Myanmar junta issues rare appeal for foreign aid after Typhoon Yagi

Myanmar’s military-run government has issued a rare appeal for foreign aid after it was hit by Typhoon Yagi, the strongest storm to hit Asia this year, causing severe flooding and displacing thousands of people amid a crippling economic crisis.

The floods have killed at least 33 people in the country and displaced more than 235,000 people, the junta said.

But there are fears the actual death toll could be far higher, as the true scale of the devastation is only just emerging. Communication with much of the affected region has been cut off by landslides and heavy flooding.

Myanmar was one of the last countries to be hit by Yagi after it passed over the Philippines, China, Vietnam and Thailand, leaving a trail of destruction and killing at least 300 people.

Heavy flooding has hit the capital Naypyidaw, part of a roughly 162 sq km area worst-hit by a deluge on Thursday, according to satellite imagery analysis by the UN-backed Myanmar Information Management Unit (MIMU). Myanmar‘s second-largest city, Mandalay, has also been badly affected.

The disaster has exacerbated a host of challenges for a country gripped by civil war and infighting between ethnic groups since the military seized power in a coup in 2021. War has brought a crippling economic crisis and severely hit exports.

“Officials from the government need to contact foreign countries to receive rescue and relief aid to be provided to the victims,” junta leader Min Aung Hlaing said on Friday, according to the state-affiliated Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

“It is necessary to manage rescue, relief and rehabilitation measures as quickly as possible,” he was quoted as saying.

The military has lost contact with some parts of the country and was investigating the reports of dozens of deaths and people buried in landslides in a gold-mining area in the central Mandalay region, according to a military spokesperson.

Pictures showed hundreds of villagers, including children, wading through chin-high waters in parts of the country to move to safer locations. People have been forced to take shelter in trees overnight to survive the raging flood water.

Boats and bamboo rafts were used to relocate people as houses were submerged in muddy waters.

The landslides and flooding have cut off roads and bridges and destroyed electricity towers, buildings and houses.

Myanmar’s rare call for help has come after the military previously blocked humanitarian assistance from abroad. About a third of Myanmar’s 55 million people survive on humanitarian assistance but many aid agencies, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, have said they cannot operate in many areas because of access restrictions and security risks.

More than 2.6 million people have already been displaced because of the three-year civil war that has killed thousands of people. The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has said that more than 18.6 million people are in humanitarian need.

It said flooding would increase the spread of waterborne diseases and further stretch the availability of healthcare, with limited access to clean water and sanitation.

“They live with the fear of armed conflict and violence. The disruption of livelihoods is leaving countless people without the means to sustain themselves,” the ICRC’s president, Mirjana Spoljaric, said on Wednesday.

In 2008 when cyclone Nargis killed 138,000 people in Myanmar, the then junta allegedly blocked emergency aid and was accused of refusing to grant access to humanitarian workers and supplies.

Last year, Myanmar suspended access to aid groups that tried to reach a million victims who were hit by powerful cyclone Mocha.

Fears Taj Mahal has been damaged as water leaks into central tomb

Water is leaking into the central tomb of the Taj Mahal after three days of sustained heavy rainfall led to a crack appearing in the roof of India’s most famous landmark.

The government agency responsible for maintaining India’s monuments said it was urgently investigating the extent of the damage to the 17th-century mausoleum.

Videos circulating online showed one of the Taj Mahal’s four gardens completely inundated with water. Photography is strictly prohibited inside the structure itself, where officials said water had been observed.

“Moisture was observed inside the main mausoleum,” said Rajkumar Patel, a senior official with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). “There may be a hairline crack in the dome’s stones, causing the leakage.”

“The place where water drops are falling is being checked, to find out whether it is continuously in the same position or is falling intermittently. In any case, necessary repairs will be carried out. The garden will be rejuvenated once the rain stops,” Mr Patel told the Times of India.

The Taj Mahal, located in Agra in Uttar Pradesh state, is a Unesco World Heritage Site. It was built by the emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

A government-approved tourist guide said the water leaking from the dome had reached the chamber which houses the tombs of Shah Jahan and his wife.

The Taj Mahal remains one of the most iconic destinations in India, having been visited by many world leaders and prominent personalities, including perhaps most famously Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales. More recently, the likes of former prime minister Boris Johnson and former US president Donald Trump have also included the monument on the itinerary for official visits.

