MALAYSIA
Haze-hit state sent masks
The government has sent half-a-million masks to the eastern state of Sarawak, where air pollution levels have spiked amid worsening forest fires in Indonesia, the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) said yesterday. The smoldering fires that Indonesian farmers often use to clear land produce a choking haze that drifts over the region. “NADMA has acquired 500,000 face masks and sent them to the agency’s branch in Sarawak,” it said in a statement. The air pollution index in Sarawak reached unhealthy levels yesterday, with one district recording a reading of 201, a “very unhealthy” level.
SYRIA
War damaged 120 churches
More than 120 Christian places of worship have been damaged or destroyed by all sides in the country’s eight-year conflict, the Syrian Network for Human Rights said on Monday. Some of the attacks were deliberate, such as the Islamic State group using bulldozers to destroy the ancient Saint Elian Monastery in Homs Province in 2015, but most were caused by frontline combat, shelling or rockets, the monitoring group said. “Targeting Christian places of worship is a form of intimidation against and displacement of the Christian minority,” group chairman Fadel Abdul Ghany said.
THE NETHERLANDS
Family drama kills three
At least three people were killed in an apparent family shooting at a home in the southern city of Dordrecht on Monday, police and news reports said. “The shooter is believed to have been a police officer who also shot himself,” the tabloid newspaper De Telegraaf said, adding that a fourth family member was seriously wounded and taken to the hospital. “Three people have been killed and another was seriously wounded,” Rotterdam police tweeted, without further details. Dordrecht Mayor Wouter Kolff tweeted that he was “very touched and sympathized with everyone involved.”
UNITED KINGDOM
Terrorists thwarted 22 times
Authorities have foiled 22 attacks since March 2017, Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu told a conference on international terrorism in Herzliya, Israel, on Monday. Seven related to “suspected right-wing terrorism,” Basu said, according to the text distributed by Scotland Yard. Attacks are becoming easier to carry out and harder to detect, he added. He promoted the merits of “Prevent,” a counter-terrorism program that is designed to spot and deter people who might be vulnerable to recruitment by violent radicals. “Prevent is designed to break the cycle of extremist violence by empowering communities and individuals,” Basu said.
UNITED STATES
NRA sues city over label
The National Rifle Association (NRA) on Monday sued San Francisco after the city’s Board of Supervisors made a declaration stating that the NRA is a terrorist organization, the San Francisco Chronicle and other media reported. The NRA, a gun club and gun rights lobbying group with deep political influence, alleged in the suit that the city was violating its free speech rights for political reasons, the reports said. However, San Francisco Supervisor Catherine Stefani, who introduced the measure, said that she believed their action would stand up in court, according to the New York Times. “It’s a resolution. It’s not an ordinance. It’s non-binding,” she told the newspaper.
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
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