China’s national observatory on Saturday continued to issue a red alert for high temperatures, the most severe warning in its four-tier weather warning system, as a scorching heatwave hits more regions of the country.
During the daytime on Sunday, parts of Xinjiang, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian, Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, Guangxi, and Guangdong are expected to experience high temperatures of 35 to 39 degrees Celsius, according to the National Meteorological Center.
Temperatures in parts of Shaanxi, Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Hubei, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Chongqing, and Xinjiang may surpass 40 degrees Celsius, the center said.
It advised local authorities to take emergency measures against the heatwave, suspend outdoor work exposed to high temperatures, pay close attention to fire prevention measures, and take particular care of vulnerable groups.
China has a four-tier, color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow, and blue.
Medical teams from across China are rushing to the southwest Tibet Autonomous Region to help it stamp out its Covid-19 resurgence.
As of Saturday noon, Tibet has reported 32 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 237 asymptomatic ones in its latest outbreak that started a week ago.
Local authorities are trying to contain the epidemic with nationwide assistance.
A medical team from east China’s Jiangsu Province, consisting of 207 practitioners with different expertise, arrived in Lhasa late on Thursday. They will assist the capital of Tibet to fight the virus in the following weeks.
“We’ll work together with our colleagues in Lhasa in PCR sample collection and laboratory testing, epidemiological investigation as well as medical treatment. I hope the epidemic will be brought under control as soon as possible with our joint efforts,” said Gao Peng, leader of the medical team.
Tibet has a shortage of medical resources. Medical teams from different provinces, including Shandong, Heilongjiang and Guangdong, have arrived in the region to offer their assistance. They are working in different cities, including Shigatse and Nyingchi, and have brought medical equipment with them.
Tibet itself is also stocking up on supplies.
“We’ve stored disinfection and protective products as well as medicines. We’ve also prepared related gear for medical staff, including protective suits, face shields and goggles. We’ve increased purchases to meet the growing need. Our supplies will arrive in batches,” said Chun Sheng, an employee from a local pharmaceutical company.
Cities with confirmed or asymptomatic cases are stepping up efforts to conduct mass testing. But there are challenges, like delayed results.
In Lhasa, to help stranded tourists leave the city, local authorities have set up two “green channels,” where tourists are given priority to get tested and receive their results.
“[Lhasa] impresses us as a welcoming city. I was worried that I might not be able to leave as scheduled. Then it offers this special channel that has met our most pressing needs. I’m very grateful. I’m sure I’ll come back again,” said a tourist.
Tibet is a popular tourist destination, known for its unique ethnic and religious culture. This outbreak will have an inevitable impact on its tourism, but all flights to and from Lhasa have so far been operating normally.
Ukraine is targeting Russian soldiers who shoot at an occupied nuclear plant in the south of the country or use it as a base to shoot from, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday.
Ukraine and Russia have traded accusations over multiple recent incidents of shelling at the Zaporizhzhia facility, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. Russian troops captured the station early in the war.
“Every Russian soldier who either shoots at the plant, or shoots using the plant as cover, must understand that he becomes a special target for our intelligence agents, for our special services, for our army,” Zelenskiy said in an evening video address.
Zelenskiy, who did not give any details, repeated accusations that Russia was using the plant as nuclear blackmail.
“And absolutely all officials of the terrorist state, as well as those who help them in this blackmail operation with the nuclear power plant, must answer in an international court,” he said.
Zelenskiy also gave an update on Ukraine’s efforts on the frontline, describing the fighting in Donbas as “brutal”.
“Fighting in the south of the country brings good news about the destruction of Russian army forces and their means. No day is wasted – we are reducing the occupiers’ potential,” he added.
Two more ships carrying grain left from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports on Saturday, Turkey’s defence ministry said, bringing the total number of vessels to depart the country under a U.N.-brokered deal to 16.
Zelenskiy said that in less than two weeks, Ukraine had managed to export the same amount of grain from three ports as it had done by road for the whole of July.
“The first ship for loading under the UN World Food Programme has already arrived – it delivers grain, in particular for Ethiopia, where the situation with hunger is especially brutal,” he said, as the ship prepares to depart from Pivdennyi port.
“For Ukraine, this has a notable benefit,” Zelenskiy added.
On August 15 last year, Taliban militants seize Kabul. The Taliban’s return to power led to the deprivation of many Afghan women’s rights. But some of them are still fighting for their right to this day.
16-YEAR-OLD KERISHMA RASHEEDI:
Kerishma Rasheedi, 16, was a proud 9th-grade high school student before the Taliban swept to power in August last year. She hasn’t been able to go back to school since.
