Doctors oppose legalising e-cigarettesVaporisers, e-cigarette refills and other illegal products seized by the Consumer Protection Police Division early this year are put on display at the CPPD headquarters on Chaeng Wattana road. Dr Amorn said e-cigarettes were produced by firms in the tobacco industry to replace ordinary tobacco cigarettes. Results from worldwide research showed e-cigarettes were clearly hazardous to health, Dr Amorn said. He said e-cigarettes, like tobacco cigarettes, contained nicotine, a narcotic substance which caused many chronic diseases that required costly treatment. The president of the Royal College of Surgeons of Thailand, Prof Pramuk Mutirangkura, joined opposition to legalising the sale of e-cigarettes.

Asean in talks on barring Myanmar junta chief from summit: envoyFILE PHOTO: Myanmar's junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who ousted the elected government in a coup on Feb 1, presides over an army parade on Armed Forces Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, March 27, 2021. (Reuters)Southeast Asian nations are discussing whether to exclude Myanmar's junta chief from a summit due to slow progress on a plan to address turmoil after a coup in the country earlier this year, a top diplomat said Wednesday. Asked if action will be taken at the summit to suspend Myanmar, Erywan said this was not being discussed. Erywan said he was ready to visit Myanmar and was waiting for a programme from the junta that would include his itinerary and the people he would be allowed to meet. Last Thursday, a junta spokesman said it would be "difficult" for the envoy to hold talks with people on trial.

Indonesia president backs amnesty for professor jailed for WhatsApp messageJAKARTA: Indonesian President Joko Widodo has agreed to pardon an academic jailed last month for defamation under a controversial internet law, a minister said, following an outcry from human rights groups who say the law risks curtailing free speech. Saiful's case prompted complaints over the ease at which people can be prosecuted in Indonesia for comments made on messaging platforms, including remarks about people not even identified. Asked why Jokowi favoured amnesty in Saiful's case, a presidential spokesman referred Reuters to the security minister. A presidential amnesty was given in 2019 to a woman jailed under the same law for recording lewd phone calls from her boss. He said 38 scholars in Australia wrote to the president, requesting Saiful's pardon.

Diving into history: Gallipoli shipwrecks open to publicA diver surveys the wreckage of a warship sunk in the World War I Gallipoli Campaign off the coast of CanakkaleGALLIPOLI (TURKEY) - Hulking hulls of mighty warships greet divers off Turkey's western shore, testament to a World War I battle that gave birth to nations and is now an underwater museum. Now Turkey, where history and politics seem inextricably interlinked, is opening the site up to the world's divers -- just in time for the country's centenary celebrations in 2023. - 'Emotional moment' -Turkey wants Gallipoli to be the new go-to destination for divers looking to connect with events that shaped the present world. "Now, divers will be able to survey the underwater history." For film maker Karakas, this history is also personal since his name Savas (meaning "war" in Turkish) honours the Gallipoli campaign, where his grandfather was wounded.

Activists remember Oct 6 massacreAn activist garbed in remembrance of the Oct 6, 1976 massacre, during the memorial gathering at Thammasat University on Wednesday. (Photo: Nutthawat Wicheanbut)Little has changed in the 45 years since students and activists were massacred by the military and rightwing radicals at Thammasat University, sending many survivors fleeing into the jungle where they took up arms against the authoritarian government. This point was made by speakers when activists and members of the victims' families gathered on Wednesday at the memorial at Thammasat University to the victims of the Oct 6, 1976 purge to pay their respects. The Move Forward leader was among the politicians, activists and family who attended the service at Thammasat University in remembrance of those killed by security forces and right-wing radicals during the massacre on Oct 6, 1976. (continues below)People lay wreaths of remembrane at Thammasat University on the 45th anniversary of the Oct 6, 1976 massacre.

Asean weighs excluding Myanmar junta boss from summitBrunei's second minister for foreign affairs and Asean envoy to Myanmar Erywan Pehin Yusof. Malaysia's top diplomat Saifuddin Abdullah on Twitter said that without progress, "it would be difficult to have the chairman of the SAC at the Asean summit". He reiterated his remark about Min Aung Hlaing in parliament on Wednesday and said the Asean envoy was doing "whatever is humanly possible" to make progress on the roadmap. Myanmar junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun did not respond to calls from Reuters on Wednesday. Last week he told a news conference that Myanmar was cooperating with Asean "without compromising the country's sovereignty".

Press freedom, Belarus opposition or Greta for Nobel Peace Prize? OSLO: Media watchdogs, Belarus opposition leaders and climate campaigners such as Greta Thunberg are among those seen as contenders when the Nobel Peace Prize is announced on Friday. The highlight of the Nobel season, the prestigious peace prize always elicits a flurry of speculation. Ukraine opposition, climate campaignersAlso mentioned as a possible winner is the non-violent opposition in Belarus, which has denounced as fraudulent the August 2020 election win that gave strongman President Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term. The lavish banquet in Oslo celebrating the peace prize laureate every December was cancelled last year due to the pandemic and may be again this year.

