THAILAND
Ex-prime minister Prem dies
Former prime minister Prem Tinsulanonda, one of the kingdom’s most influential political figures over four decades, who also served as army commander and adviser to the royal palace, died yesterday morning at age 98. Prem was best noted for his devotion to the monarchy, especially former king Bhumibol Adulyadej, who appointed him head of his Privy Council in 1998. Prem died of heart failure in a hospital in Bangkok, newspaper reports said.
CHINA
Ship’s gas leak kills 10
At least 10 people died and 19 were injured on Saturday after carbon dioxide leaked from a cargo ship’s fire prevention system in at Longyan Port in Weihai, Shangdong Province, local officials said yesterday. The gas leak occurred at 4pm, and the local government said through its Sino Weibo account that the injured were receiving medical treatment and their condition is stable. The ship was being repaired when the leak happened. A preliminary investigation has found that the accident was the result of improper procedures by the ship’s crew. Police have the “relevant personnel” in custody, authorities said.
IRAN
Envoys visit neighbors
Top officials are touring neighboring countries, including three Persian Gulf monarchies, after the US announced plans to increase troop deployments in the region. Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived in Baghdad on Saturday night for meetings about the tensions, the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency reported. His deputy, Abbas Araghchi, yesterday started a tour that will take him to Oman, Kuwait and Qatar, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency said. Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohamad Halbousi on Saturday said Baghdad was ready to mediate between Tehran and Washington if asked to do so.
TURKEY
Ocalan urges end to strikes
Imprisoned Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan has called for an end to hunger strikes by about 3,000 jailed supporters who have been protesting the conditions of his detention, his lawyers said yesterday. “I expect the action to come to an end in light of the broad statements to be made by my two lawyers,” Ocalan said in a message read by his lawyer Nevroz Uysal during a news conference in Istanbul. Ocalan was allowed to see his lawyers this month for the first time in eight years. During a visit on Wednesday, Ocalan said the hunger strikes “had achieved their goal,” they said.
SYRIA
More arms from Turkey
Turkey has equipped an array of mainstream rebels it backs with fresh supplies of weaponry to help them try to repel a major Russian-backed assault, senior opposition officials and rebel sources said on Saturday. Ankara stepped up supplies in recent days after failing to persuade Russia to end its escalation to avert a major influx of refugees into Turkey, two senior opposition figures said.
NIGERIA
Ambush kills at least 20
Witnesses say at least 20 people are dead and many others are missing after suspected militants ambushed a military and civilian convoy in the northeast on Saturday morning. The military was relocating civilians to a displacement camp in Damboa when the ambush occurred. One survivor said the convoy contained hundreds of civilians and a few dozen soldiers, but only a few people reached Damboa.
‘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