Chinese state-owned media has claimed that Australian consultants in Papua New Guinea have been hindering the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines flown in from China. It was alleged that they had engaged “in political manipulation and bullying” there.Australia has strongly denied claims it has tried to sabotage China’s efforts to boost vaccinations in Papua New Guinea.Papua New Guinea is currently using the AstraZeneca vaccine. Two hundred thousand doses of the Sinopharm vaccine have recently been flown in from China but have yet to be approved for use by local authorities.A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson warned Australia to “stop interfering with and undermining vaccine cooperation between China and Pacific Island countries.”Australia’s minister for the Pacific, Zed Seselja, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. all international assistance is welcome.“When it comes to the rollout, what we are focused on is making sure that we are providing as much assistance as we possibly can,” Seselja said. “If other countries want to provide assistance that is wonderful.”Papua New Guinea is Australia’s nearest neighbor and has recorded more than 17,000 coronavirus infections and 174 deaths since the pandemic began but it is hard to get accurate figures due to lack of testing, according to media reports.The South Pacific nation has a population of about 9 million. It has administered just under 55,000 vaccine doses, faced with both hesitancy among Papua New Guineans and a lack of supply.Australia has pledged to ship 10,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Papua New Guinea every week, along with medical support. It has also promised to donate tens of thousands of additional doses to other Pacific nations.China delivered 50,000 Sinopharm doses to the Solomon Islands earlier this year.The row over vaccines in Papua New Guinea is the latest dispute between Australia and China. Relations have soured in recent years over geopolitical flashpoints, including Beijing’s military ambitions in the South China Sea and allegations of Chinese interference in Australia’s domestic affairs.Papua New Guinean health officials are trying to stay out of any diplomatic arguments between Australia and China. They have said they are not concerned about where their coronavirus vaccines come from but just want sufficient supplies to protect the country’s population.
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The international community is failing the citizens of Myanmar, a U.N. human rights official said Wednesday as he called for a coordinated imposition of oil and gas sanctions on the military junta ruling the country.Speaking to the U.N. Human Rights Council, Thomas Andrews, the special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, proposed several courses of action to ameliorate the crisis in the country.”Oil and gas sector revenues are a financial lifeline for the junta and are estimated to be close to what is needed for the junta to maintain the security forces that are keeping them in power. They should be stopped,” Andrews said.Five months ago, the Myanmar military toppled the country’s democratically elected government. Since seizing control, the ruling regime, officially known as the Tatmadaw, has responded to a popular uprising with force, killing nearly 900 people.Several world powers, including the U.S. and the European Union, have imposed sanctions on Myanmar since the February 1 coup. Last week, the U.S. government announced its harshest set of economic sanctions, targeting military officials and companies tied to the Tatmadaw.FILE – Anti-coup protesters shout slogans as they march during a protest in Pabedan township against the military junta, in Yangon, Myanmar, June 26, 2021.The people of Myanmar have staged mass protests against the regime since February. In response, the Tatmadaw has arrested over 5,000 citizens and forcibly displaced hundreds of thousands of others, according to the U.N.The military has even started to arrest family members in place of individuals with outstanding arrest warrants who can’t be found, Andrews said.Many of the Tatmadaw’s actions can be explained by its “four cuts” strategy, which entails targeting civilian communities thought to harbor opposition members and cutting them off from food, funding, intelligence and recruits.Andrews called the junta’s actions “crimes against humanity.”Stay-at-home orderTatmadaw leaders also announced on Wednesday a stay-at-home order for parts of Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar, citing health concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Around 1.5 million people are currently banned from leaving their homes for nonmedical reasons. According to Andrews, 26% of Myanmar people tested for COVID-19 are positive. By comparison, the positivity rate in the U.S. currently sits around 2.5%.Only 3.2% of the country’s 54 million citizens have been vaccinated.”The public health system is in tatters and many are unwilling to get vaccinated in a junta-run operation,” Andrews said. “Myanmar is at grave risk of becoming a COVID-19 superspreader state, impacting untold numbers of people both inside and outside of its borders.”
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 China’s most popular social media service has deleted accounts on LGBT topics run by university students and nongovernment groups, prompting concern the ruling Communist Party is tightening control over gay and lesbian content.WeChat sent account holders a notice they violated rules but gave no details, according to the founder of an LGBT group, who asked not to be identified further out of fear of possible official retaliation. She said dozens of accounts were shut down about 10 p.m. Tuesday.It wasn’t clear whether the step was ordered by Chinese authorities, but it came as the ruling party has tightened political controls and had tried to silence groups that might criticize its rule.WeChat’s operator, Tencent Holding Ltd., confirmed it received an email seeking comment but didn’t immediately respond.The Communist Party decriminalized homosexuality in 1997, but gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual and other sexual minorities still face discrimination. While there is more public discussion of such issues, some LGBT activities have been blocked by authorities.The official attitude is increasingly strict, the founder of the LGBT group said.Contents of the WeChat accounts, which included personal stories and photos of group events, were erased, according to the group’s founder.DevastatingThe former operator of a different group for university students, who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation, called the step a devastating blow.University officials asked students two months ago to shut down LGBT social media groups or to avoid mentioning their school names, according to the LGBT group founder. She said universities in the eastern province of Jiangsu were told by officials to investigate groups for women’s rights and sexual minorities to “maintain stability.”Surveys suggest there are about 70 million LGBT people in China, or about 5% of the population, according to state media.Some groups have organized film festivals and other public events, but those have dwindled.One of the most prominent, Shanghai Pride, canceled events last year and scrapped future plans without explanation after 11 years of operation.China’s legislature received suggestions from the public about legalizing same-sex marriage two years ago, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. However, it gave no indication whether legislators might take action.
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A Vietnamese journalist who reports on corruption and land confiscations could face up to 20 years in prison after being arrested last week.  Police detained Le Van Dung, 51, just outside of Hanoi on June 30, more than a month after the journalist had gone into hiding to avoid a special warrant for his arrest.The journalist’s wife, Bui Thi Hue, told VOA that Dung had been staying at a relative’s house and that other family members had also been taken into custody.   “During the process of arresting Dung, two of his relatives, including the house owner, were also taken away,” Hue said.The Hanoi Department of Public Security said that Dung had been arrested for “making, storing, distributing or disseminating information” against Vietnam. If convicted, he could face a maximum of 20 years in prison under Article 117 of the country’s penal code.Reports in state-run media said that for the past decade, Dung had taken part in protests and carried out other anti-state activities. “He took part in several subversive groups as well as some ‘movements’ launched by domestic and overseas reactionary elements,” the Vietnam News Agency reported.  Hue said that her husband denied the charges against him.  International media and civil rights groups condemned the arrest and said they believed Dung had been detained for his reporting.  Dung runs the news channel Chan Hung Nuoc Viet, which posts its reporting on social media platforms including Facebook and YouTube. Dung’s content includes interviews with the public and coverage of corruption allegations and land confiscations.With limited space for independent reporting in Vietnam, many independent bloggers and journalists use social media to report or comment on sensitive issues.Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called on Monday for Dung’s immediate release, saying he has “joined the long list of Vietnamese journalists imprisoned simply for trying to provide their fellow citizens with reliable information.”Vietnam’s persecution of bloggers and independent journalists is cited in RSF’s press freedom index. The country ranks 175 out of 180 countries, with 1 being the freest.The Paris-based watchdog in July named Vietnam’s leader Nguyen Phu Trong one of its “press freedom predators.” RSF said that Trong had “established an unrelenting system of repression to deal with an increasingly robust civil society seeking reliable information, especially on the internet.” The London-based rights organization Article 19 also expressed concern about Dung’s case, saying on social media that Vietnam continues to harass and imprison independent voices.  Dung’s family said that authorities had come to the journalist’s home on May 25 to arrest him, but he was not there. He later went into hiding.  In March, Dung told VOA Vietnamese that he had been summoned by the Hanoi police several times for questioning about his online posts, but he did not report back.  Dung also said that he had intended to run for a seat in the National Assembly as an independent candidate but that his application had been denied because of “inaccurate filing information.”This article originated in VOA’s Vietnamese Service. 
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U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michele Bachelet warns Myanmar could plunge into war as despair among the civilian population rises in the wake of the military coup in February. Bachelet’s report is being discussed as part of a special interactive dialogue on Myanmar at the U.N. Human Rights Council.
 
