Asia
24 killed in landslide in India's Manipur
At least 24 people, mostly soldiers, have died in a massive landslide triggered by torrential rains at an Army camp in the Indian state of Manipur, officials said on Saturday.
The landslide occurred late on Wednesday night at the Territorial Army camp near an under-construction Metro railway site in the northeastern Indian state's Noney district.
"So far, 24 bodies have been recovered by rescuers from the site. Of the deceased, 18 were soldiers and six civilians working at the construction site," a senior police officer told the local media.
READ: Landslide Safety, Preparedness Tips: Dos and Don'ts
Some 18 people have also been pulled out alive from under the debris, he added. "The search and rescue operation by the armed forces is still on. Some 38 people are still missing."
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each for the family of the victims, after visiting the disaster site.
All the deceased soldiers of the Territorial Army will be cremated with full military honours, an Indian Army spokesperson told the media.
The Territorial Army is a volunteer reserve force of the Indian Army.
Strong earthquake kills 5 in southern Iran
Five people were killed and 44 others injured in a magnitude 6.3 earthquake in southern Iran on Saturday, state television reported.
Rescue teams were deployed near the epicenter, Sayeh Khosh village, which is home to around 300 people in Hormozgan province, some 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) south of the capital, Tehran, the report said.
People went into the streets as aftershocks continued to jolt the area after the early morning quake, which also damaged buildings and infrastructure.
The earthquake was felt in many neighboring countries, the report said.
READ: India sends team to help with deadly Afghanistan earthquake
The area has seen several moderate earthquakes in recent weeks. In November, one man died following two magnitude 6.4 and 6.3 earthquakes.
Iran lies on major seismic faults and experiences one earthquake a day on average. In 2003, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake flattened the historic city of Bam, killing 26,000 people. A magnitude 7 earthquake that struck western Iran in 2017 killed more than 600 people and injured more than 9,000.
India's top court asks Nupur Sharma to apologise for Prophet remarks
India's highest judiciary on Friday asked former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma to "apologise to the whole country" for her remarks on the Prophet Muhammad.
"It is shameful. She (Sharma) should apologise to the whole country," Justice Surya Kant of a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court said, while hearing her plea seeking a transfer of all FIRs filed against her across the country to Delhi.
Read:India’s ‘prophetic' trouble getting bigger
"This lady is single-handedly responsible for what is happening in the country," Justice Kant said. "She thinks she has back up of power and can make any statement without respect to the law of the land."
Soon after the Supreme Court's remarks on Sharma, India's main opposition Congress party's leader Rahul Gandhi blamed the BJP-led federal government for fanning anti-Muslim sentiments across the country.
In fact, Sharma's remarks sparked massive protests by Muslims across the country last month and also triggered a diplomatic row between India and many Muslim-majority countries -- the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Indonesia, Kuwait and Qatar to name a few.
Read: India's BJP sacks two spokespersons over comments on Prophet
Last month only, the BJP sacked Sharma and another spokesperson -- Delhi media cell head, Naveen Kumar Jindal -- from their respective posts, saying the ruling party “respects all religions”.
“The BJP does not promote such persons or philosophy… it (the BJP) strongly denounces the insult of any religious personalities of any religion,” the party had said in a statement.
India tests high-speed expendable aerial target
India successfully tested Abhyas, an indigenously-designed high-speed expendable aerial target, on Wednesday, defense ministry officials said.
The test was carried out from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Chandipur off the coast of the eastern state of Odisha.
According to defense ministry officials, Abhyas was designed and developed by the aeronautical development establishment of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
Also Read: India's Mukesh Ambani kickstarts dynastic succession
Philippines affirms news site shutdown order: Maria Ressa
Filipino journalist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa announced in a speech in Hawaii Tuesday that the Philippine government is affirming a previous order to shut down Rappler, the news website she co-founded, which has gained notoriety for its reporting of President Rodrigo Duterte's bloody crackdown on illegal drugs.
