Six dead and dozens injured after bus falls into ditch in India
Six people died and at least 22 were injured when a bus plunged into a 100-metre-deep gorge in the mountainous Indian state of Uttarakhand.
The tragedy occurred on Sunday evening in the Dahalchauri area of Pauri Garhwal district after the driver lost control, the State Disaster Response Force said,
At least eight people were critically injured and they were referred to a hospital in Srinagar city for treatment.
Visuals showed the wreckage of the yellow bus lying in a deep wooded valley surrounded by towering mountains. Rescuers and local residents had to navigate steep slopes to bring out the wounded.
Pauri district magistrate Ashish Chauhan said the transport department would investigate the cause of the accident.
Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed sadness over the tragedy and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured.
“Relief and rescue operations are underway by the local administration and the injured are being treated at the nearest hospital,” Mr Dhami said.
Private and government buses remain a common mode of transport for local people as well as tourists from other states in India. They are often overcrowded, however, and the drivers are known to flout safety rules.
On 4 December last year, at least 36 people died and 27 were injured after a bus fell into a gorge in the state’s Almora district. It was the deadliest in the hill state since July 2018, when 48 people lost their lives in Pauri Garhwal.
Nearly 160,000 people lose their lives to road accidents in India every year, the highest in the world, as people routinely violate traffic and safety rules.
South Korea extends shutdown of Muan airport where crash killed 179
South Korea has extended the closure of the airport where a Jeju Air plane crashed last month until 19 January.
A Boeing 737-800 ran off the runway and burst into flames after ramming an embankment at the Muan airport, killing all but two of the 181 people on board.
The embankment housed a “localiser” landing guidance system and South Korea intends to upgrade these structures at its airports this year.
The transport ministry, which has been inspecting safety conditions for airlines and airports since the Muan crash, announced the decision to modify the “localiser” structures on Monday.
“Improvement was deemed necessary including the localiser and its foundations for a total of nine facilities across seven airports, including Muan airport,” the ministry said, adding that it would finalise plans to adapt the localisers by the end of January with the goal of “completing upgrades within this year”.
The ministry said seven airports, including Muan, have embankments or foundations made of concrete or steel that need replacing.
Korean officials have faced questions about design features of the Muan airport, particularly the large concrete embankment near the end of the runway used to support navigation equipment that the plane ran into.
The government has completed its inspection of six domestic airlines operating Boeing 737-800s and identified violations by some operators, including exceeding inspection timeframes before and after flights and failing to comply with procedures for addressing aircraft defects or passenger boarding issues.
The crash prompted the government to order emergency inspections of all Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by domestic carriers, with the focus on the landing gear, which appeared to have malfunctioned during the Jeju Air tragedy.
Authorities have banned the Jeju Air chief executive from leaving the country. “The investigation team imposed a travel ban on two individuals, including Jeju Air CEO Kim E Bae,” police said.
It was reported over the weekend that the black boxes of the Jeju Air plane stopped recording four minutes before it rammed into the concrete structure at the end of the runway.
Philippines protests arrival of Chinese ‘monster ship’ near its shores
The Philippines has lodged a diplomatic protest over the presence of Chinese coast guard vessels, including a “monster ship”, in its claimed exclusive economic zone, amid fears that Beijing wants to alter the status quo in the South China Sea.
The National Maritime Council said on Monday Manila “strongly opposes” the illegal presence of two Chinese coast guard vessels as well as navy helicopters in its waters off the western province of Zambales.
The protest comes less than two weeks after the Philippines coast guard sailed ships to tail the CCG-5901, China’s 12,000-tonne, 541ft patrol vessel.
The CCG-5901, dubbed the “monster ship”, is three times the size of the US coast guard’s top patrol ship, the National Security Cutter, and is equipped with anti-aircraft guns and fuel storage capacities, making it suitable to undertake extended missions.
The maritime council said the Chinese vessels were detected near the disputed Scarborough shoal, which Beijing claims as its own, on 5 January and 10 January.