More than five months have passed since Myanmar’s military leaders derailed the country’s fragile democracy. Bachelet says what began as a coup by the Myanmar military has rapidly morphed into an attack against the civilian population.
 
She says nearly 900 people have been killed and some 200,000 forced to flee from increasingly violent military raids on neighborhoods and villages.  She warns the widespread and systematic assaults against civilians risk sparking a broader civil war. She says despair is rising.FILE – United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet looks on after delivering a speech on global human rights developments during a session of the Human Rights Council, in Geneva, June 21, 2021.“Some people, in many parts of Myanmar, have taken up arms and formed self-protection groups. These newly formed armed opposition groups have launched attacks in several locations, to which the security forces have responded with disproportionate force.  I am concerned that escalation in violence could have horrific consequences for civilians,” she said.   
 
Bachelet noted the coup has exacerbated several long-running conflicts in Myanmar’s borderlands.  She said fighting has resumed in Kachin, Kayin and northern Shan States. She added Chin and Kayah States, which have been largely peaceful in recent years, have taken up arms again.
 
The High Commissioner warned Myanmar’s political crisis has evolved into a multi-dimensional human rights catastrophe. This, she said, is causing inestimable suffering for the population and is devastating prospects for sustainable development.
 
Bachelet is calling on the international community to pressure the military to stop attacking its people and to return the country to democracy.  She noted 10 leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, known as ASEAN, drew up a possible road map for addressing the crisis in Myanmar when they met in late April.
    
“ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus is an important starting point for the way forward, but I urge swift action to advance this process before the human rights situation in the country deteriorates further.  This should be reinforced by Security Council action. I urge all states to act immediately to give effect to the General Assembly’s call to prevent the flow of arms into Myanmar,” Bachelet said.  
    
