18/06/2025

WEDNESDAY | JUNE 18, 2025

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Cambodia bans Thai fruit, vegetables in border spat

TAIPEI: Taiwanese actor Wang Talu and 27 others were charged on Monday with offences relating to dodging mandatory military service. Mandatory military service for men aged 18 and over was extended to one year from the previously obligatory period of four months, taking effect last year. Deferment can be granted for higher education, although all men are required to serve in the military by the time they turn 36. Wang, 34, also known as Darren Wang, is a popular actor in Taiwan, South Korea and China, where news of his questioning by police in February was the top trending topic on China’s X-like social media platform Weibo. The New Taipei District Prosecutors Office said Wang had been charged with knowingly causing a public official to make a false entry in a public document. Wang allegedly paid the “prime suspect” in the case, a person surnamed Chen, NT$3.6 million (RM508,866) to “handle matters BEIJING: An explosion at a fireworks factory in central China killed nine people and injured 26 others. The blast occurred on Monday morning at a factory in a village outside Changde, a city in Hunan province. China National Radio (CNR) reported yesterday that rescue work at the scene was ongoing. CNR reported that a “complicated” situation and the risk of additional explosions were hampering response efforts. Adding to the challenge, the site was in a “mountainous area with no large water source”. “The rescue team was using remote controlled water cannons to extinguish the fire.” – AFP TWO ARRESTED OVER BALI SHOOTING JAKARTA: Police said yesterday that two people have been arrested over the shooting death of an Australian man and the wounding of another in Bali. Police detained one person in Jakarta and another abroad, police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo told reporters, without providing more details. The shooting took place in a villa in the Badung regency on Saturday. Zivan Radmanovic, 32, died at the scene, while Sanar Ghanim, 35, was seriously wounded. Police had said two people fled from the scene on motorcycles and were heard speaking English with an Australian accent. – Reuters NINE DEAD, 26 HURT IN FACTORY BLAST

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letter to ICJ Registrar Philippe Gautier. On the Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) meetings held in Phnom Penh over the weekend, Paetongtarn said it went well, despite some differences of opinion between the two sides. Thailand will host the next JBC meeting in September. Paetongtarn reiterated that the Thai government has never issued an order to close border checkpoints along the Thai Cambodian border. She clarified that the measures involve regulating the opening and closing times of checkpoints, as decided by the National Security Council, which has delegated authority to the military. The aim, she said, is to prevent potential risks arising from the movement of military forces and long-range weaponry used by the Cambodian side. “Temporarily adjusting checkpoint hours is necessary to ensure public safety. This measure may be revised if the situation improves.” – AFP/Bernama

border spat drags on. The row dates back to the drawing of the countries’ 800km frontier in the early 20th century during the French occupation of Indochina. Cambodia has previously sought help from the ICJ in a territorial dispute over a border temple. In 1962, the court ruled then the disputed Preah Vihear temple belonged to Cambodia and in 2013, the ICJ awarded an area next to the temple to Cambodia too. Thailand said it did not accept the court’s jurisdiction. Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has reaffirmed that the kingdom will not take part in ICJ proceedings, stating that a bilateral mechanism remains the preferred approach. “The government firmly believes that the bilateral mechanism, reflecting the sincerity of both countries, is an effective and promising solution,” she said on X. Prime Minister Hun Manet said Cambodian Ambassador to the Netherlands Kimsour Sovannary had handed over the submission

24 hours or face a ban on all Thai fruit and vegetable imports. Cambodian authorities said yesterday their Thai counterparts still imposed the border restrictions and Hun Sen’s ultimatum took effect. “We have implemented the ban on imports of Thai fruit and vegetables,” said Sok Veasna, director-general of the General Department of Immigration. He said visitors could still cross the border between the two countries. Cambodia has formally asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to help resolve the border dispute in four areas – the site of last month’s clash and three ancient temples. Hun Sen said on Monday that his country had to go to the ICJ because Cambodia wanted “peace” as the two countries would never reach an agreement in the four areas. Hun Sen also called on tens of thousands of Cambodian migrants working in Thailand to return home, saying they would face increasing discrimination as the

o Visitors can still cross border

related to evading military service”. Chen was detained before he could carry out the plan, which involved another defendant using Wang’s ID and health insurance cards to go to hospital under the actor’s name, prosecutors said. Chen and another 26 defendants were also charged with violating the military service system by “hurting the body or using other methods to change the physical condition”. Under Taiwanese law, anyone found guilty of that offence faces up to five years in prison. “The conscription system is the cornerstone of maintaining social stability and national security,” prosecutors said, warning that using illegal means to evade it would undermine social order and security. Wang, who was granted bail and was set to begin his military service in March, faces a maximum term of three years in prison if found guilty. Chen could face at least five years in jail for enabling conscripts to dodge conscription and pocketing NT$7.63 million. – AFP PHNOM Cambodia yesterday banned imports of fruit and vegetables from Thailand as the two countries face off over a border dispute that led to a bloody military clash last month. One Cambodian soldier was killed on May 28 as troops exchanged fire in a disputed area known as the Emerald Triangle, where the borders of Cambodia, Thailand and Laos meet. The Thai and Cambodian armies both said they acted in self-defence. Thailand has imposed border restrictions with Cambodia in recent days, while Cambodia banned Thai dramas from TV and cinemas, closed a popular border checkpoint, and cut internet bandwidth from Thailand. Cambodia’s influential former leader Hun Sen on Monday issued an ultimatum to Thailand to lift border crossing restrictions within PENH:

Taiwan actor charged in conscription evasion probe

LAST RESPECTS ... Mourners gathering on Monday for a funeral procession of former chief minister of Gujarat Vijay Rupani, who died when an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed during take-off in Ahmedabad. – REUTERSPIC

Prabowo, Wong urge peace talks to end escalating crises JAKARTA: Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Monday agreed to promote peaceful resolutions to several escalating regional and global crises, including the conflict in the Middle East and the political turmoil in Myanmar. the situation in Gaza and rising tensions between Israel and Iran. “We underscore the importance of a peaceful solution and negotiations, and we call for an immediate ceasefire,” he said at a joint press conference, according to a statement from the Presidential Secretariat. Wong reaffirmed Singapore’s commitment to strengthening regional cooperation with Asean member states and to upholding a rules-based multilateral system. (MoUs) to enhance cooperation in areas such as the green economy, cross-border energy trade, food security and low-carbon technologies. The MoUs encompass collaboration in agricultural

including the implementation of the Flight Information Region agreement, an extradition treaty, updated defence cooperation, mutual halal certification, financial arrangements between central banks and collaboration across maritime, legal and education sectors. New investments were also unveiled in renewable energy, healthcare and low-carbon industrial zones. – Bernama

Both leaders recognised the strategic roles of Indonesia and Singapore in maintaining regional peace and promoting a rules-based international order. They also witnessed the signing of five memoranda of understanding

technology and food security, sustainable industrial development, cross-border electricity trade and carbon capture and storage. An additional 14 bilateral agreements were announced,

The leaders also emphasised the need for constructive engagement to support a peaceful resolution to Myanmar’s protracted political crisis.

Speaking after the annual Leaders’ Retreat at Parliament House in Singapore, Prabowo said both countries shared “deep concern” over