France Moving More Than 6,000 Migrants, Destroying Huge Camp

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24 October 2016, 15:49

Migrants line-up to register at a processing centre Monday in the makeshift migrant camp known as "the jungle" near Calais, northern France. Photo: Emilio Morenatti / Associated Press

CALAIS, France — Lines of migrants with their lives in small bags walked to a registration center in the French port city of Calais Monday, the first day of the mass evacuation and destruction of the filthy camp they called home.

French authorities are beginning a complex operation, unprecedented in Europe, to shut down the makeshift camp, uprooting thousands who made treacherous journeys to escape wars, dictators or grinding poverty and dreamed of making a life in Britain.

Under the eye of more than 1,200 police, the first of hundreds of buses were arriving to begin transferring migrants to reception centers around France where they can apply for asylum, and level the camp in a weeklong operation. Hotels and even castles are among the hundreds of centers officials have been converting to migrant housing ahead of the big move.

Unaccompanied minors, many with family members in Britain, were to be housed on-site in containers set up earlier this year as their files are studied in London to see if they qualify for a transfer across the English Channel. The humanitarian organization France Terre d’Asile, says 1,291 unaccompanied minors live in the camp.

Authorities say the camp, known as the jungle, holds nearly 6,500 migrants who are seeking to get to Britain. Fourteen migrants have died this year in the Calais area.

Officials were expected to begin dismantling hundreds of tents and shelters as their occupants depart, gradually closing down the camp that sprung up behind an official shelter housing women and providing showers and daily meals.

Story: Elaine Ganley

Fining Yingluck for Rice Subsidy in ‘Grey Area,’ Critic of Policy Says

By

Teeranai Charuvastra, News Chief

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24 October 2016, 14:25

Former PM Yingluck Shinawatra on Jan. 15 receives a bundle of rice from her supporters outside court just before her trial on charges of negligence commences.

BANGKOK — The military government’s decision to fine Yingluck Shinawatra for 35 billion baht over her rice subsidy program lacks clear legal grounding, a prominent critic of the former prime minister’s policy said Monday.

Economist Viroj NaRanong said in an interview the punishment, under which she must pay an amount equal to USD$1 billion from her own pocket for the program’s losses, appeared disproportional.

“If there is clear evidence of who in the government defrauded the rice mortgage policy, action must be taken,” said Viroj, an economist at an independent policy think tank and opponent of the rice subsidy. “But the word being used here is negligence, so it’s starting to enter a grey area.”

In its Friday order, the government indicated it was not seeking to fine the former prime minister, whose government was toppled in 2014, on the grounds of corruption but on her failure to acknowledge and stop widespread corruption in the program.

Yingluck’s party, Pheu Thai, has decried the fine as politically motivated.

Findings by the regime that replaced Yingluck’s elected government ruled the agricultural subsidy, under which the state paid farmers premium prices for their rice, cost about 178 billion baht due to corruption and mismanagement. The former leader had to take responsibility by paying 20 percent of the damages, or 35 billion baht, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said last month.

But fining Yingluck on the grounds of negligence would require authorities to first prove she conspired with the people engaged in the corruption, said Viroj, a member of Thailand Development Research Institute who’s published articles about the rice policy .

“If there was no conspiracy, it should end with her taking responsibility politically, not legally,” the economist said.

Yingluck said upon being notified Friday that she would use all legal means to overturn the decision. The leader of her Pheu Thai Party said Sunday the military regime was applying a new standard on Yingluck.

“In the past, there were many public policies that used state funds to solve problems, but no former prime minister had to take responsibility for them, even in clear cases of losses of state funds,” Pheu Thai Secretary General Phumtham Wechayachai wrote on Facebook. “What’s also important: Does a government from a coup have legitimacy to demand accountability from the government that it seized power from?”

Apart from the fine, Yingluck is also being tried on charges of negligence. She faces up to 10 years in jail if convicted.

Viroj said it’s rare for the government to fine senior officials for losses of state funds because of their negligence.

