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Two Chinese nationals dead in Bali boat accident: authorities

Two Chinese nationals dead in Bali boat accident: authorities

The Star2 days ago
SANUR, (Indonesia): Two Chinese nationals were killed and an Indonesian was missing Tuesday (Aug 5) after a boat sailing to the popular island of Bali with dozens onboard sank and ran aground, rescue authorities said.
A fast boat travelling from Nusa Penida "sank and ran aground" near Sanur port in Bali's east, the island's search and rescue agency said in a statement.
Head of the rescue agency in Bali's provincial capital Denpasar, I Nyoman Sidakarya, confirmed two Chinese nationals were killed and a 23-year-old Indonesian remained missing.
The boat was left overturned on a beach near Sanur port, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.
The rescue agency did not say the cause of the Chinese nationals' deaths.
The boat was carrying 80 people, including 73 foreign nationals, two Indonesians and five crew members, the rescue agency in Denpasar said.
Marine accidents are a regular occurrence in Indonesia, a Southeast Asian archipelago nation of around 17,000 islands, in part due to lax safety standards and sometimes due to bad weather.
Last month a ferry sank on its way to Bali from eastern Java island, killing at least 19 people.
In March, a boat carrying 16 people capsized in rough waters off Bali, killing an Australian woman and injuring at least one other person. - AFP
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Decades later, Korean survivors of WWII atomic bombs still carry the scars, and the silence
Decades later, Korean survivors of WWII atomic bombs still carry the scars, and the silence

Malay Mail

time17 hours ago

  • Malay Mail

Decades later, Korean survivors of WWII atomic bombs still carry the scars, and the silence

