Biden: Killing of Al-qaida Leader Is Long-sought ‘Justice’

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2 August 2022, 11:00

FILE - As seen on a computer screen from a DVD prepared by Al-Sahab production, al-Qaida's Ayman al-Zawahri speaks in Islamabad, Pakistan, on June 20, 2006. Photo: B.K.Bangash / AP File

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden announced Monday that al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Kabul, an operation he said delivered justice and hopefully “one more measure of closure” to families of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

The president said in an evening address from the White House that U.S. intelligence officials tracked al-Zawahri to a home in downtown Kabul where he was hiding out with his family. The president approved the operation last week and it was carried out Sunday.

Al-Zawahri and the better-known Osama bin Laden plotted the 9/11 attacks that brought many ordinary Americans their first knowledge of al-Qaida. Bin Laden was killed in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, in operation carried out by U.S. Navy SEALs after a nearly decade-long hunt.

As for Al-Zawahri, Biden said, “He will never again, never again, allow Afghanistan to become a terrorist safe haven because he is gone and we’re going to make sure that nothing else happens.”

“This terrorist leader is no more,” he added.

The operation is a significant counterterrorism win for the Biden administration just 11 months after American troops left the country after a two-decade war.

The strike was carried out by the CIA, according to five people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Neither Biden nor the White House detailed the CIA’s involvement in the strike.

Biden, however, paid tribute to the U.S. intelligence community in his remarks, noting that “thanks to their extraordinary persistence and skill” the operation was a success.

Al-Zawahri’s death eliminates the figure who more than anyone shaped al-Qaida, first as bin Laden’s deputy since 1998, then as his successor. Together, he and bin Laden turned the jihadi movement’s guns to target the United States, carrying out the deadliest attack ever on American soil — the Sept. 11 suicide hijackings.

The house Al-Zawahri was in when he was killed was owned by a top aide to senior Taliban leader Sirajuddin Haqqani, according to a senior intelligence official. The official also added that a CIA ground team and aerial reconnaissance conducted after the drone strike confirmed al-Zawahri’s death.

A senior administration official who briefed reporters on the operation on condition of anonymity said “zero” U.S. personnel were in Kabul.

Over the 20-year war in Afghanistan, the U.S. targeted and splintered al-Qaida, sending leaders into hiding. But America’s exit from Afghanistan last September gave the extremist group the opportunity to rebuild.

U.S. military officials, including Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have said al-Qaida was trying to reconstitute in Afghanistan, where it faced limited threats from the now-ruling Taliban. Military leaders have warned that the group still aspired to attack the U.S.

After his killing, the White House underscored that al-Zawahri had continued to be a dangerous figure. The senior administration official said al-Zawahri had continued to “provide strategic direction,” including urging attacks on the U.S., while in hiding. He had also prioritized to members of the terror network that the United States remained al-Qaida’s “primary enemy,” the official said.

The 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon made bin Laden America’s Enemy No. 1. But he likely could never have carried it out without his deputy. Bin Laden provided al-Qaida with charisma and money, but al-Zawahri brought tactics and organizational skills needed to forge militants into a network of cells in countries around the world.

U.S. intelligence officials have been aware for years of a network helping al-Zawahri dodge U.S. intelligence officials hunting for him, but didn’t have a bead on his possible location until recent months.

Earlier this year, U.S. officials learned that the terror leader’s wife, daughter and her children had relocated to a safe house in Kabul, according to the senior administration official who briefed reporters.

Officials eventually learned al-Zawahri was also at the Kabul safe house.

In early April, White House deputy national security adviser Jon Finer and Biden’s homeland security adviser Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall were briefed on this developing intelligence. Soon the intelligence was carried up to national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

Sullivan brought the information to Biden as U.S. intelligence officials built “a pattern of life through multiple independent sources of information to inform the operation,” the official said.

Senior Taliban figures were aware of al-Zawahri’s presence in Kabul, according to the official, who added the Taliban government was given no forewarning of the operation.

Inside the Biden administration, only a small group of officials at key agencies, as well as Vice President Kamala Harris, were brought into the process. Through May and June, Biden was updated several times on the growing mound of intelligence that confirmed al-Zawahri was hiding out in the home. Over the last few weeks, Biden brought together several Cabinet officials and key national security officials to scrutinize the intelligence findings.

On July 1, Biden was briefed in the Situation Room about the planned operation, a briefing in which the president closely examined a scale model of the home Zawahri was hiding out in. He gave his final approval for the operation on Thursday. Al-Zawahri was on the balcony of his hideout on Sunday when two Hellfire missiles were launched from an unmanned drone, killing him.

Al-Zawahri’s family was in another part of the house when the operation was carried out, and no one else was believed to have been killed in the operation, the official said.

“We make it clear again tonight: That no matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide, if you are a threat to our people, the United States will find you and take you out,” Biden said.

Al-Zawahri was hardly a household name like bin Laden, but he played an enormous role in the terror group’s operations.

