29/06/2025

WORLD 7 ON SUNDAY JUNE 29, 2025

HK opposition party to disband HONG KONG: League of Social Democrats, one of the city’s last remaining opposition parties after a five-year political crackdown by Beijing, plans to disband. The party was founded in 2006 and was known for its boisterous campaigning, often spearheaded by the now-jailed activist “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung. However, its decline was hastened after Beijing imposed a national security law in Hong Kong in 2020. “Next year marks the 20th anniversary of the League of Social Democrats. However, we will not survive to see that day and will announce our disbandment,” the LSD said in a message to reporters on Friday, adding that more details would be announced today. The LSD consistently called for greater democracy in Hong Kong and advocated for grassroots causes, criticising social and economic inequalities in a city with one of the world’s largest wealth gaps. “When the system cannot faithfully represent the people’s demands and becomes a tool for the ruling classes, we must rely on a movement of the masses outside the system to put pressure on those in power,” LSD wrote on its website. The party held three seats in Hong Kong’s legislature at its height. It seized the spotlight in 2008 when then-party leader Raymond Wong threw bananas at Hong Kong’s leader during his policy speech, protesting against welfare cuts. The party’s firebrand image diminished in the late 2010s, however, when more radical parties emerged to contest China’s rule. Then came the 2020 national security law, which China and Hong Kong argue was needed to curb political unrest but critics say has been used to quell dissent. LSD figurehead and former legislator Leung was arrested in 2021 and jailed last year as part of a sprawling subversion case involving 47 opposition figures. The party has held small public protests in recent years, often under heavy police surveillance. Four members, including current leader Chan Po-ying, were fined this month for raising money in street campaigns “without permits”. Dickson Chau, an LSD vice chairperson, told the court during their trial the activists hoped to promote social progress but “unfortunately, the government’s response is prosecution”. LSD activists are among the handful of Hong Kongers who still publicly mark the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown. – AFP

Yoon probed again over failed martial law bid SEOUL: South Korea’s former president Yoon Suk Yeol answered a summons yesterday by a special prosecutor under a threat of another arrest as an investigation intensified over the ousted leader’s failed bid to impose martial law in December. Yoon, through his lawyers, has protested against the special prosecutor’s demands to appear for questioning under media attention as a violation of his rights and a tactic to publicly humiliate him. His lawyers said Yoon would respond to the investigation and tell the truth. They described the

Yoon was later oustered in April by the Constitutional Court that upheld his impeachment by parliament. Yoon is already on trial for the Dec 3 martial law declaration. He had been arrested in January but was released after 52 days on legal technicalities. – Reuters

investigation as “politically motivated” and “full of falsehood and distortion”. The martial law attempt in December shocked a country that had prided itself on becoming a thriving democracy, having overcome military dictatorship in the 1980s.

Thai anti-govt protesters seek to topple PM

workers, family, friends and the community for their support. “We are navigating an unimaginable loss, and your care has brought comfort amid the chaos,” the family said. Chesser appeared in the 2010 series of Beauty and Geek Australia , which put contestants chosen for their looks or intellect through a series of challenges. – AFP During the call, Paetongtarn appeared to seek to appease the Cambodian politician and criticised a Thai army commander, a red line in a country where the military has significant clout. She has apologised for her comments. She also faces judicial scrutiny after a group of senators petitioned the Constitutional Court and an anti-graft body with a remit to investigate her conduct over the leaked phone call. Decisions from either bodies could lead to her removal. Hun Sen, a former ally of the Shinawatras, made an unprecedented public attack on Paetongtarn and her family in an hours-long televised speech on Friday, calling for a change in government in Thailand. The Thai Foreign Ministry described the speech as “extraordinary” while insisting that Thailand prefers to use diplomacy to resolve the escalating dispute. Paetongtarn made an emergency visit yesterday to the country’s flood-hit north, where the military is evacuating residents after monsoon rains inundated thousands of homes. The Royal Thai Army says more than 3,700 homes were flooded across five districts in Chiang Rai province, alongside 80ha of farms, with roads made impassable in three areas. Paetongtarn made a one day trip to inspect damage in the hardest-hit area of Phaya Mengrai district, 25km from the Laos border. – Reuters/AFP

BANGKOK: Hundreds of protesters gathered here yesterday demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, as her government faces rising anger over a border row. The rally, the largest anti government protest since her Pheu Thai party came to power in 2023, increases pressure on Paetongtarn, 38, who is battling to revive a faltering economy and keep a fragile coalition together ahead of a potential no confidence vote next month. Cambodia border row escalates

not concerned about the protest and had instructed authorities to ensure the gathering was peaceful. “It’s within people’s rights and I will not retaliate,” she said. The prime minister, who now controls a slim majority coalition following the exit of former partner Bhumjaithai Party last week, could face a no-confidence vote when parliament reconvenes. Bhumjaithai Party last week withdrew its support for the government citing the risk of a loss of Thai sovereignty and integrity after a leaked phone call between Paetongtarn and Cambodia’s former premier Hun Sen.

Protesters waved flags beside Victory Monument, a war memorial at a busy intersection, in a demonstration organised by the United Force of the Land, a coalition of largely nationalist activists who have rallied against other Shinawatra backed governments over the last two decades. While the past protests did not directly cause the downfall of those governments, they built up pressure that led to judicial interventions and military coups in 2006 and 2014. The political turmoil in Thailand threatens to further damage the country’s struggling economic recovery. Paetongtarn said she was

Anti-government protesters gather at Victory Monument in Bangkok yesterday. – REUTERSPIC

Police seek decapitated head of Australian reality TV star’s partner SYDNEY: Police have appealed for help to find the head of a man allegedly murdered by his partner, a former star in reality TV series Beauty and the Geek Australia . police and emergency personnel as Julian’s body had been dismembered,” South Australia Police said in a statement. “Julian’s head had been removed during the reports of a fire, and they believe he was killed around midnight on June 17. really important aspect for us,” Detective Superintendent Darren Fielke told a news conference. Chesser appeared at Adelaide Magistrates Court on Friday by video link.

Detectives released CCTV images of Chesser, 34, to show what she was wearing around that time, and they asked people to help track her movements. “Recovering Julian’s head to return it to his family so they can have a peaceful outcome, have a funeral, and lay him to rest, is a

Police said they charged Tamika Chesser with murder after 39-year-old Julian Story’s dismembered remains were found at an apartment in South Australia last week. “It was a confronting scene for

The court lifted an order preventing her from being identified. She was due to return to court in December. The bereaved family of Story thanked police, emergency

dismemberment and, despite extensive searches, has not yet been located.” Police said his remains were discovered at the Port Lincoln home after they responded to