FILE - Firefighters work after a building collapsed early Sunday, April 9, 2023 in Marseille, southern France. (AP Photo, File)
MARSEILLE (AP) — Two bodies were found Monday in the rubble following an explosion that collapsed a building in the southern French city of Marseille, bringing the confirmed death toll to four as rescuers continue searching for four more people who are unaccounted-for.
Two other bodies had previously been found overnight. The judicial authority will proceed to identify the victims, firefighters said in a statement.
Minister for Cities and Housing Olivier Klein told reporters that at least four people have died, after he met with rescuers on site.
An excavator clears debris on the scene where a building collapsed, in Marseille, southern France, April 10, 2023.(AP Photo/Bishr El Touni)
“The hope to find survivors is still there,” Minister for Cities and Housing Olivier Klein told reporters. “It is very meticulous work done by firefighters,” he added, noting the risk for adjacent buildings to collapse. More than 100 firefighters were mobilized for the searches.
Marseille mayor Benoit Payan tweeted Monday that “the pain and sorrow are great.” He expressed his thoughts for the families of the victims and “those who are suffering.”
“Rescue and search operations are continuing, without respite,” he said.
FILE – Firefighters gather near the street where a building collapsed early Sunday, April 9, 2023 in Marseille, southern France. (AP Photo/Bishr El Touni, File)
An investigation has been opened for involuntary injury, at least initially sidestepping possible criminal intentions. A gas explosion was among the avenues of investigation, prosecutor Dominique Laurens said Sunday evening.
The collapse occurred shortly before 1 a.m. on Sunday, in an old quarter in the center of Marseille, France’s second-largest city, less than a kilometer (a half-mile) from its iconic old port. About 200 people have been evacuated from their homes in the area.
In 2018, two buildings in the center of Marseille collapsed, killing eight people. Those buildings were poorly maintained — not the case with the building that collapsed Sunday, the interior minister said.
This image released by Nintendo and Universal Studios shows Mario, voiced by Chris Pratt, left, and Princess Peach, voiced by Anya Taylor-Joy, in Nintendo's "The Super Mario Bros. Movie." (Nintendo and Universal Studios via AP)
Audiences said let’s go to the movie theater for ” The Super Mario Bros. Movie ” this weekend. The animated offering from Universal and Illumination powered up with $204.6 million in its first five days in 4,343 North American theaters, including $146.4 million over the weekend, according to studio estimates on Sunday.
With an estimated $173 million in international earnings and a global total of $377 million, “Mario” broke records for video game adaptations (passing “Warcraft’s” $210 million) and animated films (“Frozen 2’s” $358 million).
Its global total makes it the biggest opening of 2023 and the second biggest three-day domestic animated opening (behind “Finding Dory”). It’s also a record for Illumination, the animation shop behind successful franchises like “Minions,” which has made over $5 billion from its 13 films.
“This partnership between Nintendo and Illumination is just incredible and led to this extraordinary performance,” said Jim Orr, Universal’s president of domestic distribution.
This image released by Nintendo and Universal Studios shows Mario, voiced by Chris Pratt, left, and Luigi, voiced by Charlie Day in Nintendo’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.” (Nintendo and Universal Studios via AP)
The PG-rated “Mario” is an origin story of Brooklyn plumbers Mario, voiced by Chris Pratt, and Luigi (Charlie Day), who fall into a pipe and come out in another world full of Nintendo’s most famous characters, from Bowser (Jack Black) to Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy). Critics were largely mixed. “Mario” currently has a 56% on Rotten Tomatoes. But audiences were more favorable, giving it an A CinemaScore.
Orr said that theater owners were surprised by just how broad the audiences were and reported seeing some ticket buyers decked out in character costumes for the movie. According to exit polls, 59% of the audience was male and 45% were between the ages of 18 and 34.
“$377 million worldwide is just astounding and a testament to how important outside of the home activities are for families,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “Kids and their parents collectively were able to go out, have an outside the home event for the whole family at a relatively bargain price compared to a trip or a sporting event.”
Also, Dergarabedian noted, there is a long runway before “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” opens on May 5.
“This was a perfect release date,” Dergarabedian said.
This image released by Nintendo and Universal Studios shows Mario, voiced by Chris Pratt, left, and Luigi, voiced by Charlie Day in Nintendo’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.” (Nintendo and Universal Studios via AP)
“Mario” wasn’t the only movie based on a brand that opened in theaters this week. Ben Affleck’s “Air,” about the origins of Nike’s Air Jordan and how the corporation signed Michael Jordan, also debuted in 3,507 theaters Wednesday. The film, which marks Amazon Studios first global theatrical release, has grossed an estimated $20.2 million since opening Wednesday in North America, with $14.5 million coming from the weekend to give it a fourth place start.