Myanmar is not participating in this debate because the United Nations Credentials Committee has not yet decided who is the legitimate government and should hold the U.N. seat. The choice is between the deposed democratically elected government or Myanmar’s ruling military junta, which seized power in a February 1 coup d’etat.    
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The mudslide that destroyed dozens of homes in a Japanese seaside resort, killing at least seven people, started from an area with a history of land alternations and a massive soil mound there broke off and amplified the damage, officials said Wednesday. They say, however, more investigation and analysis are needed to determine if the mound of soil was the primary cause of the disaster in Atami, where on Wednesday, hundreds of rescue workers and dogs cautiously searched for the missing inside homes destroyed and filled with mud. Twenty-seven people still could not be reached and were possibly hit by the mudslide Saturday, according to Shizuoka prefecture and Atami city officials. Determining the numbers was difficult because many Atami residences are second homes or vacation rentals. The mud exposed after the slide ripped into streets and homes was distinctively black, showing it contained large amounts of the abandoned soil from the area where land alterations had been made. The mound of soil was inadequately built and accounted for about half the volume of the preceding or subsequent landslide, Shizuoka prefecture vice governor Takashi Namba said after an initial rough assessment. “We can at least say that the severity of the disaster was amplified by the more than 50,000 tons of the soil mound that had been sitting there,” said Namba, a former land ministry bureaucrat and a civil engineer.  He noted the area had other land alterations and development, including a solar power generation complex, deforestation, a land development for housing complex and apparently illegal industrial waste dumping. He said geological details suggest the solar complex and housing development were not the cause of the mudslide, though further examination is needed. The mound had been there since 2010 or even earlier and contained plastic and other waste, suggesting it was a waste dump rather than for development, Namba said. He also believes it was built poorly, without adequate drainage in a location rich with groundwater.  Officials are also checking ownership changes related to the mound and other projects. An assessment is planned of other land developments around the country, land ministry officials said. The landslide occurred after days of heavy rain in Atami, which like many seaside towns in Japan is built into a steep hillside. The town has a registered population of 36,800 and is about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of Tokyo. The disaster is an added challenge for Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga as authorities prepare for the Tokyo Olympics, starting in about two weeks. Japan is still struggling with the coronavirus pandemic. Early July, near the end of Japan’s rainy season, is often a time of deadly floods and mudslides, and many experts say the rains are worsening due to climate change. 
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Officials in Australia’s New South Wales state have ordered a week-long extension of Sydney’s strict coronavirus lockdown as the city of five million residents struggles to contain an growing outbreak of the delta variant of COVID-19.The latest lockdown was imposed on June 26 after a Sydney airport limousine driver who had been transporting international air crews tested positive for the variant. More than 300 people have since been infected.The outbreak has grown to more than 300 people, including 27 new cases reported Wednesday.“This delta strain is a game-changer,” New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney. “We don’t want to be in a situation where we are constantly having to move between lockdown, no lockdown, lockdown, no lockdown.”Australia has been largely successful in containing the spread of COVID-19 due to aggressive lockdown efforts, posting just 30,861 total confirmed cases and 910 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.  But it has proved vulnerable to fresh outbreaks due to a slow rollout of its vaccination campaign and confusing requirements involving the two-shot AstraZeneca vaccine, which is the dominant vaccine in its stockpile.The new extension for Sydney is set to expire July 16.South Korea is also undergoing a new wave of COVID-19 infections, with authorities reporting 1,212 new cases on Wednesday, its highest one-day total since Christmas Day, when 1,240 new infections were reported. The 1,212 new cases, the majority from  heavily populated Seoul, marks a huge jump from the previous three days, when more than 700 new cases were reported each of those days.Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said officials will maintain current social distancing rules in Seoul for another week, including a ban on private gatherings of five or more people.President Moon Jae-in has also ordered the military, police officers and other civil servants to take part in an extensive contact tracing effort.Health experts say a premature easing of social distancing guidelines, despite a steady increase in new cases, led the public to become complacent and lower its guard.South Korea and Israel reached an agreement for an even swap of COVID-19 vaccines as both countries seek to jump-start their vaccination campaigns.The deal calls for Israel to send 700,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine to South Korea later this month, with South Korea sending back an equal amount of the Pfizer vaccine it has already ordered as soon as September.“This is a win-win deal,” Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a written statement Tuesday.As many countries ease pandemic restrictions amid rising vaccination rates, Bangladesh and Russia both broke one-day COVID-19 records.Moscow announced it would ease travel restrictions on Russians who had been vaccinated as it also reported over 700 deaths from COVID-19 — a one-day record for the country — on Tuesday.Some 140,000 Russians have died from the virus, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. But observers say the death toll is believed to be much higher.Bangladesh reported 11,525 positive cases Tuesday, the highest one-day case number since the beginning of the pandemic. The country also saw 163 deaths in the past 24 hours, the government reported.The country shares a border with India, where the more contagious and serious delta variant emerged. Health experts in Bangladesh believe infection and death numbers are likely higher.More than 184.6 million people have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic in late 2019, including 3.9 million fatalities, the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center figures. The United States has 33.7 million confirmed infections, followed by India with 30.6 million and Brazil with 18.8 million. The U.S. leads with 605,905 deaths, with Brazil second with 526,892 and India with 404,211.More than 3.2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered.This report includes information from the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken met virtually on Tuesday with Uyghur Muslims who were detained in camps in China’s Xinjiang region to hear about their experiences and seek advice on how best to pressure China to halt repression there. The State Department said Blinken wanted to hear directly from the seven former detainees, relatives of others and advocates about conditions that they and the Uyghur community more broadly face. “The secretary thought it important to meet with these individuals to hear firsthand their stories, to hear firsthand their impression of the ongoing atrocities in Xinjiang and the internment of a million Uyghurs,” department spokesperson Ned Price said. “Also, it’s an opportunity for these participants to offer any recommendations they may have.” FILE – Demonstrators hold a protest in front of the State Department to urge the U.S. and the international community to take action against China’s treatment of the Uyghur people, May 5, 2021.China has come under severe international criticism and sanctions for detaining more than 1 million Uyghurs and other minorities for political reeducation in Xinjiang. Price said the meeting showed continuity in American policy on the matter between the widely divergent Biden and Trump administrations.  Both administrations have termed the campaign in Xinjiang a “genocide” and slapped sanctions on China for human rights abuses. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met several times with Uyghur ex-detainees during his tenure as America’s top diplomat. “America has spoken out very clearly and consistently about the abuses, about the atrocities, about the ongoing genocide that is taking place in Xinjiang,” Price said. “And, as we deem appropriate, I suspect we’ll be employing additional tools going forward to hold to account those officials responsible for what has taken place there.” Since the Trump administration, the U.S. has steadily ramped up pressure on China on a number of fronts, notably over repression in Xinjiang and a clampdown on political dissent and human rights in Hong Kong. Actions have included travel bans, financial sanctions and commercial restrictions on Chinese imports to the U.S. 
 
