18/03/2025

TUESDAY | MAR 18, 2025

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Philippine Senate launches Duterte arrest probe

120km relay swim to highlight plight of river dolphins PHNOM PENH: Conservationists yesterday embarked on a four-day 120km relay swim down the Mekong River to raise awareness about the protection of the critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphins in Cambodia. The Irrawaddy dolphins in the Mekong River remain only in a 120km range between Stung Treng and Kratie provinces in northeast Cambodia. While conservation efforts have helped stabilise their numbers, threats continue to endanger this freshwater dolphins’ population, such as accidental entanglement in fishing gear, habitat degradation and illegal fishing practices. “Over four days, swimmers will take turns navigating the Mekong’s currents, accompanied by a safety team in kayaks and support boats,” a press release said. “The expedition will not only showcase the endurance and dedication of the participants but also serve as an opportunity to document dolphin sightings, identify threats and remove harmful litter and abandoned nets.” Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Dith Tina said the ministry fully supported this initiative, which would significantly contribute to preserving Mekong dolphins. “As the results have shown these last three years, the Mekong dolphin population keeps on increasing,” he said, adding, “This is undeniable evidence of our commitment and effective conservation programme.” Funds raised from the event will support key dolphin conservation initiatives, including WWF-Cambodia’s River Guard Programme, which deploys dedicated river guards to monitor and protect the dolphins’ habitat. Additionally, resources will be allocated for research on bycatch (fish or other creatures caught unintentionally by people trying to catch other types of fish) mitigation and fostering collaboration between marine and freshwater dolphin conservation programmes in Cambodia. “Protecting the dolphin population requires a unified approach from conservationists, policymakers and local communities,” said WWF-Cambodia director Chap Vibol. “The Mekong Dolphin Swim is a testament to the power of collaboration and public engagement in conservation.” The dolphins are listed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. – Bernama

handover last week to the International Criminal Court, which is to try him for alleged crimes against humanity. The 79-year-old, the first Asian former head of state charged by the ICC, stands accused of the crime against humanity of murder over his years-long campaign against drug users and dealers that rights

groups have said killed thousands. The investigation was initiated by Senator Imee Marcos, sister of President Ferdinand Marcos but a close friend of Duterte’s eldest daughter, Vice-President Sara Duterte. The two families have had a spectacular falling out since Marcos teamed up with Sara Duterte to win

Delhi Airport sues Indian govt NEW DELHI: The operator of the international airport here, majority owned by GMR Airports, is suing the Indian government for allowing commercial flights from a nearby aerodrome, legal papers show. The airport is one of India’s busiest, with about 73.6 million passengers using it last year, though it made a loss of US$21 million (RM93 million) because of higher government fees. In contrast, by Sunday, the number of airbase users was about 1,400. Delhi Airport will become “economically and financially unviable”, after the government permitted commercial flights from the defence airbase in Ghaziabad, Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said in the March 10 lawsuit. DIAL told the Delhi High Court the government breached aviation rules barring a new airport within 150km of an existing one, unless there is passenger demand. The state-run Airports Authority of India also has a stake in DIAL. DIAL seeks to overturn the government’s decision and cites media reports for its contention that flights by Air India Express began in March from Hindon Airforce Station, about 30km from the Delhi airport. – Reuters Hours after the arrest, Imee Marcos said: “This can only lead to trouble.” On Friday, she said: “I cannot accept what they did.” – AFP an election landslide in 2022. The latter has since been impeached on charges that include an alleged assassination plot against the president. “As chairperson of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, I am calling for an urgent investigation into the arrest of former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte, an issue that has deeply divided the nation,” Imee Marcos said in a statement yesterday. “It is imperative to establish whether due process was followed and to ensure that his legal rights were not just upheld but protected,” she said, adding: “Our sovereignty and legal processes must remain paramount.” Duterte was arrested at Manila airport on March 11 after a trip to Hong Kong and flown to the Netherlands just hours later where he was turned over to the ICC. The Senate has set a public hearing for Thursday and invited top police and other government officials to give evidence. Imee Marcos has tracked a course largely independent from her brother, though she is running for re-election under an administration ticket.

