International

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has stoked a feud with boxer Manny Pacquiao by criticising his “shallow” foreign policy knowledge, after the senator and eight-division champion said he found the leader’s stand on the South China Sea was “lacking”. In a late night interview with SMNI news channel late Tuesday, Duterte said Pacquiao, a senator and close ally, should “study first” before weighing in. Pacquiao stood his ground and hit back yesterday, when he said the country should pursue dialogue over disputes, but “stand strong in protecting our sovereign rights”. “I am a Filipino voicing out what needs to be said in defence of what has been adjudicated as rightfully ours,” Pacquiao said, referring to a 2016 international arbitral ruling won by the Philippines in a case against China. Though Duterte is hugely popular at home, he has been widely criticised for refusing to confront China over the conduct of its military, coastguard and fishing fleet, which he has repeatedly said would be pointless. The Philippine defence and diplomatic establishment has spoken out strongly of late over the constant presence of hundreds of Chinese vessels in the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone, which they say are manned by militias. China has denied that. Duterte has said the Philippines owes China a “huge debt” of gratitude for its support in other areas, remarks that did not sit well with Pacquiao. Pacquiao, 42, had last month said he found Duterte’s stance to be “lacking” and “disheartening”. The comments were a surprise, as Pacquiao has long been among Duterte’s strongest backers, including over his bloody war on drugs and bid to re-introduce the death penalty. “I respect the president’s opinion but humbly disagree with his assessment of my understanding of foreign policy,” said Pacquiao, who is rumoured to be considering running for the presidency next year. Meanwhile, the head of the Philippine armed forces visited a coral-fringed island his country occupies in the South China Sea, a move that could stoke already heightened tensions between Manila and Beijing in disputed waters claimed by both countries. During Monday’s visit, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Cirilito Sobejana commended the soldiers for the role they played in protecting the island’s residents and “guarding the country’s territories” in the strategic waterway.

An estimated 100,000 people have been displaced by new fighting between Myanmar's military and rebel groups in the east of the coup-stricken country, the UN said Tuesday. Myanmar has been in chaos and its economy paralysed since the generals ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's government in February, accusing it of fraud during 2020 elections. Fighting has flared in several communities -- especially in townships that have seen a high death toll at the hands of police -- and some locals have formed ‘defence forces’. Recent clashes and ‘indiscriminate attacks by security forces against civilian areas’ had forced an estimated 100,000 to flee their homes in eastern Kayah state near the Thai border, the UN's Myanmar office said Tuesday. Those in areas hit by fighting were in ‘urgent need’ of food, water, shelter and health care, it said, adding that travel restrictions imposed by security forces were delaying the delivery of much-needed aid. Locals in Kayah state have accused the military of using artillery shells that have landed in villages. AFP images from the region have showed villagers manufacturing guns in makeshift factories as local defence groups go up against Myanmar's battle-hardened military. More than 800 people have been killed across the country in a brutal military crackdown on dissent since February, according to a local monitoring group. Myanmar's national economy and banking system have been paralysed since the army's power grab. Livelihoods have been lost after strikes and factory closures, fuel prices have shot up and those lucky enough to have bank savings face day-long queues to withdraw their cash. On Tuesday the Red Cross said it was urgently ramping up efforts to meet the humanitarian needs of 236,000 people in Myanmar, already reeling from the Covid-19 pandemic before the coup struck. The announcement came after the charity's president Peter Maurer was granted a rare meeting with junta leader Min Aung Hlaing last week and called for increased humanitarian access to the country.  

