“We have decided to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission in order to resume commercial whaling in July next year,” top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters.

“Commercial whaling to be resumed from July next year will be limited to Japan’s territorial waters and exclusive economic zones. We will not hunt in the Antarctic waters or in the southern hemisphere,” Suga added.

The announcement had been widely expected and comes after Japan failed in a bid earlier this year to convince the IWC to allow it to resume commercial whaling.

Tokyo has repeatedly threatened to pull out of the body, and has been regularly criticised for catching hundreds of whales a year for “scientific research” despite being a signatory to a moratorium on hunting the animals.

Suga said Japan would officially inform the IWC of its decision by the end of the year, which will mean the withdrawal comes into effect by June 30.

Leaving the IWC means Japanese whalers will be able to resume hunting in Japanese coastal waters of minke and other whales currently protected by the IWC.

But Japan will not be able to continue the so-called scientific research hunts in the Antarctic that has been exceptionally allowed as an IWC member under the Antarctic Treaty.

The withdrawal means Japan joins Iceland and Norway in openly defying the IWC’s ban on commercial whale hunting.

It is certain to infuriate conservationists and anti-whaling countries such as Australia and New Zealand, and deepen the divide between anti- and pro-whaling countries.

Japan has hunted whales for centuries, and their meat was a key source of protein in the immediate post-World War II years when the country was desperately poor.

But consumption has declined significantly in recent decades, with much of the population saying they rarely or never eat whale meat.

The boy, who was with his apprehended father, had been transferred to a New Mexico medical center showing signs of sickness on Monday, the agency said.

Staff diagnosed him with a cold but later discovered a fever. He was released at midday, with prescriptions for ibuprofen and the antibiotic amoxicillin.

The child was later transferred back to the hospital after showing signs of nausea and vomiting, and died just after midnight.

The CBP said it had not established the cause of death but would “ensure an independent and thorough review of the circumstances.”

Guatemala called on US authorities to conduct a “clear” investigation of the death, adding that “medical reports have been requested… to clarify the cause of death of the child.”

The news of the boy’s death triggered outrage on social media.

“Another child dies under this Administration’s watch,” tweeted Democratic Congressman Marc Veasey of Texas.

“Such a devastating story to hear on Christmas Day.”

“Heartbroken and sickened by this news,” Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico wrote on Twitter.

“I am urgently demanding more details, but the Trump administration must be held accountable for this child’s death and all the lives they have put in danger with their intentional chaos and disregard for human life,” he tweeted.

– ‘Searching for a dream’ –

The boy’s death came on the same day that Jakelin Caal, a Guatemalan migrant girl who died in US custody under similar circumstances earlier this month, was buried.

Her body was repatriated on Sunday and after a long journey reached the remote village where her family lives without electricity and other basic services.

“This girl left home happy searching for a dream, but unfortunately died on the way,” community leader Alberto Pop told AFP in the cemetery in the community of Maya Q’eqchi’.

“You hear that in the United States they pay well, not like the companies here in Guatemala — that’s why people leave,” said Pop, whose 22-year-old son Joaquin left in November in search of the American dream.

“I don’t know if he is alive or dead,” Pop said.

“Unfortunately, these decisions (to migrate) are made because of scarce economic resources,” Jakelin’s cousin Mario Caal said at the funeral.

Jakelin Caal’s December 8 death reignited debate in the United States over immigration policy and the treatment of migrants.

President Donald Trump has made hardline immigration policies a central plank of his presidency, drawing fire from critics who accuse him of demonizing migrants for political gain.

He is locked in a battle with Congress over funding for his planned border wall, which he claims will stem migration from Latin American countries plagued by gang violence and poverty.

“Heartbroken to hear of a second child’s death in CBP custody,” tweeted Nydia Velazquez, a Democratic congresswoman from New York.

“We must demand accountability, find answers and put an end to this Administration’s hateful, dangerous anti-immigrant policies.”

“I haven’t had the time to catch up on my reading for a while. ‘A street cat named Bob’ – one of my favourite books,” was what Dr Mahathir captioned for the two pictures posted on his Facebook.

‘A street cat named Bob’ by author James Bowen is a moving, uplifting true story of an unlikely friendship between a man on the streets and the ginger cat who adopts him and helps him heal his life.

Bali Governor Wayan Koster announced the ban on Monday, as stipulated in Gubernatorial Regulation (Pergub) No. 97/2018, expressing hope that the policy would lead to a 70 per cent decline in Bali’s marine plastics within a year.

The new policy carries a six-month grace period dating from Dec. 21, when it was signed and took effect.

“This policy is aimed at producers, distributors, suppliers and business actors, including individuals, to suppress the use of single use plastics. They must substitute plastics with other materials,” Koster said as quoted by tribunnews.

He added that administrative sanctions would be imposed on those who did not comply with the ban. “If they disobey, we will take action, like not extending their business permit,” Koster said.

It has been difficult to trace the origins of the trash on Bali’s beaches, but experts estimate that up to 80 per cent comes from the island.

The trash that informal workers collect from hotels and villages is often dumped in rivers, which then carry the waste out to sea. The trash eventually finds its way back to the resort island’s beaches on coastal tides and currents.

Jakarta plans to follow Bali’s example by drafting a similar gubernatorial regulation that bans single-use plastic bags.

Jakarta Environmental Agency head Isnawa Adji said that Jakartans had already agreed to reduce plastic waste. According to a survey by the Indonesia Plastic Bags Diet Movement, more than 90 per cent of Jakarta’s residents agreed to reduce their use of plastics.

