In-country manufacturing and enlarged presence will help support growth throughout Southeast Asia
Bangkok, Thailand – Ribbon Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: RBBN), a global provider of real time communications technology and IP optical networking solutions to many of the world’s largest service providers, enterprises, and critical infrastructure operators to modernize and protect their networks,today announced its deepening commitment to Thailand’s digital transformation.
“The region’s service providers and enterprises are embracing 5G networks to improve speed, agility, security and economics, and our comprehensive IP Wave offer is designed to fulfill those needs efficiently and effectively,” said Sam Bucci, Ribbon’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. “We’re delighted to grow our operations locally in order to better serve the Thai telecommunication market with our IP Optical solutions.”
Later this year, Ribbon will add to its global supply chain footprint and begin manufacturing select IP Optical products in Thailand, which will become one of the centers used to manufacture the recently announced Apollo OT 9408. Thishigh capacity, high density Optical transport platform offers industry-leading 1.2T wavelengths and 19.2T density to deliver significant cost and performance benefits.
“Our new office and customer showcase facilities will enhance our ability to support local customers, partners and staff,” Mr. Bucci added. “We are deeply committed to their success and the combination of our on-site manufacturing with this extended footprint will help lay the foundation for the next phase of our growth and underpin our ambitions in the region for years to come.”
Born from the combination of a number of innovative companies across the telecom vendor ecosystem including Sonus, GENBAND, Nortel, Edgewater, Anova Data and ECI, Ribbon’s solutions are found in the networks of many of the world’s largest companies such as Optus, Bharti, Rogers, SNCF, Colt, Moratelindo, Bezeq and more. The company’s institutional investors include JP Morgan Chase, one of the world’s leading financial institutions.
School children mourn the victims near the Vladislav Ribnikar school in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, May 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — A shooter killed at least eight people and wounded 14 in a drive-by attack near a town close to Belgrade late Thursday, the second such mass killing in Serbia in two days, state television reported.
The attacker shot randomly at people near the town of Mladenovac, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the capital, the RTS report said early Friday. Police were looking for a 21-year-old suspect who fled after the attack, the report said.
Serbian police said early Friday they had arrested a suspect, identified by initials U.B., was arrested near the central Serbian town of Kragujevac, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of Belgrade.
Police officers prepare for a chase in the village of Dubona, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, May 5, 2023, near the scene of a Thursday night attack. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
The attacker shot randomly at people in three villages near Mladenovac, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the capital, according to state broadcaster RTS.
“I heard some tak-tak-tak sounds,” recalled Milan Prokic, a resident of Dubona, a village near the town of Mladenovac. Prokic said he first thought villagers were shooting to celebrate a childbirth, as is tradition in Serbia and the Balkans.
“But it wasn’t that. Shame, great shame,” Prokic added.
Serbian Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic called Thursday’s shootings “a terrorist act,” state media reported.
The shooting came a day after a 13-year-old boy used his father’s guns in a rampage at a school in Belgrade that killed eight of his fellow students and a school guard.
Police officers guard the Vladimir Ribnikar school in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, May 4, 2023. A 13-year-old who opened fire Wednesday at his school in Serbia’s capital killed eight fellow students and a guard before calling the police and being arrested. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
The bloodshed sent shockwaves through a Balkan nation unused to mass murders.
Though Serbia is awash with weapons left over from the wars of the 1990s, mass shootings are extremely rare. Wednesday’s school shooting was the first in the country’s modern history. The last mass shooting before this week was in 2013, when a war veteran killed 13 people in a central Serbian village.
Serbian Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic called Thursday’s shooting “a terrorist act,” state media reported.
Special police and helicopter units have been sent to the region as well as ambulances, it added.
No other details were immediately available, and police had not issued any statements.
Earlier Thursday, Serbian students, many wearing black and carrying flowers, filled streets around the school in central Belgrade as they paid silent homage to peers killed a day earlier. Thousands lined up to lay flowers, light candles and leave toys to commemorate the nine people who were killed on Wednesday morning.
School children gather to light candles for the victims near the Vladislav Ribnikar school in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, May 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
The tragedy also sparked a debate about the general state of the nation following decades of crises and conflicts whose aftermath have created a state of permanent insecurity and instability, along with deep political divisions.
Authorities on Thursday moved to boost gun control, as police urged citizens to lock up their guns and keep them away from children.
Police have said that the teen used his father’s guns to carry out the attack. He had planned it for a month, drawing sketches of classrooms and making lists of the children he planned to kill, police said on Wednesday.