In March the Taliban backtracked on their announcement that high schools would open for girls, saying they would remain closed until a plan was drawn up in accordance with Islamic law for them to reopen. The last time the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, from 1996 to 2001, they banned education and most employment for women.
Rasheedi refused to give up. To keep up with her studies, she now attends classes at a private education centre for girls, hoping that one day, she can return to school and pursue her dream of becoming a journalist.
“I want to become a successful journalist in the future, I would love to serve my country, and education is my basic human right. I want to continue my education so I can convey the miseries of other women to the authorities,” she said.
The private education centre, opened nearly seven months ago, offers classes of math, English and Dari literature for women of different ages and levels.
The Taliban has allowed a few private education centres for women to open as long as they had obtained permission from the justice ministry.
Every day, Rasheedi and her 14-year-old sister, who also cannot go to school, spend two hours studying at the centre.
“My message to the Taliban is to reopen schools for girls as soon as possible…we want to study.”
WOMEN’S RIGHTS ACTIVIST MONESA MUBAREZ:
Monesa Mubarez has been at the forefront of Afghan women’s fight for their rights since the Taliban took over the country in August last year.
The 31-year-old, with a master’s degree in international relations, used to work for the finance ministry, and lost her job when the militant regime seized power.
Since then, Mubarez has devoted herself to activism, having organised 17 street protests so far.
The Taliban seized power for a second time in Afghanistan last August as international forces backing a pro-Western government pulled out.
Critics say women’s rights have since been undermined with new curbs on their clothes, movement and education, despite vows made to the contrary by the Taliban earlier.
“We’ll raise our voices against every injustice until our last breath, we will stand against all the tyranny imposed by the Taliban on the people of Afghanistan, especially on women of Afghanistan,” Mubarez declared at a protest against a new Taliban decree in May, requiring Afghan women to cover their faces.
At least once a week, Mubarez and around 10 other like-minded women would meet up, ironing out plans for their next protest or working out strategies to promote their cause on social media.
“What we want is justice, freedom, and equality only, every respectful media outlet knows that our slogans are based on food, job, and freedom, and all these are the basic rights of every citizen,” said Mubarez, at one of their meetings at her house, where the women made plans for a rally marking one year since the Taliban takeover.
Their activism is not without risks, especially in the beginning of the Taliban’s rule, but Mubarez vowed to fight until “justice has been achieved”.
“It is natural that all of these (protesting women) have experienced threats in various ways, we still receive threatening calls (from the Taliban),” she said. “If one of us gets killed, there will be others who will raise their voices.”
FORMER POLICE OFFICER WHO IS NOW CLEANING HOUSES, GULESTAN SAFARI:
Gulestan Safari, 45, loved her job as a police officer.
Despite losing her husband to cancer two years ago, Safari was a happy mother and grandparent.
Now she cleans houses to provide for a household of five.
Safari lost her job when the hardline Islamist Taliban movement seized power in August last year.
There used to be more than 20,000 women police officers in Afghanistan, most of whom were sacked by the Taliban. Only a fraction was retained to manage women’s prisons.
“My job was so valuable for me, I loved my job, we were so happy, but when the Taliban came, they did not allow us to go to work,” said Safari.
With Afghanistan’s economy deep in crisis – billions of dollars in aid and reserves have been cut off and ordinary people have little money for their necessities – Safari and her family are struggling to make ends meet.
She used to have a monthly salary of 12,000 Afghani ($132), now she makes $3 or $4 on a good day.
“I usually work from 8 a.m. till 4 p.m., it’s a really boring job, but I have no other choices, no other income, we die if I don’t work,” said Safari.
Safari’s son, who was also a police officer, went to Iran to look for work five months ago, when he decided he couldn’t support his family with a salary that had been cut by half. But he hasn’t been heard from since.
That left Safari as the sole breadwinner of the house, supporting her 15-year-old daughter, her daughter-in-law, who is a housewife and two toddler grandsons.
After paying $55 for rent, they barely have much left.
“In the past I could buy rice, meat, oil, but now I cannot afford to buy anything anymore. I borrowed some money from my neighbours to buy these vegetables. Now everything is so expensive, we cannot afford to buy much,” she said.
With her uniform taken away by the Taliban, and photos of her at duty burnt by the family out of fear, the only momento Safari has left of her six-year-long career in the police force, were the work certificates she managed to hide away.
“We are tired of this situation, how long do we have to suffer like this? How long should women sit in their houses?”
