A major Japanese newspaper has called for the Tokyo Olympic Games to be cancelled due to the worsening COVID-19 crisis in the country. An editorial printed in Wednesday’s edition of The Asahi Shimbun called on Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to calmly assess the current circumstances and cancel the Olympics.   The editorial criticized the leaders of the International Olympic Committee for being “self-righteous,” especially vice-president John Coates, who said last week the Tokyo Olympics would be held even if a state of emergency were in force.  The newspaper said Coates’s comments were out of step with the Japanese public.IOC and Tokyo 2020 Olympic organizers hold joint news conference in Tokyo, May 21, 2021.Public sentiment against staging the Olympics has been growing amid a surge of new infections that has overwhelmed hospitals across the country.  Tokyo and other regions in Japan are under a state of emergency that expires on May 31, but will likely be extended through June.   The Asahi Shimbun, whose liberal-leaning editorial stance places it opposite those of Prime Minister Suga’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, is the first major Japanese newspaper to call for the event’s cancelation, despite being one of its major sponsors. The Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association, which represents about 6,000 primary care doctors and hospitals, has also called on Suga to convince the International Olympic Committee to cancel the games.    The Shimbun’s editorial comes just two days after the U.S. government issued a warning for its citizens not to travel to Japan because of the new surge of COVID-19 cases.  The Tokyo Olympics are scheduled to take place from July 23 to August 8 after a one-year postponement as the novel coronavirus pandemic began spreading across the globe. In Australia, the southern state of Victoria is dealing with a new outbreak of COVID-19 cases. Acting state Premier James Merlino told reporters Wednesday health authorities have identified six new coronavirus infections in Melbourne, bringing the total number of infections in the capital city to 15.In this May 10, 2021, file photo, a Fire and Rescue worker receives a Pfizer vaccine at the newly opened COVID-19 vaccination center in Sydney, Australia.The new cases are linked to an overseas traveler who  became infected during his mandatory hotel quarantine phase. Merlino says all the cases are related, which he described as “a good thing,” but said officials are “very concerned by the number and by the kind of exposure sites.”  He has imposed new mandatory mask wearing in restaurants, hotels and other indoor venues until June 4, and warned that the next 24 hours “are going to be particularly critical.”  As of Wednesday, there are 167.8 million confirmed COVID-19 cases around the world, including 3.4 million deaths, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Center.  The United States leads both categories with 33.1 million total COVID-19 cases and 590,941 fatalities, with India in second place with just over 27.1 million coronavirus cases and 311,388 deaths. The World Health Organization said Tuesday the world gained a total of 4.1 million new COVID-19 cases over a one-week period that ended May 23, a decrease of 14 percent, while recording 84,000 new fatalities during that same period, representing a 2 percent decrease.   
…

The political crisis in Samoa has deepened as two rivals claim to be prime minister of the South Pacific island nation. Samoa lies about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand, and has a population of about 200,000 people.   Samoans voted in a general election in early April. The result was very close, and both major parties have claimed victory. The opposition FAST Party, led by Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, said it had secured the crucial support of an independent lawmaker to form a government with a 26-25 majority in parliament. However, Samoa’s long serving leader, Tuila’epa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi, who has been in power since 1998, disputed the result.  His refusal to stand down was described as a ‘coup’ by his opponents. On Monday, the Samoan parliament was scheduled to administer the oath of office to Fiame Naomi Mata’afa as the nation’s first female prime minister.  However, she and her colleagues were locked out of the building by officials loyal to the previous government despite a Supreme Court ruling that the session proceed. So, instead prime minister-elect Fiame Naomi Mata’afa — who is also the daughter of the country’s first prime minister — took the oath of office in an ad hoc ceremony in a large tent outside after her party was locked out of parliament.  Her political rivals said the swearing in was unconstitutional. Court challenges are expected to follow. George Carter, head of the Australian National University’s Pacific Institute, is urging both sides to resolve their differences calmly. “At the moment the country is still at peace despite the difference in Samoa’s ideology and ideals. But this is part of (the) political process in Samoa and part of that is being patient to allow this to take place,” Carter said.The first nation to formally recognize Fiame Naomi Mata’afa as prime minister was the small Pacific archipelago of the Federated States of Micronesia.  A spokesperson for the United Nations secretary-general has urged Samoa “to find solutions to the current political situation through dialogue in the best interest of the people and institutions of Samoa.” Australia and New Zealand have insisted democracy in Samoa must be respected. Samoa’s economy has traditionally been dependent on foreign aid and remittances from citizens overseas as well as tourism, agriculture, and fishing. 
…

Myanmar’s media community is experiencing a critical moment, with a number of journalists detained or charged, says the editor of Frontier Myanmar.  Sonny Swe, founder of Frontier Myanmar, one of the country’s top independent news sites, spoke to VOA Burmese on Tuesday, following the arrest of the outlet’s managing editor, Danny Fenster.   American journalist Fenster, 37, was detained at an airport in Yangon, his outlet reported.   Swe confirmed that Myanmar’s military authorities have moved Fenster to Yangon’s Insein prison.   “We are trying to work on his release as soon as possible. We lost contact with him since (Monday),” Swe said. “So far, we simply don’t know exactly why and how it happened. As far as legal representation, the U.S. Embassy in Yangon is trying to assist for his release.”  A State Department spokesperson said Monday the United States is aware of reports that a U.S. citizen was detained in Myanmar.   “We take seriously our responsibility to assist U.S. citizens abroad and are monitoring the situation,” the spokesperson said.   Swe said Frontier Myanmar was ”shocked and surprised” to hear of Fenster’s arrest.   “We are sure that he is doing nothing wrong while he was doing his job responsibly. We did not expect such kind of arrest,” Swe said, adding that the outlet is trying to find out what happened.   The arrest will not change how Frontier Myanmar operates, Swe said.FILE – AP journalist Thein Zaw, center, waves outside Insein prison after his release, March 24, 2021, in Yangon, Myanmar. Thein Zaw was arrested while covering a protest against the coup in Myanmar.It is one of only a handful of independent outlets still in operation since the military overthrew the civilian government on February 1.   “Hopefully, there will not be any disruption to our work,” Swe said. “We have been working hard professionally, no reason to change our job abruptly.”  The news outlet’s founder told VOA that Myanmar’s media are ”passing through this critical moment of the country, under difficult circumstances” and added that he is worried.  “Journalists should not be arrested,” Swe said. “I would like to call [on] authorities concerned to release and drop charges, not only for Danny Fenster but also for all detained journalists. I am praying for the release of all detained journalists.”  ‘Extraordinary attack’  Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power, with nearly daily protests across the country. During the coup, de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi was deposed. She faces multiple criminal charges.  The coup happened nearly three months after Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won elections in a landslide. The junta alleges electoral fraud, a charge the civilian electoral commission denies.  Myanmar’s FILE – Japanese journalist Yuki Kitazumi raises his hands as he is escorted by police upon arrival at the Myaynigone police station in Sanchaung township in Yangon, Myanmar, Feb. 26, 2021.”We’re absolutely stunned and extremely confused as to why Dan was detained,” said Fenster’s brother, Bryan, in remarks made available by Frontier Myanmar. “We’ve been assured that there is no concern for his safety, but no doubt we are very worried.”  The Vienna-based International Press Institute said Fenster’s detention ”demonstrates, once again, that neither local nor foreign journalists are safe from arbitrary arrest in Myanmar.”   “The international community must respond forcefully to the increase in detentions, violence and intimidation of journalists in Myanmar in recent weeks, which represents an unacceptable attack on press freedom,” the media watchdog’s executive director, Barbara Trionfi, said in a statement. Local journalists who are in custody face tough conditions. The family of Kay Zune Nway are worried for her health, said a person familiar with the Myanmar Now journalist’s case, who requested anonymity.   Kay Zune Nway was arrested February 27 while covering protests in Yangon.   “Prison authorities accused Kay Zune Nway of staging a hunger strike to protest while she was fasting as a Muslim during Ramadan, then punished her in solitary confinement,” the person speaking anonymously said. “Her family is worried for Kay’s poor health of nerve aches and stomach problems. According to the recently released inmates, Kay was repeatedly interrogated in prison.”   Nilar Khine, a lawyer representing Kay Zune Nway, told VOA Burmese the journalist has a court hearing scheduled for June 3. ”My client is still in solitary confinement and wonders why she has been punished,” the lawyer said.  The wife of jailed Voice of Myanmar chief editor Nay Lin has said that family are not allowed to visit their relatives in prison. Nay Lin and his colleague Shine Aung were arrested April 27.  Media Arrests Continue as Myanmar Military Steps Up Repression Myanmar’s military detains more than 80 journalists, blocks independent reporting as repression increases after overthrow of civilian governmentSome journalists and news outlets have moved their operations outside of Myanmar to try to protect staff. However, three journalists for the broadcaster Democratic Voice of Burma were arrested in Thailand on May 9, on charges of illegal entry into the country. They remain detained in an immigration detention center.   The Thai Foreign Ministry is believed to be working with foreign embassies to try to move the journalists to a third country rather than deport them. In Reporters Without Borders’ latest World Press Freedom Index, Myanmar ranks 140th out of 180 countries, where 1 is the freest. The media watchdog said earlier this year that the military coup in Myanmar could set the country’s journalists back 10 years. This story originated in VOA’s Burmese service. Some reporting from Reuters. 
 
