International

• Polls showed the son of late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos heading towards a landslide win The son of late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos was set to address hundreds of thousands of supporters yesterday on the final day of presidential election campaigning, as polls showed him heading towards a landslide win. Victory in tomorrow’s (Monday) election would cap a decades-long effort to rehabilitate the Marcos legacy after the patriarch was deposed and the disgraced clan chased into US exile. But the prospect of Ferdinand Marcos Jr moving back into the presidential palace has alarmed rights activists, church leaders and political analysts who fear he could rule “without constraint”. The Marcoses’ remarkable return from pariahs to the peak of political power has been fuelled by public anger over corruption and poverty that persisted under governments that followed the dictatorship. Thousands of red-clad Marcos supporters braved the ferocious sun and high winds yesterday to amass on a dusty wasteland overlooked by a gleaming luxury casino resort - a stark reminder of the country’s vast income gap. Wielding national flags or umbrellas for shade, they gathered before a stage featuring an enormous screen of the smiling candidate as Filipino reggae, hip hop and pop played at deafening levels. Mary Ann Oladive, a 37-year-old call centre worker, said she hoped Marcos Jr would bring unity to the country. “We hope for greater opportunity and jobs. We trust him, we hope that after the election they will give us a better future in the Philippines,” she said. Ten candidates are vying to succeed President Rodrigo Duterte in the landmark elections seen by many as a make-or-break moment for Philippine democracy. Polls indicate Marcos Jr will win more than half the votes, which would make him the first presidential candidate to secure an absolute majority since his father was ousted in 1986. Analysts warn such an outcome would lead to weaker democratic checks and balances, more corruption and a fresh attempt to overhaul the 1987 constitution - which could include scrapping the one-term limit for presidents. Previous administrations, including Duterte’s, have tried to amend the constitution but they lacked sufficient support in Congress to push through changes. The latest poll by Pulse Asia Research showed Marcos Jr on 56% - 33 percentage points ahead of his nearest rival Leni Robredo, who narrowly beat him in the 2016 vice-presidential race. Such a winning margin would give Marcos Jr the power to “govern the way Duterte wanted to”, one long-time observer of Philippine politics told AFP. “That is without constraint,” he said. Robredo’s recent poll bump has raised hopes among progressive supporters that their volunteer-driven campaign could yet deliver an upset. There was a carnival atmosphere in the capital’s financial district on Saturday as thousands of Robredo fans wearing her pink campaign colour and waving flags and balloons packed out avenues, dancing to pop music blaring over loudspeakers. “I think this election is very important... our next six years of life will depend on it,” first-time voter Charmaigne Ang, 18, told AFP. “Surveys are not a basis of who will win.” But pollster Ana Maria Tabunda of Pulse Asia Research gave Robredo little hope. “Our error margin is only plus or minus two percentage points - given the large gap, it’s not going to be affecting the results,” Tabunda told AFP. Allegations of dirty tricks marred the last week of a bitter presidential campaign, as Marcos Jr warned of vote-rigging while Robredo accused him of being a “liar”. Still smarting from his 2016 loss, Marcos Jr has run a tightly-controlled campaign, skipping televised debates with rivals and largely shunning media interviews to avoid own goals before election day. A massive and well-funded social media misinformation campaign targeting a mostly young electorate with no memory of his father’s violent and corrupt rule has also sought to rewrite the family’s history. Marcos Jr’s popularity has been further enhanced by a formidable alliance with vice-presidential front runner and first daughter Sara Duterte, and the backing of several rival political dynasties. Days ahead of the election, rights defenders and many Catholic priests made a final push to stop Marcos Jr returning to the Malacanang Palace, where he grew up. “It will be another six years of hell,” warned political satirist and activist Mae Paner, 58, who was part of a popular uprising that ended the elder Marcos’s regime and has been campaigning for Robredo. Hundreds of Catholic priests publicly endorsed Robredo and her running mate Francis Pangilinan, telling their flocks the election was a “battle for the soul” of the nation. But after enduring six years of attacks from the elder Duterte, Robredo has seen her popularity hammered by a relentless and vicious online smear campaign. Heydarian said Robredo’s late decision to enter the race had cost valuable time, while “unnecessary infighting” among rival candidates had benefited Marcos Jr. “They are handing this on a silver platter to the princeling of Philippine politics, Bongbong Marcos,” he said, using Marcos Jr’s nickname. Supporters of Philippine Vice-President and presidential candidate Leni Robredo gather on the main road as they take part in a campaign rally ahead of the 2022 national elections in Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines, yesterday.

