THAILAND: The family of a British man given a life sentence in Thailand for drugs offences welcomed him home after his conviction was quashed. 

There were emotional scenes at London’s Heathrow Airport as Jody Aggett was greeted by his five-year-old son, Ryan, his parents, Lorna and Tony, and his twin sister, Tammy. Mr Aggett’s Thai girlfriend, Ramphia Lo, gave birth in jail after she was sentenced alongside Mr Aggett following their arrest in 2001.

The couple decided to send Ryan home to his grandparents in Swindon, Wiltshire, and Tuesday was only the second time that the little boy has met his father.

Mr Aggett was jailed for life in 2003 after his sentence was commuted from the death penalty originally imposed.

He had been staying above a travel agent’s in Bangkok with Ramphia Lo, known in the family as Kristin, when they were both arrested. Mr Aggett’s parents said the couple were allowed to stay rent-free if they opened and closed the shop each day but the agency’s owner, unbeknown to them, was manufacturing Ecstasy in the building.

The couple were advised to plead guilty but refused and his family have been campaigning, along with Fair Trials Abroad, for their release for six years.

On Tuesday, Mrs Aggett said she would be welcoming her son home by “surrounding him with lots of family love” as well as a barbecue, beloved in her native South Africa, and an ice-cold beer.

“Jody has been our strength throughout all of this and Ryan has been such a great comfort because every time I saw him I saw a little bit of Jody and Kristin.”

She said she would “always admire and love” Kristin for allowing the little boy to be sent to the UK.

Mr Aggett, wearing a white T-shirt and jeans, looked tired and drawn after his long flight. He told waiting reporters that he had never expected to see freedom: “In that court I was expecting the same sentence again.”

THAILAND: Rebels in southern Thailand are prepared to continue their armed struggle for an independent Muslim homeland for up to another five years before they contemplate talks with Bangkok, a leading rights group revealed yesterday.

In a 104-page report on the Muslim- majority region where at least 2,400 people have been killed in the past four years, Human Rights Watch said the BRN-Coordinate group that appears to mastermind the unrest had more than 7,000 “youth members.”

The New York-based agency said it made rare contact with members of the BRN-Coordinate, which has never made its aims public, and was told the group had “no plans to give up the armed struggle for Pattani Darulsalam.”

Pattani is the name of the independent sultanate annexed by predominantly Buddhist Thailand a century ago. Darulsalam means “peaceful state” in Malay, the language spoken by 80 percent of people in Thailand’s south along the Malaysian border.

Along with Narathiwat and Yala, Pattani is one of the three Thai provinces racked by the daily shootings, bombings, machete attacks and beheadings that started with a well- organized raid on an army barracks in January 2004.

Human Right Watch said the rebels, who have shown no desire to hook up with international militant groups such as Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda so far, were preparing for the long haul.

“They believe that at least three to five more years of the kind of violence that has taken place since 2004 is necessary before they are in a strong enough position to come into public view and participate in any kind of political process,” Human Rights Watch said.

The far south has always been distinct from the rest of Thailand, despite efforts by various military governments in the 1950s and 1960s to import Thai language, culture and religion.

Separatist rebels waged a low-level guerrilla war in the densely forested region throughout the 1970s and 1980s, but their campaign petered out in the 1990s under a more conciliatory, democratic government in Bangkok.

Violence flared anew in 2004 after then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a former policeman, dismantled the Southern Border Province Peace- Building Administration, an army-run organization that included civilians and Muslim religious leaders, and put police in charge of security.

Thaksin’s decision to flood the region with 30,000 troops and police further alienated the population, especially after 78 Muslim men arrested after a protest died of suffocation in army custody.

Srisompob Jitpiromsri, an academic at the south’s Prince of Songkhla University, said he had contacted militants through third parties and been told the plan was to inflict a death toll in the tens of thousands before negotiations start.

“One or two thousand deaths is just the beginning,” he said recently.

“Once you have more than 20,000 people dead, you have more bargaining power for independence. They want independence. They will not compromise on this goal.”

INDIA – India blamed Islamic militants based in Pakistan and Bangladesh for twin bombings that killed at least 42 people in the south, and a top government official acknowledged that his country was struggling to stop terror attacks. 

“Our country is so big that even if we have the information that something is planned we do not know where or when,” Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil said.

He did not say if authorities had any advance warning of Saturday’s blasts, which killed 42 people in Hyderabad. They were the latest in a series of deadly bombings in India in the last two years that have killed hundreds in India’s capital, its financial center and Hinduism’s holiest city, among other cities.

Officials blame the attacks on foreign militants with ties to Pakistan or Bangladesh, saying the extremists want to foment tension between India’s Hindu majority and its Muslim minority.

The argument has been used even when the victims were Muslim, as was the case in the May bombings of a historic mosque in Hyderabad that 11 killed people.

