International

Philippine former president Benigno Aquino was laid to rest in a Manila cemetery on Saturday beside his parents, two of the Southeast Asian country's democracy icons. Hundreds of mourners in black and white, some also wearing yellow - the colour associated with the Aquino family and a 1986 revolution that toppled a dictator - ribbons and face masks, attended a funeral mass and burial ceremony. Aquino, president from 2010 to 2016, died at age 61 in a Manila hospital on Thursday of kidney failure as a result of diabetes. "To the man we were so blessed to have as our brother, we will forever be proud of you, thank you, long for you and love you," Maria Elena Aquino-Cruz, an older sister of Aquino, said at the funeral mass. "To all of you, the bosses of Noy, thank you." Aquino's remains were cremated on Thursday. Thousands queued for the public viewing in a church in his alma mater on Friday. Filipinos lined up along roads to pay respect during the one-hour convoy of dozens of vehicles from his alma mater, Ateneo de Manila University, to the cemetery south of the capital. The military gave a 21-gun salute and a helicopter rained down yellow flowers. At the Aquino residence at the heart of the capital, supporters left chrysanthemums, yellow bell and sunflower for the late leader. Among those paying respects to Aquino was vice president and political ally Leni Robredo, and close friends. Most supporters were blocked at the entrance of the cemetery to prevent mass gathering and the spread of Covid-19. "I pay respect to a leader that is humble and gave true love for the country, people and God," Thelma Chua, 64, clad in yellow shirt at the funeral, told Reuters. "I pray for another family with the attitude like Noy and his parents that will fight for truth, justice, loyalty, love for God and country." Known popularly as Noynoy, Aquino rode a wave of public support to the presidency after the 2009 death of his mother, the revered "People Power" leader Corazon Aquino, who was president from 1986 to 1992. His namesake father, a staunch critic of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, was assassinated when he returned from political exile in 1983, planting the seeds for the 1986 People Power revolution that booted the strongman from office. As president, the younger Aquino led the Philippines in shedding its perennial "sick man of Asia" image through better governance and robust economic growth. He challenged Beijing's sweeping claims of the South China Sea before the arbitration court in The Hague in 2013. President Rodrigo Duterte did not attend the funeral. He declared a 10-day period of mourning, with national flags in government buildings flying at half-mast. Aquino, who led a private life after stepping down, is survived by four sisters.

The Philippines Presidential Spokesperson announced on Thursday the death of the Philippines' former President Benigno Aquino, at the age of 61. The Philippine News Agency (PNA) reported that the late Aquino, who was the country's president from 2010 to 2016, died at the Capitol Medical Center in Quezon City. The Aquino family has yet to make an official announcement regarding his passing, said PNA.

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, frustrated by the slow pace of Covid-19 vaccinations in his country, threatened people who refuse to get inoculated with jail or an injection of Ivermectin, an anti-parasite drug widely used to treat animals. Ivermectin has been touted as an alternative treatment for Covid-19 but US and European regulators and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have recommended against it. “You choose, vaccine or I will have you jailed,” Duterte said in a televised address, following reports of low turnout at several vaccination sites in the capital Manila. “But for as long as you are here and you are a human being, and can carry the virus, get vaccinated. “Otherwise, I will order all the village captains to have a tally of the people who refuse to be vaccinated. Because if not, I will have Ivermectin meant for animals injected into you.” Duterte is famous for his bellicose rhetoric and his remarks contradicted those of his health officials, who have said getting vaccinated against Covid is voluntary. “Don’t get me wrong, there is a crisis in this country,” Duterte said.”I’m just exasperated by Filipinos not heeding the government.”  With over 1.3mn cases, the Philippines is fighting one of Asia’s must stubborn Covid-19 epidemics. In the same televised address, he took a swipe at the International Criminal Court, after an ICC prosecutor sought permission from the court for a full inquiry into thousands of killings by police in a war on drugs ordered by Duterte. Duterte, who cancelled the Philippines’ membership of the ICC’s founding treaty, said he would not co-operate with the probe. “Why would I defend or face an accusation before white people. You must be crazy,” he said.

