International

Indonesian President Joko Widodo arrived on Wednesday in the city of Malang, where a stadium stampede killed at least 131 people in one of the deadliest disasters in football history. He greeted relatives of the victims after arriving at the Saiful Anwar hospital in the East Javan city. He will then travel to the Kanjuruhan stadium, the scene of the disaster on Saturday evening, according to an official from the presidential office. The Indonesian leader's visit came as anger grew over police officers' response to a pitch invasion after fans of Arema FC tried to approach players following their defeat to fierce rivals Persebaya Surabaya. Police described the incident as a riot and said two officers were killed, but survivors accused them of overreacting. Officers responded to the pitch invasion with force, kicking and hitting fans with batons, according to witnesses and video footage, pushing fans back into the stands where many were trampled or suffocated to death after tear gas was fired. In response to the tragedy, Widodo ordered all matches suspended, an investigation into what happened, and compensation for victims.  Indonesia's chief security minister said a task force had been created and that the probe would take two to three weeks. Police said the investigation was focusing on six gates at the stadium using CCTV footage from cameras placed outside them. It said the exits were open but too small for the crowds attempting to pass through them. But Indonesia's football association spokesperson said Tuesday some gates that should have been opened 10 minutes before the final whistle remained closed. They stayed shut "because of late commands" and officers "had not arrived", he told a press conference. The Malang police chief was replaced Monday, nine officers were suspended and 19 others were put under investigation over the disaster in the stadium, according to police.   - 'Not going there' - Witnesses described being shrouded in smoke, their eyes stinging as they rushed for small exit doors. Several present said police stood by and refused to help victims. "The place looked like a mass cemetery. Women and children were piling on top of one another," Eko Prianto, 39, told AFP. Indonesia's football association also moved Tuesday to sanction Arema FC, banning its organising committee chairman and a security officer from football for life and fining the club 250 million rupiah ($16,500). Maike Ira Puspita, the association's deputy secretary-general, told AFP the away fans were banned due to fears of fan violence and said the match passed without incident until fans entered the pitch after the final whistle. She said the association sanctioned the club and its officials "due to the... negligence of the whole situation".  The actions of the police were outside of the association's scope, the official said. "We are not going to go there," she said, refusing to answer questions about their conduct after the match.

At least 125 people died at an Indonesian football stadium when thousands of angry home fans invaded the pitch and police responded with tear gas that triggered a stampede, authorities said Sunday. The tragedy on Saturday night in the city of Malang, which also left 180 injured, was one of the world's deadliest sporting stadium disasters. Arema FC supporters at the Kanjuruhan stadium stormed the pitch after their team lost 3-2 to the visiting team and bitter rivals, Persebaya Surabaya. Police, who described the unrest as "riots", said they tried to force fans to return to the stands and fired tear gas after two officers were killed. Many of the victims were trampled or choked to death, according to police.  At least 125 people died, East Java deputy governor Emil Dardak told broadcaster Metro TV on Sunday evening, significantly lowering officials' earlier death toll of 174 because of double counting. "124 have been identified and one has not. Some names were recorded twice because they had been referred to another hospital and were written down again," he said, citing data collected by local police from 10 hospitals. Survivors described panicking spectators in a packed crowd as tear gas rained down on them. "Officers fired tear gas, and automatically people were rushing to come out, pushing each other and it caused many victims," 43-year-old spectator Doni, who declined to give his last name, told AFP. "Nothing was happening, there was no riot. I don't know what the issue was, they suddenly fired tear gas. That's what shocked me, didn't they think about kids, women?" President Joko Widodo ordered an investigation into the tragedy, a safety review into all football matches and directed the country's football association to suspend all matches until "security improvements" were completed. "I deeply regret this tragedy and I hope this football tragedy will be the last in our country," Widodo said. A hospital director told local TV that one of the victims was five years old. Images taken from inside the stadium during the stampede showed police firing huge amounts of tear gas and people clambering over fences.  Amnesty International called for an investigation into why tear gas was deployed in a confined space. "Tear gas should only be used to disperse crowds when widespread violence has occurred and when other methods have failed. People must be warned that tear gas will be used and allowed to disperse," it said in a statement. People carried injured spectators through the chaos and survivors lugged lifeless bodies out of the stadium.  "It was so terrifying, so shocking," 22-year-old survivor Sam Gilang, who lost three friends in the crush, told AFP. "People were pushing each other and... many were trampled on their way to the exit gate. My eyes were burning because of the tear gas. I fortunately managed to climb up the fence and survived," he said.   - Enduring violence - Video footage circulating on social media showed people shouting obscenities at police, who were holding riot shields and wielding batons. Torched vehicles, including a police truck, littered the streets outside the stadium on Sunday morning. Police said 13 vehicles in total were damaged. The stadium holds 42,000 people and authorities said it was a sell-out. Police said 3,000 people stormed the pitch.  Fan violence is an enduring problem in Indonesia, where deep rivalries have previously turned into deadly confrontations.   Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya are longtime rivals. Persebaya Surabaya fans were not allowed to buy tickets for the game due to fears of violence. However Indonesia's coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, Mahfud MD, said organisers ignored a recommendation to print fewer tickets and hold the match in the afternoon instead of the evening. On Sunday, Arema fans threw flower petals at the club's lion mascot monument outside the stadium in tribute to the victims.   - Football world mourns - The football world mourned the disaster with Gianni Infantino, president of world football governing body FIFA, calling the stampede "a tragedy beyond comprehension". Clubs Manchester United and Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain defender Sergio Ramos also posted tributes online. Spanish football clubs will also observe a minute's silence before matches on Sunday as a mark of respect for the victims. The Asian Football Confederation, the governing body for football in the region, expressed its regret at the loss of life. The Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) was in touch with FIFA about the stampede and hoped to avoid sanctions, PSSI secretary general Yunus Yussi told a press conference. FIFA's safety guidelines prohibit the carrying of crowd control gas by police or stewards at pitchside. Indonesia is to host the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in May. It is also bidding to replace China as host of the 2023 Asian Cup alongside South Korea and Qatar, with a decision due this month. Other stadium disasters include a 1989 crush at Britain's Hillsborough Stadium, which led to the deaths of 97 Liverpool fans, and the 2012 Port Said stadium tragedy in Egypt where 74 people died in clashes. In 1964, 320 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured during a stampede at a Peru-Argentina Olympic qualifier at Lima's National Stadium.

