China's kids get schooled in 'Xi Jinping thought'China's new school year began WednesdayBEIJING - Chinese pupils returned to school Wednesday with new textbooks peppered with "Xi Jinping thought", as the Communist Party aims to extend his personality cult to children as young as seven and rear a new generation of patriots. Lessons are interspersed with quotes from Xi on patriotism and duty, as well as anecdotes of his meetings with ordinary citizens. "Grandpa Xi Jinping is very busy with work, but no matter how busy he is, he still joins our activities and cares about our growth," one textbook says. Xi's thought, which encompasses 14 principles including "absolute Party leadership" over the military and "improving living standards through development". The principles are now cited regularly by officials in wildly varying contexts from fighting Covid-19 to literature and art, and universities have opened institutes dedicated to Xi's thought.

China's kids being schooled in 'Xi Jinping thought'China's new school year began on Wednesday. BEIJING: Chinese pupils returned to school on Wednesday with new textbooks peppered with "Xi Jinping thought", as the Communist Party aims to extend his personality cult to children as young as seven and rear a new generation of patriots. "Grandpa Xi Jinping is very busy with work, but no matter how busy he is, he still joins our activities and cares about our growth," one textbook says. Xi's thought, which encompasses 14 principles including "absolute Party leadership" over the military and "improving living standards through development". The principles are now cited regularly by officials in wildly varying contexts from fighting Covid-19 to literature and art, and universities have opened institutes dedicated to Xi's thought.

Pattaya birthday party raided by policePolice raid the birthday party house in Chon Buri's Bang Lamung district on Tuesday night and arrest 18 people. (Photo: Chaiyot Pupattanapong)PATTAYA: Eighteen people were arrested when police raided a birthday party held in a house in Chon Buri's Bang Lamung district on Tuesday night in violation of the emergency decree and the Disease Control Act. Pol Col Chiddecha Songhong, the Nong Prue police chief, said police entered house No 22/4 at the Pool Villa Resort about 11pm after receiving complaints from neighbours. The birthday party was organised by a Thai man called Sanong, who was born on Sept 1. The partygoers were taken to Nong Prue police station for legal proceedings.

China rolls out new data law over 'national security' fearsChina's new data security law is the latest effort to tighten oversight of the country's mammoth tech sectorBEIJING - China's new data security law takes effect from Wednesday -- the latest effort to tighten oversight of the country's mammoth tech sector. It also comes as fears grow over data security with government departments becoming increasingly dependent on cloud storage services. - 'National security' -The legislation also identifies a new "core" category of data "related to national security, the lifeline of the national economy, major aspects of the people's livelihood, and major public interests", which will be subject to stricter scrutiny. The data security law could "create further regulatory hurdles for data-rich Chinese tech companies seeking to list overseas", Zhang told AFP. - Digital control -The data security law is part of a set of legislation that will shape China's digital economy for decades.

Thai tourists needed in PhuketVisitors to Phuket are screened at a checkpoint on Monday. (Photo: Achadthaya Chuenniran)Phuket needs fully vaccinated Thai tourists to help the recovery of local tourism, according to provincial authorities. In practice, the province should now have gained herd immunity while foreign visitors in Phuket as part of the tourism sandbox programme are also fully vaccinated. At the same time, the swab requirement does not apply to fully vaccinated Thai nationals in the province. He said if Thai tourists who have received two doses of the vaccine could visit Phuket, provided they have taken a swab test before arriving, it would boost Phuket's tourism.

In climate reversal, Biden okays new oil and gas mega auctionThe court decision to ban a pause in leasing area in the Gulf of Mexico for oil exploration represents a significant step back for the White House's ambitious climate agenda and was quickly challenged by a coalition of environmental groups. The decision represents a significant step back for the White House's ambitious climate agenda and was quickly challenged by a coalition of environmental groups. According to a Record of Decision posted online, the government projects up to 1.1 billion barrels of oil and 4.4 trillion cubic feet of gas from the auction. It noted a new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change "detailing observations of a rapidly changing climate in every region globally," but said it did not present sufficient cause to change the environmental impact statement for the drilling at this time. The Biden administration has folded to the oil industry based on its campaign of disinformation and political pressure, ignoring the worsening climate emergency we face," added Brettny Hardy, Earthjustice attorney.

WHO monitoring new coronavirus variant named 'Mu'The 'Mu' coronavirus variant, first identified in Colombia, has mutations indicating a risk of vaccine resistance, the WHO says. GENEVA: The World Health Organization has said it is monitoring a new coronavirus variant known as "Mu", which was first identified in Colombia in January. "The Mu variant has a constellation of mutations that indicate potential properties of immune escape," the bulletin said. Five variants, including Mu, are to be monitored. After being detected in Colombia, Mu has since been reported in other South American countries and in Europe.

