Air Canada walks back new seat selection policy change after backlash
Air Canada has paused a new seat selection fee for travellers booked on the lowest fares just days after implementing it.
A Thai protest leader on Tuesday renewed calls for the reform of the country's monarchy and suggested that time was running out for the powerful institution to respond.
"This year shall be the last year that we will discuss monarchy reform. After this, whatever will happen, will happen. You can't stop the sun rising. You can't control what people believe in," Arnon Nampha said at a candlelight rally in downtown Bangkok by about 200 people who defied coronavirus regulations to attend.
The civil rights lawyer dressed as Harry Potter, a reference to what he and other proponents of change see as the opaque world of the palace. Arnon is widely considered the protest movement's most senior figure.
The rally marked one year since Arnon delivered a speech that shook the country with its unprecedented challenge to the status of the monarchy, which is widely considered to be an untouchable bedrock element of Thai nationalism.
It sparked a series of large-scale rallies demanding that the palace be made more transparent and accountable. The protests, which also called for the resignation of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and the amendment of the constitution, raised the political temperature significantly, leading to clashes with royalists and police and the arrests of protest leaders.
The rallies died down this year due to legal action, a lack of unity in the movement and fears over the coronavirus. But in recent weeks protesters have returned to the streets, prompted by a worsening COVID-19 outbreak for which many people blame the government.
They've largely targeted Prayuth's government but Arnon's speech on Tuesday suggests the monarchy will once again be a focus of Thai political debate.
"We are here to fight to build a better future together," he said. "This year we will fight with strategies. We will fight with goals. Not only will we fight through protests to bring pressure, we will also fight to propose laws in Parliament."
Arnon, who is currently free on bail, faces more than 10 charges under a stringent royal defamation law that mandates prison terms of up to 15 years for perceived insults. Human rights defenders say it is routinely used to stifle public discussion of the monarchy and to jail political activists. Its abolition is a key demand of the reform movement.
Many people still revere the monarchy, and the military, a major power in Thai society, considers its defense a key priority.
Questioning of the monarchy's position has grown since the 2016 accession to the throne of King Maha Vajiralongkorn, whose much admired father, King Bhumibhol Adulyadej, ruled for seven decades.
Air Canada has paused a new seat selection fee for travellers booked on the lowest fares just days after implementing it.
An ongoing municipal strike, court battles and revolt by half of council has prompted the province to oust the mayor and council in Black River-Matheson.
Three officers on a U.S. Marshals Task Force serving a warrant for a felon wanted for possessing a firearm were killed and five other officers were wounded in a shootout Monday at a North Carolina home, police said.
A Calgary elementary school principal has been charged with possession of child pornography, authorities announced Monday.
The Vancouver Island Health Authority is downplaying what staff describe as a cockroach infestation in a medical unit of Saanich Peninsula Hospital.
Toronto police say 12 people are facing a combined 102 charges in connection with an investigation into a major credit fraud scheme.
One of the winners of a historic US$1.3 billion Powerball jackpot last month is an immigrant from Laos who has had cancer for eight years and had his latest chemotherapy treatment last week.
Britney Spears and her father Jamie Spears will avoid what could have been a long, ugly and revealing trial with a settlement of the lingering issues in the court conservatorship that controlled her life and financial decisions for nearly 14 years.
The clock is ticking ahead of the deadline to file a 2023 income tax return. A personal finance expert explains why you should get them done -- even if you owe more than you can pay.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.