International
Paetongtarn Shinawatra swears in as Prime Minister of Thailand
Paetongtarn Shinawatra was sworn in as Prime Minister of Thailand on Sunday, two days after Parliament elected her after the dismissal this week of her predecessor, Srettha Thavisin, by order of the Constitutional Court.
Paetongtarn, who turns 38 on Wednesday, became the youngest president in the country and the second woman to occupy the position, after her aunt Yingluck (2011-2014).
The leader is also the third member of the influential Shinawatra clan to take the reins of the Thai Executive, after her father Thaksin (2001-2006) and his younger sister, whose governments withdrew from office in two military uprisings.
Dressed in the official white uniform for the ceremony of her official appointment in Bangkok, Paetongtarn heard the approval of King Vajiralongkorn, a mere formalism and read by the secretary of the House of Representatives, Apat Sukhanand.
The young woman, who came accompanied by her father, paid tribute to a portrait of the monarch and, in a brief speech, promised to “fulfill her duty” and listen to the opinions of the legislators in order to give “stability” to Thailand.
Paetongtarn came to power after Srettha, with whom he shares a party (Pheu Thai), resed on Wednesday after less than a year in office in a controversial decision of the conservative Constitutional Court for a case curiously linked to Thaksin.
The court considered that Srettha violated a code of ethics by appointing a lawyer convicted of attempted bribery as Minister of Finance in April, in a case involving the patriarch of the Shinawatra.
On Friday, after 48 hours of frantic political cabals, Paetongtarn received the support of 319 of 493 members of Parliament to occupy the position of prime minister.
Interestingly, the appointment of Thaksin’s third daughter coincides with the first day of freedom of influential former president after it was confirmed on Saturday that he received a pardon from the king that allowed him to pay the one-year prison sentence for crimes of corruption that he had served since August 22, the day the patriarch returned to Thailand after 15 years of self-imposed exile.
Thaksin, who did not spend a night in prison and regained his parole after being in custody for six months in a capital hospital, now faces an accusation of lesa majesty, which is punishable by between 3 and 15 years in prison, with a judicial hearing scheduled for Monday and destined for the parties to present their list of witnesses and evidence.
According to the complaint, Thaksin accused the Privy Council of the Royal House of Thailand, the body that advises the king, of organizing the 2014 military coup d’état that overthrew the Yingluck Government, during an interview published in 2015 by a South Korean media.
Thaksin’s return, the same day that the already dismissed Srettha was elected, stages the apparent reconciliation between the former president and the pro-military and pro-military elite that overthrewal him by a military coup d’état in 2006.
International
Meta Says Russia Seeks to Ban WhatsApp for Defending Secure Communication
U.S. tech giant Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, said that Russia is seeking to ban the messaging app because it “challenges government attempts to violate people’s right to secure communication.”
Russian authorities have encouraged citizens to switch to state-backed applications, and in August they already blocked WhatsApp’s calling feature.
On Friday, the communications regulator Roskomnadzor claimed that the platform was being used to “organize and carry out terrorist acts in the country, recruit perpetrators, and facilitate fraud and other crimes.”
“If the messaging service does not comply with Russian law, it will be completely blocked,” the regulator warned.
WhatsApp remains one of Russia’s most widely used messaging services, alongside Telegram.
Moscow is pressuring both platforms to grant authorities access to user data upon request for investigations into fraud and activities the government labels as “terrorist.”
Human rights advocates fear the demand could be used to target critics of the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin, or the war in Ukraine.
International
Archbishop Wenski criticizes Trump’s deportation policies, calls for stronger push for reform
The Archbishop of Miami, Thomas Wenski, has called for increased pressure on the U.S. Congress to advance comprehensive immigration reform and criticized President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policies, arguing that they “do nothing to help.”
“We need to apply more pressure on Congress so lawmakers can make the necessary changes. It is also important for the Administration to listen to our voice. We do not want to be anyone’s enemy—we are Americans,” Wenski said in an interview with EFE.
The religious leader, who heads one of the dioceses with the largest Latino and Haitian populations in the United States, issued a call to defend the rights of migrants. He also emphasized that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has maintained a strong and public stance in favor of migrants for decades.
International
Trump relaunches diplomatic push to finalize U.S.-Backed peace plan for Ukraine War
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his diplomatic team will resume meetings with delegations from Russia and Ukraine in an effort to pressure both sides to accept the peace plan proposed by Washington to end the war in Ukraine.
As part of this new round of talks, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll will hold discussions with Ukrainian representatives to narrow differences on the remaining points of the agreement.
Trump also confirmed his intention to meet personally with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and with Putin, though he emphasized that such meetings will only take place “when the agreement is fully finalized or in its final stage.”
The president claimed that his administration has made “tremendous progress” toward resolving the conflict and reiterated that the war “never would have started” if he had been in the White House at the onset of the crisis.
The U.S.-backed peace plan consists of 28 points and has been revised following feedback from both sides. According to Trump, only “a few points of disagreement” remain under active discussion.
One of the most controversial aspects of the proposal is the suggestion that Ukraine cede parts of the Donbas region to Russia and limit the size of its armed forces. Kyiv is working closely with Washington to soften these clauses in search of an arrangement that does not compromise its sovereignty or security.
With this diplomatic push, Trump aims to solidify his role as the main mediator in the conflict and steer the war toward a political resolution after years of devastation, humanitarian crisis, and rising global geopolitical tensions.
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