…

With less than two months remaining before the opening ceremony, the Tokyo Olympics received another jolt Monday when the U.S. government issued a warning for its citizens not to travel to Japan due to rising rates of new COVID-19 cases.  The State Department issued its highest travel advisory warning, Level 4, citing Japan’s slow vaccination rate and the country’s own restrictions on travelers from the United States.   A separate warning issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said “even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants and should avoid all travel to Japan.” Security personnel stand guard near the Olympic rings monument during a rally by anti-Olympics protesters outside the Japanese Olympic Committee headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, May 18, 2021.The Tokyo Olympics are scheduled to take place from July 23 to August 8 after a one-year postponement as the novel coronavirus pandemic began spreading across the globe. But the Japanese capital and other parts of Japan are under a state of emergency to quell a surge of new infections that has overwhelmed hospitals across the country, prompting growing public sentiment against staging the event.   The opposition was boosted by an open letter earlier this month from the Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association, which represents about 6,000 primary care doctors and hospitals, urging Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to convince the International Olympic Committee to cancel the games.   The current outbreak has already prompted Japanese authorities to ban foreign audiences from attending the Olympics.  But Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told reporters Tuesday the warning does not prohibit essential travel to Japan, and that authorities there do not detect any change in  Washington’s support for Japan to go through with staging the Olympics. Japan has recorded just 722,668 total COVID-19 infections and 12,351 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, but has only inoculated just under five percent of its population. FILE – People protest the Tokyo 2020 Olympics amid the coronavirus outbreak, around Olympic Stadium (National Stadium) as an Olympic test event for athletics is held inside the venue in Tokyo, Japan, May 9, 2021, in this photo taken by Kyodo.Hong Kong warning
In Hong Kong, a high-ranking official is warning that the city may soon have to discard millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses because not enough people are getting inoculated before the doses expire. Thomas Tsang, a former controller of Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection and a member of the government’s vaccine task force, told public broadcaster RTHK Tuesday there is only a “three-month window” to use the first batch of the two-dose Pfizer vaccine, a situation complicated by current plans to close the community vaccination centers after September.   Hong Kong bought rough doses of Pfizer and China’s Sinovac vaccine to cover its entire 7.5 million citizens, but only 2.1 million have taken the shots since the city’s vaccination program began in late February. FILE – Members of the Hong Kong Fire Services Department receive a dose of the Sinovac Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine at a community vaccination center in Hong Kong, China, Feb. 23, 2021. (Paul Yeung/Pool via Reuters)Tsang said it was “just not right” that Hong Kong was sitting on an unused pile of doses while the rest of the world “is scrambling for vaccines” and warned that the city would not be buying anymore doses.  Observers have blamed the situation on a number of factors, including vaccine hesitancy, online disinformation, a lack of urgency in a city that has largely avoided a major outbreak of the virus, and rising distrust of authorities in Hong Kong and China.  
…

A U.S. journalist working for a news magazine in Myanmar has been detained by authorities, according to his news organization. Frontier Myanmar said on Twitter that its managing editor, Danny Fenster, was detained Monday at the main Yangon International Airport while preparing to board a flight to Malaysia and was transferred to Yangon’s Insein Prison.  “We do not know why Danny was detained and have not been able to contact him,” the news magazine said. “We are concerned for his well-being and call for his immediate release. Our priorities now are to make sure he is safe and provide him with whatever assistance he needs,” it said. Frontier Myanmar publishes in both English and Burmese and is one of the country’s top independent news sites. A State Department spokesman said the United States is aware of reports that a U.S. citizen has been detained in Myanmar. “We take seriously our responsibility to assist U.S. citizens abroad, and are monitoring the situation,” the spokesman said. Fenster’s brother, Bryan, said in a Facebook post Monday, “We’re absolutely stunned and extremely confused as to why Dan was detained.”  There was no response from authorities. Fenster is a 37-year-old native of the Detroit, Michigan area who joined Frontier Myanmar last year.  Media rights group, the Committee to Protect Journalists, called for Fenster’s immediate release.  “This unlawful restriction of a foreign journalist’s freedom of movement is the latest grave threat to press freedom in Myanmar,” it said. The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand said in a statement that it is “deeply concerned” to learn of the detention of Fenster.Find our statement on the detention of US journalist Danny Fenster by the military government in Myanmar today: #WhatsHappeningInMyanmarpic.twitter.com/Rnl930dZB2
— FCCThai (@FCCThai) May 24, 2021In Reporters Without Borders’ latest World Press Freedom Index, Myanmar ranks 140th out of 180 countries, where 1 is the freest. The media watchdog said earlier this year that the military coup in Myanmar could set the country’s journalists back 10 years.Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power in a February 1 coup, with nearly daily protests across the country. During the coup, de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi was deposed. She faces multiple criminal charges. The coup happened nearly three months after Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won elections in a landslide. The junta alleges electoral fraud, a charge the civilian electoral commission denies.Myanmar’s Suu Kyi Makes First Personal Court Appearance Since Coup Ousted de facto leader has been detained since February 1 military takeover Myanmar’s Assistance Association for Political Prisoners says more than more than 800 protesters and bystanders have been killed by the military since the coup began and more than 4,300 people have been detained. A United Nations spokesperson in May called on Myanmar to free dozens of detained journalists. The spokesperson said more than 80 members of the media have been arrested since the coup, and that the military has revoked operating licenses for six major news outlets.  Myanmar in April detained a Japanese freelance journalist, Yuki Kitazumi, who was covering the aftermath of the coup. Authorities released Kitazumi on May 14 and returned him to Japan in a move the junta described as a gesture of friendship to Tokyo, the Associated Press reported.VOA’s Jessica Jerreat and Aru Pande contributed to this story. 
…

Kenya’s population of donkeys is once again under threat after the High Court lifted a 2020 ban on donkey slaughterhouses, allowing them to resume selling the meat and skins to Asian markets. The high price for donkey skins for use in Chinese medicine has led to donkey poaching and fears the working animals could soon go extinct. Brenda Mulinya reports from Nairobi.Camera: Amos Wangwa 
…

