PHUKET – The Phuket Regional Harbour Office received a report of a marine accident at 3:30 p.m. on December 31 from the Andaman Marine Traffic and Safety Control Centre, stating that a speedboat carrying 7 passengers—the captain and one crew member—totaling 9 people had crashed into the rocks on the shore of Mai Thon Island, Chalong Subdistrict, Mueang Phuket District, Phuket Province.
All of the individuals on the boat, aged 3 to 63, were injured, and two of them were critically injured: Mr. Natthaphong Kongwilai, 42, the boat driver, and a 5-year-old Russian girl who lost consciousness. Sadly, she died later in the Chalong hospital.
Staff of the Rescue Tourist Assistance Centre and Chalong Hospital vehicles transported the four injured people to Dibuk Hospital, three to Vachira Phuket Hospital, and two to Chalong Hospital.
The Apirak 89 speedboat was hired for a group of Russian visitors. They set out at 7:30 a.m. from Chalong Pier beachfront in Mueang Phuket District towards the Phi Phi Islands in Krabi Province. When the boat was returning to Chalong Bay Pier in Phuket Province, it hit the rocks hard as it passed Mai Thon Island.
Mr. Preecha Soisan, 49, the boat’s crew, stated that he was standing and talking with passengers at the time of the accident. He was conscious when his body hit with the boat.
Phuket Regional Harbour Office officials And the police are examining the cause of the collision and taking additional action against those involved.
Deputy Public Health chief of Phuket province Somsuk Samphanprateep said on Monday, January 1, the captain of a speedboat tested positive for meth amphetamine in his blood. Three remain in hospital as of press time Monday.
Fireworks explode over the Sydney Opera House and on the Harbour Bridge as part if New Year's Eve celebrations in Sydney, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP Image via AP)
Sydney and Auckland were among the world’s first major cities to ring in 2024, with revelers cheering spectacular fireworks displays that lit up the skies over Sydney Harbor and New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower.
As the clock struck midnight in Australia, tons of explosives erupted in a 12-minute display that focused on the Sydney Harbor Bridge. More than 1 million people — a number equivalent to one in five of the city’s residents — watched from the shore and from boats in the harbor.
Fireworks explode over the Sydney Opera House and on the Harbour Bridge as part of New Year’s Eve celebrations in Sydney, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP Image via AP)Fireworks explode over the Sydney Harbour Bridge as New Year celebrations begin in Sydney, Australia, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
“It’s total madness,” said German tourist Janna Thomas, who had waited in line since 7:30 a.m. to secure a prime waterfront location in the Sydney Botanic Garden. “It’s not so easy to find a good place to sit, but the view is incredible.”
In Auckland, the light rain that fell all day had cleared as forecast by midnight over the city of 1.7 million people before the countdown began on an illuminated digital display near the top of the 328-meter (1,076-foot) communications and observation tower.
Fireworks burst from the Sky Tower in Auckland, New Zealand, to celebrate the New Year on Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (Hayden Woodward/New Zealand Herald via AP)
The ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and heightened tensions in parts of the world, are affecting this year’s New Year’s Eve celebrations in a myriad of ways. Many cities were deploying extra security, and some places canceled New Year’s Eve events altogether.
More police than ever were deployed throughout Sydney. The waterfront has been the scene of heated pro-Palestinian protests after the sails of the Sydney Opera House were illuminated in the colors of the Israeli flag in response to the Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas that triggered the war.
At the Vatican, Pope Francis recalled 2023 as a year marked by wartime suffering. During his traditional Sunday blessing from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square, he offered prayers for “the tormented Ukrainian people and the Palestinian and Israeli populations, the Sudanese people and many others.”
“At the end of the year, we will have the courage to ask ourselves how many human lives have been shattered by armed conflict, how many dead and how much destruction, how much suffering, how much poverty,” the pontiff said. “Whoever has interest in these conflicts, listen to the voice of conscience.”
In Japan, temple bells rang out across the nation as people gathered at shrines and temples to welcome in the new year. At the Tsukiji Temple in Tokyo, visitors were given free hot milk and corn soup as they stood in line to strike a big bell, and a pipe-organ concert was held before a majestic altar.
People gather at the Zojoji Buddhist temple in Tokyo to celebrate the New Year, early Monday, Jan. 1, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)Fireworks explode over the Chao Phraya River during New Year celebrations in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)Fireworks explode over the Chao Phraya River during New Year celebrations in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
New Year’s Day arrived to cheers from tens of thousands of beaming people in New York’s Times Square who were showered with confetti and hugs and kisses after watching the descent of the colorful ball marking the birth of 2024 with hope for some, even as the world’s ongoing conflicts subdued celebrations and raised security concerns across the globe.