It took $100,000 plus expenses, and the opportunity for a reduced prison sentence, for the smartphone developer to collaborate with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) in 2018 and kick-start Operation Trojan Horse, according to a court document. Three years later, the investigation involving 9,000 law enforcement officers from 17 countries saw authorities monitor 27 million messages from 12,000 devices in 100 countries and track the activities of more than 300 organised crime groups, the European Union's law enforcement agency, Europol, said in a statement. _______________________________ Read also Hi-tech sting leads to global crackdown on organised crime, over 800 detained _______________________________ To date, there have been more than 800 arrests and the seizure of more than eight tons of cocaine, 22 tons of cannabis, two tons of synthetic drugs, 250 guns, 55 luxury vehicles and over $48 million in cash and cryptocurrencies, Europol said. More arrests and seizures are expected, it said. The US court document - an affidavit from an FBI special agent first published by Vice News - says the "confidential human source", a former drug trafficker, had been creating a new hardened encrypted phone with a bespoke app called ANOM. The source came on board after authorities dismantled the Phantom Secure encrypted smartphone network and arrested its CEO in 2018. For at least a decade, organised crime groups have used phones like Phantom Secure to organise drug deals, hits on rivals and launder illicit earnings without detection, police say. Among many of the phones' features, content can be remotely wiped if they are seized. But as one model was put out of business, new ones would enter the lucrative market. The FBI decided it would launch its own, inserting a master key into the devices that attached to each message and enabled law enforcement officers to decrypt and store them as they were transmitted. In 2018, Australian police investigators and analysts met with the FBI. "As you know, some of the best ideas come over a couple of beers," said Australian Federal Police (AFP) commissioner, Reece Kershaw, on Tuesday. Prodded by authorities, the developer-turned-informant tapped his trusted distributors, who targeted the Australian market. They settled on a soft launch in October 2018. The developer gave the distributors only 50 devices to sell. Seeing a "huge payday", they agreed according to the affidavit. As the AFP monitored the messages and photos shared on the devices, "100% of ANOM users in the test phase used ANOM to engage in criminal activity", the affidavit said. Business grew organically, by word-of-mouth. Soon overseas criminals were flocking to use the ANOM phone. Law enforcers had "an edge" that they had never had before, said Kershaw. Among hundreds of arrests and tons of drugs seized, Australian authorities said they also disrupted 21 murder plots, including a mass killing, thanks to ANOM. But, due to "technological issues", the FBI could not directly monitor the phones in Australia. A court order in late 2019, however, issued by an unspecified country where a server for the phones was located, gave the agency far greater and more timely access to their content. The FBI and other countries' law enforcers discovered that Italian organised crime, Asian triads, biker gangs and transnational drug syndicates were all users. The special agent's affidavit, and the AFP's Kershaw, said criminals used the phones openly, often not even using code words and frequently sharing photos of massive drug consignments and details of how they would be transported. Among the images shared in the affidavit were mounds of blocks of illicit drugs and a diplomatic pouch identified in the court document as French and allegedly used to transport cocaine from Colombia. There was also evidence of corrupt government officials and police. Crime groups were being "notified of anticipated enforcement actions", the affidavit said. "The review of ANOM messages has initiated numerous high-level public corruption cases in several countries." Raids targeting users of another encrypted phone, Sky ECC, in March saw ANOM's popularity surge, with active users growing from 3,000 to 9,000 in months, the affidavit said. But the expiry of the unspecified country's court order on Monday signalled the end of the phones' torrent of criminal intelligence. In a series of news conferences around the world the next day, Operation Trojan Horse was revealed.

Myanmar's security forces clashed with villagers armed with catapults and crossbows during a search for weapons in the Ayeyarwady river delta region on Saturday and local media reported as many as 20 people had been killed. State television news said three "terrorists" had been killed and two arrested at the village of Hlayswe as security forces went to apprehend a man accused of plotting against the state. A junta spokesman did not answer calls from Reuters to request comment on the violence at the village in the Kyonpyaw township of Ayeyarwady Region. Reuters was unable to confirm the toll independently. The army has struggled to impose control since it overthrew elected leader Aug San Suu Kyi after a decade of democratic reforms had opened up the once isolated state. A meeting between junta leader Min Aung Hlaing and envoys from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Friday drew anger in parts of Myanmar on Saturday, with an ASEAN flag being set ablaze in the second city of Mandalay. Clashes broke out before dawn on Saturday at Hlayswe, some 150 km northwest of the main city of Yangon, when soldiers said they had come to search for weapons, at least four local media outlets and a resident said. "The people in the village only have crossbows and there are a lot of casualties on the people's side," said the resident, who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution. Khit Thit Media and the Delta News Agency said 20 civilians had been killed and more wounded. They said villagers had tried to fight back with catapults after soldiers assaulted residents in what they said was a search for arms. MRTV state television said security forces had come under attack with compressed air guns and darts. After the shootout, the bodies of three attackers had been found, it said. If confirmed, the toll given by the local media would be the highest in one day in nearly two months. Some 845 people had previously been killed by the army and police since the Feb. 1 coup, according to an activist group. The junta disputes that figure. It was some of the worst violence since the coup in the Ayeyarwady region, an important rice growing area that has large populations of both the Bamar majority ethnic group, from which much of the army is drawn, and the Karen minority. Since the coup, conflicts have flared in the borderlands where some two dozen ethnic armies have been waging insurgencies for decades. The junta has also been faced by daily protests and paralysing strikes. The anti-junta Shwegu People's Defence Force said it had attacked a police station in northern Shwegu late on Friday together with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). Reuters was unable to reach the KIA for comment. In eastern Myanmar, the MBPDF (Mobye People's Defence Force) said it had clashed with the army on Friday and four "terrorist soldiers" had been killed. Despite the turmoil, Myanmar's army has shown little sign of heeding calls from its opponents to relinquish its hold. This week, the junta received its first high-profile foreign visitors - the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the two ASEAN envoys. An underground opposition government set up by opponents of the junta said after the envoys' visit on Friday it had lost faith in ASEAN's attempts to end the crisis - the main international effort to resolve it. Protesters in Myanmar's second city of Mandalay burned an ASEAN flag on Saturday and accused the group of giving legitimacy to the junta. One placard said "ASEAN way just means standing by uselessly."

