Nostalgia fuels UK boom in vintage video game repairs

Features

April 6, 2025

Luke Malpass, the owner and founder of RetroSix, works to repair a Sega Game Gear handheld video game console in their workshop in Stoke-on-Trent, England on April 1, 2025. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)

STOKE-ON-TRENT, United Kingdom (AFP) – The shelves lining Luke Malpass’s home workshop are a gamer’s treasure trove stretching back decades, with components of vintage Game Boys, Sega Mega Drives and Nintendos jostling for space and awaiting repair.

Parcels from gamers seeking help arrive from around the world at RetroSix, Malpass’s Aladdin’s cave.

He has turned a lifelong passion for gaming into a full-time job, answering the common question of what to do with old and worn machines and their parts.

“I think it can be partly nostalgic,” said Malpass, 38, as he surveyed the electronics stacked at his home in the central English city of Stoke-on-Trent.

He said the huge revival in retro games and consoles is not just a passing phase.

“Personally, I think it is the tactile experience. Getting a box off the shelf, physically inserting a game into the console… it makes you play it more and enjoy it more.”

Electronic devices and accessories, some dating back to the 1980s and the dawn of the gaming revolution, await to be lovingly restored to life.

Malpass has between 50 to 150 consoles needing attention at any one time, at a cost of between GBP60 (USD78) and several hundred pounds.

Retro video games and consoles are displayed at the headquarters of RetroSix in Stoke-on-Trent, England on April 1, 2025. The shelves lining Luke Malpass’s home workshop are a gamer’s treasure trove stretching back decades – here components of vintage Game Boys, Sega Megadrives and Nintendos jostle for space awaiting repair. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)

It’s not just nostalgia for a long-lost childhood.

He believes it’s also a way to disconnect, unlike most online games which are now multi-player and require skills honed over long hours of practice to reach a good level.

“Retro gaming – just pick it up, turn it on, have an hour, have 10 minutes. It doesn’t matter. It’s instant, it’s there, and it’s pleasurable,” he told AFP.

With vintage one-player games “there’s no one you’re competing against and there’s nothing that’s making you miserable or angry”.

Malpass, who is a fan of such games as “Resident Evil” and “Jurassic Park”, even goes so far as to buy old televisions with cathode-ray tubes to replicate more faithfully his experience of playing video games as a kid.

Video clips he films of his game play, which he publishes to his YouTube channel, have won him tens of thousands of followers.

A retro ‘Nintendo Family Computer’, sold in Japan as a forerunner to the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), is displayed at the headquarters of RetroSix in Stoke-on-Trent, England on April 1, 2025. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)

Always something retro

“I think people are always going to have a natural passion for things that they grew up with as a child.

“So I think we’ll always have work. It’ll evolve. And it won’t be, probably, Game Boys,” Malpass said.

“There’s always going to be something that’s retro.”

This week a survey organised by BAFTA, the British association that honours films, television, and video games, voted the 1999 action game “Shenmue” as the most influential video game of all time.

“Doom”, launched in 1993, and “Super Mario Bros.”, in which Mario first started trying to rescue Princess Peach way back in 1985, came in second and third place.

And on Wednesday, Nintendo unveiled details of its long-awaited Switch 2 console.

It includes new versions of beloved favourites from the Japanese giant – “Mario Kart World” and “Donkey Kong Bonanza”.

Sony PlayStation video games consoles are stacked up at the headquarters of RetroSix in Stoke-on-Trent, England on April 1, 2025. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)

Held every four months, the London Gaming Market, dedicated to vintage video games, has been attracting growing numbers of fans.

“I’m a huge ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ fan… You never know what you’re going to find when you’re out here so I’m just always on the lookout,” said Adrian, a visitor wearing a T-shirt with a Sonic image.

Collectors and gamers sifted carefully through stacks of CD discs and old consoles hoping to find hidden treasures.

For Andy Brown, managing director of Replay Events and organiser of the London event which is now in its 10th year, the Covid-19 pandemic marked an upturn in the return to vintage games.

