About 1000 tourists trapped in China's Xinjiang after avalanches - The Straits Times

BEIJING - Around 1,000 tourists remain stranded in a remote holiday village after avalanches hit China’s north-western Xinjiang region, with metres-high snow and fickle weather impeding evacuation, Chinese state TV reported on Jan 16.

Road access to Hemu village, a scenic destination near the borders of Kazakhstan, Russia and Mongolia, where the tourists were trapped, has been cut off by avalanches for several days now. The village is situated in Xinjiang’s Altay Prefecture, where continuous snowfall in some areas has lasted 10 days, it said.

The heavy snowfall triggered dozens of avalanches along large sections of highways in the Altay mountains leading to the Kanas scenic area, and some tourists were lifted by helicopter to safety, Chinese state media outlets reported over the weekend.

Snow brought by the avalanches reached as high as 7m in some parts, and, in many, was higher than snow-clearing equipment, CCTV said.

Work to clear the 50km stretch of buried road started a week ago.

Complicating the rescue and snow removal work were rocks, debris and tree branches mixed in the snow, broken off as avalanches rushed down pine and birch forest slopes towards a river valley, rendering rotary snow plough vehicles useless. Rescuers have resorted to shovels and excavators.

As weather changes rapidly in the mountainous area, the windows for operating supply missions have been narrow too. A military helicopter scheduled to send supplies – such as flour and fuel – to Hemu village was delayed on Jan 16 morning, CCTV said.

The highway management authorities in Altay said they have organised 53 personnel and 31 sets of machinery and equipment for the rescue and relief work.

“This avalanche situation is relatively special; we have seen such heavy snowfall before, but we have not seen such high frequency of avalanches,” the head of the highway management bureau, Mr Zhao Jinsheng, told CCTV.

Mr Zhao said he expected snow-clearing work to restore access to Hemu village to continue for some time due to the large volume of snow on the last 4km of road affected by the avalanches. REUTERS

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2024-01-16 05:27:12Z
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Trump wins Iowa caucus, DeSantis edges Haley for second spot - The Straits Times

DES MOINES -Donald Trump secured a resounding victory in the first 2024 Republican presidential contest in Iowa on Jan 15.

The win once more asserts his dominance over the party as he seeks a third consecutive nomination and a rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, 45, finished well behind in second place, Edison Research projected. He edged out former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley, 51, as they battle to emerge as the chief alternative to the former president.

Trump’s unprecedented margin in the contest strengthens his case that his nomination is a foregone conclusion, given his massive lead in national polls despite facing four criminal indictments.

“THANK YOU IOWA, I LOVE YOU ALL!!!” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.

With at least 95 per cent of the expected vote tallied, Trump had 51 per cent, while Mr DeSantis was at 21 per cent and Ms Haley 19 per cent, according to Edison. The largest margin of victory for an Iowa Republican caucus had been 12.8 percentage points for Bob Dole in 1988.

Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy ended his long-shot presidential bid after earning just under 8 per cent of the vote on Jan 15 and endorsed Trump in a speech to supporters.

If Trump finishes above 50 per cent, winning more than all his rivals combined, it would further weaken his opponents’ argument that his march to the nomination can be derailed.

His performance reflected his popularity among Republican voters – even after two impeachments, his involvement in the Jan 6, 2021, attack on the United States Capitol by a mob of supporters, and his 91 criminal charges for trying to overturn the 2020 election, retaining classified documents after leaving the White House and falsifying records connected to hush money payments to a porn star.

Only one-third of caucus-goers said Trump would be unfit for president if convicted of a crime. Nearly two-thirds said they did not believe Mr Biden legitimately won the 2020 election, embracing Trump’s falsehoods about voter fraud.

Trump dominated across the board, according to an Edison entrance poll: He won a majority among men and women; among those who consider themselves very conservative, somewhat conservative and independent; among those who graduated from college, and those who did not.

He captured a majority of Republicans who put immigration as their top concern – and a majority of those who said the economy was their main worry.

