International

Social media giants Facebook, Twitter, Google faced scrutiny over extremist content on their platforms on Friday after video footage of mass shootings in New Zealand was live streamed and widely shared online. Footage of the attacks at two mosques, which left 49 dead in New Zealand's worst-ever mass shooting, was broadcast live to Facebook and then reshared by users on other platforms. Following the shootings, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube all said they were taking action to remove the videos. "Police alerted us to a video on Facebook shortly after the livestream commenced and we quickly removed both the shooter’s Facebook and Instagram accounts and the video," Facebook tweeted. "We're also removing any praise or support for the crime and the shooter or shooters as soon as we’re aware." Twitter said it had "rigorous processes and a dedicated team in place for managing exigent and emergency situations" such as this. "We also cooperate with law enforcement to facilitate their investigations as required," it said. Alphabet Inc's YouTube said: "Please know we are working vigilantly to remove any violent footage." But hours after the attack, copies of the footage were still available on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, as well as Facebook-owned Instagram and WhatsApp. The videos show the gunman driving to one mosque, entering it and shooting randomly at people inside. Reuters was unable to confirm the authenticity of the footage. Britain's interior minister said the companies needed to take more action. "You really need to do more @YouTube @Google @facebook @Twitter to stop violent extremism being promoted on your platforms," minister Sajid Javid wrote on Twitter. "Take some ownership. Enough is enough." Live streaming services have become a central component of social media companies' growth strategy in recent years, but they are also increasingly exploited by some users to livestream offensive and violent content. In 2017, a father in Thailand broadcast himself killing his daughter on Facebook Live. After more than a day, and 370,000 views, Facebook removed the video. That year, a video of a man shooting and killing another in Cleveland also shocked viewers.

* 49 dead, more than 40 wounded * Mass shootings livestreamed online * NZ chosen as it represents "kindness, compassion" -PM * Trump denounces "horrible massacre" A gunman shot dead 49 people and wounded more than 40 at two New Zealand mosques on Friday, some as they were kneeling at prayer, livestreaming online some of the killings in what Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called an assault on the nation's values. The gunman broadcast footage of the attack on one mosque in the city of Christchurch on Facebook, mirroring the carnage played out in video games, after publishing a "manifesto" in which he denounced immigrants, calling them "invaders". The video footage widely circulated on social media, apparently taken by a gunman and posted live online as the attack unfolded, showed him driving to a mosque, entering it and shooting randomly at people inside. Worshippers, possibly dead or wounded, lay huddled on the floor, the video showed. Reuters was unable to confirm the authenticity of the footage. It was the worst ever mass killing in New Zealand and the country raised its security threat level to the highest, Ardern said, adding, "This can now only be described as a terrorist attack." Police said three people were in custody including one man in his late 20s who had been charged with murder. He will appear in court on Saturday. Police have identified none of the suspects. "We were not chosen for this act of violence because we condone racism, because we are enclave for extremism," Ardern said in a national address. "We were chosen for the fact that we are none of these things. It was because we represent diversity, kindness, compassion, a home for those who share our values. "You have chosen us but we utterly reject and condemn you." Police Commissioner Mike Bush said 49 people had been killed. Health authorities said 48 people were being treated for gunshot wounds, including young children. Leaders around the world expressed sorrow and disgust at the attacks, with some deploring the demonisation of Muslims. Police cordon off the area in front of the Masjid al Noor mosque after a shooting incident in Christchurch Police officers cordoning a street near the mosque after a firing incident in Christchurch US President Donald Trump condemned the "horrible massacre" in what the White House called a "vicious act of hate". The gunman's manifesto praised Trump as "a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose". The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. One man who said he was at the Al Noor mosque told media the gunman was white, blond and wearing a helmet and a bulletproof vest. The man burst into the mosque as worshippers were kneeling for prayers. "He had a big gun...He came and started shooting everyone in the mosque, everywhere," said the man, Ahmad Al-Mahmoud. He said he and others escaped by breaking through a glass door. Forty-one people were killed at the Al Noor mosque, seven at a mosque in the Linwood neighbourhood and one died in hospital, police said. Hospitals said children were among the victims. The visiting Bangladesh cricket team was arriving for prayers at one of the mosques when the shooting started but all members were safe, a team coach told Reuters. Three Bangladeshis were among the dead and one was missing, the consulate said. Shortly before the attack began, an anonymous post on the discussion site 8chan, known for a wide range of content including hate speech, said the writer was going to "carry out an attack against the invaders” and included links to a Facebook livestream, in which the shooting appeared, and a manifesto. The manifesto cited "white genocide", a term typically used by racist groups to refer to immigration and the growth of minority populations, as his motivation. The Facebook link directed users to the page of a user called brenton.tarrant.9. A Twitter account with the handle @brentontarrant posted on Wednesday images of a rifle and other military gear decorated with names and messages connected to white nationalism. What looked like the same weapons appeared in the livestream of the mosque attack on Friday. Facebook said it had deleted the gunman's accounts "shortly after the livestream commenced" after being alerted by police. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube all said they had taken steps to remove copies of the videos. It was not immediately clear if the attacks at the two mosques were carried out by the same man. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said one of the men in custody was Australian. All mosques in New Zealand had been asked to shut their doors and post armed guards, police said, adding they were not actively looking for any other "identified suspects". Political and Islamic leaders across Asia and the Middle East condemned the killings and voiced concern over the targeting of Muslims. "I blame these increasing terror attacks on the current Islamophobia post-9/11," Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan posted on social media. "1.3 billion Muslims have collectively been blamed for any act of terror." United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated "the urgency of working better together globally to counter Islamophobia and eliminate intolerance and violent extremism in all its forms," a spokesman said. Six Indonesians had been inside one of the mosques, with three managing to escape and three unaccounted for, its foreign minister said. Afghanistan's ambassador said three Afghans had been wounded. Two Malaysians were wounded, their foreign ministry said. Muslims account for just over 1 percent of New Zealand's population, a 2013 census showed. The online footage, which appeared to have been captured on a camera strapped to a gunman's head, showed him driving as music played in his vehicle. After parking, he took two guns and walked a short distance to the mosque where he opened fire. Over the course of five minutes, he repeatedly shot worshippers, leaving more than a dozen bodies in one room alone. He returned to the car during that period to change guns, and went back to the mosque to shoot anyone showing signs of life. One man, with blood still on his shirt, said in a television interview that he hid from a gunman under a bench and prayed that he would run out of bullets. "I was just praying to God and hoping our God, please, let this guy stop," Mahmood Nazeer told TVNZ. "The firing went on and on. One person with us had a bullet in her arm. When the firing stopped, I looked over the fence, there was one guy, changing his gun." The video shows the gunman then driving off at high speed and firing from his car. Another video, taken by someone else, showed police apprehending a gunman on a pavement by a road. Police said improvised explosive devices were found. The gunman's video had shown red petrol canisters in the back of his car, along with weapons. Violent crime is rare in New Zealand and police do not usually carry guns. Before Friday, New Zealand's worst mass shooting was in 1990 when a gun-mad loner killed 13 men, women and children in a 24-hour rampage in the tiny seaside village of Aramoana. He was killed by police.

