Of these, about three million were infants aged 12 months or younger.

The research, published in The Lancet medical journal, did not rely on an actual headcount, but compared data on 15,441 conflicts in which nearly a million people died, with child birth and death registers, the research team said.

They used these data to calculate the risk of a child dying within 100 kilometres (62 miles) and eight years of an armed conflict, and then estimated the number of child deaths attributable to Africa’s many wars.

The five million figure was much higher than previous estimates, the authors said.

“More frequent and more intense armed conflicts have taken place in Africa over the past 30 years than in any other continent,” they wrote.

“This analysis shows that the effects of armed conflict extend beyond the deaths of combatants and physical devastation: armed conflict substantially increases the risk of death of young children, for a long period of time.”

Apart from directly injuring some children, conflicts contribute to death and stunting “for many years, and over wide areas,” the team said.

Deaths result from the interruption of interrupted medical care for pregnant women and newborns, disease spread as sanitary services and water networks crumble, a lack of medicines, and malnutrition as food runs out.

Police Superintendent Rob Johnson said the shooting took place on the east side of the gigantic Yorkdale Shopping Centre that is popular with locals.

It began, he said, as an altercation between “two groups of males” with three or more on each side. “At least two shots” were fired by one person with a handgun, before fleeing.

One person was taken away by paramedics in an ambulance, but police said it was “not as a direct result of the shots fired.”

A handful of others also suffered minor injuries as they rushed to the exits after the shots rang out, said Johnson.

Television images showed scores of shoppers and retail clerks lining the sidewalks and parking lots outside the mall, which is one of the largest in Canada, in Toronto’s north end.

Mall officials said stores that were locked down during the incident would remain closed until morning.

Area transit was also temporarily suspended while police searched for the suspects described as in their 20s, wearing hoodies and jeans.

On July 22, a man opened fire in a bustling Toronto district, killing an 18-year-old woman and a 10-year-old girl while wounding 13 other people. The suspect died in a confrontation with police.

The rampage — just the latest in recent years that shocked Canadians unused to gun violence — has prompted the federal government to look into gun control.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked his government to study the possibility of a total ban on handguns and assault weapons.

Gan said he genuinely wants to be friends with her as he believes that she is a kind and wonderful person.

He said this was the first and last impression she gave him when they met while queuing for their turn to vote on during May 9 general election.

“I am not concerned whether or not she is married, I just want to meet her again and be friends, or maybe we can even be family friends,” Gan told The Star on Thursday (Aug 30).

“I am not losing hope yet,” he added.

Gan said he chose to withhold personal information about himself to the public because he does not want people to play pranks on him.

He said he was also afraid of scammers.

“I’m sure the woman will know if I’m talking about her. That is all that matters,” he said.

Gan also expressed surprise and gratitude to social media users and the public who are sharing his news and attempts to find the woman.

“I am overwhelmed by the online help and sharing received following the classified ad and news publication,” he said.

He said he has his good friends to thank for in encouraging him to put up the ad. “I have been talking to them about this woman for the past three months.

“They have always encouraged and advised me to do something about it, and to go ‘all out’ to find her,” Gan said.

On May 9, Gan was waiting under the hot sun when the woman approached with her umbrella and shared it with him.

They started chatting “like old friends despite not even knowing each other”, he said.

Gan added that they had to part ways when it was their turn to vote and he did not get the chance to get her number.

THE RAPID growth of Bitcoin-related scams and other cybercrimes has prompted the United Nations to urge member countries, including Thailand, to step up their legal safeguards against potential economic losses.

Cybercrime-related losses worldwide top US$600 billion (Bt19.6 trillion), said Julien Garsany, deputy regional representative of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Garsany told a Bangkok seminar on cryptocurrency and cybercrime that the cost of economic and other damage to Asean countries alone ranges between $120 million and $200 million, making it essential for law-enforcement and justice officials in various countries to work together to tackle the issue.

Thailand has also won support from the international community after an executive decree was issued recently to regulate all digital assets, including Bitcoin and initial coin offerings (ICOs).

Kittipong Kittayarak, executive director of the Thailand Institute of Justice, said criminals have now turned to using cryptocurrencies to commit crimes such as money laundering, terrorism financing and illicit ransom payments. They also use cryptocurrencies to pay for child pornography, malware, narcotics, weapons and human trafficking via the so-called “darknet”, whose computer server locations are unknown.

