Author: Htet Lin

Police raided a cult retreat in Kamphaeng Phet province, Thailand, on November 20, uncovering 12 bodies allegedly used for black magic rituals. The raid followed reports that devotees were “meditating with corpses” to gain clairvoyant powers. The bodies were found at the Siri Chan Forest Monastery, where black magic practitioners claimed the remains provided supernatural abilities. The cult’s leaders reportedly used the corpses in rituals to enhance their powers. The police operation was triggered by disturbing reports about the cult’s practices. Investigators learned that the group believed the bodies had spiritual significance and used them for meditation. Members of the…

Explanations beginning to emerge after worst terror attack in Israel’s history They might as well have been sitting ducks. They are the tatzpitaniyot, mostly female soldiers stationed on the IDF bases near the Gaza Strip, their eyes glued to security cameras and other feeds of the border. Last Saturday morning, the Hamas terrorists who entered some of those bases with hang gliders shot at cameras and jammed some communications systems. They shot at the combat soldiers who were stationed at those bases, as well as at the tatzpitaniyot. “Yes, they surprised us, and we weren’t ready for it,” said a female soldier…

Pierre Levy spent around 45 minutes in the ministry French Ambassador to Russia Pierre Levy, who was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry over the presence of French mercenaries in Ukraine, has left the ministry without any comments, a TASS correspondent reported. The diplomat spent around 45 minutes in the ministry. The Russian defense ministry said earlier that Russian forces had dealt a pinpoint strike on a temporary deployment center for foreign militants in Kharkov. According to the ministry, most of the foreign mercenaries were French nationals. As a result of the strike, 60 militants were killed and more than…

The balls will be given to 1,000 schools, over 20 federation members of the VFF, and football training centers for youth across the country. In March this year, a working group from the VFF attended a workshop on football at schools held in Singapore. Appreciating Vietnam’s activities to promote football at schools, FIFA decided to donate the balls and funds to support schools in the country to develop school football programs. It is expected that in early 2024, the VFF will invite representatives of FIFA’s school football project to Vietnam to join in handing over the balls and other activities…

Brussels (4/11 – 25) It’s an old story, a broken record: war crimes in the Middle East, encouraged and stoked by outsiders with their own agenda. Israel, offended and humiliated by the 7 October attacks for which they had repeatedly been warned by Egypt. Hamas, encouraged and bankrolled by Israel initially, in its effort to undercut the appeal of Al-Fatah, has turned into Frankenstein’s Monster, breaching a border that was trumpeted as the most invincible in the world, with 24/7 surveillance, sensors to detect tunnels, full camera coverage and on and on – yet several thousand Hamas warriors parachuted in…

SINGAPORE – A Singaporean man who operated an unlicensed moneylending business in Thailand that targeted debtors here was caught at Changi Airport on Feb 13, 2018, and charged two days later. Lua Xiang Long was released on bail of $30,000 and was supposed to return to the State Courts on March 20, 2018. Instead, he boarded a fishing boat and left for Malaysia without his passport, before making his way back to Thailand. But on April 24, 2023, Lua surrendered to the Thai authorities, as he felt lonely and missed his mother. He was sent back to Singapore the next…

Shortly after being appointed Thailand’s new foreign minister in early September, Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara made a telling remark: “We want the Thai people to feel that the foreign ministry is contributing to their lives.” Sok Chenda Sophea, Cambodia’s new foreign minister, appointed a few days before Parnpree, told his new ambassadors: “All of you should work to represent the nation and enhance the Kingdom’s prestige, especially in areas like diplomacy, economics, food, sports, and the arts. These are the focus of the new government’s foreign policy.” The two new foreign ministers bear a striking resemblance. Neither are career diplomats. Parnpree, whose father and grandfather…

A conference on 10 years of the Vietnam-US comprehensive partnership in retrospect and prospects of the comprehensive strategic partnership for peace, cooperation and sustainable development was jointly held in Hanoi on December 2 by the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO) and the US Embassy in Vietnam. VUFO President Phan Anh Son reviewed major strides in the bilateral relationship across all spheres after nearly 30 years of normalising relations and establishing diplomatic relations, and 10 years of establishing the comprehensive partnership. In the fields of politics and diplomacy, many high-level visits have been made, he said, noting that each of them marked new…

Brussels (16/11 – 83) Sri Lanka is still dealing with the aftermath of its most devastating economic crisis since independence, a government without popular support and intensifying geopolitical competition in its neighborhood, a year after the Sri Lanka’s massive unrest. Known as the Aragalaya protests which were spurred by the economic crisis, the protests led to mass resignations across the government with former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fleeing the country in July 2022. In the year since, the country has secured an IMF agreement, and its economy has ambled toward a slow path of recovery. However, there have still been concerns on the human rights front as the current government of Ranil Wickremesinghe has…

United States comprehensive strategic partnership for peace, cooperation and sustainable development is an important milestone, opening a new historical period of friendship and cooperation, suitable and worthy of the stature of the bilateral relationship in the new global context. The United States fully believe in and respect Việt Nam’s political system and territorial integrity, said US Ambassador to Việt Nam Marc E.Knapper at a conference “US-Việt Nam: 10 years of comprehensive partnership in retrospect and prospects of comprehensive strategic partnerships for peace, cooperation and sustainable development”, held on Saturday morning in Hà Nội. The conference was co-organised by the Việt Nam…