“It’s beautiful,” Corin Christian of Charlotte, North Carolina, said seconds past midnight as Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” blared from speakers in the square known as the Crossroads of the World.
“It’s going very well so far,” said Jacob Eriksson of Salt Lake City, Utah, with the earliest assessment of the New Year.
Times Square Alliance volunteers throw confetti during a confetti test as seen from the New York Marriott Marquis during the New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
The march of midnight from time zone to time zone brought the new year first to places like Australia, where more than 1 million people watched a pyrotechnic display centered around Sydney’s famous Opera House and harbor bridge — a number of spectators equivalent to 1 in 5 of the city’s residents. It would be another 16 hours before New York reached 2024.
There were snapshots of joy from country to country as the new year was welcomed with optimism that its days will bring more joy than sorrow.
Before midnight arrived in Times Square, December Lee, 26, and Shadayah Lawrence, 25, of Columbus, Ohio, said their New York visit highlighted four years of traveling the globe.
“It is a good way to bring in the new year,” Lee said.
Sabrina Carpenter performs during the Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)
Also in Times Square, Tyrell Jacobs, 27, and Sarah Crayton, 26, arrived from New Orleans 15 hours before midnight and got engaged in streets packed with tens of thousands of people counting first the hours and then the minutes until midnight.
“It’s definitely a must-see,” Crayton said of the colorful cast of strangers nearby in tall hats and blowing noisemakers even before the ball dropped. “At least go once, you know, just to experience the magic.”
A small army of thousands of police officers worked to keep New York City safe, just as heightened security had done in the cities midnight hit first. New York has seen near-daily protests sparked by the Israel-Hamas war.
Some 90,000 police and security officers were deployed around France including along Champs-Elysees Avenue, where large crowds took in a multidimensional light show projected onto the Arc de Triomphe showcasing the history of Paris and sports on the menu for next year’s Summer Olympics in the city.
People watch a light show projected on the Arc de Triomphe as they celebrate New Year’s on the Champs Elysees in Paris, France, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
FIREWORKS LIGHT UP THE NIGHT
Stunning fireworks displays bloomed at iconic locations like the Acropolis in Athens, Greece; reflected in the sleek glass walls of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates; and accompanied a collective cheer filling the air in Nairobi, Kenya.
China celebrated relatively quietly, with most major cities banning fireworks over safety and pollution concerns. Still, people gathered and performers danced in colorful costumes in Beijing, while a crowd released wish balloons in Chongqing. During his New Year address, President Xi Jinping said the country would focus on building momentum for economic recovery in 2024 and pledged China would “surely be reunified” with Taiwan.
Revelers ring in the new year after a countdown to 2024 in Beijing, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
In Taipei, Taiwan’s capital, the mood was upbeat as revelers gathered for a fireworks show at the bamboo-shaped Taipei 101 skyscraper and at concerts and other events citywide.
In India, thousands of revelers from the financial hub of Mumbai watched the sun set over the Arabian Sea. Fireworks in New Delhi raised concerns that the capital — already infamous for its poor air quality — would be blanketed by a toxic haze on the first morning of the new year.
About 2 million people gathered at Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach under light drizzle to watch 12 minutes of fireworks in one of the world’s most popular locations for New Year’s Eve.
People celebrate New Year’s at a promenade in Mumbai, India, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)Fireworks light up the sky over Munich, Germany, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (Lennart Preiss/dpa via AP)
POPE HIGHLIGHTS THE HUMAN COST OF WAR
At the Vatican, Pope Francis recalled 2023 as a year marked by wartime suffering. During his traditional Sunday blessing from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square, he offered prayers for “the tormented Ukrainian people and the Palestinian and Israeli populations, the Sudanese people and many others.”
“At the end of the year, we will have the courage to ask ourselves how many human lives have been shattered by armed conflict, how many dead and how much destruction, how much suffering, how much poverty,” the pontiff said.
Fireworks light-up the sky over the London Eye in central London to celebrate the New Year on Monday, Jan. 1, 2024.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)People gather near Red Square with the St. Basil’s Cathedral, right, and the Spasskaya Tower, left, in the background, to celebrate the new year after midnight in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Marina Lystseva)
GAZA AND UKRAINE WARS GRIND ON
In Russia, the country’s military actions in Ukraine overshadowed end-of-year celebrations, with the usual fireworks and concert on Moscow’s Red Square canceled, as they were last year. Even without the festivities, people gathered in the square, and some cheered and pointed their phones at a clock counting down the year’s final seconds.