The boy, who had visited shooting ranges with his father and apparently had the code to his father’s safe, took two guns from the safe where they were stored together with bullets, police said on Wednesday.
The shooting on Wednesday morning in Vladislav Ribnikar primary school also left seven people hospitalized — six children and a teacher. One girl who was shot in the head remains in a life-threatening condition, and a boy is in serious condition with spinal injuries, doctors said on Thursday morning.
To help people deal with the tragedy, authorities announced they were setting up a helpline. Hundreds answered a call to donate blood for the wounded victims. A three-day mourning period will begin Friday morning.
A woman cries as people light candles for the victims near the Vladislav Ribnikar school in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, May 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
Serbian teachers’ unions announced protests and strikes to warn about a crisis in the school system and demand changes. Authorities shrugged off responsibility, with some officials blaming Western influence.
The shooter, whom the police identified as Kosta Kecmanovic, has not given any motive for his actions.
Upon entering his school, Kecmanovic first killed the guard and three students in the hallway. He then went to the history classroom where he shot a teacher before turning his gun on the students.
Kecmanovic then unloaded the gun in the school yard and called the police himself, although they had already received an alert from a school official. When he called, Kecmanovic told duty officers he was a “psychopath who needs to calm down,” police said.
The children killed Wednesday were seven girls and one boy. One of the girls was a French citizen, France’s foreign ministry said.
Flowers and toys are placed for the victims near the Vladislav Ribnikar school in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, May 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Authorities have said that Kecmanovic is too young to be charged and tried. He has been placed in a mental institution, while his father has been detained on suspicion of endangering public security because his son got hold of the guns.
“I think we are all guilty. I think each one of us has some responsibility, that we allowed some things we should not allow,” said Zoran Sefik, a Belgrade resident, during Wednesday evening’s vigil near the school.
Jovan Lazovic, another Belgrade resident, said he was not surprised: “It was a matter of days when something like this could happen, having in mind what is happening in the world and here,” he said.
School children light candles near the Vladislav Ribnikar school in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, May 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
Gun culture is widespread in Serbia and elsewhere in the Balkans: The region has among the highest numbers of guns per capita in Europe. Guns are often fired into the air at celebrations and the cult of the warrior is part of national identities.
Experts have repeatedly warned of the danger posed by the number of weapons in a highly divided country like Serbia, where convicted war criminals are glorified and violence against minority groups often goes unpunished. They also note that decades of instability stemming from the conflicts of the 1990s, as well as ongoing economic hardship, could trigger such outbursts.
“We have had too much violence for too long,” psychologist Zarko Trebjesanin told N1 television. “Children copy models. We need to eliminate negative models … and create a different system of values.”
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JOVANA GEC and DUSAN STOJANOVIC reported from Belgrade.
China was the biggest global jailer of journalists last year with 101 behind bars, according to Reporters without Boarders (RSF).
Starting with Xi Jinping, who secured a historic third term as China’s leader, ensuring a concentration of power never seen since Mao Zedong, so as to pursue the crusade against journalism he launched ten years ago.
In this disastrous ranking, it is closely followed by Myanmar, which has become an information black hole since the coup of 1 February 2021.
China ranked second to last (179th) on the group’s annual index of press freedom, behind only neighbor North Korea (180th).
FILE – Jimmy Lai, Apple Daily’s founder, was convicted of fraud last year that his supporters said were politically motivated. China was the biggest global jailer of journalists last year with more than 100 behind bars. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
Vietnam (178th) and Myanmar (173rd) are also in the group of Asia’s one-party regimes and dictatorships that constrict journalism the most, with leaders tightening their totalitarian stranglehold on the public discourse.
The other phenomenon that dangerously restricts the free flow of information is the acquisition of media outlets by oligarchs who maintain close ties with political leaders. This is particularly the case in “hybrid” regimes such as India (161st), where all the mainstream media are now owned by wealthy businessmen close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
At the same time, Modi has an army of supporters who track down all online reporting regarded as critical of the government and wage horrific harassment campaigns against the sources. Caught between these two forms of extreme pressure, many journalists are, in practice, forced to censor themselves.
The same trend can be found in Bangladesh (163rd) and Cambodia (147th), where governmental persecution of independent media has intensified in the run-up to elections that are due to be held in the coming months.