With an R-rating, “Air,” starring Matt Damon, Viola Davis and Affleck, was a bit of adult-targeted counter programming to the “Mario” juggernaut. Reviews were glowing (95% on Rotten Tomatoes) for the film which debuted as a surprise screening at the South by Southwest Film Festival last month, helping to bolster buzz. Audiences were 55% male and 39% over the age of 45.
This image released by Amazon Prime Video shows Ben Affleck as Phil Knight in a scene from “Air.” (Ana Carballosa/Amazon Prime Video via AP)
“‘Air’ found its audience. It’s a solid gross,” Dergarabedian said. “This one is in it for the long haul.”
“Air” is the first film from Affleck and Damon’s new company Artists Equity which was formed last year in partnership with RedBird Capital.
This image released by Amazon Prime Video shows Matt Damon as Sonny Vaccaro in a scene from “Air.” (Ana Carballosa/Amazon Prime Video via AP)
Second place went to “John Wick Chapter 4” which made $14.6 million in its third weekend, bringing its total grosses to $147.1 million. Close behind was “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” which placed third with $14.5 million in its second weekend, while “Scream VI” rounded out the top 5 with $3.3 million.
In limited release, Kelly Reichardt’s art-centric ” Showing Up,” with Michelle Williams and Hong Chau, also bowed on four screens, grossing $66,932.
“This is such an important weekend for theaters, a home stretch heading into the summer movie season, and this is a perfect scenario,” Dergarabedian said. “It’s game on for movie theaters when a lot of people thought it was game over.”
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” $146.4 million.
2. “John Wick: Chapter 4,” $14.6 million.
3. “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” $14.5 million.
4. “Air,” $14.5 million.
5. “Scream VI,” $3.3 million.
6. “His Only Son,” $3.3 million.
7. “Creed III,” $2.8 million.
8. “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” $1.6 million.
9. “Paint,” $750,000.
10. “A Thousand and One,” $600,000.
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Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr.
During the five-day Songkran holiday, which will take place from April 13 to 17, 2023, nearly 40,000 tourists are expected to visit Trat province. About 30,000 Thai tourists and 10,000 tourists from other countries will be among them.
Passarin Sawettanan, director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand Trat Office, said that this group of tourists will stay about 3 nights and spend 3,000 to 4,000 baht daily. They will visit the three main islands of Trat province, namely Koh Chang, Koh Kood and Koh Mak.
This will contribute significantly to the province’s revenue, bringing in over 300 million baht (8.7 million U.S.dollars) during the festival’s short 3 to 4 days. This is seen as a significant boost to the economy of Trat.
Many tourists also travel to the 3 main islands on weekends, a good opportunity for the province and business owners to increase their revenue. Since the beginning of the year, hundreds of thousands of tourists have visited Trat province for tourism purposes. This trend is expected to continue, especially during long holiday weekends such as Songkran.
Passarin added that at the same time, Trat’s TAT office has organized additional activities on the mainland in the Mueang Trat district to promote tourism in the region and attract more visitors to the province, resulting in more revenue for mainland tourist attractions and accommodation.
During April 11-13, 2023, the Nong Samet Municipality, Tourism Industry Association of Trat Province, Trat Provincial Tourism Authority, Trat Provincial Commerce Office, and Nong Samet Subdistrict Municipality joined together to organize a Songkran festival at the Chao Phraya Dam in Trat Province to attract tourists to visit the area.
Meanwhile, Saksit Mungkarn, acting chairman of the Tourism Industry Association of Trat Province, said that in March and April 2023, many tourists travelled to Koh Chang, Koh Kood and Trat Province, especially during weekends and long holidays. Both group and individual tourists came, and during the Songkran festival, many hotel rooms were already fully booked. The number of foreign tourists has also increased.
Photo shows a platform waiting room at Motokasadera Station in Nagoya, central Japan, where a woman was found stabbed on April 8, 2023. (Kyodo)
Nagoya – An 18-year-old woman was found stabbed with a kitchen knife stuck in her chest in a platform waiting room at a station in the central Japan city of Nagoya on Saturday, police said.
