International

A Cambodian court has jailed three people, including a top police general, for more than a year for violating Covid-19 restrictions by attending a party, a court official said yesterday. Major General Ung Chanthuok, deputy chief of staff of the national police, was sentenced on Thursday to 12 months in prison over a party he organised earlier this month, while two other attendees received 18-month terms. Ung Chanthuok was sacked after his arrest. Kuch Kimlong, deputy prosecutor of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, said all three were also fined $1,250 each. The sentences were among the toughest so far under a strict law passed in March this year by Cambodia’s parliament, which prescribes punishments that include jail terms of three years for quarantine breaches and 10 years for leaving treatment facilities while infected, or intentionally spreading Covid-19. Cambodia is fighting a surge in coronavirus infections that has seen its case total jump from about 500 to 12,641 since late February, including all 91 of its deaths. Its capital is on a tough lockdown, with residents banned from leaving their homes. Some have complained of hunger from lack of income and inadequate food aid distribution. Cambodian police last week defended the arrest and beating of lockdown violators with rattan canes, saying the measures aimed to save lives.

Crying out the names of their loved ones as they scattered flower petals into the ocean, relatives of the 53 Indonesian navy crew members who died in a sunken submarine paid tribute at a ceremony at sea yesterday. Servicemen in white navy uniforms holding ceremonial swords saluted in unison on the deck of the multi-purpose hospital ship KRI Dr Soeharso, in a mark of respect to the victims at the location where the submarine was last seen. The KRI Nanggala-402 was discovered at a depth of nearly 840 metres on Sunday, broken into at least three parts, four days after it lost contact while preparing to conduct a torpedo drill. Around 150 family members attended the memorial aboard the ship. Some wept and tried to console each other. Retrieval operations are still ongoing for German-built submarine, with help from international search teams, as authorities struggle to figure out how to lift the wreckage. “The position of the KRI Nanggala has remained in the area with no movement detected,” Navy Chief of Staff Yudo Margono told reporters. “We are looking at experiences of other countries, such as lifting using special ropes or using air balloons. We still don’t know which approach to use,” Yudo said. Experts have said bringing the submarine to the surface will be a huge challenge requiring specialised salvage equipment. The Nanggala was one of five submarines operated by Indonesia — two German-built Type 209s and three newer South Korean vessels. The military has been seeking to modernise its defence capabilities but some of its equipment is old and there have been fatal accidents in recent years.

Community-run stalls offering free food to the needy have multiplied across the Philippines, with many struggling to feed their families as coronavirus restrictions bite and government help falls short. Street sweeper Juliet Reyes regularly picks up fruit and vegetables from a curbside food pantry in the capital Manila, where a recent lockdown to contain a surge in infections threw hundreds of thousands out of work. “I’m very thankful. It’s a big help for us who are most in need,” said Reyes, 41, who supports a family of eight on her meagre daily wage of 200 pesos ($4). “When I go home I will cook what I got today.” Patricia Non ignited the nationwide movement this month after parking a bamboo cart stocked with rice, pasta, canned food and vegetables raided from her kitchen beside a busy street. A handwritten cardboard sign urged passers-by to “Give what you can, take what you need”. Within hours the cart was empty and Non issued a plea on Facebook for donations, which went viral. As contributions flooded in and a few recipients turned into thousands queueing every day — many lining up as soon as the night-time curfew lifted at 5:00am — Non’s trolley expanded into a distribution centre for other pantries. “Many are in need and I have more than enough for myself at home,” Non, 26, said. “It’s not a solution to hunger and poverty. But it’s a stop-gap measure.” Non’s charitable act has inspired others – including police, churches and the Philippine Coast Guard – to start their own pantries across the archipelago. Photos posted on social media show tables laden with donated food set up on streets, with people wearing masks and clutching reusable shopping bags waiting in line. Some pantries offer free pet food. The scenes of community solidarity have fuelled criticism of the government’s response to the poor after restrictions imposed to contain the virus devastated the economy and left millions hungry. In the latest lockdown of Metro Manila and surrounding provinces, which began at the end of March, the national government offered a one-off payment of 1,000 pesos per person, or 4,000 pesos for a family. So far, only about two-thirds of the aid meant for nearly 23mn people has been distributed. President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesman Harry Roque has praised the community pantries for showing “the best of the Filipino in the worst of times.” But police have reportedly profiled volunteers and a spokesman for Duterte’s anti-communist task force even accused the movement of being rebel sympathisers and doing the devil’s work. “I’m not saying they’re doing nothing, but I really think it’s not enough, especially since there’s a budget for it,” Non said of the government’s efforts. “The community pantry concept would not go wild if there’s no need for it.”