A boat carrying dozens of Rohingya refugees that set sail in February but had been adrift in the Andaman Sea with engine failure has landed on an Indonesian island after a voyage of more than 100 days, a human rights official said on Friday. The vessel sailed on Feb. 11 from Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh carrying 90 Rohingya refugees, most of them women and children, with the hope of reaching Malaysia. But the boat's engine failed four days after leaving Cox's Bazar, where refugee camps house hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who have fled neighbouring Myanmar. "We have learnt that the 81 (refugees) were fine, they landed on Idaman Island in Aceh (Indonesia)," said Chris Lewa, director of the Arakan Project, a group that monitors the Rohingya crisis. "They are not 100% safe there yet. We hope they will not be pushed back," Lewa told Reuters. Of the 90 people who set out on the voyage, eight were found dead by Indian Coast Guards who had tracked and later repaired the vessel in February. Indian authorities provided food and essential supplies to survivors but refused to let them set foot on their shores. Bangladesh, too, denied re-entry to 81 survivors. Over the last three months, international aid agencies and family members of those onboard have made repeated appeals to India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Malaysia for information about the fate of the survivors on the boat. Dwi Prafitria, spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Indonesia, told Reuters that the refugees currently don't have a place to stay as it awaits coordination with the local government. Authorities in Indonesia, including local police and immigration, were not immediately available for comment on Friday. More than 1 million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar are living in teeming camps in Bangladesh, including tens of thousands who fled after Myanmar's military conducted a deadly crackdown in 2017. Human traffickers often lure Rohingya refugees, persuading them to travel on rickety vessels with the promise of work in Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia.

Malaysian health authorities have raised concerns about a growing number of coronavirus deaths and serious cases involving children, after a surge in overall infections forced the Southeast Asian nation into a strict lockdown. Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin declared a two-week ‘total lockdown’ from June 1-14, as daily Covid-19 cases and deaths hit record numbers, with the government warning the outbreak may be linked to more contagious variants. Malaysia recorded the deaths of three children aged below five due to the coronavirus in the first five months of this year, the same number recorded over the whole of 2020, according to Health Ministry director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah. A total of 27 children, including 19 below the age of five, also had to be treated in intensive care between January and May after contracting the virus, up from eight cases last year. ‘The health ministry hopes all parties, especially parents and guardians, play an important part in protecting those with low immunity, such as babies and children, from Covid-19,’ Noor Hisham said in a statement. Noor Hisham did not say how many children had been tested for Covid-19 or if authorities planned to ramp up testing among minors. Neighbouring Singapore also warned last month that new coronavirus variants, such as the one first detected in India, were affecting more children. On Monday, Malaysian Health Minister Adham Baba said a total of 82,341 children had been infected with the coronavirus between January last year and May 30 this year. Malaysia's total caseload hit over 595,000 on Thursday, with 3,096 deaths, the third highest total in the region behind Indonesia and the Philippines. It saw a record daily rise in cases of 9,020 on Saturday, and its highest daily death toll of 126 on Wednesday. The health minister said on Thursday it was ‘not something impossible’ for total Covid-19 deaths to hit 26,000 by September, as projected by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation.    

