OLONGAPO CITY: Bataan on Friday recorded 53 new coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases, with neighboring Zambales posting 29 and 12 in Olongapo City, indicating a rise in virus infections in these areas. According to the latest report of Bataan Gov. Abet Garcia, 53 new Covid-19 cases were added on Friday, increasing the number of active cases to 586. Based on data from the Bataan Provincial Health Office, the total cases in the province now stand at 4,761 with 4,057 recoveries and 118 deaths. One-hundred-thirty-four persons deprived of liberty or PDLs at the Bataan District Jail were also among those affected by the coronavirus disease. The provincial health office placed the number of those who have been vaccinated with anti-Covid-19 vaccines at 7,707. In Zambales, 17 and 29 new cases were recorded on Friday and Saturday, respectively, indicating another spike of Covid-19 cases in the province. The new cases bring the total confirmed coronavirus cases in Zambales to ... » Learn More about Covid-19 cases up in Olongapo City, Bataan, Zambales
Honda city car images
Virus-hit Jaguar rushes car parts to UK in suitcases: Reports
Indian-owned Jaguar Land Rover is rushing through deliveries of small car parts to Britain from China, where supply chains are hit by the deadly coronavirus, the Financial Times said Wednesday. "We have flown parts in suitcases from China to the UK," said JLR chief executive Ralf Speth, quoted by the FT and other British media. Speth said Jaguar Land Rover's British plants were "safe for this week" and next, but that there was "a risk for overall production" thereafter, owing to further parts being delayed. Britain's biggest carmaker JLR, which is owned by Indian group Tata Motors, ordinarily transports the components by sea, which takes longer but is cheaper compared with transportation by air, the business daily added. Foreign firms from various sectors are facing disrupted supply chains in China because of the deadly virus. The death toll from the epidemic jumped past 2,000 on Wednesday after 136 more people died, with the number of new cases falling for a second ... » Learn More about Virus-hit Jaguar rushes car parts to UK in suitcases: Reports
Cambodia condemns VICE for images by artist who added smiles to Khmer Rouge victims
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia called on U.S. media group VICE to withdraw an article featuring newly colourised photos of the Khmer Rouge "killing fields" victims, saying the images were an insult to the dead because some mugshots had been altered to add smiles. At 1200 GMT on Sunday, the article later was no longer available on the VICE.com website. In the article published on Friday, artist Matt Loughrey said his project to colourise images from the notorious Tuol Sleng prison, or S-21, aimed to humanise the 14,000 Cambodians executed and tortured there. However, the article caused a backlash on social media after comparisons with the original black-and-white photos showed that some subjects were smiling only in Loughrey's colour images. The VICE article did not contain the original images. "To play around by using technology to put make-up on the victims of S21 ... is a very grave insult to the souls of the victims of #genocide," exiled Cambodian politician Mu Sochua ... » Learn More about Cambodia condemns VICE for images by artist who added smiles to Khmer Rouge victims
Vietnam: Da Nang’s Central city to develop an international finance centre
Director of the city’s Investment Promotion Agency (IPA), Huynh Thi Lien Phuong said the MoU, which was signed late last month, aimed to build a trading centre, casino, high-end entertainment and luxury apartments in the coastal area. She said the project would be built on an area of 84,000.sq.m on the beach-front at Vo Nguyen Giap and Vo Van Kiet streets in the Son Tra peninsula. Phương said Da Nang authorities would auction land-use rights for the finance-trade-casino complex in the future. She said the city was drawing up a detailed plan for the first international duty-free zone and smart urban area for investors. Last year, five key investors – the Import-Export Pan Pacific Group (IPPG), T&T Group, New Techco company from Vietnam, and Sakae Holding and another company from Singapore – registered for a land-use rights auction for a US$2 billion finance-trade-casino complex in the central city. Jonathan Hanh Nguyen, who is chairman of IPPG Group, urged the city to ... » Learn More about Vietnam: Da Nang’s Central city to develop an international finance centre
Putrajaya keen to attract ecotourism projects
Come with creative investment proposals on tourism products and services to make Putrajaya an iconic ecotourism draw. That is the message from Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa to the private sector, as a way to increase the number of visitors to the administrative capital. “As Putrajaya is already a planned city with iconic buildings and complete facilities, private companies can readily utilise them, ” he said during a press conference to announce a glamping project in Putrajaya Wetlands Park. “This means they will not need big capital expenditure but just add value and run promotion programmes to draw attention to their tourism products and services. “We will be open and transparent so that these companies can help make Putrajaya a major recreational city that is eco-friendly and family-oriented, ” he said during the event held in Precinct 3. Annuar noted that Putrajaya was lacking in pull factor, which explained why the 25-year-old administrative capital ... » Learn More about Putrajaya keen to attract ecotourism projects
