 Parisians pay, which is the lowest figure among the six cities.

The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry announced Wednesday country-by-country comparisons of communications service fees for mobile phones in fiscal 2017.

The ministry compared rate plans (the most common plan with 5 gigabytes of data capacity) offered by companies with the largest share of their respective domestic smartphone market.

Compared with price levels in fiscal 2014, the price in Tokyo had fallen by about 10 percent. On the other hand, the prices in three other cities — London, Paris and Dusseldorf — had dropped by about 70 percent.

The price in Seoul went down about 30 percent, while that in New York declined by about 60 percent, indicating a sluggish pace for price drops in Tokyo. This is partly due to delays in the spread of low-cost smartphones compared to other countries.

In response to the situation, a policy subpanel of the Information and Communications Council, an advisory panel to the minister, decided Wednesday to set up new five committees to examine tasks such as a reduction of mobile phone charges.

AFP takes a look at four key points in the complex, centuries-old relationship between Beijing and the Holy See:

Italian Jesuit

In the west of Beijing lies the tomb of Matteo Ricci, an Italian Jesuit missionary famous for having found a way to gain the trust of Chinese authorities centuries ago.

Ricci, who lived from 1552 to 1610, has been held up several times by Pope Francis, also a Jesuit, as an exemplary evangelist.

Ricci’s work in China is considered pioneering because he carried it out by adapting Christian traditions to the Chinese way of life. He first came to Macau in 1582 and was finally allowed to enter Beijing in 1601.

He studied the language and culture and gained a widespread reputation as a learned scholar — even receiving an invitation to Emperor Wanli’s imperial court.

Ricci adopted a Chinese name, Li Madou, and dressed in the style of a Chinese scholar.

At the time of his death, foreigners who died in China were supposed to be buried in Macau, but the emperor agreed to make an exception for him and he was buried in Beijing.

Broken ties

Centuries after Ricci’s death, relations between the Vatican and China deteriorated with the arrival of the Communist regime in 1949.

China and the Vatican severed diplomatic ties in 1951 after Rome recognised the nationalist government in Taiwan.

The atmosphere worsened when in 1957 China set up its own Catholic Church, administered by the atheist Communist government.

Catholics and other religious groups were persecuted during the 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution, but they rebounded in the 1980s with the launch of economic reforms and policies aimed at “opening up” the country.

Naming bishops

The Communist government created the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association to administer the church in the world’s most populous country in July 1957.

This led to the splitting of the country’s Catholic flock between worshippers who follow government-appointed bishops and those who attend “underground” unofficial churches loyal to the Vatican.

Beijing insisted that it had the right to ordain its own bishops, defying the Holy See, which says ordinations can only go ahead with the pope’s blessing.

Despite the divisions, the Vatican had recognised many government-appointed prelates in the recent past. But China’s appointment of three bishops who were not approved by the pope soured relations in 2006.

The deal between the Vatican and Beijing aims to bring the country’s roughly 12 million Catholics under one roof again in China by ending the dispute over who gets to name the bishops.

After the provisional agreement was signed in Beijing on Saturday, the Vatican said Pope Francis recognised seven bishops who had been ordained in China without the Holy See’s approval.

“Pope Francis hopes that, with these decisions, a new process may begin that will allow the wounds of the past to be overcome, leading to the full communion of all Chinese Catholics,” the Vatican said in a statement.

In return, Beijing is reportedly expected to recognise the pope as the head of the Catholic church.

Religious crackdown

The rapprochement has been criticised by some Catholics and rights activists who point out that it comes at a time when the government is tightening its grip on all religious groups.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday that the Chinese government has been “closing churches, burning Bibles and ordering followers to sign papers renouncing their faith.”

In central Henan province, AFP reporters saw signs outside churches saying children were not allowed to attend mass. A document showed that priests have been told to hand over detailed information about their flocks. And churches there have been demolished because they were considered “illegal” constructions.

Crosses have been removed from churches, printed religious materials and holy items confiscated, and church-run kindergartens closed.