“The Iowa caucus results demonstrate the strength of Trump’s grip on the Republican Party,” said Mr Jimmy Centers, an Iowa-based Republican strategist. “Absent a quick consolidation of the field, Trump appears to be on a fast track to the nomination.”

That consolidation appears unlikely, with both Mr DeSantis and Ms Haley vowing to press ahead following the results on Jan 15, ensuring Trump’s opposition will remain fractured as the campaign moves to other states.

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2024-01-16 01:45:31Z
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Cats, dogs, 'little grass' and a driving video: How DPP, TPP enjoyed an edge in Taiwan's polls - The Straits Times

TAIPEI - I was waiting at a pedestrian crossing near Lin-yi Street, where my hotel in Taipei is, when I saw a poster asking pedestrians not to jaywalk and “to walk on the correct path”.

After a week of reporting on the recent Taiwan election, what came to my mind immediately was the slogan that the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) had used at its rallies: “Choose the right person, walk the right path”.

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2024-01-15 21:00:00Z
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Republican election race kicks off in frigid Iowa, testing Trump - CNA

DES MOINES: Voters in a brutally cold Iowa kick off the US Republican presidential nomination race Monday (Jan 15) - the first major test of whether Donald Trump's runaway poll lead will deliver an early knockout victory.

If the predicted landslide is forthcoming, Trump's grip on the nomination would appear unshakeable, but a sub-par winning margin could open the door to his main rivals Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis - currently locked in a battle for distant second.

"I think we are going to have a tremendous night tonight," Trump said in a video posted on social media. "The people are fantastic and I've never seen spirit like they have."

For the first time since he lost his 2020 reelection bid, the former US president - who is being prosecuted in four criminal cases, ranging from taking top secret documents to trying to overthrow his election loss - will face voters.

Trump is expected to win the Midwestern state's first-in-the-nation contest handily as he bids to oust Democrat President Joe Biden in November.

But observers have not ruled out a surprisingly strong showing by Haley or DeSantis.

Adding uncertainty, Iowans will have to contend with blizzards and a potential wind chill in some areas of -42 degrees Celsius (-45 degrees Fahrenheit), potentially throttling turnout.

"I'm asking you to go out, brave the cold and support me in the Iowa Caucus," DeSantis posted on X, formerly Twitter. "You will never have an opportunity to have your vote make more of an impact than you will tonight!"

"The biggest question I'm getting right now is: 'Is the caucus still going to take place? There is going to be a polar vortex,'" warned Maci Arjes, part of a student Republican group at the University of Iowa.

Caucuses will begin from around 7.00pm local time (0100 GMT Tuesday), when voters gather in schools, libraries and fire stations across the state.

Caucus participants will listen to speeches on behalf of candidates, before writing their preferred name on a piece of paper and submitting their vote.

Trump plans to attend several of the caucuses over the evening, his campaign told AFP.

IOWA BELLWETHER

As the first primary contest, Iowa has an outsized impact, often setting momentum and media narratives ahead of the next states in the calendar.

Trump's margin of his victory will be under scrutiny, with anything less than a crushing margin denting the sense of inevitability that he has worked hard to create.

The latest NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll put Trump at 48 per cent among likely caucus-goers.

Haley, a former UN ambassador and South Carolina governor, surged into second place but was still only at 20 per cent, while Florida Governor Ron DeSantis scored 16 per cent.

The Republican primary also features a number of low-polling candidates, including biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

Caucuses are being held by Iowa's Democrats, along with voting by mail until March. That process, however, is all but set, with Biden seeking a second term.

Biden, whose campaign announced Monday that it had raised more than US$97 million in the fourth quarter of 2023 and now has a record-breaking war chest of US$117 million, faces no serious threat from his two Democratic challengers - self-help author Marianne Williamson and Minnesota congressman Dean Phillips.

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2024-01-15 17:54:00Z
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Philippines to develop islands in South China Sea: Military chief - CNA

The features include Thitu island, the biggest and most strategically important in the South China Sea. Known locally as Pag-asa, Thitu lies about 480km west of the Philippine province of Palawan.

The military wants to bring a desalination machine for troops living aboard a warship that the Philippines deliberately grounded on Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 to assert its sovereignty claim, he said.