The Philippines' Securities and Exchange Commission affirmed its earlier decision to revoke the certificates of incorporation of Rappler, Ressa said while speaking at the East-West Center in Honolulu.
“Part of the reason I didn’t have much sleep last night is because we essentially got a shutdown order,” Ressa told the audience.
Last year, Ressa became the first Filipino and she and Russian Dmitry Muratov became the first working journalists in more than 80 years to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
She was a featured speaker at this week's East-West Center’s International Media Conference.
The order is dated June 28 and reaffirms the earlier decision to revoke the certificates of incorporation of Rappler Inc. and Rappler Holdings Corp., Rappler said in a statement. “We are entitled to appeal this decision and will do so, especially since the proceedings were highly irregular," the statement said.
Read: Journalist Maria Ressa reflects on Nobel Peace Prize win
“We’re not shutting down,” Ressa said. “Well, I'm not supposed to say that.”
No announcements about the decision appeared on the Philippines Securities and Exchange website before business hours in the Philippines, where it was already Wednesday.
The AP was not able to immediately reach Ressa in Honolulu.
She co-founded Rappler in 2012. The website is one of several news agencies deemed critical of Duterte's policies.
Since taking office in 2016, Duterte has openly lambasted journalists who write unfavorable stories about him. He has particularly bristled at critical coverage of his anti-drug campaign, which has left thousands of mostly poor suspects dead and drawn international condemnation.
President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and Vice President-elect Sara Duterte — Duterte's daughter — take office Thursday after winning landslide victories in last month's elections.
Ressa was convicted of libel and has remained free on bail while the case is on appeal.
The Philippines' Securities and Exchange Commission revoked Rappler's license over what it ruled was a breach of the ban on foreign ownership and control of media outlets.
Gas lines and scuffles: Sri Lanka faces humanitarian crisis
Chamila Nilanthi is tired of all the waiting. The 47-year-old mother of two spent three days lining up to get kerosene in the Sri Lankan town of Gampaha, northeast of the capital Colombo. Two weeks earlier, she spent three days in a queue for cooking gas -- but came home with none.
“I am totally fed up, exhausted,’’ she said. “I don’t know how long we have to do this.’’
A few years ago Sri Lanka’s economy was growing strongly enough to provide jobs and financial security for most. It's now in a state of collapse, dependent on aid from India and other countries as its leaders desperately try to negotiate a bailout with the International Monetary Fund.
What’s happening in this South Asian island nation of 22 million is worse than the usual financial crises seen in the developing world: It's a complete economic breakdown that has left ordinary people struggling to buy food, fuel and other necessities and has brought political unrest and violence.
Read:Senior US officials visit Sri Lanka to help resolve crisis
“It really is veering quickly into a humanitarian crisis,’’ said Scott Morris, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development in Washington.
Such disasters are more commonly seen in poorer countries, in sub-Saharan Africa or in war-torn Afghanistan. In middle-income countries such as Sri Lanka they are rarer but not unheard of: 6 million Venezuelans have fled their oil-rich home country to escape a seemingly unending political crisis that has devastated the economy.
Indonesia, once touted as an “Asian Tiger’’ economy, endured Depression-level deprivation in the late 1990s that led to riots and political unrest and swept away a strong man who’d held power for three decades. The country now is a democracy and a member of the Group of 20 biggest industrial economies.
Sri Lanka’s crisis is largely the result of staggering economic mismanagement combined with fallout from the pandemic, which along with 2019 terrorism attacks devastated its important tourism industry. The COVID-19 crisis also disrupted the flow of payments home from Sri Lankans working abroad.
The government took on big debts and slashed taxes in 2019, depleting the treasury just as COVID-19 hit. Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange reserves plummeted, leaving it unable to pay for imports or defend its beleaguered currency, the rupee.
Ordinary Sri Lankans -- especially the poor -- are paying the price. They wait for days for cooking gas and petrol -- in lines that can extend more than 2 kilometers (1.2 miles). Sometimes, like Chamila Nilanthi, they go home with nothing.