Typhoon Noru made landfall in Vietnam early Wednesday morning, causing the closure of ten airports, damaging thousands of homes and causing widespread flooding. The Vietnam National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting (NCHMF) said that Typhoon Noru made its path directly towards the coastal province of Quang Nam and Da Nang city in the early hours of this morning, bringing winds of 117 km per hour before making landfall. Ten airports were closed due to the typhoon, as the national airline, Vietnam Airlines, told local media that it had canceled 148 flights, affecting about 14,000 passengers. Schools and offices were also closed in central provinces. The NCHMF has warned that central areas from Quang Tri to Quang Ngai provinces will suffer more heavy rains, which could cause landslides and flash floods. On Tuesday, Vietnamese authorities mobilized more than 270,000 military personnel to deal with the storm, while residents prepared by fortifying their homes with sandbags. Hundreds of thousands of people living in vulnerable areas along the central coast were evacuated before the typhoon. Typhoon Noru hit the Philippines last Sunday, killing at least six people and damaging infrastructure estimated at one million Philippine pesos in the Mimaropa region. (QNA)

Apple Inc (AAPL.O) said on Monday prices of apps and in-app purchases on its App Store will increase in several countries including Japan, Malaysia and all territories that use the euro currency, from next month. The new prices, excluding auto-renewable subscriptions, will be effective as early as Oct. 5, Apple said in a blog post. These changes will also reflect new regulations for Apple in Vietnam to collect and remit applicable taxes, being value added tax (VAT) and corporate income tax (CIT) at 5% rates respectively, the company added.  

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived Saturday in Armenia, days after the Caucasus country's deadly border clashes with Azerbaijan jeopardised Western efforts to broker lasting peace between the arch foes. The worst clashes since Yerevan's 2020 war with Baku erupted on Tuesday, claiming the lives of 215 people, before hostilities ended on Thursday after international mediation. Pelosi said her visit "is a powerful symbol of the United States firm commitment to a peaceful, prosperous and democratic Armenia, and a stable and secure Caucasus region." She is the highest-ranking US official to travel to Armenia since the tiny impoverished nation's 1991 independence from the Soviet Union. The three-day visit "will play a big role in ensuring our security," Armenian parliament Speaker, Alen Simonyan, told journalists ahead of her arrival. Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars -- in 2020 and in the 1990s -- over the contested Nagorno-Karabakh region, Azerbaijan's Armenian-populated enclave. Together with France and Russia, the US co-chairs the Minsk Group of mediators, which had led decades-long peace talks between Baku and Yerevan under the OSCE aegis. "We will convey the strong and ongoing support of the United States, as an OSCE Minsk Chair and longtime friend to Armenia, for a lasting settlement to the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh," Pelosi said in a statement. The latest escalation came as Armenia's closest ally Moscow is distracted by its nearly seven-month war in Ukraine. Analysts have said the hostilities have largely undone Western efforts to bring Baku and Yerevan closer to a peace deal. With Moscow increasingly isolated on the world stage following its February invasion of Ukraine, the European Union had taken a lead role in mediating the Armenia-Azerbaijan normalisation process. The six weeks of fighting in 2020 claimed the lives of more than 6,500 troops from both sides and ended with a Russian-brokered ceasefire. Under the deal, Armenia ceded swathes of territory it had controlled for decades, and Moscow deployed about 2,000 Russian peacekeepers to oversee the fragile truce. Ethnic Armenian separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. The ensuing conflict claimed around 30,000 lives.

