Five killed in Thai floods with more heavy rain expected
BANGKOK, Oct 17: Five people were killed in floods in Thailand's north this week, with authorities warning on Tuesday that more heavy rain was on the way. Since the beginning of the monsoon season in September, a total of 23 Thai citizens have died in floods and 33 have been injured, the public health ministry said in a statement. Earlier this week, floods in Thailand's northern province of Phayao killed five people, the ministry said. Thai authorities issued flood warnings for 32 provinces on Tuesday.
Man dies as dozens of bushfires rage across Australia
SYDNEY, Oct 17: Hundreds of firefighters were battling almost 70 bushfires in Australia's New South Wales state on Tuesday, with one man dead and several homes under threat. Police found the 56-year-old's body after a bushfire scorched a large area in the rural settlement of Temagog, 340 kilometres (210 miles) north of Sydney, on Monday night. Authorities had warned people living in the area just hours earlier that it was too late to leave their homes and they should take shelter. — AFP
Madonna puts health woes behind her to launch 40th anniversary tour
LONDON, Oct 17: Pop legend Madonna kicked off her 40th anniversary "Celebration Tour" in London on Saturday, enthralling fans three-and-a-half months after a bacterial infection led to her hospitalisation and its postponement. The 65-year-old US superstar spent several days in intensive care in New York after being found unconscious in her apartment there in June, and has since been recovering, and rehearsing, for the rearranged 78-date tour. She had not been due to begin at The O2 Arena in the British capital, but after postponing the original July 15 start date in Canada, it became the curtain raiser-to the delight of fans in the UK. — AFP
India's top court declines to legalise same-sex marriage
NEW DELHI, Oct 17: India's top court on Tuesday declined to legalise same-sex marriage and left it to parliament to decide, agreeing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government that the legislature is the right forum to rule on the contentious issue. The unanimous order by a five-judge bench came as a huge disappointment to the large LGBTQ community in the world's most populous country, five years after the court scrapped a colonial-era ban on gay sex. — Reuters
China tightens curbs on foreign travel by bankers, state workers
SHANGHAI, Oct 17: Chinese civil servants and employees of state-linked enterprises are facing tighter constraints on private travel abroad and scrutiny of their foreign connections, according to official notices and more than a dozen people familiar with the matter, as Beijing wages a campaign against foreign influence. Ten current and former employees told Reuters the curbs had been widened since 2021 to include bans on overseas travel, tighter limits on trips' frequency and duration, onerous approval processes, and pre-departure confidentiality training. — Reuters
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