CHINA
Mine gas kills 16
Sixteen workers died from excessively high levels of carbon monoxide and one is in a critical condition after being trapped underground in a coal mine outside of Chongqing yesterday, China Central Television reported. A conveyor belt caught fire in the early hours of the morning, Xinhua news agency cited the government as saying, which produced dangerous levels of carbon monoxide. The cause of the accident is under investigation, the Qijiang district government said on Sina Weibo.
Photo: AFP
LEBANON
PM-designate bows out
Prime minister-designate Mustapha Adib stepped down on Saturday, saying he had been unable to form a reform-minded government. The previous government resigned in the aftermath of the Aug. 4 blasts at Beirut’s port that killed more than 190 people, wounded thousands and ravaged swathes of the capital. Since his nomination on Aug. 31, Adib had been under pressure to form a new Cabinet as soon as possible. “I excuse myself from continuing the task of forming the government,” he said in a televised speech. “I apologize to the Lebanese people ... for my inability to realize their aspirations for a reformist team.”
MALAYSIA
Muhyiddin’s alliance wins
The seven-month-old ruling alliance on Saturday triumphed in its first electoral test in Sabah state, a major victory for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. Sabah has been ruled by the opposition and the poll was seen as a referendum for Muhyiddin’s unelected government. Analysts said the win could push Muhyiddin to call for early national elections to bolster his coalition that has a just a two-seat majority in parliament. The win could also help him thwart a challenge from opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who on Wednesday said he had secured majority support in the parliament to form a new government. Muhyiddin said in a brief speech that his camp has won 38 out of the 73 state seats, enough to form a new Sabah government, and thanked voters for their trust.
JAPAN
Wang Yi visit expected
Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) might visit Tokyo next month, a government source said yesterday, after the leaders of the two countries agreed to pursue high-level contacts to promote regional and international stability. Wang would hold talks with his Japanese counterpart, Toshimitsu Motegi, and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, the source said. Suga also plans to meet US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo early next month, the source said.
NEW ZEALAND
Ardern poised for win: poll
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is poised to retain power at next month’s election, a Newshub-Reid Research Poll showed yesterday, although it said a recent COVID-19 outbreak has dented her support slightly. The poll showed support for Ardern’s Labour Party at to 50.1 percent, though this is down from the record 60.9 percent recorded earlier this year when the nation was widely lauded as a world leader in battling COVID-19. Support for the main opposition National Party was at 29.6 percent, up 4.5 percentage points.
THE ‘MONSTER’: The Philippines on Saturday sent a vessel to confront a 12,000-tonne Chinese ship that had entered its exclusive economic zone The Philippines yesterday said it deployed a coast guard ship to challenge Chinese patrol boats attempting to “alter the existing status quo” of the disputed South China Sea. Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela said Chinese patrol ships had this year come as close as 60 nautical miles (111km) west of the main Philippine island of Luzon. “Their goal is to normalize such deployments, and if these actions go unnoticed and unchallenged, it will enable them to alter the existing status quo,” he said in a statement. He later told reporters that Manila had deployed a coast guard ship to the area
HOLLYWOOD IN TURMOIL: Mandy Moore, Paris Hilton and Cary Elwes lost properties to the flames, while awards events planned for this week have been delayed Fires burning in and around Los Angeles have claimed the homes of numerous celebrities, including Billy Crystal, Mandy Moore and Paris Hilton, and led to sweeping disruptions of entertainment events, while at least five people have died. Three awards ceremonies planned for this weekend have been postponed. Next week’s Oscar nominations have been delayed, while tens of thousands of city residents had been displaced and were awaiting word on whether their homes survived the flames — some of them the city’s most famous denizens. More than 1,900 structures had been destroyed and the number was expected to increase. More than 130,000 people
A group of Uyghur men who were detained in Thailand more than one decade ago said that the Thai government is preparing to deport them to China, alarming activists and family members who say the men are at risk of abuse and torture if they are sent back. Forty-three Uyghur men held in Bangkok made a public appeal to halt what they called an imminent threat of deportation. “We could be imprisoned and we might even lose our lives,” the letter said. “We urgently appeal to all international organizations and countries concerned with human rights to intervene immediately to save us from
RISING TENSIONS: The nations’ three leaders discussed China’s ‘dangerous and unlawful behavior in the South China Sea,’ and agreed on the importance of continued coordination Japan, the Philippines and the US vowed to further deepen cooperation under a trilateral arrangement in the face of rising tensions in Asia’s waters, the three nations said following a call among their leaders. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and outgoing US President Joe Biden met via videoconference on Monday morning. Marcos’ communications office said the leaders “agreed to enhance and deepen economic, maritime and technology cooperation.” The call followed a first-of-its-kind summit meeting of Marcos, Biden and then-Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida in Washington in April last year that led to a vow to uphold international
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