Pramrudee Tiede said she had been forced to explain that her sister, Premruthai Juseng, 26, who had worked as a flight attendant in Qatar and had a history of depression, took her own life by hanging herself in an airline’s dormitory late December.

Pramrudee, whose nickname is “Nice”, earlier had told a reporter in a telephone interview that she wanted to keep the affair private, mainly to protect her mother’s feelings.

However, her father, Hiabbu Koh, 74, told the media that he believed Premruthai, whose nickname was “Ice”, had been murdered in her room in Qatar and called on the Thai Foreign Ministry to help investigate the cause of her death.

He said his daughter looked happy when she talked to him in Line message chats. “We talked to each other everyday. She was very happy after she became a flight attendant, the job she had dreamed about for a long time.”

Pramrudee wrote on Facebook that initially she had not wanted to say anything about her sister, who was resting in peace, but she decided to go public to protect her, her mother and the Thai Embassy in Doha.

“My father’s interview with the press was groundless. Ice was not murdered, but she had suffered from depression, resulting in her deciding to take her own life.”

Pramruedee, who is based in Berlin, said she had been alerted about the tragedy by the Thai Embassy in Doha and then she had told her mother, who was in Bangkok. Hiabbu had been separated from her mother for years.

She and her mother then travelled to Doha, she said, where Thai diplomats and the airline’s staff brought them to see her sister’s body.

Police also gave them a letter written by Premruthai, she said, the details of which she would not reveal. However, a source said Premruthai had written down private information concerning her bank accounts.

“Before the day she died, she wrote to me via Whatsapp, saying “I love you sister Nice. Tell mom also.”

Doha police concluded the cause of the death was asphyxiation by hanging.

The two women spent seven days in Doha arranging for Premruthai’s body to be transported to Thailand and during their stay the Thai Embassy and the airline firm took good care of them and helped facilitate the process despite language barriers, Pramrudee said.

“The airline also provided support for our expenses during our stay and procedures to bring her home,” Pramrudee wrote.

She also wrote that she wanted to apologise to everybody that may have been caused trouble because of her father’s allegations.

Meanwhile, Hiabbu yesterday met Foreign Ministry Consular Affairs director-general Chatree Atjananun and his deputy Pattarat Hongthong to seek information about the death of his daughter.

After a two-hour meeting, the father said he still did not believe that his daughter had committed suicide and had submitted a petition for the department to prove the real cause of death.

“My eldest daughter [Premrudee] can write whatever she wants, that’s her right. I have not yet seen the suicide note she mentioned, but what the officials told me was that it was about the location of her belongings and assets,” he said.

The death certificate mentioned only that she had died from asphyxiation and did not contain details about her having been hanged, Hiabbu said.

Premruthai was dead so it was not right to blame depression, he added.

Chatree had promised to make more inquires about the cause of death, Hiabbu said, adding that he wanted Qatari authorities to be direct in handling the case.

However, he said he was worried that if the investigation concluded that Premruthai had killed herself, he would be unable to come to terms with the conclusion.

Dramatic CCTV footage showed a group of some 40 visiting students on a balcony section plunge as the floor gave way with a cascade of glass, metal and other material crashing onto the ground floor where several others were walking.

A Jakarta police spokesman said the collapse was an accident and not the result of an explosion.

National police spokesman Setyo Wasisto told AFP 75 people had been injured. There were no reports of deaths so far.

Television images showed chaotic scenes as victims were taken to hospital or lay on the ground outside the tower complex in the centre of the sprawling city’s business district.

“I saw many people bleeding,” student Rizki Noviandi, who was taking part in a competition at the exchange building, told Metro TV.

“So many people were carried out of the building and were left on the grass outside… until the ambulances arrived.”

The lobby was filled with debris and toppled-over plants near a Starbucks coffee outlet, as hundreds of building employees were evacuated from the complex which was bombed by Islamist militants in 2000.

At least 10 people were killed and dozens injured by a car bomb in that attack.

