The COVID-19 crisis is aggravating inequality, with the richest quickly getting richer while it will likely take years for the world's poorest to recover, anti-poverty group Oxfam said Monday.In a report entitled "The inequality virus", the group warned that the pandemic is the first time since records began that inequality is rising in virtually every country at the same time."The 1,000 richest people on the planet recouped their COVID-19 losses within just nine months, b

An estimated eight million children are reported missing every year. However, it’s not just the young that have disappeared, but adults too. Unfortunately, when it comes to missing people, sometimes they are gone without a trace with no successful lead.According to the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), over 800 children and teenagers have been reported missing from 2014 to 2019.

Underwater divers in plastic-choked waters off the coast of Thailand snip through discarded nets tangled around a reef – a new initiative helping protect marine life and aiding the fight against coronavirus.The "ghost nets" discarded from the country's lucrative fishing industry are a deadly source of plastic pollution, ensnaring turtles and cutting into delicate coral beds. Left unattended, "they could stay adrift for decades, either entrapping or becoming the fo

On 20 January, media reports of a medical officer who allegedly passed away from exhaustion shocked Malaysians. A charity group called ‘Skuad Pengurusan Jenazah Malaysia’ (Malaysian Funeral Management Squad) claimed that one of its members, Dr Ali Noor Hassan fell ill due to his workload – highlighting a lack of rest.

Medics battled exhaustion and the risk of COVID-19 as they raced Monday to treat scores of people injured by a devastating earthquake on Indonesia's Sulawesi island.At least 84 were killed and thousands left homeless by the 6.2-magnitude quake that struck early Friday, reducing buildings to a tangled mass of twisted metal and chunks of concrete in the seaside city of Mamuju.Doctors in hazard suits treated patients with broken limbs and other injuries at a makeshift medical centre set up

The world is falling short of promises made under the Paris climate deal to help the most vulnerable nations deal with the increasingly devastating impacts of climate change, according to the United Nations (UN). Adaptation - reducing the fallout among communities and increasing their capacity to deal with climate-related disasters such as floods and drought - is a pillar of the landmark 2015 accord, which aims to chart a path away from catastrophic warming.The deal requires signator

Torrential monsoon rains hampered the hunt Sunday for anyone still buried alive under buildings flattened by a powerful earthquake on Indonesia's Sulawesi island, after the huge tremor killed at least 81 and left thousands homeless.Excavators and cranes were deployed across the devastated seaside city of Mamuju, where buildings were reduced to a tangled mass of twisted metal and chunks of concrete, including a hospital and the regional governor's office.It was unclear how many peopl

The Great Pacific garbage patch is a collection of plastic and floating trash with two enormous masses of ever-growing garbage. The patch consists of finger-sized bits of plastic – often microscopic particles, chemical sludge, wood pulp, and other debris trapped by the northern circulating currents of the Pacific Ocean known as the North Pacific Gyre. The plastic concentration is estimated to be 100 kilograms per square kilometre.

In recent months, we have increasingly heard stories of counterfeit or sub-quality face masks, medicines and sanitisers during the pandemic. Fake goods are indeed putting lives in danger.

A powerful earthquake rocked Indonesia's Sulawesi island Friday, killing at least 42 people, levelling a hospital and severely damaging other buildings, authorities said, as they warned there were people still trapped beneath rubble.Hundreds were also injured when the 6.2-magnitude quake struck in the early hours, triggering panic among the terrified residents of the island, which was hit by a huge quake and tsunami two and a half years ago that killed thousands.So far, 34 bodies have be