Some monks have joined street protests opposing the power grab, while other religious leaders have defended the military junta. Ahead of the religious observance, a group of Mandalay monks opposed to the coup urged other holy men not to participate in the junta-organised event. “They are ogres, but they pretend to be human beings,” the Sangha Mandalay monk group said in a Facebook post. Government officials and representatives from a military-linked political party hosted the religious ceremony near a former royal palace on Saturday — the day coinciding with a full moon. Mandalay monk Ugga Nyana insisted participation in ceremony was not a political statement, and the clergymen came in the name of love.

China withdraws as Asian Cup host due to pandemicA woman takes a rapid antigen test for Covid-19 while holding a smartphone at a community centre in Beijing on Saturday. (Photo: AFP)China has withdrawn as the 2023 Asian Cup host due to the coronavirus, football officials said Saturday, with Beijing's strict zero-Covid strategy dealing another blow to the country's sporting ambitions. The Olympic-sized Asian Games, due to be staged in September in Hangzhou, had already been postponed earlier this month, and on Saturday the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said China would not host the Asian Cup. The Asian Cup is staged every four years. It would have been the second time that China had staged the Asian Cup.

27 killed in fire in Indian capitalFirefighters in New Delhi said 27 bodies were found at the scene of the blaze. NEW DELHI: At least 27 people died and dozens more were injured in a massive fire in a building in the Indian capital New Delhi on Friday, emergency services said. A police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity that one of the office owners has been detained for questioning. The Indian capital of 20 million people is currently suffering through a heatwave, with temperatures of up to 46 Celsius (115 Fahrenheit) recorded in some places. Sixteen 16 Covid-19 patients and two nurses were killed in a fire at a hospital in Gujarat state in May 2021.

School still smoulders a week after being hit in razed Ukraine villageThe outlines of a wall are all that remain of a grade school in which Ukraine says 60 sheltering civilians died in a Russian aerial bombing attackBILOGORIVKA (UKRAINE) - The charred basement at the bottom of a heap of rubble that was once a two-storey grade school was still hot a week after a military strike Ukraine says killed 60 people sheltering from Russian bombs. "The world has turned upside down," the 70-year-old said while staring at the remains of a school the Soviets built for the coal mining village after World War II. - No signs of life -Local governor Sergiy Gaidai says 60 people sheltering in the school's basement "likely" died in a Russian aerial bombing attack on May 7. Yet the ruins on School Street in Bilogorivka revealed few secrets about what exactly happened on that fateful night. Both cities and the ruined village now stand completely deserted and deprived of water and other basic services.

Somsak said he had received complaints from inmates’ relatives that prisons were placing convicts in Covid-19 quarantine convicts for 15-21 days before releasing them. He added that the Corrections Department had no policy to quarantine released prisoners, so any prisons found doing so would face disciplinary punishment. He also ensured prisoners’ relatives that he would make sure that such violations do not happen again. Cumulative cases of Covid-19 reported among prisoners nationwide stand at 95,101, with 206 total deaths and 404 still undergoing treatment. On Saturday, Thailand recorded 6,736 new Covid-19 cases and 54 deaths.

Apirat, a former special project manager of the Crown Property Bureau, is accused of embezzling over THB200 million from Wat Bowonniwet after befriending Somdet Phra Wannarat, the late abbot of the temple. According to police, Apirat repeatedly transferred money from the temple’s account into his own between November 2021 to January 2022, using it to buy luxury items including cars and condominium units. On the list of 14 items seized by AMLO are two condo units in Chatuchak district, a building in Prawet district, Bentley, Porsche and Tesla cars, two Volvo cars, two vanity licence plates, and four saving accounts. Apart from Apirat, other individuals listed as co-owners of the assets are his mother Suwarat, his father Aphichai, his brother Chalermporn, and Karin Kittiamphon. AMLO and the police said they will gather additional evidence of Apirat’s money trail before filing charges against him and his alleged accomplices.

PTT teams up with THAI to develop cargo servicesNational oil and gas conglomerate PTT Plc is joining hands with national flag carrier Thai Airways International (THAI) to develop cargo services, with the ultimate aim of becoming a regional logistics leader. The national airline has decades of experience in providing cargo services for the industrial and agricultural sectors, as well as transporting products that require special care, notably vaccines and medicines. Despite the Covid-19 lockdown periods, THAI continued to operate its cargo services, using passenger aircraft as there were no commercial flights to help the company with its transport of goods, said Mr Suvadhana. In April this year, THAI saw its goods transport flights, including those transporting fruit, rise by 123% to 87, up from 39 flights in March. Mr Auttapol said PTT can integrate its experience in land transport and warehouse operation in the northeastern province of Khon Kaen with THAI's business.