Myanmar security forces backed by armoured vehicles clashed on Tuesday with a newly formed militia group in the second-biggest city of Mandalay, according to social media posts from the group and media reports. Since the army seized power on Feb. 1 and removed the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, the security forces have put down protests opposing military rule. In response, groups of opponents of the coup known as people's defence forces have sprung up across Myanmar. Up to now, fighting involving lightly armed militias has been mainly confined to small towns and rural areas, but a group claiming to be Mandalay's new People's Defence Force said its members responded after the army raided one of its bases. "We retaliated as one of our guerrilla base camps was invaded," said a post on the group's Facebook page from a Major Zeekwat. The army supported by three armoured vehicles had surrounded a boarding school in Mandalay where the militia had a base, the Khit Thit news service reported. A spokesman for the junta did not answer calls seeking comment. The army has responded with artillery and air strikes in other places after militia groups launched attacks on soldiers, with casualties on both sides and tens of thousands of people displaced from their homes. The United Nations General Assembly on Friday called for a stop to the flow of arms to Myanmar and urged the military to respect the results of a November election and release political detainees, including Suu Kyi. On Saturday, Myanmar's foreign ministry released a statement rejecting the UN resolution, which it said was "based on one-sided sweeping allegations and false assumptions". Security forces have killed at least 873 protesters since the coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group. The junta disputes that figure.

 * Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine deliveries in bulk to begin by August * Philippines has secured 113 mln doses from vaccine suppliers * Government wants to vaccinate up to 70 million Filipinos The Philippine government has signed a supply agreement for 40 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE , the head of the government's Covid-19 vaccine procurement said on Sunday. Deliveries of the vaccine, among several brands of coronavirus shots allowed for emergency use in the Southeast Asian country, will begin "after eight weeks starting August", Carlito Galvez said in a statement. The deal comes as a delay in vaccine deliveries had earlier this month forced some cities in the capital region to close vaccination sites, complicating Manila's efforts to ramp up its immunisation drive in an Asian country with one of the biggest numbers of infections and deaths. With the latest deal, the Philippines has now secured the delivery of 113 million doses from five vaccine manufacturers namely, Sinovac with 26 million doses, Sputnik V with 10 million doses, 20 million doses from Moderna, 17 million doses from Astrazeneca, and now 40 million doses from Pfizer, Galvez said. He described the Pfizer-BioNTech agreement as "the biggest and most decisive deal we had for 2021". "(It) will significantly boost our national immunisation programme and will enable us to realize our goal of achieving herd immunity by year-end," Galvez said. "This is another positive development that will give a happy and better Christmas for all Filipinos." The Philippines has so far inoculated more than 8 million people, but not all have received their second dose. The aim is to inoculate 50 million to 70 million people to achieve herd immunity. With vaccine demand easing up for many big and rich countries after they acquired more than enough doses for their populations, Galvez said this has allowed Pfizer to commit the delivery.

Offering Sinovac Biotech Covid-19 vaccines to the public in Singapore for the first time since Friday, several private clinics reported overwhelming demand for the Chinese-made shot, despite already available rival vaccines having far higher efficacy. Singapore has vaccinated almost half its 5.7 million population with at least one dose of the vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. Both have shown efficacy rates of well over 90% against symptomatic disease in clinical trials, compared with Sinovac's 51%. Earlier this week, officials in neighbouring Indonesia warned that more than 350 medical workers have caught Covid-19 despite being vaccinated with Sinovac and dozens have been hospitalised, raising concerns about its efficacy against more infectious variants. Evidence from other countries showed people who had taken the Sinovac vaccine were still getting infected, Kenneth Mak, Singapore's director of medical services, said on Friday. ‘There is a significant risk of vaccine breakthrough,’ he said, referring to the report on Indonesian healthcare workers. A number of the people rushing for the Sinovac shot on the first day of its availability in Singapore were Chinese nationals, who felt it would make it easier to travel home without going through quarantine. Singapore allowed the usage of the Sinovac vaccine by private healthcare institutions under a special access route, following an emergency use approval by the World Health Organization (WHO) earlier this month. Singapore said it is awaiting critical data from Sinovac before including it in the national vaccination programme. Meantime, authorities have selected 24 private clinics to administer its current stock of 200,000 doses. The clinics are charging between S$10-25 ($7.5-$18.6 ) per dose. ‘We have about 2,400 bookings, so that stretches from right now until end of July,’ Louis Tan, CEO at StarMed Specialist Centre, said on Saturday. He said many of those who made the Sinovac bookings tend to be in their 40s and above. Wee Healthfirst, another approved clinic, put a notice at its entrance on Friday, saying it had stopped reservations for the vaccine until next Thursday, citing ‘overwhelming demand’. A receptionist said about 1,000 people had registered there. Leong Hoe Nam, an infectious diseases doctor at Rophi Clinic, also said he had been ‘overwhelmed’ by people wanting the Sinovac shot. Tang Guang Yu, a 49-year-old engineer, was among the Chinese nationals resident in Singapore who waited for the Sinovac shot rather than take a foreign-made vaccine that he thought might not be recognised by authorities back home. ‘No one wants to be quarantined for a month, I don't have so many days of leave,’ Tang told Reuters as he queued outside a clinic. Travellers to China may have to be quarantined at a facility and at home for up to a month depending on their destination city, regardless of vaccination status, according to the Chinese government website. Other people said they have more confidence in the Sinovac vaccine since it is based on conventional technology, while those developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna use a newly developed messenger RNA platform. ‘The mRNA technology has been around for 30 years, but it has never been injected into human until recently due to Covid-19 emergency, how safe it is?’ asked Singaporean Chua Kwang Hwee, 62, as he lined up outside a clinic to enquire about getting the Sinovac shot. Singapore's health ministry says persons with a history of allergic reaction or anaphylaxis to mRNA Covid-19 vaccine or its components as well as severely immunocompromised individuals should not receive the mRNA-based vaccines. Sinovac vaccine uses an inactivated or killed virus that cannot replicate in human cells to trigger an immune response. In recent weeks, several social media messages have popped up saying inactivated virus Covid-19 vaccines, like Sinovac's, provide superior protection against variants than mRNA vaccines. Other messages on platforms have said the mRNA vaccines are less safe. Authorities have rejected these claims, saying they are safe and highly effective.  

