The Thai cleaning lady facing prison for 'I see'

Patnaree Chankij's home on the outskirts of Bangkok is a cramped, three-room house in which the 40-year-old widow lives with two of her children, and where she often does other people's laundry to make ends meet. At other times she works as a casual cleaner in apartments and offices.

As in other houses in Thailand, there are portraits of King Bhumibol Adulyadej on the walls. Patnaree considers herself a loyal citizen, and says she has never said anything negative about the royal family.

But earlier this month she was detained by the police and charged with lese majeste, insulting the monarchy, one of the most serious charges in the Thai criminal code. It carries a penalty of three to 15 years on each count and its use has escalated after the military coup two years ago.

More than 60 people have been charged since then. Most of the cases are now heard in military courts, which restrict the rights of defence. Often they are heard in secret, with journalists finding out about them weeks later, if at all.

Sentences are harsh. Last year a mother of two was given a sentence of 56 years for comments she made on Facebook - later halved after she pleaded guilty.

So what did Patnaree do to get charged? According to her lawyer, the only evidence the police have produced is an exchange on Facebook between her and a political activist, in which she responded to comments the police say are defamatory with the Thai word "ja", which translates as "I see", or "ok".

The police say she should have condemned the comments.

Patnaree does not believe she has been charged over anything she said or wrote. She believes it is because of her son, Sirawith (which translates as New) Seritiwat.

He is a political science student at Thammasat University, but over the past two years he has also emerged as the best-known face of student dissent against military rule.

Right after the coup, as part of two groups called Resistant Citizens and Thai Student Centre for Democracy, he joined protests against the new government, using symbols like the three-fingered salute from the film series Hunger Games and reading George Orwell's classic novel 1984 in public.

Last year they held a mock election outside a central Bangkok arts centre. Then they organised a protest train ride to a controversial royal-themed park, which had been built by the army, allegedly through some corrupt contracts.

The groups now call themselves the New Democracy Movement.

Although their demonstrations have been small, these activists are the only group openly challenging the military in Thailand. The so-called "red shirt" mass movement, which backed the government ousted by the coup, has largely been silent.

The army has responded by detaining the students and putting them through what it calls "attitude adjustment", where they are pressured to change their views.

More recently, the army has hardened its stance, filing criminal charges against some of the activists. Sirawith has been detained several times and charged twice, although he has not yet been tried.

Now the military government is preparing to introduce a new constitution which will enshrine military dominance of politics for many more years. It would allow elections to take place as early as next year, but the charter weakens the power of elected governments and gives more power to a military-appointed senate, and to the conservative higher courts.

The junta has promised a referendum on the constitution on 7 August, but with supporters of the ousted government likely to be hostile to a charter which would in all likelihood block their party from returning to power, the military has banned all campaigning against it. 

Those who try to sway public opinion are threatened with 10-year prison sentences.

At the same time, thousands of government officials are being trained to go out and inform the public about the constitution, and to persuade them to vote.

In that way the military hopes to win the August vote. Losing it would be a serious blow to the credibility of a government which has always insisted that most Thai people support its plans to restructure the country. It is not a result the military will leave to chance.

Activists like Sirawith Seritiwat are a threat to that strategy, and in the weeks leading up to the referendum the soldiers are sure to redouble their efforts to stifle dissenting voices.

New Cigarette Packaging Rules Come Into Force

Cigarettes in the UK are being sold in standardised green packaging with explicit images from today, under new rules designed to cut the number of smokers.

It comes after the world's four largest tobacco firms lost a legal challenge against the Government's new plain packaging rules at the High Court on Thursday.

Under the directive, pictures showing the harmful effects of smoking must cover 65% of the front and back of every packet of cigarettes, with extra warnings on the top of the pack.

Packs containing 10 cigarettes will be prohibited under the ruling because the boxes are viewed too small to contain suitable health warnings.

The changes include a ban on menthol cigarettes from 2020 and promotional statements such as "this product is free of additives" or "is less harmful than other brands".

Companies have a year to sell old stock and fully implement the changes under the directive.

An estimated 700,000 premature deaths are caused each year and it is hoped the new rules will reduce the number of smokers across the EU by 2.4 million.

British Lung Foundation chief executive Dr Penny Woods welcomed the measures.

"For too long glitzy, cleverly designed packaging has lured young people into smoking, a habit that takes the lives of half of all long-term smokers," she said.

Second Kidnapped Chibok Girl Found In Nigeria

A second missing Chibok girl has been found in Nigeria, two years after she and 275 others were taken from their secondary school.

Army spokesman Colonel Sani Usman "has confirmed the rescue of another Chibok girl this evening".

Serah Luka was reportedly rescued at about 5pm local time during a military operation against IS-affiliated fighters Boko Haram.

She was taken to hospital after her rescue.

Serah is the daughter of a pastor, Usman said, and had only started at the boarding school in Chibok a little more than two months before the Boko Haram raid.

The news comes just two days after another of the abducted students was found.

Activists named her as Amina Ali Darsha Nkeki and quoted her as saying that most of the girls were still in the Sambisa forest, Boko Haram's biggest stronghold.

But the 19-year-old, traumatised and carrying a baby, was quoted as saying that six of her classmates were already dead.

The girls went missing in 2014 during a raid by Boko Haram fighters

She and her mother met Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari at his official residence in Abuja on Thursday, where he said the government was "doing all it can to rescue the remaining Chibok girls".

