Phuket Officials from the Kathu district administration, officials from the Thalang district administration, marine police, representatives from the community in the Patong area, and the relevant authority jointly inspected the Yona Beach Club Phuket boat in order to decide whether it can operate in the area.
Yona Beach Club Phuket boat had been converted into a floating entertainment venue and was anchored near the pier of the Ban Yamu boat ramp in the Pa Klok sub-district of Thalang district in Phuket province.
Officers conducted an inspection to ensure compliance after the boat owner applied for an operating permit even though the boat is not yet licensed to operate in Phuket province.
The inspection was assigned to individual authorities. These include boat registration and boat safety, which is the responsibility of the Port Authority.
The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources will review the quality of tourist services, waste management, water pollution control and the safety of boat moorings, which must not obstruct shipping lanes and coastal barriers and must not have a negative impact on the marine environment and its ecosystems.
The Provincial Excise Office carried out inspections on the sale of alcohol and tobacco, while the Occupational Health and Welfare Office checked the working conditions of the service personnel on the ships and those who prepared food on board.
FB Yona Beach Club Phuket4
Capt. Krit Khluabmas, deputy director of the Thai Marinetime Enforcement Command Center in Phuket province, said that after the inspection, the officers recommended and informed the contractors that if they found any deficiencies, they should report them.
As for the granting or denial of permits, this is a matter of enforcement of the law by each competent authority in the public sector, which includes listening to public opinion in Phuket province.
Ultimately, the relevant laws and regulations must be complied with. If services to tourists are allowed, officials will continue to conduct on-site inspections.
Beach Club Phuket has three storeys and 1,200 square metres of space. A 22-meter swimming pool in the middle is encircled by stylish lounge chairs and palm palms. at June 2022, this yacht departed from Trang port and arrived at Phuket. This boat departed from Trang port and arrived in Phuket in June 2022
The ship was originally scheduled to be formally inaugurated on January 24 of this year, but locals appeared to be against it. with worries about the environment and safety. Locals requested that the service be inspected by the authorities. As a result, it has been postponed to unknown dates.
FILE - Forza Italia party leader Silvio Berlusconi at he Senate, in Rome, on Oct. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
ROME (AP) — Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi is being treated for a lung infection that is a result of chronic leukemia, his doctors said Thursday, revealing the latest of string of health setbacks for the 86-year-old media mogul.
Berlusconi’s personal physician, Alberto Zangrillo, signed off on a medical bulletin that said Berlusconi has had leukemia “for some time” but that the cancer of the blood cells was in a “persistent chronic phase.”
The statement was the first official word from doctors since Berlusconi was admitted to Milan’s San Raffaele Hospital on Wednesday. Dr. Fabio Ciceri, who is head of hematology, bone marrow transplation and blood cancer at the hospital, co-signed it.
A view of the San Raffaele hospital, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, April 5, 2023. .(AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
“The current treatment strategy envisions treatment of the pulmonary infection” as well as specialized treatment “aimed at limiting the negative effects” of the chronic leukemia, the bulletin stated.
Berlusconi is a media mogul who served three terms as Italy’s premier and now serves in the Senate. He was admitted to an intensive care unit at San Raffaele Hospital on Wednesday for treatment of what aides indicated was a respiratory problem stemming from a previous infection.
Earlier Thursday, a close political ally, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, quoting Zangrillo, reported that Berlusconi was alert and in stable condition at the hospital. Tajani is the coordinator of Forza Italia, the political party that Berlusconi created some 30 years ago.
Zangrillo, Berlusconi’s longtime physician, is a chief anesthesiologist at San Raffaele Hospital. The former three-time premier and now senator had left the same hospital a week ago after several days of tests.
The medical bulletin didn’t specify which treatment Berlusconi was receiving.
Marina Berlusconi, daughter of Silvio Berlusconi, arrives at the San Raffaele hospital, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, April 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Berlusconi “is currently in intensive care for the treatment of a pulmonary infection,” the bulletin said. It noted that his leukemia was in a ”persistent chronic phase” and that tests have found an “absence of evolving characteristics of acute leukemia,” which develops more quickly.
