Moscow polling station protesters pay tribute to Navalny - CNA

"SYMBOLIC ACTION" 

Images shared on social media by Navalny's team showed larger queues of voters at other polling stations in Moscow and elsewhere in Russia.

At another polling station in southwest Moscow, Leonid, an 18-year-old student, said there were "not that many people" taking part in the protest but he was "just happy that some people came".

The polling station in a school was where Navalny scored his highest result – 70 per cent – in his failed bid to become Moscow mayor in 2013.

Navalny later attempted to run against Putin in the 2018 presidential election but his candidacy was rejected.

Olga Mironenko, a 33-year-old IT worker, said she had never voted for Putin but it was difficult to express her views in a country where "you can't even express your opinion on social media".

She said it had felt good to come to the polling station and be "with people who are on the side of light and truth".

Denis, 21, who works in advertising, said: "I came to express solidarity with a very important person. It's a symbolic action."

"This election is a way to honour Navalny's memory," he said.

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2024-03-17 12:56:00Z
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'Cold play': Taiwanese man goes for leg amputation in scam to claim million-dollar payout - The Straits Times

Evidence of Chang sinking his feet into a pail of dry ice taken by his fraud accomplice and obtained by the Taiwanese authorities. PHOTO: TAIWAN'S CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION BUREAU

A Taiwanese university student was hoping to pocket over NT$41 million (S$1.7 million) in insurance payouts by claiming that he lost his feet to frostbite.

But his frosty fraud has instead landed him in hot water, after investigators found out he had soaked his feet in dry ice for over 10 hours in order to feign frostbite severe enough to warrant a double amputation.

Taiwan’s Criminal Investigation Bureau said the student, surnamed Chang, conspired with his former high school classmate, surnamed Liao, to orchestrate the fraud.

First, Chang took out policies covering disabilities, injuries, health and travel safety from at least five insurers.

Then, on Jan 26, 2023, both men rode around several locations in northern Taipei, including Yangmingshan and Tamsui.

They wanted to create the impression that Chang had suffered frostbite after riding on a motorcycle on a wintry night.

To make his injuries more believable, Liao instigated Chang to soak his feet in a pail of dry ice for more than 10 hours. He reportedly tied Chang to a chair at his home so that the latter had no choice but to put up with the pain of the ice burn.

Chang’s legs were swollen after the long ordeal. He was hospitalised on Jan 28, 2023, and on Feb 6, he had a below-the-knee amputation.

He later filed claims and managed to get NT$230,000 from one insurer.

However, the dates of his policy purchases and his injury raised suspicions among other insurers, who reported the case to the local authorities.

Investigators from Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office found that Chang had frostbite injuries that were abnormally symmetrical and without imprint from his shoes or socks.

Data from meteorological agencies also showed that the temperature on Jan 26, 2023, ranged between 6 deg C and 17 deg C. It was not cold enough to cause frostbite.

Among the items investigators retrieved from the two men’s possessions were medical records, insurance policy documents, eight mobile phones as well as a styrofoam box to hold dry ice and a green plastic bucket Chang soaked his feet in.

Further investigations found that Liao was facing financial problems due to cryptocurrency losses. He duped Chang into signing a promissory note worth NT$25 million – a substantial portion of the potential payout, and masterminded the amputation ruse.

The Criminal Investigation Bureau said on March 14 that both men will be charged with fraud. Liao was also charged with causing serious injuries. Their illicit gains were confiscated.

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• Taiwan
• Insurance
• Wounds and injuries
• Fraud
• Scams

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2024-03-17 00:00:00Z
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Woman exhibited drastic change in behaviour before allegedly killing toddler son - New Straits Times

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1. Woman exhibited drastic change in behaviour before allegedly killing toddler son  New Straits Times
2. Woman in JB slits toddler’s throat & sends photos to husband, gets arrested  MS News
3. Mother allegedly slits toddler’s throat in Pasir Gudang  Malay Mail
4. Johor cops arrest mother for allegedly murdering her one-year-old son  The Star Online
5. Mother slashes toddler's throat, sends bloodied pictures to husband  New Straits Times

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2024-03-17 06:28:14Z
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Critics not wild about private zoo set up by Indian billionaire Ambani's youngest son - The Straits Times

Mr Anant Ambani refers to the zoo as an “animal shelter” with 43 species “rescued from around India and the world”. PHOTO: RELIANCE FOUNDATION/X

BENGALURU – A new private zoo in Jamnagar, the pre-wedding celebrations venue of Mr Anant Ambani, the youngest son of Asia’s richest person, has drawn attention over how it is sourcing its animals. 