Kyrgyzstan said Friday it had agreed a ceasefire with Tajikistan after deadly clashes on their disputed border escalated and raised fears of all-out conflict between the Central Asian nations. Russia has offered to mediate between the two ex-Soviet countries, where recent fighting has left dozens injured and several dead, and called for "urgent" measures to halt the fighting. Kyrgyzstan had accused Tajikistan's forces of escalating the fighting by firing rockets on the border town of Batken, with a population of around 30,000 people in the south east of the country. Shortly after, Kyrgyzstan's border guards said in a statement that the two countries' national security chiefs had agreed a ceasefire that would begin at 16:00 local time (1000 GMT). The clashes escalated while the leaders of both countries were participating in a regional summit in Uzbekistan, with Central Asian power brokers Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping both in attendance. Russia's foreign ministry repeated an offer to oversee talks between the countries as the ceasefire was announced and asked them to negotiate an end to the dispute. "We call on both sides to take urgent and comprehensive measures to bring the situation to political and diplomatic channels and to stop any attempts at escalation including by provocations from third parties," the foreign ministry said. The fighting flared on Friday, Kyrgyz officials said, with both sides accusing the other of responsibility and of using heavy weapons. "The area around the Batken airport and sites on the outskirts of the city have come under fire from Tajik multiple rocket launcher systems," Kyrgyzstan's border guard service said. "Civilian infrastructure in the city of Batken was destroyed," a statement added. The head of a security alliance led by Moscow said earlier Friday that officials in both capitals had supported the implementation of a ceasefire and negotiations. However, Kyrgyzstan's border guard service said "violent clashes" had broken out "along the entire perimeter of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border in the Batken region". It accused Tajikistan of using heavy weapons, including rocket launchers and jets, but said its forces were repelling the attacks "making it impossible for them to capture settlements in Kyrgyzstan." The health ministry said 42 people had been injured and that medical facilities in the border region of Batken had been put on alert. It appealed to border-region residents to donate blood. Tajikistan accused Kyrgyz forces meanwhile of opening fire early Friday with "intensive" shelling of homes and civilian infrastructure. It did not give information about casualties. Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, citing official sources, however reported that one Tajik border guard was killed and three more were injured. Kyrgyzstan said it was launching civilian evacuations from the border region. Fighting regularly flares up between the two countries that share a 970 kilometre-long border, with around half of the frontier contested. In 2021, unprecedented clashes between the two sides killed 50 people. The fighting has raised fears of yet another conflict in the ex-Soviet region with clashes this week between Armenia and Azerbaijan leaving more than 200 dead. Ukraine meanwhile claims sweeping gains in a counter-offensive against Russia's invasion. The authoritarian leader of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, and his Kyrgyz counterpart Sadyr Japarov were this week attending a regional summit of leaders in Uzbekistan. The leaders were seen together in official images distributed by the press service of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), an alliance that Putin and Xi said offered an alternative to Western-led international organisations.

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on Friday accused each other of using heavy weaponry such as tanks and mortars in an escalating border conflict that has killed at least three people and injured 27 since fighting broke out two days ago. Kyrgyzstan's border guard service said Tajik forces once again opened fire on several of its outposts early on Friday, and clashes took place along the whole length of the border with Tajik forces using tanks, armoured personnel carriers, and mortars. In turn, Tajikistan accused Kyrgyz forces of shelling one of its outposts and seven villages with "heavy weaponry". A civilian was killed and three injured, authorities in the Tajik city of Isfara said. Kyrgyzstan reported 11 wounded overnight. Kyrgyz and Tajik foreign ministers have discussed the matter, the Bishkek government said, but the border guard service said two ceasefire agreements have already failed. The governors of Kyrgyz and Tajik provinces adjacent to the border were set to meet at a border crossing point in another attempts to end the conflict, Kyrgyz border guards set. Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon are both attending a regional security summit in Uzbekistan and featured among the leaders in a group photograph taken at dinner on Thursday. Clashes over the poorly demarcated border between the two former Soviet republics are frequent, but usually de-escalate quickly, although last year they almost led to an all-out war. Both host Russian military bases and have close ties with Moscow, which urged a cessation of hostilities this week.