Philippine election rivals yesterday traded allegations of dirty tricks and vote-rigging, in the final stretch of an acerbic campaign that is tipped to bring the son of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos to power. After months of fierce campaigning marked by relentless misinformation and an online whitewashing of the country’s violent history, rivals Ferdinand Marcos Jr and Leni Robredo implicated each other in underhand tactics. Marcos Jr - the son of the late dictator and notoriously kleptocratic first lady Imelda Marcos - is predicted to win Monday’s poll by a landslide. The Marcos campaign yesterday urged supporters to “protect their votes” against unspecified attempts at vote-rigging. “We’ve already won!” Marcos Jr said. “Just make sure you guard the votes on Monday — don’t sleep...we know that when we sleep, a lot of undesirable things happen.” The Marcos campaign also accused Robredo of being “toxic, divisive and acrimonious” and having “associated themselves” with shadowy political groups. Robredo has campaigned on a promise to clean up the Philippines’ chronically corrupt politics. The 57-year-old lawyer, and current vice president, has attracted fevered support from progressive young Filipinos. Despite her deficit in opinion polls, few are ready to completely rule her out, as febrile rumours swirl about the accuracy of polls that currently put her on 23% of the vote versus Marcos’ 56%. With all still to play for, her campaign took legal action yesterday to bat back potentially damaging rumours that she is in league with the Communist Party. Unproven allegations that party founder Jose Maria Sison, who lives in exile in the Netherlands, was advising her campaign recently resurfaced in Marcos-allied media. In a complaint affidavit filed with the prosecutor’s office Robredo’s spokesman called the allegations “fabricated” and “fictitious”. “This crossed a line,” Barry Gutierrez told reporters. “This is not a vlogger, it’s not some random influencer on social media putting out criticisms. This is supposedly a respectable member of the journalism profession.” Despite a lack of evidence, the allegations have circulated widely on Facebook, which is extremely popular in the Philippines, gaining hundreds of thousands of interactions. Misinformation seeking to discredit Robredo as stupid, unfriendly or even a communist has surged during the election season. Communist rebels have waged a decades-long insurgency in the country. Red-tagging — accusing someone of being a communist sympathiser — has intensified under President Rodrigo Duterte and has resulted in the deaths of many activists, journalists and lawyers.

Philippine presidential frontrunner Ferdinand Marcos Junior has warned supporters to protect their votes in next week’s national elections to avoid the result being “stolen from us again”. In the final week of campaigning for the May 9 polls, voter surveys show the son and namesake of the country’s late dictator with a huge lead over his nearest rival, incumbent Vice President Leni Robredo. Victory for Marcos Jr, 64, would be the ultimate revival of his father’s legacy and restore the family to the presidential palace they fled in disgrace in 1986. Robredo came from behind to narrowly beat Marcos Jr in the 2016 vice presidential race, and a recent bump in her popularity has raised hopes among her fans that she could do it again. Still smarting from the loss, which he spent five years trying to overturn, Marcos Jr told his nearly 6mn Facebook followers of the need to be “vigilant of our votes”. In the short video Marcos Jr wore a traditional barong shirt and stood behind a lectern, with the Philippines flag in the background — a far cry from his usual folksy style. “Let us protect our decision and let us not allow it to be stolen from us again,” Marcos Jr said. Around 67mn Filipinos are registered to cast ballots in the elections. A shift from manual to electronic voting in the 2010 polls made it harder for candidates to cheat, though vote buying remains widespread in the corrupt democracy. A survey by Pulse Asia Research released on Monday shows Marcos Jr on track to win 56% of the vote — 33 percentage points ahead of Robredo. Iglesia Ni Cristo, a conservative Christian group believed to have more than a million voters who are required by their leader to vote as a bloc, on Tuesday endorsed him and running mate Sara Duterte.

Philippine presidential candidates were in the provinces yesterday to drum up more support as the campaign entered its homestretch, in an election that has shaped into a two-way race between Ferdinand Marcos Jr and old rival Leni Robredo. Marcos, the son and namesake of the ousted dictator who ruled the Philippines for two decades, has a wide lead in polls over incumbent vice president, Robredo, ahead of the May 9 ballot. The 64-year-old frontrunner repeated his message of unity before supporters in central Iloilo province at the first of three big rallies this week before campaigning ends on Saturday, urging them to carry his “Uniteam” to victory. “We have travelled around the country to rally support behind our unity movement,” said Marcos, who appears on the verge of completing a once-unthinkable rebranding of the Marcos name, 36 years after a “people power” uprising toppled his father and drove his family into exile. Political analysts say Marcos has been aided by a decades-long public relations effort to alter perception of his family, even as critics accuse the Marcoses of attempting to rewrite history. “They have...the advantage of crafting an appealing narrative, which we know distorts the historical fact and yet has somehow appealed to many voters,” said retired political science professor Temario Rivera. In Negros Occidental province, what was supposed to be a small assembly turned into a campaign rally for Robredo, 57, after dozens of supporters showed up. There, she promised an honest and transparent government if elected president. The latest Pulse Asia survey conducted in mid April showed 56% of 2,400 respondents supporting Marcos, 23% backing Robredo and former boxer Manny Pacquiao and Manila mayor Francisco Domagoso on 7% and 4% respectively. Also a boon for Marcos is running mate, Sara Duterte-Carpio, who has been riding on the huge popularity of her father, outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte, who on Monday reiterated he would endorse no presidential candidate. At the Marcos rally yesterday, crowds emphatically chanted “Duterte, Duterte,” before she spoke. Marcos and Robredo have a bitter rivalry, with Robredo’s affiliation firmly with the movement that ousted his father after years of authoritarianism and martial law. Despite Marcos’s commanding lead, Robredo has attracted key endorsements and big crowds in recent rallies, support that some analysts say the latest survey may not have captured. Robredo last week challenged Marcos to a debate, but he declined, saying he preferred to speak directly to the public.