Another regional specificity is the persistence of off-limit questions and taboo subjects that prevent journalists from working freely. This is clearly the case in Afghanistan (152nd), where the Taliban government does not tolerate no straying from their fanatical version of Sharia and where women journalists are in the process of being literally erased from the media landscape. Elsewhere, the media also know the risks they are taking if they target the sovereign too directly, such as in the sultanate of Brunei (142nd), Thailand (106th), and Bhutan (90th).
On the other hand, changes of government loosened constraints on the media in Pakistan (150th) and the Philippines (132nd), even if these two countries continue to be among the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists. Renewals of government coalitions also explain the progress of countries as Sri Lanka (135th), Malaysia (73rd), and Australia (27th).
At the upper end of the Index, functional democracies such as Taiwan (35th), Samoa (19th) and New Zealand (13th) have perfected their roles as regional press freedom models. One of this year’s surprises is the entry of Timor-Leste, a young democracy still under construction, into the Index’s top 10.
This is a positive confirmation of the observation made above about one-party regimes: excessive, ultra-concentrated power is the main obstacle to journalistic freedom. It is when political, economic, and judicial powers are balanced and regulated that press freedom can fully flourish.
Google has taken a big step toward making them an afterthought by adding “passkeys” as a more straightforward and secure way to log into its services. (AP Photo/Don Ryan, File)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Good news for all the password-haters out there: Google has taken a big step toward making them an afterthought by adding “passkeys” as a more straightforward and secure way to log into its services.
Here’s what you need to know:
WHAT ARE PASSKEYS?
Passkeys offer a safer alternative to passwords and texted confirmation codes. Users won’t ever see them directly; instead, an online service like Gmail will use them to communicate directly with a trusted device such as your phone or computer to log you in.
All you’ll have to do is verify your identity on the device using a PIN unlock code, biometrics such as your fingerprint or a face scan or a more sophisticated physical security dongle.
Google designed its passkeys to work with a variety of devices, so you can use them on iPhones, Macs and Windows computers as well as Google’s own Android phones.
WHY ARE PASSKEYS NECESSARY?
Thanks to clever hackers and human fallibility, passwords are just too easy to steal or defeat. And making them more complex just opens the door to users defeating themselves.
For starters, many people choose passwords they can remember — and easy-to-recall passwords are also easy to hack. For years, analysis of hacked password caches found that the most common password in use was “password123.” A more recent study by the password manager NordPass found that it’s now just “password.” This isn’t fooling anyone.
Passwords are also frequently compromised in security breaches. Stronger passwords are more secure, but only if you choose ones that are unique, complex and non-obvious. And once you’ve settled on “erVex411$%” as your password, good luck remembering it.
In short, passwords put security and ease of use directly at odds. Software-based password managers, which can create and store complex passwords for you, are valuable tools that can improve security. But even password managers have a master password you need to protect, and that plunges you back into the swamp.
In addition to sidestepping all those problems, passkeys have one additional advantage over passwords. They’re specific to particular websites, so scammer sites can’t steal a passkey from a dating site and use it to raid your bank account.
HOW DO I START USING PASSKEYS?
First step is to enable them for your Google account. On any trusted phone or computer, open the browser and sign into your Google account. Then visit the page g.co/passkeys and click the option to “start using passkeys.” Voila! The passkey feature is now activated for that account.
If you’re on an Apple device, you’ll first be prompted to set up the Keychain app if you’re not already using it; it securely stores passwords and now passkeys as well.
Next step is to create the actual passkeys that will connect your trusted device. If you’re using an Android phone that’s already logged into your Google account, you’re most of the way there; Android phones are automatically ready to use passkeys, though you still have enable the function first.
On the same Google account page noted above, look for the “Create a passkey” button. Pressing it will open a window and let you create a passkey either on your current device or on another device. There’s no wrong choice; the system will simply notify you if that passkey already exists.
If you’re on a PC that can’t create a passkey, it will open a QR code that you can scan with the ordinary cameras on iPhones and Android devices. You may have to move the phone closer until the message “Set up passkey” appears on the image. Tap that and you’re on your way.
AND THEN WHAT?
From that point on, signing into Google will only require you to enter your email address. If you’ve gotten passkeys set up properly, you’ll simply get a message on your phone or other device asking you to for your fingerprint, your face or a PIN.
Of course, your password is still there. But if passkeys take off, odds are good you won’t be needing it very much. You may even choose to delete it from your account someday.
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DAVID HAMILTON AP Business Writer reported from San Francisco.
