Category: Self Care

HONG KONG – Two executives from Hong Kong’s pro-democracy Apple Daily appeared in court on Saturday on charges of collusion and were denied bail after authorities deployed a sweeping security law to target the newspaper, a scathing critic of Beijing.

Chief editor Ryan Law and CEO Cheung Kim-hung are accused of colluding with foreign forces to undermine China’s national security over a series of articles that police said called for international sanctions.

Chief magistrate Victor So said there were insufficient grounds “for the court to believe that the defendants will not continue to commit acts endangering national security.”

The two will remain in custody until their next court appearance on Aug. 13 as prosecutors said police needed time to examine more than 40 computers and 16 servers seized from the newsroom.

The case is the first time political views and opinions published by a Hong Kong media outlet have triggered the security law, which was imposed last year by Beijing to stamp out dissent in the financial hub.

Apple Daily and its jailed owner Jimmy Lai have long been thorns in Beijing’s side, with unapologetic support for the city’s pro-democracy movement and caustic criticism of China’s authoritarian leaders.

More than 500 police officers raided the paper’s newsroom on Thursday. Five executives were arrested. Law and Cheung were charged on Friday while the three others were released on bail pending further investigations.

“We will continue to publish our paper tomorrow,” deputy chief editor Chan Pui-man said outside court. She was released late Friday on bail.

Dozens of supporters were queuing to get seats in court on Saturday morning, including many former and current employees of Apple Daily.

A staff member, who gave her surname as Chang, said she and many other Apple Daily employees treat “every day like it is our last” working for the paper.

“At first, authorities said the national security law would only target a tiny number of people,” she told AFP.

“But what has happened showed us that is nonsense,” she added.

Another staff reporter, who gave her first name as Theresa, said she felt Apple Daily’s legal troubles were a warning shot.

“I think what has happened to Apple Daily today can eventually happen to every other news outlet in the city,” she said.

Plunging press freedom

Multiple international media companies have regional headquarters in Hong Kong, attracted to the business-friendly regulations and free speech provisions written into the city’s mini-constitution.

But many are now questioning whether they have a future there and are drawing up contingency plans as Beijing presses on with a broad crackdown on dissent in the city.

Local media have an even tougher time, with journalist associations saying reporters are increasingly having to self-censor.

Hong Kong has steadily plunged down an annual press freedom ranking by Reporters Without Borders, from 18th place in 2002 to 80th this year.

Mainland China languishes at 177th out of 180, above only Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea.

Hong Kong and Chinese officials say the arrests were not an attack on the media.

Earlier this week, security secretary John Lee described Apple Daily as a “criminal syndicate.”

Apple Daily is by far the most outspoken of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy media outlets. But it is not clear how long it can survive.

Its wealthy owner Lai, 73, is currently serving multiple jail sentences for his involvement in democracy rallies in 2019.

He has also been charged under the national security law and has had his Hong Kong assets frozen.

Authorities froze a further HK$18 million (US$2.3 million) of Apple Daily’s company assets on Thursday.

Police say they also plan to prosecute three companies owned by Apple Daily under the security law, which could see the paper fined or banned.

It is the first time companies, rather than an individual, have faced a national security investigation.

Mark Simon, an aide to Lai who lives overseas, said the paper would have difficulty paying its staff of about 700.

Company lawyers were trying to work out the breadth of the asset freeze order, he added.

“Money is not an issue. Draconian orders from Beijing via the NSL (national security law) are the issue,” he told AFP.

Source: Voice of America

SYDNEY – Researchers in Australia are starting clinical trials of a new type of COVID-19 vaccine — a nasal spray. Scientists at Brisbane’s Nucleus Network believe that the treatment could be more effective against the virus than the AstraZeneca and Pfizer drugs and that it would allow patients who are afraid of needles to be inoculated.

Despite concerted public health campaigns, the vaccination program in Australia has been slow compared with those of other countries. There have been supply problems, complaints about poor planning by the government and, with the country’s relatively low level of coronavirus cases, complacency and hesitancy in the community.

Australia is accelerating its inoculation rollout. In the future, vaccines could be administered more easily — as a nasal spray designed to “attack the virus” as it enters the body.

Dr. Paul Griffin, medical director at the Nucleus Network, a research organization that’s beginning trials of the nasal therapy, said that while other drugs mostly protect against developing severe symptoms of COVID-19, this one aims to reduce the risk of infection.

