Marked by delay, disorganisation and erratic supply, the Philippine effort to achieve herd immunity from Covid-19 faces two emerging problems: most Filipinos don’t want to get inoculated, and of those who do, many reject vaccines from China.On May 17, a vaccination centre in Parañaque City, Metro Manila, was swamped by members of the public when word got around it was administering jabs from Pfizer.Media reports showed long lines of people disregarding social distancing forming at the centre,…
Hundreds of illegal Chinese fishing boats are taking our catches: South Korea
Hundreds of Chinese fishing boats operating illegally along the sea border between South and North Korea are decimating local catches and damaging the environment, according to South Korean authorities and fishermen. In a development that has reignited a long-standing point of contention between Seoul and Beijing, a great surge of Chinese vessels has entered the waters surrounding the Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea. On South Korean estimates an average of 180 Chinese boats have been…
Guide brings environmental claims under increased UK consumer law scrutiny
Businesses can expect claims they make about the ‘green’ credentials of their products and services to come in for greater scrutiny for their compliance with UK consumer laws and advertising standards, experts have said.
UN envoy urges Asean to act as Myanmar junta ignores consensus plan
The United Nations special envoy for Myanmar has warned Asean that time was running out in getting the country’s junta to comply with the five-point consensus plan drawn up in April, with the regional bloc also being criticised by commentators for its inertia over the matter.“Clearly, it’s up to Asean how to react,” Christine Schraner Burgener said in a virtual press conference. “We should be aware that time is ticking and we have not a lot of time to see action on the ground, because time will…
Coronavirus: Singapore exits pandemic-induced recession as economy grows 1.3 per cent
Singapore’s economy grew for the first time after three consecutive quarters of contraction, in a sign the city state is recovering from last year’s pandemic-induced recession.But with tighter social distancing measures having been introduced this month amid a recent increase in domestic infections, analysts say it is unclear whether the growth in the first quarter of this year can be sustained.The Ministry of Trade and Industry on Tuesday said the economy grew 1.3 per cent between January and…
UN envoy Christine Schraner Burgener hopeful junta will allow her into Myanmar after seven-week wait
The UN special envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, said on Monday she still hopes to visit the country after seven weeks spent in the region waiting for the junta that staged a coup in February to allow her in.During a meeting in Indonesia at the end of April with the head of the Myanmar junta, General Min Aung Hlaing “didn’t say that he doesn’t want to speak with me any more,” the Swiss diplomat said at a virtual press conference in Bangkok, where she has spent most of her time…
UK rail review ‘real opportunity’ for significant reform
Plans to overhaul the UK railways under a new overarching public body offer a “real opportunity” for improved infrastructure, digital transformation and better passenger services, according to experts at Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.
Review of UK R&D tax credits system begins
The UK government is conducting a wide-ranging review into the tax credits system for qualifying expenditure on research and development (R&D) activity.
New Zealand family urges Japan to stop restraining patients at psychiatric hospitals
Four years after a New Zealand teacher died in Japan, where he was restrained to a hospital bed for more than a week, his family remains committed in their campaign to call for the end of the practice they believe killed their son.Kelly Savage died in Yamato City Hospital in Kanagawa Prefecture on May 17, 2017, a week after suffering a heart attack and more than two weeks after he was hospitalised for mental health issues.His parents, Martha and Mike Savage, believe he died after suffering a…
Myanmar junta suspends more than 125,000 teachers for opposing coup
More than 125,000 schoolteachers in Myanmar have been suspended by the military authorities for joining a civil disobedience movement to oppose the military coup in February, an official of the Myanmar Teachers’ Federation said.The suspensions have come days before the start of a new school year, which some teachers and parents are boycotting as part of the campaign that has paralysed the country since the coup cut short a decade of democratic reforms.A total of 125,900 schoolteachers had been…