Two children are among three people confirmed killed by a landslide at a Chinese-backed power plant on Indonesia's Sumatra island, authorities said Friday, with fears that the toll would rise. Heavy rains pounded the area in North Sumatra on Thursday evening, triggering the deadly torrent. ‘This morning we found three dead victims - one adult and two children,’ said Toto Mulyono, head of the search-and-rescue agency in provincial capital Medan city. ‘We're still searching for nine more missing.’ Among them are three staff working at the Batang Toru hydropower facility, including one Chinese national, feared buried beneath a mountain of mud and debris. The employees were checking on the area over concerns that heavy rains could trigger landslides when disaster struck, according to Firman Taufick, spokesman for plant operator PT North Sumatera Hydro Energy. Another Chinese employee narrowly escaped as he fled the scene, Taufick added. ‘We're working with a rescue team from the military and police are combing the area now,’ he said. Fatal landslides and flash floods are common across the Indonesian archipelago during the rainy season. This month, more than 200 people were killed in a cluster of far-eastern islands and neighbouring East Timor when Tropical Cyclone Seroja turned small communities into wastelands of mud and uprooted trees. Seroja, one of the most destructive storms to hit the region in years, forced thousands to flee to shelters. Indonesia's disaster agency has estimated that 125mn Indonesians - nearly half of the country's population - live in areas at risk of landslides. The disasters are often caused by deforestation and poor mitigation planning, according to environmentalists.  

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has said he will not withdraw navy and coast guard boats patrolling the disputed South China Sea, insisting the country's sovereignty over the waters is not negotiable. Tensions over the sea -- which China claims almost entirely -- have spiked as Beijing refuses to pull out vessels from the Philippines' Exclusive Economic Zone and Manila steps up maritime patrols. Duterte is under growing domestic pressure to take a harder line, but has been reluctant to confront China over the issue as he fosters closer ties with the economic giant. He said late Wednesday that while the Philippines is indebted to its ‘good friend’ China for many things, including free Covid-19 vaccines, his country's claims to the waterway ‘cannot be bargainable’. ‘I'll tell China, we do not want trouble, we do not want war. But if you tell us to leave -- no,’ Duterte said. ‘There are things which are not really subject to a compromise, such as us pulling back. It's difficult. I hope they understand, but I have the interest of my country also to protect.’ Duterte's remarks came after the country's defence department said ‘China has no business telling the Philippines what we can and cannot do with our own waters’. The Philippine coast guard is conducting drills near Thitu Island and Scarborough Shoal, as well as the Batanes islands in the north and the southern and eastern parts of the country. Scarborough -- one of the region's richest fishing grounds -- has long been a flashpoint between Manila and Beijing. In response to the exercises, China's foreign ministry said Monday the Philippines should ‘stop actions complicating the situation and escalating disputes’. In recent weeks, Manila has boosted ‘sovereignty patrols’ involving the navy, coast guard and fisheries in the Spratly Islands -- an archipelago contested by several countries. Beijing has ignored a 2016 international tribunal decision that declared its historical claim over most of the South China Sea to be without basis. Once-frosty ties between Manila and Beijing have warmed under Duterte, who set aside the ruling in exchange for promises of trade and investment -- which critics say have not materialised. Delays in Covid-19 vaccine deliveries has left the Philippines heavily reliant on the CoronaVac jab developed by China's Sinovac. Around 3.5 million doses of CoronaVac have been sent to the Southeast Asian country so far, including one million donated doses.  

Myanmar's junta said Tuesday it will heed regional pleas to stop violence only when the coup-hit country "returns to stability", as fresh fighting erupted with a major ethnic rebel group along its eastern border. The nation has been in turmoil since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a February 1 coup, triggering an uprising that has seen security forces mount deadly crackdowns against protesters. The violence -- in which more than 750 people have been killed by security forces, according to a local monitoring group -- has raised alarm among regional neighbours. Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing attended a weekend meeting on the crisis with the leaders of the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) -- his first overseas trip since he seized power. The leaders issued a "five-point consensus" statement that called for the "immediate cessation of violence" and a visit to Myanmar by a regional special envoy. On Tuesday, Myanmar's State Administrative Council -- as the junta dubs itself -- said it would consider the "constructive suggestions made by ASEAN leaders when the situation returns to stability in the country". The statement also said its neighbours' suggestions would be "positively considered if it (ASEAN) would facilitate the implementation" of the junta's five-step roadmap. Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun told AFP the regime was "satisfied" with the trip, saying they had been able to explain the "real situation" to ASEAN leaders. But ASEAN is not known for its diplomatic clout and observers have questioned how effectively it can influence the crisis. The former US ambassador to Myanmar, Scot Marciel, warned that the military's response to the Jakarta summit showed signs of backsliding already. "ASEAN cannot dither here, as the junta moves to walk back even the limited agreement reached Saturday," Marciel said in a tweet. "There should be urgent follow-up, and costs imposed on the junta for delay. There is a reason no one in Myanmar trusts the Tatmadaw," he said, referring to the military by its Burmese name. Since February 1, security forces have killed more than 750 civilians, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a local monitoring group tracking the death toll. But the junta -- which called AAPP an "illegal organisation" -- has registered a far lower death toll while blaming the violence on "rioters". Two days after the ASEAN meeting, a teashop owner in Mandalay -- a hotspot of unrest -- was shot dead amid a protest that saw a violent crackdown by authorities, according to a rescue worker. The anti-coup movement has garnered broad support across the country, including among some of Myanmar's armed insurgent groups which have for decades been fighting the military for more autonomy. One of the most active opponents, the Karen National Union (KNU), has clashed with the military in their territory along Myanmar's eastern border for weeks. On Tuesday, fighting broke out in Karen state near the Salween river, which demarcates part of the border, with residents on the Thai side reporting hearing gunfire and explosions coming from inside Myanmar. Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun confirmed the attack by the KNU's Fifth Brigade, saying the rebels were not listening to the group's central command. "We will continue to take action for security reasons," he said. But Padoh Saw Taw Nee, the KNU's head of foreign affairs, called the junta's statement "nonsense", adding that their soldiers had razed the Tatmadaw's army base. "This is a divide-and-rule technique... we approve (of Fifth Brigade's attack)." Last month, after the KNU overran a military base in the same region, the junta responded with multiple air strikes at night -- the first use of air offensives in Karen state in over 20 years. Some villagers had already left their homes for other towns in fear of retaliation from the Myanmar military, said Hkara, a longtime ethnic Karen resident of Mae Sam Laep, a village on the Thai side of the border. "Nobody dares to stay," she told AFP. "They ran early this morning already when the fire fighting started." The fighting over recent weeks has displaced more than 24,000 civilians, including about 2,000 who crossed the river to seek refuge in Thailand before they were pushed back by border authorities. An estimated one-third of Myanmar's territory -- mostly in its border regions -- is controlled by a myriad of rebel groups, who have their own militias. The KNU has vocally condemned the military putsch, and have said they are sheltering at least 2,000 anti-coup dissidents who fled urban centres of unrest.

