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Former Thai premier charged with murder
BANGKOK (AP) - Former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was charged with murder Thursday in connection with the 2010 deaths of two protesters killed during a crackdown on anti-government demonstrators.
The move comes amid weeks of renewed protests that have shaken the Thai capital and threatened to again plunge the country into crisis.
Abhisit, who was charged with the deaths of a 43-year-old man and a 14-year-old girl, denied all the charges in the brief court hearing.
About 90 people were killed in the crackdown, and it was not clear why Abhisit faced charges in those two deaths.
Relatives of some of those killed were waiting for Abhisit as he and his lawyer left the courthouse after a brief hearing, shouting "Murderer!" They also submitted a petition to the court, asking that he be denied bail.
The court, though, set bail at about $19,000, which Abhisit met by putting up a house deed. The court also ordered him to remain in Thailand until his trial starts March 24.
Full Story
BANGKOK (AP) - Former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was charged with murder Thursday in connection with the 2010 deaths of two protesters killed during a crackdown on anti-government demonstrators.
The move comes amid weeks of renewed protests that have shaken the Thai capital and threatened to again plunge the country into crisis.
Abhisit, who was charged with the deaths of a 43-year-old man and a 14-year-old girl, denied all the charges in the brief court hearing.
About 90 people were killed in the crackdown, and it was not clear why Abhisit faced charges in those two deaths.
Relatives of some of those killed were waiting for Abhisit as he and his lawyer left the courthouse after a brief hearing, shouting "Murderer!" They also submitted a petition to the court, asking that he be denied bail.
The court, though, set bail at about $19,000, which Abhisit met by putting up a house deed. The court also ordered him to remain in Thailand until his trial starts March 24.
Full Story
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) - Bangladesh's Supreme Court cleared the way Thursday for the execution of an opposition leader convicted of war crimes when it rejected a last-minute appeal filed by his lawyers.
The execution of Abdul Quader Mollah has been on hold since he was granted a reprieve Tuesday night just hours before he was to be put to death.
There was no immediate word on when the death sentence will be carried out.
Mollah was convicted of war crimes committed during the nation's war of independence against Pakistan in 1971, and his execution is likely to usher in a new wave of political violence ahead of national elections set for next month.
Mollah's party, Jamaat-e-Islami, an ally of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, has warned of "dire consequences" if he is executed.
His lawyers were trying to convince the Supreme Court, which began hearing the case Wednesday, to throw out the sentence, while hundreds of pro-government activists blocked traffic on a main road in Dhaka demanding Mollah's immediate execution.
Full Story
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - Spare a thought for New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, or as he is known in the rest of the world, the "unidentified guest."
Domestically, polls show he's been a popular leader. But during each of his big moments on the international stage, he seems to attract another small insult that feeds into a wider anxiety among New Zealanders that their country just isn't much noticed or taken seriously.
The latest incident came this week when Key was photographed by the European Pressphoto Agency joking with his British counterpart at Nelson Mandela's funeral. The caption? "British Prime Minister David Cameron (R) laughs with an unidentified guest ..."
A small insult to be sure, but one that received plenty of media attention in this South Pacific nation of 4.5 million, especially after the photo ran on the New York Daily News website. The caption has since been updated.
But it seemed to fit a pattern.
Full Story
NEW DELHI (AP) - India's Supreme Court struck down a 2009 lower court decision to decriminalize homosexual conduct, dealing a blow Wednesday to gay activists who have fought for years for the chance to live openly in India's deeply conservative society.
The judges said only lawmakers and not the courts could change a colonial-era law that bans homosexual acts and makes them punishable by up to a decade in prison.
The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community across India reacted to the surprise decision with defiance.
"We cannot be forced back into the closet. We are not backing off from our fight against discrimination," said Gautam Bhan, an activist who had petitioned the court.
After the ruling, dozens of activists outside the court began crying and hugging each other in consolation.
"This is a very sad day for us, we are back to square one in our fight for the democratic rights of the gay community," said Ashok Row Kavi of the activist group Humsafar Trust.
Full Story
WASHINGTON (AP) - The pilot of the jet that crash-landed at San Francisco's airport last summer worried privately before takeoff about handling the Boeing 777, especially because runway construction meant he would have to land without any help from a common type of guidance system.
