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Jang Won Seok, 23, fell unconscious after jumping off a waterfall around nine meters high on Saturday afternoon. On-site rescue personnel tried to save him but the victim did not recover. Jang was among a group of 11 foreign tourists, from Canada, South Korea, and the U.K., who were going on an adventure tour organized by a local company at Datanla falls, around five kilometers from the center of Da Lat. The highlands resort town is a scenic spot with a small series of waterfalls, a roller coaster, cablecar and hiking trails, and a popular destination for adventure seekers. It drew around 3.38 million tourists in the first half of this year. Among them were 245,000 foreigners, up 20 percent from a year ago. Yet safety issue with its waterfall services remains a regular concern. Last year, a Polish tourist and a Vietnamese tour guide fell to their death while climbing down a waterfall in Da Lat. A local travel firm was later fined VND100 million ($4,380) for providing the unlicensed … [Read more...] about S Korea tourist dies after jumping off Da Lat waterfall

They urged governments and the private sector to collaborate on improving urban planning, protecting mangroves and developing "sponge cities" that can absorb water and prevent flooding. "(Cities) need to move from unplanned urbanization to planned urbanization," said Loretta Hieber Girardet, chief of Asia-Pacific at the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction in Bangkok. "They need to plan urban growth - and that's not happening in Asia to the extent that it needs to happen." Over the past 40 years, natural disasters have cost Asia-Pacific about $1.3 trillion, according to U.N. estimates, with China, the Philippines, Vietnam and Japan worst-hit by typhoons. The latest major storm, super-typhoon Mangkhut, left a trail of destruction in both rural and urban areas of the northern Philippines, Hong Kong and southern China this week. Asia has to deal with an average 29-30 typhoons each year, but fatalities have fallen with better weather forecasting, early warning … [Read more...] about As typhoons get stronger, Asia must build better, experts say

Researchers said the activity would raise the risk of worsening land loss to sea level rise. Combined with losses of soil-holding mangroves and accelerating groundwater extraction, which can lead to land sinking, the mining is increasing climate-related threats for those living in low-lying coastal areas, they said. “We have created a recipe for climate disaster,” said Marc Goichot of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Deltas dependent on the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna, Mekong and Yangtze rivers are now sinking and shrinking, according to research carried out by WWF – a situation worsened by climate-related warming and rising sea level. That is a problem not only because the deltas are home to millions of people but because they produce a significant share of the region’s food. The Mekong delta, for instance, home to 17 million people, is a major source of rice for the region and underpins a quarter of Vietnam’s GDP, Goichot said. “It is 40,000 square … [Read more...] about As sand mining grows, Asia’s deltas are sinking, water experts warn

State President Tran Dai Quang, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and President of China Xi Jinping, US President Donald Trump, and Russian President V. Putin in Da Nang in November 2017. On behalf of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) Central Committee, the National Assembly and Government of Laos and the Lao Front for National Construction, Party General Secretary and President Bounnhang Volachit on September 21 cabled a message of condolences to the Communist Party of Viet Nam Central Committee, the National Assembly and Government of Viet Nam, and the Viet Nam Fatherland Front Central Committee, in which he expressed his deep condolences over the death of State President Quang. By Thuy Dung … [Read more...] about World leaders extend condolences over death of State President Quang