The Chinese Embassy has confirmed its readiness to collaborate with the Thai government on the inspection into the collapse of the State Audit Office building in Bangkok on Friday due to an earthquake. Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul met with Chinese Ambassador Han Zhiqiang and Chinese disaster-management experts to discuss the incident on Sunday. The meeting followed the collapse of the building, located in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district, which was under construction. The collapse on Friday afternoon was caused by an earthquake centred in Mandalay, Myanmar. The winning bidder of the project exceeding 1 billion baht in value was a joint venture…
Author: Asia News Network
A powerful earthquake killed at least 144 people across Myanmar and Thailand on Friday, toppling buildings and bridges and trapping over 80 workers in an under-construction skyscraper in Bangkok. The shallow 7.7-magnitude tremor hit northwest of the city of Sagaing in central Myanmar, and was followed minutes later by a 6.4-magnitude aftershock. The quake’s devastation prompted a rare request for international aid from Myanmar’s isolated military junta, which has lost swathes of territory to armed groups. A state of emergency was declared across the six worst-affected regions. At least 144 people in Myanmar were killed and 732 injured by a…
MANILA – Six alleged foreign spies arrested last week on Grande Island in Subic Bay pretended to be fishermen transporting bait while monitoring the movement of naval ships using high-tech drones, the National Bureau of Investigation said on Wednesday. The bureau presented to the media the six foreigners—five Chinese and one Cambodian—who were taken into custody on March 19 over supposed espionage activities in Subic Bay. Their Filipino bodyguard was also arrested. “[I]n our surveillance, we observed that these personalities were there on the island in the guise of recreational fishers … We also noticed that they were flying drones…
TOKYO – The government will consider “all options” as it formulates a response to the 25% tariffs being slapped on auto imports to the United States, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Thursday. “We’ll need to think about an appropriate response,” Ishiba said at the House of Councillors Budget Committee, after U.S. President Donald Trump had announced the duty would be placed on auto imports, including from Japan, early next month. “Naturally, all options will be subject to consideration.” Ishiba said he had instructed relevant Cabinet ministers to lobby the U.S. side for exemptions to the tariffs, examine the levies’ possible…
BEIJING – Zhang Yiming, founder of Chinese tech heavyweight ByteDance, has become China’s richest person for the first time, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Zhang’s personal wealth has reached $57.5 billion, surpassing Zhong Shanshan, founder of bottled water company Nongfu Spring and Tencent Chairman and CEO Ma Huateng. His wealth has jumped by more than $10 billion after Bloomberg analyzed the valuations from investors. The index also showed that Zhang now ranks as Asia’s third richest person. Zhang, 41, stepped down as CEO of ByteDance, the parent company of short-video app TikTok in 2021, with a focus on long-term…
SEOUL – Arrangements are currently being made by Pyongyang and Moscow for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s visit to Russia by the end of the year, local media reported Thursday, citing a Russian state-run news agency. Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said that on top of preparations for Kim’s Moscow visit, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Pyongyang is also being arranged, according to Tass. If the visit materializes, it would mark the first meeting between Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin since June last year. Last year’s summit was held in Pyongyang. At the time, Putin expressed…
The case of more than 4.4 billion baht in promissory notes (PN notes) linked to Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was brought up during a non-confidence debate in Parliament on Monday by Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn, an MP of the People’s Party (PPLE). Wiroj alleged that the transaction may constitute a concealed legal act and could amount to at least 218.7 million baht in tax evasion. The declaration of assets and liabilities submitted by Paetongtarn upon assuming office as prime minister in 2024 included nine PN notes held by family members. Wiroj said five individuals involved in the transaction should be liable for…
SEOUL – How to respond to the age of artificial intelligence has become a key talking point in South Korean politics, with potential presidential frontrunners presenting plans for addressing anxiety associated with AI. Han Dong-hoon, the former chair of the People Power Party, held a talk at a hotel in Seoul on Monday and said the changes brought on by the looming AI avalanche would be as sweeping as the industrial revolution was in the 19th century. “The role of politics in the age of AI is to address the anxiety that people have about AI, like digital sex crimes…
MANILA – The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor has submitted the initial set of evidence in the crimes against humanity case against former President Rodrigo Duterte. Based on a three-page document from the ICC website, Prosecutor Karim Khan’s office has sent 181 pieces of evidence to Duterte’s defense team as of March 21. The document states that these items were “organized under Pre-Confirmation INCRIM package 001,” which remains confidential and is not publicly accessible. READ: Duterte’s ICC arrest: Separating fact from lies “These items comprise the material cited in the Warrant of Arrest for Mr Rodrigo Roa Duterte,” it read.…
SINGAPORE – There has been a spike in the number of young people locked up in Changi Prison for their involvement in secret society activities, under a law that allows detention without trial. Singapore Prison Service (SPS) figures show that 65 individuals aged 29 or younger were in detention under the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act (CLTPA) as at Dec 31, 2024. They included eight teenagers. There were 46 detainees aged 29 or younger in 2023, and 45 in 2022. In all three years, the large majority of inmates were detained for their involvement in secret society activities. CLTPA is…