In the world’s coldest capital, many burn coal and plastic just to survive temperatures as low as -40 degrees – but warmth comes at a price: deadly pollution makes Ulaanbataar’s air too toxic for children to breathe, leaving parents little choice but to evacuate them to the countryside.  This exodus is a stark warning of the future for urban areas in much of Asia, where scenes of citizens in anti-pollution masks against a backdrop of brown skies are becoming routine, rather than apocalyptic.  Ulaanbaatar is one of the most polluted cities on the planet, alongside New Delhi, Dhaka, Kabul, and Beijing. It regularly exceeds World Health Organisation recommendations for air quality even as experts warn of disastrous consequences, particularly for children, including stunted development, chronic illness, and in some cases death. Erdene-Bat Naranchimeg watched helplessly as her daughter Amina battled illness virtually from birth, her immune system handicapped by the smog-choked air in Mongolia’s capital. “We would constantly be in and out of the hospital,” Naranchimeg told AFP, adding that Amina contracted pneumonia twice at the age of two, requiring several rounds of antibiotics.  This is not a unique case in a city where winter temperatures plunge towards uninhabitable, particularly in the districts that rural workers moved to in search of a better life. Here row upon row of the traditional tents – known as gers – are warmed by coal, or any other flammable material available. The resulting thick black smoke shoots out in plumes, blanketing surrounding areas in a film of smog that makes visibility so poor it can be hard to see even a few metres ahead.  Hospitals are packed and young children are vulnerable, common colds can quickly escalate into life-threatening illness. The situation was so bad that doctors told Naranchimeg the only solution was to send her little girl to the clean air of the countryside.  Now aged five, Amina is thriving. She lives with her grandparents in Bornuur Sum, a village 135km away from the capital.  “She hasn’t been sick since she started living here,” said Naranchimeg, who makes the three-hour round trip to see Amina every week.  “It was very difficult in the first few months,” she said. “We used to cry when we talked on the phone.”  But like many parents in Ulaanbaatar, she felt the move was the only way to protect her child. The levels of PM2.5 – tiny and harmful particles – in Ulaanbaatar reached 3,320 in January, 133 times what the World Health Organisation (WHO) considers safe.  The effects are terrible for adults but children are even more at risk, in part because they breathe faster, taking in more air and pollutants.  As they are smaller, children are also closer to the ground, where some pollutants concentrate, and their still-developing lungs, brains, and other key organs are more vulnerable to damage.  Effects to prolonged exposure range from persistent infections and asthma to slowed lung and brain development. The risks apply in utero, too, because gases and fine particles can enter a mother’s bloodstream and placenta, causing miscarriage, birth defects and low birth weights, which can also affect a child for the rest of their lives.  Researchers are now investigating whether pollution, like exposure to tobacco smoke, has health effects that could even be passed down to the next generation. Buyan-Ulzii Badamkhand and her husband need to stay in capital for work, but they have decided to send their two-year-old son Temuulen more than 1,000km away.  The 35-year-old mother-of-three struggled with the decision, even moving from one ger district to another in the hope her son’s health would improve.  But successive bouts of illness, including bronchitis that lasted a whole year, finally convinced her to send Temuulen to his grandparents.  Hours after he arrived, she called her mother-in-law to discuss her son’s medicines.  “But my mother-in-law asked me ‘does he still need medicine? He isn’t coughing anymore,” she said.  “I tell myself that it doesn’t matter that I miss him and who raises him, as long as he is healthy, I am content.” Respiratory problems are the most obvious effect of air pollution, but research suggests dirty air can also put children at greater risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease later in life. And the WHO links it to leukaemia and behavioural disorders.  When air pollution peaks in winter, Ulaanbaatar’s playgrounds empty and those who are able to are increasingly travelling abroad to wait out the smog.  In desperation, Luvsangombo Chinchuluun, a civil society activist, borrowed money to take her granddaughter to Thailand for all of January.  “We can’t let her play outside (in Ulaanbaatar) because of the air pollution, so we decided to leave,” she said.  The persistent smog has caused tensions in the city, with those living in wealthier areas blaming the ger residents for the pollution and even calling for the tent districts to be cleared. But the ger residents say coal is all they can afford.  “People come to the capital because they need sustainable income,” said Dorjdagva Adiyasuren, a 54-year-old mother of six.  “It’s not their fault,” she added.  In a bid to tackle the problem, the local government banned domestic migration in 2017, and a ban on burning coal comes into force from May.  But it is unclear whether the moves will be enough to make a difference.  For Naranchimeg, the problems are serious enough to make her consider whether she wants more children.   She explained: “Now, I am terribly afraid of to give birth again. It is risky to carry a child and what will happen to the child after it is born in this amount of pollution?”

Kazakh police on Sunday arrested an activist who has campaigned for victims of China's re-education drive in Xinjiang, sealing his informal group's office and taking its computers, his civil partner said. Serikjan Bilash, who has led a loud awareness drive centred on ethnic Kazakh victims of China's crackdown in the region, was arrested in Kazakhstan's largest city Almaty and flown to the capital Astana, his partner told AFP.  Bilash appeared on Sunday in a video filmed by Kazakh police confirming he was facing charges of inciting hatred, although it was not immediately clear what motivated the charges.  "They took my husband in the early hours of Sunday and transferred him by plane to Astana. It seems to be very serious," Bilash's partner Leila Adiljan said. In the video statement, Bilash confirmed he was in police custody in Astana and had not been taken "by either the Chinese or Chinese spies". An AFP correspondent saw a group of Kazakh law enforcement officers leave the office used by Bilash's Ata-Jurt rights group with black plastic bags on Sunday.  The policemen refused to comment but office volunteers said the bags contained computers, cameras and hard drives with information about people detained in Xinjiang. The office was later sealed. Bilash has hosted regular press conferences at the location, highlighting the plight of Kazakhs and other majority-Muslim groups in Xinjiang, where China is pursuing its "re-education" campaign as part of what it calls an anti-separatist drive.  Oil-rich Kazakhstan's government is a Beijing ally that positions itself as "the buckle" in China's trillion-dollar Belt and Road trade and investment agenda, a strategy for infrastructure and development projects throughout Asia, Europe and Africa. Kazakhstan's foreign ministry has entered into dialogue with Beijing over Kazakhs in Xinjiang, but only mentioned the re-education camps publicly for the first time earlier this month.  More than a million people from Muslim minorities -- mostly ethnic Uighurs, but also Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and Hui -- are being held in internment centres across Xinjiang, according to a United Nations panel of experts.