“I think people were stuck at home, wanting things to do that made them remember better times because it was a lot of doom and gloom around Covid,” he told AFP.

A study earlier this year by the US association Consumer Reports found 14 per cent of Americans play on consoles made before 2000.

And in September, Italian customs busted a gang smuggling counterfeit vintage video games, seizing 12,000 machines containing some of the most popular games of the 1980s and 1990s.

Retro video games and consoles are displayed at the headquarters of RetroSix in Stoke-on-Trent, England on April 1, 2025. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)

Trays contain components, cables and games for various retro video games consoles used to test the repairs completed in the RetroSix workshop in Stoke-on-Trent, England on April 1, 2025. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)

Houston rallies to beat Duke 70-67 in the Final Four

Sports

April 6, 2025

Duke’s Cooper Flagg (2) misses a shot as Houston’s J’Wan Roberts (13) defends during the second half in the national semifinals at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Houston’s suffocating defense wiped away a 14-point deficit over the final eight minutes and erased Cooper Flagg and Duke’s title hopes Saturday in a 70-67 stunner over the Blue Devils at the Final Four.

Duke made a grand total of one field goal over the last 10 1/2 minutes of this game. The second-to-last attempt was a step-back jumper in the lane by Flagg that J’Wan Roberts disrupted. The last was a desperation heave by Tyrese Proctor that caught nothing at the buzzer.

It was Roberts’ two free throws with 19.6 seconds left that gave the Cougars their first lead since 6-5. LJ Cryer, who led Houston with 26 points, made two more to push the lead to three. It was Houston’s biggest lead of the night.

The Cougars, who never won a title, not even in the days of Phi Slama Jamma, will play Florida on Monday night for the championship.

Florida’s 79-73 win over Auburn in the early game was a free-flowing hoopsfest. This one would’ve looked perfect on a cracked blacktop and a court with chain-link nets.

That’s just how Houston likes it. It closed the game on an 11-1 run, and though Flagg finished with 27 points, he did it on 8-for-19 shooting and never got a good look after his 3 at the 3:02 mark put the Blue Devils up by nine.

It looked over at that point. Houston was just getting started.

A team that prides itself on getting three stops in a row — calling the third one the “kill stop” — allowed a measly three free throws down the stretch.

Houston finished with four blocked shots, including four from its eraser, Joseph Tugler.

Urgent need for stronger child protection laws, stricter digital safeguards

Southeast Asia

April 6, 2025

KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama) – Stronger child protection laws, stricter digital safeguards, and more coordinated efforts are needed to ensure the protection of children’s rights and wellbeing, said Malaysia’s Alliance for a Safe Community chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye.

In a statement today, Lee highlighted that every child is entitled to safety, education, healthcare, and a life free from exploitation and harm.

However, he said, growing threats such as abuse, online exploitation, trafficking, and lack of access to quality education and mental health support continue to jeopardise children’s rights and wellbeing.

“Child abuse and neglect, both physical and emotional, continue to rise, with many cases going unreported due to fear, lack of awareness, or inadequate child protection mechanisms.

“Furthermore, the rapid growth of digital platforms made children more susceptible to online grooming, cyberbullying, and child pornography,” he said.

He said another major concern was the widespread problem of child trafficking and forced labour, which remains rampant due to weak enforcement and coordination among relevant agencies.

In response to these pressing challenges, Lee urged the government to prioritise stronger laws and better enforcement mechanisms.

“Stricter laws and better enforcement are needed to combat child abuse, exploitation, and trafficking.

“Authorities must ensure swift action against offenders,” he said, stressing that aside from authorities, parents and educators should work together to enhance online safety for children through digital literacy programmes and stronger monitoring of online content.

Lee also emphasised the urgent need for an independent Children’s Commission that would monitor and evaluate child protection policies, investigate rights violations, and provide recommendations for improvements.

“Establishing a Children’s Commission would signal the government’s strong commitment to child welfare and ensure continuous, focused advocacy for children’s rights.