In fact, he said he could name only one case: a 2005 court order that former Bank of Thailand president Rerngchai Marakanond pay 180 billion baht for his decision to float the baht in 1997, which contributed to the Asian financial crisis and collapse of Thailand’s financial sector.

Earlier this month, on Oct. 5, the Supreme Court acquitted Rerngchai after a 15-year legal battle.

In an interview Monday, Viroj maintained his belief that Yingluck’s rice policy was destructive to the economy and rife with corruption, but he said authorities need a watertight case of legal evidence to prove her intent before punishing her for negligence.

“Some people said the government was warned many times already that it was a bad idea, but they neglected to hear the warnings. But I don’t think that’s sufficient grounds [for the charge of conspiracy],” Viroj said. “Suppose they believed out of their honest intentions it was a good idea? I still criticize them. But if someone were to hold them legally responsible, I think it’s not fair.”

He compared it to the 2015 indictment of commerce minister Boonsong Teriyapirom for damages stemming from the same policy; in Boonsong’s case, the indictment was for corruption, which was more clear-cut than an elusive conviction for negligence.

Yingluck’s next court hearing is set for Nov. 4.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly quoted Viroj as saying there was insufficient cause for the charge of negligence, when in fact he meant a count of conspiracy.

Bill Murray Accepts Humor Prize After Gentle Roast

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Associated Press

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24 October 2016, 13:25

Bill Murray accepts the 19th Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on Sunday in Washington. Photo: Owen Sweeney/ AP.

WASHINGTON — In an evening filled with jokes about Bill Murray’s elusiveness and quirky personality, it was David Letterman who provided the most touching moment as Murray was honored with the nation’s top prize for comedy.

Murray, 66, received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on Sunday night at the Kennedy Center, joining several other “Saturday Night Live” alumni to win the annual award. After he was presented with a bust of Mark Twain, Murray handed it to a man in the first row of the audience and urged the crowd to pass it around.

Known for living outside the Hollywood bubble, Murray admitted he was uncomfortable sitting in a box with his family while more than a dozen of his co-stars and collaborators spoke warmly about his body of work.

“It’s really hard to listen to all those people be nice to you for two days,” Murray said. “You just get real suspicious.”

His acceptance speech followed a heartfelt tribute by the bearded Letterman, who made a rare public appearance since his late-night show ended last June. Murray was a guest on Letterman’s shows 44 times over the years, and the two grew close, even spending time together at Letterman’s vacation home in Montana.

After an appearance in 2003, Letterman told Murray that his then-infant son would be christened that weekend. An hour later, Letterman said, a package was delivered to his office containing a handmade Irish linen christening gown.

“That Saturday, my son, in Bill Murray’s christening gown, was christened at St. Ignatius in Manhattan, and we have this memory, we have this gift, we have this gesture for the rest of our lives,” Letterman said.

There were plenty of laughs at Murray’s expense in evening that took on the tone of a gentle roast. Jimmy Kimmel, Aziz Ansari, Sigourney Weaver and Steve Martin were among those who ribbed Murray for being aloof, unpredictable and difficult to reach — and somehow still lovable.

“I think you and I are about as close as two people can be, considering that one of them is you,” Martin said in a video tribute.

The show, which was taped for broadcast Friday on PBS, had one major stumble, courtesy of Miley Cyrus, who cursed repeatedly and made an excuse about smoking too many cigarettes after she botched the lyrics to a version of “My Way.” Despite not having a microphone, Murray came to her rescue, joking with the crowd from his seat as Cyrus and the crew set up for a second attempt at the song, which went more smoothly.

After getting his break on “Saturday Night Live,” Murray went on to star in some of the most successful comedies of the 1980s and 1990s before transitioning into more dramatic roles. He was nominated for an Oscar for his soulful turn as a washed-up actor in Sofia Coppola’s “Lost in Translation.”