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Long before China began using N95 masks and COVID-19 vaccines as part of its diplomatic efforts, it used pandas. The furry bears have been used by China to generate goodwill with other countries for more than 1,000 years.
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Indonesia has prepared backup medical facilities for a worst-case scenario where daily coronavirus infections reach 40,000 to 50,000, an official said on Tuesday, as the country reported another day of record fatalities from its worst outbreak so far.Indonesia has one of Asia’s most severe COVID-19 epidemics, exacerbated by the highly infectious Delta variant, with hospitals overstretched, oxygen supply problems and a growing number of sick unable to receive medical attention.Southeast Asia’s largest and most populous country has seen record daily infections in 11 of the past 16 days, with 31,189 new cases and 728 fatalities on Tuesday.Just 1.6% of its more than 270 million population have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.Senior Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said the government has plans to increase oxygen supplies and has identified accommodation infrastructure that can be converted into isolation facilities in the worst-case scenario.”The number can go up to 40,000 or more, that’s why we have prepared scenarios – when it comes to medications, oxygen, and also hospitals,” Luhut said, adding that help had been sought from countries like China and Singapore.Health minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said the government was adding nearly 8,000 new beds in Greater Jakarta, and was closely watching Sumatra and Kalimantan, which were seeing a rise in cases of the Delta variant.As of Monday, 76% of beds in Indonesian hospitals were occupied, health ministry data showed, though some regions on Java island have reported a rate higher than 85%.Indonesia on Saturday tightened curbs on movement, office work, dining and air travel on Java and Bali islands and on Tuesday tightened measures in 20 other provinces.Authorities have voiced concern about reports of heavy traffic in Jakarta and the city’s governor Anies Baswedan said on Twitter his inspection of office buildings on Tuesday found a number of non-essential businesses still operating.”We bury more than 300 people per day, those are our brothers and sisters,” he said in an accompanying video. “This is all about protecting them.”   
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Firefighters battled deadly chemical fires Tuesday at a factory on the outskirts of Bangkok that forced thousands of people to evacuate.The fires initially started early Monday after an explosion killed a rescue worker and wounded dozens of people. After taking more than 24-hours to extinguish the fires, a second explosion sparked more blazes Tuesday afternoon that burned for about an hour.Monday’s explosion could be heard kilometers away as it blew out the windows and doors of nearby homes in the Samut Prakan province. Officials said 70 homes were damaged. The cause of the blasts, which destroyed much of the Taiwanese-owned factorythat makes expandable polystyrene foam, have yet to be determined.The head of Thailand’s pollution control agency, Attapol Charoenchansa, said air quality and water were being tested in the area and were considering reducing the evacuation zone to allow some people to return home.Charoenchansa warned, though, that rainfall that began Tuesday afternoon could wash chemicals into area water sources.The regional advocacy group, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights, called on the government to publicly disclose more information about the chemicals that were released, as well as information about possible contamination.This report includes information from Associated Press and Reuters.
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Cambodia’s government is stepping in to pay tuition for six Cambodian cadets whose scholarships at four U.S. military academies were rescinded amid increasingly strained ties between Phnom Penh and Washington.  
 
“Following Cambodia’s curtailment of cooperation in several areas of traditional bilateral military-military engagement, the country lost its eligibility for the U.S. military service academy program,” said Arend Zwartjes, the U.S. Embassy spokesperson in Phnom Penh, in an email to VOA in mid-June.  
 
The students, called cadets at military academies but referred to as midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy, were selected for the scholarship program by the U.S. State Department. Some are not yet enlisted in the Cambodian Royal Armed Forces.  
 
Five of the students petitioned the U.S. Embassy in Cambodia to intervene to help them graduate. In letters sent to U.S. Ambassador W. Patrick Murphy, copies of which were received by VOA’s Khmer Service, the students said they considered the decision to be “shockingly bad news” and that they were “heartbroken.”
 
Cambodia’s Ministry of Defense announced July 2 it would cover the $1.1 million remaining tuition for the students.
 
“Seeing the difficulties facing the Cambodian cadets due to the termination of their scholarships by the U.S., and with the spirit of responsibility for their future and for the sake of Cambodian military academy, the Cambodian government will cover the cost of tuition for all the six students until graduation,” according to a press statement issued by the Ministry of National Defense on July 2.
 
“I’m happy because this is my future, and I wish to be a competent officer after graduation,” said Nou Chanyuthea, a rising junior at the U.S. Air Force Academy.
 
Other students said they are “very happy” that the Cambodian government will pay for their tuition and fees after waiting for resolution after the academies rescinded their scholarships.  
 
Two students attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York; two are at U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado; one studies at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland; and one is at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy at New London, Connecticut, according to the students and a U.S. official.  
 
