SHANGHAI – Hong Kong decided on Sunday to suspend trade in live poultry after a spot check at a local street market revealed the presence of H7N9 bird flu virus, China’s official Xinhua News Service reported on Monday.

The report, citing a statement from Hong Kong’s food and environmental hygiene department, said that so far the source of the virus, found in a faecal sample, has not been identified.

The report said that the Hong Kong health department had contacted three of the four people working at the market and none had bird flu symptoms.

Hong Kong will hold a special meeting on Monday to evaluate risks and determine how long the suspension will last.

Manila – The Philippines’ president elect Rodrigo Duterte urged the public to join his anti-crime crackdown, offering people huge bounties for killing drug dealers.

His announcement late Saturday came as other officials began paying bounties for slain suspected criminals in an apparent attempt to ride on Duterte’s success.

Duterte won the presidential election last month, running on a platform of a ruthless anti-crime campaign.

After previously saying he would unleash the military and police on criminals, Duterte said the public could go after them as well.

“If they are there in your neighbourhood, feel free to call us, the police or do it yourself if you have the gun. You have my support,” he told his cheering followers.

“If he fights and fights to the death, you can kill him,” he said, adding: “I will give you a medal.” He stressed that drug addicts could not be rehabilitated and warned, “if you are involved in drugs, I will kill you. You son of a w****, I will really kill you.” Duterte reiterated that his anti-crime campaign would be “a bloody war,” as he offered money for slain drug lords.

“I will pay, for a drug lord: five million (pesos)(S$147,000) if he is dead. If he is alive, only 4.999 million,” he laughed.

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AFP, Reuters

Duterte, who takes office on June 30 and is the longtime mayor of the southern city of Davao, also offered smaller amounts for lower-ranked figures involved in the drug trade.

He did not say how a private citizen could identify suspects.

Duterte has previously been linked with vigilante “death squads” that have killed scores of people in Davao and has vowed to widen his campaign when he becomes president.

Others have followed his lead with the elected mayor of the central city of Cebu, Tomas Osmena, admitting he paid more than $3,000 to police officers for killing drug traffickers.

Duterte and other officials have previously brushed aside warnings from human rights groups about the dangers of such a policy.

WASHINGTON – A US Navy sailor stationed on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa has been detained by Japanese police on suspicion of drunken driving, US forces-Japan said, in an incident likely to fuel further resentment of the heavy US military presence in the region.

The statement, seen by Reuters on Sunday, said a vehicle driven by the sailor had been involved in a “serious three-car accident with injuries” on Saturday and that US Navy officials were fully cooperating with police in Okinawa.

A US official said the person detained was a 21-year-old female sailor.

The incident comes as the US military observes a 30-day period of mourning at its bases on Okinawa, where an American civilian working at a US military base was arrested last month on suspicion of dumping the body of a 20-year-old Japanese woman.

That incident stoked anger in Japan, prompting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to protest the killing during talks with US President Barack Obama ahead of the Group of Seven summit in central Japan.