"Amina's rescue gives us new hope and offers a unique opportunity for vital information," he said in a statement.

There was international outrage when 276 girls - mostly aged between 16 and 18 - were abducted from their school during a Boko Haram raid on Chibok in April 2014.

Fifty-seven of them managed to escape the same day.

High-profile figures, including America's first lady Michelle Obama, joined a campaign with the hashtag: #BringBackOurGirls.

Hope was briefly raised in April 2015 when the Nigerian military announced it had rescued 200 girls and 93 women from the Sambisa Forest.

It later emerged that the Chibok girls were not among them.

Boko Haram militants have killed an estimated 15,000 people and kidnapped hundreds of men, women and children during a six-year campaign to establish an Islamic caliphate in northeastern Nigeria.

Wreckage From Missing EgyptAir Flight Found

EgyptAir has confirmed that wreckage found during the search for Flight MS804 is from the missing plane.

The airline released a statement saying it has received an official letter from the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirming the wreckage was discovered near Karpathos Island.

The statement adds: "EgyptAir sincerely conveys its deepest sorrow to the families and friends of the passengers onboard Flight MS804.

"Family members of passengers and crew have been already informed and we extend our deepest sympathies to those affected.

"Meanwhile, the Egyptian investigation team, in cooperation with the GReek counterpart are still searching for other remains of the missing plane."

The find comes after a Greek frigate discovered pieces of plastic and two life jackets in the Mediterranean.

Egyptian Civil Aviation Minister Sherif Fathy said the plane, which was en route from Paris to Cairo, was more likely to have been brought down by a "terror attack" than a technical fault.

The aircraft disappeared with 56 passengers and 10 crew on board - including one British national.

French President Francois Hollande said "unfortunately the information we have ... confirms to us the plane came down and is lost".

Greek defence minister Panos Kammenos said the aircraft was in Egyptian airspace and flying at 37,000ft when it made "sudden swerves" and plunged to 15,000ft.

He said it swerved "90 degrees left and then 360 degrees to the right" before vanishing.

Authorities are examining CCTV footage at Charles de Gaulle Airport - and investigating an account from the captain of a merchant ship who reported seeing a "flame in the sky" some 130 nautical miles south of Karpathos.

Mr Fathy said there were no known security issues with the passengers who boarded the jet, but further checks were being made.

Headstones Smashed In Jewish Cemetery

Police are treating the destruction of headstones in a Jewish cemetery in Greater Manchester as a hate crime.

Officers found 14 headstones knocked over and smashed at the Blackley Jewish Cemetery on Rochdale Road in Charlestown on Wednesday afternoon.

They are now appealing for witnesses or for anyone who has any information to get in contact.

Chief Superintendent Wasim Chaudhry from GMP's North Manchester Division said: "This is a sickening act of criminal damage which we are taking very seriously.

"I believe this was a deliberate and targeted attack and there is no place for such abhorrent behaviour in our communities.

"All decent members of the public recognise that a cemetery is supposed to be a resting place for people who have passed away; a place of sanctity and dignity where families can come and pay their respects.

"So to have those graves desecrated in such a disgusting and disrespectful way will no doubt cause immeasurable anguish to the families and loved ones affected.

"I cannot begin to get into the mind of someone who would commit such an atrocity.

will cause a lot of anxiety and distress in the local community and we as police officers and my colleagues at Manchester City Council share that distress.

"We will do everything we can to find out who is responsible and bring the full force of the law down on them.

"This has been recorded as a hate crime because of the clear racial motivation and, should we find those who committed this cowardly act, which will allow the courts to impose even harsher punishments."

Chief Supt Chaudhry said extra patrols were being put into the area to act as a deterrent and reassure the community.

The same cemetery was previously targeted by vandals in 2014, when more than 40 gravestones were vandalised and sprayed with offensive graffiti.

:: Anyone with information should call police on 0161 856 3521, 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111

UAE woman 'fined and deported' for checking husband's phone

A woman in the United Arab Emirates has been fined and deported after being found guilty of breaching her husband's privacy, reports say.

Local media said the woman checked her husband's mobile phone after becoming suspicious he was having an affair.

The husband complained to the police and his wife was prosecuted under a cybercrime law, Gulf News reported.

The unnamed woman - an Arab expatriate in the UAE - was fined 150,000 dirhams (£28,000; $41,000), the report said.

She admitted to the court that she had accessed his phone without permission and transferred photos to her device, her lawyer told Gulf News.

The lawyer, Eman Sabt, said the couple were in their 30s and of Arab origin, but gave no other information.

An Egyptian Passenger Plane Has Vanished From Radar on a Flight From Paris to Cairo

An passenger airplane has gone missing en route from Paris to Cairo, EgyptAir announced Thursday morning.

The Egyptian flag carrier’s official Twitter account said the 23:09 flight from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, which was due to land in Cairo at 3:15 a.m., “has disappeared from radar.”

Reports said the aircraft was carrying 59 passengers and 10 crew. The airline said it would provide updates as more information becomes available.

In October last year, a Russian Metrojet aircraft carrying 224 passengers exploded in mid-air over the northern Sinai desert after departing from Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh airport. The Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria claimed responsibility for the apparent bomb attack.

In another incident in March, an Egyptian man with a fake suicide vest hijacked a domestic Egyptian flight and forced the pilot to divert to Cyprus. It turned out the hijacker was hoping the stunt would help him to reunite with his estranged wife.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more details emerge.