Bottega Veneta goes for ‘ET’ chic as Madonna pops into D&G

Lifestyle

September 22, 2024

A model walks the runway during the Bottega Veneta collection show at Milan’s Fashion Week. PHOTO: AFP

MILAN (AFP) – Milan Fashion Week came to a close on Saturday with its share of surprises, not least an unlikely source of inspiration for Bottega Veneta’s much-anticipated evening show.

“For this show, I took as my starting point the scene from Spielberg’s film ET, when the mother opens the closet to reveal a world of stuffed animals…” Bottega Veneta’s artistic director Matthieu Blazy explained backstage.

“The surprise of an imaginary world, the world of childhood, where everything is possible, where everything is a game, a joy, an adventure,” he said.

A model walks the runway during the Bottega Veneta collection show at Milan’s Fashion Week Womenswear Spring / Summer 2025. PHOTO:AFP

Blazy sought to recreate children trying on their parents’ clothing, or even the first day of school, “when parents have prepared the perfect outfit for their child, who comes back with everything upside down.”

That resulted in dresses just a bit too big, outfits with one leg in pants, the other in a skirt, superimpositions or creases.

As for the dress embroidered with matches?

“It’s the object of childhood’s forbidden game, intrepid and dangerous,” he said.

Earlier Saturday, no less a superstar than Madonna sat in the front row of the Dolce & Gabbana show — her face barely visible under a black lace veil.

The catwalk became a tribute to the Material Girl, with all models in blond wigs, some in corsets with pointy breasts, others in black men’s tuxedos embellished with trouser braces.

But at Bottega Veneta, not only fashion fans were watching, but investors too.

Founded in 1966 in Vicenza in the northeastern Italian region of Veneto, the label renowned for its woven leather goods and expert craftsmanship became a part of France’s Kering group in 2001.

And with Kering’s flagship brand Gucci currently in a sales dive — down 20 percent in the first half of this year — the company is hoping to make the most of its smaller and less showy Italian brand.

In the first half of 2024, Bottega Veneta posted revenue growth of three percent to 836 million euros (USD933 million), whereas Gucci’s revenue, while down significantly, was 4.1 billion euros – nearly half of Kering’s entire revenue of nine billion euros.

So while Bottega Veneto may be a drop in the the luxury group’s ocean, it is a promising one – and one that goes hand in hand with its distinctive approach to fashion.

A coveted brand that is notably absent from social networks, Bottega Veneta thrives on discreet hyper-exclusivity, led by the Franco-Belgian Blazy, who took over as creative director at the end of 2021.

Model Mariacarla Boscono walks the runway during the Bottega Veneta collection show at Milan’s Fashion Week. PHOTO: AFP

Tell-tale ‘intrecciato
With sumptuous materials that flirt with trompe-l’oeil and cult pieces such as jeans-like pants in buttery calf leather selling for 5,200 euros, Bottega Veneta has built up considerable cult status in recent years under Blazy.

The brand eschews logos on its products, instead letting its famous “intrecciato”, or signature woven leather, speak for itself, or incorporating a brass “nodo” or knot as an essential design element into shoes and other accessories.

The brand has also strategically snubbed social networks. In 2021, it deleted its Instagram account only for fans to take over an unofficial “newbottega” account so as not to miss any of the latest news.

Passionate about contemporary art and design, Blazy fuels the brand’s projects through collaborations with photographers and creatives.

Some are even revealed during fashion shows themselves, such as last year’s 400 chairs designed by furniture and art designer Gaetano Pesce, who died in April, or the February homage to architect Le Corbusier with a reinterpretation of his Tabouret Cabanon.

The recent opening of Palazzo Van Axel in Venice will now welcome Bottega Veneta’s exclusive clients to discover the world of the brand in a fully restored palace in the heart of the watery city.

There, personalised services include the opportunity to choose from luxurious leathers or unique pieces not available in stores.

The palace will also host exhibitions, special projects and the presentation of Bottega Veneta’s high-end jewellery collection in November.