The two terror leaders’ bond was forged in the late 1980s, when al-Zawahri reportedly treated the Saudi millionaire bin Laden in the caves of Afghanistan as Soviet bombardment shook the mountains around them.

Al-Zawahri, on the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorist list, had a $25 million bounty on his head for any information that could be used to kill or capture him.

Al-Zawhiri and bin Laden plotted the 9/11 attacks that brought many ordinary Americans their first knowledge of al-Qaida.

Photos from the time often showed the glasses-wearing, mild-looking Egyptian doctor sitting by the side of bin Laden. Al-Zawahiri had merged his group of Egyptian militants with bin Laden’s al-Qaida in the 1990s.

“The strong contingent of Egyptians applied organizational know-how, financial expertise, and military experience to wage a violent jihad against leaders whom the fighters considered to be un-Islamic and their patrons, especially the United States,” Steven A. Cook wrote for the Council on Foreign Relations last year.

When the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan demolished al-Qaida’s safe haven and scattered, killed and captured its members, al-Zawahri ensured al-Qaida’s survival. He rebuilt its leadership in the Afghan-Pakistan border region and installed allies as lieutenants in key positions.

He also reshaped the organization from a centralized planner of terror attacks into the head of a franchise chain. He led the assembling of a network of autonomous branches around the region, including in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, North Africa, Somalia, Yemen and Asia. Over the next decade, al-Qaida inspired or had a direct hand in attacks in all those areas as well as Europe, Pakistan and Turkey, including the 2004 train bombings in Madrid and the 2005 transit bombings in London.

More recently, the al-Qaida affiliate in Yemen proved itself capable of plotting attacks against U.S. soil with an attempted 2009 bombing of an American passenger jet and an attempted package bomb the following year.

But even before bin Laden’s death, al-Zawahri was struggling to maintain al-Qaida’s relevance in a changing Middle East.

He tried with little success to coopt the wave of uprisings that spread across the Arab world starting in 2011, urging Islamic hard-liners to take over in the nations where leaders had fallen. But while Islamists gained prominence in many places, they have stark ideological differences with al-Qaida and reject its agenda and leadership.

Nevertheless, al-Zawahri tried to pose as the Arab Spring’s leader. America “is facing an Islamic nation that is in revolt, having risen from its lethargy to a renaissance of jihad,” he said in a video eulogy to bin Laden, wearing a white robe and turban with an assault rifle leaning on a wall behind him.

Al-Zawahri was also a more divisive figure than his predecessor. Many militants described the soft-spoken bin Laden in adoring and almost spiritual terms.

In contrast, al-Zawahri was notoriously prickly and pedantic. He picked ideological fights with critics within the jihadi camp, wagging his finger scoldingly in his videos. Even some key figures in al-Qaida’s central leadership were put off, calling him overly controlling, secretive and divisive.

Some militants whose association with bin Laden predated al-Zawahri’s always saw him as an arrogant intruder.

“I have never taken orders from al-Zawahri,” Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, one of the network’s top figures in East Africa until his 2011 death, sneered in a memoir posted on line in 2009. “We don’t take orders from anyone but our historical leadership.”

There had been rumors of al-Zawahri’s death on and off for several years. But a video surfaced in April of the al-Qaida leader praising a Indian Muslim woman who had defied a ban on wearing a hijab, or headscarf. That footage was the first proof in months that he was still alive.

A statement from Afghanistan’s Taliban government confirmed the airstrike, but did not mention al-Zawahri or any other casualties.

It said the Taliban “strongly condemns this attack and calls it a clear violation of international principles and the Doha Agreement,” the 2020 U.S. pact with the Taliban that led to the withdrawal of American forces.

“Such actions are a repetition of the failed experiences of the past 20 years and are against the interests of the United States of America, Afghanistan, and the region,” the statement said.

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Story: Matthew Lee, Nomaan Merchant and Aamer Madhani. Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor, Ellen Knickmeyer, Zeke Miller, James LaPorta, Michael Balsamo and Darlene Superville in Washington; Rahim Faiez in Islamabad; and Lee Keath in Cairo contributed reporting.

Siam Piwat introduces waste-to-VIZ Coin conversion program for eco-conscious customers to enjoy various privileges on ONESIAM Application

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Contributor

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2 August 2022, 09:00

Bangkok (August 1, 2022) – Siam Piwat Co., Ltd., is building on the success of its Recycle Collection Center, Thailand’s first waste segregation point in the inner city, by introducing a new waste-to-VIZ Coin conversion program on ONESIAM Application, which is under the management of Velocity Co., Ltd. (a company in Siam Piwat Group), allowing customers to convert waste into VIZ Coins, which can be redeemed for various privileges within its shopping malls.