Authorities have provided little evidence linking Islamic militants to the blasts, and many Muslims here blame Hindu extremists.

With the investigation into the latest bombings — which targeted areas frequented by both Hindus and Muslims — just getting under way Sunday, officials were again pointing the finger at foreign Islamic militants.

“Available information points to the involvement of terrorist organizations based in Bangladesh and Pakistan,” Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, chief minister of Andhra Pradesh state, where Hyderabad is located, told reporters after an emergency state Cabinet meeting.

Reddy did not name the groups or provide proof, saying “it is not possible to divulge all this information.”

However, Indian media reports, quoting unnamed security officials, said the Bangladesh-based Harkatul Jihad Al-Islami group was behind the attack. Harkatul, which wants to establish Islamic rule in Bangladesh, has been known to attack non-Bangladeshi targets, including Western diplomats.

Bangladesh condemned Saturday’s bombings and rejected the allegation that Bangladeshi groups were involved.

Pakistan also reacted angrily to Reddy’s comments, characterizing them as an “irresponsible” knee-jerk reaction.

“They have been making these allegations and nothing ever came out of those allegations and yet they continue maligning Pakistan,” said Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam.

“Only the Indians have this kind of some supernatural powers that as soon as some terrorist act takes place they know how it happened and who is responsible,” she told The Associated Press in Islamabad.

Indian officials have blamed other bombings over the past two years on Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, or Army of the Pure, an Islamic militant group based in Pakistan that has fought India forces in New Delhi’s part of contested Kashmir, a predominantly Muslim Himalayan region.

We condemn the attacks,” U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said Sunday. “India has shown great resolve and courage in the face of extremist threats. We continue to stand by the Indian people in the fight against terror.”

Much of India’s Hindu-Muslim animosity is rooted in disputes over Kashmir, divided between Hindu-majority India and Muslim Pakistan but claimed in its entirety by both countries. More than a dozen Islamic insurgent groups are fighting for Kashmir’s independence or its merger with Pakistan.

More than 80 percent of India’s 1.1 billion people are Hindu and 13 percent are Muslim. But in Hyderabad, Muslims make up 40 percent of the population of 7 million.

INDIA: A string of blasts tore through the Indian city of Hyderabad late Saturday, killing at least 36 people and injuring 60 in what officials called a terrorist attack.

Three explosions rocked a packed auditorium where a laser show was under way in an amusement park jammed with weekend crowds, while two others ripped through a busy street eatery minutes later, police said.

“To be precise, a total of five explosive devices were used. We now have at least 36 people killed and 60 people injured,” Balwinder Singh, Hyderabad police chief, told reporters.

At least 15 of the injured were in serious condition, officials said, as police chief Singh said a sixth bomb was recovered from a cinema theatre and defused.

Federal Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal said the explosions in the city, which has a large Muslim population and is considered communally sensitive, were the handiwork of “some terrorist group.”

“One terrorist group or the other, which is bent on destroying the unity of the country, is certainly involved in the blasts in Hyderabad,” Jaiswal said.

About 40 percent of Hyderabad’s 6.5 million population is Muslim.

Saturday’s explosions came three months after 11 people were killed in a bombing at the city’s famed 17th-century Mecca Mosque. Police have still not named any group or individual as suspects for the mosque blasts.

Ten days ago, when India was celebrating the 60th anniversary on August 15 of its independence, authorities stepped up security across the country after new threats by Al-Qaeda and separatist rebels.

Police chiefs said then that, while there was nothing specific, they were taking the terror threat very seriously.

The Hyderabad city administrator said Saturday that police “already have some leads” but did not elaborate.

The Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y.S. Rajshekhar Reddy called on “everyone to be calm.”

“Bomb blasts are the cruelest acts against humanity. The perpetrators of such an act could have no religion, ideological or national identity. They at best could be described as traitors of humanity,” said Reddy.

Dismembered limbs, clothes and shoes of people watching the laser show in Lumbini Park lay scattered on the ground and there were pools of blood where victims had fallen.

“People were running away, some who were hurt had blood streaming from their bodies,” a private security guard said.

Injured people were rushed to hospital in three-wheel scooters and cars.

The chief minister said about 500 people were in the auditorium at the time of the explosion.

The federal Home Minister Shivraj Patil said he would visit Hyderabad on Sunday.

Explosive experts visited the blast sites to collect samples of materials used, while police evacuated the areas where the explosions occurred.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the blasts and expressed his deep concern.

India has suffered a series of recent terrorist attacks.

In July 2006, seven bomb blasts ripped through financial hub Mumbai’s rail network killing some 186 people.

“We’re seeing a pattern of attacks every two to three months somewhere or other in the country on soft targets,” said Ajai Sahni, head of the New Delhi-based Institute for Conflict Management.

