YEMEN
Council sacks PM
The nation’s internationally recognized presidential council on Monday sacked the prime minister in an unexpected move that comes at a time when a US-led coalition has been striking targets of the government’s rivals, the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. A decree from the council appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak the new prime minister. Bin Mubarak, who is close to Saudi Arabia, replaced Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed, who was the prime minister since 2018. The council did not give a reason behind the reshuffle.
UNITED STATES
Haley requests protection
Former UN ambassador Nikki Haley has requested secret service protection after receiving a growing number of threats during her presidential campaign, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. Haley told the paper while campaigning in South Carolina that she had made the request. “We’ve had multiple issues,” she said. “It’s not going to stop me from doing what I need to do.” Neither Haley’s campaign nor the Secret Service responded to requests for comment. President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump receive Secret Service protection. The Secret Service is also authorized to provide protection to major party presidential candidates. Haley is the last major challenger to Trump in the Republican primary race.
THAILAND
Thaksin charged with insult
Police have charged former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra with lese majeste over comments he made almost a decade ago, officials said yesterday. The nation has some of the world’s strictest royal defamation laws protecting King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his close family, with each charge bringing a potential 15-year prison sentence. Thaksin, who was ousted in a 2006 coup, returned from self-exile in August last year and was immediately jailed on old graft and abuse-of-power charges. Prayuth Pecharakun, spokesman for the attorney general’s office, told reporters police filed lese majeste charges late last month against Thaksin, over comments he made in Seoul in 2015. Prosecutors will wait for police to complete their investigation before deciding whether to proceed with the case against Thaksin, Prayuth said, adding that Thaksin denies the charge and has written to the attorney general asking for fair treatment.
THAILAND
‘Elephant pants’ under eye
The government yesterday ordered its ports to keep a close watch out for rogue “elephant pants” being imported to the kingdom, as Bangkok trumpeted its copyright claim to the popular print. The thin cotton trousers have long been a staple of European backpackers traveling through Southeast Asia. In recent months, they have become an unexpected hit with young Thais, but a jumbo influx of cheap Chinese-made pants has sparked concern over foreign imports edging out local manufacturers, and caught officials’ attention. “We have ordered the surveillance of elephant pants in all ports,” Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai told reporters. Phumtham, who is also commerce minister, said the elephant design that stomps across the ubiquitous trousers was copyrighted. “If we allow foreign producers to produce it, it might impact the local Thai products,” he said, warning of the inferior quality of some imports. “Thai products are standardized. Some [imported] products are easily torn after using them a couple of times,” he said.
Airlines in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Singapore yesterday canceled flights to and from the Indonesian island of Bali, after a nearby volcano catapulted an ash tower into the sky. Australia’s Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia all grounded flights after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores island spewed a 9km tower a day earlier. Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, India’s IndiGo and Singapore’s Scoot also listed flights as canceled. “Volcanic ash poses a significant threat to safe operations of the aircraft in the vicinity of volcanic clouds,” AirAsia said as it announced several cancelations. Multiple eruptions from the 1,703m twin-peaked volcano in
A plane bringing Israeli soccer supporters home from Amsterdam landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport on Friday after a night of violence that Israeli and Dutch officials condemned as “anti-Semitic.” Dutch police said 62 arrests were made in connection with the violence, which erupted after a UEFA Europa League soccer tie between Amsterdam club Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Israeli flag carrier El Al said it was sending six planes to the Netherlands to bring the fans home, after the first flight carrying evacuees landed on Friday afternoon, the Israeli Airports Authority said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered
Former US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi said if US President Joe Biden had ended his re-election bid sooner, the Democratic Party could have held a competitive nominating process to choose his replacement. “Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race,” Pelosi said in an interview on Thursday published by the New York Times the next day. “The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary,” she said. Pelosi said she thought the Democratic candidate, US Vice President Kamala Harris, “would have done
Farmer Liu Bingyong used to make a tidy profit selling milk but is now leaking cash — hit by a dairy sector crisis that embodies several of China’s economic woes. Milk is not a traditional mainstay of Chinese diets, but the Chinese government has long pushed people to drink more, citing its health benefits. The country has expanded its dairy production capacity and imported vast numbers of cattle in recent years as Beijing pursues food self-sufficiency. However, chronically low consumption has left the market sloshing with unwanted milk — driving down prices and pushing farmers to the brink — while
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