“The main benefit is, when we give the vaccine via the same route that the pathogen or the virus gets in through, then hopefully the response will be more adept at actually stopping the virus getting in,” he said. “So, we will get a response that is particularly active at that site, which will hopefully mean that people are much less likely to get infected, which is something that we really want to see with vaccines for this virus.”

An independent ethics committee has approved the Australian trial. Researchers say the nasal spray could be available in a year or two.

Two COVID-19 vaccines — AstraZeneca and Pfizer — are currently approved for use in Australia. This week, health authorities said the AstraZeneca drug would now be recommended for use in people 60 and older, after they received new advice from the country’s vaccine experts about the risk of rare blood clots.

The government plans to vaccinate every Australian who wants to be inoculated by the end of 2021. Australia has recorded about 30,000 coronavirus cases. More than 900 people have died.

Source: Voice of America

Researchers in New Zealand are testing new techniques to find out whether masks and gowns used by health workers as protection against COVID-19 can be decontaminated and safely used again.

Researchers want to reduce the “mountain” of personal protective equipment, or PPE, that is discarded around the world daily. According to experts in New Zealand, estimates indicate that in China alone, hundreds of thousands of metric tons of PPE are going to the landfill each day.

 

Mark Staiger is an associate professor of materials engineering at the University of Canterbury.

“The amount of waste that is being produced by the pandemic is absolutely huge. It has been estimated that something like 3 million face masks are being used per minute around the world. Other studies have shown that something like 3.5 billion face masks and face shields are being discarded globally every day,” he said.

 

Masks and gowns contain plastics that cannot easily be recycled. Researchers from Canterbury, Otago and Auckland universities are testing a process that would destroy the COVID-19 virus and allow the PPE to be used again.

The aim is to safely disinfect protective equipment so it can be used by frontline workers. If successful, Staiger says the system could increase the supply of N95 masks, which filter out airborne particles, by 40%.

“The particular challenge in decontaminating face masks, for example, is making sure that whatever technique you use for killing off the virus does not affect the materials contained within the mask. For example, N95 masks have a special electrostatic layer inside them, which is used for capturing very small particles, and if that layer is damaged by the treatment that you are using or the decontamination treatment that you are using, this would render the mask ineffective and lose its functionality.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said PPE creates a barrier between an individual’s skin, mouth, nose, or eyes and viral and bacterial infections. It is mostly designed to be used only once.

The New Zealand university study began in 2020. Its final stage is under way, and it is due to finish later this year.

The research team is also building a mobile disinfection unit that could be transported in shipping containers to other countries.

New Zealand has an enviable record of containing COVID-19, in large part because it closed its borders to most foreign nationals in March 2020. It has recorded about 2,700 confirmed or probable infections. Twenty-six people have died.

 

 

Source: Voice of America

MAE SOT, THAILAND – When Myanmar’s military shocked the world by announcing a coup earlier this year, many people inside the country were stunned at the news. After decades under military rule, they had enjoyed 10 years of a developing democracy until the armed forces took back control.

Initially, most of the country merely looked on, hesitant to begin a rebellion given Myanmar’s violent past. But as the junta installed its own Cabinet and detained members of the National League for Democracy, including leader Aung San Suu Kyi, an uprising began brewing.

Residents banged pots and pans in anger in the first few days after the coup, signaling their disapproval of the military takeover. Major protests didn’t materialize until the influence of one doctor turned activist became apparent.

Spring revolution 

Dr. Ko Tayzar San, 33, from Mandalay, is largely credited with leading the first anti-coup demonstrations, a movement that is now known as the Spring Revolution. Today, he is on the run.

He recalls the first moments of the rebellion against the junta, officially the State Administrative Council (SAC).

Infuriated with the armed forces takeover, some people had planned an immediate backlash, but the swirling rumors of a coup could not be verified.

“On February 1, they (Myanmar military) turned off the mobile network in the whole country. At that moment, we didn’t confirm any information, what is going on and what is happening,” Tayzar San told VOA.

Three days later, he took to the streets of Mandalay to protest with friends and other demonstrators who resisted the military’s power grab. Four of his friends were arrested that day, and one has since been killed.

Soon after, the soldiers came for him. The activist knew then that his life would never be the same.

“As for me, the soldiers raided and destroyed my home, where my family lived before the coup. They knew my home address, so they came looking for me and smashed and break the whole house, confiscated everything and three cars.”

“I already know from that moment I decided to get involved. Anytime I can be arrested. Anytime I could be shot and killed, and life could be ruined. … That we already knew and accepted,” he said.

On the run 

Speaking from an undisclosed location, Tayzar San said he misses his family the most. He added that it was recently his daughter’s second birthday, and he hadn’t seen her for over 120 days.

