Year: 2022

Bangkok —  The youngest daughter of billionaire former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra remains Thailand’s top choice to become its next leader, according to an opinion poll, with more than double the score of incumbent and nearest rival Prayuth Chan-ocha. Paetongtarn Shinawatra, 36, whose father Thaksin and aunt Yingluck both led popularly elected governments toppled in coups, was the top choice for 34% of respondents in a survey by the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA). Paetongtarn’s support rose sharply from 21.6% from a September poll, when the majority surveyed were…

Seoul, South Korea —  North Korea sent several small drones into South Korean airspace Monday, Seoul officials said, prompting South Korea’s military to fly its own unmanned surveillance aircraft north of the sensitive border. South Korea also scrambled fighter jets and attack helicopters to respond to the North Korean incursion but failed to bring down any of the drones, according to South Korean military officials. While one of the drones returned to North Korea, the status of four others is not known, said South Korean military officials who spoke to…

NEW DELHI/DHAKA, Bangladesh —  The possible sinking of a boat in recent weeks with 180 Rohingya Muslims on board could make 2022 one of the deadliest years at sea in almost a decade for the community, a U.N. agency said, as refugees try to flee desperate conditions in Bangladesh camps. Nearly 1 million Rohingya from Myanmar are living in crowded facilities in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, including tens of thousands who fled their home country after its military conducted a deadly crackdown in 2017. The number of Rohingya leaving Bangladesh in boats…

Yangon, Myanmar —  A Myanmar junta court is expected to hear closing arguments for the last remaining charges against jailed democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday, after the UN Security Council called for her release. Suu Kyi has been a prisoner since the military toppled her government in February 2021, ending the Southeast Asian nation’s brief period of democracy. The Nobel laureate, 77, has already been found guilty on 14 charges ranging from corruption to illegally importing walkie-talkies and breaching the official secrets act. Rights groups have slammed…

Manila —  Christmas Day floods in the Philippines forced the evacuation of nearly 46,000 people from their homes and killed at least eight, civil defense officials said Monday. Two people were killed and nine others were missing after heavy seasonal rain inundated parts of the southern region of Mindanao, the officials added. The disaster dampened celebrations on the mainly Catholic nation’s most important holiday. “The waters rose above the chest in some areas, but today the rains have ceased,” civil defense worker Robinson Lacre told AFP by phone from Gingoog…

Tokyo —  Heavy snow in large swaths of Japan has killed 17 and injured more than 90 people and left hundreds of homes without power, disaster management officials said Monday. Powerful winter fronts have dumped heavy snow in northern regions since last week, stranding hundreds of vehicles on highways, delaying delivery services and causing 11 deaths by Saturday. More snowfall over the Christmas weekend brought the number of dead to 17 and injured to 93 by Monday morning, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency. Many of them had…