21/05/2026

THURSDAY | MAY 21, 2026

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Myanmar military recaptures border town

Philippine senator fails in bid to block arrest MANILA: The Philippine Supreme Court yesterday rejected a bid by Senator Ronald dela Rosa for a temporary restraining order to prevent his arrest and transfer to the International Criminal Court. Dela Rosa, whose whereabouts are unknown, is wanted for alleged crimes against humanity over his role in a “war on drugs” during Rodrigo Duterte’s 2016-2022 presidency. He has denied involvement in illegal killings. Philippine authorities confirmed last week that they were seeking to arrest the former police chief and top enforcer of the crackdown, who had argued in a petition to the court that law enforcement had no legal authority to execute an arrest warrant issued by a foreign court. Dela Rosa’s lawyer said they will exhaust all legal remedies, including filing a motion for reconsideration. “Today’s resolution is not a judgment on the merits. It is not a final ruling on the legality of enforcing an ICC process within Philippine territory,” dela Rosa’s lawyers said in a statement. Dela Rosa emerged from six months of hiding last week and took refuge at the Senate for several days before slipping away in the early hours of May 14, after a night of chaos and gunfire following his appeal for help and claims that his arrest was imminent. Dela Rosa was Duterte’s top enforcer of a crackdown during which thousands of drug dealers were shot dead. The chief of the National Bureau of Investigation declined to comment, saying he has yet to see the court’s decision. The court said while the restraining order had been denied, other issues had yet to be addressed. Dela Rosa had argued the ICC warrant could not be enforced in the Philippines without a corresponding warrant from a local court. “The fight for due process, constitutional sovereignty, and the lawful protection of every Filipino, continues,” dela Rosa’s lawyers said. – Reuters Some military members “also heroically sacrificed their lives”, it said, without specifying the death toll. “Cross-border trade flows and transport YANGON: Myanmar’s military said yesterday it recaptured a town on the Thai border, expanding the frontier trade crossings it claims to control in the grinding civil war. The southern Myanmar border town of Mawtaung is a relatively minor trading post, transiting US$26.7 million (RM106 million) of freight in the 2023-24 financial year, according to Myanmar official statistics. But its capture would represent another boost for the military, adding to a string of recent victories against ethnic minority armies and pro-democracy guerillas it has warred with since staging a 2021 coup. Myanmar state media said the military lost control of Mawtaung in Tanintharyi region in November, but retook it on Tuesday after a two-week counter-offensive. The battle included more than 200 “major and minor clashes”, killing at least 24 rebel fighters, according to The Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

movement is in danger of being politically outmanoeuvred. After five years of martial rule, the military government oversaw a tightly restricted election excluding detained Suu Kyi’s party and returning a walkover win in January for its allies in civilian politics. Lawmakers elected former military leader Min Aung Hlaing to serve as civilian president. Despite criticism of the election, there are signs some nations in the region are now willing to ramp up diplomatic engagement, providing de facto recognition to the new administration. – AFP

campaign stalled, the armed forces have more recently seized the initiative. The military this month claimed to retake a key northern highway that leads towards the Chinese border, and last month staged a ceremony celebrating the recapture of the road towards the busiest trade crossing with Thailand. Two ethnic minority armies which were key to the 2023 offensive have signed Beijing brokered truces, leaving lesser-trained and worse-equipped pro-democracy partisans exposed on the battlefield. There are also signs the pro-democracy

o Victory boost for govt

activities between the two countries via the Tanintharyi-Mawtaung route will be able to resume,” said the newspaper. Civil war has engulfed Myanmar since the military coup five years ago deposed the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, ending a decade-long experiment with democracy. In late 2023, a combined rebel offensive put the military on the back foot, but after the

A small lorry is partially submerged in floodwaters in Duyun, Guizhou Province. – SOCIAL MEDIA/REUTERSPIC

Stranded residents evacuated from flood-hit areas BEIJING: Rescue workers used boats or swam through floodwaters to evacuate people in waterlogged areas across central and southwest China yesterday after torrential rain killed at least 25 people and shut businesses, schools and transport links. handlebars visible, while rescue staff in an inflatable boat rescued a man who had climbed a tree to escape the flooding, videos on Chinese platform Douyin showed.

Aerial footage showed floods swamping vast areas across Hubei as well as its southern neighbour, Hunan. The unusually large area of intense rainfall, spanning more than 1,000km, was due to the convergence of abundant moisture from the Bay of Bengal, the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. The slow-moving nature of the weather system also led to high cumulative rainfall, according to meteorologists. “A new round of rainfall will arrive tomorrow (Thursday), bringing significant precipitation to many areas in both the north and south,“ China’s weather bureau said. – Reuters fairness for all parties, I hereby resign from my duties as an employee and executive ... until the matter is clarified and conclusively proved.” Sunit previously denied the accusations of sexual abuse but acknowledged roughhouse play between boys. The Bhirombhakdi family are listed as Thailand’s 15th richest by Forbes magazine, which estimates their net worth at US$1.75 billion (RM7 billion). As well as Singha Beer, the group’s other interests include food manufacturing, hotels, power and property. – AFP

In the central province of Hubei, emergency and military personnel were helping residents escape danger, many of them senior citizens. Elderly residents were rescued from their homes by boats, with some staff swimming inside buildings to reach trapped residents, footage from state broadcaster CCTV showed. One scene broadcast by CCTV showed rescuers struggling to reach a man trapped in chest-high water behind a door. It said they took an hour to get him to safety.

Heavy rain is expected to continue across southern and central parts of the country, including Jiangxi, Anhui, Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, Guangxi, Guangdong and Hainan, with high risks of landslides, flash floods and severe urban flooding and waterlogging, authorities said. In Dachong, a town in southern Guangdong, scooters were submerged with only parts of

Thai beer heir sacked following abuse controversy BANGKOK: One of Thailand’s richest men dismissed his cousin from the Singha beer business empire on Tuesday, the company said, after days of controversy over allegations the man had abused his own brother. but no one took action, he said, declaring that he no longer wanted to be referred to as a “Singha heir”. Siranudh’s brother Sunit had been “dismissed” from all his positions, the conglomerate’s parent company Boonrawd Brewery Company said in a statement.

“I don’t want to stay in a family that doesn’t value me or have empathy for me. I can’t live with this kind of people,” he said through tears. The 29-year-old, whose father is Scottish, is a prominent and sometimes controversial marine conservationist, who founded a group called Sea You Strong active in the seas off southern Thailand. His declarations prompted days of headlines in Thai media.

The company “would like to express its deepest regret to Siranudh Scott for what happened”, it said. The company said it was cooperating with authorities in their investigations. It was signed by CEO Bhurit Bhirombhakdi – the two men’s cousin. He also posted online a letter from Sunit in which the accused man said: “In order to ensure

Environmental activist Siranudh Scott, a scion of the Bhirombhakdi family who control the beer brand ubiquitous in Thailand, posted an emotional video on his Facebook page this month accusing his elder brother of repeatedly abusing him in his teenage years. “Everyone in my family knows it because they listened to the tape I recorded of his confession”