At least eight people were killed and 32 were missing, Japanese media reported, after a powerful earthquake paralysed the northern island of Hokkaido on Thursday, triggering landslides and knocking out power to its 5.3 million residents.

Aerial footage showed dozens of landslides exposing barren hillsides near the town of Atsuma in southern Hokkaido, with mounds of reddish earth and fallen trees piled up at the edge of green fields. The collapsed remains of what appeared to be houses or barns were scattered about.

Six of the deaths were in the village of Atsuma, National broadcaster NHK reported.

With swathes of the country further south recovering from Typhoon Jebi, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that 25,000 troops and other personnel were being dispatched to the area to help with rescue operations.

NHK showed the moment the quake struck the city of Muroran, with its camera violently shaking and all city lights going black moments later. In Sapporo, a mudslide on a road left several cars half buried.

Akira Fukui, from the main city of Sapporo, told AFP: "I woke up around 3am with a vertical jolt. I put the light on but it went out shortly afterwards. All the traffic lights are out and there’s no power at work."

Another Sapporo resident told NHK: "I was scared… I felt the tremor, which lasted for about 30 seconds. I was on the sixth floor, it was really scary."

The entire island was without power after Hokkaido Electric Power Co said it conducted an emergency shutdown of all its fossil fuel-fired power plants following the quake.

The utility said it wasn’t clear when electricity would be restored to 2.95 million households. The trade and industry ministry told the utility to restart the coal-fired Tomato-Atsuma power plant within a few hours, Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko said.

All trains across the island were also halted.

Roof tiles and water could be seen on the floor at Hokkaido’s main airport, New Chitose Airport, which would be closed for at least Thursday.

New Chitose is a major tourist gateway to the island, known for its mountains, lakes and abundant farmland and seafood, and more than 200 flights and 40,000 passengers would be affected, Kyodo News Agency said.

The closure comes just a couple days after Kansai Airport, an important hub near Osaka, in western Japan, was shut after it was hit by Typhoon Jebi. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said officials hoped to reopen Kansai Airport for domestic flights on Friday.

The quake, which hit at 3.08am, posed no tsunami risk, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The US Geological Survey said it struck some 42 miles southeast of Sapporo, Hokkaido’s main city.

It registered a strong 6 on Japan’s 7-point earthquake scale.

Mr Abe arrived at his office before 6 am and told reporters his government had set up a command centre to co-ordinate relief and rescue. Sounding haggard, Mr Abe said saving lives was his government’s top priority.

The Tomari Nuclear Power Station, which has been shut since a 2011 earthquake and tsunami, suffered a power outage but was cooling its fuel rods safely with emergency power, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga. Operator Hokkaido Electric reported no radiation irregularities at the plant, Suga told a news conference.

Farming and tourism are two of the island’s biggest economic drivers, but there is some industry. Kirin Beer and Sapporo Beer both said factories were shut by the power outage, although they said no structural damage was found.

A fire broke out at a Mitsubishi Steel Mfg Co plant in the city of Muroran after the quake but was mostly extinguished with no injuries, a company official said.

A series of smaller shocks, including one with a magnitude of 5.4, followed the initial quake, Japan’s Meteorological Agency said. Agency official Toshiyuki Matsumori warned residents to take precautions for potential major aftershocks in coming days.

"Large quakes often occur, especially within two to three days (of a big one)," said Toshiyuki Matsumori, in charge of monitoring earthquakes and tsunamis at the meteorological agency.

He added the risk of housing collapses and landslides had increased in the area hit by the quake, saying: "We urge residents to pay full attention to seismic activity and rainfall and not to go into dangerous areas."

The 2011 earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan destroyed both external and backup power to the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, causing meltdowns.

The earthquake also affected telephone service and television broadcasting in Sapporo. 

The judge presiding over the fraud trial of Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, revealed on Friday that he has received threats and is under police protection.

District Judge TS Ellis also told a court that he feared for the "peace and safety of the jurors".

In the United States jury lists are presumed to be public unless a judge has good reason for keeping them secret.

The judge said he would not be revealing the jurors’ names because of his safety concerns.

Jurors have been deliberating for two days following a two-week trial in which Manafort faces 18 charges of bank fraud and tax evasion.

Judge Ellis, sitting in Alexandria, Virginia, just outside Washington, gave an insight into the tensions surrounding the case when he revealed he was being protected by a US marshal.

He did not give specifics of the threats but said he had been taken aback by the level of interest in the trial. 

The judge said: "I’ve received criticism and threats. I imagine they (the jurors) would too.

"I had no idea this case would excite these emotions. I don’t feel right if I release their names."

Profile | Paul Manafort

Mr Manafort stands accused of hiding $15 million from the taxman and fraudulently obtaining millions more in bank loans.