The small Pacific island nation of Samoa was thrown into a constitutional crisis Monday after Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi refused to leave office despite his party losing last month’s parliamentary election.
Prime Minister Tuilaepa’s party was narrowly defeated by the opposition party led by
Fiame Naomi Mata’afa.  Fiame showed up at parliament Monday to form a new government, but she and her supporters were locked out of the building.
The Supreme Court over the weekend ordered Parliament to be in session Monday so Fiame could be seated, but head of state Tuimalealiifano Va’aletoa Sualauvi II cancelled the session.
“We remain in this role and operate business as usual,” Tuilaepa told reporters Monday.
Fiame and her party were sworn in during a makeshift tent ceremony outside the locked parliament building, an action Tuilaepa denounced as treasonous and illegal.
The party later issued a statement defending the swearing-in ceremony, declaring “Democracy must prevail, always.”
If Fiame manages to take power, she would be Samoa’s first female prime minister and bring an end to Tuilaepa’s 22-year hold on power. She has pledged to cancel a $100 million port development backed by China, calling it an excessive expense for a country that is already heavily in debt to Beijing.
Fiame had served as Tuilaepa’s deputy prime minister until the two had a bitter split last year.
Last month’s election ended with both Fiame’s FAST party and Tuilaepa’s HRP party with a 25-25 parliamentary tie. The electoral commission handed down a decision that gave Tuilaepa’s party an extra parliamentary seat, but the high court ruled against the commission, as well as a separate decision by head of state Tuimalealiifano to void the results and conduct a new election.
Fiame holds a bare 26-25 majority with the help of an independent parliamentary candidate who sides with her party.
…

Taiwan has criticized the “indifference” of the World Health Organization concerning the health rights of the people of Taiwan, according to Reuters.  The WHO’s decision-making body, the World Health Assembly, begins its annual meeting Monday in Geneva, but Taiwan has not been invited because it says the assembly has given into pressure from China.Pandemic Treaty, Vaccine Equity Seen Topping UN Health Meeting Agenda Discussions on a so-called pandemic treaty to better prepare for and prevent global infectious outbreaks is expected to take center stage at this week’s 2021 World Health Assembly “As a professional international health body, the World Health Organization should serve the health and welfare of all humanity and not capitulate to the political interests of a certain member,” Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu and Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said in a joint statement. China lays claim to Taiwan despite the island’s democratically elected government. Taiwan does not recognize China’s sovereignty over the island.  This year’s theme of the virtual gathering is “Ending This Pandemic, Preventing the Next Pandemic, and  Building Together a Healthier, Safer and Fairer World.”  On Sunday, the Wall Street Journal reported that three scientists from China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology, or WIV, in Wuhan, China were admitted to the hospital in November 2019 — a month before China confirmed its first coronavirus case. The news will likely add fuel to the theory that the virus may have escaped the laboratory. The report is not the first to cite the possibility that China had earlier knowledge of the virus. Near the end of the Trump administration, a fact sheet released by the State Department said that “the U.S. government has reason to believe that several researchers inside the WIV became sick in autumn 2019, before the first identified case of the outbreak, with symptoms consistent with both COVID-19 and common seasonal illnesses.” On Monday, India reported 222,315 new COVID cases in the past 24-hour period, a new low for the South Asian nation that was experiencing more than 400,000 new daily infections just a few weeks ago. However, public health officials believe that India’s toll is likely undercounted because of limited testing resources.  The Indian government said Saturday that while COVID-19 infections remain high as they spread to overburdened rural areas, the infections are stabilizing in some parts of the country. While a new variant of the virus first found in India has raised alarm around the world, a new study found Saturday that vaccines by Pfizer and AstraZeneca are effective against it after two doses. The study by Public Health England found that Pfizer’s vaccine is 88% effective against B.1.617.2, or the Indian variant, and 93% effective against B.1.1.7, now known as the Kent variant. AstraZeneca’s vaccine is 60% effective against the Indian variant and 66% effective against the English variant. In both cases, the effectiveness was measured two weeks after the second shot and against symptomatic disease. Both vaccines had limited effectiveness after just one dose.  The Kent variant is the dominant strain in England, but health officials fear the Indian strain may outpace it. Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Monday 167 million global COVID-19 infections. The U.S. has more infections than any other country at 33 million cases. India is next with 26.7 million, while Brazil is ranked third with 16 million. 
…

The Australian government is being urged to offer citizens cash and lottery tickets as incentives to boost slow rates of COVID-19 vaccinations. Public health and advertising experts say more needs to be done to counter mounting hesitancy and confusion about a mass inoculation program. Research commissioned by two Australian newspapers found a third of respondents don’t intend to get vaccinated soon. There are community-wide doubts about potential side effects of vaccines. The survey has also shown that many Australians believe there is no rush to receive a dose while the country’s international borders remain closed. Demand for injections has been far lower than expected. At the current pace of about 500,000 doses a week, Australia’s adult population would not be fully vaccinated until October 2022. But the authorities are warning that “complacency can kill,” pointing to the “resurgence of this deadly virus in countries like Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea” which, like Australia, had appeared to have suppressed community spread of COVID-19.A new mass COVID-19 vaccination hub opens in Sydney, May 10, 2021.Australia’s federal government recently responded to hesitancy about the vaccines with a new public health campaign. Experts believe that offering Australians lottery tickets or cash after being vaccinated could boost injection rates. Similar measures, along with free beer and donuts, have been used in other countries, including the United States, where critics said vaccine payments might “unfairly exploit” people who have lost jobs during the pandemic. A major incentive for Australians could be linked to overseas travel. Officials have said the reopening of international borders, which have been closed for more than a year, could be dependent on high rates of coronavirus vaccinations. Julian Savulescu is a bioethicist at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne. He says Australians need to be actively encouraged to get the jab. “You can provide them with things that clearly are benefits to them such as cash or kind. So, kind being, you know, greater ability to travel, not having to wear masks in certain situations. So, the U.S. has dropped mask requirements for people who have been vaccinated or provide them with cash, you know, and money does talk and it may well influence significant numbers of people,” Savulescu said.Tough border control measures, strict lockdowns and mass testing have helped Australia to contain COVID-19. Cases of community transmission are now rare, but on Monday, state health authorities in Victoria reported two “likely positive cases” in the city of Melbourne. Australia has diagnosed over 30,000 coronavirus infections since the pandemic began, and 910 have died, according to the latest government statistics. Regulators have so far approved two vaccines for use in Australia; the Pfizer/BioNTech treatment and the Oxford/AstraZeneca drug. 
…