A Myanmar military truck exploded in one of two blasts near an office of an army-backed political party in the country's biggest city on Friday, local media reported, and a senior rescue official said two people were killed and six wounded. Blasts in towns and cities across Myanmar have recently become more common as the military struggles to impose order after its Feb. 1 coup against Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government. Symbols of military rule have been key targets and the junta has blamed "terrorists" with ties to the ousted government. The truck was parked outside the Union Solidarity and Development Party's (USDP) office in Yangon's Tamwe township, news site Irrawaddy and Khit Thit media said, citing witnesses. The USDP is widely seen as the military's political proxy. Images and video footage shared widely on social media showed thick smoke billowing from a truck engulfed in flames about three times its height. Win Thu, vice chairman of Yangon Rescue Committee, said there were two explosions in the same area within a few minutes of each other, the first killing a soldier and the second killing a passenger in a taxi. Five members of the security forces and the taxi driver were wounded, he said. "We don't know who did it. We just picked up the injured and dead bodies using our ambulances as requested. We sent the injured people to hospital," Win Thu told Reuters. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the two blasts. A military spokesman did not answer calls seeking comment. Local officials appointed by the junta have become targets for assassinations, many of them members of the USDP, the party created by the military before it ceded power in 2011. The USDP filed multiple complaints of fraud with authorities after being trounced by Suu Kyi's party in a November election. The military seized power in February, saying those complaints were valid and were ignored. Friday's incidents followed a blast a few kilometres away in Bahan Township on Thursday at the construction site of a luxury condominium project 68 Residence, Myanmar Now reported. The project is owned by the husband of Thet Thet Khine, a businesswoman and former Suu Kyi ally who was appointed social welfare minister by the junta a few days after the coup. Thet Thet Khine did not respond to calls seeking comment on Friday. Myanmar Now said a local group called Yangon Urban Guerrilla Group had claimed responsibility for Thursday's blast.