Muay Thai fighter Petchkeng Kaiyanghadao on Saturday became the second Thai boxer in recent weeks to die after sustaining a brain injury in the ring.
Petchkeng’s martial arts club at the Rajamangala University of Technology Phra Nakhon said the fighter succumbed to the injury after a bout in Malaysia.
The death of Petchkeng, whose real name was Kittichai Chaengkha, comes just three weeks after Panphet Phadungchai succumbed to injuries suffered in the ring.
Panphet, real name Sarayut Klinming, died from a brain injury at a Bangkok hospital on July 23, nine days after being knocked out by a spinning elbow in a bout against French boxer Anthony TF at Thupatemi stadium in Pathum Thani. His death led to calls for better medical care at ringside during Muay Thai fights.
On its Facebook page, the university’s martial arts club said Petchkeng, who was an alumnus of the university’s liberal arts faculty, was considered a skilled Muay Thai fighter.
It added that he had led fighters from the Phatthalung club where Petchkeng was a trainer to success during the 47th Thailand National Games in Sisaket between March 5 and 25.
“The fight sports club would like to express our deepest condolences and send moral support to Kittichai’s family,” the page said.
Meanwhile, Nuttadaj Vachirarattanawong, owner of Petchyindee Academy Muay Thai gym in Bangkok, said on his Facebook page that he and his brother had handed 100,000 baht to Kittichai’s family.
He added that he was worried about Kittichai’s young son who is only 1 year and 8 months old.
A shambolic Manchester United side conceded four goals in the opening 35 minutes in a 4-0 drubbing at Brentford on Saturday (August 13) as their woeful start to the Premier League season continued.
United’s seventh successive away league defeat was assured long before the interval as Brentford took ruthless advantage of a catalogue of errors by the visitors.
The rout began in the 10th minute when United keeper David de Gea allowed a weak shot by Josh Dasilva to slip past him.
Things got worse for United eight minutes later when De Gea played the ball out to former Brentford player Christian Eriksen who was caught in possession and Mathias Jensen slotted home.
When United’s defence failed to deal with a corner and Ben Mee glanced in a close-range header to make it 3-0 the Brentford fans were ecstatic while United’s new manager Erik ten Hag looked ashen-faced in his technical area.
Brentford’s fourth was a gem as Ivan Toney delivered a diagonal ball to Bryan Mbeumo from a counter-attack and Mbeumo calmly beat De Gea.
Ten Hag made three substitutions at half-time with Raphael Varane, Tyrell Malacia and Scott McTominay coming on but despite a slight improvement United offered little fight.
Brentford’s fans serenaded their players with “Hey Jude” at the final whistle while United’s players looked crestfallen as they trudged off rock bottom of the table having also lost their opener at home to Brighton & Hove Albion.
It was the first time since 1960 that United have conceded at least six goals in their first two matches of a top-flight season and the first time they have lost their opening two matches since 1992 when they went on to win the title.
This side, however, looks woefully inadequate to mount any kind of challenge and Ten Hag, who was taunted by the Brentford fans, appears to have a huge job on his hands.
The Dutchman is the first Manchester United manager to lose his first two games in charge since John Chapman in 1921.
For Brentford, whose starting line-up cost in the region of 55 million compared to the more than 400 million of United’s, have picked up four points in their first two games.
United had Cristiano Ronaldo back in their starting line-up but the Portuguese forward barely got a look in.
The confidence drained out of United from the moment De Gea allowed Dasilva’s shot to end up in the back of the net.
Eriksen, who got a mixed reception from Brentford’s fans, then inadvertently gifted his former club their second as United looked shellshocked by the energy of their hosts who went on to record their biggest top-flight victory since 1938.
Things will not get any easier for United whose next game is against Liverpool.
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The main opposition Pheu Thai party has vowed to boycott Parliament on Monday in a bid to kill a draft bill that would change the party-list MP calculation method.
Pheu Thai spokeswoman Theerarat Samretwanich told a press conference on Sunday that her party’s MPs would not join the meeting to vote on the bill, which it deems unconstitutional.
House Speaker and Parliament President Chuan Leekpai called a special meeting of MPs and senators on Monday to try to save the election bill.
Last Wednesday’s vote on the bill’s second reading collapsed after the meeting failed to reach a quorum, raising concerns that it would not be approved by Parliament before the 180-day deadline, which falls on Monday.
The bill is required to effect an amendment of the Constitution that changes the single-ballot system to a dual-ballot election system – one vote for constituency MPs and another for party-list MPs.