Don’t look down! Vietnam launched a new attraction for domestic and international tourists with a head for heights yesterday, with the opening of a massive glass-bottomed bridge that is suspended 150m (490’) above a lush jungle. The Bach Long pedestrian bridge – whose name translates to “white dragon” – in northwest Son La province snakes around dizzying cliff faces before spanning a dramatic valley between two peaks, hitting a total length of 632m (690 yards). The floor of the bridge is made from French-produced tempered glass, making it strong enough to support up to 450 people at a time, while giving them a spectacular view of the greenery in the gorge far below. “When standing on the bridge, travellers will be able to admire the beauty of nature,” Hoang Manh Duy, a representative of the bridge’s operator said. The company says it is the world’s longest glass-bottomed bridge, surpassing a 526m structure in Guangdong, China. Officials from Guinness World Records are expected to verify the claim next month. Vietnamese tourism chiefs are seeking to lure visitors back after two years of coronavirus (Covid-19) shutdowns that kept out virtually all foreign travellers. In mid-March, the country ended quarantine for international visitors and resumed 15 days of visa-free travel for citizens from 13 countries. Vietnam is set to host the Southeast Asian Games in two weeks – with more than 10,000 athletes and sports staff from countries in the region en route. Bach Long is Vietnam’s third glass bridge. “I hope the bridge will lure more domestic and international tourists to our area,” local resident Bui Van Thach said after walking across it. Visitors are seen on the walkway section and in Moc Chau district in Vietnam’s Son La province.

Indonesia began imposing a complete ban on palm oil exports Thursday, as the world's largest producer of the commodity risked destabilising a global vegetable oil market already hitting peak prices. The archipelago nation is facing a shortage of domestic supplies of cooking oil and soaring prices, with consumers in several cities having to wait for hours in front of distribution centres to buy the essential commodity at subsidised rates.  Authorities in Southeast Asia's most populous country fear the scarcity and rising costs could provoke social tensions and have moved to secure supplies of the product, which is used in a range of goods such as chocolate spreads and cosmetics. In a last-minute reversal late Wednesday, they clarified the embargo would include all exports of the oilseed and not only products intended for edible oils, as indicated a day earlier. "All products," including crude palm oil, "are covered by the Ministry of Trade regulation and will be enforced," said Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto.  President Joko Widodo said supplying the country's 270 million residents was the "highest priority" of his government. "As the world's largest palm oil producer, it is ironic that we are having difficulties getting cooking oil," he said. Indonesia produces about 60 percent of the world's palm oil, with one-third consumed by its domestic market. India, China, the European Union and Pakistan are among its major export customers. The months-long shortage has been exacerbated by poor regulation and producers who are reluctant to sell at home because high international prices have made exports more profitable.  Jakarta plans to resume exports when the price of bulk cooking oil in local markets has fallen to 14,000 rupiah (97 cents) per litre, having rocketed 70 percent in recent weeks to 26,000 rupiah ($1.80).   Vegetable oils are among a number of staple food items that have seen prices hit record highs in recent weeks, following Russia's invasion of agricultural powerhouse Ukraine, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation.

If the son of former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos wins the May 9 presidential election, he will not be the only Marcos currently in power -- and will almost certainly not be the last. Elite families have long ruled the poverty-ravaged nation, holding on to positions of power for generations by dishing out favours, buying votes or resorting to violence. Analysts say the system has become more pervasive in the decades since a popular uprising deposed Marcos and forced the family into exile. New dynasties have entrenched themselves in politics, smothering electoral competition, stunting economic development and worsening inequality.  "Power begets power -- the more they stay in power, the more they accumulate power, the more powerful they get," said Julio Teehankee, a professor at De La Salle University in Manila.  The archipelago has produced about 319 dynastic families, dating back to when the country was a US colony in the first half of the 20th century, Teehankee said. Dozens have withered, but in 2019, members of at least 234 such families won positions in mid-term elections, he said. They have flourished in a feudal and corrupt democracy where parties are weak, fragmented along clan lines and plagued by defections. Power, however, is not static. Families can win and lose it -- and make a comeback.    After the fallen dictator died in 1989, the Marcoses returned to their traditional stronghold of Ilocos Norte and began tapping local loyalties to get elected to a succession of higher positions. Ferdinand Marcos Jr, 64, is now on the verge of clinching the ultimate dynastic victory: the presidency.  The family also wants to make a clean sweep of the top posts in its northern bastion. Launching their campaigns in the provincial capital Laoag, Marcos candidates stood together in front of a "Team Marcos" sign as thousands of supporters cheered.  Marcos Jr's eldest son is a first-time candidate, seeking one of two congressional seats in the windswept province of corn and tobacco farms. A cousin is defending the other.  His nephew -- the son of his sister Imee, a senator -- is vying for re-election as governor, while a cousin's widow is the incumbent vice-governor. Marcos Jr told AFP the family was not a dynasty, but his cousin Michael Marcos Keon, seeking a second term as Laoag mayor, disagreed.  "This is all dynastic," said Keon, 67, who also served as governor after Marcos Jr hit the three-term limit -- a tactic often used to keep positions in the family.  "I wouldn't be where I am today if I weren't a Marcos."     - 'Family is paramount' -    The Marcoses' stranglehold on power in Ilocos Norte was "typical" of provinces across the country, said Ronald Mendoza, dean of Manila's Ateneo School of Government.  And their influence is growing. Eighty percent of governors belong to "fat dynasties" -- clans with two or more members in power at the same time -- compared with 57 percent in 2004, Mendoza said. Political families held 67 percent of seats in the House of Representatives, compared with 48 percent in 2004, and 53 percent of mayoral posts, up from 40 percent. Among the leading candidates for the 12 Senate seats being contested, at least three already have a relative in the chamber. Even the party-list system, which seeks to give citizens from marginalised groups representation in Congress, has been largely taken over by a handful of surnames. As his daughter leads the race for the country's second-highest office, outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte said recently he had "accomplished" his job.  "I have a daughter running for vice-president, a son for congressman and one other as mayor. I am fulfilled," he said. More than 18,000 posts are being contested in next month's elections. At least 800 have only one candidate. Mendoza said the pandemic had made it even more likely that incumbents would win.  "You have more voters potentially vulnerable to vote-buying, more voters concerned about their continued access to social protection," he said. Mendoza said poverty tended to rise as dynasties fattened, especially in provinces beyond the main island of Luzon, where "checks and balances" on governance are weaker.   While political dynasties exist in other countries, analysts said their prevalence in the Philippines was among the highest in the world. Preparing the next generation for politics was essential to a clan's survival, said analyst Mark Thompson, likening dynasties to football clubs. "If you're the Barcelona or PSG... of Philippine politics, why not get the next generation trained up as well," said Thompson, director of the Southeast Asia Research Centre at the City University of Hong Kong. Efforts to reduce such families' influence have come to nothing, despite the country's 1987 constitution mandating that Congress ban them. "You cannot expect a house full of dynasties to pass an anti-dynasty legislation -- it's like asking Dracula to guard the blood bank," said Teehankee. Keon admitted the system was not democratic, and unlikely to change. "This is how politics is here," Keon said in his office, surrounded by photos of the Marcos clan, including the patriarch. "Family is paramount."

