#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40001972

X-Press Pearl disaster: Govt. to submit initial US$ 50 million claim as compensation

The government will submit an initial claim for US$ 50 million as compensation from the owners/insurance agents of the X-Press Pearl vessel, which was destroyed in a blaze in Sri Lankan territorial waters, a top government official said.

AMarine Environmental Protection Authority (MEPA) team is now working on the preliminary compensation proposal to be submitted shortly.

The Sunday Island learns that the team has also sought inputs from various other sectors affected by the enormous environmental disaster caused by the fire-stricken cargo vessel to prepare separate claims for compensation.

Central Environmental Authority’s Chemical and Hazardous Waste Management Unit, Director, Ajith Weerasundara said they would shortly spell out their recommendations regarding the extensive damage by the waste around the sea areas.

He termed the impact as “huge” with a strong chemical spread in the vicinity/

“MEPA is handling the calculations on the negative impacts on the ocean and to marine biodiversity”, he said.

Environmental Scientist, Hematha Withanage said only eight of the 1,486 containers had been cleared from the sea. “The longer the delay, the more extensive will be the damage caused”.

He said the fisheries sector has lost around Rs. 80 million per day and in addition, the clean up will have to go on for many more years though it may not be possible to trace 40 per cent of the debris.

The billions of plastic pellets that were washed ashore will remain intact for the next 500 to 1,000 years, Withanage asserted. “Every single plastic pellet is an environmental threat. We may collect 50 per cent, but the rest will remain buried in the sand the along the affected coastal belt”.

The ship seems to have been transporting around 42 different chemicals and around 45 different materials (of the declared goods) that possibly contain hazardous chemicals, he claimed.

He said while some are known toxics, the others are not chemicals of concern in their pure form. However, as the chemicals were ignited and also mixed with sea water, the damage will have a multiple ecological impact.

For example, the ingots when burned could emit lead vapour that cause air-borne contamination, he pointed out.

Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL) and The International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF) are the ship owners and insurance companies, respectively.

Environment Minister Amaraweera said that the ship’s VDR (Voyage Data Recorder) would reveal those responsible for the ecological and economic disaster. “They should be held accountable”.

The environmental damage caused by the burning ship cannot be quantified as it’s so enormous , he  said.

He said the Marine Environment Protection Authority Chairman informed him that a team has already been sent to the vicinity of the sunken ship to investigate and obtain the oil samples.

“I received the list of cargo aboard the vessel. There were 193 items in about 1,486 containers”, the Minister said.

Debris from the container ship has affected more than 150km of Sri Lanka’s coastline, according to International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF) experts who are on site.

ITOPF said more than 1,000 people are involved in the clean up operation. The specialist pollution response company Oil Spill Response has also arrived in Sri Lanka and will work with ITOPF in providing technical assistance.

The Wildlife Conservation Department said dozens of dead marine species have been found on beaches countrywide.

Published : June 13, 2021

By : The Island / ANN

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40001970

China making plans for future space exploration: official

BEIJING – China is making plans for the future development of its space program, including exploring asteroids and the Jovian system, collecting samples from Mars and exploring the polar region of the moon, said an official from the China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Saturday.

Xu Hongliang, a spokesperson of the CNSA, said at a press conference held in Beijing that about the year 2025 China plans to launch a probe to collect samples from a near-Earth asteroid and explore a comet in one mission.

China plans to launch a Mars sample-return mission and a Jovian system exploration mission sometime about 2030, Xu said.

In addition, China plans to launch the Chang’e-6 and Chang’e-7 lunar probes in the coming five years to explore the environment and resources and collect samples from the polar region of the moon, Xu said.

By the end of 2022, China will have completed the construction of its space station, in which astronauts can stay for prolonged periods to carry out scientific experiments, Xu said.

“We should coordinate space science, space technology and space applications, in accordance with the principle of being technically realizable, financially affordable and scientifically contributive,” said Xu.

The development of heavy-lift launch vehicles, reusable space transportation systems and satellite internet will also be the focus of future development plans, according to Xu.

