Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said yesterday that he had asked the country's junta leader to lift martial law in some areas of the kingdom.
Surayud told reporters the final decision on lifting martial law -- imposed after the Sept. 19 coup that ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra -- had to be made by coup leader Sonthi Boonyaratglin.
However, he urged Sonthi to clearly state when martial law would be lifted.
"I already discussed with the Council for National Security leader how long martial law would remain [in effect], and Sonthi said he will take that into consideration," Surayud said.
"I think, in some areas, martial law could be lifted," he added.
Speaking after the government's weekly cabinet meeting, Surayud said he thought the situation in some areas of the country allowed for the lifting of martial law.
"I only suggested the principle but the exact time or which areas are considered safe will be decided by the CNS leader," he said.
Meanwhile, suspected insurgents yesterday fatally shot a village volunteer guard and his wife and torched a school, the fifth to be attacked in four days in Thailand's restive south, police said.
The community guard and his wife were riding on a motorcycle in Pattani Province when a gunman on a passing motorcycle opened fire with an assault rifle, killing them both.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was