In South Africa on Jan. 3, a train carrying about 900 passengers struck a truck stopped on the tracks near Johannesburg, causing the front carriages to catch on fire and killing at least 19 people, with at least 268 others injured. The driver of the truck was arrested.

On Jan. 9, also near Johannesburg, a passenger train struck the back end of another train, injuring more than 800 people. That incident was still being investigated as of press time.

Almost 90 tourists were arrested in Siem Reap, Cambodia, on Jan. 28 for “dancing pornographically.” The dancing occurred in a private rented villa. Police raided the villa and arrested the dancers, saying that the type of dancing broke decency laws.

All but 10 of those arrested were released the next day, with the remaining 10 charged with disseminating pornography for sharing pictures of the party on social media. The pictures showed clothed dancers. Of the 10 remaining...

At least 240 people were killed in the southern Philippines when Tropical Storm Tembin made landfall on Dec. 21 with 80-mile-per-hour winds. More than 100 were still missing as of press time. The hardest-hit island was Mindanao, which experienced flooding and landslides.

After passing through the Philippines, Tembin moved to Vietnam. Though its wind speeds had dropped to 58 miles per hour, more than 70,000 people in Vietnam were evacuated from low-lying areas, which experienced minor...