Doctors said the kind of leukemia afflicting Berlusconi usually appears in people of advanced age and is characterized by an increase in white blood cells known as monocytes.
Treatment for older patients could involve a stem cell transplant. But that could be difficult, according to an Italian non-profit association dedicated to combatting leukemia. Another treatment would involve controlling the white blood cell count.
Berlusconi’s doctors said they were aiming to “get back the pre-existing clinical conditions.”
Without citing any sources, Italian news agency ANSA reported that Berlusconi had received chemotherapy.
Berlusconi’s party whip in the lower chamber of the Italian Parliament, Paolo Barelli, told reporters that Berlusconi “is responding to treatment,” but Barelli declined to specify what kind.
A statement from Forza Italia said Berlusconi on Thursday morning had telephoned several party officials about political matters.
Meanwhile family members continued to visit Berlusconi. Spotted arriving at the hospital were his brother, Paolo, his eldest daughter, Marina, and his younger son, Luigi.
LaPresse news agency quoted Berlusconi’s brother Paolo as saying that the family was ”“relieved” and “hopeful” amid signs of improvement in his condition.
Fedele Confalonieri, Berlusconi’s longtime confidant and chairman of his media empire Mediaset, told reporters Thursday that “we’re more optimistic.”
The last years have seen Berlusconi suffer numerous health problems, including heart ailments and COVID-19 in 2020, which saw him hospitalized then in critical condition with pneumonia.
He has had a pacemaker for years, underwent heart surgery to replace an aortic valve in 2016 and overcame prostate cancer decades ago.
On March 31, Berlusconi tweeted when he left the hospital after a battery of tests that he was “ready and determined to commit myself as I’ve always done to the country I love.”
His brother made no comment upon arriving at the hospital Thursday morning. But when he left the hospital the night before, Paolo Berlusconi said of his brother: “He’s a rock. Thus, he’ll make it this time, too.”
Luigi Berlusconi, son of Silvio Berlusconi waves to reporters as he arrives at the San Raffaele hospital, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, April 6, 2023.(AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
With no political heir apparent despite Berlusconi’s multiple health setbacks, Forza Italia has seen its popularity at the polls slump to a fraction of what it enjoyed years ago, when voters helped to repeatedly propel him into the premiership despite his legal woes.
Among the messages for a quick recovery was one from Premier Giorgia Meloni, who tweeted “Forza Silvio,” riffing off the soccer chant that Berlusconi turned into the name of his political party, which is currently one of two junior coalition partners in Meloni’s nearly six-month-old right-wing government.
On Wednesday, during a Senate confidence roll-call vote when Berlusconi’s name was called and an official said “absent,” a round of applause erupted from across the political spectrum in Parliament’s upper chamber.
The Senate seat Berlusconi won in September is fruit of his latest political comeback. A decade ago, he was banned from holding public office over a tax fraud conviction stemming from dealings in his media empire.
Last year, he triggered an uproar with comments about his old friend, Russian President Vladimir Putin, boasting that the two had exchanged birthday greetings. Berlusconi also has blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the war.
On April 3, 2023, U.S. Ambassador Robert F. Godec and Peace Corps Director Carol Spahn swear-in 49 Peace Corps Trainees at Songphanburi Hotel, Suphanburi Province.
In Thailand, Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) serve with their Thai counterparts in two sectors: Education, and Youth in Development. Volunteers live in local communities across the country, learn the Thai language, and share American culture with their communities during their two-year assignments. More than 5,500 Peace Corps Volunteers have served in Thailand since 1962.
The swearing-in ceremony is conducted in conjunction with the 60th anniversary celebration of Peace Corps Thailand (the 60th anniversary celebration was supposed to happen last year but is delayed due to the pandemic). With U.S. Ambassador Robert F. Godec, Peace Corps Director Carol Spahn, Director-General Ureerat Charoentoh of the Thailand International Cooperation Agency, Royal Thai Government Officials, local partners, former Peace Corps Volunteers, and other special guests in attendance, the ceremony includes both the swearing-in of PCVs as well as a celebration of more than six decades of partnership between the Peace Corps, the Royal Thai Government, and the people of Thailand.
