The heatwave baking parts of Asia

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A vendor prepares his umbrella as hot days continue in Manila, Philippines on April 29, 2024. (AP)
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Updated 30 April 2024
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The heatwave baking parts of Asia

  • Record temperatures from Myanmar to Philippines force millions of children to stay home from school
  • Experts say climate change causing more frequent heatwaves that are more intense, last longer

BANGKOK: Large swaths of Asia are sweltering through a heatwave that has topped temperature records from Myanmar to the Philippines and forced millions of children to stay home from school.

Here are some questions and answers about the extreme heat, which scientists warn will become more frequent and intense because of human-induced climate change.

The heat has hit much of South and Southeast Asia, with record temperatures in Myanmar’s Chauk and the Philippine capital Manila in recent days.

Thai authorities have issued warnings about “severe conditions,” while authorities in Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, India and Bangladesh all forecast temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).

The Philippines and Bangladesh both suspended in-person classes, while India is reviewing whether heat has affected turnout in national elections.




A man walks along a road with an umbrella to cover himself from the sun during a countrywide heatwave in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on April 28, 2024. (REUTERS)

Even northern Japan has been affected: temperatures in Japan’s Sapporo this month passed 25C (77F) at the earliest point of any year on record.

The months preceding the region’s monsoon, or rainy season, are usually hot but temperatures this year are well above average in many countries.

Experts say climate change is causing more frequent heatwaves that are more intense and last longer.




Children sit in buckets and basins during a hot day in Manila, Philippines, on April 29, 2024. (REUTERS)

Asia is also warming faster than the global average, according to the World Meteorological Organization, a UN agency.

And the El Nino weather phenomenon is playing a role this year, said Milton Speer, a meteorologist and visiting research fellow at the University of Technology Sydney.

“The lack of cloud in El Ninos means that temperatures are likely to be higher on average,” he told AFP.

Sea surface temperatures in the region are currently several degrees Celsius above normal, “which helps keep the temperatures higher than average inland overnight.”

“So daytime temperatures start climbing from a higher base.”

There are other factors at play too, including deforestation that reduces shade and increases dry surface area, and the urban heat island effect, where concrete, glass and steel structures absorb rather than reflect heat.




A delivery man grabs a bottle of water as he eats in a street restaurant during a heatwave in Yangon on April 29, 2024. (REUTERS)

Extreme heat disproportionately affects children, the elderly and those living in poverty.

Children, older people and those with pre-existing conditions or disabilities can overheat more quickly.

Those living in poverty also often lack cooling solutions at home or are forced to work in conditions without adequate heat protection.

The UN children’s agency UNICEF warned this month that 243 million children across the Pacific and East Asia are at risk from heatwaves.

“Child exposure to heatwaves leads to heat stress,” said Salwa Aleryani, health specialist for UNICEF’s regional East Asia and Pacific office.

“Severe issues can develop, such as cardiovascular diseases, organ failure, muscle and nerve dysfunction,” she told AFP.

Authorities in several countries asked citizens to stay at home. Hospitals in Nepal were put on standby, while Cambodian officials asked public schools to keep doors and windows open for ventilation.

Measures went further in Bangladesh and the Philippines, with schools closed for days.

But many children will not have cooler conditions at home, warned Aleryani.

They may also be left unsupervised by parents who cannot afford to stay home from work, and risk serious interruptions to their education.

The heat in Bangladesh is not expected to recede until Thursday at the earliest, and in Thailand forecasters warned that annual rains may arrive in late May, several weeks later than normal.

Speer said the overall warming trend will continue even when the region’s monsoon arrives to lower temperatures.

“Heatwaves will continue to happen more often because the oceans and atmosphere are gradually heating up due to global warming,” he said.

That in turn poses growing risks to crops and livestock, as well as humans whose jobs require them to work outdoors.

Adaptation will be crucial, including offering “sustainable neighborhood structures with air conditioning where people could go during the day and sleep at night,” Speer said.


Pakistani Kashmir orders stockpiling of food as India tensions flare

Updated 9 sec ago
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Pakistani Kashmir orders stockpiling of food as India tensions flare

