12 dead, 11 injured in Vietnam karaoke bar fire

HANOI: A fire tore through a karaoke bar in southern Vietnam killing 12 people and leaving 11 injured, a local official said on Wednesday (Sep 7). The blaze engulfed the second and third floors of the building on Tuesday night, trapping customers and staff members as dense smoke filled theContinue Reading

Heatwaves and wildfires to worsen air pollution: UN

“FORETASTE OF THE FUTURE” At the global scale, there has been a reduction over the past two decades in the total burned area, as a result of decreasing numbers of fires in savannas and grasslands. But WMO said that some regions like western North America, the Amazon and Australia wereContinue Reading

No kerosene, no food, say Sri Lanka’s fishermen

For months, no kerosene was available at all in Mannar as the country’s foreign exchange reserves dried up and it was unable to import crude for its refineries. When supplies resumed just a couple of weeks ago, kerosene prices were nearly four times as high, as Sri Lanka began dismantlingContinue Reading

French and US lawmakers to visit Taiwan this week

Sources familiar with the plans told Reuters US Representative Stephanie Murphy, a Florida Democrat, was leading a bipartisan House delegation that would arrive in Taiwan on Wednesday and stay until Friday. The other members of the US delegation included Democrat Kaiali’i Kahele and Republicans Scott Franklin, Joe Wilson, Andy Barr,Continue Reading

India approves its first nasal vaccine for COVID-19

NEW DELHI: India approved a locally developed, needle-free and nasally administered COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use on Tuesday (Sep 6), in a boost to the country’s homegrown pharmaceutical industry. The new inoculation was developed by Bharat Biotech, the makers of another intravenous vaccine that was greenlit by the World HealthContinue Reading