He’s become a folk hero in the social-media era by turning up unannounced at wedding receptions, kickball games and house parties. He’s also a regular at Chicago Cubs games and celebrity golf tournaments.

This weekend, he got to meet President Barack Obama. And what did the two men talk about? “Putting,” Murray said before the show.

Murray lives in South Carolina, doesn’t have an agent or a publicist and rarely does in-depth videos. He famously forces people offering him scripts to call an 800 number and leave a voicemail. He said he would have been happy to skip the festivities surrounding the prize, especially if his beloved Chicago Cubs hadn’t already advanced to the World Series.

“If this could all have been done in a letter that I received, that would have been enough,” Murray told The Associated Press on the red carpet. “It’s hard to stand still for this. It’s a squirm-a-thon for me.”

The prize was first awarded in 1998 and goes to those who influence society in the tradition of Samuel Clemens, the writer, satirist and social commentator better known as Mark Twain. Other “Saturday Night Live” alumni who’ve received it include Tina Fey, Will Ferrell and last year’s winner, Eddie Murphy.

In his speech, Murray — the fifth of nine children — also paid tribute to his older brother, Brian Doyle-Murray, who helped him get his start in improvisational theater. His brother had to be the breadwinner for the family after their father died, and Murray said it took courage for Brian to pursue his dreams.

“My brother had more guts than anyone I ever knew, and the only reason I’m here tonight is because of the guts of my brother Brian,” Murray said. “He’s been waiting a long time to hear that.”

Story: Ben Nuckols

Wonderfruit Not to Fall Until February

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Kaewta Ketbungkan, Staff Reporter

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24 October 2016, 12:11

The 2015 Wonderfruit Festival. Photo: Wonderfruit / Facebook.

PATTAYA — This year’s Wonderfruit Festival has been rescheduled to next year in light of the death of His Majesty the Late King.

To observe a 100-day mourning period, Wonderfruit organizers announced Friday the four-day festival was postponed to February.

“Taking into account the sentiment of the country and the guidelines set by the government of Thailand, we will observe a 100-day grieving period, so we are able to pay our proper respects, in unity with the Thai people,” it reads.

The lineup for Wonderfruit’s third edition remains unchanged for now, while further updates will be posted on its website.

Tickets previously booked are still valid. Wonderfruiters unable to participate on the new dates can seek refunds via Eventpop Nov. 1-30.

Wonderfruit will run Feb. 16-19 at The Fields at the Siam Country Club in Pattaya, Chonburi province. Shuttle buses from city center to and from the venue will be available.

Pattaya can be reached by car or public transportation. Buses leave regularly throughout the day from Ekkamai’s Eastern Bus Terminal, the Northern Bus Terminal in Mo Chit or the Southern Bus Terminal.

Police Hunting for 230 Escaped Drug Addicts in Vietnam

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Associated Press

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24 October 2016, 12:09

A 2011 anti-drug protest in Binh Duong, Vietnam. Photo: garycycles7 / Flickr

HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnamese authorities were searching Monday for 230 drug addicts are still at large after a mass escape from a rehabilitation center in southern Vietnam.

Ho Van Loc, deputy director of labor department in Dong Nai province, said the breakout on Sunday night was started by two inmates and eventually 562 inmates, including 58 women, escaped.

Security guards who were overpowered by the inmates opened the main gate of the compound to let them out, Loc said.

Police have recaptured 332 of the inmate and were searching for the others, he said.

The center holds 1,481 inmates.

Officials have said that rehabilitation programs in Vietnam — which combine education, communist ideology and physical labor for one to two years — have a high failure rate, with more than 90 percent of the addicts relapsing within five years.

There are an estimated 200,000 drug addicts in Vietnam, many of them heroin users.

Hostages Held by Somali Pirates Rescued After 4 Years

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Associated Press

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24 October 2016, 11:29

Sailors who had been held hostage by pirates for more than four years, and were released in October in Somalia, smile as they arrive at the airport in Nairobi, Kenya. Photo: Associated Press

NAIROBI, Kenya — Following more than four years in captivity, 26 Asian sailors held hostage by Somali pirates have been rescued from their captors, China’s Foreign Ministry confirmed Monday.

