Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant reacts after scoring against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the second half of Game 5 of basketball's NBA Finals Monday in Oakland, California. Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press
OAKLAND, California — Kevin Durant capped his spectacular first season with the Warriors by bringing home that coveted NBA championship he joined Golden State last July so determined to get, scoring 39 points in a fast-and-furious, Finals-clinching 129-120 victory over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night.
Stephen Curry added 34 points, 10 assists and six rebounds as Golden State took the seven-game series 4-1, closing out its second title in three years after squandering a 3-1 lead a year ago to the Cavs to miss a repeat. That stung ever since, and even Durant understood, because he gave up the same lead to the Warriors a round earlier with Oklahoma City.
James, who in 2012 with Miami beat the Thunder in Durant’s only other Finals, wound up with 41 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists. Kyrie Irving followed up his 40-point gem in Friday’s Game 4 with 26 points but shot 9 for 22.
This time, King James gave way to KD, who was the NBA Finals MVP 10 years after being picked second in the NBA draft behind Greg Oden.
Durant drove left, right and down the middle, knocked down 3-pointers, dished and dunked. He knocked down a 17-foot fadeaway over James early in the fourth quarter, then assisted on a 3-pointer by Andre Iguodala the next time down as the Warriors pulled away.
Officers stand guard as narcotics officials prepare to burn drugs in a high-powered oven in Ayutthaya province in a in a June 26, 2014 file photo. Photo: Narong Sangnak / EPA
BANGKOK — Thai police say they have seized more than 1 million methamphetamine tablets this month, as trade in the illicit drug shows little sign of abating.
The Narcotic Suppression Bureau on Monday displayed 1.21 million methamphetamine tablets and 17 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine it seized as it made arrests in four separate cases.
The biggest seizure came last Thursday at a police checkpoint in Prachuap Khiri Khan province, about 240 kilometers south of Bangkok. Police said the arrested men admitted transporting 910,000 tablets destined for the southern Thai provinces of Songkhla and Hat Yai.
Other drug seizures took place at a mall in Bangkok and in the provinces of Lampang and Chiang Rai in Thailand’s north, which borders Myanmar, where most methamphetamine seized in Thailand originates.
KATHMANDU, Nepal — Confessed French serial killer Charles Sobhraj, who killed tourists in Thailand in the 1970s and is serving a life sentence in Nepal, had successful heart surgery Monday, doctors said.
Doctors at Shahid Ganga Lal Hospital in Kathmandu said Sobhraj, 73, was recovering in the cardiac care unit.
Sobhraj has been in a Nepal jail since 2004, when a court sentenced him to life in prison in the 1975 killing of a Western backpacker.
The Frenchman in the past has admitted killing several Western tourists, and is believed to have murdered at least 20 people in Afghanistan, India, Thailand, Turkey, Nepal, Iran and Hong Kong during the 1970s.
According to a National Geographic documentary on Sobhraj, his first victim was a young American woman from Seattle, Washington named Teresa Knowlton, who was found dead in the Gulf of Thailand wearing a bikini. He also killed a young Sephardic Jew named Vitali Hakim, whose body was found burned near a Pattaya resort where Sobhraj and his entourage were staying.
He was convicted of murder for the first time after he came to Nepal as tourist in 2003 and police were tipped by a journalist. He was arrested and found guilty by a court the following year.
Sobhraj was held for two decades in New Delhi’s maximum-security Tihar prison on suspicion of theft, but was deported without charge to France in 1997. He resurfaced in September 2003 in Kathmandu.
Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, seated at middle, and Transport Minister Akhom Termpittayapaisit, at right, meet Monday at the Ministry of Transport in Bangkok.
BANGKOK — Junta chief Prayuth Chan-ocha is expected to propose using his absolute power Tuesday to overcome the legal hurdles that have delayed the construction of a Thai-Chinese high speed rail line.
Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said Monday that the Transport Ministry will propose Gen. Prayuth use his extralegal authority to resolve a long-standing regulatory deadlock over construction of the 179 billion baht project, the first phase of which will connect Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima.
Though details of the order have yet to be revealed, it is expected to authorize an exception to the law which bars foreign – Chinese in this case – architects and engineers to work on Thai infrastructure projects.
Both architects and civil engineers are on a list of professions reserved only for Thai nationals. They are also required to hold valid Thai professional licenses to work in the country.
Transport Minister Akhom Termpittayapaisit said Monday that the Engineers and Architects Council will arrange an exam specifically for Chinese architects and engineers this month so they can obtain five-year licenses. The license issued under this special scheme can only be used for this project, according to Matichon.
The government previously said itexpects to commence construction on a 3.5-kilometer stretch out of the 252.5 kilometer route in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Pak Chong district as early as August.
After connecting the capital to the gateway to the northeastern region, the line will eventually go all the way to the north of the country and connect to the border with Laos.
First established after the 2014 coup under the junta’s interim charter, Prayuth’s special authority was preserved in the new charter approved by referendum last year.
