9:59 am

First lady Peng Liyuan and US President Donald Trump’s wife Melania visit Banchang elementary school at Dongcheng district in Beijing on Thursday.

* Founded in 1947, Banchang elementary school is an ordinary primary school with 29 classes and more than 1,000 students.

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President Xi Jinping, left, and his US counterpart Donald Trump review the guard of honor in front of the East Gate of the Great Hall of the People. [Photo by Xu Jingxing/China Daily]

President Xi Jinping hosts a grand welcoming ceremony for visiting US President Donald Trump in front of the East Gate of the Great Hall of the People.

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Personnel from Hintha Akari Co. from Myanmar, and personnel from the association arrived Sittwe on November 7 and met chairman of Rakhine State parliament, Rakhine State government, towns’ elders from Sittwe and discussed matters concerning fencing and regional development.

“They visited here to learn more about the current situation.  This association is continuously reporting the situation in Rakhine State. They will meet with heads of government on November 14 and implement their plans. They will utilize latest modern technology,” said Nwe Nwe Aye, managing director of Hintha Akari Co.

In meeting with parliament speaker of Rakhine State, chairman of the association said that as China and Myanmar are neighbors, they are ready to help Myanmar in time of need. He’s been handling this department for eight years and also experienced in poppy substitute plantation projects.

The speaker San Kyaw Hla also spoke words of thanks.

    Aquino, who ended his six-year term last year, could be jailed for up to 15 years if a special court finds he is guilty of illegal acts and usurpation of powers in the January 2015 bloodbath, prosecutors said.

Aquino, who was not present in court, is accused of allowing a suspended police chief to oversee the operation against a fugitive Malaysian Islamist leader. It turned into a bloody gun battle with Muslim rebels that claimed the lives of 44 police officers.

While the raid apparently succeeded in its objective of killing bomb-maker Zulkifli bin Hir, one of the United States’ most wanted fugitives, the huge death toll shocked the nation and imperilled peace talks with Muslim rebels.

The Ombudsman, an anti-corruption prosecutor, alleged Aquino had allowed a close ally, police chief Alan Purisima to oversee the raid even though the Ombudsman had previously suspended Purisima over a separate graft case.

“The President of the Republic of the Philippines, while in performance of his official and administrative functions, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and criminally persuade, induce or influence Alan La Madrid Purisima,” the charges read.

Hearings in the case have not yet begun.

Aquino had previously argued that he had the authority to tap Purisima as a “resource person” in the raid. But the Ombudsman said the suspended police chief should not have had such authority.

Allies of Aquino’s successor, the firebrand Rodrigo Duterte, have sought to use the raid to attack Aquino, who has criticised Duterte’s bloody anti-drug campaign which has claimed thousands of lives.

However Duterte defended Aquino on Wednesday, saying that he could not be charged with usurpation because presidents had full authority over police.

“The president can always intervene, modify or amend or change altogether,” Duterte told reporters.

“He is the head of government insofar as the police are concerned,” he added.//AFP

Jokowi led the wedding ceremony assisted by Banjarsari Religious Affairs Agency head Basir. Vice President Jusuf Kalla and Indonesian Ulema Council head Ma’ruf Amin acted as witnesses for the bride while Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution and former Muhammadiyah head Safii Ma’arif acted as witnesses for the groom.

“I give the hand of my daughter Kahiyang Ayu in marriage to Muhammad Bobby Afif Nasution, son of the late Erwin Nasution, with a dowry of prayer clothes and 80 grams of gold,” said Jokowi during the ceremony.

The ceremony started when a representative of the Nasutions, Lt. Gen. Edy Rachmayadi, officially requested that Jokowi and his wife allow his daughter to marry Bobby. A positive response was given by Miyono, a representative of the bride’s family.

The ceremony ended when Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) chairman Said Agil Siraj led prayers for the newly married couple.

Earlier while thousands of people flocked to Surakarta, Central Java, to attend the wedding of President Jokowi’s daughter a Jakarta restaurant held a public screening of the event for supporters who were unable to travel to the bride’s hometown.

The screening, which started at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, was held at Agbelin Bistro & Cafe on Jl. KH Ahmad Dahlan 31 in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta.

“Some of our friends went to Solo themselves, while we are watching [the wedding] here together,” one participant, Peter, said as quoted by wartakota.tribunnews.com, referring to Surakarta’s popular moniker.