The sailors arrived in Nairobi, Kenya, on Sunday, and international mediators said the action the marks a turning point in the long-fought battle against Somali piracy.

The crew from Vietnam, Taiwan, Cambodia, Indonesia, China and the Philippines had been among the few hostages still in the hands of Somali pirates.

The sailors were the crew of the FV Naham 3, a Taiwan-owned fishing vessel seized in March 2012, said pirate representative Bile Hussein. The ship later sank.

Hussein said $1.5 million in ransom was paid for the sailors’ release. That claim could not be independently verified.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement Sunday night that 10 of the hostages were from the Chinese mainland and two were from self-governing Taiwan.

She said the 26 crew members were rescued Saturday “through various efforts.” The Chinese government was grateful to “all the organizations and people who participated in the rescue,” she said.

The 26 sailors will be repatriated to their home countries, John Steed, coordinator of the Hostage Support Partners for the U.S.-based organization Oceans Beyond Piracy, said in a statement.

“They are reported to be in reasonable condition, considering their ordeal. … They have spent over four and a half years in deplorable conditions away from their families,” Steed said.

He said another member of the crew died in the hijacking and two died of illnesses in captivity.

Piracy off Somalia’s coast was once a serious threat to the global shipping industry. Attacks have dropped off dramatically in recent years amid patrols by the navies of NATO counties, China and India.

No commercial vessel has been successfully attacked since 2012, but the threat of piracy remains, Steed said.

Most hostages held by Somali pirates have been sailors on merchant ships, although European families also have been kidnapped from their yachts while traveling in the dangerous waters.

UK Banker Pleads Not Guilty to Murder in Hong Kong Trial

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Associated Press

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24 October 2016, 11:09

A migrant workers alliance group holds placards to protest the killings of two Indonesian women in 2014 outside the High Court in Hong Kong. Photo: Vincent Yu / Associated Press

HONG KONG — The Hong Kong trial of a British banker accused of the grisly 2014 killings of two Indonesian women is expected to be “particularly horrifying,” including photographic evidence of one victim’s torture, the judge told prospective jurors as the case got underway Monday.

The banker, Rurik Jutting, entered a plea of not guilty to two murder charges that were read out at the High Court, with prosecutors rejecting his attempt to plead guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Jutting is charged with the murders of Sumarti Ningsih and Seneng Mujiasih, whose bodies were found in his upscale apartment near the Asian financial center’s Wan Chai red-light district, in a case expected to highlight the Asian financial hub’s inequality and privileged lifestyle of its wealthy expat elite.

Jutting, who wore a dark blue shirt, glasses and looked a lot slimmer than in his court appearances last year, was put into a glass-screened dock when he arrived in the court. When the clerk asked what his plea was to the two murder charge, he replied “not guilty to murder by reason of diminished responsibility but guilty of manslaughter,” which the prosecutors refused to accept, meaning the trial on the murder charges will proceed.

A third charge was also read out, unlawful burial of Sumarti Ningsih’s body, to which he pleaded guilty. Her body was found stuffed in a suitcase left in a balcony while Seneng Mujiasih’s body had knife wounds on the neck and buttock, according to initial police reports.

Judge Michael Stuart-Moore said to jurors before the selection began that there were “particularly horrifying aspect to this case, with one victim subject to extreme violence and cruelty amounting to torture,” before she died.

He said the evidence includes color photographs that “are not pleasant photographs to look at. They are extremely upsetting.”

He added that “the defendant even recorded on his iPhone part of the torture he inflicted on his first victim,” which will be shown to the jury.

“Much of what the jury will see or hear is very disturbing indeed,” he said, but added that the Jutting is entitled to a fair trial.

While Jutting’s initial guilty manslaughter plea was rejected, the judge told jurors that they could still decide between finding him guilty of murder or manslaughter.