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has rejected a proposed law requiring social media users to register their real names and phone numbers, citing threats to free speech and privacy, his spokesman said yesterday. The legislation, designed to combat fake news, online abuse, text scams and militant bombings, also required mobile phone users to provide their personal details when buying SIM cards. It was approved by both houses of Congress in February, but critics said it was a form of state surveillance. While supporting efforts to tackle cybercrime and other online offences, Duterte said he opposed the inclusion of social media user registration in the bill. He called for “a more thorough study” of the provision, citing concerns that it could lead to “dangerous state intrusion and surveillance threatening many constitutionally protected rights” such as individual privacy and free speech, presidential spokesman Martin Andanar said in a statement. Filipinos rank among the world’s heaviest users of social media, and the country has become a key battleground for misleading or fake news. Renato Reyes, secretary-general of leftist alliance Bayan, welcomed the veto, saying that SIM card and social media registration created a “chilling effect” for users and would “not deter crime”. “A big part of the problem is government itself, as it benefits directly and indirectly from nefarious online activities,” Reyes said in a statement. “We should start with demanding the government stop weaponising social media and attacking people online.” Duterte’s election victory in 2016 was underpinned by social media campaigning at a time when online misinformation was on the rise. Critics accused the Duterte camp of employing online trolls to praise him while attacking dissenters – even issuing death threats. Duterte has denied the allegations. Since taking power, he has been accused of harassing or even jailing opponents and shutting down media outlets critical of his policies. Duterte’s decision to block the bill comes as a torrent of misinformation floods Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and Twitter ahead of the May 9 national elections. Ferdinand Marcos Junior is leading the race for the presidency, while his running mate and first daughter Sara Duterte is the top contender for vice-president. Senate president and vice-presidential candidate Vicente Sotto, who had supported the legislation, responded sarcastically to the veto. “Great! Bombings and blackmail and scams will continue using prepaid SIMs,” Sotto tweeted. Many mobile phone users in the Philippines use pre-paid SIM cards that they buy over the counter without giving their names and addresses to providers. Militant groups fighting the government in the country’s south are known to favour the use of mobile phones to remotely detonate improvised explosive devices, leaving police with one less way to track the perpetrators. The proposed measure can still become law if legislators can muster a two-thirds vote in each chamber to override the presidential veto, but that is unlikely to happen before the polls.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Finance Minister Rishi Sunak will be fined for breaking Britain’s strict coronavirus lockdown rules, his office said yesterday, provoking anger and calls for them both to resign. Police have been investigating 12 gatherings at Johnson’s Downing Street office and the Cabinet Office after a damning internal inquiry found his staff had enjoyed parties that were not permitted. Johnson said he had attended some of the events, held when social mixing was all but banned by laws his government brought in to curb the spread of Covid-19, but he has always denied knowingly committing any wrongdoing. “The prime minister and chancellor of the exchequer have received notification that the Metropolitan Police intend to issue them with fixed penalty notices,” a spokesman for Johnson’s office said. The fine, one of more than 50 police said they would issue as part of their inquiries, related to a gathering to celebrate the prime minister’s birthday in the Cabinet Room of Downing Street on June 19, 2020. A spokesperson for Johnson’s wife, Carrie, said she would also be fined. Johnson swept to power in 2019 on a promise to complete Britain’s exit from the European Union, but his premiership has suffered a series of controversies and missteps in the last six months. Revelations about Downing Street parties provoked calls earlier this year from lawmakers in his own Conservative Party for his resignation, as public trust plummeted over the “partygate” affair. However, the pressure abated with the outbreak of war in Ukraine in which he has sought to play a leading role in the West’s response. Some of the gatherings took place when people could not attend funerals or say farewell to loved ones dying in hospital because they were following rules set by Johnson’s government. After the events were first reported in late 2021, Johnson said there were no parties and that all rules were followed. He later apologised to parliament for attending one event, which he said he thought was work-related. He also apologised to Queen Elizabeth for another at which staff partied on the eve of her husband’s funeral. In June 2020, when Johnson’s birthday party took place, people from different households were not allowed to meet indoors and were asked to maintain a two-metre distance from each other while hospitality venues were shut. A week earlier, Johnson told the nation: “I urge everyone to continue to show restraint and respect the rules which are designed to keep us all safe.” The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK group said it was “still unbelievably painful” that the prime minister had broken his own rules when they were unable to be with loved ones as they died. “The fact that @BorisJohnson and @RishiSunak then lied about it, and would have continued to do so if the police hadn’t intervened, is truly shameless,” the group said on Twitter. “There is simply no way either the prime minister or chancellor can continue.” There were also widespread demands from opposition parties for Johnson and Sunak to quit, saying they had misled parliament about their actions. However, the prime minister’s immediate future will be determined by Conservative lawmakers, who can trigger a leadership challenge if 54 of the party’s 360 parliamentary members demand a confidence vote. Some of those who have previously called for his head said now was not the time. “In the middle of war in Europe, when Vladimir Putin is committing war crimes and the UK is Ukraine’s biggest ally, as President (Volodymyr) Zelensky said at the weekend, it wouldn’t be right to remove the prime minister at this time,” said Douglas Ross, leader of the Scottish Conservative Party. But others warned Johnson’s long-term position was far from secure.”This not the end of this matter,” Conservative lawmaker Andrew Bridgen said. Johnson’s fine is thought to be a unique for a British leader in 300 years. “As far as we are aware there is no precedent for a prime minister being found to have broken the law,” said the House of Commons Library, a research service based at parliament. In Johnson’s favour is the lack of an obvious candidate to replace him, though news of the fines cap a terrible week for Sunak who had been considered a leading contender. The chancellor was already facing serious questions about his family’s finances and wealth just as large tax rises for the public took effect. His wife Akshata Murty, who owns about 0.9% of Indian IT giant Infosys, confirmed that she had non-domiciled tax status, meaning she did not pay tax on earnings from outside Britain.