Ms. Naratipe Ruttapradid, Chief Operating Officer of Siam Piwat Co., Ltd., said, “Since its launch, the Drive-Thru Recycle Collection Center, which is the first of its kind in Thailand, has garnered tremendous attention among eco-friendly people who share Siam Piwat’s view towards waste management and the significance of systemic waste separation across the value chain. This environmental project is open to everyone who wishes to make a positive contribution to society and the planet. To continue our efforts to promote eco-consciousness this year, we are introducing a program where customers can drop recyclable waste with us and convert them into VIZ Coins via ONESIAM Application. The goal is to encourage everyone to take part in reducing, sorting, and recycling waste to maximize its value, which will ultimately lead to a behavioral shift, eco-conscious consumption of resources, greater awareness in the value of waste, and a more widespread practice of waste separation.”

The Recycle Collection Center (RCC) is part of Siam Piwat 360° Waste Journey to Zero Waste Project, which seeks to advance closed-loop waste management in accordance with circular economy principles and places emphasis on systemic waste management across the value chain. Siam Piwat has installed two drive-thru waste collection points at Siam Paragon, namely at the tour bus parking lot on G Floor outside the north wing, and Exit 4 on G Floor (near Bangkok Bank). Customers and the general public are invited to drop off clean and sorted waste at these locations so that it can be recycled into raw materials and upcycled into products for sale at Ecotopia in Siam Discovery.

To celebrate the 1st anniversary of the project, Siam Piwat, in collaboration with Unilever Thai Group of Companies, Kao Industrial (Thailand) Co., Ltd., Tetra Pak (Thailand) Co., Ltd., and its partners, will be awarding VIZ Coins to participants from August 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022. The details are as follows:

1) Participants can drop off clean and sorted waste at the drive-thru collection point at the tour bus parking lot (at the back of Siam Paragon) daily from 9:30 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.

2) To join this program, participants are required to download ONESIAM Application in order to receive and collect VIZ Coins. The conditions for receiving VIZ Coins are as follows:

The first 1,000 first-time participants who drop off waste at the Recycle Collection Center between August 1-31, 2022 will receive 20 VIZ Coins.
Participants who drop off waste at the Recycle Collection Center, including those under the item above, will receive VIZ Coins based on the criteria below when they scan the QR code at the drop-off point. (If the decimal of the weight exceeds 0.8 kilograms, it will be rounded up to 1 kilogram.)

VIZ Coin conversion based on waste type and weight

Paper (1 kilogram = 3 VIZ Coins)
e.g. newspapers, cardboard, magazines, brochures
Glass (1 kilogram = 1 VIZ Coin)
e.g. glass bottles, glass panes
Hard plastic (1 kilogram = 1 VIZ Coin)
e.g. PVC pipes, milk containers, shampoo and conditioner bottles, soap dispensers, laundry detergent and fabric softener bottles
Aluminum (1 kilogram = 30 VIZ Coins)
e.g. soda cans, milk cans, coffee cans, tin cans for canned fish, aluminum lids
Stretchy plastic (1 kilogram = 1 VIZ Coin)
e.g. stretchy plastic bags, shopping bags, plastic envelopes, bubble wraps, resealable bags, zip lock bags, cling films, bread bags, sugar bags, plastic ice bags
Multilayer plastic (1 kilogram = 1 VIZ Coin)
e.g. snack pouches, dish soap refill pouches, laundry detergent pouches, fabric softener pouches, instant coffee packets
Clear plastic (1 kilogram = 5 VIZ Coins)
e.g. water bottles, beverage bottles, clear dish soap bottles
Cartons (1 kilograms = 1 VIZ coin)
e.g. milk cartons, juice boxes, or coconut milk cartons

*Remarks:

This program aims to promote and raise awareness of waste segregation and management among the public only and is not engaged in for any profit. Siam Piwat reserves the right to change the VIZ Coin exchange criteria as appropriate. The Company’s decision is final.
Orphan plastic, or non-recyclable post-consumer plastic, cannot be exchanged for VIZ Coins.

Siam Piwat Company Limited (“Company”), as the organizer of Siam Piwat 360° Waste Journey to Zero Waste Project (“Project”), is required to collect and use your personal data, namely your full name and your phone number, in order to:

(1) register your participation in the project and authenticate your identity;

(2) transfer VIZ Coins to you in accordance with the project’s terms and conditions; and

(3) communicate with you and inform you of the details of the project

You can read further information about the collection, use, and disclosure of your personal data in accordance with the Company’s privacy policy by scanning the QR code below.

Pelosi Confirms Trip to Asia, but No Mention of Taiwan

By

Associated Press

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1 August 2022, 11:30

A man uses a magnifying glass to read a newspaper headline reporting on U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Asia visit, at a stand in Beijing, Sunday, July 31, 2022. Photo: Andy Wong / AP

BEIJNG (AP) — The speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, confirmed Sunday she will visit four Asian countries this week but made no mention of a possible stop in Taiwan that has fueled tension with Beijing, which claims the island democracy as its own territory.

Pelosi said in a statement she is leading a congressional delegation to Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan to discuss trade, the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, security and “democratic governance.”