Recording artist Ed Sheeran prepares to speak to the media outside New York Federal Court after wining his copyright infringement trial, Thursday, May 4, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
NEW YORK (AP) — British singer Ed Sheeran didn’t steal key components of Marvin Gaye’s classic 1970s tune “Let’s Get It On” to create his hit song “Thinking Out Loud,” a jury said with a trial verdict Thursday, prompting Sheeran to joke later that he won’t have to follow through on his threat to quit music.
The emotions of an epic copyright fight that stretched across most of the last decade spilled out as soon as the seven-person jury revealed its verdict after over two hours of deliberations.
Sheeran, 32, briefly dropped his face into his hands in relief before standing to hug his attorney, Ilene Farkas. As jurors left the courtroom in front of him, Sheeran smiled, nodded his head at several of them, and mouthed the words: “Thank you.” Later, he posed for a hallway photograph with a juror who lingered behind.
Recording artist Ed Sheeran departs after speaking to the media outside New York Federal Court, Thursday, May 4, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
He also approached plaintiff Kathryn Townsend Griffin, the daughter of Ed Townsend, who co-created the 1973 soul classic with Gaye and had testified. They spoke about 10 minutes, hugging and smiling and, at one point, clasping their hands together.
Sheeran later addressed reporters outside the courthouse, revisiting his claim made during the trial that he would consider quitting songwriting if he lost the case.
“I am obviously very happy with the outcome of this case, and it looks like I’m not going to have to retire from my day job, after all. But at the same time, I am unbelievably frustrated that baseless claims like this are allowed to go to court at all,” the singer said, reading from a prepared statement.
He also said he missed his grandmother’s funeral in Ireland because of the trial, and that he “will never get that time back.”
Inside the courthouse after the verdict, Griffin said she was relieved.
“I’m just glad it’s over,” she said of the trial. “We can be friends.”
She said she was pleased Sheeran approached her.
“It showed me who he was,” Griffin said.
She said her copyright lawsuit wasn’t personal but she wanted to follow through on a promise to her father to protect his intellectual property.
Kathryn Townsend Griffin, daughter of singer and songwriter Ed Townsend, arrives to New York Federal Court as proceedings continue in a copyright infringement trial against singer Ed Sheeran, Thursday, May 4, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
A juror, Sophia Neis, told reporters afterward that there was not immediate consensus when deliberations began.
“Everyone had opinions going in. Both sides had advocates, said Neis, 23. “There was a lot of back and forth.”
The verdict capped a two-week trial that featured a courtroom performance by Sheeran as the singer insisted, sometimes angrily, that the trial was a threat to all musicians who create their own music.
Sheeran sat with his legal team throughout the trial, defending himself against the lawsuit by Townsend’s heirs, who had said “Thinking Out Loud” had so many similarities to “Let’s Get It On” that it violated the song’s copyright protection.
It was not the first court victory for a singer whose musical style draws from classic soul, pop and R&B, making him a target for copyright lawsuits. A year ago, Sheeran won a U.K. copyright battle over his 2017 hit “Shape of You” and then decried what he labeled a “culture” of baseless lawsuits that force settlements from artists eager to avoid a trial’s expense.
Outside court, Sheeran said he doesn’t want to be taken advantage of.
“I am just a guy with a guitar who loves writing music for people to enjoy,” he said. “I am not and will never allow myself to be a piggy bank for anyone to shake.”
At the trial’s start, attorney Ben Crump told jurors on behalf of the Townsend heirs that Sheeran himself sometimes performed the two songs together. The jury saw video of a concert in Switzerland in which Sheeran can be heard segueing on stage between “Let’s Get It On” and “Thinking Out Loud.” Crump said it was “smoking gun” proof Sheeran stole from the famous tune.
In her closing argument on Wednesday, Farkas said Crump’s “smoking gun was shooting blanks.”
She said the only common elements between the two songs were “basic to the tool kit of all songwriters” and “the scaffolding on which all songwriting is built.”
“They did not copy it. Not consciously. Not unconsciously. Not at all,” Farkas said.
Recording artist Ed Sheeran departs after speaking to the media outside New York Federal Court, Thursday, May 4, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
When Sheeran testified over two days for the defense, he repeatedly picked up a guitar resting behind him on the witness stand to demonstrate how he seamlessly creates “mashups” of two or three songs during concerts to “spice it up a bit” for his sizeable crowds.
The English pop star’s cheerful attitude on display under questioning from his attorney all but vanished under cross examination.
“When you write songs, somebody comes after you,” Sheeran testified, saying the case was being closely watched by others in the industry.
He insisted that he and the song’s co-writer — Amy Wadge — stole nothing from “Let’s Get it On.”