This is not the first time concerns have been raised about the upkeep and maintenance of the most famous tourist site in India. Historians have blamed poor management of air and water pollution around the architectural marvel for causing the gradual yellowing of the monument, dulling its brilliant white marble.

It comes as much of northern India, including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and the national capital Delhi, experienced heavy rainfall, inundating city streets due to a combination of poor drainage systems and inadequate urban planning.

This week Agra received 151mm of rain in a single day – the highest recorded in 80 years – causing damage and flooding at other historical sites such as Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri Fort.

India’s top court grants bail to Delhi leader Arvind Kejriwal

India‘s Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to jailed opposition politician Arvind Kejriwal in a graft case, which could secure his release from prison after six months.

Mr Kejriwal, chief minister of capital Delhi and head of the Aam Aadmi Party (Common Man’s Party), was taken into custody in March just weeks before the national elections by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), an agency controlled by prime minister Narendra Modi’s federal government.

The 56-year-old Modi critic was sent to the capital’s notorious Tihar jail over allegations of accepting bribes to favour certain private retailers in a now-scrapped liquor policy. He denies wrongdoing and calls the case politically motivated.

A two-judge bench of the top court granted relief to Mr Kejriwal on a bail bond of Rs1,000,000 (£9,074) and imposed a ban on the chief minister from publicly commenting on the merits of the case.

“Prolonged incarceration amounts to unjust deprivation of liberty,” justice Surya Kant said in his verdict.

Mr Kejriwal was granted bail in the ED case but remained in custody due to his arrest a month previously by the federal police in a graft case related to the same policy.

His wife, Sunita Kejriwal, in a post on X congratulated the political party on the chief minister’s bail after six months of detention without trial. “Kudos for staying strong. Wishing also the soonest release of our other leaders,” she added.

Delhi’s former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who was released from prison in August after 17 months, said the “truth has won in the fight against lies and conspiracies”.

Mr Kejriwal was granted bail by a Delhi court in June after it found the federal agency had failed to provide any direct evidence against him. But the bail was stayed five days later by the state’s high court, which said the lower court had granted it without going through ED’s entire material.

The same day, Mr Kejriwal was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India’s equivalent of the FBI, in connection with a corruption case related to the alleged excise policy scam.

Mr Kejriwal was among three leaders of his party who have been arrested on corruption charges. He is also the first serving chief minister to be arrested in independent India.

His arrest deepened fears of a constitutional crisis under the Modi government and sparked protests in Delhi and the northern state of Punjab, which is also ruled by Mr Kejriwal’s party.

Sitaram Yechury, leader of India’s largest communist party, dies at 72

Sitaram Yechury, the leader of India’s largest communist party, died on Thursday. He was 72.

Top politicians from across parties and ideologies paid glowing tributes to the departed leader, remembering him for his unwavering commitment to secularism and his ability to connect with the public.

Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition, hailed Yechury as the “protector of the idea of India” while prime minister Narendra Modi appreciated his “ability to connect across the political spectrum”.

Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal whose Trinamool Congress party has long been an arch rival of the communists, called his death a loss for national politics.

Sonia Gandhi, the matriarch of the main opposition Congress party, recalled her decades-long friendship with Yechury and praised his commitment to India’s constitutional values and his “fierce determination” to protect its diversity and secularism.

Yechury was admitted to Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences earlier last month with pneumonia and later shifted to the Intensive Care Unit, where he died at 3.05pm on Thursday.

The veteran leftist’s passing has left a void in Indian politics, not least because of his ability to forge alliances and navigate coalition politics. He had served as general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) since April 2015, succeeding Prakash Karat.

Yechury was born in the southern city of Chennai and educated in Delhi.

His political journey began about 50 years ago at the Jawaharlal Nehru University. He was pursuing doctoral studies in economics when then prime minister Indira Gandhi imposed the Emergency in 1975, leading to his arrest along with other student leaders. Although his PhD went unfinished, Yechury’s political career gained momentum.

After the Emergency was lifted in 1977, Yechury’s leadership skills shone through as he was elected president of the university’s student union three times.

