Lawmakers in the Thai House of Representatives yesterday overwhelmingly approved a marriage equality bill that would make the country the first in Southeast Asia to legalize equal rights for marriage partners of any gender.The bill passed its final reading with the approval of 400 of the 415 members
Former US president Donald Trump was on Tuesday issued a judge’s gag order barring him from publicly commenting about witnesses and court staff ahead of his April 15 criminal trial involving hush money paid to a porn star.New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan granted a request by the office of
INTERNET AGE: While the number of those who said they engaged in physical fighting remained stable, those who said they participated in cyberbullying increased
About 16 percent of children aged 11 to 15 were cyberbullied in 2022, up from 13 percent four years ago, a WHO Europe report covering 44 countries said yesterday.“This report is a wake-up call for all of us to address bullying and violence, whenever and wherever it happens,” WHO Regional Director fo
Kenyan authorities on Tuesday began releasing the bodies of victims of a doomsday starvation cult to distraught relatives, almost a year since the discovery of mass graves in a grisly case that shocked the world.One tearful family received four bodies that were loaded into a hearse from a morgue in
Japan’s plummeting birthrate has led a diaper manufacturer to stop making them for babies at home and instead ramp up production for adults, the company said on Tuesday.Oji Holdings is to wrap up domestic output of infant diapers in September, after production dropped from a 2001 peak of about 700 m
Australia’s carbon credit scheme was undermined by damning new research yesterday, which found a world-leading reforestation project had been an underperforming “catastrophe.”Vast swathes of land across Australia’s desert outback have been earmarked for native forest regeneration, which is meant to
AUSTRALIALandmark treaty signedCanberra and Funafuti are pressing ahead with a landmark treaty offering the Pacific Island’s citizens a climate refuge, quieting speculation about the fate of the pact. The 11-page treaty was presented to the Australian Parliament late on Tuesday — offering Tuvalu res
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals
Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles.The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected
NO EARLY RELEASE: The territory has scrapped a possible one-third prison sentence reduction for those who contravened the national security law
Hong Kong’s leader yesterday said that people convicted on national security charges would no longer be eligible for early release for good behavior under a new law enacted by the territory’s authorities at the weekend.His comments came after local media reported that democracy advocate Ma Chun-man
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday said for the first time that “radical Islamists” were behind last week’s attack on a concert hall outside Moscow, but suggested they were linked to Ukraine somehow.Eleven people have been detained in connection with the attack, which saw camouflaged gunmen
A Malaysian court yesterday charged five executives from a mini-mart chain and its supplier with hurting religious feelings after several pairs of socks emblazoned with the word “Allah” were put on sale in one of its stores.The case had drawn a rare royal rebuke from Malaysia’s king, who called for
She has crisscrossed the US saying she is an Irish heiress, a psychic and good friends with a movie star so as to run scores of scams, her victims say, but now Marianne Smyth is in a Maine jail awaiting a hearing next month that would decide whether she can be extradited to the UK over a scam dating
Australian emergency workers yesterday said that they rescued a man who was stuck in a Brisbane storm drain for 36 hours after apparently trying to retrieve a dropped mobile phone.The man, in his 30s, reportedly entered the tropical city’s grimy underworld at the weekend.After refusing a passerby’s
A father and daughter take part in a bicycle rally celebrating Bangladesh’s 54th Independence Day in Dhaka yesterday.
ULTERIOR MOTIVE: Experts say that North Korea is seeking to improve ties with Japan as a way to weaken a trilateral Tokyo-Seoul-Washington security partnership
North Korea yesterday said that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida offered to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un “as soon as possible,” but stressed that prospects for the first summit in about 20 years would depend on Tokyo tolerating its weapons program and ignoring its past abductions o
ARTICLE 23: Paul Lam said a person might commit an offense if they repost online critical statements about the law issued by foreign nations and people overseas
Hong Kong’s justice minister on Sunday warned that posting and sharing criticism of the territory’s newly enacted national security law could be in breach of the legislation, which lays down harsh penalties for sedition.The Article 23 legislation came into force on Saturday and includes penalties of
Senegalese yesterday anxiously awaited the results of a presidential election, following months of uncertainty and unrest that tested the nation’s reputation as a stable democracy in a region rife with coups.The vote on Sunday was largely peaceful with a high turnout, observers said. Results from po
Senior doctors at dozens of hospitals in South Korea planned to submit their resignations yesterday in support of medical interns and residents who have been on a strike for five weeks over the government’s push to sharply increase medical school admissions, their leader said.The senior doctors’ act
Simon Harris, who is set to become Ireland’s youngest ever prime minister after being appointed party leader on Sunday, will be hoping his social media skills and fresh face can save his party’s flagging fortunes as elections loom.The 37-year-old, who the media has already dubbed the “TikTok taoisea
At least five people were killed and an estimated 1,000 homes destroyed when a magnitude 6.9 earthquake rocked Papua New Guinea (PNG), officials said yesterday as disaster crews poured into the region.Dozens of villages nestled on the banks of the nation’s Sepik River were already battling floods wh