Jutting is a Cambridge University graduate who worked for Bank of America-Merrill Lynch in structured equity finance and trading. If convicted, he faces life in prison.

The case shocked the former British colony, which has a reputation for being safe, while also highlighting the city’s extreme inequality.

The victims had originally come to Hong Kong as foreign maids. But Seneng had let her domestic worker visa lapse and Sumarti had returned on a tourist visa.

They were among the more than 300,000 migrant domestic workers employed in Hong Kong, almost all of them women from Indonesia or the Philippines.

Story: Kelvin Chan

Mourners Warned of Fake Golden Banknotes

By

Teeranai Charuvastra, News Chief

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24 October 2016, 10:56

BANGKOK — A junta spokesman Sunday warned the public not to fall victim to forged banknotes being sold around the Grand Palace, where the late King Bhumibol is lying in state.

Many mourners in recent days were approached by vendors peddling what appeared to be commemorative, gilded banknotes but were in fact forgeries, junta spokesman Winthai Suvaree said.

“People who are selling these, please do not be opportunistic by seeking profit from the public at such an inappropriate time,” Col. Winthai told reporters at one of the security posts near the palace. “This is a destruction of the good atmosphere and image of Thai people.”

Anyone caught selling thee forged notes would be prosecuted, Winthai added.

A Facebook page called “Online News Hawks” on Friday posted an image of one of the counterfeit banknotes, which appeared to be paper or plastic colored gold. The admin also wrote that the notes were from China without citing any evidence.

“Please don’t be fooled into buying them. They are exploiting Thai people,” the admin wrote.

Commemorative banknotes, coins and stamps associated with King Bhumibol have become popular merchandise after the late monarch died on Oct. 13 at 88, after an unprecedented rule of 70 years. His body is undergoing a year of funerary rites at the Grand Palace, where tens of thousands of mourners have visited in the past week to sign their condolences.

See Burmese Boy Become Thai Folk Performer in German Doc

By

Chayanit Itthipongmaetee, Staff Reporter

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23 October 2016, 11:06

BANGKOK — Watch friendship bloom between a Burmese refugee boy and popular Thai folk performer in a documentary by a German filmmaker next week.

In Marco Wilms’ “Likay Star,” 9-year-old Manop’s dream of becoming a famous likay actor takes a turn when accomplished likay star Chaiya Mitchai invites the boy to perform on stage in Pattaya.

It’s the first time the film is showing in Thailand.

Admission is free. Seats can be reserved online. The 74-minute documentary will show in Thai and German with English subtitles starting at 7pm on Oct. 30 at the Goethe-Institut. Director Wilms and the film’s performers will talk after their film finishes.

Going Off Message Again, Trump Vows to Sue all Female Accusers

By

Associated Press

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23 October 2016, 10:50

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump delivers a speech Saturday in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Photo: Evan Vucci / Associated Press

GETTYSBURG, Pennsylvania — Steering his campaign toward controversy yet again, Donald Trump vowed Saturday to sue every woman who has accused him of sexual assault or other inappropriate behavior. He called them “liars” whose allegations he blamed Democrats for orchestrating.

Trump’s blunt threat of legal action eclipsed his planned focus on serious-minded policy during a speech in Gettysburg. Though his campaign had billed the speech as a chance for Trump to lay out a to-do list for his first 100 days as president, he seemed unable to restrain himself from re-litigating grievances with Hillary Clinton, the media and especially the women who have come forward in recent days.

“All of these liars will be sued once the election is over,” Trump said. He added later: “I look so forward to doing that.”

Nearly a dozen women have publicly accused Trump of unwanted advances or sexual assault in the weeks since a 2005 recording emerged in which the former reality TV star boasted of kissing women and groping their genitals without their consent. The latest came on Saturday, when an adult film actress said the billionaire kissed her and two other women on the lips “without asking for permission” when they met him after a golf tournament in 2006.

Trump has denied all the allegations, while insisting some of the women weren’t attractive enough for him to want to pursue.

