JAKARTA -- A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 hit Indonesia's western province of West Sumatra on Monday, the meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency said.
The quake jolted at 10:29 Jakarta time with the epicenter at 116 km northwest of Kepulauan Mentawai (Mentawai islands) district and the shallow of 10 km under the seabed, the agency said. (Indonesia-Earthquake)
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TOKYO -- The latest opinion poll has shown that the disapproval rate of the Japanese government headed by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida jumped to 39 percent, a record high since Kishida took office in October 2021, Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported on Monday.
The telephone survey, conducted by Asahi Shimbun from Aug. 27 to 28, received 998 valid responses nationwide. While the disapproval rate surged to 39 percent from 25 percent in the previous survey in July, the approval rate of Kishida's cabinet dropped significantly to 47 percent from 57 percent, according to the newspaper. (Japan-Cabinet-Poll)
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ISLAMABAD -- Seven people including women and kids were killed and 13 others missing when a boat capsized in Pakistan's south Sindh province on Monday, local reports said.
The boat with 20 people on board was sailing through the Indus River when it capsized after getting trapped in a flood current in the Sehwan Sharif area of the province, the reports said. (Pakistan-Boat-Capsizal)
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JAKARTA -- Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has been diagnosed with COVID-19 on Monday and is working from home while he isolates himself and recuperates.
This is the first time the 58-year-old minister has been confirmed for COVID-19 since he took office in December 2020. Sadikin has informed those who interacted with him in recent days and asked them to immediately carry out swab tests and self-isolation. (Indonesia-Health Minister-COVID-19) ■
