DR CONGO
‘Disease X’ spreads
More cases of a mysterious flu-like illness labeled “Disease X” were reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the WHO has dispatched a rapid response team to help investigate. From Oct. 24 to Thursday, 406 cases of the unidentified illness — marked by fever, headache, cough, runny nose and body aches — have been reported in the Panzi health zone in the southwest, the WHO said in a statement on Sunday. While more than half of the cases involve children under five, a 50-year-old male traveler hospitalized in Lucca, Italy, is suspected to have recovered from the disease, Il Tempo reported. Thirty-one deaths have been recorded, down from 79 reported last week, the WHO said. The outbreak is centered in a remote rural area of Kwango province that is hard to access. All severe cases involve people with severe malnutrition, adding complexity to identifying an infectious source. “Laboratory tests are under way to determine the exact cause. At this stage, it is also possible that more than one disease is contributing to the cases and deaths,” the WHO said.
PHILIPPINES
Eruption sparks evacuation
Mount Kanlaon in Negros province erupted at 3:03pm yesterday, sending a huge ash column into the sky as the government called for the evacuation of surrounding villages. Rising more than 2,400m above sea level, Kanlaon is one of the nation’s 24 active volcanoes. in the Philippines. “All local government units are advised to evacuate the 6km radius from the summit of the volcano and must be prepared for additional evacuation if activity warrants,” the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said in a statement. Video clips posted by residents on social media showed a giant cauliflower-shaped grey mass of smoke billowing above Kanlaon’s crater. The seismology office said the plume rose to 3,000m above the vent, with red-hot ashes and other materials also falling on its southeastern slope.
SOUTH KOREA
Seven killed in sea collision
A fishing boat capsized early yesterday after colliding with a sand barge in waters off the nation’s southeastern coast, leaving seven crew members dead and one missing, the local coast guard and fire departments said. The 29-tonne fishing boat, which had eight passengers — three South Koreans and five Indonesians — capsized after colliding with a 456-tonne barge in waters near the city of Gyeongju, Pohang coast guard official Kim Eul-dong said. Dozens of emergency workers, along with 15 coast guard vessels and six helicopters, were mobilized to search for the missing passenger, who was Indonesian. None of the passengers from the barge were hurt.
THAILAND
Police bust ‘drug party’
Police have detained more than 120 people at a “drug party” in Bangkok, officers said yesterday. Police Colonel Pansa Amarapitak said they were tipped off about the party at a hotel early on Sunday morning. Police photos showed a room full of mostly male suspects in handcuffs and wearing nothing but underpants as officers searched them for drugs. They found 31 of the 124 people arrested were in possession of illegal narcotics, such as crystal methamphetamine, ecstasy and ketamine, Pansa said. All of them were tested for the substances and 66 were found with traces in their system. All except two were men, and about five were foreigners, he said. Police are seeking the courts’ permission to hold those suspected of drug possession for questioning beyond the 48-hour window, Pansa said. The rest have been released.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
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