BANGKOK — Thai troops opened fire today into the fortified encampment of anti-government protesters in downtown Bangkok, tearing down a part of its tire-and-bamboo barricade in what appears to be a final crackdown after a week of deadly clashes. At least two people were killed.
Reporters saw the troops firing automatic rifles from an overpass overlooking the encampment. Groups of soldiers also fired from crouching positions on the tracks of an elevated light rail system that runs over the encampment. Police reported four people wounded, including one shot in the chest.
The so-called Red Shirt demonstrators marched into Bangkok in mid-March to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, dissolution of Parliament and immediate elections.
They created an encampment in Bangkok’s downtown in April, surrounding themselves by a barricade of tires and bamboo spears, some of which appeared to be in flames today.
An estimated 3,000 people were believed to be inside the 1-square-mile protest zone.
South Korea: Seoul to show proof that North sank ship
South Korea will lay out evidence later this week that Pyongyang sank one of the South’s navy ships in March, killing 46 sailors, a U.S. official said Tuesday. The proof will show that North Korea fired a torpedo, triggering an explosion that sank the 1,200-ton Cheonan on March 26 near the two countries’ border, the unnamed official said. U.S. officials have assisted in the investigation, which Seoul officials plan to detail as early as Thursday.
New York: Pirate pleads guilty
A Somali man who staged a brazen high-seas attack on a U.S.-flagged ship off the coast of Africa pleaded guilty on Tuesday to charges he hijacked the ship and kidnapped its captain. Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse faced what was called the first U.S. piracy prosecution in decades. Sentencing was set for Oct. 19, when he faces a minimum 27 years in prison. Prosecutors branded Muse the ringleader of a band of four pirates who provoked a deadly drama by targeting the Maersk Alabama on April 8, 2009, as it transported humanitarian supplies off the coast of Somalia.
Times Square bomb suspect does not enter a plea in court
The suspect in a botched car bombing in Times Square appeared in court Tuesday on terrorism and weapons charges for the first time since his arrest two weeks ago. Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistan-born U.S. citizen, was assigned a public defender and did not enter a plea. Shahzad, 30, of Bridgeport, Conn., was arrested May 3 on a Dubai-bound plane at John F. Kennedy International Airport on charges he drove an SUV rigged with a homemade car bomb into Times Square two nights earlier. The bomb didn’t explode, and no one was hurt.
Illinois: High levels of mercury found in skin products
Some creams promising to lighten skin, eliminate age spots and zap freckles contain high levels of mercury, a toxic metal that can cause severe health problems, a Chicago Tribune investigation found. The Tribine sent 50 skin-lightening creams to a certified lab in Kelso for testing. Six were found to contain amounts of mercury banned by federal law. Of those, five had more than 6,000 parts per million — enough to potentially cause kidney damage over time, according to a medical expert. The highest level of mercury, nearly 30,000 parts per million, turned up in Stillman’s Skin Bleach Cream.
U.N.: Sanctions against Iran get Russia, China support
The United States introduced a United Nations resolution aimed at Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons program on Tuesday, having won long-sought and pivotal support from China and Russia for new sanctions against its powerful Revolutionary Guard and new measures to try to curtail Iran’s military, financial and shipping activities. The draft resolution would ban Iran from pursuing ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons, freeze assets of nuclear-related companies linked to the Revolutionary Guard, bar Iranian investment in activities such as uranium mining and prohibit Iran from buying several categories of heavy weapons, a senior U.S. official said.
From Herald news services
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