A French tourist arrested in Myanmar for flying a drone near parliament has avoided a lengthy prison sentence and will be deported after being released from jail yesterday. Arthur Desclaux, 27, was detained on February 7 in the capital Naypyidaw and was sentenced to a month in prison under an import-export law forbidding the use of banned goods brought in from abroad without a licence. The Frenchman denied any knowledge of Myanmar’s strict regulations for the use of drones around religious and government sites. On his release yesterday, Desclaux was charged again under the immigration and aircraft laws - the former holding a possible sentence of up to three years. But the judge chose to hand out two fines totalling 150,000 kyat ($100) instead of sending Desclaux back to prison. “He is a foreigner, not familiar with the laws in Myanmar and he has also already been sentenced under the import-export law,” Judge Sulab Yadanar Oo told the court. “That’s why he will only receive a light sentence under these charges.” It remains unclear why he was flying the drone. Desclaux was later taken to the immigration department before his expected deportation from the country. In 2017 a crew making a documentary for Turkish broadcaster TRT was also detained after flying a drone outside the vast parliamentary complex. They confessed, expecting to receive a fine, but were sentenced to two months in prison under the aircraft act.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump arrived in Hanoi yesterday, ahead of a second summit closely watched for concrete steps to dismantle Pyongyang’s nuclear programme.  After an initial historic meeting in Singapore in June that produced only a vague statement about denuclearisation, analysts say the second date must deliver more in the way of tangible progress.  The summit itself is shrouded in secrecy and there was still no official word even on the venue when Trump touched down in Air Force One late yesterday. The two leaders were expected to have an informal dinner today before more formal talks tomorrow. Trump made no comment to reporters on his aircraft but had previously tweeted his hopes for a “very productive” meeting, reiterating that North Korea could enjoy economic riches if it gave up its nuclear weapons.  “With complete Denuclearisation, North Korea will rapidly become an Economic Powerhouse,” tweeted Trump. “Without it, just more of the same.”  “Chairman Kim will make a wise decision!”  Relations between the two mercurial leaders have undergone a dramatic turnaround, from flinging personal insults and threats of destruction to Trump declaring he had fallen “in love” with Kim through an exchange of letters. But many North Korea watchers dismissed the Singapore summit as political theatre that failed to produce a concrete roadmap to denuclearisation and stressed the Hanoi meeting must deliver more.  “The window for diplomatic progress with North Korea will not remain open indefinitely. The second summit ... must emphasise substance over pageantry,” said Kelsey Davenport from the Arms Control Association. Even so, Trump appeared to lower US demands for Pyongyang in the run-up to the summit, repeatedly saying there was no rush to rid the North of its arsenal as long as missile and nuclear tests stopped.  “I don’t want to rush anybody. I just don’t want testing. As long as there’s no testing, we’re happy,” Trump said at the weekend.  He also hinted more summits could follow the Hanoi meeting, reducing expectations of a dramatic breakthrough in the Vietnamese capital.   In contrast to Trump’s direct route to the summit, Kim embarked on a two-and-a-half day, 4,000km odyssey through China by train.  He was greeted at the normally sleepy Vietnamese border station of Dong Dang early yesterday by a military guard of honour in pristine white uniforms, who presented arms as he strolled down the red carpet waving and grinning, surrounded by a phalanx of aides and security personnel.  Student Nguyen Thu Uyen who handed Kim flowers on his arrival said meeting the leader was her “most memorable” moment.  “Kim Jong-un is very friendly and especially attractive,” she said, after Kim became the first North Korean leader to visit fellow one-party state Vietnam since his grandfather Kim Il-sung in 1964.  Kim was greeted in Hanoi by cheering crowds and after a few hours’ rest at his hotel, made a 50-minute jaunt to the North Korean embassy – echoing the summit in Singapore, where he took in the sights on an unscheduled sortie.  Thousands of people also gathered along the route as Trump drove in from the airport, many recording the passing motorcade on their cellphones. “Tremendous crowds, and so much love!” the US president tweeted.  Businessman Le Dinh Hung stood outside the JW Marriott hotel where Trump was staying with a large painting of the US president he wanted to give to him. “I have a dream of meeting him one day,” he told AFP. “As Mr Trump always said, ‘dream bigger’.” Diplomatic progress since Singapore has stalled over the definition of denuclearisation, with Stephen Biegun, the US special representative for North Korea, admitting there was no “shared agreement” of what that means.  The United States has repeatedly demanded the North give up its nuclear arsenal in a final, fully verifiable way. But Pyongyang sees denuclearisation more broadly, seeking an end to sanctions and what it sees as US threats – usually taken to include the American military presence in South Korea, and sometimes in the wider region.  Pyongyang insists it has already taken major steps, by not testing ballistic missiles or nuclear weapons for more than a year, and blowing up the entrances to its atomic test site.  The North also wants increased security guarantees, which could come in the form of a declaration of an end to the 1950-53 Korean War — that culminated with an armistice instead of a full peace treaty — or opening liaison offices.  Opening liaison offices would signal the first stage of normalising US-North Korean relations, said Go Myong-hyun of the Asan Institute of Policy Studies, and would be an ideal “politically symbolic step” rather than prematurely agreeing to sanctions relief.  Harry Kazianis of the Center for the National Interest said: “Nothing would be worse than for either side to come out of the meeting as if it was a waste of time.”