Hospitals in Japan’s second largest city of Osaka are buckling under a huge wave of new coronavirus infections, running out of beds and ventilators as exhausted doctors warn of a “system collapse,” and advise against holding the Olympics this summer. Japan’s western region home to 9 million people is suffering the brunt of the fourth wave of the pandemic, accounting for a third of the nation’s death toll in May, although it constitutes just 7% of its population. The speed at which Osaka’s healthcare system was overwhelmed underscores the challenges of hosting a major global sports event in two months’ time, particularly as only about half of Japan’s medical staff have completed inoculations. “Simply put, this is a collapse of the medical system,” said Yuji Tohda, the director of Kindai University Hospital in Osaka. “The highly infectious British variant and slipping alertness have led to this explosive growth in the number of patients.” Japan has avoided the large infections suffered by other nations, but the fourth pandemic wave took Osaka prefecture by storm, with 3,849 new positive tests in the week to Thursday. That represents a more than fivefold jump over the corresponding period three months ago. Just 14% of the prefecture’s 13,770 COVID-19 patients have been hospitalized, leaving the majority to fend for themselves. Tokyo’s latest hospitalization rate, in comparison, is 37%.Fourth wave of COVID-19 pandemic, in Takatsuki, Osaka prefecture, Japan May 17, 2021.A government advisory panel sees rates of less than 25% as a trigger to consider imposition of a state of emergency. By Thursday, 96% of the 348 hospital beds Osaka reserves for serious virus cases were in use. Since March, 17 people have died from the disease outside the prefecture’s hospitals, officials said this month. The variant can make even young people very sick quickly, and once seriously ill, patients find it tough to make a recovery, said Toshiaki Minami, director of the Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University Hospital (OMPUH). “I believe that until now many young people thought they were invincible. But that can’t be the case this time around. Everyone is equally bearing the risk.” Breaking point  Minami said a supplier recently told him that stocks of propofol, a key drug used to sedate intubated patients, are running very low, while Tohda’s hospital is running short of the ventilators vital for severely ill COVID-19 patients. Caring for critically ill patients in the face of infection risk has taken a serious toll on staff, said Satsuki Nakayama, the head of the nursing department at OMPUH. “I’ve got some intensive care unit (ICU) staff saying they have reached a breaking point,” she added. “I need to think of personnel change to bring in people from other hospital wings.” About 500 doctors and 950 nurses work at OMPUH, which manages 832 beds. Ten of its 16 ICU beds have been dedicated to virus patients. Twenty of the roughly 140 serious patients taken in by the hospital died in the ICU. Yasunori Komatsu, who heads a union of regional government employees, said conditions were dire as well for public health nurses at local health centers, who liaison between patients and medical institutions. “Some of them are racking up 100, 150, 200 hours (about 1 week 1 and a half days) of overtime, and that has been going on for a year now…when on duty, they sometimes go home at one or two in the morning, and go to bed only to be awakened by a phone call at three or four.” Medical professionals with firsthand experience of Osaka’s struggle with the pandemic take a negative view on holding the Tokyo Games, set to run from July 23 to August 8. “The Olympics should be stopped, because we already have failed to stop the flow of new variants from England, and next might be an inflow of Indian variants,” said Akira Takasu, the head of emergency medicine at OMPUH. He was referring to a variant first found in India that the World Health Organization (WHO) designated as being of concern after initial studies showed it spread more easily. “In the Olympics, 70,000 or 80,000 athletes and the people will come to this country from around the world. This may be a trigger for another disaster in the summer.” 
…

If John Coates was trying to stir controversy, he succeeded.An International Olympic Committee vice president, Coates was asked a few days ago by a Japanese reporter at an online news conference if the Tokyo Olympics would go ahead, even if a state of emergency were in force in Japan.Coates replied: “Absolutely, yes.”Coates said what the IOC and local organizers have been trying to persuade the Japanese public about for months: The postponed Olympics with 11,000 athletes from 200 nations and territories will open on July 23 and will be “safe and secure.”But his defiant tone has stirred a backlash in Japan where 60-80% in polls say they do not want the Olympics to open in two months in the midst of a pandemic.Just over 12,000 deaths in Japan — good by global standards, but poor in Asia — have been attributed to COVID-19. But Tokyo and Osaka and several other areas are under a state of emergency until May 31. And it’s likely to be extended.There is fear of new variants spreading with only a tiny percentage of Japanese vaccinated. Estimates range between 2% and 4%.“Right now, more than 80% of the nation’s people want the Olympics postponed or canceled,” Japanese billionaire businessman Masayoshi Son said over the weekend. He is the founder and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp. He also owns the SoftBank Hawks baseball team.“Who is forcing this to go ahead, and under what rights?” Son added.Technically, the games belong to the International Olympic Committee and only it has the power to cancel. Of course, any move would have to be negotiated with Japanese organizers.There is no suggestion this will happen.Social media criticized Coates, and also went after IOC President Thomas Bach who has said repeatedly that everyone must “sacrifice” to pull off these Olympics, which have already banned fans from abroad. A decision on local fans attending — if any — will be made next month.The IOC relies on selling television rights for 75% of its income, and Japan has officially spent $15.4 billion to prepare the games. Government audits suggest the figure is much higher. All but $6.7 billion is public money.The Shukan Post magazine said in its latest issue that organizers have booked all the rooms during the Olympics in at least four of Tokyo’s most expensive hotels. The magazine called the accommodations “fitting or royalty” for the IOC and others.Tokyo organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto said Friday the “Olympic family, IOC and international federations” would amount to 23,000 visitors.  The magazine said the IOC would pay up to $400 per night for rooms, with local organizers making up any difference.Many of Japan’s newspapers are among more than 60 local Olympic sponsors that have contributed more than $3 billion to local organizers. They have been restrained in their criticism, although one of them — the Hokkaido Shimbun — did call for unspecified action from Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. Suga has said it’s the IOC that must determine the fate of the Olympics.“That inaction itself is forfeiting the responsibility over people’s lives and health. Those in charge should take that to heart.”The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun, which is not a sponsor, called for a cancellation in an editorial on Sunday.“We are in no mood to celebrate an event filled with fear and anxiety,” the newspaper said. “The Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics should be canceled … The government must make the decision to protect the lives and livelihood of the people.”Organizers and the IOC say that the games will be safe because of extensive testing and building a bubble around the athletes. It says more than 80% of the residents in the Olympics Village, located on Tokyo Bay, will be vaccinated.The comments of Atsuko Saitoh, who identifies herself as midwife and former university professor, are representative of the criticism on social media. She has run unsuccessfully for Japan’s upper house and is running in the next lower house election.“Bach and Coates do not value the lives of the athletes, others involved or the people of the host nation. It’s tantamount to predicting terrorism to say that the games will be held under an emergency, despite the overwhelming opposition in public opinion.” 
…

If John Coates was trying to stir controversy, he succeeded.An International Olympic Committee vice president, Coates was asked a few days ago by a Japanese reporter at an online news conference if the Tokyo Olympics would go ahead, even if a state of emergency were in force in Japan.Coates replied: “Absolutely, yes.”Coates said what the IOC and local organizers have been trying to persuade the Japanese public about for months: The postponed Olympics with 11,000 athletes from 200 nations and territories will open on July 23 and will be “safe and secure.”But his defiant tone has stirred a backlash in Japan where 60-80% in polls say they do not want the Olympics to open in two months in the midst of a pandemic.Just over 12,000 deaths in Japan — good by global standards, but poor in Asia — have been attributed to COVID-19. But Tokyo and Osaka and several other areas are under a state of emergency until May 31. And it’s likely to be extended.There is fear of new variants spreading with only a tiny percentage of Japanese vaccinated. Estimates range between 2% and 4%.“Right now, more than 80% of the nation’s people want the Olympics postponed or canceled,” Japanese billionaire businessman Masayoshi Son said over the weekend. He is the founder and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp. He also owns the SoftBank Hawks baseball team.“Who is forcing this to go ahead, and under what rights?” Son added.Technically, the games belong to the International Olympic Committee and only it has the power to cancel. Of course, any move would have to be negotiated with Japanese organizers.There is no suggestion this will happen.Social media criticized Coates, and also went after IOC President Thomas Bach who has said repeatedly that everyone must “sacrifice” to pull off these Olympics, which have already banned fans from abroad. A decision on local fans attending — if any — will be made next month.The IOC relies on selling television rights for 75% of its income, and Japan has officially spent $15.4 billion to prepare the games. Government audits suggest the figure is much higher. All but $6.7 billion is public money.The Shukan Post magazine said in its latest issue that organizers have booked all the rooms during the Olympics in at least four of Tokyo’s most expensive hotels. The magazine called the accommodations “fitting or royalty” for the IOC and others.Tokyo organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto said Friday the “Olympic family, IOC and international federations” would amount to 23,000 visitors.  The magazine said the IOC would pay up to $400 per night for rooms, with local organizers making up any difference.Many of Japan’s newspapers are among more than 60 local Olympic sponsors that have contributed more than $3 billion to local organizers. They have been restrained in their criticism, although one of them — the Hokkaido Shimbun — did call for unspecified action from Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. Suga has said it’s the IOC that must determine the fate of the Olympics.“That inaction itself is forfeiting the responsibility over people’s lives and health. Those in charge should take that to heart.”The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun, which is not a sponsor, called for a cancellation in an editorial on Sunday.“We are in no mood to celebrate an event filled with fear and anxiety,” the newspaper said. “The Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics should be canceled … The government must make the decision to protect the lives and livelihood of the people.”Organizers and the IOC say that the games will be safe because of extensive testing and building a bubble around the athletes. It says more than 80% of the residents in the Olympics Village, located on Tokyo Bay, will be vaccinated.The comments of Atsuko Saitoh, who identifies herself as midwife and former university professor, are representative of the criticism on social media. She has run unsuccessfully for Japan’s upper house and is running in the next lower house election.“Bach and Coates do not value the lives of the athletes, others involved or the people of the host nation. It’s tantamount to predicting terrorism to say that the games will be held under an emergency, despite the overwhelming opposition in public opinion.” 
…

