BANGKOK (AP) — An Australian man appeared in court for the first time Friday on charges of murder and concealment of a body in connection with the death of a teenage girl in an eastern tourist city in Thailand, police said.
Simon Peter Carman was arrested in June after the 17-year-old girl was reported missing in Pattaya City, about 150 kilometers (93 miles) southeast of Bangkok, and a suitcase containing her body was found shortly after.
Carman was indicted by prosecutors Thursday on the charges, according to Pattaya City Police. He has also been charged with two counts of indecent acts on a minor.
The city's police chief, Anek Srathongyoo, told The Associated Press that Carman made an appearance at the Pattaya Provincial Court to give a statement in response to the indictment. He said they are awaiting the court’s decision on whether to take the case to trial.
Carman, who denied all charges, is being detained at the Pattaya Remand Prison.
A conviction on the charge of premeditated murder carries a possible death penalty.
Police said the girl was last seen on security footage walking into a condominium with Carman. He was later seen leaving the building alone with a large suitcase, and security footage showed him loading the suitcase onto a motorbike and riding into a deserted area along the railway.
Carman was arrested at a Bangkok airport before boarding a flight to Australia. Police said subsequent questioning led them to the suitcase with the girl’s body.
Carman, in a police interrogation video shared online by Thai media, has said he was acting in self-defense because the girl was threatening him with a knife.
This photo taken with a smartphone and released by Pattaya Provincial Police, shows Australian's Simon Peter Carman, fourth from left, after being arrested at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Samut Prakarn, Thailand, on June 26, 2026. (Pattaya Provincial Police via AP)
TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s central bank on Friday raised the benchmark interest rate to 1.25% from 1.0%, a 31-year-high.
The Bank of Japan has been trying to normalize monetary policy after decades of keeping interest rates near or below zero to try to encourage more borrowing and spending to counter deflation and pull Japan's economy out of the doldrums.
The rate increase in the uncollateralized overnight call rate, a short-term rate, was expected at the end of the two-day monetary policy board meeting and has widely figured into recent global markets.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda said the decision was reached after looking at various risks like the war in Iran, the expanding market demand for artificial intelligence and currency fluctuations.
“The Japanese economy is continuing to recover gradually,” he told reporters, while noting inflation was close to the targeted 2%.
Analysts have said another increase was possible later this year or early next year. When asked about further hikes, Ueda stressed more time is needed to see if price increases stay stable, along with needing to monitor wage growth and other risk factors.
Two of the nine-member board dissented, expressing concerns about the strength of Japan's economic growth, according to Ueda.
The U.S. Federal Reserve also raised its key rate this week. The U.S. increase Wednesday, the first since 2023, was made in an effort to quell stubbornly high inflation.
The U.S. has also been pressuring Japan to raise rates because of concerns about the weakening yen.
The nations intervened together recently to prop up the yen. Despite the Bank of Japan's move, the U.S. dollar grew stronger, momentarily reaching above 157 yen. It reached above 160 yen earlier this year.
The Bank of Japan has set a target inflation rate of about 2%. Inflation is about that now in Japan, although some consumers complain that the recent surge in prices is too much, especially in gas and oil-related products.
“With crude oil prices remaining elevated, the Bank of Japan is expected to implement an additional rate hike sooner rather than later to limit the risk that consumer inflation exceeds the underlying inflation rate,” said Harumi Taguchi, an economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Higher rates may also weigh on the economy because of heavier borrowing costs for small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as higher mortgages, she added.
Analysts are also worried about the aggressive public spending promised by the government of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, such as tax cuts and aggressive defense investments, when public debt is already ballooning.
Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose after the Bank of Japan decision was announced, edging up 1.4%.
Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama
FILE - A Japanese flag flutters at the Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo, July 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama, File)
BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda arrives the central bank's headquarters in Tokyo, Sept. 18, 2026. (Japan Pool/Kyodo News via AP)
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi holds a press conference after a cabinet reshuffle at the prime minister's office in Tokyo, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026. (Rie Kikuchi/Pool Photo via AP)
