The earthquake occurred 14 kilometres (9 miles) southeast of Bodrum, one of the busiest tourist resorts on the Turkish Aegean, at a depth of 10 kilometres, USGS said.

Several residents fled their homes for fear of buildings collapsing, according to NTV, a Turkish television channel.

Turkey, situated on major seismic faultlines, is regularly hit by earthquakes. The Aegean coast has suffered several quakes above 5-magnitude since the start of the year.

Last month, two foreigners died and more than 100 people were injured on the Greek island of Kos when an earthquake shook popular Greek and Turkish holiday destinations in the Aegean Sea.

Veterinarians at Zoo Atlanta had been treating Chantek for heart disease, but officials were reluctant to give a firm cause of animal’s death on Monday.

Chantek was born in Atlanta in the southern US state of Georgia but raised as a human child by an anthropologist in Tennessee who taught him American Sign Language (ASL).

He was the subject of a 2014 documentary titled “The Ape Who Went to College.”

The orangutan moved to Zoo Atlanta in 1997.

The zoo said Chantek “frequently used ASL to communicate with his caregivers, with whom he developed close personal bonds throughout his years at Zoo Atlanta.”

However “he was shy about signing with individuals he did not know and often chose forms of communication which are more typical of orangutans, such as vocalizations and unique hand gestures.”

Orangutans “are considered geriatric after the age of about 35,” making Chantek “one of the oldest living male orangutans” in North America, the zoo said in a statement.//AFP

It aims to register some 10,000 licensed taxi drivers across the Greater Kuala Lumpur. It is the brainchild of five taxi companies – New Supercab Sdn Bhd, Uptownace (M) Sdn Bhd, Damai Kota Cab Sdn Bhd, Syarikat Pemandu dan Pemilik Teksi Bhd and Perniagaan Lima Sejati Sdn Bhd.

Besides cash, passengers can use debit or credit cards in all PICKnGO taxis via the MPay +Pro mobile point-of-sale (POS) terminal.

Pick N Go Sdn Bhd executive di­­rec­tor Valerie Chan said the app is more than just a taxi booking app, it is also a commitment to offer better customer service.

“Every PICKnGO taxi driver has undergone training and their vehicles inspected before they are confirmed. We are transforming the mindsets of both our customers and our drivers.Yes, we understand it will take time and it is not easy but we must start now to move in tandem with development,” she said at the launch of PICKnGO at Sunway Velo­city Mall in Cheras yesterday.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nancy Shu­kri, who launched PICKnGO, said Malaysia is the first country to regulate e-hailing services.

Nancy said it is a great challenge legalising e-hailing services and Malaysia has become a role model.

Extreme weather this summer has caused a series of landslides and floods across the country, leaving dozens dead and displacing large numbers of people.

The latest disaster hit a village in Puge county at around 6 am, the official Xinhua news agency said, adding that five other people were injured.

The landslide also destroyed two houses, the Sichuan government information office said in a social media post.

Postings on the social media site of the local police force showed rescue workers standing in puddles and digging in the rubble with shovels, their clothes splashed with mud.

Landslides are a frequent danger in rural and mountainous parts of China, particularly after heavy rain.

A massive landslide in June killed at least 10 people and buried dozens of homes in a village in Sichuan after heavy rain brought down a mountainside.

In July 63 people were killed by landslides and floods in the central province of Hunan. Some 1.6 million people were forced from their homes.

Tillerson is the highest level American diplomat to visit Thailand since a 2014 coup strained ties between the longtime friends and saw China cosy up to Bangkok with massive military sales and infrastructure deals.

Thailand is one of a raft of Southeast Asian countries that hosts a North Korean embassy and enjoys valuable bilateral trade with the reclusive regime.

In 2014 the two countries shared trade worth $126 million, according to Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, nearly a three-fold increase since 2009.

America’s top diplomat will press Thailand to crack down on North Korean firms that open fronts in Bangkok and use the capital as a trading hub, said acting US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs Susan Thornton.

