AFP journalists in Jiuzhaigou, a popular tourist destination near the epicentre of Tuesday night’s 6.5-magnitude quake, saw dozens of relief and military trucks rolling through the remote corner of Sichuan province.

Locals took refuge in blue relief tents in several makeshift camps or out on streets in towns as more than a thousand aftershocks jolted the region and landslides kept nerves on edge.

Jiuzhaigou is an area populated largely by ethnic Tibetans and Qiang people. Its scenic landscape is popular with mainly Chinese tourists who flock to its national park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Nearly 60,000 people — around half of which were tourists — were evacuated from quake-hit towns and villages Wednesday.

Authorities were seeking to help more victims Thursday, with the Sichuan provincial fire department saying 16 tourists were stranded in a picturesque spot called Panda Sea.

More than 500 medical staff have been dispatched to the disaster zone, provincial official Qumushiha said at a press conference Thursday evening.

Authorities have said thousands of response personnel were sent into the area, as rescue workers search for at least four people still missing.

Yang Yongzhi was among a search team in red jumpsuits and hardhats who were forced by landslides to turn back Wednesday night after trying to press into cut-off valleys.

“We’re responsible for finding if there are still people trapped over there. We’re the first to go check,” Yang said as the team prepared to make another attempt at reaching the isolated area.

The tremor evoked memories of a devastating 8.0-magnitude earthquake in the region in 2008 that left 87,000 people dead or missing, but the impact of Tuesday’s disaster was comparatively light.

Authorities brought the death toll up to 20 on Thursday afternoon, with 431 injured, 34 seriously. A Frenchman and a Canadian woman were among those hurt.

– ‘All-out efforts’ –

=====================

The quake tore cracks in mountain highways and AFP journalists saw cars that had been smashed by giant falling boulders.

Some buildings in towns bore cracks, but few structures appeared to have sustained heavy damage.

One Jiuzhaigou hotel partially collapsed, however, and the body of a woman was pulled out of the rubble Thursday morning, provincial fire authorities said.

It was not known if others were still buried.

So far, 200 million yuan ($30 million) in government relief funds has been allocated for quake relief, according to authorities.

The government of Aba prefecture, where Jiuzhaigou is located, issued an appeal for donations.

Authorities said 1,680 private homes across Jiuzhaigou’s 17 townships suffered varying degrees of damage.

The local government said it had repaired 129 telecommunication towers or other installations that were damaged by the quake, restoring communications with much of the affected area.

President Xi Jinping had called earlier for “all-out efforts to rapidly organise relief work and rescue the injured” in the Sichuan quake.

Fighting between the ex-rebels of the Coordination of Movements of Azawad (CMA) and the pro-government Platform group has worsened in recent weeks in northern Mali, in repeated violation of a 2015 ceasefire.

The CMA said in late July it was holding dozens of prisoners in Kidal, a city it controls, after dismantling a base of the GATIA militia — part of Platform — and killing several of its fighters.

But Guillaume Ngefa, director of the human rights division of the UN mission to Mali, said Thursday that eight of those being held were children and possibly child soldiers.

And he detailed what he said were human rights abuses perpetuated by both sides.

“We were able to establish that the armed groups had minors in their ranks,” Ngefa said in a statement.

“What is extremely concerning is that among the 33 people currently held prisoner by the CMA in Kidal, eight are children.”

United Nations investigators had carried out seven different missions to the north and discovered evidence of mass graves and rampant rights abuses, he added.

These included “summary executions, kidnappings and torture, destruction of property and theft,” he said, elaborating on Saturday’s statement of the discovery of the mass graves.

The number of bodies and the cause of death of those buried remains unknown.

Ngefa also raised the possibility of compensation for the victims of the abuses. The UN would support families wishing to lodge legal cases against the perpetrators, while continuing to investigate 33 outstanding complaints, he said.

The US State Department said on July 31 it was “greatly disturbed at reports of reprisal killings of civilians and the discovery of unmarked grave sites…”

If the allegations proved founded, it added, “the perpetrators must be brought to justice”.

The conflict dates back to 2012, when key cities in northern Mali fell under the control of jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda, who exploited an ethnic Tuareg-led rebel uprising.

The armed groups accused of abuses by the UN operate in areas where Mali’s army is absent or has a very limited presence.

Although the Islamists were largely ousted by a French-led military operation, attacks have continued on UN and French forces, civilians and the Malian army.

Allegations of collusion between the former rebels and jihadists continue to circulate.

Nine people have been detained so far, Anadolu news agency said, adding that the suspects were accused of using a messaging app allegedly used by Gulen to mobilise followers in Turkey and of belonging to a “terror” group.