And neither the trainee nor an instructor pilot in the cockpit said anything when the first officer raised concerns four times about the plane's rapid descent.
After the July 6 accident, which killed three people and injured more than 200, Lee Kang Kuk told National Transportation Safety Board investigators that he had been concerned he might "fail his flight and would be embarrassed."
Lee's backstory emerged Wednesday in documents released at an NTSB hearing called to answer lingering questions about the crash of Asiana Flight 214.
Though Lee was an experienced pilot with the Korea-based airline, he was a trainee captain in the 777, with less than 45 hours in the jet.
Full Story
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - A Seoul court rejected Samsung's claim that iPhone and iPad models violated three of its patents, another setback for the South Korean electronics giant in a global battle with Apple over rights to technologies that power smartphones and tablets.
A Seoul Central District Court judge ruled Thursday that Apple did not violate Samsung's intellectual property rights. The technology in two of Samsung's patents could be developed easily from other inventions, Judge Shim Woo-yong said, making it unlikely they were copied. He said one patent was not used in the iPad.
"We are glad the Korean court joined others around the world in standing up for real innovation and rejecting Samsung's ridiculous claims," Apple Inc. spokesman Steve Park said.
Samsung Electronics Co. sued Apple in March 2012, accusing the iPhone maker of illegally using three patented technologies related to short message services in smartphones and tablet computers.
The maker of Galaxy smartphones sought 100 million won ($95,000) in initial compensation and a ban on sales of six iPhone and iPad models, which included models still available in the market, such as those with Retina display.
Full Story
DENIS D. GRAY
NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (AP) - Watched around the clock, bathed twice a day and otherwise pampered, five white elephants are munching on choice greenery in Myanmar's vast, remote and surreal capital. Above them soars a shimmering, gold-plated pagoda.
From ancient times, Myanmar's rulers regarded these rare albino animals as sacred accessories of kingly capitals, symbols of power and prestige. But in this grandiose city built from scratch in secrecy, at great cost and in a seemingly unsuitable location by the country's former military dictators, some find it fitting that "white elephant" is also a term for a troublesome possession too expensive to maintain.
Eight years after Naypyitaw - "Abode of the King" - was proclaimed the new government seat, it has become something more than a "ghost capital hacked out of the jungle," as it was once described.
Private enterprise is staking some ground. More shops and restaurants have opened and 79 hotels are operating or under construction.
Full Story
BANGKOK (AP) - The Democrat Party has seen the enemy.
The Democrats, whose veterans are at the forefront of the anti-government protests that have shaken Bangkok for the past six weeks, say the enemy is a brutal system that has allowed their political nemesis to remain politically powerful, even from far away in Dubai, in exile. The system has driven them to launch angry protests that have left at least five people dead and littered a few streets with the carcasses of burned-out police trucks. It has kept the party from winning a national election for two decades.
The enemy of the Democrat Party? It's democracy.
Or as protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban calls it, "the tyranny of the parliamentary majority."
When Thailand's elected prime minister refused an opposition demand to step aside, Suthep's answer this week was to effectively declare a new government, in the form of a self-appointed "People's Democratic Reform Committee." He ordered civil servants to answer to the committee, called for a shadow system of volunteers to replace the police and issued an order that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra be prosecuted for insurrection.
Full Story
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - New Zealand's government on Thursday dropped all charges against the former boss of a coal mine where 29 miners died in an explosion and instead accepted a financial settlement - a decision that left some of the victim's relatives angry.
The government last year charged former Pike River Coal chief executive Peter Whittall with 12 counts of violating labor laws following the 2010 methane-fueled blast. Each count came with a maximum fine of 250,000 New Zealand dollars ($206,000). But on Thursday, government lawyers said they considered the probability of convicting Whittall low given the available evidence.
The government said it instead accepted Whittall's offer that it drop the charges in exchange for a payment of 3.41 million New Zealand dollars ($2.8 million) made on behalf of company officials to victim's families. Whittall also pledged to meet with the relatives.
But many were unhappy with the outcome. Anna Osborne, whose husband Milton died in the explosion, told the New Zealand Herald newspaper that she's lost faith in the justice system.
