Influenza epidemics, largely seasonal, affect around one billion people and kill hundreds of thousands annually, according to WHO, which describes it as one of the world’s greatest public health challenges.

WHO’s new strategy, for 2019 through 2030, aims to prevent seasonal influenza, control the virus’s spread from animals to humans and prepare for the next pandemic, WHO said.

“The threat of pandemic influenza is ever-present,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

    The world has suffered through a number of devastating influenzas pandemics, including the Spanish Flu, which in 1918 killed tens of millions of people globally.

Three pandemics have occurred since — in 1957, 1968 and in 2009 — when the H1N1 swine flue pandemic claimed around 18,500 lives in 214 countries.

“Another influenza pandemic is inevitable,” the UN health agency said, adding that “in this interconnected world, the question is not if we will have another pandemic, but when.”

Launching the new strategy, the WHO chief stressed the need for vigilance and preparation.

“The cost of a major influenza outbreak will far outweigh the price of prevention,” he said.

While pandemic preparedness is estimated to cost less than $1 per person per year, WHO said responding to a pandemic costs roughly 100 times that amount.

The new strategy called for every country to strengthen routine health programmes and to develop tailor-made influenza programmes that strengthen disease surveillance, response, prevention, control, and preparedness.

 – Not prepared enough –

WHO recommends annual flu vaccines as the most effective way to prevent the spread of the disease, especially for healthcare workers and people at higher risk of influenza complications.

It also called for the development of more effective and more accessible vaccines and antiviral treatments.

Due to its mutating strains, vaccine formulas must be regularly updated and only offer limited protection currently.

But Martin Friede, WHO’s vaccines coordinator, urged broader use of seasonal vaccines, which help protect vulnerable populations but also help prepare countries to rapidly deploy vaccines in the case of a pandemic.

“In a perfect world, everyone would be vaccinated,” Friede told reporters in Geneva.

Tedros said progress in recent years had made the world better prepared than ever for the next big influenza outbreak.

“But we are still not prepared enough. This strategy aims to get us to that point,” he said.

WHO said it would expand partnerships to increase research, innovation and availability of new and improved vaccines and other tools to fight influenza.

It insisted its new strategy would also have benefits beyond the fight against influenza, since it would also increase detection of other infectuous diseases, including Ebola.

“The Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) of ET302 have been Recovered,” the state-owned airline announced on Twitter.

A photo shows debris of the crashed airplane of Ethiopia Airlines, near Bishoftu, a town some 60 kilometres southeast of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on March 11, 2019. // AFP PHOTO

He even married a local woman, a 54-year-old single mother.

On Feb 2, he was among three people, including two Malaysians, detained by police in a raid against terrorists.Yesterday, the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun said the group had harbou­­r­ed an operative of Ansar Al-Shariah Al-Tunisia, responsible for the mass killing of 38 people, mostly British tourists, in Sousse, Tunisia.

No more place to hide: Counter Terrorism Special Unit officers apprehending a suspected militant during several raids made in Klang Valley and Serian in Sarawak. Nine individuals aged between 20 and 54 were arrested during the raids.:  Bernama

“They also did not disclose the fact that an Ansar Al-Shariah Al-Tunisia operative had transited in Malaysia.

“Not only did they harbour the operative, they also arranged for lodging, work and flight tickets,” said Mohamad Fuzi during the press conference.

The Egyptian’s move to open a restaurant and marry for spouse visa is increasingly becoming the modus operandi for these foreign terrorist fighters (FTF).

According to the IGP, foreign militants from various terror groups all over the world are using Malaysia as a safe haven and transit point before planning large scale attacks on a third country or even Malaysia – and they are getting sneakier as well.

Entering the country on either real or forged documents, some are willing to be patient and bide their time.

“The Counter Terrorism Division found that these militants are marrying locals so that they can get spouse visa.

“They also gain entry into Malay­sia on the pretext of conducting business and for further studies,” he said.

