GAMBIA APOLOGIZES TO THAILAND FOR SEX TOURISM SLUR
The Gambia on Tuesday ( Wednesday in Manila) apologized to Thailand after its foreign minister said the Asian country was a haven for sex tourists, sparking a strongly worded protest from Bangkok. Hamat Bah said on state television in January that The Gambia, a sunny beach destination favored by Western tourists especially from Scandinavia, was losing out to the nearby archipelago nation of Cape Verde after gaining a reputation as a sex haven. “We are not a sex destination. If you want a sex destination, you go to Thailand,” he added. The Thai government last week lodged a formal protest in a strongly worded letter. Its Culture Minister Veera Rojpojchanarat separately said sex tourism had declined due to measures taken by the government. A Gambian foreign ministry statement Tuesday said it “regrets the unfortunate comments made by the Minister of Tourism and Culture.” It said “measures will be put in place to prevent the occurrence of such an unfortunate incident,” adding that the minister’s comments should not be “construed as a reflection of the government’s view on the tourism sector of Thailand.”
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG TO LAUNCH $20M ANTI- TOBACCO WATCHDOG
Philanthropist Michael Bloomberg announced on Wednesday that he will spend $20 million (16.13 million euros) to launch a watchdog to detect and expose deceptive practices by the tobacco industry. The monitor, to be called Stopping Tobacco Organizations and Products (STOP), will seek to counter the industry’s influence by publishing reports detailing pro-smoking activities and tactics. It will also support non-profit organizations and government to resist interference from the tobacco industry. Bloomberg, an ambassador for the World Health Organization on noncommunicable diseases said over the last decade tobacco control measures have saved nearly 35 million lives, but as more cities and countries take action, the tobacco industry is pushing to find new users, particularly among young people. Bloomberg’s charitable giving organization, Bloomberg Philanthropies, accuses the tobacco industry of seeking to legitimize itself in the eyes of policy makers, of marketing to children, and pushing cigarette alternatives for which the health case remains inconclusive.
US FINDS NORTH KOREA KILLED KIM BROTHER WITH VX AGENT
The United States formally concluded on Tuesday that North Korea murdered Kim Jong Un’s half-brother with the banned VX nerve agent. Kim Jong Nam died in February last year, shortly after two women sprayed his face with a liquid as he walked through Kuala Lumpur airport. The two women are currently on trial in Malaysia where they are accused of using a nerve agent to murder Kim Jong Nam. On Tuesday, Washington announced it had formally concluded that VX—an extremely powerful nerve agent—was used to conduct the slaying and that North Korea was to blame. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement that “the Government of North Korea used the chemical warfare agent VX to assassinate Kim Jong Nam, in the Kuala Lumpur airport,” and added that “this public display of contempt for universal norms against chemical weapons use further demonstrates the reckless nature of North Korea and underscores that we cannot afford to tolerate a North Korean WMD program of any kind.” The statement gave no details or evidence on how the US had come to their conclusion.