“Assad’s principal backer is Russia. By proxy Russia is responsible for every civilian death last week,” Fallon wrote in an opinion column published in The Sunday Times.

“If Russia wants to be absolved of responsibility for future attacks, Vladimir Putin needs to enforce commitments, to dismantle Assad’s chemical weapons arsenal for good, and to get fully engaged with the UN peacekeeping progress,” he added.

Fallon reiterated Britain’s position that Assad should quit.

“Someone who uses barrel bombs and chemicals to kill his own people simply cannot be the future leader of Syria,” he wrote.

Assad’s future role is a key sticking point — the rebels and their international backers demand that he must step down.

But Assad refuses to budge. His key ally in Moscow has backed him to the hilt against the rebels.

“Today we call on all parties to get back to the table and get a deal done,” the British defence minister said.

“That deal must lead to a representative government in which Assad will play no part”.

He also once again offered Britain’s support to the United States for its decision on Friday to fire 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the airfield located near Homs in central Syria.

The move was in response to the suspected chemical weapons attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun which killed 87 people according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights.

“Given repeated Russian blocking in the UN security council, the US was determined to act,” Fallon said, adding President Trump made “the right call by resorting to careful and narrowly focused military action”.

Russia has criticised the US military intervention as a “gross… violation of international law”.

It also slammed the British foreign secretary Boris Johnson’s decision to cancel a scheduled visit to Russia, claiming Britain has “no real influence” internationally.

Johnson decided to abandon his visit to Moscow on Monday, saying he deplored “Russia’s continued defence of the Assad regime”.

He argued it would be best for US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to deliver a “clear and coordinated message” to the Russians during his own visit to Moscow later in the week.

Priti Patel, Britain’s Secretary of State for international development also announced on Sunday that the country was to increase its support of medical aid in Syria in the wake of the attack.

The new funding totalling 7 million ($8.6 million, 8.2 million euros) would be donated to the World Health Organization (WHO) and two undisclosed non-governmental organisations.

According to the statement, the allocation was to be used to provide clean water for 500,000 people, medicines and medical supplies to over 400 clinics and hospitals, and training for more than 400 Syrian health workers.

Britain donated 10.7 million to WHO in the 2016/17 financial year.

The attacks on the Mar Girgis church in the city of Tanta north of Cairo and Saint Mark’s Church in the coastal city of Alexandria came just weeks ahead of a visit by Pope Francis to show support for Egypt’s large Christian minority.

Egyptian officials denounced the attack as an attempt to sow divisions in the country, while Francis sent his “deep condolences” to Coptic Christian Pope Tawadros II.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks but Egyptian Christians have repeatedly been targeted by jihadists including the Islamic State group.

The first blast killed at least 25 people and wounded more than 70 when it hit the church in Nile Delta City of Tanta, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) north of Cairo, according to a health ministry toll.

Images broadcast by private television stations showed bloodstains smearing the whitewashed walls of the church next to shredded wooden benches.

“The explosion took place in the front rows, near the altar, during the mass,” General Tarek Atiya, the deputy to Egypt’s interior minister in charge of relations with the media, told AFP.

The worshippers had been celebrating Palm Sunday, one of the holiest days of the Christian calendar, marking the triumphant entrance of Jesus to Jerusalem.

Pope prays for victims

The second blast killed at least 11 people and wounded 35 at the church in Alexandria, Egypt’s second largest city, according to the health ministry.

Tawadros had been attending a mass at the church but a Coptic Church official said he had left before the blast.

Francis, who is due to visit Cairo on April 28-29, offered prayers for the victims.

“Let us pray for the victims of the attack unfortunately carried out today,” he said in an Angelus prayer. “May the Lord convert the heart of those who sow terror, violence and death and also the heart of those who make weapons and trade in them.”

Copts, who make up about one tenth of Egypt’s population of more than 92 million and who celebrate Easter next weekend, have been targeted by several attacks in recent months.

Jihadists and Islamists accuse Copts of supporting the military overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, which ushered in a deadly crackdown on his supporters.

In December, a suicide bombing claimed by IS killed 29 worshippers during Sunday mass in Cairo. The bombing of the church within a compound that also holds the seat of the Coptic papacy was the deadliest attack against the minority in recent memory.