* Armenia, Azerbaijan trade blame for clashes * Putin trying to calm the situation, Kremlin says * Intensity of fighting has decreased - Armenian PM * US and France urge end to hostilities Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday sought to end fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan after border clashes killed at least 49 Armenian soldiers and raised fears of another fully-fledged war in the former Soviet Union. Russia, the United States and France called for restraint after the most deadly fighting since Armenia and Azerbaijan waged a six-week war over the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020. Armenia said several towns near the border with Azerbaijan, including Jermuk, Goris and Kapan, were shelled in the early hours of Tuesday. Yerevan said it had responded to what it called a "large-scale provocation" by the Azerbaijan. Baku said it was attacked by Armenia. Reuters was unable to immediately verify battlefield accounts from either side. "It is difficult to overestimate the role of the Russian Federation, the role of Putin personally," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "The president is naturally is making every effort to help deescalate tensions at the border," Peskov said. Russia, which in February sent troops into Ukraine in the biggest European land invasion since World War Two, is the main powerbroker in the Caucasus and an ally of Armenia through the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which convened on Tuesday to discuss the situation. Russia, which operates a military base in Armenia, sent thousands of peacekeepers to the region in 2020 as part of a deal to end a war during which Azerbaijan made significant territorial gains in and around Nagorno-Karabakh. Turkey backs Azerbaijan politically and militarily. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan accused Azerbaijan of attacking Armenian towns because it did not want to negotiate over the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave which is inside Azerbaijan but mainly populated by ethnic Armenians. He said the intensity of hostilities had decreased but attacks from Azerbaijan continued. Azerbaijan, which accused Armenia of carrying out intelligence activity along the border and moving weapons, said its military positions came under attack by Armenia. It said it sustained losses but did not disclose the number of casualties. Azerbaijani media reported that a ceasefire agreement had been broken almost immediately after being enforced early on Tuesday. Both Russia and the United States, at loggerheads over the Ukraine war, called on Baku and Yerevan to observe restraint. "As we have long made clear, there can be no military solution to the conflict," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. "We urge an end to any military hostilities immediately." The Russian foreign ministry said in a statement that the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan "should be resolved exclusively through political and diplomatic means". The defence ministers of Armenia and Russia spoke on Tuesday morning and agreed to take steps to stabilise the situation on the border. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu talked to his Azeri counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov and called for Armenia to "cease its provocations". Charles Michel, president of the European Council, also urged Pashinyan to prevent further escalation. Michel met with Pashinyan and Azerbaijaini President Ilham Aliyev last month in Brussels for talks on the normalisation of ties between the countries, humanitarian issues and the prospect of a peace treaty over Nagorno-Karabakh. France will bring up the clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan at the U.N. Security Council, the office of President Emmanuel Macron said, adding that Macron continued to urge both sides to stick to a ceasefire.

New Zealand retained a state of emergency in parts of its flood-battered South Island on Sunday as authorities weighed damage in the region hardest hit by four days of torrential rain. Last week's rains in northern and central areas forced more than 500 people from their homes, making some uninhabitable. The South Island city of Nelson has been worst affected, but towns in the North Island have also been cut off by floods that swamped roads and homes. Authorities in the region around Nelson said there had been no serious weather incidents or evacuations overnight, however. "We are working as quickly as we can to get people home safely," emergency management officials said, adding that while they had looked at about half the affected properties, detailed inspections could need days, depending on the weather. "We have a big task, and inspecting for land instability is more complex than for flooding." While the extreme weather has eased, warnings against heavy rain stay in western Tasman and Fiordland on the South Island, forecaster Metservice said on its website. A state of emergency continues in the regions of Marlborough, West Coast and Nelson-Tasman, national emergency officials have said. "Listen to local authorities and follow any instructions to evacuate," the agency said on its website. "If you feel unsafe, you should self-evacuate." On Saturday, Kieran McAnulty, the emergency management minister, thanked rescuers but added that recovery would be a "long and difficult" process.

New Zealand police on Thursday confirmed that human remains found in two suitcases bought at an Auckland auction were of two primary school-aged children, with officers vowing to find those responsible. Detective Inspector Tofilau Faamanuia Vaaelua said the bodies were likely to have been in storage for several years and the victims are thought to have been between five and ten years old. The children were concealed in two suitcases of similar size, he said. "The nature of this discovery provides some complexities to the investigation especially given the time lapsed between the time of death and the time of discovery," Vaaelua added. The remains were only discovered when a family brought a trailer-load of items being sold in bulk from a storage unit.  Police reiterated that the family concerned are not connected to the homicide, but are "understandably distressed by the discovery" and they have asked for privacy, Vaaelua added. Household and personal items found alongside the suitcases are helping provide clues to identify the victims. Both the storage unit and property where the suitcases were taken to have been thoroughly examined by forensic experts. Vaaelua also revealed that police in New Zealand are working with international criminal agency Interpol in their investigation. The relatives of the victims are thought to be in New Zealand. The children had not yet been identified and Vaaelua said he felt for their families, who might not be aware they were dead. "A lot of us (in the police) are parents and we have a job to do and we're doing our very best to identify the victims," he said. "What I can say is we are making very good progress with DNA inquiries. "The investigation team is working very hard to hold accountable the person or persons responsible for the death of these children."