Sri Lanka frontrunner won’t tear up IMF deal: party

Business

September 22, 2024

SRI LANKA-POLITICS-ELECTION — Police officers inspect an auto-rickshaw at a checkpoint in Colombo on September 21, 2024. Sri Lanka imposed a night curfew across the country on September 21, 2024, despite a peaceful presidential election that is effectively a referendum on an unpopular IMF bailout. Police announced the eight-hour curfew shortly after the independent Election Commission said the poll was the most peaceful in the country's electoral history. (Photo by Ishara S. Kodikara / AFP)

Police officers inspect an auto-rickshaw at a checkpoint in Colombo. PHOTO: AFP

COLOMBO (AFP) – The party of a Marxist leader on track to win Sri Lanka’s presidential vote vowed on Sunday not to scrap the country’s unpopular USD2.9 billion IMF bailout agreement, but instead renegotiate it.

Presidential candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayaka and his People’s Liberation Front will “not tear up” the IMF deal, party politburo member Bimal Ratnayake told AFP. “Our plan is to engage with the IMF and introduce certain amendments,” Ratnayake said.

“We will not tear up the IMF programme. It is a binding document, but there is a provision to renegotiate.”

He said Dissanayaka had pledged to reduce income taxes that were doubled by President Ranil Wickremesinghe and slash sales taxes on food and medicines. “We think we can get those reductions into the programme and continue with the four-year bailout programme.”

Dissanayaka’s rivals had raised fears that his Marxist party would scrap the IMF programme and push the country back into an economic crisis similar to the chaos of 2022. A foreign exchange crisis led to shortages of essentials sparking street protests which eventually forced then leader Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee and resign.

No pain, no gain: Chinese pro wrestlers fight for recognition

Features

September 22, 2024

Wrestler Andruew Tang fighting with his opponent “Sky” during a Middle Kingdom Wrestling (MKW) championship event in Shanghai. PHOTO: AFP

MEIZHOU (AFP) – When Wang Tao ran away from home aged 17 to become a professional wrestler he knew it would be a hard slog to succeed in China’s passionate but underdeveloped scene.

Years later, he has endured family disapproval, countless side gigs and thousands of hours of brutal training to become China’s “Belt and Road Champion” – but the struggle is far from over.

Despite a promising potential domestic market the Chinese pro wrestling community has been battling for recognition and financial stability for decades.

“I have done all kinds of jobs (on the side)… because in the end, it is very difficult to earn enough money to live on just through wrestling,” the 23-year-old Wang told AFP.

“I have never given up my dream, which is to make more and more people know China has wrestling.”

Part sport and part entertainment, it is best known globally as a stereotypically American spectacle, embodied by the juggernaut World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

It is a marriage of intense athletic feat and melodramatic, lycra-clad performance.

Hooked from a young age after watching Hollywood film The Wrestler, Wang quit high school and absconded north to train with other like-minded Chinese athletes.

“I tried to explain to my family… but they all disagreed, and did not understand or support me,” Wang said.

Wang Tao training with his teammate Chen Wenbin in a mud puddle in the mountain forest in Xingning, in the China southern Guangdong province. PHOTO: AFP

These days they have come round – though he said they still hope he will find “a normal job”.

Facebuster
In the southern Chinese wilderness earlier this month, Wang and fellow wrestler Chen Wenbin slammed each other violently against the struts of a makeshift bamboo cage, smashing each other into a mudpit as curious villagers watched.

It’s rudimentary, but far better than previous training conditions, said Wang.

He typically earns about 1,000 yuan for fight nights, and tries to boost that income with livestreaming.

In the nearby town, he and Chen have constructed a wrestling ring in an unfinished factory where they broadcast themselves practising moves with names like Backbreaker and Facebuster.

Though the fighting is a pretence – moves are loosely choreographed and outcomes are predetermined – Wang has been knocked out for real before.

Wang Tao training with his teammate Chen Wenbin in the mud in the mountain forest in Xingning. PHOTO: AFP

Wearing a “No pain, no gain” vest, Chen recalled when his wages came from performing in places such as bars – “it was just hard ground… easy for us to get hurt”.

Self-described addiction continues to propel Wang and others. “I love this industry so much that it doesn’t matter if I get hurt, I will stick with it,” Wang said.

Huge market
The root of the addiction became clear last weekend.

At the Supercard From Shanghai – a fight night organised by Middle Kingdom Wrestling (MKW), a domestic promoter – Wang strode down a red carpet into the ring, transformed.

