World

Anti-govt rally held in Phuket
24Aug By desk teamNo Comments
Opinion, Politics, World

Anti-govt rally held in Phuket

Anti-govt rally held in Phuket ํMembers of the Phuket Liberation Group lead an anti-government demonstration in Phuket on Sunday. (Photo by Achadtaya Chuenniran) PHUKET: About 350 young people of the Phuket Liberation Group held a demonstration against the government in this southern island province on Sunday. The demonstrators began to gather at the Saphan Hin park at about 5.30pm. They held aloft posters and banners with messages such as "Sovereign power belongs to the people", "Dissolve parliament. Get out" and "Can't we express opinions in democracy?". Some of the posters showed the picture of Wanchalerm Satsaksit, a Thai pro-democracy activist in political exile abducted by armed men outside his home in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on June 4, with a message read "Forced disappearance."
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Kamala Harris is not just Joe Biden’s VP — she’s a political assassin immune to Donald Trump’s dirty tricks
23Aug By desk teamNo Comments
World

Kamala Harris is not just Joe Biden’s VP — she’s a political assassin immune to Donald Trump’s dirty tricks

Don’t be surprised if Donald Trump starts crank-calling Hillary Clinton to relive past glories. She answers the phone and he yells, “Crooked!” before hanging up and staring at a poster of Kamala Harris as a single tear rests on his cheek. Back in 2016, it was so much easier for Trump to attack because, thanks to years of dark conspiracies, Clinton was already a bogeywoman to the right in ways that transcended Benghazi or an unsecured server or “her emails.” There are lunatics out there who still believe she is a child sex trafficker and murderer. Clinton arrived from the Political Opponent factory pre-assembled with clearly marked vulnerabilities. But as we’ve seen in recent weeks — including on Tuesday, after Joe Biden electrified his campaign by picking Harris for vice-president — Tr
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Southeast Asian artists unite for webinar
23Aug By desk teamNo Comments
Asia, Singapore, World

Southeast Asian artists unite for webinar

Contemporary performing artists from 11 Southeast Asian countries are coming together to reveal the actual circumstances they are experiencing amid the Covid-19 pandemic during "Under The SEA", the first online seminar series, which runs every Saturday at 2pm until Oct 17. Organised by the Bangkok International Performing Arts Meeting (Bipam), the seminar was originally brainstormed and planned for a usual full-scale meeting but later the organisers found it absurd to have certainty during one of the most uncertain times in modern history. Instead, the organisation focused on how other performing artists in neighbouring countries are coping and created an online platform to make the virtual round-table discussions accessible. The webinar series involves almost all Southeast Asian countr...
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New Trump book to reveal letters with Kim
23Aug By desk teamNo Comments
Singapore, World

New Trump book to reveal letters with Kim

New Trump book to reveal letters with Kim The personal relationship between Trump and Kim has been a key driver of recent diplomacy between Washington and Pyongyang. (AFP photo) SEOUL: Kim Jong Un said his relationship with Donald Trump was like a "fantasy film", according to the publishers of a new book on the US president set to unveil 25 private letters exchanged between the two leaders. The relationship between the pair has been a key driver of recent diplomacy between Washington and Pyongyang, veering from mutual insults and threats of war to a declaration of love from Mr Trump. Investigative journalist Bob Woodward obtained messages between the two leaders "that have not been public before" for his upcoming book, according to Simon & Schuster. In the letters, "Kim describes the ...
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Indian, Nepalese prime ministers talk amid border dispute
23Aug By desk teamNo Comments
World

Indian, Nepalese prime ministers talk amid border dispute

NEW DELHI - The prime ministers of India and Nepal spoke over the phone on Saturday to try to ease bilateral tensions that have existed since a border dispute erupted between the two countries in May. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a call from his Nepalese counterpart, K. P. Sharma Oli, greeting India on its Independence Day and its recent election as a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, a statement by India’s External Affairs Ministry said. The border dispute between the countries began over India’s inauguration in May of a Himalayan link road built in a disputed region that lies at a strategic three-way junction with Tibet and China. “Prime Minister Oli appreciated Prime Minister Modi’s renewed priority to neighbourhood as spelt out in today’s Independenc
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US health chief arrives in Taiwan on trip condemned by China
23Aug By desk teamNo Comments
World