“Our search and rescue teams, the police, doctors, the firefighters are all still working,” Wasisto said.

“They are cleaning the debris and also searching for other possible injuries,” he added.

Those hurt mostly sustained injuries to their legs and arms, including broken bones, a spokesman for one local hospital said.

Jakarta police spokesman Argo Yuwono added: “The accident happened at the first floor… It’s a floor where many employees are passing by.”

– ‘Panicking’ –

The collapse took place in one of two towers in the complex.

“There was a sound, like something had fallen off a building structure, for about 20 seconds. Everyone was panicking and people were immediately being evacuated,” Amailia Putri Hasniawati, a journalist based at the exchange, told AFP.

It was not immediately clear what caused the accident at the tower in Sudirman district, which was built in 1995.

“Material degradation could be the cause,” construction expert Iswandi Imran told local TV.

“It could be corrosion or anything which slowly degrades the strength of the structure so it cannot take the weight any longer. But all that has to be investigated.”

Despite the chaos Monday, trading continued as usual in the afternoon session with the main index closing 0.2 percent higher.

The accident happened shortly after noon local time (0500 GMT) while the market was on its lunchtime break.

“There was a loud banging so people who were inside immediately ran outside of the building,” said Metro TV journalist Marlia Zein.

The local office of the World Bank is housed on the 12th floor of the complex, according to its website.

Reports at the time of the 2000 bombing said one of the men responsible was a member of the Free Aceh Movement, a separatist group which had been fighting for a free Islamic state in Aceh province since the mid-seventies.

Some 200 cars were also damaged in the blast in an underground parking lot.//AFP

According to pageant community forum Missosology, pilot student “Angel” Pua is a pure Filipina. Pua also has previously won two other crowns. In 2016, she won as Miss Filipina Europe in Vienna, Austria; while 2017 saw her crowned as Miss Antwerp.

Pua may also represent Belgium in the 2018 Miss World pageant.

Watch Pua speaking fluent Dutch and going about her day at work in the video below. It also features what appears to be her Filipino parents and little brother. Pua has a lovable pug named Bobby.

Roach, a 28-year-old Canadian national, was detained in London last Thursday (Jan 11) following a request from Singapore, said the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in a joint statement on Monday.

Singapore has an extradition treaty with Britain.

Roach is accused of robbing the Holland Village branch of Standard Chartered Bank of $30,000 on July 7, 2016.

Roach allegedly handed the teller a note with his demands, then fled to Bangkok with the money on the same day.

He was arrested at a backpacker hostel three days later and was held in remand in Bangkok.

The Singapore authorities wrote to the Thai government, asking for assistance to repatriate Roach back to Singapore.

However, the AttorneyGeneral’s Office in Bangkok reportedly rejected Singapore’s request. Singapore has no extradition treaty with Thailand.

Since his arrest by the Thai authorities in July 2016, the Singapore authorities have been in regular contact with the Thai authorities to secure his return to Singapore, AGC and MHA said.

On June 6 last year, Roach was sentenced to 14 months’ jail in Thailand for violating money laundering and customs laws by bringing loot into the country.

He was carrying the equivalent of more than US$20,000 (S$27,600)  believed to be the loot from the bank robbery  when he entered Thailand while on the run.

He was deported from Thailand after serving his imprisonment term for the commission of criminal offences there, and arrived in London on Jan 11, AGC and MHA said.

“We sought the assistance of the UK authorities to arrest Roach, with a view to his eventual extradition to Singapore,” said the statement. “We are working with the UK authorities to commence the extradition proceedings.”

Local reports indicated an unspecified number of people were trapped under debris as videos of people screaming and rushing out of the building went viral online.

The balcony was located above the main lobby of the building and near where visitors are screened and checked before entering.

When it collapsed, hundreds of office workers were leaving for lunch.

But after the initial period of chaos, many rushed back in to help carry out the injured found amid bent steel structures, broken glass, and other debris of what was left of the balcony.

