25/01/2026

theSun on Sunday JAN 25, 2026

WORLD 7

Java landslide kills eight CISARUA: A landslide killed at least eight people and more than 80 are missing in Java yesterday, a disaster official said. Triggered by heavy More than 80 missing he said in a statement. The disaster follows flooding and landslides late last year that killed about 1,200 people and displaced more than 240,000 in Sumatra, according to official figures. Environmentalists and manual excavation, spraying the soil with water pumps and using drones to search for victims. Floods and landslides are common in Indonesia during the rainy season, which runs from October to March. Tropical storms and intense monsoon rains

China detains two military officials BEIJING: China said yesterday the senior vice-chairman of its powerful Central Military Commission (CMC) and another high-ranking official were under investigation for suspected “serious violations of discipline”, a common euphemism for corruption. The announcement marks the latest push in a sweeping drive to root out graft at all levels of the party and state since President Xi Jinping came to power more than a decade ago. “Following a review, it has been decided to initiate an investigation into Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli,” the Defence Ministry said in a statement. The two men were “suspected of serious violations of discipline and the law”, it said. Zhang Youxia, 75, is the more senior general of two CMC vice chairmen. He shares the title with Zhang Shengmin, a general in Beijing’s secretive rocket force and who is not related to him. Zhang Shengmin was promoted to the post in October after Beijing expelled his predecessor. – AFP SYDNEY: A 12-year-old boy bitten by a shark in Sydney Harbour has died of his injuries, his family said yesterday. Nico Antic’s parents said their son died of the injuries suffered when a large shark attacked him last week as he and his friends were jumping into the water. “We are heartbroken to share that our son, Nico, has passed away,” Lorena and Juan Antic said in a statement. At the time of the attack, the children were leaping into the water off a 6m rock in the eastern Sydney suburb of Vaucluse. Recent heavy rain had drained into the harbour, turning the water murky, police said. Antic was suffering from heavy bleeding when he was pulled into a police boat and taken to hospital. Shark attack victim dies

US warship calls at Cambodia naval base REAM: A US warship made a port call at a Cambodian naval base yesterday for the first time since Chinese renovations that have raised concerns in Washington. The US has said Ream Naval Base, off Cambodia’s southern coast, could give China a key strategic position in the Gulf of Thailand near the disputed South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost in its entirety. The littoral combat ship USS Cincinnati docked yesterday at one of the base’s piers 150m away from a pair of Chinese warships. “It is our privilege and our honour to be here as the first US naval vessel to moor pierside at Ream Naval Base, and we hope this is the beginning of a longstanding tradition and friendship,” said Commanding Officer Andrew J. Recame. Cambodian leaders have repeatedly denied that the base is for use by any single foreign power, following US media reports in 2022 saying the new facilities at Ream, originally built partly with US funds, would be exclusively for the Chinese navy. Ream base said in a statement that the five-day US visit would “promote cooperation between the two countries”, and that it showed Cambodia’s “commitment in implementing an open, transparent policy and cooperation with international partners”. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and a delegation from China’s People’s Liberation Army inaugurated the base last April. – AFP Yesterday’s landslide also comes after torrential rains battered Siau island this month, causing a flash flood that killed at least 16 people. – AFP More than 240,000ha of primary forest were lost in 2024, according to analysis by The TreeMap’s Nusantara Atlas project. Indonesia is regularly among the countries with the largest annual forest loss, NGOs have said, adding that mining, plantations and fires have caused the clearance of large tracts of its lush rainforest over recent decades. The government stripped more than two dozen permits this week from forestry, mining and hydroelectric companies in Sumatra.

experts have pointed to the role forest loss played in the flooding and landslides that washed torrents of mud into villages. West Bandung Mayor Jeje Ritchie Ismail told reporters that the military, police and volunteers were assisting in the search for missing people. However, he warned that the terrain was extremely difficult to access and that the ground remained unstable. The local search and rescue agency said it was conducting

pummelled parts of South and Southeast Asia late last year, triggering landslides and floods from the rainforests of Sumatra to highland plantations in Sri Lanka. Forests help absorb rainfall and stabilise the ground held by their roots, and their absence makes areas more prone to flash flooding and landslides, David Gaveau, founder of conservation start up The TreeMap, told AFP in December.

rainfall, it struck two villages in Java’s West Bandung region at about 2.30am (3.30am in Malaysia) and buried residential areas. Abdul Muhari, a spokesman for the national disaster agency, or BNPB, confirmed that eight people were killed. “As of Saturday 10.30am, dozens of residents were reported safe, and 82 people were still being searched for,”

“Nico was a happy, friendly and sporty young boy with the most kind and generous spirit. He was full of life and that’s how we’ll remember him,” his parents said. – AFP No survivors at NZ campsite disaster

WONDEROUS WALKWAY ... Visitors in Zigong, Sichuan province in China walking in a tunnel inside a light installation at the 32nd Zigong International Lantern Festival ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year, which will welcome the Year of the Horse. – REUTERSPIC

would receive support. “Police have confirmed fatalities at the campground and the reality that no one would have been able to survive, therefore the rescue operation taking place there is now moving to a recovery,” he said in a statement. “To the families who have lost loved ones – every New Zealander is grieving with you.” New Zealand authorities are facing questions over why people were not evacuated following reports of a landslip at the campsite and neighbouring areas earlier on Thursday. – AFP

Anderson said it had become apparent that there was little chance anyone buried had survived. “This is heartbreaking news for us and obviously the families involved,” he told reporters yesterday, describing the rescue operation as complex. “There’s still a lot of mud and other aspects, so my primary consideration today is actually the safety of the staff working on it. “There are really strict parameters around those that are working on site right now.” Prime Minister Christopher Luxon expressed condolences and said the affected families

mudslide brought on by heavy rain. The six missing people, presumed dead, included one foreign national, 20-year-old Mans Loke Bernhardsson from Sweden. The others were New Zealanders Lisa Anne Maclennan, 50, Jacqualine Suzanne Wheeler, 71, Susan Doreen Knowles, 71 and 15-year-olds Sharon Maccanico and Max Furse-Kee. For the past two days, the holiday destination in the northern part of the country has hosted a series of vigils, with attendees holding out hope that rescue personnel would be successful.

MOUNT MAUNGANUI: Efforts to rescue at least six people buried alive by a landslide at a New Zealand holiday park ended yesterday, with police shifting their focus to recovering human remains. Police superintendent Tim Anderson said it could take several days to find all the bodies, after a mountain of dirt and debris tumbled onto a campsite in Mount Maunganui on Thursday. Anderson said it was “heartbreaking” that six people remained unaccounted for, including two teenagers, after camper vans, caravans and a shower block were buried by a