Under its Article 265, the junta and junta chief will continue to hold the same powers as written into the 2014 interim constitution until an elected government takes office.
Article 279 also says any orders issued by the junta will remain in effect unless negated by a future law, prime minister order or cabinet resolution.
PATTAYA — At least two people were hospitalized Monday afternoon after a fire started in a nightclub in central Pattaya, according to police.
Firemen had arrived at the scene and were trying to extinguish the blaze, Col. Apichai Krobpetch said.
At about 5pm on Monday, flames erupted at Muze, a popular gay club in Pattaya. Two people were taken to a hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation. The club was closed at the time.
Apichai, chief of Pattaya City Police, said the fire was caused by a welder. Police have detained the worker for questioning.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny speaks after a live broadcast at the office of the Foundation for Fighting Corruption last month in Moscow, Russia. Photo: Pavel Golovkin / Associated Press
MOSCOW— Protests spearheaded by prominent opposition figure Alexei Navalny were taking place across the country on Monday, but Navalny himself was reportedly arrested outside his Moscow home en route to the centerpiece demonstration in the capital city.
Navalny’s wife, Yulia, said on his Twitter feed that he was arrested about a half-hour before the demonstration was to begin. There was no immediate statement from police.
Although city authorities had agreed to a location for the Moscow protest, Navalny called for it to be moved to Tverskaya Street, one of Moscow’s main thoroughfares. He said contractors hired to build a stage at the agreed-upon venue could not do their work after apparently coming under official pressure.
Tverskaya, known in Soviet times as Gorky Street, was closed off to traffic on Monday for an extensive commemoration of the national holiday Russia Day, including people dressed in historical Russian costumes.
After the change, Moscow police warned that “any provocative actions from the protesters’ side will be considered a threat to public order and will be immediately suppressed.”
A regional security official, Vladimir Chernikov, told Ekho Moskvy radio that police would not interfere with demonstrators on the street – as long as they did not carry placards or shout slogans.
More than 1,000 protesters were arrested at a similar rally March 26.
The protests in March took place in scores of cities across the country, the largest show of discontent in years and a challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s dominance of the country.
The Kremlin has long sought to cast the opposition as a phenomenon of a privileged, Westernized urban elite out of touch with people in Russia’s far-flung regions. But Monday’s protests could demonstrate that it has significant support throughout the vast country.
Navalny’s website reported Monday that protests were held in more than a half-dozen cities in the Far East, including the major Pacific ports of Vladivostok and Khabarovsk and in Siberia’s Barnaul. Photos on the website suggested turnouts of hundreds at the rallies.
Eleven demonstrators were arrested in Vladivostok, according to OVD-Info, a website that monitors political repressions.
Navalny has become the most prominent figure in an opposition that has been troubled by factional disputes. He focuses on corruption issues and has attracted a wide following through savvy use of internet video. His report on alleged corruption connected to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was the focus of the March protests.
Navalny has announced his candidacy for the presidential election in 2018. He was jailed for 15 days after the March protests. In April, he suffered damage to one eye after an attacker doused his face with a green antiseptic liquid.
Bomb squad officers arrive at Centara Grand Hotel on Saturday
BANGKOK — A prominent politician lashed out at police Monday, accusing them of fabricating a bomb threat to scuttle a dinner meeting with fellow politicians.
What started as a Saturday dinner party for veteran politicians to discuss polls and politics ended in a police evacuation and search for bombs. Vivatanachai Na Kalasin, 65, said the dinner was attended by potential members of a new political faction he had hoped could reshape Thailand after the next election.
“We are sad that they said there was a bomb. We would have been happy if they simply said we broke the law,” Vivatanachai said. “At least that wouldn’t damage the country’s reputation. Because they said it’s a bomb, it has become a big issue.”
Vivatanachai, who’s stood in elections since the 1980s, was set to meet at the Centara Grand Hotel with a score of former ministers of parliament from both the Pheu Thai party and its predecessor, Thai Rak Thai. The dinner had been on course for a short while before police officers arrived at the restaurant. They informed the politicians that a suspicious package had been found in the premises, ordering everyone to leave while they searched the area.
Yanyong Santipreechawattana, chief of Phahonyothin Police Station, said he ordered the evacuation after receiving an anonymous tip about a bomb allegedly being placed at the restaurant, requiring his team conduct a search as per protocol.
Col. Yanyong denied making up a bomb threat and said those hosting the dinner might have phoned in the threat.
“It depends on how people think,” the colonel said. “I can think like they do, too. Maybe it was them who made the phone call and forced us to act to make it look like we bullied them. It’s all possible.”
Eager for Elections
Whether the bomb report was bogus, Vivatanachai was firm on one thing: The purpose of the failed dinner was to talk strategy and the next election.
“Yes, yes, yes. We talked about that, we exchanged our opinions about other things, as we normally do,” the longtime politician said. “We analyzed the political situation together.”