  • India blames Pakistan for the attack on civilians at the tourist site of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22
  • The two nuclear-armed countries have exchanged gunfire for eight consecutive nights along the militarized Line of Control
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan: Pakistan-administered Kashmir called on residents near the de facto border with the Indian side of the region to stockpile food on Friday as tensions flare between the arch-rivals following a deadly attack last month.
India blames Pakistan for the attack by gunmen on civilians at the tourist site of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22 that killed 26 men. Islamabad has rejected the charge.
The two nuclear-armed countries have exchanged gunfire for eight consecutive nights along the militarized Line of Control, the de facto border, according to the Indian army, and the uneasy neighbors have issued a raft of tit-for-tat punitive diplomatic measures.
“Instructions have been issued to stock food supplies for two months in the 13 constituencies along the Line of Control (LoC),” the prime minister of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Chaudhry Anwar ul Haq, told the local assembly on Friday.
The regional government has also created an emergency fund of one billion rupees ($3.5 million) to ensure the supply of “food, medicines and all other basic necessities” to the 13 constituencies, he said.
Government and privately owned machinery was also being deployed to maintain roads in the areas along the LoC, he said.
The attack in Indian Kashmir and subsequent tensions, including expulsions and closed border crossings, have raised fears of a conflagration between India and Pakistan.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday gave the military “complete operational freedom” to respond to the attack.
Pakistan has denied any involvement and has said it has “credible evidence” that India is planning an imminent military strike, vowing that any attack would be met with a response.
Fearing a military escalation, authorities in Pakistani Kashmir shut more than 1,000 religious schools for 10 days on Thursday.
India and Pakistan, which both claim Kashmir in full, have fought over the Himalayan territory since the end of British rule in 1947.

10 killed in Philippines when passenger bus slams into vehicles at a toll booth

Updated 24 min 33 sec ago
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10 killed in Philippines when passenger bus slams into vehicles at a toll booth

  • More than two dozen others were injured in the multiple-vehicle collision in Tarlac city, north of Manila
  • The bus driver was taken into custody and initially told investigators that he dozed off shortly before the crash

MANILA: A speeding passenger bus slammed into a row of vehicles lined up at a highway toll booth Thursday in the northern Philippines, killing 10 people, including children, police said.
More than two dozen others were injured in the multiple-vehicle collision in Tarlac city, north of Manila, at a heavy travel time on May Day holiday, police said.
The bus driver, who was among the injured, was taken into custody and initially told investigators that he dozed off shortly before the crash, Tarlac police chief Lt. Col. Romel Santos told reporters.
The bus crashed into a van, which was lined up with three other vehicles at the toll booth. Eight of the dead, including children, were in the van, which was pinned between the wayward bus from behind and another car in front, police said.
A couple died in a car in the collisions that happened around midday in the scorching summer heat, police said, adding that many of the injured were bus passengers.
Vehicular accidents are common in the Philippines because of poor enforcement of safety and traffic regulations, faulty vehicles and reckless driving.


UK court to rule on Prince Harry security appeal

Updated 02 May 2025
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UK court to rule on Prince Harry security appeal

  • Prince Harry says security concerns have hampered his ability to visit the UK and bring his family with him
  • Harry’s fraught ties with his family have worsened after various public allegations he and Meghan made against the royals

LONDON: Prince Harry will learn Friday whether his bid to restore his UK police protection has been upheld, in an appeals court verdict that could determine how often the estranged royal visits Britain.
King Charles III’s youngest son has been embroiled in the years-long legal saga – one of many – since the UK government downgraded his security when he stepped down from royal life and left to live abroad with his wife, Meghan.
Since moving to California in 2020, Harry and Meghan have had a second child, Lilibet, a sister to Archie born in 2019, and rarely engage with the British royals.
But the prince says security concerns have hampered his ability to visit the UK and bring his family with him.
The government committee which handles protection for royals and public figures in 2020 decided he would not receive the “same degree” of publicly funded protection when in Britain.
After initially losing a case in the High Court challenging the decision last year, the Duke of Sussex, as he is formally known, was allowed to launch an appeal against the interior ministry.
His lawyers argue Harry was “singled out” for “unjustified and inferior treatment,” and that the committee did not fully assess the security threats when downgrading his protection.
Harry, whose older brother is heir-to-the-throne Prince William, has long been haunted by the 1997 death of his mother Princess Diana in a high-speed car crash as she tried to escape paparazzi photographers.
The prince has blamed the press for the tragedy, and cited intense media scrutiny as one of the reasons he and Meghan took a step back five years ago.
In the two-day appeal hearing last month, Harry’s lawyers said the Sussexes had been threatened by Al-Qaeda and involved in a “dangerous car pursuit with paparazzi” in New York City, as an example of the security dangers he faces.
“There is a person sitting behind me whose safety, whose security and whose life is at stake,” the prince’s lawyer Shaheed Fatima said in concluding statements.
In a 2023 High Court hearing, Harry, a former British army captain who served in Afghanistan, said it was too dangerous to bring his family to the UK without bolstered security.
“The UK is my home,” he said. “The UK is central to the heritage of my children. That cannot happen if it’s not possible to keep them safe.”
However, the High Court concluded that the government had acted lawfully in its decision.
In the appeal hearing, government lawyers said Harry’s security was meant to be “bespoke” to his “revised circumstances,” adding it was a result of his decision to spend less time in the UK.
Harry’s fraught ties with his family have worsened after various public allegations he and Meghan made against the royals.
Harry and his brother William are barely on speaking terms, according to UK media.
He has also hardly seen his father King Charles – who has been receiving treatment for an unspecified type of cancer – for over a year.
While Harry has maintained a relatively low-profile since 2020, Meghan has been boosting her online presence this year, having already launched a podcast and Netflix series as well as making a return to social media.