The death toll from an explosion at a bustling market in the Armenian capital Yerevan rose to six on Monday as search operations continued for people believed trapped under rubble. Another 61 people were injured and 15 were missing after Sunday's blast that led to the collapse of a building at the Surmalu wholesale market, Armenia's Emergency Situations Minister Armen Pambukhchyan said. Rescue operations were continuing "very carefully" with people still believed to be trapped beneath the debris, he added. Pambukhchyan told reporters that video footage of the incident showed that "there can be no talk of a terrorist attack" as the fire started before the explosion. He said the fire spread to "pyro materials". Local media had earlier said the explosion went off at a place that stored fireworks. The cause of the fire was being established. The minister said that smoke and small fire could persist for several more days with lots of plastic smouldering at the scene. Photos and videos posted on social media after the blast showed a thick column of black smoke over the market and what appeared to be a series of detonations can be heard. Prosecutors meanwhile launched a probe into violations "on stocking inflammable goods", breaches in fire safety standards and the death of people "due to negligence". Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited the site of the blast on Monday, according to his press service. In all, 200 firefighters and medical workers were sent to the scene, as well as fire engines and construction site equipment. Rescue workers used a digger to clear away rubble, an AFP journalist at the scene reported earlier. The disaster comes as the country of three million people is still recovering from a 2020 war with Azerbaijan, which ended in a heavy defeat and sparked a political crisis.

Senegal on Sunday voted in parliamentary elections the opposition hopes will force a coalition with President Macky Sall and curb any ambitions he may hold for a third term. Sixty-year-old Sall, who was elected in 2012 for seven years then re-elected in 2019 for another five, has been accused of wanting to break the two-term limit and run again in 2024. He has remained vague on the subject, but any defeat of his supporters in the vote could upset such plans. Polling stations opened at 0800 GMT and close at 1800 GMT. By late morning, turnout appeared relatively low, according to AFP correspondents and observers.  In Scat Urbam, a suburb near Dakar, far fewer voters than in past polls were waiting to cast their ballots.  The situation was the same in the capital's working-class district of Grand Medine as well as in Ziguinchor, capital of the southern region of Casamance, according to AFP journalists.  At the start of voting in the courtyard of a school in Mbao, near Dakar, around 100 mostly elderly people were preparing to vote. Police were also on hand to ensure security, an AFP journalist said. "I hope voting day goes off peacefully and there are no disputes," said Lamine Sylva, a 60-year-old artist. "It's like football -- there is a winner and a loser." Yahya Sall, a retired soldier, said he hoped the new parliament "will have a strong opposition presence... to advance democracy". The national election commission has deployed 22,000 observers nationwide. The single-round ballot will decide the 165 seats of the single-chamber parliament -- currently controlled by the president's supporters -- for the next five years. Lawmakers are elected according to a system that combines proportional representation, with national lists for 53 lawmakers, and majority voting in the country's departments for 97 others.  The diaspora elects the remaining 15 members of parliament. This year, eight coalitions are in the running, including Yewwi Askan Wi (meaning "Liberate the People" in Wolof), the main opposition coalition. Its highest-profile member, Ousmane Sonko, came third in the 2019 presidential election. But he and other members of the coalition have been banned from running in Sunday's elections on technical grounds. The vote is taking place against a backdrop of rising prices, in part because of the war in Ukraine. The opposition has questioned the priorities of the government, which has highlighted its subsidies for oil products and food as well as infrastructure building.  "Is the priority of the Senegalese to build beautiful stadiums, new highways while people are not eating to satiate their hunger?" Sonko said after casting his ballot in Ziguinchor.  Raising the alarm over reports of low turnout, he called on voters to vote in numbers "to balance the powers".   - Opposition collaboration -   Ahead of the poll, Yewwi Askan Wi has joined forces with Wallu Senegal (which means "Save Senegal" in Wolof), led by former president Abdoulaye Wade. The two groups have agreed to work together to obtain a parliamentary majority and "force governmental cohabitation". They also want to force Sall to give up any hope of running in 2024.  In local elections in March, the opposition won in major cities, including the capital Dakar, Ziguinchor in the south and Thies in the west. Sonko and other members of the Yewwi Askan Wi coalition were forbidden from running in Sunday's elections, after the authorities in early June tossed out its national list of candidates on technical grounds. One of the names had been accidentally put down both as a first-choice candidate and as an alternate candidate, thus invalidating the entire list. That sparked violent demonstrations that left at least three people dead. On June 29, the opposition finally agreed to take part in the elections, easing tensions.