“They appear to be linked to what we call Pakistan-backed Islamic terrorist groups.”

The Mumbai attack was blamed on militants seeking to upset a slow-moving peace process between India and Pakistan and provoke Hindu-Muslim violence.

India has frequently accused Islamic militant groups fighting its rule in revolt-hit Indian Kashmir of being behind attacks. Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and both nuclear rivals claim the region in full.

The neighbours have fought two wars over the Himalayan territory where at least 42,000 people have been killed in the separatist revolt since 1989.
Pakistan denies any involvement in attacks on Indian soil.

JAPAN: A Taiwanese China Airlines plane has been forced to make an emergency landing at an airport in Japan after running low on fuel, airport officials say. 

The jet was on its way from Taipei to Nagoya when its pilots requested a landing at Kansai, in western Japan. 
 
There were no reports of injuries to passengers or crew. 
 
The incident comes two days after a China Airlines plane exploded in a fireball shortly after landing on Japan’s southern island of Okinawa. 
 
The plane, which had taken off from Taipei with more than 160 people on board, was forced to circle the airport in Chubu. A spokesman for China Airlines said the main reason the plane had to make an unscheduled stop at Kansai airport was that it had been told that the runway at Nagoya had been closed after a bird became stuck in the engine of another jet.
 
He said the plane waited until the pilots were told that the runway was open and then continued on to Nagoya. 

Earlier reports said the plane had been forced to land because it had run out of fuel. 
 
In Monday’s incident at Naha airport all 165 people on board survived, with some escaping just seconds before the plane exploded. 
 
Aviation officials from the US and Taiwan have been examining the wreckage for clues as to why the plane burst into flames, and are reported to be focusing on the possibility of a fuel leak from one of the engines.-
AFT

BURMA: Burma’s military regime has arrested at least nine leaders of a pro-democracy group which had staged a rare protest against massive fuel price hikes, an activist group said Wednesday.

The Washington-based U.S. Campaign for Burma said in a release that virtually the entire leadership of the 88 Generation Students was taken to a detention center in Yangon.

Five university students and three members of another activist group were also arrested in separate sweeps by the authorities, the release said.

Members of the 88 Generation Students were at the forefront of the 1988 pro-democracy uprising and were given lengthy prison terms after the rebellion was brutally suppressed by the military.

The arrests at midnight Tuesday came two days after the group led more than 400 people in a protest march through Yangon against the doubling of fuel prices on Aug. 15.

Those reportedly arrested included Min Ko Naing, one of Myanmar’s most prominent activists, Mya Aye, Pyone Cho and Yin Htun.

Three members of the Myanmar Development Committee, which had called for a nationwide protest against the sudden hikes, were also arrested along with five university students who were putting up posters demanding the reduction of prices on fuel and basic commodities.

Rumors circulated in Yangon that a nationwide protest against the hikes would be staged Wednesday.

Security in Yangon and Mandalay, the country’s second largest city, has been tightened since Monday.

Tension was also reported among teachers and students at schools and universities, traditional centers of protest, with some parents saying they would not send their children to school on Wednesday in light of the rumors.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been widely criticized for its human rights violations including the continued house arrest of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. The country has been under military control since 1962.

THAILAND: Thailand’s voters have approved an army-drafted constitution but a hefty “No” vote suggests December’s general election will be messy, with ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra still a potent political force. 

With 98 percent of votes counted on Monday in Thailand’s first referendum, the Election Commission said about 57 percent of people had accepted the charter, designed to prevent a repeat of Thaksin’s powerful single-party style of government.

However, 41 percent rejected it, sending a signal to the generals who removed the telecoms billionaire in a coup last September they will struggle to control the make-up of the next administration.

Roughly 25 million of the 45 million electorate cast their ballots, a 56 percent turnout.

Having pressed for a “Yes” vote, the army-appointed post-coup government had been hoping for at least a 60 percent turn-out for what will be the 18th charter in 75 years of on-off democracy.

After early exit polls indicated overall approval — a result that was never really in question — Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said elections would “definitely be held at the end of the year”. Dec. 16 or Dec. 23 are the most likely dates.

Thaksin, 58, has been in exile in Britain since the coup and spent Sunday afternoon watching his newly acquired soccer club, Manchester City, beat Manchester United 1-0 in a match that generated as much interest back home as the referendum.
Many Thais, especially those in Bangkok, appeared motivated to vote by a desire to see an end to the turmoil that has reigned since Thaksin’s family sold control of the telecoms empire he founded to Singapore for a tax-free $1.9 billion in January 2006.

Analysts said investors would also be relieved there had been no major upset, although the smaller-than-expected margin of victory for the “Yes” camp suggested the election would be closely fought, messy — and dirty.

“This is telling the junta that they are going to have trouble at an election and that could mean all kinds of attempts to influence the result — and that’s worrying,” Bangkok-based political analyst Chris Baker said.