Tusk created a mini-sensation during a difficult EU summit on Brexit in Salzburg by posting a photo on Instagram of himself offering May a tray of cakes.

“A piece of cake, perhaps?” Tusk wrote alongside the picture. “Sorry, no cherries.”

The comment was a biting reference to accusations by Brussels that May was “cherry-picking” the best parts of EU membership while leaving the bloc.

Her divorce proposal envisions a UK-EU free trade area for goods through a common rulebook.

But it would abandon the bloc’s right to the free movement of people and see Britain adopt its own migration policy.

The EU wants to make sure the remaining 27 members do not follow Britain’s example by trying to leave while preserving the benefits of free trade.

May’s plan was rebuffed in Salzburg on Thursday and Tusk’s post only added to what several British newspapers called her “humiliation”.

The prime minister tried to regain her footing by delivering a tough television address on Friday demanding that Britain be treated with “respect”.

That message was picked up and taken a step further by Hunt in an appearance on the BBC’s Today radio programme on Saturday.

“Don’t mistake British politeness for weakness,” Hunt said.

“We need to get the tone right and insulting her, insulting the British people on social media, getting into these standoffs where you’re calling people liars and so on is not the way we are going to find a solution to this difficult situation.”

Tusk issued a statement on Friday evening calling himself “a close friend of the UK and a true admirer of PM May”. French President Emmanuel Macron had earlier mocked some pro-Brexit British politicians as “liars.”

‘Plan B’

How the two sides intend to move forward with the clock ticking down to the March 29 Brexit deadline remains unclear.

Pressure is mounting on May from eurosceptics in her Tory party to abandon the so-called “Chequers” proposal for a less ambitious one that would not maintain such close EU-UK ties.

The Daily Telegraph reported that ministers intended to use a cabinet meeting on Monday to call on May to develop a “Plan B” alternative to Chequers.

May continued to insist on Friday that there were only two options on the table: trying to find a compromise on her proposal or no deal at all.

She added that it was now the EU’s turn to make a counter-proposal.

“We now need to hear from the EU what the real issues are and what their alternative is so that we can discuss them. Until we do, we cannot make progress,” May said.

But Hunt refused to rule out looking into an alternative to Chequers such as the deal Canada signed with the EU in 2016.

“I’m not dismissive of anything,” Hunt said.

“We have been clear that we are prepared to negotiate on the Chequers proposal, but we can’t talk to a void.”

Canada has a much looser free trade deal that does not remove non-tariff barriers to trade.

May said on Friday that a basic free trade agreement of that type would see Northern Ireland “permanently separated economically from the rest of the UK”.

Running along four miles (six kilometers) of the 2,000-mile border with Mexico, the new section will replace existing fencing along the boundary between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, US Customs and Border Protection said in a statement.

“This new wall will be far more durable and far more effective in deterring would-be illegal entrants,” Aaron Hull, Chief Patrol Agent in the El Paso sector, said in the statement.

It said the existing fencing will be replaced by an 18-foot (5.4 meter) steel post barrier which allows Border Patrol agents to see through to the other side.

The $22-million project is to be completed in about seven months.

In April, the Border Patrol announced the start of construction of a 20-mile stretch of wall to replace an existing barrier in Santa Teresa, New Mexico.

Much of the border already has fencing or other barriers, but Trump has ordered a “contiguous, and impassable physical barrier,” which scientists say would threaten more than 1,000 species of animals.

Congress has so far approved $1.6 billion of $25 billion Trump had sought for his wall.

He initially demanded that Mexico pay for the barrier, which added to tensions between the two neighbors.

Many of the migrants trying to reach the United States are fleeing gang violence and poverty in Central America.

The attack in the southwestern city of Ahvaz came as the country marked the anniversary of the start of its 1980-1988 war with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and prompted President Hassan Rouhani to warn of a “crushing response”.

“The response of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the smallest threat will be crushing”, Rouhani said on his official website. “Those who give intelligence and propaganda support to these terrorists must answer for it.”

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a tweet that the attack near the Iraqi border was carried out by “terrorists recruited, trained, armed & paid by a foreign regime”.

