THE WEEK IN REVIEW
An appeal by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) against the Civil Court's ruling ordering the anti-government group to unblock traffic on Rama V and Phitsanulok roads and lower the volume of its loudspeakers during school hours was rejected on Wednesday.
Early last week the Civil Court ruled in favour of a group of teachers and parents of students from Rajavinit school who complained that the PAD rally on Phitsanulok Road infringed on their rights.
In their complaints, they said the continuing rally to oust the government had caused them inconvenience when travelling to and from school, as well as disturbing classroom activities.
They claimed the PAD blocked traffic on Rama V road near Wat Benjamabopit intersection and on Phitsanulok road from Nang Loeng intersection to Phanitchayakarn intersection, forcing teachers and students to walk a long distance to and from school.
The court issued an injunction against the PAD, ordering its leaders to unblock traffic on Rama V and Phitsanulok roads and forbidding the use of loudspeakers between 7.30am and 4.30pm from Monday to Friday.
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Prosecutions can proceed
The Constitution Court ruled unanimously on Monday that the Assets Scrutiny Committee had proper authority to investigate and charge members of the Thaksin Shinawatra government with corruption and malfeasance.
The effect of the 9-0 decision is that corruption and other charges against Mr Thaksin and associates can legally proceed in the special Supreme Court criminal division for holders of political positions.
Order No 30 of the Council for Democratic Reform established the ASC to investigate possible corruption and other illegalities during the Thaksin years, immediately after the military overthrew Mr Thaksin's government on Sept 19, 2006. It was to wrap up its work in a year, but ran into delays. Legislators formally extended the term of the ASC to June 30, 2008.
Some members of the ASC will continue work on the Thaksin-era investigations as members of the National Counter Corruption Commission, which officially inherited the inquiries and legal cases on Tuesday.
"Whoever does wrong, no matter how big he is, has to face the legal consequences," said ASC member Klanarong Chantik on Monday.
The ASC has brought four cases to court, although none have yet got past initial hearings.
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Law on lecturers 'needs to be revamped'
The law governing the behaviour of university staff needs revamping to ensure tougher disciplinary measures for lecturers who commit sexual misconduct, deputy rector of Suan Dusit Rajabhat University Sukhum Chaleysub said Wednesday. He added that the ambiguity of the existing law has enabled university staff and lecturers to escape disciplinary action for sexually harassing students.
The law only stipulates that university lecturers and officials should set a good example, have a sense of decency, and not behave offensively towards students. However, it does not mention anything about disciplinary punishment for staff and lecturers whose behaviour is offensive.
Mr Sukhum's suggestion followed the sexual harassment charge levelled against Asst Prof Chakkarit Uttho of Ubon Rajathanee University, who allegedly offered a third-year female student better grades in exchange for sex.
Mr Sukhum said that by comparison, the law governing the behaviour of school teachers is far more serious in terms of punishing offenders. It even states that offenders could lose their teaching licences.
He also suggested that a centre should be set up at all educational institutions so students who have been sexually harassed can file complaints and seek advice.
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Chalerm flees protests, cuts short visit
Interior Minister Chalerm Yubamrung cut short his visit to the South and flew back to Bangkok on Wednesday morning to avoid protests in Krabi and Phuket provinces. Southern members of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) have vowed to block all cabinet members from visiting the region.
Mr Chalerm had planned to inspect public land encroachment sites in Krabi, Phuket and Phangnga provinces. He left Bangkok on Tuesday and was scheduled to land in Phuket at 7.40pm. He changed the destination to Krabi after learning that more than 200 PAD protesters had gathered at Phuket airport.
Even so, about 100 protesters were also waiting at Krabi airport when Mr Chalerm landed. Mr Chalerm waited in a reception room for about 20 minutes before sneaking out of the airport through its old passenger terminal. Protesters chased the minister's car as it left the airport for the hotel and harangued him from outside the resort hotel throughout the night. Mr Chalerm called a meeting with senior officials later that night and left the hotel under the protection of 200 police officers.
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Court takes up temple petitions
The Constitution Court on Thurday accepted for consideration two separate petitions seeking a ruling on the constitutionality of the joint communique with Cambodia on the proposed listing of the Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site.
The first petition, signed by 22 senators, was submitted last Monday by Senate Speaker Prasopsuk Boondej while the other, signed by 151 MPs, was lodged on Tuesday by House Speaker Chai Chidchob. As soon as the court agreed to make a ruling the government was forced to halt all related activities until the verdict.