Petaling Jaya OCPD Asst Comm Mohd Zani Che Din said that a police report was filed on Tuesday over the incident that occurred on Sept 28. “At about 7.40pm, residents at an apartment in Damansara Perdana came across the man who was dressed as a suicide bomber.

“It was for a Halloween party and he was spotted riding the lift,” ACP Mohd Zani said. ACP Mohd Zani said those with information are urged to notify the police.

The case has been classified under Section 506 of the Penal Code for criminal intimidation.

On Monday the top UN body called on Myanmar to rein in military operations that have pushed more than 600,000 Rohingya into Bangladesh since late August, sparking a dire humanitarian crisis.

The statement expressed “grave concern” over rights violations such as killing, sexual violence and torching of homes and property, “including by the Myanmar security forces”.

Other UN agencies have previously described the army crackdown, which Myanmar says is targeting Rohingya rebels, as tantamount to ethnic cleansing.

Responding to the security council on Wednesday, the office of Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi said the statement “ignores the fact that the issues facing Myanmar and Bangladesh today can only be resolved bilaterally, in an amicable manner, between two neighbouring states.”

The statement “could potentially and seriously harm the bilateral negotiations between the two countries which have been proceeding smoothly and expeditiously”, it added.

After weeks of tension over the billowing crisis, Myanmar and Bangladesh have begun talks on how to repatriate the refugees who have been cramming into squalid camps in the border district of Cox’s Bazar.

The two sides have yet to finalise a deal, with Myanmar last week accusing Bangladesh of delaying the process, while a Dhaka official said it was Myanmar who was not ready.

The crisis has showered global censure on Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate once feted around the globe for her years-long struggle against the former junta.

While she lacks control over the military and security policy, the leader has been blasted for not using her moral authority to defend the Rohingya against an increasingly vocal strain of Islamophobia espoused by the Buddhist public.

The 72-year-old, who is also foreign minister, further inflamed the global community when her office vowed to block visas for a UN fact-finding mission to the conflict zone in northern Rakhine.

Diplomats said the UN security council statement, which fell short of a full resolution, was watered down to secure backing from Beijing.

Rights groups have accused the UN body of dragging its feet over the Rohingya crisis and called for sanctions against those involved in the atrocities.

The US, which is dispatching Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Myanmar on November 15, has said it is seeking a diplomatic solution to the crisis but has not ruled out sanctions.

Earlier this month US lawmakers introduced a bill that would curtail assistance or cooperation with Myanmar’s military and require the White House to identify senior military officials who would have US visa bans imposed or reimposed against them.

The dinner, at the Blue House compound next to a former royal palace, includes a beef rib dish accompanied by a gravy made with an “exquisite, 360-year-old soy sauce”, said a spokesman for Seoul’s presidential office.

The age implies it was made in 1657, the year the father of the US Declaration of Independence signatory Benjamin Franklin was born.

Fermented food including soy sauce is a staple in South Korean cuisine, with soy sauces made by famous artisans and fermented for decades — or centuries — sold for tens of thousands of dollars per litre.

In one food show in 2012, a group of artisans displayed soy sauce they claimed had been made 450 years ago, with a price tag of 100 million won ($90,000).

Tuesday’s menu also includes a grilled sole — known to be Trump’s favourite fish — and an unnamed official told the South’s Yonhap news agency: “The menu contains food that has local, traditional flavour that could also appeal to the taste of the US head of state.”

But it is a marked contrast to the largely familiar US-style fare the president was offered by Shinzo Abe in Japan, with whom he has a significantly warmer relationship than with South Korean President Moon Jae-In.

Within hours of Trump’s arrival in Tokyo, Trump and Abe sat down to cheeseburgers, accompanied by tomato ketchup, and the centrepiece of the state banquet there was a steak.

The Seoul meal also features a prawn that Moon’s office said was caught near a disputed island claimed both by the South and Japan.

The Seoul-controlled island off the east coast — called Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan — is at the heart of a decades-long territorial dispute and diplomatic row between the two countries.//AFP

The tragedy occurred at the Banksia Road Public School when the car smashed into a wooden classroom building not long after lessons started.

The 52-year-old woman driver was taken away for questioning and to undergo alcohol and drug testing. She was reportedly dropping off a child at the time and police said the incident was being treated as non-intentional.