Even though Thaksin’s Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party has been disbanded and 111 top members barred from politics, its leaders hope the mass rural support that twice swept it to power will rally to a new party under a new flag.

Voter breakdowns showed a 62 percent “No” in the Thaksin heartlands of the northeast, suggesting the army’s campaign to discredit him and his dissolved party has failed.

Analysts say the charter is designed to restore rule by the elites challenged by Thaksin, son of an ethnic Chinese silk merchant, and rekindle the “managed democracy” of the 1980s under ex-army chief Prem Tinsulanonda — now the King’s top adviser and seen by the Thaksin camp as the coup mastermind.

Human rights groups have criticised the poll as a sham, given that nearly half of Thailand’s 76 provinces remain under martial law and that a “No” vote would have allowed the army to impose any one of the previous 17 constitutions.

A full official result was expected later on Monday.

ASIA: Dengue fever is raging across Southeast Asia, prompting the World Health Organization to warn that the region could face the worst outbreak of the mosquito-borne virus in nearly a decade.

The disease, sometimes called the “bone breaker” illness because of the excruciating joint pain it causes, has flared across the region from ultramodern Singapore to poor Vietnam. There are four different types of dengue, and none have a cure or vaccine.

Cambodia is currently one of the most worrisome spots, where the disease has attacked about 25,000 people and killed nearly 300 children under age 15 so far this year. That’s about three times more than the number of cases for all of 2005, according to WHO.

Sick children have overwhelmed ill-equipped hospitals there, forcing babies burning up with fever to wait for beds outside with IV drips attached to their arms.

The last major outbreak to hit Southeast Asia was in 1998, when about 350,000 cases were reported region wide, including nearly 1,500 deaths. Indonesia and Thailand were not included in that tally.

John Ehrenberg, WHO’s regional adviser on vector borne diseases, said it could potentially reach that level again this year.

“It looks like it might be a bad year,” he said. “I think we’re in the building-up stage, but it could very well peak by August or September.”

Malaysia has seen a 50 percent jump in cases this year over the same period in 2006, with more than 1,000 patients admitted every week for the past month and 56 deaths recorded through June, according to Health Ministry figures.

In Indonesia, more than 100,000 infections have been reported this year, including 1,100 deaths. That compares to 114,000 cases and the same number of fatalities for all of 2006, said Nyoman Kandun, a senior Health Ministry official who predicted the number will hit 200,000 by year’s end.

More than a dozen children infected with dengue filled beds in Jakarta’s Tarakan Hospital. Some had IV drips in their hands while others had tubes coming from their noses.

Muhammad Wildan, 5, was hospitalized last week and remained in critical condition due to internal bleeding. Doctors said he’s lucky his family did not wait any longer to bring him in.

“It did not come to us that it was dengue,” said Padmi Sari, the boy’s grandmother. “We thought it was just a common fever.”

Singapore, known for its spotless streets and cutting-edge health facilities, has also not escaped dengue this year. The government has reported nearly 5,000 cases and at least three deaths. Early rains also caused a surge in cases in Thailand with more than 20,000 cases reported through June, including 17 deaths, officials said.

In Vietnam, which also typically logs a high number of annual cases, health officials have seen a 40 percent increase over last year reporting more than 33,000 infections this year and 32 deaths.

In addition to joint pain, rashes, nausea, severe headaches and high fever that typically accompany the disease, patients stricken with a more serious form, called dengue hemorrhagic fever, can experience internal bleeding, liver enlargement and circulatory shut down.

“You don’t want to have people staying at home and starting to bleed,” Ehrenberg said. “By the time they go to the hospital they’re in shock and they will die.”

The disease is not nearly as lethal as malaria, which kills more than 1 million people annually. But WHO estimates dengue infects up to 50 million people every year worldwide, mostly in Asia and Latin America. About a half million of those cases are severe, and some 19,000 deaths were recorded in 2002.

“We always think next year it will get better, but we always find next year it gets worse,” said Kroeger Axel, a dengue research coordinator at the WHO in Geneva. “There’s a very clear upward trend.”

He said outbreaks run in cycles, occurring roughly every four years. Mosquitoes breed in stagnant pools of water ranging from flower pots to old tires, and residents across the region are urged to avoid letting water collect near houses.

THAILAND: A new constitution for Thailand that is to usher in December general elections and end military rule was approved by millions of voters in a nationwide referendum on Sunday, according to two exit polls. 

Approval of the charter, the country’s 18th in the last three-quarters of a century, was widely expected.
 
A Suan Dusit Institute poll, released shortly after balloting ended, showed that 68 percent of voters approved the new constitution, while an ABAC poll indicated more than 70 percent said yes.
 
The approval means the generals who have been in power for the past 11 months are bound to hold general elections in December.
 
