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August
Suspended Thai PM Prayuth says to continue as defence minister
Written by Nur Yasmin
Suspended Thai leader Prayuth Chan-ocha said on social media he will continue in his role as defence minister, in his first direct address to the public since a court ordered him to cease his duties as prime minister while it reviews his term limit.
"I will continue to do my duty and responsibility as defence minister for the people and Thailand every day," Prayuth said on the Twitter account of the prime minister's office on Thursday.
The Constitutional Court on Wednesday decided to hear a petition brought by the main opposition party arguing that Prayuth's years spent as the chief of a military junta after he took power in a 2014 coup, should count toward his overall time in office. The constitution stipulates a term limit of eight years for the prime minister.
It remains unclear when the court will deliver a decision on the review.
Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan is serving as acting premier of Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy. He declined to answer journalists' questions on his first day in the prime minister's office on Friday.
The controversy over Prayuth's term limit is the latest eposide in nearly two decades of intermittent political turmoil, including two coups and violent protests, stemming from opposition to military involvement in politics and demands for greater representation as political awareness grows.
A government spokesperson, Anucha Burapachaisri, said on Friday the cabinet continues to function as normal. (Reuters)
August
Turkey, Finland and Sweden officials meet to discuss Turkish concerns
Written by Nur Yasmin
Officials from Turkey, Finland and Sweden were expected to meet at an undisclosed location in Finland on Friday to discuss security concerns which Turkey raised as a precondition for allowing the two Nordic countries to join the NATO military alliance.
Finland's Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said earlier the first meeting between officials would aim to establish contacts and set goals for cooperation that the three countries agreed to by signing a memorandum of understanding at NATO's Madrid summit at the end of June.
The two Nordic countries applied for NATO membership in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but were faced with opposition from Turkey which accused them of imposing arms embargoes on Ankara and supporting groups it deems terrorists.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has demanded Sweden and Finland extradite suspects Turkey seeks over terrorism-related charges while the Nordic countries argue they did not agree to any specific extraditions by signing the memorandum.
Finland's foreign ministry remained tight-lipped about Friday's meeting, refusing to reveal its location or even timing.
"This is a matter of security. If we would tell where Turkey's high officials are at which time, it would give quite a careless picture of us," Haavisto's state secretary Jukka Salovaara told Finland's public broadcaster YLE. (Reuters)
August
Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant cut off from supplying power to Ukraine - TASS quotes Russian-installed official
Written by Nur Yasmin
A Russian-installed official in the occupied part of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region said on Friday that Ukrainian forces had broken the final power line connecting the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant with Ukraine, state-owned news agency TASS reported.
TASS quoted Vladimir Rogov, a member of the Russian-backed local administration, as saying that the plant is currently not supplying electricity to Ukraine.
On Thursday, Ukraine's state nuclear energy company said that the plant's six reactors had been disconnected from the country's national grid, and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy blamed Russian shelling.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe's largest, was captured by Russian forces in March. It remains near the frontline, and has repeatedly come under fire in recent weeks. Both Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of shelling the facility. (Reuters)
August
Turkey dismisses concerns over a U.S. sanctions warning
Written by Nur Yasmin
The U.S. Treasury's warning to Turkey that its companies risked being sanctioned if they did business with sanctioned Russians was "meaningless," Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati said on Friday, assuring businesspeople there was no need for concern.
NATO-member Turkey has sought to strike a balance between Moscow and Kyiv by criticising Russia's invasion and sending arms to Ukraine, while opposing the Western sanctions and continuing trade, tourism and investment with Russia.
Some Turkish firms have purchased or sought to buy Russian assets from Western partners pulling back, while others maintain large assets in the country. Ankara has repeated that Western sanctions will not be circumvented in Turkey.
The U.S. Treasury warned both the country's largest business group TUSIAD and the finance ministry this month that Russian entities and individuals were attempting to use Turkey to bypass Western sanctions.
"The letter relayed to Turkish business groups creating concern among business circles is meaningless. We are pleased to see that the United States, our ally and trade partner, is inviting its businesses to invest in our economy," Nebati said in a tweet.
"Separately, we are determined to improve our economic and commercial relations with our neighbours especially in the areas of tourism and various sectors within a framework that is not subject to sanctions," he said.
All actors in Turkey's economy are tied to free market principles and are working to obtain a bigger share of global trade, Nebati added.
Turkey, which has close ties and Black Sea borders with both Russia and Ukraine, has said sanctioning Russia would have hurt its already strained economy and argued that it is focused on mediation efforts between the sides.
One benefit for Turkey has been a jump beyond pre-pandemic levels in foreign visitors last month, thanks largely to Russian visitors with little other option due to Western flight restrictions.
The head of a metal exporters group said this month that Russian demand had increased for Turkish products it could no longer source from European companies, and that Turkish companies had received enquiries from European businesses about supplying Russia via Turkey. (Reuters)
August
Pope says will visit N.Korea if he receives invitation -S. Korean broadcaster
Written by Nur Yasmin
Pope Francis has asked for invitation from North Korea to visit the isolated country, South Korean broadcaster KBS reported.