A two-decades old defence pact between the Philippines and the US has been revamped and its new terms submitted to President Rodrigo Duterte for his consideration, Manila’s ambassador to Washington said. The Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), which provides rules for the rotation of thousands of US troops in and out of the Philippines for war games and exercises, will end in August if Duterte decides to terminate the deal. Duterte unilaterally cancelled the VFA last year in an angry rebuke after an ally was denied a US visa, but twice suspended its termination to create what Philippine officials say is a window for better terms to be agreed. “We are confident he (Duterte) will see that there’s marked improvement in the terms of agreement,” ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez said in a virtual interview. Romualdez did not specify what revisions had been made, but said the terms now agreed were “acceptable” and “mutually beneficial”. Manila has in the past been unhappy about issues such as a lack of jurisdiction over US personnel guilty of crimes and damage to the environment during maritime drills. Ties between the US and its former colony have been complicated by Duterte’s rise to power in 2016 and his frequent condemnation of US foreign policy and embrace of China. Duterte has said the US should pay more if it wants to maintain the VFA. The Philippines is by far the largest recipient of US military assistance in the Indo-Pacific region, having received 33bn pesos ($690.45mn) worth since 2015, the US embassy in Manila has said. Romualdez said the Philippines expects to get $40mn in US foreign military financing in its next fiscal year. The long-standing close ties between the militaries of the two countries have boosted the capability of Philippine forces while giving the US an important foothold in a region where China’s power and influence are growing. “It is critical for our soldiers to be able to operate together with an ally like the US,” said Romualdez.

Veteran Philippine journalist Maria Ressa has had a cyber libel charge against her dismissed, lawyers involved in the case said yesterday, in a rare legal win for the key critic of the country’s President Rodrigo Duterte. Ressa, the chief executive of news website Rappler, was earlier convicted in another cyber libel case last year, but remains free on bail pending an appeal in a case that could see her handed six years in jail. “I’m glad to hear good news. I look forward to seeing the rest of the cases against me and Rappler dropped in the future,” Ressa, a former CNN correspondent and 2018 Time magazine Person of the Year, said in a statement. The earlier libel case stemmed from a complaint made by Manila businessman Wilfredo Keng in 2017 over a Rappler story five years earlier about his alleged ties to a judge on the nation’s top court. A formal complaint by Keng over a 2019 Ressa tweet sharing a screenshot of a 2002 story published by another Manila newspaper about him led to the second cyber libel charge. Lawyers for both camps said a Manila court dismissed the second cyber libel charge after Keng said he was no longer interested in pursuing the case and in taking the witness stand. “The private complainant has decided not to prosecute the civil aspect of the instant case, and is categorically waiving, and renouncing any claim for damages that may have arisen from the Twitter post,” Keng said in a letter to the court last week. “There was no compromise (with Ressa’s camp)”, Keng lawyer Ryan Jan Cruz said, confirming his client had dropped his complaint after winning the first case. Ressa’s lawyer Theodore Te likewise said he has received a court order to dismiss the second case following Keng’s motion. Court officials could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Malaysia's air force on Tuesday said 16 Chinese military transport planes had come close to violating Malaysian airspace, after they were detected conducting "suspicious" activity over the South China Sea. The air force said they were forced to scramble jets on Monday to conduct visual confirmation after the planes flew to within 60 nautical miles off the coast of Sarawak state of Malaysian Borneo. The Chinese planes did not contact the regional air traffic controller despite being instructed several times, the air force said. "This incident is a serious threat to national sovereignty and flight safety due to the air traffic density over the airways," the air force said in a statement. China's embassy in Kuala Lumpur did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China has been pushing an expansive claim over the waterway, through which about $3 trillion worth of ship-born trade passes annually. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have competing claims to various islands and features in the area and China's coastguard routinely warns foreign boats and aircraft to leave what it calls its territory. Malaysia's air force said the planes, comprising Ilyushin il-76 and Xian Y-20 strategic transporters, had traveled in an "in-trail" tactical formation at altitudes of between 23,000 and 27,000 feet. Last year, a Chinese survey ship held a month-long standoff with a Malaysian oil exploration vessel within Malaysia's exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea. The incident follows months of diplomatic protests by the Philippines over the presence of hundreds of Chinese fishing boats in its Exclusive Economic Zone, which it says are manned by militia. China has largely ignored the complaints.

