How has China reacted to the balloon saga?

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning has said the US has acted "irresponsibly"

China's claim that the US has flown balloons into its airspace marks the latest in a series of shifting positions the country has taken on a saga that has gripped the world.

It has been almost two weeks since the US first accused China of floating a spy balloon over its territory.

The incident has provoked a range of responses - from indignation to fevered speculation - from the Chinese government and people.

Silence, then admission

After the Pentagon first announced the existence of the balloon on 2 February, Chinese officials refrained from an immediate response, only breaking their silence the following evening.

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The First UN team since the quake crosses into rebel-held Syria.

A Syrian boy, who lost his family as a result of the quake that hit Turkey and Syria, sits amid the rubble of his family home in the town of Jindayris, Aleppo. (File/AFP)

The first UN delegation to visit rebel-held northwestern Syria since last week’s earthquake crossed over from Turkiye Tuesday, an AFP correspondent reported, as anger simmers at the world body’s slow response.

More than 35,000 people were killed when the quake devastated swathes of Syria and neighboring Turkiye on February 6, at least 3,600 of them in Syria, according to government officials and emergency services in rebel areas.
“A multi-agency mission has gone this morning from the Turkiye side across the border crossing... It’s largely an assessment mission,” the World Food Programme’s Syria director, Kenn Crossley, told AFP in Geneva.
The delegation comprised deputy regional humanitarian coordinator David Carden and Sanjana Quazi, who heads the 

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Syrian President allows aid to rebel-held NW,

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Global inflation tracker-- Malaysia?

 

Global inflation tracker: see how your country compares on rising prices;

Inflationary pressures are beginning to wane;

Malaysia faring average inflation amongst its neighbors

Inflation has started to show signs of easing from the multi-decade highs reached in many countries following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The latest figures for most of the world’s largest economies still make for worrying reading, with price pressures remaining high as the war in Ukraine continues to keep energy and food prices elevated. But in some countries, tensions have eased and energy and food wholesale prices have declined. Economists and investors also expect inflationary levels to stabilize in the next few years.

High inflation remains geographically broad-based, even if it is lower in many parts of Asia. Central banks have reacted with a series of interest rate rises, even though higher borrowing costs could exacerbate the squeeze on real incomes. This page provides a regularly updated visual narrative of consumer price inflation around the world. 

Malaysia looks rather moving to the lower end in inflation rate %. Twice increase of OPR by the central bank, to a certain level managed to ease out the inflation. Basically, a broad base kind of price increase on products requires more effective action on enforcement to deter unnecessary price increases on basic foodstuffs.

The Malaysian Government determined to stop subsidies on energy like petrol and diesel. If not effectively implemented rakyat will expect another price increment due to transportation costs. 

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Gempa Bumi Turkiye | Suasana dan Keadaan Waktu Malam Operasi SAR

Ahli keluarga masih menunggu dengan harapan dan nekad memasuki kawasan kerja-kerja mencari dan menyelamat mangsa pada hari kelima runtuhan bangunan akibat gempa bumi yang berlaku ketika tinjauan lensa Malaysia Gazette di Kahramanmaras, Turkiye. Foto FAREEZ FADZIL, 10 FEBRUARI 2023.

 ANKARA – Gempa bumi kuat yang melanda selatan Turkiye minggu ini adalah tiga kali lebih kuat berbanding gempa bumi Marmara di barat laut negara itu yang berlaku pada 1999, kata Presiden Recep Tayyip Erdogan pada Sabtu.

“Gempa bumi di selatan Turkiye adalah tiga kali lebih kuat dengan kerosakan lebih besar berbanding gempa bumi 1999 yang direkodkan sebagai bencana terbesar dalam sejarah negara,” kata Erdogan yang melihat sendiri misi mencari dan menyelamat di wilayah tenggara Diyarbakir.

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Sultanate of Oman sends a land aid convoy to Syria

 Muscat, SANA- The Syrian embassy in the Sultanate of Oman on Sunday evening sent the first land aid convoy to Syria after the deadly earthquake which has jolted the country recently.

The aid is provided by the Syrian, Arab and foreign communities in the Sultanate of Oman and the Omani brotherly people.

“The shipment includes 25 tons of various donated materials, such as medicines, foodstuffs, infant formula, blankets, etc., and a second similar shipment is scheduled to be sent today as well,” Dr. Idris Mayya, Syria’s Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman said.

Ambassador Mayya voiced his sincere thanks and gratitude to the Syrian and Arab communities and the Omani brothers for their solidarity with the Syrian people.

“The shipment includes 25 tons of various donated materials,

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Turkey quake: a father’s pain

The collapsed apartment building in Kahramanmaras where Irmak died on February 6, 2023 (AFP / Adem Altan)

AFP photographer Adem Altan was taking pictures of a collapsed apartment building in Kahramanmaras the day after the earthquake hit the Turkish city when he noticed a man sitting alone in the middle of the rubble.

With rescue teams yet to arrive, people who lived in the block were trying to get to loved ones trapped under the piles of concrete and broken bricks. 

But one man was not moving despite the rain and the freezing cold. It was then that Adem noticed that he was holding a hand. He trained his camera on him from about 60 meters (200 feet). It was a delicate moment, but the man in the orange jacket called him in.

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Turkey : Syria : UN says rescue phase ending.

 

Turkey-Syria earthquake live: UN says rescue phase ending

Rescuers continue to pull out more survivors from the rubble in Turkey and Syria as the death toll from last week’s earthquakes topped 36,000.    The quakes have killed at least 31,643 people in Turkey as of Monday, and more than 4,500 in Syria.

People affected by the devastating earthquakes stay in a football ground in Gaziantep, Turkey [Irakli Gedenidze/Reuters]

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Racist comments by ex-national shuttler.

After latest racist comments by ex-national shuttler, Hannah Yeoh says sports must be racist-free zone

 

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Turkey Earthquakes - 33,000 deaths.

 Turkey probes contractors as earthquake deaths pass 33,000.

People looks as rescuers search for survivors and victims amid destroyed buildings in Nurdagi, in the hard hit region of Gaziantep, Feb. 12, after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the border region of Turkey and Syria earlier in the week. AFP-Yonhap

Turkish authorities are targeting contractors allegedly linked with buildings that collapsed in the powerful Feb. 6 earthquakes as rescuers found more survivors in the rubble Sunday, including a pregnant woman and two children, in the disaster that killed over 33,000 people.

The death toll from the magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 quakes that struck nine hours apart in southeastern Turkey and northern Syria rose to 33,185 and was certain to increase as search teams find more bodies.

As despair bred rage at the agonizingly slow rescues, the focus turned to assigning blame.

Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said 131 people were under investigation for their alleged responsibility in the construction of buildings that failed to withstand the quakes. While the quakes were powerful, many in Turkey blame faulty construction for multiplying the devastation.

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