Pelosi has yet to confirm news reports that she might visit Taiwan. Chinese President Xi Jinping warned against meddling in Beijing’s dealings with the island in a phone call Thursday with his American counterpart, Joe Biden.

Beijing sees official American contact with Taiwan as encouragement to make its decades-old de facto independence permanent, a step U.S. leaders say they don’t support. Pelosi, head of one of three branches of the U.S. government, would be the highest-ranking elected American official to visit Taiwan since then-Speaker Newt Gingrich in 1997.

The Biden administration didn’t explicitly urge Pelosi to avoid Taiwan but tried to assure Beijing there was no reason to “come to blows” and that if such a visit occurred, it would signal no change in U.S. policy.

“Under the strong leadership of President Biden, America is firmly committed to smart, strategic engagement in the region, understanding that a free and flourishing Indo-Pacific is crucial to prosperity in our nation and around the globe,” Pelosi’s statement said.

Taiwan and China split in 1949 after the communists won a civil war on the mainland. Both sides say they are one country but disagree over which government is entitled to national leadership. They have no official relations but are linked by billions of dollars of trade and investment.

The United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, but maintains informal relations with the island. Washington is obligated by federal law to see that Taiwan has the means to defend itself.

Washington’s “One China policy” says it takes no position on the status of the two sides but wants their dispute resolved peacefully. Beijing promotes an alternative “One China principle” that says they are one country and the Communist Party is its leader.

Members of Congress publicly backed Pelosi’s interest in visiting Taiwan despite Chinese opposition. They want to avoid being seen as yielding to Beijing.

Beijing has given no details of how it might react if Pelosi goes to Taiwan, but the Ministry of Defense warned last week the military would take “strong measures to thwart any external interference.” The foreign ministry said, “those who play with fire will perish by it.”

The ruling party’s military wing, the People’s Liberation Army, has flown growing numbers of fighter planes and bombers around Taiwan to intimidate the island.

“The Air Force’s multi-type fighter jets fly around the treasured island of the motherland, tempering and enhancing the ability to maintain national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” military spokesman Col. Shen Jinke said on Sunday, referring to Taiwan.

Pelosi said her delegation includes U.S. Reps. Gregory Meeks, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Mark Takano, chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs; Suzan DelBene, vice chair of the House Ways and Means Committee; Raja Krishnamoorthi, a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and chair of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Andy Kim, a member of the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees.

A visit to Taiwan would be a career capstone for Pelosi, who increasingly uses her position in Congress as a U.S. emissary on the global stage. She has long challenged China on human rights and wanted to visit Taiwan earlier this year.

In 1991, as a new member of Congress, Pelosi irked Chinese authorities by unfurling a banner on Tiananmen Square in central Beijing commemorating those killed when the Communist Party crushed pro-democracy protests two years earlier.

“It’s important for us to show support for Taiwan,” Pelosi, a Democrat from California, told reporters this month.

But she had made clear she was not advocating U.S. policy changes.

“None of us has ever said we’re for independence, when it comes to Taiwan,” she said. “That’s up to Taiwan to decide.”

On Friday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby tried to tamp down concerns.

“There’s no reason for it to come to that, to come to blows,” Kirby said at the White House. “There’s no reason for that because there’s been no change in American policy with respect to One China.”

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Story: Joe McDonald and Lisa Mascaro. Mascaro reported from Washington.

Japanese Video Journalist Detained at Myanmar Protest March

By

Associated Press

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1 August 2022, 11:00

FILE - People march to protest against the February military takeover, in Yangon, Myanmar, on April 11, 2021. Photo: AP File

BANGKOK (AP) — A Japanese video journalist has been detained by security forces in Myanmar while covering a protest against military rule in the country’s largest city, pro-democracy activists said Sunday.

Toru Kubota, a Tokyo-based documentary filmmaker, was arrested on Saturday by plainclothes police after a flash protest in Yangon, according to Typ Fone, a leader of the group Yangon Democratic Youth Strike, which organized the rally. Like many activists, he uses a pseudonym for protection against the military authorities.

Myanmar’s army seized power in February last year by ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, and has since cracked down hard on dissent.

According to a detailed tally compiled by Myanmar’s Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, at least 2,138 civilians have been killed by the security forces and 14,917 arrested since the military takeover.

Last week, the military government drew sharp international criticism after announcing that it had hanged four activists convicted of terrorism in secret trials.

Typ Fone told The Associated Press that two protesters in Saturday’s march were also arrested and detained in a township police station. The arrests were also reported by several other anti-government groups.

Japan’s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiji Kihara on Monday said “a Japanese male citizen in his 20s” was arrested Saturday while filming a demonstration in Yangon and that he has since been detained by local police. Kihara said Japanese embassy officials have been requesting his early release, while “doing utmost” for his safety and information gathering.

An official from the Japanese Embassy told The Associated Press earlier that a Japanese national was reported detained, but declined to reveal details. The man is being held for questioning at a police station in Yangon and the embassy was taking action to release him, said the official, who asked not to be identified because was not authorized to share information with the media.

