ASEAN IN FOCUS

Six dead in Vietnam timber plant blast: reports

  Six people were killed and seven injured in an explosion at a timber factory in southern Vietnam on Wednesday, local reports said. The incident occurred around 8:00 am at the Binh Minh Wood Production Company in Dong Nai province, with Vietnamese media reporting it was caused by a malfunctioning boiler. “Arriving the site, I saw a horrifying scene: debris scattered everywhere and several bodies lying in the yard,” according to a witness quoted by […]

Mass fish die-off in Vietnam as heatwave roasts Southeast Asia

DONG NAI, Vietnam, May 1, 2024 (AFP) – Hundreds of thousands of fish have died in a reservoir in southern Vietnam’s Dong Nai province, with locals and media reports suggesting a brutal heatwave and the lake’s management are to blame. Like much of Southeast Asia — where schools have recently been forced to close early and electricity usage has surged — southern and central Vietnam have been scorched by devastating heat. “All the fish in […]

Pet dogs and strays suffer in Asia heatwave

By Sailendra Sil with Rose Troup Buchanan in Bangkok Soaring temperatures across Kolkata have brought life in much of the Indian megacity to a standstill, but veterinarian Partha Das cannot recall a time when he was more busy. His clinic has been swamped by distressed members of the public carrying in beloved pets suffering nosebleeds, severe skin rashes and lapses into unconsciousness in a relentless heatwave suffocating much of South and Southeastern Asia over the […]

Indonesia volcano eruption shuts more airports, ash reaches Malaysia

Indonesia, May 1, 2024 (AFP) – Eruptions at a remote Indonesian volcano forced more than half a dozen airports to close with ash spreading as far as Malaysia, officials said Wednesday, while authorities rushed to evacuate thousands due to tsunami fears. Mount Ruang erupted three times on Tuesday, spewing lava and ash more than five kilometres (three miles) into the sky and forcing authorities to issue evacuation orders for 12,000 locals. A rescue ship and […]

Indonesia volcano eruption shuts more airports, ash reaches Malaysia

Indonesia, May 1, 2024 (AFP) – Eruptions at a remote Indonesian volcano forced more than half a dozen airports to close with ash spreading as far as Malaysia, officials said Wednesday, while authorities rushed to evacuate thousands due to tsunami fears. Mount Ruang erupted three times on Tuesday, spewing lava and ash more than five kilometres (three miles) into the sky and forcing authorities to issue evacuation orders for 12,000 locals. A rescue ship and […]

Indonesia’s Mount Ruang erupts again, closes international airport

MANADO, Indonesia, April 30, 2024 (AFP) – Indonesia’s remote Mount Ruang volcano erupted several times again on Tuesday, the country’s volcanology agency said, forcing evacuations, the closure of a nearby international airport and the raising of the alert level to its highest. Authorities had warned the threat from the volcano was not over after it erupted more than half a dozen times this month, sparking the evacuation of more than 6,000 people. Ruang, located in […]

Volcano erupts in eastern Indonesia, spews miles-high ash tower

JAKARTA, April 28, 2024 (AFP) – A volcano in eastern Indonesia erupted on Sunday morning, spewing an ash tower more than two miles into the sky and prompting officials to warn people to keep away. Mount Ibu, located on the island of Halmahera in North Maluku province, erupted at 12:37 am (1537 GMT Saturday) and sent a thick column of dark smoke and ash west of the peak. The eruption lasted more than three minutes […]

Schools closed, warnings issued as Asia swelters in extreme heatwave

  MANILA, April 28, 2024 (AFP) – South and Southeast Asia braced for more extreme heat on Sunday as authorities across the region issued health warnings and residents fled to parks and air-conditioned malls for relief. A wave of exceptionally hot weather has blasted the region over the past week, sending the mercury as high as 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) and forcing thousands of schools to tell students to stay home. The Philippines […]

20 Cambodian soldiers killed in ammunition base explosion: PM

PHNOM PENH, April 27, 2024 (AFP) – Twenty Cambodian soldiers have been killed in an ammunition explosion at an army base in the country’s west, Prime Minister Hun Manet said Saturday. The blast, which also wounded several soldiers, occurred Saturday afternoon at the army base in Kampong Speu province, Hun Manet said in a statement on Facebook, without giving more details. “I am deeply shocked to receive the news of the ammunition explosion incident,” Hun […]

Vietnam National Assembly head resigns amid graft purge

HANOI, April 26, 2024 (AFP) – The head of Vietnam’s National Assembly has resigned, the ruling Communist Party said Friday, one of the most senior leaders to fall in a sweeping anti-corruption purge. Vuong Dinh Hue asked to step down because of “violations and shortcomings”, the party said in a statement on its website. Thousands of people, including top officials and senior business leaders, have been caught up in the Southeast Asian country’s “blazing furnace” […]

Vietnam tycoon appeals against $27 bn fraud death sentence

HANOI, April 26, 2024 (AFP) – A top Vietnamese property tycoon sentenced to death in a $27 billion fraud case has launched an appeal against her conviction, state media said Friday. Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, was found guilty this month of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. The 68-year-old was found to have embezzled $12.5 billion, but prosecutors said the total damages caused by the […]