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.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
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