The zoo in India’s western state of Gujarat is a personal project of the 28-year-old, whose father, Reliance chief Mukesh Ambani, has a personal wealth of US$114 billion (S$152 billion).

Mr Anant Ambani refers to the zoo as an “animal shelter” with 43 species “rescued from around India and the world”.

The Ambani family, who own conglomerate Reliance Industries, launched the 1,214ha zoo and animal rescue sanctuary on Feb 26. 

Officially called “Greens Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Kingdom”, it will be run by the conglomerate’s non-profit trust in the green belt of the Reliance petroleum refinery, the world’s largest.

A company statement said the zoo, dubbed Vantara, which means “Star of the Forest”, has more than 200 elephants and over 300 large cats such as leopards, tigers, lions and jaguars. There are more than 3,000 herbivores such as deer, and over 1,200 reptiles including crocodiles, snakes and turtles. 

The zoo was the site of Mr Anant Ambani’s grand pre-wedding bash from March 1 to 3. The board member of Jio, Reliance’s telecoms company, said in a video interview with India Today that no wildlife would be “exposed for entertainment” for his guests, and that safaris would be “solely for educational purposes”. It is not clear what sort of visitors will be allowed.

But a photo of Ms Ivanka Trump with a decorated Asian elephant in the background has revived concerns of his use of wildlife for personal entertainment. 

A photo of Ms Ivanka Trump with a decorated Asian elephant in the background has revived concerns of Mr Anant Ambani’s use of wildlife for personal entertainment. PHOTO: IVANKA TRUMP/INSTAGRAM

The daughter of former US president Donald Trump was one of over 1,000 celebrity guests, including Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan and pop icon Rihanna, who flew to Jamnagar for the pre-wedding festivities, including an evening with a jungle theme.

Sharing Ms Trump’s photo on Instagram, Indian actress Maria Goretti wrote: “I’m appalled at this picture of the Ambani celebration. I don’t think this should happen to any animal, specially not to animals that are being rescued and rehabilitated. Heartbreaking, just heartbreaking that this elephant was made to stand like a prop, in the middle of noise and people.”

On Feb 12, the Delhi High Court rejected a petition by lawyer Rahul Narula seeking a prohibition on “displaying or exhibiting the animals” at the Jamnagar zoo, saying no law prohibits the hosts from inviting guests to view non-commercial facilities set up for animals. 

The zoo is also facing allegations of illegal transfer of forest elephants from different parts of India and undue influence on state zoos. There is also scrutiny of India’s wildlife authorities.

Reliance Group did not answer queries from The Straits Times.

The zoo’s master layout plan shows enclosures for a wide variety of species, including Asian elephant, African lion, Bengal tiger and crocodile.

The company statement and many Indian media reports call the zoo “the world’s largest” but its 101ha zoo area is smaller than many shelters in India. Chennai’s state-run Aringnar Anna Zoological Park, for example, is 603ha in size. 

The Jamnagar zoo’s novelty lies in the billionaire scion’s efforts to source animals. The wildest coup might be if hippos from late drug lord Pablo Escobar’s private zoo in Colombia find their way to India.

Indian environment officials have confirmed that Mr Anant Ambani’s zoo has applied for import permits. The Colombian government has said an Indian facility will import 60 hippos that are descendants of the four that Escobar illegally transferred from Africa. 

First referred to as “cocaine hippos” by US news media, they have long flummoxed the Colombian authorities since they have been reproducing rapidly in the 30 years since they broke out of Escobar’s estate. 

The Jamnagar zoo reportedly also has permits from India’s zoo authorities to import wildlife from Mexico. It can transfer 286 animals of 17 species, many of them endangered, from a zoo in San Pedro Garza Garcia, Nuevo Leon. 

In February 2021, the Jamnagar zoo took a pair of black panthers from Assam State Zoo in return for sourcing four zebras from Israel for the government zoo. According to Indian newspaper The Telegraph, the transfer sparked protests by members of the Chiriakhana Suraksha Mancha, an organisation formed to safeguard the Assam zoo, the only breeding centre for black panthers in the country. 

Villagers of Gadchiroli district in the western state of Maharashtra, backed by the parliamentarian in the area, opposed the transfer of 13 elephants by forest officials to Jamnagar in September 2022. The residents said the animals were a tourist attraction, and a source of direct and indirect employment. 

The Jamnagar zoo’s master layout plan shows enclosures for a wide variety of species. PHOTO: RELIANCE FOUNDATION/X

The forest department of eastern state Odisha in June 2022 reported eight attempts to allegedly smuggle some captive elephants from Assam to Jamnagar using forged certificates.