“Children are the future of our nation, and failing to protect them means jeopardising our society’s long-term wellbeing. It is our collective duty to ensure that every child grows up in a safe, nurturing, and empowering environment,” he added.

Egypt rejects displacement of Palestinians, Warns of global silence

World

April 6, 2025

CAIRO (Bernama-QNA) – Egypt on Saturday reiterated its firm stance of rejection of any attempt to displace the Palestinians from their lands, warning of the consequences of the disgraceful global silence over the events unfolding in the occupied Palestinian territories, Qatar News Agency reported.

This came during the meeting of Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty with a delegation from the Palestinian Fatah Movement, during which they discussed the current developments in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, on the heels of a dangerous escalation by the Israeli entity.

In a statement, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirmed that Abdelatty reaffirmed Egypt’s rejection of the attempts by the Israeli entity to undermine the unity of the Palestinian territories and separate the Gaza Strip from the West Bank.

It also condemned the Israeli entity’s unrelenting aggression against the Strip and the West Bank, its aggressive policy in the region, and the use of disproportionate military force in blatant disregard for the foundational tenets of international humanitarian law.

In addition, Abdelatty stressed Egypt’s unequivocal rejection of the continuation of the Israeli occupation’s extremist practices against civilians and acting as a state above the law.

He pointed out that the power fantasies will never help the Israeli entity to achieve its security as it conceives, but the atrocities it commits will foment hatred and revenge against it in the region.

Further hurdles would be placed on the way of peaceful co-existence among the region’s peoples if Israel pursued these practices that would have an extremely adverse impact on the region’s security, stability, and the opportunities of achieving enduring peace in the region, Abdelatty said.

The statement highlighted that Abdelatty also discussed the Arab-Islamic plan for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, underscoring the imperative of strengthening Palestinian unity and the significant role of the Palestinian national authority, in pursuit of fulfilling the aspirations and hopes of the Palestinian people.

This is in addition to achieving a just and lasting resolution to the Palestinian cause through the establishment of the independent Palestinian state on the June 4, 1967, lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Displaced Palestinians flee from Shijaiyah, Gaza, on Thursday, April 3, 2025, after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders in the area. PHOTO: AP

Artificial glaciers boost water supply in northern Pakistan

Features

April 6, 2025

This photograph taken on March 19, 2025 shows a general view of Hussainabad village in Skardu district, in Pakistan’s mountainous Gilgit-Baltistan region. (Photo by Manzoor BALTI / AFP)

HUSSAINABAD, Pakistan (AFP) – At the foot of Pakistan’s impossibly high mountains whitened by frost all year round, farmers grappling with a lack of water have created their own ice towers.

Warmer winters as a result of climate change has reduced the snow fall and subsequent seasonal snowmelt that feeds the valleys of Gilgit-Baltistan, a remote region home to K2, the world’s second-highest peak.

Farmers in the Skardu valley, at an altitude of up to 2,600 metres (8,200 feet) in the shadow of the Karakoram mountain range, searched online for help in how to irrigate their apple and apricot orchards.

“We discovered artificial glaciers on YouTube,” Ghulam Haider Hashmi told AFP.

They watched the videos of Sonam Wangchuk, an environmental activist and engineer in the Indian region of Ladakh, less than 200 kilometres away across a heavily patrolled border, who developed the technique about 10 years ago.

Water is piped from streams into the village, and sprayed into the air during the freezing winter temperatures.

“The water must be propelled so that it freezes in the air when temperatures drop below zero, creating ice towers,” said Zakir Hussain Zakir, a professor at the University of Baltistan.

The ice forms in the shape of cones that resemble Buddhist stupas, and act as a storage system – steadily melting throughout spring when temperatures rise.

This photograph taken on March 18, 2025 shows an artificial glacier built by local residents during winters to conserve water for the summers at Pari village in Kharmang district, in Pakistan’s mountainous Gilgit-Baltistan region. (Photo by Manzoor BALTI / AFP)

Ice stupas

Gilgit-Baltistan has 13,000 glaciers – more than any other country on Earth outside the polar regions.

