Southeast Asia was coping with a weekslong heat wave on Monday as record-high temperatures led to school closings in several countries and urgent health warnings throughout the region.
Millions of students in all public schools across the Philippines were ordered to stay home Monday after authorities canceled in-person classes for two days. The main advice for everyone, everywhere has been to avoid outdoor activities and drink plenty of water, but the young and the elderly were told to be especially careful.
Cambodia this year is facing the highest temperatures in 170 years, Chan Yutha, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology, told The Associated Press on Monday. His agency has forecast that temperatures in most parts of the country could reach up to 109 degrees Fahrenheit this week.
CDC WARNS OF EXTREME HEAT DANGERS AMID ‘RECORD-BREAKING HIGH TEMPERATURES’
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Myanmar’s meteorological department said Monday that seven townships in the central Magway, Mandalay, Sagaing and Bago regions experienced record-high temperatures. Several towns in Myanmar last week were on lists of the hottest spots worldwide.
Schools in the Philippines are canceling classes as temperatures reach record-breaking numbers during major heat wave.(AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Chauk township in Magway, historically the country’s hottest region, saw Myanmar’s highest temperature at 118.8 degrees Fahrenheit, breaking the previous record of 117.3 degrees Fahrenheit set in 1968.
The Philippines is among the nations worst affected by the sweltering weather in Southeast Asia, where the intense tropical summer heat worsened by humidity forced class cancelations in recent weeks and sparked fears of water shortages, power outages and damage to agricultural crops.
The Department of Education ordered students in more than 47,000 public schools to switch to home-based and online learning due to health risks from record-high temperatures and a three-day strike starting Monday by drivers who oppose a government program they fear would remove dilapidated passenger jeepneys from streets.
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Large crowds have sought relief in air-conditioned shopping malls in Metropolitan Manila, the congested capital region of more than 14 million people where the temperature soared to 101.84 Fahrenheit Saturday, surpassing the record set decades ago, according to weather officials.
PHILIPPINES STRUCK BY DEEP 6.2 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE
In Thailand, temperatures have topped 111 F in some areas in the northern parts of the country, while the capital Bangkok and metropolitan areas have seen temperatures go above 104 F. The forecast from the Meteorological Department said this year’s summer, which usually lasts from late February to late May, is expected to be 1-2 degrees hotter than last year, and rainfall will be lower than average.
Thailand’s Department of Disease Control said last week that at least 30 people have died from heatstroke so far this year, compared to 37 for all of last year.
Scientists have said the number of heat-related deaths around the world has been rising significantly in recent years along with temperatures, but the trend in Asia this year so far is unclear, partly because of the question of how to classify deaths that appear to be heat related.
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At least 34 people have fallen ill due to the extreme heat in the Philippines so far this year, including six who died. The Department of Health said it was verifying what exactly caused the deaths.
Media in Bangladesh reported that in a five-day period earlier this month, at least 20 people died from heatstroke.
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In Cambodia, however, officials indicated there were few if any heat-related fatalities. The Khmer Times, an online news platform, quoted the head of the Health Department of Phnom Penh, the capital, saying there had been no heat-related deaths or collapses.
FRANKLIN, Tennessee (AP) — Three people are dead after a small plane crashed on Wednesday in Williamson County, local officials confirmed.
Williamson County Chief Deputy Mark Elrod told reporters that the plane had left Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and was headed to Louisville, Kentucky, but crashed in Tennessee near Leiper’s Fork, about 30 miles (48.28 kilometers) south of Nashville, around noon local time.
“It does appear that the plane did break up in the air,” Elrod said.
Elrod added that the debris field is more than a mile long, but no structures have been reported damaged.
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The names of the victims have not been released.
Jill Burgin, spokesperson for the Williamson County Emergency Management Agency, said they received a 911 call at about 12:05 p.m.
“He just said a possible plane crash, but he didn’t have a lot of details,” Burgin told reporters during Wednesday’s news conference “He just heard a sound and saw debris so that’s all the information he gave.”