Tsukine Kawamura was later confirmed dead, and the police suspect the involvement of a 29-year-old man, Takuya Minami, who died after jumping in front of a passing train from the same platform around the same time.
Kawamura was discovered lying on a bench in the platform waiting room at Motokasadera Station on Saturday night with three stab wounds to her chest, the police said, adding her body had been covered by clothing that did not appear to belong to her.
The police said they are investigating the death as a homicide.
Before she died, Kawamura was able to use her smartphone to place an emergency call to the police, they said. Kawamura and Minami both live in Nagoya’s Nakagawa Ward.
At the time of the incident, a local train was stopping at the platform, and there were no passengers other than Kawamura and Minami near the waiting room, the police said.
A few days earlier, Kawamura wrote on social media that she had broken up with her boyfriend and complained that he would not allow her to see her friends.
Chiang Mai residents sign a petition on Sunday at Chiang Mai University’s Faculty of Law to support the lawsuit filed against Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, ministers, and related agencies for ignoring and failing to resolve the PM2.5 that has been affecting people’s health for several weeks.
Despite legal authority, they exposed individuals to pollution that is extremely hazardous to their life.
The public network is led by the Law Foundation for the Environment, and the Faculty of Law at Chiang Mai University has scheduled to submit a petition to Chiang Mai Administrative Court on Monday, April 10.
The groups gathered 727 signatures plus another 980 online signatures as part of the petition.
The appeal sought the Administrative Court to order the government to follow the National Agenda Action Plan, which is part of the Enhancement and Conservation of National Environmental Quality Act and tackles dust pollution problems.
According to Section 9 of the Enhancement and Conservation of National Environmental Quality Act of 1992, if a person is known to be the source of such pollution, the Prime Minister has the authority to prohibit that person from taking actions that would exacerbate the pollution during the aforementioned danger.
The minister is required to prescribe preventative measures under Section 10 in order to prevent, correct, suspend, or mitigate emergencies or the dangers posed by such contamination. And prepare a contingency plan to address the situation beforehand.
This photo taken in September 2022 shows durians at a fruit stand in Guangxi, China. (Zhao Huan/Xinhua)
MANILA, April 9 (Xinhua) — The Philippines has shipped the first batch of fresh durian fruits to China, three months after the two countries signed the protocol of exporting the “king of fruits,” the Chinese Embassy in Manila said on Saturday.
The batch, sourced from producers and processors in Davao region in southern Philippines, has passed the stringent requirements for entering the Chinese market, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) of the Philippines said, adding more batches will be transported to China via airfreight or sea vessel.
Xinhua
The latest development can “make the farmer’s dream come true” and durian trade can “truly benefit our two peoples,” Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian said in a social media post.
In January, China and the Philippines signed a protocol on the export of fresh durian, which opened up the fast-growing Chinese market for the tropical fruit that is widely grown in the Southeast Asian region.
The Philippine government is committed to implementing plans to ensure high-quality fruits for export. The PCO said the durian deal is expected to gain millions of US dollars in revenue for the local durian industry.
FILE - Tigers are visible at the Ranthambore National Park in Sawai Madhopur, India on April 12, 2015. (AP Photo/Satyajeet Singh Rathore, File)
BENGALURU, India (AP) — It was a celebratory atmosphere for officials gathered just hours away from several of India’s major tiger reserves in the southern city of Mysuru, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Sunday to much applause that the country’s tiger population has steadily grown to over 3,000 since its flagship conservation program began 50 years ago after concerns that numbers of the big cats were dwindling.
“India is a country where protecting nature is part of our culture,” Modi proclaimed. “This is why we have many unique achievements in wildlife conservation.”
Modi also launched the International Big Cats Alliance that he said will focus on the protection and conservation of seven big cat species, namely, the tiger, lion, leopard, snow leopard, puma, jaguar and cheetah.
Protesters, meanwhile, are telling their own stories Sunday of how they have been displaced by wildlife conservation projects over the last half-century, with dozens demonstrating about an hour away from the announcement.
In this handout photo released by Press Information Bureau of India, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi rides in a jeep during his visit to Bandipur Tiger Reserve, in southern state of Karnataka, India, Sunday, April 9, 2023. (Press Information Bureau via AP)
Project Tiger began in 1973 after a census of the big cats found India’s tigers were fast going extinct through habitat loss, unregulated sport hunting, increased poaching and retaliatory killing by people. It’s believed the tiger population was around 1,800 at the time, but experts widely consider that an overestimate due to imprecise counting methods in India until 2006. Laws attempted to address the decline, but the conservation model centered around creating protected reserves where ecosystems can function undisturbed by people.
