Hoseok orphanage

PHUKET: A special committee set up by the province is investigating allegations of fraud against the former director of a foundation set up in March last year to care for children left orphaned by the tsunami. Expressen , which has been actively following the case. Earlier this month, Bangkok-based Expressen reporter Michael Topffer interviewed Phuket Deputy Governor ( Palad ) Nivit Aroonrat, who chairs the investigation panel. Gazette that Palad Nivit had confirmed that the foundation was under investigation and that, because of the controversy, Palad Nivit had advised against a visit to the orphanage by Swedish royals HM King Carl XVI Gustaf and HM Queen Silvia during their recent visit to Phuket. Expressen reported. Expressen to investigate rumors of financial impropriety and claims that the children at the orphanage were not, in fact, tsunami victims. Gazette that although the panel is still in the process of gathering information, it intends to try and have the ... » Learn More about Tsunami orphanage under investigation

Jennifer Aniston is reportedly adopting a baby girl from an orphanage. The 52-year-old actress has been married twice - to Brad Pitt and Justin Theroux - but has never had children of her own, and is now planning on becoming a mother via adoption. Sources claim Jennifer has decided to adopt a baby girl from the Casa Hogar Sion orphanage in Mexico, where she has been a long-time supporter. Jennifer reportedly broke the news to her Friends co-stars during their reunion show. An insider told Closer magazine: "Jen felt the reunion was the perfect time to make her baby announcement to the whole gang. While the girls already knew - as they see each other regularly - she thought it would be special to tell the boys when they were all together, as she rarely sees them these days due to their busy lives and work commitments. "Spending almost every waking hour together for a decade, they lived through every detail of each other's lives and supported each other through all their hard ... » Learn More about Jennifer Aniston reportedly adopting baby girl from orphanage

PHUKET CITY: A baby boy, thought to be about two days old, was found abandoned on top of a dog kennel at a house close to Rajabhat Institute Phuket on Wednesday evening. Pranee Sonsuk was in her home when she heard her dog barking and the more unexpected sound of a baby crying. She rushed the rain-soaked infant to Bangkok Phuket Hospital. Pannee Sithigan, a senior officer of the Phuket Provincial Social Development and Welfare Office, told the Gazette today, “The baby is now safe and will stay in hospital until he gets stronger. “Phuket has no orphanage suitable for such a young child, so he will become the ward of the Songhkla Provincial Public Welfare Office until his mother is traced. If she cannot be found, then he may be put up for adoption,” she added. Emergency room staff named the baby “Tossawat”, meaning “Decade”, as the hospital had just celebrated its 10th anniversary. Keep in contact with Thaiger by following our Facebook page . Never miss out on future posts by ... » Learn More about Abandoned baby “doing well”

SINGAPORE - Jeremy Monteiro, composer and music director of several National Day songs, was in the recording studio when Count On Me, Singapore - now the song at the centre of plagiarism claims - was written. The song was composed by Canadian Hugh Harrison and arranged by Monteiro in 1986, but Indian composer Joseph Mendoza, who has been accused of copying it, claims he wrote his version, We Can Achieve, three years before in 1983. The songs are near identical, with the lyrics to Count On Me, Singapore changed to "India" or "Mother India" instead of "Singapore" on We Can Achieve. Home-grown jazz stalwart Monteiro vividly recalls the song's writing process. He tells The Straits Times it first kicked off in late 1985, at the now defunct B&J Recording Studios near Ayer Rajah which he owned with radio personality Brian Richmond. "As Hugh Harrison was writing the song, I was sitting right next to him," says the 60-year-old. "He is a lyricist and melodicist, and so I was there ... » Learn More about Count On Me, Singapore saga: Jeremy Monteiro was present when song was written in recording studio

Islam Mohammed Ibrahim Battah, an Egyptian with a striking resemblance to BarcelonaÕs forward Lionel Messi, poses for a photograph with boys, in the Nile Delta city of Zagazig, north of Cairo, Egypt March 23, 2021. REUTERS/Sherif Fahmy ZAGAZIG, Egypt—They may not be meeting the real Lionel Messi, but Islam Battah’s resemblance to the Barcelona footballer is so uncanny, that the children at an orphanage in the Egyptian city of Zagazig swarm around him in delight anyway. Seeing the excitement his presence causes at such events, the 27-year-old Egyptian painter is happy to pose as the Argentine, wearing a Barcelona shirt and joining in a game of football. “When I started growing my beard, my friends told me that I look like Messi. When I grew my beard even more, the resemblance was clearer,” he said. Islam Mohammed Ibrahim Battah, an Egyptian with a striking resemblance to BarcelonaÕs forward Lionel Messi, is seen with a youth in a club training facility, in the Nile Delta ... » Learn More about Egyptian Messi lookalike thrills football-loving orphans