The CNSA released new images taken by the country’s first Mars rover Zhurong on Friday, signifying the complete success of China’s first Mars exploration mission.

Xu said that China has seen new breakthroughs in the country’s Tianwen-1 mission. The probe has, for the first time, successfully completed the interplanetary flight, soft-landing and roving on an extraterrestrial planet.

The completion of the orbiting, landing and roving on the red planet in one mission indicates that the country has come to the forefront of the world in Mars exploration, Xu said.

He also noted that this is the first time that the country has carried out monitoring and communication activities over a distance of 400 million km and obtained first-hand scientific data on Mars.

Published : June 13, 2021

By : China Daily / ANN

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40001969

Hong Kongers march in Tokyo to call for support

Hong Kongers living in Japan gathered in a park in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, on Saturday to commemorate the second anniversary of the beginning of the 2019 anti-government protests that rocked China’s semiautonomous territory and to call on the international community to support Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, which has been suppressed by the enforcement of a national security law last year.

“We have been facing increasingly powerful oppression for the past two years,” said the organizers, reading out statements in Cantonese and Japanese, pointing to crackdowns on pro-democracy activists and protesters under the national security law instituted by Beijing. “It is said that ‘the darkest time is before dawn.’ Hong Kong is now in darkness, but we believe dawn will come one day if we persist with our fight patiently. We will not give up,” the statement said.

Dressed in black, the participants marched through downtown Tokyo, chanting “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,” a slogan now banned in Hong Kong under the national security law. As the law claims jurisdiction over actions taken overseas, most participants hid their faces with caps, dark glasses and masks.

The rally was part of a global campaign for Hong Kong held this weekend in about 50 cities in over 20 countries and regions including London, Washington, Melbourne and Bangkok.

On June 12, 2019, tens of thousands of protesters gathered around Hong Kong’s Legislative Council to stop the deliberation of a bill to allow suspects to be extradited from Hong Kong to mainland China. In the weeks and months that followed, residents kept coming out, sometimes by the millions, eventually succeeding in having the bill withdrawn. But protests calling for democratization continued after that.

With the novel coronavirus pandemic and the national security law, large-scale protests had disappeared from the streets of Hong Kong since last year, and many activists are now jailed or in exile. According to the Hong Kong government, more than 10,000 people have been arrested in protest-related cases in the past two years, of whom at least 2,500 have been prosecuted. And over 100 people have been arrested under the national security law.

“Hong Kong lost its freedom, and it is difficult for the residents to take action, but they have not given up. So it is now more important than ever for us overseas Hong Kongers to speak up. I hope people in Japan and the world can stand with Hong Kong,” a participant in the Tokyo rally in his 30s said.

Published : June 13, 2021

By : The Japan News / ANN

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40001968

Foreign minister’s New York Visit: Dhaka to press for early repatriation of Rohingyas

Bangladesh will reiterate its position, seeking quick and sustainable repatriation of Rohingyas, as Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen leaves for New York this morning (Sunday) to attend two important events at the UN General Assembly (UNGA).

One of the events will be on Myanmar’s current situation where Bangladesh will reiterate its call to the international community for quick and sustainable repatriation of Rohingyas, said Momen.

“Our priority is repatriation. They (Rohingyas) must be repatriated,” he said, mentioning that much has been said about democracy and the overall situation in Myanmar.

Bangladesh is hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar district and Bhasan Char.

No Rohingya was repatriated over the last four years amid the “absence of conducive environment” in Rakhine State and lack of confidence among the Rohingyas, officials said.

Momen said President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Volkan Bozkir invited him during his recent visit to Bangladesh.

UNGA President Bozkir, during his recent visit to Bangladesh, said the General Assembly has not forgotten about the Rohingyas.

“To the people I met, I’ll uphold my promise to share your stories back in New York,” he tweeted after visiting Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar district.

The UNGA President said basic rights, including citizenship, and the creation of conditions conducive to the voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable return of all Rohingyas must be respected.