Several Indigenous groups say the conservation strategies, deeply influenced by American environmentalism, meant uprooting numerous communities that had lived in the forests for millennia.
Members of several Indigenous or Adivasi groups — as Indigenous people are known in the country — set up the Nagarahole Adivasi Forest Rights Establishment Committee to protest evictions from their ancestral lands and seek a voice in how the forests are managed.
“Nagarahole was one of the first forests to be brought under Project Tiger and our parents and grandparents were probably among the first to be forced out of the forests in the name of conservation,” said J. A. Shivu, 27, who belongs to the Jenu Kuruba tribe. “We have lost all rights to visit our lands, temples or even collect honey from the forests. How can we continue living like this?”
Jenu, which means honey in the southern Indian Kannada language, is the tribe’s primary source of livelihood as they collect it from beehives in the forests to sell.
The fewer than 40,000 Jenu Kuruba people are one of the 75 tribal groups that the Indian government classifies as particularly vulnerable. Adivasi communities like the Jenu Kurubas are among the poorest in India.
Some experts say conservation policies that attempted to protect a pristine wilderness were influenced by prejudices against local communities.
The Indian government’s tribal affairs ministry has repeatedly said it is working on Adivasi rights. Only about 1% of the more than 100 million Adivasis in India have been granted any rights over forest lands despite a government forest rights law, passed in 2006, that aimed to “undo the historical injustice” for forest communities.
India’s tiger numbers, meanwhile, are thriving: the country’s 3,167 tigers account for more than 75% of the world’s wild tiger population.
Tigers have disappeared in Bali and Java and China’s tigers are likely extinct in the wild. The Sunda Island tiger, the other sub-species, is only found in Sumatra. India’s project to safeguard them has been praised as a success by many.
“Project Tiger hardly has a parallel in the world since a scheme of this scale and magnitude has not been so successful elsewhere,” said SP Yadav, a senior Indian government official in charge of Project Tiger.
But critics say the social costs of fortress conservation — where forest departments protect wildlife and prevent local communities from entering forest regions — is high.
Sharachchandra Lele, of the Bengaluru-based Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, said the conservation model is outdated.
“There are already several examples of forests used actively by local communities and tiger numbers have actually increased even while people have benefited in these regions,” he said.
Vidya Athreya, the director of Wildlife Conservation Society in India who has been studying the interactions between large cats and humans for the last two decades, agreed.
“Traditionally we always put wildlife over people,” Athreya said, adding that engaging with communities is the way forward for protecting wildlife in India.
Shivu, from the Jenu Kuruba tribe, also wants to go back to a life where Indigenous communities and tigers lived together.
“We consider them gods and us the custodians of these forests,” he said.
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SIBI ARASU reported from BENGALURU, Aniruddha Ghosal in New Delhi, India, contributed to this report.
A fire broke out on a BMTA electric bus under a flyover over the Pratunam crossing on Phetchaburi Road in the Makkasan Subdistrict of the Ratchathewi District, Bangkok, on Saturday night around 11:30 p.m.
Firemen sprayed water on the roof of an air-conditioned EV bus on the Ramkhamhaeng University-Victory Monument line. It took about thirty minutes to put out the fire.
Fortunately, there was no passenger at the moment.
The driver Wanlop Phromyamyai, 61, stated that he drove out of the Ramkhamhaeng University 2 bus depot. When he arrived at the Pratunam intersection, he noticed a vehicle parked in the left lane. So, he turned the car and moved to the right lane. However, he didn’t see a bridge beam sticking out above, which caused the car’s roof to hit the bridge beam and stop it.
He then informed the bus depot that the car was in an accident. The guys there said they would send someone in to investigate. While waiting for the mechanic to arrive, a detonation was heard on the car’s roof, followed by a fire. So he promptly contacted the police.
Later, the police told a forklift driver to pull the bus away from the scene of the accident so that traffic could move again. The driver was charged with causing damage to property by careless driving.
The authorities suspected it was caused by a bus hitting with the bridge beam, which caused the car’s electrical system to short circuit, causing it to explode and catch fire.
NH Foods proposes various recipes for its newly launched foie gras food alternative, made mainly from chicken liver, as seen in this photo taken March 29, 2023, in Tokyo. (Kyodo)
Japanese meatpacking firm NH Foods Ltd. recently began selling a foie gras alternative on a trial basis, using chicken liver to create a product at a price roughly one-third of the French delicacy.
