Global

This *New Prime Minister* story reveals all about Thaksin's daughter and who she is.

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thailand's new Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, 38, is the daughter of a coup-toppled, convicted, former international fugitive and prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, 74, who is perceived as trying to manipulate her new populous, capitalist-friendly coalition government.

"I insist he is not trying to dominate," Prime Minister Paetongtarn ["peh-tong-tarn"] told reporters after parliament elected her on Aug. 16.

"I can think for myself."

If proven in the nine-judge Constitutional Court that Mr. Thaksin is influencing, guiding, or dominating his daughter or their Pheu Thai (For Thais) Party, he could be jailed, the party dissolved, and her government finished.

"Her weakness is being Thaksin's daughter," Rangsit University Political Science lecturer Wanwichit Boonprong said in an interview.

Mr. Thaksin "has many political enemies," Mr. Wanwichit said.

Ms. Paetongtarn has little political experience except witnessing the ugly, treacherous fate of her father and aunt.

Is the Red Army a Paper Tiger?

A furore has erupted in North America over reports that Russia will expand its armed forces of 1.32 million by a new 180,000 men. This will bring Russia close to China’s armed forces of about 2 million active soldiers. The pro-war right in the US and Europe are trumpeting this increase as a prelude to a coming East-West war. ‘The Reds are Coming’ goes the old Cold War chorus. We heard the same canard during WWII when clever British propaganda convinced most people that Hitler’s Germany was determined to conquer the world. In truth, Germany was trying to restore its pre-World War I borders. Such was also the case with Stalin’s Soviet Union. Both imperial nations were torn apart after 1918 by the rapacious French and British imperialists, abetted by the Americans. Germany was panicked into entering World War I in 1914 because it believed it was about to be attacked in a two-front war by France, Britain and Russia. Big numbers scare people. Russia may have what seems a large army today, but it is a vast nation of 17 million square kilometers with over 12 different time zones stretching from Eastern Europe to the frozen Barents Sea.

Abbas ‘Postponed’ Democracy - So, Who Speaks on Behalf of the Palestinian People?

In April 2021, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree postponing parliamentary and presidential elections, which were scheduled to take place in May and July respectively. 

 The then-85-year-old Palestinian leader justified his unwarranted decision as a result of a ‘dispute’ with Israel over the vote of Palestinians living in the occupied Palestinian city of East Jerusalem. 

A challenge to VP Kamala Harris.

Prior to October 7, Hamas has repeatedly warned Israel not to evict Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah’s neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem, attack worshippers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, torture and abuse Palestinian prisoners, or bomb civilian targets in Gaza. Israel ignored the warning and bombed a 15-story residential building in Gaza, which is home to dozens of families and tens of local international media offices. Immediately, Hamas responded by showering most of the Israeli cities with homemade rockets, forcing Israelis to live in bomb shelters and shutting down Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. By Mahmoud El-YoussephSeptember 14, 2024 For VP Kamala Harris, people with short memories and/or people not in the known, since 2007, Israel has kept Gaza under an illegal and inhumane military siege, counting calorie intake for Palestinians, and permitting the water in Gaza to become undrinkable, thereby creating a humanitarian crisis widely condemned by the international community. Ethnic cleansing of Palestinians has always been Israeli policy.
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