“The safety and security of the Rohingya and other minorities must be secured,” he said while delivering his keynote speech at the Sixth Lecture of the Bangabandhu Lecture Series at Foreign Service Academy.

Dr Momen will attend another event ahead of the 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) where Bangladesh will highlight its issues related to its graduation to a developing nation.

The Foreign Minister is scheduled to leave for the United States at 4:25am today by a Qatar Airways flight, a senior official told UNB.

He will return home on June 22.

Published : June 13, 2021

By : The Daily Star / ANN

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40001967

Explosion near Shwedagon, municipal staff injured

According to nearby residents, an explosion occurred on the road near the Southern entrance to the Shwedagon pagoda on June 12, around 9am.

Awoman that works as a sanitation worker for the municipal was allegedly injured from the blast. 

“There was a loud sound in the morning. People thought it was just a tire bust until the soldiers and policemen came. I hear a woman sanitation worker was hurt somewhere to her back or her bottom,” said a person that lives nearby.

After the incident, security forces were seen to have taken up post at Shwedagon Pagoda.

Published : June 13, 2021

By : Eleven Media / ANN

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40001965

Moon meets AstraZenecas CEO to discuss vaccine cooperation

CORNWALL, Britain, — South Korean President Moon Jae-in had a meeting with the head of AstraZeneca on Saturday and reaffirmed the importance of continued cooperation in the global supply of COVID-19 vaccines, Moons office said.

During talks here with Pascal Soriot, executive director and CEO of the pharmaceutical firm, based in Cambridge, Britain, Moon requested that the two sides maintain collaboration in the biohealth sector for the stable production and supply of coronavirus vaccines, according to Cheong Wa Dae.

AstraZeneca’s product is a core element in South Korea’s vaccination campaign that got under way in February.

SK Bioscience, a subsidiary of the Seoul-headquartered SK Group, produces AstraZeneca’s vaccine in its local factory under a consignment contract.

Moon told Soriot that South Korea began its vaccination program with AstraZeneca’s doses.

He thanked the firm for its contribution to Seoul’s procurement of vaccines, as it aims to get 14 million of its people inoculated by the end of June.

 

The AstraZeneca CEO appreciated the nation’s role in the COVAX Facility, saying vaccines produced there have been speedily distributed in 75 nations through the coalition, Cheong Wa Dae said.

Moon is on a visit to this southwestern British county to attend a Group of Seven (G-7) summit. AstraZeneca was also invited to join a G-7 session on vaccines and a sustainable future alongside other leading businesses. (Joint Press Corps)

Published : June 13, 2021

By : The Korea Herald / ANN

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40001964

Moon joins G-7 summit, vows financial support for global vaccine supply

CORNWALL, Britain — South Korean President Moon Jae-in attended a Group of Seven (G-7) summit Saturday and unveiled plans to help lower-income nations procure COVID-19 vaccines.

He stressed the importance of swiftly expanding vaccine supply to ensure “equitable access” in order to overcome the pandemic, while attending a plenary session on health on the second day of the summit, his office said.

“President Moon emphasized that an early expansion of vaccine supply is the most necessary short-term prescription to ensure equitable access to vaccines,” his office said in a press release.

He explained Seoul’s plan to offer $100 million in grants for the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC) this year. The COVAX AMC is a financing mechanism intended to make COVID-19 vaccines available at low cost for more than 90 developing countries with relatively low incomes.

The president also said that Seoul would provide cash or materials worth $100 million in additional aid next year.

Participants in the “expanded” session included the leaders of G-7 members — the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Britain, which hosts this year’s summit — in the British county of Cornwall. Moon has been invited as a guest along with his Australian, Indian and South African counterparts. Also present at the meeting were the heads of the World Health Organization, the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

 

Moon is scheduled to participate in two other G-7 sessions Sunday on “open societies” and “climate and nature,” respectively.

He arrived here on Friday for his first appearance at the annual G-7 summit.

