As Indonesia continues to count the number of dead from last week’s earthquake on Sulawesi island, search and rescue teams are being stretched to breaking point. Flooding in South Kalimantan has killed more than a dozen people and displaced tens of thousands. Meanwhile, two volcanoes on the most populous island, Java, are spewing ash into the air, with hundreds of people evacuated.
State prosecutors in Russia asked a judge on Monday to jail Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny for 30 days, after he was detained the previous evening at a Moscow airport when flying home for the first time since he was poisoned last summer. The United Nations and Western nations told Russia to immediately free the opposition politician and some countries called for new sanctions. Moscow told them to mind their own business.
Twelve workers trapped underground after an explosion at a gold mine in eastern China a week ago are still alive, according to a note retrieved from the site, the official Xinhua news agency reported, citing local authorities. A total of 22 workers were trapped in the Hushan mine, in Shandong province, after the blast on 10 January. It was not until 30 hours later that the accident was reported.
Samsung heir Lee Jae Yong has been sentenced to two years and six months in prison by a high court in South Korea. The bribery case is a retrial of an earlier one involving the country’s former President Park Geun-hye, who was also jailed for bribery and corruption. Lee has been the de facto head of Samsung Electronics since 2014.
Four coronavirus cases have been detected from charter flights carrying tennis players, coaches and officials to Melbourne for the Australian Open, forcing 47 players into strict hotel quarantine. Health authorities confirmed there’d been three positive tests for Covid-19 returned on Saturday and another on Sunday. None of the cases have so far involved players. The Australian Open starts on Feb. 8.