Tuesday, April 30, 2019
Lebanese Cabinet Begins Discussing Austerity Budget
Lebanon's finance minister says the government has started open-ended discussions to quickly approve the country's draft austerity budget.
Lebanon's economy is suffering from slow growth, a high budget deficit and massive debt.
Ali Hassan Khalil told reporters after a Cabinet meeting Tuesday that the government aims to reduce the percentage of the budget deficit compared with the gross domestic product.
Leaks through the media about steps that could include cutting end of service and social benefits of civil servants have led to protests around Lebanon by retired military personnel and others.
The Labor Union called for a three-day strike starting Thursday if workers' demands are not met.
Khalil said he does not know the reason behind the call for the strike adding that the budget has not been approved yet.
Netflix Announces Deal for Film About Thailand's Cave Boys
Netflix announced Tuesday it is joining with the production company for the movie “Crazy Rich Asians” to make a film about last July’s dramatic rescue of 12 village boys in northern Thailand who were trapped with their soccer coach in a flooded cave for more than two weeks.
Netflix and SK Global Entertainment said in Bangkok they have acquired the rights to the story from 13 Thumluang Co. Ltd,, a company that Thailand’s government helped establish to represent the interests of the boys and their coach, who attended the news conference for the announcement.
Thailand’s Culture Ministry in March first unveiled the deal, announced as a miniseries. Deputy government spokesman Weerachon Sukoondhapatipakat was quoted then as saying that the families of the cave survivors would each be paid 3 million baht ($94,000).
The boys of the Wild Boars soccer team and their coach became a center of world attention after they became trapped in the cave on June 23 last year, with doubts they were able to find shelter from rising flood waters that poured in after unexpected rain. They were found by two British divers and brought out by an international crew of experienced cave divers who teamed up with Thai navy SEALs in a dangerously complicated mission that was successfully concluded on July 10.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to thank the people and organizations from Thailand and around the world who came together to perform a true miracle, by retelling our story,” said Ekapol “Ake” Chanthawong, the boy’s assistant coach who shared the ordeal with them. “We look forward to working with all involved parties to ensure our story is told accurately, so that the world can recognize, once again, the heroes that made the rescue operation a success.”
Tuesday’s announcement said 13 Thumluang “has committed to donating 15% of the revenues derived from bringing this story to global audiences to charity organizations that focus on disaster relief.”
Jon M. Chu, who helmed “Crazy Rich Asians,” and Nattawut “Baz” Poonpiriya, a Thai filmmaker, will be directors on the cave project.
“We are immensely proud to be able to support the retelling of the incredible story of the Tham Luang cave rescue,” Erika North, director of International Originals at Netflix, said in a statement. “The story combines so many unique local and universal themes which connected people from all walks of life, from all around the world. Thailand is a very important country for Netflix and we are looking forward to bringing this inspiring local but globally resonant story of overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds to life, once again, for global audiences.”
The rescue was a rare bit of feel-good news from Thailand, which has been mired in political conflict and heavy-handed military rule for more than a decade. The cave rescue also allowed the government of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who had seized power in a 2014 military coup, to share in some glory.
An independent film about the adventure, “The Cave,” was shot soon after the rescue and is supposed to be released later this year.
China Sentences 6 Foreigners for Drugs; Canadian Gets Death
A court in southern China handed down sentences Tuesday to at least six foreigners involved in an international methamphetamine operation, including a Canadian given the death penalty.
The Jiangmen Intermediate People's Court in southern Guangdong province sentenced 11 people who produced more than 63 kilograms (139 pounds) of methamphetamine, an illegal drug.
Among them were one American and four Mexicans, who were all given life sentences or death sentences suspended by a period of two years. The court statement did not make clear which individual received what sentence, nor did it give their full names,
The Canadian sentenced to death was identified as “Fan Wei,” but it was unclear whether that's the person's legal name. A person identified as Wu Ziping, whose nationality was not specified, was also handed the death sentence.
The sentence is likely to further strain Sino-Canadian relations, which have frayed since Canada arrested a Chinese tech executive last December at the request of the U.S. Since then, China has detained two Canadians and delayed some Canadian exports in apparent retaliation.
According to the court, Fan Wei and Wu conspired to manufacture and sell the drugs in 2012, and brought the others - described as “drug-making technicians” - on board. Between July and November of that year, the court says, the group set up a “den” in Guangdong's Taishan city, where they produced and sold more than 63 kilograms of methamphetamine and 365.9 grams of dimethyl amphetamine.
A court employee reached by phone declined to give further details on the case.
In a separate drug smuggling case, China sentenced Canadian Robert Lloyd Schellenberg to death in a sudden retrial January - one month after Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were detained on vague national security allegations. The moves were widely seen as punishment for Canada's arrest of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of the Chinese telecom company Huawei.