The Indonesian navy was on Monday trying to work out how it could salvage the remains of a Submarine from the bottom of the Bali Sea and retrieve the bodies of the 53 sailors who died onboard. The German-built KRI Nanggala-402 was discovered lying on the seabed on Sunday broken into at least three parts, four days after it lost contact while preparing to conduct a torpedo drill. Grieving relatives gathered on the seashore in Bali on Monday to pay their respects to the sailors who perished, and urged the authorities to bring up their bodies from the depths. Experts say it will be a daunting task to lift the Submarine to the surface from the deep water, requiring specialised salvage equipment. A spokesman for Indonesia's navy said a retrieval operation was still being discussed with experts and international bodies. "We will analyse the under water pictures and video, the current etc to decide the technology that will be used," First Admiral Julius Widjojono said. A sonar scan detected at least three parts of the Submarine at a depth of 850 metres (2,789 ft), far beyond Nanggala’s diving range. Relatives of crew member I Gede Kartika congregated at Celukan Bawang on Bali's north coast on Monday. Some carried incense and flowers as they clutched framed photographs of him in his naval uniform. Others rowed out to sea to ceremoniously scatter petals in the water. "We have already given our son to the government. Now that he has fallen in this operation, we hope the government will return his remains to us after all the official ceremonies," said Wayan Darmanta, the uncle of the Submariner. Family members of another lost crew member also gathered at the port town of Banyuwangi, which is home to the naval base on Java island where the Nanggala was stationed, to pay their respects. President Joko Widodo offered his condolences to the relatives and pledged the state would fund the education of the dead sailors' children. An international search and rescue effort involving aircraft and specialised naval vessels, including from Singapore, Australia and the United States, had raced against the clock to find the Submarine in case it was still intact and before oxygen ran out. But on Sunday Indonesia's military chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto confirmed the Nanggala had sunk and all of it crew had died.

Thailand’s prime minister was yesterday fined for not wearing a mask after new Covid-19 restrictions came into force to try to halt the country’s spiralling outbreak. Wearing masks is now compulsory in public spaces in 49 provinces and the capital, Bangkok – where the latest outbreak has been traced back to a nightlife district. Some locations are backing up that requirement with a 20,000 baht ($640) fine. After a picture of a maskless Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha attending a meeting emerged on social media yesterday, the Bangkok governor said the premier had been fined 6,000 baht ($190). “As Bangkok governor, I filed a complaint against the prime minister who accepted the fine,” governor Aswin Kwanmuang wrote on Facebook. Some 2,048 new cases were announced in Thailand yesterday. The day before, the country recorded its highest single-day death toll of the pandemic, with 11 fatalities. Until the latest outbreak, Thailand had managed to keep infections down thanks to strict travel restrictions and swift action to isolate confirmed cases. But there have been complaints about the slow rollout of vaccines, with the kingdom lagging behind other countries in the region. “It’s a failure in management from the health ministry,” said 61-year-old restaurant manager Pracha. Prayut said on Facebook the government was trying to source more doses and ramp up the programme to inoculate 300,000 people a day. In addition to the mask requirement, authorities in the capital have closed a raft of venues including cinemas, parks, gyms, swimming pools, spas and nurseries. Pranee Namrat, a 48-year-old seafood vendor, said she was frightened the situation would get worse. “If I got infected... I’m scared of not having a place for treatment,” she said.