He will also lean on the kingdom to tighten visa requirements for North Koreans entering Thailand and squeeze its diplomatic mission, Thornton added.

Tillerson’s one-day visit follows a regional forum in Manila, where the former ExxonMobil CEO hailed a tough new UN sanctions regime on North Korea over its growing nuclear arsenal.

Those sanctions could cost North Korea $1 billion a year.

They were levied — with the agreement of North Korean lifeline China — in response to the launch of two intercontinental ballistic missile tests last month.

– ‘Ups and downs’ –

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

The US envoy will also urge Thailand to take in more North Korean refugees, said Thornton.

The kingdom has long been a transit route for defectors who make the arduous journey through China, then into Laos or Cambodia and Thailand, where they seek sanctuary at the South Korean Embassy.

Thailand does not grant official status to refugees.

After landing in Bangkok Tillerson, who visited Thailand often as an executive for ExxonMobil, told US embassy staff he wanted to “grow” the relationship between America and its oldest Asian ally, “even in its ups and downs”.

President Donald Trump’s administration is reshaping America’s approach to the Thai junta after relations hit the buffers following the 2014 coup.

The US condemned the takeover and distanced itself from the regime, trimming back military aid.

But relations are on a better footing under Trump, with the US president extending an invitation to junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha.

The thaw also comes amid Washington’s growing concerns over rival superpower China’s clout in the region.

Beijing entices its smaller neighbours by offering massive investment decoupled from human rights concerns, which appeals to leaders weary of US pressure.

Thailand is a lynchpin country in China’s massive trade and infrastructure ‘One Belt, One Road’ strategy.

It was not immediately clear how firmly the former oilman would push the junta government on its crackdown on political rights.

The US wants Thailand to “emerge as a strengthened democracy that respects and guarantees human rights and fundamental freedoms,” said US embassy spokesperson Steve Castonguay.

Tillerson is also due to pay respects to Thailand’s late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who has been lying in state at the Grand Palace since his death in October 2016.

Later he will travel to the Malaysian capital.

After making landfall in western Japan the previous day, the storm packing winds of up to 108 kilometres (67 miles) per hour ploughed across the main island of Honshu.

The typhoon was 40 kilometres off the coast of northern Niigata prefecture by 1:00 pm (0400 GMT) Tuesday, slowly moving towards the northeast, Japan’s meteorological agency said. The storm earlier killed two people on outlying islands Saturday.

Public broadcaster NHK said the number of people injured in accidents related to the typhoon had reached 51.

Aerial footage showed a flooded river in western Japan’s Shiga prefecture, while houses, rice paddies and roads were submerged.

On Saturday, a man in his 60s on the southern island of Yakushima died after falling in strong gusts generated by Noru and hitting his head.

Another man in his 80s on neighbouring Tanegashima island drowned the same day after he went to check on his boat and was swept into the water.

A total of 65 flights were cancelled Tuesday due to Noru, NHK reported.

Broadcaster Rudy Alicaway and columnist Leo Diaz were the third and fourth journalists to be killed since President Rodrigo Duterte, a vocal critic of the press, took office last year, said Dabet Panelo, secretary-general of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP).

In both cases, the victims were riding motorcycles when gunmen on another motorcycle came up behind and shot them dead.

Diaz, 60, a correspondent of Manila tabloid Balita (News) and a columnist for a community newspaper, was killed in the southern town of President Quirino on Monday, said Fort Yerro, a Balita consultant.

Diaz, a former policeman, had covered stories on political corruption, illegal gambling and drugs, said Yerro, but added that he did not know of any threats against him.

Alicaway, 47, who hosted a weekly community affairs show on DXPB radio station, was killed in the town of Molave on Sunday, a police report said.

Rocel Navarro, manager of the government-run station where the victim’s show aired, said he had not covered controversial issues.

“We are asking ourselves why this happened to him. He had no enemies as a broadcaster,” Navarro told AFP.

Both killings took place on the southern island of Mindanao, where Islamic militants, communist guerrillas and political warlords are active.

“This again highlights the culture of impunity, in the attacks against and killings of Filipino journalists that have remained unabated despite an international outcry,” the NUJP said.