State-run daily newspapers, which usually report on arrests of pro-democracy protesters, did not mention it.

However, pro-military accounts on the Telegram messaging app said the Japanese man was arrested not for taking pictures but for participating in the protest by holding a banner. Typ Fone said that photos of Kubota with the banner uploaded to the Telegram channels were taken after he had been arrested, indicating they were done under duress.

During the march, about a dozen protesters chanted slogans opposing the military takeover, and shortly after, scattered into the crowds in the surrounding streets.

“He was taking a picture with his camera from a short distance from our strike yesterday,” Typ Fone said of Kubota. “When we finished the strike and dispersed, he was arrested by the security forces in plainclothes and put into a Probox car.” The vehicle is typically used by taxis in Yangon, and Typ Fone said the car in question also had the markings of a taxi.

According to a portfolio of Kubota’s work online, his primary focus was on ethnic conflicts, immigrants and refugee issues, and he has tried to highlight the conditions of “marginalised, deprived communities.”

It says he has worked with media companies such as Yahoo! News Japan, VICE JAPAN and Al Jazeera English.

Virtually all independent journalism in Myanmar is carried out underground or from exile.

The military government has arrested about 140 journalists, about 55 of whom remain detained awaiting charges or trial. Kubota is the fifth foreign journalist to be detained, after U.S. citizens Nathan Maung and Danny Fenster, who worked for local publications, and freelancers Robert Bociaga of Poland and Yuki Kitazumi of Japan, all of whom were eventually expelled.

Most of those still detained are being held under the charge of causing fear, spreading false news, or agitating against a government employee. The charges carry up to three years in prison.

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Story: Grant Peck. AP writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.

Opinion: Thailand is Failing Its Neighbor in Myanmar

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Pravit Rojanaphruk, Senior Staff Writer

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31 July 2022, 13:00

Anti-junta protest in front of the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok on July 26, 2022.

The execution of four anti-junta activists in Myanmar earlier this week and the Thai government’s reluctance to even condemn the barbaric act of the Burmese junta speak volumes about how the Prayut Chan-o-cha regime has failed to act in a dignified manner.

The only reaction the public heard was from the spokesman of the Foreign Ministry Thanee Saengrat on Tuesday. When asked by reporters, Thanee said the Thai government “deeply regret” the execution of the four men in Myanmar and said violence cannot solve political problems.

I deeply regret that this is the most the Prayut regime will say on the matter as well. In the name of a narrowly defined national interest, some people, some governments, are willing to turn a blind eye to the atrocities happening next door and just say “It’s too bad.” There is little or no dignity or decency left.

The spokesman stopped short of condemning the executions. It is well-known that the Prayut regime, which first came to power in May 2014 when he staged a military coup and the current Foreign Minister, Don Pramudwinai, who was originally appointed by the military junta, are rather chummy with the Burmese junta and its leader Min Aung Hlaing.

At least the Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah condemned the executions and called it “a mockery of ASEAN.”

Prayut had been snubbed by the West for years after the 2014 coup until he was chosen as PM again after the 2019 elections. He managed relative ‘well’ to sugar-coat the oppression when the junta was in power compared to the much more visibly ruthless and brutal Burmese military junta, however.

It is no surprise that they understand one another and feel empathetic as both Min Aung Hlaing and Prayut both overthrew elected government and disrespect the sovereign power of the people.

On the same day, Burmese demonstrators staged a major protest in front of the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok after they learned about the execution by hanging of four anti-junta activists in Myanmar. Thai police did not crack down on them, and this was probably the kindest thing they have done for democracy-loving Burmese in Thailand.

How long will the Thai government allow the Burmese junta to have a free rein in suppressing and killing its opponents and pro-democracy activists? How such conduct of the Thai government, and Thailand, be remembered 30, 40 years or half a century from now?

One thing I do when meeting Vietnamese for the first time soon after being acquainted is to say to the person: “I’m sorry for what Thailand did during the Vietnam War by allowing American planes to kept flying from Thailand to repeatedly drop bombs on your country. (Not that I was old enough to do anything at the time.) The sane could be said about Thailand’s support of the genocidal Khmer Rouge.

It is time for Myanmar’s neighbors to step up pressure on the murderous Burmese junta. Here in Thailand, we have given Prayut too much time to appease the Burmese junta next door.

As dozens more pro-democracy activists are slated to be executed, I fear that in the not-too-distant future, I and other conscientious Thais may have to say similar things upon meeting a Burmese: “Sorry we did too little too late to try to stop the Burmese military junta from suppressing and killing many of your countrymen and women.”

CP Foods engages contracted pig swine farmers with its Greenfarm standard, promoting biogas and solar power as renewable energy

By

Contributor

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29 July 2022, 17:07

Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company Limited (CP Foods) is promoting its Greenfarm practice among its own pig farms and contracted swine farmers, to harness energy from biogas and solar power in the quest to make the business more environmentally-friendly. All pig farms of CP Foods have installed biogas systems and solar farms have been erected at some farms to ensure energy security and optimize available renewable energy.