More than 350 Indonesian doctors have contracted Covid-19 despite being vaccinated with Sinovac and dozens have been hospitalised, officials said, as concerns rise about the efficacy of some vaccines against more virulent virus strains. Most of the doctors were asymptomatic and self-isolating at home, said Badai Ismoyo, head of the Kudus district health office in Central Java, but dozens were in hospital with high fevers and declining oxygen saturation levels. Kudus is battling an outbreak believed to be driven by the more transmissible Delta variant which has pushed bed occupancy rates above 90% in the district. Designated as a priority group, Indonesian healthcare workers were among the first to be vaccinated when the inoculation drive started in January. Almost all have received the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac, according to the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI). While the number of Indonesian healthcare workers dying from Covid-19 has decreased significantly - dropping from 158 deaths this January to 13 this May, according to data initiative group LaporCovid-19 - public health experts say the Java hospitalisations are cause for concern. ‘The data shows they have the Delta variant [in Kudus] so it is no surprise that the breakthrough infection is higher than before because as we know the majority of healthcare workers in Indonesia got Sinovac, and we still don’t know yet how effective it is in the real world against the Delta variant,’ said Dicky Budiman, an epidemiologist from Australia's Griffith University. A spokesperson from Sinovac and Indonesia’s ministry of health were not immediately available for comment on the efficacy of Sinovac's CoronaVac against newer coronavirus variants. Grappling with one of the worst outbreaks in Asia, with more than 1.9 million cases and 53,000 deaths, there has been a heavy toll on Indonesia’s doctors and nurses with 946 deaths. Many are now experiencing pandemic fatigue and taking an increasingly laissez-faire approach to health protocols after being vaccinated, said Lenny Ekawati, from LaporCovid-19. ‘That phenomenon happens quite often these days, not only within the community but also healthcare workers,’ she said, ‘They think because they are vaccinated that they are safe.’ But as more cases of the highly transmissible Delta variant are identified in the world’s fourth most populous nation, the data is starting to tell a different story. Across Indonesia, at least five doctors and one nurse have died from Covid-19 despite being vaccinated, according to the data initiative group, although one had only received their first shot. In Kudus, one senior doctor has died, said IDI, although it is understood he had a comorbidity. In the Indonesian capital Jakarta, radiologist Dr Prijo Sidipratomo told Reuters he knew of at least half a dozen doctors in the city who had been hospitalised with Covid-19 in the past month despite being vaccinated, with one currently being treated in ICU. ‘It is alarming for us because we cannot rely on vaccinations only,’ he said, urging people to strictly adhere to health protocols. Weeks after the Eid Al-Fitr holidays, Indonesia has experienced a surge in cases, with the positivity rate exceeding 23% on Wednesday and daily cases nearing 10,000, the highest since late February. In its latest situation report the World Health Organization called for Indonesia to implement a stricter lockdown with increased transmission due to variants of concern and a ‘drastic increase in bed occupancy rates’ necessitating urgent action.    

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday said that a run for vice president in next year’s elections was a “good idea” because he has unfinished business, including solving the country’s drug problem. Duterte, who is barred by the constitution from seeking re-election, will end his six-year term in June 2022, but his party was encouraging him to run again for office, as vice president. “There are a lot of people pushing me to run for vice president. It is a good idea, particularly if we talk about the drug problem,” Duterte said in a speech. “I am scared for the next generation”. His remarks came a day after a prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced that permission had been sought for a formal investigation into thousands of killings in a war on drugs waged by Duterte since 2016. Presidential spokesperson, Harry Roque, said Duterte would not co-operate with the ICC because the Philippines had withdrawn its membership. The ICC’s Rome Statute, however, gives it jurisdiction with crimes committed while a country was a member. Rumours have swirled that Duterte might try to stay in power by endorsing a presidential bid by his top aide and incumbent senator, Christopher “Bong” Go, while contesting the separate vice-presidential election. Opinion polls show Duterte remains hugely popular in the Philippines, despite the huge drugs war death toll. But Duterte yesterday said he had made a promise to an ally, congressman Martin Romualdez, the nephew of former first lady Imelda Marcos, that he would support him should he decide to run for vice president. “If Romualdez runs, I am out. If he doesn’t, I am out, maybe,” Duterte said.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will not co-operate with an investigation into the country’s bloody war on drugs planned by the International Criminal Court (ICC), his spokesperson said yesterday while defending the administration’s record on human rights. Rights groups and critics of the drug killings have welcomed the step by the ICC, saying a full-scale investigation will bring justice closer for the families of thousands of people killed. Despite concerns from the international community about the crackdown on drugs, Duterte remains popular at home and many Filipinos back his tough stance on crime. “We will not co-operate because we are no longer a member,” the president’s spokesperson Harry Roque told a news conference. Duterte cancelled the Philippines’ membership of the ICC’s founding treaty in March 2018, although, under its statute, the ICC has jurisdiction for crimes committed while a country was a member until a year after it sought to withdraw. “We do not need foreigners to investigate killings in the drug war because the legal system is working in the Philippines,” Roque said, adding he believed launching a formal probe was “legally erroneous and politically motivated.” An ICC prosecutor sought authorisation on Monday to open a full investigation into the killings, saying crimes against humanity could have been committed. “There is a reasonable basis to believe that the alleged conduct was committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against a civilian population pursuant to or in furtherance of a state policy,” ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said in a report. The investigation will cover the period of July 2016 to March 2019 when at least 20,000 killings were committed in connection with the anti-narcotics campaign. A series of reports filed by the media in 2016 and 2017 exposed the brutal killings being carried out in the Philippines as part of the war on drugs. Many of these stories were referred to in the ICC report. Since Duterte took office in 2016 until the end of April this year, police have killed more than 6,100 suspected drug dealers in sting operations, government data show. “The long arm of the law will soon catch up with Duterte and his accomplices,” former opposition senator Antonio Trillanes said in a statement. The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines said in a statement: “The perpetrators and architects of these crimes must be held to account.” The foreign ministry in Manila said the Philippines adhered to norms on human rights and had a “long track record of constructive engagement with international and regional partners.”

