Thai King's Daughter Remains Unconscious Weeks after Collapsing

Thailand's Princess Bajrakitiyabha greets royalists, at The Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand, November 1, 2020. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
Thailand's Princess Bajrakitiyabha greets royalists, at The Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand, November 1, 2020. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
TT

Thai King's Daughter Remains Unconscious Weeks after Collapsing

Thailand's Princess Bajrakitiyabha greets royalists, at The Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand, November 1, 2020. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
Thailand's Princess Bajrakitiyabha greets royalists, at The Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand, November 1, 2020. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

Thailand's Princess Bajrakitiyabha remained unconscious more than three weeks after collapsing due to a heart problem, a palace statement said in an update on the health of the 44-year-old potential heir to the throne.

The eldest child of Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn lost consciousness on Dec. 15 due to severe heart arrhythmia resulting from inflammation following a mycoplasma infection, according to a statement issued by the palace late on Saturday.

The princess's "overall condition is that she remains unconscious," Reuters quoted the palace as saying.

"Doctors continue to provide medicine and use equipment to support the functions of the heart, lung and kidney as well as using antibiotics while monitoring her condition closely," it said.

Princess Bajarakitiyabha fell ill while preparing her dogs for a competition in northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima province, where she was initially treated before being taken by helicopter to Bangkok.

She is one of three children of King Vajiralongkorn who have formal titles, making her eligible for the throne under a palace succession law and the country's constitution.

The king has yet to formally designate an heir and there has been no official discussion on the prospect of the princess taking the throne.

Princess Bajarakitiyabha, a trained lawyer with master and doctorate degrees from Cornell University, has served as Thai ambassador to Austria, Slovenia and Slovakia and in roles with the Attorney General's office, the Royal Security Command and as Thai ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.

She was born on Dec. 7, 1978. Her mother is the king's first wife, Princess Soamsawali.



Russia: Man Suspected of Shooting Top General Detained in Dubai

An investigator works outside a residential building where the assassination attempt on Russian Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev took place in Moscow, Russia February 6, 2026. REUTERS/Anastasia Barashkova
An investigator works outside a residential building where the assassination attempt on Russian Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev took place in Moscow, Russia February 6, 2026. REUTERS/Anastasia Barashkova
TT

Russia: Man Suspected of Shooting Top General Detained in Dubai

An investigator works outside a residential building where the assassination attempt on Russian Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev took place in Moscow, Russia February 6, 2026. REUTERS/Anastasia Barashkova
An investigator works outside a residential building where the assassination attempt on Russian Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev took place in Moscow, Russia February 6, 2026. REUTERS/Anastasia Barashkova

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Sunday that the man suspected of shooting top Russian military intelligence officer Vladimir Alexeyev in Moscow has been detained in Dubai and handed over to Russia.

Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev, deputy head of the GRU, ⁠Russia's military intelligence arm, was shot several times in an apartment block in Moscow on Friday, investigators said. He underwent surgery after the shooting, Russian media ⁠said.

The FSB said a Russian citizen named Lyubomir Korba was detained in Dubai on suspicion of carrying out the shooting.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Ukraine of being behind the assassination attempt, which he said was designed to sabotage peace talks. ⁠Ukraine said it had nothing to do with the shooting.

Alexeyev's boss, Admiral Igor Kostyukov, the head of the GRU, has been leading Russia's delegation in negotiations with Ukraine in Abu Dhabi on security-related aspects of a potential peace deal.


Factory Explosion Kills 8 in Northern China

Employees work on an electric vehicle (EV) production line at the Volkswagen Anhui factory in Hefei, Anhui province, China, February 4, 2026. REUTERS/Florence Lo
Employees work on an electric vehicle (EV) production line at the Volkswagen Anhui factory in Hefei, Anhui province, China, February 4, 2026. REUTERS/Florence Lo
TT

Factory Explosion Kills 8 in Northern China

Employees work on an electric vehicle (EV) production line at the Volkswagen Anhui factory in Hefei, Anhui province, China, February 4, 2026. REUTERS/Florence Lo
Employees work on an electric vehicle (EV) production line at the Volkswagen Anhui factory in Hefei, Anhui province, China, February 4, 2026. REUTERS/Florence Lo

An explosion at a biotech factory in northern China has killed eight people, Chinese state media reported Sunday, increasing the total number of fatalities by one.

State news agency Xinhua had previously reported that seven people died and one person was missing after the Saturday morning explosion at the Jiapeng biotech company in Shanxi province, citing local authorities.

Later, Xinhua said eight were dead, adding that the firm's legal representative had been taken into custody.

The company is located in Shanyin County, about 400 kilometers west of Beijing, AFP reported.

Xinhua said clean-up operations were ongoing, noting that reporters observed dark yellow smoke emanating from the site of the explosion.

Authorities have established a team to investigate the cause of the blast, the report added.

Industrial accidents are common in China due to lax safety standards.
In late January, an explosion at a steel factory in the neighboring province of Inner Mongolia left at least nine people dead.


Iran Warns Will Not Give Up Enrichment Despite US War Threat

Traffic moves through a street in Tehran on February 7, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Traffic moves through a street in Tehran on February 7, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
TT

Iran Warns Will Not Give Up Enrichment Despite US War Threat

Traffic moves through a street in Tehran on February 7, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Traffic moves through a street in Tehran on February 7, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)

Iran will never surrender the right to enrich uranium, even if war "is imposed on us,” its foreign minister said Sunday, defying pressure from Washington.

"Iran has paid a very heavy price for its peaceful nuclear program and for uranium enrichment," Abbas Araghchi told a forum in Tehran.

"Why do we insist so much on enrichment and refuse to give it up even if a war is imposed on us? Because no one has the right to dictate our behavior," he said, two days after he met US envoy Steve Witkoff in Oman.

The foreign minister also declared that his country was not intimidated by the US naval deployment in the Gulf.

"Their military deployment in the region does not scare us," Araghchi said.