SURAT THANI, Thailand – Heavy rain responsible for floods across southern Thailand eased Wednesday, leaving residents to pick through damaged homes and ruined fields wrought by the 10-day deluge.

Record downpours have submerged vast swathes of Thailand’s agricultural south since the beginning of the month, leaving at least 31 dead and affecting 1.1 million people.

The unseasonal weather has also struck popular beach destinations during Thailand’s peak tourist period, sparking travel chaos with flights, railways and roads disrupted.

While much of the south remains under water, sunshine finally broke through raising hopes of an end to days of misery.

“There is no heavy downpour expected,” Surangkana Jongsawat, the chief of Thailand’s weather department, told AFP.

“The worst is over, now we have to wait for current flood waters to recede,” she added.

Officials are now focused on delivering aid and rebuilding wrecked infrastructure.

Flash floods across the region have left considerable destruction in their wake, knocking down bridges and gouging hundreds of roads.

Muddy floodwaters have also inundated rubber and palm oil plantations and are likely to leave farmers with significant losses.

The total cost of the damage is still being calculated, officials told AFP.

Meanwhile, soldiers have been mobilised to deliver relief by boat and helicopter to swamped villages where the waters have reached roof-high levels in some areas.

“Our first priority is life,” Charoen Watanasrimongkol, a Royal Thai Air Force captain organising airborne relief missions in Surat Thani province, told AFP.

“The current is strong so we need safety equipment to get people to hospital,” he said, adding that authorities are focusing on reconstruction now that the rains have eased.

MANILA – The Philippines, seeking to improve relations with China, hopes a framework for a code of conduct in the disputed South China Sea will be completed by the middle of this year, its foreign minister said on Wednesday.

Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay said the code would help de-escalate tension in the waters, where China has started militarising artificial islands built after the Philippines filed an arbitration case against Beijing in The Hague.

The tribunal ruled last year in Manila’s favour, rejecting China’s claims to the waterway. But the ruling will not be on the agenda of this year’s Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, a Philippine official said last week.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte reiterated last month he wanted to avoid confrontation with China and saw no need to press Beijing to abide by the ruling.

The code of conduct would make sure ASEAN and China follow legal and diplomatic processes in settling territorial disputes, Yasay said.

He said the ruling in The Hague may not have an effect on the code because Manila cannot dismantle the structures on the man-made island Beijing has built within its 200-mile exclusive economic zone. “This is a matter that we will be raising with China at some future time in bilateral talks and,” he said. “… Involving others in the discussion of this decision is just simply counter-productive for our purposes.”

China claims most of the energy-rich South China Sea through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Neighbours Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims.

BEIJING – China plans to promote traditional dishes and push food firms to set up overseas bases for raw materials such as grain and oil in a bid to improve its food safety record by 2020, the top state planner said on Wednesday.

Food scandals have aroused public anger in the world’s largest food consumer in recent years, ranging from tainted infant formula to expired meat.

In a document published on its website, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said it would also encourage Chinese firms to use mergers and joint ventures as a route to enter foreign food processing and research industries.

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China’s street vendors use gutter oil

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“There is still a gap between current food safety levels and people’s expectations,” said the planner, which expects average growth of 7 per cent in the food industry’s operating revenue over the years to 2020.

In December, the head of the China Food and Drug Administration said the watchdog had uncovered as many as half a million illegal food safety violations in the first three-quarters of the year.

The planner said it would clarify and consolidate current food regulations, besides improving the system of tracking food sources and spurring consolidation within the industry.

KATHMANDU – Nepal on Wednesday sacked the chief of its earthquake reconstruction body, a move seen by critics as politically motivated and likely to further delay rebuilding following the April 2015 disaster.

Sushil Gyewali was appointed head of the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) a year ago after months of political wrangling over who should lead the agency.

The NRA is tasked with spending the $4.1 billion pledged by international donors to help the impoverished Himalayan nation rebuild following the quake that killed more than 9,000 people and destroyed half a million homes.