Thousands of people have already been arrested in Turkey for using the Bylock messaging app, which the authorities say was used by Gulen supporters to coordinate actions ahead of the plot.

The latest arrests come amid growing alarm over press freedom in Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in particular under the state of emergency imposed in the wake of the failed July 2016 coup and which remains in place.

Gulen, an Islamic preacher who lives in the US state of Pennsylvania, denies any link to the botched putsch.

Those detained include a former columnist for the Turkiye daily Ahmet Sagirli and the current website editor at the leftist opposition Birgun daily Burak Ekici.

Turkey ranks 155 on the latest Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders) world press freedom index, below Belarus and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

According to the latest figures from the P24 press freedom website, there are 164 journalists behind bars in Turkey, most of whom were detained under the state of emergency.

In one of the highest profile cases, 17 staff from the Cumhuriyet daily — one of the few voices in the media in Turkey to oppose Erdogan — last month went on trial for aiding “terror” groups.

While most of the suspects in that case have been released from pre-trial detention, four Cumhuriyet journalists, most of whom have been held for eight months, remain behind bars.

The crackdown has also affected foreign reporters and freelance French journalist Loup Bureau was detained last month on charges of links to a Kurdish militia Ankara regards as a terror group.

Kem Ley was gunned down in July last year while drinking coffee outside a petrol station in the capital in a brazen daylight murder that sent a tremor through civil society groups.

A former soldier, who calls himself “Meet to Kill”, was sentenced to life imprisonment in March for the killing.

Political analyst Kim Sok was charged with defamation and inciting unrest for comments in a radio interview suggesting links between the ruling Cambodia People’s Party and the shooting.

The complaint was brought by Cambodia’s strongman premier Hun Sen who has ruled the country for over three decades.

A Phnom Penh court on Thursday found Kim Sok guilty of the charges and sentenced him to 18 months in prison, ordering him to pay $200,000 in compensation to the ruling party.

Kim Sok’s comments could have ignited anger among the public “that would lead to chaos in the society”, Judge Ky Rithy said.

A defiant Kim Sok refused to stand up before the judge, prompting four prison guards to force him to his feet.

He also demanded a re-trial, yelling “I don’t respect a scarecrow judge.”

Hun Sen is renowned for using Cambodia’s pliant courts to tie-up his critics — including activists and the opposition party, which is hoping to oust him in elections next year.

Some 27 political prisoners have been thrown in jail since 2013 with dozens of ongoing prosecutions against others, according to a tally by Amnesty International.

Hun Sen, one of the world’s longest serving leaders, portrays himself as a premier who has brought growth and stability to an impoverished country ravaged by decades of war.

But many Cambodians, especially the young and city-dwellers, say corruption, inequality and rights abuses have flourished under his watch, raising the prospect of a tight general election next year.

Pictures on social media showed shattered glass and paramedics tending to passengers on the upper deck of the red double-decker bus.

Passenger Amy Mullineux, a nurse, said the driver told her he had lost consciousness.

“He said he blacked out before the bus hit the shop,” the 40-year-old said. “He doesn’t remember hitting anything.”

The accident happened on Lavender Hill, in southwest London, known for the 1951 British comedy film “The Lavender Hill Mob”, starring Alec Guinness, Sid James and a young Audrey Hepburn, which won an Oscar for best screenplay.

Another passenger, Andrew Matthews, 34, said around a dozen were on board when the bus began to drift off the road.

“As soon as the bus came to a stop there was yelling, screaming,” he said. “I noticed a lady wedged in the front right-hand side. She was screaming for help. There was a lot of blood.”

The two passengers initially trapped were freed by firefighters and the bus driver was taken to hospital. London Ambulance Service said they had treated six patients.

 Court officials took two days to read out all 626 charges against the 36-year-old divorcee, and finished Thursday afternoon.

They included 599 charges of sodomy against the 15-year-old girl, as well as counts of incest, rape and other sex crimes.

The bespectacled suspect, in a grey T-shirt and blue trousers was calm when the charges were read in court. He pleaded not guilty and the case will now proceed to trial.

“He faces a prison sentence of over 12,000 years,” Aimi Syazwani, a deputy public prosecutor, told AFP at a newly-established special court for sex crimes against children in the administrative capital Putrajaya.

For each charge of sodomy, the man can be punished with a maximum jail term of 20 years, as well as caning. He faces a rape charge that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years, and 30 other charges of sexual assault, each punishable by up to 20 years in jail.

Judge Yong Zarida Sazali denied the man bail after prosecutors warned there was a danger of him fleeing or intimidating witnesses.

The suspect cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim.