The number of cryptocurrency crimes in Thailand remains small so far but is expected to increase rapidly in the near future. The country needs to boost public awareness and readiness to tackle this issue, Kittipong said.

Justice Minister ACM Prajin Chantong told the seminar that a shortage of experts in this field means Thailand needs to expand its collaboration with other countries.

Dr Narin Phetthong, an Interpol specialist on criminal activity involving cryptocurrencies, said the most prominent cases in Thailand included a huge Bitcoin robbery in Phuket allegedly carried out by Russian criminals and the Bt800-million Bitcoin scam in which a Finnish owner of bitcoins was allegedly cheated by Thais.

Alexandru Caciuloiu, the UNODC’s cybercrime project coordinator, said criminal activity involving cryptocurrency could take many forms, including their use by prostitution rings to launder money and crypto-hacking in which computer servers are accessed without authorisation to mine Bitcoins and other digital units.

Regional operation

Narin said Interpol now has a regional operation in Singapore with a unit dedicated to cybercrimes in Asean countries. Owing to concerns on the expected rise of these crimes, Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is now tasked with regulating all digital assets in the country.

Bhume Bhumiratana, a consultant of SEC, said licensing and registration with the authorities is now required for several types of business involving digital assets, including cryptocurrency exchanges, dealers and brokers. Such regulator oversight could help prevent fraud and other wrongdoing, Bhume added.

Preventive measures such as licensing and “know your customer” (KYC) regulations imposed on banks and other financial institutions will allow the authorities to trace owners of digital assets used in criminal activities.

Poramin Insom, founder of the Zcoin and TDAX cryptocurrency exchanges in Thailand, said only 0.2 per cent of the Thai population currently use Bitcoins and similar currencies. He predicts that figure will grow 10 per cent over the next five years.

Poramin said the current regulations on all digital assets are good for the country and potential users, as well as investors who want to know the rules to avoid problems with regulators.

However, authorities must avoid over-regulating digital assets and other new technologies as Thai innovators could be negatively affected, cautioned Prin Panitchpakdi, a member of SET’s board of governors and director of National Innovation Agency.

The 60-year-old petro-chemical company employee sported a traditional Thai scarlet outfit in Jakarta, where he devoted most of his boundless energy to the weight-lifting and boxing.

“I came to cheer for many sports that I could get the tickets to get into. If some sports play at the same time, I couldn’t cheer for them so I send my regards,” said Weerawong, showing off his flag-painted cheeks.

Weerawong, who has been to 10 Southeast Asian Games, six Asian Games and three Olympics, has spent close to a hundred thousand dollars touring the world.

But the Thai sports authorities now pay for his accommodation, saying it helps the nation’s athletes, and he gets help from his company for the travel costs.

“After they saw the significance of what we do they helped out because it’s difficult for transportation, accommodation and budget,” said Weerawong, who designs his costumes to resemble traditional attire from north-east Thailand.

Weerawong said his passion for sport was sparked as a young man when he was a keen runner, although these days he prefers bowling.

“I loved sports since I was young. I was an athlete, a runner but I was not that good,” he said.

On Wednesday, the Chinese foreign ministry excluded a reporter from the Sankei Shimbun — a Japanese conservative daily critical of China — from a media pool covering the start of a meeting between China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Japanese vice foreign minister Takeo Akiba.

Other Japanese media covering the event in Beijing then boycotted the pool coverage in protest.

Japan’s top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga confirmed Tokyo had lodged a protest with China over the incident.

“The Japanese government believes that respect for basic human rights including freedom of expression is a universal value in the international community, and ensuring those rights is important in any country,” Suga told reporters in Tokyo.

But Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying dismissed the criticism, saying Beijing had been “wrongfully accused”.

“The Japanese government needs to rein in its own journalists,” she told reporters.

“They should ensure that their media respects their host country, follows the rules… so as to enhance mutual trust and understanding between the two countries, instead of doing the opposite, this is common sense.”

Akiba, who was in Beijing ahead of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to China expected in October, also protested to his Chinese opposite number Le Yucheng, Suga said.

Suga however said bilateral relations between the two regional rivals are improving.

“The date of Prime Minister Abe’s visit is under coordination right now,” Suga said, adding that “we hope to push up to a new stage the relationship between Japan and China through visits by high level officials.”

Fumihiko Iguchi, executive officer of the Sankei Shimbun, described Beijing’s actions as “unfair obstruction of legal newsgathering activities that cannot be ignored.”