Eleven people have died so far waiting for gasoline. The latest was a 63-year-old man found dead inside his vehicle on the outskirts of Colombo. Unable to get gasoline, some have given up driving and resorted to bicycles or public transportation to get around.
The government has closed urban schools and some universities and is giving civil servants every Friday off for three months, to conserve fuel and allow them time to grow their own fruit and vegetables.
Food price inflation is running at 57%, according to government data, and 70% of Sri Lankan households surveyed by UNICEF last month reported cutting back on food consumption. Many families rely on government rice handouts and donations from charities and generous individuals.
Unable to find cooking gas, many Sri Lankans are turning to kerosene stoves or cooking over open fires.
Read: Why Sri Lanka’s economy collapsed and what’s next
Affluent families can use electric induction ovens for cooking, unless the power is out. But most Sri Lankans can’t afford those stoves or higher electric bills.
Sri Lankans furious over fuel shortages have staged protests, blocked roads and confronted police. Fights have broken out when some try to jump ahead in fuel lines. Police have attacked unruly crowds.
One night last week, a soldier was seen assaulting a police officer at a fuel station in a dispute over gasoline distribution. The police officer was hospitalized. The police and military are separately investigating the incident.
The crisis is a crushing blow to Sri Lanka’s middle class, estimated to account for 15% to 20% of the country’s urban population. Until it all came apart, they enjoyed financial security and increasing standards of living.
Such a reversal is not unprecedented. In fact, it looks like what happened to Indonesia in the late 1990s.
The U.S. Agency for International Development -- which runs aid projects for poor countries -- was preparing to close up shop in the Indonesian capital Jakarta; the country didn’t seem to need the help. “As one of the Asian Tigers, it had worked its way off the aid list,’’ recalls Jackie Pomeroy, an economist who worked on a USAID project in the Indonesian government before joining the World Bank in Jakarta.
But then a financial crisis -- triggered when Thailand suddenly devalued its currency in July 1997 to combat speculators -- swept across East Asia. Plagued by widespread corruption and weak banks, Indonesia was hit especially hard. Its currency plummeted against the U.S. dollar, forcing Indonesian companies to cough up more rupiahs to pay back dollar-denominated loans.
Businesses closed. Unemployment soared. Desperate city dwellers returned to the countryside where they could grow their own food. The Indonesian economy shrank more than 13% in 1998, a Depression-level performance.
Desperation turned to rage, and demonstrations against the government of Suharto, who’d ruled Indonesia with an iron fist since 1968. “It very quickly rolled into scenes of political unrest,’’ Pomeroy said. “It became an issue of political transition and Suharto.’’ The dictator was forced out in May 1998, ending autocratic rule.
Although they live in a democracy, many Sri Lankans blame the politically dominant Rajapaksa family for the disaster. “It’s their fault, but we have to suffer for their mistakes,” said Ranjana Padmasiri, who works as a clerk at a private firm.
Two of the three top Rajapaksas have resigned — Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and Basil Rajapaksa, who was finance minister. Protestors have been demanding that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa also step down. They’ve camped outside his office in Colombo for more than two months.
Resignation, Padmasiri said, isn’t enough. “They can’t get away easily,’’ he said. “They must be held responsible for this crisis.’’
Arrest of Indian Muslim journalist sparks widespread outrage
Police in India’s capital New Delhi arrested a Muslim journalist Monday evening for allegedly hurting religious sentiments in what many have slammed as the latest example of shrinking press freedoms under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
Mohammed Zubair, one of the co-founders of fact-checking website Alt News, was arrested over a tweet that police said deliberately insulted “the god of a particular religion.” Senior police officer K P S Malhotra said the case was registered following a complaint from a Twitter user and Zubair was remanded in custody for one day.
Journalists across India have been increasingly targeted for their work in recent years. Some have been arrested under stringent criminal charges over posts on social media, where they routinely face threats and trolling. The Twitter accounts of some journalists and news websites have also been suspended on government orders.
