World
Thailand’s disbanded opposition party relaunches under new name, leader
Move Forward Party has been renamed the People’s Party, the largest in parliament, and has promised to advance reforms.
Thailand’s main opposition Move Forward Party (MFP) has relaunched with a new name and leader after being forced to disband by a court this week.
The new party will be led by tech entrepreneur Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut and known as Prachachon, party representative Parit Wacharasindhu told journalists in the capital, Bangkok, on Friday.
It will be referred to as the People’s Party in English.
“The reason for this name is because we would like to be a party by the people, from the people, for the people, to move Thailand forward so that people can be the supreme power,” Parit said.
MFP, which won the most seats in last year’s election, was blocked from forming a government and was ordered to dissolve in a unanimous ruling by the constitutional court on Wednesday.
Its executive board members were banned from politics for 10 years. While 10 MFP members have been banned, 143 of the party’s politicians who kept their seats in parliament have joined the new party.
The court said it violated the constitution when it pledged to amend the country’s strict royal defamation law.
The European Union, United States, United Nations and human rights groups blasted the court’s decision, which the EU said harmed democratic openness in Thailand.
Natthaphong, 37, told a news conference that Prachachon will carry on MFP’s ideology.
“The mission for me and the party is to create a government for change in 2027,” he said, referring to Thailand’s next national election.
MFP’s liberal agenda won significant support from young and urban voters – but also earned it some powerful enemies – with plans that include reforming the military and dismantling business monopolies worth billions of dollars each year.
Its bid to amend a law on royal insults riled influential generals and royalists with far-reaching connections, who see the monarchy as sacrosanct.
Thailand’s lese-majeste law is one of the world’s strictest, with punishments of up to 15 years for each perceived insult of the crown.
Although the court in a January ruling ordered MFP to drop its campaign, Natthaphong said the new party would continue the push to change the law, known as Article 112.
“We have said we propose to amend Article 112 to ensure that this law is not a political tool used to abuse others, but we won’t be careless,” Natthaphong said.
The People’s Party is the third incarnation of the Future Forward Party, which was dissolved for a campaign financing violation in 2020, triggering nationwide antigovernment protests.
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By James McManagan, Paul Sonne, Malachy Browne and Jackeline Luna
June 19, 2026
World
Man charged with attempted murder, released after allegedly forcing toddler into crocodile enclosure at zoo
Man FORCES child into crocodile enclosure
A British man has been arrested after allegedly forcing a 3-year-old boy into a crocodile enclosure at a zoo. The child suffered critical injuries, and authorities say the suspect did not know the boy as the investigation continues.
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A man was released from custody on Friday after he was charged with attempted murder for allegedly forcing a 3-year-old boy into a crocodile enclosure at a zoo.
Cambridgeshire police said that the man, who remains unidentified, wasn’t fit to be interviewed.
The boy suffered critical injuries in the incident at Johnsons of Old Hurst, a farm and zoo in Huntingdon, England, north of London.
The 30-year-old man will remain on bail until Sept. 30, pending further inquiries.
GEORGIA MOM’S WALMART TRIP DEVOLVES INTO ‘TUG-OF-WARRING’ IN DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO SAVE HER SON
A crocodile rests inside an enclosure at Johnsons of Old Hurst, a farm and zoo in Old Hurst, Cambridgeshire, Britain, on April 14, 2026. (Dorota Dee Trajdos/Reuters)
“The man, who is not known to the victim, was assessed as not being fit for interview,” police said in a statement.
The boy is in stable condition, after reportedly suffering a broken arm and pelvis.
He was saved from the crocodile by Tracey Johnson, the wife of the zoo’s owner.
MOTHER JUMPS INTO WATER TO SAVE 4-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER WHO FELL BETWEEN CRUISE SHIP AND DOCK
“I know Tracey very well and she’s a lovely lady and it’s nothing more than I’d expect from her,” a local told BBC News. “She’d always put her own life at risk to save someone else. She’s an extraordinary lady and very brave.
The villager added that Johnson put herself in “immense danger” during the rescue.
The owners said their tropical house would remain closed until further notice.
Crocodiles rest inside an enclosure at Johnsons of Old Hurst farm and zoo in Old Hurst, Cambridgeshire, Britain, on April 14, 2026. (Dorota Dee Trajdos/Reuters)
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the boy and his family following the incident that occurred today,” the owners wrote on social media.
Johnsons of Old Hurst is a farm and zoo north of London in Huntingdon, England. (Google Maps)
Huntingdonshire district councillor Charlotte Lowe said she couldn’t “fathom how it’s happened because they’ve got all the right protection and safety equipment, for want of a better word, in there,” The Guardian reported.
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Fox News Digital has reached out to the Cambridgeshire Constabulary for comment.
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US President Donald Trump has doubled down on his comments on Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, saying she asked him “over and over” for a photo when the pair met at the G7 summit in France earlier this week.
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Following the summit, Trump told an Italian journalist that he “felt sorry for Meloni” after she “begged me to take a picture with her”.
Meloni hit back in a video posted to social media, branding Trump’s claims as “completely made up” and insisting that neither she nor Italy begs anyone for anything.
The once close pair’s relationship has grown increasingly fractious in recent months, particularly since Rome refused to provide the US support for its operations in Iran and after Meloni defended Pope Leo XIV, who was criticised by the Trump administration over his remarks on the war and the US’s immigration policies.
“Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni asked, over and over, for a picture with me during the G-7 meeting in France,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account on Saturday. “She is doing poorly in Italy with her level of popularity, possibly because she turned down the United States of America, a Country that truly loves and protects Italy, when it came to denying Iran from obtaining or developing a Nuclear Weapon”.
“Now, after the United States defeated Iran militarily, she wants to be friends again in order to get her “numbers up.” No thanks!!!” Trump added.
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