Armed with seven cameras, a Xavier robot in Singapore issues warnings to the public and detects 'undesirable social behaviour'. SINGAPORE: Singapore has trialled patrol robots that blast warnings at people engaging in "undesirable social behaviour", adding to an arsenal of surveillance technology in the tightly controlled city-state that is fuelling privacy concerns. Officials have long pushed a vision of a hyper-efficient, tech-driven "smart nation", but activists say privacy is being sacrificed and people have little control over what happens to their data. The government's latest surveillance devices are robots on wheels, with seven cameras, that issue warnings to the public and detect "undesirable social behaviour". During a recent patrol, one of the "Xavier" robots wove its way through a housing estate and stopped in front of a group of elderly residents watching a chess match.

Race for World Cup berths heats up in EuropeDenmark could clinch their place at the 2022 World Cup over the course of the next week. European champions Italy, Spain, France and Belgium take centre stage contesting the Final Four in Milan and Turin, but five of the 10 automatic World Cup qualifying spots could be secured come next Tuesday. The inaugural Nations League winners could theoretically qualify for the World Cup with two games to spare, but only if Serbia slip up against both Luxembourg and Azerbaijan. Stale Solbakken's side are tied with the Netherlands atop Group G on 13 points as they target a first World Cup since 1998. Croatia, the 2018 World Cup runners-up, and Russia are the pacesetters in Group H, but Slovakia cannot be discounted either.

PM picked by ruling partyPrime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha presided over launch of the vaccination campaign for young people aged 12-18 at the Pibool Uppatham School in Bangkok’s Huai Khwang district on Monday. (Photo: Varuth Hirunyatheb)Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has been nominated by the ruling Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) as its prime ministerial candidate in the next election. After Tuesday’s weekly cabinet meeting, government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana told a press conference that Gen Prayut responded positively to the decision. With the PPRP's nomination in hand, Gen Prayut looks set to seek another term as premier. They maintained Gen Prayut's time as prime minister began in 2014, as the head of the National Council for Peace and Order, which seized power in a coup.

Premier League scrambles to convince stars to get vaccinatedPremier League matches are once again taking place in packed stadiums. However, although no official figures have been offered by the Premier League, reports suggest only seven of England's 20 top-flight clubs have more than 50 percent of their squad fully vaccinated. "It's low, not just in the Premier League but in the Football League as well. British Health Secretary Sajid Javid has expressed his "disappointment" and concern at the potential impact of vaccine hesitancy among Premier League stars on children and young people. And England's deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam has addressed Premier League captains in a bid to reassure them on any health concerns.

Johnson vows 'long overdue' revamp of UK's post-Brexit economyJohnson is expected to explain Britain's current problems as unavoidable to reset the economy post-BrexitMANCHESTER (UNITED KINGDOM) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson rallies his Conservative party faithful on Wednesday vowing a far-reaching overhaul to wean the UK economy off cheap foreign labour after Brexit. "Because we are embarking now on the change of direction that has been long overdue in the UK economy," Johnson will say, vowing no return to the pre-Brexit model of "uncontrolled immigration". - Climate silence -The government blames the acute labour shortages afflicting the UK economy not on its hardline approach to Brexit but on the coronavirus pandemic. But at the Tory gathering as a whole, the topic of climate change has been relegated to the backburner. But Johnson's COP26 president, Alok Sharma, denied the party was soft-pedalling climate change with less than a month to go before he welcomes delegates from around the world to Glasgow.

(Photo: Arnun Chonmahatrakool)There were 9,866 new Covid-19 cases and 102 more fatalities recorded during the previous 24 hours, the Public Health Ministry reported on Wednesday morning. The number of new cases fell slightly from the 9,869 announced on Tuesday, when the country recorded 92 more deaths. Since the pandemic started early last year, there have been 1,667,097 Covid-19 cases, with 1,541,770 complete recoveries so far. Meanwhile, reopened tourist provinces namely Phuket, Krabi, Phangna and Surat Thani still had enough resources to handle their local Covid-19 cases, she said. Global Covid-19 cases rose by 411,101 in 24 hours to 236.59 million.

(Photo courtesy of Picasa)Trash is a constant element in the artwork by Cameron Platter, which is being displayed during "The Message Is The Message" at Warin Lab Contemporary, until Nov 18. In his eyes, trash is the garbage of conformist common sense. It represents the way people become addicted to a Netflix series to the point where they neglect to realise that the worst inhumanities are flowing in the background of life. Warin Lab Contemporary is located at O.P. Garden, Charoen Krung 36 and opens Tuesday to Saturday from 10.30am to 7.30pm.

Placebo by Nuttapong Daovichitr. (Photo courtesy of Art Bakery Gallery)"Safe Space" is the first online virtual reality exhibition by Nuttapong Daovichitr, aka Nutdao, who is displaying 11 digital paintings at Art Bakery Gallery, a VR gallery fully accessible around the clock, until Oct 31. He constructed this imaginary space as an escape from hopeless situations where there is no way out. Some of the highlight pieces are Placebo, Sanctuary No.01 and Sanctuary No.02. He is reputed for portraying his innermost feelings and daily state of mind through simple yet detailed drawing lines in his work.