Their beauty has made the region one of the country’s top tourist destinations – towering peaks loom over the Old Silk Road, still visible from a highway transporting tourists between cherry orchards, glaciers and ice-blue lakes.

Sher Muhammad, a specialist in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan mountain range that stretches from Afghanistan to Myanmar, however said most of the region’s water supply comes from snow melt in spring, with a fraction from annual glacial melt in summers.

“From late October until early April, we were receiving heavy snowfall. But in the past few years, it’s quite dry,” Muhammad, a researcher at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), told AFP.

The first “ice stupas” in Gilgit-Baltistan were created in 2018.

Now, more than 20 villages make them every winter, and “more than 16,000 residents have access to water without having to build reservoirs or tanks”, said Rashid-ud-Din, provincial head of GLOF-2, a UN-Pakistan plan to adapt to the effects of climate change.

Farmer Muhammad Raza told AFP that eight stupas were built in his village of Hussainabad this winter, trapping approximately 20 million litres of water in the ice.

“We no longer have water shortages during planting,” he said, since the open-air reservoirs appeared on the slopes of the valley.

“Before, we had to wait for the glaciers to melt in June to get water, but the stupas saved our fields,” said Ali Kazim, also a farmer in the valley.

This photograph taken on March 19, 2025 shows local residents ploughing a farm at Hussainabad village in Skardu district, in Pakistan’s mountainous Gilgit-Baltistan region. (Photo by Manzoor BALTI / AFP)

Harvest seasons multiply

Before the stupas, “we planted our crops in May”, said 26-year-old Bashir Ahmed who grows potatoes, wheat and barley in nearby Pari village which has also adopted the method.

And “we only had one growing season, whereas now we can plant two or three times” a year.

Temperatures in Pakistan rose twice as fast between 1981 and 2005 compared to the global average, putting the country on the front line of climate change impacts, including water scarcity.

Its 240 million inhabitants live in a territory that is 80 percent arid or semi-arid and depends on rivers and streams originating in neighbouring countries for more than three-quarters of its water.

Glaciers are melting rapidly in Pakistan and across the world, with a few exceptions including the Karakoram mountain range, increasing the risk of flooding and reducing water supply over the long term.

“Faced with climate change, there are neither rich nor poor, neither urban nor rural; the whole world has become vulnerable,” said 24-year-old Yasir Parvi.

“In our village, with the ice stupas, we decided to take a chance.”

Jaguar and Land Rover maker pauses shipments to US as it develops post-tariff plans

Business

April 6, 2025

LONDON (AP) — The maker of Jaguar and Land Rover cars is pausing shipments to the US as Britain’s struggling auto industry begins to respond to the 25 per cent tax on vehicle imports imposed by President Donald Trump.

Jaguar Land Rover Automotive, one of Britain’s biggest carmakers, said Saturday that the pause would take place this month.

“The USA is an important market for JLR’s luxury brands,” the company said in a statement. “As we work to address the new trading terms without business partners, we are taking some short-term actions including a shipment pause in April, as we develop our mid- to longer-term plans.”

Analysts said they expect other British carmakers to follow suit as the increased tariffs heap more pressure on an industry that is already struggling with declining demand at home and the need to retool their plants for the transition to electric vehicles.

“I expect similar stoppages from other producers as firms take stock of what is unfolding,” said David Bailey, an automotive industry expert and professor of business economics at the University of Birmingham.

The number of cars made in the UK dropped 13.9 per cent to 779,584 vehicles last year, according to the SMMT. More than 77 per cent of those vehicles were destined for the export market. UK factories export cars such as Nissan’s Qashqai and Juke, BMW Mini, and Toyota Corolla, as well as Land Rover and Jaguar models.

“The industry is already facing multiple headwinds and this announcement comes at the worst possible time,” Mike Hawes, chief executive of the UK’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said last week. “SMMT is in constant contact with the government and will be looking for trade discussions to accelerate as we need to secure a way forward that supports jobs and economic growth on both sides of the Atlantic.”

