NewsLite

SYDNEY — Australia's Great Barrier Reef has suffered the largest decline in coral cover in two of its three regions over the last year, research released on Wednesday (Aug 6) showed, following a mass bleaching of its corals that was among the worst on record.

The Australian Institute of Marine Sciences said the reef has experienced the largest annual decline in coral cover in its northern and southern regions since monitoring began 39 years ago, with coral cover dropping between a quarter and a third after several years of solid growth.

"We are now seeing increased volatility in the levels of hard coral cover," said Mike Emslie, head of institute's long term monitoring programme.

"This is a phenomenon that emerged over the last 15 years and points to an ecosystem under stress."

BEIJING — China will waive tuition fees for children in their final year at public kindergartens, and reduce them for eligible private schools from the next term, the government said on Tuesday (Aug 5), in a phased roll-out of free pre-school education.

The measures came after China unveiled last week a childcare subsidy until the age of three, in an effort to spur a flagging birth rate, as fewer young people choose to have children.

Guidelines from the State Council, or cabinet, said the government would provide subsidies to offset the financial impact of the measures on kindergartens.

It urged local governments to strengthen fund allocation and oversight to ensure kindergartens' normal operation and prevent wage arrears.

LUCKNOW, India — Surging floodwaters and a torrent of mud swept through a village in the northern Indian Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, killing at least four people while more than 50 others were missing, authorities and local TV channels said on Tuesday (Aug 5).

Teams from army and disaster response forces had reached the area, local authorities said, with workers trying to rescue people trapped under debris and sludge.

TV news channels showed floodwaters and mud surging down a mountain and crashing into the village, sweeping away houses and roads as people ran for their lives.

The mudslide cleaved through Dharali village, burying some houses, according to a video update shared by the state chief minister's office.

SYDNEY — Australia's internet watchdog has said the world's biggest social media firms are still "turning a blind eye" to online child sex abuse material on their platforms, and said YouTube in particular had been unresponsive to its enquiries.

In a report released on Wednesday, the eSafety Commissioner said YouTube, along with Apple, failed to track the number of user reports it received of child sex abuse appearing on their platforms and also could not say how long it took them to respond to such reports.

The Australian government decided last week to include YouTube in its world-first social media ban for teenagers, following eSafety's advice to overturn its planned exemption for the Alphabet-owned Google's video-sharing site.

"When left to their own devices, these companies aren't prioritising the protection of children and are seemingly turning a blind eye to crimes occurring on their services," eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said in a statement.

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Tuesday (Aug 5) formally axed a programme launched by billionaire former Trump adviser Elon Musk requiring federal employees to summarise their five workplace achievements from the prior week, as first reported by Reuters.

The Office of Personnel Management, the federal human resources agency that implemented Musk's push to slash the federal workforce, announced the end of the "five things" email via a memo that rescinds guidance instructing workers to comply with the initiative.

"At OPM, we believe that managers are accountable to staying informed about what their team members are working on and have many other existing tools to do so," OPM Director Scott Kupor said in a statement, adding the agency told government HR representatives that OPM would no longer manage the process nor use it internally.

While many federal agencies had already phased out compliance with the weekly email, the move signals the Trump administration is turning the page on one of Musk's most unpopular initiatives following a falling out between the two men in early June.

HONG KONG — Blackened skies unleashed record-breaking rains on Hong Kong and the high-tech cities surrounding South China's Pearl River Delta on Tuesday (Aug 5), disrupting hospitals and shuttering schools and law courts across the Asian financial hub.

More than 350mm of rain had drenched Hong Kong by 2pm, the city's weather authorities said — the highest daily rainfall for August since 1884.

Videos showed torrents of water cascading down steep hillsides in the former British colony, breaking into white-water streams as they rushed down the many staircases linking Hong Kong's multi-tiered cityscape. The deluge prompted the weather bureau to extend its highest "black" rainstorm warning until 5pm.

The water had risen to ankle-height outside Hong Kong's largest hospital, as medical authorities announced they would be closing clinics across the city due to the downpour.

An aesthetic doctor hounded his former girlfriend incessantly as their relationship broke down over a period of around one year.

His actions culminated in an attack in which he violently forced her into his car in a public area and restrained her against her will.

On Aug 5, Chua Cheng Yu, 40, was convicted after he pleaded guilty to four charges – the use of criminal force; causing intentional harassment, alarm and distress; voluntarily causing hurt; and unlawful restraint.

He will return to court on Oct 1 to be sentenced.

Morning commuters can expect a 25-minute delay between Boon Lay and Buona Vista stations on the East-West MRT Line on Aug 6 due to a track point fault.

Operator SMRT said on X at 6.03am that passengers should factor in an additional 15 minutes of travel time between Boon Lay and Clementi when travelling eastwards towards Pasir Ris.

In an updated post at 6.32am, the operator said the delay extended to Buona Vista station, meaning the affected stations also included Dover, Jurong East, Chinese Garden and Lakeside.

The delay was lengthened to 25 minutes, SMRT said at 7.17am, adding that free bus services are available between the affected stations.

Dancing on a rooftop under a clear sky sounds like a tranquil scene, but for these seven idols, it was a different affair.

AsiaOne recently spoke with Japanese pop group Ballistik Boyz from Exile Tribe about one of their latest singles and their upcoming first-ever tour of Asia.

The rap, vocal and dance group which debuted in 2019 consists of seven members — Ryuta Hidaka, Yoshiyuki Kano, Ryusei Kainuma, Miku Fukahori, Rikiya Okuda, Riki Matsui and Masahiro Sunada — and belongs to the Japanese supergroups Exile Tribe and Jr. Exile, which J-pop boy band Psychic Fever is also a part of.

The music video for one of their newest singles Stardust Forever, released on July 4, is set in what appears to be a rooftop and an enclosed warehouse, with skateboarding scenes featuring extras. As of Aug 4, the youthful and uplifting video has garnered over 1.4 million views on YouTube.

Stay in the know with a recap of our top stories today.

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