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April
Singapore blogger crowdfunds over $100,000 to pay PM defamation damages
Written by Nur Yasmin
Jakarta. A Singaporean activist said on Friday he had raised S$144,389 ($108,200) through social media to cover defamation damages he had to pay Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, the second such crowdfunding case involving a blogger this month.
The prime minister sued Roy Ngerng for a blog post in 2014 in which Ngerng allegedly implicated Lee in impropriety in connection with how funds in Singapore’s mandatory retirement savings scheme, the Central Provident Fund(CPF), are managed.
In 2015, the Singapore High Court ordered Ngerng to pay the prime minister S$150,000 in damages in addition to S$29,000 in legal fees.
Ngerng said he had revived his fundraising campaign after Leong Sze Hian, a financial adviser, raised S$133,000 this month to cover damages that he was ordered to pay the prime minister in a separate defamation case.
Ngerng said had been making the payments in installments over the last five years.
"We have made it," Ngerng said in a post on Friday, announcing the completion of the funding.
As the head of a government that has pledged zero tolerance of corruption, Lee, 69, is no stranger to seeking to protect his reputation via legal channels.
Senior figures in the ruling People's Action Party, including Lee's late father and the founder of modern-day Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, have previously sued foreign media and political opponents for defamation. (Reuters)
April
Japan's March exports likely grew at fastest pace in more than 3 years
Written by Nur YasminJakarta. Japan's exports likely posted their strongest growth in more than three years in March as overseas demand recovered, a Reuters poll showed on Friday, but more disruptions from the coronavirus crisis threatened to slow the growth of shipments.
The recovery in the world's third-largest economy has been led by improving output and exports, but slow vaccine rollouts and a renewed surge in COVID-19 cases are clouding the outlook for consumption.
Next week's key data includes core consumer inflation, which is expected to fall for the eight consecutive month as price pressures remained low due to weak consumer demand.
Exports likely rose 11.6% in March from a year earlier, which would mark the sharpest rise since January 2018, the poll of 16 economists showed.
Imports were forecast to have grown 4.7% in March from a year earlier, which would result in a trade surplus of 490.0 billion yen ($4.5 billion).
Japan's economy suffered greatly from a shakeout in global trade due to the pandemic in the first quarter of last year, when it entered a recession for the first time in 4-1/2 years.
"Exports are again expected to turn positive compared to a year earlier, as they started to decline greatly in March last year due to the impact of the coronavirus," said Kenta Maruyama, an economist at Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting.
"While the rising trend that is driven by strong demand for capital and information-related goods continues, it is slowing down slightly."
The finance ministry announces trade data at 8:50 a.m. on Monday (2350 GMT Sunday).
The core consumer price index (CPI), which includes oil products but excludes volatile fresh food prices, is expected to have fallen 0.1% in March compared to the same month a year earlier, according to the Reuters poll.
The pace of decline, however, was expected to remain moderate as rising energy prices increasingly offset the downward pressure from lacklustre consumer spending due to the pandemic.
The government releases core CPI at 8:30 a.m. on Friday (2330 GMT Thursday). (Reuters)
April
Thailand uses hotels for COVID patients as cases surge
Written by Nur Yasmin
Jakarta. Thailand reported on Friday its fifth record daily tally of coronavirus cases this week, as authorities set up thousands of field hospitals to cope with an influx of patients and lined up hotels to provide extra beds for those without symptoms.
All positive cases have to be admitted into care under Thai rules, and with 10,461 patients being treated the medical sector could be put under additional strain.
Authorities also announced the closure of bars, massage parlours and schools starting on Sunday for at least two weeks to curb the outbreak.
Alcohol sales in restaurants are banned and activities involving more than 50 people are also prohibited, coronavirus taskforce spokesman Taweesin Wisanuyothin said.
Eighteen provinces including Bangkok had been labelled as red zones where restaurants and convenience stores close early, with the rest of the country categorised as orange zones.
More than 20,000 beds have been set up at field hospitals across the country at community centres and gyms. Hotels and hospitals are also partnering to set up "hospitels" to treat asymptomatic patients, the health ministry said.
Five thousand beds across 23 hotels had been readied, it said in a statement. About 2,000 beds are occupied and an additional 7,000 more could be added.
Hotels already hosting travellers to Thailand for quarantine were best positioned for this, Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, president of the Thai Hotels Association, told Reuters.
"They have all the processes in place such as preventing cross contamination, wearing PPE suits, cleaning, making sure floors are not carpeted," she said.
Hotels register through the health ministry and are matched with hospitals that require extra beds.
The hotels range from three- to five-star facilities and are mostly on the outskirts of Bangkok, the epicentre of the latest outbreak, which saw 312 new infections on Friday.
Thailand has so far managed to contain the number of cases relative to other countries, but the new outbreak comes as many have travelled during the country's Songkran new year holidays this week and as vaccination rates are still low.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said the government was in contact for the possible procurement of the Sputnik V and Pfizer (PFE.N) vaccines. So far, it has two million doses of China's Sinovac vaccine and 117,300 shots from AstraZeneca (AZN.L).