The incident immediately set off a wave of outrage, with activists, journalists and opposition politicians taking to social media to decry it as harassment of the press while calling for Zubair’s immediate release.
Also read: Leading Muslim journo held in India
“In a democracy, where every individual possesses the right to exercise the freedom of speech and expression, it is unjustifiable that such stringent laws are being used as tools against journalists,” said DIGIPUB, a network of Indian digital news organizations, in a statement.
“Arresting one voice of truth will only give rise to a thousand more,” wrote opposition Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Twitter.
Pratik Sinha, the other co-founder of Alt News, said that Zubair was arrested without any notice from police, which is mandatory under law for the sections under which he has been detained.
Founded in 2017 as a nonprofit, Alt News is India’s most prominent fact-checking news website and has gained a reputation for its reporting on hate speech and debunking misinformation, particularly by Hindu nationalists. Its founders often face online trolling and threats by right-wing groups, some of them linked to Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.
Several similar cases have been filed against Zubair in the past. Earlier this month, police charged him for calling some Hindu monks “hatemongers,” news website The Wire reported. The Hindu monks had made inflammatory statements about Muslims and at least one of them had called for a “genocide” of the minority community. The monks were arrested and later released on bail.
Zubair was also among the first journalists to highlight controversial comments made by the now-suspended spokesperson of the BJP on the Prophet Muhammad that created a diplomatic row for the Modi administration. The Indian government distanced itself from the spokesperson’s comments after it sparked massive backlash from many Muslim nations.
India's rank fell eight places to 150 among 180 countries in this year's Press Freedom Index published by watchdog group Reporters Without Borders.
“Indian journalists who are too critical of the government are subjected to all-out harassment and attack campaigns,” it noted in its 2022 edition, adding that reporters were regularly exposed to police violence and increasing reprisals from officials.
Zubair’s arrest comes two days after lawyer and human rights activist Teesta Setalvad was arrested by the Gujarat state police’s anti-terrorism wing.
Also read: Woman tribal politician to become India's next President?
Setalvad was arrested Saturday for allegedly “committing forgery and fabricating evidence” in a case about the 2002 anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat state. Modi, who was then chief minister of Gujarat, has denied the charges against him, and has been cleared of complicity after government investigators and courts ruled there is no evidence against Modi.
Setalvad has long campaigned to get justice for victims of the riots in which nearly 1,000 people, most of them Muslims, were killed. Her arrest was condemned by global rights groups like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.
Leading Muslim journo held in India
Police in the Indian capital have arrested a leading Muslim journalist on charges of hurting religious sentiments through one of his tweets.
Mohammed Zubair is the co-founder of Alt News, a popular fact-checking website that has been critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party government.
Zubair's recent tweets highlighting the comments of BJP spokespersons allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad prompted many Muslim countries to lodge protest and led to countrywide demonstrations.
Read: Hearing on rule for identifying plotters against Padma Bridge Tuesday
Alt News co-founder Pratik Sinha said that his colleague was called by Delhi Police for questioning in a different case and arrested "in this new case instead" on Monday night.
"No FIR copy is being given to us despite repeated requests," Sinha tweeted.
India's opposition has condemned Zubair's arrest. "Arresting one voice of truth will only give rise to a thousand more," Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted.
Alt News was founded in 2017.
Explorers find WWII Navy destroyer, deepest wreck discovered
A U.S. Navy destroyer that engaged a superior Japanese fleet in the largest sea battle of World War II in the Philippines has become the deepest wreck to be discovered, according to explorers.
The USS Samuel B. Roberts, popularly known as the “Sammy B," was identified on Wednesday broken into two pieces on a slope at a depth of 6,985 meters (22,916 feet).
That puts it 426 meters (1,400 feet) deeper than the USS Johnston, the previous deepest wreck discovered last year in the Philippine Sea also by American explorer Victor Vescovo, founder of Dallas-based Caladan Oceanic Expeditions. He announced the latest find together with U.K.-based EYOS Expeditions.
