Ten out of 14 types of plastic bags sold in grocery stores, convenience stores and shopping centers have been found be carrying false labels marking them as biodegradable and environmentally friendly, the Taipei-based Consumers’ Foundation said Wednesday. The plastic bags in question break into tiny pieces during the natural process of degradation, but are nevertheless promoted as biodegradable, said Ling Young-chien , chief inspector of the foundation, a non-profit organization devoted to consumers’ rights.
Category: Southeast Asia
Philippines Hunts for Crew of Ship Sunk by Typhoon Nock-Ten; AIR Comments
The Philippine coast guard pressed its search Tuesday for 18 crewmen from a cargo ship that sank at the height of Typhoon Nock-Ten, which struck the country on Christmas Day. Coast guard spokesman Armand Balilo said 14 other crewmen have been rescued and one died after the M/V Starlite Atlantic sank off Mabini town in Batangas province, where the powerful typhoon passed Monday on its way out of the country into the South China Sea.
Philippines Hunts for Crew of Ship Sunk by Typhoon Nock-Ten; AIR Comments
The Philippine coast guard pressed its search Tuesday for 18 crewmen from a cargo ship that sank at the height of Typhoon Nock-Ten, which struck the country on Christmas Day. Coast guard spokesman Armand Balilo said 14 other crewmen have been rescued and one died after the M/V Starlite Atlantic sank off Mabini town in Batangas province, where the powerful typhoon passed Monday on its way out of the country into the South China Sea.
Fighting back: How Indonesia’s elite police turned the tide on militants
Indonesian anti-terror police from Detachment 88 stand guard near explosive materials and other evidence confiscated in raids on suspected militants during a media briefing at police headquarters in Jakarta, Indonesia, November 30, 2016. Picture taken November 30, 2016.
Super typhoon Nock-Ten to strike Philippines on Christmas Day
The U.S. military’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said Nock-Ten was a super typhoon with winds of up to 240 kph late Christmas Eve local time, though it was expected to weaken before landfall. The Philippines’ own weather bureau said the province of Catanduanes was likely to see sustained winds of up to 170 kph by the afternoon as the storm reaches its shores.
Cambodia’s explanation for killing of activist draws doubt
In this April, 6, 2016, file photo, Cambodian prominent political analyst Kem Ley smiles as he celebrates the 67th anniversary to commemorate the Kampuchea Krom territory’s return to Vietnam by the French government at Chroy Changvar in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Kem Ley, a poor farmer’s son turned champion of Cambodia’s have-nots, was killed in a still-unresolved case that has both silenced opposition figures and ignited a pro-democracy surge.
Powerful Quake Hits Off Eastern Indonesia, No Alert For Tsunami
An earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale jolted Maluku in eastern parts of Indonesia earlier Wednesday, but there were no tsunami alert issued and a report of casualty, China’s Xinhua news agency reported quoting officials. The quake rocked at 0017 GMT with epicenter at 184 km northeast Maluku Barat Daya and the depth at 173 km under sea bed, an official of meteorology and geophysics agency said.
Indonesian air force plane crashes in Papua killing 13: official
An Indonesian air force transport plane has crashed into a mountain during a training exercise in the remote region of Papua, killing all 13 people on board, a search and rescue agency official said. The Hercules C130 plane had taken off from the city of Timika before crashing near its destination almost 200 kilometres away in Wamena, at around 6:15am , said Ivan Ahmad Riski Titus, operational director of Indonesia’s Search and Rescue Agency.
Dateline Irrawaddy: ‘The Speculative Market Is the Main Problem’
Kyaw Hsu Mon: Welcome to Dateline Irrawaddy. This week, we have invited businessmen to discuss the rising exchange rate of the US dollar in Burma’s financial market.
china alarmed by chilli – conspiracy’ in Indonesia
China’s embassy in Indonesia has expressed alarm at media reports accusing China of using a “biological weapon” against Indonesia, after four Chinese nationals were arrested for planting imported chilli seeds contaminated with a bacteria. The headlines splashed across Indonesian media have sparked a wave of anti-Chinese sentiment on social media in a country with a history of simmering resentment towards its giant neighbour and a minority ethnic Chinese community.