Thailand reported 1,582 new coronavirus cases on Friday, marking the highest number of daily infections since the start of the pandemic.
The new cases took the total number of infections to 39,038, with deaths remaining at 97. (Reuters)
April
Australia reports first blood clot death 'likely' linked to AstraZeneca vaccine
Written by Nur Yasmin
Jakarta. Australia on Friday reported its first fatality from blood clots in a recipient of AstraZeneca's (AZN.L) COVID-19 shot, and its regulator said there was a likely link between the 48-year-old woman's death and the vaccine.
Hers was the third instance of the rare blood clots appearing in people who have been administered the vaccine in Australia. The other two are recovering well, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) added.
It said it was "carefully reviewing" similar instances in Australia.
The New South Wales woman received the AstraZeneca vaccine on April 8, the day that the government announced that the Pfizer (PFE.N) vaccine would be given as a preference to patients under 50, delaying its inoculation timetable. read more
In the absence of an alternative cause for the clot that she developed, Australia's Vaccine Safety Investigation Group (VSIG) "believed that a causative link to vaccination should be assumed at this time," the TGA said.
The VSIG had held a meeting late on Friday following news of the woman's death.
The TGA said her case had been complicated by underlying medical conditions, including diabetes, "as well as some atypical features."
There had been at least 885,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines administered in Australia so far, equating to a frequency of instance of blood clot in every 295,000 cases, the TGA said.
"The overall number ...so far has been no higher than the expected background rate for the more common type of blood clots," it said.
The UK regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, has concluded from its review of cases reported in the UK that the overall risk of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis - a rare blood clot in the brain - was approximately 1 in 250,000 who receive the vaccine.
Australia has reported over 22,000 COVID-19 cases of community transmission and 909 deaths. (Reuters)
April
Cambodia launches lockdown in capital as COVID-19 outbreak spreads
Written by Nur Yasmin
Jakarta. Cambodia brought in a coronavirus lockdown in Phnom Penh and a satellite district of the capital on Thursday in a bid to contain a spike in coronavirus cases in a country that up until recently had largely managed to contain infections.
Under the lockdown, which Prime Minister Hun Sen announced late on Wednesday, most people are banned from leaving home except for going to work, to buy food or for medical treatment.
Police manning checkpoints on Thursday in Phnom Penh asked motorists to show work documents and identity cards in order to pass, television footage on local media showed.
In a voice message posted on his official Facebook page, Hun Sen warned Cambodia was on the brink of "death valley" and urged people to work together to avoid calamity.
"The purpose of the lockdown is to combat the spread of COVID-19 and this closure is not a way to make people die or suffer," he said.
The Southeast Asian country still has one of the world's smallest coronavirus caseloads, but an outbreak that started in late February saw cases spike almost ten-fold to 4,874 within two months and the first deaths recorded with 36 fatalities
Hours before the lockdown, Hun Sen's message was leaked on social media, prompted panic buying of food and other goods in shops by residents in Phnom Penh and the nearby Takhmau area, where a lockdown has also been imposed. (Reuters)
April
Thailand readies restrictions as coronavirus cases surge
Written by Nur Yasmin
Jakarta. Thailand reported 1,543 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, the sharpest increase since the start of the pandemic and the fourth record rise this week, prompting authorities to prepare new restrictions that would include closing schools and clubs.
Thailand has so far managed to contain the number of cases relative to other countries, but the new outbreak comes as many have travelled during the country's Songkran new year holidays and as vaccination rates are still low.
Asked whether lockdowns would be imposed, health official Chawetsan Namwat said measures were being formulated based on case numbers in each area and would be proposed to the coronavirus taskforce for approval on Friday.
"We have to divide up the areas based on seriousness, which is different and so measures have to be suitable for each area," Chawetsan told a briefing.
The measures include closing entertainment venues, clubs, bars, massage parlours and schools nationwide for at least two weeks, health minister Anutin Charnvirakul said in a statement.
Activities involving over 50 people would be prohibited and 18 provinces, including Bangkok, classified as red zones and the remaining 59 provinces as orange.
Restaurants would not be able to serve alcohol and must close by 9 p.m. in red zones.
Authorities have already urged people to limit travel and begin working from home. Shopping malls will also close at 9 p.m and the banking association said branches outside malls will shut at 3:30 p.m. and limit customer numbers.
Thailand's last major lockdown was in late March last year, with a curfew imposed in April, before months of relatively relaxed curbs as cases were mainly contained.
Of the new infections reported on Thursday, 409 were in Bangkok, the outbreak's epicentre.
The new cases took total infections to 37,453, with deaths remaining at 97.
All positive cases have to be admitted into care under Thai rules, with 8,973 patients currently being treated, which could stretch a healthcare system already strained by the last outbreak.
In a statement, the government said there was sufficient space to accommodate patients, especially in Bangkok and nearby provinces, with more than 6,000 beds arranged and 2,200 more planned including in field hospitals.