A “no” vote would have delayed the polls and allowed the military to pick any of the country’s previous constitutions and make it the law of the land.
 
Defenders of the charter concede it is imperfect, but argue it is the best way out of the political stalemate that led the military to seize power last Sept. 19 amid growing unrest over alleged corruption and abuse of power by then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, now in self-exile in Britain.
 
Critics say the 186-page constitution, which emphasizes checks and balances at the expense of participatory democracy, perpetuates the behind-the-scenes power the military has wielded in Thailand for decades.
 
A number of voters appeared to ignore the content of the document, focusing instead on either the election or the coup-makers.
 
“I voted for the constitution because I want the general election to be held this year,” said Chucheep Onkoksung, a government official, at one of Bangkok’s polling stations.
 
Samran Kalawin, casting ballots with four members of her family, said, “We voted no because we hate the military coup.”
 
Thailand has been administered since the bloodless coup under an interim constitution that keeps the military — through its Council for National Security — in control behind the veneer of temporary civilian rule. The government is headed by ex-army chief Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, who made no comment after casting his vote.
 
Opponents also complain the referendum itself is flawed because a rejection of the military-approved proposal means the generals will then be free to impose a constitution without further consultation with the voters.
 
The government said it expects 60-70 percent of eligible voters to cast their ballots. The turnout at many Bangkok polling stations was heavy.
 
More than 26,000 soldiers, police and militia were on alert across the four southernmost provinces to protect some 2,600 polling stations against insurgent strikes, army spokesman Col. Akara Thirote said.
 
Violence in the south has taken the lives of more than 2,400 people in nearly four years of almost daily attacks by separatist rebels.
 
Soldiers in Narathiwat province arrived at polling stations in full battle gear as helicopters clattered overhead.
 
A homemade, remote-controlled bomb injured a soldier and several civilians in the province, but Akara said the incident did not appear related to the referendum.
 
“The general situation is rather calm today compared to the daily attacks of the insurgents,” he said.

THAILAND: Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont called on Thais to vote on Sunday in a referendum on a military-drafted constitution that will limit the powers of politicians but lead to elections by the end of the year. 

“This is a critical transition for Thailand, so I would like to ask people to go out and vote,” Surayud said in a television interview on Saturday, nearly a year after elected Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted in a bloodless coup.
 
“This is another test for democracy and I hope we will pass this test,” he said.
 
The country’s voters are likely to approve the draft, despite many reservations, in hope of ending more than 18 months of political turmoil that has crimped economic growth.
 
The referendum requires a simple 50 percent majority to pass a constitution which would take power from politicians and hand it to bureaucrats and judges.
 
It was designed to prevent the re-emergence of a strong, single-party government like Thaksin’s, and means a return to the constantly collapsing coalitions of the early 1990s, political analysts say.
 
A majority vote against the draft would leave power in the hands of the military to pick one of Thailand’s previous 17 constitutions, revise it and promulgate it within 30 days.
 
Coup council chief Sonthi Boonyaratglin said on Friday that if the draft charter were rejected at the referendum, it would take him “a couple of days” to pick his favorite constitution and make some amendments.
 
“It would definitely take less than 30 days to promulgate another constitution, if I had to pick one,” Sonthi said. 
 
Many people, despite objections to parts of the draft, are thought likely to vote for it to avoid that unknown and get to elections that would produce a parliament which could amend it.
 
Analysts say the draft would put the country back in the era of “managed democracy” of the 1980s under ex-army chief Prem Tinsulanonda, now chief royal adviser and seen by the Thaksin camp as the coup mastermind.
 
Few believe an anti-charter campaign — spearheaded by supporters of Thaksin, now in exile in London, but including some foes — can succeed in voting it down.
 
But a low turnout would be an embarrassment for the generals and, as in most Thai elections, allegations of vote buying and strong-arm tactics are flying.
 
The military council behind the coup and the government it appointed are striving to get at least 60 percent of the 45 million voters to cast ballots, arguing the new charter would provide an “ethical” and “legitimate” democracy.
 
Coup leaders have enlisted 400,000 military personnel to persuade people to back the draft charter, branded by Thaksin — for whom the Supreme Court has issued an arrest warrant on corruption charges — as “fruit of the poisonous tree”.
 
The Interior Ministry has instructed governors of all 76 provinces to order 80,000 village chiefs to get as many people as possible to the polling booths and awards will be given to the governors whose province have the highest turnouts.
 
Opponents of the draft, who deny the charges, are accused of paying people to vote “No” or stay at home.
 
Election officials expect to have a preliminary result of the referendum late on Sunday and an official result on Monday.

TAIWAN: Typhoon Sepat pounded Taiwan on Saturday, bringing powerful winds and torrential rains that disrupted electricity, air and rail traffic and forced many buildings to shut. 

