Woman arrested for running karaoke sex bar
The cafe owner would withdraw 80 % of the service fees paid by teenagers.
PUBLISHED: 14 Jun 2024 at 13: 41
Following a raid on a music club in Bangkok’s Bang Khen area late on Thursday night, a person was detained and charged with bringing a case against her for bringing teenagers into prostitution.
Around 10pm, a 33-year-old woman who runs the nightspot was arrested by a Department of Provincial Administration ( DOPA ) task force and police who made the raid on Raed karaoke bar near Soi Lat Pla Khao 75.
Three teens- two 15- yr- older girls and a 16- yr- old trans girl- were rescued.
The work force was informed that girls under the age of 18 had been brought to the music bar to offer sex services to customers, according to DOPA inspector-general Ronnarong Thipsiri, who oversaw the raid. Three youths who had been taken to a nearby room met three spies posing as customers, so the process force received the call to release the attack.
According to the research, the club owner, whose title was withheld, had procured the youth from various regions several months ago, making them her lenders. The owner may withdraw 80 % of the fees when they were charged for alcoholic beverages or sex services.
The music cafe owner was the first defendant in the human trafficking law case to be brought against him. They included offering to buy tickets for trafficking and launching a nightclub without authorization. Additionally, the apartment’s landlord was accused of operating a hotel without authority without authorization.  ,
A group of therapists will be invited to investigate the freed youth, who will be sent to a child happiness home for treatment, said Mr Ronnarong.
On Thursday, police detained a transgender woman and two girls who were traveling to Bangkok’s Bang Khen neighborhood to perform sex acts on a customer. ( Photo: Department of Provincial Administration’s task force Facebook )
Huang Xueqin: Chinese #MeToo journalist jailed for five years
A prominent female# MeToo activist in China received a five-year prison sentence for” subversion against the state.”
Almost 10 weeks after her test, Sophia Huang Xueqin was found guilty and given a sentence on Friday.
Labour advocate Wang Jianbing, who stood trial with Ms Huang, was sentenced to three years and six months in prison.
Ms Huang, 36, had been one of the most popular tones in China’s# MeToo area, reporting surface- breaking stories about sexual abuse victims.
She had likewise made a statement about the discrimination and sexism in Chinese newsrooms.
Taiwanese officials have not established the relationship between the two people who are accused of subterfuge. The test was a shut- door hearing.
However, their supporters claim that because they held standard discussions and forums for younger people to discuss social issues, they were detained.
When Ms. Huang was detained at the Guangzhou aircraft in 2021, she was about to enroll in a UK-funded master’s program at the University of Sussex.
Mr Wang, 40, was with her at that moment.
Supporters say both have endured months of solitary confinement during their pre-detention custody, which lasted for nearly 1,000 days. Their trial only began in September 2023.
A BBC Eye investigation in 2022 found that both were being held in solitary confinement, detained in secret locations known as ‘black jails’.
Chinese government retaliated against a number of activists working in various fields in 2021 as a result of Covid lockdowns and growing public outcry.
” Their efforts and dedication to labour, women’s rights, and the broader civil society wo n’t be negated by this unjust trial, nor will society forget their contributions”, said the campaign group Free Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing.
” On the contrary, as tyranny endures and injustice grows, more campaigners like them may continue to rise”.
The convictions were described by Amnesty International as “malicious and utterly unfounded.”
According to Amnesty International’s China Director Sarah Brooks, “[They ] demonstrate how terrified the Chinese government is of the emerging wave of activists who dare to speak out to defend the rights of others.”
The Chinese authorities have attempted to do the exact opposite by phasing out the sexual violence in this instance, despite the fact that# MeToo activism has empowered survivors of it all over the world.
If the pair’s already-served period is used to reduce their statement, it is not known.
Previous people outcrying Ms. Huang’s case, while others who are opposed to the feminist movement praised it.
Some Chinese activists choose to be private online for sex rights and social factors.
State advertising and separatists frequently accuse them of being “agents of angry western makes.”
Sea swamps Bangladesh at one of world’s fastest rates
According to researchers, the impact of climate change is increasing as well as increasing in frequency as well as increasing in intensity and duration. In Bangladesh, hundreds of thousands of people have died in recent years. Shahjalal Mia, a 63- year- ancient restaurant landlord, said he watches the ocean “graspContinue Reading
European debt now a better bet than US Treasuries – Asia Times
As relationship expert Bill Gross sparkles a bright spotlight on a rapidly evolving threat to US Treasury securities, the November election, Janet Yellen the n’t become happy.