Reuters reported that the director of the stock exchange, Alpino Kianjaya, declined to comment on the incident. Markets are currently in midday break and will reopen at 1.30pm local time.

The cause of the collapse is not known, but initial reports do not point to a terrorist attack.

The IDX is located opposite Pacific Place, a popular mall in the Sudirman Central Business District.

It is also about 1km away from the recently renovated Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, which was officially opened by President Joko Widodo on Sunday.

The stadium is the key feature among other sporting facilities in the area which have been undergoing construction for the 2018 Asian Games, to be held in Jakarta and Palembang from Aug 18 to Sept 2 this year.

The Pegasus Airlines flight had taken off smoothly from the capital Ankara and landed in Trabzon, but skidded off the runway in the northern airport. No one was injured or killed in the landing.

Dramatic images from CNN Turk broadcaster showed the plane dangerously hanging off a cliff several metres (feet) from the Black Sea, its wheels stuck in mud.

Other images from Dogan news agency showed smoke emanating from the trapped plane.

Pegasus Airlines confirmed in a statement Sunday there were no injuries among the 162 passengers onboard as well as two pilots and four cabin crew after they were evacuated.

The cause of the incident was not known but an investigation is under way, the Trabzon governor’s office said.

One of the passengers, Fatma Gordu, panic erupted onboard during the landing.

“We tilted to the side, the front was down while the plane’s rear was up. There was panic; people shouting, screaming,” she told state-run news agencyAnadolu.

The airport was temporarily shut before reopening on Sunday morning.//AFP

Homes made of adobe collapsed in coastal areas most directly affected by the quake, local authorities said.

The earthquake struck in the Pacific, 31 kilometers (19 miles) from the seaside town of Acari in the region of Arequipa, according to the US Geological Survey.

“There are two fatalities in the region of Arequipa and so far 65 injured have been reported,” said General Jorge Chavez, head of the National Civil Defense Institute.

Chavez said military planes were delivering humanitarian aid including tents to affected areas.

An emergency will be declared in most of the stricken areas so that reconstruction of homes and roads can begin immediately, said Mercedes Araoz, president of the Council of Ministers.

One person died in the Yauca district and another in the Bella Union district, both in the Arequipa region, where rescue workers were trying to help those affected, Peru’s Civil Defense said.

Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski traveled to the region and flew over the quake zone. Speaking to reporters, he attributed the two deaths to adobe houses collapsing.

About 47 percent of homes in Peru, or 3.6 million, are made of clay, earth, stone or wood materials that are vulnerable in earthquakes, according to government statistics from 2014.

The Peruvian navy and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii ruled out the threat of a tsunami.

Adobe houses were leveled in the coastal town of Lomas and elsewhere in the surrounding area, Santiago Neyra, the mayor of the nearby town of Caraveli said.

Electricity was out in several municipalities and many roads were closed or passable in only one direction, the mayor said.

Structural damage was reported to a bridge in Arequipa, said the head of the region’s highway police, Major Alberto Rojas.

In the city of Arequipa, residents ran into the streets after the quake struck at 4:18 am (0918 GMT).

It was even felt in the capital Lima, hundreds of kilometers away.

“Here at the clinic the tremor felt super long,” a patient in a Lima private hospital told AFP.

The earthquake rocked Peru just before Pope Francis is slated to arrive Thursday for a three-day visit after touring Chile.

Peru lies on the so-called “Ring of Fire” — an arc of fault lines that circles the Pacific Basin and is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

The South American country records about 200 earthquakes a year, most of them going unnoticed by the public.

The last major earthquake to shake Peru hit in August 2007, killing 595 people.

A 6.3-magnitude quake was felt in southern Peru on the border with Chile last October, leaving four people with slight injuries.

The university student was among around 300 Saudi women who thronged Pearl stadium in the Red Sea city of Jeddah after the ultra-conservative kingdom eases decades-old rules separating the sexes.