“In view of the situation, the Philippines has filed the appropriate diplomatic protest to counter China’s recent illegal actions in the WPS,” the council said in a statement.
According to the Philippines coast guard, the ship was briefly replaced by the CCG-3304, but returned over the weekend.
The coast guard was actively conducting radio challenges to address the unlawful presence of the Chinese coast guard in its exclusive economic zone, spokesperson Jay Tarriela said.
“It’s crucial for the Philippines to persistently challenge their presence to prevent the normalisation of their illegal activities which could ultimately lead to a successful alteration of the status quo,” he said.
The maritime council called out Beijing for the “escalatory actions of these Chinese vessels and aircraft”. “China should direct its vessels to desist from conducting illegal actions that violate Philippines’ sovereign rights in its EEZ,” it said on Monday.
Tensions have soared between China and the Philippines, an American ally, in the past two years with frequent run-ins between their coast guards in the South China Sea.
China’s claims in the South China Sea overlap with those of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The disputed waterway is a strategic shipping route through which about $3tn of commerce moves annually.
The maritime council’s statement came just hours after Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr had a virtual call with outgoing US president Joe Biden and Japanese prime minister Shigeru Ishiba to discuss “dangerous and unlawful behavior in the South China Sea”.
They also reviewed efforts to boost trilateral maritime security and economic cooperation, the Philippines government said in a statement.
“The three leaders agreed on the importance of continued coordination to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific,” it added.
China has yet to comment on Manila’s allegations.
It has previously objected to the US increasing its engagements with the Philippines under Mr Marcos, securing expanded access to Philippine military bases.
Malala Yousafzai says Taliban do not see women as human beings
Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai has called on Muslim leaders to confront the Taliban government in Afghanistan for its oppressive policies against girls and women.
Speaking at an international conference on girls’ education in Muslim nations, hosted by Pakistan in Islamabad, the activist said the Taliban’s actions “go against everything our faith stands for”.
“Simply put, the Taliban in Afghanistan do not see women as human beings,” she said.
Ms Yousafzai, 27, said there was “nothing Islamic” about the Taliban regime’s policies.
The conference, organised by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Muslim World League and Pakistan drew political leaders and scholars from across the Muslim world to advocate for girls’ education.
The Taliban’s leaders were invited to participate but did not attend.
Ms Yousafzai accused the Taliban of creating “a system of gender apartheid” in Afghanistan. They were “punishing women and girls who dared break their obscure laws by beating them up, detaining them and harming them”, she said.
Although the Taliban “cloak their crimes in cultural and religious justification”, she argued, their actions “go against everything our faith stands for”.
Ms Yousafzai was 15 when she was evacuated from Pakistan after being shot in the head, allegedly by a Pakistani Taliban gunman, for speaking up for girls’ education. The Pakistani Taliban are a separate entity from the Taliban ruling Afghanistan.
Ms Yousafzai’s appearance at the conference was her first visit to Pakistan since 2018. She has only made a few visits to her home country since the attack.
“Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls are completely banned from education beyond grade six,” Ms Yousafzai said.
“In Afghanistan, an entire generation of girls will be robbed of its future. As Muslim leaders, now is the time to raise your voice, use your power.”
Since regaining power in 2021 after the withdrawal of American and British forces and the collapse of the government supported by them, the Taliban have barred women from workplaces, education, public spaces, and public sports.
Ms Yousafzai also condemned the Israeli war in Gaza, highlighting the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Palestinian territory. “In Gaza, Israel has decimated the entire education system,” she said.
“They have bombed all universities, destroyed more than 90 per cent of schools, and indiscriminately attacked civilians sheltering in school buildings.”
South Korea’s president gets a salary hike despite impeachment
South Korea‘s impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol will receive a salary hike despite the ongoing investigation for placing his country under martial law last year.
Mr Yoon’s salary for 2025 will increase by 3 per cent to 262.6m won (£147,000) from 254.9m won (£142,599) last year, the government said.
The president received a hike in line with the salary increase for all government officials in the country.