Isnawa said that one effort to reduce singleuse plastics was to limit drinking straws at restaurants, with other establishments to follow suit.

He said the agency would ask for input from stakeholders and residents in the months prior to enacting the ban.

The Finance Ministry’s customs and excise directorate general is also mulling over a plan to excise plastic bags next year to reduce their use.

Jun Yong Sung, 68 and Jaseoong Ha, 76, were on a golf cart with their caddie parking on a ferry on the banks of Nan River in Prompiram district when another golf cart carrying two South Korean female golfers bumped into their cart from the rear.

The impact pushed the first cart into the river. Their Thai caddie managed to swim back ashore but the two Koreans are still missing.

The ferry was about to bring the golfers back to their clubhouse when the accident happened.

While swimming at Gili Trawangan beach, near Bali, he got lost at sea for 12 hours. He thought he was going to die. But a fisherman came to his rescue and took him back to shore. Before long, it would become Clayton’s mission to return the favour.

After Lombok was hit by a series of earthquakes in August, killing hundreds of people and destroying thousands of homes, Clayton felt compelled to do something for the village that took him in. He raised about US$15,000 through a crowdsourcing website and in recent weeks has helped Nipah’s residents rebuild their lives.

“I owe them a lot,” the 37-year-old former political consultant says.

Clayton’s life intersected with those of the Nipah villagers by chance – or, some would argue, by fate. In July, he was at a popular beach near the northwestern coast of Lombok island, swimming at sunset. With its palm trees running neatly along the sand and thousands of coral reefs just offshore, the area is a magnet for backpackers and tourists. It seemed nothing could go wrong.

The beach faded from view as Clayton was dragged further and further out.

“I thought I would die, but I never really panicked,” he recalls of his 12 hours at sea. “I was talking to the stars, screaming at the shore … I experienced the full range of human emotions.”

The intense near-death experience helped Clayton put his life in perspective. Back in the US, he had been involved in several protests and initiatives against Trump. In February last year, for instance, Clayton and some other members of Americans Take Action, a group opposed to the US president, distributed nearly 1,000 Russian flags with Trumps’ name on them to attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Clayton wanted to draw attention to the allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election. But out at sea, those days of political activism seemed long gone.

“I was struck with this sense of gratitude,” he says. “I thought of my family and friends. I used to spend like 16 or 17 hours a day working on political campaigns … Yet I only thought about politics for about five seconds: ‘Come on man, you faced the US president, you can do this too’.”

While Clayton was fighting for his life at the mercy of the waves, a fisherman at Nipah village named Pur dreamt he must go out to sea.

“That night the waves were rough. I had a dream. It said: go out to sea and pick up something special. So I prepared my boat,” Pur recalls, in a video shot to raise money for his village. “While out at sea, I hear: ‘Help, help!’ I picked him [Clayton] out of the water. He had no energy. He hugged me and he cried.”

Clayton recalls the “glorified canoe” that appeared out of nowhere: “I was in shock. He pulled me out of the water, gave me water and his shirt.”

About 200 people were waiting for them at Nipah village. Clayton recalls the feeling of returning to dry land, of his hands touching the sand: “I thought I would not be able to do that ever again.”

He was looked after by Pur’s family for three days and remembers their generosity.

“This village is a step away from Eden,” he says. “When I woke up the first night, I asked myself: ‘Am I in heaven? Everyone is so warm.’”

It was only a matter of time before Clayton had the chance to return the favour to Pur, the fisherman who saved him. He had left Indonesia for a hike in Nepal when Lombok was hit by a series of earthquakes that left a trail of destruction.

“I tried to reach out to people by WhatsApp and I was like ‘Did everyone die?’ But after a few hours I heard from them,” he says. “Everyone was fine but their houses were destroyed.”

A magnitude-7.0 quake struck Lombok on August 5, killing about 460 people and displacing thousands. Nipah, where more than 1,000 families live, was badly affected. Aftershocks lasted about a month, making it even more difficult to rebuild. Clayton returned to Indonesia for a couple of weeks in August. The colourful homes had been reduced to rubble. He shot a video that he then used to launch an online campaign to raise money for the village. He was able to collect US$15,000 and went back to Nipah in December. The money is being used to buy materials, such as wood and metal, for 63 homes.

“I came here with the intention of using a hammer to erect homes,” he says. “But my primary contribution has been getting the materials and the trucks here. The village does not have roads but paths, so it’s necessary to carry in a lot of stuff by hand where vehicles don’t have access.”

Another project called Just One Village has also shared materials with Nipah. Despite the efforts of Clayton and that group, the residents of the village are still waiting for support from their own government.

“I can only say thank you to Ryan because he came and is helping the village,” says Ramdan, Pur’s nephew. “But I am also waiting for my government, although it seems they will take a long time.”

Clayton has been told this was the reason he got lost at the sea – so he could return to help the village. “If that is the reason, I am very happy that it happened, so I could meet the beautiful people of Nipah,” he says. “When you are in the water for 12 hours, it is very clarifying … All the time I have now is extra.”

Clayton plans to spend the next year writing about his life-changing experience. Beyond that, he is unsure of what the future holds – but Nipah will remain a crucial part of it.

“There are so many things to appreciate here,” he says. “They live in perfect harmony with nature. They eat food from the ocean and from the trees. They work a bit, but they spend a lot of time hanging out with their family. They are in general much more sensitive people. I will come here my entire life. I want to bring my family, my [future] children. I want them to meet the man who allowed my existence.”