Rescuers hampered by mud and rain yesterday used their bare hands and shovels to search for survivors of landslides that smashed into villages in the central Philippines, as the death toll from tropical storm Megi rose to 42. Tens of thousands fled their homes as the storm pummelled the disaster-prone region in recent days, dumping heavy rain that flooded houses, severed roads and knocked out power. At least 36 people died and 27 were missing after landslides slammed into multiple villages around Baybay City in Leyte province — the hardest hit by the storm — local authorities said. Just over 100 people were injured. Three people were also killed in the central province of Negros Oriental and three on the main southern island of Mindanao, according to the national disaster agency. The death toll is expected to rise. Rescue efforts continued under the cover of nightfall yesterday in Leyte province’s Pilar village, after an avalanche of mud and earth pushed most of the houses of about 400 residents into the sea. “The initial estimate is that 80% of the houses were washed out,” Reinz Corbeza, a civil defence official of Abuyog municipality — which includes Pilar — said. He added that about 50 people had survived or been rescued by boat after roads to Pilar were cut off by landslides. Most of the confirmed deaths in Leyte were in the mountainous village of Mailhi, near Baybay City, where 14 bodies were found after a “mudflash” buried homes, army captain Kaharudin Cadil said. “It’s supposed to be the dry season but maybe climate change has upended that,” said Marissa Miguel Cano, public information officer for Baybay City.

Indonesians are heading out to eat again as the Covid-19 pandemic’s grip on the country loosens, and some thrill-seekers in Jakarta are celebrating by having dinner while dangling 50 metres in the air, AFP reported from Jakarta. The Lounge in the Sky opened to the public this week in the capital of Indonesia. Spots were snapped up months in advance: it is fully booked in the evenings for the month of Ramadan, when Muslims gather at the end of the day to break their fast. The restaurant serves meals — priced between 1.6 and 3.7mn rupiah ($110-260) — to as many as 32 customers at a time on a platform that is lifted as high as 50 metres (164 feet) by a crane. Diners are strapped into their seats, while the chefs and servers wear security harnesses. Some customers were seen cheering as the platform rose during a visit by AFP. “At first, it was not easy. I was nervous that I wouldn’t be able to swallow the food,” said Yuni, a 29-year-old doctor. “But after some time I could...eat. It was thrilling.” The restaurant said it follows strict safety standards, but the experience does not come without precautions: its website recommends customers go to the bathroom before taking their seats to avoid the need to lower the platform during the meal. Two Belgian entrepreneurs developed the “Dinner in the Sky” concept. Since 2006 it has expanded to dozens of countries.

Shrugging off his low rating in opinion polls, Philippine politician and former boxing star Manny Pacquiao says his impoverished roots make him the best person to be president, as he warned voters to avoid corruption-tainted candidates. Pacquiao questioned why people supported Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the current frontrunner for the May 9 vote, pointing to the plundering of the country’s wealth during the harsh authoritarian rule of his late father and namesake. “The root cause of our country’s problem is corruption and then we would vote for a candidate who has been tainted by corruption? What happened to us as a nation? Where is our intelligence?” Pacquiao said in an interview with Reuters late on Thursday. Pacquiao is trailing in fourth place on 6% in the latest opinion poll, well behind Marcos, who is leading with 56%. The incumbent senator has made fighting corruption a centrepiece of his campaign, vowing to strengthen efforts to recover billions of dollars missing since the fall of the Marcos dictatorship in 1986, as part his anti-graft platform. Marcos’s family was accused of plundering an estimated $10bn during his late father’s two-decade rule, spending it on jewellery, real estate and artworks including those of Pablo Picasso and Claude Monet. “Why are we in poverty? Because we don’t have money? Wrong. Because of corruption,” Pacquiao said at his campaign headquarters. Marcos’ camp did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the candidate has previously said he cannot apologise for what his father did. Pacquiao has also sparred with incumbent President Rodrigo Duterte over territorial disputes in the South China Sea. He said he would not be bullied by China if he won the presidency. “I dare you, bother the Filipino fishermen and I’m the one you would have to face,” Pacquiao said in comments addressed at China. “To be bullied is not in my vocabulary.” China reiterates its claims of sovereignty in the disputed waterway whenever Manila complains about its actions towards Filipino fishermen. Duterte has faced criticism for not confronting China more over the conduct of its military, coast guard and fishing fleet in waters around the archipelago, arguing it was pointless since Manila was no match for Beijing’s military might. If need be, Pacquiao vowed to deploy navy ships in the disputed waters to protect his country’s fishermen and said he valued his country’s relationship with the United States, which he called as “our best friend.” The only man to hold boxing world titles in eight different divisions, Pacquiao retired from boxing in September after the sport brought him huge riches to propel him from humble beginnings as a dirt-poor youngster doing odd jobs to survive. Pacquiao said he was unfazed by his low rating in polls, convinced the poor would deliver the votes for him on election day. His impoverished beginnings made him the best person to take on the presidency, because he understood what it was like to be poor, he said. “If we are going to discuss poverty, that is not a concept for Manny Pacquiao. I felt and lived that and that is why I want to lift the people out of poverty,” he said.

