In the northern hinterlands that may hold the key to victory in a hard fought Thai election, the ruling party seems as unpopular as ever, despite decades of wooing rural voters.
The establishment-backed Democrats came to power in a parliamentary vote two years ago but it is almost 20 years since they won a popular mandate, and observers say a flatlining campaign is unlikely to reverse their fortunes.
The rural north and northeast are home to more than half of the Thai electorate, and are the heartland of the “Red Shirt” anti-government protest movement.
Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono picked his brother-in-law as the new army chief, his spokesman said on Wednesday, as speculation grows over who Yudhoyono might pick to as a presidential candidate in 2014 elections.
Under Yudhoyono, Indonesia has started to improve infrastructure and trim layers of bureaucracy, problems cited by investors as deterrents to investment.
Australia’s proposed refugee swap with Malaysia looked on shaky ground Thursday with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees suggesting he may not sign off on it.
Antonio Guterres said he did not yet know if the UNHCR would approve the controversial proposal, adding that Australians had bombarded him with emails opposing the deal.
“The only reason why it has not yet been signed is because UNHCR has been intransigent in relation to a certain number of very clear protection principles,” he said in the Sydney Morning Herald.
China has said a series of recent naval drills are “routine” and unrelated to simmering tensions in the South China Sea involving a range of nations with competing territorial claims.
When asked about the six military exercises staged by the Chinese navy in June, including a joint drill with Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin, defence ministry spokesman Yang Yujun urged the media not to speculate about their purpose.
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