Malaysia has granted conditional approval for emergency use to the single dose Covid-19 vaccines manufactured by China's CanSino Biologics and US drugmaker Johnson & Johnson, the government said on Tuesday. The Southeast Asian country has been ramping up its vaccination programme, amid a fresh round of lockdowns imposed this month to curb a surge in coronavirus infections. Malaysia would obtain Johnson & Johnson's vaccines via the global COVAX facility backed by the World Health Organization, the health ministry said in a statement. It did not say how many doses it would procure via COVAX. The government has said previously it had secured 3.5 million doses of CanSino's shot, though it has yet to receive any shipments of the vaccine. The ministry has also approved the use of the vaccine made by US and German drugmakers Pfizer and BioNTech for recipients aged 12 and above, although priority would still be given to those in high-risk groups, it said. Malaysia has secured a total of 79.5 million vaccines, enough to cover nearly 125% of its population, including those manufactured by Britain's AstraZeneca and Chinese firm Sinovac. It expects about 1.3 million Pfizer-BioNTech doses to arrive this month and in early July, although another 2.2 million AstraZeneca doses are expected to be delayed following supply issues at the firm's Thai manufacturing plant. A total of 3.28 million people, about 10% of the population, have received at least one dose as of Monday, government records show. Daily coronavirus infections and deaths rose to record levels in May, although cases have dipped in recent days. Malaysia reported 5,419 new cases on Tuesday, bringing total infections to 667,876. Deaths totalled 3,968 as of Monday.  

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will ‘never cooperate’ with an International Criminal Court probe into the country's deadly drug war, his spokesman said Tuesday, branding the process ‘legally erroneous’. Outgoing ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda on Monday asked judges at the world's only permanent war crimes court to authorise an investigation into allegations that Philippine police unlawfully killed as many as tens of thousands of civilians between 2016 and 2019. Duterte was elected in 2016 on a campaign promise to get rid of the country's drug problem, and he openly ordered police to kill drug suspects if their lives were in danger. ‘The president will never cooperate until the end of his term on June 30, 2022,’ Harry Roque told reporters, repeating a previous assertion that the ICC has no jurisdiction in the Philippines because it pulled out of the tribunal. The Philippines left the ICC in 2019 after the court launched a preliminary examination into the war on drugs. Bensouda said it could still investigate crimes committed while the country was a member. ‘The available information indicates that members of the Philippine National Police, and others acting in concert with them, have unlawfully killed between several thousand and tens of thousands of civilians’ during the period under investigation, said Bensouda, in one of her last acts before stepping down this week. But Roque rejected her findings and said it was ‘an insult to all Filipinos’ to suggest the country's justice system was not working. ‘We will be compared to countries like Darfur, areas where there is no functioning government. It's not right,’ he said. ‘If killings occurred, appropriate force and violence were observed.’ The crackdown is Duterte's signature policy initiative and he defends it fiercely, especially from critics such as Western leaders and institutions which he says do not care about the Philippines. More than 6,000 people have been killed in over 200,000 anti-drug operations conducted since July 2016, according to official data. Human rights groups estimate the number of dead could be several times higher. Many suspects have been put on ‘drug watch lists’ by local officials and then visited by police at their homes -- a situation which often ends in a deadly shooting that officers claim was self-defence. Rights groups welcomed Bensouda's request, with Amnesty International describing the ICC investigation as a ‘landmark step’.    

