Mussels from Malaysia's Port Dickson unsafe to eat, contaminated with biotoxins: Authorities - CNA

PORT DICKSON: The results of Kuala Lumpur Fisheries Biosecurity Centre's laboratory analysis found that there are harmful algae that cause mussels in Port Dickson waters to be contaminated and unsafe to eat.

Department of Fisheries (DOF) deputy director-general (Management), Wan Aznan Abdullah said water samples and mussels in the waters were contaminated with biotoxins as well as harmful Prorocentrum, Alexandrium and Pseudonitzschia algae species.

"The hot weather is also one of the causes of this algae multiplying quickly in the waters, but it does not affect other marine life such as fish, shrimp, crabs and so on.

"We advise the public not to eat these mussels within 20 days, after this festive season we will take more samples to be tested, before confirming that the mussels here are safe to eat," he said at a press conference on Thursday (Apr 4) which was also attended by the state Fisheries Department director Kasim Tawe.

He said the department will continue monitoring with regular testing according to the established procedure until the cell density in the water decreases and biotoxins in the mussel contents are not detected.

According to him, DOF is cooperating with other enforcement members such as the Royal Malaysian Police as well as the marine police in the waters here to ensure that there is no harvest and sale of shellfish in this district.

"There are 40 registered mussel operators here in Pasir Panjang (in Port Dickson district) including unregistered ones. The existing mussels in the waters do not have to be disposed of, they will neutralise themselves, except that the mussels that have been harvested and sold in the market must be destroyed," he said.

He said water samples were also taken in the waters off Melaka and Johor, and they were found to be safe and there was no proliferation of the algae.

In the meantime, Mr Wan Aznan said one poisoning victim is still receiving treatment in the intensive care unit (ICU) at Port Dickson Hospital.

Earlier, Negri Sembilan DOF was reported to have taken samples of mussels and water in the waters off Port Dickson following an alleged case of food poisoning due to the seafood.

The state Health Department also said that there were eight cases of food poisoning related to the consumption of mussels with two cases admitted to the ICU, regular wards (five) and outpatients (one).

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2024-04-05 03:18:00Z
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Ceremony held to bid farewell to Uranus building, tilting symbol of Taiwan earthquake - The Straits Times

Heavy equipment being used to demolish the Uranus building, which was damaged in the April 3 earthquake, in Hualien on April 5. PHOTO: AFP

HUALIEN – Fruit, flowers and incense paper were laid on a table on April 5 as the authorities prepared a ceremony before demolishing a precariously tilting building that has become a symbol of Taiwan’s biggest quake in 25 years.

The glass-fronted Uranus building, located in Hualien, the city nearest to the quake’s epicentre, is a 10-storey mix of shops and apartments that has stood for nearly 40 years.

The 7.4-magnitude earthquake on April 3 caused it to tilt at a 45-degree angle, its twisted exterior quickly becoming one of the most recognisable images to emerge from the disaster.

By April 5, the authorities said they would start taking it apart, first preparing a table of offerings in front of the building to ensure a smooth demolition and to “soothe the lost souls” of those killed in the quake.

Chips, instant noodles, bottles of soda, and folded piles of paper money for the dead were set alongside baskets of flowers and a container holding incense sticks.

“(We) offer sacrifices and pray for blessing for the demolition work of the Uranus building,” an announcer said over a loudspeaker.

Traditional cultural rites like blessing a new home or providing offerings to spirits after buying a plot of land are commonplace in Taiwan.

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Hualien county chief Hsu Chen-wei and other officials wearing construction vests each lit a joss stick and bowed to the building.

“The Uranus was built in 1986. All structures age due to time, earthquakes and many other conditions,” she told reporters later.

“We hope to complete the demolition within two weeks so Hualien people can return to their regular lives. We hope that everyone will not be in such a panicky situation.”

Workers then began using a pink crane to smash the glass windows covering the building’s exterior, revealing the inner brick facade as rain started to drizzle.

By around 1pm, a severe aftershock hit the city, alarming the construction team as the building appeared to lean more perilously forward.

Accelerating the process, workers began inserting giant metal bars to stabilise the structure.

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Inside an exposed upper-storey floor, a piano could be seen lying on its side, surrounded by debris from an apartment damaged by the massive tremor.

So far, at least 10 people are known to have died from the quake, with more than 1,100 injured – though the authorities have not specified the severity of the injuries.

Hundreds remain stranded around Taroko National Park – some in a hostel, others in a luxury hotel, on local hiking trails and a school cut off by landslides.

A network of tunnels traverses the mountainous region, with key roads leading to the park now blocked by falling rocks and earth.

Rescue teams have been mobilised from all over Taiwan and have deployed helicopters, search drones, and small teams on foot with dogs to look for those still missing.