“Every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign,” he said. Without offering evidence, he surmised that Clinton or the Democratic National Committee had put the women up to it.

Speaking to reporters aboard her campaign plane, Clinton said: “I saw where our opponent Donald Trump went to Gettysburg, one of the most extraordinary places in American history, and basically said if he’s president he’ll spend his time suing women who have made charges against him based on his behavior.” She also said the suggestion that Democrats or her campaign were encouraging women to level accusations against Trump “inaccurate.”

Clinton told reporters that, after three debates, she wasn’t thinking about responding to what Trump says anymore and would “let the American people decide what he offers and what we offer.”

Trump’s broadside against the women came at the start of an otherwise substantive speech that sought to weave the many policy ideas he has put forward into a single, cohesive agenda that he said he would pursue aggressively during his first three months in office.

The Republican nominee vowed to lift restrictions on domestic energy production, label China as a currency manipulator and renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, familiar themes to supporters who have flocked to his rallies this year.

“This is my pledge to you, and if we follow these steps, we will once again have a government of, by and for the people,”Trump said, invoking a phrase from President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.

Though mostly a recap of policies he’s proposed before, Trump’s speech included a few new elements, such as a freeze on hiring new federal workers and a two-year mandatory minimum sentence for immigrants who re-enter the U.S. illegally after being deported a first time. In a pledge sure to raise eyebrows on Wall Street, he said he’d block a potential merger between AT&T and media conglomerate Time Warner.

Translating his proposals into digestible bullet points, he offered to-the-point titles for the legislative vehicles he’d need Congress to approve to accomplish his goals, such as the “End Illegal Immigration Act” and the “Repeal and Replace Obamacare Act.”

Throughout the GOP primary, Trump was criticized for shying away from detailed policy proposals. But his speech, which aides said would form the core of his closing argument to voters, underscored how the billionaire has gradually compiled a broad — if sometimes vague — policy portfolio that straddles conservative, isolationist and populist orthodoxies.

Yet any headway that Trump may have made was likely to be diluted by his legal threats against his accusers, just the latest example of Trump stepping on his intended message at inopportune moments. Days earlier, during the final debate, his otherwise well-received performance was marred by an alarming statement near the end that he might not accept the outcome of the election if he loses.

Trump didn’t say what kind of lawsuits he planned to file against the women, but any libel litigation could be complicated by the fact that Trump, in the 2005 recording, bragged about the same kind of conduct the women now accuse him of perpetrating. Trump recently vowed to sue The New York Times for libel, but has not yet followed through on the threat.

With the debates now over, Trump and Clinton have few apparent opportunities to alter the course the race substantially — a reality that benefits Clinton more than Trump. The Republican is trailing his opponent in most of the battleground states while Clinton eyes potential upset victories in traditionally safe GOP territory, with Arizona at the top of the list.

An increasingly confident Clinton on Saturday made what’s become her closing pitch in Pittsburgh, stressing unity and asking her backers to carry her message to any Trump supporters they meet.

“I understand that they need a president who cares about them, will listen to them and I want to be their president,” she said.

As Election Day nears, Clinton is also focusing on getting Democrats elected to Congress. She attacked the state’s Republican senator, Pat Toomey, saying he has refused to “stand up” to Trump as she touted his Democratic challenger, Katie McGinty.

Her campaign headquarters in New York was back up and running after a scare over an envelope that arrived containing a white powdery substance. Initial tests showed the substance wasn’t harmful.

Meanwhile, Clinton was getting a campaign boost from singer and pop icon Katy Perry, who was pushing early voting in Las Vegas. The singer surprised students at the University of Nevada Las Vegas when she knocked on the doors of their dorm rooms wearing a T-shirt that read “Nasty Woman,” a phrase Trump uttered at Wednesday’s debate in reference to Clinton. She headlined a short outdoor rally on campus but didn’t perform any of her songs.

Story: Josh Lederman, Jill Colvin

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