Asia News Wrap: Tropical storm kills 24 in Philippines, and more

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

Tropical Storm kills 26 in the Philippines

Tropical Storm Trami has killed at least 26 people and forced more than 150,000 to flee their homes in the Philippines, officials said on Thursday, as it made landfall on the northeastern coast. Rivers overflowed and triggered flash floods, a disaster official said. With maximum sustained winds of 95 kilometers per hour, the storm was moving westward across the mountainous northern region of Cordillera towards the South China Sea, the state weather agency said in a bulletin. 

Most of the deaths from the storm over the past few days were due to drowning and landslides in the central Bicol region, including Naga City where 14 were reported dead on Thursday. Trami is the 11th typhoon this year to hit the Philippines, which is lashed by an average of 20 typhoons annually.

Vietnam gets new president

Vietnam's parliament on Monday elected army general Luong Cuong as the new president. Cuong was elected by all the 440 deputies who attended the session. In his inaugural speech, he committed to boosting defense capabilities and pursuing an independent and multilateral foreign policy.  

Before the election, Cuong held a key position in the secretariat of the country's Communist Party, which made him the fifth-highest ranking official in the country. Cuong is also a member of the Politburo, the party's top decision-making body.

South Korean faces kimchi crisis

South Korea's government said on Wednesday it will ensure 24,000 tonnes of cabbage are supplied from national stocks to provide support during the upcoming peak kimchi-making season, after blaming unusually hot weather for affecting the cabbage crop. The spicy, fermented dish is a staple in South Korea and can be made from vegetables such as radish, cucumber and green onion, but the most popular kimchi is cabbage-based. 

Cabbage used in kimchi, or napa cabbage, thrives in cooler climates and is usually planted in mountainous regions where temperatures during the summer season typically remain below 25 degrees Celsius. However, South Korea's average June to August temperature this year was the highest since nationwide records started being kept in 1973.

Bangladesh raises interest rate

Bangladesh's central bank said on Tuesday it would raise its key interest rate by half a percentage point, its fourth hike this year as it battles high inflation. 

Bangladesh Bank's governor, Ahsan Mansur, appointed in August, has said that while inflation is expected to decrease significantly over the next year, reducing interest rates may take longer. Mansur was appointed by Bangladesh's interim government led by Nobel-prize-winning economist Muhammad Yunus, who was sworn in after then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country.

New Delhi chokes on smog

Toxic fumes enveloped India's capital, New Delhi, on Wednesday as air pollution fueled by fireworks and farm stubble burning crossed the danger mark. 

New Delhi is blanketed in choking smog each winter, primarily blamed on stubble burning by farmers looking to clear their fields in neighboring provinces. In a related development, on the same day, India's Supreme Court stated that living in a pollution-free environment is a fundamental right, urging authorities to address the deteriorating air quality in the country's north.

(Cover: Vehicles buried after heavy rains brought about by Tropical Storm Trami at a village in Guinobatan town, Albay province, south of Manila, Philippines, October 23, 2024. /CFP)