HONG KONG: Hong Kong's pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper confirmed on Wednesday (Jun 23) that the following day's newspaper will be its final edition after police froze its assets using a new national security law.
"Apple Daily decided that the paper will cease operations from midnight and tomorrow (Jun 24) will be the last publication day," the paper wrote on its website. "Apple Daily's website will stop updates from midnight."
That announcement came minutes after the paper's board said it would cease operations "no later than Saturday".
The end of the popular 26-year-old tabloid, which mixes pro-democracy discourse with racy celebrity gossip and investigations of those in power, has escalated alarm over media freedom and other rights in the Chinese-ruled city.
In a statement on its website, Apple Daily's publisherNext Digital said the decision to close the newspaper, which employs about 600 journalists, was taken "due to the current circumstances prevailing in Hong Kong".
Police last week froze assets of companies linked to the newspaper and arrested five executives. On Wednesday, it arrested a columnist on suspicion of conspiring to collude with a foreign country or foreign forces.
Authorities have said dozens of Apple Daily pieces may have violated the security law, the first instance of authorities taking aim at media articles under the legislation.
Rights groups, media organisations and Western governments have criticised last week's raid of the Apple Daily newsroom by about 500 officers and seizure of journalistic materials on national security grounds.
Police, who typically do not disclose the names of those arrested, said they had arrested a 55-year-old man on the national security charges. A senior executive at Next Digital, which publishes Apple Daily, said a lead writer for editorials and a reporter were arrested, without identifying them. It was unclear why the reporter was arrested.
A police representative said they had no immediate information on a second arrest.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Tuesday that criticism of last week's raid and arrests at Apple Daily amounted to attempts to "beautify" acts that endangered national security.
Apple Daily has come under increasing pressure since its tycoon owner and staunch Beijing critic, Jimmy Lai, was arrested last year under the contentious legislation. Lai, whose assets have also been frozen under the security law, is already serving a prison sentence for taking part in unauthorised assemblies.
On Monday, an adviser to Lai told Reuters Apple Daily would be forced to shut "in a matter of days".
NEW DELHI – The Delta coronavirus with a particular spike protein mutation - dubbed Delta Plus - has been labelled a "variant of concern" by the Indian government.
This decision was announced on Tuesday (June 22) after scientists working at a consortium of genomic sequencing labs told the government they had found evidence suggesting the new variant is more transmissible, with stronger binding to lung cells and a potential resistance to treatment by monoclonal antibodies.
There have been at least 22 cases of Covid-19 caused by the Delta Plus variant detected in the country so far, in the states of Maharashtra, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has advised these states to take up "immediate containment measures" in the districts and clusters where this variant has been reported.
Measures suggested include preventing crowds and intermingling of people, widespread testing and prompt tracing as well as widespread vaccination.
"The (central government) has sent an advisory to these states about their public health response. The measures, while broadly remaining the same as have been implemented by them earlier, have to become more focused and effective. We don't want this small number to take a bigger form," Dr V.K. Paul, a member of a government policy think tank, told reporters.
The ministry has also directed the three states to "promptly" send adequate samples of those testing positive to government laboratories for further epidemiological studies.
The new variant, referred to as Delta with K417N, has been found in several other countries, including the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Japan, Nepal, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland and Turkey. A majority of these reported cases are from the US, UK and Portugal.
There is so far no publicly available data on how effective the vaccines currently being used in India are against Delta Plus and the government has said it will share this information as and when it becomes available.
SINGAPORE: Self-radicalised actors influenced by extremist materials online are the main domestic terrorism threat facing Singapore, the Internal Security Department (ISD) said in a report released on Wednesday (Jun 23).
And while Islamist terrorism remains the primary concern, far-right extremism is an emerging threat, it said in the Singapore Terrorism Threat Assessment Report 2021.
ISD assessed that there is currently no specific nor credible intelligence of an imminent terrorist attack against Singapore, but the terrorism threat to Singapore remains high.
"Globally, terrorist activities have persisted amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with terrorist recruitment and propaganda efforts stepped up online," said ISD.
TREND OF SELF-RADICALISATION
ISD said that 54 people have been dealt with under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for terrorism-related conduct since 2015. Of these, 44 were self-radicalised.
Over the last two years, 14 out of 16 people issued with terrorism-related ISA orders were self-radicalised. They include 10 Singaporeans and four foreigners - three Indonesians and a Bangladeshi who were working in Singapore.
The majority of the 14 self-radicalised individuals were supporters of Islamic State.
"Most of them remained staunchly supportive of ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) even with the group’s territorial losses and eventual military defeat," said the report.
Two individuals were inspired by other causes.
One of the 14 is a 16-year-old Singaporean who was inspired by far-right extremist ideology - the first such case detected in Singapore. He had targeted two mosques in planned copycat attacks of New Zealand's Christchurch attacks.
Overseas, far-right extremist groups have reportedly become more organised and capable of mounting attacks. However, ISD said that there is currently no indication that far-right extremism has gained significant traction in Singapore.
