Bangkok shrine blast: Suspects' trial begins

BANGKOK • The trial of two Chinese ethnic Uighur men suspected of carrying out a deadly bomb attack in Bangkok last year began yesterday after three postponements due to defence lawyers being unable to find suitable interpreters for their clients.

Fourteen foreigners were among 20 people killed in the Aug 17, 2015 bombing at Bangkok's Erawan Shrine, the worst attack of its kind on Thai soil.

REUTERS

'World's saddest polar bear' moving out of mall

BEIJING •A polar bear named Pizza, whose fate as an exhibit for shoppers in a mall in southern China prompted millions of animal lovers to call for the release of what they called "the world's saddest polar bear'', is moving - but only temporarily, its owners say.

The exhibition space at the Grandview Polar Sea World at the Grandview Mall in Guangzhou is being "optimised and upgraded", according to a notice on a social media account of the aquarium, where Pizza and hundreds of other Arctic animals are housed indoors.

NYTIMES

Four die in Cambodian cruise ship disaster

PHNOM PENH • A small cruise ship hit a sandbank on Monday near the seashore in south-western Cambodia's Kampot province, leaving four people dead, a local police chief confirmed yesterday.

There were about 70 domestic tourists on the ship, which had taken them out to sea to watch fireflies.

XINHUA