Apichatpong, a soft-spoken 48-year-old from rural Thailand, may not leap out as a household name.

But he is the figurehead of Thailand’s cinema scene and a doyen of the global arthouse circuit, vaunted for his non-linear storytelling, dreamy shooting style and strong — if often subtle — political messaging.

With his home country under military rule since 2014, the filmmaker told AFP he decided not to make the film in Thailand, where political discussion is stifled and he says films can be shut down on the whim of the generals.

    To make a movie without addressing the urgent issue of the kingdom’s politics would be to undermine his role as a filmmaker, Apichatpong says.

“I want to talk about politics, our reality, our lives,” he told AFP this week before an awards event on November 19 in Nakhon Pathom, outside Bangkok.

Military rule has suffocated artistic expression in Thailand, but with elections slated for early next year a creative kickback is emerging, from documentaries to rap and graffiti.

Yet for film the road ahead is long, Apichatpong said, explaining that “cinema will follow… real democracy and rights” and adding he is happy to “nurture a new generation of filmmakers”.

Apichatpong was catapulted to recognition by “Uncle Boonmee who can recall his past lives”, which won the 2010 Palme d’Or at Cannes.

His elegiac films sweep through mysterious forests, mystical creatures, hallucinations and bruised national histories.

In December he is due to release a short in the kingdom as part of “Ten Years Thailand”, a bold project to document his nation’s political and social travails.

 – Memory and ghosts –

But his next feature, “Memoria”, which is currently being scripted, will be filmed in Colombia — a country that shares some parallels to his politically fragmented homeland.

Set between 1970 and 1980, a period marked by the bitter fight between the left-wing Farc guerillas and radical paramilitary groups of the right, the film features Swinton playing an expat “adventurer” of sorts.

She experiences auditory hallucinations and tries to “find the sources of these sounds happening to her only”, the Thai director explained.

Research took in two months-long trips to Colombia and interviews with psychiatrists about drug use, he said, typical of his immersive approach to filmmaking.

Apichatpong had for years quietly been working on a script for his long-time friend Swinton.

The pair eventually agreed to frame the story outside Thailand, where they were “both strangers… both foreigners”.

“The story is about discovery. She (Swinton) is very adventurous. She has different lives in the cinema world, she has more mainstream movies… but also experimental movies.”

French actress Jeanne Balibar, who met the Thai director when they were jury members at Cannes in 2008, will also star in the film as an archeologist.

The story draws on a motif that runs through all his films — ghosts.

Apichatpong’s parents were doctors and he grew up in a hospital compound where “sickness, death and birth” left an indelible mark, while he was also preoccupied with sci-fi and the supernatural throughout childhood.

“There was nothing at that time except those magazines of sci-fi, ghost comics and ghost movies,” he said.

“So to me they belong to the same place, a place out of the ordinary, antigravity, something that can appear at night and disappear in front of your eyes.”

But there was logic in the leap to Colombia — firstly from a financing perspective for an international film, but also to satisfy his curiosity.

“I was very interested in Latin American culture, I was very interested in the Amazon. But when I was there I was more attracted to the people, to their memories,” he said.

“They also really believe in ghosts.”

About one million dogs are eaten a year in South Korea, often as a summertime delicacy with the greasy red meat — invariably boiled for tenderness — believed to increase energy.

But the tradition has earned criticism abroad and has declined as the nation increasingly embraces the idea of dogs as pets instead of livestock, with eating them now something of a taboo among young South Koreans.

The Taepyeong-dong complex in Seongnam city, south of Seoul, housed at least six dog slaughterhouses that could hold several hundred animals at a time, and was a major source of meat for dog meat restaurants across the country.

It will be cleared over two days and transformed into a public park, Seongnam city officials said.

Animal rights campaigners slammed its operators for mistreating dogs and killing them cruelly — including electrocuting them before butchering them in the sight of other caged dogs.

Activists found electrocution equipment in the complex and a pile of dead dogs abandoned on the floor when they visited the site on Thursday, according to US animal rights group Humane Society International.

“This is a historic moment,” Korean Animal Rights Advocates (KARA) said in a blog post. “It will open the door for more closures of dog meat slaughterhouses across the country, expediting the decline of the overall dog meat industry.”

According to a survey last year 70 percent of South Koreans do not eat dogs, but far fewer — about 40 percent — believe the practice should be banned. It also found 65 percent support raising and slaughtering dogs in more humane conditions.

There are currently no laws on how to treat or slaughter canines for meat in South Korea. While farmers have urged Seoul to include dogs under livestock welfare regulations, animal rights groups oppose doing so, seeking complete abolition instead.

Guterres issued the call to arms ahead of next month’s COP24 climate talks in the southern Polish city of Katowice, which will attempt to revive a global climate deal reached in Paris in 2015.

Addressing the Virtual Climate Summit, Guterres urged world leaders to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.

He praised the online summit, which has been organised by the Marshall Islands using online technology to remain carbon neutral, as an example of the innovative thinking needed to combat climate change.

“We need more such creativity to transform our economy and limit global warming to as close to 1.5C as possible,” he said.