"I will go there as soon as they invite me. I'm saying they should invite me. I will not refuse," KBS quoted the pope as saying in the interview aired on Thursday.
Such a visit would be the first by a pope to the reclusive state, which does not allow priests to be permanently stationed there. Little is known about how many of its citizens are Catholic, or how they practice their faith.
Former South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who is Catholic, has urged Francis to visit North Korea, saying a papal visit to Pyongyang would help build peace on the Korean Peninsula. (Reuters)
August
Afghan female journalist struggles for women 'heroes' from exile
Written by Nur Yasmin
It was when the Taliban came to arrest her and her brother in October that Fawzia Saidzada, an Afghan journalist and women's rights activist, finally decided it was time to flee.
The 30-year-old managed to get out the next day after promising the Taliban she would inform on other journalists and activists - something she never did. Her brother was held for 15 days.
"When the Taliban came to power, we decided to fight against the Taliban," said Saidzada, who is raising a 13-year-old son alone. "Our slogan was 'either freedom or death'."
But the episode taught her she would have to carry on her struggle for the rights of girls and women from abroad. She arrived in Berlin six weeks ago along with her son, mother, two brothers and one of the brother's families.
"Afghan women are heroes," she told Reuters TV. "Afghan women are courageous, they are fighters who have faced war in the past four decades but have not lost hope."
Saidzada is one of thousands of Afghans who have settled in Germany since U.S. President Joe Biden ordered the withdrawal of the U.S.-led forces that for decades propped up the government in Kabul.
Within days, the Taliban had regained control, after fighting a 20-year insurgency in which tens of thousands of civilians were killed. Since then, they have curtailed the rights of women and girls.
Until Kabul's fall, Saidzada was a prototype of the new Afghanistan's free woman, studying first law then journalism before working as a journalist and commentator and running a human rights organisation.
The U.N. mission to Afghanistan says the Taliban is limiting dissent by arresting journalists, activists and protesters.
The Taliban government, some of whose top leaders are on U.S. wanted lists for suspected links to terrorism, has vowed to respect people's rights according to its interpretation of Islamic law, and said it would investigate alleged abuses.
In Germany, Saidzada said she wants to set up an aid organization especially for young people in Afghanistan and maintains contacts with human rights defenders, women activists and former soldiers in her home country. And she wants to finish her master's degree in international relations.
But the struggle will be a long one, since, she says, the Taliban have brought Islamist militants to Afghanistan from all over the world, and driven skilled doctors, lawyers and journalists from their jobs.
Even as she hastens to learn German and settle in, Saidzada has strong words of reproach for a country which, in coalition with the United States, first promised to save Afghanistan and then abandoned it. One day she would like to address the German parliament, she said.
"Why did you leave us alone?" Saidzada said she would ask lawmakers. (Reuters)
August
Taliban say they've not found body of al Qaeda leader
Written by Nur Yasmin
The Taliban have not found the body of Ayman al-Zawahiri and are continuing investigations, group spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said on Thursday, after the United States said they killed the al Qaeda leader in an airstrike in Kabul last month.
The United States killed Zawahiri with a missile fired from a drone while he stood on a balcony at his hideout in July, U.S. officials said, in the biggest blow to al Qaeda since U.S. Navy SEALS shot dead Osama bin Laden more than a decade ago. (Reuters)
August
S.Korea's Yoon orders update of war plans over N.Korea's threats
Written by Nur Yasmin
South Korea's president Yoon Suk-yeol on Thursday ordered an update of the military's operational plans to address North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threats, his office said.
Yoon gave the instructions at his first visit to a military bunker in the capital Seoul that would serve as a command post the event of a war.
His visit coincided with the start on Monday of military drills by the armed forces of South Korea and the United States that are the largest in years.
The annual summertime exercises have been renamed Ulchi Freedom Shield and due to finish on Sept. 1. They involve the first field training between the two militaries since 2017 after being scaled back amid the COVID-19 pandemic and under Yoon's predecessor who sought to improve relations with North Korea. [nL1N2ZY03S]
Yoon highlighted that this year's drills were conducted under a changed scenario and the operational plans reflect North Korea's evolving threats.
"We need to urgently prepare measures to guarantee the lives and property of our people, including updating the operational plans against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats that are becoming a reality," Yoon told military commanders during the visit.
North Korea has conducted missile tests at an unprecedented pace this year and is ready to conduct its first nuclear test since 2017 at any time, Seoul officials said this week.
The isolated, nuclear-armed North fired two cruise missiles from the west coast last week, after South Korea and the United States began preliminary training for the drills.
Pyongyang has long criticised the combined exercises as "hostile policy" and a rehearsal for invasion.