“We express our regret,” he said in a Wednesday statement, adding that the daily “will do our best to continue giving our readers accurate information about the situation in China”.

Police said no one was injured in the attack at 2:30am at the Khok Pho PEA office in Moo 4 village in Tambon Khok Pho.

The fire only slightly damaged the office sign as officials and villagers helped put out the blaze soon after the attack.

The bullets from the insurgents left holes in the windows and wall of the building, police added.

Witnesses told police that six insurgents arrived on three motorcycles and two hurled the firebombs at the office and two others fired at the building with assault rifles and then fled the scene.

Pattani governor Weeranan Pengchan and police chief Maj Gen Piyawat Chalermsri inspected this morning.

The undercover Poseidon trawler, which has been tasked by the Thai authorities to prevent illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, interrupted two boats fishing about 120 nautical miles off Songkhla coast.

Officers on board the Poseidon presented themselves to arrest the crews and escorted them to dock in Songkhla.

The crew members, following the questioning for intrusion, were sent to Muang Songkhla to have four charges filed against them.

The charges were using a foreign vessel to fish in Thai waters without permission, working in Thai waters without permission, violating the 1939 Act Governing the Right to Fish in Thai Fishery Waters and colluding to use a foreign vessel to fish in Thai waters in violation to the 2015 Emergency Decree on Fisheries.

On August 20 the Poseidon apprehended two Vietnamese fishing boats along with 12 crew members.

The National Heritage Department will be issuing a warning letter to the Batu Caves Sri Mahamariamman Temple Devasthanam committee for violating regulations over Section 40 of the National Heritage Act 2005.

Deputy Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik told The Star that it has also been asked to prepare a report for further action.

“I am very disappointed with the building management (Tan Sri R. Nadarajah), especially when the department’s officers informed me that they had met his son Datuk N. Sivakumar a few times, advising him that any renovation or painting job within 200m of the heritage site requires written permission from the department.

“In fact, even before the application is submitted to the Selayang Municipal Council (MPS), they need to get the green light from the department first,” he added.

Asked if the temple would be de-listed from the heritage registry should its management continue to flout regulations, Muhammad Bakhtiar said: “We cannot simply do that, considering the amount of time and effort spent getting the temple registered as a national heritage site in the first place.”

“But they must respect the rules and follow accordingly. In fact, I hope this message goes out to all building owners whose buildings are registered as national heritage – to not simply carry out renovation or painting jobs without first getting consent from the heritage commissioner,” he added.

Muhammad Bakhtiar said Section 40 of the Act was very clear that any renovation involving painting jobs at heritage sites had specific guidelines to follow.

“For the Batu Caves Temple, the main staircase leading up to the cave temple is within the Batu Caves reserve and bordering Lot 1197, 4557 and 6020 which have been designated as national heritage sites and require permission from the department for any upgrading work,” he said.

“I was told that the commissioner (heritage) was not consulted and a team was sent to check on the work recently. I was informed that the painting (job) has disturbed the harmony, integrity and originality of Batu Caves,” he added.

Yesterday, Star Metro had reported that the multi-million ringgit beautification job could land the temple management in trouble as the works were not sanctioned by the department.

This is because the Sri Subramaniar Swamy Temple located on the top of the staircase is a national heritage site listed under the national heritage registry.

Nadarajah claimed that they had the necessary approvals to proceed with the renovations, including those from MPS, which the council had however denied giving.

The temple management painted the staircase five days ago in preparation for the consecration ceremony tomorrow.

All 13 temples in Batu Caves underwent renovations at a cost of RM6.1milliion.

Moon has driven a rapid diplomatic rapprochement with nuclear-armed North Korea, but defence minister Song Young-moo came under fire for mishandling a controversy over a defence intelligence unit.

In March, documents emerged detailing military plans to impose martial law against protesters demanding the ouster of Moon’s predecessor Park Geun-hye last year, but Song failed to report them to the presidential Blue House.

Moon named Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman and air force general Jeong Kyeong-doo to replace him.

It is normal for South Korean defence ministers to be former top military officers — Song was previously an admiral.

Moon’s popularity rating soared to 83 percent after his Panmunjom summit with the North’s leader Kim Jong Un in April.

It has since fallen to a record low of 56 percent in a Realmeter survey last week amid mounting concerns over the economy.

Moon also named new ministers for education, industry, labour and gender equality in Thursday’s reshuffle.