Townsend’s heirs said in their lawsuit that “Thinking Out Loud” had “striking similarities” and “overt common elements” that made it obvious that it had copied “Let’s Get It On,” a song that has been featured in numerous films and commercials and scored hundreds of millions of streams spins and radio plays in the past half century.
Sheeran’s song, which came out in 2014, was a hit, winning a Grammy for song of the year.
Sheeran’s label, Atlantic Records, and Sony/ATV Music Publishing were also named as defendants in the “Thinking Out Loud” lawsuit, but the focus of the trial was Sheeran.
Wadge, who was not a defendant, testified on his behalf and hugged Sheeran after the verdict.
Gaye was killed in 1984 at age 44, shot by his father as he tried to intervene in a fight between his parents. He had been a Motown superstar since the 1960s, although his songs released in the 1970s made him a generational musical giant.
Townsend, who also wrote the 1958 R&B doo-wop hit “For Your Love,” was a singer, songwriter and lawyer who died in 2003. Griffin, his daughter, testified during the trial that she thought Sheeran was “a great artist with a great future.”
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LARRY NEUMEISTER reported from New York, Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles also contributed to this report.
Chinese tourists pose for photos at the Grand Palace scenic spot in Bangkok, Thailand, Feb. 7, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Teng)
According to the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA), the number of tourists traveling in the form of “group tours” through tour companies using the services of ATTA at Suvarnabhumi Airport in April 2023 was between 1,000 and 2,000 people per day, compared to approximately 3,000 to 4,000 people in March 2023, a decrease of over 50 per cent, clearly reflecting the significant loss of tourists traveling through tour companies.
Adith Chairattananon, secretary-general of ATTA, which looks after the inbound market (Chinese tourists), told Prachachat Business that the big problem for the Chinese tourism market at the moment is the inconvenience of applying for visas.
Chinese tourists take photos at the Grand Palace scenic spot in Bangkok, Thailand on May. 1, 2023. (Xinhua/Wang Teng)
This is because all 8 Thai embassies and consulates in China have changed the visa application format from group applications to individual applications and require each tourist to upload a large number of documents, including bank statements, through an online system to be verified.
Many Chinese travel companies have told the association about the problem, especially the inconvenience of uploading a large number of documents, which has made it difficult for travel companies that previously used the group visa application system. It has also increased operating costs and takes a relatively long time, which does not meet the high demand for travel.
Surawat Akaraworamat, the vice-chairman of the Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT), spoke to Prachachat Business about the reasons why the number of Chinese tourists in April fell short of expectations.
According to him, there were two main factors: 1. the negative news about the safety of tourists in Thailand spread in the Chinese online media, including reports of deaths and scams, and 2. the difficulties in applying for visas, which have become more complicated for group tourists since China reopened its borders.
“We acknowledged that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been moving to an online visa application system for two years, but China has never experienced this before. Tour operators in China are currently facing many difficulties as each visa application requires a large amount of documentation, including financial proof, which was not required before the pandemic. Circumventing the visa application process or using visa-on-arrival would lead to higher travel costs for Chinese tourists.”
Surawat suggested that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should consider simplifying procedures for tourists traveling in “group tours” by allowing Thai travel companies to certify that they are partners with Chinese travel companies. This is similar to the format for group visa applications for Thais applying for Chinese visas, so that the mechanism of travel companies can meet the requirements of getting Chinese tourists to spend money in Thailand and Thailand can compete with other countries in the future.
King Power Group CEO Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha said Chinese tourists are still a big market for King Power Group. However, the number of Chinese tourists using King Power Group’s services has only recovered by 30 per cent in the last 4 months, which is lower than expected. So the company has to adjust its business plans to reach its targets.
Phuket airport
The director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand for East Asia, Chuwit Sirivejkul, told Prachachat Business that demand from Chinese tourists to Thailand remains high and they are now beginning to better understand the issue of safety.
From late April to early May, it was noted that the volume of bookings by Chinese tourists had steadily improved, rising from an average of about 8,000 people per day to 1.5-1.8 people per day last week. It is expected that the situation will continue to improve from now on.
According to the Office of the Immigration Bureau and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), there are currently an average of 8,230 Chinese tourists per day. From January 1 to April 23, 2023, Thailand had a total of 745,000 Chinese tourists, including 91,841 in January, 155,656 in February, 260,773 in March, and 251,475 from April 1 to 25.
