The World Meteorological Organization warns Australians should brace for a protracted summer of catastrophic bush fires, blaming climate change for record-breaking heat waves and persistent drought.Australia’s summer fire season usually begins in late January or early February, but got off to an early and catastrophic start in September 2019 in the states of Queensland and New South Wales. The bush fires have killed more than 22 people, destroyed hundreds of homes, burned large swathes of land, and caused massive devastation to wildlife, ecosystems and the environment.   WMO spokeswoman Clare Nullis says naturally occurring climate variability is playing a role in these unprecedented events, adding that another driver is a phenomenon called the Indian Ocean dipole, which was very strong last year.FILE – Firefighters try to protect homes around Charmhaven, New South Wales, in this image dated Dec. 30, 2019, and provided by NSW Rural Fire Service via their twitter account.”That has the effect of making Australia drier,” Nullis said. “It has the effect of making East Africa wetter, which is why we saw the floods in East Africa. So, on the one hand, you do have the natural climate variability. On the other hand, climate change is playing a role and we should be in no doubt about that.”A report by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology says climate change is causing temperatures to rise and contributing to long-term increase in extreme fire weather. It says Dec. 19, 2019, was the hottest day on record, with an average temperature of 49.9 degrees centigrade recorded at Nullarbor in South Australia.The fires in Australia are having far-reaching consequences.”The fires have led to hazardous air quality, which is a threat to human health in major cities in Australia, spreading to New Zealand, and sent smoke drifting thousands of kilometers across the Pacific to South America … and NOAA’s (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) satellite sent out a tweet that the smoke is in the process of circumnavigating the planet,” she said.  WMO scientists warn wildfires harm the global climate by emitting carbon dioxide. They say forest loss leads to the reduced uptake of CO2 from the atmosphere, further fostering climate change.
 