After shelling in the Russian border city of Belgorod Saturday killed 24 people, some local authorities across the country also canceled their firework displays, including in Vladivostok. Millions were expected to tune in to President Vladimir Putin’s New Year’s prerecorded address, in which he said no force could divide Russians and stop the country’s development.
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, an apartment building hit by a Russian missile is seen in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Dec. 30, 2023. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip killed at least 35 people Sunday, hospital officials said, as fighting raged across the tiny enclave a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, resisting international calls for a cease-fire, said the war will continue for “many more months.”
Skyscrapers in Tel Aviv were lit up in yellow to call for the release of hostages held by Palestinian militants in Gaza for more than 80 days.
“While you are counting down until the new year, our time and our lives stopped,” said Moran Betzer Tayar, the aunt of Yagev Buchshtab, a 34-year-old hostage.
In the Gaza Strip, displaced Palestinians huddled around fires in a makeshift refugee camp.
“From the intensity of the pain we live, we do not feel that there is a new year,” said Kamal al-Zeinaty, who has lost multiple family members in the conflict. “All the days are the same.”
A Palestinian child looks at the graves of people killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip and buried inside the Shifa Hospital grounds in Gaza City, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Mohammed Hajjar)
In Iraq, a Christmas tree was decorated with Palestinian flags and symbolic bodies in funeral shrouds, placed beside a liberty monument in central Baghdad. Many Christians in Iraq have cancelled this year’s festivities in solidarity with Gaza, and have chosen to limit their celebrations to prayers and rituals.
“We hope that the new year, 2024, will be a year of goodness, prosperity and joy,” said Ahmed Ali, a Baghdad resident.
In Muslim-majority Pakistan, the government banned all New Year’s Eve celebrations in solidarity with the Palestinians.
GLOBAL TENSIONS SPUR SECURITY VIGILANCE
New York Mayor Eric Adams said there were “no specific threats” to his city’s annual bash. Nevertheless, police said they would expand the security perimeter around the party, creating a “buffer zone” that would allow them to head off potential demonstrations. On New Year’s Eve 2022, a machete-wielding man attacked three police officers a few blocks from Times Square.
German authorities said they detained three more people in connection with a reported threat of a New Year’s Eve attack by Islamic extremists on the world-famous Cologne Cathedral.
In Berlin, some 4,500 police officers worked to keep order and avoid riots like those seen a year ago. They also banned a pro-Palestinian protest in the Neukoelln neighborhood of the German capital, which has seen several pro-Palestinian riots.
Queen Margrethe II gives a New Year's speech and announces her abdication from Christian IX's Palace, Amalienborg Castle, in Copenhagen, Sunday, Dec. 31 2023. (Keld Navntoft/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) — Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II announced Sunday that she plans to abdicate after 52 years and hand over the throne to her son, Crown Prince Frederik.
The queen, who is Europe’s longest-reigning living monarch, announced during her New Year’s speech that she would step down on Jan. 14th, which is the anniversary of her own accession to the throne at age 31 following the death of her father, King Frederik IX.
Margrethe, 83, said the back surgery she underwent in early 2023 led to “thoughts about the future” and when to pass on the responsibilities of the crown to her son. “I have decided that now is the right time,” she said in her speech.
FILE – Danish Queen Margrethe gives her son Crown Prince Frederik a hug after his speech at the gala banquet at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen, on Sept. 11, 2022. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen paid tribute to her in a statement, offering a “heartfelt thank you to Her Majesty the Queen for her lifelong dedication and tireless efforts for the Kingdom.”
Margrethe is the “epitome of Denmark” Frederiksen’s statement read, and “throughout the years has put words and feelings into who we are as a people and as a nation.”
The 6-foot-tall (1.82-meters-tall), chain-smoking Margrethe has been one of the most popular public figures in Denmark, where the monarch’s role is largely ceremonial. She often walked the streets of Copenhagen virtually unescorted and won the admiration of Danes for her warm manners and for her talents as a linguist and designer.
A keen skier, she was a member of a Danish women’s air force unit as a princess, taking part in judo courses and endurance tests in the snow. Margrethe remained tough even as she grew older. In 2011, at age 70, she visited Danish troops in southern Afghanistan wearing a military jumpsuit.
FILE – Denmark’s Queen Margrethe and Foreign Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen attend a memorial ceremony in Gilleleje Church, in Gilleleje, Denmark, on Oct. 9 2023. (Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)
As monarch, she crisscrossed the country and regularly visited Greenland and the Faeroe Islands, the two semi-independent territories which are part of the Danish Realm, and was met everywhere by cheering crowds.