Myanmar’s ruling military yesterday defended its execution of four democracy activists as “justice for the people”, brushing off a deluge of international condemnation including from its closest neighbours. The military, which seized power in a coup last year, announced on Monday it had executed the activists for aiding “terror acts” by a civilian resistance movement, Myanmar’s first executions in decades. Junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun said the men were given due process and insisted those executed were not democracy activists, but killers deserving of their punishment. “This was justice for the people. These criminals were given the chance to defend themselves,” he told a regular televised news briefing. “I knew it would raise criticism but it was done for justice. It was not personal.” News of the executions triggered international outrage, with the United States, Britain, Australia, the European Union and United Nations leading a chorus of condemnation accusing the junta of cruelty. Myanmar’s Southeast Asian neighbours issued a rare, stinging rebuke of the military yesterday, calling the executions “highly reprehensible” and destructive to regional efforts to de-escalate the crisis. The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in a statement from chair Cambodia said it was “extremely troubled and deeply saddened by the executions”, as well as by their timing. “The implementation of the death sentences just a week before the 55th Asean ministerial meeting is highly reprehensible,” it said, adding it showed the junta’s “gross lack of will” to support Asean’s UN-backed peace plan. It was unclear how the executions were carried our and when they took place. Family members of the condemned prisoners said on Monday that they had not been informed of the executions beforehand, and had not been allowed to retrieve the bodies. Junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun said the return of the bodies was up to the prison chief. The executed men were among more than 100 people whom activists say have been sentenced to death in secretive trials by military-run courts since the coup. Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said yesterday that his country viewed the executions as a crime against humanity. He also accused the junta of making a mockery of the Asean peace plan and said it should be barred from sending political representatives to any international ministerial level meetings. “We hope we have seen the last of the executions,” he said. “We will try to use whatever channels that we can to ensure this will not happen again.” UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, said he was concerned the executions of junta opponents would not be a one-off. “There is every indication that the military junta intends to continue to carry out executions of those on death row, as it continues to bomb villages and detain innocent people throughout the country,” he said in an interview on Monday. In Myanmar’s biggest city Yangon, security was tightened at the jail where the four executed men had been held, a human rights group said yesterday, following the global outcry and a demonstration by inmates over the execution. Two sources told Reuters a protest had taken place in the jail.  News portal Myanmar Now said some inmates had been assaulted by prison authorities and were separated from the general population. Spokespersons for Yangon’s Insein prison and the corrections department did not answer calls from Reuters. Myanmar’s shadow national Unity Government (NUG), which the junta calls “terrorists”, urged co-ordinated international action against the junta yesterday and said those executed “were martyred for their commitment to a free and democratic Myanmar”

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern warned an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Indonesia could cost thousands of New Zealand jobs, as her nation and neighbouring Australia stepped up border biosecurity restrictions. "While not a threat to humans, it would devastate our national herd. Essentially, all animals that are of cloven hoof are at risk," Ardern told reporters in Wellington. Ardern warned that the disease, first detected in Indonesia in April, has the potential to threaten up to 100,000 jobs in New Zealand's agriculture sector. Foot and mouth disease is a severe, highly contagious viral disease of livestock. It can have a significant economic impact, especially on a country like New Zealand which exported around 17 million sheep and two million cattle in the eight months up until May 2022.  A foot-and-mouth outbreak has ripped through two Indonesian provinces, killing thousands of cows and infecting hundreds of thousands more. Ardern said New Zealand has never had an outbreak -- and wants to keep it that way by tightening border restrictions. "We want to make sure that we've got all our settings in place to protect ourselves from this emerging threat," she added. There are currently no direct flights from Indonesia to New Zealand, but Ardern said it is important to stop it from entering the country, potentially via Australian tourists who had visited south-east Asia. Travellers from Indonesia will not be allowed to bring meat products into New Zealand, baggage will be screened and there will be disinfectant mats at airports to clean footwear. In Australia, parcels and baggage from China and Indonesia are now being checked and there are also foot mats at airports in response to the disease. Canberra has so far rejected opposition calls to close the border to Indonesia completely, but further measures have not been ruled out. Ardern said her government is working with Australian authorities to try to further reduce the risk. New Zealand is set to fully open its borders at midnight on Sunday to all visitors. New Zealand's Biosecurity Minister Damien O'Connor said "vigilance is absolutely crucial" as the disease could also affect up to 77 percent of the country's wildlife population, including wild deer, pigs and sheep. He referred to how foot and mouth devastated British farming in 2001 when millions of cattle and sheep had to be slaughtered.

A wild storm system moving yesterday across New Zealand is bringing swirling winds, surging waves and heavy rains to the capital Wellington and causing flooding in Christchurch. New Zealand’s Metservice announced a severe weather warning for Wellington and nearby regions, with winds of 130kph (80mph) and waves of 7m (23’) pounding the area. The weather has caused most flights into Wellington to be cancelled and the ferry services that connect the country’s two main islands to be suspended. Waves breaking onto some roads has forced them to close and one of the city’s beach suburbs has been cut off. The wild weather ripped up roads, caused flooding and power cuts, and high winds took the roof off a cafe in Lower Hutt. A badly damaged catamaran was seen floating in nearby Lowry Bay. The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) said that wind gusts had reached 158kph at Baring Point, a headland at the southern end of New Zealand’s North Island near Wellington. Samuel Walsh, who farms in the Wairarapa region in the lower North Island, told 1News that the weather forced him to bring calves in out of the storm and rescue animals that were swimming in his flooded fields. Radio New Zealand was reporting long queues at Wellington Airport as people waited to see whether any flights would take off this afternoon. The airport said in a tweet that part of the problem was that high winds were making it unsafe for baggage handlers to work. A state of emergency has been in force in Timaru in the South Island since late on Wednesday because of the risk of flooding after a levee was damaged forcing the evacuation of nearby houses. In Christchurch, residents were having to deal with surface flooding and more than 300 households are without power after two power poles fell across the road, according to power company Orion Group.

