The Malaysian and Thai prime ministers made a historic joint visit yesterday to Thailand’s restive south, where a bloody separatist insurgency has left more than 4,000 dead.
Najib Razak and his Thai counterpart, Abhisit Vejjajiva, officially named a “Friendship Bridge” spanning their shared border and were to visit an Islamic school in Thailand’s troubled Muslim-majority southern provinces.
Security was tight for the trip after a spike in deadly bombings and shootings that has left 10 people dead since Monday, underscoring the difficulties in finding a solution to the six-year uprising.
“I have no doubt in my mind that this Friendship Bridge will serve its noble purpose and boost further the various economic, social and cultural activities between our two countries,” Najib said at the naming ceremony.
The two leaders arrived at the bridge near the Thai town of Bukit Ta on military helicopters. Thai army choppers circled the area and authorities cut mobile phone signals to guard against possible remote-controlled bombs.
Hundreds of Thai troops manned checkpoints leading to the border and bomb disposal squads checked the area, while police boats patrolled the muddy waters of the Sunai Kolok River flowing below the bridge.
In the latest violence, one forensic policeman was killed and three security officials wounded in twin bomb blasts by a river bank in Yala’s provincial town yesterday morning.
Earlier yesterday, two Thai marines were wounded in a bomb and gun attack in Narathiwat Province, where the bridge is located, after the troops tried to collect banners criticizing Abhisit’s policies on the south.
Another roadside bomb wounded two troops and a policeman protecting teachers in neighboring Yala Province, while on Tuesday a bomb killed a soldier in a border town.
A soldier wounded in a clash with insurgents late on Tuesday on a road due to be used by Abhisit and Najib died in hospital overnight, taking the toll from the incident to three security officials and one militant.
The two-lane bridge was opened in December 2007 by Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Surayud Chulanont, the then-prime ministers of Malaysia and Thailand, in a bid to boost the border region’s economy.
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
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
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