The landmark land border crossing agreement between India and Myanmar came into effect on Wednesday with the simultaneous opening of international entry-exit checkpoints between the two countries, giving a major boost to India’s ‘Act East Policy’.

“August 8 is an important date in the history of Myanmar. Today, it will also become an important date in the history of India-Myanmar bilateral relations. This morning, international entry-exit checkpoints have been opened simultaneously on the Tamu- Moreh Border between Manipur and Sagaing Division and the Rihkhawdar-Zokhawthar border between Mizoram and Chin State,” said Indian Ambassador to Myanmar Vikram Misri.

“People will now be able to cross the land border between India and Myanmar holding passports and visas and will be able to travel for tourism, business and education purposes. This will bring our two peoples and two countries closer together and connect our North-East much more strongly with Myanmar as well as the broader ASEAN region. This indeed is Act East (Policy) in action,” he added.

The move comes after India and Myanmar jointly carried out a routine survey following several media reports claiming that unrest erupted in some areas in Moreh sub-division of Manipur over the rumours of alleged shifting of an India-Myanmar border pillar into the Indian Territory.

During the survey, work on the construction of subsidiary pillars between already settled main boundary pillars 81 and 82 along the zero line was agreed and settled international boundary was also undertaken.

Typhoon Shanshan was expected to move along the Pacific coastline just east of Tokyo Wednesday night through early Thursday, sparking fears the busy morning commute in the capital could be disrupted.

The typhoon was coming “very close to the Pacific coast” of eastern Japan, centring on Tokyo, and was expected to move towards northern provinces from late Wednesday and early Thursday, the meteorological agency said.

“There are also risks that it may make landfall,” it said, warning the storm could dump 350 millimetres (14 inches) of rain on the greater Tokyo region over the 24 hours by Thursday noon.

“Please be fully on alert against mudslides, flooding in low-lying areas, flooding of rivers, violent winds, high waves and high tides,” the agency said in a statement, urging residents to obey any evacuation instructions.

In the Chiba region east of Tokyo, officials issued their lowest-level evacuation warning for some residents and urged others to be on stand-by for evacuation orders.

The local government said Wednesday evening it had not received any reports of injuries or structural damage related to the typhoon.

The slow-moving storm, packing maximum gusts of 180 kilometres per hour (112 mph), was estimated to be 110 kilometres (70 miles) southeast of Katsuura city in Chiba at 1300 GMT, the weather agency said.

With rain and winds expected to intensify through the night, television networks urged Tokyo workers to go home early.

Airlines have cancelled scores of domestic and international flights to and from Tokyo’s Haneda airport and the main Narita Airport east of the capital.

The ANA group scrapped 36 domestic flights as well as international flights from Narita to Shanghai and Hong Kong.

The typhoon is the latest weather front to batter Japan, which has been sweating through a record and deadly heatwave. This followed devastating heavy rain in central and western parts of the country in July.

The record rains caused flooding and landslides that killed more than 200 people and devastated swathes of the country.

The ministry today marked Asean Day by launching a book and photography exhibition “Vivid Asean” at the Asean Central Centre in Rajdamnoen Klang Avenue.

“The book features the diversity of Asean cultures, their similarities and differences,” Culture Minister Vira Rojpojchanara told The Nation, adding that the English version would be launched next year.

“By learning about the history and culture of our neighbouring countries, we will better understand [each other] and live together harmoniously.”

He said Thailand would be seeking the cultural cooperation of Asean members at their meeting in Indonesia in October.

“Next year, Thailand will host a variety of cultural Asean activities with the bigger ones including the Ramayana Festival, Asean films and food festivals,” Vira said.

The 200-page book features 13 chapters on topics ranging from food, architecture, costumes, lifestyle, cultural performances and religions. It concludes by showing how Thailand is a multicultural nation.

