36 killed in North Korea bus crash
BEIJING • Thirty-two Chinese tourists and four North Koreans died when a bus crashed off a bridge in North Korea, China's Foreign Ministry said yesterday, with two Chinese nationals in critical condition.
State television's main Chinese-language news channel showed images of a crashed blue bus with its wheels in the air, in footage taken in pouring rain in the dark.
Chinese tourists make up about 80 per cent of all foreign visitors to North Korea, generating an estimated revenue of US$44 million (S$58 million) each year for the isolated country.
REUTERS
3 hurt in turbulence on Air India flight
NEW DELHI • Heavy turbulence during an Air India flight to Delhi caused a window panel inside the plane to fall off and left three passengers injured, The Times of India news website reported.
Flight AI462, which had taken off from Amritsar last Thursday, encountered severe turbulence for 10 to 15 minutes during its ascent from 8,000 feet to 21,000 feet. Passengers were left terrified when the turbulence hit, causing a window panel to fall off. The outside part of the window, however, was not broken and no de-pressurisation occurred during the flight.
Grab, Go-Jek riders want higher fares
JAKARTA • Hundreds of Indonesian motorcycle taxi drivers working for start-ups Grab and Go-Jek called yesterday for an end to low online fares and demanded tighter regulation of ride-hailing firms.
Around 1,500 drivers - wearing the green jackets and helmets associated with Grab and Go-Jek - briefly disrupted traffic outside Parliament in the capital Jakarta.
Start-ups like Grab and Go-Jek have been locked in price wars to capture market share in Indonesia. The firms have slashed prices for car rides, motorcycle trips and a raft of other services.
REUTERS
Indonesia rebuffs environment groups
YOGYAKARTA • Indonesia's Environment Minister yesterday rebuffed conservationists who want the government to add secondary forests to its moratorium on issuing new licences to use land designated as primary forest.
Announced in May 2011, the first two-year moratorium was applauded as an important step in reducing deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions, and it has been extended three times.
REUTERS
