Worldwide waffling

Pro-democracy protesters took to the streets of Bangkok Saturday as a rally expected to draw tens of thousands of people kicked off calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy.

Thailand has seen near-daily gatherings of youth-led groups since mid-July demanding the resignation of Prayut, the former army chief behind the 2014 coup, and a complete overhaul of his administration. Some are also demanding reforms to the kingdom's ultra-wealthy and powerful monarchy -- a once-taboo topic in Thailand due to its tough royal defamation laws.

Lebanon's army said it had found 1.3 tones of fireworks during a search of Beirut port, which was devastated last month in a huge blast that was blamed on a large quantity of chemicals kept in poor condition. The army said in a statement, released on its website on Friday, that 1,320 kgs of fireworks were found in 120 boxes in a warehouse during a search of the port.

It said army engineers disposed of them. The port and a swathe of central Beirut was ruined by the huge blast on Aug. 4 that killed at least 190 people. It was blamed on 2,750 tones of highly explosive ammonium nitrate kept at the port for years in poor condition.

President Donald Trump on Friday attacked his FBI director, Christopher Wray, for highlighting the threat posed by Russia and right-wing militias to the US election, rather than focusing on China and left-wing groups.

Trump, whose campaign had murky ties to Russian operatives offering assistance during his 2016 victory against Hillary Clinton, has repeatedly criticized his intelligence officials who consistently say that Moscow still poses the chief danger. Still, the Republican's criticism of Wray at the White House, a day after the FBI chief testified before Congress, was unusually public for a US president.

China sent more warplanes toward Taiwan for the second day as the island's leader, senior government officials and a high-level U.S. envoy paid tribute to the man who led Taiwan's transition to democracy, former President Lee Teng-hui. Keith Krach, the U.S. undersecretary for state, kept a low profile at the service.

His presence at the event and on the island has drawn a strong rebuke from China, which sent 18 warplanes across the midline of the Taiwan Strait Friday in an unusually large display of force. Beijing dispatched 19 more warplanes, two of which were bombers, according to Taiwan's Defense Ministry. The island's air force scrambled their own and deployed an air defense missile system to monitor China's activities, according to a statement.