Asia

Thai gov’t says security has been restored in Bangkok blast site

  THE Thai government has said security has been restored near Erawan Shrine in central Bangkok after the deadly bombing Monday night. It is 24 hours since what the Thai Prime Minister described as the worst attack on Thai soil. Street cleaners have scrubbed to clean the blood-stained streets following the explosion that killed 20 people and left 125 seriously injured. Thai security services have released video footage of a suspect wanted in connection with […]

Explosion in Bangkok, Thailand kills 21

BANGKOK, Thailand, August 18 (Eagle News) — A pipe bomb explosion in a popular shrine in Bangkok, Thailand left 21 dead including a Fililipino. Most of the casualties are Chinese and Taiwanese tourists. The Philippine Embassy is coordinating with Thai authorities to confirm the alleged Filipino death. (Eagle News Service Jay Paul Carlos, Jericho Morales, MRFaith Bonalos) https://youtu.be/BewodxL1LgM

Thai PM says looking for “suspect” seen in CCTV footage at blast site

AUGUST 18 (Reuters) — Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said on Tuesday (August 18) that authorities were looking for a “suspect” seen on closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage near the site of a bomb blast that killed 22 people, including eight foreigners. “We have checked the closed circuit camera footage and there appears to be a suspect but it wasn’t clear. We have to investigate more,” Prayuth told reporters at Bangkok’s Government House. Officials have not […]

Thousands mourn victims of Tianjin warehouse blasts

(Courtesy China Central Television news) — Thousands of officials, firefighters, policemen and locals mourned the victims of the massive Tianjin warehouse blasts at the accident site in north China’s port city of Tianjin on Tuesday. All the mourners held a moment of silence, and bowed to pay respect to their loved ones in a service ceremony. The death toll of the blasts has climbed to 114 including 39 firefighters, a municipal publicity official told a […]

Metro Manila, 29 provinces in PHL to experience drought next month

AUGUST 18 (Eagle News) — Severe EL Niño is expected to hit Metro Manila and 29 provinces in the country starting next month. According to the country’s weather bureau, Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), the increasing temperature in the eastern Pacific Ocean could bring drought to the country. Because of this, dams in the country will be affected, including those in Mindanao where hydro power plants would also be severely hit. The […]

At least 20 killed in Bangkok blast; one Filipino among casualties

(Reuters) — Thai police began cleaning up the scene of Monday’s bombing and looking for clues at the shrine where more than 20 people died in an unprecedented attack in the Thai capital Bangkok. A bomb planted at one of the Thai capital’s most renowned shrines on Monday killed 19, including three foreign tourists, and wounded scores in an attack the government called a bid to destroy the economy. There was no immediate claim of […]

Indonesia locates crashed aircraft in remote area of Papua province

(Reuters) — Indonesian search and rescue officials said on Monday (August 17) that the crashed aircraft with 54 people on board had been detected in a forested, mountainous area in remote Papua province. The Trigana Air Service ATR 42-300 plane crashed on Sunday (August 16), the latest in a string of aviation disasters in Southeast Asia. Heavy cloud initially delayed plans for an aerial survey to locate the plane that took off from Sentani Airport […]

Hundreds of houses destroyed, 6,300 individuals displaced by Tianjin blasts

(Reuters) — Hundreds of angry residents whose homes had been destroyed in the Tianjin explosions gathered outside an official news conference venue on Monday (August 17), demanding answers. People from a residential area near the blast site held banners reading “Give back our homes” and marched to a hotel where a government news conference was due to take place. The residents said they wanted answers from the government. “Now our homes have been destroyed, can’t […]

Death toll rises to 112 in Tianjin blasts

THE death toll from the massive warehouse explosions in north China’s Tianjin city Wednesday night rose to 112, local authorities said at a press conference on Sunday morning. “Up to 9:00 on Sunday, we have found 112 bodies, with 24 already identified and 88 being identified,” said Gong Jiansheng, deputy director of the Publicity Department of the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee. “In addition, after identification comparison, previously identified four fragmentary bodies actually belongs to two […]

Japan Emperor marks 70th anniversary of end of WW2

(Reuters) — Japanese Emperor Akihito on Saturday (August 15) marked the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two with an expression of “deep remorse” over the conflict, a departure from his annual script which could be seen as a subtle rebuke of conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Abe on Friday (August 14) expressed “utmost grief” for the suffering Japan inflicted in the war, but said future generations should not have to keep apologising […]

Japanese nationalists march on war shrine to mark WW2 anniversary

  (Reuters) — Hundreds of Japanese nationalists marched to Yasukuni shrine on Saturday (August 15), where leaders convicted as war criminals by Allied Tribunal are honored with war dead, to mark the 70th anniversary since the end of World War Two. The majority of participants from the nationalist group “Ganbare Nippon” carried Japanese flags and shouted “Banzai” at the gates of the shrine, after having quietly marching through the streets. The shrine has been a […]

Death toll in chemical blasts in Chinese port climbs to 104; more firefighters missing

(Eagle News) — The death toll  in the deadly chemical blasts in area in the northeastern Chinese port of Tianjin has climbed to 104, including at least 21 firefighters, according to the Chinese state media . The Tianjin municipal government also said that around 720 others were admitted to hospitals. Small-scale blasts broke out at around 11:40 Saturday (Aug. 15)  in Binhai New Area, where the blasts occurred at hazardous chemicals warehouse on Wednesday night. […]