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Taiwanese voters will pick a president Saturday, setting the course for how to handle political and military rival China amid fears that Taiwan could be taken by the Communist government or become another protest-wracked Hong Kong.The electorate of some 18 million people will decide whether to let incumbent Tsai Ing-wen serve another four-year term. She takes a guarded stance toward China at the risk of further angering the Communist leadership, which has already sent naval ships and military aircraft near the island as warnings since 2016.Many analysts believe Tsai will beat her closest rival Han Kuo-yu, the mayor of Taiwan’s major port city and an advocate of dialogue with China on Beijing’s terms.Tsai is riding the tailwinds of particularly strong U.S. relations, which Taiwanese see as a sign of strength in case they need help repelling China, and perceptions that she can best stop Taiwan from becoming another Hong Kong, experts say.Hong Kong’s protesters, some violent, want China to relinquish their territory from its “one country, two systems” rule that means Beijing is in charge but with a degree of local autonomy. Militarily stronger China claims sovereignty over Taiwan and insists on ruling it someday as it now governs Hong Kong. Taiwan and China have been separately ruled since the Chinese civil war of the 1940s.”In this election, all possible factors that should help Tsai Ing-wen have taken shape, including the China factor, the U.S. factor and the Hong Kong protest factor, and also including the factor of comparisons made to the other presidential candidates,” said You Ying-lung, chairman of the Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation survey research organization.Protesters set up barricades with debris and umbrellas in Hong Kong, Jan. 1, 2020.China’s influenceTsai’s approval ratings rose from the 20s in late 2018 through last month, when the foundation released a poll giving her a 49.3% “favorable” rating.The 63-year-old law scholar with the Democratic Progressive Party spoke out multiple times in 2019 against China’s idea for “one country, two systems” rule over Taiwan and openly sided with Hong Kong’s protesters. Her tone felt “strong”, said Shelley Rigger, a National Taiwan University, social sciences college visiting researcher.”She didn’t say anything new but she said old stuff in a way like she was defending Taiwan, telling the truth,” Rigger said.Voters say they’re taking her China policy seriously. “The issue matters because it would directly impact the way we live,” said Taipei voter Dong Yu-hsin, 23, a social service industry worker. “We have such a free and open society, and on the other hand the government in China places a lot of restrictions on its people.”If you look at the three candidates, then Tsai Ing-wen’s point of view is the one I agree with most,” he said. “I hope Tsai Ing-wen can keep her perspective on autonomy and uphold today’s status quo.”Some voters think the election comes down to whether Taiwan remains democratic, said Huang Kwei-bo, vice dean of the international affairs college at National Chengchi University in Taipei.”I feel at least an obvious number of people are going to vote this time because they have a fear their country will perish,” Huang said. “And, in addition, there are those who fear there’s not more going to be more democracy.”Since Tsai took office, she has angered China by rejecting its condition that both sides hold talks as parts of a single China. The December 24 poll found that about 73% of Taiwanese advocate keeping at least today’s distance from China, including more formal independence.Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen attends a campaign rally ahead of the presidential election in Taipei, Taiwan December 21, 2019.Taiwan’s government, officially called the Republic of China, still claims China under its constitution, just as the Communists claim Taiwan under theirs.Talks with BeijingTsai’s election rival Han advocates a return to 2008-2016 when his Nationalist Party’s president Ma Ying-jeou was in office.Ma agreed to China’s condition for talks, allowing the two sides to sign more than 20 deals on trade, transit and investment. The two sides shelved political differences then to build trust. But by 2014 Taiwanese had worried so much about growing too close to China that they held weeks of street protests in Taipei.Han, a populist who won the mayoral seat just 14 months ago, can handle China without political risk, said Jason Hsu, a Nationalist lawmaker and member of Han’s policy advisory team.”What we are trying to convey is the message that we can manage the relationship with China better than the DPP (Democratic Progressive Party) and at the same time not compromise democracy and our sovereignty,” Hsu said. Tsai’s approach of “alienating” China will eventually “backfire,” he said.Voters will also elect a new parliament Saturday. The ruling party now has 68 seats and many party members are running tough re-election campaigns. Parliament has the authority to ratify any deals with China and pass laws affecting interaction between people from the two sides.
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The escalating U.S.-Iran conflict is complicating South Korea’s possible participation in a U.S.-led maritime coalition to protect international shipping in and near the Strait of Hormuz.There are increasing calls in South Korea for the government to reject, or at least rethink, U.S. requests to join the force, amid fears South Koreans could get caught up in the violence.The conflict escalated Wednesday, with Iran launching what it called “tens” of ballistic missiles toward at least two Iraqi military bases that house U.S. and international forces.Iranian officials said the attack was in retaliation for the U.S. killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike outside the Baghdad airport last week.The situation is delicate for South Korea, a key U.S. ally that also views Iran as an important potential trading partner.’Situation totally changed'”The pressure from the United States (to participate in the maritime force) is going to be higher, but now the situation has totally changed,” says Jang Ji-Hyang, a Middle East specialist at Seoul’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies.It could become a volatile domestic political issue, just months before South Korea’s parliamentary election, if South Korean troops were to become targets overseas, Jang says.”If the government decides to send our soldiers, South Korea could be mired in a war between Iran and the United States,” said an editorial in South Korea’s conservative Joongang Daily. “Iran is not our enemy and can emerge as a huge market once economic sanctions are lifted.”The liberal Hankyoreh newspaper also noted that the violence is causing South Korea to “rethink” its contribution to the maritime force.The U.S.