He went to Golok, a border town in Narathiwat, southern Thailand, two weeks ago during Hari Raya to have the marriage solemnised with the 11-year-old Thai girl.

The man, who already has two wives, is said to be a self-proclaimed imam at his village in Gua Musang, Kelantan.

His children are aged between five and 18.

The young bride, who has never been to school, is a friend of one of the man’s children.

The underage girl is said to have given her “consent” to the marriage after the man voiced his intention to her parents about marrying her.

It is learnt that her parents, who live in Gua Musang, are rubber tappers. Her father apparently is an employee of the man.

The parents agreed to the marriage but imposed a “condition” that their daughter would only be allowed to live with the “husband” when she turns 16.

The case became a hot topic when the 34-year-old second wife of the man posted photographs of him and the girl and their alleged solemnisation ceremony.

She captioned the picture: “Selamat pengantin baru suamiku. Suami 41, maduku 11 (Congraญtulaญtions on your wedding, my husband, 41, his other wife, 11).”

It is learnt that she resorted to social media after her husband blocked all communication with both his wives.

She deleted the post after it went viral and said in another post that she had referred the matter to the courts, the ustaz and the Welfare Department.

She also said that a wedding was not a joke.

The man had earlier denied everything when his second wife showed him the photographs, saying that the images were doctored.

He only admitted after she pressed him further.

When contacted, the second wife said she had heard talk that her husband would marry again but he had assured both wives that he would never marry a child.

“I never expected this to actually happen. If he marries a woman and not a child, I can accept it. I even tried to match-make him with another woman but he declined.

“What angers me is he married my child’s friend,” she said, adding that she wanted a divorce as she could not stand her husband anymore.

She claimed that her husband had told them that if they could not accept the third wife, the best solution was to split up.

“There is no use for this marriage to go on. I will go to the religious office tomorrow (today).

“We’ve tried calling and texting him to settle our relationship but he’s not answering,” she claimed.

She also said her 10-year-old son sent a message to his father, asking why he married the 11-year-old.

The man supposedly began “dating” the girl in March.

The second wife also said she was tired of shouldering the responsibilities of having to earn money and raising their four children.

“Have you ever celebrated Hari Raya with our family? Have you ever taken our kids out?” she wrote.

His first wife, 41, is said to have received the photographs of the marriage solemnisation several days ago and forwarded them to the second wife.

“I don’t blame the girl, I blame our husband,” the second wife said.

She also posted a screenshot of a WhatsApp conversation of the first wife’s child and the 11-year-old girl who had apparently confronted her about the marriage.

The girl said: “Your father is crazy about me. I’m not ‘hungry’.”

The seven mountain temples — Seonamsa, Daeheungsa, Beopjusa, Magoksa, Tongdosa, Bongjeongsa, Buseoksa — were all established during the Three Kingdoms period that lasted until the 7th century AD.

UNESCO made the announcement at a meeting in the Bahraini capital Manama.

“These mountain monasteries are sacred places, which have survived as living centres of faith and daily religious practice to the present,” UNESCO said in a press statement.

Buddhism was imported to the Korean peninsula in the fourth century and accepted by the ancient kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla, establishing it as the national religion for more than 1,000 years.

During the religion’s heyday in the fifth and sixth centuries many houses of worship were built under strong state patronage, accelerating the importation of Buddhist culture, architecture and style.

Over time elements of traditional Korean beliefs merged into the religion, forming the Tong Buddhist doctrine, meaning consolidation or integration, and temple architectural layouts followed suit.

Buildings were constructed in supposedly auspicious locations and many temples set up in hilly areas, in line with the traditional Korean reverence for mountains and the Zen focus on meditation in a calm environment.

Temples were built on high positions protected by hills and commanding an open view over other mountains.

A typical mountain temple has a long winding entrance path up the slope, buildings laid out in a square with an inner courtyard in the middle.

The most important hall is on the highest level at the back, and halls for meditation, everyday living areas for monks, and a pavilion form the other three sides.

