THAILAND
Court clears way for vote
The Constitutional Court yesterday rejected a request from the election-winning Move Forward Party to review a parliamentary decision that blocked its prime ministerial candidate from being renominated. The move all but kills off any hope of the party leading the next government and paves the way for the legislature to hold another vote on a prime minister as soon as this week. The court in its decision said it declined to accept the case because it was lodged by a group of more than 20 individuals that did not include Pita Limjaroenrat, the prime ministerial candidate. “Their rights were not violated and they did not have the rights to file the complaint,” it said of the petitioners, in what was a unanimous decision.
PAKISTAN
Japanese mountaineer dies
A Japanese mountaineer died and another was injured when rocks apparently hit them while they were trying to climb the never-scaled 5,800m Virgin Peak, a mountaineering official and the injured climber said on Tuesday. The climbers were on an expedition organized by a local tour operator in the Andaq Valley, Alpine Club of Pakistan secretary Karrar Haidri said. Shinji Tamura on Friday slipped and fell at an altitude of 5,380m, Haidri said. Semba Takayasu, the other climber, said their rappelling point was broken and they fell together, holding a double rope about 60m long. “Shinji was heavily hit” and had a big injury from what Takayasu said he thought was a rock. Takayasu managed to reach base camp to seek help, and Haidri said a search team was quickly sent to the area where Tamura slipped. A search for his body was called off on Monday and local authorities in the region confirmed Tamura’s death.
INDIA
Tomatoes on ‘vacation’
Burger King has scrapped tomatoes from its wraps and burgers in many Indian outlets after prices more than quadrupled, the latest symptom of surging food inflation that is hitting consumers hard across world’s most populous nation. “Even tomatoes need a vacation ... we are unable to add tomatoes to our food,” read notices posted at two Burger King India outlets. The chain has cited quality issues in explaining the shortfall. The burger chain, one of the nation’s biggest with nearly 400 outlets, joins many McDonald’s and Subway stores that have removed tomatoes from menus as food inflation this week hit its highest since January 2020. Rival Domino’s has tried bringing down prices to appeal to struggling consumers with a US$0.60 pizza — its cheapest in the world.
UNITED STATES
Musk’s X delays links
Social media company X, formerly known as Twitter, delayed access to links to content on the Reuters and New York Times Web sites, as well as rivals such as Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram, a Washington Post report said on Tuesday. Clicking a link on X to one of the affected Web sites resulted in a delay of about five seconds before the site loaded, the Post reported. By late Tuesday afternoon, X appeared to have eliminated the delay. When contacted for comment, X confirmed the delay was removed, but did not elaborate. Billionaire Elon Musk, who bought Twitter in October last year has previously lashed out at news organizations and journalists who have reported critically on his companies, which include Tesla and SpaceX.
School bullies in Singapore are to face caning under new guidelines, but the education minister on Tuesday said it would be meted out only as a last resort with strict safeguards. Human rights groups regularly criticize Singapore for the use of corporal punishment, which remains part of the school and criminal justice systems, but authorities have defended it as a deterrent to crime and serious misconduct. Caning was discussed in the parliament after legislators asked how it would be used in relation to bullying in schools. The debate followed stricter guidelines on serious student misconduct, including bullying, unveiled by the Singaporean Ministry of
‘GROSS NEGLIGENCE?’ Despite a spleen typically being significantly smaller than a liver, the surgeon said he believed Bryan’s spleen was ‘double the size of what is normal’ A Florida surgeon who is facing criminal charges after allegedly removing a patient’s liver instead of his spleen has said he is “forever traumatized” by that person’s death. In a deposition from November last year that was recently obtained by NBC, 44-year-old Thomas Shaknovsky described the death of 70-year-old William Bryan as an “incredibly unfortunate event that I regret deeply.” Bryan died after the botched surgery; and last month, a grand jury in Tallahassee indicted Shaknovsky on a charge of manslaughter. “I’m forever traumatized by it and hurt by it,” Shaknovsky added, also saying that wrong-site surgeries can happen “during
A MESSAGE: Japan’s participation in the Balikatan drills is a clear deterrence signal to China not to attack Taiwan while the US is busy in the Middle East, an analyst said The Japan Self-Defense Forces yesterday fired a Type 88 anti-ship missile during a joint maritime exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces, hitting a decommissioned Philippine Navy ship in waters facing the disputed South China Sea, in drills that underscore Tokyo’s rising willingness to project military power on China’s doorstep. The drill took place as Manila and Tokyo began talks on a potential defense equipment transfer, made possible by Japan’s decision to scrap restrictions on military exports. The discussions include the possible early transfer of Abukuma-class destroyers and TC-90 aircraft to the Philippines, Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. Philippine Secretary of
A South Korean judge who last week more than doubled former South Korean first lady Kim Keon-hee’s prison sentence was found dead yesterday, police said. Shin Jong-o was found unconscious at about 1am at the Seoul High Court building, an investigator at the Seocho District Police Station in Seoul said. Shin was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead, he said. “There is no sign of foul play in the death,” the investigator added. Local media reported that Shin had left a suicide note, but the investigator said there was none. On Tuesday last week, Shin presided over 53-year-old Kim’s appeal trial, finding her guilty
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