Indonesia’s Mount Merapi volcano spewed avalanches of hot clouds in eruptions overnight on Thursday that forced about 250 residents to flee to temporary shelters and left ash blanketing nearby villages and towns. No casualties were reported.The volcano on the densely populated island of Java unleashed clouds of hot ash at least seven times just before and after midnight and fast-moving pyroclastic flows, a mixture of rock, lava and gas, travelled up to 5 kilometres down its slopes, said…
Malaysia cancels daily Covid-19 test for travellers from Singapore
Travellers from Singapore to Malaysia via the air and land vaccinated travel lane (VTL) will no longer need to take daily Covid-19 tests for six days after arrival, the Malaysian health minister has announced.
South China Sea: New Philippine leader must honour joint exploration agreement with Beijing or face conflict, says Duterte
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has told his successor that Manila must honour an agreement his administration made with China to jointly explore an area in the disputed South China Sea for oil and gas deposits – or face possible conflict.He said that in light of the presidential election taking place in May, someone “reminded me – I won’t say who from China” that both sides already had an agreement on joint development of Reed Bank, also known as Recto Bank, which falls in a contested…
Australia floods cause US$1 billion in damage as thousands flee, national emergency expected to be declared
Tens of thousands of residents from Sydney and Brisbane and nearby regional areas have been forced to flee their homes as extreme rainfall and persistent flooding wreaked havoc across Australia’s east coast.Prime Minister Scott Morrison is expected to formally declare a national emergency on Wednesday, as he visits one of the worst affected areas, handing the government more powers to deploy aid and defence force personnel. The floods on Tuesday left hordes of commuters stranded around…
Chinese internet or US foreign policy? Why some Indonesians support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
When the UN General Assembly held its Special Emergency Session this month, Indonesia – along with 140 other countries – voted in favour of a resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But the Muslim-majority country’s official stance is not shared by all its citizens.Mako Setiawati, a resident of Situbondo, a small town in East Java, is among them. The 75-year-old Indonesian-Chinese retiree has been getting her news about the war from social media, including messages sent by her…
Singapore to introduce points-based work pass assessment framework
Singapore will introduce significant changes to its employment permit process from next year, including a new points-based assessment.
North Korea reactivating closed nuclear test site, satellite images suggest
Commercial satellite imagery shows construction at North Korea’s nuclear testing site for the first time since it was closed in 2018, US-based analysts said on Tuesday, amid fears the country could resume testing major weapons.Images captured by satellite on Friday showed very early signs of activity at the new site, including construction of a new building, repair of another building, and what is possibly some timber and sawdust, specialists at the California-based James Martin Centre for…
UN plastic treaty gains support from China to Saudi Arabia, but can Asian countries really get rid of pollution and waste?
Asia’s largest plastic producers, from China to India, Saudi Arabia and Japan were among the 175 United Nations member states that last week indicated their approval of a plan to create the world’s first global plastics treaty by 2024.Environmentalists and bureaucrats working on plastics policy around the region have cheered the accord struck at the UN Environment Assembly as a “historic” moment, but some insiders say it is too early to pop the champagne.Much of the conversation surrounding the…
Thailand fears ‘population crisis’ as birth rate crashes to lowest level in decades
Thailand is scrambling to encourage its people to have more babies to arrest a slumping birth rate, offering parents childcare and fertility centres, while also tapping social media influencers to showcase the joys of family life.The campaign comes as the number of births has dropped by nearly one-third since 2013, when they started declining. Last year saw 544,000 births, the lowest in at least six decades and below the 563,000 deaths, which were also swollen by coronavirus-related fatalities…
Shane Warne’s body prepared for autopsy, as global tributes flow in from Imran Khan and Virat Kohli to Russell Crowe and Ed Sheeran
Thai authorities were on Sunday preparing to conduct an autopsy on the body of Australian cricket superstar Shane Warne, who died of a suspected heart attack, before flying him home where he will receive a state funeral.Police said there was no foul play suspected in the 52-year-old’s death after he was found unresponsive in a luxury villa on Thai holiday island Koh Samui late on Friday.The “King” of spin’s unexpected passing sparked a global outpouring of grief from prime ministers, rock stars…