But Buddhism’s influence began to wane after the Chosun dynasty, which took over in the 14th century, adopted Confucianism as its ideology and launched an extensive and enduring crackdown on the religion.

It forced many urban temples to close, leaving only those in remote hills to survive.

The 12 sites include 10 villages, Hara Castle and Oura Cathedral, a Catholic church in Nagasaki that is dedicated to 26 Christians who were executed for their beliefs over four centuries ago.

The decision was announced in the Bahraini capital Manama. In a press statement UNESCO said that the 12 sites “bear unique testimony to a cultural tradition nurtured by hidden Christians in the Nagasaki region who secretly transmitted their faith”.

Christianity in Japan dates back to 1549, when European Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier arrived in the country with two companions and the religion began spreading in western Japan.

As more missionaries arrived and the faith spread, Japanese military leaders became increasingly suspicious of its growing influence and a crackdown against Christians began from 1589.

The Christians commemorated at Oura — 20 Japanese and six foreigners — were executed in Nagasaki in 1597 as the persecution intensified.

For Japanese converts, hiding their religion became a matter of life and death for the next 250 years, with Christianity banned and Japan closed to the outside world.

As they practised their faith but tried to blend in, the Christians created a blended religion that incorporated elements of Buddhism.

It wasn’t until 1865 that these “hidden Christians” or Kakure Kirishtan became known outside of their communities.

A group of nervous peasants approached a French priest at Oura Cathedral and one woman whispered “our hearts are the same as yours”, prompting the discovery of what turned out to be tens of thousands of Japanese Christians who had kept their faith a secret.

Gothic-style Oura, which was built in 1864 by French priests and was known by locals as the “French temple,” is the oldest Christian-related building in Japan.

It was designated a national treasure by the government in 1933, but was partly damaged by the atomic bomb dropped by the US on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, three days after the bombing of Hiroshima.

The other sites added to the list include Sakitsu village in Amakusa, in southwestern Kumamoto, where Christians practiced their faith in secret in the Edo period.

The martyrdom of hidden Catholics and Jesuit missionaries in Japan in the 17th century was the subject of the 2016 Hollywood film “Silence”, directed by Martin Scorsese.

But on most days it lies completely empty, as members of the stateless minority dread returning to a place they were violently driven from by the military, and Myanmar makes little effort to reassure them things will be different this time.

“We have been ready to receive them since January, when we opened,” said Win Khaing, immigration director at Nga Khu Ra, standing in the desolate camp with reporters on Friday as part of a two-day government-chaperoned trip to the area.

The result is a stand-off, as Myanmar immigration officials wait in empty offices shuffling papers and arranging biometric equipment but with little to no work to do except greet visiting delegations and journalists.

Fewer than 200 Rohingya Muslims have been resettled in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state from the 700,000 who fled a violent army crackdown in August.

Rohingya women say they were raped by security forces, while witnesses described summary executions and a merciless campaign of violence that the UN has said amounts to ethnic cleansing.

Myanmar says it only targeted militants, although the military has admitted one instance of executing captured suspects.

Even the limited number of Rohingya who have returned have all done so under murky circumstances.

In April the government trumpeted the arrival of a Rohingya family of five, but it was later slammed as a PR stunt as it emerged they had come from a buffer area between the two countries that is technically part of Myanmar.

Local authorities nevertheless created a billboard with several large photos of the family near the border, heralding the “photo records of steps of repatriation”.

In recent months, Myanmar says dozens have been repatriated after crossing over from Bangladesh illegally.

It says others who tried to flee to Bangladesh by boat but accidentally washed up back in Myanmar have also been sent to live with relatives after being processed at the transit camp.

Bangladesh does not recognise these as legitimate returnees.

“The repatriation process has not begun,” Bangladesh refugee commissioner Mohammad Abul Kalam told AFP.

‘We haven’t been to Bangladesh’

Nine Rohingya purportedly released from prison in May after crossing back over illegally were brought by Myanmar officials to meet journalists on Friday.