Denmark has Europe’s oldest ruling monarchy, which traces its line back to the Viking king Gorm the Old, who died in 958. Although Magrethe is head of state, the Danish Constitution strictly ruled out her involvement in party politics.
Yet the queen was clearly well-versed in law and knew the contents of the legislation she was called upon to sign.
She received training in French and English from her earliest years, as well as Swedish from her mother. In addition to archaeology, she studied philosophy, political science and economics at universities in Copenhagen, Aarhus and Cambridge along with the London School of Economics and the Sorbonne in Paris.
FILE – Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederik, left, and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark stand outside of the Metropolitan Cathedral during the funeral of former king of Greece Constantine II in Athens, on Jan. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Ever since his birth on May 26, 1968, Frederik André Henrik Christian has been the heir to the Danish throne.
He is the oldest son of Queen Margrethe and her late French-born husband, Prince Henrik, who died February 2018. Frederik, 55, has a younger brother, Prince Joachim.
Since the age of 18, he has served as regent whenever his mother was outside the kingdom and carried out official duties, shaking hands with thousands and receiving foreign dignitaries.
The queen’s announcement made up only a few sentences at the end of her wide-ranging New Year’s speech which reflected on the “turbulence and upheaval in the world” amid the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, and the climate crisis.
But she also thanked her nation’s people for “the warmth and hospitality I meet with everywhere in Denmark.”
While lavishing accolades on the queen, the prime minister also looked to the future.
“In the new year, Crown Prince Frederik will be proclaimed king. Crown Princess Mary will become queen. The kingdom will have a new regent and a new royal couple,” he said in his statement. “We can look forward to all of this in the knowledge that they are ready for the responsibility and the task.”
Miss Peng, 52, of Liaoning Province, China, was discovered dead in the Pam Bok Waterfall tourist attraction area of Pai District, Mae Hong Son Province, on December 31, 2023.
MAE HONG SON – On the last day of 2023, a Chinese female visitor died after falling down a cliff near a waterfall in Pai District. Mae Hong Son Province.
Miss Peng, 52, of Liaoning Province, China, was discovered dead in the Pam Bok Waterfall tourist attraction area, Village No. 6, Thung Yao Subdistrict, Pai District, by other tourists. They later informed the forest officers.
The forest officer and Pai police officers then inspected the scene. There were no traces of wounds from the battle, according to the doctor’s examination, or been in any way injured.
They suspected the woman had climbed up to the waterfall area, slipped, lost control, and dropped from the cliff, which was approximately 6–10 metres high, resulting in her death.
The deceased’s sister had no suspicion of Miss Peng’s death. The rescue workers then transported her remains to Pai Hospital for an autopsy.
At the same time, officers from the Pai Provincial Police Station gathered evidence and witnesses who were present at the incident, including Pai River Basin Wildlife Sanctuary officials, who determined from preliminary inspection results that the woman entered the waterfall area through an off-limits route.
The last sunset of 2023 at Wat Arun Ratchawararam (Temple of Dawn) in Bangkok on Dec. 31, 2023.
Since time is a continuum, there are issues from 2023 that will continue to be relevant to Thailand in 2024. Here are some:
The return of Vacharaesorn Vivacharawongse, the estranged son of HM the King. Vicharaesorn, (AKA Than Ohn, or Khun Ohn) made two surprise visits to Thailand after being away for nearly three decades and performed numerous philanthropic activities in a private capacity as a Thai citizen.
His return, which was widely reported by the local press (which means there was no explicit instruction from the powers that be to self-censor), led to many speculations about his future role within the monarchy institution.
While this writer, like all in Thailand, is constrained by the draconian royal defamation law, which in effect makes truly critical assessment of the monarchy impossible without the risk of spending up to 15 years in prison, it is safe to say some Thais were delighted to see a down-to-earth (albeit estranged) member of the royal family who is accessible, and who “appears” to be almost just like “one of us.”
His two appearances in Thailand, the last time in earlier this month, December 2023, heightened the debate about what the Thai monarchy should look like, say two decades from now.
Inmate Thaksin Shinawatra will most likely be out of “prison,” or rather out of the Police General Hospital, before the mid of 2024 if not much earlier. Many Thais have stomached the fact that the ex-premier did not even spend a full night in a proper prison environment, while his supporters say he did not deserve to be sentenced to begin with since the prosecution were politically motivated.
The big question is whether what role will Thaksin play after he is done with “prison” time. Will he start becoming active on social media to the point where he overshadows PM Srettha Thavisin, who is widely regarded as his proxy?
Also, will fugitive former premier Yingluck Shinawatra return to Thailand in 2024 too and seek a royal pardon as this must be the best chance for her to do so since the Pheu Thai government is in power, and the old elites are (for the meantime) content to lead the Pheu Thai government continue to keep the more radical Move Forward Party at bay and in the opposition? The answer is it is highly likely.