The former Pacific Investment Management Co ( PIMCO ) chief investment officer has mentioned European debt as a ready substitute for securities that were sold by US Treasury Secretary Yellen’s team in recent interviews.
” As we move to November, and everything becomes more clear as to who may or who might not win, the doubt plus the potential legislation implications may affect Treasuries significantly”, Gross told Bloomberg.
Gross’s apparent move to Europe comes even after the electoral debacles in Berlin and Paris. Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz faced opposition in the European Parliament elections on June 9.
As President Macron called a snap election in a bid to consolidate power, French bond yields reached their highest level since November. German and Italian bond prices plunged, too, as traders assessed the fiscal policy implications of the elections.
Gross notes, political surprises coming from the continent, and other significant events in India, Mexico, and South Africa that put many bond investors at risk due to market reactions. Could the US election pitting Democrats for Republicans against President Joe Biden be the next market snob?
” What we’ve seen the last few weeks is a reaction to uncertainty, in terms of not only the party that’s dominating, but uncertainty as to what their policies will be”, Gross explains.
As such, Gross adds,” there’s coming a point where European bonds are more attractive than Treasury bonds, in my opinion. In terms of attraction, the spreads for German and French 10-year bonds have decreased significantly over the past month or two in relation to Treasuries and today as well.
This is how US electioneering may cast a serious shadow over the attractiveness of the dollar, the linchpin of global finance and trade, written between the lines in bold font. And the difficult task Team Yellen must complete in order to stop the US government’s debt from rising worldwide.
Adding to Yellen’s challenges, a US national debt approaching US$ 35 trillion just as Washington politics become increasingly toxic.
Extreme polarization is already imperiling Washington’s credit rating. Last August, when Fitch Ratings yanked away America’s AAA , credit score, it cited the polarization behind the January 6, 2021 insurrection among the reasons.
Additionally, Fitch cited political conflict involving raising the statutory debt ceiling and funding the US government as risk factors for the credit rating of Washington. Such clashes might worry Asia less if not for the fact Washington’s debt is , twice the size , of China’s annual GDP and more than eight times Japan’s.
Combined, Tokyo and Beijing hold about$ 2 trillion of US government debt. That vast pool of savings could be at risk if Moody’s Investors Service revokes Washington’s last remaining AAA rating. Surging US yields would affect global markets in unanticipated ways.
America’s sharp mercantilist pivot since 2017 is another worry for Asia’s export- reliant economies. Then, President Trump imposed severe tariffs on global steel and aluminum as well as Chinese goods.
When Biden arrived, he left Trump’s trade war in place— and added new layers of China- targeted curbs, most targeting China’s access to semiconductors, chip- making equipment and other vital, cutting- edge technologies.
Now, Trump’s plan to slap 60 % taxes on all Chinese goods is catalyzing something of a tariff arms race, one that’s drawing retaliation threats from Xi Jinping’s government. The EU followed this week with 38 % of its own tariffs after Beijing just imposed a 100 % tax on China-made electric vehicles.
Never mind that “policies are more likely to hurt than help the lower- and middle-income Americans they purport to benefit,” asserts economist Kimberly Clausing of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a think tank based in Washington.
Stock markets everywhere could be in harm’s way as trade war risks increase and uncertainty surrounds growth prospects. According to Gross, the US’s “equity market is valued at historically high levels if looking at current 21-times ‘ price to earnings ratios” are considered. If GDP slows, he notes, there could be” a problem in terms of valuation at the moment for many stocks”.
That goes, too, for Europe’s economic prospects as the region’s biggest economy, Germany, fends off recession risks. With a narrower electoral mandate, Chancellor Scholz ‘ Social Democrats and its progressive coalition partners are now free to stimulate growth.
Macron is smarting in France now that he lost to Marine Le Pen’s nationalist far-right party in parliamentary elections. The surprise snap election he announced overlaps with Macron’s hosting of the Paris Summer Olympics. Macron’s instinct to fight contrasts with Belgium’s Alexander De Croo, who resigned instead.
Macron urges French citizens to cast ballots the same way they did this weekend for the European Parliament, which has long been seen as a protest vote, according to Mujtaba Rahman, an analyst at Eurasia Group.
Macron “believes he can defy the polls by having to choose between the pro-EU, pro-Ukrainian, and centrist status quo” and the existential risk of a far-right government,” he said.
