Vietnam’s prime minister will allow four private farms to continue to raise dozens of pet tigers despite strong protests from international wildlife conservation groups, an official said today.

Bird flu has killed again in Indonesia and is picking up speed elsewhere in Asia, with fresh outbreaks in Vietnam and a new human case reported in China, officials said today.

China’s vast size and its developing disease reporting systems have made it “weak and vulnerable” against bird flu, a top Chinese official said today, while Thailand reported two new suspected human cases of the deadly virus.