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‘They want change’: Opposition parties win big in Thailand election on promises of reform

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:49:22 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Ballots tallied Monday showed voters in Thailand wanted change after nine years under a former general who took power in a coup, with the main opposition parties easily besting other contenders in the general election.The opposition Move Forward Party outperformed even optimistic projections and appeared poised to capture almost all 33 House seats in the capital Bangkok. Along with the Pheu Thai Party, the favored opposition group, Move Forward campaigned for reform of the military and the monarchy. Move Forward put those issues closer to the heart of its platform, earning a more radical reputation. Its outspoken support for minor reforms of the monarchy, while winning younger voters, antagonized conservatives committed to the royal institution.Incumbent Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who came to power in a 2014 coup, was blamed for a stuttering economy, pandemic response shortcomings and thwarting democratic reforms — a particular sore point with younger voters.“T...

Sudanese fleeing fighting in their homeland face uncertain future, unsure of return

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:49:22 GMT

ASWAN, Egypt (AP) — The café outside Aswan station was full of Sudanese families, surrounded by luggage and waiting for the train to Cairo, the next leg in their arduous journey escaping violence that has torn apart their country and overturned their lives.Aswan, the Egyptian city closest to the border with Sudan, has become a way station for tens of thousands of Sudanese fleeing fighting between Sudan’s military and rival paramilitary force. The displaced arrive exhausted after days on the chaotic roads. Now, they must figure out how to navigate a future that is suddenly uncertain, with no idea when they will be able to return home.At Aswan’s Nasser café, a Sudanese university professor Naglaa al-Khair Ahmed was still stunned by the sudden explosion of violence on April 15, after escalating tensions between Sudan’s two top generals.“We never imagined that verbal skirmishes would end up with war,” she said. “We didn’t expect that a decision (to go to) war was so easy to ...

China's land-sea trade corridor shows strong vitality

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:49:22 GMT

A rail-sea intermodal freight train recently departed from southwest China's Chongqing municipality, running along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor for Qinzhou, south China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. The train carried 100 containers of automobiles, motorcycles and engines, which would be later shipped to destinations in Southeast Asia via Qinzhou Port, writes Liu Hui, People's Daily.During the Chinese Lunar New Year period this year, the year-on-year growth in the number of trains running along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor set a new record.The New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor is a new channel of international trade jointly established by regions in western China and ASEAN members.In September 2017, the first train of a regular sea-rail transit route linking China and Singapore, the former version of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, departed from Chongqing.The southward route took Chongqing as its logistic and operational ...

India cannot suppress the sentiments of Aazadi in Kashmir

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:49:22 GMT

“Repeat a lie often enough and people will believe it.” Joseph GoebbelsThe fallacious statement made by the most celebrated Indian diplomat, Dr. Jaishankar, minister of external affairs, during SCO meeting in Goa on May 5, 2023, that “Jammu-Kashmir Was, Is And Will Always Be India's Integral Part,” deserves some clarification. It also needs to be supplemented by some observations from the Kashmiri perspective, writes World Kashmir Awareness Forum Secretary General Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai. First, the assertion makes a mockery of the United Nations Charter and International Law. Dr. Jaishankar knows it well that his erroneous outburst regarding Kashmir violates the United Nations Security Council resolutions which were agreed upon by both India and Pakistan. Indian official position was articulated by Sir Goplaswamy Ayyangar, Indian delegate to the United Nations at the Security Council on January 15, 1948 that “the question of the future status of Kashmir, whether she should withdraw fro...

Video captures crash at end of high-speed pursuit in Palmdale

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:49:22 GMT

Video captured the dramatic end of a high-speed pursuit Sunday in Palmdale.  It is unclear why the pursuit was initiated, but authorities with California Highway Patrol told KTLA that the chase began in San Bernardino County. The suspect, driving a black Audi, can be seen in the video attempting to avoid a spike strip thrown in the roadway by CHP. The driver veers off the road, quickly loses control of the vehicle and slams into the back of an innocent motorist in a Toyota Rav4 near the intersection of 50th Street East and Avenue N. The hood of the Audi can be seen in the footage flying up and blocking the driver’s view. Both the Audi and the Rav4 travel several more feet before coming to a stop. Video captured the moment a pursuit suspect lost control of his vehicle in Palmdale and crashed into another motorist on May 14, 2023. (Don Luis Meza)A passenger in the pursuit vehicle is then seen getting out of the vehicle, raising his hands and dropping to his knees as CHP offi...