Young people line up to take selfies with him. His hashtags are trending. And when billionaire Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit promises an end to Thailand’s military “dictatorship”, supporters of his Future Forward Party roar their approval. The 40-year-old heir to an auto parts fortune is a political newcomer and social media star who has energised young voters ahead of March 24 elections, the first since a coup in 2014. “I urge our ‘Futuristas’ to campaign against the future in which the junta leader comes back as a prime minister,” Thanathorn said at a rally last week. His message has drawn the attention of police, who want to prosecute him under the Computer Crime Act for criticising the junta in a Facebook video in June. If found guilty of uploading false information, he could face up to five years in prison. He denies wrongdoing, and will meet today with prosecutors who will decide whether to take the case to court. Thanathorn also faces a lobbyist’s petition asking the Election Commission to disqualify him as a candidate. These moves, he said, are a sign that his left-wing party is worrying those who want to see the military retain broad power. “It’s fear. Nobody thought we’d come this far. This is dictatorship’s last struggle for life,” he said. Posts shared on social media have cast him as anti-royalist, a serious accusation in a country where criticism of the king is against the law. Thanathorn calls it a smear campaign. “It’s clear we’ll be playing a significant role after the election. The only way to undermine us is to destroy our credibility by means of law, fake news and hate speech,” he said. He promises a new kind of politics to heal the divisions of the past 15 years and reduce the role of the military. The challenge for Thanathorn – nicknamed “Daddy” on social media – will be to turn his online popularity into votes. The election is broadly seen as a race between the military-backed royalist prime minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, and supporters of exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was overthrown in a 2006 coup. Parties loyal to Thaksin have won every election since 2001, but after he was ousted, successive governments have been removed by courts or coups, most recently in the 2014 military takeover. Thai opinion polls can be unreliable, but a February 20-23 survey showed Future Forward topping a list of favoured parties with 37.8 percent support, compared to 7.5 percent a month ago. The February poll conducted by Bansomdej University surveyed 1,152 people in Bangkok, with a 3% margin of error. Other polls had Future Forward’s support at below 10% and lagging the pro-Thaksin Pheu Thai party or the Palang Pracharat party, with junta leader Prayuth as its candidate. A former student activist, Thanathorn took over his late father’s Thai Summit Group at age 23. Before entering politics, he was known for running ultra-marathons in the Arctic and Sahara, and trekking in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains. He has been embraced by social-media savvy youth, many of them politicised in a way rarely seen since state forces crushed student pro-democracy movements in the 1970s. About 14% of the electorate, or 7mn people, are eligible to vote for the first time next month. They have lived through Thailand’s “colour wars”, with anti-Thaksin Yellow Shirt protesters and the ex-premier’s loyalist Red Shirts alternatively paralysing Bangkok for weeks at a time. Last week, “#SaveThanathorn” topped Thai-language Twitter after police said they would prosecute him for cyber crimes. Another hashtag, “#FahLovesDaddy”, had fans jokingly comparing the candidate to a soap opera character “Daddy,” a charismatic businessman pursued by a female protagonist, Fah. He tweeted back “#DaddyAsksFah” to urge supporters to vote. “He’s speaking the same language as the new generation, in terms of mindset, world view, perception,” said political scientist Titipol Phakdeewanich of Ubon Ratchathani University. Thanathorn said he was confident his party could send at least 70 members to the 500-member House of Representatives. That could be enough to influence a coalition against military rule, analysts said, even if his candidacy is in doubt. On Monday, a lobbyist petitioned election officials to disqualify Thanathorn, alleging he had misled voters in a party biography that described him as chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries, when he in fact had led a provincial chapter. Thanathorn said the “technical error” was corrected. Another pro-Thaksin party, Thai Raksa Chart, faces possible dissolution after it nominated the king’s sister, Princess Ubolratana, as its candidate for prime minister. “With one month left, who knows what magic tricks the junta still has up their sleeves?” Thanathorn said. “If the junta manages to destroy both Thai Raksa Chart and Future Forward, it’s game over for democracy”.

When Lee Parry heard that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump would meet in Hanoi, he knew he wanted to be part of the action and soon booked a trip. He joined the ‘Trump-Kim Vietnam Summit Tour’ being put on this week by a travel company whose slogan offers “destinations your mother would rather you stayed away from” – including North Korea. The trip to the Vietnamese capital is not exactly a daring one, but a chance for visitors to be part of the flurry surrounding Trump and Kim’s second meeting this week. “It’s a lot better than seeing it on Twitter or Facebook,” said Parry, 36, a British student living in China. “To be at the forefront of that and to get to see it in the flesh was too good to pass up.” On the agenda are several well-trodden stops on the Hanoi tourist trail: The Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, the war museum and the former “Hanoi Hilton” jail where American prisoners of war including John McCain were held during the Vietnam War. Also included are some summit-specific sites such as the Melia Hotel, where Kim is expected to stay. “If it ends up being successful, if it ends up being a good summit, we’ve witnessed history in the making,” said Young Pioneer Tours (YPT) director Gareth Johnson. YPT is the firm that took US student Otto Warmbier to North Korea, where he was convicted of subversive activities for trying to steal a propaganda poster and detained for 18 months, dying shortly after being released. Kim arrived in Hanoi yesterday following a marathon 4,000km (2,500-mile) journey through China on his trademark olive green armoured train. The capital’s streets were lined with armed soldiers and military vehicles – highly unusual for a foreign leader’s visit to Vietnam. Hanoi’s historic downtown was also packed with well-wishers who like the YPT group were eager to witness history. For some, it was a repeat affair. “I went to Singapore for the first summit and now I’m here because I’m just wishing for the best. I hope they make a good connection here,” said a South Korean tourist, waving the Vietnamese flag. The city has been swarming with press in recent days with some 2,600 journalists registered to cover the summit today and tomorrow. Joining the media frenzy was part of the appeal for Neel Sapre, an Indian sales manager on the tour. “It was awesome, I’ve never seen so many press people at one location so it was fun being amongst the hype,” he told AFP in Lenin Square, beneath a statue of the Soviet revolutionary. Vietnam’s national railway service got in on the action too, offering all journalists registered to cover the summit free train travel until the end of March. Also seeking to make the most of the event, Vietnam will unveil a “special stamp collection” yesterday to mark the Hanoi summit.

