PAPUA NEW GUINEA
No casualties from quake
A magnitude 7.9 earthquake yesterday struck off the north coast of the nation, shaking homes and sparking a tsunami alert, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage and the alert was later canceled. The US Geological Survey (USGS) downgraded the quake from an initial measurement of magnitude 8. It struck about 47km west of Arawa on the north coast of Bougainville Island at a depth of 154km, the USGS reported. Chris McKee, assistant director at the Geophysical Observatory Office in Port Moresby, said there were no initial reports of damage or casualties from near the epicenter of the quake, which is sparsely populated. Bougainville Island is one of the islands that make up the Autonomous Region of Bougainville.
CHINA
Ex-Tianjin major probed
The nation’s top prosecutor’s office yesterday said it is conducting a bribery investigation into former Tianjin mayor Huang Xingguo (黃興國), who was in office at the time of a warehouse explosion that killed 173 people. The two-sentence announcement about Huang by the office made no mention of the explosion in a warehouse in Tianjin, but other officials have been punished on charges they took bribes to ignore safety violations that led to the blast. State media reported in September last year that Huang had been removed from his positions. He was expelled from the Chinese Community Party this month.
AUSTRALIA
Fifth Melbourne victim dies
A three-month-old boy died in hospital late on Saturday, one day after a man with a history of mental health and drug issues drove a car through a lunch-time crowd in a pedestrian-only street in Melbourne, police said yesterday. Four people remain hospitalized in a critical condition, a police statement said, while the driver, Dimitrious Gargasoulas, 26, remains in hospital after being shot in the arm by police who captured him.
AFGHANISTAN
UN issues funding appeal
The UN on Saturday issued an appeal for more than half a billion US dollars in humanitarian aid to Afghans feeling the brunt of an intensifying conflict, with officials saying that a staggering one-third of the nation’s population would require assistance in the year ahead. As violence spread across the nation last year, about 1,700 people per day were displaced from their homes, reaching a record annual figure of more than 600,000, the UN said. Hundreds of thousands also returned from Pakistan, many of them becoming displaced in their own country because their home districts were not safe to return to. The number of people in need of assistance stands at 9.3 million, a 13 percent increase from the previous year, the UN said. The UN’s humanitarian aid coordinator in Kabul, Mark Bowden, said the country faced an “exceptional” challenge, with the scale of the population movement second only to Syria’s.
AUSTRALIA
Diver ‘lucky’ to be alive
An experienced diver is lucky to be alive after he was mauled by a large shark in a remote area near the Great Barrier Reef, paramedics said yesterday. The 55-year-old was diving with friends east of Murray Island in the Torres Strait on Saturday when he was attacked by a 4m bull shark. “He has severe bites to his left arm and some minor lacerations across his stomach,” Queensland Ambulance Service paramedic David Cameron said. The man was taken by boat to Murray Island, three hours from his dive site.
The pledge by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to “work, work, work, work and work” for her country has been named the catchphrase of the year, recognizing the effort Japan’s first female leader had to make to reach the top. Takaichi uttered the phrase in October when she was elected as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Many were initially as worried about her work ethic as supportive of her enthusiasm. In a country notorious for long working hours, especially for working women who are also burdened with homemaking and caregiving, overwork is a sensitive topic. The recognition triggered a
A plan by Switzerland’s right-wing People’s Party to cap the population at 10 million has the backing of almost half the country, according to a poll before an expected vote next year. The party, which has long campaigned against immigration, argues that too-fast population growth is overwhelming housing, transport and public services. The level of support comes despite the government urging voters to reject it, warning that strict curbs would damage the economy and prosperity, as Swiss companies depend on foreign workers. The poll by newspaper group Tamedia/20 Minuten and released yesterday showed that 48 percent of the population plan to vote
‘HEART IS ACHING’: Lee appeared to baffle many when he said he had never heard of six South Koreans being held in North Korea, drawing criticism from the families South Korean President Lee Jae-myung yesterday said he was weighing a possible apology to North Korea over suspicions that his ousted conservative predecessor intentionally sought to raise military tensions between the war-divided rivals in the buildup to his brief martial law declaration in December last year. Speaking to reporters on the first anniversary of imprisoned former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol’s ill-fated power grab, Lee — a liberal who won a snap presidential election following Yoon’s removal from office in April — stressed his desire to repair ties with Pyongyang. A special prosecutor last month indicted Yoon and two of his top
The Philippines deferred the awarding of a project that is part of a plan to build one of the world’s longest marine bridges after local opposition over the potential involvement of a Chinese company due to national security fears. The proposals are “undergoing thorough review” by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which acts as a lender and an overseer of the project to ensure it meets international environmental and governance standards, the Philippine Department of Public Works and Highways said in a statement on Monday in response to queries from Bloomberg. The agency said it would announce the winning bidder once ADB
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