Business & Finance

A deceitful narrative is being peddled by politicians, including our own new Prime Minister, that this crisis is over. The truth is it's only just beginning.

BANGKOK — A gunman shot and killed his grandparents before killing five people and himself at a school outside Bangkok on Friday, Thailand’s prime minister said, in the Southeast Asian nation’s worst mass killing since 2022. Anutin Charnvirakul told a news conference that at least 30 people were injured in the shooting at Debsirin Nonthaburi School in the Bang Kruai district of Nonthaburi province, north of Bangkok. The perpetrator was identified as a student and police said that he had fired at least 26 rounds and that 34 other rounds of ammunition were found at the scene. They said they had recovered a 9mm handgun believed to belong to his grandfather. At least two people were in critical condition, police said. One 18-year-old student told Reuters that at first he thought he was hearing firecrackers. “Then it started getting more frequent, like ‘bang, bang, bang’ and then it went quiet at one point,” the unnamed student said. “And the shooting started again.” In a statement, the school said the shooting had “shaken the hearts” of students, parents, teachers and others. The government said Prime Minister Anutin had directed relevant agencies to provide immediate and comprehensive support to all those affected. “We rushed to care for the injured and I have dispatched the relevant personnel to handle the situation at the site,” Anutin told reporters. “This is very terrible, it is something that should not have happened.” It is the second school shooting in Thailand this year. One teacher was killed and a student was injured in February at a school in the southern district of Hat Yai. In recent years there has been a series of deadly shootings at schools and other locations in Thailand, where gun ownership is common. Last year, six people were killed when a man opened fire at a Bangkok market before taking his own life. In 2023, a 14-year-old killed two people and injured five others in a shooting at a luxury mall in Bangkok. Discarded shoes and police markers at the shooting scene on Friday.Valeria Mongelli / Anadolu via Getty Images The previous year, a former police officer killed 36 people during a three-hour shooting and stabbing spree in the country’s northeast. Among his victims were 22 children he stabbed at a day care center. A Thai soldier also killed 29 people in a shooting rampage in the northeastern city of Nakhon Ratchasima in 2020. After the 2023 mall shooting, Anutin, who was interior minister at the time, enacted a one-year ban on the issue of new personal gun licenses and suspended public carry permits, among other gun control measures. The suspension of public carry permits was extended earlier this year. “This is the reason why the government doesn’t allow arm carrying and extension of gun licenses,” Anutin said Friday. “This is the reason why.” As of 2017 Thai civilians were estimated to possess about 10.3 million firearms, or about 15 per 100 residents, according to the Small Arms Survey, a Swiss group that favors gun control. That compared with more than 393 million firearms in civilian possession in the United States, or 120.5 per 100 residents. Nat Sumon reported from Bangkok, and Jennifer Jett from Hong Kong. Reuters contributed.

SoCalGas is trading the utility’s blue uniforms for an updated look designed to help customers spot a real utility employee from imposters. The updated gray uniforms will roll out Monday after reports of people posing as gas company technicians showing up at homes with bad intentions. For example, three men — one wearing a reflective vest — visited a Whittier family’s home in 2024 and tried to convince residents to allow them inside the house. The family refused and noticed one of the men had a gun as they walked away in the encounter caught on security camera video. Law enforcement sources told NBC4 Investigates that there have been several instances of criminals wearing utility company-type uniforms in an effort to get residents out of a home and into the backyard as accomplices enter the house to steal items. The gray uniforms include prominent SoCalGas branding and the employee’s first name. Employees also carrying a company-issued photo identification badge and drive clearly marked SoCalGas vehicles. “They are designed for our customers to identify our employees,” said Raul Gordillo, of SoCalGas. “There are imposters out there, and we want to make sure we have a uniform our residents and customers are able to identify right away.” The company said customers should feel comfortable asking to see and ID badge before allowing anyone on their property.