UK carmakers have already taken steps to lessen the immediate impact of the tariffs by building stockpiles in the US before the increase took effect. SMMT figures show that exports to the US jumped 38.5 per cent from a year earlier in December, 12.4 per cent in January and 34.6 per cent in February.

“This was manufacturers like JLR trying to get ahead of the game in terms of getting inventory to the US before the tariffs were implemented,” Bailey said.

British car makers shipped GBP8.3 billion (USD10.7 billion) worth of vehicles to the US in the 12 months through September, making cars the single biggest goods export to the US, according to government statistics.

But cars make up a relatively small part of overall trade between Britain and the US, which is heavily weighted toward services.

Britain exported GBP179.4 billion (USD231.2 billion) of goods and services to the US in the year through September, with services making up 68.2 per cent of that figure.

New cars are parked at Royal Portbury Docks, North Somerset, England, Friday April 4, 2025. (Ben Birchall/PA via AP)

Tom Hardy and Guy Ritchie reunite for gritty crime series ‘MobLand’

Entertainment

April 6, 2025

NEW YORK (AP) — Tom Hardy has collected troves of knowledge and skill throughout his journey as an actor, forming a megastar career. But any education he received from director Guy Ritchie during their time on the 2008 “RocknRolla” film was gained from afar.

“I didn’t have very much to do with him … the first time I worked with him. Gerard (Butler) was leading that film and in many elements, we were support staff,” said Hardy. “So, I got to experience being on the Guy Ritchie set, and it was a bit from a position of not being a lead, and that’s a different responsibility.”

But time can bring people and experiences back around, especially in Hollywood. Since that film 17 years ago, Ritchie has transitioned into esteemed directorial status. And Hardy has morphed into a box office superstar with films like “The Dark Night Rises” as the imposing villain Bane, and the titular role for Marvel’s “Venom” franchise. Now, the two have reunited for Ritchie’s gritty, yet sophisticated series “MobLand.”

“I was really keen to go back and work with him because he’s a fellow Brit and he’s done quite incredible work,” explained Hardy. “I wanted to go and play with him, actually, and see what that was like now I’m older, and it was good fun.”

The Paramount+ original series follows Harry Da Souza (Hardy), an intimidating, yet calm fixer for a London-based crime family hoping to find the missing son of a rival faction to prevent a catastrophic gang war.

This image released by Paramount+ shows Tom Hardy, left, and Paddy Considine in a scene from “Mobland.” (Luke Varley/Paramount+ via AP)

How did Hardy prepare to play such a menacing, yet even-keeled character?

“No acting required” he said with a big laugh. “Just turn up and, ‘Oh, yeah, that makes sense’ and say the lines. Don’t bump into the furniture.”

The second episode of the 10-part “MobLand” series airs Sunday on Paramount+.

The series was created by Ronan Bennett, known for popular crime shows like “The Day of the Jackal” and “Top Boy,” and written with playwright Jez Butterworth. Ritchie serves as executive producer and directed the first two episodes. The “MobLand” idea began as a spinoff from Showtime’s popular “Ray Donovan” series, before becoming a stand-alone show.

Two-time Oscar-winner Helen Mirren stars as the devious Maeve, matriarch and manipulator of the crime family, while Pierce Brosnan plays her husband and mob leader, marking a reunion for the pair who worked on the 1980 film “The Long Good Friday.”

It may be hard to think of a role that Dame Mirren hasn’t played, but she found one with “MobLand.”

“There are always characters out there that are going to take you by surprise and … I think, ‘Oh my god, I’ve never done anything like that before,” said the “1923” star who believes the line between shooting film and TV is now nearly nonexistent. “That’s one of the sort of beauties of my job, actually, is to constantly be entering into such very, very different worlds.”

Mirren said the opportunity to work with Hardy was intriguing.