China’s latest census shows that the country’s population is quickly growing older, creating a policy challenge familiar to many governments: how to cover elder care costs while ensuring continued prosperity for everyone else.Over the past decade, China’s overall population grew at the slowest pace since the first modern census in 1953, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). This came even though the one-child policy was abolished in 2016.In about 25 years, one-third of China’s population will be retirees, and their living and health care expenses will eat up a quarter of the country’s GDP, according to the NBS census report, which was released last week. But by 2035, the government-run basic pension system for corporate employees will likely be depleted, according to a 2019 Chinese Academy of Social Sciences report.China’s “increasing elderly population will reduce the supply of labor force and increase the burden on families’ elder care and the pressure on the supply of basic public services,” said Ning Jizhe, head of the NBS, at a May 11 press conference in Beijing marking the release of the census.”The aging of the population has further deepened, and in the coming period, (we will) continue to face pressure for the long-term balanced development of the population,” Ning said.”I think it’s a serious problem,” Mrs. Su, a retired teacher living in Beijing, told VOA Mandarin. “But to be honest, I couldn’t care less about our country’s family planning policies and what the government is going to do from now on. I only care about my retirement benefits and how I can enjoy my remaining years.” She asked to be identified by only one name to avoid attracting the attention of authorities.Africa bucks trendChina is not alone in facing this demographic tension.In many developing and developed nations, younger working people pay part of their income into pension plans, offsetting the costs of an aging population. As birthrates fall in the Americas, Europe and elsewhere in Asia, this construct is challenging governments. Only in Africa do demographers see population growth, at least over the next two decades.China’s current economy was built on lives spent in poorly paid manufacturing jobs which offered little to workers for their retirement. Male workers become eligible to retire at 60; female office workers, 55; and female blue-collar workers, 50. Officials set the ages in the 1950s, when China’s life expectancy was less than 45. As of 2019, life expectancy was 77.3 years nationwide, with city dwellers expected to keep going past 80 years.In China, families have traditionally been the caregivers and major source of financial support for older adults. According to a study published in the China Economic Journal in 2015, roughly 41% of Chinese 60 and over live with an adult child. Another 34% have an adult child living nearby.Yet that pattern is gradually changing. China enforced the one-child policy between 1979 and 2015, aiming to control population growth. This means that people born in the 1940s could have three or four children to care for them when they are old, while people born in the 1950s and 1960s usually have only one adult child. Mrs. Su, the retired teacher in Beijing, is from the latter group.Mr. Chen, a retired professor living in Beijing, said that the one-child policy is not the only thing that’s contributing to today’s demographic trend. He asked to be identified by only one name to avoid attracting the attention of authorities.”Modern medicine has prolonged our life expectancy, so it’s inevitable for China to have an aging population,” he said. “In addition, just as many young people in the developed countries, young people in China today don’t really want to have kids because of the high cost. So even with the policy change, not a lot of young people choose to have a second kid since the cost of living is so high.”Official census data for 2020 alone showed a fertility rate of 1.3 children per couple.Chinese policymakers “have been studying — and adjusting for — the effects of demographic change on China’s economy for more than three decades,” wrote Lauren Johnston, a research associate at SOAS China Institute, in a 2019 post for the World Economic Forum.Effect on economic growthOfficials understood that an aging population coupled with a low birthrate could slow economic growth — and undercut the ruling Communist Party’s promises of continued prosperity. In 2018, an editorial in the official People’s Daily newspaper said, “To put it bluntly, the birth of a baby is not only a matter of the family itself, but also a state affair.”In 2020, the Chinese government created a strategy for responding to its aging population and added it to its next five-year plan. China would increase the retirement age, develop the elder care sector and improve the quality of service for senior citizens, according to the official China Daily newspaper, which did not report any details of how the plan would be carried out.According to the latest official census data, those 60 and over now make up 18.7% of the population, or 264 million people. In 2010, the over-60 cohort was 13.3% of a total population of 1.34 billion, or 178 million people. Those 65 and above accounted for 13.5% of the population in 2020. In 2010, 8.9% were 65 or older, compared with just under 7% in 2000 and 5.6% in 1990. China uses age 60 as the marker for being elderly, while the United Nations uses 65 years.The U.N. and the World Health Organization define an “aging society” as having at least 7% of the total population over 65 years old. When the percentage reaches 14%, it is called an “aged society.” A “super-aged society” is one in which more than 20% of the population is over 65. China became an “aging society” in 2002, according to a study published in BioScience Trends in 2019.According to a 2014 study by consulting firm Deloitte, developed countries generally do not become “aging societies” until their average gross domestic product reaches $10,000 per person.”By contrast, China became an aging society in 2011 when its average GDP was only $5,416 per person. Today, the elderly in China depend on pensions, family care, and income from work,” the report said, adding that the shortage in China’s pension fund will reach $1.4 trillion in 2050.China’s state media Xinhua News Agency reported in 2019 that from 2005 to 2016, the average monthly pension payment for enterprise retirees increased to about $350 (2,400 RMB) from just under $100 (640 RMB).Nursing home shortageAs the demand for elder care increases in China, so does the shortage of affordable assisted living facilities and nursing homes. According to The Rooth Law Firm of Chicago, in 2014, less than 3% of China’s aged population could find accommodation in nursing homes.In cities such as Shanghai or Beijing, the cost of a nursing home ranges from $310 (2,000 RMB) per month to $3,100 (20,000 RMB per month), with the requirement of purchasing at least a one-year lease.In Shanghai, according to China Daily, only 3% of the city’s elderly population is cared for in nursing homes. The majority — 90% — remain at home, and they or their families hire a caregiver to provide some form of assistance at a monthly cost of $450-$700 (3,000-4,500 RMB).”Obtaining a spot in a nursing home has become incredibly competitive,” the law firm said, “The top social welfare home in Beijing has a waiting list of more than 10,000 applicants, and only approximately 1,100 beds in the facility, with only about 12 spots opening up annually.”Mrs. Wang, a retired doctor, said she has seen numerous cases of elderly adults failing to get a bed in nursing homes. She asked to be identified by only one name to avoid attracting the attention of authorities.”If you want to get into a private nursing home, you’ve got to have money first,” she told VOA Mandarin. “On top of that, you have to prepare gifts for the staff so you can receive good care.”
…

