Month: December 2019

The north of the Philippines has been hit by some of its worst flooding in decades, with torrents of muddy run-off forcing 66,000 from their homes and prompting rescues of trapped locals, authorities said on Friday.Luzon island, the nation’s largest, has been hit by a string of storms that have battered its northern tip while monsoon rains were intensified by the passage of Typhoon Kammuri this week.Large swathes of lush green land were inundated after rivers burst their banks, leaving only…

Bloodied noses and fisticuffs were the order of the day as a brawl broke out today between rival factions of Malaysia’s biggest parliamentary party.Stones were thrown and punches exchanged by youth members attending an annual meeting of the People’s Justice Party (PKR). Observers said the scuffle underlined the fragile state of the party, which has the most parliamentary seats and is part of the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition.The brawl comes just days after one faction threatened to hold a…

Half a century ago a North Korean agent hijacked the flight carrying Hwang In-cheol’s father. Pyongyang never returned him, and the search has defined his son’s life.Hwang was just two when he last saw his father and knows him only through photographs, but he has spent much of his adult life campaigning for him.A producer for South Korean broadcaster MBC, Hwang Won was starting a business trip on a domestic Korean Air flight from Gangneung to Seoul’s Gimpo airport on December 11, 1969.Minutes…

The China-backed National Grid Corporation of the Philippines should list its shares publicly to help guard against fears that Beijing could cause a nationwide blackout at the flick of a switch.That’s the view of Sherwin Gatchalian, chairperson of the Philippine Senate’s energy committee, who used a televised interview on Wednesday to remind the NGCP that under the franchise granted to the private firm by Congress in January 2009, it was required to sell 20 per cent of its equity in an initial…

Tens of thousands of devout Hindus thronged a temple in southern Nepal where thousands of animals and birds were sacrificed this week, amid an outcry from animal rights activists who said the ritual was a cruel and gruesome spectacle.The ceremony, held every five years at the Gadhimai temple in Bara in southern Nepal, is believed to be the largest such mass-slaughter event in the world and animal rights activists have been campaigning to end it for years.About 80 per cent of Nepal’s 30 million…

Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak testified on Wednesday that funds donated by Saudi Arabia’s late monarch, King Abdullah Abdulaziz Al-Saud, were to ensure Malaysia can become the model of a stable and modern Islamic country. The funds were to be used at his own discretion.He also said he only found out some 3.2 billion ringgit (US$1.05 billion) had been wired into his personal bank account between 2011 and 2013 after his statement was taken by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission…

A record 998 Chinese government ships have been identified in waters close to disputed Japanese-held islands in the East China Sea in the first 11 months of the year, underlining the lingering distrust that exists between Tokyo and Beijing despite what appear to be improved bilateral relations.The vessels were confirmed to be operating within the contiguous zone around the Diaoyu Islands – which Japan controls and knows as the Senkaku Islands – from January 1 to November 29, the Mainichi…

Typhoon Kammuri killed at least three people on its way out of the Philippines on Tuesday after unleashing heavy rain and fierce winds that prompted the closure of Manila’s international airport.Police said one man was crushed by a falling tree and another killed by a flying piece of timber, both on the island of Mindoro south of the capital. A man was electrocuted on Monday while securing a roof ahead of the storm’s arrival.Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte cancelled work in government…

An Indonesian journalist blinded in her right eye while covering an anti-government protest in Hong Kong said she has forgiven the police officer who left her injured.But Veby Mega Indah, 39, remains determined to pursue legal action to compel the force to name the officer, so that she can initiate civil action and, possibly, private prosecution against the officer.She is believed to have been hit by a rubber bullet.“I am pursuing justice in this case not only for me but for all the injured…

Malaysia ordered an investigation on Monday into what the government called a half-naked tattoo show held in the capital Kuala Lumpur, after pictures of heavily inked men and women circulated on social media in the Muslim-majority nation.The three-day Tattoo Malaysia Expo, which started on Friday and drew participants from 35 countries, was supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, the show’s organiser said on its website.But the ministry said this year’s event violated its…