Category Archives: Asia Pacific

Global report: Moscow relaxes lockdown despite high caseload; Nigerian deaths rise

Posted on by

South Africa warns pandemic could last up to two years; Indonesia reports largest daily rise in infections

Moscow has partially lifted its lockdown despite Russia reporting thousands of new daily cases and Spain’s government said face masks would remain mandatory in public as Europe continued to emerge from the first phase of its struggle against Covid-19.

Concern mounted, however, over the spread of coronavirus in Africa and elsewhere, with Nigeria confirming 600 deaths from a previously undetected outbreak and South Africa warning its pandemic could last up to two years.

Continue reading...

Coronavirus may have been in Wuhan in August, study suggests

Posted on by

Research finds rise in hospital car park usage and web searches for ‘diarrhoea’ and ‘cough’

Coronavirus may have been present and spreading in Wuhan as early as August last year, according to a study that analysed satellite imagery of car parks outside major hospitals and search engine data.

The study, by researchers from Harvard medical school, Boston University of Public Health and Boston children’s hospital, looked at images captured between January 2018 and April 2020 and found a “steep increase” in vehicle counts starting in August 2019 and peaking in December 2019. Between September and October, five of the six hospitals observed had their highest daily volume of cars in the period analysed.

Continue reading...

Hong Kong protests: dozens arrested marking first anniversary in defiance of police ban

Posted on by

Fifty-three demonstrators arrested after ignoring ban on gatherings to mark one year of protests

More than 50 people were arrested in Hong Kong on Tuesday night after thousands of protesters took to the streets in defiance of a police order to mark the first anniversary of the anti-government movement.

Police riot units used pepper spray and repeatedly charged at crowds in an attempt to disperse protesters gathered near the business district of Central, occupying roads and blocking traffic until well after midnight.

Continue reading...

North Korea to cut all communications with ‘enemy’ South

Posted on by

Pyongyang has said it will make Seoul ‘suffer’ during worsening spat over anti-North Korean leaflets sent from South

North Korea says it will sever hotlines with South Korea as the first step toward shutting down all means of contact with Seoul, state news agency KCNA has reported.

For several days, North Korea has lashed out at South Korea, threatening to close an inter-Korean liaison office and other projects if the South does not stop activists and defectors from sending leaflets and other anti-Pyongyang material into the North.

Continue reading...

UK shares, sterling rise on further lockdown easing hopes – business live

Posted on by

The government is reportedly ready to let beer gardens open from 22 June as part of plans drawn up by a group of ministers, dubbed the “Save Summer Six”, who are looking at ways to restart the hospitality industry earlier than initially planned, writes my colleague Rob Davies.

The proposals, first reported in the Financial Times, would allow some of the 27,000 UK pubs that have outdoor space to serve customers for the first time in three months.

UK airline and travel stocks are up, for once, despite the new quarantine rules. The cruise operator Carnival is the biggest riser on the FTSE 100 index, up 14%, while BA owner IAG is 6.9% ahead and easyJet has gained 5.5%.

As reported earlier, Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary said the airline would fly through the 14-day UK quarantine, which he described as “rubbish”. Britain’s three biggest airlines – Ryanair, easyJet and IAG – have begun legal proceedings against the government over the quarantine rules, which they argue are illogical and unfair, and come months late.

Related: Ryanair boss: Britons know quarantine rules are rubbish

Continue reading...

‘Rolling emergency’ of locust swarms decimating Africa, Asia and Middle East

Posted on by

Unseasonal rains have allowed desert pests to breed rapidly and spread across vast distances leaving devastation in their wake

Locust swarms threaten a “rolling emergency” that could endanger harvests and food security across parts of Africa and Asia for the rest of the year, experts warn.

An initial infestation of locusts in December was expected to die out during the current dry season. But unseasonal rains have allowed several generations of locust to breed, resulting in new swarms forming.

Continue reading...