The history of Peace Corps in Thailand includes countless stories of people-to-people connections, shared experiences, collective work to achieve goals, the start of brilliant careers in international development and diplomacy, and enduring friendships. When the Peace Corps evacuated almost 7,000 PCVs worldwide, we could not have anticipated how long it would take to return. The reentry 31 months later only serves to underscore the spirit of resilience and a commitment to Thailand’s development.
Speaking to the new Peace Corps Volunteers, Peace Corps Thailand’s Country Director, Sonny Luu, reminds them that “serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer is a privilege. It is a privilege that has been extended to you by the people of Thailand who are inviting you here—into their communities, their homes; not as guests but as partners, as friends, as community members, and as family members–to work side-by-side with them as they strive to achieve their hopes and dreams for a more prosperous and peaceful future for them and their children.”
About the Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an international service network of volunteers, community members, host country partners and staff who are driven by the agency’s mission of world peace and friendship. At the invitation of governments around the world, Peace Corps volunteers work alongside community members on locally prioritized projects in the areas of education, health, environment, agriculture, community economic development and youth development.
Through their service, members of the Peace Corps network develop transferable skills and hone intercultural competencies that position them to be the next generation of global leaders.
Since President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps in 1961, more than 240,000 Americans have served in 142 countries worldwide. For more information, visit peacecorps.gov and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. ###PeaceCorpsThailand #Volunteer
A car crosses Enterprise Bridge over Lake Oroville's dry banks on May 23, 2021, left, and the same location on March 26, 2023, in Butte County, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
FOLSOM, Calif. (AP) — Water levels fell so low in key reservoirs during the depth of California’s drought that boat docks sat on dry, cracked land and cars drove into the center of what should have been Folsom Lake.
Those scenes are no more after a series of powerful storms dumped record amounts of rain and snow across California, replenishing reservoirs and bringing an end — mostly — to the state’s three-year drought.
A car crosses Enterprise Bridge over Lake Oroville on March 26, 2023, left, and the same location on May 23, 2021, in Butte County, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Now, 12 of California’s 17 major reservoirs are filled above their historical averages for the start of spring. That includes Folsom Lake, which controls water flows along the American River, as well as Lake Oroville, the state’s second largest reservoir and home to the nation’s tallest dam.
It’s a stunning turnaround of water availability in the nation’s most populous state. Late last year nearly all of California was in drought, including at extreme and exceptional levels. Wells ran dry, farmers fallowed fields and cities restricted watering grass.
Docks float in the Browns Ravine Cove area of Folsom Lake on March 26, 2023, left, and the same location on May 22, 2021, boat docks sit on dry land in Folsom, Calif., on May 22, 2021. (AP Photo/Josh Edelson)
The water picture changed dramatically starting in December, when the first of a dozen ” atmospheric rivers ” hit, causing widespread flooding and damaging homes and infrastructure, and dumping as many as 700 inches (17.8 meters) of snow in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
“California went from the three driest years on record to the three wettest weeks on record when we were catapulted into our rainy season in January,” said Karla Nemeth, director of California Department of Water Resources. “So, hydrologically, California is no longer in a drought except for very small portions of the state.”
FILE – Houseboats rest in a channel at Lake Oroville State Recreation Area in Butte County, Calif., on Aug. 14, 2021.(AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)Houseboats float at Lake Oroville State Recreation Area on Sunday, March 26, 2023, in Butte County, Calif. Months of winter storms have replenished California’s key reservoirs after three years of punishing drought. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
All the rain and snow, while drought-busting, may bring new challenges. Some reservoirs are so full that water is being released to make room for storm runoff and snowmelt that could cause flooding this spring and summer, a new problem for weary water managers and emergency responders.
The storms have created one of the biggest snowpacks on record in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The snowpack’s water content is 239% of its normal average and nearly triple in the southern Sierra, according to state data. Now as the weather warms up, water managers are preparing for all that snow to melt, unleashing a torrent of water that’s expected to cause flooding in the Sierra foothills and Central Valley.