Mr Manafort also faces a second trial in September on charges of failing to register as a foreign agent based on his links with Russian and Ukrainian backed business work.

Prosecutors have been careful not to mention the former political consultant’s links to the US president but the trial has still been closely watched in Washington.

It is the first trial based on evidence collected by federal agents from Special Counsel Robert Muller’s investigation into potential Russian collusion with the Trump campaign in the 2016 election. As a result, Republicans and Democrats have seized on the case to promote their own ends.

Mr Trump has claimed his former campaign chief is the target of a "witch hunt", persecuted for his association with the president.

As the jury continued to consider their verdict on Friday, Mr Trump called Mr Manafort a "very good person".

Mr Trump said: "I think the whole Manafort trial is very sad. When you look at what’s going on, I think it’s a very sad day for our country.

"He worked for me for a very short period of time. But you know what, he happens to be a very good person and I think it’s very sad what they’ve done to Paul Manafort."

Judge Ellis said he also plans to release the transcripts of bench conferences currently sealed by the court with one exception – likely a discussion which relates to information from Mr Mueller’s investigators about its ongoing investigation.

"A thirsty press is essential in a free country," the judge said.

A Republican consultant linked to President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort admitted on Friday he illegally funnelled money from a Ukraine tycoon to Mr Trump’s inauguration.

Sam Patten, who worked with Manafort to advise and lobby for Ukraine’s pro-Russia Opposition Bloc, was the newest person to be charged out of special counsel Robert Mueller’s sprawling Russia collusion investigation.

In a deal with prosecutors Patten, 47, agreed to plead guilty to one charge of failing to register as a foreign agent, a relatively light charge that was conditioned on his cooperation with Mr Mueller and other investigations.

A court filing said he earned more than $1 million between 2015 and 2017 representing the interests of the Opposition Bloc, which Manafort also previously consulted for.

The work was performed by Patten’s joint company with a Russian national who is unnamed in the court filing but appears to be Konstantin Kilimnik, a former linguist of Moscow’s powerful GRU spy agency. US officials say Mr Kilimnik continues to maintain close ties to Russian intelligence.

The charges said Patten worked with his Russian partner to set up meetings between an unnamed "prominent Ukraine oligarch" and member of the US Congress and their staff "to influence United States policy."

Patten also, in January 2017, arranged for the Ukrainian oligarch to attend Mr Trump’s inauguration.

To obtain four tickets, the Ukrainian funneled $50,000 through Patten and another American.

Profile | Paul Manafort

"Patten was aware at the time that the Presidential Inauguration Committee could not accept money from foreign nationals," the charges said.

The Patten case came 10 days after Manafort, a longtime Republican consultant who was chairman of Trump’s election campaign in 2016, was convicted of tax and bank fraud as a part of Mr Mueller’s investigation.

The Patten court filings indicate that he has been cooperating with Mr Mueller’s investigation, and require him to continue to do so before he is sentenced.

Manafort still faces more charges, including obstruction allegations against him and Mr Kilimnik for alleged witness tampering.

The wife and 3-year-old son of a British scientist living in South Africa are in critical condition at a Johannesburg hospital after being attacked by a giraffe near their home outside the small town of Hoedspruit on Monday.

Dr Sam Williams, a 36-year-old resident of the UK, was returning from a run in Blyde Wildlife Estate, where the family lives, when he saw his wife Katy, 35, and their son Finn being attacked by a female giraffe just 150 meters from their home.

Williams chased the giraffe away, but not before his family had sustained serious injuries. They were treated on the scene and then airlifted out of the estate in Hoedspruit in South Africa’s Limpopo province to Busamed Modderfontein Hospital in Johannesburg.

Finn was operated on early Tuesday morning to relieve pressure in his brain due to injuries sustained in the attack. Dr Katy Williams, who born in the United States, was operated on early Thursday morning for multiple injuries.

Both mother and son were in critical but stable condition on Thursday, the family said in a statement. It said the family has “decided to take one day at a time and stay positive.”  

“Dr Sam Williams would like to thank all doctors and medical personal from the hospital for their efforts to give his wife and son the best chance to heal,” said the statement, issued by Marina Botha, the Hoedspruit-based attorney representing the family.

Riaan Cilliers, the manager at the upscale Blyde Wildlife Estate, confirmed the incident and said that the community was “in shock about this very sad incident and we ensure the family that they are in our prayers.” 

Both Katy and Sam Williams have doctorates and work in animal-related fields, a family statement said. It did not give more information about their work in South Africa.

Cilliers said the giraffe had a two-month old calf, which Williams said may have made the giraffe see his wife and son as a threat. He called the accident an “unfortunate act of nature.”

Hoedspruit is a popular tourist town not far from Kruger National Park and Blyde River Canyon. An advertisement for property for sale in Blyde Wildlife Estate shows sweeping, multi-bedroom homes with private pools and verandas, describing the estate as a secure compound with a five-star gym and restaurant, with the “added privilege of viewing the roaming plains game from the privacy of their home.”

