International News
Thai Tycoon Leads Pack As Parliament Votes For New PM
Thailand’s parliament is set to vote in a right-wing tycoon as prime minister on Friday, ousting the nation’s dominant political dynasty from office after its figurehead was sacked by court order.
The Pheu Thai party of the powerful Shinawatra family has monopolised Thailand’s top office since the 2023 elections, but dynasty heiress Paetongtarn Shinawatra was sacked as prime minister by a court ruling last week.
Rushing into the power vacuum, construction magnate Anutin Charnvirakul has secured backing from enough opposition blocs to likely give him a comfortable majority in the fractured lower house.
Dynasty patriarch Thaksin Shinawatra flew out of the country in the hours ahead of Friday’s parliamentary vote and was bound for Dubai, where he said he would “visit friends” and seek medical treatment.
Debating began around 12:30 pm (0530 GMT) ahead of the scheduled vote in the parliament building constructed by the family firm of Anutin, who needs the backing of 247 lawmakers to secure the premiership.
“It’s normal to feel excited,” he told a scrum of reporters as he arrived for the vote.
Anutin, 58, has served as deputy prime minister, interior minister, and health minister — but is perhaps most famous for delivering on a promise in 2022 to legalise cannabis.
Charged with the tourist-dependent kingdom’s Covid-19 response, he accused Westerners of spreading the virus and was forced to apologise after a backlash.
The largest opposition bloc, the People’s Party, has pledged to back Anutin.
With his Bhumjaithai Party the third largest in parliament, support from a smattering of other allies should give him the numbers to take the helm.
However, the People’s Party has made its support conditional on parliament being dissolved for fresh elections within four months.
His elevation to office would nonetheless be another major blow to the Shinawatra clan, which has been a mainstay of Thai politics for the past two decades.
Their populist movement has long jousted with the pro-military, pro-monarchy establishment — but is being increasingly bedevilled by legal and political setbacks.
Dynasty In Flight
The Supreme Court is due to rule on Tuesday in a case over Thaksin’s hospital stay following his return from exile in August 2023, a decision that could affect the validity of his early release last year.
While his guilt is not the subject of the case, some analysts say the verdict could see him jailed.
Thaksin said on social media he will return from Dubai to attend the court date “in person”.
Anutin once backed the Shinawatras’ Pheu Thai coalition but abandoned it this summer in apparent outrage over Paetongtarn’s conduct during a border row with neighbouring Cambodia.
Thailand’s Constitutional Court found on August 29 that she had breached ministerial ethics and fired her after only a year in power.
Pheu Thai is still governing in a caretaker capacity and made a last-ditch effort to forestall Friday’s vote by requesting the palace dissolve parliament.
Royal officials rejected the bid, according to acting prime minister Phumtham Wechayachai, citing “disputed legal issues” around Pheu Thai’s ability to make such a move as an interim administration.
With the ballot due, Pheu Thai has pledged to put forward its own candidate for prime minister — Chaikasem Nitisiri, who served as justice minister under a previous Shinawatra prime minister.
“It does not matter if we win or lose the vote,” party secretary general Sorawong Thienthong told AFP, striking a fatalistic tone on Thursday.
AFP
The FIFA World Cup group stage has concluded, with the Netherlands securing first place in Group F and Japan finishing second. According to the knockout stage bracket, the top two teams from Group F will face the top two teams from Group E.
Two more Round of 32 matchups have been confirmed: Brazil vs. Japan and Netherlands vs. Morocco. The first Round of 16 matchup was announced yesterday, featuring South Africa vs. Canada.
Julian Nagelsmann defended question marks surrounding Germany’s commitment during their defeat by Ecuador, telling journalists: “Please stop the nonsense!”
Germany, already guaranteed top spot in Group E, were beaten 2-1 in their final group outing, as their opponents came from behind to snatch all three points at New York New Jersey Stadium.
Nagelsmann’s side saw their 11-match winning streak brought to an end, while they have now failed to register a clean sheet in any of their last nine games at the finals, equalling their longest streak along with their opening nine matches across 1934 and 1954.
And since the start of the 1998 World Cup, this was just the second time Germany had lost a game at the tournament in which they opened the scoring (W25 D2) following a 1-2 loss to Japan in 2022.
While not impressed by his players’ performance, he was quick to reject claims it was due to a lack of commitment, with their place in the knockout phase already secured.
“Please stop the nonsense, honestly!” Nagelsmann told reporters. “Didn’t the boys want to go full throttle?
“Of course, we made different changes than we might have done in moments when we urgently needed another goal.
“But we can’t tell any player that he didn’t step on the gas, that’s far too striking for me.
“We have to learn that after a good start and an early lead, we can play with more composure, instead of suddenly switching positions too much. We just need to be more patient and stay a bit more structured in our positions.
“We deliberately made a lot of changes. You could see that we also had a few tired legs. You can’t blame anyone for the fact that everything is a little slower and takes longer. We trust every player in the squad, and have to give the players the chance to show that.”
Coincidentally, it was in New York that Germany crashed out of the 1994 World Cup after surrendering a lead, losing 2-1 in the quarter-finals against Bulgaria at the Giants Stadium.
Joshua Kimmich, who won his 113th cap to move to joint-eighth with Philipp Lahm on his nation’s all-time list, conceded the four-time world champions were worthy losers against Ecuador.
“We started well, but then we gave the ball away too cheaply and kept inviting them on,” he added.
“We made it easy for them and let them grow into the game. In the second half, the defeat was deserved.”
Relegated Burnley and West Ham will meet on the opening weekend of the Championship season on Sunday, 16 August.
The Clarets finished 19th in the top flight last season and will host the Hammers, who went down on the final day.
Fellow relegated side Wolves will play the league’s curtain-raiser against Blackburn at Molineux on Friday, 14 August.
Elsewhere, Southampton, who will start the season on minus four points after the Spygate scandal, travel to Watford on the opening weekend and promoted Cardiff welcome Welsh rivals Wrexham on Monday, 17 August.
League One champions Lincoln start the season at beaten play-off finalists Middlesbrough on Saturday, 15 August and third tier play-off final winners Bolton begin the campaign with a home game against Preston on the same day.
The Championship season starts a week after clubs play their first competitive fixture in the first round of the Carabao Cup and one week before the Premier League gets under way.
Burnley, West Ham and Wolves will all be looking to secure Premier League promotions at the first time of asking.
The Clarets have now been relegated from or promoted to the top flight in each of the past four seasons.
However, now less than two months out from the start of the season they remain without a manager following the departure of Scott Parker in May.
West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo has remained despite them dropping out of the top flight after 14 seasons.
The Portuguese led Wolves to the Championship title in his one previous season managing at this level in 2017-18.
Wolves finished bottom of the Premier League in 2025-26 and sacked boss Rob Edwards earlier this month to bring in Cesar Peixoto.
They have bolstered their squad with former England defender Kieran Trippier and returning Mexico striker Raul Jimenez.
However, all three will be aware that in both of the past two seasons a team relegated from the top tier has suffered a second successive demotion to League One.
Former Premier League champions Leicester City went the same way as Luton Town had in 2024-25.
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