US health chief arrives in Taiwan on trip condemned by China

US health chief arrives in Taiwan on trip condemned by China The US plane carrying US Health Secretary Alex Azar on board, lands at Sungshan Airport in Taipei on Sunday. (AFP photo) TAIPEI: US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar arrived in Taiwan on Sunday as the highest-level US official to visit in four decades, a trip condemned by China which claims the island as its own, further irritating Sino-US relations. Washington broke off official ties with Taipei in 1979 in favour of Beijing. The Trump administration has made strengthening its support for the democratic island a priority, and boosted arms sales. Beijing, already arguing with Washington over everything from human rights and trade to the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, has threatened unspecified countermeas...
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US, Australia seek new military cooperation in face of China
23Aug By desk teamNo Comments
Singapore, World

US, Australia seek new military cooperation in face of China

US, Australia seek new military cooperation in face of China US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo listens while Australia's Foreign Minister Marise Payne speaks during a press conference. WASHINGTON: The United States and Australia said Tuesday they will expand military cooperation as tensions soar with China, presenting a common front between the allies. Going ahead in Washington with annual talks despite the coronavirus pandemic, Australia's foreign and defense ministers offered clear, if more mildly stated, support for a hawkish shift on China by President Donald Trump's administration. "The United States knows the threats that you and the rest of the free world face. And the United States stands with you in our unbreakable alliance," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the Australian ...
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Abrogating Article 370 empowered Kashmiris: Member of European Parliament
22Aug By Grace TsoiNo Comments
World

Abrogating Article 370 empowered Kashmiris: Member of European Parliament

A Member of European Parliament (MEP), who visited Kashmir last year, said that revocation of Article 370, under which Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) enjoyed a special status, has empowered Kashmiris in multiple ways and has initiated a process of “healing and homecoming”.Maxette Pirbakas, sharing her experience about closely witnessing and monitoring Kashmir since after August 5, 2019, said, “It (revocation of Article 370) has lifted the artificial barrier that has dwelled in the minds of two generations of Kashmiris on the absence of their links to India and initiated a process of healing and homecoming.”Maxette was among a group of Members of European Parliament who visited Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 and interacted with the local people.“The precious hours which I spent in
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Monsoon flood, mudslide kill 15 in India, disaster team sent
22Aug By desk teamNo Comments
World

Monsoon flood, mudslide kill 15 in India, disaster team sent

NEW DELHI - A mudslide triggered by heavy monsoon rain and flooding killed at least 15 people and buried 20 homes of tea plantation workers in southern India on Friday, police said. Twelve people have been rescued, said police officer Eldhose Madhai, adding that more than 50 people were unaccounted for in the region. Kerala state’s top elected official, Pinarayi Vijayan, confirmed 15 deaths and said a 50-member rescue team has been sent to Rajamalai area in Idukki equipped with nighttime equipment for rescue efforts. The Press Trust of India news agency said police and fire service officers were already in the area. Communication links and electricity lines were snapped and a bridge in the area was washed away. The meteorological office issued a red alert with more rain expected in th
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Trump calls for new death sentence for Boston Marathon bomber
22Aug By desk teamNo Comments
World

Trump calls for new death sentence for Boston Marathon bomber

Trump calls for new death sentence for Boston Marathon bomber Djokhar Tsarnaev, 27, was sentenced to death in 2015 for planting two home-made bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon in 2013, killing three people and injuring 264 others. WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump called Sunday for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to be re-sentenced to death after an appeals court overturned the death penalty. "Rarely has anybody deserved the death penalty more than the Boston Bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev," Trump tweeted. "So many lives lost and ruined. The Federal Government must again seek the Death Penalty in a do-over of the original trial. Our Country cannot let the appellate decision stand," he added. Tsarnaev, 27, was sentenced to death in 2015 for planting two homemade...
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