Eighteen people were killed and 243 wounded during unrest in Uzbekistan's autonomous province of Karakalpakstan last week, Uzbek authorities said on Monday, the worst bout of violence in the Central Asian nation in 17 years. Security forces detained 516 people during the protests which broke out over plans to curtail Karakalpakstan's autonomy but have now released many of them, the national guard press office told a briefing. On Saturday, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev dropped plans to amend articles of the constitution concerning Karakalpakstan's sovereignty and its right to secede. He also declared a month-long state of emergency in the northwestern province. Official reports said protesters had marched through the provincial capital of Nukus last Friday and tried to seize local government buildings, triggering the deadliest unrest in almost two decades in the Central Asian nation of 34 million. According to the prosecutor general's office, 18 people died "from grave wounds" sustained during the clashes. Two exiled opposition politicians in contact with people on the ground told Reuters they believed the real figure was much higher. It was not possible to independently establish the death toll. Karakalpakstan, situated on the shores of the Aral Sea that has for decades been a site of environmental disaster, is home to Karakalpaks, an ethnic minority group whose language, although also Turkic, is distinct from Uzbek. "Karakalpaks are not Uzbeks... They have their own traditions, culture and law,” Aman Sagidullayev, the Norway-based leader of the Alga Karakalpakstan party which favours independence for Karakalpakstan, told Reuters, accusing the government of waging a "punitive operation”. A group of opposition politicians and activists who call themselves the government of Karakalpakstan in exile published an appeal to Mirziyoyev. In it, they called for the release of arrested demonstrators, the dissolution of the Karakalpak government and holding of new elections, and a review of the actions of law enforcement agencies including "the unjustified and disproportionate use of force that led to human victims, torture and arbitrary detention". They complained about discrimination against their language and the "silencing and distortion" of the region's history. Russia, with which ex-Soviet Uzbekistan has close ties, said the matter was Uzbekistan's domestic affair, while the European Union called for "an open and independent investigation into the violent events in Karakalpakstan". Mirziyoyev's office said separately he discussed the matter with EU Council President Charles Michel and said the unrest had been incited by "criminal elements". An exiled Uzbek opposition politician, Pulat Ahunov, told Reuters that the curfew imposed for the duration of the state of emergency and tight security seemed to have stabilised the situation but there was still a risk of ethnic clashes. An estimated 700,000 Karakalpaks live in Uzbekistan, most of them in the autonomous republic. Geographic and linguistic proximity has led many to seek work and sometimes relocate to neighbouring Kazakhstan. Some observers believe Tashkent's miscalculated attempt to curtail Karakalpakstan's autonomy - Mirziyoyev himself has criticised local MPs for not telling him about public opposition to it - was likely a pre-emptive move against potential separatism against the background of the Ukrainian conflict. In 2005, Uzbek security forces crushed armed protests in the city of Andizhan, with 173 people killed in the clashes, according to official reports. The government blamed the crisis in Andizhan - located in the opposite, eastern part of Uzbekistan - on Islamist extremists at the time.

A state of emergency was in force in Uzbekistan's autonomous Karakalpakstan region Sunday after eyewitnesses told AFP that police had broken up a second night of anti-government protests in the administrative centre Nukus. Strongman leader Shavkat Mirziyoyev was visiting the region for a second time in an attempt to calm a crisis that saw thousands take to the streets Friday and caused him to backpedal over draft constitutional amendments that would have weakened the republic's autonomy. Internet in the region remains restricted but a drip of videos, mostly shared via the Telegram app, has raised concerns that a security crackdown has left multiple people dead. Uzbek authorities have made no mention of any casualties so far, and lawmaker Bobur Bekmurodov complained of "shameless provocations" as internet users shared footage of men in uniform moving through a street covered in red liquid on Twitter. "Dear friends, please do not become part of this shameless provocation. Check the information. It is just red color water. Please, share the truth!" The size of the protest on Friday was unprecedented for the Karakalpakstan region and possibly Uzbekistan, which saw over 170 people killed during unrest in 2005 in the city of Andijan according to an official toll considered conservative at the time.  Police said Saturday they had detained "organizers of riots" but did not provide figures.   Two Nukus eyewitnesses speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed to AFP that a smaller group of protesters had gathered close to a city market before police broke up the demonstration using what appeared to be tear gas and smoke grenades.  Mirziyoyev on Saturday ordered a month-long state of emergency in the region to "ensure the safety of citizens, protect their rights and freedoms (and) restore law and order". Eyewitnesses said Nukus was quiet on Sunday morning, with police and military patrolling the streets.   Impoverished Karakalpakstan takes its name from the Karakalpak people. They are well represented in cities such as Nukus, but now constitute a minority overall in the western region of two million people. Mirziyoyev's press service said Saturday night that he had met with lawmakers of Karakalpakstan's parliament and pledged articles of the constitution concerning the region would remain unchanged "on the basis of... the opinions stated by residents of Karakalpakstan".   The proposed changes that angered residents included an article removing the autonomous republic's constitutional right to secede from Uzbekistan via referendum. One amendment set to remain in the draft document will allow presidents to run for seven-year terms, directly benefitting 64-year-old Mirziyoyev, who crushed token opponents to secure a second five-year term in October.  The draft constitution is expected to be put to a popular referendum in the coming months. 