The Central Weather Bureau said the typhoon made landfall on the east coast, packing winds of 155 kilometres (96 miles) per hour. 
 
With a radius of 250 kilometres, the typhoon was centred some 70 kilometres southwest of Hualien at 8:30 am (0030 GMT), the bureau said. 
 
It disrupted electricity supplies to more than 70,000 households and forced the evacuation of around 1,600 people in mountain villages, according to the National Fire Agency which coordinates rescue efforts. 
 
Television footage showed powerful winds lifting off roofs, uprooting trees and electricity poles and destroying crops in eastern and northern parts of the island. 
 
All domestic flights are suspended while China Airlines and the carrier EVA Airways cancelled seven and 11 international flights, respectively. 
 
Nineteen planes belonging to Taiwanese airlines were evacuated to the Subic Bay international airport in the northern Philippines on Friday to take them out of the typhoon’s path. 
 
Rail services were also affected, with all trains called off in the morning and the high-speed bullet train not due to re-open until the evening. 
 
Ferries between Taiwan’s Kinmen island and the Chinese cities of Xiamen and Chuanzhou are suspended. 
 
“Sepat’s impact will be the strongest on Saturday morning before it moves away from the island, but its intensity has been reduced,” said Lu Kuo-chen, from the weather bureau’s forecast centre. 
 
The typhoon is due to hit the coast of the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian early Sunday. 
 
Local media said a truck plummeted into a 50-metre deep valley in Hualien, killing one person and injuring a second. 
 
Meanwhile, ten Vietnamese women who have been detained at a facility in the eastern county of Ilan for violating immigration laws escaped on Friday, apparently taking advantage of the bad weather, immigration officials said. 
 
One was apprehended and police were tracking the rest. 
 
The weather bureau warned residents across Taiwan to remain on their guard and to avoid coastal activities, and there have also been mudslide alerts. 
 
Some 4,300 Chinese fishermen were seeking shelter in Taiwanese harbours, according to the National Fire Agency. 
 
Typhoon Sepat is evoking painful memories of Typhoon Bilis which hit the island in 2000, killing 11 people and causing huge damage to agriculture.

TOKYO : Asian stocks reeled from another huge sell-off Friday with Tokyo plunging by the most in over seven years as panicky investors dumped shares to escape the snowballing credit crisis.

Heavy selling on Asia’s largest bourse quickly spread across the entire region with major markets down more than five percent as investors scrambled to exit the market fearing further heavy losses.

Japanese share prices closed with a massive 5.42 percent loss, suffering the biggest one-day point drop since April 2000.

Around Asia, stock markets also plunged as investors remained extremely nervous that more bad news might emerge from US credit markets.

For Asian markets the main worry is that foreign investment funds will be forced to further offload shares to cover losses in securities backed by US sub-prime mortgages to risky borrowers, or to stash funds in more stable bonds.

Hong Kong share prices were down 6.0 percent in afternoon trade before rebounding to close 1.4 percent lower.

Singapore tumbled more than 5.0 percent as investors fretted that problems in the US mortgage sector could spark a full-blown credit crunch.

It also bounced back on bargain hunting and ended 0.68 percent lower.

Seoul closed down 3.1 percent, Shanghai finished down 2.28 percent, Mumbai was off 1.5 percent, Kuala Lumpur fell 1.3 percent, Manila ended two percent lower, Sydney was down 0.70 percent and Wellington was off 1.63 percent.

Only Bangkok bucked the trend at 1.03 percent up amid hopes voters will support a new constitution at Sunday’s referendum.

ASIA: Bruised Asian stock markets suffered another drubbing on Friday, spiraling ever lower as panicky investors continued to dump shares with no end in sight to the recent turmoil on global markets. 

An early rally on some markets quickly fizzled out as Tokyo set the region up for another nasty fall, with Japanese shares briefly down over four percent by early afternoon as a stronger yen pummeled exporters.
 
Investors fled “the crashing stock markets and headed to the safer bond market,” said Akihiko Inoue, a strategist at Mizuho Investors Securities.
 
Hong Kong slumped 3.30 percent, sliding below the key 20,000 points level, while Singapore tumbled 3.4 percent as investors fretted that problems rippling out of the US mortgage sector could spark a full-blown credit crunch.
 
“It’s hard to believe that all the skeletons are out of the closet,” said Eric Betts, an equity strategist at Nomura Securities in Sydney.
 
“Some of these (firms’ problems) will only come to light if their lenders pull the plug on them or force them to come clean,” he added.
 
For Asian markets the main worry is that foreign investment funds will be forced to further offload shares to cover losses in securities backed by US sub prime mortgages to risky borrowers, or to stash funds in more stable bonds.
 
Overnight on Wall Street, US shares fell deep into the red again before recovering much of the losses to close slightly lower after another extremely volatile day, while the London market tumbled by over four percent.
 