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Samak claims plot to seize him at airport
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej on Thursday claimed someone had plotted to abduct him the instant his plane made a landing at Bangkok airport on Friday. But his return passed off without incident.
According to Mr Samak, someone possibly in the military planned to arrest him when he returned from Brunei, which he visited on the return leg of his four-day visit to China.
He was speaking on the last day of his visit to China before travelling to Brunei.
A source close to the prime minister said Mr Samak received an intelligence report that a military officer hatched a plot to capture him at the airport and remove him from power, in a similar manner to the 1991 military coup which successfully overthrew then prime minister Gen Chatichai Choonhavan.
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INTERNATIONAL
40 years on, NPT in urgent need of overhaul
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, or NPT, which celebrated its 40th birthday last week, can be credited with keeping the number of countries in possession of nuclear weapons down to a handful.
But the treaty, drawn up during the Cold War period, is now in urgent need of an overhaul if it is to meet present-day challenges, experts said.
Furthermore, the United States should take the lead in bolstering the legitimacy of the NPT and the entire non-proliferation regime by dismantling its nuclear arsenal, they said.
Five countries that had tested nuclear weapons before the treaty's completion - China, France, Russia, Britain and the United States - were recognised as nuclear-weapon states and obligated to pursue "effective measures" toward nuclear disarmament. All others were designated non-nuclear-weapon states and prohibited from acquiring nuclear arms.
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World Bank says fishing will return to the Aral
The people of the Aral Sea region, site of one the world's worst ecological disasters, may soon see their economy revitalised and large-scale fishing and farming return, said World Bank President Robert Zoellick.
After decades of shrinking, the northern section of the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan has started to fill up and fish stocks have soared as a result of a dam-building project, giving hope of revival in the region.
Zoellick met with Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov in a former port town on the Aral Sea to review progress on initiatives to improve irrigation around the inland sea.
What was once the Aral Sea lay on the border between the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and was once the world's fourth-largest lake. But Soviet irrigation projects caused the sea to shrink by almost 70 percent between 1960 and 2004, causing salinity rates to rise sharply and devastating fisheries.
Life expectancy in the region also collapsed amid worsening air quality, which resulted in high rates of respiratory diseases. In the early 1990s, the sea split into two separate bodies of water.
Kazakhstan and the World Bank joined forces in 2001 to build an eight-mile (13-kilometre) dam between the two sections of the sea and improve management of water resources. The US$86 million project was completed in August 2005.
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Five charged in plot to overthrow Arroyo
Philippine police filed criminal complaints on Thursday against an opposition lawyer, three retired colonels and a former police officer for allegedly plotting to overthrow President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
National Police Director General Avelino Razon said authorities were taking seriously the allegations that the five, led by prominent opposition lawyer Homobono Adaza, had planned to oust the president and tried to extort money from a Japanese businessman to finance the coup. Adaza vehemently denied the allegations.
An additional criminal complaint of harboring a criminal was filed against Adaza because the former police officer, who was also arrested, was wanted in connection with a 2001 murder.
State prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco said he would investigate the complaints and decide whether to charge the five men in a court with proposing to commit coup d'etat - a violation of the Philippine penal code.
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Daring rescue mission
The successful rescue of former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, three US military contractors and 11 others held captive in the Colombian jungles hinged entirely, its planners said, on a near-total breakdown in communications between the isolated guerrilla jailers and their commanders - the net result of years of intense U.S.-Colombian military cooperation that has seriously weakened Latin America's last major rebel army.
"When I first got briefed, I said, 'This is realistic? Can this truly work?' US Ambassador William Brownfield told The Associated Press. "And obviously, the answer was yes."
Wednesday's expertly choreographed rescue had its genesis in the escape last year of a Colombian who had spent time in captivity with the three Americans and Betancourt.
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Lost Beatles interview uncovered
A film enthusiast has discovered a long lost interview with the Beatles from 1964 which has not been broadcast since.
Richard Jeffs came across 64 canisters of film stored in a damp garage in South London, and when he started to go through them he stumbled across a piece of pop history.
The conversation with Scottish television dates from April 30, 1964, according to the BBC. It came shortly after the Fab Four's trip to the United States, during which they were besieged by fans and watched by a television audience estimated to be about half of the country's population on The Ed Sullivan Show.
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