The Philippines yesterday announced that its Covid-19 cases had exceeded 1mn, as the country sought to boost healthcare capacity to ease strains on hospitals and medical staff stretched by a second wave of infections. The Philippines imposed a two-week lockdown of Manila and surrounding provinces late last month to try to stem a surge in cases blamed on more contagious Covid-19 variants. Health Undersecretary Rosario Vergeire warned infections would go back up if restrictions were relaxed now. “As a health agency, we in the DOH (department of health) see the importance of continuing these kinds of restrictions so there is breathing room and space for decongestion of our healthcare system,” Vergeire said ahead of a government task force meeting to decide on the issue. “This is primarily our major concern.” But while daily infections have eased slightly they have still averaged more than 9,000, against 5,525 in March and 213 per day in April 2020, health ministry data showed. In the capital region, an urban sprawl of 16 cities home to at least 13mn people, intensive care unit (ICU) capacity is above 70%, while 57% of isolation beds and 64% of ward beds for Covid-19 patients were occupied as of April 26. In a bid to admit more patients, tents were turned into Covid-19 emergency rooms at the National Kidney Transplant Institute, a government hospital in Manila. “All in all we waited for almost six hours It’s a long difficult wait,” Covid-19 patients Roel Galan saidd, speaking outside a makeshift emergency room. Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said yesterday 289 additional ICU beds would be made available in the capital. To free up beds for severe Covid-19 patients, the Philippine Red Cross yesterday said it has set up field hospital tents and converted unused classrooms and buildings into quarantine facilities to care for patients with moderate and mild symptoms. The government has been redeploying healthcare workers from low-transmission regions to the capital to support struggling hospitals. Philippine Red Cross chairman Richard Gordon said more medical volunteers were “urgently” needed. Dr John Wong, a member of the government’s coronavirus task force’s data analytics team, said authorities must ramp up vaccinations to contain the virus and allow the economy to reopen. He said 350,000 people needed to be vaccinated a day so the government could meet its target of immunising 70mn, or a third of the country’s population, this year.

A missing Indonesian submarine has been found, broken into at least three parts, at the bottom of the Bali Sea, army and navy officials said yesterday, as the president sent condolences to relatives of the 53 crew. Rescuers also found new objects, including a life vest, that they believe belong to those aboard the 44-year old KRI Nanggala-402, which lost contact on Wednesday as it prepared to conduct a torpedo drill. “Based on the evidence, it can be stated that the KRI Nanggala has sunk and all of its crew have died,” military chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto told reporters. Navy chief of staff Yudo Margono said the crew were not to blame for the accident and that the submarine did not experience a blackout, blaming “forces of nature”. “The KRI Nanggala is divided into three parts, the hull of the ship, the stern of the ship, and the main parts are all separated, with the main part found cracked,” he said. “There are scattered parts of the submarine and its interior in the water.” President Joko Widodo earlier confirmed the discovery in the Bali Sea and sent the families of the victims his condolences. “All of us Indonesians express our deep sorrow over this tragedy, especially to the families of the submarine crew.” A sonar scan on Saturday detected the submarine at 2,790 feet, far beyond the Nanggala’s diving range. More than a dozen helicopters and ships are searching the area where contact was lost, with the US, Australia, Singapore, and Malaysia providing assistance. Navy officials said international help will be crucial in recovering the remains of the vessel. Singapore senior minister Teo Chee Hean wrote on social media late yesterday that a ROV (remotely operated vehicle) sent by the Singapore navy was able to “recover a few critical items from the seabed at depth of more than 800 meters”.

The Philippine coast guard is conducting drills in the South China Sea which an official yesterday said  were part of efforts to secure “our maritime jurisdiction” over the disputed waters. The exercises near the Philippine-occupied Thitu Island and China-controlled Scarborough Shoal come amid heightened tensions over the resource-rich sea. The latest diplomatic wrangle between the two countries was triggered by the detection last month of hundreds of Chinese vessels in the Spratly Islands. Most of the boats have since dispersed around the contested archipelago. China - which claims almost the entirety of the sea - has refused repeated demands by the Philippines to call back the ships, which Manila says are maritime militia vessels and Beijing says are fishing boats. In response, the Philippines has deployed more patrol vessels, including coast guard and navy ships, to intensify surveillance and prevent illegal fishing. The coast guard drills began last week. “We are supporting the whole-of-nation approach in securing our maritime jurisdiction,” coast guard spokesman commodore Armando Balilo said. The exercises involve training in navigation, small boat operations, maintenance and logistical operations. They are being held near Thitu Island and Scarborough Shoal, as well as the Batanes islands in the north, and the southern and eastern parts of the country. Scarborough - one of the region’s richest fishing grounds - has long been a flashpoint between Manila and Beijing. China seized it from the Philippines in 2012 following a tense standoff. The drills began as Philippine armed forces held joint exercises with US soldiers that ended on Friday. Beijing has ignored a 2016 international tribunal decision that declared its historical claim over most of the South China Sea to be without basis.