Malaysia imposed a tough nationwide lockdown on Tuesday to battle a worsening coronavirus outbreak, as countries across Southeast Asia struggled with a resurgence in cases driven by infectious variants. Much of the region escaped the pandemic's first wave last year relatively unscathed by rapidly closing borders and introducing curbs. But countries from Thailand to Vietnam are being hammered by fresh surges, with efforts to quell outbreaks hampered by slow vaccine rollouts and populations weary of restrictions. Malaysia is among the worst hit. Of almost 2,800 deaths from Covid-19 recorded in the country of 32 million since the start of the pandemic, over 40 percent were in May alone. More than 570,000 infections have been reported, with a string of new daily records last week. As well as variants, the outbreak has been fanned by gatherings in the country during Ramadan and the Eid al-Fitr holiday, often in defiance of coronavirus rules. Under what authorities have termed a ‘total lockdown’ in force from Tuesday, only essential businesses -- such as supermarkets and medical clinics -- can operate, people can only go outside for necessities, and most schools are closed. Travel between most parts of the country had already been banned for months. While there had been growing calls for tougher action, the lockdown will deal a fresh blow to many businesses that have struggled to stay afloat over the past year. ‘The impact of the coronavirus on small businesses like mine is devastating,’ said Lilian Chua, whose hair salon outside the capital Kuala Lumpur will have to close. ‘The government imposes a lockdown but the virus is in the air -- they need to speed up vaccinations,’ the 42-year-old told AFP. Fewer than six percent of Malaysia's population have so far received at least one vaccine dose. - Slow vaccine rollouts – Vietnam was praised for keeping infections low last year, but its cases have more than doubled in the past month, prompting officials to suspend foreign arrivals at some airports and implement social distancing in Ho Chi Minh City. At the weekend, authorities caused alarm by announcing they had discovered a new variant which is a combination of the strains first detected in Britain and India -- although they later clarified it still needs to be studied. Overcrowded prisons have been at the centre of an escalating outbreak in Thailand, which is recording more than 4,000 infections a day. Affluent Singapore -- which had barely seen any local transmission for months -- tightened curbs in May following an uptick in cases, with authorities citing concerns about variants. And the Philippines imposed a fresh lockdown in and around Manila in March as hospitals struggled to cope, although the restrictions have been eased as infections fall. Infection rates have been relatively stable recently in Indonesia, however, which was hit hard last year at the start of the pandemic.  

Search teams are looking for one missing person after rescuing all other passengers from a large ferry that caught fire in Indonesia, an official said Sunday. The KM Karya Indah was heading to Sanana, a remote port in the northeast of the Indonesian archipelago when it was engulfed in flames. Shortly after departing, the ferry caught fire, forcing passengers and crew to jump into the sea to save themselves. There no reported casualties. "There were 275 people on board, 274 had been evacuated safely," Muhammad Arafah, the head of the local search and rescue team told Kompas TV Sunday. "One person, a 43-year-old man, is still being searched for." He added that at least 35 passengers were children. Dozens of rescuers are still scouring the area for the missing person. Images shared by the search and rescue agency showed the large ferryboat enveloped in thick, dark smoke while passengers in life jackets were rescued by rafts. More than a dozen crew members have been detained and questioned by the local police to determine the cause of the fire. Maritime accidents are common in Indonesia due to poor safety standards. But passenger ferries are widely used for transport in the archipelago of some 17,000 islands. In 2019, 21 people died when an overloaded ferry sank in rough seas off Java's north coast. In 2018, around 160 people drowned when an Indonesian ferry sank into the depths of one of the world's deepest lakes on Sumatra island. And more than 300 people are estimated to have drowned in 2009 when a ferry sank between Sulawesi and Borneo.

An Iranian-flagged tanker seized by Indonesia in January over the suspected illegal transfer of oil has been released, an Indonesian official and Iranian state media said on Saturday. Wisnu Pramandita, a spokesman for the Indonesian coastguard, said the Iranian-flagged tanker, the MT Horse, was released on Friday after a court decision earlier in the week. The court ruled the vessel could leave Indonesia, while the captain would be subject to a two-year probation without any fine, the spokesman said. Iran’s state broadcaster said the vessel had resumed its mission before returning home. Jakarta has said it seized the MT Horse over the suspected illegal transfer of oil in Indonesian waters, while Iran's foreign ministry said the seizure was over "a technical issue and it happens in shipping field". "The MT Horse, belonging to the National Iranian Tanker Company that had been detained in Indonesian waters since January 24, was released on Friday,” said state broadcaster Seda va Sima. "This vessel has now resumed its mission before returning to the country’s waters." SHANA, the Iranian oil ministry news agency, quoted the tanker company as saying, "The MT crew, with their sacrifice and firm determination to pursue their mission, safeguarded Iran’s national interest in maintaining the export of its oil and petroleum products.” Tehran, under harsh U.S. sanctions that mainly target its oil exports, has been accused of concealing the destination of its oil sales by disabling tracking systems on its tankers. Last year, it used the MT Horse to deliver 2.1 million barrels of condensate to fellow U.S.-sanctioned Venezuela.

