THAILAND
King approves Cabinet
King Maha Vajiralongkorn yesterday endorsed a new Cabinet, taking the country closer to a fully functional administration after months of political deadlock. Vajiralongkorn acknowledged the new Cabinet led by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and the appointment of 34 ministers, the Royal Gazette said in a statement, including some from the previous deeply unpopular army-backed administration. “Srettha Thavisin, the prime minister, has selected a qualified Cabinet to administer the country further, so the King has commanded a new Cabinet,” the statement read. The new Cabinet sees Srettha as Minister of Finance and Anutin Charnvirakul — the former health minister from the previous military-led government — as the deputy prime minister.
NORTH KOREA
Cruise missiles fired
Pyongyang fired several cruise missiles towards the Yellow Sea in the early hours yesterday, the South Korean military said. An unspecified number of missiles were launched at about 4am, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said yesterday in the statement, adding the specifications of the missiles were being evaluated by South Korean and US intelligence authorities. “We have stepped up surveillance and monitoring and are maintaining utmost readiness in close coordination with the United States,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
UNITED KINGDOM
Mohamed Al Fayed dies
Mohamed Al Fayed, the self-made Egyptian billionaire who bought the Harrods department store and promoted the discredited conspiracy theory that the British royal family was behind the death of his son and Princess Diana, has died, his family said. Born in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, Al Fayed began his career selling fizzy drinks and then worked as a sewing-machine salesman. Al Fayed owned establishment symbols such as Harrods, Fulham and the Ritz hotel in Paris. “Mrs Mohamed Al Fayed, her children and grandchildren wish to confirm that her beloved husband, their father and their grandfather, Mohamed, has passed away peacefully of old age,” his family wrote in a statement.
UNITED STATES
Riot leader gets 18 years
A one-time leader in the Proud Boys far-right extremist group, Ethan Nordean, was on Friday sentenced to 18 years in prison for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, tying the record for the longest sentence in the attack. “He is the undisputed leader on the ground on Jan, 6,” prosecutor Jason McCullough said. The Seattle-area chapter president was one of two Proud Boys sentenced on Friday. Dominic Pezzola was convicted of smashing a window at the US Capitol in the building’s first breach and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
UNITED STATES
Jimmy Buffett dies aged 76
Singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, who popularized beach bum soft rock with the escapist Caribbean-flavored song Margaritaville and turned that celebration of loafing into an empire of restaurants, resorts and frozen concoctions, has died. He was 76. “Jimmy passed away peacefully on the night of September 1st surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs,” a statement on Buffett’s official Web site and social media pages said late on Friday. The statement did not say where Buffett died or give a cause of death. Buffett landed at No. 13 on Forbes’ America’s Richest Celebrities list in 2016 with a net worth of US$550 million.
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
CYBERSCAM: Anne, an interior decorator with mental health problems, spent a year and a half believing she was communicating with Brad Pitt and lost US$855,259 A French woman who revealed on TV how she had lost her life savings to scammers posing as Brad Pitt has faced a wave of online harassment and mockery, leading the interview to be withdrawn on Tuesday. The woman, named as Anne, told the Seven to Eight program on the TF1 channel how she had believed she was in a romantic relationship with the Hollywood star, leading her to divorce her husband and transfer 830,000 euros (US$855,259). The scammers used fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, as well as artificial intelligence image-creating technology to send Anne selfies and other messages
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