Hair slicked back and wearing a snug black-scaled waistcoat, all trace of the mild-mannered, slightly shy Wang vanished as he leapt like a cat onto the top ropes and roared into the crowd.

To howls of delight, Wang defended his “Belt and Road” title in a frenetic four-way fight with another Chinese fighter, a Hungarian and an Emirati.

Japanese wrestler Yuki Kamifuku interacting with the audience during a Middle Kingdom Wrestling (MKW) championship event in Shanghai. PHOTO: AFP

Accompanied by booming music and a rolling lightshow, the increasingly feral crowd of around 350 made up for in volume what they lacked in numbers.

“Definitely I would say we have more followers, more people are paying attention to us than ever,” said MKW founder Adrian Gomez.

The problem is that audience is still miniscule for China, with momentum lost during pandemic years.

The Supercard had 125,000 livestream viewers, a far cry from the millions targeted.

Nevertheless, many insist there is potential.

WWE China has almost 36 million likes and four million followers on short video app Douyin, and analysts say it too has failed to maximise the country’s possibility.

“It’s a huge market in China, but we haven’t fully opened it yet,” said Chen, whose night ended less victoriously than Wang’s.

His shamanic alter ego ended up tossed onto a table, then a row of chairs, by China’s first-ever pro wrestler, The Slam.

American Knickle Sloane said the show’s “grind of independent wrestling” had transported him back to his childhood.

“I feel there’s a market for (Chinese wrestling) and there’s a lot of people who want to see this happen,” he said.

For now, the dream is that “more people can make a living”, said Gomez.

“I think they deserve to be able to make a living out of what they’re good at.”

At least 30 dead in Iran coal mine explosion

World

September 22, 2024

Construction Site Developing Industry Concept

TEHRAN (AP) – A methane leak sparked an explosion at a coal mine in eastern Iran, killing at least 30 people and injuring 17 others, Iranian state media reported on Sunday. Another 24 miners are believed to be trapped inside.

The report said the deaths happened at a coal mine in Tabas, some 540 kilometres southeast of the capital, Tehran.

Authorities were sending emergency personnel to the area after the blast late Saturday, it said. Around 70 people had been working there at the time of the blast. State TV later said 24 were believed to be trapped inside.

Provincial Governor Mohammad Javad Qenaat told state TV that 30 miners had been killed and 17 injured.

Iran’s new reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian, preparing to travel to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, said he ordered all efforts be made to rescue those trapped and aid their families. He also said an investigation into the incident had begun.

Oil-producing Iran is also rich in a variety of minerals. Iran annually consumes some 3.5 million tons of coal but only extracts about 1.8 million tons from its mines per year. The rest is imported, often consumed in the country’s steel mills.

This is not the first disaster to strike Iran’s mining industry. In 2013, 11 workers were killed in two separate mining incidents. In 2009, 20 workers were killed in several incidents. In 2017, a coal mine explosion killed at least 42 people.

8,898 affected in Kedah floods

Southeast Asia

September 22, 2024

BANJIR DI ALOR SETAR — ALOR SETAR, 21 Sept -- Jumlah mangsa banjir di Kedah yang dipindahkan bertambah kepada 7,494 orang setakat 8 pagi ini, meningkat berbanding 6,760 pada 8 malam tadi. Menurut laporan Info Bencana Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat (JKM), kesemua mangsa di negeri itu melibatkan 2,445 keluarga dan mereka ditempatkan di 42 pusat pemindahan sementara (PPS) di enam daerah. Daerah Kota Setar mencatatkan jumlah teramai iaitu 3,292 orang diikuti Kubang Pasu (1,811 orang), Pendang (1,127 orang), Pokok Sena (952 orang), Kuala Muda (184 orang) dan Bandar Baharu 128 orang. Sementara itu, laman sesawang Public Infobanjir Jabatan Pengairan dan Saliran (JPS) memaklumkan paras air di lima sungai di Kedah berada pada paras bahaya. Sungai itu ialah Sungai Padang Terap di Kepala Batas, Sungai Bata di Kampung Bata di Kubang Pasu serta Sungai Anak Bukit di Taman Aman, Sungai Anak Bukit di Jambatan TAR dan Sungai Kedah di Jambatan Lebuhraya, Kota Setar. --fotoBERNAMA (2024) HAK CIPTA TERPELIHARA

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim visits flood victims at a temporary relief shelter. PHOTO: BERNAMA

BERNAMA – The number of flood victims in Kedah has risen to 8,898 people from 2,871 families as of 8am on Sunday, up from 8,066 people reported from Saturday night.

