Briefs, January 18, 2013
More than 130 Rohingya migrants have landed on Thai soil in less than 24 hours, a local official said, as the kingdom grapples with a flurry of arrivals from Myanmar's minority group.
BANGKOK - More than 130 Rohingya migrants have landed on Thai soil in less than 24 hours, a local official said, as the kingdom grapples with a flurry of arrivals from Myanmar's minority group. Some of the Rohingya came ashore at Phra Thong island in the south in full view of television cameras, Kuraburi district chief Manit Pienthong said. He said the refugees were sent to immigration officials in the provincial capital of Phangnga to start the process of returning them to Myanmar. AFP
MANILA - A controversial birth control law came into effect in the Philippines after more than a decade of opposition from the Catholic Church, in an historic move. It requires government health centres to hand out free condoms and birth control pills, and orders that sex education be taught in schools. AFP