The company uses a production technique that uses chicken liver, which typically sees a drop in demand during the cold season, to mimic the distinct taste and texture of the pricy delicacy without relying on a controversial poultry farming method used to produce foie gras, according to NH Foods.
Each package contains 120 grams of the product, named “Gras Foie,” and a special balsamic vinegar sauce for 3,218 yen ($24).
It is initially being offered on a shopping website run by crowdfunding service firm Makuake Inc., but will also become available on NH Foods’ e-commerce website in June.
To recreate the rich, creamy texture, pork fat and egg yolk are mixed with chicken liver and other ingredients, the company said.
Production of foie gras has recently been in decline and has been banned in several countries, including Britain, Germany and Italy, due to welfare concerns about geese and ducks, which must be force-fed to make foie gras, the French term for “fatty liver.”
“It is a product that can be enjoyed by even those who have not tasted foie gras before,” said Kenji Takasaki, head of the company’s new business development department.
Three Pheu Thai PM candidates from left: Chaikasem Nitisiri, Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Srettha Thavisin at a rally on Apr. 5, 2023.
The attack against the third PM candidate for Pheu Thai Party Chaikasem Nitisiri by former secretary general of the disbanded Future Forward Party Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, who said Chaikasem’s pledge at a major campaign rally to dealt with former junta leaders swiftly is an act of futile bragging that cannot be materialized, reminds us how the issue of the military as a state within a state continue to haunt Thai society.
Not that Piyabutr is against sending the army back to the barracks and prosecuting people like former junta leader Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha and his deputy, Gen. Prawit Wongsuwan who staged the May 2014 military coup, but because Piyabutr thinks Chaikasem was all bragging and no action – that the Pheu Thai Party was incapable of delivering it given the fact that it did little or nothing to reform the army when they were in power.
One can also view it as a competition between the two pro-democracy parties, Pheu Thai and Move Forward (the latter being the successor of Future Forward Party) in vying for votes among those who want to see the military out of Thai politics and strictly placed under civilian control.
Much easier said than done. The military, the army in particular, is a state within a state and presents itself as the most loyal institution to the monarchy. They do not just interfere in politics by running the government after staging military coup (as both caretaker PM Prayut and caretaker deputy PM Prawit is a living proof eight years after the May 2014 coup and both now competing to become the next PM next month), but lesser prominent generals sit at many boards of state enterprises and the sitting army chief is always treated by most of the mainstream Thai media as a bonafide person to comment on political affairs.
For example, last week saw army chief Narongpan Jitkaewthae commenting in front of reporters on the incident in which a man spray painted an anti-lese majeste message and an anarchy symbol on the wall of the Grand Palace complex. His comment was widely reported though that should have been the job of the police chief.
This is why in Thailand, people are acquainted with the names (and characters) of army chiefs as the press mistakenly seek political comments from the sitting army chief and not just asking him about whether there will yet be another putsch soon or not.
BTW, there has been 13 “successful” coups since the 1932 revolt, which ended absolute monarchy, so basically we are talking about on an average of one military coup every seven years. The last one led by Prayut and Prawit was in May 2014, so it has been nearly nine years now and another one is statistically speaking overdue.
Relying on political parties to ensure that the army will behave and quietly return to the barrack would not suffice. The now supposedly defunct military junta still have 250 senators selected by Prayut when he was the junta leader, and they will jointly vote with the 500 elected MPs to choose the next PM.
No matter who ends up as the next PM, the specter of yet another military coup in the future cannot be ruled out. On Friday, an authentic-looking army order instructing all its units not to allow the Move Forward Party to campaign about their pledge to abolish compulsory military conscription was leaked.
Clearly, the army views the Move Forward Party as a threat if not an enemy. (Some now say if Move Forward ends up in the government there could be another coup)
Putting the armed forces back to barracks will be most difficult. It will most likely take many years if not decades to succeed as they are deeply entrenched.
The aftermath of the last coup saw just a few thousand Thais resisting putsch on the streets. Not enough people were willing to publicly resist or say no to military coups, most of the leaders of both parties today, and their current PM candidates, including Chaikasem or Move Forward Party leader and PM candidate Pita Limjaroenrat have exhibited little or no courage to publicly oppose junta leader Prayut when the Pheu Thai administration was ousted.
Back then, if half a million Thais were willing to be detained without charge for opposing the junta, there would not be enough space to detain them all and I do not think both Prayut and Prawit will still be running to become PM today.