According to the Social Welfare Department’s Info Bencana portal report, all evacuees are currently housed at 44 temporary relief centres across five districts.

Kota Setar recorded the highest number of flood victims, with 5,099, followed by Pendang (1,487), Kubang Pasu (1,382), Pokok Sena (783) and Bandar Baharu (147).

Meanwhile, the Department of Irrigation and Drainage’s Public Infobanjir portal reported that four rivers in Kedah are at the danger level, namely Sungai Bata in Kampung Bata, Kubang Pasu, Sungai Anak Bukit in Taman Aman and at Jambatan TAR, and Sungai Kedah at Jambatan Lebuhraya, Kota Setar.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim visits flood victims. PHOTO: BERNAMA

In Perak, the State Disaster Management Committee Secretariat, in a statement, said that 28 people are still sheltering at the relief centre at Sekolah Kebangsaan Changkat Lobak, Kerian, which has been opened since Friday after Kampung Matang Tengah was flooded.

The department also said that the Bukit Merah Reservoir in Kerian has reached a warning level, with the water rising to 9.09 metres.

UN holds ‘Summit of the Future’ to tackle global crises

World

September 22, 2024

UN Israel Palestinians UN Security Council — The symbol of the United Nations is displayed outside the Secretariat Building, February 28, 2022, at United Nations Headquarters. PHOTO: AP

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – Global leaders are gathering in New York on Sunday for a “Summit of the Future” aimed at addressing 21st-Century challenges ranging from conflict to climate, amid skepticism over whether the final pact will meet its lofty goals.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres first proposed the meeting in 2021, billing it as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to reshape human history by rekindling international cooperation.

As an opening act for the annual high-level week of the UN General Assembly, which begins Tuesday, dozens of heads of state and government are expected to adopt a “Pact for the Future” on Sunday.

But after intense last-minute negotiations, Guterres expressed some frustration, urging nations to show “vision” and “courage,” and calling for “maximum ambition” to strengthen international institutions that struggle to respond effectively to today’s threats.

In the latest version of the text that will be submitted for adoption, leaders pledge to bolster the multilateral system to “keep pace with a changing world” and to “protect the needs and interests of current and future generations” facing “persistent crisis”.

“We believe there is a path to a brighter future for all of humanity,” the document says.

Spanning nearly 30 pages, the pact outlines 56 “actions,” including commitments to multilateralism, upholding the UN Charter and peacekeeping.

It also calls for reforms to international financial institutions and the UN Security Council, along with renewed efforts to combat climate change, promote disarmament, and guide the development of artificial intelligence.

Words to action
Even though there are some “good ideas,” the text “is not the sort of revolutionary document reforming the whole of multilateralism that Antonio Guterres had originally called for,” Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group told AFP.

The sentiment is widely shared among diplomats, many of whom express frustration when discussing the ambition and impact of the text, describing it as “lukewarm,” “the lowest common denominator,” and “disappointing”.

After intense negotiations in recent days, Russia still has objections to the final version of the text published on Saturday, a diplomatic source told AFP. While the pact is expected to be adopted, its approval isn’t guaranteed.

The fight against global warming was one of the sticking points in the negotiations, with references to the “transition” away from fossil fuels having disappeared from the draft text weeks ago, before being re-inserted.

Despite the criticism, it is still “an opportunity to affirm our collective commitment to multilateralism, even in the difficult current geopolitical context,” one Western diplomat said, emphasising the need to rebuild trust between the Global North and South.

Developing countries have been particularly vocal in demanding concrete commitments on the reform of international financial institutions, aiming to secure easier access to preferential financing, especially in light of the impacts of climate change.

The text does indeed include “important commitments on economic justice and reforming the international financial architecture,” Human Rights Watch (HRW) commented, while also praising “the centrality of human rights”.

However, world leaders “still need to demonstrate that they are willing to act to uphold human rights,” said Louis Charbonneau, HRW’s UN director.

Regardless of its content, the pact and its annexes – a Global Digital Compact and a Declaration on Future Generations – are non-binding, raising concerns about implementation, especially as some principles – such as the protection of civilians in conflict – are violated daily.