FILE – A vehicle is parked on a newly revealed piece of land due to receding waters at the drought-stricken Folsom Lake in Granite Bay, Calif., on Saturday, May 22, 2021. (AP Photo/Josh Edelson, File)In an aerial view, a boat floats in the Granite Bay area of Folsom Lake, in Granite Bay, Calif., on Sunday, March 26, 2023. Months of winter storms have replenished California’s key reservoirs after three years of punishing drought. (AP Photo/Josh Edelson)
“We know there will be flooding as a result of the snowmelt,” Nemeth said. “There’s just too much snowmelt to be accommodated in our rivers and channels and keeping things between levees.”
Managers are now releasing water from the Oroville Dam spillway, which was rebuilt after it broke apart during heavy rains in February 2017 and forced the evacuation of more than 180,000 people downstream along the Feather River.
The reservoir is 16% above its historic average. That’s compared to 2021, when water levels dropped so low that its hydroelectric dams stopped generating power.
That year the Bidwell Canyon and Lime Saddle marinas had to pull most recreational boats out of Lake Oroville and shut down their boat rental business because water levels were too low and it was too hard to get to the marinas, said Jared Rael, who manages the marinas.
In late March, the water at Lake Oroville rose to 859 feet (262 meters) above sea level, about 230 feet (70 meters) higher than its low point in 2021, according to state data.
FILE – Empty boat dock sit on dry land at the Browns Ravine Cove area of drought-stricken Folsom Lake in Folsom, Calif., on May 22, 2021 (above) and the same location on March 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Josh Edelson, File)
“The public is going to benefit with the water being higher. Everything is easier to get to. They can just jump on the lake and have fun,” Rael said. “Right now we have tons of water. We have a high lake with a bunch of snowpack. We’re going to have a great year.”
The abundant precipitation has prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom to lift some of the state’s water restrictions and stop asking people to voluntarily reduce their water use by 15%.
Newsom has not declared the drought over because there are still water shortages along the California-Oregon border and parts of Southern California that rely on the struggling Colorado River.
FILE – Dry hillsides surround Lake Oroville on May 22, 2021, in Oroville, Calif and the same location on March 26, 2023. Months of winter storms have replenished California’s key reservoirs after three years of punishing drought. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)
Cities and irrigation districts that provide water to farms will receive a big boost in water supplies from the State Water Project and Central Valley Project, networks of reservoirs and canals that supply water across California. Some farmers are using the stormwater to replenish underground aquifers that had become depleted after years of pumping and drought left wells dry.
State officials are warning residents not to let the current abundance let them revert to wasting water. In the era of climate change, one extremely wet year could be followed by several dry years, returning the state to drought.
“Given weather whiplash, we know the return of dry conditions and the intensity of the dry conditions that are likely to return means we have to be using water more efficiently,” Nemeth said. “We have to be adopting conservation as a way of life.”
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By TERRY CHEA, and JOSH EDELSON reported from Folsom, NOAH BERGER reported from Oroville, California.
Security camera footage showing a Sri Lankan woman before her death in a central Japan detention facility was publicly released Thursday for the first time by lawyers representing her family.
Approximately 7 minutes of roughly five total hours of government-provided security camera footage showing Ratnayake Liyanage Wishma Sandamali, who died at the age of 33 while being held at the Nagoya Regional Immigration Services Bureau in March 2021, was shown at a press conference in Tokyo.
Some of the released footage taken less than two weeks before Wishma’s death shows her bedridden and begging officers to take her to hospital after telling them she is unable to move or eat.
The footage also included later scenes of an officer and nurse chatting cheerfully while tending to Wishma as she moaned in pain.
In an excerpt from the day she was confirmed dead, an officer tries to wake an unresponsive Wishma after reporting over an intercom that her fingertips feel cold.
“I want the Japanese people to know how my sister suffered and was left to die in an environment where there was no one to help her,” Wishma’s younger sister Wayomi, 30, said at the press conference Thursday.
While Wishma’s family and some members of parliament have been able to privately view the footage, which the government submitted as evidence in a lawsuit, it marks the first time a portion of it has been made available to the public.
Wishma arrived in Japan in 2017 as a student but was taken into custody at the immigration facility in August 2020 for overstaying her visa.
