SOUTH KOREA
Wildfire rages on east coast
Nearly 2,000 firefighters and troops were yesterday deployed to battle a large wildfire that tore through an eastern coastal area, and temporarily threatened a nuclear power station and a liquified natural gas plant. The fire, which began on Friday morning on a mountain in the seaside town of Uljin and spread across more than 3,000 hectares to the nearby city of Samcheok, destroyed at least 90 homes and other buildings, and prompted the evacuation of nearly 6,000 people. There were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths. As of yesterday morning, more than 1,950 firefighters and troops, as well as 51 helicopters and 273 vehicles, were being deployed. President Moon Jae-in on Friday issued an alarm as the fire reached the perimeter of a seaside nuclear power plant in Uljin. Hundreds of firefighters were deployed to the plant and kept the blaze under control before winds drove it northward toward Samcheok, a National Fire Agency official said.
MYANMAR
Ministers’ citizenship voided
The junta yesterday said it has revoked the citizenship of several members of an opposition government dominated by Aung San Suu Kyi’s toppled administration. Ousted lawmakers formed the National Unity Government (NUG) weeks after the military coup last year and have vowed to overturn the junta. The NUG has been declared a “terrorist” group by the junta. Those stripped of citizenship include NUG spokesman Sasa — who goes by one name — as well as NUG-appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs Zin Mar Aung, Minister of Home Affairs Lwin Ko Latt and Minister of Human Rights Aung Myo Min. The group had “violated the existing laws of the state and ... found to be committing acts that could harm the interests of Myanmar,” the junta said. “Similar perpetrators will be identified and prosecuted,” it added.
UNITED STATES
Record taro root harvested
A super-sized taro root has been harvested on Hawaii’s Big Island. The 23kg corm, which is the root of a taro plant, was grown on Aina ‘Ahiu Farm in South Kona District and could possibly be the largest on record, West Hawaii Today reported on Wednesday. The US Department of Agriculture said taro plants usually weigh up to 900g. This one — including corm, stalk and leaves — weighed close to 45kg. Clarence and Nellie Medeiros, who harvested the plant, said it could feed about 180 people. The couple plans to submit the specimen to Guinness World Records. The current Guinness record is a 3kg root grown in China in 2009.
UNITED STATES
Actors raise funds for Ukraine
Hollywood couple Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis had raised more than US$6.8 million as of Friday, one day after setting up a GoFundMe page seeking humanitarian aid for Ukrainian refugees. Kunis, who was born in then-Soviet-ruled Ukraine’s Chernivtsi in 1983, moved to the US in 1991. “I have always considered myself an American, a proud American … but today, I have never been more proud to be a Ukrainian,” Kunis said in an embedded video. “The events that have unfolded in Ukraine are devastating. There is no place in this world for this kind of unjust attack on humanity.” Kutcher, sitting by Kunis’ side in the video, said the funds would be used to provide refugee and humanitarian aid to Ukrainians affected by Russia’s invasion. The two actors, who married in 2015, have agreed to match up to US$3 million of donations, with the ultimate goal of raising US$30 million.
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
‘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
A feud has broken out between the top leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on whether to maintain close ties with Russia. The AfD leader Alice Weidel this week slammed planned visits to Russia by some party lawmakers, while coleader Tino Chrupalla voiced a defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The unusual split comes at a time when mainstream politicians have accused the anti-immigration AfD of acting as stooges for the Kremlin and even spying for Russia. The row has also erupted in a year in which the AfD is flying high, often polling above the record 20 percent it
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