Some of the students are in their senior year and scheduled to graduate.  
 
The situation is seen as another setback in military relations between Cambodia and the United States after years of deterioration. Relations between the two countries have been on and off for decades “as a result of armed conflict and government changes in Cambodia,” according to the State Department website. 
 
“U.S. relations with the Kingdom of Cambodia have become increasingly strained in recent years in light of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s suppression of the political opposition and his growing embrace of the People’s Republic of China (PRC),” stated a Congressional Research Service report in 2019.
 
Tuition and fees at the U.S. military academies are structured differently than most U.S. colleges and universities. Students pay no tuition because the schools are funded by the U.S. government. Instead, students received education, services and a small stipend over their four years at the academies. 
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The number of spectators at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics will be limited to a handful of VIP, or Very Important Persons dignitaries, and Olympic officials due to concerns over the rising number of new COVID-19 cases in the capital, according to a Japanese newspaper.A report in Tuesday’s edition of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper says the idea is part of a larger plan that would also include banning visitors from attending events at large venues and at night.Organizers of the Tokyo Olympics announced back on June 21 that it would allow just 10,000 people, or 50% of a venue’s capacity, at all events, despite health experts advising the government that banning all spectators was the “least risky” option for holding the Games.The Asahi Shimbun reported the revised changes to the number of spectators allowed would be negotiated between the government and officials with the International Olympic Committee.Tokyo and several other prefectures were initially placed under a state of emergency in April due to a surge of new COVID-19 infections in the Japanese capital and across the country. The surge prompted staunch public opposition against staging the Olympics, especially among a prominent group of medical professionals that urged Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to call off the Games. The prefectures transitioned last month from the state of emergency into “quasi-emergency” measures that are set to expire on July 11, just 12 days before the Olympics opening ceremonies.  But the government is expected to extend the quasi-emergency after a meeting on Thursday, with a decision about the Olympics to follow.  Prime Minister Suga has previously said he would not rule out banning all spectators from attending the Olympics if the situation takes a turn for the worse.The Tokyo Olympics are set to take place after a one-year postponement as the novel coronavirus pandemic began spreading across the globe. Foreign spectators have already been banned from attending the event. 
 This report includes information from the Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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Conservationists in Zimbabwe are trying to rally opposition to a Chinese coal mining project operating in the district with the country’s biggest national park.  Critics say locals and wildlife will be affected and are urging authorities to move away from coal production toward renewable energies.  Columbus Mavhunga reports from Zimbabwe’s Hwange district. Camera: Blessing  Chigwenhembe   
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Rescue workers were searching Tuesday morning for 24 people whom authorities haven’t been able to reach in the aftermath of a landslide in the Japanese resort city of Atami, the city’s mayor said. At first, 147 people were unaccounted for. After city officials had reduced that list to 60 residents, they released it to the public, and most of the residents responded. They were either elsewhere when the landslide hit or were able to safely evacuate, Mayor Sakae Saito said. Four people, however, have been found dead, while 25 have been rescued.  Roughly 1,500 emergency workers were digging Monday through the rubble in a neighborhood of the central seaside city, searching for survivors. Rescuers conduct a rescue and search operation at a mudslide site at Izusan district in Atami, west of Tokyo, Japan, July 6, 2021. (Kyodo/via Reuters)Saturday’s landslide was triggered by several days of torrential rain, which forecasters said was more rainfall than Atami usually records for the entire month of July.  As many as 130 homes and buildings were destroyed. Atami is a resort city, 90 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of Tokyo, known for its hot springs. It sits above a bay on a steep slope. Heavy rains are expected elsewhere in Japan, and officials are urging people in areas at risk of landslides to use caution. The disaster comes just days before the opening ceremonies of the Tokyo Olympics, which has been overshadowed by the rising number of COVID-19 infections across the nation.   This report includes information from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
 
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Four people have been found dead in the aftermath of a landslide in the Japanese resort city of Atami, officials said. By Monday, roughly 1,500 emergency workers were digging through rubble in a neighborhood of the central seaside city, desperately searching for survivors. Saturday’s landslide was triggered by several days of torrential rain, which forecasters said was more rainfall than Atami usually records for the entire month of July.  Roughly 80 people are still missing, though authorities are still trying to confirm their whereabouts and are hoping that some were elsewhere during the disaster. As many as 130 homes and buildings were destroyed. Atami is a resort city, 90 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of Tokyo, known for its hot springs. It sits above a bay on a steep slope. The disaster comes just days before the opening ceremonies of the Tokyo Olympics, which has been overshadowed by the rising number of COVID-19 infections across the nation.   This report includes information from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
 
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An Asian industry group that includes Google, Facebook and Twitter has warned that tech companies could stop offering their services in Hong Kong if the Chinese territory proceeds with plans to change privacy laws.
The warning came in a letter sent by the Asia Internet Coalition, of which all three companies, in addition to Apple Inc, LinkedIn and others, are members.
Proposed amendments to privacy laws in Hong Kong could see individuals hit with “severe sanctions”, said the June 25 letter to the territory’s privacy commissioner for personal data, Ada Chung Lai-ling, without specifying what the sanctions would be.
“Introducing sanctions aimed at individuals is not aligned with global norms and trends,” added the letter, whose contents were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
“The only way to avoid these sanctions for technology companies would be to refrain from investing and offering their services in Hong Kong, thereby depriving Hong Kong businesses and consumers, whilst also creating new barriers to trade.”
In the six-page letter, AIC managing director Jeff Paine acknowledged the proposed amendments focus on the safety and personal data privacy of individuals. “However, we wish to stress that doxxing is a matter of serious concern,” he wrote.
During anti-government protests in Hong Kong in 2019, doxxing – or publicly releasing private or identifying information about an individual or organisation – came under scrutiny when police were targeted after their details were released online.
The details of some officers’ home addresses and children’s schools were also exposed by anti-government protesters, some of who threatened them and their families online.
“We … believe that any anti-doxxing legislation, which can have the effect of curtailing free expression, must be built upon principles of necessity and proportionality,” the AIC said.
Facebook did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, while Twitter referred questions to the AIC.
Google declined to comment.
The former British colony of Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with the guarantee of continued freedoms. Pro-democracy activists say those freedoms are being whittled away by Beijing, especially with a national security law introduced last year cracking down on dissent. China denies the charge.
 