“I came with my father and my brother — we’re fans of Al-Ahli,” said Ghamdi of the Saudi Premier League club facing off against Al-Batin.

The young woman said she always used to cheer her home team from the comfort of her living room.

“We love the club very much, and our home would often become an arena for supporters,” she said.

“This is the first time we’ll be cheering for real, not just in front of the television,” said Ghamdi, who wore a black abaya robe and a black scarf with a green Al-Ahli scarf round her neck.

“It is so much better here.”

The game began at 8:00 pm (1700 GMT), but two hours before the historic kick-off enthusiasm was palpable as women supporters began arriving at the stadium.

Among the first were a woman accompanied by a younger female and a girl.

A boy sat next to them in seats that had been reserved for women who come alone or with members of their families, namely male relatives.

The women entered the stadium through a special gate, while male supporters filed in through a separate entrance.

Historic day

Saudi Arabia, which has some of the world’s tightest restrictions on women, has long barred them from sports arenas through strict rules that keep the sexes apart in public.

Glass panels were set up to separate men supporters from the women and family section of the stadium.

“This event proves that we are heading for a prosperous future. I am very proud to be a witness of this massive change,” Lamya Khaled Nasser, a 32-year-old fan from the Red Sea city, told AFP.

Ruwayda Ali Qassem, another Jeddah resident, spoke of a “historic day in the kingdom which culminates (in) ongoing fundamental changes”.

“I am proud and extremely happy for this development and for the kingdom’s moves to catch up with civilized measures adopted by many countries,” she said.

Daughters can’t believe it

Saleh al-Ziadi brought his three daughters to the game.

“My daughters still don’t believe this is happening. They have not yet realized they will be cheering their favorite team inside the stadium,” he said.

The women entering the venue waited in long queues to be searched by women security personnel who wore orange vests over their black abayas, while inside the stadium another team directed them to their seats.

Jeddah resident Noura Bakharji was among those who patiently waited for her turn, and for a reason.

Bakharji said she always felt bitter when her brothers came home from stadiums to tell her about the excitement of watching football matches in person.

“I always watched games on TV while my brothers went to the stadiums… I asked myself repeatedly ‘Why I can’t go?'” she told AFP.

“Today, things have changed. It’s a day of happiness and joy.”

Under Saudi Arabia’s existing guardianship system, a male family member — normally the father, husband or brother — must grant permission for a woman’s study, travel and a host of other activities.

Fatimah Baeshen, spokeswoman at the Saudi embassy in Washington “rooted for the ladies” in a message on Twitter.

“As we speak; Saudi women fans are entering soccer stadiums! This is more than women’s rights: today’s match between Al-Ahli and Al-Batin, and the ones to follow, are opportunities for families to come together and enjoy KSA’s national sport — soccer! I’m rooting for the ladies — enjoy!” Baeshen tweeted.

Friday’s match was the first in a series that will be open to women: a second is due to take place on Saturday and a third on January 18.

And in June, as part of a reform drive led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, authorities are lifting a ban that prohibited Saudi women from driving.

And the result of Friday’s game? A 5-0 defeat for Al-Batin — and a victory for women in Saudi Arabia.//AFP

A donation of 100,000 yuan (S$20,540) was sent to Zhuanshanbao Primary School in Zhaotong, Yunnan province, on Wednesday, after images of “Snowflake Boy” Wang Fuman drew widespread attention to children from poor rural families, China Dailyreported.

Photos of eight-year-old Fuman in class, shared by his principal Fu Heng, showed the icicles that had formed on his hair and eyebrows during his one-hour, 4.5km walk in minus 9 deg C conditions to go to school on Monday.

Fu said it was the first day of the final examinations, and temperatures had plunged quickly within half an hour, while the boy was already on his way to school.

The boy lives in a mud house in Ludian with his grandmother and older sister. Their father is a migrant worker in another city. The boy’s mother had left the family, according to an interview with social media site Pear Video.