A pivotal moment in his nascent political career came when he led a student protest against Gandhi, who had retained her position as the university’s chancellor despite losing her prime ministership and even her seat in the parliament in the 1977 election. When Gandhi emerged to meet the student protesters, Yechury read out their demands in her presence.

“There were 500 of us. Her aide told us that only five of us can go in to meet her. But when we insisted, she herself came out. We read out our resolution against her which was full of litanies, but she heard stoically. I handed over the resolution to her and she took it politely too,” Yechury later recalled in an interview with The Hindu. “Couple of days later, she resigned.”

The successful protest catapulted Yechury to prominence in the ranks of his communist party and set him on the path to its leadership.

In later years, he formed an alliance with Gandhi’s daughter-in-law Sonia Gandhi, who had come to head the Congress party, particularly after she led a broad coalition to power in 2004.

He was the first non-Congress leader that Ms Gandhi approached for support after she surprisingly declined the premiership and backed her party colleague Manmohan Singh for the position.

After Yechury’s passing, Ms Gandhi said: “He was, of course, a lifelong communist but that faith was anchored in democratic values. Indeed, his twelve-year stint in parliament was memorable and left his indelible mark. He played a pivotal role in UPA 1 and more recently contributed enormously to the emergence of the INDIA group in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.”

Her son, Rahul Gandhi, called Yechury a friend and “a protector of the Idea of India with a deep understanding of our country”.

“I will miss the long discussions we used to have. My sincere condolences to his family, friends, and followers in this hour of grief,” Mr Gandhi said.

Mr Modi said he was “deeply saddened by the loss” of Yechury, describing him as “a towering figure of the Left who built bridges across the political divide with his exceptional ability to connect with others”.

“He left an indelible mark as a skilled parliamentarian. My heartfelt thoughts are with his family, friends, and admirers during this difficult time. May he rest in peace.”

President Droupadi Murmu praised  Yechury’s “distinct and influential voice”. “Though a committed ideologue, he won friends cutting across the party lines,” she said in her condolence message.

Yechury’s party said the death of its general secretary was a significant loss for leftist, democratic and secular forces in India.

It described him as an exceptional leader of the Left movement and a renowned Marxist ideologue. “We dip the red banner in his memory and call upon all party members to unite and work tirelessly towards our shared goal of an exploitation-free society, the best tribute to his legacy,” the party said in a statement.

Chinese ambassador to India Xu Feihong remembered Yechury as “a steadfast Marxist and a long-standing friend of China”.

The late leader’s significant contributions to fostering “China-India relations and friendship will be cherished and remembered forever”, he added.

Federal minister Nitin Gadkari of the ruling BJP said Mr Yechury’s “contributions to public life will always be remembered”.

Ms Banerjee said she was “sad to know that Sri Sitaram Yechury has passed away”.

“I knew the veteran parliamentarian that he was and his demise will be a loss for national politics,” the West Bengal chief minister said.

Yechury is survived by his wife Seema Chishti and their two children Akhila and Danish. An older son from his first wife, Ashish Yechury, died from Covid in 2021.

Yechury donated his body to AIIMS for teaching and research purposes, the hospital announced.

Viral baby hippo from Thailand zoo facing harassment from visitors

A two-month-old baby pygmy hippo in Thailand who went viral on social media has been harassed by visitors, leading to zoo authorities adding additional security around her enclosure.

Moo Deng, whose name translates to “bouncy pork”, became instantly popular after clips of her on the zoo’s TikTok account caught the notice of people online.

Born on 10 June to parents Jona and Tony at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi, Moo Deng has two siblings, Moo Tun, meaning stewed pork, and Moo Wan, meaning sweet pork. She was first revealed to the public on 25 July, and her name was chosen after a vote held by the zoo.

“The moment I saw Moo-Deng born, I set a goal to make her famous, but I never expected it would spread abroad. I thought she could be famous in Thailand but not internationally,” zookeeper Atthapon Nundee told The Guardian.

Social media users can’t get enough of the adorable hippo going about her day—whether she’s sprayed with water, carried by zookeepers, showing off her new teeth, or simply lying on the ground in her enclosure.

Moo Deng’s popularity has caused a massive surge in visitors to the zoo, seeing anywhere between 6,000 and 7,000 on the weekends, reported Thai PBS.

