Asia

UN deforestation scheme under scrutiny after Indonesia debacle

by Sam Reeves / with Lucie Godeau in Jakarta KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — The collapse of a $1-billion deal to curb Indonesian deforestation has highlighted the pitfalls of a UN-backed global initiative, which critics say has been ineffective and trampled on indigenous communities’ rights. Protecting trees is key to meeting ambitious climate goals, with tropical rainforest loss accounting for about eight percent of annual carbon dioxide emissions, according to monitoring platform Global Forest Watch. […]

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15 dead after heavy rain, floods in China coal region

BEIJING, China (AFP) — At least 15 people have died during unseasonably heavy rain and flooding in north China’s Shanxi province earlier this month, local officials said Tuesday, after the normally dry region received three months’ rain in one week. The flooding hit the coal-rich landlocked region during a nationwide energy crunch, and after record floods killed more than 300 people in central Henan province in July. At least 60 coal mines in the province […]

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North Korea’s Kim says US is ‘root cause’ of tensions

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — The leader of nuclear-armed North Korea, Kim Jong Un, has blamed the United States for tensions on the peninsula, state media reported Tuesday. The US is the “root cause” of instability, he said in an opening speech at a defence exhibition, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. Pyongyang is under multiple international sanctions over its banned nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, which have made rapid progress under […]

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Two dead as small plane hits houses in California

  LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — A small plane crashed into a residential area of a California city on Monday, killing at least two people as a blaze devoured two houses and several vehicles. Aerial footage showed firefighters hosing down the charred remains of the residences in Santee, a suburb of San Diego. A burned out delivery truck was also seen on a nearby street corner. Fox 5 San Diego reported the plane was […]

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Lebanon firefighters quell huge fuel tank fire

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Firefighters in Lebanon put out a huge blaze that raged at a key fuel storage depot Monday to the relief of many in the country gripped by desperate energy shortages. There was no immediate report of casualties from the fire that sent large plumes of dark smoke billow into the sky. The fire broke out around 8:00am (0500 GMT) in a large petrol tank belonging to the army at the Zahrani […]

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Thouands evacuated and coal mines shuttered as floods hit north China

BEIJING, China (AFP) — More than 120,000 people have been evacuated, coal mines shut and crops destroyed after unseasonably heavy rainfall flooded north China’s Shanxi province over the weekend, state media reported Monday, with more rain forecast. The deluge comes just months after record floods hit the country’s central Henan province in July — killing more than 300 people — and raises fears about ensuring the supply of energy ahead of the winter. Many parts […]

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Sri Lanka president admits ‘not delivering’ as prices soar

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa admitted his government is “not delivering” as shortages persist of food, medicines and other essential items because of a dire foreign exchange squeeze. “The people may have a sense of displeasure towards me and the government for not delivering as they expected,” Rajapaksa’s office quoted him as saying on Sunday. “I accept that. Not only me, but all ministers and Members of Parliament should accept […]

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Triads arrested in Hong Kong speedboat smuggling raids

HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Dozens of Hong Kong triad members have been arrested in a series of operations targeting gangs using high-powered speedboats to smuggle contraband to the Chinese mainland, police said Monday. Smuggling has been a mainstay of the triad organised crime gangs operating on both sides of the border for years but the phenomenon has surged during the coronavirus pandemic. Police embarked on a crackdown after a marine officer was killed last […]

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Sixteen killed in Russian parachutists’ plane crash

Sixteen people were killed when a plane carrying parachutists crashed in central Russia on Sunday, the emergencies ministry said. The L-410 plane carrying 22 people crashed around 9:23 am (0623 GMT) near the town of Menzelinsk in the republic of Tatarstan, the ministry said on its Telegram channel. “Six people were rescued, 16 were taken out without signs of life,” the ministry said. The ministry had earlier said 15 people died and that the aircraft […]

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Dubai police say $136 million worth of cocaine seized

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — The UAE authorities seized half a tonne of cocaine worth more than $136 million, Dubai police said on Sunday, in one of the biggest drug busts in the Gulf country. Officers “recently thwarted a smuggling attempt of 500 kilograms of pure cocaine into the country”, a police statement said. “The narcotics, worth more than 500 million dirhams ($136 million) in street value, were well-hidden within the structure of a […]

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China’s Xi says reunification with Taiwan ‘will be realized’

  BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s President Xi Jinping said Saturday “peaceful reunification” with Taiwan “will be and can be realized”, days after Chinese warplanes made record incursions into the air defence zone of the democratically ruled island. Self-governed Taiwan, which has never formally declared independence, lives under the constant threat of invasion by China, which views the island as its territory and has vowed to one day seize it, by force if necessary. “Realising […]

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Suicide bomber kills at least 55 at Shiite mosque in Afghanistan

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan (AFP) — A suicide bomb attack on worshippers at a Shiite mosque in the Afghan city of Kunduz has killed at least 55 people in the bloodiest assault since US forces left the country in August. Scores more victims from the minority community were wounded in Friday’s blast, which was claimed by the Islamic State group and appeared designed to further destabilise Afghanistan in the wake of the Taliban takeover. The regional branch […]

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