A coronavirus surge sweeping through Thailand's prisons has thrown the spotlight on the kingdom's overcrowded penal system, where some inmates have less space to sleep than the inside of a coffin. More than 22,000 people have tested positive inside jails, where inmates living cheek by jowl have been encouraged to keep wearing their masks even while they sleep. Authorities have floated plans to give early releases to prisoners with underlying medical conditions and have announced funding for more testing and medical care in recent days. But those behind bars say they have been kept in the dark about the seriousness of the outbreak. "Prisoners don't have the knowledge to protect themselves," said Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, a high-profile activist facing charges under Thailand's harsh royal defamation law. Somyot was bailed last month and told AFP that he had not been tested for Covid-19 once during his 10-week stint in custody. He was not worried about contracting the disease while in jail because he had no idea about the level of risk. "But after this I'm so scared (for everyone still inside) ... if you are inside the prison you are at risk, it's unavoidable," he said. Thailand's prison outbreak has skyrocketed from just 10 publicly announced cases a month ago and sparked growing public concern after a handful of prominent activists contracted the illness. Among them was student leader Panusaya "Rung" Sithijirawattanakul, who helped lead a series of rallies last year demanding political reforms in the kingdom, and who tested positive after she was released on bail. The Thai prison population stood at around 311,000 earlier this year, the International Federation for Human Rights said -- more than two and a half times the system's official capacity. Four inmates in every five are serving time for drug charges because of harsh anti-narcotics laws that can see offenders jailed for a decade for possessing just a few methamphetamine pills. Many cells are so packed with bodies that some inmates only have half a metre (less than two feet) of space. "That is less room for a body than the inside of a coffin," Justice Minister Somsak Thepsutin told local media in February. Officials have tested more than 36,000 inmates in recent weeks and begun delivering Covid vaccines to inmates and prison staff. Somsak said he was examining ways to give early releases to prisoners with underlying medical conditions, possibly through a royal pardon. Even if the plan goes ahead, prisoners will still have to complete a quarantine before returning home. "For us to bail anyone or do anything, it has to be done properly," Somsak told reporters on Monday. "We can't allow them to spread infections." Rights groups say the plan should go further and urged authorities to also free non-violent offenders in order to reduce overcrowding. "Authorities should reduce the detainee population... of those held on politically motivated charges or for minor offences," said Brad Adams of Human Rights Watch.

Malaysia yesterday announced it will impose a nationwide lockdown for the first time in over a year as it battles a rapidly escalating coronavirus outbreak that has strained the country’s healthcare system. Officials believe more infectious variants have contributed to the surge, as well as gatherings in the country earlier this month. After a new daily record of 8,290 infections yesterday, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s office announced the entire country would enter a “total lockdown” from Tuesday. This involves the “complete shutdown of all social and economic sectors”, with only businesses deemed essential allowed to operate, it said in a statement. The restrictions will be in place initially until June 14. “The existence of new aggressive variants with a higher and faster infection rate has influenced this decision,” it said.   “With the increase in daily cases...capacity in hospitals across the country to treat Covid-19 patients has become more limited.” Malaysia, with a population of 32mn, has so far recorded a total of 549,514 cases since the start of the pandemic, and 2,552 deaths. While moderate by global standards, its outbreak has increased rapidly in recent weeks, and the number of patients in intensive care and on ventilators has hit record highs. In yesterday’s statement, the government laid out a plan for a gradual easing of curbs if the initial lockdown brings cases down. Authorities also pledged to step up the country’s vaccination rollout, which has been criticised as slow and chaotic, and to provide financial aid to those impacted by the lockdown. Malaysia managed to avoid a serious outbreak last year when Covid-19 first emerged by implementing tough curbs, including a lockdown.

Two ancient sandstone artefacts believed to have been stolen from Thailand during the Vietnam War are set to return from the United States Friday night, officials say. The temple support beams with their exquisite carvings of the Hindu deities Indra and Yama date back to the late 10th or 11th century and had been on show for decades at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum. They are expected to touch down in Bangkok on Friday night and will be put on display at the National Museum for three months from Tuesday, following a special ceremony. Thai Fine Arts Department Director General Prateep Pengtako said the two lintels are about 1,000 years old and show the influence of the ancient Khmer Kingdom, which had its capital in modern-day Cambodia. "Lintels are part of the structure of ancient Cambodian temples," he told AFP. "The lintels were assessed to be taken away sometime between 1958 and 1969. In particular, 1965-66 saw a lot of Thai artefacts go missing." The lintels were among 133 Thai artefacts on display at museums and galleries in the US. "The return of these antiquities holds great importance in terms of history, archaeology, and culture to the Thai Government and the Thai people," the Thai foreign ministry said, after a handover ceremony earlier this week between US authorities and the Royal Thai Consulate General in Los Angeles. "It is believed that both of the sacred lintels were illegally exported from Thailand around the 1960s during the Vietnam War." The repatriation comes after a three-year investigation by the US Department of Homeland Security. The California museum insisted it had long planned to return the artefacts, but disputed investigators' allegations that they were stolen. "We are very pleased that these lintels are going back to their country of origin," Jay Xu, the museum director, said in a statement. US museums are not the only ones to be embroiled in art provenance scandals in recent years. Australia has repatriated at least eight looted statues to India since 2014. France has vowed to return items taken from Senegal and Benin. The Netherlands is moving to repatriate artefacts stolen from its former colonies. And Germany has promised to give back artefacts to Nigeria.

