Briefly

THAILAND

Early voting begins for House election

Early voting for Thailand's House of Representatives election started on Sunday, with more than 2 million eligible voters unable to cast their ballots on the official polling day of Feb 8 taking part. Voters participating in early voting received two ballot papers at the polling stations: one to elect a constituency candidate for the House of Representatives, and the other to vote for their preferred political party. The voting concluded at 5 pm, and all ballots will be counted together after Feb 8. More than 50 million Thai voters will elect a total of 500 members of the House of Representatives, among whom 400 will be elected from local constituencies and the remaining 100 will be allocated to political parties based on the proportion of their popular votes.

PAKISTAN

92 terrorists killed in Balochistan

Pakistani security forces and law enforcement agencies have "successfully thwarted the evil design of terrorists", killing 92 militants in the southwestern Balochistan Province on Saturday, the military said. The terrorists conducted multiple attacks across the province on Saturday, it said, adding the attacks were aimed at "disrupting the lives of local populace and development of Balochistan". The military said 18 civilians were killed in Gwadar and Kharan districts. During clearance operations and intense standoffs, 15 soldiers lost their lives, it added.

UNITED NATIONS

Guterres warns of 'financial collapse'

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Friday that the world body is on the brink of financial collapse and could run out of cash by July. The UN faces chronic budget problems because some member states do not pay their mandatory contributions in full, while others do not pay on time, forcing it into hiring freezes and cutbacks. "Either all member states honor their obligations to pay in full and on time — or member states must fundamentally overhaul our financial rules to prevent an imminent financial collapse," Guterres wrote in a letter.

Xinhua - Agencies