Although Indian law forbids the private sale of Asian elephants, those already in captivity can be “leased” or gifted, which has led many elephants, revered in Hinduism, to be used by temple trusts to give blessings, and tourism companies for rides. 

In 2021, the Indian government proposed amending the Wildlife Protection Act to effectively pave the way for the legalised commercial trade of live elephants. But after much criticism by conservationists, who said it would open the floodgates to trading of wild elephants, the law did not go through.

Several conservationists suggested that the change in legislation was for the benefit of Mr Anant Ambani, whose father has close links to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The young Ambani, however, maintains that his zoo is “a beacon of hope” where animals can thrive. He will also build a 25,000 sq ft elephant hospital there. 

He told Indian channel CNN-IBN that he was 12 when he helped rescue his first animal – a captive elephant calf walking with its mahout on a road in hot Rajasthan.

“I told my mum, we want to rescue it,” he said. 

He hopes to go beyond Jamnagar, by partnering India’s zoo authorities in improving all the 150-plus zoos in the country in terms of training, capacity building and animal care infrastructure, he said in the company statement. 

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• Wildlife
• Billionaires/Millionaires
• India
• Zoo

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Thailand's flourishing cannabis culture set to end as government seeks ban - The Straits Times

A man walks past a stand selling cannabis on the street in Bangkok in 2023. PHOTO: REUTERS

BANGKOK – Mr Thodsapol Hongtong is enjoying a smoke with his friends at the Green Party, a venue where recreational cannabis enthusiasts meet in Bangkok to chat and have a good time. But it is a pastime that may be coming to an end.

The 31-year-old influencer who runs his own cannabis shop regularly touts recreational marijuana as good for the country’s economy on his online platform.

The booming cannabis sector could be worth US$1.2 billion (S$1.61 billion) by 2025, according to an estimate by the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce.

“Where (else) in the world can we lie around on the beach and enjoy a joint,” Mr Thodsapol told Reuters, taking a puff from his bong.

But the Thai government is looking to stamp out cannabis culture with a ban on its recreational use, to be rolled out by the end of the year. Medical use will still be permitted.

Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew, in an interview with Reuters last month, described recreational marijuana as a “misuse” of the drug that has a negative impact on Thai children and could lead to other drug abuses.

Recreational cannabis flourished in Thailand after the country became the first in Asia to fully decriminalise the substance in 2022, enabling a new public wave of weed appreciation culture.

Neon signs of cannabis leaf in multiple languages are highly visible on many street corners in Thai towns and cities, marking the tens of thousands of shops, spas, bars and gaming lounges, where a variety of cannabis strains are readily available.

Many streetside shops in tourist areas sell smoking paraphernalia, while cannabis-related festivals became more common, like last year's joint-rolling competition on the resort island of Phuket that drew weed aficionados from around the world.

The Thai government’s draft law banning recreational use of cannabis will be up for Cabinet approval later this month. REUTERS

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• Thailand
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• Tourism

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Ringgit did not hit RM4.98 to US$1, Google data inaccurate - New Straits Times

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1. Ringgit did not hit RM4.98 to US$1, Google data inaccurate  New Straits Times
2. Malaysia central bank says Google misquoted exchange rate a second time  CNA
3. Wan Saiful urged to apologise over inaccurate 'ringgit-US$' post  Malaysiakini
4. Google published wrong US dollar-ringgit exchange rate data, 2nd time in 2024: Malaysia central bank  The Straits Times
5. Google published inaccurate US$/RM exchange rate data, the second incident this year - Bank Negara  The Star Online

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TikTok's US revenue hits US$16 billion as Washington threatens ban, FT reports - CNA

China's ByteDance-owned TikTok posted revenue of about US$16 billion last year in the United States, where the viral video app that has hooked Gen Z users is at the risk of being banned, the Financial Times reported on Friday (Mar 15).

ByteDance's revenue of US$120 billion in 2023 was up about 40 per cent from a year earlier, driven by TikTok's exploding growth, although China accounts for a big portion of the company's sales, the FT reported, citing five people with knowledge of the matter.

The short video app, used by about 170 million Americans, achieved record sales in the United States in 2023, according to the report.

ByteDance, nicknamed "App Factory" due to its frequent releases of mobile applications, is on track to overtake Facebook-parent Meta Platforms as the world's largest social media company by sales, the report added.

Meta's 2023 revenue rose 16 per cent to US$134.90 billion.

ByteDance did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The US House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a Bill that would give ByteDance about six months to divest the US assets of TikTok, or face a ban.

TikTok was the most downloaded social media app in the United States in 2023, with 47 million downloads. Facebook and Instagram came in at second and third place, with 35 million and 34 million downloads, respectively, according to market intelligence firm Sensor Tower.

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