Southeast Asian leaders said they had agreed on a plan with Myanmar’s junta chief yesterday to end the crisis in the violence-hit nation, but he did not explicitly respond to demands to halt the killing of civilian protesters. “It’s beyond our expectation,” Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin told reporters after the leaders’ meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) that was also attended by Myanmar’s Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. “We tried not to accuse his side too much because we don’t care who’s causing it,” Muhyiddin added. “We just stressed that the violence must stop. For him, it’s the other side that’s causing the problems. But he agreed that violence must stop.” Asean leaders wanted a commitment from Min Aung Hlaing to restrain his security forces, who an activist monitoring group says have killed 745 people since a mass civil disobedience movement erupted to challenge his Feb 1 coup. They had also wanted the release of political prisoners. “He did not reject what was put forward by me and many other colleagues,” Muhyiddin said. According to a statement from group chair Brunei, a consensus was reached on five points – ending violence, a constructive dialogue among all parties, a special Asean envoy to facilitate the dialogue, acceptance of aid and a visit by the envoy to Myanmar. There was no mention of releasing political prisoners in the statement. “He said he (Min Aung Hlaing) heard us, he would take the point in, which he considered helpful,” Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told reporters. “He was not opposed to Asean playing a constructive role, or an Asean delegation visit, or humanitarian assistance.” But Lee added the process had a long way to go, “because it is one thing to say you will cease violence and release political prisoners, it is another thing to get it done”. It was not clear why Lee referred to the release of political prisoners when this was not in the consensus statement. There was no immediate comment from Min Aung Hlaing. A regular nighttime news bulletin on the military-run Myawaddy TV reported his attendance of the meeting and said Myanmar would closely co-operate with Asean on various issues, including “the political transition in Myanmar, and the process that will be implemented in the future”. Charles Santiago, head of the Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights group, called for the release of Myanmar’s political prisoners and a timeline for an end to violence. “Asean must now act swiftly and set a clear timeline for Min Aung Hlaing to deliver on ending the violence, or stand ready to hold him accountable,” he said. The Asean gathering was the first co-ordinated international effort to ease the crisis in Myanmar, an impoverished country that neighbours China, India and Thailand, since the coup that overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government. Myanmar is part of the 10-nation Asean, which has a policy of consensus decision-making and non-interference in the affairs of its members. Myanmar’s parallel National Unity Government (NUG), comprised of pro-democracy figures, remnants of Suu Kyi’s ousted administration and representatives of armed ethnic groups, said it welcomed the consensus reached but the junta had to be held to its promises. “We look forward to firm action by Asean to follow up its decisions and to restore our democracy,” said Dr Sasa, spokesman for the NUG.

Debris has been recovered from a missing Indonesian submarine, the country’s navy said yesterday, suggesting that the stricken vessel could have broken apart after sinking with 53 crew aboard. The development dashed already slim hopes of rescuing the sailors alive after their oxygen reserves were understood to have run out earlier in the day. Warships, planes and hundreds of military personnel have been searching for the KRI Nanggala 402 since it disappeared off the coast of Bali early Wednesday. Authorities earlier said the German-built craft was equipped with enough oxygen for only three days after losing power. That deadline passed yesterday morning. The navy’s chief Yudo Margono said a search party had recovered fragments from the submarine including items from inside the vessel – pointing to a catastrophic accident. “We have raised the status from submiss to subsunk,” he told reporters, adding that the retrieved items could not have come from another vessel. “(The items) would not have come outside the submarine if there was no external pressure or without damage to its torpedo launcher.” But he discounted an explosion, saying it was more likely the submarine came apart as it was crushed by water pressure at depths topping 800 metres (2,600 feet) – well below what it was built to withstand. Sonar did not pick up signals to indicate a blast, he added. “It was not an explosion because (if it was) everything would be in pieces,” Margono said. “This was a gradual cracking.” Navy officials displayed several items including a piece of the vessel’s torpedo system and a bottle of grease used to lubricate a periscope. They also found a prayer mat commonly used by Muslims. Margono said the hunt for the submarine – and sailors – would continue, but warned that deep waters made the recovery effort “very risky and difficult”. “We don’t know about the victims’ condition because we haven’t found any of them. So we can’t speculate,” he said in response to questions about the possibility of survivors. “But with the (discovery) of these items, you can make your own conclusion.” The submarine – one of five in Indonesia’s fleet – disappeared early Wednesday during live torpedo training exercises off the Indonesian holiday island. An oil spill spotted where the submarine was thought to have submerged pointed to possible fuel-tank damage, fanning fears of a deadly disaster. The vessel was scheduled to conduct the training exercises when it asked for permission to dive. It lost contact shortly after. Authorities have not offered possible explanations for the submarine’s sudden disappearance or commented on questions about whether the decades-old vessel was overloaded. The military has said the submarine, delivered to Indonesia in 1981, was seaworthy. Neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia, as well as the United States and Australia, were among nations helping in the hunt with nearly two dozen ships deployed to scour a search zone covering about 10 square nautical miles (34 square kms). Australia’s HMAS Ballarat arrived earlier yesterday with a US P-8 Poseidon aircraft. Singapore’s MV Swift Rescue – a submarine rescue vessel – was also taking part.