Truck driver’s body recovered from huge Japan sinkhole after three months

Updated 02 May 2025
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Truck driver’s body recovered from huge Japan sinkhole after three months

  • A road in the city of Yashio caved in during morning rush hour in late January while the man was driving his lorry on it
  • The sinkhole, which was caused by corroded sewerage pipes, was reportedly 16 meters deep in February

TOKYO: Japanese rescuers have recovered the body of a truck driver who was swallowed by a huge sinkhole near Tokyo three months ago, an official said on Friday.
A road in the city of Yashio caved in during morning rush hour in late January while the 74-year-old man was driving his lorry on it.
The sinkhole, which was caused by corroded sewerage pipes, was reportedly 16 meters (52 feet) deep in February.
The search operation was hindered by unstable ground, which raised the risk of the chasm collapsing further and prevented rescuers from approaching the area where the driver was believed to be buried.
Since then the hole has grown to at least 40 meters across, almost the length of an Olympic swimming pool.
A slope later allowed rescuers to send heavy equipment into the hole while 1.2 million residents were asked to temporarily cut back on showers and laundry to prevent leaking sewage from hindering the operation.
Walls were built to ensure safety, regional officials said.
“We discovered a man inside the truck cabin and confirmed his death, then passed the incident to police,” a spokesman for the local fire department said Friday.
A police spokesman said investigations were under way, including officially confirming the body’s identity.
“Until the very end of his life, my father, who had a strong heart, must have been hoping to come home alive – fighting fear and pain – which makes me feel a tightening in my heart,” a family member of the unnamed driver said in a statement to Japanese media.
“I can’t believe or accept the fact that my father, who was loved by everyone, suddenly disappeared,” the statement said.
The number of sinkholes in Japan is rising, topping 10,000 in fiscal 2022. Many of these are sewerage-related in urban areas, a land ministry probe shows.
In 2016 a giant sinkhole around 30 meters wide and 15 meters deep appeared on a busy street in Fukuoka city, triggered by nearby subway construction.
No one was hurt and the street reopened a week after workers toiled around the clock.


China says evaluating US offer of tariff talks but wants ‘sincerity’

Updated 02 May 2025
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China says evaluating US offer of tariff talks but wants ‘sincerity’

  • China demands that the US “correct its wrong practices and cancel unilateral tariffs”
  • Attempting coercion and blackmail under the guise of talks will not work, says commerce ministry

BEIJING: China said Friday it is evaluating a US offer for negotiations on tariffs but wanted Washington to show “sincerity” and be ready to scrap levies that have roiled global markets and supply chains.
Punishing US tariffs that have reached 145 percent on many Chinese products came into force in April while Beijing has responded with fresh 125 percent duties on imports from the United States.
High-end tech goods such as smartphones, semiconductors and computers have received a temporary reprieve from US tariffs.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that China has reached out for talks on the tariffs, and this week said he believed there was a “very good chance we’re going to make a deal.”
Beijing’s commerce ministry on Friday confirmed the US had reached out and that it was “currently evaluating” the offer.
But, it said, any talks would first require sincerity from the US side.
“If the US wants to talk, it should show its sincerity to do so, be prepared to correct its wrong practices and cancel unilateral tariffs,” the ministry said.
“In any possible dialogue or talks, if the US side does not correct its wrong unilateral tariff measures, it just means the US side is completely insincere and will further damage the mutual trust between the two sides,” it added.
“Saying one thing and doing another, or even attempting coercion and blackmail under the guise of talks will not work,” the commerce ministry said.
Dozens of countries face a 90-day deadline expiring in July to strike an agreement with Washington and avoid higher, country-specific rates.
But Beijing had vowed to fight a trade war to the bitter end if needed, with a video posted on social media this week by its foreign ministry vowing to “never kneel down!“
But it has acknowledged global economic vicissitudes have strained its economy, long dependent on exports, with officials admitting that foreign-facing firms are facing difficulties.
Data this week showed factory activity shrank in April, with Beijing blaming a “sharp shift” in the global economy.
Chinese exports soared more than 12 percent in March as businesses rushed to get ahead of the swingeing tariffs.