“The vehicle continued inside the building and tragically we have had a number of young children injured as a result,” said New South Wales state Assistant Commissioner Stewart Smith.

“As a result of that collision, five kids were urgently conveyed to Westmead Hospital. Tragically, two of those kids, male children, are deceased.”

The children who died were boys aged eight. A further 17 children and a teacher were treated at the scene for minor injuries.

The state’s Ambulance Superintendent Stephanie Radnidge said medics arrived to “a scene of carnage”.

“There were a number of distressed and overwhelmed children and teachers at the scene of a horrible accident,” she said.

“Obviously they were crying, they were distressed, some were asking for their parents, that’s a natural response in such a terrible set of circumstances.

“There was obviously pandemonium,” she added.

One distraught father described lifting the car off a dying boy while another child screamed for his mother in the chaos after the crash.

“Three of us lifted it and one of the blokes grabbed him out from underneath,” the man, who did not want to be named, told the Sydney Daily Telegraph.

He added that another badly injured classmate lay a few feet away.

“He was saying ‘I want my mum’. She wouldn’t have got to see him before he died.”

Student Mariam Issmail told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that she saw a teacher faint after the crash, while others loaded children into ambulances.

“They were all just covered with blood. It was very bad,” she said.

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Among the visitors have been foreigners who braved the crowds to queue to visit the cremaฌtorium and surrounding pavilions.

One of them was Jacques Moreau, an adviser to the Princess Galyani Vadhana Institute of Music, who said the ceremonies for the late HM King were the first time that he had had a chance to see a Royal funeral.

It had made a great impression on him perฌsonally, he said.

Moreau had seen video footage of the Royal funeral for HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana that was held in November 15, 2008 after she passed away in January the same year.

Because of that, Moreau said he knew what was going on, “but this Royal Funeral for King Rama IX is tremendously unique. There is no need to compare it to the Princess’s funeral.”

“What impressed me a lot was all the people everywhere and the devotion of the Thai peoฌple to their beloved monarch. It is something unique in the world,” he said.

Moreau said he had learned about the King’s devotion to his people and his good work. “This ceremony showed what he did for his people. Now I have discovered the really deep devotion the Thai people have for the King. There are no more questions of politics, of if you are with the monarchy or not.”

He said that he was at Sanam Luang when the Royal Cremation was held on October 26.

“I watched the cremation from outside. When the cremation started, there was a huge silence. Nobody moved. It was very deep emotional experience.”

Talking about the Royal Cremation buildings, he said it was clear that everybody had done their best work in the most perfect homage they could give to their beloved King.

Moreau said that when one laid the flowers for the late King, it was not the flower that matฌtered, it was that you had done it as an expresฌsion of last respect.

“It is not only the matter of having beautiful [crematorium] buildings for the King. Each one would give what he knows best to do for that event,” he said.

Apparently referring to criticism by some western media that the Royal funeral was too expensive,  Moreau said western people might think the cost was too high and it should be spent somewhere else.

“But when you witness it, you understand that it is not a question of money as it is a quesฌtion of respect, and a question of saying goodฌbye to 70 years of reign of a King who is with his people and of his people,” he said.

He described the experience of watching the funeral as “a very unusual experience for the 21 century”.

Also visiting the Royal Crematorium was Allan Macister from Australia, who is frequent visitor to Thailand, having visited the Kingdom about 20 times. He said he had waited in the line about two hours before being able to enter the premises. “I chose to visit Thailand during the late King’s Royal Funeral to be part of history. I was here during Princess Galyani’s cremation in 2008, and I came here this time especially for the Royal Funeral of King Rama IX.”

Macister said the late King had done a lot for his country. “It is amazing how the crematorium buildings were built,” he added.

He said it was a shame that they would be removed, but he was glad that many items would be placed in museums for people to see.

He also said he would return to the ceremonial grounds again, as a one-hour visit was not enough for him to see all of the pavilions.

Minke Dokter, from Holland, who visited the grounds with her husband, said that she had not had long to wait at the screening point before coming in. She also praised officials for handling the crowds, saying the venue was very well organised.

Dokter, who has lived near Pattaya for many years, said she had read about and watched the Royal Funeral coverage on BBC news and come to Bangkok to see the crematorium with her own eyes.

“I know that the late King did a lot for the Thai people. The crematorium and buildings are nicely done and I think it is very impressive,” she said.