11/01/2026

theSun on Sunday JAN 11, 2026

WORLD 7

Victoria declares state of disaster as bushfires rage

Japan PM mulls snap election TOKYO: Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is considering calling a general election in the coming weeks to capitalise on strong public support for her government, media reports said yesterday. Takaichi was appointed Japan’s first woman prime minister in October and her Cabinet is enjoying an approval rating of about 70%. But her ruling bloc only has a slim majority in the lower house, hindering its ability to push through her ambitious policy agenda. She is considering dissolving the lower house at the start of a parliamentary session on Jan 23, Yomiuri and Mainichi newspapers reported. That would mean an election would be “highly likely to be held in early to mid-February”, Yomiuri said. Some in Takaichi’s administration hold the “persistent view that it should move to dissolve parliament early while support ratings remain high, to solidify its foundation,” Mainichi said, without citing sources. Takaichi became Japan’s fifth premier in as many years when she was elected, initially as the head of a minority government. Her Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its coalition partner the Japan Innovation Party regained their lower-house majority in November after three lawmakers joined the LDP. The ruling bloc remains a minority in the upper house. Takaichi hopes a bigger majority would help her implement her agenda of more “proactive” fiscal spending and stronger intelligence capacities, Yomiuri reported. – AFP Indonesia blocks access to Grok JAKARTA: Indonesia temporarily blocked Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot yesterday due to the risk of AI-generated pornographic content, becoming the first country to deny access to the AI tool. The move comes after governments and regulators from Europe to Asia condemned the app, with some opening inquiries over the creation and sharing of sexualised content. xAI, the startup behind Grok, said on Thursday it was restricting image generation and editing to paying subscribers as it tried to fix safeguard lapses that had allowed sexualised output, including depictions of scantily clad children. “The government views the practice of non-consensual sexual deepfakes as a serious violation of human rights, dignity and the security of citizens in the digital space,” Communications and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid said in a statement. The ministry has also summoned X officials to discuss the matter. Musk said on X that anyone using Grok to make illegal content would suffer the same consequences as if they had uploaded illegal content. X did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Indonesia, with the world’s biggest Muslim population, has strict rules that ban the sharing of content deemed obscene. – Reuters

SYDNEY: Victoria declared a state of disaster yesterday after bushfires destroyed houses and razed vast belts of forest. Temperatures soared past 40ºC as a heatwave blanketed the state of Victoria this week, with hot winds fanning some of the most dangerous fire weather since the “Black Summer” bushfires of 2019 2020. One of the most destructive bushfires ripped through almost 150,000ha near Longwood, a region cloaked in native forests. State Premier Jacinta Allan yesterday declared a state of disaster, giving fire crews 150,000ha of native forest razed

Hundreds of firefighters from across Australia have been called in to help. Millions have sweltered through this week’s intense heatwave. Hundreds of baby bats died earlier this week as stifling temperatures settled over the state of South Australia, a wildlife group said. The Black Summer bushfires raged across Australia’s eastern seaboard from late 2019 to early 2020, razing millions of hectares, destroying thousands of homes and blanketing cities in noxious smoke. Researchers report an average increase in temperature of 1.51ºC since 1910 for Australia, fuelling increasingly frequent extreme weather patterns over land and sea. – AFP

“Many of these major fires will continue to burn for days, if not weeks. “We are expecting more fires today as a result of lightning.” The worst blazes have largely been confined to sparsely populated rural areas where towns might contain a few hundred people. Photos taken this week showed the night sky glowing orange as the fire near Longwood ripped through bushland. “There were embers falling everywhere. It was terrifying,” cattle farmer Scott Purcell told national broadcaster ABC. Another bushfire near the small town of Walwa crackled with lightning as it radiated enough heat to form a localised thunderstorm, fire authorities said.

emergency powers to force evacuations. “It’s all about one thing, protecting lives,” she said. “And it sends one clear message – if you have been told to leave, go.” Three people missing inside one of the state’s most dangerous fire grounds had been found, Allan said. Emergency Management Commissioner Tim Wiebusch said at least 130 structures had been destroyed across the state, a figure that includes houses, sheds and other buildings. “We’ve seen significant livestock, cropping land and vineyards that have also been affected or destroyed,” he told reporters. Wiebusch said 10 major fires were still burning despite conditions easing.

Rescuers looking for survivors after a collapse at the landfill in Cebu City buried about 50 sanitation

workers. – AFPPIC

Rescuers scrambling to find survivors in landfill collapse MANILA: Rescue workers with backhoes dug through rubble in search of survivors yesterday in the shadow of a mountain of garbage that buried dozens of landfill employees in the central Philippines, killing at least four. About 50 sanitation workers were buried when refuse toppled onto them on Thursday from what a city councillor estimated was a height of 20 storeys at the Binaliw Landfill in Cebu City. they navigated the site, said rescuer Jo Reyes. Information from the disaster site has been emerging slowly, with city employees citing the lack of signal from the dumpsite, which serviced Cebu and other surrounding communities. Cebu City council member Joel Garganera said the death toll had climbed to four, with 34 still missing. people who were buried stayed,” he said. “It’s very difficult for the rescuers because there are really heavy (pieces of steel), and every now and then, the garbage is moving because of the weight. “We are hoping against hope here and praying for miracles,” he said when asked about the timeline for rescue efforts. At least 12 employees have so far been pulled alive from the garbage and hospitalised. “Every now and then when it rains, there are landslides happening around the city of Cebu. How much more (dangerous is that) for a landfill or a mountain that is made of garbage?” Garganera said in a phone call with AFP.

“The garbage is like a sponge, it really absorbs water. It doesn’t (take) a rocket scientist to say that eventually, such incidents will happen.” – AFP

“We cannot just jump to the retrieval (of bodies), because there are a lot of family members who are within the property waiting for any positive result.”

“The four casualties were inside the facility when it happened. They have staff houses inside where most

Rescuers were now facing the danger of further collapse as