“Climate change is moving faster than we are and we cannot afford any more delays. The world counts on all nations to ensure that next month’s climate conference in Poland is a success.”

Former US vice president Al Gore said the way humanity was treating the planet was “unimaginable”.

“We’re still pouring 110 million tonnes of global warming pollution into the atmosphere around our planet like it’s an open sewer,” the Nobel laureate said.

“All of the extra energy trapped by man-made global warming pollution… is now equal to the amount of heat energy that would be released from 500,000 Hiroshima-class atomic bombs exploding on Earth every single day.”

UN General Assembly president Maria Fernanda Espinosa had her own bleak statistics, telling the online gathering that carbon dioxide levels were now the highest in 800,000 years.

She also pointed out that 17 of the 18 hottest years on record had occurred since 2001 and that the cost of climate-related disasters in 2017 topped $500 billion.

Yet Espinosa said it was not too late to act.

“When numbers such as these cause us to panic, there are other reasons to be encouraged,” she said.

“My message today is not one of dismay but one of hope — that we can come together as a global community and work as one to protect and heal our planet and preserve it for future generations.”

The online summit consists of a rolling, 24-hour livestream that will hear addresses from world leaders including France’s Emmanuel Macron and Justin Trudeau of Canada before organisers issue a declaration early Friday.

It can be viewed at http://www.virtualclimatesummit.org.

Impoverished Cambodia has become an unlikely staging ground for geopolitical influence in Asia.

In recent years it has turned into a key China ally, heading off criticism of the superpower over its claims to disputed seas in exchange for billions of dollars in investment and loans.

While China has cosied up to Cambodia, the United States and the European Union have admonished Hun Sen, the nation’s ruler for 33 years, for his increasingly authoritarian rule.

    In a rare speech outside of his country, his son, Hun Many warned the US-China trade spat may create lasting divisions in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

“Perhaps one day Asean would have to choose between US or China,” Hun Many said in Bangkok.

“How would we see the trade war spill or expanded in other areas? Surely it will pressure individual members of Asean or Asean as a whole to choose sides.”

The economic ripples of the trade spat between China and the US could destabilise global supply chain links in Southeast Asia, while a slump in Chinese spending would impact its trading partners.

Cambodia’s strongman Hun Sen has welcomed Chinese investment to pump-prime his country’s economy.

At the same time, he has accused the US of trying to foment revolution in Cambodia by supporting his critics.

Both the US and EU decried the July elections, which were held without a credible opposition and gave Hun Sen another term in power.

When asked which of the superpowers Cambodia would side with, the Australian-educated Hun Many demurred.

“At the end of the day, it depends on those who are involved to take a more responsible approach for their decisions that affect the entire world,” he said.

Earlier this week, Hun Sen swatted away concerns that Beijing will construct a naval base off the southwest coast of Cambodia, which would provide ready access to the disputed South China Sea.

Beijing claims most of the flashpoint area, infuriating the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Taiwan who all have competing claims to its islands and potentially resource-rich waters.

Hun Many, who described himself as a “proud son”, is widely believed to be in the running to one day replace his father.

His elder brother, Manit, is the head of a military intelligence unit while Manet, the oldest, was promoted in September to the chief of joint staff of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces as well as the commander of the infantry army headquarters.

But Many brushed aside the notion.

“It is way too soon to say that I am in the next generation of leaders,” he said.

The elephants had reportedly eaten and destroyed a cassava plantation, young oil palms and other plants before they went into hiding in the bushes located some 3 to 4 kilometers from the residential area.

The head of the Riau Natural Resource Conservation Agency (BBKSDA), Heru Sutmantoro, said the plantations were in what was originally the natural habitat of the wild elephants, which move from one place to another between Pekanbaru, Kampar and Siak.

“Tapung is one of their crossing areas,” Heru said on Tuesday, adding that the elephants had avoided it because it was inundated with water.

He said the 11 members of the herd all belong to the same family. They consist of adult female elephants, juveniles and a calf.

Responding to reports from residents, BBKSDA Riau promptly sent four personnel from the Minas elephant training center to prevent the herd from approaching the housing. He confirmed that the team had found traces of the elephants.

“The team is still in the field and maintaining communications with the plantation owners. They also patrol the site at night,” Heru said.

According to Heru, the team had drawn up a plan to drive the elephant herd to Minas in Siak regency or to Koto Garo in Kampar regency by using firecrackers and cannon.

“I am not racist because my child studies in a Chinese school. I also have friends who are Chinese,” said Mohamad Edi Bin Mohamad Riyars, who is known as Edi Rejang.

“At that time I was too tired from work and was angry, and I became too emotional since it had to do with alcohol. I sincerely apologise to the woman,” he said in a video posted on Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng’s Facebook page.

Mohamad Edi said he initially wanted to buy groceries at that hypermarket, adding that he noticed a woman who was offering beer samples to shoppers as he was walking by a crowd of people.

“As it was a narrow section, I saw many people congregating there but that place was a non-halal section and I did not check first. As I was very angry at that time, I took out my phone and decided to take a video of that woman, to question her, show that obscene gesture and walk away,” he said.