A spate of jihadist-linked attacks in Egypt’s restive Sinai Peninsula, including the murder of a Copt in the city of El Arish whose house was also burned, have led some Coptic families to flee their homes.

About 250 Christians took refuge in the Suez Canal city of Ismailiya after IS released a video in February calling for attacks on the religious minority.

Reacting before the second bombing in Alexandria, Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid called the attack in Tanta “a failed attempt against our unity”.

“Terrorism hits Egypt again, this time on Palm Sunday,” he tweeted.

String of attacks

Prime Minister Sherif Ismail also condemned the attack, stressing Egypt’s determination to “eliminate terrorism”. The Cairo-based Al-Azhar, an influential Sunni Muslim authority, said it aimed to “destabilise security and… the unity of Egyptians”.

Egypt’s Copts have endured successive attacks since Morsi’s ouster in July 2013. More than 40 churches were attacked nationwide in the two weeks after the deadly dispersal by security forces of two pro-Morsi protest camps in Cairo on August 14, 2013, Human Rights Watch said.

Amnesty International later said more than 200 Christian-owned properties were attacked and 43 churches seriously damaged, adding that at least four people were killed.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who as then army chief helped remove Morsi, has defended his security forces and accused jihadists of attacking Copts in order to divide the country.

In October 2011, almost 30 people — mostly Coptic Christians — were killed after the army charged at a protest outside the state television building in Cairo to denounce the torching of a church in southern Egypt.

In May that year, clashes between Muslims and Copts left 15 dead in the working-class Cairo neighbourhood of Imbaba where two churches were attacked.

A few months earlier, the unclaimed bombing of a Coptic church killed more than 20 people in Egypt’s second city of Alexandria on New Year’s Day.//AFP

Malaysia is ranked higher than Thailand in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index 2017 by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

According to the report released on April 5, Singapore topped the table among the nine nations in South-East Asia with Malaysia second, followed by Thailand and Indonesia.

Globally, Malaysia dropped one spot from 2015 to be placed 26th among 136 countries, although it improved on its overall performance from various indicators by rising from 4.41 points in 2015 to 4.50 in 2017.

The report which is released every two years, said Malaysia’s strong performance was attributed to its price competitiveness, strong air connectivity, and beautiful natural resources.

The WEF report engages leaders in the travel and tourism industry to carry out an in-depth analysis of its industries’ competitiveness of 136 economies that account for over 98 per cent of the world’s GDP.

The index measures a set of “factors and policies that enable the sustainable development of the travel and tourism sector”, which includes international openness, prioritisation of travel and tourism, human resources and labour market, health and hygiene, and safety and security.

The report also said that Malaysia could become more competitive by further prioritising the travel and tourism industry via investing in the development of its cultural resources and business travel.

It added that Malaysia should address environmental sustainability and preserve its beautiful natural environment.

There were more than 25 million tourist arrivals into the country last year, contributing almost RM80bill in inbound receipts, according to the report.

Spain which had a score of 5.43 tops the rankings for the second time due to its unique offering of both cultural and natural resources.

It is followed by France, Germany, Japan and United Kingdom.

The WEF is a Swiss non-profit foundation that engages the foremost political, business and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

She would attend “One Belt, One Road” summit in China with more details of her European visit to come, he said.

The Silk Road Economic Belt is an economic project potentially connecting Asia and Europe with China. Leaders from 20 countries, including Russia, Britain and India, are due to attend.

Suu Kyi paid a five-day visit to China in August last year and met Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Zhang Dejiang to strengthen bilateral relations, to have mutual respect, trust, equality and benefit. She said Myanmar welcomed China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the Bangladesh–China–India–Myanmar Forum for Regional Cooperation (BCIM).

She signed agreements on cooperation between economic and technical sectors and on the possibility of building a Kunlon bridge aided by the Chinese government.

President Htin Kyaw is currently visiting China.

In London last year she met 12 Myanmar ambassadors from European, West Asian and African countries.

She met British Prime Minister Theresa May, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow in London.

“It looks like everybody is making a grab for the islands there, so we better live on those that are still vacant,” he told reporters during a televised visit to a military camp on the western island of Palawan, near the disputed Spratly group.

China asserts sovereignty over almost all of the resource-rich South China Sea despite rival claims from Southeast Asian neighbours and has rapidly built reefs into artificial islands capable of hosting military planes.