"However, this does not mean that we are immune to far-right/anti-Islam ideologies, which are prevalent on social media," it said.
"We have to stay vigilant and take a firm stand against any rhetoric that promotes hatred or animosity towards other communities, and draw the line at the pursuit of any violent action, regardless of how it is justified."
It noted that there is a also wider trend in recent years for lone actors to use "easily available means", such as knives and vehicles, in terrorist attacks. While Singapore has strict regulations on firearms, attackers can resort to weaponising readily accessible items.
Machete which 16-year-old youth intended to purchase for his attack against Muslims at two mosques. (Photo: Ministry of Home Affairs)
Another case not linked to Islamic State was a 20-year-old Singaporean - the first self-radicalised individual detained under the ISA who was primarily driven by the Israel-Palestine conflict.
A detention order under the ISA was issued against him on Mar 5 this year.
He had wanted to travel to Gaza in the Palestinian territories to join Hamas’ military wing in its fight against Israel. He had also made plans and preparations to attack Jews at a synagogue.
EXTERNAL THREATS
Within Southeast Asia, Islamic State remains the primary terrorism threat actor, said ISD. The region remains part of Islamic State's decentralised "global caliphate", with southern Philippines and Myanmar’s Rakhine state as potential theatres of extremism.
ISIS' declared wilayah (provinces) around the world. (Source: Ministry of Home Affairs)
The number and scale of terror attacks and plots by regional pro-Islamic State terror groups fell in 2019 and 2020 due to strong counter-terrorism measures and COVID-19 travel restrictions also appeared to have hampered the movement of terrorists in the region.
But despite losing its last territorial stronghold in March 2019, the terror group remains an active insurgent force in Syria and Iraq.
"It reportedly still has some 10,000 fighters in the conflict zone and tens of millions of dollars in cash reserves," said the report.
"Over the past year, ISIS has escalated its insurgent activities in the conflict zone, taking advantage of the security vacuum left by reduced military operations due to COVID-19 and the reduction in US troops in Iraq."
Since the demise of its so-called caliphate, Islamic State has repositioned its propaganda narrative, calling it a “battle of attrition”.
"In line with this narrative, it has stepped up calls for its affiliates and supporters worldwide to conduct attacks wherever they are."
The "Islamist terrorism" threat in Southeast Asia. (Source: Ministry of Home Affairs)
Jemaah Islamiyah, the terrorist group aligned with Al-Qaeda remains a latent terror threat, ISD said. There are recent signs that it is rebuilding its military capabilities and may re-engage in terrorist violence in Indonesia.
ISD said that it remains on high alert although there is no specific or credible intelligence of an imminent terrorist attack against Singapore.
"The recent cases involving the two Singaporean youths who had made detailed plans and preparations to kill Muslims and Jews in Singapore, are a sobering reminder that the threat of lone actor attacks remains very real," it said.
As Singapore is an open society, Singaporeans are susceptible to being influenced by external developments and events abroad can have an impact on the domestic security landscape, it added.
HONG KONG: The first trial under Hong Kong's new national security law begins on Wednesday (Jun 23) without a jury, a landmark moment for the financial hub's fast-changing legal traditions.
Tong Ying-kit, 24, was arrested under the new law the day after it came into effect when he allegedly drove his motorbike into a group of police officers during protests on Jul 1 last year.
Footage showed his motorbike was flying a flag that read "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times", a popular protest slogan now deemed illegal under the security law.
Tong faces charges of inciting secession and terrorism, as well as an alternative charge of dangerous driving.
Two courts rejected Tong's plea to have his case heard by a jury, which his legal team had argued was a constitutional right given that he faces a life sentence if convicted.
Trial by jury has been a cornerstone of Hong Kong's 176-year-old common law system and is described by the city's judiciary on its website as one of the legal system's "most important features".
But the national security law, which was penned in Beijing and imposed on Hong Kong last year after huge and often violent democracy protests, allows for cases to be tried by three specially selected judges.
The city's justice secretary invoked the no jury clause for Tong's trial arguing that juror safety could be compromised in Hong Kong's febrile political landscape, a decision first revealed by AFP.
Tong's legal team has yet to decide whether to bring their case to Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal.
However, the wording of Beijing's security law makes clear that it trumps any local regulations in the event of a dispute, something successive court rulings have already upheld.
Tong's case is unusual because he is the only Hong Konger so far charged under the security law with an explicitly violent act.
More than 60 people have now been charged under the provision, including some of the city's best-known democracy activists, but their offences are related to political views or speech that authorities have declared illegal.
Hong Kong and Chinese authorities have hailed the security law as successfully restoring stability after the demonstrations that convulsed the finance hub in 2019.
But it has also transformed the city's political and legal landscape - which was historically firewalled from the authoritarian mainland.
The law also grants China jurisdiction over some cases and empowers mainland security agents to operate openly in the semi-autonomous city for the first time.
Critics, including many western nations, say China has broken its "One country, two systems" promise that Hong Kong could maintain key freedoms after its handover from Britain.
