A Turbo Caribou model of the Royal Australian Air Force, similar to the one that disappeared Sunday in Indonesia, is seen taxiing in 2009. Photo: Bidgee / Wikimedia Commons
JAKARTA — Indonesia’s search and rescue agency says it has recovered four bodies from the wreckage of a cargo plane that went missing in mountainous Papua.
Henry Bambang Soelistyo, the National Search and Rescue Agency chief, said Tuesday that the wreckage was found on terrain at an elevation of about 12,000 feet (3,660 meters) in the Jayawijaya area.
The plane was delivering construction materials and had four people on board, including its two pilots.
A search for the Canadian-made DHC4 Turbo Caribou PK-SWW plane began Monday after it didn’t arrive at its destination. Search efforts were disrupted by poor weather.
Much of Papua, which is the easternmost part of the Indonesian archipelago, is covered with impenetrable jungles and mountains. In the past, some planes that have crashed there have never been found.
BANGKOK — There’s no more need to travel afar to hip markets in Ratchada or Khlong San, as steamed-and-grilled food truck delights will be in the On Nut area all this month.
The same folks behind Fatty’s Bar & Diner on Din Daeng Road are bringing the Lil’ Fatso food truck to Soi On Nut 25 with a variety of sliders from their signature Lil’ Fatso to the Oink Oink and Lil’ Veg. Fries with cheese sauce, jalapeno poppers, fine cocktails and IPAs will be there too.
The white truck sets up 6pm to 11pm today through the end of November at Brownstone Studio.
The studio-gallery is located on Soi Sukhumvit 77 near Soi On Nut 25, and can be reached by motorbike or taxi from BTS On Nut.
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton holds a rally in November in Wilton Manors, Florida. Photo: Patrick Farrell / Miami Herald / Associated Press
KENT, Ohio — Hillary Clinton forcefully challenged the FBI’s new email inquiry Monday, declaring during a campaign rally in battleground Ohio, “There’s no case here.”
Clinton’s comments were her most pointed yet on the subject, and they underscored her campaign’s decision to fight back aggressively against FBI Director James Comey.
On Friday — just over a week from Election Day — Comey alerted Congress that the FBI has obtained new material that may be related to its dormant investigation into whether classified information passed through Clinton’s private email server while she served as secretary of state.
The FBI plans to review the emails to see if they contain classified information and if so, whether they were handled properly. The Justice Department said Monday it would “dedicate all necessary resources” to concluding the review promptly.
Clinton accused the FBI of having jumped into the election “with no evidence of any wrongdoing with just days to go.” She said that if the bureau wants to look at the emails, which appear tied to her longtime aide Huma Abedin, “by all means, they should look at them.”
But she insisted the FBI would reach the same conclusion it did earlier this year, when it declined to recommend Clinton and her advisers face charges for how they handled classified information.
“They said it wasn’t even a close call,” she said. “I think most people have decided a long time ago what they think about all of this.”
The investigation appears to center on a laptop belonging to Anthony Weiner, the disgraced former congressman and Abedin’s estranged husband. It’s unclear whether the material on the device was from Clinton. It’s also not known if the emails in question are new or duplicates of the thousands the former secretary of state and her aides have already turned over.
In another sign of the Clinton campaign’s escalating feud with Comey, her advisers leapt on a CNBC report that the director opposed releasing information close to Election Day about Russian interference in the White House race. Campaign manager Robby Mook called the report evidence of a “blatant double standard.”
The AP has not confirmed that report, and the FBI declined to comment on it Monday.
Intelligence agencies have linked Russia to the hacking of Democratic groups during the campaign. Clinton has charged the Kremlin is trying to tilt the election in favor of Donald Trump and has questioned the Republican’s financial ties to Russia.
The Obama administration delayed for weeks formally blaming Russia because of sensitive negotiations that were taking place with Moscow at the time over Syria, according to people familiar with the investigation. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the hackings, which were investigated as counterintelligence cases.
Even hawkish officials within the Justice Department who were urging an announcement blaming Russia did not object to waiting for those negotiations to conclude. When the Syria talks collapsed in failure, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Homeland Security Department released a joint statement accusing Russia of the hacking.
Clinton’s advisers were stunned by Comey’s decision to publicly alert Congress that the bureau had new information that could be pertinent to its initial email investigation. Comey’s letter to lawmakers was short on detail, infuriating the Clinton campaign, which accused him of leaving the situation open to inaccurate interpretations.