More than 125,000 schoolteachers in Myanmar have been suspended by military authorities for joining a civil disobedience movement to oppose the military coup in February, an official of the Myanmar Teachers’ Federation said.The suspensions have come days before the start of a new school year, which some teachers and parents are boycotting as part of the campaign that has paralyzed the country since the coup cut short a decade of democratic reforms.A total of 125,900 schoolteachers had been suspended as of Saturday, said the official of the teachers’ federation, who declined to give his name for fear of reprisals. He is on the junta’s wanted list on charges of inciting disaffection.Myanmar had 430,000 schoolteachers according to the most recent data, from two years ago.”These are just statements to threaten people to come back to work. If they actually fire this many people, the whole system will stop,” said the official, who is also a teacher. He said he had been told that the charges he faces would be dropped if he returns.Reuters was unable to reach a junta spokesman or the education ministry for comment. The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper has called on teachers and students to return to schools to get the education system started again.The disruption at schools echoes that in the health sector and across government and private business since the Southeast Asian country was plunged into chaos by the coup and the arrest of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.Around 19,500 university staff have also been suspended, according to the teachers’ group.Registrations begin next week for the school term that starts in June, but some parents said they also plan to keep their children out of school.”I am not going to enroll my daughter because I don’t want to give her education from military dictatorship. I also worry about her safety,” said 42-year-old Myint, whose daughter is 14.Students, who have been at the forefront of daily protests, also said they planned to boycott classes. Since the coup, more than 800 people have been killed by security forces and more than 4,200 have been arrested, charged or sentenced, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma).”I will only go back to school if we get back democracy,” said Lwin, 18.Myanmar’s education system was one of the poorest in the region and ranked 92 of 93 countries in a global survey last year.Even under the leadership of Suu Kyi, who had championed education, spending was below 2% of gross domestic product. That was one of the lowest rates in the world, according to World Bank figures.A National Unity Government, set up underground by opponents of the junta, said it would do all it could to support the teachers and students, calling on foreign donors to stop funding the junta-controlled education ministry.”We will work with Myanmar’s educators who are refusing to support the cruel military,” Sasa, who goes by one name and is a spokesperson for the national unity government, said in an email to Reuters. “These great teachers and brave teachers will never be left behind.”
…

Yuan Longping, a Chinese scientist who developed higher-yield rice varieties that helped feed people around the world, died Saturday at a hospital in the southern city of Changsha, the Xinhua News agency reported. He was 91.Yuan spent his life researching rice and was a household name in China, known by the nickname “Father of Hybrid Rice.” Worldwide, a fifth of all rice now comes from species created by hybrid rice following Yuan’s breakthrough discoveries, according to the website of the World Food Prize, which he won in 2004.On Saturday afternoon, large crowds honored the scientist by marching past the hospital in Hunan province where he died, local media reported, calling out phrases such as: “Grandpa Ye, have a good journey!”In the 1970s, Yuan achieved the breakthroughs that would make him famous. He developed a hybrid strain of rice that recorded an annual yield 20% higher than existing varieties — meaning it could feed an extra 70 million people a year, according to Xinhua.His work helped transform China from “food deficiency to food security” within three decades, according to the World Food Prize, which was created by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug in 1986 to recognize scientists and others who have improved the quality and availability of food.Yuan and his team worked with dozens of countries around the world to address issues of food security as well as malnutrition.In his later years, Yuan did not stop researching. In 2017, working with a Hunan agricultural school, he helped create a strain of low-cadmium indica rice for areas suffering from heavy metal pollution, reducing the amount of cadmium in rice by more than 90%.
…

The head of Myanmar’s military government said Saturday that ousted leader  
Aung San Suu Kyi is in good health and would appear in court in coming days.
 
“She is at her home and healthy. She is going to face trial at the court in a few days,” junta leader Min Aung Hlaing said in a May 20 virtual interview with Hong Kong-based broadcaster Phoenix Television, parts of which were released on Saturday. It was his first interview since overthrowing Suu Kyi on February 1.
 
Suu Kyi is facing multiple criminal charges, including the possession of unlicensed walkie-talkies, violating COVID-19 restrictions, breaching telecommunication laws and incitement to cause public unrest. She has also been accused by the junta of accepting $600,000 in illegal payments.
 
The coup triggered a crisis in the Southeast Asian country that led to deadly anti-junta demonstrations and clashes between several armed ethnic groups and the ruling junta.  
 
One such group, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), attacked an army post early Saturday in the Sagaing region, according to local media reports. A KIA spokesman confirmed the attack with Reuters news agency but did not give details.  
 
Junta leaders have sought to justify their coup by saying the November 8 election won by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy was fraudulent, an accusation the electoral commission rejected.  
 
Protesters have been demanding the return of the civilian government that led 10 years of democratic reforms under Suu Kyi’s watch.
 
In a campaign to quell the protests, the government has killed more than 800 protesters and bystanders since the takeover, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which tracks casualties and arrests.
 
When the military removed Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy government, it detained Suu Kyi and President Win Myint and imposed martial law across Myanmar. 
…

Myanmar’s junta leader Min Aung Hlaing said deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi was healthy at home and would appear in court in a few days, in his first interview since overthrowing her in a Feb. 1 coup.The coup has plunged the Southeast Asian country into chaos. An ethnic armed group opposed to the ruling junta attacked a military post in a northwestern jade mining town while other violent incidents were reported from other corners of Myanmar.Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate for her long struggle against previous military rulers, is among more than 4,000 people detained since the coup. She faces charges that range from illegally possessing walkie-talkie radios to violating a state secrets law.”Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is in good health. She is at her home and healthy. She is going to face trial at the court in a few days,” Min Aung Hlaing said by video link with the Hong Kong-based Chinese language broadcaster Phoenix Television on May 20, in excerpts released on Saturday.The interviewer asked him what he thought of the performance of Suu Kyi, 75, who is widely admired in the country of 53 million for her campaign that had brought tentative democratic reforms which were cut short by the coup.”She tried all she could,” Min Aung Hlaing responded.He reiterated that the army had seized power because it had identified fraud in an election won by Suu Kyi’s party in November – although its accusations were rejected by the then election commission.He said the army would hold elections and potential changes to the constitution had been identified and would be made if they were “the people’s will.”Suu Kyi’s next court appearance is due on Monday in the capital Naypyidaw. So far she has appeared only by video link and as yet to be allowed to speak directly to her lawyers.The junta has cited security reasons for not allowing her to speak to her lawyers in private at a time the military authorities have not established control of the country in the face of daily protests, strikes and renewed insurgencies.Attack on Jade townThe Kachin Independence Army (KIA) attacked an army post at Hkamti township in the Sagaing region early on Saturday, the Irrawaddy and Mizzima online publications said. Pictures showed columns of dark smoke rising from the scene.KIA spokesman Naw Bu told Reuters he was aware of the attack but could give no details. Reuters was unable to reach a junta spokesman for comment.State-run MRTV television reported the attack and said that three police had been wounded and others were missing. Independent broadcaster DVB said nine were captured by the insurgents.Since the coup, open conflict resumed between the army and the KIA, which has been fighting for greater autonomy for the Kachin people for some six decades and has voiced support for anti-junta protesters.Mizzima said the army used jets in attacks on the KIA at Hkamti, a town on the Chindwin river in a remote region rich in jade and gold about 50 km (30 miles) from the border with India.The army has carried out numerous bombing attacks on KIA positions in recent weeks and has also clashed with ethnic armies in the east and west of Myanmar.Security forces have killed at least 815 people since the coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group.Min Aung Hlaing said the actual figure was around 300 and that 47 police had also been killed.State-run MRTV said one policeman had been killed in an insurgent attack in eastern Kayah state on Friday.In western Chin state, junta opponents said they had killed at least four members of the security forces on Friday and had buried them by the roadside. The claim could not be independently verified.Myanmar media reported that a soldier had been killed in a shooting in the commercial hub, Yangon, on Saturday. Bomb blasts were reported there, at Pathein in the Irrawaddy delta region and at a trading zone near the border with China.
 
