PAKISTAN
Storms kill 15, injure more
Violent rainstorms in the northwest have caused at least 15 deaths and injured dozens, officials said yesterday. Latif Khan, a senior disaster management official, said most of the deaths from the severe weather overnight were caused by the collapse of mud and stone walls and houses. He says the heavy rains also caused flash flooding in some places. Another official, Inayatur Rehman, said the roof of a seminary collapsed in the Bajur tribal region, killing six children and injuring nine. Motorists were killed and wounded in the cities of Nowshera and Peshawar by falling billboards and downed electrical cables. 0Khan said the toll could rise as rescue and relief operations continue.
SOUTH KOREA
North’s plan welcomed
The Presidential Office yesterday said it welcomed North Korea’s schedule to dismantle its nuclear test site next week. “This shows they are willing to keep their promise made at the inter-Korean summit through action beyond words,” Blue House spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told a media briefing. Pyongyan has scheduled the dismantlement of its nuclear bomb test site for some time between Wednesday and Thursday next week to uphold its pledge to discontinue nuclear tests, state media reported on Saturday.
CHINA
Iranian minister visits
Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Javad Zarif arrived in Beijing yesterday as part of a whirlwind diplomatic tour in the wake of Washington’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear accord. Zarif is leading a large delegation to “exchange views with relevant parties on the developments of the Iranian nuclear issue,” local officials said. The delegation is scheduled to head to Moscow and Brussels afterwards and will hold meetings with all of the remaining parties to the 2015 agreement, an Iranian official said. “China is highly concerned with the direction of the Iranian nuclear issue and is willing to maintain communication with all relevant parties, including Iran,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Geng Shuang (耿爽) said ahead of Zarif’s arrival.
PHILIPPINES
Mayor survives attack
A mayor accused of involvement in narcotics trafficking yesterday survived an ambush, police said, four months after President Rodrigo Duterte publicly threatened to kill him. Retired police chief superintendent Vicente Loot, a mayor in Cebu Province, had been repeatedly named by Duterte as one of the so-called “narco-generals” protecting the illegal drug trade. Loot was on a boat arriving with his family at a port in the town of Daanbantayan yesterday when unidentified gunmen opened fire and wounded four people, police said. The mayor was unhurt. “We are looking at all possible motives and angles, including his being tagged in the narco-list, politics, or his previous work in the police force,” acting town police chief Senior Inspector Irish Dilem said.
AUSTRALIA
Father blames grandfather
The grieving father of four children who were killed in a family mass murder and suicide case yesterday said their grandfather was to blame for what he called a planned shooting. Aaron Cockman’s children, his estranged wife, Katrina Miles, and her parents, Peter and Cynda Miles, were found dead on Friday by police at the Miles’ farm in Osmington. “Peter didn’t snap… I think he’s thought this through. I think he’s been thinking this through for a long time,” Cockman said.
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
Tropical Storm Koto killed three people and left another missing as it approached Vietnam, authorities said yesterday, as strong winds and high seas buffeted vessels off the country’s flood-hit central coast. Heavy rains have lashed Vietnam’s middle belt in recent weeks, flooding historic sites and popular holiday destinations, and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. Authorities ordered boats to shore and diverted dozens of flights as Koto whipped up huge waves and dangerous winds, state media reported. Two vessels sank in the rough seas, a fishing boat in Khanh Hoa province and a smaller raft in Lam Dong, according to the
‘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
RSS