Malaysian authorities on Tuesday were investigating a collision between metro trains in Kuala Lumpur that injured more than 200 people, as dramatic accounts emerged of the crash. The accident happened in an underground tunnel close to the landmark Petronas Twin Towers at around 8:45 pm (1245 GMT) Monday, when a packed train collided with another that was empty and heading in the opposite direction on the same track. Passengers were left battered and bruised after being thrown across carriages during the crash, with many evacuated on stretchers. Most suffered minor injuries but 64 were taken to hospital, and six were in critical condition Tuesday, authorities said. One passenger, Lim Mahfudz, described the moment the trains collided. "This resulted in all seated passengers being thrown... and standing passengers being thrown," he wrote on Twitter, adding people were injured as glass flew around the carriage. It was a "real nightmare", he said. "The impact was so strong that I suffered injuries to my head, left leg and chest," another passenger, Afiq Luqman Mohd Baharudin, told official news agency Bernama. Shaken passengers had to be evacuated by emergency workers from the tunnel, and brought up to the surface. The empty train had a driver at the controls and was being tested after repairs, while the full train was driverless. Authorities say there was no sign of foul play and suspect the accident was caused by a miscommunication between the driver and the network's command centre. The accident happened close to a station under the Twin Towers, which is one of the busiest on the network. The affected line resumed services early Tuesday. Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has described the crash as "serious" and urged authorities and the train operator to "conduct an in-depth probe". The accident was the worst on the metro system since it began operations about 25 years ago, although there have been less serious incidents. In 2008, four passengers suffered minor injuries when two trains collided.

Myanmar's deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in person at a court hearing on Monday for the first time since her government was overthrown by the military in a Feb. 1 coup, her lawyer told Reuters. Suu Kyi looked in good health and held a face-to-face meeting with her legal team for about 30 minutes before the hearing, lawyer Thae Maung Maung said. Suu Kyi, 75, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her efforts to build democracy, is among more than 4,000 people detained since the coup. She faces charges that range from illegally possessing walkie-talkie radios to violating a state secrets law. The ousted leader "wished people good health" in her meeting with her lawyers and also made an apparent reference to her National League for Democracy party that could be dissolved soon. "She said the party was established for the people so the party will be there as long as the people are," Thae Maung Maung told Reuters. Myanmar's junta-appointed election commission will dissolve Suu Kyi's political party for vote fraud in a November election, media reported on Friday, citing a commissioner, who threatened action against "traitors" involved. The army seized power claiming fraud in an election won by Suu Kyi's party in November. Its accusations had been dismissed by the former electoral commission. In his first interview with foreign media since the coup, junta leader Min Aung Hlaing had also said Suu Kyi was in good health as he disputed the number of people killed by security forces in protests since the coup. Myanmar has been in chaos since the army took power, with daily protests, marches and strikes nationwide against the junta, which has responded with lethal force, killing more than 800 people, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group. Min Aung Hlaing in the May 20 interview said the actual casualty figure was about 300 and that 47 police had also been killed.

A gun battle erupted on Sunday between Myanmar security forces and an alliance of armed ethnic groups opposed to February's coup, at a town on the border with China, Myanmar media said. The fighting at Muse, one of the main crossing points to China, was the latest to hit Myanmar since the coup led to an upsurge of conflict with insurgent groups in border regions, as well as bombings, shootings and arson across the country. Gunfire broke out in Muse around dawn, broadcaster DVB and Khit Thit Media said. Khit Thit Media published pictures of what it said were civilian vehicles that were peppered with bullet holes. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Reuters was unable to reach a junta spokesman or spokesmen for the four ethnic armed groups that make up the Northern Alliance. One of the groups in the alliance, the Kachin Independence Army, attacked a military post in northwestern Myanmar, nearly 320 km from Muse and closer to the Indian border on the other side of the country on Saturday. The junta is fighting a growing number of conflicts since it seized power on Feb. 1 and overthrew elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Ethnic armed groups that have waged war for decades to demand greater autonomy have been joined by new groups opposed to the coup. Meanwhile, protests are carried out daily against military rule, while strikes have paralysed hospitals, schools and much private business. More than 125,000 school teachers - nearly a third of the total - have been suspended for joining a civil disobedience movement to oppose the coup, an official of the Myanmar Teachers' Federation said. At least 815 people have been killed by security forces since the coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group. The junta disputes that figure and its leader, Min Aung Hlaing, said in comments broadcast on Saturday that 300 people had been killed in addition to 47 police. Protesters also demand the release of nearly 4,300 people who have been arrested since the coup, including Suu Kyi, 75. Min Aung Hlaing said Suu Kyi was healthy and would soon appear in court. Her next hearing is on Monday on some of the many charges brought against her, which range from illegal possession of walkie-talkie radios to breaching a state secrets law. The army seized power on the grounds of alleged fraud in the general election won by Suu Kyi's party in November. Its accusations had been dismissed by the former electoral commission, dozens of whose officials are now locked up.