Mr Yoon continues to draw a steep salary despite being suspended from office. He will now earn 21.8m won (£12,195) per month.
South Korean presidents are entitled to 95 per cent of their salary for the rest of their lives after leaving office, the Korea Herald reported.
Mr Yoon was suspended from his duties on 14 December 2024 after being impeached over the shortlived martial law declaration earlier that month. The Constitutional Court is preparing to rule on the validity of his impeachment by the National Assembly. If it clears the parliamentary decision, Mr Yoon will be removed from office.
The martial law decree, the country’s first in 40 years, ended after just six hours when the National Assembly voted to withdraw it, despite attempts by armed soldiers to prevent lawmakers from assembling.
Mr Yoon is facing a separate investigation for alleged insurrection and abuse of power. The impeached president has so far evaded arrest despite investigators securing two warrants for his detention.
The investigators said on Monday they had requested cooperation from the presidential security service and the defence ministry in executing an arrest warrant for Mr Yoon.
His lawyer said last week Mr Yoon would abide by the Constitutional Court’s ruling on his impeachment even if it meant an end to his presidency. “So if the decision is ‘removal’, it cannot but be accepted,” the lawyer told a news conference.
Mr Yoon ignored the Constitutional Court’s request to file his legal briefs before hearings began on 27 December. His lawyers said he was willing to appear in person to argue his case.
Seok Dong Hyeon, another lawyer for Mr Yoon, said the suspended president saw attempts to arrest him as politically motivated and aimed at humiliating him in public.
Han Duck Soo, who briefly served as acting president before being impeached himself, too will see his salary rise by 3 per cent to 204m won (£114,000).
Bodies of 11 workers who died in mine collapse recovered in Pakistan
Rescuers have recovered the bodies of 11 coal miners who died in a methane gas explosion and mine collapse in Balochistan, Pakistan.
The collapse occurred in Singidi city last week and efforts are still underway to find a missing worker.
Abdul Ghani, a mines inspector, said two more coal miners were killed on Sunday when another mine collapsed in Harnai, a district in Balochistan.
After three days of rescue operations, 11 bodies were recovered by Saturday night, with rescue workers continuing their search for the final missing worker inside the collapsed mine, according to Abdullah Shawani, head of the province’s mining department.
“There are little chances of the last worker surviving for so long in the collapsed mine,” Mr Shawani said.
“The incident occurred due to a buildup of gas, which caused an explosion and the mine to cave in,” Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind said.
He said that full-scale rescue operations were still underway, but progress was slow due to the presence of toxic gas and debris in the collapsed mine.
Pir Muhammad Kakar, a leader of the miners’ workers association, accused the coal mine owner of failing to enforce mining regulations that could have led to the incident.
He also blamed officials at the mines department for the disaster and called for strict action to be taken against them.
Safety standards are frequently disregarded in Pakistan’s coal mining industry, leading to numerous accidents and explosions each year, with miners often reporting that mine owners fail to install essential safety equipment, according to the Associated Press.
In March last year, a gas explosion at a coalpit in Harnai killed at least 12 miners.
In 2018, the collapse of two neighbouring coal mines in Sanjdi resulted in 23 deaths and 11 injuries, and another disaster in 2011 where 43 workers lost their lives due to gas explosions triggering a collapse in a Balochistan colliery.
Additional reporting by agencies.
Calls to free Aung San Suu Kyi from Japanese filmmaker held in Myanmar
A Japanese filmmaker sentenced to 10 years in jail in Myanmar has backed calls for Aung San Suu Kyi to be freed.
Toru Kubota, who was arrested while covering a protest in Yangon and whose case led to international outcry, told The Independent: “I sincerely hope for her earliest release, along with the release of more than 20,000 detainees.”
It comes after three former foreign secretaries called for Ms Suu Kyi to be freed by the brutal military junta which runs the country.
William Hague, Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Jack Straw argue the ousted leader was jailed on trumped-up charges by the dictatorship and deserves the chance to lead her country democratically.