“Iran holds regional terror sponsors and their US masters accountable for such attacks,” he wrote.

IS jihadists said via their propaganda mouthpiece Amaq that “Islamic State fighters attacked a gathering of Iranian forces” in Ahvaz.

The city lies in Khuzestan, a province bordering Iraq that has a large ethnic Arab community and has seen separatist violence in the past that Iran has blamed on its regional rivals.

State television gave a casualty toll of 29 dead and 57 wounded, while official news agency IRNA said those killed included women and children among spectators at the rally. Many of the wounded were in critical condition.

Armed forces spokesman Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi said the dead included a young girl and a former serviceman in a wheelchair.

“Of the four terrorists, three were sent to hell at the scene, while the fourth who had been wounded and arrested went to hell moments ago due to his severe wounds,” Shekarchi told state television.

Khuzestan deputy governor Ali-Hossein Hosseinzadeh told the semi-official ISNA news agency that “eight to nine” troops were among those killed, as well as a journalist.

Finger pointed at Riyadh

Zarif did not specify which regional government he held responsible for the shooting, but Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards said the attackers were funded by Sunni arch-rival Saudi Arabia.

“Those who opened fire on civilians and the armed forces have links to the Ahvazi movement,” Guards spokesman Ramezan Sharif told ISNA.

“They are funded by Saudi Arabia and attempted to cast a shadow over the Iranian armed forces.”

Zarif vowed Iran would “respond swiftly and decisively in defence of Iranian lives”.

In a message of condolence to Russia’s close regional ally, President Vladimir Putin said he was “appalled by this bloody crime”.

“This event once again reminds us about the necessity of an uncompromising battle against terrorism in all of its manifestations.”

Khuzestan was a major battleground of the 1980s war with Iraq and the attack on the anniversary parade in Ahvaz had significant symbolic value.

The province saw unrest in 2005 and 2011 but has since seen been largely quiet.

Attacks by Kurdish rebels on military patrols along the border further north are relatively common.

But attacks on regime targets inside major cities are far rarer.

On June 7, 2017, 17 people were killed and dozens wounded in simultaneous attacks in Tehran on the parliament building and on the tomb of revolutionary leader Ruhollah Khomeini — the first inside Iran claimed by the Sunni Muslim extremists of the Islamic State group.

In April, 26 alleged IS jihadists went on trial on charges connected with that twin attack.

Rouhani defiant

The attack in Ahvaz came as President Rouhani was among dignitaries at the main anniversary parade in Tehran.

In a keynote speech, Rouhani vowed to boost Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities despite Western concerns that were cited by his US counterpart Donald Trump in May when he abandoned a landmark nuclear deal with Tehran.

“We will never decrease our defensive capabilities… we will increase them day by day,” Rouhani said at a military parade. “The fact that the missiles anger you shows they are our most effective weapons,” he said, referring to the West.

Iran has ballistic missiles with a range of up to 3,500 kilometres (2,200 miles), enough to reach both Israel and US bases in the Middle East.

The United States reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran last month, and a new round of even harsher sanctions targeting Iran’s vital oil sector is set to go back into effect on November 5.

Washington has said it is ready to open talks on a new agreement to replace the July 2015 accord, but Tehran has said repeatedly it cannot negotiate under the pressure of the sanctions.

Trump and Rouhani will both be in New York next week for the United Nations General Assembly. But Iran has repeatedly ruled out any meeting.

The agreement follows “a gradual and reciprocal rapprochement (and) has been agreed following a long process of careful negotiation and foresees the possibility of periodic reviews of its application,” the Vatican said in a statement issued as Pope Francis visits the Baltic states.

“It concerns the nomination of Bishops, a question of great importance for the life of the Church, and creates the conditions for greater collaboration at the bilateral level,” it added.

Vatican spokesman Greg Burke played down any suggestion that the accord could have wider political implications, even though it marks a breakthrough on an issue which has bedevilled relations with China for years.