In Tokyo a stronger yen dimmed prospects for Japanese exporters’ future earnings, while uncertainty about whether the Bank of Japan will raise interest rates next week kept investors on edge.
 
An unraveling of risky “carry trades” that have allowed investors to binge on cheap Japanese credit to invest in fast-growing Asian stock markets appeared to be taking a heavy toll around the region.
 
The yen shot higher against other major currencies as players scrambled to unwind risky positions and send funds back to Japan.
 
Around the region markets were buckling again under heavy selling.
 
Singapore lost 3.44 percent, Mumbai was down 1.63 percent, Shanghai slipped 0.71 percent, Bangkok declined 1.03 percent while Kuala Lumpur fell 2.5 percent and Manila ended two percent lower.
 
Seoul dipped 0.3 percent after plunging nearly seven percent Thursday — its biggest ever one-day point decline. Sydney dipped 0.6 percent.
 
“It is too early to say that the bout of correction is completely wrapped up,” said Woori Investment & Securities analyst Kang Hyun-Cheol in Seoul.
 
The Australian and Japanese central banks injected extra liquidity into the banking system again Friday to try to calm markets but the focus of investors remained on events overseas.
 
Overnight on Wall Street the Dow Jones index ended lower for a sixth straight day, but pared back steep losses to end down 0.12 percent as the market tried to find a bottom.
 
The stock gauge had pitched to a more than 10 percent loss from its record intra-day trading peak of 14,021.95 on July 17 after American investors received a double dose of bad news tied to the housing market. 
 
The US government reported that new home construction dived to a 10-year low in July, and Countrywide Financial — America’s leading mortgage lender — said it had tapped an 11.5-billion-dollar credit line to boost its finances. 
 
European stock markets took another dive Thursday, led by London where the FTSE 100 index of leading shares closed down 4.10 percent, its biggest fall since March 12, 2003, shortly before the outbreak of the Iraq war.

THAILAND: Members of Thailand’s former ruling party put on a show of force on Wednesday by attracting at least 10,000 people to a central Bangkok plaza to protest against the proposed post-coup constitution. 

The rally was organised by the People Power party, whose profile has grown recently after 300 members of Thai Rak Thai (TRT) – the party formed by ousted Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra – joined them.

Thousands of Thaksin supporters clad in shirts declaring “We Vote No” cheered as speakers slammed the junta which seized power in a putsch last year.

The speakers also urged people to vote down a new military-backed charter that goes to the public vote on Sunday.

“The junta ousted the elected government. This means they don’t respect people. How can they write the constitution?” said Sudarat Keyurathan, who was a deputy TRT leader until the party was banned in May.

“This is reason enough to say no to this constitution,” she told the crowd at Sanam Luang plaza, which enthusiastically chanted Thaksin’s name.

The military says the new charter will clear the way for elections by the end of the year, but opponents fear it will provide ways for the army to maintain an influence over government through powerful appointees.

Campaigning is tilted heavily in the government’s favour, with half the country under martial law since the coup and a new law threatening prison for anyone convicted of obstructing the referendum.

One protester said she was there because she disagreed with many articles in the new charter.

“The junta are bandits who tore up the people’s constitution,” said 63-year-old retiree Suwanan, who gave one name only.

“How can they say they will give democracy to us, because there is no democracy among bandits,” she told AFP.

Fellow demonstrators held up signs imploring “Thaksin Come Back”, “Junta Get Out”, and “We cannot accept this constitution”.

Bangkok police major general Manit Wongsomboon estimated the crowd at more than 10,000 people, while organisers said up to 100,000 had turned out. Police said there were no reports of violence at the rally.

Tensions have been high since late July, when 100 anti-coup protesters were injured in clashes with police in the first violence since the coup in September 2006. There was a light police presence on Wednesday night.

Thai Rak Thai was dissolved by a military-appointed court in May for election fraud.

But more than 300 top members, including 160 former parliamentarians, agreed to join the People Power party, enabling them to run in polls the military has promised to hold by year’s end. – AFP

THAILAND: Senior Thai judges issued arrest warrants for the ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife yesterday on the grounds that they sought to evade corruption charges over a multi-million dollar land deal.

The former leader, who recently acquired Manchester City football club for £81.6m, was deposed in a bloodless coup in September while he was abroad. He has since been living in exile in London and failed to appear before a hearing scheduled to begin yesterday.

The nine-judge panel of Thailand’s supreme court ordered the telecoms billionaire and his wife, Pojaman, to be produced before the court at the next hearing scheduled for September 25. Prosecutors said afterwards that if Mr Thaksin failed to appear by the new deadline then extradition proceedings would be considered.