“Rescuers are not giving up, as the search continues in the mountains for earthquake survivors,” said Taiwanese Vice-President-elect Hsiao Bi-khim, calling them the “true heroes of a resilient Taiwan”. AFP

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Taiwan quake: Rescuers face threat of landslides as death toll hits 12

Taiwan earthquake: Terrifying episode, but life goes on in Taipei

• Taiwan
• Earthquakes
• Humanitarian aid/Disaster relief
• Buildings

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2024-04-05 07:55:00Z
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Israel says will allow 'temporary' aid through northern Gaza border - CNA

JERUSALEM: Israel will allow "temporary" aid deliveries via its border with the northern Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced on Friday (Apr 5), reopening the Erez crossing into the famine-threatened territory for the first time since the Oct 7 attacks that sparked the war.

"Israel will allow the temporary delivery of humanitarian aid through Ashdod and the Erez checkpoint," said a government statement released hours after a warning from US President Joe Biden.

"This increased aid will prevent a humanitarian crisis and is necessary to ensure the continuation of the fighting and to achieve the goals of the war," the statement added.

The announcement comes as international pressure mounts on Israel after it took responsibility for a strike that killed seven aid workers.

In a tense, 30-minute call with Netanyahu on Thursday, Biden "made clear that US policy with respect to Gaza" will be determined based on "specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers", according to a White House statement.

According to Israel's statement, in addition to allowing aid through the Erez border crossing and the port of Ashdod, about 40km north of Gaza, the authorities will also allow "increased Jordanian aid through Kerem Shalom", a border crossing in southern Israel.

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2024-04-05 00:27:00Z
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Eight Singaporeans among 71 foreigners rescued in quake-hit Taiwan - CNA

SINGAPORE: Eight Singaporeans were among 71 foreigners rescued after they were trapped in earthquake-hit Hualien – the epicentre of Taiwan's strongest earthquake in 25 years, the island's authorities said on Thursday (Apr 4).

The 7.2-magnitude earthquake killed 10 people and left more than 1,000 injured.

Of the 71 foreigners rescued, six people are from the UK, seven are from the US and 25 are from Germany, said Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

A Canadian and two Australians were still missing as of 4.30pm local time, the ministry added.

Dozens of missing vacationers and workers arrived at a temporary medical station on Thursday after being rescued, Reuters reported.

On arrival, the more than 30 rescued people underwent a basic medical check-up to assess a potential need for hospitalisation.

"The night was a terrible, terrible ordeal with aftershocks and tremors and rocks falling every few minutes," Namrita, 39, who was visiting Taiwan from Singapore told Reuters.

She was later taken to hospital with her husband.

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2024-04-04 13:01:00Z
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Helicopter rescues Taiwan miners as earthquake injuries top 1000 - The Straits Times

A helicopter being used to rescue workers stranded in a quarry in Hualien, after a major earthquake hit Taiwan's east. PHOTO: AFP

The earthquake struck offshore on April 3, just as people were readying to go to work and school in Hualien county. PHOTO: REUTERS

Workers carrying out operations at the site where a building collapsed in Hualien, Taiwan, on April 4. PHOTO: REUTERS

In Hualien city, some people slept outdoors overnight as dozens of aftershocks rocked the region. PHOTO: REUTERS

Workers carrying out operations at the site where a building collapsed, following the earthquake in Hualien, on April 4. PHOTO: REUTERS

HUALIEN, Taiwan – A helicopter plucked to safety on April 4 six people stranded in a mining area to safety after Taiwan’s worst earthquake in 25 years, while hundreds of aftershocks rocking the eastern region near its epicentre drove scores more to seek shelter outdoors.

The death toll from April 3’s 7.4-magnitude quake rose to 10, with the tally of injured at 1,067, authorities said, while most of the roughly 50 hotel workers marooned on a highway as they headed to a resort in a national park were located.

But 660 people were still trapped, most of them in hotels in the park, after the road was cut off, the fire department said, as the discovery of a dead body on a hiking trail near the entrance to a gorge took the total deaths to ten.

A helicopter ferried to safety six miners trapped on a cliff in a dramatic rescue after the quake cut off the roads into Hualien’s soaring mountains, in footage shown by the department.

The agriculture ministry urged people to keep away from the mountains because of the risk of falling rocks and the formation of “barrier lakes” as water pools behind unstable debris.

April 4 was the start of a long-weekend holiday for the tomb-sweeping festival, when families traditionally return home to attend to ancestral graves, though others will also visit tourist attractions.

People in largely rural and sparsely populated Hualien county were readying to go to work and school when the earthquake struck offshore on April 3.

Buildings also shook violently in the capital Taipei, but damage and disruption there was minimal.