The Philippines and China held ‘friendly and candid’ talks on the South China Sea, the Philippines' foreign ministry said on Saturday, days after the minister ordered Chinese vessels out of the disputed waterway in an expletive-laced tweet. The presence of hundreds Chinese vessels inside the Philippines 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) has been the latest source of tensions between the two countries in the South China Sea, through which $3 trillion worth of goods pass every year. The Philippines said the encroaching vessels were manned by militia, while Beijing said they were fishing boats sheltering from bad weather. ‘The two sides had friendly and candid exchanges on the general situation and specific issues of concern in the South China Sea,’ under a bilateral consultation mechanism convened in 2016 to ease tensions in the strategic waterway, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement. ‘There was mutual recognition of the importance of dialogue in easing tensions and understanding each country's position and intentions in the area,’ the DFA said. Earlier this month, Philippines Foreign Minister Teodoro Locsin likened China to ‘an ugly oaf’ for its behaviour in the waterway. ‘China, my friend, how politely can I put it? Let me see… O…GET THE FUCK OUT,’ Locsin tweeted on his personal account. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who prefers to not provoke Beijing and wants to tap it for loans and investment, barred his ministers from talking about the South China Sea situation in public after the outburst. Also discussed during Friday's dialogue was the row over the June 2019 sinking of a Philippine fishing boat by a Chinese fishing vessel that abandoned the Filipino fishermen in the South China Sea. The Philippine justice ministry will seek compensation for the victims, the DFA said. Despite recent tensions, ties between the Philippines and China have improved under Duterte, who described the 2016 arbitration ruling on the South China Sea that went in Philippines' favour as just a ‘piece of paper’ he could throw in the trash. But the Philippines reiterated its call on Beijing to respect international law, including the arbitral ruling during the talks, the DFA said.  

Nepal's parliament was dissolved for the second time in five months Saturday and new elections called for November as the Himalayan country battled political turmoil alongside the coronavirus pandemic. President Bidhya Devi Bhandari made the order after declaring that neither Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli nor Sher Bahadur Deuba, leader of the opposition Nepali Congress, had a majority to form a new government. Political rivalries between the communist prime minister and his former Maoist allies hit a new peak as the country battles a severe coronavirus wave with acute shortages of oxygen and vaccines. Authorities have been reporting about 200 deaths a day, but experts say there are a lot more and the United Nations has launched an emergency Covid-19 appeal saying that Nepal is at ‘breaking point’. Bhandari dissolved parliament in the early hours of Saturday after a new breakdown in talks. ‘The president... has dissolved the current House of Representatives and fixed the first phase of general elections on November 12 and the second phase on November 19,’ his office said in a statement. Oli was reappointed the prime minister only last week as no leader could muster a majority after the veteran communist lost a vote of confidence. The 69-year-old had a month to win a new vote of confidence in parliament but the president called on other parties to try to form a government as Oli struggled to win support. Bhandari, who hails from the ruling party and is considered close to Oli, has been criticised for agreeing so quickly to Oli's recommendation for a new election. Chandrakanta Gyawali, a constitutional expert, said the president has ‘derailed from the spirit of the constitution’ by giving in to Oli so easily. ‘This decision could be challenged in the court again. The prime minister has repeatedly attacked the constitution,’ Gyawali said. In December, Oli dismissed the legislature and called elections, accusing members of his Nepal Communist Party of blocking his moves. After nearly two months of protests, the Supreme Court reinstated parliament, saying Oli's move was unconstitutional. Oli became prime minister in 2018 and secured a two-thirds majority of parliament through a merger between his party, the CPN-UML, and a former rebel party, CPN (Maoist Centre). Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal has turned against Oli again however, setting off the hostilities.