An engagement proposal made a big splash at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. In video posted Tuesday on the Long Beach aquarium’s Instagram page, an unsuspecting Amber Lee can be seen posing with Trevor Kelly and Parker the sea lion. Lee, facing the camera, was asked to turn to her right, where Kelly was on one knee holding an engagement ring. Just after Kelly popped the question and Lee said yes, Parker chimed in with comedy barks of approval. And, he wasn’t the only one celebrating the couple’s milestone moment. “Parker was such a trooper,” Lee said. “He was so fun. But what’s not caught on camera is there were other sea lions in the exhibit who were clapping and barking at the same time. It was just an overwhelming amount of love from animals and people.” Kelly said the aquarium proposal was inspired by a thoughtful holiday gesture from Lee. “During our first Christmas together, she bought these print-out tickets to go to aquarium,” Kelly said. “I figured it would be fitting to bring her back there and to propose.” The Aquarium posted congratulations and several videos and images of the special day. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Aquarium of the Pacific (@aquariumpacific)

A Los Angeles judge on Friday rejected Councilmember Curren Price’s request to dismiss the public corruption case against him. Attorneys for Price, who is accused of voting to provide millions of dollars in grants to a real estate consulting business owned by his current wife, Delbra Pettice Richardson, argued that the longtime public official did not know his vote would create a conflict-of-interest issue. Los Angeles County prosecutors allege Richardson’s consulting firm received more than $150,000 from developers between 2019 and 2021 before Price voted on projects involving those developers. Price is also accused of having the city of Los Angeles pay for Richardson’s health insurance while he was married to another woman, resulting in about $33,800 in taxpayer-funded benefits. Prosecutors contend the enrollment amounted to embezzlement of public funds. Los Angeles May 28 Race for LA City Council District 9: Who will replace Curren Price? Los Angeles City Council Jun 13, 2023 LA Councilman Curren Price charged with embezzlement, perjury and conflict of interest Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler sided with prosecutors Friday, ruling there is sufficient evidence for the case to move forward. When the allegations first surfaced in 2023, Price did not resign. The 75-year-old councilmember is term-limited and will leave office at the end of 2026. Price was ordered to return to court on Oct. 16. If convicted on all charges, Price faces up to 11 years and four months in custody, including up to nine years and four months in state prison and up to two years in county jail, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

Three members of Orange County-based street gangs were sentenced to life in prison after they were found guilty of murdering a man on behalf of a Mexican Mafia leader, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Friday. Federal authorities said in Aug 2017, 43-year-old Mike Escobar of the Little Hood gang in Anaheim, 47-year-old James Mendez of the Sureño gang in Garden Grove and 38-year-old Kevin Trejo of the Jeffrey Street gang in Anaheim killed a member of a Costa Mesa street gang. Escobar, Mendez and Trejo allegedly lured the victim to a residential neighborhood in Orange before fatally shooting him seven times in the back and once in the head, the DOJ said. South Los Angeles 22 hours ago Community activist shot and killed in Hyde Park Crime and Courts Jul 30 Feds accuse ‘Big U' of plot to attack witness, other new charges The victim had been involved in trafficking drugs and collecting taxes from other Orange County gangs on behalf of a Mexican Mafia leader, who was in prison at the time. The Mexican Mafia, also known as “La Eme,” is a U.S.-based prison gang that exerts significant influence over Hispanic street gangs throughout Southern California. Its leaders often orders associates to carry out illegal activities from prisons while collecting profits from drug trafficking, illegal gambling and other crimes. “Gang members directing murders from behind bars will be charged and prosecuted just like those who pull the triggers,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “This case charged both the shooters and the perpetrator who ordered the murder. The Criminal Division will maintain its commitment to eradicate gangs at all levels and make America safe.” The DOJ said the conviction and sentencing were possible thanks to collaborations with the Orange, Santa Ana, Placentia police department as well as the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. The Mexican Mafia leader who ordered Escobar, Mendez and Trejo to commit the murder for him was scheduled for trial in August 2027, the DOJ said.

From the moment he set foot on the Greek island of Lesvos in 2016, Afghan-born Sharif Ahmadzai embarked on an extraordinary act of self-reinvention.

The former Tory minister was found dead, lying face down in the kitchen of her Dartmoor home on July 9 after allegedly being hit on the head 21 times with a hammer.

The former Strictly stars have announced the end of their 22-year marriage.