“Our next task is to breathe life into them, to turn words into action,” Guterres urged on Saturday.

Muslim converts complete Al-Quran programme

National

September 22, 2024

Participants in a group photo. PHOTO: PDI

A four-day Al-Quran programme for Muslim converts concluded with a certification presentation ceremony at the Islamic Da’wah Centre (PDI) on Saturday.

The programme began on September 17 and was organised by MABIMS Al-Quran Study and Dissemination Centre Ministry of Religious Affairs in collaboration with the PDI.

A total of 56 converts attended the programme. Among the topics covered were the concept of worship and its connection in the relationship between Khaliq (Allah / Creator) and creatures (Hablum Minallah); the importance and role of prayer in Muslim life; fasting and its role in the formation of Muslim personality and Zakat and its relationship in social development and the haj.

The programme also highlighted the position of Al-Quran as the first source of Islamic law in addition to increasing the understanding of Al-Quran in various aspects and clarify misconceptions.

Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Religious Affairs Haji Mohammad Rosli bin Haji Ibrahim was the guest of honour. – Azlan Othman

Local students head to Singapore for exchange programme

National

September 22, 2024

Students, teachers and family members in a group photo. PHOTO: FADLEY FAISAL

A group of local students departed for a five-day exchange programme with a Singaporean primary school on Sunday.

The 12 students from Amar Pahlawan Primary School will join their Singaporean peers at Yangzheng Primary School for lessons in the morning; and field trips, cultural exchanges and discussion sessions in the afternoon and evenings, said school teacher Hajah Siti Hadizah binti Haji Mahbub, who is accompanying the students.

“The exchange is a valuable opportunity for the students to immerse themselves in a different educational environment,” she said. “This programme gives our students the opportunity to experience learning in a foreign country.”

Two other teachers are also accompanying the students on the trip.

The Student School Twinning Programme is an initiative organised by the Ministry of Education, selecting schools from Brunei to participate in student exchanges with schools abroad. – Fadley Faisal

Dissanayaka set to become Sri Lanka’s next president

World

September 22, 2024

COLOMBO (AFP) – A previously fringe Marxist politician was on course Sunday to become Sri Lanka’s next leader after a presidential vote coloured by discontent over the island nation’s response to an unprecedented financial crisis.

The ongoing count in Saturday’s poll showed Anura Kumara Dissanayaka on 52 per cent with just over a million votes counted, well above his nearest rivals.

National People’s Power (NPP) party’s presidential candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayaka. PHOTO: AFP

Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa was in second, with 23.3 per cent of the vote.

Incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe – who took office at the peak of the 2022 economic collapse and imposed tough austerity policies per the terms of an IMF bailout –was trailing at a distant third with around 16 percent of the vote.

Wickremesinghe has yet to concede, and an official result was not expected until later Sunday, but Foreign Minister Ali Sabry said the early count made it clear that Dissanayaka had won.

“Though I heavily campaigned for President Ranil Wickremesinghe, the people of Sri Lanka have made their decision, and I fully respect their mandate for Anura Kumara Dissanayaka,” Sabry said on social media.

Around 76 per cent of Sri Lanka’s 17.1 million eligible voters cast ballots in Saturday’s poll.

Dissanayaka’s once-marginal Marxist party led two failed uprisings in the 1970s and 1980s that left more than 80,000 people dead. It won less than four per cent of the vote during the most recent parliamentary elections in 2020.

But Sri Lanka’s crisis has proven an opportunity for Dissanayaka, 55, who has seen a surge of support based on his pledge to change the island’s “corrupt” political culture. “Our country needs a new political culture,” he said after casting his ballot on Saturday.

Austerity rejected
Wickremesinghe sought re-election to continue belt-tightening measures that stabilised the economy and ended months of food, fuel and medicine shortages during Sri Lanka’s economic meltdown.

His two years in office restored calm to the streets after civil unrest spurred by the downturn saw thousands storm the compound of his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled the country and resigned.

But Wickremesinghe’s tax hikes and other measures imposed under the USD2.9 billion IMF bailout left millions struggling to make ends meet. Dissanayaka pledged during the campaign to renegotiate the terms of the IMF rescue package, which Wickremesinghe secured last year after the government defaulted on its foreign debt.