He added that he did not know why he decided to act in that manner, clarifying that it happened spontaneously.

“I did not have any intention to be racist. We are 1Malaysia; the Chinese, Indians and the Malays all have their rights. It was my fault as I had walked through that area which was non-halal but I went in and hurled abusive words in that place,” he said.

Mohamad Edi also said that he hoped he would be able to meet the woman in person to apologise.

Lim had said in the video that he was not sure if the woman accepted his apology, but added that he would contact the woman to get her views on this issue.

Mohamad Edi had earlier also apologised to the woman and to all Malaysians in a video that was uploaded on Twitter.

In a statement by Carlsberg Malaysia, the beer promoter has also decided not to pursue the matter further.

On Monday (Nov 21), a video clip of a shopper berating a beer promoter for giving out beer samples in the alcohol section of a hypermarket went viral on social media.

In the video, the girl had remained calm even though the shopper scolded her and demanded to know if she was promoting the beer to “anyone”, including Muslims.

As the promoter was about to defend herself in English, he criticised her and insisted that she speak in Bahasa Melayu because this is “Bumi Melayu”.

The man then made an obscene hand gesture and spewed vulgarities at her before walking away. The promoter could be heard in the video saying, “You are hilarious.”

Watch : Beer promoter becomes Malaysian hero for standing up to bully

The team, assisted by researchers from the Academy of Marine and Fisheries Community in Wakatobi, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and locals, identified the animal as a sperm whale.

The carcass was 9.5m long and 4.37m wide, according to a release from the Environment and Forestry Ministry made available on Tuesday (Nov 20).

The head of the park, Heri Santoso, said when his team found the whale on Sunday (Nov 18), it had already begun to decompose.

A tweet from the WWF explained that due to its condition, the team could not confirm whether the garbage had been the cause of the whale’s death.

The body will be buried on Tuesday on Kolowawa Beach in North Kapota village, he said.

Researchers opened the animal’s stomach and found 115 plastic cups (750g), 19 hard plastic pieces (140g), four plastic bottles (150g), 25 plastic bags (260g), six wood splinters (740g), two rubber sandals (270g), one nylon sack (200g) and more than 1,000 pieces of plastic rope (3,260g).

The total weight of the wet garbage was 5.9kg.

A picture from WWF of the stomach’s content showed that the whale had even swallowed what looked like a piece of a melamine dining plate.

In the 45-second video clip, the person recording the video walked up to the promoter, who was giving out beer samples at the alcohol section of the hypermarket, believed to be in Ampang.

It is unclear when the video clip was recorded. The man asked her race, and the girl replied she is Chinese.

He went on to ask if she could “promote the beer to anyone”, to which the woman calmly replies, “No, I choose non-Muslims.”

As the promoter was about to defend herself in English, the recorder criticised her and insisted that she speak in Bahasa Melayu because this is “Bumi Melayu”.

“Are you being racist, that I can’t speak English (to you)?” the promoter asked.

The man then made an obscene hand gesture and spewed vulgarity at her before walking away.

The promoter can be heard saying, “You are hilarious.”

The video clip was circulated on various Facebook pages and groups, with hundreds of Malaysians supporting and defending the promoter.

“Well done girl. Well done. Respect such a matured and calm person dealing the situation so professionally (sic),” said Isaac Liew.

Mike Ng Yao Hui questioned why the man walked into the non-halal area of the hypermarket to scold the promoter.

He noted it was akin to a person walking into a female washroom, scolding all the women for relieving themselves there before showing the middle finger and dropping the F-Bomb.

Muhd Taufiq pointed out that as a Malaysian, he was ashamed by those who use religion for their own convenience.

“(She) did nothing wrong and I’m pretty sure that girl never offered that drink to that guy.

“This guy just wants to ‘cari pasal’ (find trouble) for no reason, and I’m so sorry for what he did to this girl,” Muhd Taufiq said, adding that people like the man who harassed the girl is the reason why Malaysians are being undermined by other countries.

Shahreeman Radzi wondered “where is the race and religious tolerance?”  “What’s wrong with this person? Sad indeed,” he added.

Several people have posted the picture of the man who recorded the video as well as the company he works for.

The man has since deactivated his Facebook profile.

Australian newspaper Herald Sun reported that Amir Milson died in 2016 when he stepped on a landmine while carrying another fighter on his shoulder in Syria.

“We heard when he died,” Amir’s friend reportedly said. “He was carrying a fighter on his shoulder when he stepped on a landmine. That was it,” he added.

In September, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation confirmed his death.

Amir, who was half Malaysian and half Australian, studied mass communication at Curtin University in Perth, according to the report.

In 2010, Amir who was 27 then, was doing part-time modelling and had even planned to be a television presenter.

However, the Herald Sun reported that Amir, whose real name is Amirrudin Hud Rashid Milson, subsequently got married and had a son.

In 2014, he began to become radicalised. Subsequently, he divorced his wife before going to Syria.

According to one of his friends, Amir’s conversion to Islam was a “gradual process”.

The friend added that Amir was known as someone who was “handsome, outgoing, extremely friendly, brave and courageous”.