Workers in Tokyo’s red-light district to be tested for coronavirus after new spike

Posted on by

Dozens of new infections reported in Kabukicho, a district of more than 4,000 bars, restaurants and commercial sex establishments

Health authorities in Tokyo are to ask employees of host clubs and similar establishments to be regularly tested for Covid-19 after evidence that the virus is spreading among people who work in the capital’s night-time economy.

The city reported 14 new infections on Sunday, six of which involved people working in clubs where employees pour drinks and talk to customers in close proximity.

Continue reading...

‘Leave that lady alone’: rugby star’s domestic violence video sparks outcry in Papua New Guinea

Posted on by

Debbie Kaore who has represented the Pacific nation in rugby and boxing shared a video of alleged attack from partner

A shocking video that appears to show a Papua New Guinean sports star being beaten by her partner has sparked outrage across the country and prompted calls for the government to take urgent action to address high rates of violence against women.

Graphic photographs and a video that appear to show a man repeatedly head-butting a woman and hitting her across the face with a hot clothing iron were widely shared across social media in Papua New Guinea over the weekend, sparking outrage.

Continue reading...

Five ways New Zealand can keep Covid-19 cases at zero | Michael Baker and Nick Wilson

Posted on by

Modelling shows it is very likely New Zealand has eliminated coronavirus. Keeping it that way is the next big challenge

Today, for the first time since 28 February, New Zealand has no active cases of Covid-19.

According to our modelling at the the University of Otago, it is now very likely (well above a 95% chance) New Zealand has completely eliminated the virus. This is in line with modelling by our colleagues at Te Pūnaha Matatini (a research centre based at University of Auckland).

Continue reading...

British man in Bali rescued after six days trapped in well with broken leg

Posted on by

Jacob Roberts, 29, fell four metres into the pit after being chased by a dog, but was rescued when a farmer heard his cries for help

A British man who spent six days trapped in a well after being chased by a dog has been rescued on the Indonesian island of Bali, authorities said on Sunday.

A rescue team lifted 29-year-old Jacob Roberts from the four-metre-deep concrete pit after a farmer in Pecatu village raised the alarm.

Continue reading...

‘The anger is still there’: Hong Kong defiant a year on from first protests

Posted on by

China’s national security law has reinvigorated a protest movement that began with opposition to an extradition bill

When Freeman Yim stepped out to join a peaceful demonstration against a controversial extradition bill on 9 June last year, he never knew it would be the start of a drawn-out movement that would plunge Hong Kong into the deepest crisis in its history.

“We weren’t fighting for much, we just wanted Hong Kong to remain Hong Kong and not turn into just any Chinese city,” he said. “We want to have dignity and basic rights. As the Chinese national anthem says, not to become slaves.”

Continue reading...

Jailed Australian democracy activist has ‘disappeared’ inside Vietnam’s prison system

Posted on by

Chau Van Kham’s family has lost contact with him for nearly four months and fear the Australian government has ‘forgotten about him’

A 70-year-old Australian democracy activist has “disappeared” inside Vietnam’s prison system: no one from his family or the Australian government has been allowed to see or speak with him for nearly four months. 

Human rights advocates, lawyers and Chau Van Kham’s family said the charges against him are baseless and politically motivated, his single-day multiple-defendant trial was grossly unfair, and his failing health means his 12-year prison sentence is “effectively a death sentence”.

Continue reading...

The Vanuatu island in the eye of the storm

Posted on by

Pentecost Island, devastated by Cyclone Harold in April, has been left a silent shadow of its former self. But its people endure

Touching down on the island of Pentecost in Vanuatu, it takes hours to notice the silence. After a while it hits you: there’s no birdsong, no insects buzzing and chittering. There is no wind in the trees.

You don’t register the silence at first because your eyes are overwhelmed with the magnitude of the destruction. The eye of category 5 Cyclone Harold passed directly over the central and southern half of this remote and mountainous island on April 5.

Continue reading...