-South Korea alliance has already been strained by U.S. President Donald Trump’s demand that Seoul pay substantially more for the cost of the U.S. military presence in South Korea.Although U.S. negotiators have reportedly dropped their insistence that Seoul increase their contribution by five times, the two sides failed to reach a deal before the current cost-sharing deal expired at the end of the year. Another round of talks is expected as early as next week.There were reports that South Korean participation in the maritime force could factor into the cost-sharing negotiations.Amphibious assault vehicles of the South Korean Marine Corps travel during a military exercise as a part of the annual joint military training called Foal Eagle between South Korea and the U.S. in Pohang, South Korea, April 5, 2018.No decision yetIn an interview Tuesday, Harry Harris, the U.S. ambassador to South Korea, said he hopes Seoul will contribute to the maritime force, noting that South Korea imports “so much” of its energy from the Middle East.South Korea’s defense and foreign ministry officials said this week no decision has been made on sending troops to the region, but vowed to assist international efforts to reduce tensions.Following an emergency meeting Monday, South Korea’s National Security Council expressed the “deepest concern” over the tension and reviewed the possible impact on South Korean citizens, businesses, and ships in the region.Around 1,600 South Koreans are in Iraq, mostly working on construction projects, according to South Korea’s foreign ministry. Nearly 300 South Koreans live in Iran.South Korea and Iran have tried to maintain economic ties, though the relationship has been impacted by Trump’s more aggressive approach toward Tehran.South Korea, which relies on foreign energy imports, had been one of the top buyers of Iranian oil, but halted those imports in 2019 when its waivers from U.S. sanctions on Tehran expired.Maritime forceAs U.S-Iran tensions escalate, oil prices have surged.There are concerns Iran may attempt to disrupt international oil flow in the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway that serves as a crucial chokepoint for global oil supplies.The strait was the focus of U.S.-Iran tensions last year, when six oil tankers and a U.S. drone were attacked in the area. The U.S. blamed Iran for the attacks – a claim denied by Tehran.The U.S. has attempted to form a broad international military coalition to help protect merchant ships in the strait.South Korea has for months said it is considering participating. Reports say Seoul could extend the scope of an existing anti-piracy unit operating off the coast of Somalia, possibly to include the Strait of Hormuz. The unit includes a 4,500-ton destroyer, an anti-submarine helicopter, and three speed boats.It may be difficult for South Korea to reject U.S. requests to join the mission, in part because of South Korea’s close military relationship with the U.S. and its past commitments to international peacekeeping missions, say analysts.South Korea hosts over 28,000 U.S. troops. South Korean soldiers fought alongside U.S. soldiers in Vietnam. South Korea also sent non-combat military personnel to help with U.S.-led missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, though Seoul’s Afghan operations were scaled back after the Taliban kidnapped a South Korean church group in Afghanistan, murdering two of its members.”It will be tough not to participate,” says Lee Jae-Seung, a professor at Korea University who has written about international energy policy. “However, this can also create a hostile relationship with certain countries, so the government needs to be careful.”
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Tesla’s Shanghai factory delivered its first cars to customers Monday and chief executive Elon Musk said the electric automaker plans to set up a design center in China to create a model for worldwide sales.Musk presided at a ceremony where a half-dozen buyers wearing red Tesla T-shirts drove away new Model 3 sedans. He expressed thanks to earlier customers who he said made Tesla’s expansion in China possible by purchasing imported models from the fledgling brand.Tesla Inc. built the Gigafactory 3, its first outside the United States, following the ruling Communist Party’s 2018 decision to allow full foreign ownership in electric car manufacturing. It is due to produce the Model 3 and a planned SUV, the Model Y.Producing in China insulates Tesla from possible duty increases on imported U.S.-made vehicles from Beijing’s tariff war with Washington. Other foreign automakers including General Motors Co., Volkswagen AG and Toyota Motor Co. have long had joint venture factories in China.Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk takes off his coat onstage during a delivery event for Tesla China-made Model 3 cars in Shanghai, China, Jan. 7, 2020.China is the biggest global market for electrics, but Tesla’s manufacturing launch comes at a time when sales are sagging following the end of government subsidies in mid-2019.Total electric vehicle sales fell almost 45% in November from a year earlier to 95,000. Sales for the first 11 months of 2019 were up 1.3% at just over 1 million vehicles.Musk said Tesla plans to increase investment in China and set up a design center to “create a car for worldwide sale,” but he gave no details.The Chinese-made Model 3 starts at 299,050 yuan ($42,680) following a price cut announced last month.The company said production began in December and 15 Model 3s were delivered to Tesla employees in Shanghai on Dec. 30.Sales targetsTesla faces a crowded market flooded with dozens of electric models from rivals including GM, VW, Nissan Motor Co. and China’s BYD Auto and BAIC. They are under pressure to meet government sales targets that shift the cost of promoting the technology to the industry.Automakers that fail to meet their targets can buy credits from rivals that do. That might turn into a windfall for Tesla and other brands that earn a surplus because their whole output is electric. Beijing has yet to set the price of credits.The Shanghai factory makes Tesla the first foreign auto brand with full ownership of its China operation.Other global brands work through partnerships with state-owned automakers and share their revenues. Most are expected to remain in such ventures to take advantage of their Chinese partners’ government relationships despite the ruling party’s plans to allow full foreign ownership in the whole auto industry by next year.Tesla reported earlier it delivered a total of 367,500 cars last year.The company surprised investors by reporting a $143 million profit in the quarter ending in September, raising hopes Tesla may be turning to profitability. The company lost $1.1 billion in the first half of the year.
 