But a change in government in August saw Gyewali’s political backers, the CPN-UML party, shift to the opposition bench and a new coalition of the main Maoist party and Nepali Congress take power.

The new government has since been agitating to remove Gyewali, repeatedly questioning his effectiveness and accusing him of missing deadlines.

“He (Gyewali) has been discharged,” Information Minister Surendra Karki told AFP.

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A year on, millions of Nepal quake survivors wait for aid

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“The clarifications he gave in response to the government’s concerns regarding reconstruction were not satisfactory. He passed the blame on other agencies rather than accepting responsibilities.” Reconstruction following the earthquake has been sluggish – but critics say that removing Gyewali is unlikely to speed up the process.

“This is a politically motivated move. The present government has been looking for grounds to remove him since it came to power – giving him difficult deadlines and seeking clarifications from him,” said Guna Raj Luitel, editor of the Nagarik newspaper.

“Gyewali took office when there was nothing but an act for the formation of the reconstruction authority. If we compare what has been achieved in a year… there has been progress,” he added.

Gyewali could not immediately be reached for comment.

Around 450,000 people who lost their homes have received 50,000 rupees ($460) of a promised 300,000 rupee grant to rebuild, but more than 200,000 people have submitted complaints to the NRA saying they have missed out.

“Our main concern is that there should be continuity in the process, that it is not put into jeopardy because of his (Gyewali’s) removal,” Rensje Teerink, the head of European Union’s delegation to Nepal – a major contributor to the country’s aid pot – told AFP.

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The thousand stars hotel in Nepal

Source: Ng Thiam Kwee, AsiaOne

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BEIJING – China is set to consolidate five state media companies to create a “modern financial media group”to increase the state’s voice in economic and financial news coverage, the state-run Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday.

Since taking power in 2012, President Xi Jinping, who has called for Beijing to take a bigger role in a global governance system, has stepped up media control and scrutiny to project China’s “soft power” and better communicate its message.

The State Council, China’s cabinet, has given Xinhua permission to acquire and consolidate China Securities Journal, Shanghai Securities News, Economic Information Daily and Xinhua Publishing House and launch a new company under the banner China Fortune Media Corporation Group.

The move aims at “deepening the central authority’s reforms of the cultural system” and “increasing mainstream media’s influence in the area of financial information,” Xinhua said in a notice.

The new financial news-focused company will be launched in Beijing on Thursday next week, it said.

While visiting three major state news agencies in February last year, Xi ordered the organisations to strictly follow the Communist Party’s leadership and focus on “positive reporting”, Xinhua reported at the time. “All news media run by the Party must work to speak for the Party’s will and its propositions and protect the Party’s authority and unity,” Xi was quoted as saying.

The three media Xi visited – Xinhua, People’s Daily and state-owned broadcaster CCTV – are considered by the central leadership as the “throat and tongue” of the party.

According to Xi, managing journalism and publicity is”crucial” for the party’s and implementation of its policies, Xinhua reported.

TOKYO –

Can the flashing “peace” sign in the photo lead to fingerprint data being stolen?

Researchers at the National Institute of Informatics (NII) in Japan say that, therefore, alerts are issued in popular two-finger gestures.

Fingerprint recognition technology is widely used to verify identity, such as when logged in to smart phones, tablet PCs and laptops.

The increase in mobile devices that use high-quality cameras and social media sites can easily post photos, which increases the risk of personal information disclosure, the report said.

NII researchers were able to reproduce fingerprints based on photos taken from a three-meter (9-foot) digital camera.

NII researcher Isao Echizen said in an article published on Monday, “as long as the peace in the camera before the production of signs, fingerprints can be widely used.

“Fingerprint data can be recreated if fingerprints are in focus with strong lighting in a picture,” Echizen also told Yomiuri TV.

He added that advanced technology was not necessary and anyone could easily copy fingerprints.

But NII says it has developed a transparent film containing titanium oxide that can be attached to fingers to hide their prints, the reports said.

The film prevents identity theft but does not interfere with fingerprints being effective in identity verification, the Sankei Shimbun reported.

But the technology would not be ready for another two years, the paper said.