The United States is deploying a P-8 Poseidon aircraft to assist in the search and rescue operation for a missing Indonesian navy submarine lost in the Bali Sea, as hopes fade for the 53 crew which are expected to have run out of oxygen early on Saturday. The Indonesian navy said it was sending search helicopters and ships to the area where contact was lost with the 44-year-old KRI Nanggala-402 submarine on Wednesday as it prepared to conduct a torpedo drill. Australia has also deployed a sonar-equipped frigate with a helicopter to help the submarine hunt, while navy officials said vessels are on route from India and Singapore, as concerns grow that the submarine might have been crushed by water pressure. ‘The possibility of it having fallen underneath its maximum diving depth thereby leading to the implosion of the submarine will have to be considered,’ said Collin Koh, Research Fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies. If the submarine was still intact, Indonesian officials said on Friday it would only have enough air to last until around dawn on Saturday if equipment was functioning properly. ‘So far we haven't found it...but with the equipment available we should be able to find the location,’ Achmad Riad, a spokesman for the Indonesian military, told a news conference. Koh said the assumption that the submarine had 72 hours of oxygen was optimistic given the submarine's limited ability to generate oxygen due to its conventional power generation. ‘So there's a possibility...oxygen might have already run out,’ said Koh. Indonesia's navy said it was investigating whether the submarine lost power during a dive and could not carry out emergency procedures as it descended to a depth of 600-700 metres (1,968-2,296 feet), well beyond its survivable limits. Indonesian navy retired rear admiral Frans Wuwung, who had previously headed the submarine's machinery room, told Indonesian news channel MetroTV that he believed a blackout was likely and could have caused the crew to panic. ‘A blackout means the vessel's equipment cannot be moved,’ he said. An object with ‘high magnetic force’ had been spotted ‘floating’ at a depth of 50-100 metres, Indonesian Navy Chief of Staff Yudo Margono said, and an aerial search had earlier spotted an oil spill near the submarine's last location. The diesel-electric powered submarine could withstand a depth of up to 500 metres but anything more could be fatal, navy spokesman Julius Widjojono said. Experts like Koh say Indonesia will have to expand the area of search again if the magnetic anomaly is proven not to be the vessel and warn that if the submarine is lost at an ‘extreme depth’, it might not be possible to retrieve. The Bali Sea can reach depths of more than 1,500 metres. One of the people on board was the commander of the Indonesian submarine fleet, Harry Setiawan. Late on Friday, the Pentagon said US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had spoken with his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto and offered additional support, which could include undersea search assets.  

Pedigree cats confiscated by Thai police during a drugs raid have found a home with a feline fanatic after being put up for auction. All six pets, five of the Scottish Fold breed and one Bengal, were sold to Nutch Prasopsin, who runs a Facebook page followed by 3mn cat lovers, who helped her raise the 100,000 baht ($3,186) winning bid. “I was very excited. I had very much hoped that the cats would end up in my care. I’ve been following their status since the very first day,” she told reporters. The auction was held after a 30-day window expired for the owner, who remains at large, to come forward and claim the cats and prove they were not purchased with drug money. The confiscated cats will share their new home with Nutch’s 20 other cats. Pornthip Jampong of the regional narcotics control board said the cats had suffered an ordeal and it was important they be auctioned off as a group. “They were living together so they would be familiar with each other,” she said. “If we separate them, this may cause them to stress or have psychological effects.” The money generated at the auction will be held by police as a seized asset.