Phuket NEWS Hound – A daily digest of news from around the world compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PHUKET: Britain’s Foreign Office eased its advice against travel to the Thai capital yesterday as Bangkok slowly returned to normal after protests and riots. Britain had advised against all travel to Bangkok, including Phuket and Thailand in general, earlier this month as battles between the military and anti-government protesters raged. Reuters reports a Foreign Office statement that, “We are now advising against all but essential travel to Bangkok [only]”, and that “This replaces the previous advice, which advised against all travel to Bangkok.” Phuket winning on the water Travel Daily News RPM’s luxury ‘Aquaminium’ condos feature private ‘drive-in’ boat berths and sumptuous interiors. The ultra-luxury residences have been snapped up by investors, setting a record price for condominium sales in Phuket. Earlier this month, the Phuket ... » Learn More about Travel warning revision to benefit Phuket

The second quarter of the year kicks off with these exciting line-up of programmes: Fatma While searching for her missing husband, a cleaning lady unexpectedly commits a murder. The dodgy, underground world of hired killers finds out what she did and in order to keep the murder a secret, she is forced to commit more killings at their behest. Burcu Biricik stars in this Turkish series. Fatma premieres April 27 on Netflix. The Nevers Set in 1890s London, a supernatural event confers a group of women, The Touched, with wondrous abilities. Threatened by their newfound powers, brutal forces have ganged up to decimate them. Starring Laura Donnelly, Ann Skelly and James Norton. The Nevers premieres April 12 at 9am on HBO (Astro Ch 411) and HBO Go. Repeats at 10pm. Mare Of Easttown The series is garnering a lot of positive reviews ahead of its premiere. Kate Winslet leads the cast as a detective in a small town in Pennsylvania. But with her personal life ... » Learn More about An underestimated cleaning lady becomes the perfect killer in Turkish series

MORE than a year has passed since the movement control order was imposed in March 2020, but welfare organisations are still feeling the pinch. Johor Baru Handicapped and Mentally Disabled Children Association president S. Murugaiyah said donations had declined by 70%. “When the economy is bad, charitable organisations like us are also affected, ’’ he said when met by StarMetro at the shelter in Taman Saleng Indah, Kulai in Johor. He said well-wishers had either stopped donating or cut their contributions due to the uncertain economy. He added that the Kulai shelter needed between RM1.2mil and RM1.9mil yearly to provide for its 214 residents -– 120 males and 94 females aged between six years and 50. The money is used to pay its 55 full-time workers as well as for utility bills, quit rent and other expenses. “Although we continue to receive donations, the amount is lower compared to pre-Covid-19 days, ’’ said Murugaiyah. He said there were about 70 children with special ... » Learn More about Digging deeper to source for funds

Laura Donnelly in “The Nevers” You can’t watch HBO’s latest superhero series “The Nevers” and not have “The X-Men” or the vampire-slaying Buffy Summers cross your mind. The series, which launches at 9 a.m. and 10 p.m. tomorrow on HBO and HBO Go (channels 54/168 on SkyCable; 53/210 on Cignal)), is about a ragtag group of female misfits in London called the Touched. Each of them developed extraordinary abilities following a supernatural phenomenon in August 1896. Amalia True (Laura Donnelly) and Penance Adair (Ann Skelly) lead this bevy of Victorian outcasts seeking refuge in a shelter owned by their mysterious benefactor, the wheelchair-bound Lavinia Bidlow (Olivia Williams), as they come to terms with as much their powers as the cruel world eager to get rid of them. As anxious as they are to get to the root of this “feminine plague,” they’re just as determined to provide shelter for other women “touched” by the affliction before they fall victim to a series of hate crimes ... » Learn More about No ‘unpleasant’ experience with Joss Whedon say lead stars of new superhero series ‘The Nevers’

The Jakarta Social Agency has netted almost 600 people it says has social problems, such as beggars, buskers, sex workers and those with mental health issues, since the start of Ramadhan. The agency’s social rehabilitation head, Chaidir, said a joint team consisting of police, public order and military personnel netted at least 42 people per day, mostly beggars, which was higher than last year’s figure of 33. “During the fasting month, more people use the occasion to become seasonal beggars in Jakarta,” Chaidir told thejakartapost.com on Tuesday, adding that monitoring activities focused on 48 places mostly in West, South and East Jakarta. A city bylaw on public order prohibits begging in the city. Both beggars and those who give them money are liable to punishment. Raids against beggars and others with so-called social problems are conducted from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. during Ramadhan, said Chaidir, adding that netted people were sent to city-owned rehabilitation centers. He ... » Learn More about 600 beggars, buskers and others netted during Ramadhan