* Virus outbreaks in factories threaten wider economic impact * Infections have affected only small number of factories so far * But rapid virus spread is hurting output at some manufacturers * Govt's 'bubble and seal' containment policy draws criticism A series of coronavirus outbreaks in Thai factories is raising concerns that the export sector could be hit hard, threatening to further undermine an economy as it struggles to recover from the pandemic's crippling blow to the crucial tourism industry. The virus has swept through over 130 factories, including those supplying international brands, with more than 7,100 cases across 11 provinces, making manufacturing one of the top sources of infections along with prisons and construction camps. The affected plants are just a fraction of about 63,000 factories in Thailand that employ 3.4 million, government data shows, but officials worry about the impact on exports that have kept the struggling economy moving as income from tourism has collapsed. In 2020, exports accounted for 45% of gross domestic product. The tourism-reliant economy, a global trade hub, suffered a steep 6.1% contraction last year, and last month the government trimmed GDP growth forecast for this year to 1.5%-2.5% from 2.5%-3.5% previously. Electronics, rubber gloves, and food are among the export sectors hit by infections, Federation of Thai Industries vice chairman Kriengkrai Thiennukul told Reuters, but he said it was too early to assess the overall impact. ‘If it continues the damage will increase so factories have to be fully vaccinated,’ he said. Already, some of the manufacturers affected by the outbreak have had to curtail production. Charoen Pokphand foods Pcl, which exports to 40 countries from Thailand, said a factory that was closed due to infections accounted for 10% broiler chicken production. Instant noodle maker, Thai President Foods Pcl closed a factory that produces rice vermicelli and rice noodle. Overseas sales accounted for about a third of the company's semi-finished food sales. Some factories continued partial operations while others have temporarily closed and quarantined their workers. The outbreak has sent industry sentiment tumbling to an 11-month low. Thailand has recorded a total of 199,264 Covid-19 infections and 1,466 deaths so far, with over 80% of the new cases and 90% of the fatalities reported after April. As of now, only 1.6 million people out of a population of over 66 million have been fully vaccinated. BUBBLE-AND-SEAL IMPACT The government has been trying to contain the outbreak with a ‘bubble and seal’ policy, which takes effect when 10% of factory workers are infected. The confirmed cases are then sent for treatment while the remainder are kept at the factory for 28 days. Workers at factories and in construction camps who live on site - many of them low-wage migrant workers - have been unable to leave their workplace, even if they are not infected. The policy differs from other workplaces affected by the coronavirus. ‘It’s not appropriate,’ said Suthasinee Kaewleklai, Migrant Workers Rights Network (MWRN) coordinator in Thailand, adding that authorities should be doing more tests. Suthasinee said that companies should improve conditions, give more space for social distancing and increase training for workers so those who were healthy could avoid infection and move freely. The Industry Ministry has given factories until the end of June to upgrade conditions including providing mandatory face masks and administering temperature checks. A government official defended the bubble and seal policy, saying it allows businesses to continue operations and limits the outbreak. ‘Those with symptoms will be sent for treatment, others will be in the bubble, if it spreads it will spread in there and not outside,’ health official Taweesap Siraprapasiri told Reuters. ‘This limits the outbreak and allows business to continue.’  

Malaysia on Sunday deported a leading figure in conspiracy circles who is wanted in France over the kidnapping of an eight-year-old girl, sources told AFP. Remy Daillet, his pregnant partner and three children were arrested late last month on the holiday island of Langkawi over their residency status. The Frenchman and his family were deported from Kuala Lumpur International Airport and are expected to arrive in France early Monday. The girl, identified as Mia, was taken in mid-April from her grandmother's home in France by several men employed by their mother. Six men and the mother were indicted over the abduction following an intense five-day search that ended in Switzerland. According to some of the men, the mother's associates were activists who believe that children in care are unfairly taken from their parents. Mia's mother had lost custody of her daughter and was no longer allowed to see her alone or speak with her on the telephone. Investigators believe Daillet, known to police as a proponent of extremist conspiracy theories and a populist takeover of the state, may have helped organise the abduction. On Sunday, Daillet, his partner and the children were taken under tight security to Kuala Lumpur airport and put on a flight to Singapore, a source familiar with the case, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP. Once they arrive in Singapore, they will board an Air France flight later in the day for Paris, the source said. "All of them are in good health," the source added. A legal source, who declined to be identified, also confirmed that the group "have been deported by immigration". French prosecutors in April issued an international arrest warrant for Daillet, who had been living in Malaysia for several years. But he was detained over his residency status, making the process of deportation quicker. Daillet is a former regional leader of France's centrist MoDem party before he was excluded in 2010. After the abduction, Daillet posted a video in which he said that his organisation "returns children kidnapped by the state to parents, at their request. There was absolutely no kidnapping." In earlier videos he has supported the idea of a coup d'etat and voiced opposition to taxes, vaccines and masks. Mia was returned to her grandmother's care.