The fates of Pita Limjaroenrat and the opposition Move Forward Party. This is arguably the thriller of next month of January 2024 as the Constitutional Court will rule of whether Pita acted unconstitutionally by owning shares of a long-defunct ITV media and whether Pita and the party he formerly led violated the constitution by having given an election pledge to reform the controversial lese majeste law.
Pita could be banned from politics for 10 years and the party disbanded. Thus, potentially sending a shock wave that could reignite a new round of massive street protests which could shake Thailand’s political landscape.
I do not think the nine constitutional judges can be ordered to vote one way or the other, but one must not forget that all were selected by the junta-appointed senate and majority of the nine are conservatives. The token liberal judges will probably make no difference as they will always be in the minority whenever they vote.
Political detainees and prisoners of conscience. The ruling Pheu Thai Party made it clear they would not support any proposed amnesty bill that includes granting amnesty to those who were charged or sentenced under the lese majeste law. The most prominent prisoner of conscience at present is monarchy-reform-movement co-leader Arnon Nampa. Should anything happen to him while in prison in 2024, the political situation could suddenly become volatile.
The initial process of drafting a new constitution is already facing a deadlock with coalition parties insisting the sections on the monarchy and national security must not be touched. Also, how all the charter drafters will be selected or elected will be another subject of fierce contention.
The economy is not doing well after nearly ten years of Prayut’s inept dictatorial and semi-dictatorial rule, and in 2024, the Srettha administration’s grace period (or honeymoon period as Thais call) is over. Poor people are hardest hit, and the government has already failed to deliver a decent minimum wage hike as promised during the election.
Srettha in 2024 will have to deliver on the economic front or at least make people believe he is doing so. Also, what will happen to the election’s pledge to push for 10,000-baht digital wallet handouts? What will its impact be if succeeded, both positive and negative? What if he failed to secure the loan for the project. Probably a snap election.
There are probably more issues. Do let me know. For the meantime. I and my colleagues at Khaosod English would like to wish you all a peaceful and happy 2024! Wishing the killings in Gaza, Israel, Ukraine, and elsewhere to end as well.
A tour bus crashed into a mahogany tree in Prachuab Kiri Khan.
PRACHUAB KIRI KHAN – Four passengers, three of whom are foreigners, were seriously injured and 23 suffered minor injuries when a tour bus heading from Bangkok to Koh Tao and Koh Pha Ngan crashed into a mahogany tree in Prachuab Kiri Khan province shortly before 4.30 a.m. Sunday.
The scene of the incident occurred around Khao Pho curve, Phetkasem Road, Long Tai, Km. 413, Village No. 1, Chaiyarat Subdistrict, Bang Saphan Noi District, according to police Lieutenant Colonel Sarawut Nuchrang, investigating inspector of Bang Saphan Noi Police Station in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province.
Only two people were not hurt, while 27 injured people were taken to Bang Saphan Noi Hospital.
Among the four seriously injured were Miss Kapoguzova, a 33-year-old Turkish citizen; Miss Arianna, a 24-year-old Brazilian; Miss Kolesnikova, a 31-year-old Russian; and Miss Suda, 64, a Thai citizen.
Mr. Krit Malison, the driver of the Lomprayah Company double-decker tour bus, stated he was attempting to overtake another vehicle but failed, then lost control of the vehicle and smashed into a tree.
He was charged with careless driving causing harm to others.
FILE - Tom Wilkinson arrives at the "Denial" premiere on day 4 of the Toronto International Film Festival at the Princess of Wales Theatre on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016, in Toronto. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, file)
LONDON (AP) — Tom Wilkinson, the Oscar-nominated British actor known for his roles in “The Full Monty,” “Michael Clayton” and “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” has died, his family said. He was 75.
A statement shared by his agent on behalf of the family said Wilkinson died suddenly at home on Saturday. It didn’t provide further details.
Wilkinson was nominated for a best actor Academy Award for his work in 2001’s family drama “In The Bedroom” and in the best supporting actor category for his role in “Michael Clayton,” a 2007 legal thriller that starred George Clooney.
He is remembered by many in Britain and beyond for playing former steel mill foreman Gerald Cooper in the 1997 comedy “The Full Monty,” about a group of unemployed steel workers who formed an unlikely male stripping act.
Wilkinson was born in Yorkshire in northern England in 1948 and spent part of his childhood in Canada. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in the 1970s.
He starred in dozens of other TV dramas and movies, from “Rush Hour” and “Batman Begins” to “Shakespeare in Love,” “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “Valkyrie.”