Singapore will lift restrictions for all vaccinated travellers from next week, with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Thursday hailing it as a "major milestone" in the aviation hub's efforts to live with Covid-19. The city-state is the latest Asian country to ease travel restrictions in a region that has generally been more reluctant to lift barriers than Europe and North America.  A gateway for many travellers arriving in the Asia-Pacific, Singapore had already started quarantine-free travel schemes with some countries in recent months.  From April 1, fully vaccinated adults and unvaccinated children will be allowed to enter the country without quarantining, as long as they take a pre-departure test, officials said.  Lee said Singapore had reached a "major milestone" in its efforts to live with the virus.  Easing travel curbs will "reconnect Singapore with the world," he said in a televised address. "It will give a much-needed boost to businesses, particularly the tourism sector, and it will help Singapore reclaim its position as a business and aviation hub." Only travellers on a "restricted list" will face curbs in entering Singapore, although there are currently no countries on the list. A raft of other coronavirus measures were also eased, with people in Singapore no longer required to wear masks outside, and limits on group sizes raised to 10, up from five previously. At the start of the pandemic, the country of 5.5 million kept Covid-19 cases low through border closures and a tough lockdown. It has faced sizeable outbreaks since last year and, with some of the world's highest vaccination rates, authorities have shifted to a policy of living with the virus.  The pandemic plunged Singapore into its worst-ever recession in 2020 as the trading hub closed its borders.  International visitor arrivals dropped to just 2.7 million that year from more than 19 million in 2019. Singapore's approach stands in contrast to rival financial hub Hong Kong, where arrivals are still required to undergo lengthy quarantines in hotels. Following Singapore's announcement, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam was forced to defend her administration's approach, insisting the Chinese city remained an "attractive" financial centre. "The policies and measures to be adopted by each government in combating Covid differ," she said.  Like mainland China, Hong Kong has stuck to a zero-Covid policy, but the approach has led to an exodus of foreign and local residents, and failed to stop a fierce Omicron outbreak in recent months. Other countries in the Asia-Pacific that have recently announced an easing of travel restrictions include Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Malaysia. 

Hong Kong will resume international flights from the United States, Britain and seven other countries, the government said Monday as it announced a loosening of some of the world's toughest Covid-19 restrictions.  The finance hub has struggled to maintain China's zero-tolerance policy during an Omicron-fuelled outbreak that has sparked a huge surge in cases and put the city in the spotlight with one of the highest Covid fatality rates in the developed world. After the highly transmissible variant fuelled a wave of cases, authorities banned flights from nine countries deemed high-risk -- including the United States, Britain, France and India.  But infections climbed rapidly. Hong Kong has recorded more than a million cases and 5,900 deaths this year, with the bulk of the toll among its unvaccinated elderly population. On Monday, Lam said Hong Kong will lift flight bans for the nine countries from April 1. "The epidemic situations in those countries are not worse than Hong Kong's, and most arrivals did not have serious symptoms," she said during a press conference.  Hong Kong has also reduced the quarantine period for vaccinated arrivals starting April 1 to seven days in a designated hotel, followed by another seven days of at-home monitoring. Currently, Hong Kong residents trying to return from most destinations face a two-week quarantine stay in expensive hotels.   - Suspended mass testing -   Lam's administration has been excoriated for its handling of the Covid crisis, with critics calling it unprepared despite two years of breathing room due to its low number of cases before Omicron hit in January.  Once the variant broke through, hospital wards were flooded with patients and morgues overcrowded with bodies -- leading to a coffin shortage last week. Unclear public messaging from the government over mass testing and lockdowns has also fuelled bouts of panic-buying -- leaving supermarkets shelves stripped bare. Hong Kong, known as "Asia's World City",  has seen a record exodus of foreign and local residents, with a net outflow of more than 134,000 people by mid-March. On Monday, Lam said that a previously floated plan to mass test Hong Kong's 7.4 million residents was "not appropriate" at this stage, given the city's limited resources.  "Our current opinion is to suspend it and whether we will do it depends on the development of the epidemic," the leader said. Lam also announced that kindergartens, primary schools and international schools will resume in-person teaching from April 19. Beginning April 21, restaurants may stay open after 6:00 pm for dine-in services -- currently banned --- while public gatherings would be capped at four people, up from the current two.  Hong Kong's deepened international isolation and lack of a roadmap to normality have incited complaints from business and diplomatic communities, even prompting some major international banks to accelerate relocations.  Authorities had repeatedly defended its methods, saying it was necessary to maintain access to the mainland Chinese market -- which still has strict border controls.  But on Monday Lam signalled an attitude shift -- saying the city now has to balance its status as an international hub and as a gateway to mainland China.  "For any longer term public health strategy, we will have to take into account both factors that is maintaining Hong Kong's accessibility to the mainland and also ensuring her continued connectivity with the outside world," she said.  Tens of millions of people in regions across China have been put under stay-at-home orders since last week when Omicron clusters started threatening the country's zero-Covid model. 