She died on March 6, 2021, after complaining of ill health, which included vomiting and stomachaches, for around a month. Her death sparked national outrage over her treatment, forcing the government a few months later to drop a bill revising rules on foreigners facing deportation, including asylum seekers.
The government, however, has resubmitted the bill in the current Diet session, with Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno stressing at a press conference Thursday that its “early enactment is essential to prevent the recurrence of similar cases and to solve the problem of long-term detention.”
Wishma’s family is seeking damages from the government over her death, alleging she was illegally detained and died due to a lack of necessary medical care.
In this picture released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, left, shakes hands with his Saudi Arabian counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, right, and Chineses counterpart Qin Gang in Beijing Thursday, April 6, 2023. (Iranian Foreign Ministry via AP)
BEIJING (AP) — Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed Thursday to reopen diplomatic missions in their respective capitals and in additional cities, Iran’s semiofficial news agency said.
ISNA reported the foreign ministers reached the agreement in Beijing.
The deal calls for studying the prospects of resuming flights between the two nations and facilitating the visa process for the citizens of both countries. Saudi Arabia and Iran are long-time regional rivals, but have moved toward reconciliation as part of a deal brokered by China last month.
There was no immediate official confirmation of the ISNA report.
The agreement represents a new step toward reconciliation after seven years of tension, and lowers the chance of armed conflict between the Mideast rivals – both directly and in proxy conflicts around the region.
In this picture released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, right, meets with his Saudi Arabian counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud in Beijing Thursday, April 6, 2023. (Iranian Foreign Ministry via AP)
The deal was brokered by Beijing. It represents a major diplomatic victory for the Chinese as Gulf Arab states perceive the United States slowly withdrawing from the wider Middle East. It also comes as diplomats have been trying to end a long war in Yemen, a conflict in which both Iran and Saudi Arabia are deeply entrenched.
On Thursday morning, Saudi Arabia’s state-run Al-Ekhbariya TV showed Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amirabdollahian shaking hands and sitting side by side. Iran’s state TV said the two ministers met to discuss the details of reopening embassies.
It was the first formal meeting of senior diplomats from the two nations since 2016, when the kingdom broke ties with Iran after protesters invaded Saudi diplomatic posts there. Saudi Arabia had executed a prominent Shiite cleric with 46 others days earlier, triggering the demonstrations.
Lemon8, is a photo-based app that could be described as a mixture of Instagram and Pinterest with sprinkles of videos that resemble those posted on TikTok. It launched in Asian markets in 2020 and has already made headway in countries like Thailand and Japan. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
NEW YORK (AP) — As lawmakers debate whether to ban TikTok nationwide, its Chinese parent company has introduced a new app that’s already getting some traction.
The app, called Lemon8, is likely to face some of the same scrutiny as TikTok, which has been dogged by claims the Chinese government could force its parent company ByteDance to hand over U.S. user data or push misinformation on the platform.
Meanwhile, ByteDance is pressing ahead with its expansion plans. Here’s what you need to know about the company’s new app:
WHAT IS LEMON8?
Lemon8 is a photo-based app that resembles a mixture of Instagram and Pinterest, and is sprinkled with videos that look like the ones posted on TikTok. Social marketing experts say the app is also reminiscent of the Chinese social media and e-commerce giant Xiaohongshu, which translates to “little red book.”
Like TikTok, Lemon8’s main feed features a “following” section that lets users look at content from creators they follow, as well as a “For You” section that recommends other posts. It also segments posts under different categories, like fashion, beauty and food, and allows users to explore content in other ways.
Similar to TikTok and other social media sites, Lemon8 collects user data, such as IP address, browsing history, device identifiers and other information.
Both the Apple and Google Play app stores list its owner as Heliophilia Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-based company that shares the same address as ByteDance and TikTok.
HOW POPULAR IS IT?
Lemon8 was first launched in Asian markets in 2020 and has already made headway in countries like Thailand and Japan, with roughly 7.4 million and 5 million downloads respectively, according to the app analytics company data.ai.
It was introduced in the U.S. in February with little fanfare, but all that changed when media organizations started paying closer attention and some TikTok influencers began promoting it.
