LONDON, Nov 22, 2023 (AFP) – Britain’s advertising watchdog on Wednesday said it had banned an advert for a Toyota 4×4 vehicle because it promoted “irresponsible behaviour” towards the environment. The paid-for post on Facebook and poster ad for the Japanese firm’s Hilux sports utility vehicle showed a line of SUVs driving off road in a cloud of dust before joining a tarmacked road. A complaint was made to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that […]
Other News
New coach for Thailand after muted World Cup campaign start
BANGKOK, Nov 22, 2023 (AFP) – Thailand’s football team have parted ways with head coach Alexandre Polking, officials said Wednesday, after a mixed start to their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign. A 3-1 win over Singapore on Tuesday was not enough to save the Brazilian-German’s job, after his men went down 2-1 to China last week. Team manager Nualphan Lamsam said Polking would be replaced by Masatada Ishii, the 56-year-old Japanese coach who led Buriram […]
Teenage boys, 59-year-old woman: the Palestinian prisoners listed for release
JERUSALEM, Nov 22, 2023 (AFP) – The vast majority of Palestinians slated for release under an Israel-Hamas swap deal to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza, are teenage boys, an official Israeli list shows. Israel released the names on Wednesday of 300 Palestinian detainees who could be set free under the agreement. Under the terms of the deal, the first phase will see 50 Israeli hostages released over the course of four days, […]
US strikes kill eight pro-Iran fighters in Iraq, angering Baghdad
By Ammar Karim BAGHDAD, Nov 22, 2023 (AFP) – US fighter jets struck two targets in Iraq early on Wednesday, killing eight pro-Iran fighters in retaliation for repeated attacks on American troops, US and Iraqi sources said. The twin strikes, which followed similar bombardment of Iran-backed forces on Tuesday, drew condemnation from the Iraqi government, which said it had not been consulted about the military action on its soil. The US military “conducted discrete, precision […]
Indonesia moves rejected Rohingya refugees stranded on beach
By Chaideer Mahyuddin with Marchio Gorbiano in Jakarta SABANG, Indonesia, Nov 22, 2023 (AFP) – More than 200 Rohingya refugees were relocated from the beaches of a remote Indonesian island Wednesday after weeks adrift on a wooden boat, as authorities rejected locals’ efforts to push the members of the persecuted Myanmar minority back to sea. The latest arrivals brought to more than 1,000 the number of desperate and exhausted Rohingya who have landed on the […]
Living in extraordinary times! ASEAN in Focus – November 22, 2023
Four remaining BTS members start military enlistment process: agency
The last four members of South Korean megagroup BTS who have yet to undertake their mandatory military service have begun the process of enlisting, the K-pop stars’ label said Wednesday. All able-bodied men in South Korea must serve at least 18 months in the military and, after a years-long debate about whether BTS deserved an exemption, Jin, the oldest member of the group, enlisted last year, followed by his bandmate J-Hope in April. A third […]
AI use in Mozambique jails spawns new hope in TB fight
A programme using artificial intelligence to test inmates in a high security Mozambican jail for tuberculosis has spawned hope that the new tech can help eradicate the disease. Teeming prisons are a hotbed of TB, the world’s second deadliest communicable disease after Covid, according to the World Health Organization. Mozambique, a country of 32 million people, recorded about 120,000 infections last year. Caused by a bacteria that most often affects the lungs, it infected more […]
Korean space race? North and South chase spy satellites
North Korea claimed Wednesday to have successfully put its first military surveillance satellite into orbit, with the South also preparing to send up its first spy satellite later this month. The two launch attempts, set to come in such quick succession, appear to be the beginnings of a space race on the Korean peninsula. Here, AFP takes a look at what we know about the new competition between the North and South: – Why does […]
Fake AI porn leads to real harassment in US high schools
By Charlotte CAUSIT When Ellis, a 14-year-old from Texas, woke up one October morning with several missed calls and texts, they were all about the same thing: nude images of her circulating on social media. That she had not actually taken the pictures didn’t make a difference, as artificial intelligence makes so-called “deepfakes” more and more realistic. The images of Ellis and a friend, also a victim, were lifted from Instagram, their faces then placed […]
Israel, Hamas agree to truce, 50 hostages to be released
By Adel Zaanoun GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, Nov 22, 2023 (AFP) – Israel and Hamas agreed to a four-day truce that would see the Palestinian group release dozens of hostages taken on October 7, both sides announced Wednesday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet approved the accord after a near-all-night meeting, in which he told reticent ministers this was a “difficult decision but it’s a right decision.” A government spokesman told AFP that under the […]
N. Korea says spy satellite launch successful
SEOUL, Nov 21, 2023 (AFP) – North Korea said Wednesday it had succeeded in putting a military spy satellite in orbit after two previous failures, as the US led its allies in condemning the launch as a “brazen violation” of UN sanctions. A rocket carrying the satellite blasted off Tuesday night from North Phyongan province, flew along its designated path and “accurately put the reconnaissance satellite ‘Malligyong-1’ on its orbit,” state-run news agency KCNA reported. […]