Though giraffes are herbivores and not generally considered to be aggressive toward humans, they are strong animals and can lash out unpredictably if they feel they are threatened. Both residents and visitors to South Africa have had deadly run-ins with giraffes in before.

In May, a South African filmmaker died after a giraffe swung its neck unexpectedly and head-butted him on the game farm where the ITV series “Wild At Heart” was filmed.

In 2015, a man was found dead next to his bicycle on a game reserve, believed to have been trampled by a giraffe, and in 2010, a 25-year-old woman was killed by a giraffe while out walking her dogs on a game farm in Limpopo province.

Nigel Farage is preparing to embark on a tour of Australia this week and he is urging the country to prepare for the "global revolution". 

The former Ukip leader, who is visiting six cities as part of his tour titled "An Entertaining Evening with Nigel Farage", claims "politics needs a bit of spicing up". 

Yet his trip comes at a time when politics in Canberra has arguably become too heated after a week that has seen the prime minister toppled in a party coup. 

The bitter divisions in the conservative Liberal Party has left the public disillusioned with the country’s leaders, meaning Mr Farage’s anti-establishment message may be welcomed. 

"Australia isn’t immune to the anti-establishment and…

Brazil is sending its armed forces to keep order near the Venezuelan border following violent clashes between local residents and thousands of Venezuelans fleeing economic collapse and turmoil in their country.  

President Michel Temer signed a decree to deploy the armed forces to the border state of Roraima following riots by residents earlier this month, who attacked Venezuelan immigrants in a border town.

He said the move was aimed at keeping order and ensuring the safety of the immigrants.

The situation in Roraima, where most Venezuelans enter Brazil, has become increasingly fraught in recent months – its homicide rate has spiked this year and is now the highest in the country. 

As a result of the crisis in Venezuela, 700 to 800 Venezuelans enter Brazil every day, and President Temer also said that the authorities were discussing limiting that to between 100 and 200 as the border state struggles to cope with the influx fleeing the turmoil in Venezuela. 

"The problem of Venezuela is no longer one of internal politics. It is a threat to the harmony of the whole continent," Mr Temer said in a televised address.

More than 50,000 Venezuelans, many of whom are hungry or sick and have little or no money and belongings, have applied for refugee or resident status in Brazil in recent years. Authorities in Roraima state say the federal government needs to do more to help them deal with the situation as tempers fray amid the influx. 

Just over a week ago, angry residents of Pacaraima, a border town in Roraima, hurled rocks at Venezuelans and set fire to their belongings after migrants were blamed for an attack on a local store owner.

Around 1,200 were driven back across the border by the violence. 

But one Venezuelan, who has been living in the area since 2015 and now works with an aid agency in Boa Vista, Roraima, said that despite the difficulties, Brazil was still a better reality than Venezuela for many. 

"We are coming from a country that’s very violent right now," Alba Marina, who works with Fraternidade Sem Fronteiras, told The Telegraph. 

Roraima’s government has tried a few times to shut the border to stem the flow, but the federal government and courts have so far pushed to keep it open. 

Venezuelan migration crisis | Share your opinion

Since 2014, an estimated 2.3 million Venezuelans have fled their country’s growing humanitarian crisis, including shortages of food and medicine, according to the United Nations.

Some countries, like Peru and Colombia, see thousands enter each day, and the influx has strained the resources of countries around the region and led to xenophobia and sometimes violence, as well as a tightening of entry requirements. 

Peru, meanwhile, declared a 60-day health emergency in two provinces on its northern border, citing "imminent danger" to health and sanitation as a result of the migration crisis.

The decree, published in the government’s official gazette, did not give more details on the risks, but health authorities have previously expressed concerns about the spread of diseases such as measles and malaria from migrants.

The exodus of Venezuelans to other South American countries is building toward a "crisis moment" comparable to events involving refugees in the Mediterranean, the United Nations said this week.

There are close to 1 million Venezuelans now living in Colombia and more than 400,000 in Peru. 

But Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, a socialist leader who has long been supported by Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn, said Venezuelans should stop leaving the country and return instead to their homeland, the "country of opportunity". 

Britain must be “unashamed” about using its £13.1bn aid budget to promote “our national interest” by boosting free trade with the developing world post-Brexit, Theresa May will say on Tuesday in a keynote speech due to be delivered in South Africa.

Addressing a delegation in Cape Town on the first day of her visit to Africa, the Prime Minister will signal a major shift in the way that aid is spent so that it provides a platform for British businesses to invest in emerging markets.

Mrs May, who landed in Cape Town on Tuesday, will state her desire to transform foreign aid so that it is “fully aligned” with Britain’s national security priorities, helping to stabilise countries in crisis and prevent…