Full Story
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Former Thai premier charged with murder
BANGKOK (AP) - Former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was charged with murder Thursday in connection with the 2010 deaths of two protesters killed during a crackdown on anti-government demonstrators.
The move comes amid weeks of renewed protests that have shaken the Thai capital and threatened to again plunge the country into crisis.
Abhisit, who was charged with the deaths of a 43-year-old man and a 14-year-old girl, denied all the charges in the brief court hearing.
About 90 people were killed in the crackdown, and it was not clear why Abhisit faced charges in those two deaths.
Relatives of some of those killed were waiting for Abhisit as he and his lawyer left the courthouse after a brief hearing, shouting "Murderer!" They also submitted a petition to the court, asking that he be denied bail.
The court, though, set bail at about $19,000, which Abhisit met by putting up a house deed. The court also ordered him to remain in Thailand until his trial starts March 24.
Full Story
BANGKOK (AP) - Former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was charged with murder Thursday in connection with the 2010 deaths of two protesters killed during a crackdown on anti-government demonstrators.
The move comes amid weeks of renewed protests that have shaken the Thai capital and threatened to again plunge the country into crisis.
Abhisit, who was charged with the deaths of a 43-year-old man and a 14-year-old girl, denied all the charges in the brief court hearing.
About 90 people were killed in the crackdown, and it was not clear why Abhisit faced charges in those two deaths.
Relatives of some of those killed were waiting for Abhisit as he and his lawyer left the courthouse after a brief hearing, shouting "Murderer!" They also submitted a petition to the court, asking that he be denied bail.
The court, though, set bail at about $19,000, which Abhisit met by putting up a house deed. The court also ordered him to remain in Thailand until his trial starts March 24.
Full Story
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) - Bangladesh's Supreme Court cleared the way Thursday for the execution of an opposition leader convicted of war crimes when it rejected a last-minute appeal filed by his lawyers.
The execution of Abdul Quader Mollah has been on hold since he was granted a reprieve Tuesday night just hours before he was to be put to death.
There was no immediate word on when the death sentence will be carried out.
Mollah was convicted of war crimes committed during the nation's war of independence against Pakistan in 1971, and his execution is likely to usher in a new wave of political violence ahead of national elections set for next month.
Mollah's party, Jamaat-e-Islami, an ally of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, has warned of "dire consequences" if he is executed.
His lawyers were trying to convince the Supreme Court, which began hearing the case Wednesday, to throw out the sentence, while hundreds of pro-government activists blocked traffic on a main road in Dhaka demanding Mollah's immediate execution.
Full Story
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - Spare a thought for New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, or as he is known in the rest of the world, the "unidentified guest."
Domestically, polls show he's been a popular leader. But during each of his big moments on the international stage, he seems to attract another small insult that feeds into a wider anxiety among New Zealanders that their country just isn't much noticed or taken seriously.
The latest incident came this week when Key was photographed by the European Pressphoto Agency joking with his British counterpart at Nelson Mandela's funeral. The caption? "British Prime Minister David Cameron (R) laughs with an unidentified guest ..."
A small insult to be sure, but one that received plenty of media attention in this South Pacific nation of 4.5 million, especially after the photo ran on the New York Daily News website. The caption has since been updated.
But it seemed to fit a pattern.
Full Story
NEW DELHI (AP) - India's Supreme Court struck down a 2009 lower court decision to decriminalize homosexual conduct, dealing a blow Wednesday to gay activists who have fought for years for the chance to live openly in India's deeply conservative society.
The judges said only lawmakers and not the courts could change a colonial-era law that bans homosexual acts and makes them punishable by up to a decade in prison.
The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community across India reacted to the surprise decision with defiance.
"We cannot be forced back into the closet. We are not backing off from our fight against discrimination," said Gautam Bhan, an activist who had petitioned the court.
After the ruling, dozens of activists outside the court began crying and hugging each other in consolation.
"This is a very sad day for us, we are back to square one in our fight for the democratic rights of the gay community," said Ashok Row Kavi of the activist group Humsafar Trust.
Full Story
WASHINGTON (AP) - The pilot of the jet that crash-landed at San Francisco's airport last summer worried privately before takeoff about handling the Boeing 777, especially because runway construction meant he would have to land without any help from a common type of guidance system.