“Tom’s involvement in it was one of the reasons I signed up because I’ve admired his work over many years,” Mirren said. “Different actors, you can see, ‘Oh, they’re a great actor’ … they can perform. But certain actors like Tom, it’s an interior power that just communicates with the camera. And Tom’s got that. You know what? It’s called star power.”

The “MobLand” cast features Paddy Considine of “House of the Dragon” fame, Joanne Froggatt, Lara Pulver, Anson Boon and Mandeep Dhillon. While this show technically reunites Mirren and Brosnan, they also shot the upcoming “The Thursday Murder Club” film prior to this project.

While much was unknown when Brosnan signed on, “MobLand” had all the right ingredients for the former James Bond to dive in, starting with Ritchie, who released his Netflix series “The Gentlemen” last year.

“He’s naughty. He’s cheeky. He’s bold,” said Brosnan. “I love his work. His movies. The way he’s acquitted himself on the landscape of cinema. He’s a unique talent all his own … so I said yes. I wanted to go back to London. I wanted to work.”

Next for Hardy is the crime drama film “Havoc” premiering later this month, and there’s chatter of a potential sequel to his 2015 “Mad Max: Fury Road.” A second season of “Taboo” is on the way — nearly a decade after its debut. What about a “Spider-Man” and “Venom” crossover? Hardy addressed the rumors that an alleged project fell apart, clarifying it was never in the works.

“People embellish a story. I just said I would have loved to work with ‘Spider-Man,’ but it never happened, which is a fact. It hasn’t happened. And I’m no longer working with ‘Venom’ … it is a shame because my kids would love to watch Venom and Spider-Man together,” said Hardy. “I would have liked that.”

Paste to power

Features

April 6, 2025

AFP – In a northern Tunisian olive grove, Yassine Khelifi’s small workshop hums as a large machine turns olive waste into a valuable energy source in a country heavily reliant on imported fuel.

Holding a handful of compacted olive residue – a thick paste left over from oil extraction – Khelifi said, “This is what we need today. How can we turn something worthless into wealth?”

For generations, rural households in Tunisia have burned olive waste for cooking and heating, or used it as animal feed.

The International Olive Council estimated Tunisia will be the world’s third-largest olive oil producer in 2024-2025, with an expected yield of 340,000 tonnes.

The waste generated by the oil extraction is staggering.

ABOVE & BELOW: A man arranges rolls of olive pomace; and operating a machine to turn olive pomace into heating briquettes. PHOTO: AP

ABOVE & BELOW: An employee carrying; and arranging rolls of olive pomace. PHOTO: AP

An engineer who grew up in a family of farmers Khelifi founded Bioheat in 2022 to tackle the issue. He recalled watching workers in olive mills use the olive residue as fuel.

“I always wondered how this material could burn for so long without going out,” he said.

“That’s when I asked myself, ‘Why not turn it into energy?'”

Beyond profit, Khelifi hopes his startup helps “reducing the use of firewood as the country faces deforestation and climate change”.

At his workshop, employees transport truckloads of olive waste, stacking it high before feeding it into the processing machines.

The material is then compacted into cylindrical briquettes and left to dry for a month under the sun and in greenhouses before its packaging and sale.

Khelifi began developing his idea in 2018 after he travelled across Europe searching for a machine to turn the olive paste into long-burning fuel.

Unable to find the right technology, he returned to Tunisia and spent four years experimenting with various motors and mechanical parts.

By 2021, he had developed a machine that produced briquettes with just eight per cent moisture.

He said this amount significantly reduces carbon emissions compared to firewood, which requires months of drying and often retains more than double the amount of moisture.

Bioheat found a market among Tunisian restaurants, guesthouses, and schools in underdeveloped regions, where winter temperatures at times drop below freezing.

But the majority of its production – about 60 per cent – is set for exports to France and Canada, Khelifi said.

The company now employs 10 people and is targeting production of 600 tonnes of briquettes in 2025, he added.

Selim Sahli, 40, who runs a guesthouse, said he replaced traditional firewood with Khelifi’s briquettes for heating and cooking.