Ms Suu Kyi, who faces 27 years in prison, is believed to have spent long periods in solitary confinement since her arrest by the military in February 2021.
The 79-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner is a divisive and controversial figure internationally after refusing to speak out on her country’s extreme violence against its Rohingya Muslim minority.
Her fall from grace is explored in an Independent TV documentary, Cancelled: The rise and fall of Aung San Suu Kyi, which looks at her life and the plight of Myanmar.
Mr Kubota, who studied in London, said: “As someone who began connecting with Myanmar through the eyes of the Rohingya, there’s an unsettling feeling when I see how people continue to idolize her even after the coup.
“But of course, I hold immense respect for her achievements and determination. I sincerely hope for her earliest release, along with the release of more than 20,000 detainees.”
He was arrested while covering a protest in military-ruled Myanmar in July 2022.
He was charged with spreading fake news by violating a law against spreading false or alarming news, and with breaking visa regulations amid allegations he arrived in Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar, from Thailand with a tourist visa.
He was sentenced to a total of 10 years, but in the end was released after three months following international protests.
He has made several films on Myanmar, including a documentary on persecuted minority Rohingya refugees who have fled the country, as well as done work for Yahoo! news Japan, Vice Japan and Al Jazeera English. The Committee to Protect Journalists hit out at Mr Kubota’s arrest warning the junta was trying to crack down on journalism.
After his release, he talked of how he had been among 20 people placed in what he described as a “hellish” cell so tiny they had to sleep on top of each other.
Later, he was transferred to the infamous Insein prison in Yangon, which has housed political prisoners.
In the Independent TV documentary, Lord Hague, who welcomed Ms Suu Kyi to London in 2012, said it was possible to be critical of the country’s former de facto prime minister “but also say we should be campaigning for her release”.
He said: “She is a political prisoner on trumped-up charges, imprisoned by a military regime in what seems very harsh circumstances.
“And we might disagree with things that she has said and done, she has been the strongest force for democracy in Myanmar in a generation, and she is imprisoned because she was that force for democracy.”
On 2 January Myanmar’s military government released more than 6,000 prisoners as part of a mass amnesty marking the 77th anniversary of independence from Britain.
But included was just a small proportion of hundreds of political detainees jailed for opposing army rule since the military seized power in February 2021. Ms Suu Kyi was not among them.
Vietnam’s ‘foreigners only’ restaurant charged for providing sex work
The owner of a Ho Chi Minh City restaurant exclusively catering to foreigners was arrested on charges of facilitating prostitution.
A police raid at a nearby hotel uncovered two couples engaged in sex work, with the women claiming to be employees of the said restaurant, Vietnamese newspaper VN Express reported.
Nguyen Hoai Thuong, 39, the owner of the Lolita restaurant in District 1 in Ho Chi Minh City, has been charged with procurement after a police raid at a hotel on Cao Ba Quat Street uncovered two couples allegedly involved in prostitution.
The women identified themselves as Lolita employees and stated they had been sent to the hotel to serve foreign clients.
According to Tuoi Tre News, a Vietnamese media outlet, officers found two Vietnamese women engaged in sexual activities with two South Korean men in separate rooms.
Following the raid, police searched the restaurant, detaining Ms Thuong and five staff members for further questioning. During the investigation, Ms Thuong disclosed that since its opening in May 2022, the establishment had offered dining and unlicensed karaoke services, as well as employed women specifically to entertain an international clientele, a strategy aimed at avoiding detection by local authorities, police said.
Sex work is illegal in Vietnam.
Employees, reportedly, received a 60 per cent commission on these services, which were provided on-site and at nearby accommodations. The going rate for these services amounted to 8 million Vietnamese Dong (about £260), authorities and media reports said.
According to the police report, the sequence of events began with a dinner at Lolita, followed by a move to a nearby hotel.
Upon her arrest, Ms Thuong admitted to acting as an intermediary between her women staff and foreign clients since the restaurant’s opening in May 2022, police said.
Authorities are continuing their investigation.