Napoli fans cheer in front of the Diego Armando Maradona stadium, in Naples, Italy, Thursday, May 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
ROME (AP) — Napoli won its first Italian soccer league title since the days when Diego Maradona played for the club, sealing the trophy with a 1-1 draw at Udinese on Thursday.
The “scudetto” (championship) set off wild scenes of celebrations throughout Naples, inside the stadium in Udine and beyond.
Maradona led Napoli to its only previous Serie A titles in 1987 and 1990.
Napoli fans celebrates after winning the Italian league soccer title, in Naples, Italy, Thursday, May 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
League scoring leader Victor Osimhen equalized for Napoli early in the second half by redirecting in a rebound after Sandi Lovric had put Udinese ahead early on.
“I’m happy for all Napoli fans worldwide,” Osimhen said. “No one deserves the scudetto more than Neapolitans — more than us.
“I don’t care who scored, I just wanted to get the scudetto.”
Napoli moved an insurmountable 16 points ahead of second-place Lazio with five matches still to play.
Besides the 11,000 Napoli fans inside and 5,000 more outside the stadium in Udine in northern Italy, a capacity crowd of more than 50,000 watched the match on jumbo screens at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Naples.
Napoli fans celebrates on the street prior to the start of Udinese Napoli Serie A soccer match, in Naples, Italy, Thursday, May 4, 2023. For the third time in five days, Napoli fans are hoping and preparing to celebrate the Italian league soccer title. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
“Napoli, this is for you,” coach Luciano Spalletti said. “There are people here who will be able to get through difficult moments in their lives because they remember this moment. These people deserve all the joy.”
Spalletti said the impact of Maradona, who died 2½ years ago, was “felt in this success.”
In Udine, celebrating fans invaded the field at the final whistle, while in Naples there were fireworks and delirium.
“You always told me, ‘We want to win,’ and now we’ve won. We’ve won all together,” Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis told the crowd at the Naples stadium before he embraced Naples Mayor Gaetano Manfredi.
De Laurentiis took over the club in 2004 when Napoli was declared bankrupt, restarting in the third division.
“This is the coronation of a dream that’s been going on for 33 years,” De Laurentiis added. “It’s been a long process.”
It’s the first time a club south of Italy’s traditional soccer capitals of Milan and Turin has won the league since Roma claimed the title in 2001.
Napoli matched the record of clinching with five rounds to spare, shared with Torino (in 1947-48), Fiorentina (1955-56), Inter Milan (2006-07) and Juventus (2018-19).
In the 52nd minute, Osimhen slotted in a rebound off a shot from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia following a corner kick.
Udinese’s Sandi Lovric scores his side’s opening goal during the Serie A soccer match between Udinese and Napoli at the Dacia Arena in Udine, Italy, Thursday, May 4, 2023. (Andrea Bressanutti/LaPresse via AP)
During his goal celebration, Osimhen broke his face mask and the Nigeria forward had to play without it for a few minutes while it was repaired by Napoli staff members on the sideline.
It was Osimhen’s 22nd goal in the league this season and the 46th of his Serie A career, matching former AC Milan standout and current Liberia President George Weah as the top African scorers in Italy.
Afterward, Osimhen — who has acknowledged that he would like to play in the Premier League one day — would not commit to remaining with Napoli.
“I want to enjoy this moment for the rest of my life. Then after the season my other dreams can come,” Osimhen said. “But for now it’s not a time to talk about my other dreams. I wanted to win this. … For me this is just a moment.”
Napoli’s Victor Osimhen celebrates scoring during the Serie A soccer match between Udinese and Napoli at the Dacia Arena in Udine, Italy, Thursday, May 4, 2023. (Andrea Bressanutti/LaPresse via AP)
Napoli had a brief lapse during the first half during which Lovric found space within the area for a quick control and angled shot inside the far post in the 13th.
Napoli has dominated all season and didn’t lose in the league until getting beat by Inter in January. A 5-1 victory over Juventus nine days later left no doubt that this was the Partenopei’s year.
Napoli, though, wasn’t even considered a title contender before the season because of the departures of former captain Lorenzo Insigne, club record scorer Dries Mertens and defensive stalwart Kalidou Koulibaly.
But Osimhen has developed into the most dangerous striker in the league, and dribbling wizard Kvaratskhelia has done far more than just replace Insigne on the left wing as one of the biggest revelations in Europe this season.
Napoli fans celebrates on the street prior to the start of Udinese Napoli Serie A soccer match, in Naples, Italy, Thursday, May 4, 2023. For the third time in five days, Napoli fans are hoping and preparing to celebrate the Italian league soccer title. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
The title also gives Spalletti the one honor he has coveted most after previously managing Roma and Inter and winning two Russian league championships with Zenit St. Petersburg.
