PAKISTAN
Earthquake kills at least 13
At least 13 people were killed and more than 90 injured in Pakistan and Afghanistan after a magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck late on Tuesday, government officials said. At least nine people were killed and 44 injured in northwest Pakistan, a government official said, and hospitals in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province were put into a state of emergency overnight. At least four people were killed and 50 injured in Afghanistan, a health ministry official there said. Houses and buildings in both countries were also damaged, authorities said.
CHINA
Dust storms spike pollution
Air pollution in Beijing yesterday soared as the capital was hit by a huge sandstorm, and dust also shrouded other parts of the country in a sickly orange haze. The official air quality index in Beijing hit the maximum level of 500, indicating “severe pollution,” although some unofficial readings were nearly twice that figure. Authorities issued weather warnings and warned people to reduce their outdoor activities, as visibility fell to less than 1km in some areas of the city yesterday morning. In parts of China’s north and northwest, high winds and dust turned the sky a lurid tangerine, appearing to cut visibility to less than a few hundred meters in some places.
CHINA
mRNA vaccine approved
The government approved its first messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine for COVID-19, clearing a shot from a local drugmaker that harnesses the powerful technology months after the world’s most-populous nation abandoned COVID-19 pandemic curbs. The mRNA vaccine, developed by CSPC Pharmaceutical Group, has been approved for emergency use, a statement from the company yesterday to the Hong Kong stock exchange showed. The step comes years after mRNA vaccines became commonplace across the rest of the world, and over three months after China became the last country to abandon strict COVID-19 measures, resulting in a massive infection wave that experts estimate caused at least hundreds of thousands of deaths.
MIDDLE EAST
Ramadan fast to start today
Muslim authorities in Saudi Arabia and several other Middle Eastern countries say this year’s fasting month of Ramadan is to begin today based on the expected sighting of the crescent moon. Clerics across the region said the moon was not visible on Tuesday night, meaning it would almost certainly appear the following evening, heralding the start of the month-long observance. During Ramadan, Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sexual intercourse from sunrise until sunset.
AUSTRALIA
Teens charged with assault
Three teenage girls have been charged after allegedly luring a 13-year-old to a Queensland home and then filming her being assaulted, taunted and cut with a knife over several hours. Queensland police said it would be alleged the 13-year-old girl was invited to a home on the state’s Sunshine Coast on March 11. In a statement, police said the three girls — aged 12, 13 and 14 — held her against her will and prevented her from leaving as they carried out the assault. Two days later, police laid charges against each of the girls. Police urged people not to share any images or vision relating to this incident “out of respect for the victim and to not add to the notoriety of those involved.”
KOREAS
North tests cruise missiles
North Korea yesterday launched multiple cruise missiles toward the sea, the South Korean military said, three days after Pyongyang carried out what it called a simulated nuclear attack on the South. The launches are the North’s fourth round of weapons tests since the US and South Korean militaries last week began large-scale military drills that the North views as an invasion rehearsal. The drills are to end today, but Pyongyang is expected to continue its testing activities as Washington reportedly plans to send an aircraft carrier in the coming days for another round of joint drills with Seoul. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected “several” cruise missile launches made from the North’s northeastern coastal town of Hamhung. It said the missiles flew into the North’s eastern waters, and that South Korean and US intelligence authorities were analyzing further details.
SYRIA
Israel strikes Aleppo airport
An Israeli airstrike yesterday hit Aleppo airport, causing damage, the Ministry of Defense said, without mentioning any casualties, in the second such attack on the facility this month. The airport has been a major conduit for relief flights since a Feb. 6 earthquake devastated swathes of the nation and southeastern Turkey. “Around 3:55am, the Israeli enemy carried out an air attack ... targeting Aleppo international airport, leading to some material damage,” a ministry statement said. A number of missiles” were fired from the Mediterranean west of the coastal city of Latakia, it added. Transport ministry official Suleiman Khalil said technicians were assessing the damage. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strike targeted “the airport compound and a weapons depot belonging to pro-Iranian forces on the airport’s perimeter.” The UK-based war monitor said the depot had been “completely destroyed.”
SLOVAKIA
US to sell 12 Viper choppers
The US has offered to sell Bratislava 12 new Bell AH-1Z Viper helicopters at a two-thirds discount after the Central European nation sent its retired MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, Minister of Defense Jaroslav Nad said yesterday. The government still has to approve the deal under which it would pay US$340 million over three to four years for a package worth more than US$1 billion, he wrote on Facebook, adding that the remainder would be covered under the US Foreign Military Financing program. The deal includes parts, training and more than 500 AGM-114 Hellfire II missiles, he said. “This offer is hugely advantageous and will significantly increase Slovakia’s defense potential,” Nad said.
UKRAINE
IMF to lend US$15.6bn
The IMF on Tuesday said it had reached agreement with Ukrainian authorities on a US$15.6 billion loan to support the conflict-hit country’s economic recovery. “In addition to the horrific humanitarian toll, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to have a devastating impact on the economy,” IMF mission chief for Ukraine Gavin Gray said in a statement. The four-year plan, which is subject to approval by the IMF board, would support Kyiv’s “ongoing gradual economic recovery, while promoting long-term growth in the context of post-war reconstruction,” and the country’s path to EU accession, the statement said. The economy contracted 30 percent last year, while poverty rose and much of the capital stock was destroyed, Gray said.
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
Some things might go without saying, but just in case... Belgium’s food agency issued a public health warning as the festive season wrapped up on Tuesday: Do not eat your Christmas tree. The unusual message came after the city of Ghent, an environmentalist stronghold in the country’s East Flanders region, raised eyebrows by posting tips for recycling the conifers on the dinner table. Pointing with enthusiasm to examples from Scandinavia, the town Web site suggested needles could be stripped, blanched and dried — for use in making flavored butter, for instance. Asked what they thought of the idea, the reply
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