However, not all the attention Moo Deng is receiving is welcome. In a video shared on social media, Moo Deng is sleeping in her enclosure when a visitor pours water on her. Other visitors have thrown bananas and shellfish at her to try and get her attention.

Narongwit Chodchoi, director of Khao Kheow Open Zoo, on Thursday released a statement asking visitors not to throw objects at her or make loud noises. He warned that the zoo would take legal action against those who do not behave, according to the Bangkok Post.

“These behaviours are not only cruel but also dangerous,” he said. “We must protect these animals and ensure that they have a safe and comfortable environment.”

He added that the zoo had installed surveillance cameras in the area and an officer had been appointed to watch over her.

Moo Deng, who Time magazine has dubbed “legend” and “the moment”, has inspired fanart, zoo merchandise, and even makeup looks from Sephora.

A popular cafe in Bangkok, the Vetmon Cafe, created a cake in her honour, which is being called “too cute to eat”.

Native to western Africa, pygmy hippos are listed as an endangered species, with reports saying only about 2,000 of them remain in the wild.

Indonesia, meanwhile, had cause to celebrate as it welcomed the birth of a baby Javan rhinoceros, one of the world’s most critically endangered species.

The environment and forestry ministry announced the birth along with footage captured in May from Ujung Kulon National Park on the western tip of Java island. The footage showed the baby calf, named Iris, walking with her mother.

There are only about 80 Javan rhinoceros left in the world, all in Indonesia, according to the International Rhino Foundation.

Gas leak at factory sparks panic as residents asked to stay indoors

A gas leak from a chemical company in Thane in the southwestern state of Maharashtra in India caused panic among residents on Thursday evening as it spread across the city, reports said.

Residents reported reduced visibility in Ambernath town in Thane, itchy eyes, throat irritation and breathing issues.

Videos and photos shared on social media showed a smog-like haze over roads in the Morivali MIDC area of Ambernath as state authorities deployed emergency teams to investigate the cause of the leak.

Visibility was reportedly reduced due to the thick smoke that enveloped the area. Authorities urged people to remain indoors as investigations began.

The leak was later attributed to a possible chemical reaction due to high temperatures. However, an investigation is currently ongoing to determine the exact nature of the gas that was leaked.

The disaster management cell of Ambernath said they were also making plans to avoid such situations in the future. “As fumes spread to the streets we immediately rushed to the spot and checked everything,” an unidentified government officer was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

As visuals of haze-covered roads from the gas leak went viral, residents reported that fumes had spread toward the railway tracks, leading to a temporary disruption of train services.

Ambernath, known for its numerous chemical factories, has faced similar incidents in the past. In 2021, a gas leak at another factory resulted in over 30 people being hospitalised.

It was reported that the factory operations have been halted​ for now. According to media reports, the local residents shut their doors and windows in panic to prevent the gas from entering their homes.

Yasin Tadvi, chief of the disaster management cell of the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), was quoted as saying by The Business Standard that the situation was now under control and no injuries or hospitalisations have been reported.

Singer Diljit Dosanjh’s India tour sells out within minutes

Tickets for actor and musician Diljit Dosanjh’s “Dil-luminati” India tour sold out within minutes of going on sale, leaving many fans disappointed.

A presale started on Tuesday and tickets for the concert in capital Delhi sold out in just under two minutes.

General tickets opened for purchase on Thursday and sold out within minutes, with fans showing the same level of enthusiasm as seen for Taylor Swift’s Eras tour.

“We have already sold 150,000 tickets. While there is enormous demand, due to the rules, regulations, and venue capacities, we are expecting around 200,000 people across 10 venues,” tour organiser Janamjai Sehgal from Saregama India told NDTV.

“This level of response has never happened in India before, not even for international artists. On the first day of the presale, 8,000-10,000 transactions were made in a single minute. We sold 100,000 tickets within 15 minutes,” Sehgal said.

Fans who managed to get the tickets celebrated on social media and those who didn’t were trying desperately to find resellers even though they were asking for jacked up prices.

“Bajaj Finance IPO, if one lot is allotted of ₹14,900 (£135), could potentially become ₹28,757 (£260), assuming a 93 per cent GMP. Diljit Dosanjh concert tickets which people bought for ₹5,999 (£54) are being resold for ₹21,000 (£190), that’s a growth of 250.04 per cent! Next time, you know where to invest,” one fan joked on X.