Somporn Jermpong, Executive Vice President of CP Foods, said that all 98 pig farms owned by CP Foods and contracted farmers have implemented the Greenfarm standard since 2009. Under the practice, waste is tackled by the biogas system that benefits both the environment and community. Meanwhile, ventilation systems are installed at the end of barns, to effectively take care of foul smell. The plantation of trees in the vicinity and space between barns adds the greenness, reduces the heat for barns and helps reduce the energy that powers the Evaporative Cooling System (EVAP).

Importantly, CP Foods emphasizes the optimization of energy efficiency under the Circular Economy concept. The focal point is on the biogas system, an integral part of green farms, that turns biogas to energy for internal use. The biogas helps cut the energy expenses by 50-80% and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 370,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per annum. The system cuts down energy consumption while helps mitigate the impacts on climate.

Solar cells have been installed to generate power for the farms, to further reduce energy consumption. This has been turned to solar farms. Pilot solar farms that have already generated power, 1.3 megawatts in total, are located in the Kanchanaburi, Vichienburi, Srithep, Phetchabun and Thacharung farms. Six more farms – Chanthaburi 1, Nongkhai, Khok Pee Khong, Khlong Udom, Silathip and Lopburi farms – are enlisted for the second phase with a total capacity of 1.25 megawatts. More farms will be later included in the solar farm project.

“CP Foods aspires to make its farms environmentally-friendly for peaceful coexistence with community. While CP Foods farms are the role models, successes are replicated at contracted farms highlighted by the Greenfarm standard, the biogas system and solar farms. These natural resources ably feed power to the farms. The internally-generated clean energy helps reduce the energy cost. At some farms, it fully substitutes the power supply from the Provincial Electricity Authority. It also reduces carbon emissions generated by our production,” Somporn said.

Meanwhile, all pig farms of CP Foods focus on sustainable water management throughout the supply chain through the 3Rs principle – Reduce, Recycle and Reuse. The principle reduces withdrawal from natural water sources. Treated water, so-called “fertilizer water”, is used to water grass fields, trees and organic vegetables grown for farms’ personnel. Retreated water is used for barn cleaning. For nearly 20 years, the “Fertilizer Water Sharing” Project has been up and running, to share the fertilizer water with neighboring farmers. The water improves growth and productiveness of plants, thus raising quality and quantity. It reduces farmers’ expenses on fertilizers, in line with CP Foods aspiration to help reduce the consumption of energy and natural resources for the friendly environment of all communities.

Thai Army, CP Group, and CP Foods provide 87 houses for Khlong Toey residents to mark his Majesty the King’s Birthday anniversary

By

Contributor

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27 July 2022, 15:48

Royal Thai Army, in collaboration with CP Group – CP Foods, and Nong Nooch Garden, successfully completed the 87 new-built houses for the residents of Lock 4-5-6 community in Klong Toey area under the Thai Army’s build or repair houses for people in needs project which supported by CP Group and CP Foods to improve their wellbeing. The remaining 7 rebuilt houses were recently handed over to homeowners to celebrate the auspicious occasion of His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua’s Birthday on 28 July 2022.

The cooperation project was established on 2020 to build or refurbish houses for vulnerable people and aims at improving the quality of life and hygiene for people in need nationwide. The 87 micro-houses were built by the Royal Thai Army and CP Foods provided the financial assistance.

The 1st Army Area Commander, Lt Gen Suksan Nongbualang and Soopakij Chearavanont CP Group & CP Foods Chairman jointly handed over the houses to 7 families along with survival bags, consumer goods, and necessities. The families and Klong Toey residents also recieved a vegetable garden set from Chia Tai and herbal medicine Andrographis paniculata from the CP group.

Lt Gen Suksan Nongbualang says this housing project is one of, “We Do Good Deeds by Heart”, the royal volunteer program. “We do good deeds from the heart” with continuous support from the public and private sectors such as the CP Group and CP Foods. He added that this voluntary project reflects the strong collaboration of each organization to help create opportunities and better living conditions for people in need.

CP Group & CP Foods Chairman, Soopakij Chearavanont thanks all parties for allowing the Group to participate in this housing project in the Khlong Toei community. With beautiful, strong, and safe home, helps to create happiness and strengthen the stability of family members. Also, this activity is consistent with the CP Group 3-benefits philosophy, for the country, the people, and, lastly the company.

A total of 87 houses with a total value of 13,998,000 baht, divided into two phases of 40 units in the 1st phase, worth 5,200,000 baht, and 47 units in the 2nd project, worth 8,798,000 baht.

The 47 houses of the second phase were designed by Architect Vin the founder of Varavarn Architects Ltd. The house pattern is modern with some tailor-made features to suit the requirement of family members and their wellbeing.

