Asia Briefs: Update on health of Thailand's King

Update on health of Thailand's King

BANGKOK • Thailand's Royal Household Bureau last night said King Bhumibol Adulyadej has recovered from increased levels of cerebrospinal fluid and lung inflammation.

The 87-year-old monarch has been in frail health for some years. He was discharged from hospital on May 10 after nearly seven months convalescing, following an operation to remove his gall bladder last October. But he was readmitted on May 31 for tests.


China hits back at US criticism

BANGKOK • China yesterday hit back at US criticism that it restricts navigation and overflights in the South China Sea amid a festering marine territorial dispute with some of its neighbours.

Freedom of overflights and navigation does not mean allowing foreign warships and military jets to violate other countries' sovereignty and security, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement to Reuters, after US Secretary of State John Kerry last week accused China of restricting such movements in the region.

China sees freedom of navigation in the region as key because it is a vital conduit for trade and natural resources, the ministry added.

REUTERS


Sri Lanka exhumes rugby star's body

COLOMBO • Forensic experts exhumed the body of a Sri Lankan rugby star yesterday, following allegations that former president Mahinda Rajapakse's son was involved in his murder.

A Colombo magistrate last week ordered a new murder investigation into the May 2012 killing of Wasim Thajudeen after police said they had fresh evidence suggesting he had been tortured and killed.

Thajudeen's death was registered at the time as a road accident.

Sri Lanka's former leader denied on Sunday that his son, former rugby skipper Yoshitha Rajapakse, was involved.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE


Sex-abuse case against Jakarta school 'no-go'

JAKARTA • A Jakarta court yesterday threw out a multimillion-dollar sex-abuse lawsuit against an international school, raising hopes for two of its teachers who were jailed in a related case.

The Jakarta Intercultural School, a US-Embassy backed school, was sued for US$125 million (S$173 million) last year by a parent who claimed her son had been sexually abused by staff on school grounds.

The South Jakarta District Court said it could not accept the case because "the charges are not clear and the evidence presented is not enough".

The ruling came after two of the school's teachers - a Canadian national and an Indonesian national - were jailed in April for abusing kindergarten pupils in a separate criminal case that critics say was fraught with irregularities.

Mr Harry Ponto, a lawyer representing the school, said yesterday's decision could affect those sentences.

REUTERS

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on August 11, 2015, with the headline Asia Briefs: Update on health of Thailand's King. Subscribe