Another fan posted screenshots of multiple tickets to reveal that he spent Rs 87,640 (£794) on them.

Several fans who weren’t able to get the tickets complained about the booking process, because patrons had to zoom in to the seats to confirm, which they said wasted time.

The “Dil-luminati” tour is set to kick off on 26 October in Delhi. Shows are also lined up in Chandigarh, Guwahati, Pune, Indore, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Lucknow, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad.

Dosanjh has been on a world tour since the early 2024, performing sold-out shows across North America, Australia and New Zealand. And he has shows lined up in Paris, London, Glasgow, and Amsterdam through September and October.

The singer has seen his global popularity surge since a performance at Coachella in 2023. His collaborations with international stars like NLE Choppa, Sia, and Saweetie have added to his appeal, and he’s often credited with putting Punjabi music on the map.

Earlier this year, he joined Ed Sheeran on stage in Mumbai to perform his hit track “Lover”. Dosanjh has also worked on a Punjabi-Spanish crossover track “Palpita” with Colombian singer Camilo.

He made his first appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and performed fan favourites “GOAT” and “Born To Shine”.

North Korea shows first photos of uranium facility for nuclear weapons

North Korea offered the world a rare look into a secretive facility producing enriched uranium as leader Kim Jong-un called for an “exponential” increase in nuclear weapons production.

Mr Kim visited the control room of the uranium enrichment facility and a construction site aimed at increasing its capacity for nuclear weapons production, KCNA reported. Pictures released by the state news agency on Friday showed the leader being briefed by scientists as he walked along rows of tall grey tubes, though it did not specify when or where the visit took place.

The photos showed around 1,000 centrifuges. If operated throughout the year, they could produce 20-25kg of highly enriched uranium, enough to manufacture one nuclear bomb, according to security expert Yang Uk from Seoul’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies.

It was not clear if the site Mr Kim toured was part of the Yongbyon nuclear complex, but this was North Korea’s first disclosure of a uranium enrichment facility since 2010.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula deepened last year after North Korea test-launched the solid-fuelled Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile – its most advanced weapon designed to strike the mainland US – in its third test in 2023.

Uranium is a radioactive element that exists naturally. To make nuclear fuel, raw uranium undergoes processes that result in a material with an increased concentration of the isotope uranium-235.

The Yongbyon complex, which North Korea calls “the heart” of its nuclear programme and research, has been at the centre of international concerns for decades. It’s not clear exactly how much weapons-grade plutonium or highly enriched uranium has been produced at Yongbyon and where North Korea stores it.

The move was likely aimed at increasing pressure on the US and its allies, particularly South Korea and Japan, which have long been critical of the isolated country’s nuclear programme.

The Security Council imposed sanctions after North Korea’s first nuclear test explosion in 2006 and tightened them over the years in a total of 10 resolutions seeking to cut funds and curb its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

The last sanctions resolution was adopted by the council in 2017. China and Russia vetoed a US-sponsored resolution in May 2022 that would have imposed new sanctions over a spate of intercontinental ballistic missile launches. Since then, the two veto-wielding permanent council members have blocked any council action, including media statements.

Mr Kim underlined the need to expand uranium enrichment capacity and develop a new centrifuge, claiming his country needed greater defence capability against threats by the US and its allies.

He expressed “great satisfaction over the wonderful technical force of the nuclear power field” held by North Korea, KCNA reported.

South Korea criticised its neighbour’s “illegal” pursuit of nuclear weapons in violation of UN sanctions” and called it a significant threat to international peace.

For outside analysts, “the images will provide a valuable source of information for rectifying our assumptions about how much material North Korea may have amassed to date”, Ankit Panda of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace told the Associated Press.

“Overall, we shouldn’t assume North Korea will be as constrained as it once was by fissile material limitations. This is especially true for highly enriched uranium where it’s significantly less constrained in its ability to scale up than it is with plutonium.”

A few days ago, in a speech marking the 76th anniversary of the founding of North Korea, Mr Kim said there would be no limit on the expansion of the country’s military prowess, KCNA reported on Tuesday.

Pyongyang last month said it had moved 250 new mobile launchers for ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads to the frontline. The military also unveiled new suicide attack drones. All this, South Korea said, was happening for the first time.