As of Sunday, the app had 290,000 downloads in the U.S., the vast majority of which happened in late March, according to data.ai. It’s also listed as one of the most popular apps on Apple’s app store.
Nicla Bartoli, the vice president of sales at Influencer Marketing Factory, said ByteDance reached out to her company in late February and gave a lengthy presentation about the app and how influencers can use it. She said the agency, which connects brands with influencers, is recommending that influencers try out the app but isn’t doing the same with brands since Lemon8’s user base is still relatively small.
It also remains to be seen if the app will take off more organically or flop. The last five years have been littered with social media platforms that got a lot of hype, only to vanish in the end, said Brendan Gahan, partner and chief social officer at the creative agency Mekanism. He pointed to examples like BeReal and Clubhouse, which garnered a lot of attention in the past two years before users turned their attention elsewhere.
“Social app success is difficult to achieve and harder to maintain,” Gahan said.
“We’re obviously going to do our best with the Lemon8 app to comply with U.S. law and to make sure we do the right thing here,” said Andersen, who also serves as TikTok’s general counsel. “But I think we got a long way to go with that application — it’s pretty much a startup phase.”
As part of that work, ByteDance is already seeking job applicants for a few U.S.-based roles that will help grow the app’s partnerships with influencers on beauty, food, health and other topics.
WHAT ELSE IS BYTEDANCE DOING?
Another app owned by ByteDance, called CapCut, is also listed on Apple’s app store as one of the most popular apps in the U.S.
CapCut markets itself as an “all-in-one” video editing tool that allows users to cut or speed up their content, and do other things like add filters and music.
Data.ai, the app analytics company, said that app was released globally in April 2020, roughly a year after it was introduced in China. As of Sunday, the group said the editing tool had been downloaded 60 million times in the U.S. and 940 million globally.
ARE LAWMAKERS ALSO CONCERNED ABOUT THE OTHER APPS?
There is support for a bipartisan bill in the Senate, called the RESTRICT Act, that does not call out TikTok but would give the Commerce Department power to review and potentially restrict foreign threats to technology platforms. But it has faced some pushback from privacy advocates and ring-wing commentators who argue the legislation is too vague and could be abused.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, who sponsored the bill along with Republican Sen. John Thune, said in a prepared statement that the legislation would make it easier to go after other risky apps like Lemon8.
“For too long, our government has been playing a game of Whac-A-Mole when it comes to addressing the various foreign technology threats popping up all around us,” said Warner, D-Va. “The RESTRICT Act would establish a risk-based, intelligence-informed process to evaluate and mitigate the risks posed by tech from adversarial nations, whether that be Huawei, TikTok, Lemon8, or the next viral technology product pushed by an authoritarian nation.”
A woman conforts a crying girl outside the daycare center "Cantinho do Bom Pastor" after a fatal attack on children in Blumenau, Santa Catarina state, Brazil, Wednesday, April 5, 2023. (Patrick Rodrigues/Portal NSC Total via AP)
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A man with a hatchet jumped over a wall and invaded a daycare center Wednesday in Brazil, killing four children and wounding at least five others, authorities said.
The assailant turned himself in at a police station and did not appear to have any connection with the center, which offers nursery services, preschool education and after-school activities. The dead were between the ages of 5 and 7, authorities said.
Authorities were searching for a motive, the police detective leading the investigation, Ronnie Esteves, told television reporters in Blumenau, a city in southern Brazil, near the Atlantic coast.
Images broadcast on networks showed weeping parents outside the private daycare center called Cantinho do Bom Pastor. The attack took place on the center’s playground, according to the local affiliate of television network Globo. NSC, the affiliate, showed a photo of the suspect with a closely shaved head. Police have yet to confirm his identity.
Blumenau’s mayor, Mário Hildebrandt, suspended classes and said he will declare a 30-day mourning period. The state government said in a statement that rumors circulating on social media of other potential attacks were false.
The mayor said five wounded children were take to hospitals. One was in serious condition.
School attacks in Brazil have happened with greater frequency in recent years. Last week, a student in Sao Paulo fatally stabbed a teacher and wounded several others in Sao Paulo.
