CAMBODIA
Hun Sen declines talks offer
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday turned down an offer of talks from former opposition leader Sam Rainsy to end a crisis caused by the dissolution of the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) ahead of general elections set for July 29. “I open my heart to hold talks on politics, but it must be clearly stated that people who are involved in legal cases have no right to hold talks with Hun Sen,” he said, referring to himself in the third person. On Twitter on Sunday, Sam Rainsy said: “I am always open to meeting with Hun Sen’s government in order to find a peaceful solution to this unprecedented crisis, a solution that would be acceptable to both sides with international guarantees.” Sam Rainsy’s comments were his first remarks on the matter since the opposition ban. Western nations have criticized Hun Sen over the CNRP’s dissolution and the arrest of Kem Sokha ahead of the general election.
SOUTH KOREA
Poetry show shuttered
Seoul has closed an exhibition by poet Ko Un, long the nation’s hope for a Nobel Prize in literature, amid allegations of sexual misconduct as the government is considering removing his work from textbooks. Ko Un, who denied any “habitual misconduct” in a statement made through his British publisher, first faced allegations when fellow poet Choi Young-mi in December last year released a poem titled Monster, which describes harassment by an older male poet named “En,” who is widely interpreted to refer to Ko. After Ko’s denial was reported in the Guardian on Sunday, Choi took to Facebook to post simply: “What I wrote in my poem Monster is true.” Choi’s allegations have been corroborated by other writers, including poet Lee Hye-mi, who said on Facebook that she witnessed “ridiculous behavior” while cohosting a TV show with Ko.
PHILIPPINES
Pro-IS militant arrested
Police yesterday announced the arrest of a suspected pro-Islamic State (IS) group militant accused of killing civilians in last year’s deadly siege of Marawi. Nasser Lomondot was arrested on Saturday in Manila, months after he fled the fighting in Marawi. “He participated in the killing of innocent civilians and committed violence against female and child hostages,” regional military spokesman Major Ronald Suscano told reporters. As government forces battled to wrest back control of Marawi, Lomondot directed a diversionary attack by pro-IS gunmen in the neighboring town of Marantao, Suscano added. Lomondot was arrested with a second suspect, Manila police chief Oscar Albayalde said in a statement. The military last month said that the remaining militants have mustered a force of about 200 to launch a second attempt to put up a caliphate.
SYRIA
Aid-awaiting civilians killed
Fresh air raids by the Syrian regime on the besieged rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta killed at least 14 civilians overnight, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said yesterday. Barrel bombs — crude, improvised munitions that cause indiscriminate damage — were used, including on the town of Hammuriyeh, where 10 people were killed, it said. The latest deaths brought to 709 the number of civilians killed since regime and allied Russian forces intensified their campaign last month. At least 166 of them were children, observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said. The deadly raids came as the battered enclave awaited a convoy of humanitarian aid from the UN.
‘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
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in