Benefit sought segmentation

The bloody aftermath of the crackdown on activists showed the blood-soaked quarters of Workers’ Assistance Center where one activist leader from Bayan-Cavite was gunned down in Dasma, Cavite. Image from KMU/Twitter MANILA, Philippines — Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Sunday said he will have a dialogue with the families of two of the nine activists killed in several police raids in Calabarzon (Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon) last March 7. The families of activists Chai Lemita Evangelista and Ariel Evangelista earlier sent Guevarra a letter expressing their intent to meet and have a dialogue with him on the investigation of the killings . “Yes, we got it [letter] last week. We’re happy that the families of the victims have expressed trust in the AO 35 committee. We’ll surely coordinate with them during the investigation,” Guevarra said in a text message to reporters. In a letter dated April 7, Rosenda Lemita, the mother of Chai, and Imelda Evangelista, the ... » Learn More about Guevarra to dialogue with kin of slain activists in Calabarzon

British fashion brands Topshop and Topman will close their last outlet in Singapore next Thursday and go online instead, with retail experts saying more brands might follow suit. Yesterday, Wing Tai Retail, brand manager for Topshop and Topman here, confirmed the closure of the VivoCity outlet, and said its focus for the two brands will be online. Topshop and Topman have been in Singapore for two decades, with the first store opening at Wisma Atria in Orchard Road in 2000. A Wing Tai Retail spokesman said the lease of the brands' shop at VivoCity has ended and that Wing Tai will be focusing on its omni-channel retail strategy - which involves both physical and online sales channels - to better meet changing consumer preferences. Besides Topshop and Topman, Wing Tai Retail also manages brands such as Adidas, G2000, Dorothy Perkins and Uniqlo in Singapore. The spokesman said the closure is part of Wing Tai's business review of its brands portfolio to fine-tune its distribution ... » Learn More about Topshop closing last physical store here after two decades

MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine and U.S. defence chiefs on Sunday expressed hopes to resume the joint "Balikatan" military exercise that was cancelled last year, as they discussed the situation in the South China Sea. Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin III also discussed in a telephone conference recent developments in regional security, according to a statement issued by Lorenzana's department. "Both are looking forward to the conduct of Exercise Balikatan," the statement said. Their conversation comes just days after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, also in a phone call, expressed their shared concerns about Chinese vessels, which Manila believes are manned by militia, in the South China Sea. The Philippines has protested against the presence of the Chinese boats inside its 200-mile exclusive economic zone at Whitsun Reef in the strategic waterway, repeatedly asking ... » Learn More about Philippines, U.S. defence chiefs hope to resume joint military drill

HARTFORD, Connecticut: Spring has sprung, and there is a sense of relief in the air. After one year of lockdowns and social distancing, more than 171 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the US and about 19.4 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated. But there is something else in the air: Ominous SARS-CoV-2 variants. READ: UK variant of COVID-19 is now most common strain in United States: CDC We humans are in a race to become immune against this cagey virus, whose ability to mutate and adapt seems to be a step ahead of our capacity to gain herd immunity. Because of the variants that are emerging, it could be a race to the wire. FIVE VARIANTS TO WATCH RNA viruses like SARS-CoV-2 constantly mutate as they make more copies of themselves. Most of these mutations end up being disadvantageous to the virus and therefore disappear through natural selection. Occasionally, though, they offer a benefit to the mutated or so-called genetic-variant ... » Learn More about Commentary: Those new coronavirus variants sure are worrisome

SINGAPORE: Mario Draghi, the Prime Minister of Italy, recently blocked the export of 250,000 AstraZeneca vaccine doses from his country to Australia. To many in the international community, this was an act of “vaccine nationalism”. In fact, Mr Draghi’s decision reflected different variants of nationalistic behaviour, spurred on by geopolitical forces and compounded by COVID-19. At the outbreak of the pandemic in early 2020, for example, China, the US, the EU, India and the UK all imposed export restrictions on personal protective equipment (PPE). Shipments of ventilators and antiseptic chemicals were also blocked as national health services competed for scarce supplies. This behaviour contradicted the norms of international commerce, science and social exchange, which, for decades, have benefitted from a highly interconnected and interdependent global system. Worse, vaccine nationalism may be the precursor to “vaccine diplomacy,” a form of realpolitik that compels nations ... » Learn More about Commentary: How COVID-19 vaccines are being weaponised as countries jostle for influence

A staff member at Mor Chit bus terminal checks the body temperature of a girl on Friday as people started going to their home provinces for the Songkran holiday. (Photo by Pattarapong Chatpattarasill) One new Covid-19 death and 789 new cases, 781 of them local, were reported on Saturday, as authorities prepared to make as many as 10,000 field-hospital beds available in Bangkok. The latest figures bring the nationwide total to 97 deaths and 31,658 cases since the pandemic began last year. Opas Karnkawinpong, director-general of the Disease Control Department, said a 60-year-old Thai man in Nakhon Pathom with diabetes and high blood pressure had died. On Feb 7, he had a cough and sore throat. He sought treatment at a hospital on Feb 11 after having a fever and shortness of breath. By March 19, his condition had improved and he was removed from a ventilator. But two days later he became exhausted and had phlegm. Doctors found he was infected and was resistant to drugs. On April ... » Learn More about One new Covid-19 death, 789 new cases