Their ruse, said Mohamad Fuzi, was uncovered following the arrests of the three in Serian as well as six others in Klang Valley between Feb 2 and 9 – six Egyptians, two Malaysians and a Tunisian.

The other Egyptians have either worked as teachers or posed as college students in the country.

“Five of the Egyptians detained admitted to being members of the Ikhwanul Muslimin (Muslim Bro­ther­hood), acting as facilitators in preparing accommodation, transport, work as well as plane tickets for two Ansar Al-Shariah Al-Tunisia members.

“We have previously arrested and deported two other Ikhwanul Muslimin members in April and November last year,” he said.

One of the Egyptians, a 42-year-old man detained in Setapak, had connections to both Islamic State (IS) and Al-Qaeda members arrested in Kuala Lumpur last year while the 28-year-old had facilitated tra­vel for terror militants, he said.

He said another Egyptian and the Tunisian – members of the North African-based terror group Al-Sha­riah Al-Tunisia – were once arres­ted for trying to enter an African country illegally.

The entry of foreign terrorist fighters, said Mohamad Fuzi, was a very serious threat, especially after IS’ defeat in Syria and Iraq.

“Their presence will make Malay­sia as a transit point for attacks on other countries or even Malaysia,” he said.

All foreign militants have since been deported while the Malaysians were held under Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012.

A source said the presence of FTFs was a clear and present danger to the country’s security and sovereignty, given that they ma­­naged to slip into the country.

“In the 1980s, two Indonesian militants fled to Malaysia on the pretext of escaping the regime in their home country.

“They were granted Permanent Resident status as they might be in danger if they were deported.

“The duo turned out to be Abu Bakar Basyir and Abdullah Sungkar, who are pioneers of the Jemaah Islamiyah terror group.

“Not only did they survive in Malaysia, they started schools in Negri Sembilan and Johor in 1985 where they recruited many militants from among Malaysians for JI. But the authorities managed to put a stop to it,” he said.

Enforcement of immigrations laws should be tightened to ensure that no FTF to enter – let alone gain a foothold – in Malaysia, said the source.

Alvin Lie, who is also a former legislator, said the Transportation Ministry should pay attention to the latest accident in Ethiopia, as the aircraft involved in the accident was the same model as the one that crashed in Indonesia in late October last year.

“The ministry should be ready to temporarily ground all Boeing 737 MAX 8 that are still operating in Indonesia in order to prevent more accidents,” Alvin told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Garuda Indonesia has one Boeing 737 MAX 8 while Lion Air has 14 Boeing 737 MAX series aircraft, including the MAX 8 that crashed last year.

According to Boeing’s website, the company, as of Jan. 31, had received 5,111 orders of Boeing 737 MAX series aircraft, and had delivered 350 to various airlines globally. It has received an order of 50 MAX series from Garuda Airlines, but only delivered one, a MAX 8 in 2017. Flight news website flightglobal.comreported that the company had deferred the deliveries of the remaining 49 until 2020.

Lion Air has ordered 201 of the MAX series and Boeing has delivered 14 of them since 2017.

The Transportation Ministry’s air transportation director general, Polana B. Pramesti, was not immediately available on Sunday for comment.

Swedish flight tracker Flightradar24.com tweeted on Sunday that the available data showed that the ET-302’s vertical speed was unstable after takeoff.

On Sunday, the 157 passengers and crew members of a 737 MAX operated by Ethiopian Airlines were killed. Last October, the same model of plane, operated by Lion Air, crashed in Indonesia, killing 189.

China — an important market for Boeing — became the first country to ground the 737 MAX 8 on Monday. Ethiopian Airlines did the same, saying the decision came as an “extra safety precaution.”

Only the flight data and cockpit conversation contained in the doomed aircraft’s two black boxes can provide tangible evidence of what may have caused the latest accident — technical problems, pilot error or a combination of factors.

“The pilot mentioned that he had difficulties and he wants to return. He was given clearance” to turn around, Ethiopian Airlines chief executive Tewolde GebreMariam told reporters in Addis Ababa.

Weather conditions were good in the Ethiopian capital at the time of the flight.