Global alliance formed to counter China threat amid rising tensions

Posted on by

Lawmakers from EU parliament and eight other countries create new body

International cooperation is needed to protect democratic values from an increasingly assertive communist China, a new group made up of lawmakers from eight countries and the EU parliament has said.

The legislators, representing parties across the political spectrum, have formed a global alliance, the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, to push their governments to take a stronger stance on relations with the country.

Continue reading...

Astronomers warn ‘wilderness’ of southern night sky at risk from SpaceX satellites

Posted on by

Stargazing under threat as pristine skies over New Zealand and Australia are clogged with hundreds of Starlink satellites

Astronomers in the southern hemisphere have warned that the wonders of the night sky are at risk from hundreds of satellites that have been shot into space by Elon Musk’s company SpaceX.

The night skies of Australia and New Zealand are globally renowned for their clarity, drawing tourists from across the world to dark-sky sanctuaries such as Tekapo on New Zealand’s South Island and the Warrumbungle national park in New South Wales.

Continue reading...

Thousands in Hong Kong defy ban to hold Tiananmen Square vigil – video

Posted on by

Protesters in Hong Kong have defied a police ban to mark the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown with a vigil, as the city’s legislature passed a law criminalising the mocking of China’s national anthem. Many fear this year’s commemoration might be Hong Kong’s last, as the proposed imposition of Chinese laws on the special administrative region would prevent and punish activities that threaten national security.

Continue reading...

Tiananmen Square witnesses remember an air of celebration, and then ‘Orwellian silence’

Posted on by

Student protesters and journalists in 1989 recall the joy and hope before the crackdown

It was mid-morning in Tiananmen Square in Beijing on 1 June, 1989. Someone had turned on a boombox playing 80s disco music, and people began to dance. A young couple spins in a small opening in the crowd. The woman smiles slightly, her eyes almost closed, as her partner in a loose dress shirt and blazer turns her. Around them, people are clapping.

It is a photo that captures a side of the pro-democracy movement often overshadowed by what came after – the brutal military crackdown on the evening of 3 June and morning of 4 June. There is no official death toll but activists believe hundreds, possibly thousands, were killed.

Continue reading...

Philippines police may have killed tens of thousands with ‘near impunity’ in drug war – UN

Posted on by

Campaign of encouragement by high-level officials may have been seen by police as ‘permission to kill’, says damning report

Tens of thousands of people may have been killed in the war on drugs since mid-2016 in the Philippines, amid “near impunity” for police and incitement to violence by top officials, the United Nations said on Thursday.

The drugs crackdown, launched by President Rodrigo Duterte after winning election on a platform of crushing crime, has been marked by police orders and high-level rhetoric that may have been interpreted as “permission to kill”, it said.

Continue reading...

Kim Yo-jong warns South Korea to tackle ‘evil’ propaganda balloons

Posted on by

North Korean leader’s sister says continued air drops by defectors could jeopardise peacekeeping agreement

Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, has warned South Korea to stop propaganda leaflets coming over the border, warning it could wreck an agreement to reduce military tensions.

Her statement came after anti-Pyongyang leaflets were sent across the border earlier this week by a group of North Korean defectors. The leaflets concealed in 500,000 balloons criticised Kim Jong-un’s nuclear threats, according to the Yonhap news agency. Previous messages have also condemned North Korea’s human rights record.

Continue reading...

Hong Kong protesters hold banned Tiananmen vigil as anthem law is passed

Posted on by

Protesters defy police ban as legislation prohibits mockery of Chinese anthem

Thousands of people have defied a police ban in Hong Kong to mourn the victims of the Tiananmen Square massacre, after the city’s legislature passed a law criminalising the mockery of China’s national anthem.

Many fear this year’s commemoration of the events of 4 June 1989 might be Hong Kong’s last, as China has approved a plan to impose national security laws on the semi-autonomous city that would prevent and punish “acts and activities” that threaten national security.

Continue reading...