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Senior foreign executives of major telecommunications firms in Myanmar have been told by the junta that they must not leave the country without permission, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.A confidential order from Myanmar’s Posts and Telecommunications Department (PTD) in mid-June said senior executives, both foreigners and Myanmar nationals, must seek special authorization to leave the country, the person said.A week later, telecom companies were sent a second letter telling them they had until Monday July 5 to fully implement intercept technology they had previously been asked to install to let authorities spy on calls, messages and web traffic and to track users by themselves, the source said. Reuters has not seen the orders.The directives follow pressure on the companies from the junta, which is facing daily protests from its opponents and a growing number of insurgencies to activate the spyware technology.A spokesman for the military did not answer multiple requests for comment. The junta has never commented on the electronic surveillance effort, but announced soon after seizing power its aim to pass a cybersecurity bill that would require telecoms providers to provide data when requested and remove or block any content deemed to be disrupting “unity, stabilization, and peace.” It also amended privacy laws to free security forces to intercept communications.The travel ban comes after intensified pressure from military officials to finish the implementation of the surveillance equipment. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said the ban was meant to pressure telecoms firms to finish activating the spyware technology, although the order itself does not specify a reason.Three other telecoms sources, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the authorities had stepped up pressure on the companies to implement the intercept, but declined to elaborate further. Two sources said companies had been warned repeatedly by junta officials not to speak publicly or to the media on the intercept.Telenor declined to comment. There was no immediate response to requests for comment from Ooredoo, state-owned MPT and Mytel, a joint venture between Vietnam’s Viettel and a Myanmar military-owned conglomerate.Months before the Feb. 1 coup, telecom and internet service providers were ordered to install intercept spyware to allow the army to eavesdrop on the communications of citizens, Reuters reported in May.Reuters was not able to establish how broadly the surveillance technology has been installed and deployed, but four sources said Norway’s Telenor ASA and Qatar’s Ooredoo QPSC had yet to comply in full.Among the military’s first actions on Feb. 1 was to cut internet access and it has still not been fully re-established, with telecoms given regular lists of websites and activist phone numbers to block.The moves have left the future unclear for Myanmar’s telecom sector, which had been one of the fastest-growing globally. Telenor said on Friday it is evaluating the future of its operations in the country, with a source telling Reuters it is eying a sale of its Myanmar unit. 
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In Japan thousands of emergency workers are digging through the rubble of a central seaside city neighborhood that was demolished by a massive landslide in a desperate search for survivors.As many as 130 homes and buildings were destroyed Saturday when the disaster struck the hot springs resort city of Atami, located about 90 kilometers southwest of Tokyo.At least three people are confirmed dead and as many as 80 others are believed to be missing.Saturday’s landslide was triggered by several days of torrential rains, which forecasters  was more rainfall than Atami usually records for the entire month of July. The disaster comes just days before the opening ceremonies of the Tokyo Olympics, which has been overshadowed by the rising number of COVID-19 infections across the nation.   This report includes information from the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters  
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Researchers in New Zealand have developed new technology that could make bridges more resilient to earthquakes. Their so-called ‘low-damage solution’ has a series of rocking bridge columns that move with seismic shocks, leaving bridges with little to no damage compared to conventional building methods.More than 900 bridges were damaged during the Kaikōura earthquake on New Zealand’s South Island in 2016. Roads and railway lines were also destroyed, disrupting the transport network. Researchers at the University of Canterbury have said that although current designs prevent the collapse of bridges, significant repairs might be needed.  They’ve developed flexible columns made of high-strength steel that move during an earthquake. They act like giant rubber bands to bring bridge supports back into position. Conventional steel bars are also used to dissipate seismic energy, reducing the impact of a powerful tremor. Alessandro Palermo, a professor in Structural Engineering and Materials at the University of Canterbury, says the technology makes bridges more resilient.“This special steel, which is usually placed in the middle of the column, is actually working as a rubber band. So, during the earthquake this high-strength steel is actually trying to bring the pier back to the original position,” Palermo said.  “And we are actually trying to combine these resilience-solutions – seismic resilience-solutions – with accelerated bridge construction. How can we actually build bridges faster and at the same time (be) resilient? This system allows (us) to do that.”   In February 2011, the New Zealand city of Christchurch was hit by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake. 185 people were killed and several thousand injured.A decade later, rebuilding work continues.Each year, more than 15,000 earthquakes are detected in New Zealand.  Only about 150 are large enough to be felt, but building homes, offices and bridges that can withstand major tremors is a priority.     
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Philippine troops found the last five dead from the crash of a transport aircraft in the south, raising the death toll to 50 in the military’s worst air disaster, officials said Monday.    The Lockheed C-130 Hercules was carrying 96 mostly combat troops when it overshot the runway while landing Sunday at the Jolo airport in Sulu province, military officials said. It slammed into a coconut grove beyond the airport and burst into flames in a noontime disaster witnessed by horrified soldiers and villagers.   Troops, police and firefighters rescued 49 military personnel, including a few who jumped off the aircraft before it exploded and was gutted by fire. Seven people on the ground were hit by aircraft parts and debris, and three of them died, the military said.    The Lockheed C-130 Hercules was one of two refurbished U.S. Air Force aircraft handed over to the Philippines, Washington’s oldest treaty ally in Asia, as part of military assistance this year.    The aircraft earlier had carried two-star Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., his wife and three children from Manila to southern Cagayan de Oro city, where he’s set to become the new military regional commander on Monday.    Those who boarded the C-130 in Cagayan de Oro for the flight to Sulu were army troops, many of them newly trained recruits, to be deployed in the battle against Abu Sayyaf militants in the south. Brawner was stunned to learn the plane he’d just flown on had crashed. “We’re very thankful that we were spared, but extremely sad that so many lost their lives,” Brawner told The Associated Press.   A video taken by troops showed the aircraft landing in clear weather then vanishing beyond the airport. “It vanished, it vanished,” one soldier exclaims. Dark gray smoke later billowed from the crash site in a wooded area as the troops, yell, “It fell, it fell” and let off curses in horror.   “They were supposed to join us in our fight against terrorism,” Sulu military commander Maj. Gen. William Gonzales said. Government forces have been battling Abu Sayyaf militants in the predominantly Muslim province of Sulu for decades.   It was not immediately clear what caused the crash and investigators were looking for the C-130’s black boxes containing the cockpit voice and flight data recorders.   Regional military commander Lt. Gen. Corleto Vinluan said it was unlikely that the aircraft took hostile fire. Military chief of staff Gen. Cirilito Sobejana told reporters Sunday that “the plane missed the runway and it was trying to regain power but failed and crashed.”  An air force official told The AP that the Jolo runway is shorter than most others in the country, making it more difficult for pilots to adjust if an aircraft misses the landing spot. The official, who has flown military aircraft to and from Jolo several times, spoke on condition of anonymity because of a lack of authority to speak publicly.   President Rodrigo Duterte expanded the military presence in Sulu to a full division in late 2018, deploying hundreds of additional troops, air force aircraft and other combat equipment after vowing to wipe out Abu Sayyaf. The small but brutal group has been blacklisted by the U.S. and the Philippines as a terrorist organization for ransom kidnappings, bombings and beheadings.  Before Sunday, the Philippine air force’s deadliest disaster was a crash in a rice field north of Manila in 1971 that killed 40 military personnel, military historian Jose Custodio said.   A recently delivered S-701 Blackhawk helicopter crashed more than a week ago near Clark freeport, a former U.S. air base, killing all six air force personnel on board.    The Philippine government has struggled for years to modernize its military, one of Asia’s least equipped, as it dealt with decades-long Muslim and communist insurgencies and territorial rifts with China and other claimant countries in the South China Sea.
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Dozens of COVID-19 patients died in Indonesia over the weekend when a hospital in Yogyakarta ran out of oxygen.
 