All those trapped in buildings in the worst-hit city of Hualien have been rescued, but many residents unnerved by more than 300 aftershocks spent the night outdoors.

“The aftershocks were terrifying,” said Madam Yu, a 52-year-old woman, who gave only her family name. “They were non-stop. I did not dare sleep in the house.”

Too scared to return to her apartment, which she described as being in a “mess”, she slept in a tent on a sports ground being used as a temporary shelter.

Indonesian Hendri Sutrisno occupied a tent with his wife and two-month-old baby at an elementary school in the city.

“We have all the necessary stuff – blankets, toilet and a place to rest.”

The 30-year-old professor at Hualien’s Dong Hwa University and his family were among more than 100 people who chose to stay in tents set up at the elementary school.

Dr Hendri said he and his wife hid under a table with their baby when the first quake hit, before grabbing their things and fleeing the building.

Meanwhile, workers poured concrete at the base of the glass-fronted Uranus building, which is so badly damaged that it now tilts at a 45-degree angle. It has now become a symbol for the quake, but for 59-year-old Chen Hsiu-ying, it was her home.

Sheltering at the elementary school, she said was on her way home from work when the earthquake occurred. “If I had gone back earlier, I would have been inside,” the carpenter said.

She also said she was shocked to see the road shaking and the food vendors on the streets shuddering during the quake.

Other residents queued outside the badly damaged 10-storey building in the city, waiting to get in and retrieve their belongings.

Clad in helmets and accompanied by government personnel, each was given 10 minutes to collect valuables in huge garbage bags, though some saved time by throwing belongings out of windows into the street below.

“This building is no longer liveable,” said Ms Tian Liang-si, who lived on the fifth floor, as she scrambled to gather her laptop, family photographs and other crucial items.

She recalled the moment the quake struck, with the building lurching and furniture sliding, as she rushed to save the four puppies she keeps as pets.

“I am a Hualien native,” she said. “I am not supposed to fear earthquakes. But this is an earthquake that frightened us.” REUTERS, AFP

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Taiwan earthquake: Terrifying episode, but life goes on in Taipei

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• Natural disasters

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2024-04-04 09:24:03Z
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Alleged royal addendum order could see Najib serve out prison sentence under house arrest - CNA

SINGAPORE: The Malaysian High Court has set Apr 17 to hear former prime minister Najib Razak’s bid to get the government to produce an addendum order by the former king that purportedly allows him to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest.

Free Malaysia Today (FMT) reported on Thursday (Apr 4) that Najib’s lawyer Shafee Abdullah had informed Justice Amarjeet Singh that his client had wanted to secure an additional affidavit, a written statement confirmed by oath, to support his application.

Mr Shafee, however, did not disclose the identity of this “critical” witness.

The lawyer added that the person was not in the country at the moment, and will only return after Hari Raya Puasa, FMT reported. The celebration falls on Apr 10.

Earlier in his application to seek the judicial review on Apr 1, Najib claimed that the then-king - Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah of Pahang – had issued the order for him to be under house arrest during a Jan 29 meeting of the Pardons Board. The meeting was held one day before Sultan Abdullah ended his reign as Malaysia’s monarch.

On Feb 2, the Pardons Board officially announced that Najib’s jail sentence for corruption be reduced from 12 to six years. The board also reduced his RM210 million (US$44.5 million) fine to RM50 million. CNA was the first to break the news on Jan 31 on Najib’s partial royal pardon, citing sources including senior government officials.

In his application on Apr 1, Najib alleged that he received confirmation on Feb 12 about the issuance of the addendum order by Sultan Abdullah. This would have allowed him to serve the remainder of his reduced sentence under home arrest instead of at Kajang Prison, Malay Mail reported.

Najib has been imprisoned since Aug 23, 2022, after the Federal Court upheld his conviction for criminal breach of trust, power abuse and money laundering over the misappropriation of SRC International funds. SRC International is a former subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

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2024-04-04 06:17:00Z
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Taiwan earthquake injuries climb above 1000, hotel workers still missing - CNA

Late Wednesday, the disaster management command centre said the search for the hotel workers on their way to Taroko Gorge, a national park, was a major focus for them. Authorities planned to send in drones and helicopters to look for them and drop supplies if they are located.

Others who had been trapped are gradually being found and taken to safety.

On Thursday, a helicopter rescued six people who had been trapped in a mining area, the fire department said.

The railway line to Hualien also re-opened ahead of schedule on Thursday, though one rural station north of Hualien city remains closed due to damage, the railway administration said.

In Hualien city, where rescue work for people who had been trapped in buildings was now completed, some people slept outdoors overnight as dozens of aftershocks rocked the region.

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2024-04-04 01:15:00Z
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