It’s quite a gamble on France’s future. Polls, Rahman says, suggest Macron’s centrist coalition will fail to win a majority, and if Le Pen’s National Rally picks up the most seats.”
That means” France will be in uncharted waters,” Rahman explains”. Le Pen has stated that she will partially withhold EU funding, impose stricter immigration laws, violate the EU single market by putting French business before French aid, and impose restrictions on aid to Ukraine.
Italy’s Giorgia Meloni had a much better week, continuing her pivot from far- right to mainstream. Along with a solid election showing, Meloni’s government will host the Group of Seven ( G7 ) in the days ahead.
Centrist European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also appears to have reclaimed the far-right trend and been given another five-year term. She will likely be forced to make concessions to immigration and environmental policies to advance the agenda.
What all of this means for EU fiscal dynamics is a ripe subject. Another wildcard is the outlook for US rates. The core consumer price index dropped to its lowest level in more than three years in May.
Despite May’s lower CPI, the US Federal Reserve’s guidance seems” roughly unchanged,” says economist Dominique Dwor- Frecaut at advisory Macro Hive”. Cuts continue to be the best case scenario until the Fed has increased its confidence in the disinflationary outlook.
Will Denyer, economist at Gavekal Dragonomics, adds that” even though they had this softer inflation data in hand, Fed policymakers still pared back their rate cut expectations for the year.”
The global implications are uncertain. The belief that the Fed is” committed to its 2 % inflation target” in the foreign exchange market implies that any increase in US inflation has a tendency to cause the dollar to rise while slower inflation causes the US currency to contract, according to Denyer.
As a result, May’s softer CPI release saw the dollar ease against most currencies. However, it’s still unclear whether this focus will continue to be the main force behind the world’s exchange markets in the coming days and weeks.
Denyer contends that worries about the outcome of the French parliamentary election could devalue the euro. A potential drop in the Bank of Japan’s asset purchases could increase the yen. The main story is, however, May’s moderate US inflation and what it implies for US policy and global markets.
Not the whole story, though, as election- year shenanigans heat up in the US. Global markets will continue to be tense as Biden and Trump battle it out in the polls.  ,
According to Kelvin Wong, an analyst at OANDA, the 10-year yield spread premium between US Treasury notes and Japanese government bonds has reduced Japanese insurance companies ‘ ability to invest in fixed-income securities, which may result in higher odds that the long-term JGB yields will likely trend higher.
According to Wang,” These potential upcoming fixed income portfolio adjustments from Japanese insurance companies may provide some support to halt the major yen’s weakness against the US dollar.”
However, as Gross points out, European debt will soon be popular with global investors as Yellen’s team struggles to maintain demand for a US Treasury debt market that appears to be in decline.
” Relative to the US, we see support for European bonds due to smaller fiscal deficits,” says Ann- Katrin Petersen, investment strategist at the BlackRock Investment Institute.
Follow William Pesek on X at @WilliamPesek
China’s global military base strategy taking shape – Asia Times
China is signing foreign military base access agreements to expand the reach of its armed forces around the world, a move that counteracts America’s long-range deterrence plan for Taiwan and threatens India with encirclement.
RAND released a report this month outlining how China is negotiating base access agreements to expand its security footprint and allow People’s Liberation Army ( PLA ) and People’s Armed Police ( PAP ) to conduct operations abroad.
RAND identifies specific locations including Cambodia, Equatorial Guinea, Namibia, the Solomon Islands, the UAE and Vanuatu. According to the review, China currently has a logistics center in Djibouti and a Tajikistan paramilitary base.
Apart from those places, Newsweek reported in March 2024 that China is likewise seeking basic accessibility in Cuba, Pakistan, Tanzania, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.
Although these bases help peace operations like non-combatant evacuations and intelligence meeting, the Rand report claims that their prospective use during a wartime conflict is unsure. Through 2030, the PLA’s main kinetic task will likely be to protect sea lines of communication ( SLOC).
By 2030, China’s military writings suggest a lack of programs or the ability to use foreign bases for offensive operations against US forces, according to the Rand review. According to the statement, China prioritizes the defense of coastal trade roads and the defense against potential US barricades.
The statement also makes a point of highlighting the major difficulties the PLA faces in creating and maintaining these bases, including the social dependability of the host countries, operational assistance issues, and base security. It raises questions about the efficiency and endurance of the PLA’s strategy in the face of war because it notes that the PLA relies heavily on recruited human resources for shipping.