HAPCHEON, Aug 6 — Bae Kyung-mi was five years old when the Americans dropped 'Little Boy', the atomic bomb that flattened Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Like thousands of other ethnic Koreans working in the city at the time, her family kept the horror a secret. Many feared the stigma from doing menial work for colonial ruler Japan, and false rumours that radiation sickness was contagious. Bae recalls hearing planes overhead while she was playing at her home in Hiroshima on that day. Within minutes, she was buried in rubble. 'I told my mom in Japanese, 'Mom! There are airplanes!'' Bae, now 85, told AFP. She passed out shortly after. This photo taken on June 26, 2025 shows Kim Hwa-ja (front left), an ethnic Korean who is also an atomic bomb survivor, or 'hibakusha', and Kwon Joon-oh (2nd left), whose mother and father were also survivors, as they visit the 'Monument in Memory of the Korean Victims of the A-bomb', following an interview with AFP near the Peace Park Memorial in the city of Hiroshima, Hiroshima prefecture. — AFP pic Her home collapsed on top of her, but the debris shielded her from the burns that killed tens of thousands of people — including her aunt and uncle. After the family moved back to Korea, they did not speak of their experience. 'I never told my husband that I was in Hiroshima and a victim of the bombing,' Bae said. 'Back then, people often said you had married the wrong person if he or she was an atomic bombing survivor.' Her two sons only learned she had been in Hiroshima when she registered at a special centre set up in 1996 in Hapcheon in South Korea for victims of the bombings, she said. Bae said she feared her children would suffer from radiation-related illnesses that afflicted her, forcing her to have her ovaries and a breast removed because of the high cancer risk. This photo taken in Hapcheon, South Gyeongsang, shows Lee Bu-yul, 87, a survivor of the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima during World War II, posing in front of a traditional structure holding 1,172 wooden plaques bearing the names of deceased victims behind the Hapcheon Atomic Bomb Victim Welfare Center. Lee was seven at the time of the Hiroshima atomic bombing and his mother died within one year of it. — AFP pic A burning city She knew why she was getting sick, but did not tell her own family. 'We all hushed it up,' she said. Some 740,000 people were killed or injured in the twin bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. More than 10 per cent of the victims were Korean, data suggests, the result of huge flows of people to Japan while it colonised the Korean peninsula. Survivors who stayed in Japan found they had to endure discrimination both as hibakusha, or atomic bomb survivors, and as Koreans. Many Koreans also had to choose between pro-Pyongyang and pro-Seoul groups in Japan, after the peninsula was left divided by the 1950-53 Korean War. Kwon Joon-oh's mother and father both survived the attack on Hiroshima. Bae Kyung-mi was five years old when the Americans dropped 'Little Boy', the atomic bomb that flattened Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Some 740,000 people were killed or injured in the twin bombings of Hiroshima and Nakasaki which ended World War II — and more than 10 per cent of the victims were Korean, data suggests, the result of huge flows of people to Japan while it colonised the Korean peninsula. — AFP pic The 76-year-old's parents, like others of their generation, could only work by taking on 'filthy and dangerous jobs' that the Japanese considered beneath them, he said. Korean victims were also denied an official memorial for decades, with a cenotaph for them put up in the Hiroshima Peace Park only in the late 1990s. Kim Hwa-ja was four on August 6, 1945 and remembers being put on a makeshift horse-drawn trap as her family tried to flee Hiroshima after the bomb. Smoke filled the air and the city was burning, she said, recalling how she peeped out from under a blanket covering her, and her mother screaming at her not to look. Korean groups estimate that up to 50,000 Koreans may have been in the city that day, including tens of thousands working as forced labourers at military sites. This photo shows residents preparing to have their portraits taken for use at their funerals at the Hapcheon Atomic Bomb Victim Welfare Center. — AFP pic Stigma But records are sketchy. 'The city office was devastated so completely that it wasn't possible to track down clear records,' a Hiroshima official told AFP. Japan's colonial policy banned the use of Korean names, further complicating record-keeping. After the attacks, tens of thousands of Korean survivors moved back to their newly-independent country. But many have struggled with health issues and stigma ever since. 'In those days, there were unfounded rumours that radiation exposure could be contagious,' said Jeong Soo-won, director of the country's Hapcheon Atomic Bomb Victim Center. This photo shows Korean Red Cross secretary-general Kang Soohan opening the doors to a traditional structure holding wooden plaques bearing the names of deceased victims behind the Hapcheon Atomic Bomb Victim Welfare Center. — AFP pic Nationwide, there are believed to be some 1,600 South Korean survivors still alive, Jeong said. Eighty-two live at the centre. Seoul enacted a special law in 2016 to help the survivors — including a monthly stipend of around US$72 — but it provides no assistance to their offspring or extended families. 'There are many second- and third-generation descendants affected by the bombings and suffering from congenital illnesses,' said Jeong. A provision to support them 'must be included' in future, he said. A Japanese hibakusha group won the Nobel Peace Prize last year in recognition of their efforts to show the world the horrors of nuclear war. But 80 years after the attacks, many survivors in Japan and Korea say the world has not learned. This photo shows Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor Bae Kyung-mi reaching out while visiting a traditional structure holding wooden plaques bearing the names of deceased victims behind the Hapcheon Atomic Bomb Victim Welfare Center. — AFP pic 'Only talk' US President Donald Trump recently compared his strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 'Would he understand the tragedy of what the Hiroshima bombing has caused? Would he understand that of Nagasaki?' survivor Kim Gin-ho said. In Korea, the Hapcheon centre will hold a commemoration on August 6 — with survivors hoping that this year the event will attract more attention. From politicians, 'there has been only talk... but no interest', she said. — AFP

Gold diggers ruin livelihood of farmers
Gold diggers ruin livelihood of farmers

The Star

timea day ago

  • The Star

Gold diggers ruin livelihood of farmers

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‘Apathy threatening Tamil school enrolment'
‘Apathy threatening Tamil school enrolment'

The Star

timea day ago

  • The Star

‘Apathy threatening Tamil school enrolment'

APATHY about the status of Tamil schools as a symbol of Indian and Tamil identity is among the reasons behind the lower number of pupils in Tamil vernacular schools, Makkal Osai reported. Surveys show that about 40% of Indian children attend national or other types of schools, a disheartening figure, say Tamil educators and activists. Adding to the low numbers, they say, is the falling birth rate among Indian families. > A seven-year-old girl died in Sri Lanka after being trampled by an elephant, Makkal Osai reported. The girl was accompanying her father, who was working on their farm in Hambantota, a province in the south of the island nation. The duo were suddenly attacked by a elephant at around 6am. The girl was killed instantly while her father sustained serious injuries and was admitted to the district hospital. The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a, it denotes a separate news item.

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