Asia News Wrap: Cyclone wreaks havoc in India and Bangladesh, and more

Here are a few stories from around Asia you may have missed this week.

At least 38 people were killed and more than 8.4 million people were affected by Cyclone Remal in Bangladesh and India. Strong gales and heavy rain triggered by the first major cyclone of the year lashed the coastlines of the two countries on Monday. The toll includes 12 workers who died on Tuesday when a quarry collapsed in the Indian state of Mizoram. At least 10 people were killed in Bangladesh, disaster management chief Mijanur Rahman told Reuters. 

Dhaka shut down electricity to some areas in advance to avoid accidents, while in many coastal towns fallen trees and snapped electricity lines further disrupted supply, power ministry officials said. Nearly 3 million people in Bangladesh were without electricity. In India's West Bengal state, four people were electrocuted, taking the death toll in the state to six. West Bengal authorities said at least 1,200 power poles were uprooted, while 300 mud huts had been razed.

South Korea's largest private company, Samsung, will see unionized workers go on their first-ever strike after failed wage talks with the management. "We can't stand persecution against labor unions anymore. We declare a strike due to the management's attitude of disregarding the workers," the Nationwide Samsung Electronics Union, the largest among Samsung's multiple unions, said in a press briefing held in front of its office in southern Seoul on Wednesday.

They held a banner that read, "We can no longer tolerate labor repression, union repression." The union, which has about 28,000 members, accounting for nearly 22 percent of the company's total workforce, said it would stop work for one day on June 7 as part of broader protest measures.

Monsoon rains hit India's southernmost Kerala coast a few days earlier than expected on Thursday, the national weather office said, bringing much-needed relief from the heat wave the country has been going through over the last couple of weeks. Summer rains usually begin to lash coastal Kerala state around June 1 and spread across the whole country by mid-July, triggering the planting of crops such as rice, corn, cotton, soybeans and sugarcane. 

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said monsoon rains this year are expected to be 106 percent of the long-term average. The IMD defines average rainfall as between 96 percent and 104 percent of a 50-year average of 87 cm for the four-month season. Below-average rains in 2023 depleted reservoir levels and hit food production. The monsoon delivers nearly 70 percent of the rain that the country needs for farms and to recharge reservoirs and aquifers.

The Shenzhou-18 crew aboard China's space station completed their first extravehicular activity on Tuesday, setting a new record for the longest single spacewalk by Chinese astronauts, according to the China Manned Space Agency. 

During their approximately 8.5-hour spacewalk, taikonauts Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu worked on installing space debris protection devices and conducting inspections of extravehicular equipment. 

Thailand's government on Tuesday said it had approved longer visa stay periods for tourists, postgraduate students and remote workers, and better visa conditions for retirees, in a move to boost its crucial tourism sector. Starting in June, Thailand will allow travelers from 93 countries to stay for 60 days, up from the current 57 nations, while citizens of more countries will also be eligible for visas on arrival, government spokesperson Chai Wacharonke told reporters. Foreign students will be permitted to stay for an additional year upon graduation, while insurance requirements for foreigners seeking to retire in Thailand will be relaxed, he added. 

Tourism is a key driver of Southeast Asia's second-largest economy and a big source of employment. Thailand recorded 14.3 million tourists from January to May 26 this year and is targeting a record 40 million foreign arrivals for the full year.

(Cover: Trees swaying during the landfall of Cyclone Remal, at a beach in Kuakata, Bangladesh, May 27, 2024. /CFP)