World News
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Boeing sued by Lion Air victim’s family
PHOTO: Boeing 737 Max 8 – Boeing Dr. Rio Nanda Putrama, one of the passengers on the ill-fated Lion Air flight from Jakarta to a nearby island on October 29, had a family that, to date, know only that he was on the plane. No identified remains have been recovered. 188 others died on the same flight. Rio’s family is…
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Thailand takes over the ASEAN chair for 2019
Thailand has taken over the ‘chair’ of ASEAN from Singapore, who has hosted the regional bloc for the past 12 months. The short ceremony took place yesterday following the two day ASEAN summit. The chairmanship is shared equally around the 10 member states of the south east asian trade and geo-political bloc. Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha received the symbolic gavel…
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Thailand pushes for bigger ASEAN role in Rohingya crisis
by Supalak Ganjanakhundee, Singapore South East Asia’s leaders have been meeting in Singapore this week in the lead up to the next ASEAN Summit. The Rohingya crisis has been the main talking point. Thailand says it wants to take on a greater ASEAN role in resolving the Rakhine crisis, as the group grapples with the plight of 700,000 Rohingya Muslims…
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‘BTS’ K-pop group denounced by Jewish human rights organisation
by The Japan News – Asia News Network The Simon Wiesenthal Centre, a Jewish human rights organisation based in the US, issued a statement denouncing South Korean boy band BTS for wearing hats with a logo similar to a Nazi symbol and flying Nazi-like flags at a concert in the past. “The result is that young generations in Korea and around…
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Boeing withheld info on the 737 model involved in Indonesia crash – WSJ
There’s mounting pressure on Seattle-based plane maker Boeing today over the Lion Air crash in Indonesian two weeks ago. Pilots are claiming that the aircraft maker didn’t tell them about changes to the emergency system on its new 737 Max 8 jet, the model in the Lion Air 610 disaster that killed 189 people. According to a report in the…
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PM Prayut pushes for greater ASEAN connectivity
Sounding very Prime Ministerial, Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha today pledged to push for greater connectivity to strengthen business and investments in ASEAN when Thailand assumes the chairmanship of the regional trade block next year. Speaking at the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in Singapore, Gen Prayut said as chairman of ASEAN, Thailand will work to make the regional grouping an…
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A perfect storm hits Flight JT 610
If you get into a car that has had, and officially logged, malfunctions over the past four outings – all critical malfunctions to the correct operation of the car – would you start the key and head out into the traffic? Probably not. That appears to be what Captain Suneja, and his co-pilot on Flight JT610, did as the sun…
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Aung San Suu Kyi stripped of prestigious peace award
Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi has been stripped of Amnesty International’s most prestigious human rights prize, the Ambassador of Conscience Award, which she was awarded whilst still in detention in 2009. Amnesty is calling out the defacto Burmese leader and accusing her of perpetuating human rights abuses by not speaking out about violence against the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority. Once hailed…
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KL driver gets an unexpected car wash in flooding tunnel
An alert driver quickly had to climb out of his car’s window to safety when water suddenly gushed into a road tunnel near Jalan Tun Razak in central KL during heavy rain last night (November 11). The flood waters consumed his car within minutes. According to Bernama, the man identified as 26 year old Teh, says he was really scared…
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Indonesian rescue teams call off search for passengers of Lion Air flight
Indonesian authorities say they’re calling off the search for passengers of the Lion Air flight JT610, almost two weeks after the jetliner plunged into the Java Sea killing the 189 passengers and crew on board. Read The Thaiger editorial about the investigation HERE. Some 196 bags containing body parts have been recovered from under the water with 79 victims identified…
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Lion Air plane damaged in minor ground collision – Jakarta
It’s been a bad few weeks for the Indonesian Lion Air team with they another bad headline for the budget airline yesterday. An Indonesian Lion Air plane was involved in another accident yesterday, even as the search continues for remains of victims of last week’s plane crash. Lion Air Flight 633, bound for Jakarta, was canceled last night, after a…
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Crashed Lion Air 737 had damaged air-speed indicators
PHOTO: Search and recovery teams continue to comb the area off Jakarta for the missing jet Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee has reported that an airspeed indicator on the Boeing 737 Max 8 jet that crashed last week (Lion Air 610) killing 189 people, was damaged for its last four flights. The plane had only notched up a total of…
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UPDATE: Investigation into Lion Air crash – one week later
A few key new facts have emerged in recent days as the search for the plane fuselage and the investigations continue… • Lion Air Flight 610 was intact with its engines running when it crashed at high speed into the Java Sea • Investigators have already determined that Flight 610 did not explode in the air and was in “good shape”…
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The ‘war on drugs’ is a complete failure
Authorities are losing the war against methamphetamines – pills and crystal meth. The demand for both crystal meth and ‘yaba’ is escalating as is the production to meet the increasing demand. The much-publicised ‘Wars on Drugs’ being waged from time to time in south east asian countries are doing little dent the rising popularity and production of the drugs, whilst…
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Pattani mosque still a popular pilgrimage for Malaysians
32 were killed there 14 years ago in a Thai army attack. PHOTO: New Straits Times The Kresek mosque in Pattani, the locations where 32 suspected Muslim insurgents were killed in a stand-off 14 years ago, continues to be a popular place for visitors from Malaysia. This is reported in the New Straits Times of Malaysia. The mosque’s Imam, Zakaria…
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“Pilots were very funny, very smart, very nice guys” – Lion Air boss