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What can Malaysia teach Southeast Asia about water resources? A new study shows that Malaysia has been able to spread access to toilets and safe  sanitation to nearly 100% of the partial island nation. After some trial and error, its experience offers some lessons for others around the world, particularly at a time when places from California to South Africa are increasingly worried about how well they will be able to manage their water resources in the long run.Water access improvesIn recent decades Malaysia has increased citizens’ access to water thanks to a mix of top-down determination from the government, partial privatization, and clearly defined roles and rules for all stakeholders, author Dorai Narayana writes in a new book chapter. As a British colony until 1957, Malaysia used to see most urban inhabitants commonly use buckets or open defecation, which contributed to waterborne diseases. However after independence local authorities
started to pay more attention to sanitation, introducing septic tanks and piped water supplies.National Government LeadershipThen the national government took over responsibilities in 1993. As the nation started to urbanize and develop quickly, it regulated the sector but allowed more private companies to deliver services, according to Narayana.“Guidelines and standards were established, and a system to check and approve all new sewerage built by private developers was introduced,” he writes. “This resulted in a vast improvement in the quality of developer-built systems.”A consultant in the sanitation and wastewater sector, Narayana analyzed Malaysia for the book Water Insecurity and Sanitation in Asia, published last month by the Asian Development Bank Institute and the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.Investment in infrastructureMalaysia has made a fast transition from a developing nation to an upper middle-income economy, using its new wealth to invest in infrastructure like sanitation.Narayana writes that it was a “drastic move” and “largely a top-down approach” for the national government to take over from local governments, but it mostly worked. At the same time Malaysia has been ruled largely by the same party since independence, making it easier for the national government to concentrate and wield power.Private Companies became involvedIt has loosened some of that power to allow private companies into sanitation.“With the federalization and privatization, the country saw spectacular improvements in sewerage management,” Narayana, who is based in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur, writes. “Unprecedented amounts of funds were invested for the repair, refurbishment, and upgrading of the dilapidated sewage treatment plants.”However the government makes sure to include strict regulations to go along with private investment. When it allowed Indah Water to sell services for instance, it required the company to empty septic tanks on a regular schedule and renovate all related infrastructure to the point of operating condition. Also when  ompanies build new real estate developments the law requires them to build internal sewerage infrastructure as well.This matters to the government because it wants to promote sustainable use of resources, from water to energy to recycling, according to Malaysia’s deputy secretary general at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Hairil Yahri Yaacob. He argued that this issue has been overlooked amid the world’s focus on the economy, even though resource sustainability is also an economic issue.“What we have to realize is that there is opportunity directly linked to sustainability,” said Yaacob in a statement.As with the economy, sanitation is a day to day concern that affects everyone. It is not something people love to talk about but in this tropical nation, public and private sector work on sanitation has led to measurable improvements in the lives and well-being of most Malaysians. 
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Authorities in Japan have issued an arrest warrant for the wife of former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn, who fled the country last week while awaiting trial on charges of financial misconduct.Prosecutors have accused Carole Ghosn of providing false testimony in a Tokyo court last year in her husband’s case.Ghosn escaped to Lebanon on December 29, a move that stunned both his legal team and law enforcement officials in Japan, where he was under strict restrictions under the terms of his bail agreement.  He was initially arrested in November 2018 and charged with diverting millions of dollars from a Nissan subsidiary for his personal use, and of underreporting his income.Ghosn says the charges are a conspiracy concocted by Nissan executives who opposed his plans for a fuller merger between the Japanese automaker and its French alliance partner Renault.  Ghosn will hold a press conference Wednesday in Beirut to discuss the so-called “coup” against him.  Nissan issued a written statement Tuesday vowing to continue to seek “appropriate legal action” against Ghosn despite his escape to Lebanon.  Ghosn reportedly took a bullet train from Tokyo to Osaka, then hid himself in a large container that was flown aboard a private jet to Istanbul before traveling to Lebanon, which does not have an extradition treaty with Japan.He was credited for steering Nissan from the brink of bankruptcy to becoming one of the world’s top-selling automakers. He engineered a three-way alliance with Renault and one-time domestic rival Mitsubishi Motors.
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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the military to prepare to deploy its aircraft and ships “at any moment’s notice” to evacuate thousands of Filipino workers in Iraq and Iran should violence break out, reflecting Asia’s growing fears for its citizens in the increasingly volatile Middle East.Other Asian nations with large populations of expatriate labor may face similar decisions amid the rapidly escalating tensions between the United States and Iran following last week’s U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad.South Korean government ministries have discussed strengthening protections for the nearly 1,900 South Koreans in Iraq and Iran. Indian foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said India wasn’t planning to evacuate any citizens from the volatile region “yet.”Duterte held an emergency meeting with his defense secretary and top military and police officials Sunday to discuss the evacuation plans.