Vietnam is preparing for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to arrive by train for his summit in Hanoi next week with US President Donald Trump, two sources with direct knowledge of security and logistics planning told Reuters yesterday. It could take Kim at least two and a half days to travel the thousands of kilometres through China by train, from the North Korean capital of Pyongyang to Vietnam, meaning he would have to set off later this week in time for his planned Feb 25 arrival. Kim’s train will stop at the Vietnamese border station of Dong Dang, where he will disembark and drive 170km to Hanoi by car, the sources said. Trump and Kim will meet in the Vietnamese capital on Feb 27-28, eight months after a historic summit in Singapore in June — the first between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader — at which they pledged to work towards the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. Negotiations have made little headway since then and there is growing expectation that this time they need to reach a more specific agreement. Separately, three other sources with direct knowledge of the summit preparations told Reuters the preferred location for the meeting between the leaders is the Government Guesthouse, a colonial-era government building in central Hanoi. All five sources who spoke to Reuters said the plans were subject to change. The sources were not authorised to speak to the media because of the sensitivities surround the secretive North Korean leader’s travel plans. Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told the summit organising committee on Tuesday that security during the summit was “top priority”, Vietnam’s government said on its website. The Metropole Hotel, opposite the Government Guesthouse, will be a backup location for the summit, two of the sources said. On Saturday, a Reuters witness saw Kim Jong-un’s close aide, Kim Chang-son, visiting the Government Guesthouse and the Metropole and Melia hotels in the centre of the capital. Kim could possibly stay in the Melia hotel during his visit, one of the sources said. Asked whether Kim would meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on his way through the country, or for any other details of the trip, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said he was unaware of the situation. “China and North Korea have a tradition of high-level mutual visits. As for the situation you mentioned, I have no grasp of it,” Geng told a daily news briefing. He did not elaborate. Travel by train has been a favourite mode of transport for Kim Jong-un, and his father, Kim Jong-il, and grandfather, Kim Il-sung. North Korea experts have remarked on how Kim Jong-un’s overseas visits, such as his state visit to China in January, are reminiscent of Kim Il-sung. “(His father) Kim Jong-il was very reclusive. He didn’t like meeting foreign delegations, and he didn’t really enjoy going to foreign countries,” said Thae Yong-ho, North Korea’s former deputy ambassador to Britain, who defected to South Korea in 2016, told media on Tuesday. “But Kim Jong-un is a bit like Kim Il-sung. He really likes overseas activity,” said Thae. Kim’s grandfather, Kim Il-sung, visited Vietnam twice, in 1958 and 1964. In 1958, Kim Il-sung went from Pyongyang to Beijing by plane, then from Beijing to Guangzhou by train, then he appears to have crossed the border from China to Hanoi by plane, South Korean newspaper Kyunghyang Shinmun reported on Tuesday citing archived Chinese media reports. In 1964, Kim Il-sung visited Vietnam using a Vickers Viscount aircraft provided by China that was the personal plane of Mao Zedong’s second-in-command Lin Biao, Kyunghyang reported.

Myanmar set up a committee to discuss reforming the country’s military-drafted constitution yesterday, pitting Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government openly against the powerful armed forces for the first time over the incendiary issue. Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party won a landslide in 2015 elections, but was forced into an uneasy power-sharing agreement with the armed forces. Under a 2008 charter it drafted, the military controls all security ministries and is gifted a quarter of parliamentary seats. That hands the army an effective veto over any constitutional change. Suu Kyi’s party has promised to reform the controversial document. With 2020 polls looming, parliament voted overwhelmingly yesterday to form a cross-party committee to debate reforms of the charter. The main purpose of the “all-inclusive” panel will be to “write a bill to change the 2008 constitution”, deputy speaker and committee chair Tun Tun Hein, an NLD lawmaker, told parliament. The NLD will be allocated 18 out of 45 seats on the panel, the military will have eight and the remainder will be divided between other parties. There has so far been no detail about the specific reforms the discussions would focus on, or the steps ahead once the panel makes its recommendations. But its formation threatens a political showdown with the army, whose bloc of MPs stood up in protest early February when the committee’s formation was first mooted. However, the army chief struck a more conciliatory tone in a rare interview with foreign media last week. “We accept that the constitution needs amendments,” he told Japanese paper Asahi Shimbun. “But the important point is that no amendment should harm (its) essence.” The move by parliament came just a few days after a court handed death sentences to the killers behind the 2017 murder of Muslim lawyer and Suu Kyi adviser Ko Ni. He was leading the charge on constitutional reform when he was shot dead in cold blood, while cradling his grandson. Ko Ni is also credited with Suu Kyi’s circumnavigation of a clause banning anyone married to a foreigner from becoming president. Suu Kyi, whose late husband was British academic Michael Aris, created her current post of state counsellor above the president’s office. Forming the cross-party committee is “very significant”, analyst Khin Zaw Win, director of Yangon-based Tampadipa Institute, said, adding there could be a “reckoning of sorts” approaching between the NLD and army. “It will need a lot of ingenuity and creativity from everyone.”

For those who like to push the cutting edge of style, two of the world’s most talked-about haircuts are now available for free, in Vietnam. In honour of an upcoming summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on February 27-28, a Hanoi barber is offering free haircuts to anyone wanting to copy their distinctive locks. “I feel happy with this haircut because people will think I look like the leader of North Korea,” said nine-year-old To Gia Huy, whose hair had been moulded to perfectly match the slicked-back top and shaved sides of Kim’s unique coiffure. Tuan Duong Beauty Academy is running the promotion to February 28 as thousands of officials and journalists descend on the Vietnamese capital for the second summit between Trump and Kim since their historic first meeting in Singapore last June. “I was doing this for fun only but was surprised at how people have responded,” said Le Tuan Duong, who owns the salon. “I love peace. I hate war so much. So many people in my family have died, so I support this summit very much,” said Duong, who lost two of his uncles during the Vietnam War. Le Phuc Hai, 66, said he was relaxing by a nearby lake when Duong asked if he would like to get his hair cut, and dyed, like Trump’s. Hai agreed, out of curiosity. “I’m not afraid of this bright orange hair colour because after this promotional campaign, the hair salon owner said he would return my hair to normal,” Hai said. “I like Donald Trump’s haircut. It looks great and it fits my age,” said Hai. Although warmly welcomed by some, publicity stunts at the expense of the North Korean leadership have the potential to get hairy. North Korea is very sensitive about anything that could be construed as an insult to the dignity of its “supreme leadership”, a phrase it uses to refer to the ruling Kim family. In 2014, officials from the North Korean embassy in London complained to a barber who had used the phrase “Bad Hair Day?” under a photograph of the portly Kim to offer discounts on haircuts. Huy, the nine-year-old Kim lookalike, said he was happy with his haircut though none of his schoolmates would be able to pull off the look. “No one in my class is as fat as me,” Huy said.