But cracks quickly emerged in the story, with some saying they had never even been to Bangladesh and were “repatriated” from prison in Myanmar.

“We were arrested in November last year (in Myanmar) and sentenced to four years imprisonment each under the immigration act,” said Yar Sein, 35, a farmer and father-of-four.

“We were arrested from school and accused of coming from Bangladesh. We haven’t been to Bangladesh.”

The prolonged delays in repatriation have also strained relations with Bangladesh, which plans to send a protest note after a 10-year-old Rohingya boy in the buffer zone was struck by a bullet from the Myanmar side on Thursday.

Myanmar says it fired at people attempting to damage the border fence.

As the two countries blame each other for the delay, Myanmar has embarked on what is says is a massive development project in northern Rakhine, bulldozing Rohingya towns and remaking the entire landscape in the name of reconstruction.

The UN has said conditions in Rakhine are not ripe for a safe, voluntary and dignified repatriation, but signed an agreement with Myanmar to assess conditions on the ground to help refugees make an informed decision.

‘No one’ at the camps

Myanmar has faced global condemnation for its treatment of the Rohingya, and Amnesty International said this week that several senior military figures should be tried for crimes against humanity.

A US Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report Thursday downgraded Myanmar for failing to protect Rohingya Muslims fleeing the crackdown and leaving them vulnerable to exploitation and trafficking rings.

The Rohingya are loathed by many in Myanmar, where they were stripped of citizenship and branded illegal immigrants from Bangladesh despite calling Rakhine their homeland.

Min Aung Hlaing, the army chief, said last month that Rohingya have nothing to fear as long as they stay in places “designated” for them, raising concerns that they would be placed back into the apartheid-like conditions they escaped.

Ye Htoo, district administrator in Maungdaw — the epicenter of violence in the western state — told reporters Myanmar is “planning to create a good environment for them to stay if they come back.”

Still, he admitted, “there is no one” at the camps.

Local residents have also spoken of not being willing to coexist alongside their former neighbours, whom many associate with a Rohingya militant group that attacked police posts.

Khin Soe, a 30-year-old Buddhist ethnic Rakhine woman from Inn Din village, said they are still afraid.

“If the government really plans to relocate them here again, we are leaving this place.”

It’s now a familiar role for the Pentagon chief, not just in Asia but across Europe and the Middle East. With Trump disrupting one relationship after another, provoking rivals and unnerving friends, Mattis is the one making sure they can still work on their traditional foundations.

This week, he had to tell the leaders of South Korea and Japan — close allies who have depended on the US security umbrella for decades — that Washington remains committed to protecting them.

That was always understood before Trump suddenly canceled defense exercises with South Korea as an enticement to North Korea’s Kim Jong Un to negotiate giving up his nuclear weapons.

And Mattis had to cut through the noise of Trump’s trade war threat against China to deliver one of the toughest warnings in recent years, that the US has grown dangerously impatient with Beijing’s military expansionism in the region.

The challenge was to get the Chinese to focus on his terse, carefully calibrated message and not conflate the US president’s trade hoopla, so that they do not overreact.

“I’m here to keep our relationship on the right trajectory, keep it going in the right direction and to share ideas with your military leadership, as well as look at the way ahead,” the Pentagon chief told Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Mattis, a 67-year-old Marine veteran of multiple wars and conflicts, and a deep student of history, insists he is only advancing administration policy.

But under Trump, it is an uphill battle to prevent key relationships from souring.

Japan and South Korea alike have been deeply worried about the US security commitment after Trump’s historic summit with Kim in Singapore on June 12.

As they agreed to enter into denuclearization talks, Trump abruptly canceled a key US-South Korea exercise slated for later this year.

Despite their longstanding effect of keeping North Korea at bay, Trump called the war games “expensive” and “provocative.”

How worried were the allies? In Seoul, Mattis had to declare bluntly that US troop levels in South Korea, the central pillar of the US defense commitment, would not change, and reiterate that the US commitment was “ironclad.”