Under the constitution, vice-president and premier Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, ruler of Dubai, will act as president until the federal council which groups the rulers of the seven emirates meets within 30 days to elect a new president. Khalifa, who was born in 1948, came to power in 2004 in the richest emirate Abu Dhabi and became the head of state. He is expected to be succeeded as ruler of Abu Dhabi by his half-brother Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan.

In his opening address, Kalin Sarasin, the Thai Chamber of Commerce’s chairman, noted that Thailand was a multi-cultural country with a wide variety of the landscapes yet tourists still tended to visit the major centres like Bangkok, Phuket and Chiang Mai. There was thus a need to encourage interest in smaller and less-known destinations and online media was the ideal channel for such promotion. However, in addition to online promotion, many local organization need better tourism management and unique packaging that will attract tourists to enjoy what their towns or communities have to offer. “We invited the lecturers from Mie province, Japan, to share experiences and example of product improvement using storytelling to lure travellers to visit and revisit,” Kalin said.

BoT preps measures for household debtThe atmosphere at Money Expo 2022, which kicked off on Thursday and runs until Sunday at Impact Muang Thong Thani. (Photo: Nutthawat Wicheanbut)The Bank of Thailand plans to implement new measures to ease household debt, focusing on lower-income borrowers. The low income and high debt burden for vulnerable groups is a key reason for the county's swelling household debt. Data sharing from all related parties is one method to help deal with the country's household debt, said the central bank. Adequate information should help both regulators and financial institutions to stipulate targeted measures helping borrowers better manage debt, he said.

Rugby opens new frontier by picking US as World Cup hostsSouth Africa won the 2019 Rugby World CupLONDON: The Rugby World Cup will be staged in the United States for the first time in 2031 after the game's governing body named the host nations for five men's and women's tournaments. "Today, we have approved three exceptional Rugby World Cup host nations -- England, Australia and USA -- providing unprecedented certainty and an unparallelled opportunity to accelerate the growth and impact of rugby globally," said World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont. Japan reached the last eight of their home World Cup three years ago in a tournament won by South Africa. "We're beyond thrilled to be welcoming not one, but two Rugby World Cups to our shores," said Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan. "As we have seen from other home World Cups in cricket, hockey and netball, a World Cup will further advance all women's sport."

In response to the government policy, the EV committee last year formulated a bold roadmap for EV adoption with a target for ZEV production of 725,000 EV cars and pick-ups plus 675,000 EV motorcycles, and 34,000 buses and trucks. Moreover, Thailand is competing with Indonesia to become an EV production and export hub. EV use is targeted to be 1.50 million in 2025, 5.41 million in 2030 and15.58 million in 2035. Factors driving EV growthThailand’s EV demand started to gain momentum when Chinese car makers entered the Thai market with low prices. BMW Group (Thailand) could be the pioneer in developing a public EV charging station.

"One tonne of sugar cane can make around 110kg of sugar. This also shows sugar cane is of good quality," Chalush Chinthammit, chairman of the FTI's Sugar Industry Club, said. Crushed sugar cane has a commercial cane sugar (CCS) sweetness level of 12.7 as farmers supplied fresh sugar cane to factories, he said. Since December last year, 57 sugar factories have begun to receive sugar cane from farmers. "We still expect sugar cane output to reach 100 million tonnes in the full crop year of 2022-23," he said.

He added that digital transformation and further consideration of a free trade area are also needed in the discussion. Digitalisation would sustain growth while more fairness and openness of FTA would support the flow of trade and people. This is a desperate need in the current situation after being severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, he said. “As a collective force representing the leading growth drivers from 21 economies of the region, the ABAC is committed to upholding not only our own respective businesses but also the business of those people for whom our businesses exist. “Having been at the receiving end of serious challenges brought about by the global pandemic and other events that affected business operations worldwide, people’s lifestyle, and the sustainable, inclusive and resilient growth of Asia-Pacific, we consider it an opportune time to work together to draft key recommendations that truly represent the voice of the people to the Apec economic leaders in an annual dialogue towards the end of 2022,” said Suphant.

From 0.01am until midnight on Friday, vehicles can zip through all toll booths of the Chalerm Maha Nakhon, Sirat and Udon Ratthaya expressways free of charge, the Expressway Authority of Thailand (Exat) said. The authority expects more people to travel on Friday as it forms a four-day long weekend, which kicks off with Royal Ploughing Day. The break will extend into Monday, which is a compensation holiday for Visakha Bucha Day on Sunday (May 15). The national holiday on Friday marks the Royal Ploughing Ceremony, an ancient tradition observed in Thailand every year to mark the start of the rice-growing season. Brahmin priests and court astrologers then interpret what the oxen eat to forecast whether the country’s coming harvest will be plentiful or not.