THAILAND
Fears of unrest continue to simmer
BANGKOK | As soldiers mopped up pockets of resistance and the government declared it was back in control, fears grew Thursday that the tentative quiet restored to Thailand’s capital after a bloody crackdown on protests may just be a respite from violence and political polarization that could continue for years.
Leaders of the anti-government Red Shirt movement vowed a return as they were taken into custody.
The Thai government declared Thursday that it had mostly quelled 10 weeks of violent protests in the capital as buildings smoldered, troops rooted out die-hard holdouts and some residents cautiously attempted a return to normal life a day after a military operation cleared the main commercial district of thousands of demonstrators, leaving 15 dead and nearly 100 injured.
Troops roamed the city on foot and in Humvees and exchanged gunfire with scattered Red Shirt holdouts, who fought near the city’s Victory Monument and torched a bank, bringing to 40 the number of buildings set aflame after the military push sent the protesters retreating from their demonstration site.
The Thai Finance Ministry estimated the economic damage to the country at $1.5 billion. Continued security concerns led officials to extend a nighttime curfew in Bangkok and 23 other provinces for three more days.
AFGHANISTAN
Airliner wreckage seen on mountain
KABUL | Search craft on Thursday spotted the wreckage of a commercial airliner that disappeared Monday while flying over Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush mountains with 44 people on board, including six foreigners, officials said.
Also Thursday, the Pentagon announced that one colonel and two lieutenant colonels were among five American soldiers killed Tuesday by a suicide car bomber in Kabul. Deaths of so many senior officers in a single attack are rare.
Photos supplied by NATO forces show that the plane was broken into four pieces strewn across a steep mountainside - suggesting survival is unlikely. It wasn’t clear whether any of the helicopters flying over the crash site for much of the day were able to land on the rugged terrain.
The Antonov-24, operated by Pamir Airways, was flying from the northern city of Kunduz to Kabul when air traffic controllers lost track of it north of the capital. Three British citizens and an American were among the six foreigners who were on board, officials said.
CHINA
North Korea on Clinton agenda
BEIJING | Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is leading a large Cabinet team to Beijing for wide-ranging talks with a Chinese government newly emboldened by its rising diplomatic clout and financial brawn.
The second annual Strategic and Economic Dialogue next week will touch on some of the thorniest topics in the bilateral relationship, including what to do about North Korea after South Korea blamed it for the sinking of one of its warships. China is North Korea’s biggest ally and has avoided joining other countries such as the U.S. in condemning the attack.
PAKISTAN
Muslim concerns trigger Web bans
ISLAMABAD | Pakistan blocked YouTube and many other Internet sites Thursday in a widening crackdown on online content deemed offensive to Islam, reflecting the secular government’s sensitivities to an issue that has ignited protests in the Muslim country.
The government made the move a day after obeying a court order to block Facebook over a page called “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day!” that encourages users to post images of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. Most Muslims regard depictions of the prophet, even favorable ones, as blasphemous.
INDONESIA
Film to portray Obama’s early years
BANDUNG | Young Barry Obama is struggling with his pingpong shot.
Or rather, 12-year-old Hasan Faruq Ali is struggling to play left-handed in imitation of the character he is portraying in an Indonesian film, “Little Obama.”
The movie, produced by Multivision Plus, Indonesia’s largest production company, will premiere in Indonesia on June 17, the week of Mr. Obama’s anticipated visit to the country.
“Hasan has the walk, he has the posture of Barry,” said Slamet Djanuadi, a consultant on the film and a childhood friend of President Obama, who lived in Indonesia from 1967 to 1971.
“But Barry was a better pingpong player,” he said with a laugh, watching Hasan hit the ball off the table.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.