Myanmar’s post-coup civilian death toll climbs past 700
Relatives surround the body of Su Su Kyi, who was shot in a car on her way home from work at South Korea’s Shinhan Bank, during her funeral at Yayway cemetery in Yangon on April 2, 2021, as the country remains in turmoil after the February military coup. Photo by STR / AFP YANGON — A security guard was wounded in a bomb blast outside a military-owned bank in Myanmar’s second-biggest city Sunday morning, as the civilian death toll from the junta’s brutal crackdown on dissent topped more than 700 at the weekend. The country has been in turmoil since the military removed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1. Myawaddy Bank’s biggest branch in Mandalay was targeted on Sunday morning and a security guard was injured in the explosion, according to local media. There was a heavy security presence in the area following the blast. The bank is one of scores of military-controlled businesses that have faced boycott pressure since the coup, with many customers demanding to ... » Learn More about Myanmar’s post-coup civilian death toll climbs past 700
Speculation of ‘narcissist’ Duterte being sick is part of admin’s ‘script’ – Trillanes
Duterte on motorbike. Image from Sen. Bong Go MANILA, Philippines — Former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Sunday said he is “not buying” the rumor that President Rodrigo Duterte is sick, saying that the “narcissist” President is doing this on purpose to get attention. “I’m not buying this info that Duterte is sick. He’s been doing that for the past 5 years,” said Trillanes in a statement. “Mawawala kunyare (pretend to disappear) then they’d float their own rumor. Tapos lalabas (then appear) like a conquering hero and burn all those who went for the ride. He’s a narcissist, remember? He craves for the attention,” he added. Trillanes said that instead of getting hooked into the administration’s “script,” Filipinos should demand that the President gets to work “at this time of severe national crisis.” “Napakatamad na, wala pang malasakit” Trillanes said. (Not only is he lazy, but he is also indifferent.) It has already been two weeks since President Duterte last ... » Learn More about Speculation of ‘narcissist’ Duterte being sick is part of admin’s ‘script’ – Trillanes
Call for more help as shelters for the homeless hit full capacity during Covid-19 circuit breaker period
For the past two weeks, Mr Vincent Koh has spent his nights on an old, thin mattress laid on the floor inside a cubicle with barely any space left for walking. "It's like popiah skin," he quipped, drawing a parallel between his mattress and the paper-thin skin of the traditional spring roll snack. But Mr Koh, 60, is more than thankful to the shelter for providing him a roof over his head. Inside a room shared by half a dozen others - each in a separate cubicle - he told The Straits Times that prior to the shelter, he had been sleeping on benches at parks and playgrounds after he lost his job as a worker at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre in February and could no longer afford to stay at hostels. He said he entertained thoughts of ending his life when he was sleeping rough. "I was hungry and had no place to sleep. When you're hungry, you have strange thoughts," said Mr Koh, who was referred to a shelter by a social worker at the Family Service Centre he had ... » Learn More about Call for more help as shelters for the homeless hit full capacity during Covid-19 circuit breaker period
Municipal councils in Melaka will allow Ramadan bazaars with strict SOP compliance
MELAKA: Municipal councils here will allow Ramadan bazaars to operate with strict adherence to standard operating procedures (SOPs). Commenting on this, Hang Tuah Jaya Municipal Council (MPHTJ) president Datuk Shadan Othman said that no directives have been issued so far to stop the bazaars due to Covid-19 cases. “We will continue the operations as normal, until there is an official directive, ” he said when contacted on Sunday (April 11). Earlier, Melaka Historic City Council (MBMB) mayor Datuk Zainal Abu said 3,768 stall lots have been approved to operate at the Ramadan bazaars under its jurisdiction. He said MBMB has also received applications to organise 12 bazaars throughout Ramadan. The largest bazaar under MBMB’s purview is at Dataran Klebang, followed by Taman Seri Telok Mas and Jalan Hang Tuah. ... » Learn More about Municipal councils in Melaka will allow Ramadan bazaars with strict SOP compliance
No Ramadan bazaars in Sabah, says ministry
KOTA KINABALU: There will be no Ramadan bazaars in Sabah this year in view of the Covid-19 situation, says Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun. He said the decision was made as the number of cases in the state was still fluctuating, while several new clusters had emerged due to public and social gatherings. “Apart from that, the level of compliance with standard operating procedure among the people of Sabah is still low, ” he said in a statement. This is the second year that Ramadan bazaars are not allowed since the outbreak of the virus. Sabah National Security Council on its official Facebook said the decision not to allow Ramadan bazaars was due to the emergence of Covid-19 clusters from social gatherings, a low adherence to the SOP and the unstable trend in daily case numbers in the state. In Kuching, there will be no Ramadan bazaars in the Satok, Semarak and Sukma Ria areas to prevent another wave of Covid-19 infections. The Kuching North ... » Learn More about No Ramadan bazaars in Sabah, says ministry