POSSUM TROT, Texas (KLTV) – In the Pineywoods of Shelby County resides a community of families that embraced some of the most difficult-to-place kids in the foster care system. Over 20 years later, they’re getting a movie made.
First Lady of Bennett Chapel Baptist Church, Donna Martin, said it all started back in 1998 in the small town of Possum Trot.
“It was a hurting… and a calling,” Martin said.
A calling to adopt. With the support of her husband, Bishop W.C. Martin, they started the process, ultimately taking in four kids on top of their two biological ones.
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“Because no child, no child, anywhere in this world deserves to not have a loving, caring home,” said Lady Martin.
But that mission to change the life of these kids grew into something much bigger than they ever expected.
Over the years, their example and building of community for adoptive families within their church led to 22 families adopting 77 kids.
“They saw what we as leaders, were not just preaching but setting an example,” Martin said.
Nearly all kids within their local foster care system ended up getting a home. Bishop Martin recalls hearing the moment a worker shared the impact they’d made.
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“Susan said, ‘Well, Bishop Martin, I’m telling you that there’s not another child within 100-mile radius of Possum Trot.’”
CPS Regional Director Lori Sutton-White was involved in connecting a group of five sisters to one of the families. She says she’d never seen anything like Possums Trot’s movement.
“At that time, we just did not have the kind of movement where you saw an entire church or entire community come together,” Sutton-White said.
This community’s mission is to serve as an example of a possible solution to the current foster care crisis.
Bishop Martin said, “If every church would take two or three children. Every church. I don’t care if you got 20,000 members or you got two members, if every church would take two, we would empty this system… just like that.”
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That’s something Sutton-White agrees with.
“We wouldn’t have a need for foster care. We would have more than enough for our children,” she said.
That message is now coming to the big screen. The Martins said Sound of Hope has been in the making for about 10 years and will depict their real-life experiences, and even reveal where some of the adopted kids are today.
As for the ones they took in, Lady Martin shared they’re doing great. She said some are currently practicing their careers while others have started families of their own.
“The greatest reward that we receive is to look at their lives where they are today,” she said.
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Sound of Hope will come out in theaters July 4th.
For more information on East Texas kids available for adoption, please email hello@heartgalleryetx.org.
Rebekah Weigel and Josh Weigel, East Texas filmmakers behind the new Possum Trot movie, joined East Texas Now to discuss the project.
ROANOKE, Va. – The Virginia Education Association wants to clear up statements Gov. Glenn Youngkin made to 10 News about teacher pay moving forward.
This week, the governor signed the next biennium budget for the state. One highlight of the budget was a record amount of investment into education, including teacher pay.
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“At the heart of the investment is bringing teacher salaries from well below the national average, to at the national average this year and expected to be in excess of the national average over the next two years,” Youngkin said in an interview with 10 News on Tuesday.
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Following 10 News’ story, the Virginia Education Association (VEA) reached out saying the governor’s statement is inaccurate.
“The governor is referencing the Virginia Department of Education’s ‘Annual Salary Survey Report’ which takes into account averages from guidance counselors and other technical positions,” Chad Stewart with VEA said.
The VEA even sent a letter to the governor’s office reading in part:
VDOE’s “Annual Salary Survey Report” includes all salary expenditures (including supplemental pay) for classroom teachers, homebound teachers, guidance counselors, librarians, and instructional technology positions. NEA includes only classroom teachers, substitutes, and homebound teachers (the same method for each state) and DOES NOT include supplemental pay
VEA letter to Gov. Youngkin
“It’s not an apples-to-apples comparison. We’re kind of taking this orange from our own Virginia Department of Education number and inserting it into the National Education Association report,” Stewart said.
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Virginia’s estimated average teacher pay in the most recent NEA Rankings and Estimates Report released two weeks ago is $65,058 this year, $6,641 below the estimated national average which is $71,699.
Stewart also said the state will need to offer a 14% increase in the next budget cycle to reach the promised legislative goal of meeting the national teacher pay average by the 2027-28 school year.