Yoon, who has vowed to boost drills and overall readiness against the North, called for beefing up the military's independent capability to counter North Korean missiles, while reinforcing the extended U.S. deterrence including its nuclear umbrella.
He also ordered the commanders to speed up plans to set up the so-called "Kill Chain" system, designed to launch preemptive strikes against the North's missiles and possibly its senior leadership if an imminent attack is detected. (Reuters)
August
Thailand's new acting leader is another royalist military man
Written by Nur Yasmin
Thailand's new acting leader, Prawit Wongsuwan, represents little substantial change from suspended Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha for opposition forces seeking to end what they decry as military dominance of politics.
For the ruling coalition led by the pro-army Palang Pracharat party, Prawit's caretaker role represents stability until the Constitutional Court decides whether Prayuth's time as a military leader from 2014 to 2019 counts towards a constitutionally stipulated eight-year term limit, as the opposition argues.
Prawit, 77, who has been a deputy prime minister since 2019, is a longtime ally of Prayuth and was part of the military junta that ruled Thailand for nearly five years following Prayuth's 2014 coup ouster of an elected government
Like Prayuth himself, Prawit is a former chief of the army and is known for his fierce loyalty to the monarchy - both men served in the elite Queen's Guard unit closely associated with the palace.
However, unlike Prayuth, he has tended to wield influence behind the scenes.
Prawit has long been seen as a power-broker both within the Palang Pracharat party, which he co-founded, and among the wealthy elite that align themselves with Thailand's royal family and the military.
"Prawit has his power through connection with business elite," Titipol Phakdeewanich, dean of the faculty of political science at Ubon Ratchathani University told Reuters.
"By becoming acting prime minister, Prawit will help stabilise the political situation and consolidate the ruling coalition and related business interests ahead of the election," Titipol said.
EXPENSIVE WATCHES
While he may be most adept at behind-the-scenes influence, Prawit has also has faced public scrutiny.
He survived an anti-corruption investigation and fierce public criticism in 2018 after he appeared in a photograph wearing a diamond ring and expensive watch that did not appear on his public asset declaration.
Activists later identified at least 25 other luxury watches the former general was photographed wearing but had not declared. Prawit said the timepieces had been lent to him.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission later ruled there was not sufficient evidence to press charges of false declaration of assets.
That controversy, plus his close association with Prayuth's junta, means that even in an acting role, Prawit might face much of the same opposition as the man he is standing in for, said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political analyst and professor at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.
"Prawit will be embattled from day one," Thitinan said. "He might be a fixer and a broker within the coalition and Palang Pracharat ... but himself he is highly unpopular with the public."
MILITARY CAREER
Prawit and Prayuth rose through the ranks together, though Prawit was the senior officer for much of their army careers.
Prawit was Prayuth's superior when they were in the Queen's Guard. Both also served in the Burapha Payak or Eastern Tigers army clique with a power base in eastern Thailand.
Prawit rose to be chief of the armed forces from 2004 to 2005 and after retirement was defence minister in a civilian government from 2008 to 2011.
But in the past year, there have been signs of tension between Prayuth and Prawit over the direction of the ruling party after it expelled 21 lawmakers, led by a Prawit loyalist, Thammanat Prompao, a former deputy agriculture minister.
However, observers don't see the change from Prayuth to Prawit as having significant impact on the political trajectory dominated by the royalist military elite.
"This is typical political conflict between factions," analyst Titipol said. "But at the end they will save each other and stay together." (Reuters)
August
Japan police chief to resign over Abe shooting, citing 'fresh start'
Written by Nur Yasmin
Japan's National Police Agency chief said on Thursday he will resign to take responsibility for the murder of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, citing the need for a "fresh start" for the organisation and its security duties.
Itaru Nakamura is the most senior official to step down in connection with Abe's assassination at a campaign rally in the western city of Nara on July 8, where experts have said security was seriously flawed.
"In the process of verifying our new security plan, we have come to realise that our security duties would need a fresh start," Nakamura told a news conference.
"To mark our fresh start with a new security plan, it is only natural for us to build a new organization."
Security in Nara on the day of the shooting had been widely seen as insufficient, experts have said.
Bodyguards could have saved Abe by shielding him or pulled him from the line of fire in the 2.5 seconds between a missed first shot and the second, fatal round of gunfire, eight security experts who reviewed the footage have told Reuters.
Nara police chief Tomoaki Onizuka also resigned.
"As the chief of police with security responsibility in this prefecture, I am painfully aware of my responsibility for causing a serious situation," he told a news conference.
Japanese officials, including Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, have acknowledged flaws in the security around Abe's appearance at the election campaign event.
The National Police Agency previously told Reuters the killing had been the result of police failing to fulfil their responsibility, adding that it had set up a team to review security and protection measures and develop preventive steps.
The suspected assassin, arrested at the scene moments after the shooting, is undergoing psychiatric evaluation, Japanese media reported last month. (Reuters)