He described his participation in the meeting as a chance for Seoul to broaden its “diplomatic horizons,” with its international stature enhanced to be on par with those of G-7 members. (Joint Press Corps)

Published : June 13, 2021

By : The Korea Herald / ANN

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40001937

USDP member and former MP shot dead in Ygn

Nay Myo Aung, a member of Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and former MP of Seikkan Constituency, was shot dead at Botahtaung Pagoda market on the evening of June 10, sources said.

“He was shot two times in the market and the authorities came after that,” said a person who lived nearby.

He won the Seikkan Constituency in the 2010 general election and lost in the 2015 general election. He won again in the 2018 by-election.

However he had a complaint from the NLD party as he was involved in money lending businesses in his constituency before the 2018 by-election. The election result was annulled and a candidate from the NLD was recognized as election winner for the constituency.

Ex-military men, retired government staff, 100-household and ten-household administrators, and village administrators had been killed as they have been accused of informing the army, police and local authorities.

Up to nine village administrators have resigned from their duties in Sagaing Region as they are afraid of their safety.

On June 8, Soe Soe Lwin, Kyakwatthit ward administrator in Tamwe Township was shot dead while she was in her car.

Similarly, some political party members are being killed in addition to administrators.

Myint Swe, Chair of USDP for Bilin Township and the party candidate for Bilin Constituency in 2020 general election, was shot dead on the morning of May 27 while he was on the way to his rambutan plantation along with his wife.

There are about 70 USDP party members, who have been accused as informers for the authorities, killed after February 1.

Sai Zaw Lin, a member of Hlaingthayar (west) Township administration council and candidate for People’s Pioneer Party (PPP) in 2020 general election, was shot dead on the morning of June 1.

Wai Thi Phyo, a female candidate of Amyotha Hluttaw (Upper House) for No.4 Kyainseikkyi Constituency representing the Mon Unity Party (MUP) in 2020 general election, was shot dead at Ywarthit Village near Bayarthonezu, Kyainseikkyi Township, Kayin State on the night of June 8.

Published : June 12, 2021

By : Eleven Media/ANN

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40001936

Dalai Lama, other faith leaders call on G7 for vaccine equity

Faith leaders from around the world, including Tibetan spiritual head the Dalai Lama, have written an open letter to Boris Johnson and G7 leaders ahead of their summit on Friday, calling for vaccine patents to be waived and an increase in funding to ensure vaccines reach the poorest countries and prevent the spread of further Covid variants.

The letter was also signed by former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, who now chairs Christian Aid; Emmanuel, the Elder Metropolitan of Chalcedon who represents the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate; Martin Junge, General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation; and Thabo Makgoba, the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town.

In the letter they praised the work of the World Health Organisation’s Access to Covid-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) which has delivered vaccines to more than 100 countries. But they point out that there remains a huge lack of vaccine equity between rich and poor.

The letter called for additional funding and for bold steps to increase production.

They wrote: “Low-income countries account for less than one per cent of the 900 million doses administered to date. More affluent countries account for more than 83 per cent. The vaccine gap between the richer and poorer parts of the world is growing by the day.”

They also gave their backing to the calls for vaccine patents to be waived to make it quicker and easier to distribute in countries with low vaccine coverage.

“Waiving intellectual property rules — a proposal which is gaining the support of a growing number of G7 countries — gives us the opportunity not only to boost production but also to diversify the sites of production. This will reduce the period of time before herd immunity is achieved, a period during which potentially dangerous variants can emerge.”

Despite the successes of the ACT-A scheme, they warn that without an injection of funding from G7 leaders progress will stall.

“While many G7 countries have been generous in their contribution to ACT-A, it is a matter of grave concern to us that the financing gap for ACT-A is $19bn this year. As countries seek to increase vaccine coverage rates, the funding gap will grow unless countries step up support.

“We need action to lower costs through intellectual property waivers and the sharing of skills and resources with generic producers.

“The G7 has a special responsibility in both of these areas. As a group of the world’s largest economies, your financial commitments will make or break ACT-A’s ambition. We therefore urge you to agree to the burden- sharing formula proposed by Norway and South Africa and sent to 89 countries, under which the G7 would collectively agree to underwrite 63 per cent of the cost of closing the financing gap.”