He most recently reunited with his “Full Monty” co-stars, Robert Carlyle and Mark Addy in a Disney+ series of the same name.
“He’ll be sorely missed by everyone who had the pleasure of working with him,” Carlyle said in a statement. “Such a huge performer, a real titan of an actor, one of the greats of not only his, but of any generation.”
Wilkinson was recognized for his services to drama in 2005 when he was appointed a member of the Order of the British Empire.
He also won a 2009 Golden Globe and 2008 Emmy for his role as Benjamin Franklin in the HBO series “John Adams.”
Wilkinson married actress Diana Hardcastle in 1988. The couple had two daughters.
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivers a speech during a year-end plenary meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party, which was held between Dec. 26, and Dec. 30, 2023, in Pyongyang, North Korea. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to launch three additional military spy satellites, produce more nuclear materials and introduce modern attack drones in 2024, as he called for “overwhelming” war readiness to cope with U.S.-led confrontational moves, state media reported Sunday.
Kim’s comments, made during a key ruling Workers’ Party meeting to set state goals for next year, suggest he’ll intensify a run of weapons tests ahead of the U.S. presidential elections in November. Observers say Kim believes a boosted nuclear capability would give him another chance to launch high-stakes summit diplomacy with the U.S. to win sanctions relief if former President Donald Trump returns to the White House.
During the five-day meeting that ended Saturday, Kim said moves by the United States and its followers against North Korea have been unprecedented this year, pushing the Korean Peninsula to the brink of a nuclear war, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
A year-end plenary meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party, is held between Dec. 26, and Dec. 30, 2023, in Pyongyang, North Korea. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
“The grave situation requires us to accelerate works to acquire overwhelming war response capabilities and thorough and perfect military readiness to suppress any types of provocations by the enemies at a stroke,” Kim said, according to KCNA.
Kim set forth plans to launch three more military spy satellites next year in addition to the country’s first reconnaissance satellite launched in November. He underscored the need to establish “a reliable foundation” to increase North Korea’s number of nuclear weapons, an apparent reference to facilities to produce fissile materials like weapons-grade plutonium and highly enriched uranium.
Kim also ordered authorities to enhance submarine capabilities and develop various types of modern unmanned combat equipment such as armed drones, according to KCNA.
“Pyongyang might be waiting out the U.S. presidential election to see what its provocations can buy it with the next administration,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.
Kim has been focusing on modernizing his nuclear arsenal since his diplomacy with Trump, then the U.S. president, broke down in 2019 due to wrangling over how much sanctions relief the North could be given for a partial surrender of its nuclear program. Experts say Kim likely thinks that Trump, if elected for a second term, could make concessions as the U.S. is preoccupied with the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas fighting.
Nam Sung-wook, a professor at Korea University in South Korea, said if President Joe Biden is reelected, North Korea won’t get what it wants. But he said a Trump win could revive summit diplomacy between the two countries, as Trump will likely say during his campaign that he can convince North Korea to suspend intimidating weapons tests.
“North Korea will act under its timetable for provocation until the U.S. election day,” Nam said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, attends a year-end plenary meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party, which was held between Dec. 26, and Dec. 30, 2023, in Pyongyang, North Korea. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
He said Kim’s vow to ramp up production of plutonium and uranium is meant to add to his negotiating cards in potential diplomacy with the Americans. Nam said North Korea will also test-launch more intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the continental U.S. this year.
The U.N. atomic agency and foreign experts recently said North Korea appears to have started operating a light-water reactor at its main nuclear complex in a possible attempt to secure a new source for weapons-grade plutonium. South Korean Defense Minister Shin Wonsik said last week that the reactor appears to be in a trial operation stage and is expected to be formally operational by next summer.
“The Kim regime has closed the political door on denuclearization negotiations but could offer rhetorical restraint and a testing freeze in exchange for sanctions relief,” Easley said. “Although North Korea has no intention of giving up nuclear weapons, it might try to extract payment for acting like a so-called responsible nuclear power.”
Since last year, North Korea has test-fired more than 100 ballistic missiles, many of them nuclear-capable weapons targeting the mainland U.S. and South Korea, in violation of U.N. bans. The United States and South Korea responded by expanding their military exercises and deploying U.S. strategic assets such as bombers, aircraft carriers and a nuclear-armored submarine in South Korea. North Korea calls the moves U.S.-led invasion rehearsals.
South Korea’s spy agency said last week that North Korea will likely launch military provocations and cyberattacks ahead of South Korean parliamentary elections in April and the U.S. presidential election in November.