The man, who sold investment products, was arrested on July 26 after the girl’s mother lodged a police report. The offences were allegedly committed between January and July this year, when the daughter was living with her father.

The special court for sexual crimes against children was launched in June.

This is the new AirAsia’s destination, said Mr. Spencer Lee, Head of Commercial for AirAsia Berhad.

Sihanoukville was added into our extensive network map of over 120 destinations, he underlined.

“This new destination will enable travellers in the region to experience a hidden side of Asean that has yet to be discovered. More importantly through this direct route, we also want to open up air travel for the people of Sihanoukville to explore Asean and the world using our wide connectivity across 27 countries,” he added.

Mr. Éric Delobel, CEO of Cambodia Airports, the company that operates the Kingdom’ network of international airports said AirAsia is moving up another step and it is a key driver in connecting Cambodia to the world.

Cambodia Airports want to welcome more visitors and airlines to Sihanoukville as we are confident in its potential, he added.

This AirAsia’s new service will operates on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

The Global Slavery Index, from the Australia-based Walk Free Foundation, defines slavery as “situations of exploitation that a person cannot refuse or leave because of threats, violence, coercion, abuse of power or deception”

More than 45 million people globally are living in modern slavery with Asia accounting for two thirds of the victims. Modern forms of slavery can include debt bondage, forced marriage, child slavery, commercial sexual exploitation and forced labour, where victims are made to work through violence and intimidation.

According to the index, which ranks 167 countries, half the population of modern slaves are in five countries — India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Uzbekistan.

India, however, has the dubious distinction of having the highest number of people in the world trapped in modern slavery with 18.35 million victims among its 1.3 billion population.

India is followed by China (3.38 million), Pakistan (2.13 million) and Bangladesh (1.53 million).

North Korea remains the only nation in Asia and the world that has not explicitly criminalised any form of modern slavery. The country has the highest per capita level of modern slavery, at 4.37 per cent of the population.

Among Southeast Asian countries, Indonesia has highest number of victims of modern slavery.

In other Asian countries modern slavery is equally widespread.

Myanmar has significant discrimination against minorities while Thailand is unable to protect migrant workers on fishing trawlers from starvation and murder, with trafficking and forced labour.

Large numbers of women and girls continued to migrate internally and internationally for jobs as domestic workers. While this offers an important economic opportunity, reports of abuse, exploitation and servitude persist, particularly in wealthy countries within the region where there was high demand for live-in help like Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan.

In Philippines, large numbers of women and girls continue to migrate for jobs as domestic workers.

Even in the world’s third largest economy, Japan human trafficking is on a rise. In neighbouring South Korea, slavery is thriving on rural islands off South Korea’s rugged southwest coast.

In Malaysia and in Singapore as well, the governments have not been able to protect people from living in slave-like conditions.

A team from the National University of Singapore (NUS) beat 73 teams from 18 countries to win the United Asian Debating Championships.

The team – one of three that NUS sent to the event- defeated a team from Ateneo De Manila University in the finals last Friday.

The two teams slugged it out over a topic involving the United States Democratic Party and the issue of class and identity politics. Eight out of nine judges voted to declare NUS the winner.

The competition was held in the Cambodian city of Siem Reap.

Chief judge Mifzal Mohammed Mohd Murshid Kieron told The Straits Times that the NUS team won because it showed a strong understanding of US politics and was able to address its opponent’s criticisms.

“This was a thoroughly well-deserved win,” he said. Nar Sher May, 23, who was part of the three-member team, said it was the first time she had won at an international debate competition. All the effort, she added, was worth it in the end.

Nar, who is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree, is now looking forward to the Asian British Parliamentary Debate Championships, which will take place in October in Krabi, Thailand.

Singapore, whose crime rates are among the world’s lowest, has tough laws for minor offences such as vandalism, which can be punished with caning. The import and sale of chewing gum is banned except for medical reasons.

Police launched an investigation after a bus company in the city-state reported last week that one of their vehicles’ passenger seats was perforated with toothpicks.

“Through extensive ground enquiries and with the assistance of CCTV footages, officers… established the identity of the suspect,” they said in a statement on Tuesday.

A Facebook user posted pictures at the end of last month of three toothpicks sticking out of a bus seat, with the post shared more than 2,500 times.

“This happens to me this morning (Thank God, I did check before I sat down),” the female user wrote.

If found guilty of the offence of mischief, the suspect — whose identity was not revealed — could be jailed for up to two years or fined, or both.

Singapore has faced criticism from rights groups about cracking down hard on relatively minor crimes. In 2015 two young German men were sentenced to nine months in prison and three strokes of the cane for spray-painting a metro train.