Read:Give us back our moon dust and cockroaches: NASA
“It was an extraordinary honor to locate this incredibly famous ship, and by doing so have the chance to retell her story of heroism and duty to those who may not know of the ship and her crew’s sacrifice," Vescovo, a former Navy commander, said in a statement.
The Sammy B. took part in the Battle off Samar, the final phase of the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944, in which the Imperial Japanese Navy suffered its biggest loss of ships and failed to dislodge the U.S. forces from Leyte, which they invaded earlier as part of the liberation of the Philippines.
According to some records, the destroyer disabled a Japanese heavy cruiser with a torpedo and significantly damaged another. After having spent virtually all its ammunition, she was critically hit by the lead battleship Yamato and sank. Of a 224-man crew, 89 died and 120 were saved, including the captain, Lt. Cmdr. Robert W. Copeland.
According to Samuel J. Cox, a retired admiral and naval historian, Copeland stated there was “no higher honor” then to have led the men who displayed such incredible courage going into battle against overwhelming odds, from which survival could not be expected.
Read:European star survey reveals celestial treasure trove
“This site is a hallowed war grave, and serves to remind all Americans of the great cost born by previous generations for the freedom we take for granted today,” Cox said in a statement.
The explorers said that up until the discovery, the historical records of where the wreck lay were not very accurate. The search involved the use of the deepest side-scan sonar ever installed and operated on a submersible, well beyond the standard commercial limitations of 6,000 meters (19,685 feet), EYOS said.
Senior US officials visit Sri Lanka to help resolve crisis
Senior U.S. officials arrived in Sri Lanka on Sunday to find ways to help the island nation in the throes of an unprecedented economic crisis and severe shortages of essential supplies, as the energy minister warned that new fuel shipments would be delayed.
The U.S. over the past two weeks has announced millions of dollars in assistance to Sri Lanka, which has been surviving on $4 billion in credit lines from neighboring India. It also has received pledges of $300 million to $600 million from the World Bank to buy medicine and other items.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe last week announced the economy had “collapsed” due to dwindling foreign exchange reserves and a mounting debt, worsened by the pandemic and other longer term troubles.
Read: At least 20 dead in South African club; cause not yet known
The U.S. delegation was led by Robert Kaproth, deputy assistant secretary of Treasury for Asia, and Kelly Keiderling, deputy assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia.
During their four-day stay, they will meet a wide range of political representatives, economists, and international organizations to “explore the most effective ways for the U.S. to support Sri Lankans in need, Sri Lankans working to resolve the current economic crisis, and Sri Lankans planning for a sustainable and inclusive economy for the future,” the U.S. Embassy said in a statement.
“This visit underscores our ongoing commitment to the security and prosperity of the Sri Lankan people,” said Julie Chung, U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka.
She said that as Sri Lankans endure some of the “greatest economic challenges in their history, our efforts to support economic growth and strengthen democratic institutions have never been more critical.”
The U.S. has announced $120 million in new financing for small and medium-sized businesses, a $27 million contribution to Sri Lanka’s dairy industry and $5.75 million in humanitarian assistance to help those hit hardest by the economic crisis. Another $6 million was committed in new grants for livelihoods and technical assistance on financial reform.
Sri Lanka says it’s unable to repay $7 billion in foreign debt due this year, pending the outcome of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund on a rescue package. It must pay $5 billion on average annually until 2026. Authorities have asked the IMF to lead a conference to unite Sri Lanka’s lenders.
Read: Destruction everywhere, help scarce after Afghanistan quake
Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera in a tweet on Saturday evening urged people not to line up for fuel, saying new shipments would be delayed due to “banking and logistics reasons.”
He said limited stocks of fuel will be distributed to limited stations throughout next week. He said until the next shipments arrive, “public transport, power generations and industries will be given a priority.”
Wickremesinghe said last week that the state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation was $700 million in debt and as a result, no country or organization was willing to provide fuel.
Protesters have occupied the entrance to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s office for more than two months demanding his resignation, saying the primary responsibility for the crisis rests with him and his family, whom they accuse of corruption and mismanagement.