PORT MORESBY, May 26, 2024 (AFP) – More than 670 people are believed to have died after a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea, a UN official told AFP on Sunday as aid workers and villagers braved perilous conditions in their desperate search for survivors. “There are an estimated 150-plus houses now buried” said UN migration agency official Serhan Aktoprak, adding that “670-plus people are assumed dead”. “The situation is terrible with the land still […]
Other News
Jewish school in Toronto hit by gunfire, no injuries
MONTREAL, May 26, 2024 (AFP) – A Jewish girls’ school in Toronto was hit by gunfire early Saturday, without causing any injuries but prompting Canadian authorities to step up security at other schools and synagogues, police said. The suspects, who arrived at Bais Chaya Mushka in a dark colored vehicle, opened fire just before 5:00 am and caused “some damage to the front of the school” before leaving the scene, police inspector Paul Krawczyk said […]
Tropical Storm “Aghon” slightly intensifies
(Eagle News)–Tropical Storm “Aghon” has slightly intensified as it meanders over Sariaya, Quezon. The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said, as a result, the following are under a tropical cyclone wind signal no. 2: the northern and central portions of Quezon (Alabat, Perez, Quezon, Gumaca, Lopez, Macalelon, General Luna, Unisan, Pitogo, Plaridel, Agdangan, Padre Burgos, Atimonan, Mauban, Real, General Nakar, Infanta, Sampaloc, Pagbilao, Calauag, Lucban, City of Tayabas, Lucena City, Tiaong, Candelaria, Sariaya, […]
N. Korea accuses Washington, Seoul of sending spy planes and boats
SEOUL, May 26, 2024 (AFP) – North Korea on Sunday accused the United States and South Korea of conducting more aerial espionage around the peninsula, warning it would take “immediate action” if its sovereignty was breached. America has deployed dozens of military planes “in air espionage against the DPRK from May 13 to 24”, the North’s vice defence minister Kim Kang Il said in a statement, referring to his country by its official name. The […]
Mexico City records highest-ever temperature of 34.7 C
MEXICO CITY, May 26, 2024 (AFP) – Mexico City recorded its highest-ever temperature on Saturday when thermometers hit 34.7 degrees Celsius (94.46 degrees Fahrenheit) as a deadly heatwave scorches the country. The “highest temperature since records have been kept” was recorded Saturday afternoon at the Tacubaya observatory, the National Meteorological Service said. The previous record of 34.4 degrees Celsius was observed the day before at the same station in the capital, the weather service added. […]
Four children among 27 dead in India amusement park fire
MUMBAI, May 26, 2024 (AFP) – Four young children were among 27 people killed when a fire in India ripped through a crowded amusement park, police said, as rescuers on Sunday scoured the site the morning after the blaze. Survivors reported having to kick down doors and leap out of windows to escape the inferno that swept through a centre packed full of young people enjoying games including bowling, Indian media reported on Sunday. Lines […]
Four provinces under Signal No. 2 as TS “Aghon” maintains its strength
(Eagle News)–Four Luzon provinces are now under Signal No. 2 as “Aghon” maintained its strength while over Dolores, Quezon. The following areas are under the tropical cyclone wind signal, with “Aghon” moving northwestward at 15 kph: the northern and central portions of Quezon (Alabat, Perez, Quezon, Gumaca, Lopez, Macalelon, General Luna, Unisan, Pitogo, Plaridel, Agdangan, Padre Burgos, Atimonan, Mauban, Real, General Nakar, Infanta, Sampaloc, Pagbilao, Calauag, Lucban, City of Tayabas, Lucena City, Tiaong, Candelaria, Sariaya, […]
ASEAN in Focus – May 25, 2024 – Living in extraordinary times!
US, Chinese defense chiefs to meet following Taiwan tension
WASHINGTON, May 25, 2024 (AFP) – US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will meet his Chinese counterpart, the Pentagon announced Friday, after Beijing carried out war games around Taiwan in a sign to the US-backed democracy’s new leader. The Pentagon said that Austin would meet Chinese Admiral Dong Jun when they attend the May 31-June 2 Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual gathering of defense officials around the world. China this week encircled Taiwan with warships and fighter […]
China ends military drills around Taiwan
By Ludovic EHRET and Glenda KWEK in Beijing, with Amber WANG in Taipei BEIJING, May 25, 2024 (AFP) – China has ended two days of military drills around Taiwan that saw jets loaded with live munitions and warships practise seizing and isolating the self-ruled island. The exercises simulated strikes targeting Taiwan’s leaders as well as its ports and airports to “cut off the island’s ‘blood vessels’”, Chinese military analysts told state media. Beijing considers the […]
Low-lying Maldives seeks easier funding to battle waves
MALÉ, Maldives, May 25, 2024 (AFP) – The Maldives on Saturday demanded international funding to battle rising sea levels, saying the low-lying Indian Ocean archipelago was being unfairly excluded from the most generous support measures. “The Maldives is liable for just 0.003 percent of global emissions, but is one of the first countries to endure the existential consequences of the climate crisis,” President Mohamed Muizzu wrote in Britain’s Guardian newspaper. “Wealthier nations have a moral […]
US couple among three missionaries killed by gang in Haiti
WASHINGTON, May 25, 2024 (AFP) – A US couple was among three missionaries shot and killed by a gang outside a church in the Haitian capital, which has endured months of extreme violence with deadly assaults on hospitals, prisons and government buildings. Missions in Haiti, an Oklahoma-based nonprofit founded in 2000, said Davy and Natalie Lloyd and a third person were killed in Port-au-Prince by armed men on Thursday evening. The third victim was identified […]