– Coincidence or repeat problem? –

While Teal Group expert Richard Aboulafia said it was “too soon to make any kind of meaningful comment,” another industry expert stressed the similarities between the two incidents.

“It’s the same plane. Like Lion Air, the (Ethiopian Airlines) accident took place shortly after takeoff and the pilots signaled they were experiencing problems, then the plane crashed. The similarities are clear,” the expert added, requesting anonymity to speak freely on the matter.

Chinese aviation authorities also noted the “similarities” between the two deadly incidents, saying operations would only resume after “confirming the relevant measures to effectively ensure flight safety.”

Boeing has delivered 76 of the aircraft to Chinese airlines, and another 104 are on order, according to data from the company’s website.

But Michel Merluzeau, director of Aerospace & Defense Market Analysis, noted that “these are the only similarities, and the comparison stops there as we do not have any other reliable information at this juncture.”

In both cases, the air carriers have solid reputations.

Since the Lion Air accident, the 737 MAX has faced growing skepticism from the aviation community. The program had already encountered problems during development.

In May 2017, Boeing had halted 737 MAX test flights due to quality concerns with the engine produced by CFM International, a company jointly owned by France’s Safran Aircraft Engines and GE Aviation.

In late January, 350 of the narrow-body, twin-engine planes were delivered to customers out of 5,011 orders from Boeing.

The latest accident is a major blow for Boeing, whose MAX carriers are the latest version of the Boeing 737, its bestseller of all times with more than 10,000 aircraft produced.

“MAX is a very important program for Boeing in the next decade. It represents 64 percent of the company’s production to 2032, and has significant operational margins,” said Merluzeau.

“It is an essential tool to global transport and trade.” He said the next 24 hours are “key” for Boeing to manage the crisis with both travelers and investors worried about the reliability of its plane.

– Market backlash expected –

Boeing said it was “deeply saddened” by the Ethiopian Airlines incident, adding that a technical team would be providing assistance to investigators.

The expert who requested anonymity said Boeing will likely face some backlash in the markets, but the damage will likely be limited for the group, whose only significant competitor is Airbus.

The plane’s future is so important for Boeing that if any technical corrections are needed, it will make them.

Following the October 29 incident in Indonesia, the aerospace community raised questions about the lack of information on the plane’s anti-stall system.

After investigators said the doomed aircraft had problems with its airspeed indicator and angle of attack (AoA) sensors, Boeing issued a special bulletin telling operators what to do when they face the same situation.

An AoA sensor provides data about the angle at which air passes over the wings and tells pilots how much lift a plane is getting. The information can be critical in preventing an aircraft from stalling.

Siti Aisyah smiled as she was ushered through a pack of journalists and into a car outside the court, where she had been on trial alongside a Vietnamese woman for the murder of Kim Jong Nam at Kuala Lumpur airport in February 2017.

“I feel happy. I did not know this will happen. I did not expect it,” said the 27-year-old, who was wearing a red headscarf.

It was a surprise move as the Shah Alam High Court, outside Kuala Lumpur, had been due only to hear Vietnamese accused Doan Thi Huong testify on Monday.

Huong’s lawyer said she was “traumatised” that only Aisyah had been released, and the court agreed to adjourn the Vietnamese suspect’s testimony to allow her legal team to apply for her murder charge to be dropped.

The women had always denied murder, saying they were tricked by North Korean spies into carrying out the Cold War-style hit using VX nerve agent and believed it was a prank for a reality TV show.

Their lawyers presented them as scapegoats, saying that authorities were unable to catch the real killers. Four North Koreans — formally accused of the murder alongside the women — fled Malaysia shortly after the assassination.

The trial, which began in October 2017, had been due to resume Monday with the defence stage of proceedings after a break of several months.

But at the start of the hearing, prosecutor Muhammad Iskandar Ahmad requested that the murder charge against Aisyah be withdrawn and that she be given a discharge, without providing a reason.

