Miss Universe Organisation cuts Indonesia ties over sex abuse claims

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Miss Universe IndonesiaMISS UNIVERSE INDONESIA

Miss Universe Organisation (MUO) has cut ties with its Indonesian franchise after several contestants alleged sexual abuse days before the pageant’s crowning ceremony in Jakarta.

Contestants said finalists were unexpectedly asked to strip for “a body check for scars and cellulite” and some said they were photographed topless.

The US-based MUO said it was clear the franchise had not lived up to its brand standards, ethics, or expectations.

Jakarta police are probing the claims.

MUO also said it was also cancelling this year’s pageant in Malaysia which is run by the same company, PT Capella Swastika Karya.

Miss Universe Organisation thanked the women that filed the complaints for their bravery and reiterated “providing a safe place for women ” was its priority.

It said it was evaluating its policies and procedures to avoid similar occurrences and said there were no measurement or body dimensions requirements to join its pageants worldwide.

“In light of what we have learned took place at Miss Universe Indonesia, it has become clear that this franchise has not lived up to our brand standards, ethics, or expectations,” MUO posted on Saturday night.

Miss Universe, which is now on its 73rd edition, is popular in South-east Asia, especially in Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, where winners go on to become celebrities and social media influencers.

Its owner Anne Jakrajutatip, a Thai transgender woman and media mogul, has sought to revamp the brand to make it more inclusive by allowing married women, transgender women and single mothers to compete.

Poppy Capella, Indonesia’s franchise director said on Instagram that she had “never known, ordered, requested or allowed anyone who played a role and participated in the process of organizing Miss Universe Indonesia 2023 to commit violence or sexual harassment through body checking”.

She also added that she was against “any form of violence or sexual harassment.”

Indonesia’s Ms Fabienne Nicole Groeneveld who who won the contest to represent her country in the 2023 Miss Universe finals in November will compete with the organisation’s support, MUO said..

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Russian woman falls to death in Jomtien

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In: South-East Asia

PUBLISHED : 13 Aug 2023 at 17:55

CHON BURI: A 32-year-old Russian woman naked from the waist down fell to her death from a seventh-floor condominium room in Sattahip district on Sunday morning.

Local police were informed of the death at about 7am on Sunday. It happened at a condominium building on Soi Na Jomtien 4 Road in tambon Na Jomtien.

The body of the Russian woman was found lying face down in a pool of blood on the ground in front of the condominium building. She was wearing a green T-shirt and a jean jacket, while the lower parts of her body were exposed.

Police assumed she fell from the room of her 30-year-old Russian boyfriend on the seventh floor of the building. In the room, a window next to a bed was found with its curtain open. The boyfriend said the woman had accidentally fallen.

When police arrived, the boyfriend was holding a glass of an alcoholic beverage and appeared uncontrollably drunk. He initially refused to cooperate with police under his state of intoxication.

Police said the room was untidy and strewn with leftover food and drinks, but there were no traces of a struggle. 

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China State Council issues guidelines in bid to increase foreign investment

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BEIJING: China’s State Council issued guidelines on Sunday (Aug 13) that it said would further optimise the country’s foreign investment environment and attract more foreign investment. The State Council said in a document containing 24 guidelines that authorities should increase protection of the rights and interests of foreign investors, includingContinue Reading

Typhoon Lan set to crash Japan holiday week

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TOKYO: Japanese authorities on Sunday (Aug 13) warned residents in much of the country to prepare for a strong, slow-moving typhoon set to hit during the peak summer travel week. Typhoon Lan is on course to make landfall on Tuesday on Japan’s main island of Honshu, bringing heavy rain andContinue Reading

Candid jumbocam: 12 wild elephants bathe in Buri Ram forest

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PUBLISHED : 13 Aug 2023 at 15:45

Candid jumbocam: 12 wild elephants bathe in Buri Ram forest
A herd of wild elephants is seen in an image captured by an automatic camera in Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary in Buri Ram’s Non Din Daeng district. (Photo supplied)

BURI RAM: Twelve wild elephants were seen roaming in a forest inside Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary in Non Din Daeng district of this northeastern province in video clips taken by automatic cameras installed by wildlife officials.

Somsuan Raksat, chief of the sanctuary, said the videos were captured by the network-centric anti-poaching system (NCAPS) cameras at 6.25pm on Aug 10.

He said the footage, which shows the elephants playing in water and walking past the cameras in the Dong Yai forest, indicates the sanctuary is rich with wildlife and other resources.