Trump has seized on the FBI review, gleeful over getting a new opportunity to hammer Clinton’s trustworthiness and perhaps change the trajectory of a race that appeared to be slipping away from him.
On Monday, Clinton tried to refocus the contest on Trump as she opened the final full week of campaigning with a rally at Kent State University. She’s blasted Trump at length for being unfit to serve as commander in chief, bringing together several of the charges she has leveled against him throughout the campaign.
Speaking in serious tones, Clinton warned at length about putting Trump in control of the nation’s nuclear stockpiles. She accused him of talking “casually” about nuclear war and wondered whether he knows “that a single nuclear warhead can kill millions of people.”
Clinton’s message was amplified by Bruce Blair, a former intercontinental ballistic missile launch control officer. Blair said he would “live in constant fear” of Trump making a bad call about nuclear weapons if he were still a launch officer.
Clinton’s blistering warnings about Trump’s preparedness for the Oval Office were an attempt to refocus the choice in front of voters after a rough stretch for her campaign. Her team has long accepted that many voters simply don’t trust the former secretary of state, but they believe she is viewed as more qualified than Trump to be president — an assertion backed up by many public opinion polls.
Democrats have robustly rallied around Clinton, including black and Hispanic lawmakers. During a Congressional Black Caucus news conference on Saturday, Rep. Gregory Meeks suggested Comey might be trying to affect the election results.
“Don’t hide in silence,” Meeks said. “Don’t be the one that’s trying to sway an election 10 days beforehand. The American people deserve and we want to know in its entirety what the emails are and what you are investigating.”
A forensic police officer on Wednesday examines a bullet hole allegedly left by Cpl. Hassapol Soprakon’s assault rifle at Batutamong Police Station.
YALA — A policeman accused of a shooting rampage that killed two officers and wounded 16 others in the southern border province of Yala is now behind bars and awaiting trial, police said Monday.
Cpl. Hassapol Soprakon surrendered Friday, three days after he allegedly opened fire with an assault rifle on fellow police officers at the Batutamong Police Station. Hassapol, 28, blamed the killings on stress due to his hardship post in the restive province, according to investigator Bancha Sangkhapet.
“He confessed to every count,” Maj. Bancha, who worked with Hassapol, said by telephone. “He said he did it because he was stressed.”
Hassapol has been charged with murder and attempted murder. He is currently being held in a Yala prison, his bail was denied by the criminal court.
The corporal will be expelled from the force while the criminal case against him proceeds, Bancha said.
Armed with an M16 rifle he retrieved from the armory, Hassapol reportedly opened fire Tuesday night on policemen and their families as they were eating and drinking together in the police station’s garden. The shooting killed two officers and wounded 16 others, including four civilians.
After a manhunt was launched, Hassapol turned himself in Friday, bringing the weapon he allegedly used in the rampage, investigator Bancha said.
According to his peers, Hassapol became increasingly distraught after his supervisors refused his request to move out of Yala, where separatists often stage attacks on police and military.
More than 6,500 people are believed to have died in Yala and its neighboring provinces since secessionist violence broke out in early 2004.
BANGKOK — The fall of Romania’s last Communist leader was captured in a three-hour documentary to screen this month with its director present for discussion.
“The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu” compiles 25 years of his brutal and regressive regime from 1,000 hours of footage from the National Archives of Romania.
The film recounts Ceausescu’s and his wife’s trial, which ended with them being sentenced to death by firing squad. The film presents the country’s history with cinematic artistry in its mise-en-scene and editing.
The film was chosen by independent director Anocha Suwichakornpong for Cinema Diverse: Director’s Choice 2016 The Female Perspective. She will join the post-screening discussion with Romanian director Andrei Ujica in English.
Entry is 60 baht and tickets can be reserved at 1pm at the venue on Nov. 19.
The documentarywill be screened in Romanian with English and Thai subtitles. Showtime is 4pm on the fifth floor auditorium of the Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre, which can be reached through the skywalk from BTS National Stadium.
Yuval Schwok, owner of The Overstay, faced a serious charge of possessing drugs with intent to sell along with lesser charges relating to operation of the Bang Phlat guest house, the commander of Bowonmongkol police said Monday.
“He was also still fighting a previous charge of operating a hotel without permission we filed long ago,” said Col. Wiradol Tubtimdee said, saying Schwok failed to properly register foreign guests as required under immigration law.