The judge agreed to the request for a discharge not amounting to an acquittal, and ordered Aisyah’s immediate release. This means Aisyah has not been formally cleared of the charge and could in theory be arrested on suspicion of Kim’s murder again.

Aisyah’s lawyer Gooi Soon Seng said he was grateful for the decision: “We still truly believe that she is merely a scapegoat and she’s innocent”.

– Huong ‘traumatised’ –

But speaking to reporters through an interpreter in court, Huong said she felt “terrible” about her own position. “I do not know what will happen to me now. I am innocent — please pray for me,” she said. Huong’s lawyer, Hisyam Teh Pok Teik, added that she was “traumatised by what happened in court”.

In the northern Vietnamese province of Nam Dinh, her father Doan Van Thanh expressed shock his daughter was still behind bars and called for her release.

“Why did they release the Indonesian girl without releasing my daughter?” he told AFP.

It was not immediately clear why Aisyah was released and not Huong, but Indonesia often makes concerted diplomatic efforts to get its citizens on death row overseas released.

“There has been a long process to free her… since she was detained,” Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir told reporters in Jakarta.

Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia Rusdi Kirana told reporters outside court he was pleased about the release of Aisyah, who was taken to the Indonesian embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and that she would be flown home as soon as possible.

Prosecutors had presented their case in the first stage of the trial. Witnesses described how the victim — the estranged half-brother of Kim Jong Un and once seen as heir apparent to the North Korean leadership — died in agony shortly after being attacked.

CCTV footage seen in court during the trial showed the suspects rushing to separate bathrooms in the airport after the murder, before leaving in taxis, and prosecutors likened it to something out of a James Bond movie.

But their lawyers argued the four North Koreans were the masterminds, and provided the women with poison on the day of the murder before fleeing.

In August, a judge ruled there was sufficient evidence the suspects had engaged in a “well-planned conspiracy” with the North Koreans to murder Kim, and ordered that the trial continue to the defence stage.

South Korea has accused the North of ordering the hit, which Pyongyang denies.

Malaysia had been one of the nuclear-armed North’s few allies but the assassination badly damaged ties, and led to the countries expelling each other’s ambassadors.

A murder conviction carries a mandatory penalty of death in Malaysia. The government has vowed to abolish capital punishment for all crimes, although parliament still needs to vote on changing the law.

Mridu Kaul was earlier spotted dancing in the nude in her bedroom by a friend, before she was found dead by a resident at 8.45pm on Saturday.

OCPD Asst Comm Che Zaimani Che Awang said a friend revealed that the victim was heartbroken after discovering that her boyfriend had a new girlfriend two weeks ago.

“According to the victim’s friend, the victim also had issues with her flatmates and was upset after failing her exams in college.

ACP Che Zamani said the police had classified the case as sudden death.

Those in trouble or in need of someone to talk to can call the Befrienders KL at 03-7956 8145, 04-281 5161/1108 in Penang, 05-547 7933/7955 in Ipoh or e-mail sam@befrienders.org.my

The poll will see right-wing Prime Minister Narendra Modi run for a second term against Rahul Gandhi of the Gandhi-Nehru dynasty to lead the world’s second-most populous nation.

Some 900 million voters from the Himalayan peaks to the deserts and tropical shores are eligible to vote for a new government for the next five years in an enormous democratic undertaking.

From April 11 to May 19 voters will elect 543 lawmakers to India’s lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha, which governs the Asian nation of 1.25 billion people from the capital New Delhi, the electoral commission said Sunday.

Counting will be completed and results announced on May 23, it said.

“The festival of democracy. Elections are here,” Modi posted on Twitter late Sunday.

“I hope this election witnesses a historic turnout,” he added, encouraging first-time voters to cast their ballots in record numbers.

Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Gandhi’s left-leaning Congress are the two strongest challengers among hundreds of political parties from across the culturally and geographically diverse country.

Modi, whose right-wing party won an outright majority in the 2014 elections, enters the race in a strong position, the 68-year-old remaining a popular figure and the BJP a well-oiled political machine.

