HONG KONG -- Hong Kong Customs has seized about 444 kg of suspected liquid cocaine with an estimated market value of about 490 million Hong Kong dollars (about 63 million U.S. dollars), representing a record seizure of liquid cocaine, the customs said Monday.
Acting on intelligence analysis, customs officers on Dec. 19 last year selected a 20-foot seaborne container for inspection and found 148 packages of suspected liquid cocaine packed in transparent plastic bags with a total weight of about 444 kg. (Hong Kong-Customs)
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JAKARTA -- A blaze tore through a three-story karaoke lounge in Tegal City in Indonesia's Central Java province on Monday morning, killing six people and injuring nine others, the city police said.
Tegal Police Chief Rully Thomas said that the fire occurred at around 8 a.m. local time and firefighters with two fire engines and a crane truck were immediately sent to the location. (Indonesia-Fire)
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SYDNEY -- The Republic of Nauru announced Monday that it will recognize the one-China principle and sever "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan.
In a post on Facebook, the government of Nauru said that it will follow the UN Resolution 2758, which recognizes the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government representing the whole of China, and recognizes Taiwan as an inalienable part of China's territory. (Nauru-Taiwan-Relations)
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HANOI -- Four people died from suffocation at a fresh and silk flower shop in Vietnam's capital Hanoi on Monday early morning, local media reported.
The four-floor house, located on Hang Luoc street in the city's Old Quarter area, burst into flame at about 4:40 a.m., Vietnam News Agency reported. (Vietnam-Fire-Death)
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NEW DELHI -- India's main opposition Congress party on Sunday launched the second phase of a cross-country march ahead of the 2024 India general election.
The "Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra," or "India Unifying Justice March," was flagged off by senior Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi in the northeastern state of Manipur, where ethnic violence had claimed more than 180 lives and rendered thousands homeless. (India-Congress Party-March)