“President Duterte ordered the Armed Forces of the Philippines to be prepared to deploy military assets to repatriate overseas Filipinos in the Middle East, particularly from Iran and Iraq, at any moment’s notice,” said Sen. Christopher Lawrence Go, a close ally of the Duterte, who was at the meeting.Duterte expressed fears Monday that the Philippines may have to carry out massive evacuations if violence hits Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia that host large numbers of Filipino workers.“I’m nervous. Iran seems to be hell-bent on a retaliation, which I think will come. It’s a matter of time … the cry for blood is there,” Duterte said in a speech. He urged Congress to hold a special session on the impact of a possible crisis in the Middle East and set aside contingency funds.Iran has vowed to retaliate and President Donald Trump warned that U.S. forces would hit back at 52 Iranian targets if Americans come under attack. Iraq’s Parliament has also called for the expulsion of all American troops from Iraqi soil, which could revive the Islamic State group in Iraq, making the Middle East a far more dangerous and unstable place.Compounding contingency plans is the uncertainty where hostilities could possibly break out.Military chief of staff Lt. Gen. Felimon Santos Jr. said Philippine forces have identified possible evacuation routes not only in Iraq and Iran but other hotspots, like Israel.“There are probabilities like that and we are improving our plans just to cover everything just in case something happens,” Santos told reporters in Manila.Other countries face similar dilemmas. Asians make up 40 percent of the world’s migrants, and Middle Eastern countries are a common destination. African migrants are also employed around the Middle East, though the possibility of their home countries arranging evacuations is uncertain.Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said on Twitter on Sunday that he spoke to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo “on the evolving situation in the Gulf region” and highlighted “India’s stakes and concerns.”He also tweeted that he spoke to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif. “Noted that developments have taken a very serious turn. India remains deeply concerned about the levels of tension,” he said of his conversation with Zarif.Gulf Arab states are home to more than 7 million Indian expatriates who help drive the region’s economy and keep its cities teeming with doctors, engineers, teachers, drivers, construction workers and other laborers. In United Arab Emirates, Indians outnumber Emiratis three to one.South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Monday that government agencies had discussed preparations for an escalating crisis in the Middle East but had no immediate plans for evacuations. The ministry said about 1,600 South Koreans are in Iraq, mostly working in construction, while another 280 who live in Iran are businesspeople, students or spouses of Iranians.On past occasions, China has evacuated its citizens from other countries during times of conflict, political tension or natural disaster. In 2015, the navy transported nearly 500 Chinese out of war-torn Yemen. It evacuated 3,000 from Vietnam in 2014, after the deployment of a Chinese oil rig in disputed waters elicited a wave of anti-China riots.There are more than 7,000 Filipino workers and their dependents in Iraq and Iran, including many who work in U.S. and other foreign facilities and commercial establishments in Baghdad, the Department of National Defense said.The workers in Iran and Iraq are a small fraction of the hundreds of thousands of Filipinos who are employed in countries lining the Persian Gulf.The Philippines is a leading source of labor worldwide, with about a tenth of its more than 100 million people working mostly as household help, construction workers, seamen and professionals. 
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Thousands of Indonesians were unable to return to their flooded or water-logged homes on Sunday as the government struggled to distribute food to those affected and sanitize the flooded parts of the capital, Jakarta. At least 60 people have lost their lives so far in the floods caused by torrential rain in Indonesia that began on Christmas Eve. Many others have been evacuated from areas affected by floods and landslides. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports.
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At least 60 people have died and nearly 100,000 people are unable to return home, days after devastating rains flooded the Indonesian capital of Jakarta.Some 11,000 health workers were deployed across the greater Jakarta area Sunday to spray chemicals and distribute medicine to prevent the spread of diseases such as dengue fever as the city remains under water.Tens of thousands of people remained in temporary shelters, mostly in Western Jakarta Sunday. National weather experts in Indonesia warned that rains were expected to continue in the coming days.Nonstop rainfall last week flooded 268 tracts in Indonesia, 158 in low-lying Jakarta, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on its website. Drainage and levees in the capital are considered inadequate for storms of that scale, Southeast Asian economists say.Tuesday’s rainfall reached 377 millimeters (14.8 inches), a record since 2007, The Jakarta Post online said. The rains touched off landslides, trapped people in houses and prompted tens of thousands to evacuate, local media reports say.Citizens of the city of 11 million want the government to improve flood control work, although much has been done already, said Rajiv Biswas, Asia-Pacific chief economist at market research firm IHS Markit. President Joko Widodo in July suggested building a seawall around Jakarta, much of which is below sea level. 
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The death toll has risen to at least 24 and 23 more people are listed as injured in the collapse of a building in Cambodia that trapped workers under rubble, officials said Sunday. The seven-story concrete building collapsed Friday in the coastal town of Kep, about 160 km (100 miles) southwest of Phnom Penh. It occurred a year after another construction site collapsed, 
killing 28 people in Preah Sihanouk province. “Twenty-four people have died so far,” Kep Governor Ken Satha told Reuters. “Three of the bodies are not yet at hospital. They have not been pulled out yet.” An unknown number of workers remained trapped, Satha said, 
adding that authorities had detained a Cambodian couple, the 
owners of the building, for questioning. Prime Minister Hun Sen said Saturday that rescuers were still struggling to reach those missing in the rubble. Cambodia is undergoing a construction boom to serve growing 
crowds of Chinese tourists and investors. 
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Indonesian rescue teams flew helicopters stuffed with food to remote flood-hit communities Saturday as the death toll from the disaster jumped to 60 and fears grew about the possibility of more torrential rain. 
 