In recent weeks he has been able to bolster his nationalist credentials in India’s most serious standoff with Pakistan in years, sparked by a suicide bombing in the disputed Kashmir region on February 14 that killed 40 Indian paramilitaries.

The deadliest attack on Indian forces in a 30-year-old insurgency in the part of Kashmir that New Delhi controls was claimed by a militant group based in Pakistan, one of many that India and others have long accused Islamabad of harbouring.

– Continued to talk tough –

Twelve days later the Indian air force bombed what New Delhi said was a training camp of the group deep inside Pakistan, the first time since 1971 that India hit territory beyond Kashmir.

Doubts have been raised about what the raid achieved, and when Pakistan carried out its own air raid a dogfight ensued and an Indian aircraft was shot down and the pilot captured by Pakistan.

But Modi has shrugged this off and has continued to talk tough, accusing the opposition of being weak.

“We won’t spare anybody who is looking to destroy our country even if their (terrorists’) chiefs are sitting on the other side of the border,” Modi told a recent rally.

“But the oppositions have a problem with such stern actions too. But I am going ahead with my resolve to root out terrorism,” he said in his home state of Gujarat.

The prime minister has also sought to contrast his humble origins as a tea seller against Gandhi, the 48-year-old privileged half-Italian princeling of India’s most famous family.

But opinion polls have suggested ebbing support for the BJP, and even that it may fall short of the 272 seats it needs to form a government on its own.

Gandhi, long criticised as a lacklustre leader, has also started looking more recently like a serious challenger.

Congress, which has ruled India for much of its time since independence from Britain in 1947, won three key state election victories in December, chipping into Modi’s core support base in the Hindi “Cow Belt” regions home to nearly half a billion voters.

He has also gone on the offensive over Modi’s economic record, with the Congress state wins attributed to the prime minister’s perceived failure to help impoverished farmers and to create enough jobs.

“We hereby confirm that our scheduled flight ET 302 from Addis Ababa to Nairobi was involved in accident today,” the airline said in a statement, later confirming a report by Ethiopia’s FANA Broadcasting Corp that there were no survivors.

“It is believed that there were 149 passengers and eight crew on board the flight,” it said.

The airline has not provided information on passengers’ nationalities but there are reports people from 33 countries were on board. The crash came on the eve of a major, annual assembly of the UN Environment Programme opening in Nairobi.

State-owned Ethiopian Airlines, Africa’s largest carrier, said the plane had taken off at 8:38 am (0538 GMT) from Bole International Airport and “lost contact” six minutes later near Bishoftu, a town some 60 kilometres (37 miles) southeast of Addis Ababa by road.

The weather in the capital, according to an AFP reporter, was clear when the brand-new Boeing plane, delivered to Ethiopia last year, plane took off.

The Boeing came down near the village of Tulu Fara outside Bishoftu.

An AFP reporter said there was a massive crater at the crash site, with belongings and airplane parts scattered widely.

Rescue crews were retrieving human remains from the wreckage.

Police and troops were on the scene, as well as a crash investigation team from Ethiopia’s civil aviation agency.

In the Kenyan capital, family members, friends, and colleagues of passengers were frantically waiting for news at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).

“I am still hoping that all is fine, because I have been waiting for my sister since morning and we have not been told anything,” Peter Kimani told AFP in the arrivals lounge over an hour after the plane was scheduled to land at 10:25 am local time.

His sister is a nurse who he said had gone to Congo. “She travels a lot on missions.”

“We are still expecting our loved one from Addis… we have just received news that there is a plane that has crashed. We can only hope that she is not on that flight.”

– Hoping for the best –

Among those waiting, Khalid Ali Abdulrahman received happy news about his son, who works in Dubai.

“I arrived here shortly after 10:00 am and as I waited, a security person approached me and asked me which flight are you waiting for. I answered him quickly because I wanted him to direct me to the arrivals, so I told him Ethiopia, and then he said: ‘Sorry, that one has crashed’.”

“I was shocked, but shortly after, my son contacted me and told me he is still in Addis and did not board that flight, he is waiting for the second one which has been delayed,” Khalid told AFP.