Spalletti’s innovative style first showed promise at Udinese nearly two decades ago when he led the provincial club to a fourth-place finish and a spot in the Champions League. Udinese coach Andrea Sottil played under Spalletti at Udinese.
“The fans deserve it,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said, his hair colored in Napoli blue from the locker room celebration. “It felt like we were playing in Naples today.”
His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua and Her Majesty Queen Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana have made an official visit to the United Kingdom from May 4 to 7 to attend the coronation of King Charles III.
It is the first time for the couple to attend a foreign royal coronation, and it is the first official visit to a foreign country after His Majesty ascended to the throne as King Rama 10 of the Royal Chakri Dynasty.
Their Majesties the King and Queen arrived at London Stansted Airport on Thursday, welcomed by Mr. Thani Thongphakdee, Ambassador of Thailand to London, and Mr. Simon Bright, Representative of King Charles III of the United Kingdom. Their Majesties the King and Queen later went to the Landmark Hotel, London, where they stayed.
The couple will attend a reception that King Charles III is hosting at Buckingham Palace on May 5 in the afternoon and the coronation at Westminster Abbey on May 6 in the morning.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra, a leader of Thailand's opposition Pheu Thai Party, gestures to supporters during a general election campaign in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, March 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
BANGKOK (By JERRY HARMER) — She has confidence, she has charisma, but most of all she has the family name and a face that reminds many of her famous father. In the race to become Thailand’s next prime minister, opinion polls show Paetongtarn Shinawatra to be the heavy favorite to take the post after the May 14 general election.
But some fear that victory for the youngest daughter of ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra — the country’s most divisive figure — could plunge Thailand back into a familiar cycle of protest and military intervention.
FILE – Paetongtarn Shinawatra, right, a leader of Thailand’s opposition Pheu Thai Party, stands behind an incubator with her new born son, along with, left to right, mother Pojaman Na Pombejra and sister Pinthongta Shinawatra, during a press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, May 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Having the 36-year-old Paetongtarn on the ballot is expected to pay off handsomely for the popular Pheu Thai opposition party. It’s polling so well that it’s hoping for a landslide victory, with enough seats to overcome the ruling party’s built-in edge and name the prime minister.
While Paetongtarn is the clear vote-getter of her party’s three candidates, any of the three could emerge from post-election wheeling and dealing as Thailand’s new leader.
At a registration event for candidates in March, Paetongtarn outlined policies including improving labor conditions, guaranteeing a higher minimum wage, reducing pollution, and turning Thailand into a financial technology hub.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra, right, a leader of Thailand’s opposition Pheu Thai Party, takes a picture with a supporter at Thammasat University’s indoor gymnasium in Pathum Thani province, north of Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, March 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Paetongtarn’s 73-year-old father was the first Thai politician ever to win an overall majority of seats. Although the billionaire businessman’s populist policies built him a powerful political base, they also earned him the enmity of the country’s elite. Thaksin was ousted by a military coup in 2006 and has been in self-imposed exile for over a decade to avoid serving a prison term for abuse of power, a conviction he has decried as politically motivated.
Still, he remains close to the hearts of million of voters, especially the country’s poor and residents of the relatively disadvantaged north.
Paetongtarn insists she is not merely a proxy for her father.
“It’s not the shadow of my dad. I am my dad’s daughter, always and forever, but I have my own decisions,” she told a reporter at a recent rally.
Thaksin-backed parties thrived at the polls since Thaksin won his first election in 2001, but were unable to stay in office for long due to legal challenges in the courts — firmly aligned with the conservative establishment — and destabilizing street protests engineered by his die-hard foes.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra, a leader of Thailand’s opposition Pheu Thai Party, prays at Bangkok city pillar shrine during a general election campaign in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, March 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
In 2011, Thaksin’s sister Yingluck Shinawatra — Paetongtarn’s aunt — was swept into office with an easy election victory, becoming Thailand’s first female prime minister. But her government was ousted by another coup in 2014 carried out by then-army commander Prayuth Chan-ocha, who led a military government for five years and was then named prime minister after the 2019 general election. Like her brother, she went into exile to avoid legal consequences.
Prayuth, 69, is now running for reelection, but he’s struggled to compete with Paetongtarn’s political savvy. He is generally ranked a distant third in opinion polls for the preferred prime minister candidate, while his United Thai Nation Party has a similar but slightly weaker position with about 10% support.