Last week Michael Marasigan, a respected former newspaper editor, was shot dead in a Manila suburb.

A study by the International Federation of Journalists said last year that 146 journalists were killed between 1990 and 2015, making the Philippines the second most dangerous country for the media after Iraq.

Duterte, who took office last year, has lashed out at journalists over critical coverage of his anti-drug war that has claimed thousands of lives.

Shortly before taking office, Duterte made comments widely interpreted as justifying the murder of some journalists.

“Just because you’re a journalist you are not exempted from assassination, if you’re a son of a bitch,” he said.

The Philippines stands to lose around 5,000 top caliber and financially rewarding jobs in a subsector of the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry if the government insists on removing a perk under the first package of its tax reform program, an industry source said.

To compensate for the effects of lowering personal income taxes, the Duterte administration seeks to increase consumption taxes and remove incentives enjoyed by companies, including the 15-percent preferential tax rate (PTR) they provide to managerial and technical employees in regional operating headquarters and regional headquarters (ROHQs/RHQs).

ROHQs and RHQs are established by multinational companies (MNCs) to cater to affiliates, subsidiaries, or branches in the global market. These services include, for example, corporate finance advisory, research and development, and marketing control and sales promotion—all of which are considered high value jobs that stand out in the local BPO industry known mostly for its voiced-based services.

Under the current tax regime, the annual salaries of these highly sought-after managerial and technical jobs are subject to a 15-percent tax rate. Anyone else with the same pay grade and in a different industry gets slapped with a 32-percent tax rate.

This preferential treatment was particularly made in order to attract top-tier talent for the growing ROHQ/RHQ subsector.

The source, who asked not to be named, said the perk has been effective so far in attracting MNCs. Some Fortune 500 companies, including Unilever, Chevron and Procter & Gamble, have even selected the Philippines as their “destination of choice.”

“We can potentially lose a lot of top Filipino talent to other neighboring countries with lower income tax rates like Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong,” the source said.

Sans the preferential treatment, these jobs would have to be subjected to the same rates indicated in the first package of the tax reform bill currently being deliberated in Congress. The bill seeks to reduce to 25 percent the maximum personal income tax.

Based on the source’s estimates, this would lead to an increase in a company’s operating cost by 7 percent, a “very substantial” hike given that the subsector is generally not capital intensive.

“It should be noted that the passage of this bill not only endangers existing jobs to attrition. The more serious concern is losing the jobs per se because these ROHQs may either scale down or close down operations because they are no longer viable delivery centers with cost structures increasing,” the source said.

The subsector registered under the Board of Investments (BOI) has approximately 25,000 workers. Of this figure, only 20 percent or around 5,000 can tap the 15-percent PTR.

These individuals are those whose annual income exceed the minimum threshold of P975,000 (US$19,400)  set by the Bureau of Internal Revenue. This is a standard used to determine which jobs are “professionally challenging.”

Of the PTR-eligible jobs, nearly all are held by Filipinos who can easily go abroad for better opportunities. The source, however, described the perk as a corporate incentive rather than an employee salary package.

Removing the PTR would have the “unintended, but even more alarming, effect of contracting the whole ROHQ/RHQ industry,” the source said.

“If the costs of running an ROHQ/RHQ operation in the Philippines increases, it will be easy for parent companies or affiliate clients to flow work from the Philippines to … other parts of the world,” the source said.

Flying to the gambling haven of Macau is now more affordable than ever after low cost carrier AirAsia Indonesia piloted its maiden flight to take Indonesian travelers to visit the city’s bright casinos on Monday.

However, that may be only part of the story as Indonesia can also expect to see more tourists arriving, not only from the casino hub, but also from mainland China.

The new route has increased Jakarta’s international connectivity after the airline previously only flew from regional capitals, such as Singapore, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.

“I hope this route will open up [air connectivity] for foreign visitors, not only for those from Macau, but also from Greater China,” AirAsia Indonesia Group CEO Dendy Kurniawan said during the launch of the route.