Chawetsan denied the rate of vaccination was slow, but said the country had received a limited number of doses. Government data showed about 2,000 additional vaccinations by Thursday from a day earlier out a total of 581,308.
Thailand has vaccinated less than 0.4% of its population, trailing neighbours including Malaysia, with 1.5%, and 14.6% in Singapore, a Reuters estimate found.
The government's main vaccination strategy relies on locally-produced AstraZeneca (AZN.L) shots, which are expected to start being delivered in June, with the aim of inoculating half of the adult population by the end of the year. (Reuters)
April
Malaysia's health ministry calls for ban on Eid travel amid surge in COVID-19 cases
Written by Nur Yasmin
Jakarta. Malaysia's health ministry has proposed retaining a ban on interstate travel throughout the Eid festive season, state news agency Bernama reported on Thursday, as the number of COVID-19 infections in the country jumped to a five-week high.
Muslim-majority Malaysia has gradually eased movement curbs since embarking on a nationwide vaccination programme in February, though the government has yet to decide on whether to allow interstate travel ahead of the Eid al-Fitr festival on May 13.
The Southeast Asian nation has seen a surge in cases in recent weeks, with the country reporting 2,148 new coronavirus infections on Thursday, the highest daily rise since March 5.
"As daily cases are still rising and not yet stable, this interstate travel needs to be postponed," Health Minister Adham Baba was quoted as saying by Bernama.
Separately, Director-General of Health Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement authorities had identified two more cases of a highly contagious COVID-19 variant first discovered in Britain.
The variant, also known as B.1.1.7, was found in two Malaysians who had travelled to Poland last month and tested positive for the coronavirus upon their return on March 30, Noor Hisham said.
The latest cases bring the total number of infections involving the variant detected in Malaysia to five, he said.
Malaysia has reported a total of 367,977 coronavirus cases, including 1,363 deaths. (Reuters)
April
New Zealand to donate vaccines for 800,000 to COVAX vaccine facility - Ardern
Written by Nur Yasmin
Jakarta. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Thursday that it would donate COVID-19 vaccine for 800,000 people via the COVAX dose-sharing facility that aims to protect health workers and other vulnerable people in lower income countries.
She was the first leader to pledge doses at the event held by the Gavi Vaccine Alliance, although European countries including Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden pledged new funds. (Reuters)
April
U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan to begin May 1- Biden
Written by Nur Yasmin
Jakarta. U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that the United States would begin its final military withdrawal from Afghanistan on May 1 and it would be complete before Sept. 11.
“The United States will begin our final withdrawal... on May 1 of this year. We’ll not conduct a hasty rush to the exit. We’ll do it responsibly, deliberately and safely, and we will do it in full coordination with our allies and partners, who now have more forces in Afghanistan than we do,” Biden said.
Biden added that he had spoken with former President George W. Bush about his decision. (Reuters)
April
UAE partners with Japan's ispace to send rover to the moon in 2022
Written by Nur Yasmin
Jakarta. Lunar exploration company ispace will transport a United Arab Emirates rover to the moon in 2022, the company said on Wednesday, as the UAE pushes for rapid expansion in the space exploration business to diversify its economy.
The UAE is using its space programme to develop its scientific and technological capabilities and reduce its reliance on oil.
The Gulf state’s, and the Arab world’s, first interplanetary probe entered Mars’ orbit in February. It is now sending data about the Martian atmosphere and climate.
The Rashid lunar rover will be designed entirely by Emiratis. The UAE had originally intended to send it into space by 2024.
Japanese company ispace, founded in 2010, aims to provide commercial transportation to the moon with a wider mission to ultimately incorporate the moon into the earth’s economy.
The 2022 launch will be ispace’s first mission of this kind and will use a Falcon 9 rocket from Elon Musk’s SpaceX, to be launched from Florida.
Dubai’s Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) will build the Rashid lunar rover. It will remain on the moon after data collection is completed, said Emirates Lunar Mission manager Hamad al-Marzooqi.
The SpaceX rocket will deliver an ispace lander to the moon’s orbit. The lander will propel itself to the moon’s surface and the UAE rover will then emerge from the lander and drive off to explore, said ispace Founder and CEO Takeshi Hakamada.
The lander will also be carrying a solid-state battery designed by Japanese company NGK Spark Plug to be tested in the lunar environment.
The lunar mission is part of the Gulf state’s broader vision for a Mars settlement by 2117.
Under the agreement, ispace said it would also provide the Emirates Lunar Mission with wired communication and power during the cruise phase and wireless communication on the moon.
The UAE launched a National Space Programme in 2017 to develop local expertise. Its population of 9.4 million, most of whom are foreign workers, lacks the scientific and industrial base of the major countries which have space programmes.
Hazza al-Mansouri became the first Emirati in space in 2019 when he flew to the International Space Station. This week the UAE selected the first Arab woman to train as an astronaut. (Reuters)