National artist and photographer Teerapap Lohitkul, the book’s editor-in-chief, teamed up with SeaWrite Awardee Jeeranan Pitpreecha, photographer Sayan Chuenudomsavad and author Hor Supawut Jantasaro to put together the book, which is illustrated with more than 300 beautiful images of all things Asean. The book is available at the Asean Central Centre and the show runs until August 26.

Stephanie Ray, a 15-year-old girl from the town of Dudley in England, had to bid farewell to her 16-year-old boyfriend Blake Ward who was swept out to sea last week.

He was one of the three teenagers rescued last Tuesday from the waters in Tywyn, Gwynedd in northwest Wales after being swept out by currents during a family trip.

He was flown to a hospital in Liverpool and placed on life support. He died five days later.

As a final goodbye, she climbed onto his hospital bed and lay down next to him as he passed away. Stephanie took to Facebook recently to share the heartbreaking photo.

“Today has been the hardest day for me and it will be a day I will never be able to forget,” Stephanie wrote on Facebook alongside the photo.

“Blake was someone special to me and we had something special and we will always have that,” she wrote.

“I will never forget you Blake. Fly high my baby boy and I’m gonna make you proud. Love you and I always will,” she wrote.

The raging Mendocino Complex fire comprising twin blazes in the state’s north has now ravaged almost 300,000 acres (120,000 hectares) — approximately the size of sprawling Los Angeles — in less than two weeks, becoming California’s largest wildfire since record-keeping began a century ago.

Some 14,000 firefighters, including reinforcements from as far away as Australia and New Zealand, are combating the firestorm which remains just 34 percent contained.

The River Fire of the Mendocino Complex is 78 percent contained, having burned 48,920 acres. But its partner blaze the Ranch Fire has grown to 243,772 acres and is just 20 percent contained.

“Still a lot of work to do,” said Charlie Blankenheim, a chief of fire fighting operations. “But we have got a plan for all of it, we think that in a day or two we are going to have some success and start to wrap this up.”

Limited access, heavy fuel loads, low fuel moisture and high temperatures were all impeding firefighters’ efforts to rein in the conflagration, the state’s CalFire authority said.

Overall, the Mendocino Complex fire has destroyed at least 143 structures, 75 of them residences. More than 11,000 other structures are threatened, according to CalFire.

The Ranch fire, which poses the biggest challenge, has swept across natural barriers like rivers, and a ditch dug with earth-moving machinery.

Helicopters and airplanes, including two massive DC-10s and a 747 jumbo jet, were supporting firefighters by dousing the flames with water.

Two people have died in that inferno alone, taking to 11 the number of people killed by major fires that are becoming something of a constant in the state.

The Carr Fire to the north has meanwhile engulfed 167,113 acres since igniting July 23, killing seven people so far.

Firefighters have managed to get it 47 percent contained, challenged by varying wind patterns and rough terrain that includes steep drainages. At one point, it even whipped up a tornado of orange flame.

Another major fire, Ferguson, has left two people dead and forced the closure of part of the Yosemite National Park. It is currently only 38 percent contained.

Several thousand people have been evacuated, although some have been given permission in recent days to return home.

The weather forecast for the rest of the week is for more hot, dry weather of the kind that helps fires spread.

The Mendocino Complex is the second fire to break records in California in as many years, following the Thomas Fire in December 2017 that destroyed 281,893 acres.

“This is part of a trend — a new normal — that we got to deal with,” Governor Jerry Brown told journalists of the “horrific” wildfires.

– Climate change effects –

In the state’s south near San Diego, hundreds of personnel were deploying to tackle the fast-moving Holy Fire in the Cleveland National Forest.

After igniting in a relatively small area on Monday afternoon, it mushroomed to 4,000 acres and is spreading, according to the US Forest Service.

Two other national forests in the counties of Los Angeles and Ventura were on high alert because of searing temperatures, strong winds and parched vegetation.

“If fire ignition occurs, conditions are favorable for very rapid fire spread,” the National Weather Service warned in a statement, saying “extreme fire behavior” could “threaten life and property.”