Based on the footage, forest rangers and volunteers would be assigned to patrol the area to prevent the elephants straying out of the sanctuary, Mr Somsuan said.

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HM King’s sons visit Siriraj hospital

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PUBLISHED : 13 Aug 2023 at 14:49

HM King's sons visit Siriraj hospital
Vacharaesorn Vivacharawongse, right, and his younger brother Chakriwat, left, pay their respects to the image of their great-grandfather Prince Mahidol at Siriraj Hospital on Sunday morning. (Photo supplied)

Two sons of His Majesty the King visited Siriraj Hospital on Sunday morning.

Vacharaesorn Vivacharawongse and his younger brother Chakriwat visited the kingdom’s very first hospital,  135-year-old Siriraj Hospital, and paid their respects to the image of their late grandfather King Rama IX and their great-grandparents there.

Mr Vacharaesorn, 42, recently visited temples and other places after returning to Thailand for the first time in about three decades.

His younger brother Chakriwat, 40, arrived later and the two planned to leave for the United States together.

The younger brother’s arrival prompted Mr Vacharaesorn to postpone his planned earlier departure on Sunday.

The brothers visited Ayutthaya province on Saturday.

The siblings are among four sons of His Majesty the King and his former consort Sujarinee Vivacharawongse. Their younger sister is Her Royal Highness Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana Rajakanya.

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Death toll from mudslide in China’s Xian rises to four

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BEIJING: The death toll from a mudslide last week in China’s northwestern Shaanxi province has risen to four, state radio said on Sunday (Aug 13), as the country grapples with unusually high summer rainfall. State-owned China Central Television (CCTV) had earlier reported that Friday’s mudslide in the city of Xian,Continue Reading

Snap Insight: Battered at state polls, UMNO is becoming a liability for Malaysian PM Anwar’s government

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INTERNAL STRIFE IN UMNO

To be sure, Mr Anwar’s position as premier and his government’s hold on power are in no threat. The weekend’s elections also very much retained the political landscape that held before the dissolution of the assemblies in late July. 

The PH coalition kept control of Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Penang, while Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah went back to the right-wing Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), which is the dominant member of the opposition Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition together with Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).

“PH and Anwar did alright by retaining the states they controlled, and the government can move ahead. But for UMNO, I am not so sure,” UMNO’s former treasurer Abdul Zahim Mohd Zabidi told CNA, adding that rumblings of an internal rebellion in the party have already begun.

“Unless there is some leadership change, UMNO is doomed,” he added.

UMNO, which ruled Malaysia with the leadership of the National Front (Barisan Nasional) coalition since independence, was kicked out of power in May 2018 on the back of widespread public anger over the international scandal at state-owned 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB). The financial fiasco subsequently led to the conviction and jailing of former UMNO president and Malaysia prime minister Najib Razak over corruption. 

DOUBTS OVER AHMAD ZAHID

Mr Ahmad Zahid subsequently took over the party leadership and consolidated his power by removing his opponents and packing the leadership of the powerful 25-member supreme council body with his allies. But the party no longer endears itself to the Malay community and that, in turn, has become a serious problem for Mr Anwar, who is struggling to build his government’s own credentials with the majority Malay community.

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Man accidentally shoots himself while dancing in Hat Yai pub

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PUBLISHED : 13 Aug 2023 at 13:05

Man accidentally shoots himself while dancing in Hat Yai pub
The 9mm automatic pistol recovered from a pub-goer by police after the weapon accidentally went off while the man was dancing in a Hat Yai pub, Songkhla, early on Sunday (Photo: Assawin Pakkawan)

SONGKHLA: About a hundred pub-goers ran for their lives out of a well-known entertainment venue in Hat Yai early on Sunday after a 9mm automatic pistol carried by a customer accidentally went off, sending a bullet into his left leg.

The incident occurred at about 1.30am inside Nectar Pub on Chuti-anusorn road in the Hat Yai municipal area.

Hat Yai police rushed to the pub to investigate.

Niran Suwan-in, 31, the pub-goer who accidentally triggered the shot, was injured in the left leg. He was admitted to Hat Yai Hospital for treatment.

A police investigation revealed that Mr Niran was among a large group of about 30 customers who made reservations online. Mr Niran was in a group of four men and three women at a table.

While Mr Niran was dancing to music, a 9mm automatic pistol he was carrying in his trouser pocket accidentally went off and the bullet hit him in the left leg.

The sudden blast caused all pub-goers to panic. They rushed outside the pub, which was abruptly closed for safety.

Police found the gun was properly registered. However, they were investigating how Mr Niran was able to enter the pub with the weapon.

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