Economic issues dominated the eight-week campaign, with public anger widespread over the hardships endured since the peak of the crisis two years ago. Official data showed that Sri Lanka’s poverty rate doubled to 25 per cent between 2021 and 2022, adding more than 2.5 million people to those already living on less than USD3.65 a day.

Thousands of police were deployed to keep watch over voting on Saturday. A night-time curfew imposed after polls closed was extended until midday on Sunday, despite police reporting that there had been no violence during or after balloting.

No victory rallies or celebrations are permitted until a week after the final results are declared.

Floods, landslides hit central Japan months after major quake

World

September 22, 2024

Driftwood caught under a bridge, washed down a river after heavy rains caused flooding, in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa prefecture. PHOTO: AFP

ANAMIZU (AFP) – Heavy rain lashed central Japan on Sunday, with floods and landslides leaving one dead and at least six missing in an area already devastated by a major earthquake earlier this year.

Muddy rivers ran high in Anamizu, a city on the Noto Peninsula, where damage from the January quake that killed at least 318 people is still visible, AFP reporters said.

Authorities on Saturday had urged tens of thousands to evacuate, calling the rains “unprecedented” as the weather agency issued an emergency warning for the area that remained in place on Sunday.

Landslides blocked roads and widespread flooding affected homes – including eight temporary housing complexes in Wajima and Suzu where victims of the magnitude-7.5 earthquake on January 1 are residing.

This photo shows temporary housing – built for people who lost their homes during the January 1, 2024 earthquake – surrounded by floodwaters after heavy rains pounded the area. PHOTO: AFP

Military personnel have been sent to the Ishikawa region on the Sea of Japan coast to join rescue workers, top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters on Saturday.

Some 6,000 households were without power and an unknown number were without running water, the Ishikawa regional government said.

In Anamizu, more rain fell Sunday onto quake-damaged houses and the shattered stone columns of a shrine still lying on the ground months after they were toppled.

A message blared from the city’s loudspeaker disaster prevention system warning residents that the rain could flood the sewer system and dirty water could rise up.

Hideaki Sato, 74, stood on a bridge holding a small blue umbrella, anxiously looking at the swollen water of a small canal.

“My house was flattened completely in the quake,” he told AFP.

“I now live in a small apartment room right there,” he said, pointing at a wooden structure behind him. “If this floods, it would be a real problem.”

A man crosses a bridge as he takes photographs of a swollen river due to heavy rain in Anamizu town of Ishikawa prefecture. PHOTO: AFP

Secure your safety
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has instructed the government “to do its best in disaster management, with saving people’s lives as the first priority”, according to Hayashi.

Scientists say human-driven climate change is intensifying the risk posed by heavy rains because a warmer atmosphere holds more water.

The areas under the emergency warning saw “heavy rain of unprecedented levels”, JMA forecaster Satoshi Sugimoto told reporters Saturday, adding “it is a situation in which you have to secure your safety immediately”.

More than 120 millimetres of rainfall per hour were recorded in the city of Wajima on Saturday morning – the heaviest rain since comparable data became available in 1929.

Footage on public broadcaster NHK showed an entire street submerged in Wajima, one of the areas hardest hit by the huge New Year’s Day quake, which toppled buildings, ripped up roads and sparked a major fire.

As of Sunday morning, one person had been killed, three were missing and two were seriously injured in Ishikawa, the fire and disaster management agency said.

At least a dozen rivers burst their banks and two of the missing were reportedly carried away by strong currents.

Another three people were missing who had been working for the land ministry to restore a road in Wajima, local ministry official Yoshiyuki Tokuhashi told AFP.

One worker who had been reported missing “walked to the tunnel” near the landslide where 26 others were taking shelter, Tokuhashi said, adding that all 27 workers had now been evacuated to safety.

“Rescue work was planned to start at 5 am this morning, then it was suspended due to heavy rain, but is scheduled to resume at around 11 am,” he said.

Municipalities in Ishikawa told 75,000 residents in the region – including in the cities of Wajima and Suzu, as well as Noto town – to evacuate, officials said. Another 16,800 residents in Niigata and Yamagata prefectures north of Ishikawa were also told to evacuate, the fire and disaster management agency said.

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

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