…

COVID-19, climate change and cooperation in high-tech industries were the focus of a summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the White House Friday. While the leaders also discussed North Korea, prospects for a breakthrough on denuclearization appear dim. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this report.
…

A Taiwanese official accused China on Saturday of spreading fake news about the COVID-19 situation on the island, saying this was why the government was publicizing and refuting instances of false information that have been circulating online.After months of keeping the pandemic under control, Taiwan is dealing with a surge in domestic infections, and the whole island is under a heightened state of alert with people asked to stay at home and many venues shut.Taiwan has repeatedly warned that China, which claims the democratically governed island as its own, is trying to use “cognitive warfare” to try and undermine trust in the government and its response to the pandemic.Speaking to reporters, Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen said they had “clearly felt” the danger represented by Chinese propaganda and misinformation against Taiwan.“The reason we are continuing to explain the contents of the fake information to everyone is to call attention to it. We must immediately intercept this, and not let cognitive warfare affect Taiwan’s society,” he added.Chen listed examples of what he said was fake news circulating online, including that Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen had been infected and it was being covered up.“I want to say to everyone that this is really vile fake news,” he said.Tsai tested negative this week after a worker at her residence was confirmed to be infected.A security official watching Chinese activity in Taiwan told Reuters this week the Taipei government believed Beijing was engaged in cognitive warfare to “create chaos” and undermine public trust in how the pandemic is being handled.China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, in a statement to Reuters on Thursday, said Taiwan’s accusations were “imaginary,” and that the government was trying to draw attention away from real problems.Taiwan should “stop playing political games, and take practical measures to control the pandemic as soon as possible,” it added.Taiwan says this weekend is critical to breaking the chain of transmission and has urged people to stay at home.The health ministry brought out its social media dog mascot, a shiba inu called Zongchai, to suggest songs about being alone people could sing at home to keep themselves entertained, like Taiwanese rocker Wu Bai’s hit Lonely Tree, Lonely Bird.“At the weekend, don’t go out unless absolutely necessary,” the ministry said, showing Zongchai wearing glasses in front of a microphone.   
…

President Joe Biden and South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced at a White House meeting Friday a U.S.-South Korea vaccine partnership to expand the manufacture of vaccines and scale up global vaccine supplies. “We will strengthen our ability to fight the pandemic and respond to future biological threats,” Biden said during a joint press conference with Moon.   South Korea has vaccinated only 3% of its 52 million residents, but aims to reach herd immunity by November. Under the agreement, the U.S. will help Seoul reach that goal, including by providing vaccines for 550,000 members of the Korean military who work alongside U.S. forces in the region. FILE – A South Korean elderly woman receives her first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine at a vaccination center in Seoul, South Korea, April 1, 2021.The leaders also focused on climate change and regional security, including partnerships with other allies in the region. They discussed the democratic crisis in Myanmar, tensions in the Taiwan Strait and cooperation regarding high-tech industries. Biden thanked South Korean companies, including Samsung, Hyundai, SK and LG, which announced more than $25 billion in new investments in the U.S. Those investments are intended to support the Biden administration’s goal of building supply chain resilience in its rivalry with China. Last month, the two countries reached a Special Measures Agreement (SMA) on Seoul’s contribution to the cost of stationing U.S. forces in South Korea. Negotiations for the SMA deadlocked last year when then-President Donald Trump demanded a fivefold increase in South Korean contributions.  “The atmospherics is very good between the two countries, so they really want to showcase the strength of the alliance relationship,” said Sue Mi Terry, a senior fellow for Korea at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Moon is only the second world leader Biden has hosted since taking office in January, after Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s visit in April. The visits demonstrate the importance Washington attaches to Asia as it seeks to counter China’s influence and reflect Seoul’s increasing confidence in its U.S. engagement. FILE – Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and U.S. President Joe Biden hold a joint news conference in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, April 16, 2021.”South Korea has been very ambivalent about how to respond to the Sino-U.S. rivalry,” said Scott Snyder, director of the U.S.-Korea policy program at the Council on Foreign Relations. Snyder said that by framing regional cooperation in the context of providing public goods (including vaccines), supply chain resiliency and climate change cooperation, the Biden administration has shifted regional engagement away from the anti-China focus under the Trump administration. “That’s a more fruitful basis upon which the South Korean government can engage in cooperation with the United States and other partners without necessarily casting that cooperation in opposition to China,” Snyder said. North Korea Both leaders reiterated their commitment to halt the North Korean nuclear program. “We both are deeply concerned about the situation,” Biden said The U.S. president announced that he has appointed Sung Kim, a career diplomat with expertise on North Korea policy, to serve as a special envoy to North Korea as the administration seeks to establish diplomatic relations with the hermit nation. “Our two nations also share a willingness to engage diplomatically with the DPRK to take pragmatic steps that will reduce tensions as we move toward our ultimate goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” Biden said.  Moon stressed that the two countries are aligned on the timeline for denuclearization. FILE – A man watches a television news program showing file footage of North Korea’s missile test, at a railway station in Seoul, Jan. 1, 2020.”The principle of the negotiation toward North Korea has already been announced by the U.S. government: very calibrated, practical, gradual, step-by-step manner and very flexible,” Moon said. “That is the common understanding that we have with the United States.” Moon is eager to cement a legacy as peacemaker before he leaves office next year. But analysts say the prospects of halting Kim Jong Un’s nuclear ambitions are dim. “There’s no momentum when it comes to North Korea. There’s no breakthrough that can be expected,” said Terry of CSIS. Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and fuel stockpile have advanced in the past four years, despite personal diplomacy between Trump and the North Korean leader. “We’re in an impasse with North Korea, and most likely North Korea would revert to a campaign of provocation sometime soon,” Terry said. Just a few weeks earlier, the Biden administration finalized its monthslong review of North Korea policy, one that signals a departure from previous administrations by pursuing a “calibrated, practical approach,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki. She framed the approach as a middle way between Trump’s strategy of aiming for a grand bargain and the Obama-era “strategic patience.” Analysts say the administration’s North Korea policy is scant on details. “The administration wants to leave itself as much space as possible,” said Snyder of the Council on Foreign Relations. “Both to keep the door open for possible dialogue with North Korea, but also not to be embarrassed in the event that North Korea reverts to provocations.” Also Friday, the two leaders awarded the Medal of Honor to retired Colonel Ralph Puckett Jr. from the U.S. Army for conspicuous gallantry during the Korean War, the first time that a foreign leader has participated in the award event. 
…

The head of Myanmar’s military-appointed state election commission said Friday that his agency will consider dissolving Aung San Suu Kyi’s former ruling party for alleged involvement in electoral fraud and having its leaders charged with treason. Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy came to power after a landslide 2015 election victory and won an even greater majority in last November’s general election. It was set to start a second term in February when the military seized power in a coup, arresting her and dozens of top government officials and party members. Junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing cited electoral fraud as the reason for the army’s takeover, saying “there was terrible fraud in the voter lists.” The army-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, which suffered unexpectedly heavy losses in the election, made similar allegations. FILE – Military supporters carry a portrait of junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing as they celebrate the coup in Naypyitaw.Independent observers dispute the assertions of widespread irregularities. Political parties were called to discuss planned changes in the electoral system at a meeting Friday. Union Election Commission chairman Thein Soe said an investigation of last year’s election that would soon be completed showed that Suu Kyi’s party had illegally worked with the government to give itself an advantage at the polls. “We will investigate and consider whether the party should be dissolved, and whether the perpetrators should be punished as traitors,” he said. Asked for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ reaction, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said: “Should that happen, that would be a clear step in the wrong direction.” “What we have all been working for, what the Security Council, the international community has been working for, is a restoration of democracy and a restoration of the voice of the people of Myanmar,” Dujarric said.  Suu Kyi’s party, which has thrown its weight behind the mass popular movement against the military takeover, has faced constant harassment since the coup, with its members arrested and offices raided and closed. FILE – Anti-coup protesters walk through a market with images of ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi at Kamayut township in Yangon, Myanmar, April 8, 2021.The junta initially announced that it would hold new elections a year after taking power, but it later hedged and said the delay could be up to two years. Before the start of democratic reforms a decade ago, Myanmar was ruled by the military for 50 years. Suu Kyi’s party also won a 1990 election, but the military stepped in to prevent it from taking power. Suu Kyi and other members of her government already face various criminal charges that could keep them from running in the next election. Their supporters assert all the charges are politically motivated.  The announced purpose of Friday’s commission meeting was to discuss the junta’s plan to change the country’s election system from “first past the post” to proportional representation. In first-past-the-post systems, the candidate with the most votes in a given constituency is the winner, while in proportional representation, the share of winning parliamentary seats in an area with several seats is allocated according to the proportion of the vote won by each party or candidate. Almost all the major parties — including Suu Kyi’s NLD — refused to go to Friday’s commission meeting, as they regard the body as illegitimate. Local media reported that almost a third of the parties boycotted the gathering in the capital, Naypyitaw. Many of the 62 attending were pro-military organizations that polled badly in last November’s election, failing to win a single seat. After taking power, the military dismissed the members of the election commission and appointed new ones. It also detained members of the old commission, and, according to reports in independent Myanmar media, pressured them to confirm there had been election fraud. The new commission declared the last election’s results invalid. A nonpartisan election monitoring organization said this week that the results of last November’s voting were representative of the will of the people, rejecting the military’s allegations of massive fraud. The Asian Network for Free Elections said in a report that it “lacked sufficient information to independently verify the allegations of voter list fraud” because the election law did not allow it access to voting lists, but that it had not seen any credible evidence of any massive irregularities. However, the group also called Myanmar’s electoral process “fundamentally undemocratic” because its 2008 constitution, implemented under army rule, grants the military an automatic 25% share of all parliamentary seats, enough to block constitutional changes. It also noted that large sectors of the population, most notably the Muslim Rohingya minority, are deprived of citizenship rights, including the right to vote. The military ruled Myanmar from 1962 up to 2011, when a quasi-civilian administration backed by the army took over.
…