Strong Quake Shakes Northern Philippines, Damages Buildings

By

Associated Press

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27 July 2022, 09:30

A damaged car is seen along a road after a strong quake hit Bangued, Abra province, northern Philippines on Wednesday July 27, 2022. Photo: Raphiel Alzate / AP

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A strong earthquake shook the northern Philippines on Wednesday, injuring at least one person, damaging buildings and prompting many people in the capital to run outdoors.

The 7 magnitude quake was centered around Abra province in a mountainous area, said Renato Solidum, the head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.

“The ground shook like I was on a swing and the lights suddenly went out. We rushed out of the office, and I heard screams and some of my companions were in tears,” said Michael Brillantes, a safety officer of the Abra town of Lagangilang, near the epicenter.

“It was the most powerful quake I’ve felt and I thought the ground would open up,” Brillantes told The Associated Press by cellphone.

At least one elderly villager suffered a cut in her foot and was treated in a clinic, Brillantes said, adding many houses and building had cracked walls, including some which collapsed.

Authorities were checking if damage or landslides had occurred in mountainside villages in the northern fringes of Abra, a landlocked agricultural province.

The quake’s strength was lowered from the initial 7.3 magnitude after further analysis. The quake was set off by movement in a local fault at a depth of 25 kilometers (15 miles), the institute said, adding it expected damage and more aftershocks.

The U.S. Geological Survey measured the quake’s strength at 7.0 and depth at 10 kilometers (6 miles). Shallower quakes tend to cause more damage.

The Philippines lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of faults around the Pacific Ocean where most of the world’s earthquakes occur. It is also lashed by about 20 typhoons and tropical storms each year, making it one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries.

A magnitude 7.7 quake killed nearly 2,000 people in the northern Philippines in 1990.

Biden, Xi To Hold Talks Amid New Tensions Over Taiwan

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Associated Press

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27 July 2022, 09:00

People are guided by Taiwan's soldiers to a basement shelter during the Wanan air raid drill in Taipei, Taiwan, Monday, July 25, 2022. Photo: Chiang Ying-ying / AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping will speak Thursday, according to a U.S. official, their first conversation in four months coming amid new tension between Washington and Beijing over China’s claims on Taiwan.

The planned talks between the two leaders — the fifth in a series of regular check-ins — have been in the works for weeks. But the possibility of a visit to Taiwan by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the top congressional Democrat and second in line of succession to the presidency, has added fresh strain to the complicated relationship.

Beijing is warning that it will take “forceful measures” should Pelosi visit the self-ruled island of Taiwan that China claims as part of its territory.

The U.S. official declined to be identified ahead of the public announcement. The schedule was first reported by Bloomberg.

Pelosi hasn’t confirmed plans to visit Taiwan, but Biden last week told reporters that U.S. military officials believed it was “not a good idea” for the speaker to visit the island at the moment. Biden’s comments came after the Financial Times reported last week that Pelosi planned to visit Taiwan in August, a trip she had originally planned to make in April but postponed after she tested positive for COVID-19.

The speaker has declined to comment on whether she plans to visit Taiwan, citing security protocol on her travel. But she said Biden’s comment stemmed from military brass being “afraid our plane would get shot down, or something like that, by the Chinese.” She would be the highest-ranking U.S. elected official to visit Taiwan since Republican Newt Gingrich visited the island in 1997 when he served as House speaker.

“It’s important for us to show support for Taiwan,” Pelosi said. “None of us have ever said we’re for independence when it comes to Taiwan. That’s up to Taiwan to decide.”

Administration officials have privately stressed to Pelosi that traveling to Taiwan could further complicate a delicate status quo.

Chinese officials aren’t mincing words, sending a message that a visit by Pelosi would be viewed as a change in U.S. policy and treated as a provocation.

“If the U.S. insists on going its own way, China will take forceful measures to resolutely respond and counter it, and we will do what we say,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin.

The U.S. has a longstanding commitment to the “One China” policy that recognizes Beijing as the government of China but allows informal relations and defense ties with Taipei. China has stepped up its military provocations against Taiwan in recent years, and there are fears that it’s trying to intimidate the island into accepting Beijing’s demands to unify with the communist mainland.

The talks between Biden and Xi could also include discussion of North Korea’s nuclear program, differences between Beijing and Washington over Russia’s war in Ukraine, efforts by the Biden administration to revive the Iran nuclear deal and the status of the U.S. administration’s review of tough tariffs imposed on China by the Trump administration.

“There are issues of tension in this relationship,” John Kirby, a national security spokesperson for the White House, said Tuesday. “But there’s also issues where we believe cooperation is not only possible, but mandatory, for instance on climate change, which affects us greatly.”

Long-simmering differences over Taiwan have come into intense focus in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion and ongoing efforts to annex swaths of eastern Ukraine.