Ronaldo return headlines busy final day of Premier League transfer dealsCristiano Ronaldo completed his return to Manchester United on Tuesday. MANCHESTER: Cristiano Ronaldo's return to Manchester United was confirmed by the English giants on Tuesday as Premier League clubs scrambled to strengthen before the close of the transfer window. The Portugal captain scored 118 goals in 292 games during his first spell at United, winning his first Ballon d'Or and Champions League title, as well as three Premier League titles, one FA Cup and two League Cups. Ronaldo's return has already had a knock-on effect with United winger Daniel James joining Leeds for a reported pound sterling25 million. Top-of-the-table Tottenham helped ease Barcelona's financial woes with a pound sterling25 million deal for right-back Emerson Royal.

252 Covid fatalities, 14,802 casesA sales assistant starts arranging shoes on shelves in a shop at CentralWorld in Bangkok on Tuesday as malls reopened on Wednesday with the easing of the lockdown measures. (Photo: Chanat Katanyu)There were 252 new Covid-19 fatalities and 14,802 new cases over the past 24 hours, the Public Health Ministry reported on Wednesday morning. Since April 1, around when the third wave of Covid-19 began, there have been 1,190,668 Covid-19 patients, 1,013,342 of whom have recovered. Since the pandemic started early last year, there have been 1,219,531 Covid-19 cases, 1,040,768 of whom recovered. The death toll was at 11,747 the third wave and 11,841 from the beginning of the pandemic early last year.

252 Covid deaths, 14,802 cases WednesdayA sales assistant starts arranging shoes on shelves in a shop at CentralWorld in Bangkok on Tuesday as malls reopened on Wednesday with the easing of the lockdown measures. (Photo: Chanat Katanyu)There were 252 new Covid-19 fatalities and 14,802 new cases over the past 24 hours, the Public Health Ministry reported on Wednesday morning. Over the past 24 hours, 18,996 Covid-19 patients recovered and left hospitals. Since the pandemic started early last year, there have been 1,219,531 Covid-19 cases, 1,040,768 of whom recovered. The death toll was at 11,747 the third wave and 11,841 from the beginning of the pandemic early last year.

A multi-track strategy for North KoreaNorth Korea or the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has been a conundrum for the international community for over half a century. The human rights dilemmas are covered by a variety of UN human rights mechanisms. The harder edge of monitoring the country's human rights record is carried out by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the DPRK who reports on the human rights situation, and this role was bolstered by a UN Commission of Inquiry a few years ago. All this means dark money falling into the hands of those who abuse human rights. There used to be the "Six Party Talks" between North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Russia, the US and China as a platform for discourse on the nuclear issue, with some implications for human rights, such as the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korean agents.

He challenged the opposition to find out who had taken the alleged "change" from the government's purchase of Covid-19 vaccines, saying his government is ready for any investigations into the allegation. Mr Prasert said that instead of procuring the Covid-19 vaccine under the usual public procurement law, Gen Prayut had declared a state of emergency to allow the purchase of the Sinovac vaccines. Comparing the prices, Thailand paid for 2 million doses of Sinovac as of Jan 5 against the prices paid by other countries, he said. Thailand actually paid 556 million baht, while Indonesia and Brazil paid only 460 million baht and 337 million baht respectively. "Gen Prayut and Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul have conspired together to purchase the Sinovac vaccine on various occasions," he said.

Antoine Griezmann rejoins Atletico Madrid from BarcelonaGriezmann first signed for Diego Simeone's men from Real Sociedad shortly after their surprise 2014 league title triumph. MADRID: France forward Antoine Griezmann has made a shock deadline-day return to Atletico Madrid, just two years after leaving to join Barcelona, the clubs announced on Wednesday. Griezmann joins Luis Suarez, who left Barca for Atletico 12 months ago, at the reigning La Liga champions. But Kylian Mbappe's widely expected dream move to Real Madrid from PSG failed to materialise on Tuesday. They had to settle for second in La Liga, five points behind champions Real Madrid, in Griezmann's first season before stumbling to a third-placed finish last term.

It was to only have the voices of people who were there on that day. So each episode goes through the day, from the early part of the day when the first tower is hit, and then sort of moves along through the day. 9/11: One Day In America, produced officially in partnership with the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, is the most detailed documentation to date of what happened on that day. Some of it is from major news outlets and then we would get the footage they aired on that day. And that's how most of us survived that day, by helping each other, and I hope that people can watch this.

At his third solo exhibition, "The L/Royal Monument", Wittawat conveys how his political views have changed. His turning point came after he read books in different fields such as philosophy and social science, as well as some that are banned. "I use landscape paintings to communicate political issues and symbols in my paintings hint at changes in my viewpoints. Afterwards, their paintings were painted over and I took photos of the wall and then created this painting. The painting of Anon Nampa, Captain Justice, was drawn from photos that Wittawat took when he met Anon.