An ambulance is parked outside the private daycare center “Cantinho do Bom Pastor” after a fatal attack on children in Blumenau, Santa Catarina state, Brazil, Wednesday, April 5, 2023. (Denner Ovidio/Futura Press via AP)
Brazil has seen at least one past attack on a daycare center. That attack also occurred in Santa Catarina state, in 2021, when an assailant used a dagger to kill three children under 2 years old and two adults.
From 2000 to 2022, 16 attacks or violent episodes happened in schools, four of them in the second half of last year, according to a report from researchers led by Daniel Cara, an education professor at the University of Sao Paulo. The researchers prepared the report for the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
“There is no greater pain than that of a family who loses its children or grandchildren, even more so in an act of violence against innocent and defenseless kids,” Lula wrote Wednesday on Twitter. “My thoughts and prayers are the families of victims and the community of Blumenau in the face of the monstrosity of what occurred.”
Blumenau, a city of 366,000 people, is famous for its annual Oktoberfest festival.
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DAVID BILLER and LAÍS MARTINS Associated Press reported.
Suvarnabhumi Airport announced its readiness to serve incoming tourists during the Songkran Festival from 11 to 17 April 2023. It is estimated that a total of 1 million tourists will come to the Thailand airport, an average of 143,000 tourists per day.
The airport will set up a temporary outbound checkpoint at the end of row W in the departure lounge, 4th floor. The airport will also deploy more staff at the checkpoints to provide maximum efficiency for tourists.
The Transport Ministry also announces on Wednesday that the car parking at zone C parking lot of Suvarnabhumi International Airport will be free during Songkran long holidays from April 12-18 with shuttle bus services transporting passengers and others to the ground flood of the main terminal.
The Centre for Economic and Business Forecasting at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce predicts that total spending during Songkran will reach THB 125.2 billion, a 17.3 per cent increase from last year’s record THB 106.7 billion. This will help boost GDP by about 0.5 to 0.7 per cent.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand announced that tourist numbers for the first 3 months of 2023 (1 January – 31 March) stood at 6,465,737 people, an increase of 1,199 per cent over the same period last year, bringing tourist spending to THB 256.2 billion.
56.8 per cent of foreign tourists came from East Asia, followed by Europe with 26.5 per cent. Another 16.7 per cent came from India, the United States, Australia, Israel, Canada and Saudi Arabia.
FILE - Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon poses for the media with husband Peter Murrell, outside polling station in Glasgow, Scotland, on Dec. 12, 2019.(AP Photo/Scott Heppell, File)
LONDON (AP) — The husband of former Scottish first minister and Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon has been arrested in a party finance probe, British media reported Wednesday.
Police in Scotland did not identify Peter Murrell as the 58-year old man arrested Wednesday “in connection with the ongoing investigation into the funding and finances of the Scottish National Party.” However, Britain’s Press Association, the BBC and others reported it was Murrell.
“Clearly it would not be appropriate to comment on any live police investigation but the SNP have been cooperating fully with this investigation and will continue to do so,” the party said in a statement released after the arrest.
FILE – Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and her husband and current chief executive officer of the Scottish National Party Peter Murrel arrive for a service of thanksgiving for the reign of Queen Elizabeth II at St Paul’s Cathedral in London on June 3, 2022. (Henry Nicholls, Pool Photo via AP, File)
Sturgeon, 52, announced her resignation in February after eight years as party leader and first minster of Scotland’s semi-autonomous government. Sturgeon said at that time that serving well was knowing when to make way for someone else.
“In my head and in my heart I know that time is now,” she said. “That it’s right for me, for my party and my country.”
Sturgeon, had led Scotland since 2014, when Scots narrowly voted to remain part of the United Kingdom. While the referendum was billed as a once-in-a-generation decision on independence, Sturgeon and her Scottish National Party had pushed for a new vote, arguing that Britain’s departure from the European Union had changed the ground rules.
The Scottish government wants to hold a referendum next October with the question “Should Scotland be an independent country?”
The U.K. government in London refuses to approve a vote, saying the question was settled in a 2014 referendum that saw Scottish voters reject independence by a margin of 55% to 45%.