As the U.S. scrambled to assemble a global coalition to hit the Russian economy with heavy sanctions following Vladimir Putin’s ordered invasion of Ukraine, Biden warned allies — particularly those in the Indo-Pacific — that Beijing would be watching closely how democracies responded as it considers its next steps on Taiwan.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Friday he fears that Beijing might be gleaning some “concerning” takeaways from the five-month-old war in eastern Europe. But he suggested the moment has also led to careful reflection in Taipei.

“Not as many people ask ‘Is Taiwan learning lessons from Ukraine?’ and you can bet they are,” Sullivan said during an appearance at the Aspen Security Forum. “They’re learning lessons about citizen mobilization and territorial defense. They’re learning lessons about information warfare, and how to set the information space. And they’re learning lessons about how to prepare for a potential contingency involving China and they’re working rapidly at that.”

Taiwan was a central topic during Biden and Xi’s last call in March, about three weeks after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.

China has repeatedly threatened to assert its claim to Taiwan by force, and has dispatched hundreds of sorties in Taiwanese airspace since Biden took office 18 months ago. The U.S. is legally obligated to ensure the self-governing island democracy can defend itself and treats threats to it with grave concern.

The conversation also comes as Biden’s national security and economic aides near the completion of a review of U.S. tariff policy and prepare to make recommendations to the president.

The tariffs imposed under President Donald Trump applied a 25% duty on billions of dollars of Chinese products. The penalties were intended to reduce the U.S. trade deficit and force China to adopt fairer practices.

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Story: Aamer Madhani and Chris Megerian.

The University of Danang University of Science and Technology launches STEM Career Academies in Central Vietnam Projectin collaboration with Chevron and SEAMEO STEM-ED: A regional STEM education collaboration, a first in ASEAN

By

Contributor

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26 July 2022, 16:40

The University of Danang – University of Science and Technology (UD–DUT) has partnered with the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization – STEM Education Centre (SEAMEO STEM–ED), to launch the “STEM Career Academies in Central Vietnam Project”, to support Danang City’s goal of becoming a Smart City by 2030.

The program, funded by Chevron, will adopt best practices from the Chevron Enjoy Science project in Thailand to promote STEM education in Danang City.

Associate Professor DOAN Quang Vinh, Rector of (UD–DUT), said that the program is set to adopt a regional approach for raising social awareness and building STEM education and human resource capacity.

“Being one of the three universities offering science and technology programs in Vietnam, UD–DUT is responsible for training highly qualified technical and technological human resources and implementing scientific and technological activities to meet the development of Central Vietnam and the nation,” he said.

This project has three main components:

(1) STEM Workshops. These aim to promote awareness and capacity building for higher–secondary teachers and students in support of STEM education and STEM Career Academies development in Central Vietnam,

(2) STEM competition. This will be organized to motivate higher–secondary students to develop innovative STEM projects and engage them in teamwork, communication, problem solving, as well as prepare them for future careers, and

(3) STEM short–course professional development. This will cover a series of certified short courses to develop students on selected specialized professional skills and essential soft skills which are required by employers.

The STEM Career Academies project plans to pilot one career academy in technology and engineering with professional development curricula for four selected industrial sectors; enroll 20 STEM employers or enterprises; and enlist the commitment of 10 high schools. Upon completion of the pilot, the findings of a study on the program’s effectiveness will be presented to relevant government and private stakeholders for consideration of program expansion.

“Through inspirational activities including a science exhibition, camps, workshops, and competition, we aim to increase the public awareness of STEM education,” Associate Professor DOAN Quang Vinh said.

He noted that Chevron is one of the world’s leading integrated energy companies with a long history of investing in STEM education to empower younger generations and prepare them for their future careers. The Chevron Enjoy Science project has reached over 2 million students, trained over 16,000 educators, and benefited more than 700 schools across Thailand.

Dr. Pornpun Waitayangkoon, Centre Director of SEAMEO STEM–ED, added that STEM Career Academies will show how best practices learned from Chevron Enjoy Science can be implemented outside Thailand. The project marks a good opportunity to promote engineering technology in Vietnam and address Vietnam’s future industrial needs.

She explained that the 18–month project aims to kick–start regional STEM education collaboration, a first in ASEAN. The project expects to equip students in Vietnam with necessary skills, particularly those related to digital and technology. Upskilling students is an urgent issue for Danang City, a significant economic center of Vietnam, which strives to become a Smart City by 2030.

“The academies set the goal to produce necessary human resources for Smart City–related industries. We hope to involve 10 schools and 20 private employers in need of STEM human resources in Vietnam,” she said.

Kurt Glaubitz, General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Asia Pacific, Chevron, said “If people and communities are to thrive, education and job training are of critical importance. A workforce armed with the skills needed to succeed in

the jobs of tomorrow is important to a country’s ability to compete in the global marketplace. Working with our grantees, we take a comprehensive approach to investments in education by getting students excited about STEM and encouraging them to pursue STEM courses and, ultimately, STEM careers.”

Chevron is supporting the STEM Career Academies in Central Vietnam Project through a US$150,000 gift. UD–DUT is contributing US$44,500.

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