“I have been on the run for a long time. My arrest warrant has been issued since the third week of February. I have not been home since February 2,” he said.

But he believes the heightened security concerns are felt everywhere.

“If you live in your own home, you could be shot at any time. You can be arrested for no reason, (and) maybe threatened (with) your life. There is no security in the whole country right now.”

Until recently, Tayzar San hadn’t been known for his pro-democracy advocacy, especially when compared with other well-known activists who have risen to prominence in response to Myanmar’s deep-rooted political issues in recent years.

“Before the coup, my professional work was (as) executive director at Yone Kyi Yar Knowledge Propagation Society, a civil society organization in Mandalay. And I am also a doctor, so I do medical treatment in charity clinics.”

But ever since Myanmar’s anti-coup protests first erupted across the country, Tayzar San has been involved. Four and a half months on, he’s still at it, often seen roaring into a megaphone in protest.

Efforts noted 

And his efforts have recently been rewarded. Local media reported how he was the recipient of South Korea’s June Democratic Uprising award, named after the 1987 uprising that led to South Korea’s democratization.

“A lot has been given in these four months. Many people have fallen, and many lives have been lost, and people are in prison,” he said, adding that Myanmar is facing both socioeconomic and business crises.

“Today, Myanmar is in the darkest time. However, in the midst of so much suffering, the people are fully in the mood to reject the dictator,” he added.

Protests peaked during the first two months after the coup, but since then, mass demonstrations have waned, largely due to the military’s violent crackdown on the city. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a rights-monitoring group based in Thailand, at least 860 have been killed and thousands detained.

Tayzar San said demonstrators had been given no option but to respond with “guerrilla protests.”

“We will oppose this dictatorship any way we can,” he said.

Looking forward 

As for international intervention, Tayzar San believes implementing an arms embargo would reduce the Myanmar military’s arsenal of weapons.

“I believe that the role of the international community will continue to support as long as the people of the country continue to fight,” he said.

New opposition movements and organizations have formed since the coup. The Civil Disobedience Movement has led to huge strikes across the country, while the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw includes ousted politicians of the democratic government. The National Unity Government is claiming to be Myanmar’s legitimate administration, with the People’s Defense Force as its armed wing. The junta has declared that illegal.

Yet challenges remain. Ethnic minority groups have been fighting for autonomy and land control for over 70 years, and deep historical animosities exist among them. But with the military’s coup so drastic and far-reaching, hopes are pinned on the country to unite against one common enemy.

“To make our country peaceful, where people are treated as human beings, it is very clear that this will only happen if we can create a federal democratic union,” Tayzar San said.

“For me, the new Myanmar (will be a) happy country that we want to pass on to the next generation,” he added.

 

Source: Voice of America

SEOUL, Jun 14 (NNN-YONHAP) – South Korea’s automotive export logged a double-digit growth last month, thanks to a recovery in global demand from the COVID-19 pandemic shock, a government report showed today.

The number of locally-made vehicles exported in May was 150,894, up 57.5 percent compared to the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

In terms of value, the automotive shipment almost doubled to 3.49 billion U.S. dollars in May, on a yearly basis.

It was attributable to strong demand for environmentally-friendly models, premium brands and sport utility vehicles (SUV), amid the global demand recovery from the pandemic shock.

The number of vehicles produced in local factories was 256,272 in May, up 10.9 percent from a year earlier. The car production kept rising for the second consecutive month.

The automotive sale in the domestic market declined 10.1 percent over the year to 151,699 units in May.

The domestic sale of environmentally-friendly vehicles jumped 56.5 percent to 26,983 units, while the corresponding figure for export expanded 36.5 percent to 27,607 units.– NNN-YONHAP

 

Source: NAM News Network

JAKARTA, Jun 14 (NNN-ANTARA) – Indonesia yesterday recorded 9,868 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, in the past 24 hours, marking the highest daily spike of infections since Feb 22.

The new infections brought the total tally to 1,911,358, and the death toll added by 149 to 52,879, the health ministry reported.

An additional 4,655 recovered patients were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recoveries from the pandemic to 1,745,091, in the country.

The COVID-19 virus has spread to all the country’s 34 provinces.

Specifically, in the past 24 hours, Jakarta recorded 2,769 new confirmed cases, Central Java 2,579, West Java 1,242, Yogyakarta 466 and East Java 418.

No new cases were detected in West Sulawesi province.– NNN-ANTARA

 

Source: NAM News Network