PHILIPPINES
Seven die in plane crash
At least seven people were killed when a small plane crashed into house while trying to take off just outside Manila yesterday, police and aviation officials said. The twin-engine aircraft crashed into a house just after taking off in Plaridel, killing all five of those aboard as well as at least two people on the ground, Plaridel Police Superintendent Julio Lizardo said, adding that the death toll could rise as rescuers were still going through the ruins of the house. Officials declined to say what might have caused the Piper PA-23 Apache, which was operated by a local charter company, to crash.
AFGHANISTAN
Bomber kills two in Kabul
A suicide attacker ignited a bomb-laden vehicle in Kabul yesterday, killing at least two civilians and wounding several others, an Afghan official said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack as the group comes under growing pressure to take up the Afghan government’s offer of peace talks. “Around 9:10am this morning a suicide car bomb exploded in Police District Nine of Kabul,” Ministry of Interior Affairs spokesman Najib Danish said. Two civilians were killed and three others were wounded in the attack, Danish said. The blast happened at a time when many people would have been driving to work. Ministry deputy spokesman spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said the bomber was heading towards international security company G4S, but “detonated himself before reaching the target.”
VIETNAM
Former PM dies at 85
Former Vietnamese prime minister Phan van Khai, who helped strengthen ties with the US and drive market reforms that ignited the communist country’s economy, died yesterday at the age of 85, the government said. A Soviet-trained economist from southern Vietnam, Khai was in office for nine years starting in 1997, a period of reform that saw Vietnam transform into one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing economies. Khai also made history as the country’s first post-war leader to visit Washington in 2005, a landmark trip that helped cement ties between the former war-time foes.
CHINA
Social credit expanded
The government said it is to begin applying its social credit system to flights and trains, and stop people who have committed misdeeds from taking such transport for up to a year. People who would be put on the restricted lists include those found to have spread false information about terrorism or caused trouble on flights, as well as those who have used expired tickets or smoked on trains, the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission said on its Web site on Friday. Those found to have committed financial wrongdoings, such as employers who have failed to pay social insurance or people who have failed to pay fines, would also face these restrictions, it said in two statements dated March 2.
JAPAN
Hello Kitty debuts on trains
Hello Kitty has already found its way onto buses and aircraft — and is now set to make its debut on Japan’s iconic bullet train. West Japan Railway is to launch “Hello Kitty Shinkansen” services on its bullet-train line connecting Osaka and Fukuoka later this year, the company said this week. The interior of one train car is to be filled with Hello Kitty decorations, it said, adding: “It will be decorated snappily and adorably.”
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday vowed that those behind bogus flood control projects would be arrested before Christmas, days after deadly back-to-back typhoons left swathes of the country underwater. Scores of construction firm owners, government officials and lawmakers — including Marcos’ cousin congressman — have been accused of pocketing funds for substandard or so-called “ghost” infrastructure projects. The Philippine Department of Finance has estimated the nation’s economy lost up to 118.5 billion pesos (US$2 billion) since 2023 due to corruption in flood control projects. Criminal cases against most of the people implicated are nearly complete, Marcos told reporters. “We don’t file cases for
Ecuadorans are today to vote on whether to allow the return of foreign military bases and the drafting of a new constitution that could give the country’s president more power. Voters are to decide on the presence of foreign military bases, which have been banned on Ecuadoran soil since 2008. A “yes” vote would likely bring the return of the US military to the Manta air base on the Pacific coast — once a hub for US anti-drug operations. Other questions concern ending public funding for political parties, reducing the number of lawmakers and creating an elected body that would
OUTRAGE: The former strongman was accused of corruption and responsibility for the killings of hundreds of thousands of political opponents during his time in office Indonesia yesterday awarded the title of national hero to late president Suharto, provoking outrage from rights groups who said the move was an attempt to whitewash decades of human rights abuses and corruption that took place during his 32 years in power. Suharto was a US ally during the Cold War who presided over decades of authoritarian rule, during which up to 1 million political opponents were killed, until he was toppled by protests in 1998. He was one of 10 people recognized by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in a televised ceremony held at the presidential palace in Jakarta to mark National
‘ATTACK ON CIVILIZATION’: The culture ministry released drawings of six missing statues representing the Roman goddess of Venus, the tallest of which was 40cm Investigators believe that the theft of several ancient statues dating back to the Roman era from Syria’s national museum was likely the work of an individual, not an organized gang, officials said on Wednesday. The National Museum of Damascus was closed after the heist was discovered early on Monday. The museum had reopened in January as the country recovers from a 14-year civil war and the fall of the 54-year al-Assad dynasty last year. On Wednesday, a security vehicle was parked outside the main gate of the museum in central Damascus while security guards stood nearby. People were not allowed in because
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