THAILAND
Dozens flee scam center
Thirty-nine foreigners have fled an online scam center in Myanmar across the border to Thailand, where officials are working to identify potential trafficking victims, police said yesterday. The group from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Malaysia and Russia crossed into Tak province, the police chief in the city of Mae Sot said. They had fled from Myawaddy just across the border, Colonel Pittayakorn Petcharat said. Sri Lanka’s embassy had asked Thai authorities for help after it was informed that 32 of its citizens were trapped in Myanmar, Petcharat said. Five Nepalis, one Malaysian and one Russian were also in the group that arrived in Thailand. AFP has contacted the embassies of the four countries for comment.
SOUTH KOREA
Opposition leader cleared
Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was yesterday cleared of charges that he forced a witness to commit perjury, the Seoul Central District Court said. Lee thanked the court for “bringing back truth and justice” after the ruling as his supporters cheered. He had been accused of ordering a witness in a 2019 trial related to an election law violation to give false testimony. The leader of the Democratic Party still faces several other trials, including for bribery and other charges mostly tied to a US$1 billion property development scandal.
NEW ZEALAND
Stranded whales saved
More than 30 pilot whales stranded on a beach were on Sunday safely returned to the ocean after conservation workers and residents helped to refloat them by lifting them on sheets. Four of the pilot whales died, the Department of Conservation said. A team was yesterday monitoring Ruaaka Beach near the city of Whangarei to ensure there were no signs of the whales stranding again, the department said, praising as “incredible” the efforts made by hundreds of people to help save the foundering pod. “It’s amazing to witness the genuine care and compassion people have shown toward these magnificent animals,” department spokesman Joel Lauterbach said in a statement. “This response demonstrates the deep connection we all share with our marine environment.”
MALAYSIA
Swatch wins Pride suit
The Kuala Lumpur High Court yesterday ordered the Ministry of the Interior to return dozens of watches seized in a crackdown on LGBTQ-themed Swatch timpieces last year, a federal counsel said. The 172 watches, worth about US$14,000, were seized in raids of Swatch stores across the nation in May last year. An official said the watches were taken because they bore the “LGBTQ” acronym and depicted the six colors globally synonymous with the rainbow Pride flag. The government subsequently banned the watches, warning that owners or sellers could face up to three years in prison. Swatch said the products “did not promote any sexual activity, but merely a fun and joyous expression of peace and love.”
JAPAN
Weasel steals shoes
Police thought a shoe thief was on the loose at a kindergarten in Fukuoka Prefecture until a security camera caught the furry culprit in action. A weasel with a tiny shoe in its mouth was spotted on the video footage after police installed three cameras in the school. “It’s great it turned out not to be a human being,” Deputy Police Chief Hiroaki Inada said on Sunday. Teachers and parents had feared it could be a disturbed person with a shoe fetish.
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
As evening falls in Fiji’s capital, a steady stream of people approaches a makeshift clinic that is a first line of defense against one of the world’s fastest-growing HIV epidemics. In the South Pacific nation — a popular tourist destination of just under a million people — more than 2,000 new HIV cases were recorded last year, a 26 percent increase from 2024. The government has declared an HIV outbreak and described it as a national crisis. “It’s spreading like wildfire,” said Siteri Dinawai, 46, who came to be tested. The Moonlight Clinic, a converted minibus parked in a suburban cul-de-sac in Suva, is
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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