Thai Paralympian kills 5 at his wedding party, including himself and his bride - The Straits Times

A Thai wedding party on Nov 25 took a tragic turn when the groom shot dead four people, including his bride, before turning the gun on himself.

The incident occurred at a village in Wang Nam Khieo district, in the north-eastern Thai province of Nakhon Ratchasima.

The man was identified as Mr Chaturong Suksuk, the Bangkok Post reported. He had represented Thailand in swimming and shooting at the Paralympic Games.

Mr Chaturong, 29, married Ms Kanchana Pachunthuek on the morning of Nov 25.

They had lived together as a couple for three years before they decided to tie the knot.

A wedding party was then held at night, during which guests and family members said Mr Chaturong did not appear as happy as was expected.

He left the party at some point and returned with a 9mm pistol. He fired shots that killed Ms Kanchana, her mother and her younger sister.

Stray bullets hit two guests, who were rushed to the district hospital. One of them died.

Police are investigating the motive for the killings.

A preliminary probe found that the couple had an argument during the party, The Nation reported. Witnesses said the argument was triggered by the groom’s insecurities, as he feared his wife would leave him for another man because of his disability.

Mr Chaturong, a former paramilitary ranger, lost his right leg in an accident while on duty.

He had won a silver medal in the 11th Asean Para Games in Indonesia in 2022, Khaosod newspaper said.

The incident on Nov 25 came just days after a report that Thai Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul had signed an order to halt the issue of gun licences for a year.

The order followed a recent spate of shootings in the Thai capital and was aimed at curbing gun violence in the country.

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2023-11-26 13:34:47Z
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Hamas fighters to free more hostages as families reunite - CNA

CEASEFIRE EXTENSION?

Egypt has said that it received positive feedback from both sides about the idea of extending the truce for a day or two and releasing more hostages and prisoners.

"It's only a start, but so far it's gone well," US President Joe Biden told reporters on Friday, adding "the chances are real" for extending the truce.

Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi called for "a permanent ceasefire and a complete end to this aggression".

But Israeli armed forces chief Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said Saturday that the war to eliminate Hamas would continue.

"We will return immediately at the end of the ceasefire to attack Gaza," Halevi said.

"We will also do this in order to dismantle Hamas, also to create a great deal of pressure to return as quickly as possible and as many abductees as possible, every last one of them."

The latest hostage handover was delayed when Hamas said Israel was interfering in the selection of prisoners for release and not allowing aid to reach civilians in Gaza.

Hamas later said it relented when Egyptian and Qatari mediators relayed a promise by Israel to uphold the accord.

Israeli officials denied any breach of the ceasefire's terms, describing Hamas' actions as "psychological warfare".

WEST BANK CELEBRATIONS

Despite the row, Sunday's release would be the third since the four-day truce entered into force on Friday.

Hamas has released 26 Israeli hostages in exchange for 78 Palestinian prisoners in the two releases already completed.

The militants have also freed a total of 14 Thais and one Filipino. Iran's foreign ministry said it had joined with key mediator Qatar to help negotiate the release of the Thai nationals.

Israeli hostages who were let go in the initial swap on Friday have since reunited with their families in touching scenes.

Nine-year-old boy Ohad rounded the corner of a corridor in a hospital near Tel Aviv, breaking into a run when he caught sight of his father and hurling himself into his arms, video images showed.

The boy, his mother and grandmother were among those released in the first exchange Friday.

In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, fireworks exploded and crowds filled the streets to welcome the first release of Palestinian prisoners on Friday.

"I was just waiting for the day I would be released from prison so I could hug my mother like this," said Rawan Abu Matar, who served eight years for attempting to stab an Israeli soldier.

Hamas is expected to free a total of 50 hostages during the truce in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners, under an agreement brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.

AID TRUCKS ENTER GAZA

The pause in fighting has also allowed more aid to reach Palestinians struggling to survive with shortages of water and other essentials. Israel had placed Gaza under near-total siege.

A total of 61 trucks delivered food, water and humanitarian aid via a "humanitarian passageway" to northern Gaza on Saturday, the United Nations office for humanitarian affairs said.

Another 187 trucks of vital supplies had been sent separately to aid organisations operating in the Gaza Strip, it said.

The UN estimates that 1.7 million of Gaza's 2.4 million people have been displaced by the fighting.

Thousands have been returning since the truce to what is left of their homes.

"We are civilians," said Mahmud Masood, standing in front of flattened buildings in Jabalia, northern Gaza. "Why have they destroyed our houses?"

Palestinian health authorities say Israeli troops killed six Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Saturday.

The included four people killed by Israeli army fire in Jenin during an incursion by a large number of armoured vehicles, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.

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2023-11-26 09:40:00Z
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Hamas frees second group of Israeli, Thai hostages in truce - The Straits Times

GAZA/JERUSALEM – Thirteen Israeli and four Thai nationals arrived in Israel on Nov 26 in the second release of hostages from Hamas captivity in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in a deal briefly endangered by a dispute about aid delivery into Gaza.