Brawner said Thitu and Nanshan islands were among those where facilities would be improved with the installation of desalination machines and communications equipment.

"We are just trying to make it more liveable, more habitable for our soldiers because they really have poor living conditions," he told reporters.

The plan, however, did not include "fortifying the Sierra Madre", Brawner said, referring to the crumbling World War II-vintage ship grounded on Second Thomas Shoal by the Philippine Navy in 1999 to assert the country's territorial claims.

Besides the Philippines, Brunei, China, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam have competing claims of sovereignty in the South China Sea, a conduit for goods in excess of US$3 trillion every year.

Also included in the military's modernisation plans is the acquisition of more ships, radars and aircraft as the Philippines shifts its focus to territorial from internal defence, Brawner said.

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2024-01-15 09:56:00Z
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Boeing 737 MAX deliveries to China face fresh delay after Alaska incident -WSJ - CNA

Boeing faces a fresh delay in the resumption of deliveries of 737 MAX jets to China after the mid-air blowout of a panel on an Alaska Airlines MAX 9 this month, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

China Southern Airlines had been readying to receive MAX planes in January, but it plans to conduct additional safety inspections on the aircraft, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

China's aviation regulator also instructed the country's airlines to conduct precautionary safety inspections on their Boeing 737 MAX jets, the report added.

Chinese airlines do not have the MAX 9 model in their fleet. The MAX 8 jets they operate lack the panel involved in the Alaska Airlines incident.

Beijing is holding off from making further substantive moves as it waits for more clarity from U.S. investigations into the accident, the WSJ reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Boeing declined to comment. China Southern Airlines and China's aviation regulator did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

China suspended most orders and deliveries of Boeing planes in 2019 after 737 MAX was grounded worldwide following two fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia.

A restart of MAX deliveries would be a major breakthrough for Boeing's relationship with China, which has been impacted by the MAX crisis and U.S.-China political tensions.

It would also be a financial win for Boeing, allowing it to collect payment for dozens of Chinese MAX planes in its inventory.

The company last month made its first direct delivery of a 787 Dreamliner to China since 2019, a step seen as a possible prelude to the end of Beijing's freeze on MAX deliveries. Through November, it also handed over eight 777 freighters to Chinese customers, according to Boeing data.

Boeing has been virtually frozen out of new orders from China since 2017 amid Sino-U.S. trade tensions.

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2024-01-15 05:35:43Z
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Brain surgery and 26-day hospitalisation cost M'sian RM258 - theSun

THE cost of treatment at Malaysia government hospitals is usually way cheaper than private hospitals.

Recently, a Malaysian man had a pleasant surprise when his wife’s brain surgery bill and 26-day hospitalisation bill totaled up to just RM258.

In a Facebook post, Lee explained that his wife had initially experienced terrible headaches. Her ongoing suffering prompted them to a private hospital after she was initially treated with painkillers at a clinic.

Following that, her CT scan indicated a serious brain haemorrhage that necessitated an urgent Brain Coiling Procedure which was not accessible at the local hospital.

They first decided to have the surgery performed at a private hospital, for a whopping RM 150,000.

However, preparations were altered when his wife tested positive for COVID-19 on December 17, forcing a relocation to the central government hospital in Johor Bahru.

Lee went on to say, “According to government regulations, a patient who tests positive for COVID-19 must be sent to the central hospital for quarantine and can only proceed with the operation after testing negative.”

Subsequently, after another round of delays and waiting for the doctor to return, his wife was eventually scheduled to have surgery on Jan 7 and was released from the hospital two days later.

Fortunately, the procedure was successful, and their suffering finally came to an end after 26 days.

When Lee checked out, he was pleasantly surprised to see the hospital cost only RM258.

“After a three-month stay in the hospital and surgery by the best team of doctors, our fee was only RM258!”

Lee further declared, “Malaysia has the most accessible healthcare system for its citizens. If we had chosen a private hospital, the cost would have been at least a thousand times higher.”

This is an excellent instance of how efficient and economical public healthcare is in Malaysia.

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2024-01-15 03:47:00Z
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