BANGKOK: Thai authorities have found the dead bodies of nine people believed to be illegal migrants from Myanmar whose boats sank in a recent storm, marine police said yesterday.
The bodies of six men and three women were found off the southern province of Ranong near the border with Myanmar on Sunday, Police Lieutenant Colonel Niran Chauyjit said.
“We believe they (the dead) were all Myanmar migrants. They were found in the same area where their boats sank,” Niran said.
He said 30 other migrants from Myanmar were rescued by the Thai navy on Friday night after their vessels went down in bad weather, and would be sent home.
19 injured in factory clashes
PHNOM PENH: Around 4,000 striking workers yesterday forced their way into a factory in Cambodia that makes clothing for US sportswear company Nike and clashed briefly with colleagues who had remained on the job before being dispersed by police.
Police said at least 11 policemen and eight workers were injured.
The confrontation at the Sabrina factory followed a series of deadly incidents at factories in Bangladesh, the world’s biggest clothing exporter after China, including the collapse of a building in April that killed more than 1,000 people.
Witnesses said many of the workers pressing for a wage increase at the Sabrina plant west of Phnom Penh were armed with sticks and rocks and smashed windows before being confronted by non-strikers.
About 1,000 police and soldiers used batons and shields to separate the sides and disperse the strikers.
Rainforest efforts hailed
JAKARTA: A $1bn deal to save Indonesia’s rainforests has slowed a “tidal wave” of logging destruction, Greenpeace’s global chief said yesterday, but he warned much more needed to be done.
While many environmentalists have sharply criticised Indonesian efforts to end rampant logging across some of the planet’s most vital forests, Greenpeace International Executive Director Kumi Naidoo said there was reason to hope. “First, we must acknowledge with shame and with sadness how much has been lost. How much biodiversity has been lost... it was like a non-stop tidal wave,” Naidoo said in Manila while on a short Southeast Asia tour.
As part of that deal, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono placed a moratorium two years ago on issuing new logging permits for virgin rainforests, which was this month extended for another two years.
HK police seize fashionable bags
HONG KONG: Hong Kong police said yesterday they may seize designer handbags with knuckleduster-style handles from fashion-conscious women travelling through the city’s airport.
British designer firm Alexander McQueen is one of the more notable producers of the bags, which sell for up to $3,000 apiece and feature handles closely resembling the metal weapons, which are slipped over the fingers for a potentially deadly punch.
Any person found to be in possession of any restricted articles on an aircraft is liable to a maximum punishment of a HK$100,000 ($13,000) fine and a five-year prison sentence.
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