China has created its very own digital currency, which is controlled by its central bank. Here’s what you need to know about the digital yuan.
…

Efforts are underway in Australia to eradicate the last remaining pockets of aggressive yellow crazy ants. First discovered in Australia in the 1980s, the ants spray formic acid when aggravated, and have devastated populations of frogs, lizards and ground-nesting birds.    
   
Rangers are approaching the halfway mark of a 10-year eradication plan in Queensland and have killed off about 85% of the known infestations through aerial and ground baiting, but stubborn infestations remain.  
 
The yellow crazy ants are about 4mm long with a golden-brown body and have a lifespan of about 84 days. They are thought to have come to Australia inside shipping containers or other cargo.
 
The ants are a particular menace in the far north of Queensland.
 
They can form super colonies containing thousands of queens. It is estimated that up to 20 million worker ants can inhabit a single hectare of land. On Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean, scientists say they have been responsible for the deaths of up to 20 million red crabs, a species of land crab unique to the area.
 
Andrew Cox from the Invasive Species Council, a conservation group, says they are a major threat to biodiversity.
 
“These ants are pretty nasty because they spray formic acid as a way of disabling their food sources — the animals and insects they attack. They have arrived in Australia without their normal parasites and predators. They could cover vast areas of northern and northeastern Australia and when they are invading an area it is like there is nothing else there. They just consume all of the ground-dwelling insects, lizards, even birds and small mammals. So, it is really bad for the environment,” Cox said  
 
A sniffer dog called Fury is helping to detect colonies of yellow crazy ants.
 
Scott Buchanan, the executive director of the Wet Tropics Management Authority, which is leading the elimination campaign, says the two-year old Labrador has been carefully trained to sniff out the insects.
 
“What we do is get these dolls, so toys, we produce the odor from the ants, put it onto those toys and then we hide those toys away for the dog. The dog has also been trained to not stick its snout into a nest. It will just sit down. That is the signal – ‘I’ve found something.  Come over and see what I have found,’” Buchanan said.   
 
The ants are part of a long list of invasive species including cane toads, foxes, pigs and camels that have caused ecological carnage across Australia. It is estimated that feral cats kill nearly one million birds in Australia every day and have caused the extinction of some ground-dwelling birds and small to medium-sized mammals.
 
…

U.S. President Joe Biden is due to meet Friday with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.  Moon is only the second world leader Biden has hosted since taking office in January.  The visit may be Moon’s final trip to the United States as head of state and the last chance to fulfill campaign pledges before his term ends.   The discussions between the two leaders are set to occur just a few weeks after the Biden administration finalized its months-long review of North Korea policy, one that signals a departure from previous administrations by pursuing a “calibrated, practical approach,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki. This shift in rhetoric — one that strays from the Obama-era “strategic patience,” while refraining from making flashy deals — has yielded a “sense of calm” as Moon and Biden prepare to engage in talks, said Jean Lee, director of the Korea program at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C.  “When you use that rhetoric, that fire and fury, it gives North Korea the justification to test, and when they have that, it means the arsenal gets that much stronger,” Lee said. “The steadiness consistently being exuded by the Biden administration is designed to avoid this escalation of tensions we saw in the early parts of the Trump presidency.”  Moon welcomed this open-ended approach in a nationally televised speech marking his four-year anniversary on May 10. Issuing a call to action to restore inter-Korean dialogue, he vowed to do everything he could to “restart the clock of peace.”“I will consider the remaining one year of my term to be the last opportunity to move from an incomplete peace toward one that is irreversible,” Moon said.  North Korea is expected to be near the top of the meeting agenda. But while the two leaders have mutually vowed to work toward the ultimate goal of achieving a complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, experts say Biden’s incremental approach may potentially frustrate Moon in achieving his promised goal of securing a peace regime.  Despite these variances in timelines, upholding the alliance between the U.S. and Republic of Korea will remain the top priority, said Kim Heung-kyu, who teaches political science at Ajou University in South Korea and is the director of the China Policy Institute. The Wilson Center’s Lee echoed these observations, adding that North Korea will be closely watching the summit and that the joint meeting will “send a signal to the North that Moon has Biden’s ear, which is a position of strength that Moon is keen to establish.” Japan, China The Moon-Biden summit will mark Biden’s second in-person meeting since he took office in January. The first was also with an Asian leader, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. Together the two meetings serve as a strong indicator of the Biden administration’s broader commitment to forging peace and security across the Indo-Pacific region, bolstering the U.S.-ROK-Japan trilateral security alliance, and preparing to strike back at China’s growing influence.  Some of Washington’s larger agenda items may have South Korea walking a tightrope though and will heavily depend on to what extent South Korea decides to participate, said Park Won-gon, who teaches North Korea studies at Ewha University in Seoul. “With Korea-Japan relations still deadlocked, Biden is trying to make headway with the trilateral alliance before granting Korea and Japan space to find common ground on policies,” Park added.  When it comes to the role of China in the North Korea equation, Moon and Biden will likely “try to encourage it to instill a positive influence on North Korea,” said Kim, and encourage the North to move toward diplomatic engagement.But South Korea will also be careful to play its cards prudently while sandwiched between two superpowers. As the U.S. responds to greater Chinese assertiveness and aggression, South Korea will seek to strike a balance between nurturing its strong relationship with the U.S. while not jeopardizing relations with China, its largest trading partner.COVID vaccines
Apart from getting North Korea to join the negotiating table, experts suggest vaccine shortage issues may also be a topic of discussion Moon may want to push for. The shortage has been one of the reasons Moon’s approval ratings have dropped in recent months and starkly contrasts with South Korea’s reputation as a pandemic-era success story for its rigorous test-and-trace program. The summit’s success ultimately might be determined by whether Moon manages to procure faster access to vaccines, a South Korean official told Reuters. The summit may also open a conversation about how South Korea and the U.S. can partner to play a role in global vaccine development and distribution in the future.  But the more immediate challenge for Biden and Moon involves reaching a mutual decision on engaging North Korea while ensuring their timelines align. “The challenge for Moon and Biden during this summit will be managing their differences behind closed doors while presenting a united front so that North Korea can’t drive a wedge between them,” said Lee.
 Juhyun Lee contributed to this report
…