THAILAND
Court orders extradition
The Bangkok Criminal Court yesterday ordered the extradition of a detained Vietnamese activist, despite fears among rights groups that he could be at risk if sent home. The court granted Vietnam’s request for the extradition of Y Quynh Bdap, who was detained in Bangkok in June. The cofounder of the Montagnards Stand for Justice group was convicted in absentia in Vietnam in January on allegations that he was involved in organizing anti-government riots in the Vietnamese province of Dak Lak in June last year. He now has 30 days to file an appeal and the Thai government could also decide diplomatically not to enforce it. “Y Quynh Bdap would be at real risk if returned to Vietnam,” Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said at the time the activist was apprehended. “Thai authorities should immediately release this prominent religious freedom advocate and refugee. Returning him to Vietnam would be a violation of Thailand’s obligations under Thai and international law.”
NIGERIA
World Bank approves loan
The World Bank yesterday said it has approved a US$1.57 billion financing package for the nation under a new program to support its health and education sectors and help provide sustainable power. The largest lender to the African nation, the bank has more than US$15 billion in loans at the end of March, data from the Debt Management Office showed. The bank said in a statement that the money would help increase availability and effectiveness of financing for basic education and primary healthcare service delivery. “The new financing includes US$500 million for addressing governance issues that constrain the delivery of education and health, US$570 million for the Primary Healthcare Provision Strengthening Program and US$500 million for the Sustainable Power and Irrigation for Nigeria Project,” it said.
HONG KONG
Fifth foreign judge to leave
A record fifth foreign judge is to leave the top court this year, further thinning the ranks of overseas jurists whose presence was seen as a selling point for foreign companies looking to do business in the territory. Nicholas Phillips, a member of the UK House of Lords, would not extend his term as a non-permanent judge at the Court of Final Appeal, which expired yesterday, a spokesperson for the judiciary said. Phillips, 86, cited “personal reasons” for his decision after serving since 2012, the person said. Only six foreign judges will remain on the court after Phillips’ departure, down from 15 in 2019, a level last seen in the early years following the handover.
UNITED STATES
Kris Kristofferson dies
Kris Kristofferson, a Rhodes scholar with a deft writing style and rough charisma who became a country music superstar and A-list Hollywood actor, has died. Kristofferson, 88, died at his home in Maui, Hawaii, on Saturday, family spokeswoman Ebie McFarland said in an e-mail. He died peacefully, surrounded by his family. No cause was given. Starting in the late 1960s, the Brownsville, Texas native wrote such classics standards as Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down and Help Me Make it Through the Night. Kristofferson was a singer himself, but many of his songs were best known as performed by others, whether Ray Price crooning For the Good Times or Janis Joplin belting out Me and Bobby McGee. As an actor, he played the leading man opposite Barbra Streisand and Ellen Burstyn, but also had a fondness for shoot-out Westerns and cowboy dramas.
An endangered baby pygmy hippopotamus that shot to social media stardom in Thailand has become a lucrative source of income for her home zoo, quadrupling its ticket sales, the institution said Thursday. Moo Deng, whose name in Thai means “bouncy pork,” has drawn tens of thousands of visitors to Khao Kheow Open Zoo this month. The two-month-old pygmy hippo went viral on TikTok and Instagram for her cheeky antics, inspiring merchandise, memes and even craft tutorials on how to make crocheted or cake-based Moo Dengs at home. A zoo spokesperson said that ticket sales from the start of September to Wednesday reached almost
A 64-year-old US woman took her own life inside a controversial suicide capsule at a Swiss woodland retreat, with Swiss police on Tuesday saying several people had been arrested. The space-age looking Sarco capsule, which fills with nitrogen and causes death by hypoxia, was used on Monday outside a village near the German border. The portable human-sized pod, self-operated by a button inside, has raised a host of legal and ethical questions in Switzerland. Active euthanasia is banned in the country, but assisted dying has been legal for decades. On the same day it was used, Swiss Department of Home
TIGHTENING: Zhu Hengpeng, who worked for an influential think tank, has reportedly not been seen in public since making disparaging remarks on WeChat A leading Chinese economist at a government think tank has reportedly disappeared after being disciplined for criticizing Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in a private chat group. Zhu Hengpeng (朱恆鵬), 55, is believed to have made disparaging remarks about China’s economy, and potentially about the Chinese leader specifically, in a private WeChat group. Zhu was subsequently detained in April and put under investigation, the Wall Street Journal reported. Zhu worked for the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) for more than 20 years, most recently as the Institute of Economics deputy director and director of the Public Policy Research Center. He
CHINESE ICBM: The missile landed near the EEZ of French Polynesia, much to the surprise and concern of the president, who sent a letter of protest to Beijing Fijian President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere called for “respect for our region” and a stop to missile tests in the Pacific Ocean, after China launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). In a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, Katonivere recalled the Pacific Ocean’s history as a nuclear weapons testing ground, and noted Wednesday’s rare launch by China of an ICBM. “There was a unilateral test firing of a ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean. We urge respect for our region and call for cessation of such action,” he said. The ICBM, carrying a dummy warhead, was launched by the