“I am waiting for my colleague, I just hope for the best,” added Hannah, a Chinese national.

African Union commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat said he had learnt of the crash “with utter shock and immense sadness.

“Our prayers are with the families of the passengers + crew as authorities search for survivors. I also express our full solidarity with the Govt & people of Ethiopia,” he said on Twitter.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office tweeted it “would like to express its deepest condolences to the families of those that have lost their loved ones.”

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta said he was “saddened” by the news, adding: “My prayers go to all the families and associates of those on board.”

Mahboub Maalim, executive secretary of the IGAD East African bloc, said the region and the world were in mourning.

“I cannot seem to find words comforting enough to the families and friends of those who might have lost their lives in this tragedy,” he said in a statement.

For its part, the plane’s maker, US giant company Boeing, said it was “aware” of the accident “and is closely monitoring the situation.”

Ethiopian Airlines said it would send staff to the accident scene to “do everything possible to assist the emergency services.”

It would also set up a passenger information centre and a dedicated telephone number for family and friends of people who may have been on the flight, while Kenya’s transport minister said officials would meet and council loved ones waiting at JKIA.

The Boeing 737-800MAX is the same type of plane as the Indonesian Lion Air jet that crashed last October, 13 minutes after takeoff from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board.

The last major accident involving an Ethiopian Airlines passenger plane was a Boeing 737-800 that exploded after taking off from Lebanon in 2010, killing 83 passengers and seven crew.

According to reports, Boeing delivered the plane to Ethiopian Airlines last November.

Supporters of the 83-year-old peace icon chanted and prayed at the Buddhist shrine in mountainous Dharamsala, where the Dalai Lama established a government-in-exile after fleeing a deadly Chinese crackdown in Tibet in 1959.

Devotees in the Indian hill station the Dalai Lama has called home for six decades waved Tibet’s colourful “snow lion” flag, which China has outlawed as a symbol of separatism.

Some had “Free Tibet” painted on their faces along with the colours and distinct golden sun of the iconic flag.

The Dalai Lama himself was not present at the anniversary ceremony, but chief representatives of the exiled Tibetan administration and foreign dignitaries gathered for the solemn occasion.

Performers dressed in traditional attire danced and recited Tibetan songs at the temple for guests, which organisers said included parliamentarians from 10 nations.

A minute’s silence was held at the outset to remember those killed when China brutally crushed the fledgling Tibetan revolt, a crackdown the government in-exile claimed killed tens of thousands.

Buddhist Tibet, a vast Himalayan area of plateaus and mountains, declared independence from China in the early 20th century but Beijing took back control in 1951, having sent in thousands of troops.

The Dalai Lama — chosen at the age of two in 1937 as the 14th incarnation of Tibetan Buddhism’s supreme religious leader — was enthroned as head of state after the Chinese invasion.

His co-existence with the Beijing authorities was tense and when the Chinese authorities summoned him to an event without his bodyguards on March 10, Tibetans feared a trap that could endanger their leader.

Thousands of his supporters assembled at his summer palace to prevent him from leaving; thousands more demonstrated in Lhasa to demand the Chinese depart, the Dalai Lama would later say.

Beijing sent more troops into Tibet, and in the bloodshed that followed, refugees poured over the border into Dharamsala — already then a sanctuary for Tibetan exiles fleeing Chinese repression.

The Dalai Lama evaded Chinese authorities and slipped away dressed as a soldier, escaping to India with an entourage of supporters in a gruelling two-week trek through the Himalaya.

There he formed a government-in-exile and demanded autonomy for Tibet, a decades-long quest that would earn him worldwide respect as a figure of nonviolence. He won the Nobel Prize in 1989.

He remains a thorn in the side to China, which adamantly rejects any suggestion of Tibetan autonomy and blacklisted the Dalai Lama as a dangerous “separatist”.

Beijing continues to be accused of political and religious repression in the region, but insists Tibetans enjoy extensive freedoms and that it has brought economic growth.