Southeast Asian leaders will try to persuade Myanmar’s junta to end violence and let in aid at a summit today, diplomats said, in the first concerted international effort to ease the crisis in the country. Leaders will meet behind closed doors at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Jakarta, Indonesia, in the hope of encouraging candid discussions, two diplomatic sources told Reuters. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar’s junta chief who ousted the civilian government on Feb 1, is likely to attend, officials and diplomats in the host nation have said. The Southeast Asian country has been in crisis since the coup, with almost daily protests and a crackdown by the junta in which hundreds of people have been killed. Initiatives being considered by Asean include a pause in violence to allow medical and food supplies into Myanmar, and the appointment of a special envoy to encourage dialogue between the military regime and its opponents in the rival National Unity Government (NUG), the sources said. No nations outside of Asean will be present at the talks, although some of the participating nations and the UN special envoy on Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, will hold meetings on the sidelines of the event, they added. Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said he met Schraner Burgener on Friday and discussed how the international community can play “a constructive role in facilitating normalcy, peace and stability in Myanmar”. “The unfolding tragedy has serious consequences for Myanmar, Asean and the region,” he said on Twitter. A spokesman for the NUG, formed by ousted lawmakers and some ethnic groups opposed to the junta, told Reuters the group had “been in contact with Asean leaders”, but had not been officially invited to the summit. In Yangon, Myanmar’s commercial capital, scores of protesters chanted “What do we want? Democracy” as they briefly marched through downtown areas of the city. No one was arrested, witnesses said. Amnesty International urged Asean to investigate Min Aung Hlaing for crimes against humanity. “As a state party to the UN Convention Against Torture, Indonesia has a legal obligation to prosecute or extradite a suspected perpetrator on its territory,” Amnesty said. The junta said earlier this month protests against its rule were dwindling because people wanted peace. Asean traditionally does not interfere in the internal affairs of a member state and how it deals with the Myanmar crisis will be its biggest test yet, the human rights group said. “The bloc’s usual commitment to non-interference is a non-starter: this is not an internal matter for Myanmar but a major human rights and humanitarian crisis which is impacting the entire region and beyond,” Emerlynne Gil, Amnesty’s Deputy Regional Director for Research, said in the statement. Asean’s members include Myanmar, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said the leaders of Laos, the Philippines and Thailand would send representatives, but did not confirm whether the Myanmar junta chief would attend. “The commitment of leaders to meet physically is a reflection of a deep concern about the situation in Myanmar and Asean’s determination to help Myanmar get out of this delicate situation,” she said at a news conference. Myanmar’s state television made no mention of the Asean meeting in its nightly news bulletin yesterday. The junta has shown no sign of wanting to talk to members of the government it ousted, accusing some of them of treason, which is punishable by death. The junta has called the NUG an unlawful organisation. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a Myanmar activist group, says 745 people have been killed by security forces since the coup and 3,371 people are in detention.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong named Lawrence Wong, tipped as a contender to be future premier, as the new finance minister in a broader cabinet reshuffle which comes at a time when the country is resetting its leadership succession plan. Wong, the face of the Singapore government's fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, is among a crop of younger political figures who have been touted by analysts as potential successors to Lee. He is currently education minister and second minister for finance. Wong replaces Heng Swee Keat, whose unexpected move to step aside as the country's leader-in-waiting, has raised uncertainty over who will succeed Lee, 69, when he retires. Lee, who had signalled he would delay his plan to retire by 70 to see Singapore through the Covid-19 pandemic, has said he will stay on until a successor is chosen. ‘The upgrade for Lawrence Wong is certainly a signal, a cautious move to explore his capacity,’ said Gillian Koh, deputy director of research at the Institute of Policy Studies. The reshuffle comes after Singapore, a global finance and trade hub, suffered its worst ever recession last year due to the pandemic. The government has pumped more than S$100 billion ($75.34 billion) into the economy to cope with the fallout. Among the contenders for the top job, Chan Chun Sing was given the education portfolio and Ong Ye Kung will take over as health minister. The three are part of a younger team from the ‘fourth generation’ of leaders, or 4G, which has to choose a replacement for Heng from among themselves. ‘This round of cabinet changes will allow (4G ministers) to gain new experience and exposure,’ Lee told a media briefing, adding the reshuffle would help them work together in new capacities and strengthen their cohesion as a team. ‘This will make the new team readier to take over from me and my older colleagues.’ The current health minister, Gan Kim Yong, will take on Chan's trade and industry portfolio. Ong will relinquish his role as minister for transport and join Wong as the co-chair of the country's virus-fighting task force. The changes will be effective May 15. While becoming finance minister will help Wong in profiling his ability and leadership, ‘it does not catapult him to the forefront,’ said Eugene Tan, a former nominated member of parliament. ‘The race is still very much wide open.’  

* Indonesian navy lost contact with submarine on Wednesday * Oil slick spotted on sea surface and magnetic object detected * Ships, aircraft from at least five other countries aid search * Distraught relatives cling to hope Rescue teams from several countries were battling against time on Friday to find a missing Indonesian Navy submarine lost in the Bali Sea with 53 crew, which would be rapidly running out of oxygen if not already crushed by water pressure. Search helicopters and more navy ships left Bali and a naval base in Java at first light heading to the area where contact was lost with the 44-year-old KRI Nanggala-402 on Wednesday as it prepared to conduct a torpedo drill. ‘The main priority is the safety of the 53 crew members,’ President Joko Widodo said late on Thursday. Indonesia's navy said it was investigating whether the submarine lost power during a dive and could not carry out emergency procedures as it descended to a depth of 600-700 metres, well beyond its survivable limits. An object with ‘high magnetic force’ had been spotted ‘floating’ at a depth of 50-100 metres, Indonesian Navy Chief of Staff Yudo Margono said, and an aerial search had earlier spotted an oil spill near the submarine's last location. If the submarine was still intact, officials said it would only have enough air to last about another 15 hours until early Saturday morning. The diesel-electric powered submarine could withstand a depth of up to 500 metres (1,640 ft) but anything more could be fatal, Navy spokesman Julius Widjojono said. The Bali Sea can reach depths of more than 1,500 metres. One of the people on board the boat was the commander of the Indonesian submarine fleet, Harry Setiawan. An Indonesian defence expert said the crew could still be found alive. ‘But if the submarine is in a 700-metre sea trough, it will be difficult for them to survive because underwater pressure will cause cracks and ruptures of the steel hull,’ Connie Rahakundini Bakrie said. Distraught relatives await news The submarine joined the Indonesian fleet in 1981, according to the defence ministry, and underwent a refit in South Korea completed in 2012. It was said to be in good condition. ‘I hope that they will be found alive,’ said Berda Asmara, the wife of crew member Guntur Ari Prasetyo, 39, who has sailed on the Nanggala for 10 years. ‘We had a video call. He told me that he would go sailing and asked me to pray for him,’ she said of the last time they spoke. Australia, India, Malaysia, Singapore and the United States have sent specialised ships or aircraft in response to Indonesian requests for assistance. The US Defence Department is sending ‘airborne assets’ to assist in the submarine search, a Pentagon spokesman said. Two Australian Navy ships were heading for the search area including a frigate with special sonar capabilities, the defence department said. Indonesia operates five submarines - two German-built Type 209s including Nanggala and three newer South Korean vessels. It has been seeking to modernise its defence capabilities but some of its equipment is old and there have been fatal accidents in recent years.  