Wielding handmade bamboo baskets and nylon nets, hundreds of people waded thigh-deep into a muddy lake in eastern Cambodia for an annual fish-catching ceremony where only traditional tools are used. The ceremony is held each year in eastern Tboung Khmum province after the crop harvest to commemorate the country’s proud fishing history, said local chief Uch Yoeun. The event – held in Choam Korvean commune, about 250km (155 miles) from the capital Phnom Penh – attracts hundreds of farmers from surrounding villages. They carry weaved baskets of different shapes, eager to try their hand at trapping the freshwater catfish and snakehead fish in the muddy Boeung Kroam lake. “It has been a tradition since our ancestors’ time,” Uch Yoeun said, adding that only one rule applies in this mass fishing event. “We only allow traditional fishing tools to be used.” Authorities guarded Boeung Kroam lake for more than a month before the event – to prevent illegal fishing and ensure there would be enough to catch at event.  It kicked off in the early morning with hundreds of villagers racing to the lake, sporting straw hats and traditional scarves to shield themselves from the blazing sun. The mood was light-hearted and many opted to grill the morning’s catch by the lake over a smouldering fire. But for villagers who had attended the event for several years, the day’s haul proved disappointing. “Before, there were bigger fish,” said Chin Khoung, 50. “Now the fish are small and there’s less (of them).” The Southeast Asian country, which boasts the mighty Mekong river and its many tributaries, is heavily reliant on fish as a major source of protein for its population. About 40% of the population depend on fishing for their livelihoods. But fish stocks have declined in recent years due to hydropower dams built upstream in Cambodia and neighbouring countries, and the increase of illegal fishing methods, said Om Savath, who heads the Fisheries Action Coalition Team (FACT), which promotes sustainable resource management. Using techniques like electrocution, “they can catch a lot of fish in a short time, but it is disastrous in the long term,” Savath said. The fish-catching ceremony in Choam Krovean is important because it helps to “raise awareness in communities about the use of family methods in fishing,” he said.

Leaders of Thailand’s biggest opposition party campaigning yesterday never mentioned ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, whose policies they espouse, nor the princess whose shock candidacy could see its ally banned from the March 24 election. They didn’t need to. Supporters in the northeastern stronghold of the Pheu Thai party are well aware of the complexities of the first general election since a 2014 coup — and are determined to return their party to power despite electoral rules limiting their voting power. “How long have you all waited, how long have you all suffered?” asked Sudarat Keyuraphan, Pheu Thai’s top prime ministerial candidate, asked supporters during a campaign stop in Ubon Ratchathani province. “We all have to wait just a little while, until March 24. That day will be a day of victory for all of us!” she told the cheering crowd. Pheu Thai is the largest of several parties in the election linked to ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and lives in self-exile after a corruption conviction he says was politically motivated. The party and its offshoots retain support among rural farmers and the poor for their social welfare programmes, but they face an uphill battle in the election, with new rules that prevent any one party gaining a big majority. Junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha, who as army chief in 2014 ousted the last civilian government, is also running, as the prime ministerial candidate of a new pro-military party. Pro-Thaksin parties have won every election since 2001, but after Thaksin was ousted their successive governments have been ended either by court rulings or coups, with the most recent military takeover ousting a Pheu Thai government that Thaksin’s sister, Yingluck, had led. After nearly five years in power, the junta is in the process of choosing all 250 members of the Senate, which will elect a prime minister along with the 500-seat House of Representatives, putting pro-military forces at a significant advantage even before election. Supporters of Pheu Thai say the new rules are aimed at ridding the country of Thaksin’s influence once and for all. The party has to distance itself from the former telecommunications tycoon because the law on political parties forbids outsiders from controlling or directing them. But Thaksin’s loyalists in Udon Ratchathani were undeterred. “I think Pheu Thai will win by a landslide, despite what’s happened, and regardless of the military-appointed Senate,” said Kriangsak Lamun, 64. Mathematically, however, Pheu Thai’s chances of regaining power would be reduced even if it is the top vote-getter if one of its allied parties, Thai Raksa Chart, is disqualified. Thai Raksa Chart stunned the nation and electrified supporters on Feb 8 with the surprise nomination of the king’s older sister, Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Barnavadi, as its sole prime ministerial candidate, breaking tradition of royalty shunning politics. The nomination drew a swift rebuke from King Maha Vajiralongkorn, and the princess was disqualified by the Electoral Commission. Now, her nominating party faces a possible ban in a Constitutional Court decision due later this month. Thai Raksa Chart is one of at least three pro-Thaksin parties contesting the elections to help scoop up seats under the complex electoral laws that limit the impact of the largest party. With Pheu Thai likely to be hamstrung by those rules, other pro-Thaksin parties such as Thai Raksa Chart and the Pheu Chart party are intended to gain some of the proportionally awarded seats that favour smaller parties. If Thai Raksa Chart is disqualified, that safety net may disappear — making the headline-grabbing nomination of the princess seem like a miscalculation. Die-hard supporters of Thaksin’s populist policies were mixed in their opinions about Thai Raksa Chart’s recruiting royalty, revered as semi-divine in Thai culture, into politics. Some said they admired the princess as a candidate, while others found it inappropriate. “I don’t think it was a good move ... Royals should not get involved in politics,” said Virat Laddabut, 55, though he said he wouldn’t change his vote. Another voter, Somchai Wongsa, said voters in the rural northeast would vote for pro-Thaksin parties whatever their name. “It doesn’t matter if Thai Raksa Chart is dissolved,” he said. “People here will still vote Pheu Thai. The party is as popular as ever.”

Maldives authorities on Monday detained former strongman president Abdulla Yameen after he was accused of trying to bribe witnesses in his money laundering trial, officials said. The arrest came after a court began a preliminary hearing into allegations that Yameen received nearly $1.5 million in illicit payments just before he lost his re-election bid in September. "Prosecutors said that Yameen had allegedly attempted to bribe witnesses," a court official said. Dozens of the former leader's supporters gathered near a jetty in the capital where the former leader was transferred to a police speed boat that took him to the Maafushi prison after spending four hours in the court house, police said. Many of the key dissidents incarcerated during his rule were held at the same prison. Officials said Yameen strongly denied police allegations that he attempted to bribe or coerce witnesses to change their testimony.  Yameen, who came to power in 2013 and jailed many of his opponents or forced them into exile, had been summoned to the Criminal Court Sunday to formally receive his indictment. He sent his lawyers in his place. The court then scheduled a rushed hearing after prosecutors told judge Ahmed Hailam that Yameen was attempting to interfere with witnesses. Since Yameen's shock election defeat, all dissidents have returned to the Indian Ocean archipelago and most have had their convictions overturned.  During his five-year tenure, Yameen relied heavily on China for political and financial support as he came under international criticism over his dismal human rights record. The nation of 340,000 Sunni Muslims is now heavily in debt to Beijing. Authorities believe millions of dollars allegedly siphoned off by Yameen could be stashed abroad, and have said that talks are underway with foreign entities to repatriate any cash found. The court has already frozen Yameen's local bank accounts holding about $6.5 million, a decision the former leader has contested. Last week, an anti-corruption body came up with a report saying $79 million was embezzled from state-run Maldives Media and Public Relations Corporation during Yameen's tenure. There was no immediate comment from Yameen's legal team on the detention order. The arrest of Yameen came a day after his chief lawyer and former justice minister Azima Shakoor was also charged with embezzlement and helping her boss to launder money.  Maldivian police earlier announced they had evidence linking Yameen and Shakoor to the theft of millions from the country.  The Maldives was on the verge of being slapped with Western-led sanctions before opposition leader Ibrahim Mohamed Solih won an unexpected landslide in last year's election, campaigning on a pledge to end corruption in the country otherwise known for its luxury tourism.

Junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha’s grip on power was tossed into doubt by the political cameo of a princess, but a week later his ambitions to rebrand as a civilian leader appear back on track, a survivor – for now – of Thailand’s treacherous politics. Princess Ubolratana’s candidacy for premier for a party aligned with billionaire ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, appeared to have kicked over a totem of Thai politics: that the military alone is the unassailable partner of the monarchy. Minutes later Prayut, a former army chief who seized power in 2014, accepted the nomination for prime minister by a junta-linked party, threatening to put him on an electoral collision course with a royal. In a country where the public rarely gets a read on the backroom power plays of the elite, much of Thai social media erupted in glee at the supposed fall from favour of the gruff, hectoring junta chief. Rumours of an impending coup against Prayut and his junta spun out. But hours later the political game turned on its head. Ubolratana’s younger brother, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, blocked her “highly inappropriate” move into frontline politics with a rare statement publically exposing divisions inside the palace. The Thaksin-aligned Thai Raksa Chart party which proposed her is now on a fast-track to dissolution by the courts for “hostile action to the constitutional monarchy”, threatening to take with it the electoral aspirations of the Shinawatra camp. That has left Prayut still very much in power – and closer than ever to becoming prime minister after the March 24 poll. “I ask everyone to keep smiling,” Prayut said as he attended an emergency exercise at Special Forces command base in Lopburi, central Thailand. Earlier he paid homage to a towering portrait of the king. Throughout the day he was accompanied by army chief Apirat Kongsompong – the new top military man appointed by the king. After nearly five years in power the 64-year-old Prayut, still draws loyalty from many arch-royalists for his anti-Thaksin stance. He toppled the government of Yingluck Shinawatra, Thaksin’s younger sister. Since then he has tried – with mixed results – to expunge the clan’s influence from Thai politics, where the siblings remain vastly popular among the poor despite both being in self-exile to avoid jail terms. But Prayut also draws derision from large sections of a public wearied by his choleric temper, finger-jabbing televised addresses and a political system rigged to secure the army’s stake in politics. Yet, still standing after the spin-dryer events of the last week, Prayut loyalists say his bid for premier is in robust shape. “The events from last week have proved he has still the confidence of the king,” a senior army officer said on condition of anonymity. “He seems confident in his chances of winning and the latest events prove he is probably right.” Those chances are bolstered by a junta-scripted constitution that creates a fully appointed upper house and limits the number of seats available for the Shinawatra’s main electoral vehicle – Pheu Thai. In the event of a hung parliament, it also allows for a premier from a minority party to be installed – which appears to be Prayut’s main route to the premiership. Given the assumed loyalty of the junta-selected upper house, “Prayut only needs 126 seats (out of 500) in the lower house to win,” Paul Chambers of the Center for Asean Community Studies, Naresuan University said. “It is not a level and fair playing field,” he added. As the princess’s political play sent a wave of uncertainty across the kingdom, Prayut was prodded Monday into denying rumours of an impending coup as “fake news.” It was a view endorsed by some of the country’s 76 governors who gathered to greet him on Thursday. “I don’t believe there will be a coup. We don’t need that,” Kiatisak Chantra, governor of northeastern Maha Sarakham province said. For Thaksin’s parties, the road to power now looks long and difficult. Thai Raksa Chart was meant to secure secondary votes for the party list and join the bloc of constituency seats Pheu Thai expects to mop up in its north and northeastern heartlands. “Thaksin made a tactical error,” says Sophie Boisseau du Rocher, a Thai politics expert at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI). “Thai Raksa Chart will probably be dissolved, it will not be able to support Pheu Thai ... Thaksin is gradually losing his aura.”

Prosecutors in the Maldives yesterday charged a top aide of former president Abdulla Yameen with embezzling millions of dollars from the tropical tourist paradise. The charges against high-profile former justice minister Azima Shakoor come days after Yameen was hit with his own indictment on graft charges after his shock election loss last year. Maldivian police had earlier announced they had evidence linking Yameen and Shakoor to the theft of millions from the country. She is accused of aiding Yameen’s efforts to steal millions of dollars from government coffers. Shakoor was charged with two counts of being an accessory to embezzlement and providing false statements to investigators, court officials said. Yameen, who came to power in 2013 and jailed many of his opponents or forced them into exile, had been summoned to the Criminal Court Sunday to formally receive his indictment. He instead sent a junior lawyer to receive the document on his behalf, officials said, adding that a date for his trial had not been set. Authorities believe millions of dollars could be stashed abroad and have said talks are underway with foreign entities to repatriate any cash found. The criminal court has already frozen Yameen’s local bank accounts holding about $6.5mn, a decision the former leader has appealed. There was no immediate comment from Yameen or Shakoor. Yameen, who came to power in 2013 and jailed many of his opponents or forced them into exile, has also been accused of receiving close to $1.5mn in illicit payments during his failed bid for re-election. The country’s monetary authority lodged a police complaint over alleged donations made into a private account held by Yameen in the run-up to the polls.

Prosectors in the Maldives on Sunday charged a top aide of former strongman leader Abdulla Yameen with embezzling millions of dollars from the tropical tourist paradise.  The charges against high-profile former justice minister Azima Shakoor come days after Yameen was hit with his own indictment on graft charges after his shock election loss last year. Maldivian police had earlier announced they had evidence linking Yameen and Shakoor to the theft of millions from the country.  She is accused of aiding Yameen's efforts to steal millions of dollars from government coffers. Shakoor was charged with two counts of being an accessory to embezzlement and providing false statements to investigators, court officials said. Yameen, who came to power in 2013 and jailed many of his opponents or forced them into exile, had been summoned to the Criminal Court Sunday to formally receive his indictment. He instead sent a junior lawyer to receive the document on his behalf, officials said, adding that a date for his trial had not been set. Authorities believe millions of dollars could be stashed abroad and have said talks are underway with foreign entities to repatriate any cash found. The criminal court has already frozen Yameen's local bank accounts holding about $6.5 million, a decision the former leader has appealed. There was no immediate comment from Yameen or Shakoor. Yameen, who came to power in 2013 and jailed many of his opponents or forced them into exile, has also been accused of receiving close to $1.5 million in illicit payments during his failed bid for re-election. The country's monetary authority lodged a police complaint over alleged donations made into a private account held by Yameen in the run-up to the polls.