Six people were charged after testing positive for marijuana in the raid carried out at dawn on Friday. One person refused to be tested and was charged with refusing to comply with a lawful order, he said.
Someone writing on Schwok’s Facebook claimed Sunday that one of the six, a German man, was already released after paying a 4,500 baht fine.
The rest were still in custody and were trying to seek bail Monday. Wiradol said he was unaware of the court’s decision.
The Israeli embassy said it was aware of the case.
“We are aware of the case and we are handling it under standard consular procedure,” Israeli Ambassador Simon Roded said Monday.
In a public message posted Saturday, an associate of Schwok’s dismissed reports there was a party going on at the time of the raid. In the message, Gili Back complained no warrant was presented during the raid carried out by military, police and other officers.
Police said it was legal under a junta order earlier this year granting warrantless search and seizure powers to soldiers without any judicial review if they suspect any criminal activity.
The order issued in March was heavily criticized as ripe for potential rights abuses, as it gave sweeping police powers to soldiers without review.
It also authorized detaining anyone for interrogation if they suspected any link to crimes involving drugs, gambling or weapons.
But Schwok wrote Saturday morning that police charged him with dealing drugs based on his possession of 20 grams of marijuana. He also expected to be granted release that day.
“The result is quite sad they found 20 grams of herbs under my cupboard and try to put me down for dealing … I’m about to go to court to be released on bail,” he wrote.
Police said they found a quantity of weed in the Friday morning raid of The Overstay in Bangkok
The Head of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau said Monday the raid at the The Overstay was conducted in response to complaints from neighbors. He insisted the charges against Schwok were reasonable, as officers found a scale in his possession, signifying intent to sell.
Back wrote that the scale was used in his kitchen for producing craft beer.
“If they are so suspicious of the case, I can try to press for their deportation,” police Maj. Gen Sommai Kongwithaisook said Monday. “If they want to play with us, we play back harder. We are not going to tolerate drug-dealing expats.”
Schwok denies selling drugs.
Friday’s operation was led by the military with four other agencies: the Narcotics Suppression Bureau, Immigration Office, Tourist Police and local police.
Wiradol said the raid with 100 officers fully armed along with police dogs may have scared the foreigners was necessary for the sake of national security and suspects themselves.
“Foreigners are the target as both the perpetrators and the victims. We were trying to explain to them the current circumstances in the country when we conducted the raid,” he said.“But sometimes they don’t completely understand due to the language.”
Migrants including Myanmar Rohingya Muslims sit on the deck of their boat as they wait to be rescued by Acehnese fishermen on May 20, 2015, on the sea off East Aceh, Indonesia. Photo: S. Yulinnas / Associated Press
YANGON— Just five months after her party took power, Myanmar’s Nobel Prize-winning leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, is facing international pressure after recent reports that soldiers have been killing, raping and burning homes of the country’s long-persecuted Rohingya Muslims.
The U.S. State Department joined activist and aid groups raising concerns about new reports of rape and murder, while satellite imagery released Monday by Human Rights Watch shows that at least three villages in the western state of Rakhine have been burned.
Myanmar government officials deny reports of attacks, and presidential spokesman Zaw Htay said Monday that United Nations representatives should visit “and see the actual situation in that region.” The government has long made access to the region a challenge, generally banning foreign aid workers and journalists.
But the U.N.’s Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, said serious violations, including torture, summary executions, arbitrary arrests and destruction of mosques and homes, threaten the country’s fledgling democracy.
“The big picture is that the government does not seem to have any influence over the military,” said Chris Lewa, director of the Arakan Project, an advocacy group that focuses on the Rohingya. Myanmar’s widely criticized constitution was designed to give the armed forces power and independence.
A three-week surge in violence by the military was prompted by the killings of nine police officers at border posts on Oct. 9 in Rakhine, home to Myanmar’s 800,000 Rohingya. There have been no arrests, and a formerly unknown Islamist militant group has taken responsibility.
Although they’ve lived in Myanmar for generations, Rohingya are barred from citizenship in the nation of 50 million, and instead live as some of the most oppressed people in the world. Since communal violence broke out in 2012, more than 100,000 people have been driven from their homes to live in squalid camps guarded by the police. Some have tried to flee by boat, but many ended up becoming victims of human trafficking or were held for ransom.