In Tokyo, he pledged a continuing strong, “collaborative” defense stance with regional allies, and that Japan will remain a “cornerstone” of regional stability.

His predecessors never had to travel to the region to make that so clear.

‘Increasingly concerned’

And yet, with US negotiations with Pyongyang hyper-secret, allies still aren’t sure.

“They are increasingly concerned and worried about the reliability of our reassurances,” said James Schoff, a former senior Pentagon East Asia specialist now in the Carnegie Asia Program.

In meetings Friday with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Japan’s foreign and defense ministers, Mattis was repeatedly reminded that if the US negotiates only to eliminate North Korea’s nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles which can strike the United States, Japan will still feel deeply vulnerable.

Tokyo pressed the US defense chief to ensure that North Korea’s other weapons of mass destruction, chemical and biological weapons, and its short- and medium-range ballistic missiles that can deliver them to South Korea and Japan, are also included.

Mattis could not make that promise, saying the talks are in the hands of “the diplomats.”

But he said the two sides discussed the possibility of deepening their military relationship, and told Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera “to remember you have a friend in the Pentagon.”

In China, Mattis sought to warn that Beijing weaponizing small islands in the South China Sea and its stepped-up pressure against Taiwan, the longtime US security ally that China views as a renegade province, were close to going too far.

It was possibly one of the most serious and delicate messages Mattis had to deliver yet in the 17 months of the Trump administration.

But it came as Trump appeared on the verge of launching an all-out commercial war against Beijing, creating the possibility that China would conflate the two and overreact.

It was a tense balancing act, and though US officials said their Chinese opposites were positively engaged in the discussions, in a statement Xi toughly rebuffed the criticisms on the South China Sea and Taiwan, saying China would not give up “one inch” of its territory.

But the reception Mattis had in Beijing, meeting not only Xi but the country’s top military leaders, showed they were ready to pay attention.

Still, the question leaders in East Asia and elsewhere have is, as trustworthy as Mattis is, does Trump pay him any heed?

“There are some things the Asian leaders can’t control. Mattis clearly realizes there are some elements that he may not be able to control,” said Schoff.

The annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report said Myanmar slipped backward on its trafficked person’s index to Tier 3 for failing to protect Rohingya Muslims fleeing a military crackdown in Rakhine state.

More than 700,000 Rohingyas fled to escape military retaliation following attacks by militants on police posts in August 2017.

The United Nations and the United States have said the violence amounts to “ethnic cleansing”.

The vast majority of the fleeing Rohingya settled in sprawling refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh.

Many were women and children who have become prey for traffickers, the report said.

The Rohingya were “subjected to exploitation — or transported to other countries for the purpose of sex trafficking — as a result of their displacement,” it said.

It also said some Rohingya children were abducted in transit and sold into forced marriages in India, Indonesia and Malaysia.

“The Government of Burma does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so,” it said, using the former name for Myanmar.

Myanmar officials did not immediately reply to AFP’s request for comment.

Myanmar and Bangladesh later signed an agreement to repatriate the Rohingya but many fear returning without guaranteed basic rights such as safety, freedom of movement and citizenship.

The camps in southeast Bangladesh were recently battered by monsoon rains, forcing thousands to shift in the face of deadly landslides.

On Thursday the World Bank approved a $50 million grant for a project to improve health, education, water supply and sanitation in the camps, the first instalment in a series that could total as much as $480 million, it said in a statement.

Rights groups have accused Myanmar’s security forces of extrajudicial killings, rape and arson as part of the campaign against the stateless Rohingya, which the military denies.

The TIP report ranks 187 countries using its three-tier index. A Tier 3 ranking could lead to non-trade related sanctions.

Myanmar joined China, Russia, Laos, South Sudan and North Korea in the lowest Tier 3 ranking in this year’s report.