The PLA’s capability for higher-end combat operations from these locations is constrained despite efforts to create a network of corporate emplacements and logistics support foundations, including in professional ports.
According to the Rand report, increased PLA naval and air defense activities in international bases might show a shift to an aggressive stance, but administrative and political issues make it improbable that PLA bases will pose a major threat to US defense interests over the next ten years.
However, this examination may overlook the fast development of Chinese strategic planning and technology.
In a June 2024 article for The National Interest ( TNI), Brandon Weichert points out that China has the largest fleet of aircraft carriers worldwide, underscoring its significant shipbuilding advantage in comparison to the US.
Weichert claims that the People’s Liberation Army-N will use these resources to assert local supremacy by preventing US troops from entering the Indo-Pacific.
He claims that the PLA- N views its carriers as floating demand facilities in any eventual conflict, such as an invasion or Taiwan blockade. He also contends that the US must conform to the arrival of new geographical waters and Chinese naval installations in the Northern Hemisphere.
By leveraging the risk of a clear attack on the US island, China may seek starting exposure in the Western Hemisphere to challenge the US’s prolonged punishment in a Taiwan issue.
Robert Ellis cites base access in Cuba in a 2023 article for the Peruvian Army Center for Strategic Studies as evidence that China could launch special operations, retaliate against the US military, and attack the US mainland to sever key defense supply chains in a conflict scenario.
In addition, Gordon Chang warns in a Gatestone Institute article from June 2023 that China might launch long-range missiles against Cuba to attack US Navy installations in Florida, obstruct US vessels ‘ movements, and shoot down planes over the southeast of the country.
India worries that China will use its economic leverage to expand its lone overseas military base in Djibouti by expanding its base there. This circumstance would put an end to India’s rule over the Indian Ocean and stoke encirclement fears.
Although China’s base in Djibouti can support its naval operations in the Indian Ocean, it is located at the end of fragile supply lines, according to Isaac Kardon in a February 2023 Foreign Policy at Brookings briefing.
Kardon contends that China’s Djibouti facility is isolated and only effective because it does n’t cooperate with other Indian Ocean Chinese military installations. Kardon points out that China’s dual-use commercial facilities at Gwadar and Hambantota have still functioned as significant nodes for its naval operations.
In regards to Gwadar, Kardon and other authors mention it in a report from the China Maritime Studies Institute in August 2020, citing its location, military significance, and Chinese port operator.
According to Kardon and others, some PLA circles consider that Chinese base access to Gwadar to be as good as new, quoting a PLA official who said,” The food is already on the plate, we’ll eat it whenever we want,”
In line with the South China Morning Post’s (SCMP )’s (SCMP ) report from July 2023 that Hambantota will most likely be China’s next military base in the Indian Ocean, pointing out that China has direct control of the facility and represents its single largest port investment.
In terms of military support, Gwadar and Hambantota can back a more pervasive Chinese naval presence in the Indian Ocean, which could ultimately endanger India’s sea-based nuclear deterrent.
The Bay of Bengal’s deep waters offer better cover than the crowded waters of the Arabian Sea, according to Asia Times, who reported this month that India may be planning to convert it into a base for its nuclear ballistic missile submarines ( SSBN).
India’s SSBNs would patrol the Bay of Bengal from a massive submarine base in Rambilli, with the area being protected by surface assets like aircraft carriers and destroyers. Such a plan would allow India to launch launch-bombs ( SLBMs) at Pakistan and China without being detected by nuclear-tipped submarines.
However, nuclear tensions between China and India are most likely to be the result of their mutually advantageous penetrations of one another’s bastions using conventional weapons. In that scenario, Chinese warships operating out of Gwadar and Hambantota may monitor the movements of India’s SSBNs.
India is also considering expanding its presence in the South China Sea, where China intends to establish a base for its SSBNs, in line with India’s intentions in the Bay of Bengal.
‘Do they need it?’ Influencer scholarships in Indonesia spark concerns about use of student aid
SUPERFICIAL STRATEGY?
The Indonesian government reversed a plan to raise education at state colleges that was proposed in January next month. Following protest from individuals across the nation, education minister Nadiem Anwar Makarim announced that charges would not be raised for the upcoming 2024 to 2025 educational time.
According to guidelines at public colleges, fees may be set based on a federal standard and tested to ensure students from the least-affluent families receive the lowest tuition rates.