The junta has promised elections will be held next year. The Pheu Thai Party, which led the civilian government ousted by a military coup in 2014, has complained of unfair suppression by the regime for its past association with founder and former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra.
Vivatanachai was first elected to public office to represent his home province of Kalasin in 1983. He first served as MP for the now-defunct Social Action Party before joining Thai Rak Thai under tycoon-turned-politician Thaksin. After Thai Rak Thai was disbanded in the aftermath of the 2006 coup, Vivatanachai refused to join its proxy government and formed his own party, though he’s believed to have kept some contacts with politicians from Thaksin’s faction.
Former politicos pose for a photo Saturday at Centara Grand Hotel
The guests at Saturday’s short-lived dinner reflected those connections. They included former Pheu Thai and Thai Rak Thai MPs such as Chakrapan Yomjinda, Sophon Petchsawang and Rachata Phisitbanakorn.
He said they all belong to a loose network of politicos that meet occasionally to discuss politics. Saturday was the first time such meeting had been attempted since King Bhumibol died in October, Vivatanachai said.
Asked if they intend to form a new party, Vivatanachai would not answer directly, though he said they were toying with the idea.
Because of new regulations in the current constitution, the number of elected MPs will decrease to 350 from 400, meaning there will be politicians unable to get on the ticket with their parties, and it’s only natural that those politicians would want to find a new home, Vivatanachai said.
“We have people, and we understand what kind of politics the people want,” Vivatanachai said. “If we do it, we will win for sure.”
Even popular former premier Thaksin, Vivatanachai added, “borrowed” some of his successful economic policies in the 1990s.
“But forming a party is very complicated. We may have good policies, but we lack many other things,” he said.
Last time Thailand had an election was early 2014. It was boycotted by the opposition and later voided by the courts. The military seized power in May that year, banned political activities and after initially saying it would step down after a year, has delayed doing so repeatedly.
Regardless of when the new poll will be, junta leadership maintains that political parties cannot engage in politics. That means executive meetings, general assemblies and the usual closed-door cajoling are not allowed.
Speaking to reporters Monday, deputy junta chairman Prawit Wongsuwan said Vivatanachai’s dinner violated the junta’s edicts.
“[Having a meal] is not a matter of concern, but gathering in such a manner should not be done,” Gen. Prawit said.
He urged all groups and factions to “stay still” and refrain from participating in politics until the ban is lifted.
A taxi navigates a partially flooded street June 5 near the Wongsakorn Market on Sai Mai Road in Bangkok.
BANGKOK — Commuters will be happy to hear that forecasts call for less rain this week.
The rainy season has saturated the capital’s roads and lanes with ankle- or even knee-level flooding since late May, but the country will see a week-long break from the rain, according to state meteorologists.
Bangkok will see low to moderate chances of scattered rain through Friday, according to Monday’s forecast from the Thai Meteorological Department.
The weekend will see more rain, covering 30 percent to 40 percent of the capital due to a low-pressure system to the east and a Tropical Storm Merbok currently hitting Hong Kong and moving in over the South China Sea. Those travelling to China or Hong Kong through Sunday should be on alert for changing weather conditions, the state meteorological agency warned.
Conditions will be similar in the rest of the country, except for the northern and Isaan regions, which will see a slightly higher chances of rain: 40 percent through Friday and 60 percent during the weekend.
Ariya Jutanugarn kisses her trophy Sunday after winning the LPGA Classic golf tournament at the Whistle Bear Golf Club in Ontario. Photo: Frank Gunn / The Canadian Press
BANGKOK — Ariya Jutanugarn, aka Pro May, was officially ranked the world’s top woman golfer Monday after winning the Manulife LPGA Classic on Sunday in Ontario, Canada.
Ariya, 21, ascended to the No. 1 spot after beating American golfer Lexi Thompson and Chun In-gee of South Korea in a playoff round, according to the official Women’s World Golf Rankings site.
Former top-ranked player Lydia Ko of New Zealand drops to the No. 2 spot.
A Hawaiian pizza seen here in 2008 in Quebec, Canada. Photo: Krista / Flickr
LONDON, Ontario — A Canadian man widely credited with inventing the pineapple-topped pizza has died at age 83.
An obituary by his family said Sam Panopoulos had been in hospital in London, Ontario, when he died suddenly on Thursday.
Panopoulos was born in Greece and emigrated to Canada in 1954. He told numerous news media that he made his first “Hawaiian” pizza in 1962 at the Satellite Restaurant in Chatham, Ontario, after wondering if canned pineapple might make a tasty topping.
Some have disputed his claim. But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this year issued a light-hearted tweet of support, referring to the dish as “a delicious southwestern Ontario creation.”
He was responding to a joking suggestion by Iceland’s President Gudni Johannesson that pineapple pizzas should be banned.
One of Panopoulos’ sons described his father as a dedicated family man who “wasn’t looking to get famous.”
Bill Panopoulos said he didn’t want to comment further, adding “the Hawaiian pizza story and his immigrant story were his to tell.”
