THAILAND
Court rules against party
The Constitutional Court yesterday ruled the biggest party in parliament had contravened the constitution in seeking to change a law against insulting the monarchy, in what could set a precedent for any future review of one of the world’s strictest lese majeste laws. The Move Forward Party won last year’s election on a progressive platform that included a once unthinkable proposal to amend the law, which carries penalties of up to 15 years in jail for each perceived insult of the crown. The court ordered the party to abandon that plan, which it said was tantamount to an attempt to “overthrow the democratic regime of government with the king as a head of state.”
SOUTH KOREA
US pilot ejects before crash
A US Air Force pilot yesterday safely ejected from an F-16 jet that crashed into waters off the southwestern coast. The unidentified pilot was conscious and was transported to a medical facility for assessment, the US Eighth Fighter Wing said in a statement. It said it closely worked with US and South Korean mission partners to recover the pilot, who experienced an unspecified in-flight emergency and ejected before the plane crashed into the sea. The cause of the crash, which reportedly occurred in waters near the port city of Seosan, was being investigated.
CHINA
Couple executed for killings
The government yesterday executed a couple for throwing two young children out of the window of an apartment building, in a case that caused nationwide outrage. Zhang Bo (張波) and Ye Chengchen (葉誠塵) were previously found responsible for the fatal falls of the two-year-old girl and one-year-old boy from the 15th floor of a residential tower in Chongqing. Zhang, who was the father of the two children, had begun an affair with Ye, who was initially unaware he was married and had children. She then urged Zhang to kill his two children, which she “regarded as obstacles” to their getting married and a “burden on their future life together,” the Chongqing No. 5 Intermediate People’s Court said in a statement. In November 2020, Zhang threw his children out of the window of the apartment in the absence of their mother, with whom he had agreed to divorce.
AUSTRALIA
Sheep, cattle marooned
A ship carrying about 14,000 sheep and 2,000 cattle is marooned off the coast in sweltering heat after it was forced to abandon a trip through the Red Sea, causing an outcry from people concerned about the animals’ welfare. The vessel left on Jan. 5 for Israel, where it was to unload, but diverted from its course in the middle of last month due to the threat of attack by Yemen’s Houthi militia before being ordered home by the government. The animals are now in limbo and could be sent back to sea for a month-long journey to Israel around Africa, industry officials and the government said. Farm and exporter groups say the animals on board the MV Bahijah are in good health, but with temperatures close to 40°C, animal rights have criticized the situation. The ordeal shows that the live export trade is “rotten to its core,” lawmaker Josh Wilson said. “What is being contemplated is a 60-day voyage for 14,000 sheep on a stinking hot, and literally stinking, metal vessel,” he told 10 News. “It’s very hard to imagine that that is consistent with the animal welfare standards that Australians expect to be applied to Australian animals.”
Drug lord Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, alias “Fito,” was Ecuador’s most-wanted fugitive before his arrest on Wednesday, more than a year after he escaped prison from where he commanded the country’s leading criminal gang. The former taxi driver turned crime boss became the prime target of law enforcement early last year after escaping from a prison in the southwestern port of Guayaquil. Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa’s government released “wanted” posters with images of his face and offered US$1 million for information leading to his capture. In a country plagued by crime, members of Fito’s gang, Los Choneros, have responded with violence, using car
Two former Chilean ministers are among four candidates competing this weekend for the presidential nomination of the left ahead of November elections dominated by rising levels of violent crime. More than 15 million voters are eligible to choose today between former minister of labor Jeannette Jara, former minister of the interior Carolina Toha and two members of parliament, Gonzalo Winter and Jaime Mulet, to represent the left against a resurgent right. The primary is open to members of the parties within Chilean President Gabriel Boric’s ruling left-wing coalition and other voters who are not affiliated with specific parties. A recent poll by the
TENSIONS HIGH: For more than half a year, students have organized protests around the country, while the Serbian presaident said they are part of a foreign plot About 140,000 protesters rallied in Belgrade, the largest turnout over the past few months, as student-led demonstrations mount pressure on the populist government to call early elections. The rally was one of the largest in more than half a year student-led actions, which began in November last year after the roof of a train station collapsed in the northern city of Novi Sad, killing 16 people — a tragedy widely blamed on entrenched corruption. On Saturday, a sea of protesters filled Belgrade’s largest square and poured into several surrounding streets. The independent protest monitor Archive of Public Gatherings estimated the
Irish-language rap group Kneecap on Saturday gave an impassioned performance for tens of thousands of fans at the Glastonbury Festival despite criticism by British politicians and a terror charge for one of the trio. Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, has been charged under the UK’s Terrorism Act with supporting a proscribed organization for allegedly waving a Hezbollah flag at a concert in London in November last year. The rapper, who was charged under the anglicized version of his name, Liam O’Hanna, is on unconditional bail before a further court hearing in August. “Glastonbury,
RSS