Thailand and Pakistan were upgraded to a Tier 2 from the Tier 2 Watchlist, which refers to countries who are not doing enough to protect trafficked people, but “are making significant efforts” to do so.//AFP

    The early morning closure of Ngurah Rai airport sparked the cancellation of nearly 280 flights to and from the tropical paradise with some 15,700 passengers affected, according to revised figures from an airport spokesman.

The initial numbers given were nearly 450 flights cancelled and 75,000 travellers affected. The spokesman did not give a reason for the dramatic revision.

A striking orange-red glow could be seen at the top of Mount Agung’s crater after it shot smoke and ash some 2,000 metres (6,500 feet) into the sky Thursday evening.

The airport was closed early Friday after a pilot flying overhead detected traces of volcanic ash as high as 23,000 feet.

Ash is dangerous for planes as it makes runways slippery and can be sucked into their engines.

Bali’s main international gateway will be closed until at least Friday evening, according to officials, who added that two other domestic airports were also shut.

The fresh activity threatens to create travel chaos after an Agung eruption in November stranded thousands and pounded Bali’s lucrative tourism industry and wider economy.

Tens of thousands of locals fled to evacuation centres after last year’s eruption.

The volcano is about 75 kilometres from Bali’s tourist hub in Kuta.

Australian visitor Rod Bird came early to the airport only to be told his flight back to Perth had been cancelled for the second time.

An earlier flight on AirAsia was called off before the airport was shuttered early Friday morning.

“They told us the volcano is going off so they rebooked us for this morning and we got here at 5:00 am only to be turned away again. So we’ve had two cancelled flights,” Bird told AFP.

“Well it’s Bali, these things happen and we are fine with it. We just miss the kids,” he added.

Thousands were stranded at the airport or area hotels Friday, but it was not immediately clear how many tourists were unable to leave the island.

Despite the eruption, Agung’s status remained on alert status, the second highest danger warning.

There is a four-kilometre (2.5 mile) no-go zone around Agung’s peak.

Bali’s governor said officials were working on getting visitors on their way.

“We will try our best to find a solution so all visitors can continue their trip,” Made Mangku Pastika said.

Agung has been erupting periodically since it rumbled back to life last year.

Its last major eruption in 1963 killed around 1,600 people.

Indonesia is the world’s most active volcanic region and lies on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where tectonic plates collide, causing frequent volcanic and seismic activities.//AFP

German Chancellor Angela Merkel had warned that the bloc’s “destiny” was at stake if it failed to reach an agreement, with her own job also hanging in the balance as tensions over the issue grow at home.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who heads a month-old populist and anti-immigration government, had vetoed joint conclusions for the entire agenda of the summit in Brussels until his demands were met.

Italy has recently refused to let several migrant rescue boats dock at its ports, demanding that the responsibility for people arriving across the Mediterranean should be shared between other countries.

Twelve hours after talks began, EU President Donald Tusk said on Twitter that “EU28 leaders have agreed on… conclusions” including migration.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that “European cooperation enabled this”.

Italy’s stance has revived political tensions in the EU, despite the fact that arrivals have dipped sharply since Europe’s migration crisis erupted in 2015, and sparked warnings that authoritarian movements will take advantage of any failure to tackle migration.

Former law professor Conte, until recently a virtual political unknown, came to Brussels emboldened by the announcement of an upcoming visit to US President Donald Trump, who has hailed Rome’s tough stance, and who himself blocked the conclusions of a recent G7 leaders meeting on trade.

“Italy does not need more words, but concrete actions,” Conte told reporters as he arrived at the summit.

The Italian government wants other countries to help in the same way that they had after it refused to admit the rescue ships Aquarius, which docked later in Spain, and Lifeline, which went to Malta.

But the lengthy talks proved difficult.

“It was a very virulent discussion and everyone jumped on the Italian,” a European source said.

‘Europe’s destiny’

Merkel’s political future at home is also at stake and she issued a rallying call to the other European leaders to back her stance.

“Europe has many challenges but migration could end up determining Europe’s destiny,” Merkel told German lawmakers hours ahead of the summit.

