This is despite overall traffic accident and fatality numbers falling.

The total number of accidents involving older pedestrians increased by 59.1 per cent to 183 in the first six months of 2019, from 115 for the same period last year.

Total fatalities increased to 17 from 11 in the same period last year.

Police said almost 32 per cent of accidents involving older pedestrians were due to jaywalking, which remained the most common cause of such accidents despite the number falling from 40 per cent of the total for the same period last year.

The total number of road accidents which resulted in injury or death in the first half of this year fell slightly to 3,817 from 3,915 a year ago.

This was partly due to a drop in the number of speeding-related and drink-driving accidents, although the number of red-light running accidents increased.

Accidents involving motorcyclists also continued to be a cause for concern, as they accounted for more than half of both the total number of road accidents and deaths, at 58 and 55 per cent respectively.

Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Home Affairs and National Development Sun Xueling said a two-pronged approach was needed to address the rising numbers of pedestrians above the age of 60 involved in accidents.

“We need to raise awareness among the elderly of using pedestrian crossings and refraining from jaywalking,” she said at the launch of the Singapore Ride Safe 2019 campaign at the ComfortDelGro Driving Centre in Ubi on Saturday.

“At the same time, motorists must pay greater attention to elderly pedestrians in light of Singapore’s ageing population.”

Ms Sun added that it is critical for the traffic police to continue to strengthen public education and outreach efforts to the motorcycling community, pointing to past initiatives, such as a Roadsense Carnival held at Ngee Ann City in July in conjunction with the Singapore Road Safety Council Road Safety Month.

The traffic police are also organising a road safety carnival for the elderly to be held on Oct 12 at The Theatre at Mediacorp.

This year marks the 13th edition of the Singapore Ride Safe campaign, which aims to promote good road sense and riding behaviour among the motorcycle community.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/number-of-road-accidents-involving-pedestrians-aged-over-60-rose-in-first-half-of-2019

In an age of fake news and misinformation, The China Post has joined the World News Day celebrations with the aim of raising public awareness of the critical role that newsrooms and journalists play in providing the public with credible and reliable news and views, to help people make sense of – and improve – the rapidly changing world around them.

“The aim of World News Day is to celebrate the work of professional journalists and newsrooms, and the critical role they play in our societies,” Warren Fernandez, president, World Editors Forum, and editor-in-chief, The Straits Times.

“By stepping up to make the case for good journalism, we hope to garner public support for and trust in the media, as well as inspire our newsroom to rise to the challenge of delivering the news and serving their audiences,” he added.

In Singapore, the World Editors Forum has partnered with the National Youth Achievement Award Council to hold a “Real News Matters: World News Day” journalism forum. More than 40 news organizations from around the world have also participated in the annual event and shared stories that make an impact.

“We belong to an industry that for too long has acted without confidence or clarity. Never have more people consumed news or been more interested in news on so many platforms, but too few understand how journalism gets done,” David Walmsley, chair of the Canadian Journalism Foundation and editor-in-chief of The Globe and Mail.

“World News Day is a moment to pause and for our industry and our audience to join in explaining why journalism matters,” he continued. ●

For more information on World News Day, visit: http://worldnewsday.org/

https://chinapost.nownews.com/20190928-769802

The terms of trade index for products came to 89.94 in the month, down 4.6 percent from the same month last year, according to the data from the Bank of Korea .

The reading marks 21 consecutive months of decline in the index. The trade terms index measures the amount of imports a country can purchase for each unit of exports. A reading below 100 means import prices are higher than those of exports, resulting in unfavorable terms of trade.

South Korea’s exports have dipped for nine consecutive months since December, and are projected to fall again this month with outbound shipments plunging 21.8 percent on-year in the first 20 days.

In August, the export volume index slipped 5.8 percent from a year earlier while the import volume index gained 1.5 percent over the same period.

The steady decline in outbound shipments is casting woes over the export-dependent economy.

Asia’s fourth-largest economy grew at a disappointing pace of 1.9 percent on-year in the first half, forcing the central bank to revise down its growth outlook to 2.2 percent in July from 2.5 percent forecast three months earlier.

The prolonged trade dispute between the US and China is largely blamed for the drop in South Korean exports, but the country’s own trade conflict with Japan is expected to further weigh on its exports and economy. (Yonhap)

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20190927000481

On Friday, the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency revealed it is seeking an arrest warrant for the 26-year-old suspect, who allegedly beat his 5-year-old stepson to death. The man is accused of tying up the victim with cable ties and beating him with a wooden bar for around 20 hours starting Wednesday afternoon and into the next day at their home in the Michuhol district of Incheon.