GENEVA: More than 40 countries led by Canada voiced grave concerns at the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday (Jun 22) about China's actions in Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Tibet - triggering a fierce backlash from Beijing.
The widely anticipated joint statement had been in the pipeline for several days and was delivered on day two of the 47th session of the council in Geneva.
"We are gravely concerned about the human rights situation in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region," Canada's ambassador Leslie Norton said.
The statement was backed by Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and the United States, among others.
Beijing must allow UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet and other independent observers "immediate, meaningful and unfettered access" to Xinjiang, and end the "arbitrary detention" of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities, it said.
"Credible reports indicate that over a million people have been arbitrarily detained in Xinjiang and that there is widespread surveillance disproportionately targeting Uyghurs and members of other minorities and restrictions on fundamental freedoms and Uyghur culture," it said.
The statement cited reports of torture or cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment or punishment, forced sterilisation, sexual and gender-based violence, and forced separation of children from their parents.
The number of signatories is an increase from the 22 ambassadors who wrote to Bachelet in 2019 condemning China's treatment of the Uyghurs.
China denies mistreating the Uyghurs, once a clear majority in their ancestral homeland until the state helped waves of ethnic Han Chinese migrate there. Beijing insists it is simply running vocational training centres designed to counter extremism.
Bachelet told the council on Monday she hoped at last to visit Xinjiang this year and be given "meaningful access".
Tuesday's statement was bound to further enrage Beijing, which decries what it says is the interference by foreign powers in its internal affairs.
The joint declaration also expressed concern over the deterioration of fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong and the human rights situation in Tibet.
The move came after US President Joe Biden's first foreign trip, in which he garnered G7 and NATO unity in pushing back against Beijing, with Washington identifying China as the pre-eminent global challenge.
The statement "sends a crucial message to China's authorities that they are not above international scrutiny", said Agnes Callamard, head of the rights group Amnesty International.
But countries "must now move beyond handwringing and take real action", she added.
Aware that the statement was coming, China had responded before it was even delivered.
Beijing's representative read out a statement on behalf of a group of countries "deeply concerned about serious human rights violations against the indigenous people in Canada".
Belarus, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Sri Lanka, Syria and Venezuela were among the co-signatories, according to the United Nations.
"Historically, Canada robbed the indigenous people of their land, killed them, and eradicated their culture," the statement said.
It referenced the recent discovery of 215 unmarked graves at a former residential school in western Canada - one of many boarding schools set up a century ago to forcibly assimilate Canada's indigenous peoples.
"We call for a thorough and impartial investigation into all cases where crimes were committed against the indigenous people, especially children," the statement said.
The representative of Belarus read another joint statement on behalf of 64 countries, supporting China and stressing that Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet were Chinese internal affairs.
"In Canada, we had a truth and reconciliation commission," he told journalists. "Where is China's truth and reconciliation commission. Where is their truth?
"The journey of reconciliation is a long one, but it is a journey we are on," he said. "China is not recognising even that there is a problem.
"That is a pretty fundamental difference and that is why Canadians and people from around the world are speaking up for people like the Uyghurs who find themselves voiceless, faced with a government that will not recognise what's happening to them."
BANGKOK: Thai authorities on Tuesday (Jun 22) greenlighted a pilot model for quarantine-free travel to ultra-popular beach destination Phuket, a first step towards the tourist-hungry kingdom's goal of resuscitating its pandemic-battered economy.
Thailand has imposed strict restrictions on visitor arrivals in order to stem COVID-19 infections, but discouraging visitors has led to its economy recording its worst performance since the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
The hugely important tourism industry has been on tenterhooks since March, when the government floated the so-called "Phuket Sandbox" scheme, which would have allowed vaccinated tourists to enter the country without undergoing the usual two weeks of quarantine.
But after a third wave of COVID-19 infections engulfed the country in April, the scheme appeared to be on the back burner, thanks to muddy messaging from authorities.
Tourism officials and members of Thailand's COVID-19 task force announced last Friday that the sandbox scheme was set to begin on Jul 1.
On Tuesday - eight days before its launch - government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri said that the Cabinet of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had officially given the scheme its blessing.
If the sandbox scheme goes smoothly, authorities plan to replicate it in destinations like Krabi and Koh Samui.
But tricky caveats to ensure the sandbox goes ahead without any disruptions include keeping infection rates low - in Phuket the number of weekly COVID-19 cases cannot exceed 90.
"As of today, the number of (infection cases) in Phuket can still ensure that the Phuket sandbox scheme will go on," said COVID-19 task force spokesman Taweesin Visanuyothin on Tuesday.
Thailand's tentpole tourism industry previously made up almost 20 per cent of its national income.
Its losses have reverberated through other sectors including restaurants, transportation and the service industry.
Prime Minister Prayut has come under vociferous criticism for his handling of the pandemic - from the start-stop process in instating restrictions and the lack of state support for impacted sectors to the procurement of vaccines.
The prime minister announced last week that he plans for Thailand to fully reopen to foreign visitors by October - a vow that would require his administration to hit the target of innoculating 50 million Thais in four months, he said.