The agreement “is not political but pastoral, allowing the faithful to have bishops who are in communion with Rome but at the same time recognised by Chinese authorities,” he said in Vilnius.

The announcement had been expected amid speculation that it could lead to a normalisation of ties between the Vatican and Beijing, possibly at the expense of Taiwan.

The Vatican is one of only 17 countries around the world that recognises Taipei instead of Beijing but Pope Francis has sought to improve ties with China since he took office in 2013.

Hong Kong’s Catholic press reported earlier this month that a new round of Sino-Vatican negotiations was expected to be held in September and a deal could be signed in October.

There are an estimated 12 million Catholics in China, divided between a government-run association whose clergy are chosen by the Communist Party, and an unofficial church which swears allegiance to the Vatican.

The Vatican has not had diplomatic relations with Beijing since 1951, two years after the founding of the communist People’s Republic.

Previous attempts to restore ties have floundered over Beijing’s insistence that the Vatican must give up recognition of its rival Taiwan and promise not to interfere in religious issues in China.

“Operations resumed early this morning,” TBC said.

Late Friday, the toll had stood at 131, with 40 people known to have survived after the MV Nyerere capsized close to the pier on Ukara Island on Thursday.

The vessel may have been carrying as many as 200 passengers — double the ferry’s capacity — according to reports on state media.

Tanzanian President John Magufuli on Friday ordered the arrest of the management of the ferry.

Witnesses reached by AFP said the ferry sank when passengers rushed to one side to disembark as it approached the dock.

In a speech broadcast on TBC 1 public television, Magufuli said “it appears clear that the ferry was overloaded”, adding that “negligence has cost us so many lives… children, mothers, students, old people”.

“I ordered the arrest of all those involved in the management of the ferry. The arrests have already begun,” he added.

The president declared four days of national mourning and said the government would cover the funeral expenses of the victims.

Hopes are fading that more survivors might still be found.

State television cited witnesses reporting that more than 200 people had boarded the ferry at Bugolora, a town on the larger Ukerewe Island, where it was market day when locals said the vessel was usually packed with people and goods.

“I have not heard from either my father or my younger brother who were on the ferry. They had gone to the market in Bugolora to buy a school uniform and other supplies for the new school term,” said Domina Maua, who was among those seeking information about loved ones.

Davita Ngenda, an elderly woman in Ukara, had already received bad news.

“My son is among the bodies recovered,” she said, weeping. “He had gone with his wife but she has not been found yet. My God, what did I do to deserve this?”

Sebastian John, a teacher, said such tragedies had become part of life for those living on the lake.

“Since my birth, people have gone to their deaths on this lake, but what are we to do? We did not choose to be born here, we have nowhere to go,” he said.

Overloading and ‘negligence’

Tanzania’s Electrical, Mechanical and Services Agency, which is responsible for ferry services, said it was unknown how many passengers were aboard the MV Nyerere.

The ageing ferry, whose hull and propellers were all that remained visible after it overturned, was also carrying cargo, including sacks of maize, bananas and cement, when it capsized around 50 metres (55 yards) from Ukara dock.

The cause of the accident was not immediately clear, but overloading is frequently to blame for such incidents.

The country’s opposition has accused the government of “negligence”.

“We have often raised concerns about the poor condition of this ferry, but the government turned a deaf ear. We have repeatedly denounced this negligence,” said John Mnyika, deputy secretary general of Chadema, the main opposition party.

Mnyika said overloading was “another failure of the authorities” and criticised “inadequate relief efforts as well as delays” in the rescue operation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of Uganda and Kenya offered their condolences, while Pope Francis in a statement expressed “the greatest solidarity with those who have been bereaved” by the disaster.

With a surface area of 70,000 square kilometres (27,000 square miles), oval-shaped Lake Victoria is roughly the size of Ireland and is shared by Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.

Capsizes are not uncommon in the massive lake, and the number of fatalities is often high due to a shortage of life jackets and the fact that many people in the region cannot swim.

The deadliest such accident in recent decades was in May 1996, when around 800 people died after their ferry sank on the way to Mwanza in Tanzania.