For years Europe’s most powerful leader, Merkel risks seeing her fragile coalition collapse if she cannot reach deals with Italy and other countries to stop migrants initially arriving in those countries from moving on to Germany.

After allowing more than one million asylum seekers into Germany since 2015, Merkel faces an end-of-month deadline from her own interior minister to seal pacts to curb so-called secondary migration.

Italy has insisted on getting help for dealing with new arrivals before making any further deals.

European sources said several countries, including France, Italy and Spain, had proposed centres to process asylum seekers arriving on European shores.

Those eligible for asylum would then be sent to other European countries willing to take them.

Tusk, the summit host, meanwhile issued a fresh warning on the need for action on migration to stave off rising populism and authoritarianism, saying that “the stakes are high and time is short”.

“Some may think I am too tough in my proposals on migration, but trust me, if we don’t agree on them, then you’ll see some really tough proposals from some really tough guys,” the former Polish premier added.

World Cup surprise

Tusk has proposed that the leaders approve work on migrant “disembarkation platforms” in countries outside Europe, most likely in Africa, according to a draft summit statement.

But long-mulled plans for a permanent scheme to share migrants arriving in Italy and Greece around all other EU countries appear doomed to fail for now.

Former communist countries in Eastern Europe, particularly the authoritarian governments of Hungary and Poland, implacably oppose the plan.

Brexit has meanwhile been largely relegated to the sidelines of this summit, with British Prime Minister Theresa May set to update leaders after admitting the need to make “faster” progress as she arrived at the venue.

EU leaders are expected on Friday to say that talks, which have stalled on the issue of the Irish border, are running out of time to get a deal.

But in a light-hearted bid to ease tensions, Belgian premier Charles Michel surprised May with a gift of a Belgian football shirt.

A World Cup clash between Belgium and England coincided with the summit on Thursday night. Belgium won 1-0.

The early morning closure of Ngurah Rai airport sparked the cancellation of nearly 450 flights to and from the tropical paradise.

Mount Agung shot a tower of smoke and ash some 2,000 metres (6,500 feet) into the sky Thursday evening.

The airport was closed early Friday after a pilot flying overhead detected traces of volcanic ash as high as 23,000 feet.

Ash is dangerous for planes as it makes runways slippery and can be sucked into their engines.

Bali’s main international gateway will be closed until at least Friday evening, according to officials, who added that two other domestic airports were also shut.

The fresh activity threatens to create travel chaos after an Agung eruption in November stranded thousands and pounded Bali’s lucrative tourism industry and wider economy.

Tens of thousands of locals fled to evacuation centres after last year’s eruption.

The volcano is about 75 kilometres from Bali’s tourist hub in Kuta.

Australian visitor Rod Bird came early to the airport only to be told his flight back to Perth had been cancelled for the second time.

An earlier flight on AirAsia was called off before the airport was shuttered early Friday morning.

“They told us the volcano is going off so they rebooked us for this morning and we got here at 5:00 am only to be turned away again. So we’ve had two cancelled flights,” Bird told AFP.

“Well it’s Bali, these things happen and we are fine with it. We just miss the kids,” he added.

Some 446 domestic and international flights have been cancelled after the volcano roared backed to life, affecting about 75,000 passengers.

Thousands were stranded at the airport or hotels Friday, but it was not immediately clear how many tourists were unable to leave the island.

Despite the eruption, Agung’s status remained on alert status, the second highest danger warning.

There is a four-kilometre (2.5 mile) no-go zone around Agung’s peak.

Bali’s governor appealed for calm, and said activity at the crater has declined significantly since Thursday evening.

“We will try our best to find a solution so all visitors can continue their trip,” Made Mangku Pastika said.

Agung has been erupting periodically since it rumbled back to life last year.

Its last major eruption in 1963 killed around 1,600 people.

Indonesia is the world’s most active volcanic region and lies on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where tectonic plates collide, causing frequent volcanic and seismic activities.