On Monday, the Pentagon said it would send 200 soldiers to assist firefighters in fending off the flames, many of which have encroached on federal lands.

Speaking from his New Jersey golf course, President Donald Trump paid tribute to firefighters and emergency crews.

“It’s been a very tough situation taking place in California for a number of years. And we’re going to have some meetings about it, because there are reasons and there are things you can do to mitigate what’s happening,” he said.

“We’re deeply grateful to our incredible firefighters and first responders. They’re really brave people.”

The shallow 6.9-magnitude quake killed at least 105 people and triggered panic among locals and tourists on Lombok on Sunday, just a week after another tremor surged through the holiday island and killed 17.

Some 236 people have been severely injured in the latest quake, with tens of thousands of homes damaged, and authorities have appealed for more medical personnel and basic supplies.

“The efforts to evacuate people have been intensified but there are still a lot of problems on the ground,” national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said Wednesday.

“The number of victims keep rising. More than 70,000 people have been evacuated and tens of thousands of houses have collapsed.”

There are fears the death toll will rise as workers with heavy machinery claw through the rubble of homes, schools and mosques, with hopes of finding any survivors fading.

Muhammad Zainul Majdi, the governor of West Nusa Tenggara province which covers Lombok, said there was a dire need for medical staff, food and medicine in the worst-hit areas.

Hundreds of bloodied and bandaged victims have been treated outside damaged hospitals in the main city of Mataram and other badly affected areas.

“We have limited human resources. Some paramedics have to be at the shelters, some need to be mobile,” Majdi told AFP.

“The scale of this quake is massive for us here in West Nusa Tenggara, this is our first experience.”

‘Destruction almost 100 percent’

Across much of the island, once-bustling villages have been turned into virtual ghost towns.

“In some villages we visited the destruction was almost 100 percent, all houses collapsed, roads are cracked and bridges were broken,” said Arifin Muhammad Hadi, a spokesman for the Indonesian Red Cross.

Makeshift encampments have popped up on the side of roads and rice fields, with many farmers reluctant to move far from their damaged homes and leave precious livestock behind.

“It’s typical of earthquake victims in Indonesia, they want to stay close to their livelihood, they can’t bring their livestock to the shelters,” Hadi said.

Local authorities, international relief groups and the central government have begun organising aid, but shattered roads have slowed efforts to reach survivors in the mountainous north and east of Lombok, which was hardest hit.

The Indonesian military said that three Hercules transporter planes packed with much-needed food, medication, blankets, tents and water tanks have now arrived in Lombok.

Tourists flee

The tremor struck as evening prayers were being said across the Muslim-majority island and there are fears that one collapsed mosque in north Lombok had been filled with worshippers.

Crews using heavy equipment resumed the search Wednesday for survivors in the mosque, now reduced to pile of concrete and metal bars, with its towering green dome folded in on itself.

Rescuers have found three bodies and also managed to pull one man alive from the twisted wreckage.

“We estimate there are still more victims because we found many sandals in front of the mosque,” Nugroho said Tuesday.

Among other major buildings to collapse were a health clinic, government offices and other public facilities, he added.

Meanwhile, the evacuation of tourists from the Gili Islands, three tiny, coral-fringed tropical islands off the northwest coast of Lombok has finished, officials said.

“Most foreign tourists have been evacuated,” Yusuf Latif, national search and rescue team spokesman, told AFP.

Lombok airport’s general manager said airlines had laid on extra flights and his staff had been providing blankets and snacks.

GTI is a subsidiary of state-owned constriction company PT Wijayaa Karya (Wika).

“For the time being, we focus to meet the need of companies and individuals, who have made orders to our products. We will expand our factory so that we can fulfill more demand from the people,” GTI CEO Harun Sjech said on Tuesday, during Research, Technology and Higher Education Minister Mohamad Nasir’s visit to the factory.

Harun said that the Gesits electric motorcycles used 89 percent local components, with the 11 percent using imported components.