Paetongtarn has shown her determination by carrying out a busy campaign schedule right until she gave birth to a second child this week. From the hospital where she delivered her newborn son Prutthasin, she told the media she was ready to get right back to the hustings.
“She connects with the electorate, the base. She also has, I think, some talent that may have been inherited from her father in terms of going out on stump speeches, connecting with voters, speaking in front of large crowds, and running a campaign, while being pregnant,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a professor of political science at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University. “She is definitely prime minister material.”
Paetongtarn Shinawatra, a leader of Thailand’s opposition Pheu Thai Party, arrives to meet supporters during a general election campaign in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, March 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Under Thailand’s electoral system, even if Pheu Thai wins a majority of seats, it does not automatically name the prime minister. That’s up to a joint vote of both houses of parliament, giving the unelected 250 members of the Senate a major voice. The Senators, appointed under the 2014-2019 military government, are a linchpin of the conservative ruling class, and cast their votes as a bloc in 2019 for Prayuth, the military’s favored candidate.
A strong Pheu Thai Party performance would threaten the military’s almost nine-year hold on power and could reignite animosity towards the family that erupted into months of street protests in 2013 and 2014 against the Yingluck government.
For some people, a Shinawatra as prime minister is a step too far, even if fairly elected.
“A lot of people love them but you have a large number of conservative people who are against Thaksin and his family,” said Prajak Kongkirati, a political scientist from Bangkok’s Thammasat University. “So the fact that he put his daughter for the candidate, you know, might turn off a lot of conservative people and can stir up emotion from conservative side again.”
Paetongtarn Shinawatra, a leader of Thailand’s opposition Pheu Thai Party, smiles as she talks to reporters at Thammasat University’s indoor gymnasium in Pathum Thani province, north of Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, March 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Paetongtarn recently downplayed the chances of another coup.
“I’m not the one who invented the coup d’etat or anything but, actually, I have a very high hope that it’s not going to happen again and I believe it’s going to be a lot harder that the coup will happen again,” she said.
There has been widespread speculation that Paetongtarn may be counting on a deal with Prawit Wongsuwan, a 77-year-old former general who is Prayuth’s deputy prime minister, but is competing against him in this year’s election with the military-aligned Palang Pracharath Party.
Pheu Thai leaders have denied a deal, but there’s persistent speculation that the Thaksin-supported Pheu Thai Party might bring him into a post-election coalition to calm the establishment.
Report on the ongoing serial murder cases of suspect “Am the Cyanide” Miss Sararat Rangsiwutthaporn, 36, who is accused of killing at least 14 victims with poison, 1 of whom survived. Recently, Am’s ex-husband, a deputy inspector leading the investigation, became a suspect.
On May 4, Pol Lt Col Withoon Rungsiwutaphon, Am’s ex-husband, the deputy chief investigator of Suan Phueng Police Station, was taken into custody by police in Nakhon Pathom Province after admitting to the charges: receiving stolen goods, forgery and using forged government documents.
Pol Lt Col Withoon Rungsiwutaphon, Am’s ex-husband
In relation to the two charges that led to the arrest warrant, the police have found that Pol. Lt. Col. Withoon, picked up Am and drove a white Chevrolet Captiva belonging to Am’s husband Dae from Udon Thani to Bangkok after Dae’s death. Am and Pol. Lt. Col. Withoon also pawned Dae’s car in Nakhon Pathom province. It was also discovered that Pol. Lt. Col. Withoon and Am had used forged official documents in three incidents related to Am’s case.
He was later released on bail of 100,000 baht.
Pol Lt Col Withoon Rungsiwutaphon, Am’s ex-husband did not say anything on the way to court.
Pol. Gen. Surachate Hakparn, deputy national police chief, stated that he would go to prison the same day to question “Am” in prison because he believed that she might confess more after many days in prison. This was after he learned that she was the person who picked up Miss Montratip or Sai, a 37-year-old woman, another victim who was at Suvarnabhumi Airport on July 7, 2015, before her death one day after in Bangkok.
“The police must handle cases with integrity. If we want to charge someone, we must have clear evidence. Society may have already passed its verdict, but as investigators, we must gather evidence from various sources and witnesses to present to the prosecution. If they feel that the evidence is not yet sufficient, we need to collect more to clarify the case so that the court can pass a just verdict. In this case, the police chief has directed the investigation unit to collect evidence and file charges in court to prove the link between the deaths in each case,” said Pol. Lt. Gen. Surachate.