Dengue fever infections dropped dramatically in an Indonesian study where a bacteria was introduced into disease-carrying mosquitoes, offering hope in the battle against an illness that sickens millions annually around the world. Results of the three-year study, published in the ‘New England Journal of Medicine’ this week, found that infecting dengue-carrying mosquitoes with a harmless bacteria called Wolbachia led to a 77% drop in human cases. Infections requiring hospitalisation also fell by 86% in Wolbachia-treated areas of Yogyakarta, a city on Java island where the experiment was conducted, researchers said. The study was conducted by the World Mosquito Program at Monash University in Australia and Indonesia’s Gadjah Mada university. “The 77% figure is honestly quite fantastic for a transmittable disease and we’re very grateful with the result,” said Adi Utarini, a public-health researcher from Gadjah Mada university who was a co-lead on the study. The trial involved releasing Wolbachia into the mosquito population across specific parts of Yogyakarta to measure how it impacted the incidence of infections among three- to 45-year-olds. It has now been expanded to other parts of the city. Wolbachia suppresses the ability of the virus to replicate in dengue-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and cause infections when they bite humans. Previous trials involving Wolbachia - commonly found in fruit flies and other insects - also showed positive results in reducing dengue cases, researchers said. Scientists hope the method could be a game-changer in a global battle against the disease, which can sometimes be fatal. Symptoms typically include body aches, fever and nausea. “This is the result we’ve been waiting for,” said World Mosquito Program director Scott O’Neill. “We have evidence our Wolbachia method is safe, sustainable and dramatically reduces incidence of dengue.   “It gives us great confidence in the positive impact this method will have worldwide when provided to communities at risk of these mosquito-transmitted diseases,” he added. Dengue is the most rapidly spreading mosquito-borne disease in the world with more than 50mn cases globally every year, including about 8mn in Indonesia. Studies have also shown the Wolbachia method can be effective in preventing the transmission of Zika, chikungunya, yellow fever and other mosquito-borne illnesses, researchers said.

Cambodia has deployed its next generation of rat recruits to sniff out landmines as part of efforts to boost de-mining operations in a country plagued for decades by unexploded ordinance (UXO). Twenty African giant pouched rats were recently imported from Tanzania and have undergone intense training. "They are all easy to work with and they don't care about who their handlers are," said handler So Malen, during an exercise on Friday for seven recruits in Preah Vihear province, bordering Thailand. "Any one of us can be their handler and most importantly, they don't bite." Scarred by decades of civil war, Cambodia is one of the world's most heavily landmined countries, with more than 1,000 sq km of land still contaminated. It has among the highest number of amputees per capita, with more than 40,000 people losing limbs to explosives. The new rat batch replaces a recently retired group that includes Magawa, who found 71 landmines and 28 UXO during his five-year career, according to APOPO, an international organisation that specialises in detecting landmines and tuberculosis. Magawa received a gold medal last year from Britain's People's Dispensary for Sick Animals for "lifesaving bravery and devotion to duty". Handler So Malen said the rats have an extraordinary sense of smell that guarantees results, and that all that separated them was their work rate. "The small difference is that Magawa is a hero rat who worked faster than others," So Malen said.

The Philippines will exempt elderly people who have been fully vaccinated from stay-at-home orders to encourage more to get inoculated and help authorities meet Covid-19 immunisation targets, officials said on Friday. Seniors living in areas under looser quarantine restrictions will be allowed to go out from Wednesday, but will still need to wear masks, face shields and practice social distancing, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement. The elderly, who account for four-fifths of Covid-19 deaths in the country, were among priority groups in the government's vaccination drive that began on March 1. But as of June 6, only 1.54 million, or 16%, of an elderly population of more than 9 million, had got their first shot, while more than 343,000 had received their second doses. ‘Get vaccinated to enjoy the incentive of going out to exercise and chat with your fellow senior citizen,’ health undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told a news conference. On Friday, the government's coronavirus task force also allowed non-contact sports venues like gyms, fitness studios and historical sites and museums to reopen but with a limited number of guests. Recording nearly 1.3 million infections and more than 22,300 deaths, the Philippines is battling the second-highest Covid-19 caseload in the region, next to Indonesia. The Philippines started vaccinating around 35 million people working outside their homes this week to curb virus transmission and help open the economy, but the inoculation drive was hit by a delay in vaccine deliveries.  

