AFGHANISTAN
Earthquake kills one
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake yesterday hit the western part of the country, causing one death and dozens of injuries, officials said, predicting the toll could rise amid reports of landslides and building collapses. The US Geological Survey said the epicenter was 40km northwest of the region’s largest city, Herat, and was followed by five aftershocks with magnitudes of 5.5, 4.7, 6.3, 5.9 and 4.6. Crowds of residents and shopkeepers fled buildings in the city at about 11am as the quakes began, causing 25 injuries and a single fatality, a Taliban government spokesperson said. National Disaster Management Authority spokesman Mullah Jan Sayeq said the initial toll was “preliminary” and he feared it would rise as “in the rural and mountainous areas there have been landslides as well.”
SINGAPORE
Fires lower air quality
The air quality yesterday fell into the unhealthy range, official readings showed, due to increased forest fires from neighboring Indonesia. At 2pm, the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index readings in the eastern and central part of Singapore was above 100, levels at which people are advised to reduce prolonged strenuous outdoor activities. Transborder haze is a perennial problem in Southeast Asia as regulatory loopholes make it hard for authorities to eliminate Indonesia’s slash-and-burn land clearing practices. The National Environment Agency said that 212 hot spots were detected on Indonesia’s nearby Sumatra Island on Friday, up from 65 on Thursday and 15 the day before. A brief shift in the wind direction on Friday afternoon blew some of the lighter haze toward Singapore, worsening the island nation’s air quality, it said.
MEXICO
Sixteen migrants die in crash
At least 16 migrants from Venezuela and Haiti died early on Friday in a bus crash in the south, authorities said. The National Immigration Institute and prosecutors in Oaxaca said the dead included two women and three children, and 29 people were injured. There was no immediate information on their condition. Photos from the scene showed the bus rolled over onto its side on a curvy section of highway. The cause of the crash in Tepelmeme is under investigation. The institute said that a total of 55 migrants, mostly from Venezuela, were aboard the vehicle. It was the latest in a series of migrant deaths in Mexico amid a surge in migrants traveling toward the US border. Because migration agents often raid regular buses, migrants and smugglers often seek out risky forms of transportation, such as unregulated buses, trains or freight trucks.
UNITED STATES
Pakistani flies to space
Adventurer Namira Salim on Friday became the first Pakistani to travel into space, riding aboard Virgin Galactic’s fifth successful flight in five months, the US company announced. Salim, who previously traveled to both poles and has also parachuted over Mount Everest, was among the first customers to buy a ticket with billionaire Richard Branson’s space company after it was founded almost two decades ago. “I love my title: ‘first Pakistani astronaut.’ It’s like being a very special princess of the country. Maybe nicer than being a princess,” Salim said in 2012. Virgin Galactic said that Salim is also a resident of Monaco and the United Arab Emirates. That makes her the first person from Monaco and the first Emirati woman to travel to space, it added.
A beauty queen who pulled out of the Miss South Africa competition when her nationality was questioned has said she wants to relocate to Nigeria, after coming second in the Miss Universe pageant while representing the West African country. Chidimma Adetshina, whose father is Nigerian, was crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania and was runner-up to Denmark’s Victoria Kjar Theilvig in Mexico on Saturday night. The 23-year-old law student withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition in August, saying that she needed to protect herself and her family after the government alleged that her mother had stolen the identity of a South
BELT-TIGHTENING: Chinese investments in Cambodia are projected to drop to US$35 million in 2026 from more than US$420 million in 2021 At a ceremony in August, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet knelt to receive blessings from saffron-robed monks as fireworks and balloons heralded the breaking of ground for a canal he hoped would transform his country’s economic fortunes. Addressing hundreds of people waving the Cambodian flag, Hun Manet said China would contribute 49 percent to the funding of the Funan Techo Canal that would link the Mekong River to the Gulf of Thailand and reduce Cambodia’s shipping reliance on Vietnam. Cambodia’s government estimates the strategic, if contentious, infrastructure project would cost US$1.7 billion, nearly 4 percent of the nation’s annual GDP. However, months later,
Texas’ education board on Friday voted to allow Bible-infused teachings in elementary schools, joining other Republican-led US states that pushed this year to give religion a larger presence in public classrooms. The curriculum adopted by the Texas State Board of Education, which is controlled by elected Republicans, is optional for schools to adopt, but they would receive additional funding if they do so. The materials could appear in classrooms as early as next school year. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has voiced support for the lesson plans, which were provided by the state’s education agency that oversees the more than
The Philippine Department of Justice yesterday labeled Vice President Sara Duterte the “mastermind” of a plot to assassinate the nation’s president, giving her five days to respond to a subpoena. Duterte is being asked to explain herself in the wake of a blistering weekend press conference where she said she had instructed that Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr be killed should an alleged plot to kill her succeed. “The government is taking action to protect our duly elected president,” Philippine Undersecretary of Justice Jesse Andres said at yesterday’s press briefing. “The premeditated plot to assassinate the president as declared by the self-confessed mastermind
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