At least two people are dead and 26 others are missing after a ferry carrying dozens of migrants sank off the coast of Indonesia, an official said Sunday.  The wooden fishing boat was carrying 89 onboard when it departed for neighbouring Malaysia through an unguarded route.  But it sprung a leak soon after departing before being hit by strong waves and sinking. A man and a woman were found dead while 61 others were rescued and immediately transported to hospitals for treatment. The remaining passengers are still missing.  "We have deployed our personnel to search for the 26 missing victims but our efforts haven't been fruitful so far," head of local search and rescue team Ady Pandawa told AFP on Sunday, adding that the damaged boat had been evacuated to the nearest port. The passengers had come from across Indonesia and were seeking work in Malaysia without proper documentation, he added. "We suspect the number of passengers exceeded the boat capacity so when the vessel was hit by strong waves, it immediately sank," he said. Relatively affluent Malaysia is home to millions of migrants from poorer parts of Asia, many of them undocumented, working in industries including construction and agriculture. Indonesians illegally seeking work in neighbouring Malaysia often risk dangerous sea crossings, and accidents are common due to bad weather and poor safety measures.  In January six Indonesian women drowned off the coast of Malaysia after their boat capsized during a suspected attempt to enter the country illegally. A month earlier, 21 Indonesian migrants also died after their boat capsized. 

Myanmar's military has engaged in systematic human rights violations, many amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity, the United Nations said on Tuesday, in its first comprehensive human rights report since last year's coup. Security forces have shown a flagrant disregard for human life, using air strikes and heavy weapons on populated areas and deliberately targeting civilians, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, said. Many victims were shot in the head, burned to death, arrested arbitrarily, tortured, or used as human shields, she said in a statement on the report, which urged "meaningful action" by the international community. "The appalling breadth and scale of violations of international law suffered by the people of Myanmar demand a firm, unified, and resolute international response," Bachelet said. Myanmar's military spokesperson did not answer calls seeking comment on the UN report on Tuesday. The military says it has a duty to ensure peace and security. It has denied atrocities have taken place and has blamed "terrorists" for causing unrest. The junta has failed to consolidate power since its overthrow of Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government in February 2021 triggered a backlash of a kind not seen in decades. Western countries have imposed broad sanctions on the military and its businesses after anti-coup protests were lethally suppressed by troops, with thousands of people arrested and many prosecuted, including Suu Kyi, who has since been convicted of crimes that include incitement. The UN report said it was based on interviews with scores of victims of abuse and witnesses, whose accounts were corroborated with satellite imagery, verified multimedia files and open-source information. The army has met sustained resistance in the countryside from militias allied with the ousted government. The UN report said troops had carried out mass killings in the Sagaing region, with some victims found dead with their hands and feet tied. In Kayah State, burned bodies of women and children were found, some in positions indicating they had tried to escape and were burned alive, it said. The report found detainees were tortured during interrogation, including suspension from ceilings, electrocution, injection of drugs and some subjected to sexual violence, including rape. The junta has in the past year scolded the UN and its independent experts for interference and what it calls reliance on distorted information from partisan groups. The report also said at least 543 people had been killed for their perceived support of the military government.

Thousands of Russian tourists in Thailand are struggling to find a route home, Thai officials said Sunday, as international sanctions imposed over the war in Ukraine hit holiday-makers. Russia's invasion in February provoked a host of international measures targetting businesses and banks, with some Russian carriers cancelling flights and global payment firms suspending services. Russians tourists have been among the largest group of visitors to return to Thailand's beachside resorts since pandemic restrictions eased, but many now find themselves without a return ticket. Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) official Chattan Kunjara Na Ayudhya said 3,100 Russians were stuck in Phuket, while just over 2,000 were in Samui, and smaller numbers were in Krabi, Phang Nga and Bangkok. The ministry was working on helping those who wanted to return home, he said, including "discussion on return flights which could be regular or special flights". Russian tourist and mother-of-three Evgenia Gozorskaia said her family discovered their return Aeroflot tickets had been cancelled. "We are very nervous because the children are very small, we don't have enough money to live here," said the 41-year-old psychologist who arrived from Moscow with her husband and children -- aged seven, four and two -- on February 27. "We want to go tomorrow to the airport, but I don't know what the situation will be," she said from Phuket, adding that they were supposed to fly home March 28. She said while some people had their tickets replaced others -- including her family -- had not been so lucky. "They say that they cannot do it and put the phone off," she said. While Thailand has not banned Russian flights, international airspace restrictions have seen some firms -- such as Russia's flagship Aeroflot -- cancelling services, leaving tourists to seek alternative routes, such as through the Middle East with different carriers. Many tourists have also been hit by Visa and Mastercard suspending operations. "We have seen instances of difficulty in card payments by Russians in Phuket due to how Mastercard and Visa have suspended services in Russia," said Bhummikitti Ruktaengam, president of the Phuket Tourist Association. He said officials were considering adopting the Mir system -- a Russian electronic fund transfer structure -- as well as digital currencies. Local communities across Thailand were also stepping in. "We will pay for water, electric, everything for them," said Archimandrite Oleg, representative of the Orthodox Church in Thailand, who said they were helping at least one family with four children stranded in Koh Samui. Pandemic travel curbs have hammered the kingdom's tourism-dominated economy, but 2022 saw a surge of visitors as restrictions eased. Around 23,000 Russians travelled to Thailand in January this year, according to the country's Tourism and Sports Ministry. Tourists from Russia previously accounted for the seventh-largest share of visitors to the kingdom, with around 1.5 million travelling to Thailand in 2019. While Bangkok has backed a United Nations resolution calling for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine, it has stopped short of imposing sanctions.