And neither the trainee nor an instructor pilot in the cockpit said anything when the first officer raised concerns four times about the plane's rapid descent.
After the July 6 accident, which killed three people and injured more than 200, Lee Kang Kuk told National Transportation Safety Board investigators that he had been concerned he might "fail his flight and would be embarrassed."
Lee's backstory emerged Wednesday in documents released at an NTSB hearing called to answer lingering questions about the crash of Asiana Flight 214.
Though Lee was an experienced pilot with the Korea-based airline, he was a trainee captain in the 777, with less than 45 hours in the jet.
Full Story
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - A Seoul court rejected Samsung's claim that iPhone and iPad models violated three of its patents, another setback for the South Korean electronics giant in a global battle with Apple over rights to technologies that power smartphones and tablets.
A Seoul Central District Court judge ruled Thursday that Apple did not violate Samsung's intellectual property rights. The technology in two of Samsung's patents could be developed easily from other inventions, Judge Shim Woo-yong said, making it unlikely they were copied. He said one patent was not used in the iPad.
"We are glad the Korean court joined others around the world in standing up for real innovation and rejecting Samsung's ridiculous claims," Apple Inc. spokesman Steve Park said.
Samsung Electronics Co. sued Apple in March 2012, accusing the iPhone maker of illegally using three patented technologies related to short message services in smartphones and tablet computers.
The maker of Galaxy smartphones sought 100 million won ($95,000) in initial compensation and a ban on sales of six iPhone and iPad models, which included models still available in the market, such as those with Retina display.
Full Story
DENIS D. GRAY
NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (AP) - Watched around the clock, bathed twice a day and otherwise pampered, five white elephants are munching on choice greenery in Myanmar's vast, remote and surreal capital. Above them soars a shimmering, gold-plated pagoda.
From ancient times, Myanmar's rulers regarded these rare albino animals as sacred accessories of kingly capitals, symbols of power and prestige. But in this grandiose city built from scratch in secrecy, at great cost and in a seemingly unsuitable location by the country's former military dictators, some find it fitting that "white elephant" is also a term for a troublesome possession too expensive to maintain.
Eight years after Naypyitaw - "Abode of the King" - was proclaimed the new government seat, it has become something more than a "ghost capital hacked out of the jungle," as it was once described.
Private enterprise is staking some ground. More shops and restaurants have opened and 79 hotels are operating or under construction.
Full Story
BANGKOK (AP) - The Democrat Party has seen the enemy.
The Democrats, whose veterans are at the forefront of the anti-government protests that have shaken Bangkok for the past six weeks, say the enemy is a brutal system that has allowed their political nemesis to remain politically powerful, even from far away in Dubai, in exile. The system has driven them to launch angry protests that have left at least five people dead and littered a few streets with the carcasses of burned-out police trucks. It has kept the party from winning a national election for two decades.
The enemy of the Democrat Party? It's democracy.
Or as protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban calls it, "the tyranny of the parliamentary majority."
When Thailand's elected prime minister refused an opposition demand to step aside, Suthep's answer this week was to effectively declare a new government, in the form of a self-appointed "People's Democratic Reform Committee." He ordered civil servants to answer to the committee, called for a shadow system of volunteers to replace the police and issued an order that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra be prosecuted for insurrection.
Full Story
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - New Zealand's government on Thursday dropped all charges against the former boss of a coal mine where 29 miners died in an explosion and instead accepted a financial settlement - a decision that left some of the victim's relatives angry.
The government last year charged former Pike River Coal chief executive Peter Whittall with 12 counts of violating labor laws following the 2010 methane-fueled blast. Each count came with a maximum fine of 250,000 New Zealand dollars ($206,000). But on Thursday, government lawyers said they considered the probability of convicting Whittall low given the available evidence.
The government said it instead accepted Whittall's offer that it drop the charges in exchange for a payment of 3.41 million New Zealand dollars ($2.8 million) made on behalf of company officials to victim's families. Whittall also pledged to meet with the relatives.
But many were unhappy with the outcome. Anna Osborne, whose husband Milton died in the explosion, told the New Zealand Herald newspaper that she's lost faith in the justice system.
Full Story
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