Asia Today: Virus forces cancellation of Asian peace prize

BANGKOK (AP) — A Philippine peace award has been canceled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, marking only the third disruption in six decades for the annual prize regarded as an Asian Nobel.

The Manila-based foundation that hands out the Ramon Magsaysay awards said Tuesday it has no choice “with the COVID-19 pandemic practically immobilizing the world.”

The awards were also cancelled due to a financial crisis in 1970 and a disastrous earthquake in 1990. They are named after a popular Philippine president who died in a 1957 plane crash and honor “greatness of spirit in selfless service to the peoples of Asia.”

The more than 330 awardees so far had included leaders like late Philippine President Corazon Aquino and Mother Teresa, known for her missionary work in India.

The five recipients of last year's awards included a South Korean who helped fight suicide and bullying; a Thai woman who became a human rights defender after losing her husband to violence in southern Thailand; journalists from India and Myanmar; and a musician credited with helping to shape modern Philippine musical culture.

The Philippines is a coronavirus hotspot in Southeast Asia, with about 22,400 infections, including more than 1,000 deaths. It has eased lockdowns for millions of people in a tightrope move to bolster its economy, which contracted in the first quarter.

In other developments in the Asia-Pacific region:

— WHO FINDS PANDEMIC WORSENING: The head of the World Health Organization warned that the coronavirus pandemic is worsening. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted Monday that about 75% of cases reported to the U.N. health agency on Sunday came from 10 countries in the Americas and South Asia. Daily case reports have topped 100,000 on nine of the past 10 days. Tedros...