Around 10:20 p.m. Thursday, the man called the emergency services, saying the child was not breathing.

When the authorities arrived at the house, the boy was unconscious and had no pulse. He was transferred to a nearby hospital, where he was confirmed dead.

Upon finding bruises and evidence of assault on the boy’s face and limbs, police arrested the stepfather immediately in relation to his son’s death.

The man told police he became angry because the child had lied to him.

“We initially arrested the suspect on suspicion of death resulting from child abuse but changed the charges, as investigation showed he could have recognized that violence might lead to the boy’s death,” a police official said.

In 2017, the man married the dead child’s mother, who has two other sons. He was investigated by police the same year on suspicion of child abuse.

His wife and the other sons, aged 2 and 4, were also at the scene when the violence happened. She told police that her husband had beat her and threatened to kill her and the other two sons if she called police.

By Choi Ji-won (jwc@heraldcorp.com)

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20190927000616

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said Friday that the ninth case of the disease had been detected at a pig farm on Ganghwa Island, about 60 kilometers west of Seoul. Two other suspected farms in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, tested negative.

The farm where the most recent case was detected has some 2,000 pigs.

The first outbreak of the deadly animal virus was confirmed Sept. 17 at a hog farm in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. All confirmed cases of the virus have been found in the inter-Korean border areas of Incheon and Paju.

On Thursday, quarantine authorities extended the 48-hour movement ban on all pig farms and other related facilities until noon Saturday, after five more outbreaks of the disease were reported. The government also banned all vehicles used in the livestock industry of the 10 cities and the district inside northern Gyeonggi Province from traveling outside the region.

As the massive spread of swine fever continues, more than 28,000 pigs have been slaughtered as of 7 p.m. Thursday, and some 32,500 more are set to be culled.

The disease is mainly spread by contaminated feed or by coming into direct contact with infected wild animals. Humans can also be carriers of the virus but they cannot be infected by it.

By Choi Ji-won  (jwc@heraldcorp.com)

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20190927000055

The song, “Chicken Noodle Soup,” set for release Friday evening through BTS’ official social media channels, is a recreation of the namesake song released by American musician, DJ Webstar and rapper Young B.

The new song will also come with a music video featuring J-Hope and Becky G, according to Big Hit Entertainment.

J-Hope wrote Korean rap lines for “Chicken Noodle Soup” while Becky G wrote her lines in Spanish, adding fresh elements to the old-school hip hop song.

The two artists joined hands for the collaboration, having both fallen for hip hop music in their childhoods.

The song also comes with witty choreography executed by J-Hope and Becky G in the music video as well as a dance ensemble of some50 dancers from across the world.

J-Hope, known for his dance prowess, has also shown talent in music production, having joined in the production and rapping of many BTS songs, including “MIC Drop,” “Blood Sweat & Tears,” and “Boy With Luv.”

In March last year, J-Hope dropped a mixtape, “Hope World,” which peaked at 38 on the Billboard 200 main album chart. (Yonhap)

The 21-year-old student, identified as La Randi, died after allegedly being shot. He was brought to Dr. R. Ismoyo Hospital at 3:30 p.m. in a critical condition with a chest wound.

“[Randi] has passed away,” Kurniawan Hendrik, the coordinator of the student protest, confirmed to The Jakarta Post on Thursday evening.

Another Halu Oleo University student, Laode Muhammad Yusuf Farwadi, underwent surgery at Bahteramas Hospital after he suffered severe head injuries. He was in a critical condition as of 7:50 p.m. Jakarta time on Thursday.

Head of the Indonesian Ombudsman’s Southeast Sulawesi office Mastri Susilo, who visited Randi at the hospital, also confirmed that the student died despite receiving treatment from medical personnel.

“We will launch an investigation into where the bullet [came from],” Mastri said as quoted by tempo.co, adding that he suspected the incident was the result of a failure to follow police procedures.

Randi’s body was reportedly taken to Abunawas General Hospital in Kendari for an autopsy.

Student protests in front of Southeast Sulawesi DPRD ended in clashes between protesters and the police on Thursday, with police firing water cannons and tear gas after some protesters made an attempt to break through the council building’s gate.

Southeast Sulawesi Police denied any involvement in Randi’s death, with police spokesperson Adj. Comr. Sr. Harry Goldenhardt saying that the personnel securing the protests were armed with neither live rounds nor rubber bullets.

“The personnel only had batons and tear gas canisters,” Harry said as quoted bytempo.co.

The rally in Kendari on Thursday was the latest in a series of rallies held by tens of thousands of students nationwide since Monday, in protest at controversial bills ─ including a revision to the Criminal Code ─ and what they perceive as attempts to roll back the country’s democracy and anticorruption commitment.