Although overcome by the mediation of Egypt and Qatar, the dispute that threatened the truce to free captives underscored the fragility of the pact to swop 50 hostages held by the Palestinian militant groups and 150 prisoners in Israeli jails.

Television footage showed hostages on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing after leaving Gaza, as Hamas handed over the captives to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) late on Nov 25.

Six of the 13 Israelis released were women and seven were children and teenagers. The youngest was three-year-old Yahel Shoham, freed with her mother and brother, although her father remains a hostage.

“The released hostages are on their way to hospitals in Israel, where they will reunite with their families,” the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said in a statement.

Israel released 39 Palestinians – six women and 33 minors – from two prisons, the Palestinian news agency Wafa said.

Some of the Palestinians arrived at Al-Bireh Municipality Square in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where thousands of citizens were waiting for them, a Reuters witness said.

A Palestinian official familiar with the diplomatic moves said Hamas would continue with the truce, the first halt in fighting since Hamas fighters rampaged through southern Israel on Oct 7, killing 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages.

In response to that attack, Israel has vowed to destroy the Hamas militants who run Gaza, raining bombs and shells on the enclave and launching a ground offensive in the north.

To date, some 14,800 people, roughly 40 per cent of them children, have been killed, the Palestinian health authorities said on Nov 25.

The Nov 25 swop follows the previous day’s initial release of 13 other Israeli hostages, including children and the elderly, by Hamas in return for the release of 39 Palestinian women and youth from Israeli prisons.

Hamas on Nov 24 also released a Philippine national and 10 Thai farm workers.

The four Thais released on Nov 25 “want a shower and to contact their relatives”, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said a day later on social media platform X, adding that all were safe and showed few ill effects.

Eighteen Thais remain captive, Thailand’s Foreign Ministry said on Nov 26 in a tally reflecting two abductions that had previously been unknown.

“I’m so happy, I’m so glad, I can’t describe my feelings at all,” Madam Thongkoon Onkaew told Reuters by telephone after news of the release of her 26-year-old son Natthaporn Onkaew, the family’s sole breadwinner.

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2023-11-25 23:34:00Z
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Malaysian Opposition Leader Scraps Plan to Step Down From Party - Bloomberg

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1. Malaysian Opposition Leader Scraps Plan to Step Down From Party  Bloomberg
2. Malaysian opposition leader Muhyiddin makes U-turn on stepping down as party president  The Straits Times
3. Malaysian opposition leader makes U-turn on stepping down as party president  Reuters
4. Muhyiddin was only testing the waters, say analysts  Free Malaysia Today
5. Muhyiddin is at a 'dead end', not PMX, says PKR Youth chief  The Star Online
6. View Full coverage on Google News

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2023-11-26 03:22:09Z
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Russia launches 'record' 75 drones on Ukraine - CNA

KYIV: Ukraine said on Saturday (Nov 25) it had downed 74 out of 75 drones Russia launched at it overnight, in what it said was the biggest such attack since the start of the invasion.

The Ukrainian army said Russia had launched a "record number" of Iranian-made Shahed drones, the majority of which targeted Kyiv, causing power cuts as temperatures dipped below freezing.

The drone attack came as Ukraine marked Holodomor Remembrance Day, commemorating the 1930s starvation of millions in Ukraine under Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.

"The enemy launched a record number of attack drones at Ukraine! The main direction of the attack is Kyiv," said the commander of Ukraine's air force, General Mykola Oleshchuk.

The air force said it had downed "74 out of 75" Shahed drones.

Kyiv authorities said five people - including an 11-year-old - were wounded in the capital, where the air raid lasted six hours.

Falling drone debris had sparked fires and damaged buildings across the city, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

AFP saw Kyiv residents clearing smashed windows and other damage in the city's Dniprovsky district, with ambulances parked nearby.

One of the buildings that was damaged housed a nursery and another had part of its top floor destroyed.

Local resident Viktor Vasylenko said he had soothed his young daughter, who experienced "panic and nausea" during the long night-time attacks as they sheltered in a corridor.

The 38-year-old said his family always has "everything prepared" in case of such attacks but this was the first time one had hit so close.

"My wife thought that the house would collapse in half," he said.

Latvia's president, Edgars Rinkevics, on a visit to Kyiv during the attack, posted a photo of himself on social media inside a dark bomb shelter.

In a statement, the French foreign ministry condemned the drone barrage "with the utmost firmness".

More than 21 months into Moscow's offensive, fighting is most intense in the east of Ukraine and is now centred around the city of Avdiivka, which is nearly encircled by Russian forces.

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2023-11-25 21:12:56Z
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Hamas releases more Israeli hostages, after delay; Palestinians prisoners freed in truce - CNA

Before the delay to the latest hostage and prisoner exchange, Egypt, which controls the Rafah border crossing through which aid supplies have resumed into southern Gaza, said it had received "positive signals" from all parties over a possible truce extension.

Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt's State Information Service (SIS), said in a statement that Cairo was holding extensive talks with all parties to reach an agreement which would mean "the release of more detainees in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails".

Israel has said the ceasefire could be extended if Hamas continues to release hostages at a rate of at least 10 per day. A Palestinian source has said up to 100 hostages could go free.

"FINALLY HOME"

A video released by Hamas showed masked militants with rifles, wearing military fatigues and the green headband of the militant group's armed wing, handing hostages over to the Red Cross on Friday.

In a Tel Aviv suburb, people applauded and held up Israeli flags as helicopters flew in the freed captives.

At Israel's Wolfson Medical Center, which received five elderly women hostages, Dr Shoshi Goldner said "there was no one in the room that could hold his feelings and stop crying".

"You are finally home in a safe place," Goldner said.

"Today we are excited about the returnees, but I want us not to forget all those who have not yet returned," Yael Adar, daughter-in-law of former hostage Yaffa Adar, 85, told Israel's Ynet news website.

Hamas is expected to free a total of 50 hostages during the truce in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners, under an agreement brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.

Egypt said that it had received positive feedback from both sides about the idea of extending the truce for a day or two and releasing more hostages and prisoners.

"It's only a start, but so far it's gone well," US President Joe Biden told reporters, adding "the chances are real" for extending the truce.

Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi called for "a permanent ceasefire and a complete end to this aggression."

Roongarun Wichanguen, sister of 33-year-old Thai hostage Vetoon Phoome, expressed joy and disbelief that he is coming home. She thought he had been killed by Hamas.

On a video call, "his face was very happy, and he seemed okay," she said, adding he told her he "was taken care of very well. It looks like he just stayed in a house, not the tunnel."

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2023-11-25 18:15:00Z
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Second Israeli owned ship attacked by Iranian-backed forces in the Middle East - TradeWinds

A second Israeli-owned ship is reported to have come under military attack from suspected Iranian-backed forces in the last week.

The container ship CMA CGM Symi (built 2022) was hit by a suspected Iranian drone in the Indian Ocean on Friday according to the AP news agency, citing a US defence official.

The Shahed-136 drone exploded when it hit the ship causing damage but no injuries to the crew, the report said.

The attacks come amid tension in the Middle East as Israel battles the Hamas militant group in Gaza. Fighting has been halted for four days to allow a swap of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel and the supply of humanitarian aid.

French line CMA CGM charters the Malta-flagged 15,294-teu CMA CGM Symi from Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping, which is ultimately owned by Israeli shipowner and investor Idan Ofer.

CMA CGM said that as it was a chartered vessel it was passing requests for comment to its owner Eastern Pacific.

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“Eastern Pacific Shipping is aware of claims that a container ship under the company’s management was targeted in a possible security incident overnight on Friday, 24 November, following departure from the UAE,” the company’s crisis team said on Saturday morning.

“The vessel in question is currently sailing as planned. All crew are safe and well.”

Last weekend, the car carrier Galaxy Leader was hijacked after an audacious helicopter raid by Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The ship is now at anchor off the Yemeni port of Hodeida. Its 25 crew are unharmed but are effectively held hostage.

The Galaxy Leader is operated by Japan’s NYK Line and ultimately owned by Israel’s Abraham ‘Rami’ Unger through his company Ray Car Carriers.

The attacks put ships ultimately owned by Israelis under “significant risk”, maritime security group Diaplous said on Saturday morning.

“All Israeli-affiliated merchant vessels, crossing the Indian Ocean are currently running a significant risk of maritime terrorism. Masters and the crew should remain extremely vigilant and notify naval warships in case of suspicious activity in the area,” Diaplous advised.

The CMA CGM Symi departed the Jebel Ali port in Dubai on Tuesday according to ship tracking data, although its AIS tracker appears to have been switched off since then. Ships are permitted to deactivate their AIS for their security in high-risk regions.

According to CMA CGM’s online voyage log the vessel is bound for the Westport Terminal at Port Klang in Malaysia and is due on December 1.

The ship has protection and indemnity cover with NorthStandard P&I and is financed by China’s Bank of Communications Financial Leasing.

Almost exactly a year ago, an Iranian drone attack blew a hole in the hull of the 50,000-dwt product tanker Pacific Zircon (built 2013). No crew were injured in the attack on the Eastern Pacific Shipping vessel.

In 2021, a product tanker ultimately owned by Idan Ofer’s brother Eyal was hit by a drone that killed the ship’s captain and a UK security guard.

In a separate incident, the British military agency that provides security alerts to shipping said it had “been made aware of an entity declaring itself to be Yemeni authorities ordering a vessel to alter course”.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations advisory note added: “Vessels in the vicinity are advised to exercise caution and report any suspicious activity to UKMTO.”

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2023-11-25 11:34:00Z
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