During his speech at the party meeting, Kim used bellicose, derisive rhetoric against South Korea, calling it “a half-paralyzed, deformed U.S. colony” with “Yankee culture.” He said South Korea must not be considered as a partner for reconciliation or unification. He ordered the military to use all available capabilities including nuclear to conquer South Korea in the event of a potential conflict.
Some analysts have predicted that limited armed clashes between the Koreas along their tense land and sea border could happen in the coming year.
Kim also maintained that North Korea must solidify cooperation with “anti-imperialist, independent” countries that he said oppose U.S.-led Western hegemony.
Kim didn’t mention those countries by name. But North Korea has been seeking to beef up its cooperation with Russia and China, which have repeatedly blocked the U.S. and others’ attempts to toughen U.N. sanctions on the North over its banned missile tests. The U.S. and South Korea accuse North Korea of supplying conventional arms like artillery and ammunition to Russia in return for high-tech Russian technologies to boost its own military programs.
Julianne Smith, U.S. permanent representative to NATO, said earlier this month the U.S. assessed that the suspected Russian technologies North Korea seeks are related to fighter aircraft, surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles, ballistic missile production equipment or materials of that kind. Smith said U.S. intelligence indicates that North Korea has provided Russia with more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions.
South Korean officials said Russian support likely enabled North Korea to put its spy satellite into orbit for the first time on Nov. 21. Many foreign experts are skeptical about the satellite’s ability to take militarily meaningful high-resolution images. But Shin, the South Korean defense chief, said in November that Russia could help North Korea produce higher-resolution satellite photos.
FILE - Bollywood actors Deepika Padukone, left, and Shah Rukh Khan, right, dance at an event to celebrate the success of their movie "Jawan" in Mumbai, India, on Sep. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade, File)
Bollywood celebrates rocking year, riding high on action flicks, unbridled masculinity and misogyny
NEW DELHI (AP) — Bollywood has made a financial comeback this year worthy of one of its traditional singing-on-top-of-the-hills moments.
India’s Hindi language movie industry made an impressive recovery after a pandemic-driven slowdown, audience fatigue with big studio productions and Bollywood megastars, and streaming platforms taking away a large chunk of viewership.
According to consultancy firm Ormax Media, the cumulative box office in 2023 pulled in $1.3 billion, making it one of the best-grossing years of all time.
Indian moviegoers — both the masses and niche film lovers — are back in theaters and the massive commercial success of big-ticket Bollywood films has set at ease fears that Mumbai’s glitzy dream factory was losing its shine.
As one of the largest film producers in the world, India rolls out more than 1,500 movies yearly, its diverse storytelling traditions reflected in its prolific cinematic entertainers.
The films that made the cut this year were a mixed bag of visual delights. Some portrayed the classic Bollywood larger-than-life spectacles, others were action-filled spy thrillers with top-billing movie stars. Many included stylized special effects, slickly choreographed romantic songs filmed in stunning locales, and pulsating music that had fans cheering and dancing in cinema halls.
More than anything, the year belonged to India’s beloved superstar, Shah Rukh Khan, whose son was jailed amid controversy in a narcotics case in 2021 and subsequently cleared of the charges. Khan’s global fandom welcomed him back like never before, with his movies pumping the box office numbers.
The year began with his movie “Pathaan,” which made more than $100 million worldwide, according to The Numbers website. Then came “Jawan,” which raked in nearly $136 million worldwide. And the year is ending with yet another, titled “Dunki.”
“Very grateful to all the people around the world who have given me soooo much love as an entertainer,” Khan recently posted on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
“This year Shah Rukh Khan has almost single-handedly revived cinema, very similar to what Tom Cruise did in Hollywood with his ‘ Top Gun ‘” last year, said Nikhil Taneja, co-founder of the youth-centered media organization Yuvaa and host of the popular YouTube show, “Be A Man, Yaar.”
FILE – Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan acknowledges the crowd after his team Kolkata Knight Riders’ won the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket match against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Kolkata, India, on April 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Bikas Das, File)
Other blockbusters of the year include the heavily criticized “Animal” featuring actor Ranbir Kapoor, “Gadar 2” with actor Sunny Deol, and Salman Khan’s “Tiger 3.”
It was also a year when hyper-masculinity overwhelmed Bollywood, often wrapped in misogyny and aggressive nationalism.
Angry young men have always been a staple of Indian movies but the excessive, fantasized screen violence this year took it to another level. Almost all 2023 Bollywood hits were filled with anger and violence, and led by alpha male protagonists with rippling muscles and blazing guns brandished on screen as they went on a bone-crunching rampage to vanquish their enemies.