PHOTO: Indonesian media agency Indonesia’s national search and rescue agency says it’s located the crashed Lion Air plane’s landing gear, wheels and a large section of the fuselage. Investigators have also found the flight data recorder, the “black box,” from Lion Air Flight JT610. The data recorder, more than anything else, will likely provide vital information about the plane’s functions…
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Thailand drops a notch in the ‘ease of doing business’ world ranking
The World Bank has declared that Thailand’s ranking in ease of doing business has dropped to 27th, one place down from last year’s 26th place. Thailand’s Ease of Doing Business (EODB) score, an absolute measure of the country’s progress toward global best practice, reached 78.45 this year, up from 77.39 last year. But some of the other countries above it…
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Myanmar prepares for the repatriation of 2,000 Rohingya
PHOTO: Myanmar foreign secretary Myint Thu A leading Myanmar official says that his country is poised to accept a first group of 2,000 Rohingya refugees from camps in Bangladesh this month, despite widespread doubts over the proposal. The Myanmar government have repeatedly dragged their feet when its come to international demands for them to assist in the repatriation of Rohingya…
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No plane, no flight data recorder – search & recovery continue off Jakarta
The plane involved in the Lion Air flight JT610 crash off Jakarta was Boeing’s newest and most advanced jets, loosely based on the original Boeing 737 but including the very latest technology and construction materials. It was just two months old and with a minuscule 800 hours under its belt (for a commercial jet). Aviation officials, Boeing engineers and investigators…
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Black box recovered as probe begins into cause of Vichai crash
UK Air accident investigators have begun the slow process of ascertaining the cause of the helicopter crash on Saturday that took the lives of King Power chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four other people. The sombre inquiry coincided with the opening of a book of condolences at Leicester City’s King Power Stadium, where fans flocked to leave tributes to the man…
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Lion Air flight JT 610 – body parts found, no plane located yet
PHOTO: Indonesian National Disaster & Mitigation Agency Search and rescue efforts continue to find more bodies and debris in the wake of the Lion Air flight JT 610 that crashed yesterday morning just after 6.30am in the seas north of Jakarta, Indonesia. According to rescuers, a total of 24 body bags have now been taken to the Kramat Jati Police…
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Indonesian searchers trying to locate the black box – Lion Air flight JT610
Authorities have scouring the waters north of Java Island, off the coast of Jakarta, for bodies and debris from Lion Air flight JT610. The flight went missing this morning shortly after take-off on a routine one-hour flight from Jakarta to Pangkalpinang in Bangka Belitung. The Lion Air flight lost contact with air traffic controllers at 6:33 am, briefly after take…
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Missing Lion Air 737 – UPDATE
SCREENGRAB: Flightradar24 • Flight JT610 was a Boeing 737-800 MAX, the latest version of the manufacturer’s workhorse 7373 single-aisle jet. • The aircraft was almost brand new. It was delivered to Lion Air on August 13 this year. • Preliminary flight tracking data from Flightradar24 shows the aircraft climbed to around 5,000 feet before losing height, then regaining height, before…
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Lion Air flight missing after scheduled take off from Jakarta
SCREENSHOT: Twitter/Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, Crisis Center Penanganan Jatuhnya Pesawat Lion Air JT 610 A Lion Air Boeing 737 with 188 passengers on board, has crashed into the sea shortly after take off from the Jakarta. This is what we know… • Flight JT 610 was on a scheduled flight to Pangkal Pinang, the main town in the Bangka Belitung Islands. It…
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Unofficial confirmations that Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was aboard crashed helicopter
FILE PHOTO Although there haven’t been official verifications from authorities, it appears likely that Thai duty free supremo, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, was aboard his personal helicopter when it crashed soon after take off following a league match last night, UK time. Two leading media sources have led with news of Mr Srivaddhanaprabha being on the helicopter when it took off. The Leicester…
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The new-Boracay opens with a whole new set of rules
It’s open again. Boracay Island, forced to close after being described by Philippine President Duterte as a ‘cesspool’, has undergone a major makeover of infrastructure and opens with new rules to help control tourist growth in the future. Tourists flooded back onto the island today as the island re-opened. Suffering the same problems as Maya Bay and southern Thai islands,…
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Leicester City club owner and King Power founder, Vichai’s helicopter crashes
A helicopter owned by the Thai Leicester City football club owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha has crashed in a ball of flames in the car park of the club yesterday following a Premier League match. At this stage it’s not known who was in the helicopter at the time. The Premier League club has not confirmed whether its owner was on board at…
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Superyacht going cheap – 1MDB investigators auction off seized boat
The bidding process for the billion-baht superyacht ‘Equanimity’ will begin on Monday and run until November 28. 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s (1MDB) counsel Ong Chee Kwan has confirmed the matter after meeting High Court (Admiralty Court) Judicial Commissioner Khadijah Idris in chambers yesterday. “Those who are interested to bid need to pay US$1 million as deposit,” he said. Also present were…
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Mahatir drops in on an old friend
During the 1980s both men were the Prime Ministers of their respective countries. Now, both in their 90s, the two re-united yesterday for a casual catch-up. The two met in Bangkok yesterday to recall their long-standing friendship. The visitor was 93 year old Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad and the host Privy Council President, 99 year old General Prem Tinsulanonda. Mahathir…
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Malaysia commits to helping Thailand sort out deep south
by Supalak Ganjanakhundee Malaysia say it’s willing to help Thailand end the ethno-religious conflict in the deep South using peaceful means. Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad spoke yesterday, suggesting the root cause of the problem was not religion but injustice. Gratefully remembering the time when Thailand helped Malaysia end the communist insurgency in northern Malaysia in the late 1980s, he said…
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