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by Maria ANTONOVA MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Smoke from raging forest fires in Siberia on Thursday filled cities as officials scrambled to prevent the flames reaching homes. More than 100 firefighters and volunteers were trying to douse the flames of a fire outside the city of Yugorsk in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District, just one of several areas affected. “A fire line has been ploughed around it, so the fire is not a threat, but when […]
MAKASAR, Indonesia (AFP) — The death toll from floods on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island has risen to at least 21, authorities said Wednesday as residents tried to salvage a few belongings from their inundated homes. The flash floods in North Luwu regency left hundreds of houses buried in mud after three rivers burst their banks due to torrential rains which started on Monday. Nearly 1,600 people were taking refuge in temporary shelters, the Search and Rescue […]
ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (AFP) — A 15-year-old boy has died from the bubonic plague in Mongolia, health authorities said Tuesday, one of a handful of cases that recently emerged in the country and neighbouring China. The boy, who lived in the remote southwest province of Gobi-Altai, caught the rare bacterial illness after hunting and eating a marmot, according to the health ministry. “We quarantined the first 15 people who came into contact with the deceased and […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo is on its highest coronavirus alert level after a spike in new cases, the city’s governor warned Wednesday, as experts said the rising infections were a clear “red flag”. However, the move to a “red” alert does not mean the city will ask businesses to close or events to be postponed. Even during a national state of emergency in April, there was no “lockdown” in Japan of the type seen […]
by Sam JAHAN BISWAMBHARPUR, Bangladesh (AFP) — Almost four million people have been hit by monsoon floods in South Asia, officials said Tuesday, with a third of Bangladesh already underwater from some of the heaviest rains in a decade. The monsoon — which usually falls from June to September — is crucial to the economy of the Indian sub-continent, but also causes widespread death and destruction across the region each year. “This is going to […]
by Jerome Taylor and Su Xinqi HONG KONG, China (AFP) — China’s new security law has sent a chill through Hong Kong’s schools and universities with many teachers fearful the city’s reputation for academic freedom and excellence is now at risk. Just a week after the sweeping legislation was imposed on the territory, staff at some institutions have already been warned by their administrators to be careful how they teach. “Remain neutral in your teaching […]
SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — Soldiers erected sandbag flood barriers in a city near China’s largest freshwater lake after the heaviest rainfall in nearly six decades drenched the swollen Yangtze River basin. The vast Yangtze drainage area has been lashed by torrential rains since last month, leaving 141 people dead or missing and forcing the evacuation of millions more across several provinces. Flooding along the river — the world’s third longest — has been an annual […]
SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Singapore plunged into recession in the second quarter as growth fell 41.2 percent quarter-on-quarter with the trade-dependent economy hammered by the coronavirus, preliminary data showed Tuesday. Year-on-year, the economy shrank 12.6 percent between April and June, according to the data from the trade ministry, as strict curbs were imposed to fight the virus. It marks the second consecutive quarter of contraction, meaning that the city state — which has one of the […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong authorities on Monday said that a patient had received blood from a donor who later tested positive for the coronavirus. Officials were scrambling to trace what happened to the blood after it emerged a man who donated on July 5 was later found to be carrying the virus. “The blood transfusion service has been tracing the blood he donated and for now found that a patient in […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Two US Marine bases in Japan’s Okinawa have been put into lockdown after dozens of coronavirus infections, with local officials criticising the American military’s containment efforts. Additional restrictions are also in place at the seven other Marine bases in the region after the spike in cases, a spokesman confirmed. There are tens of thousands of US servicemen stationed on the southern Japanese island, which has recorded roughly 150 civilian COVID-19 […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States announced Thursday that it has approved the sale of 105 F-35 stealth aircraft to Japan for an estimated $23.11 billion. Japan had asked to buy 63 F-35A, the traditional version of the electronics-laden fighter aircraft, and 42 F-35B, the short-takeoff and vertical-landing version for aircraft carriers, the State Department said in a statement. Washington gave its green light to the transaction, which will improve “the security of […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Heavy rains and landslides in China have left at least 14 people dead or missing over the past day, burying houses and causing scenic areas to temporarily shut. Six people have been unreachable since a landslide in southwestern Guizhou province hit three villages on Wednesday, local authorities said. At least 156 people have been relocated, and six who were trapped had to be rescued after the incident. Photos from the scene […]