Indonesian warships yesterday led the hunt for a submarine that went missing with 53 crew aboard and only enough oxygen for a few days. An oil spill where the submarine was thought to have submerged early Wednesday pointed to possible fuel-tank damage, and fanned fears of a deadly disaster. The crew on the KRI Nanggala 402 could have enough oxygen until early Saturday, but time was quickly running out as rescuers scoured the coast off holiday island Bali where it disappeared. “There’s time until Saturday around 3am. Let’s hope we can find them before then,” navy chief of staff Yudo Margono told reporters. However, defence analysts have warned that the vessel could have already broken into pieces if it has sunk to depths believed to be as much as 2,300 feet — well below what it was built to withstand. Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo asked his country to pray for the crew, while Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton said initial reports raised the prospect of a “terrible tragedy”. The German-built submarine was scheduled to conduct live torpedo exercises when it asked for permission to dive. It lost contact shortly after. Search teams were focused on an area around the oil slick. But the exact location of the vessel had yet to be pinpointed, the navy said, with warships and helicopters assisting in the hunt. Damage to the submarine’s fuel tank could spell big trouble. “If your tank’s cracked it is not very good news,” said Collin Koh, a naval affairs specialist and research fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. “Because we are talking about the pressure hull of the submarine being breached. So it could cause potential flooding.” Neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia have already dispatched ships that are expected to arrive in the coming days, including the city-state’s MV Swift Rescue — a submarine rescue vessel. India yesterday said it had sent a ship to assist in the search, while the US, Australia, France and Germany are among other nations that have offered help. Indonesia’s military has so far refused to comment about whether the decades-old submarine, carrying 53 crew, was over capacity. But it has said the submarine might have sunk to vast depths after a blackout that left its crew powerless to control the vessel. “There are too many unknowns right now,” said Curie Maharani, a defence expert at Indonesia’s Bina Nusantara university. “But what we do know is that it’s a race against time.” Frank Owen, secretary of the Submarine Institute of Australia, warned that rescuing any surviving crew quickly would be near impossible.

Singapore's manpower ministry said authorities were investigating the possibility of Covid-19 re-infections among residents in a migrant workers' dormitory, after finding about a dozen positive cases in the facility. Hundreds of residents from the dormitory will be sent to a government quarantine facility, local media reported. Authorities had conducted Covid-19 tests on all residents at Westlite Woodlands Dormitory after a 35-year-old worker was found positive on April 20 as part of routine testing. The worker had completed his second vaccination dose on April 13. His room-mate also tested positive. To date, at least 10 recovered workers were found to be Covid-19 positive. ‘These cases were immediately isolated and conveyed to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) to investigate for possible re-infection,’ the manpower ministry said in a statement issued on Wednesday. The more than 1,100 residents from the block where the cases were found will be sent to a government quarantine facility for 14 days, Channel NewsAsia reported on its website, citing a letter from the dormitory operator. The manpower ministry and the operator did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Singapore last reported more than 10 cases in a single day among dormitory residents in September, with barely any new infections over the last few months. The city-state has largely brought the virus under control locally and has been rolling out vaccinations. The health ministry has previously said the vaccines were effective in preventing symptomatic disease but further research was required to determine if they will also prevent onward transmission. The bulk of the more than 60,000 Covid-19 cases since the pandemic started, occurred in the cramped dormitories that house mainly South Asian low-wage workers, triggering lockdowns of the facilities. The workers in the dormitories are still mostly separated from the rest of the population in the city-state, typically only allowed out of their residence for work. Separately, Bloomberg News reported, citing sources, that Singapore and Hong Kong had called off an announcement planned for Thursday on an air travel bubble between the two financial hubs.