“It’s an eco-friendly and cost-effective alternative,” he said. “It’s clean, easy to use, and has reduced my heating costs by a third.”

Owner of a pizza shop on the outskirts of Tunis Mohamed Harrar praised the briquettes for reducing smoke emissions, which he said previously irritated his neighbours.

“Besides, this waste carries the soul of Tunisian olives and gives the pizza a special flavour,” he added.

Given Tunisia’s significant olive oil production, waste byproducts pose both a challenge and an opportunity.

Agricultural and rural development expert Noureddine Nasr said around 600,000 tonnes of olive waste is produced annually.

“Harnessing this waste can protect the environment, create jobs, and generate wealth,” he said. Nasr believes repurposing olive waste could also help alleviate Tunisia’s heavy dependence on imported fuel.

The country imports more than 60 per cent of its energy needs, a reliance that widens its trade deficit and strains government subsidies, according to a 2023 World Bank report.

Fuel and gas shortages are common during winter, particularly in Tunisia’s northwestern provinces, where households struggle to keep warm.

Redirecting agricultural waste into alternative energy sources could ease this burden.

UNHCR seeks funding to scale up to Myanmar’s quake survivors

Southeast Asia

April 6, 2025

BERNAMA – UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, is appealing for USD16 million to assist 1.2 million people who survived last week’s devastating earthquake in Myanmar, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.

‘’UNHCR will use the funds to expand its emergency relief efforts, manage displacement sites and support vulnerable people in six affected regions until the end of the year,” said UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch at a press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

In the week since the earthquake struck central Myanmar, UNHCR has deployed existing in-country stocks, including plastic sheets and kitchen sets, for some 25,000 survivors in Mandalay, Sagaing and Bago regions, as well as the capital, Nay Pyi Taw, and parts of Shan State (South).

As part of the inter-agency response to the earthquake, UNHCR is co-leading the response on shelter, emergency relief items, camp coordination and protection.

“The agency is mobilising supplies from its Myanmar warehouses for an additional 25,000 people but will need to replenish stocks urgently to meet the massive needs in areas suffering from the impact of the earthquake on top of four years of conflict and displacement.

“These relief items are critical for people who have lost everything, including the means to buy supplies as some local markets are not yet functioning,” Babar Baloch added.

“Additional funding will allow UNHCR to procure and distribute emergency shelter kits and relief items and provide assistance to survivors during the initial weeks and months of recovery. Where displacement sites are set up, UNHCR will coordinate work to improve service delivery and mitigate risks.”

Through the funding, UNHCR will also strengthen protection services, including legal assistance, psychosocial support and interventions for children, women and people with disabilities.

Efforts will continue to advocate for and facilitate safe humanitarian access to affected areas through local partnerships, the UNHCR spokesperson concluded.

Patients at a make-shift tent opened for medical care after last week’s earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. PHOTO: AP

Malaysian police confirm boy rescued by passersby after falling into monsoon drain

Southeast Asia

April 6, 2025

JOHOR BAHRU (BERNAMA) – Johor police confirmed that a 10-year-old boy, who was swept away by strong currents after falling into a drain at Taman Kota Masai, Pasir Gudang, Malaysia was rescued by passersby.

Seri Alam police chief ACP Mohd Sohaimi Ishak verified a one-minute-and-36-second viral video on the Facebook page Lanun Selatan, which showed the boy being carried away by the current. “The boy and his friend were heading to his uncle’s house after Friday prayers when he slipped and fell into the drain. He was swept away by the fast-moving current due to heavy rain,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Mohd Sohaimi said passersby rescued the boy about 100 metres from where he fell. He escaped with minor scrapes to his knee and elbow. He urged parents and guardians to supervise their children, especially during the rainy season, and avoid risky outdoor activities. The video ignited widespread criticism of the individual who filmed the incident without stepping in to help, with many condemning the act as prioritising the wrong things and lacking humanity.

Borneo Bulletin OnlineThe Independent Newspaper in Brunei Darussalam, Sabah and Sarawak

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