The Dr. Sardjito General Hospital tried switching oxygen cylinders during the outage but failed to save 63 of its COVID patients as cities across the country are facing a surge in coronavirus cases.
 
“The hospital switched to oxygen cylinders, including the 100 cylinders donated by the Yogyakarta regional police. However, all efforts were too late,” hospital director Rukmono Siswishanto said in a statement Sunday morning.
 
Siswishanto said that he had informed multiple authorities including the minister of health that the hospital was due to run out of oxygen on Saturday evening.
 
The surge of daily new cases in Indonesia has pushed hospitals to build makeshift intensive care units and dedicate new quarantine centers. At least three new cemeteries for those who had COVID-19 have been set up in the capital of Jakarta.  
In one neighborhood of Jakarta, residents in need of oxygen line up as early as 6 a.m. to fill tanks for their loved ones.Indonesians, fortunate to have their own oxygen tanks, line up at an oxygen supply station in Tebet, Jakarta, July 4, 2021, after a hospital ran out of supplemental oxygen, asking patients’ families to bring their own. (Indra Yoga/VOA-Jakarta)Over the past week, Indonesia has seen its highest number of new cases and deaths from the coronavirus. The country recorded 3,298 deaths over the past week, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
 
In India, officials have announced that thousands of residents have been given fake vaccines.  Officials say the shots were given in fake vaccine camps set up in several cities, including Mumbai and Kolkata.  Officials say six people, so far, have been arrested in connection with the fake shots.   
 
India’s health ministry said Sunday that it had recorded more than 43,000 new COVID-19 cases in the previous 24-hour period.  
 
In Iran, officials are shutting down a number of businesses as the Delta variant continues to spread and vaccination rates continue to lag. Barely a third of Iran’s population has been vaccinated against the virus.
 
Meanwhile, Britain, which has fully vaccinated nearly half of its population, is expected to announce an end to mask requirements.  
 
British media reported Sunday that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plans for “Freedom Day” on July 19th will scrap legal mask requirements, in addition to fully opening businesses and social interactions currently restricted.
 VOA’s Indonesian Service contributed to this story. Some information came from the Associated Press and Reuters.
 