Mainland China reported more than 1,500 new local Covid-19 infections yesterday, the most since the first nationwide outbreak in early 2020, as the Omicron variant prompted Beijing to introduce self-testing kits for the first time.  China’s current case count is far fewer than those of many other countries, but the growing number could complicate Beijing’s “dynamic-clearance” ambition to suppress contagion as quickly as possible. The National Health Commission yesterday said it had found 476 locally transmitted cases for Friday, including five people initially classified as asymptomatic who developed symptoms later.  There were 1,048 domestically transmitted asymptomatic infections, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, up from 703 a day earlier.  Beijing has ordered its localities to stick to the “dynamic clearing” policy and to prevent a large-scale rebound, prompting several cities to take measures such as cancelling group events, launching rounds of mass testing and cutting face-to-face classes in school. At the same time the country is tweaking its testing regime in response to the spread of the Omicron variant, after having in the past two years required medical workers to swab members of the public using nucleic acid tests that require labs to process samples. Health authorities said they would allow the general public to buy such kits in stores and online for the first time and on Saturday they approved five Covid-19 antigen kits made by local companies to be used for self-testing. “In order to deal with how Omicron spreads, we need to promote a model of antigen screening and nucleic acid tests, enable the public to purchase tests by themselves, which is conducive to early detection,” Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan was quoted by state broadcaster CCTV as telling a government meeting on Saturday.  The capital of Beijing was among cities that took steps to tighten measures. The city government said that people entering the city should take nucleic acid tests and avoid joining in group meals or gatherings in the first seven days. In the financial hub of Shanghai, the Disneyland resort said it would reduce its guest capacity and from Sunday require visitors to present negative nucleic acid test results taken within 24 hours.  The venue for the Canton Fair, China’s oldest and biggest trade fair, in the southern province of Guangzhou has been temporarily closed as it was recently visited by a suspected confirmed case, local authorities said. The northeastern province of Jilin said on Saturday it had dismissed the mayor of Jilin city and a district head in the capital, Changchun.  The province has been one of the hardest-hit regions in the latest outbreak. Changchun has ordered all but essential businesses to halt operations and banned its 9mn residents from leaving their residential compounds for non-essential reasons. Similar measures have been applied in urban areas of Jilin city.

Separatists in Indonesia's Papua province took responsibility Friday for the killing of eight technicians as they repaired a telecommunications mast in a remote area. Gunmen in the mountainous district stormed the tower belonging to Telkomsel, a major state-backed telecoms company, on Wednesday, according to the military. Rebels in Papua, who have waged a fierce insurgency against Indonesian security forces for decades, have stepped up attacks recently, targeting workers they accuse of links to the state. During the latest assault, one technician managed to escape and raise the alarm with authorities as his colleagues came under fire, said Papua military spokesman Aqsha Erlangga. "This is such an extraordinary crime," he said in a statement. Police had now taken over the investigation and a hunt was underway for the attackers, he said. Efforts to evacuate victims' bodies by helicopter from the remote site Thursday had been hampered by poor weather, Erlangga said. The West Papua National Liberation Army, the military wing of Papua's main separatist group, claimed responsibility, saying they had previously warned civilians to leave the area they described as a "war zone". "Therefore for us, those who were shot were part of the Indonesian military or police," spokesman Sebby Sambom said in a statement. The attack is one of the deadliest in resource-rich Papua for some time. In 2018, 19 employees of a state-owned construction company were shot dead by rebels while fixing a bridge. Papua shares a border with independent Papua New Guinea on the island of New Guinea, just north of Australia. A former Dutch colony, Papua declared independence in 1961 but neighbouring Indonesia took control two years later, promising a referendum. The subsequent vote in favour of staying part of Indonesia, approved by the United Nations at the time, was widely considered a sham.

A brightly decorated wooden trolley rumbles down a little-used rail track in the southern Philippines carrying four young teachers, two on the front and two in the back pushing it along with their feet. Kitted out with a whiteboard, colourful charts, and a stack of books, the tiny, mobile school slides along from village to village three times a week, bringing education to impoverished children near the city of Tagkawayan as the Covid-19 pandemic keeps schools shut in much of the Southeast Asian archipelago. “It’s important that we do this, especially now that there is a pandemic and the children cannot do face-to-face learning,” Shaira Berdin, one of nine volunteers who operate the trolley, said in an interview as kids crouched in the grass by the railway track, thumbing through English books. Tagkawayan is a town of about 54,000 people in Quezon province located nearly 176km southeast of Manila. Remote learners in the Philippines have been challenged by a lack of computers, phones and Internet, along with uneven education quality. Some children have had to climb onto roofs to get data signals. Pushing the trolley like a scooter, the volunteers teach math and reading to over 60 children as they go. They started their initiative in November and have collected learning materials from donations to use for their classes. While stopped, the teachers lift the trolley off the tracks, allowing the use of the whiteboard for spelling lessons, and then move on to counting using flashcards. This also keeps the tracks free for other users. “Most of these volunteers come from poor backgrounds. They’ve also experienced hardships in life, which is why they want to help children in need,” said 26-year-old teacher Samboy de Leon Niala. The Philippines gradually started a phased reopening of schools in November after a 20-month closure disrupted the education of nearly 27mn children. The country has recorded more than 3.6mn Covid-19 cases and nearly 55,000 deaths overall.