• The delay comes just as the government opened up vaccinations to around 35mn people working outside their homes A delay in Covid-19 vaccine deliveries to the Philippines has forced some cities in the capital region to close vaccination sites, complicating Manila’s efforts to ramp up its immunisation drive. Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque yesterday appealed for understanding, while assuring the public “we will have more supply in the coming months and everyone will be vaccinated.” Only 4.5mn of the 7mn doses of Covid-19 vaccines that were scheduled to arrive in May were delivered, Carlito Galvez, head of the government’s vaccine procurement programme, told DZMM radio on Wednesday. The delay came just as the government opened up vaccinations to around 35mn people working outside their homes, to curb Covid-19 transmission and open up the economy. Joy Belmonte, mayor of Quezon city, said some vaccination sites in her city were being forced to close because of “erratic” supplies. “If we are on full force, we can activate 15 sites already but given the supply we are activating only 8 vaccine sites,” Belmonte told CNN Philippines. Quezon City is the Philippines most populous city, with 2.9mn residents, and accounts for 8% of the country’s total 1.28mn Covid-19 infections. In Marikina City, 18,000 people were awaiting the arrival of more vaccines, its mayor Marcelino Teodoro told CNN Philippines. “The problem is no longer vaccine hesitancy (but) the steady supply of vaccines,” Teodoro said. A shipment of 2.28mn Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines secured via Covax was set to arrive in the country soon, but they will be given to senior citizens, people with existing health conditions and the poor.

A 28-year-old mediaeval history enthusiast who slapped French President Emmanuel Macron risks up to three years in jail when he appears in court for the first time on Thursday, having told investigators he acted ‘without thinking’. The man, named as Damien T., has been in custody since the incident on Tuesday and is expected to be convicted of assaulting a public figure when he appears before a magistrate in the southern town of Valence. The charge carries a maximum three-year jail sentence and a fine of 45,000 euros ($55,000), although the court will take into account the defendant's clean criminal record and any expression of remorse. ‘He contends that he acted instinctively and 'without thinking' to express his annoyance,’ a statement from the local prosecutor's office said late on Wednesday. Damien T., described by friends as usually shy and placid, also told investigators that he sympathised with anti-government ‘yellow vest’ protesters and leaned to the right/far-right in his political views, but had no party affiliation. The long-haired resident of the village of Saint-Villier, who has no fixed profession, is passionate about mediaeval history and martial arts and shouted an old royalist slogan as he struck the president. His friend, named as Arthur C., was arrested at the same time on Tuesday having filmed the slap, but will not be charged over the incident, the prosecutor said. Macron shrugged off the assault, calling it an ‘isolated event’, and he has vowed to continue meting voters despite concerns for his personal security. Leaders across the political spectrum have shown rare unity in condemning the incident, with many seeing it as a symptom of the fraught political climate and declining public debate just weeks from regional elections and 10 months from presidential polls. Macron, 43, whose personal ratings have risen recently, is expected to seek a second term next year. Polls show him holding a narrow lead over his main rival, far-right leader Marine Le Pen.  

Twelve people were killed when a Myanmar military plane crashed in a central region of the country Thursday, a spokesman for the junta said. The plane, which was carrying six crew and eight passengers, crashed near the city of Pyin Oo Lwin, the spokesperson said in a statement to journalists, blaming the cause on ‘bad weather’. ‘It lost communications when it was 400 metres (1,300 feet) away from a steel factory near the airport,’ Zaw Min Tun said in a statement. A senior monk was among those on board, the statement said, adding a team had been able to rescue a boy and a sergeant, who had been sent to a nearby military hospital. Emergency workers were still on the scene, it continued. A picture posted on social media showed the twisted body of a plane lying in a field. Myanmar's Buddhist monkhood led an earlier struggle against military rule but is split on the coup that ended the country's nascent democracy, with some prominent religious leaders defending the new junta. Pyin Oo Lwin is home to the Defence Services Academy, where the military's top brass are trained. Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing, who ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi from power in the February 1 coup, is a graduate. The military has sought to quell mass anti-junta protests with bloody crackdowns that have killed more than 800 civilians, according to a local monitoring group. This has prompted civilians in some townships to form ‘defence forces’, while some of Myanmar's ethnic rebel armies have stepped up offensives against the military. Last month, the Kachin Independence Army -- an ethnic rebel group that has waged a decades-long insurgency against the military -- downed an army helicopter during fierce clashes. Plane crashes are common in Myanmar due to its underdeveloped aviation sector, and Myanmar's monsoon season has caused problems for commercial and military flights in the past. A military plane crashed into the Andaman Sea in 2017, killing all 122 people on board in one of the deadliest aviation accidents in the country's history. Authorities blamed bad weather. And in 2015, an Air Bagan passenger plane veered off the runway amid bad weather and heavy rain. A passenger and a person on the ground were killed.