Dialogue between Myanmar’s junta and ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to end the bloody crisis unleashed by the toppling of her government last year is “not impossible”, a junta spokesman said yesterday. The southeast Asian nation has been in chaos since the putsch, with renewed fighting with ethnic rebel groups, dozens of ‘People’s Defence Forces’ springing up to fight the junta and the economy in tatters. Suu Kyi, 77, has been kept virtually incommunicado by the military and was recently transferred from house arrest to solitary confinement while she faces multiple trials that could see her sentenced to more than 150 years in jail. “There is nothing impossible in politics,” junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said when asked if the junta could enter into dialogue with Suu Kyi to resolve the turmoil. “We cannot say that (negotiations with Suu Kyi) are impossible.”   “Several countries” had urged opening dialogue with the Nobel laureate, he said, without giving details. Diplomatic efforts led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) - of which Myanmar is a member - have so far failed to halt the bloodshed. Last year, the bloc agreed on a “five-point consensus”, which calls for a cessation of violence and constructive dialogue, but the junta has largely ignored it. Asean envoy and Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn arrived in Myanmar on Wednesday for his second visit aimed at kickstarting dialogue between the junta and opponents to its rule. He met with junta chief Min Aung Hlaing on Thursday and yesterday met with members of several political parties in the military-built capital Naypyidaw, a junta spokesman said. The junta has said he will not be allowed to visit Suu Kyi. “We have performed whatever she asked for related to her health and living situation,” Zaw Min Tun said regarding Suu Kyi’s new living conditions in prison. Dangling the prospect of dialogue would be “consistent with their (the junta’s)... political calculus”, independent Myanmar analyst David Mathieson said. “Punish to the extreme then show a sliver of conciliation to ensure they stay in power. Suu Kyi is potentially their way out, if they can overcome their hatred of her,” he said. Fighting continues across swathes of the country, with local media reporting killing and burning sprees by junta troops as they struggle to crush opposition to the coup. Almost 700,000 people have been forced to flee their homes since the putsch, the United Nations said in May.

Some of the biggest viral hits on TikTok have been given the full orchestral treatment and will get a traditional release on CD and vinyl this summer, the platform announced Friday. The tie-up with Warner Classics is the first time TikTok has ventured into the traditional music market and will see the 18 songs released on streaming platforms as well as in record stores. Anyone who has spent any significant time on the video streaming platform will recognise songs such as "No Roots" by Alice Merton which has been used on 1.3 million videos.  Or pleasant piano ditty "Pieces" by Danilo Stankovic, used by some 3.4 million TikTokkers.  All have been given a full work-over by Germany's Babelsberg Film Orchestra.  "Listening to No Roots in a new musical context is inspiring," Merton said in a statement. "I'm excited about the project and I'm looking forward to seeing how it comes to life." Some cuts reflect the strange tunes that can blow up on the platform, such as "Monkeys Spinning Monkeys", the upbeat, flute-filled ditty that makes perfect background music for many light-hearted videos (27.1 million and counting).  "Wellerman Sea Shanty" harks back to the sea shanty craze that took over TikTok in early 2021 after a Scottish postman, Nathan Evans, recorded himself singing the 19th century folk song.  It spread like wildfire, with Queen's Brian May and veteran composer Andrew Lloyd Webber among those offering their versions of the viral tune.  Thirty-second clips of the 18 augmented songs were available for use on TikTok from Friday.  Six full-length singles from the album will be released across streaming platforms on July 8, with the full album, "TikTok Classics: Memes and Viral Hits", hitting streamers and shops in August.

Ukraine's southern city of Mariupol is at risk of a major cholera outbreak as medical services are likely already near collapse, Britain's defence ministry said on Friday. There is likely also a critical shortage of medicines in Kherson, Britain's Ministry of Defence said in a Twitter update. Russia is struggling to provide basic public services to the population in Russian-occupied territories, it added. Last month, WHO's Ukraine Incident Manager, Dorit Nitzan, said Mariupol, which is now controlled by Russian forces after weeks of siege and heavy bombardment, was among occupied areas where there was a risk of cholera.