30/09/2024

MONDAY | SEP 30, 2024

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INDONESIA LANDSLIDE DEATH TOLL RISES TO 13 JAKARTA: The death toll after a landslide at an illegal mine in Sumatra was raised to 13 yesterday as search efforts ended. Heavy rains caused a landslide at a remote illegal mining site on Thursday in West Sumatra province, where rescue workers had to walk for hours from the nearest village to reach the area. Provincial disaster mitigation agency spokesperson Ilham Wahab said 13 people were found dead, while 12 others were injured, raising the death toll by two. “Since all 25 reported victims have been found we decided to end the search and rescue operation,” Ilham told AFP. IWAYA LIKELY TO BE NAMED JAPAN FOREIGN MINISTER TOKYO: Japan’s incoming prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, will likely name former defence minister Takeshi Iwaya as foreign minister when he forms his government this week. Iwaya, defence chief from 2018 to 2019, helped Ishiba on strategy in his winning run to lead the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Ishiba, 67, said after winning the LDP race on Friday he planned to form his government tomorrow after the lower house of parliament votes on a prime minister. He will name former chief Cabinet secretary Katsunobu Kato as finance minister and retain Yoshimasa Hayashi as chief Cabinet secretary. – Reuters ‘U.S. PLAYING WITH FIRE BY BACKING UKRAINE’ SEOUL: North Korea said US military aid worth US$8 billion (RM33 billion) to Ukraine is “an incredible mistake” and playing with fire against nuclear superpower Russia. US President Joe Biden announced the new aid to help Kyiv defend itself, including longer-range weapons. Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said Washington is escalating the Ukraine conflict and driving all of Europe to the brink of a nuclear war. Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned he could use nuclear weapons if Russia was hit with missiles. – Reuters UK NAVY OFFICER LAID TO REST IN SRI LANKA COLOMBO: A British naval officer’s wish to have his ashes scattered at a strategic base in Sri Lanka has been granted 25 years after his death. Lieutenant Norman Schofield had served as a communications officer at Trincomalee, a key staging post for Allied troops during WWII. His wish was held up because the country prohibits the practice of scattering ashes. An exception was made following requests through diplomatic channels. His wife Marian’s ashes were also scattered on Friday near Ostenburg Point. – AFP SAUDI ARABIA EXECUTES 198THISYEAR DUBAI: Saudi Arabia has carried out its highest number of executions in more than three decades after three executions announced on Saturday took this year’s figure to 198. The Saudi Press Agency announced the executions, citing the Interior Ministry. The kingdom executed the third highest number of prisoners in the world after China and Iran last year. The latest tally surpassed its previous highs of 196 in 2022 and 192 in 1995, according to Amnesty International. Last year, 170 executions were carried out. – AFP

104 dead in Nepal floods

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KATHMANDU: of Nepal’s flood-hit capital returned to their mud-caked homes yesterday to survey the wreckage of devastating floods that have killed at least 104 people across the Himalayan republic. Deadly rain-related floods and landslides are common across South Asia during the monsoon season from June to September. Entire neighbourhoods in Kathmandu were inundated over the weekend with flash floods reported in rivers coursing through the capital and extensive damage to highways connecting the city with the rest of Nepal. Kumar Tamang, who lives in a slum area by a riverbank, said he o Domestic flights to Kathmandu resume Residents

alive when earth from a landslide careened into a highway south of Kathmandu, said Dhading district chief Rajendra Dev Pandey. The valley in which the capital sits recorded 240mm of rain in the 24 hours to Saturday morning, the country’s weather bureau told the Kathmandu Post newspaper. It was the highest rainfall recorded in the capital since at least 1970, the report said. The Bagmati river and its numerous tributaries which cut through Kathmandu broke their banks, inundating nearby homes and vehicles after midnight on Saturday. Residents struggled through chest-deep water to get to higher ground. More than 3,000 security personnel were deployed to assist rescue efforts with helicopters and motorboats. Rescue teams were using rafts to

pull survivors to safety. Domestic flights resumed in and out of Kathmandu by yesterday morning after weather forced a complete stoppage from Friday evening, with more than 150 departures cancelled. The summer monsoon brings South Asia 70-80% of its annual rainfall. Monsoon rains from June to September bring widespread death and destruction every year across South Asia. A landslide that hit a road in Chitwan district in July pushed two buses with 59 passengers aboard into a river. Three people were able to escape alive, but authorities managed to recover only 20 bodies from the accident, with raging flood waters impeding the search. More than 260 people have died in Nepal in rain-related disasters this year. – AFP

and his family had to flee after midnight on Saturday as waters rushed into his shack. “This morning we returned and everything looks different,” the 40 year-old said. “We couldn’t even open the doors to our house, it was jammed with mud. Yesterday we were afraid that the water would kill us, but today we have no water to clean,” he said. Nepal’s Home Ministry said 104 people had been killed across the country with another 64 still missing. Ministry spokesman Rishi Ram Tiwari said bulldozers were being used to clear several highways that had been blocked by debris, cutting Kathmandu off from the rest of the country. “More than 3,000 people have been rescued,” he said. At least 14 of those killed were aboard two buses and were buried

Kathmandu residents climb onto a rooftop as their neighbourhood is submerged after the Bagmati River overflowed on Saturday. – AFPPIC

Five more countries ratify high seas treaty NEW YORK: A year after a historic treaty to protect the high seas was opened to signatures, it has now received 13 ratifications – leaving it still far from coming into force. last year; not ratifications, but indications of willingness to ratify it eventually. That number has now reached 104. Five new countries – East Timor, Singapore, the Maldives, “While this week’s progress is welcome, there is a sense of complacency from some countries, and we would have expected more to have taken the opportunity of ratifying last week,”said Greenpeace. “What an incredible week for the ocean,” the conservation-minded High Seas Alliance said on X.

exclusive economic zones of countries end – at a maximum of 370km from shore – and therefore fall under the jurisdiction of no state. Although the high seas account for almost half the planet’s surface area and over 60% of its oceans, they have long been ignored by environmental efforts. The new treaty’s flagship tool is the creation of marine protected areas. Conservation measures cover just 1% of the high seas. – AFP

The treaty, which took 15 years of tough negotiating to be approved, aims to protect vital marine ecosystems that are threatened by pollution. It requires 60 ratifications before coming into force. UN members finalised it in March last year, then formally adopted it. The treaty received 70 signatures

Bangladesh and Barbados – ratified the treaty last week at the UN General Assembly, bringing total ratifications to 13. Campaign groups still hope the treaty will come into force next year, but say ratifications are lagging.

But it was “time to step up the pace and sprint to the finish line,” said Rebecca Hubbard, director of the NGO coalition. The high seas begin where the