China condena a cadena perpetua a un ciudadano estadounidense acusado de espionaje

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:49:22 GMT

(CNN) — Un ciudadano estadounidense de 78 años fue condenado a cadena perpetua por un tribunal chino acusado de espionaje.John Shing-Wan Leung, también residente permanente en Hong Kong, fue declarado culpable de espionaje y condenado a cadena perpetua este lunes por el Tribunal Popular Intermedio de la ciudad oriental de Suzhou, según un comunicado publicado en la cuenta de redes sociales del tribunal.Leung fue detenido el 15 de abril de 2021 por las autoridades de seguridad del Estado en Suzhou, provincia de Jiangsu, según el breve comunicado, que no ofrecía detalles sobre los cargos que se le imputaban.El tribunal también confiscó bienes personales por valor de 500.000 yuanes (US$ 71.797), añadió el comunicado.China expande su ya amplia ley de contraespionaje. Expertos dicen que las empresas extranjeras deberían estar preocupadasLas autoridades chinas y los medios de comunicación estatales no han revelado anteriormente ninguna información sobre la detención de Leung ni sobr...

El ciclón Mocha azota la costa de Bangladesh y Myanmar

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:49:22 GMT

(CNN) — El ciclón Mocha azotó este domingo la costa entre Cox’s Bazar (Bangladesh) y el municipio de Kyaukpyu (Myanmar), convirtiéndose en uno de los más fuertes registrados en el país, según la Oficina de Coordinación de Asuntos Humanitarios (OCHA) de la ONU en Myanmar.A lo largo del domingo se registraron lluvias torrenciales, marejadas y fuertes vientos en todas las zonas afectadas, con inundaciones en las zonas bajas de Rakhine, sobre todo en Sittwe, la capital del estado, y sus alrededores, según la actualización de la OCHA en Myanmar del domingo.El ciclón Mocha se fortalece en India y se dirige hacia el campo de refugiados más grande del mundoVientos extremadamente fuertes derribaron tendidos eléctricos, arrancado árboles y dañado y destruido casas, dijo la OCHA en Myanmar. Las comunicaciones con las zonas afectadas son limitadas tras los graves daños sufridos por las torres de telecomunicaciones, según la OCHA.Miles de personas pasaron el domingo refugiadas en cen...

Zelenskyy to meet Sunak in surprise London trip

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:49:22 GMT

LONDON — Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with Rishi Sunak in London for “substantive negotiations” Monday, the Ukrainian president said as he arrived in the U.K. capital for a surprise visit.As part of the latest stop in a European tour that has seen Zelenskyy take meetings with leaders in Berlin, Rome and Paris, he will meet with the U.K. prime minister at his Chequers country retreat later Monday. The flurry of diplomatic visits comes as Kyiv attempts to shore up support among Western allies, ahead of a widely expected counteroffensive to help liberate Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine’s east. Both France and Berlin committed more military aid packages during Zelenskyy’s visits over the weekend. “Today — London. The U.K. is a leader when it comes to expanding our capabilities on the ground and in the air,” Zelenskyy tweeted.“I will meet my friend Rishi. We will conduct substantive negotiations face-to-face and in delegations,” he a...

Erdoğan leads the way into 2nd-round clash as rival disappoints in Turkish election

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:49:22 GMT

ISTANBUL — A singing, grinning President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told supporters he was ready to fight a second round in Turkey’s election on May 28, sensing he had the momentum to beat his rival Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who undershot expectations in Sunday’s first round. With 99 percent of ballot boxes opened, Turkey’s Supreme Election Council said on Monday that Erdoğan had won 49.4 percent of the vote, only narrowly shy of the 50 percent needed for an outright win. Kılıçdaroğlu had secured 44.96 percent, disappointing a poll consensus that he had a narrow lead. A veteran electoral campaigner, a grandstanding Erdoğan appeared on a balcony of his AK party headquarters in Ankara with a microphone singing: “We love you so much” to the crowd and praising them for the “feast of democracy” they had just served up. Dismissing the opposition’s claims of foul play, he even predicted the final trickle of results from Sunday’s poll...

Zelenskyy visits UK on European tour seeking military aid

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:49:22 GMT

LONDON (AP) — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was visiting Britain on Monday, as the staunch ally of Ukraine prepares to give more military aid in an effort to change the course of the war.The U.K. government confirmed Zelenskyy’s arrival early Monday and said he would meet with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. It is the fourth European country Zelenskky has visited in the past few days. He made an unannounced visit to Paris on Sunday evening to meet French President Emmanuel Macron, after trips to Germany and Italy, where he met those countries’ leaders and Pope Francis.A message posted Monday on Zelenskyy’s official Telegram Channel said: “Today — London. The UK is leading the way when it comes to expanding our capabilities on the ground and in the air. This cooperation will continue today. I will meet my friend Rishi. We will conduct substantive negotiations face-to-face and in delegations.”Sunak’s office confirmed the two leaders would meet at Chequers. th...