In an interview with Beijing News, Fuman said his favourite subject is mathematics, and he hopes to do well enough in school to study in Beijing eventually.

When asked why he went to school on Monday wearing so little, he said: “I have three jackets, but I didn’t wear any of them because they were all dirty and not washed yet. It is too cold to wash clothes by hand in winter.”

BRAVING WINTER

I have three jackets, but I didn’t wear any of them because they were all dirty and not washed yet. It is too cold to wash clothes by hand in winter.

WANG FUMAN, when asked why he went to school on Monday wearing so little.

Fuman also said his school has no heating facilities.

The local government, along with volunteers, has since dis-tributed the first batch of winter supplies to the 81 pupils, China Daily reported.

The Kunming branch of China Construction Third Engineering Bureau also donated 144 sets of winter clothing and 20 heaters to the school, according to the Beijing News.

In total, cash donations to help the boy and his school have so far reached more than 17 million yuan, China Daily reported.

Readers of The Straits Times have also offered to help after reading about Fuman’s story. They have written in to find out how they can reach the boy.

Fuman is among millions of children who live in poverty-stricken areas in China, and his story has highlighted the issue of educational inequality in the country, the Chinese state-run tabloid Global Times said in an op-ed column on Wednesday.

CALL FOR MORE SUPPORT

For (them), education is perhaps the only opportunity to climb the ladder of social status.

CHINESE STATE-RUN TABLOID GLOBAL TIMES, which argued that rural students should be given more educational support.

It argued that rural students should be given more educational support. “For (them), education is perhaps the only opportunity to climb the ladder of social status.”

Fuman’s father,Wang Gangkui, told Beijing News that many people have offered to help the family after Fuman’s photo went viral, but he wants his son to study hard and change his destiny through his own efforts.

The thermostat has dropped to as low as 22°C in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore and 17ºC in Bangkok, cold bouts have been reported in Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines, and ice slabs have even been found in parts of Myanmar.

The weather has become so chilly that Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak tweeted on Friday (Jan 12): “Wow, Malaysia’s weather is really cold today, just like in Jeddah!” He had just returned from a trip to Saudi Arabia.

The Malaysian Meteorological Department attributed the chill to the north-east monsoon, but did not expect temperatures to dip further. The agency forecasts all-day rain to last until Sunday in Kuala Lumpur.

Thailand has been experiencing a cold snap since last month, with fog blanketing its northern regions and frost forming on mountains.

In Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital, the temperature fell to as low as 8ºC, the lowest this winter for the city.

Though Cambodia was also struck by the cold weather this week, it was not as bad as last month, when the temperature plunge caused a sweater-shopping frenzy, and baby elephants had to wear hand-knitted coats.

The Philippines has been experiencing generally colder weather too, a result of the El Nino-La Nina weather dynamics, and the chilling Arctic air called the polar vortex. “We have seen a cold blast in the Pacific and Atlantic regions,” said the local weather bureau’s forecaster Nikkos Penaranda. The lowest temperature recorded recently was 12.2ºC in the northern city of Baguio on Jan 1.

Meanwhile, Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency said it recorded moderately lower-than-usual temperatures in the Riau Islands, an Indonesian province closest to Singapore, and in Nusa Tenggara Timur, east of the country’s main tourist island of Bali. On Friday, the two locations registered temperatures of 23ºC to 25ºC.

All other provinces are seeing relatively normal temperatures, state weather forecaster Risda Novikarani told The Straits Times.

Over in South Asia, the northern parts of India were also in the midst of a cold spell, but meteorological officials said this was well within the range for winter months. “Temperatures have fallen and the cold wave condition is more severe in January than December,” said Mahesh Palawat, director of private weather forecaster Skymet. “It is a normal winter.”

According to India’s Meteorological Department, minimum temperatures in most parts of northern India this week continued to be between 5ºC and 10ºC, and would remain so until Monday (Jan 15).