When Suu Kyi’s party was elected earlier this year after more than five decades of military rule, the political shift offered a short, tense window of peace. But that quickly ended as the former political prisoner and champion of human rights failed to clamp down on military atrocities.
The current crackdown has prompted an estimated 15,000 people in the Rakhine area to flee their homes in the past few weeks. Satellite images from Human Rights Watch show villages burning, and locals report food supplies are growing scarce as they are living under siege.
U.S. Ambassador Scot Marciel has told Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry to follow the rule of law, investigate allegations of attacks and “take whatever actions against the perpetrators are warranted,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in Washington.
Families in Rakhine depend largely on humanitarian aid for food and health care, but that support has been cut off for weeks by officials who will not allow outsiders into the region. A government-sponsored delegation of aid agencies and foreign diplomats was supposed to visit the region on Monday, but local officials said they hadn’t seen anyone yet, nor had they been informed they were coming.
“The government should end its blanket denial of wrongdoing and blocking of aid agencies, and stop making excuses for keeping international monitors from the area,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn presides over the funeral of His Majesty the Late King Bhumibol on Oct. 24 at the Grand Palace.
BANGKOK — The government announced Sunday that Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn has granted a royal decoration to one of the officers in his royal guard unit.
Suthida Vajiralongkorn na Ayudhya received the Rattanabhorn Medal on Sept. 4, but the news was only made public on Sunday via the the Royal Gazette website, which publishes government and royal announcements.
Suthida has been serving in the Ratchawanlop Guards, a unit of bodyguards protecting the Crown Prince, since 2013. She was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general in August 2015.
The Royal Gazette also reported that prince Vajiralongkorn has awarded the decorations of the Knight Grand Cross to 16 other officers serving in the guard corps.
Note: The content of this article has been been self-censored out of fear of prosecution under the lese majeste law. We regret the necessity.
Pattaya City Police Station in an undated file photo.
PATTAYA — A policeman accused of ordering the extortion and rape of a bar worker in the resort town of Pattaya earlier this month said he had nothing to do with the crime, police said Monday.
Sgt. Maj. Kittikhun Fonrueng surrendered to police on Wednesday, seven days after the victim was allegedly kidnapped and sexually assaulted by his two underlings. Kittikhun, who’s been expelled from the force, isn’t facing any legal repercussions for defying the arrest warrant and is now free again on bail, according to an investigator.
“He said he would contest his case in court,” Col. Chatchapol Pattarasiriporn said.
He added that the police’s decision to grant bail for the suspect is reasonable.
“I don’t think he would dare interfere with the victim,” Chatchapol said. “He’s just a low-ranking cop.”
The victim said Kittikhun ordered two police volunteers to kidnap her and demand she pay 20,000 baht in ransom money. According to the victim, Kittikhun’s two underlings sexually assaulted her when she told them she had no money, and released her from detention a day later.
Kittikhun denied the allegations.
According to Chatchapol, the suspect said he stopped the victim and searched her for drugs, then told his subordinates to escort her to Pattaya City Police Station for a narcotics test. He said they took her to the hotel without Kittikhun’s knowledge.
Although arrest warrants for the suspects were issued on Oct. 22, Kittikhun didn’t turn himself in for four days.
Only one of the alleged accomplices has been identified by name: Pana Mekkhla, 26. Police have yet to learn the other’s identity, Chatchapol said. Both Pana and his unnamed partner in crime were on the run, he added.
Kittikhun has been charged with extortion and illegal detention. Per police regulations, he was fired from the force when his criminal case moved forward, Col. Chatchapol said.
PATTAYA— Barbecue pork is best eaten hot. No one seems to understand this better than a foreign man who refused to let his hunger be interrupted by torrential rain Sunday night in Pattaya.
According to the story which went viral overnight, a couple was served at a barbecue buffet restaurant at about 8:30pm just before the sky opened up with a downpour. While other customers ran indoors, the unidentified man refused to budge. Not even his girlfriend could get him to leave the table, according to Padermchok Wongsiriyanon, son of the restaurant’s owner.
“It’s so tasty he didn’t want to move,” Padermchok wrote with a photo posted online.
He sat. He ate. It rained. He ate some more.
Someone eventually brought him an umbrella to enjoy the meal to the last bite.
Impressed with his customer’s indifference to the rain, Padermchok gave him another set of barbecue pork out of respect for his fortitude.
