Author: Starvision News Desk

Yangon, July 19 (IANS) Severe weather triggered landslides and flooding in southern Myanmar, with its southernmost town Kawthaung experiencing its heaviest single-day rainfall in 76 years.According to the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology, Kawthaung, a town located in Tanintharyi region, recorded 253 mm of rainfall on Tuesday, surpassing the 232 mm figure recorded in July 2021, reports Xinhua news agency.Heavy rains and strong winds caused landslides and falling trees in Kawthaung, Dawei, and Myeik towns in Tanintharyi on Tuesday, the Fire Services Department reported.A man in Myeik town of Tanintharyi also died on Tuesday after a tree fell on him…

Seoul, July 19 (IANS) A sizzling heat wave covered South Korea on Wednesday as the monsoon rain came to a lull, with the state weather agency issuing a heat wave watch for most regions.The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) issued the heat wave watch for most parts of the country, reports Yonhap News Agency.The advisory is issued when the highest apparent temperature is expected to be 33 degrees Celsius or higher for two or more consecutive days or when significant damage is expected due to a sudden increase in temperatures.Central regions are expected to be sunny, and the southern region cloudy…

Wellington, July 19 (IANS) New Zealand’s consumers price index increased 6 per cent in the 12 months to June this year, which is now at its lowest level since late 2021, although domestic pressures remain high, the country’s statistics department said on Wednesday.The 6 per cent increase follows a 6.7 per cent increase in the 12 months to March 2023, Xinhua news agency quoted Stats NZ as saying.”Prices are still increasing at rates not seen since the 1990s but are rising at a lower rate than the last few quarters,” the department’s consumers prices senior manager Nicola Growden said.Food was…

Toronto, July 19 (IANS) A 26-year-old off-duty Canadian-Sikh police officer, who fatally shot himself earlier this year, was facing investigation for sending inappropriate texts to a 15-year-old girl, recently unsealed court documents found.Dilbag ‘Dylan’ Hothi, an officer with the Surrey Police Service, was suspended in August 2022 amid a breach of trust investigation before he took his life in February. According to newly unsealed court documents, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) were probing Hothi for sending inappropriate texts to a teenager, CBC News reported. The girl told investigators she met Hothi when he responded to a call to help…

Islamabad, July 19 (IANS) The Pakistani rupee (PKR) has suffered a significant decline against the US dollar, according to the country’s central bank.The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said the greenback traded at 283.04 PKR in the interbank market on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency reported.The U.S. dollar closed at 279.26 PKR on Monday. On the second working day of the week, the local currency depreciated by 3.78 PKR, or about 1.34 per cent, against the US dollar, official figures showed.Over the past few weeks, the PKR went through a strengthening streak after Pakistan’s agreement with the International Monetary Fund followed…

Bangkok, July 19 (IANS) Thailand’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday suspended Prime Ministerial candidate and leader of the Move Forward Party, Pita Limjaroenrat as an MP pending a ruling on his disqualification case submitted by the Election Commission.The court’s decision came after it received a complaint filed by the Commission that the 42-year-old Harvard graduate and former tech executive owned shares in a media company at the time of registering his election candidacy for the May 14 election, which violates electoral rules, reports Xinhua news agency.In a shock election result, Pita’s newcomer party won the most seats and largest share of…

Berlin, July 19 (IANS) Germany’s housing crisis is set to intensify, with the number of building permits for dwellings falling by 25.9 per cent year-on-year in May, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said. After a year of continuous decline, only 23,500 new homes were approved for construction in Europe’s largest economy in May, Xinhua news agency quoted Destatis as saying.”Rising construction costs and increasingly poor financing conditions are still likely to have been the main factors contributing to the decline,” it said.Prices for new residential construction in Germany rose by 8.8 per cent year-on-year in May, according to Destatis. Compared…

Ankara, July 19 (IANS) The Turkish lira has weakened more than 2 per cent against the U.S. dollar ahead of a key rate decision by the country’s central bank on Thursday.The lira stood at 26.96 against the dollar at 4 p.m. on Tuesday evening after falling to a record low of 27, reports Xinhua news agency. The currency has lost about 30 per cent of its value against the greenback this year.Lira’s depreciation came as the central bank is due to make a decision on its key interest rate on Thursday.In June, the bank hiked the interest rates by 15…

Washington, July 19 (IANS) As an oppressive heat dome is currently scorching a majority of the US South, a hospital in Arizona witnessed admissions of people with heat-related issues similar to during the Covid-19 pandemic, a media report said.“The heat is taking a major toll,” emergency room doctor Frank LoVecchio from Valleywise Health Medical Center told CNN on Tuesday.“The hospital has not been this busy with overflow since a few peaks in the Covid pandemic,” he added.As the scorching heat persist, there have been 12 confirmed heat-related deaths recorded in Arizona’s Maricopa County so far this year as of the…

New York, July 19 (IANS) Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has announced additional key administration and board appointments, which includes many Indian-Americans.Dr Bimaljit Singh Sandhu, a gastroenterologist at Richmond Gastroenterology Associates, took oath as a board member of the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System Authority. As board member, Sandhu, who migrated from Punjab to the US in 2004, will play a pivotal role in the state’s health education system. The board’s responsibilities include overseeing the operations of the health system, as well as providing strategic direction to various medical schools and hospitals. Harshad Barot, owner of Galaxy Corporation and Kamlesh Dave,…