Tens of thousands in Jakarta were still unable to return to their waterlogged homes after some of the deadliest flooding in years hit the enormous capital region, home to about 30 million. 
 
In neighboring Lebak, where half a dozen people died, police and military personnel dropped boxes of instant noodles and other supplies into remote communities inaccessible by road after bridges were destroyed. 
 
“It’s tough to get supplies in there … and there are about a dozen places hit by landslides,” Tomsi Tohir, the police chief of Banten province, where Lebak is located, told AFP. “That is why we’re using helicopters although there aren’t any landing spots.” 
 
Local health center chief Suripto, who goes by one name, said injured residents were flowing into his clinic. 
 
“Some of them were wounded after they were swept away by floods and hit with wood and rocks,” he said. People queue up to receive food at an aid distribution point for those affected by the floods in Jakarta, Indonesia, Jan. 4, 2020.Around Jakarta, more than 170,000 people took refuge in shelters across the massive urban conglomeration after whole neighborhoods were submerged. 
 
Torrential rains that started on New Year’s Eve unleashed flash floods and landslides. 
 
Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency said Saturday that two people were also killed after flash floods and landslides hit a village in North Sulawesi on Friday. 
 
The agency said Saturday that the total death toll had climbed to 60 with two people still missing. 
 
“We’ve discovered more dead bodies,” said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Agus Wibowo. ‘Trauma healing’ Jakarta shelters filled up with refugees, including infants, resting on thin mats as food and drinking water ran low. Some had been reduced to using floodwater for cleaning. 
 
“We’re cleaning ourselves in a nearby church but the time has been limited since it uses an electric generator for power,” said Trima Kanti, 39, from one refuge in Jakarta’s western edges. Rescuers search for missing people at a village affected by a landslide in Cigudeg, West Java, Indonesia, Jan. 4, 2020.In hard-hit Bekasi, on the eastern outskirts of Jakarta, swamped streets were littered with debris and crushed cars lying on top of each other — with waterline marks reaching as high as the second floors of buildings. 
 
On Friday, the government said it would start cloud seeding to the west of the capital — inducing rain using chemicals sprayed from planes — in the hope of preventing more rain from reaching the city region. 
 
Water has receded in many areas and power was being restored in hundreds of districts. 
 
