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by Sultan Ambon Agence France Presse AMBON CITY, Indonesia (AFP) — At least 20 people were killed and dozens injured Thursday in a strong earthquake that rocked Indonesia’s remote Maluku islands, triggering landslides that buried at least one of the victims, the disaster agency said. Terrified residents ran into the streets as buildings fell in around them when the 6.5-magnitude quake hit in the morning. “At least 100 people were injured and more than […]
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — A strong 6.5-magnitude earthquake hit off the remote Maluku islands in eastern Indonesia Thursday, US seismologists said, but no tsunami warning was issued. The quake struck about 37 kilometres (23 miles) offshore northeast of Ambon in Maluku province at 8:46 am local time, at a depth of 29 kilometres, according to the US Geological Survey. There were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage in the area, which has been […]
TIMIKA, Indonesia (AFP) — The bodies of four passengers on an Indonesian cargo plane that went missing in the jungles of Papua a week ago have been recovered, the search and rescue agency said Wednesday. The DHC-6 Twin Otter took off from the city of Timika for a short flight to Ilaga, a mountainous region in the remote eastern province of Papua. Local authorities declared the plane — carrying three crew, a police officer and […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Indonesian authorities have cited failures in the Boeing 737 MAX design and oversight as contributing to the 2018 Lion Air plane crash, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. The report into the crash, which will be formally released in early November, also blames pilot error and maintenance issues for the crash that killed 189 people shortly after the flight departed from Jakarta last October, the newspaper said. The […]
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Thousands of schools were shuttered across Malaysia and Indonesia Thursday, affecting at least 1.7 million pupils, officials said, as toxic haze from rampant forest fires sent air quality plummeting. Nearly 2,500 schools were ordered to shut their doors in Malaysia — including nearly 300 in the smog-hit capital Kuala Lumpur — over soaring health concerns sparked by toxic haze from out-of-control blazes in Indonesia’s Sumatra and Borneo islands. Indonesia […]
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia is sending back hundreds of containers of contaminated waste to the West after shipments supposedly containing plastic meant for recycling were found to hide hazardous substances, customs officials said. Among more than 2,000 containers checked by authorities at four ports from July to mid-September, nearly 550 contained hazardous material or non-plastic waste. More than 300 containers have already been repatriated, officials said. “Imported waste mixed with trash or hazardous […]
by Sam Reeves Agence France Presse KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Toxic haze from Indonesian forest fires closed thousands of schools across the country and in neighbouring Malaysia Wednesday, while air quality worsened in Singapore just days before the city’s Formula One motor race. Illegal fires to clear land for agriculture are blazing out of control on Sumatra and Borneo islands, with Jakarta deploying thousands of security forces and water-bombing aircraft to tackle […]
TIMIKA, Indonesia (AFP) — An Indonesian cargo plane with four people on board lost contact with air traffic control on Wednesday, an official said, the latest incident to hit the country’s poor aviation record. The Twin Otter DHC6-400, set off from the city of Timika on Monday at 10:39 am (0239 GMT) and was headed to Ilaga, a mountainous region in the remote eastern province of Papua and was scheduled to arrive 50 minutes after […]
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia has arrested nearly 200 people over vast forest fires ripping across the archipelago, police said Monday, as toxic haze sends air quality levels plummeting and sparks flight cancellations. Jakarta has deployed thousands of personnel to battle blazes that are turning land into charred landscapes and consuming forests in Sumatra and Borneo islands, where thousands of schools have been shut over health fears. The fires — usually started by illegal burning […]
by Dessy SAGITA PEKANBARU, Indonesia (AFP) — Working around the clock, thousands of firefighters are struggling to contain smog-belching blazes raging across rainforests and farmland in Indonesia, one of the frontlines against fires blamed for aggravating global warming. Those leading the response are short on equipment, with some wearing just flimsy masks and rubber boots as they blast streams of water at flames consuming the jungle — and enveloping wide swathes of Southeast Asia in […]
BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Floods in northeastern Thailand have submerged homes, roads and bridges, leaving more than 23,000 people in evacuation shelters as anger grows over the government’s “slow” emergency response. Torrential rain has lashed the country for the last two weeks, causing flash floods and mudslides in almost half its provinces, with families evacuated from their homes in boats or makeshift rafts. Since August 29, 32 people have been killed in the deluge, […]
PEKANBARU, Indonesia (AFP) — Hundreds of people held a mass prayer for rain in a smoke-filled Indonesian city on Friday, desperately hoping that downpours will extinguish forest fires and wash away the toxic haze covering wide swathes of the country. Illegal fires to clear land for farming are raging on Indonesia’s Sumatra and Borneo islands with firefighters battling round the clock through charred forests, and water-bombing helicopters deployed to douse the flames. Dense smoke has […]
