Asia News from WN Network

Indonesia flood death toll rises to 41 with 17 missing 2024-05-13
Gulf-Times

The number of people killed by flash floods and cold lava flow from a volcano in western Indonesia over the weekend has risen to 41 with 17 more missing, a local disaster agency official told AFP Monday.Hours of heavy rain caused large volcanic rocks to roll down one of Indonesia's most active...

photo: AP / Ali Nayaka

Can Pakistan’s Imran Khan and army patch up, a year after violent clashes? 2024-05-13
Al Jazeera

Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir was blunt. Addressing army officials during his visit to Lahore Garrison on May 9, Munir said, “There can be no compromise or deal with the planners and architects of this dark chapter in our history.” Munir was referring to the events of...

photo: AP / K.M. Chaudary

Devastating Afghanistan flash floods death toll climbs to 315 2024-05-12
Daily Sabah

At least 315 people have now been confirmed killed and 1,600 others wounded in northern Afghanistan flash floods caused by heavy rains, according to local authorities Sunday. Thou ......

photo: AP

Air Vanuatu goes into liquidation, thousands of passengers stranded 2024-05-10
Al Jazeera

Air Vanuatu, the national carrier of the Pacific Islands nation of Vanuatu, has gone into liquidation a day after it cancelled all flights leaving thousands of travellers stranded. More than 20 flights to and from the Australian cities of Sydney and Brisbane, as well as the New Zealand city of...

photo: Creative Commons / Aki Kuwahara

Over a third of urban Chinese live in sinking cities 2024-05-10
Asiatimes

Across the world, many cities are slowly sinking. Most are on the coast, including tropical megacities like Jakarta in Indonesia or Manila in the Philippines, or places like New Orleans, Vancouver or much of the Netherlands. Other sinking cities, like Mexico City and many of those in China, can be...

photo: AP / Ng Han Guan

‘The next decade belongs to India’: Meet the winners of rising power’s economic boom 2024-05-10
CNN

As Indians head to the polls in a massive ongoing nationwide election, much attention has focused on the country’s explosive growth under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership. During his past decade in office, India’s fast-growing economy has become the world’s fifth largest as the country woos...

photo: AP / Mahesh Kumar A. File

South Korea’s birthrate is so low, the president wants to create a ministry to tackle it 2024-05-09
CNN

South Korea’s leader on Thursday said he plans to create a new government ministry to tackle the “national emergency” of the country’s infamously low birth rate as it grapples with a deepening demographic crisis. In a televised address, President Yoon Suk Yeol said he would ask for parliament’s...

photo: WN

Fiji’s former Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama jailed for a year 2024-05-09
Al Jazeera

Frank Bainimarama, who was Fiji’s prime minister for some 15 years until losing power in 2022, has been jailed for a year after he was found guilty of using his position to shut down a corruption investigation into a prominent university. Once armed forces chief, Bainimarama seized power in a 2006...

photo: AP / Nicolas Asfouri/Pool Photo

NK leader voices 'firm support' in his message to Putin over Victory Day 2024-05-09
Korea Times

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left, meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Vostochny cosmodrome in Russia, Sept. 13, 2023. AP-Yonhap North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has sent a congratulatory message to Russian President Vladimir Putin over the...

From flooding in Brazil to brutal heat in Asia, extreme weather seems nearly everywhere 2024-05-09
The Manila Times

IN sweltering Brazil, flooding killed dozens of people and paralyzed a city of about 4 million people. Voters and politicians in India, amid national elections, are fainting in heat that hit as high as 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46.3 degrees Celsius). A brutal Asian heat wave has closed schools in the...

photo: WN / Shilpa