The health ministry has said it deployed 11,000 health workers and soldiers to distribute medicine, hygiene kits and food in a bid to stave off outbreaks of hepatitis A, mosquito-borne Dengue fever and other illnesses, including infections linked to contact with dead animals. 
 
Visiting hard-hit Lebak, Muhadjir Effendy, coordinating minister for human development and cultural affairs, said the government would help rebuild destroyed schools and construct temporary bridges, while offering assistance to victims. 
 
“We’re also asking for [nongovernmental organizations] to help with trauma healing,” Muhadjir told reporters Saturday. Electrocution, drowning Around Jakarta, a family that included a 4- and a 9-year-old died of suspected gas poisoning from a portable power generator, while an 8-year-old boy was killed in a landslide. 
 
Others died from drowning or hypothermia, while one 16-year-old boy was electrocuted by a power line. A man navigates an inflatable boat at a flooded neighborhood in Jakarta, Indonesia, Jan. 4, 2020.Jakarta is regularly hit by floods during the rainy season, which started in late November. But this week marked Jakarta’s deadliest flooding since 2013 when dozens were killed after the city was inundated by monsoon rains. 
 
Urban planning experts said the disaster was partly due to record rainfall. But Jakarta’s myriad infrastructure problems, including poor drainage and rampant overdevelopment, have worsened the situation, they said. 
 
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has announced a plan to move the country’s capital to Borneo island to take pressure off Jakarta, which suffers from some of the world’s worst traffic jams and is fast sinking because of excessive groundwater extraction. 
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Businesses in Vietnam face a cash shortage that is preventing as much as $24 billion that could be invested in the nation’s $250 billion economy, according to a study by PwC Vietnam.The financial services company analyzed the 500 businesses in Vietnam with the highest revenue that have been listed on both the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange and the Hanoi Stock Exchange for the last four years or more. PwC Vietnam analysts said that those companies’ “cash conversion cycle” has increased, meaning that they have to wait longer from the start of the business cycle, when they first make their investments, until those investments start to pay off in the form of revenue.“We continue to see cash flows being sacrificed to attain top line targets in Vietnam, which is not sustainable for businesses in the long run,” said Mohammad Mudasser, who leads the working capital management practice at PwC Vietnam. “Managing operating working capital is a cross-functional responsibility,” he added.Vietnam Turning into Medical Tourism Destination for Dental, Cosmetic CareTop line refers to revenue, while bottom line refers to profit.To sacrifice cash for the sake of revenue targets usually means that companies are willing to make an initial cash investment, often to buy inventory that can be sold for revenue. However the long cash conversion cycle suggests that there are some inefficiencies along the way, such as longer wait times between billing a customer and actually collecting the payment.While there is no perfect business cycle, the PwC Vietnam study suggests companies in Vietnam could tackle some inefficiencies to unlock further potential in the already fast growing economy.In 2018 Vietnam had one of the highest cash conversion cycles in Asia, at 67 days, which is an increase of two days compared with 2017, according to PwC Vietnam. That compares with an average in Asia of 58 days, and in particular 64 days in neighboring Thailand and 54 in Malaysia. That means those other Southeast Asian countries are able to turn their investments into cash sooner than Vietnam does.One reason that companies do not want to have such a long cycle is that it makes them more vulnerable to debt. When they have to wait a longer time to receive payment from customers, some companies go into debt to cover their expenses.“The fast-growing companies had significantly higher short term debt growth, indicating risks to the sustainable growth of these companies,” PwC Vietnam, a consulting company that sells tax and accounting services, said in a press release.If the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank increases interest rates in the coming year, as some economists are expecting, emerging markets, such as Vietnam, could follow. That would increase borrowing costs for companies, increasing their vulnerability to debt.In turn that could limit the economy’s potential. The Asian Development Bank estimates that Vietnam’s gross domestic product grew by 6.9% in 2019 and will grow by 6.8% in 2020.PwC Vietnam looked at the inventory, expenses, and outstanding invoices of the 500 listed companies that it analyzed. Based on that, it estimated there was $24 billion “trapped in net working capital.”However it estimated that only a fraction of that capital could be released, $11 billion, because some of the capital has to stay in the business cycle. Analysts said inventory and outstanding invoices, known as accounts receivable, where the best bet for improving efficiency. That could mean that too much inventory is being held, or that companies are waiting too long to be paid by customers.
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