While AirAsia will fly three times a week from Macau to Jakarta with an Airbus A320 this month, the flight frequency will be increased to four times a week starting from Sept. 1.

The new route adds to its newly-launched services linking Denpasar, Bali to Mumbai, India and Denpasar to Narita, Japan, with its international carrier AirAsia X.

Dendy added that the airline’s business expansion would also compliment the government’s efforts to attract more foreign tourists, especially from China.

The government expects to welcome 2.1 million Chinese tourists from a total of 15 million international tourists targeted for this year.

Chinese tourists have topped the list of foreign arrivals for the past two years, boosted by the expansion of direct flights and charter flights between Chinese cities and Indonesian cities like Jakarta and Denpasar.

The beach-clad cities of Denpasar and Manado have continued to charm visitors from the East Asian country.

From January to June alone, the number of Chinese visitors rose by 45 percent year-on-year (yoy) to 996,574 visitors, according to the Tourism Ministry.

Last year, Chinese tourists totaled 1.43 million out of 11.5 million overall inbound tourists.

AirAsia made the highest contribution of all airlines to the number of international tourists flown to Indonesia, bringing in 25 percent of the total figure, the ministry has revealed.

The carrier has maintained its goal to drive passenger growth from international routes, which now make up more than half of its whole services in Indonesia. It will focus on connecting Indonesia with India and China this year.

In the first half of this year, however, the local arm of the Malaysian-based airline saw stagnant growth in its number of passengers, flying around 3 million passengers, more or less the same as last year. That compared with the 10 percent to 15 percent surge it aimed to see by the end of the past year. Despite the situation, AirAsia Indonesia plans to continue opening new routes, citing Kolkata in India as the next new route to be opened in November or December after Macau, Dendy said.

“We have always seen the huge potential of tourism in Indonesia. We are very committed to bringing tourists to Indonesia,” AirAsia Group chief executive officer and co-founder Tony Fernandes said.

He also revealed the airline’s plan to carry out an initial public offering (IPO) of its Indonesian unit this year as it seeks to bank further on the immense growth of its business and tap into the promising expansion potential in the future.

Fernandes cited the carrier’s profits last year, its first after years of losses, as one of the factors leading to the IPO decision.

“The reason for the IPO is to bring more planes and more direct connections to Indonesia,” he said, but declined to elaborate on the details about the proceeding.

This year alone, it will receive at least three aircraft to add its 22 Airbus A320 aircraft and two Airbus A330 aircraft.

Leveraging the e-commerce titan’s knowledge of Chinese consumer preference in the digital space, the new venture will deliver VIP travel packages, exclusive benefits to each company’s membership clubs, as well as personalized trip-planning services, the companies said at a joint news conference in Shanghai.

“Together, we are elevating and redefining the travel experience for Chinese consumers to be more seamless and personalized as they embark on adventures to discover the world,” said Daniel Zhang, CEO of Alibaba.

Under the agreement, Marriott properties in destinations that are popular among Chinese will accept Alipay, the payment tool owned by Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial Services Group.

The JV will also manage Marriott’s storefront on Fliggy, Alibaba’s travel service platform, as well as the hotel chain’s Chinese-language digital channels including Marriott.com, Starwoodhotels.com and corresponding mobile apps.

As a result, consumers will be able to plan, book, pay and manage a trip, as well as shop, eat and sightsee at their destinations, all by using the digital platforms of Alibaba and Marriott.

Marriott International President and CEO Arne Sorenson said the joint venture would allow the company to tap the continuing surge in Chinese tourism both in China and internationally.

“With the growing number of Chinese consumers exploring new destinations, this venture will introduce our hotels worldwide to this new and growing traveling class,” Sorenson said.

With over 6,100 properties worldwide, Marriott is planning to double its presence in China by the end of this year.

“I hope it will help us grow faster in China, and make our brands more familiar to Chinese,” he said.

At the end of the day, the duo wants to create a joint loyalty program that includes benefits such as status-tier matching and the ability to exchange and redeem points between the two programs for travel planning and retail purchasing.