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At least 45 people were killed and 50 injured Sunday when a Philippine military aircraft carrying troops crashed and burst into flames after missing the runway in the country’s south, officials said.Nearly 100 people, most of them recent army graduates, were on the C-130 Hercules transport plane which was trying to land on Jolo island in Sulu province around midday.Some of the soldiers were seen jumping out of the plane before it hit the ground and exploded into flames, said Major General William Gonzales, commander of the Joint Task Force-Sulu.It was one of the country’s deadliest military aviation accidents.”This is a sad day, but we have to remain hopeful,” Gonzales said in a statement.”We enjoin the nation to pray for those who are injured and those who have perished in this tragedy.”A search was still under way for 17 missing people.Photos of the crash site released by the Joint Task Force-Sulu showed the damaged tail and the smoking wreckage of the fuselage’s back section laying near coconut trees.Images published by local media outlet Pondohan TV on its Facebook page showed the wreckage engulfed in flames and a plume of thick black smoke rising above houses located near the site.Armed Forces Chief General Cirilito Sobejana said the aircraft was carrying troops from Cagayan de Oro on the southern island of Mindanao when it “missed the runway” as it tried to land on Jolo.The plane tried to “regain power but didn’t make it”, he told local media.The four-engine plane crashed near a quarry in a lightly populated area, First Lieutenant Jerrica Angela Manongdo said.Western Mindanao Command chief Lieutenant General Corletan Vinluan told AFP the aircraft overshot the landing strip and broke into two according to initial reports.Air force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Maynard Mariano said the cause of the crash would be investigated, while armed forces spokesman Major General Edgard Arevalo told DZBB radio that it was being treated as an accident rather than an attack.Most of the passengers had recently graduated from basic military training and were being deployed to the restive island as part of a joint task force fighting terrorism in the Muslim-majority region.They were supposed to report for duty on Sunday, Gonzales said.The military has a heavy presence in the southern Philippines where militant groups, including the kidnap-for-ransom outfit Abu Sayyaf, operate.Deadly accidentsC-130s have been the workhorses of air forces around the world for decades, used to transport troops, supplies and vehicles. They are also often deployed to deliver humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.The Hercules that crashed Sunday has the same tail number as one acquired from the United States and delivered to the Philippines earlier this year. Senator Richard Gordon said it was the fourth military aircraft accident this year with “mass casualties.””Are we buying defective crafts… (with) the people’s money?” he tweeted. Presidential spokesman Harry Roque described the accident as “very unfortunate”, and the U.S. embassy Charge d’Affaires John Law offered “sincerest condolences” to the families of the victims.Sunday’s accident comes after a Black Hawk helicopter crashed last month during a night-time training flight, killing all six on board. The accident prompted the grounding of the Philippines’ entire Black Hawk fleet.  
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At least 29 people were killed and 50 injured Sunday when a Philippine military aircraft carrying troops crashed and burst into flames after missing the runway in the country’s south, officials said.Nearly 100 people, most of them recent army graduates, were on the C-130 Hercules transport plane which was trying to land on Jolo island in Sulu province around midday.Some of the soldiers were seen jumping out of the plane before it hit the ground and exploded into flames, said Major General William Gonzales, commander of the Joint Task Force-Sulu.It was one of the country’s deadliest military aviation accidents.”This is a sad day, but we have to remain hopeful,” Gonzales said in a statement.”We enjoin the nation to pray for those who are injured and those who have perished in this tragedy.”A search was still under way for 17 missing people.Photos of the crash site released by the Joint Task Force-Sulu showed the damaged tail and the smoking wreckage of the fuselage’s back section laying near coconut trees.Images published by local media outlet Pondohan TV on its Facebook page showed the wreckage engulfed in flames and a plume of thick black smoke rising above houses located near the site.Armed Forces Chief General Cirilito Sobejana said the aircraft was carrying troops from Cagayan de Oro on the southern island of Mindanao when it “missed the runway” as it tried to land on Jolo.The plane tried to “regain power but didn’t make it”, he told local media.The four-engine plane crashed near a quarry in a lightly populated area, First Lieutenant Jerrica Angela Manongdo said.Western Mindanao Command chief Lieutenant General Corletan Vinluan told AFP the aircraft overshot the landing strip and broke into two according to initial reports.Air force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Maynard Mariano said the cause of the crash would be investigated, while armed forces spokesman Major General Edgard Arevalo told DZBB radio that it was being treated as an accident rather than an attack.Most of the passengers had recently graduated from basic military training and were being deployed to the restive island as part of a joint task force fighting terrorism in the Muslim-majority region.They were supposed to report for duty on Sunday, Gonzales said.The military has a heavy presence in the southern Philippines where militant groups, including the kidnap-for-ransom outfit Abu Sayyaf, operate.Deadly accidentsC-130s have been the workhorses of air forces around the world for decades, used to transport troops, supplies and vehicles. They are also often deployed to deliver humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.The Hercules that crashed Sunday has the same tail number as one acquired from the United States and delivered to the Philippines earlier this year. Senator Richard Gordon said it was the fourth military aircraft accident this year with “mass casualties.””Are we buying defective crafts… (with) the people’s money?” he tweeted. Presidential spokesman Harry Roque described the accident as “very unfortunate”, and the U.S. embassy Charge d’Affaires John Law offered “sincerest condolences” to the families of the victims.Sunday’s accident comes after a Black Hawk helicopter crashed last month during a night-time training flight, killing all six on board. The accident prompted the grounding of the Philippines’ entire Black Hawk fleet.  
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