Some of the protests, including those held in Jakarta and Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Tuesday, saw hundreds of students injured, with dozens of others in the capital still unaccounted for as of Thursday.

Reports filed with public advocacy groups in Jakarta have alleged police personnel used excessive measures when dealing with protesters, as well as journalists who are covering the protests.

Human rights groups have demanded an investigation into the death of Randi, as they called for the police to refrain from using excessive force when handling student protests.

“The authorities should immediately launch a thorough, independent and impartial investigation and the perpetrator should be brought to court,” Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid said.

Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) coordinator Yati Andriyani concurred with Usman, as she “condemned” the police’s slow response to demands its personnel refrain from using harsh measures during student protests.

Bearing the brunt of global warming and climate change, the Hindu Kush Himalayan region, an area covering high mountain ranges of central, south and inner Asia, faces the risk of losing over 60 per cent of its glaciers by the year 2100, a global climate report said on Wednesday.

The special report on oceans and cryosphere in a changing climate, prepared by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said that glacier retreat and snow cover changes have already contributed to localised declines in agricultural yields in high mountain regions, including the Hindu Kush Himalayas.

The Hindu Kush Himalaya region includes mountain ranges of the Tien Shan, Kun Lun, Pamir, Hindu Kush, Karakoram, Himalayas, and Hengduan and the high-altitude Tibetan Plateau which produce one of the world’s largest renewable supplies of freshwater. It supports 120 million people directly through irrigation systems, and a total of 1.3 billion indirectly through river basins in India, Tibet, China, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

“Hindu Kush Himalayan regions are extremely susceptible to temperature increase. Under a 1.5 degree Celsius global warming scenario, the areas are projected to warm up by more than 2 degrees Celsius on average by the end of this century,” the report said.

The report, approved by over 190 countries, said that currently, more likely climate change scenarios suggest regional temperature increases between 3.5 and 6 degree Celsius by 2100.

“Most of the projections also indicate overall wetter conditions in the future and increases in extreme precipitation events. This will lead to significant losses in glacier volume, from 36 to 64 per cent, depending on the warming scenario, and impact timing of water flows and water availability.

So, the rate of risk is extremely high in present emission scenario,” the report said. According to the report, floods will become more frequent and severe in the mountainous and downstream areas of the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra river basins, in Hindu Kush Himalayan region, because of an increase in extreme precipitation events.

“Depending on the climate change scenario, the severity of flood events is expected to more than double towards the end of the century,” it said.

Highlighting the impact of global warming and its implications in water resources in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region, one of the key authors of the report said that it affect water for domestic use, agriculture and hydroelectricity.

“Snow and glacier melt from high mountains helps to sustain the rivers that deliver water resources to downstream populations. Due to global warming and its implications in the water resources in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region, three sectors would be directly affected – water for domestic use, agriculture and hydroelectricity,” said Anjal Prakash, one of the authors of the report.

The report also said that with just 50 cm of sea-level rise, 150 million people would face flooding in port cities around the world. Among the 46 cities at risk due to sea level rise, two are Indian cities of Mumbai and Kolkata, which may experience severe and frequent floods, it said.

Referring to the impact of increasing sea level on Indian cities, he said that Mumbai, the most populous city in India, is threatened by both sea-level rise and increasingly extreme rainfall. “Much of the city is already below sea level at high tide. It is difficult to build walls to protect Mumbai from rising sea levels because the city also needs to be able to drain regular flooding from monsoon rainfall. At the same time Mumbai is continuing to build more coastal developments,” Anjan Prakash said.

The IPCC report, which was approved on September 24 by 195 member countries, will be a crucial scientific input at the 25th Conference of Parties at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at Chile in December this year.

A former chief North Korean nuclear envoy said Friday he believes US President Donald Trump is different from his predecessors, and looks forward to him making a “bold decision” in nuclear talks despite calls in Washington for Pyongyang to denuclearize first.

Kim Kye-gwan, currently an adviser to the North Korean foreign ministry, made the remarks in a statement carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency, amid expectations that the US and the North could hold working-level nuclear talks in coming weeks.

“I came to know that President Trump is different from his predecessors in a political sense and decision (making) while watching his approach to the DPRK, so I would like to place my hope on President Trump’s wise choices and bold decisions,” Kim said.

DPRK stands for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Kim, considered a key foreign policy brain, also said that US politicians are “obsessed” with the idea that the North can get access to a “bright future only when it abandons its nukes first” and that sanctions led Pyongyang to the dialogue.

