After heavy rain, children played with water around a flooded mosque in Manang Taylor Village, Taogong Province, Thailand, December 19, 2022. /CFP
Here are a few stories from Asia that you may have missed this week.
Seven people were killed and more than 200,000 families were affected in extensive flooding in southern Thailand this week. Water drainage and rescue operations continued as flood conditions improved in all affected areas, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) said.
The flood affected 210,552 households in 57 districts of the six southern provinces, namely Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung, Songkhla, Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, according to the DDPM.
Haruhiko Kuroda, governor of the Bank of Japan, during a news conference at the central bank's headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, December 20, 2022. Kuroda shocked markets by doubling a cap on 10-year yields, sparking a jump in the yen and a slide in government bonds in a move that helps pave the way for possible policy normalization under a new governor. /CFP
Japan’s economy took a smaller hit than first thought during a summer marked by a renewed COVID-19 surge and a plunge in the yen, with a return to growth expected this quarter. Gross domestic product shrank by an annualized 0.8 percent in the three months to the end of September from the previous period, revised figures from the Cabinet Office showed on Thursday.
That was smaller than the 1.2 percent contraction first estimated and the 1 percent drop forecast by economists. Global markets were jolted overnight after the Bank of Japan on December 20 unexpectedly widened its target range for 10-year Japanese government bond yields, sparking a sell-off in bonds and stocks around the world.
China's domestically-developed regional jetliner, the ARJ21, is delivered to its first overseas client, TransNusa, an Indonesian airline, December 18, 2022. /CFP
China's domestically-developed regional jetliner, the ARJ21, was delivered to its first overseas client, TransNusa, an Indonesian airline, on December 18, marking the first time a Chinese passenger jetliner has entered foreign markets. The delivered aircraft is designed with 95 seats, all economy class.
Afghan women chanted slogans to express their protest against the decree prohibiting women from receiving university education, in Kabul, Afghanistan, December 22, 2022. /CFP
Afghanistan's Taliban-run Higher Education Ministry on December 20 suspended access to universities for female students until further notice.
A letter, confirmed by a spokesperson for the ministry, instructed Afghan public and private universities to suspend access to female students immediately, in accordance with a Cabinet decision. On December 22 several women were reportedly arrested for taking part in a protest in the Afghan capital, Kabul, against the ban on women attending universities.
A U.S. B-52 bomber, C-17 and Republic of Korean Air Force F-35 fighter jets fly over the Korean Peninsula during a joint air power drill in the Republic of Korea, December 20, 2022. /CFP
An American nuclear-capable B-52H bomber and F-22 fighter jets participated in joint exercises with the Republic of Korea (ROK) near the Korean Peninsula on December 20, the Defense Ministry in Seoul said. The drills were conducted near Jeju Island. ROK F-35 and F-15 fighters also participated.
The B-52H is the primary strategic bomber for the U.S., capable of carrying large payloads at high speeds over long distances. The exercises marked the first visit by F-22 stealth fighters to the ROK since May 2018.
(Residents drove through a flood after heavy rain in Lampu Village, Taogong Province, Thailand, December 19, 2022. /CFP)