China has also suspended the license of two major Canadian canola exporters, alleging that officials discovered hazardous organisms in canola seed shipments.
US Treasury Secretary Hopes for 'Substantial Progress' in China Talks
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says he hopes to makes "substantial progress" in trade talks with China, as the world's two largest economies try to reach a resolution to their trade war.
Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer are leading a U.S. delegation meeting with Chinese officials this week in Beijing.
Next week, Chinese officials will travel to Washington for another round of talks.
Washington and Beijing have held several rounds of talks this year to resolve a trade war that began in 2018 when President Donald Trump imposed punitive tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports. He has been trying to compel Beijing to change its trade practices. China retaliated with tariff increases on $110 billion of U.S. exports.
Thailand Prepares For First Coronation in Seven Decades
Thailand's teeming capital is gearing up for three days of elaborate ceremonies starting Saturday for the coronation of King Maha Vajiralongkorn, amid an ongoing tug-of-war among the country's entrenched political factions over the results of the country's first general election since a 2014 coup.
The coronation, estimated to cost upwards of $30 million, will be the first in the lifetime of most Thais. It follows the record-breaking reign of King Vajiralongkorn's father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who took the throne in 1946 and died in October 2016 at the age of 88.
While Thailand's constitutional monarchy wields limited political power, most Thais revere their royals as near-deities. Strict lèse-majesté laws also render the king virtually unassailable and have landed many in court or jail.
For the past few weeks, work crews have been sprucing up the routes around the Grand Palace, officials have been collecting and consolidating waters from across the country for the king's ablutions on Saturday — the day his is officially crowned — and major roads have been closed off for rehearsals for the main procession on Sunday. The king will meet the public and foreign dignitaries on Monday, which has been declared a public holiday.
The hundreds of thousands expected to turn out for the ceremonies have been invited to wear yellow, the king's color.
"It's highly important because it's the first coronation in 70 years, since the Second World War, so in this sense it's historic," said Prajak Kongkirati, a political science lecturer at Thammasat University in Bangkok.
"And also it represents [the] beginning of [a] new era, two new eras — not only the change of reign but also real change of new political order," he said.
While the king is meant to float above the country's contentious politics, the monarchy is rarely far from the fray.
The powerful military, which has been running Thailand since it toppled the elected government in 2014, sells itself as a bulwark against those — real or imagined — who would turn the country into a republic. And in the color-coded protests that have periodically rocked Bangkok over the past decade, the "red shirts" of the mostly rural, anti-military camp have faced off against the largely urban, pro-military "yellow shirts" draped deliberately in the royal hue.
King Vajiralongkorn also placed his stamp on the latest election after his elder sister made a surprise bid for prime minister with a party aligned with the anti-military camp.
Only hours after the princess announced her candidacy in February, the king issued a statement calling the move "highly inappropriate" and unconstitutional. The Election Commission soon disqualified her and a court dissolved the party that backed her run.
The commission is due to announce the full official results of the March 24 poll on May 9, three days after the coronation ceremonies conclude.
While the pro-military Palang Pracharat party won the popular vote, with prime minister and coup leader Prayuth Chan-ocha vying to hold on to his post on its ticket, control of the House of Representatives remains up for grabs.
Both Palang Pracharat and its main rival, Pheu Thai, which ran a close second, have already claimed the right to form the next government and are cobbling together coalitions hoping to secure enough legislative seats to do it.
Paul Chambers, a political analyst and lecturer at Thailand's Naresuan University, said the coming coronation has helped keep the contest from spilling into the streets as it has in years past, given the reverence most Thais have for the monarchy.
"The coronation is keeping the lid on... pent up frustrations," he said.
"The junta, and its aristocratic allies, realizes that people are not going to be happy with the [election] result that the military wants the outcome to be. But if in the period before the election outcome is announced, if during that period the coronation is going to happen, well, then Thai people are not supposed to create disorder and, you know, break the peace. So in a sense this really helps the military in that they can sort of compel Thai citizens to be peaceful," he added.
"On the other hand, the fact that the election is actually happening is really the result of the king wanting to have a democratic atmosphere prior to his coronation. So it is kind of an interesting confluence."
Though the junta has always promised to return Thailand to civilian control, it has postponed tentative election dates several times. And considering how divided the country remains, as the election proved, there was little pressure on the military to hold a vote any time soon, said Chambers — except from the royal palace.
Many expect Prayuth to secure enough combined votes in the House and the military-appointed Senate to hold on to the premiership. But if he does, he will be doing so after a tainted election and may have to manage with a minority coalition in the House.
"The importance of the coronation is that it forced the election to happen," said Chambers. "And then, after the coronation... and most likely Prayuth is the prime minister, people are not going to be happy, and it's going to create more problems for Prayuth."
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