Previous summit meetings between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un served as “historic occasions” to express their political will to put an end to the hostile relations and have peace and stability settled on the Korean peninsula, Kim said.

“But no practical follow-up was made to implement the issues agreed upon at the summit talks, casting shadow over the possibility of future summit talks,” he said.

Kim said the North made sincere efforts to carry out what was agreed at their first summit last year, such as its repatriation of American detainees, but the US has done nothing to implement the deal, and instead resumed military exercises with South Korea and ratcheted up sanctions and pressure on the North.

The statement comes amid efforts to restart the US-North Korea dialogue that many believe may lead to a third summit between Trump and Kim Jong-un.

The second Trump-Kim summit in Vietnam in February ended without a deal after the two sides failed to find common ground over the North’s denuclearization steps and corresponding measures from the US.

Earlier this month, the North offered to hold talks in late September and demanded the US come up with a new proposal acceptable to Pyongyang.

Trump said Monday another meeting “could happen soon,” although likely after there has been progress in the working-level talks.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday that working-level talks have not been arranged as of yet, adding that the US stands ready to resume the talks.

Following Kim’s statement, Seoul’s unification ministry said it hopes the US and North Korea will produce “good results” in their negotiations based on mutual trust and respect.

Hong Kong’s embattled leader Carrie Lam faced a critical crowd on Thursday (Sept 26) at a public dialogue with some 130 people, as hundreds more protested outside the venue.

The town hall was the first in a series of meetings promised by Mrs Lam in a bid to reconnect with society and assuage public anger. At times looking uncomfortable when faced with angry members of the public, Mrs Lam was joined by three other senior officials.

Of the 30 participants given a chance to speak, about a dozen called for an independent inquiry into the police’s use of force, some calling the Independent Police Complaints Council a “toothless tiger”.

Mrs Lam repeatedly said the council should still be allowed to do its job, while assuring those present that it would conduct a fair and thorough investigation.

She admitted there has been a “disconnect” between Hong Kongers and the government, and vowed to rebuild the trust.

But she said that not all of the five demands – a complete withdrawal of the extradition Bill, an independent inquiry into police action, to not call protesters rioters, for an amnesty to be granted to those charged with rioting and for universal suffrage – can be met because those who break the law must pay the price.

Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip said that as for questions on democratic reforms, there needs to be a balance in the “one country, two systems” policy to achieve that goal.

The policy enacted before Hong Kong’s handover from Britain to China in 1997 ensures that the city enjoys freedoms – such as the right to protest and free speech – unseen on the mainland.

Participants at the dialogue had been randomly picked from over 20,000 applicants. While 150 people were selected, around 130 turned up. Most who showed up appeared to be middle-aged, and some wore masks.

With the town hall held at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium in a residential part of Wan Chai district, schools and shops around the venue shut early to avoid getting caught up in any disruption.

The stadium had been shut for the entire day for security reasons, with public parking spots nearby cordoned off by police.

To enter, attendees had to pass through airport-like security, with bags X-rayed and checked.

As the talks got under way, hundreds gathered outside shouting protest slogans, with more assembling around Wan Chai to form human chains.

The protests in Hong Kong were sparked in June by a contentious extradition Bill that would have allowed for fugitives to be handed over to several jurisdictions, including mainland China.

This week would mark the 17th weekend of protests, coinciding with the fifth anniversary of 2014’s Umbrella Movement, a series of pro-democracy demonstrations.

Protests have shown little sign of slowing, as many continue to express unhappiness against the government while calling for democratic reforms.

Protest organiser Civil Human Rights Front said on Thursday that its rally at Tamar Park tomorrow, to mark the anniversary of the start of the Umbrella Movement, has been given the green light by police.

The Chinese-ruled territory is on edge ahead of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China next Tuesday (Oct 1), with the authorities eager to avoid scenes that could embarrass the central government in Beijing.

China says it is committed to the “one country, two systems” arrangement and denies meddling. It has accused foreign governments, including the United States and Britain, of inciting the unrest.

The protests have also brought to the fore social issues plaguing Hong Kong, including lack of affordable housing and a growing income gap.

With the unrest splitting society, businesses and the economy have been hard hit as tourists stay away.

At the end of the session, Mrs Lam thanked participants, saying it was a “good first step” in a long road ahead, as some in the audience shouted a protest slogan: “Five demands, not one less.”

Participant Sam Ng, 38, who got to ask a question, said he was glad there was a platform for such a dialogue, but admitted that results might be limited. He said that Mrs Lam seemed genuine.

“She feels very afraid that there will be people getting hurt or dying in protests. This point, I feel, is genuine,” he told journalists after the session.