The same rules do not apply to private corporations, according to Angga, which means there is a higher challenge of passage for financially needy students.
” A lot of us academics see]influencer scholarships ] as a shallow or superficial strategy by private institutions to attract kids because, in Indonesia, private universities struggle to get candidates and most kids want to attend state institutions, which are considered more prestigious and are often more affordable”.
According to Angga, the influence scholarships may also serve as a “free advertising” tool to increase the visibility of these private schools.
These learners who have a large social media following can tell good things about the school they are enrolling in, he said, and they can promote their followers to do the same.
However, Angga cautioned that students who are interested in selling or who see being an influence as a” part gig” could use these scholarships to further their educational goals.
Last year, teenage influencer Satria Rizki Safiri, who has more than 200, 000 followers on TikTok, received a scholarship worth 66 million Indonesian rupiah ( US$ 4, 000 ) from Telkom Purwokerto Institute of Technology in Purwokerto, Central Java, to study logistics engineering.
” I think on one hand, it shows these individuals have creativity and confidence. But trust is not always the same as ability, especially if these individuals are accepted into dynamic levels”, Angga said.
” Perhaps these institutions should prioritize awarding scholarships to students who are economically poor or have low-income background, because those kids are the ones who may really need it,” he said.
This content was the first to appear on SCMP.
Man who punished son by chaining him to toilet fixture for hours gets 2 years’ jail
A father in Singapore sentenced to two years in prison on Friday ( Jun 14), after locking his son to a bathroom for days at once.
The 53-year-old admitted guilt in the State Courts to three counts of child abuse against his then 13-year-old child in the Children and Young Persons Act. His imprisonment was based on a single criminal intimidation count.  ,
The gentleman, a Grab drivers, never been named to defend his son’s identity.  ,
The man’s divorce from his family led to the court’s discovery that he had regained custody of his son. He and his brother were living together.  ,
The accused discovered that his brother had been texting his mother on November 30, 2022, despite being instructed to stop communicating with her.
Angered, the father slapped the left side of the victim’s mouth, leaving him with a traumatic injury to his ears.  ,
The guy then used a bright rubber hose to inflict bruin on his son’s upper arm, again, and left thigh, leaving bruises.
The prey was afterwards brought to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, where he and his family reported the injury. The person admitted to causing the injury and claimed to have previously struck his brother.  ,
In 2022, the gentleman used a metallic chain to control his son on three occasions, according to investigations that later revealed that the guy had violated his son’s promise to no contact his mother in regards to no contacting his mother.  ,
The person may use a lock to secure the metal chain to a metallic bar next to the toilet’s basin and wrap it thrice around either his son’s ankle or wrist.
Next, to prevent his son from hurting, he may spot a rubber line between the string and the child’s wrist or ankle.  ,
Before leaving the boy only for two to five days, he may even spot 1 liter of water and food on a table for his child.  , In the meantime, the gentleman would go to sleep or keep the system.  ,
The boy’s solicitor, Mr Mansur Husain sought 12 to 15 months ‘ prison for his clientele, adding that his customer acknowledges his crime.  ,
According to District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt, the victim’s punishment was “harmful, cruel, and entirely unneeded.” He noted that the defense had come to terms with the accusation that the accused had gone too far in terms of disciplining and inciting criminal behavior against his brother.  ,
For ill- treating a child, the man could have been jailed for up to eight years, fined up to S$ 8, 000 ( US$ 5, 920 ), or both.
G7 summit turns to simmering tensions with China
” RUSSIA’S WAR MACHINE” At the summit, security and defense issues are also being discussed, including claims that Beijing has contributed to the expansion of Russia’s military forces. During a press conference with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday, Biden said the G7 had “agreed to taking social action” againstContinue Reading
India’s opposition leveraged caste and constitution to shock Modi in election
Couldn’t WANT Vote?  ,  ,  ,  , The destruction of thousands of homes and shops came before Ayodhya’s transformation into a temple city. Nearly two hundred citizens, including BJP followers, told Reuters they were dissatisfied with the payment offered.  , A SP vote who identified himself by his first nameContinue Reading
US, Australia ‘concerned’ over Hong Kong passport cancellations
Australia added that the security rules “have a far-reaching impact, including on people in Australia,” and that it was” concerned by the degradation of rights and freedoms.” The comments come a time after Anne Marie Trevelyan, the UK’s minister of state for the Indo-Pacific, referred to the passport cancellations asContinue Reading