Even Shah Rukh Khan, known as the king of romance, embraced the gun and gore while playing a spy fighting a militant outfit in “Pathaan” and a vigilante battling institutional injustices in “Jawan.”
While Khan’s soft machismo remained nurturing and women-friendly even in his action flicks, many critics slammed the superhit movie “Animal” directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga for glorifying the toxic masculinity and misogyny of its twisted leading man. The film is moving toward a $100-million run at box offices worldwide, its production company, Bhadrakali Pictures, said.
“Violent men do exist in the real world and a violent man can certainly be the central character in a film — the issue here, as always, is the manner of the portrayal, the script’s indulgence towards him, the humour and coolth written into his fictional character, and the various means used to give him an allure despite his violent ways,” film critic and author Anna MM Vetticad wrote in a blog post.
FILE – Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan lies on the floor as he posses with others during a press conference after success of their movie ‘Jawan’ in Mumbai, India, on Sept. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade, File)
India has the world’s largest young population, who also make up the majority of movie watchers. In a country where movie stars have a cult-like following, and movies reflect as well as shape mass behavior, making dehumanizing violence and casual sexism aspirational can be damaging, observers said.
The country’s National Crime Records Bureau reported more than 445,000 cases of crimes against women in 2022, an increase of 4%. “Cruelty by Husband or Relatives” accounted for more than 31% of such crimes, the report said.
“Today what we see is the detachment of violence from emotional purpose,” in the movies, wrote social commentator Santosh Desai in the Times of India newspaper. “Given that politically, there is great comfort with maintaining more traditional gender roles, this emphatic assertion of masculinity might take us back in time.”
Taneja, the Yuvaa organization co-founder, has been holding roadshows to reach out to young Indians about what he calls “positive masculinity.” He said some films “feed into every single bias” of the viewer, whether it was misogyny or a villain of a different religion.
“When they see such films, they can relate to what they see in their homes where their fathers are misogynistic. They are patriarchal to their mothers. They see a certain kind of gender imbalance and they start believing it,” he said.
In this photo provided by the youth-centred media organization “Yuvaa,” host Nikhil Taneja, right, speaks with the Bollywood actor Vicky Kaushal on the sets of the chat show ‘Be A Man, Yaar’ in Mumbai, India, on June 18, 2023. (Yuvaa via AP)
However, other successful films this year showcased a less angry, more accommodative masculinity, said Taneja.
Karan Johar’s “Rocky aur Rani kii Prem Kahaani,” or “Rocky and Rani’s love story,” won praise from most critics for its gender politics and for challenging male stereotypes and prejudices. The film went on to make nearly $45 million at box offices worldwide, according to the Bollywood Hungama website.
The answer lies in steering the public discourse away from movies that “aim to provoke only for the act of triggering,” toward those that espouse other versions of modern Indian masculinity, Taneja said. “We need to have more conversations about the alternates — positive, empathetic and gentle masculinity — and push them more.”
The officers had to use more than ten people to grab the injured Chinese man.
PATTAYA – An injured Chinese tourist who soaked in blood within Soi Khao Talo, Nong Prue Subdistrict, Bang Lamung District, Chonburi Province, refused to be rescued by officials on Friday night.
More than ten officials, including Pattaya tourist police officers, Nong Prue Police Station officers, and volunteer rescuers, had to apprehend him and transport him to the hospital.
Mr. Lo, 25, was discovered approximately 500 metres distant from the house where the incident occurred. Many locals gathered in fear to witness the occurrence. They noticed that the Chinese man had a knife wound in the right side of his neck, two significant wounds, and blood all over his body.
The incident happened in Soi Khao Talo, Nong Prue Subdistrict, Bang Lamung District, Chonburi Province.
His friends and authorities tried to persuade him to go to the hospital for treatment, but he refused. He began to feel dizzy after more than 20 minutes, lost a lot of blood, and staggered until he fell. The officers responded quickly, but he showed no signs of settling down. He stood up and resisted once again.
Mr.Lo is physically strong and has muscles from exercising, so the full team of officers had to use more than ten people to grab and carry him onto the patient moving board, then use clothes to tie his hands and legs before rushing him to the hospital.
Mr. Watcharachai Saengchanloi, 34, works as a security guard in the area where the event took place. He learned that Mr. Lo injured himself with a knife, then climbed the wall and jumped out of the house. The security crew trailed him down the road until he took a hideout at the edge of the wooded areas. As a result, he promptly called the officials to assist.
A group of the Chinese man’s friends reported to the police, using a translation app, that Mr. Lo was suffering from depression. Everyone was stunned at the time of the incident. When they recovered consciousness, they quickly sought assistance.