“There are local businesses that could produce the [imported] components, but we must wait a year for the parts to meet the needs of mass production,” Harun said in a press release The Jakarta Post received on Wednesday.

Wika president director Tumiyana said GTI had set its initial annual production at 50,000 motorcycles. “We will gradually increase our capacity to 100,000 motorcycles annually,” he added.

Meanwhile, technology minister Nasir said that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo was upbeat about launching the Gesits electric motorcycles, adding that the State Palace had already ordered 50 motorcycles.

“The President wants to try the Gesits before the motorcycles are distributed commercially,” Nasir said on the sidelines of his factory visit.

The charges were read out in Malay and Najib said “faham” (understood) after the charges were read out by a court interpreter. No plea was recorded.

Sessions Court judge Azura Alwi allowed an application by the prosecution to transfer the Amla cases to the High Court.

The former prime minister was accused of receiving RM27mil, RM5mil and RM10mil – which were obtained from illegal activities through Real Time Electronic Transfer of Funds and Securities (Rentas) into his bank account in three separate transactions.

The cabinet made the announcement shortly after its two-day extraordinary meeting ended yesterday.

Chaired by Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, the meeting heard of the progress made in dealing with the aftermath of the disaster in Sanamxay district.

The meeting agreed to carry out inspections into all dams, both those that are complete and whose construction is underway.

The Ministry of Energy and Mines will work with the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Ministry of Science and Technology and international experts in carrying out the inspections.

Any irregularities found in the design or construction standard of a dam must be reported to the government on a case by case basis, so that improvements can be made.

The government has also decided to suspend the consideration of new investments in hydropower projects in order to review its hydropower development strategy and plans. The reviewed strategy and plans will be used as a reference for future direction.

The meeting, attended by cabinet members, agreed to establish a taskforce committee to lead the investigation into the reason for the collapse of saddle dam D, one of five auxiliary dams at the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydropower project.

The failure of the dam on July 23 flooded 13 villages in Sanamxay district, killing 34 people as of August 6 while 100 villagers are still missing. Thousands have been left homeless.

The investigation committee is chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Government Inspection Authority, Dr Bounthong Chitmany.

The committee welcomes the help of international experts in carrying out the investigation and verifying the cause of the dam fracture. The committee will also invite representatives of the governments of the Republic of Korea and Thailand, whose companies were stakeholders in the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydropower project, to provide consultation and observe the investigation process.

This will ensure the thoroughness and transparency of the investigation so that the findings are recognised and accepted internationally.

Once the findings are made known, the government will proceed with the next steps.

The meeting also agreed to establish a high-level committee, supervised by Dr Bounthong, to investigate the responsibility of state authorities for the dam failure, as well as those in charge of issuing warnings ahead of the disaster.

The cabinet called for all relevant sectors with assistance from friendly countries to do their utmost to locate the remaining missing people.

Authorities in charge were told to speed up work to build temporary houses for displaced villagers who are currently living in temporary shelters and camps.

The meeting told relevant officials to provide sufficient relief supplies including food, drinking water and other basic essentials, as well as offer good healthcare to prevent the outbreak of disease.

The meeting called for proper management and the most effective use of relief supplies and cash donations in a transparent manner that could be inspected.

The National Ad Hoc Committee in charge of dealing with the aftermath of the Sanamxay flood was told to collect comprehensive information on the losses and damage caused by the disaster.

The Ad Hoc Committee was also entrusted to draw up short-term and longer term plans to recover the damage and losses and report to the government so that investment in the recovery could be prioritised.

The cabinet expressed heartfelt gratitude to all Lao people, all sectors, friendly countries and international organisations for extending invaluable assistance and support for the relief, search and rescue mission.

This heartfelt gratitude was also extended to soldiers, police officers, Lao and foreign volunteers and rescue teams contributing to the relief, search and rescue effort.

Weeks of nonstop sunshine and near-record temperatures have caused droughts and seen tinder-dry forests consumed by wildfires from the Mediterranean to the Arctic Circle, in what many fear could be the region’s new normal in an era of climate change.