However, an extradition request to British authorities would have virtually no hope of success. British law has no charge equivalent to that which Mr Thaksin, 57, is facing under Thai legislation. Foreign governments are also usually reluctant to extradite former heads of state where there are suspicions of political persecution.

The couple are accused of being involved in a $22m land deal to buy a prime piece of Bangkok real estate in 2003 while Mr Thaksin was prime minister, in contravention of laws barring serving officials and politicians engaging in business with state enterprises.

In the wake of the coup, an “assets examination committee” established by the military-appointed government investigated the purchase of land from an arm of the Bank of Thailand at an auction in which other bidders dropped out.

If convicted, Mr Thaksin faces up to 10 years in jail. The committee is demanding the purchase be set aside, the land returned and the money confiscated.

The former prime minister’s lawyer, Pichit Cheunban, argued that because of the political uncertainty in Thailand it was not safe for his client to return, though his wife has travelled in and out of the country often and is currently in London.

The lawyer argued that Mr Thaksin’s reappearance in Thailand would merely destabilise the fragile political situation ahead of elections that the coup leaders have pledged by December.

He added that it would be impossible for Mr Thaksin to receive a fair trial while the junta was still in control and urged that the case be postponed until next year, or until at least a month after the elections.

“I have talked with my two clients and we agree that the best timing for them to return to fight the case is after the election,” Mr Pichit said after the ruling. “We reiterate that the current situation is still not good for their safety and we have no desire to see disunity in the country.”

In his initial reaction to the Thai court’s decision, Mr Thaksin gave a non-committal response to the Associated Press.

“I am aware of the decision in Thailand,” he said in a statement. “I shall consult with my legal advisers and make an announcement in due course.”

The army chief, Sonthi Boonyaratglin, who led the coup, said Mr Thaksin’s safety would be guaranteed if he returned, directly contradicting an earlier statement that the former premier might be at risk from his enemies.

“The [National Security Council] has to be responsible and the government has to ask the police to take care of it with the military playing a supporting role,” he said. “There should not be any problem for him to return. Everything has gone in accordance with the Assets Examination Committee and court process.”

Since June, almost $2bn of Mr Thaksin’s assets have been frozen in Thai bank accounts. The tycoon was already a wealthy businessman before he secured two terms in office between 2001 and 2006. But the tax-free sale of his telecoms empire to the Singapore government’s investment arm in 2006 sparked mass street protests that led to his eventual downfall.

The Thai military, which justified its takeover on the grounds that Mr Thaksin was corrupt, vilified the former prime minister, but took almost eight months to bring the first charges against him.

SIHANOUKVILLE: In Cambodia, tens of thousansd of people are being forced to seek temporary shelter after government land seizures had left them homeless. The conditions faced by many of those evicted from their homes are dire.

There is little food, no proper shelter, no running water and no health care, in Cambodia’s south. A week ago these families had homes. Tonight they shelter in tents. They lived on “contested” property. The local government threw them off and the army destroyed what was left. Sok Mom, an evicted resident, said: “I just want to go back to my home, or at least get some land to build a new home.”

Most of those evicted by the government, infants and their sick, crying mothers, spend their life under makeshift shelters. Ros Saoita, another evicted resident, said: “They had guns. They burned down our house, took all our property… our rice, our clothes. We came here with nothing.” These families have been living here for only a week but already conditions are squalid.

The smell in some parts of the camp is overpowering and given the current wet season, the families barely have any protection from the elements. Shelter after shelter the stories are the same. No compensation, nowhere to go.
The fourth village on Cambodia’s southern coastline has now been earmarked for redevelopment. Like most rural villagers in this country, the people of this village held no land title. The Khmer Rouge destroyed the records during its four-year rule in the 1970’s.

A new Land Act passed in 2001 did little to protect them, favouring wealthy developers instead. Yash Ghai, a UN representative, said there were “many gaps in the law” which rendered the land titles very dubious as there was no comprehensive system of land law.

“The people who suffer from all that are poor people, indigenous communities. So, I would say there are many violations of human rights and other laws that take place through the medium of the courts,” he said.

The authorities moved in on another village nearby and destroyed everything, forcibly removing the residents. Pung Chhiv Kek, a human rights activist, said the people have already suffered during Cambodia’s many years of civil war and the period of genocide. “And now they suffer. You cannot just simply say ‘go away’. Where are they going [to go]? They are citizens of this country… the government should find a place for them.”

Another 10,000 people displaced by government land seizures have found shelter in a camp on the outskirts of the capital, Phnom Penh. At least there is medical care at this camp but seasonal rains are having an effect here too. They’ve been here a year and already at least 10 children have died after contracting dengue fever, including young children.

Phan Chendaa, whose seven-year-old son died of dengue, said: “I am angry. When I was in Phnom Penh we had enough food to eat. When we moved here life got worse, now we don’t have enough food.”

Seizure of land is one of the biggest issues facing Cambodia today.