NEW DELHI – The Cabinet Committee on Security on Wednesday decided to rescind the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation visas of Pakistani nationals and suspend the Indus water treaty. The CCS that was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to deliberate on follow-up actions on the audacious attack on tourists at Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam, Kashmir, on Tuesday also decided to withdraw defence staff from Pakistan High Commission and has classified Pakistani diplomats as persona non grata asking them to leave the country within a week. “Pakistani diplomats have been classified as persona non grata and have been asked…
Author: Asia News Network
BANGKOK – Two former senior public prosecutors were jailed by the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases on Tuesday after being found guilty of helping Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya, heir to the Red Bull fortune, initially escape prosecution in a 2012 fatal hit-and-run case. Court Finds Prosecutors Manipulated Evidence The court ruled at 9:30am that Netr Naksuk and Chainarong Saengthong-aram violated Article 172 of the Corruption Prevention and Suppression Act by collaborating to alter witness statements and reduce the reported speed of Vorayuth’s Ferrari in official investigation documents. Chainarong was sentenced to two years in prison. Netr received a…
A fire broke out at the renowned Dhara Dhevi Hotel in Chiang Mai province in the early hours of Wednesday (April 23). Firefighters and rescue teams worked swiftly to contain the flames within a limited area, and there are no initial reports of injuries or fatalities. At around 1:50 a.m., the Ruamjai Chiang Mai Foundation’s radio center received an alert about the fire at the Dhara Dhevi Hotel, located in the Tha Sala Subdistrict of Mueang District, Chiang Mai province. The foundation dispatched a rescue vehicle, along with rescue personnel and volunteers, to the scene. Firefighters were also deployed to…
HO CHI MINH – The High People’s Court in HCM City has reduced Vietnamese real estate tycoon Trương Mỹ Lan’s life sentence to 20 years for fraud, but due to a concurrent death sentence from a separate trial, she faces execution. The court on Monday also upheld her sentences of 12 years for money laundering and eight years for illegal currency transport. Last year, the 69-year-old former chairwoman of Vạn Thịnh Phát group appealed a life sentence for appropriating over VNĐ30 trillion (US$1.18 billion) from bondholders, with widespread financial fallout affecting at least 42,000 victims. In a separate trial in…
BEIJING – The world’s first humanoid robot half-marathon, with 20 robots running alongside thousands of human participants, was held in Beijing on Saturday, but it was just the starting gun for China’s burgeoning robotics industry, according to executives and experts. The marathon, despite some imperfect performances like an occasional stumble, proved that China’s humanoid robots are moving from flashy laboratory demos to real-world scenarios. In the shadow of the United States’ recent tariff hikes, China’s advances in artificial intelligence and robotics may stand out as a potent counterstrike, they added. In the 21-kilometer half-marathon, which tested the physical limits of…
At least 28 tourists are feared killed and many others injured in a targeted terrorist attack in Pahalgam area of South Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Tuesday, reports said. Unofficial reports have put the number of fatalities at 28, but officials have not yet confirmed the number of deaths or injuries. Unofficial figures remain conflicting. Medical authorities have released a list of 16 confirmed dead so far. Reports indicate that two foreign nationals were among the tourists killed in the attack. The attack occurred during the India visit of US Vice-President JD Vance. The J&K Police has so far only reposted…
ISLAMABAD – “I express my closeness to the sufferings […] of all the Israeli people and the Palestinian people. I appeal to the warring parties: call a ceasefire, release the hostages and come to the aid of a starving people that aspires to a future of peace,” Pope Francis’s Easter message read, his last speech before he passed away on Monday. Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic church, was 88, and had suffered a serious bout of double pneumonia this year, but his death came as a shock after he had been driven around St…
DHAKA – Bangladesh has demanded $4.52 billion from Pakistan as its share of pre-1971 assets, along with a formal apology for the genocide committed against Bangladeshis by the Pakistan military. The assets include foreign aid, unpaid provident funds, savings instruments, and $200 million given by international donors for the 1970 cyclone, said Foreign Secretary Jashim Uddin after a bilateral consultation with Pakistan Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch in Dhaka yesterday. Amna led the Pakistan side at the 6th foreign secretary-level bilateral meeting. The previous one was held 15 years ago. Baloch also called on Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus and Foreign…
BEIJING – President Xi Jinping arrived in Beijing on Friday afternoon as he wrapped up his first overseas trip of this year in which he made state visits to Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia. During the visits, China and the three neighboring countries reached consensuses in a wide range of areas including politics and economic cooperation, as evidenced by the signing of a total of more than 100 cooperation documents. As the global landscape enters a critical period, the trip by the Chinese head of state has sent a clear message of regional countries’ commitment to building their common home through…
SEOUL – South Korea’s military has come under fire for lax discipline following a series of major accidents in recent months, including the latest involving the Air Force’s accidental dropping of two gun pods from a KA-1 light attack aircraft during training on Friday. The series of incidents came amid a leadership vacuum in the military that began in December, prompting security concerns due to signs of a weakened defense posture. Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and several other key unit commanders were arrested and have been detained for their alleged roles in ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol’s botched martial law…