o Imee Marcos initiates move

MANILA: The Philippine Senate said yesterday it will conduct a formal investigation of ex-president Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest and swift

Police block protesters from marching towards the presidential palace yesterday. – REUTERSPIC

Fuji hikers to be charged US$27 for all trails TOKYO: Hikers attempting any of Mount Fuji’s four main trails will be charged an entry fee of US$27 (RM120) from this summer, after local authorities passed a Bill yesterday. donation for the active volcano’s most popular hiking route, the Yoshida Trail.

works on family and friends; opening up to public clients would require more rigorous hygiene training. But Naruebet Chonlatachaisit, Knight’s uncle, is relaxed as the tattoo takes shape on his left leg. “I trust him, and I think he’ll only improve,”he says. Knight was one of nearly 200 artists at the Thailand Tattoo Expo but drew outsized attention among the crowds of thousands of visitors last weekend. Office worker Napat Muangsawang stopped by the boy’s booth to admire his artistry. “It’s amazing. Tattooing isn’t easy,” he said. “It’s not like drawing on a paper where you can just erase it.” – AFP Thanks in part to restrictions, the number of climbers who tackled Fuji declined to 204,316 last year, from 221,322 in 2023. “There is no other mountain in Japan that attracts that many people in the span of just over two months. So some restrictions are necessary to ensure their safety.” The symmetrical mountain has been immortalised in countless artworks, including Hokusai’s Great Wave . It last erupted 300 years ago. – AFP

A cap on daily entries and online reservations were also brought in on that trail by officials concerned about safety and environmental damage on Fuji’s majestic slopes. The Yoshida Trail fee will be doubled for this year’s July September climbing season, while neighbouring Shizuoka region passed a Bill yesterday to also charge US$27 for its three trails.

A record influx of foreign tourists to Japan has sparked alarm about overcrowding on the nation’s highest mountain, a once-peaceful pilgrimage site. Last year, Yamanashi region, home to Mount Fuji, introduced a US$14 entry fee plus an optional

Nine-year-old Thai tattooist making mark BANGKOK: Wielding a cumbersome tattoo gun with his small hands swamped in surgical gloves, nine year-old Napat Mitmakorn expertly inks the pattern of a fanged serpent on a man’s upper thigh. by the nickname “Knight”, to the craft of tattooing to avoid the pitfalls of contemporary childhood. “It’s not just tattooing, it’s like meditation,” Nattawut said. The pair run a TikTok channel together, “The Tattoo Artist with Milk Teeth”, where they livestream Knight’s sessions and sometimes draw hundreds of thousands of viewers with a single clip.

“I just wanted to keep him away from his phone because he was addicted to gaming and had a short attention span,” said the 38-year-old, also an amateur tattooist, who works at a block printing factory. The father-son duo learned from TikTok tutorials and practised on paper before graduating to artificial leather simulating human skin, and then the real thing. Knight said he quickly picked up the skills because art is his favourite school subject. Recognising his son’s talent, Nattawut now coaches him in two-hour sessions three days a week.

“I want to be a tattoo artist and open my own tattoo palour,” he said in his booth at a Bangkok tattoo expo, where fascinated attendees paused to film his work. “I like art so I like to tattoo.” Tattooing is a centuries-old tradition in Thailand, where tattoo parlours are omnipresent and offer designs ranging from the ancient and spiritual to the modern and profane. Napat’s father Nattawut Sangtong said he introduced his son, who goes

His Saturday session at the Thailand Tattoo Expo was his public debut, as he tattooed his uncle for a second time, marking him with a 20cm mythical Naga serpent. Unfazed by the techno music blaring from massive speakers, Knight predicts the creature from Hindu and Thai folklore will take 12 hours to complete. For now, his father insists he only