The devastating effects of the heatwave were visible from space, according to images of swathes of arid landscape taken by the German astronaut Alexander Gerst from the International Space Station.

“After several weeks of night flying, I was able to take the first day pictures of central Europe and Germany. The sight is shocking. Everything that should be green is parched and brown,” Gerst said on Twitter.

– Resorts threatened –

Spain and Portugal approached record temperatures at the weekend, with the mercury hitting 46.6 degrees Celsius (116 Fahrenheit) at El Granado in Spain and 46.4 C in Alvega, Portugal, according to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

While the deadly hot spell is expected to ease in parts of western Europe in the coming days, firefighters in Spain and Portugal struggled to contain wildfires that have swept southern areas.

In the southern Portuguese holiday region, residents and tourists have been evacuated from around an Algarve resort town as fire crews struggled to extinguish wildfires that have raged for days leaving 30 people injured, one seriously.

Hundreds of firefighters and soldiers used helicopters and planes, as well as several hundred vehicles, to douse the blaze around the mountain town of Monchique as strong winds fanned the flames, with meteorologists warning of “significant” gusts to come.

In the Valencia region of neighbouring Spain some 2,500 people were driven from their homes overnight to escape flames that have already swept across around 1,000 hectares, as fire crews struggled to bring the fires under control.

A spokesman for the regional health department in the southwestern region of Extremadura, near Portugal, said a 66-year-old man and a 75-year-old woman who died in recent days had both succumbed to heat stroke.

This brings to nine the number of people to have died as a direct consequence of the heatwave.

Heat moving east

While parts of Western Europe are forecast to have a reprieve in the coming days, the sweltering temperatures are expected to travel eastwards across the region.

“The same circulation pattern persists which brings hot air from North Africa over Europe, but this whole system is now moving slowly to the east so the western parts of the continent will get cooler air from the Atlantic,” said WMO spokeswoman Sylvie Castonguay.

“This will relieve the situation in most countries in southwestern Europe, while the hot weather conditions will spread further to Eastern Europe.”

In France, violent thunderstorms brought an end to the heatwave there but led to rail cancellations with trees toppled and powerlines down in some parts of the country.

Gusts exceeded 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) in the Somme and Pas de Calais regions according to meteorologists.

‘Tropical’ Arctic

Wildfires have sparked in parts of northern Europe, with blazes still burning up to the Arctic Circle in Sweden, which sizzled in record temperatures in July that also caused mountain top glaciers to melt, according to the WMO.

The Arctic regions of Finland and Norway have been so hot that they have experienced 12 “tropical” nights so far this year, with temperatures topping 20 C.

Dying wildlife

Roughly a thousand kilogrammes (a tonne) of dead fish have been scooped from rivers and lakes in Switzerland in recent days, as the heat raised water temperatures.

“We have been watching dead fish for several days floating down the Rhine,” Andreas Vogeli, an official with the hunting and fisheries department in northern Schaffhausen canton, told the public broadcaster RTS.

The most severely affected area is the stretch of the Rhine river that runs from Lake Constance to the Rhine Falls.

The cold-loving grayling, a member of the salmon family, can struggle when water temperatures exceed 20 C, but certain areas of the Rhine have recorded temperatures above 27 C in recent days.

In Britain, the sustained heat has seen a spike in cases of avian botulism reported among wild waterbirds like swans and geese.

Botulism, a naturally occurring neurotoxin activated in warm weather by bacteria in silt, is passed along to waterbirds through infected bugs, causing paralysis. It is not contagious to humans.

“Many drown because they can not lift their heads out of the water,” Melanie Nelson, a trustee at the Swan Sanctuary in southeast England, told AFP.

“Whole lakes are affected at a time meaning entire waterbird communities become sick and die.”

Temperatures in southeast England were expected to climb to 30 C on Tuesday before easing off for the rest of the week.