The bone of contention in the bill concerns the method used to calculate the number of party-list MPs. The original draft proposed dividing the party-list votes by 100, but an ad hoc House-Senate committee then changed that figure to 500. The “500” calculation method would favour smaller parties at the expense of larger parties.
Pheu Thai sees the change as a move designed to prevent it from winning a landslide victory in the next general election, which must be called by March at the latest.
Pheu Thai MPs staged a walkout on Wednesday to derail the bill’s passage.
Theerarat noted that the amended Article 91 of the charter states that “the number of party-list MPs of each political party must be allocated in proportion to the overall number of party-list votes. “As a result, the number of party-list seats must be divided by 100,” the spokeswoman said.
“Pheu Thai MPs unanimously agree that they will not allow themselves to be part of the quorum for the meeting on August 15,” Theerarat said.
However, if government coalition MPs and senators manage to form a quorum for Wednesday’s session, Pheu Thai MPs would return to the meeting to debate against the new version, Theerarat said.
She said Pheu Thai MPs would turn out in full force to debate against the use of 500 as the divider and would then stage a walkout.
“Pheu Thai affirms that it won’t join the assembly to enact a bill that could violate the charter,” Theerarat said.
She argued that boycotts were allowed by the Constitution to prevent a distorted bill from clearing Parliament. “This is our duty as representatives of the people,” she added.
Speaking at the same press conference, Noppadon Pattama, deputy chairman of Pheu Thai’s strategy committee, said using 500 as the divider would clearly violate the charter’s amended Article 91.
He said the coalition was focused on who would stand to gain from the 100-divider method instead of acknowledging that the 500-divider would violate the charter.
“Our direction is clear: Pheu Thai will not support the 500-divider formula, because it violates the charter,” he insisted.
If the bill fails to pass on Monday, it will revert to the original version featuring the 100 method before being sent to the prime minister for enactment after royal approval.
Most people do not believe in speculation of a secret deal in Parliament to change the party-list MP calculation method and to ensure Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan becomes the next prime minister, a recent survey shows.
The nationwide survey was conducted on August 10-11 by the National Institute of Development Administration (Nida) among 1,312 respondents aged 18 and over from different backgrounds.
Asked if there was a secret deal between Palang Pracharath and Pheu Thai to change the party-list MP calculation method:
– 40.32% said no
– 21.80% said probably not
– 17.91% said probably yes
– 9.38% said yes
Asked if there was a secret deal between two political parties to ensure Palang Pracharat leader Prawit becomes the next prime minister:
– 59.76% said no
– 17.45% said probably not
– 13.87% said probably yes
– 7.47% said yes
MPs from both Palang Pracharath and Pheu Thai failed to attend Wednesday’s second reading of the draft bill to change the party-list calculation method. The meeting collapsed due to a lack of quorum and the bill now looks to be doomed.
Parliament will meet again on Monday to consider the bill, under which party-list votes would be divided by 500 to calculate the number of party-list MPs. The “500” calculation method would benefit small parties at the expense of large parties. Failure of the bill would see the calculation method revert to division by 100.
Cheap loans being offered by the Paotang app and Government Savings Bank were among the top 10 fake news items last week, according to the Digital Economy and Society Ministry (DESM).
The ministry verified 358 alerts about fake news and found 166 issues that needed to be investigated, said DESM spokeswoman Noppawan Huajaiman on Sunday.
Most of the fake information detected concerned government policies, she added.
She said the 10 fake news items that captured most public attention from August 5 to 11 were:
– Heart massage can reduce chest pain, boost blood circulation and restore normal heartbeat.
– The Paotang app offers loans of 100,000 baht via ATMs.
– About 600 public health volunteers are dying each month after voluntarily testing Covid-19 vaccines.
– China is releasing water from Mekong dams, causing severe flooding in Thailand and Laos this month and next month.
– The GSB is providing collateral-free soft loans of between 5,000 and 500,000 baht via the Line app.
– The Mymo loans Facebook page belongs to the GSB.
– The Facebook page Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives True Friend of Investors belongs to the BAAC.
– The Land Transport Department is issuing driving licences via Facebook without the need for a driving test or exam.
– Drinking a juice made from Asiatic pennywort and other herbs can cure brainstem cancer.
– Thailand and four other Asean countries will stop using dollars for international debts from November 1.
Speaking at the same press conference, Noppadon Pattama, deputy chairman of Pheu Thai’s strategy committee, said using 500 as the divider would clearly violate the charter’s amended Article 91.