The G7 summit, which begins on Friday in Cornwall in England, will be a crucial moment to accelerate the global vaccination effort and is being seen as a key test for the UK government, and G7 as a whole.

The faith leaders conclude their letter: “We believe that more equitable approaches to vaccination in the world’s poorest countries is both an ethical obligation, and an epidemiological imperative if we are to protect vulnerable people wherever they live, including the citizens of the G7.

“The old axiom that ‘our life and our death are with our neighbour’ has never been more apt, and we urge you to respond speedily and effectively to this challenge.”

Published : June 12, 2021

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40001935

[Malaysia] Full lockdown extended another two weeks

PUTRAJAYA: The nationwide full lockdown will be extended for another two weeks starting June 15.

Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the decision was made after considering the high number of daily cases reported.

He said the National Security Council’s special meeting chaired by the Prime Minister yesterday heard a report and proposal presented by the Health Ministry.

“It has been decided that the lockdown will be extended for two weeks, taking effect from June 15 to 28, ” he said in a statement.

The lists of positive and negative activities as well as standard operating procedure for manufacturing businesses and industries remain unchanged.

“Since the dos and don’ts list as well as SOP are unchanged, I hope there will be no confusion in enforcing the SOP.

“I do not want the public to be affected by the wrong interpretation of SOP by enforcement bodies, ” said Ismail Sabri.

Sources said those who attended the meeting agreed that the lockdown should be extended.

“After listening to the (Health) ministry’s presentation, everyone shared the same view that there is a need for (the lockdown) to continue for another two weeks to see if the number of daily cases can be brought down, ” said a source.

The Star had reported that an extension of the current lockdown, scheduled to end on Monday, appeared to be inevitable due to the number of deaths and daily cases which has yet to dip below 4, 000.

Most members of the public interviewed by The Star agreed with the lockdown extension.

“The safest way is to extend it until we manage to flatten the curve. Perhaps when we record hundreds of cases, only then do we ease the restrictions, ” said human resources executive Josephine Hyew, 31, who resides in Petaling Jaya.

Assistant manager Sanjith Krishnan, 39, who is based in the Klang Valley, said a longer lockdown was painful but necessary.

“I personally miss hanging out with my friends and meeting my siblings in my hometown in Penang.

“Nevertheless, I think the current restrictions should stay, with stricter enforcement.

“Not everyone is adhering to the restrictions strictly and sometimes making unnecessary trips. I can’t imagine if the government were to relax the restrictions.”

Director of a software company, Gwee Chee Seng, 55, also agreed that the lockdown should be extended.

“As a businessman, I am affected by the lockdown but I think the government should extend it. We will not see the cases going down if the government relaxes the restrictions now.

“Let’s wait for a month and see if the number of cases will go down, ” he said, adding that new Covid-19 variants were also a concern.

He also said that if the government eased the restrictions now, some might start making unnecessary trips. “Some people are stubborn; they will start moving around, ” he added.

Retired teacher Chong Poh Keng, 58, from Ipoh, agreed with the two-week extension but added that it should not go any further.

“I think two weeks should be the maximum as the lockdown is taking a toll on businesses that do not fall under the essential sectors, ” she said, adding that the public had a crucial part to play in helping more sectors reopen.

“I hope everyone will be disciplined in adhering to the standard operating procedure because our frontliners are working hard for us, ” she said.

On May 28, the Prime Minister announced that the country would go into a full lockdown for 14 days from June 1, with only essential economic and service sectors allowed to operate.

At the time, the healthcare system was thought to be near breaking point as the number of Covid-19 cases had breached the 8, 000 mark and new variants had emerged.

Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had said then that should the first phase of lockdown succeed in reducing the number of daily cases, the government would move to a second phase of four weeks with certain economic sectors to open, provided no large gatherings are involved and physical distancing is practised.

“After that, Phase Three would start with the implementation of a movement control order where no social activities are allowed, ” he had added.

Published : June 12, 2021

By : MAZWIN NIK ANIS/The Star/ANN