TODAY’s brief, Friday, June 24
Former editor of TRS expected to plead guilty
Yang Kaiheng, the former editor of now-defunct sociopolitical site The Real Singapore (TRS), is expected to plead guilty to sedition charges on Friday after initially contesting his charges. The 27-year-old is expected to plead guilty to six counts of sedition involving articles that had been published on TRS. A seventh sedition charge and an eighth charge over failing to produce financial statements on the website’s advertising revenue to the police will be taken into consideration in sentencing him.
Brexit results
The result of the Brexit vote — a polarising, knife-edge referendum that threatens to pull the United Kingdom out of the European Union — will be known on Friday from around 9am onwards (Singapore time). Opinion polls on Thursday suggested a slim lead for the “Remain” camp but if the final result goes in the other direction, financial markets are headed for volatility with months of negotiations on the cards to unravel Britain’s membership from the regional bloc.
Day two of Suu Kyi’s official visit in Thailand
Myanmar’s State Counsellor cum Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi is in Thailand on Friday for the second day of a three-day official visit. She and Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will sign a memorandum of understanding today to help Myanmar migrants work legally in Thailand. This is Ms Suu Kyi’s second official trip abroad since the National League of Democracy took office on March 30. Her first trip was to neighbouring Laos last month.
Tsai to travel to Panama and Paraguay
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen will travel to Panama and Paraguay on a nine-day trip starting on Friday, with stopovers in the United States — her first overseas trip to engage the island’s handful of diplomatic allies since taking office last month. Her trip is likely to spark a backlash from Beijing, which has regarded the island as a renegade province since both sides split following a bloody civil war in 1949.
Weather forecast
Thundery showers over many areas in the predawn hours and early morning, with temperatures ranging from 24°C to 32°C.