Duterte has previously sought to improve his nation’s relations with Beijing by adopting a non-confrontational approach over their competing claims in the strategically vital waters.

But the president appeared to alter his tone with his announcement Thursday, saying it was time to “erect structures there and raise the Philippine flag”.

“I have ordered the armed forces to occupy all,” Duterte said.

“At least, let us get what is ours now and make a strong point there that it is ours,” he said, adding Manila was claiming “nine or 10” Spratly islands, reefs and cays.

The defence department later said that nine outcrops “are already in our possession” and occupied by marines, including Thitu island where the Philippine military maintains an airstrip.

Its statement suggested that Duterte’s plan was to beef up contingents on the reefs.”The president wants facilities built such as barracks for the men, water (desalination) and sewage disposal systems, power generators, light houses, and shelters for fishermen,” the defence department said.

Race for possession

After China occupied Mischief Reef in the mid-1990s, the Philippines marooned a decrepit navy vessel atop nearby Second Thomas Shoal to assert Manila’s territorial claim and has kept the rusting boat manned ever since.

Duterte also said he could visit Thitu island on June 12 to mark Philippine Independence Day and raise the nation’s flag there.

An official at the Chinese embassy in Manila seemed surprised when asked by AFP to comment on Duterte’s declaration, but referred questions on the matter to the Chinese foreign ministry in Beijing.

The Philippines under Duterte’s predecessor Benigno Aquino actively challenged China’s claim to control most of the South China Sea including taking the claim to a UN-backed tribunal, which ruled in its favour last year.

But the controversial Duterte, who took office last year on a promises to kill thousands of people in a drug war, reversed that policy as he sought billions of dollars worth of investments and grants from Beijing.

China now controls several reefs in the South China Sea including Scarborough Shoal — which Beijing seized from the Manila in 2012 — and is just 230 kilometres (143 miles) from the main Philippine island of Luzon.

The two neighbours are scheduled to hold talks in China in May to tackle issues related to the sea row.

Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have also sparred with Beijing over territory in the disputed waterway.

US President Donald Trump’s administration has so far taken a tough stance on China’s claims in the South China Sea, insisting it will defend international interests there.

Trump is set to sit down with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping later in the day to discuss a range of issues which will likely include tensions in the South China Sea.

Ismael Sueno, who supervised Duterte’s war on drugs that has left thousands dead, was fired on the spot at a cabinet meeting late Monday, presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said in a statement.

“The summary dismissal served as a warning that Mr. Duterte would not countenance any questionable or legally untenable decisions by any member of the cabinet,” Abella added.

He did not say what these decisions were, but added the sacking formed part of Duterte’s “drive for a trustworthy government by addressing issues like corruption”.

In a statement issued Monday, hours before his sacking, Sueno, 69, vigorously denied any involvement in corruption, blaming other followers of Duterte for circulating such allegations against him.

“My advocacy against corruption has been strong. My belief is the same as President Duterte in fighting this. So this accusation against me is impossible,” said Sueno, a former provincial governor and city mayor.

Sueno said he was being badmouthed by three junior ministers in the Department of the Interior and Local Government, like him also appointed by Duterte.

Asked if Sueno might face further charges, Abella told reporters: “Let us wait for the president to take his subsequent actions.”

Sueno’s sacking comes a month after Perfecto Yasay left his post as foreign minister after Congress ruled that he lied to them over his US citizenship.

Abella said the loss of another cabinet member was not a sign of trouble but proof that Duterte was serious about restoring trust in government.

He did not say who would replace Sueno, though there has been speculation Duterte would appoint Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, son of the late Philippine dictator.

Former senator Marcos Jnr lost the vice presidential election last year but is contesting the outcome at an election tribunal.

In Congress, two other close Duterte allies, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and Congressman Antonio Floirendo, have been publicly feuding for weeks with Duterte trying to stay out of the quarrel.

Alvarez has accused Floirendo, a key contributor in the Duterte election campaign, of corruption, but Floirendo denies the charge.

Duterte won election by a landslide in May largely on his promise to launch a war on illegal drugs.

Although the campaign has proved popular at home, the president has faced international criticism for thousands of killings that human rights advocates say were carried out as part of the antidrug initiative.

The government denies the allegations.//AFP