With weapons drawn camouflaged troops leapt out of amphibious assault craft while explosions sounded and parachutists glided in from above as the annual Cobra Gold war games took over a placid Thai beach yesterday. Now in its 38th year, Cobra Gold is one of the largest military exercises in Asia, bringing thousands of forces from the United States, Thailand and other countries together for 11 days of training on Thai shores. This year’s drill includes some 2,000 US Marines, 1,000 US soldiers and hundreds from the country’s Navy and Air Force. Yesterday, US, Thai and South Korean forces descended on Namsai beach in Chonburi province in a joint drill intended to simulate securing the territory. Captain Melvin Spiese said the goal was to “bring power from ship to shore” and be ready for “any kind of future crisis we might need to respond to with our Thai counterparts.” Helicopters buzzed overhead and fighter jets roared across the skies. Cobra Gold exercises span air, land and sea and feature a jungle survivalist session where participants take turns drinking blood from a severed cobra and snacking on insects and scorpions. Singapore, Japan, Indonesia and Malaysia also took part in the war games. A 2014 army coup in Thailand tested ties with Washington and the kingdom tilted towards China with high-profile arms buys. But US military sales continued and the two countries have upped their engagement under US President Donald Trump, who has stepped back on human rights issues and invited junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha to the White House. Prayut, who led the 2014 coup, is standing for prime minister in elections set for March 24.

Police fired rubber bullets into a crowd of several thousand demonstrators in eastern Myanmar yesterday, activists said, as protests mount over a new and controversial statue. The bronze structure depicts the father of de facto civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi – Aung San – on horseback and was unveiled early this month in the capital of Kayah state despite strong opposition. Aung San is widely revered by the majority ethnic Bamar (Burmese) population as an independence hero for his role in the struggle against British colonial rule. But the general, who was assassinated before independence in 1948, is viewed less favourably among many ethnic minority groups, who see him as a symbol of Bamar domination. Yesterday, several thousand people marched to the Kayah state parliament only to be blocked by police in riot gear, who were lined up behind rolls of barbed wire. One protest leader, Myo Hlaing Win, told AFP by phone that 10 people had been injured after police fired rubber bullets into the crowd. “They attacked unarmed people,” he said. “This should not happen under a democratic government.” Images showed medics cleaning up blood streaming from wounds of dazed-looking protesters, many dressed in local traditional red woven garments. Statues of Aung San have been defaced in border states and the Suu Kyi-led government’s plan to rename a bridge after him triggered mass protests in eastern Mon state in 2017. “We want to build statues of our own heroes, not of the General (Aung San),” Myo Hlaing Win said. Local police in Kayah state, located on the border with Thailand, could not be reached for comment. The protest was symbolically held on Union Day, a public holiday meant to celebrate the nation’s unity. The statues of Aung San are a flashpoint in a larger debate over autonomy. His daughter, Suu Kyi, swept to power in 2015 elections after nearly half a century of junta-rule, vowing to end decades of conflict between the military and ethnic armed groups fighting over resources, territory, and local control of government. But peace talks have achieved little and resentment over the lack of progress has festered. So far 82 protesters have been arrested in Kayah state since last July, when plans for the statue were first announced. Most of those have been detained in the last fortnight. If convicted, they could face up to six months in jail while the protest leaders could be sentenced to up to two years with hard labour. “These protests were peaceful and lawful,” said CEO of Fortify Rights Matthew Smith in a statement over the weekend, calling for the government to end the crackdown. “No one should spend any time in court or behind bars for exercising their human rights,” Smith said. Several dozen protesters also gathered on Tuesday afternoon in central Yangon in solidarity with those in Kayah state. “Aung San Suu Kyi said she would bring peace,” student activist Mu Zu Zen shouted to the rally in front of a monument to the country’s independence. “But now our people have been shot”.

The Thai political party that nominated a princess as its candidate for prime minister could be banned from a general election in March after an activist said yesterday he would file a petition seeking its dissolution. Thailand’s Election Commission is to meet today to consider the candidacy of Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Barnavadi, 67, who stunned the nation on Friday when she said she would be the prime ministerial candidate for a populist party loyal to ousted ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra. Her announcement drew a swift rebuke from King Maha Vajiralongkorn, the princess’s younger brother, who issued a statement hours later saying it was “inappropriate” for members of the royal family to enter politics. The March 24 election is the first since a military coup in 2014 toppled an elected pro-Thaksin government. The current junta leader, Prayuth Chan-ocha, is also contesting the race for prime minister, as the candidate of a pro-military party. The nomination of the king’s elder sister, who has starred in soap operas and an action movie and gave up her royal titles after marrying an American, was a shocking move by forces loyal to Thaksin, who face an uphill battle in the election. The Election Commission has until Friday to rule on the princess’s candidacy. It is unlikely its members would disregard the wishes of the king, who while a constitutional monarch, is considered semi-divine in Thai society. Yesterday, an activist said he would file a petition to disqualify the Thai Raksa Chart party, which nominated the princess. “The royal announcement made it clear that the party violated electoral law,” Srisuwan Janya, secretary-general of the Association for the Protection of the Constitution, said. Srisuwan said his complaint to the Election Commission would ask it to recommend that a Constitutional Court dissolve the party. Thai Raksa Chart’s executive chairman Chaturon Chaisaeng declined to comment on the request to disband it. The party said it would accept the king’s message and “move forward into the election arena to solve problems for the country”. The royal family has a long-standing tradition of staying out of politics, and electoral law forbids parties from using the monarchy in campaigns. Parties loyal to former telecommunications tycoon Thaksin have defeated pro-establishment parties to win every election since 2001, but since 2006 each of their governments have been removed by court rulings or coups. The gambit to nominate a member of the royal family could backfire on Thai Raksa Chart, said Titipol Phakdeewanich, dean of the faculty of political science at Ubon Ratchathani University. “Things are now more unpredictable,” Titipol said. If the party is dissolved, it could give more seats to anti-Thaksin affiliated parties like the pro-junta, Phalang Pracharat and progressive Future Forward party, he said. Thaksin, who was ousted in a 2006 coup, lives in self-imposed exile after being convicted of corruption in absentia.  He responded to the events on Twitter late on Saturday telling supporters to “keep moving forward” and “learn from past experiences but live for today and the future”.