World News
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Sponsored 9 most common health issues covered by insurance for expats in Thailand
Thailand is a popular destination for expats due to its affordable lifestyle and excellent healthcare system. However, settling in a new country often brings health concerns. To ensure you’re covered for the most common medical needs, understanding what expat health...
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Facebook spends $1.4 billion in its first Asian data centre in Singapore
Facebook has announced it’s going to construct a $1.4 billion data centre in Singapore. It will be Facebook’s first in Asia and 15th in the world. The tech giant say it will be built in Tanjong Kling, formerly known as Data Centre Park. Facebook says the new Singapore facility will form part of their “growing presence in Singapore and the…
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Malaysia’s President-elect condemns caning of two women
from Asia News Network The Malaysian president-elect, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, has criticised the caning of the two women convicted of lesbian sex, saying that it lacked due process and understanding. “I’m a practising Muslim, but I don’t share that interpretation and certainly that sort of action to publicly cane without proper due process and understanding,” Anwar said during a…
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Kuala Terengganu Syariah High Court carries out caning punishment of two woman
PHOTOS: The Star, Asia News Network Two women have been caned six times each as punishment after pleading guilty to same-sex relations by the Kuala Terengganu Syariah High Court. The Star reports that 150 people were present in the courtroom watching as a lady officer from Kajang Women’s Prison carried out the sentence with a cane measuring about a metre.…
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Reuters reporters jailed for seven years in Myanmar
PHOTO: Reuters journalist Wa Lone followed by Kyaw Soe Oo arriving in court in Yangon. They were sentenced to seven years in jail today for breaching state secrets law – Reuters Reuters reports that a Myanmar judge today found two Reuters journalists guilty of breaching a law on state secrets and jailed them for seven years, in a landmark case…
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Australian filmmaker gets 6 years in a Cambodian prison for ‘espionage’
PHOTO: cambodiadaily.com 69 year old Australian filmmaker James Ricketson has been sentenced to six years in prison by the Phnom Penh municipal court in Cambodia. The Court found James guilty of ‘espionage’ for flying a drone over an opposition party’s political rally, this according to Reuters. Thai PBS reports that the Australian was arrested last June after he was photographed…
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Myanmar rebukes UN over Rhakine genocide report
By Khine Kyaw , Yangon Myanmar has responded to the UNs Fact Finding Mission that concluded genocide had been committed in Rakhine, saying the Myanmar Government did not recognise the mission and accused the writers of the report of intending to create a rift between the civilian government and the military. “We have already dissociated ourselves from the resolution of…
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Call centre gang in Vietnam raided – 16 Thais arrested
Tourist Police Bureau deputy commissioner Pol Maj Gen Surachate Hakparn has announced a trans-national raid in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Thai PBS reports that sixteen Thai and two Taiwanese nationals were arrested in a raid on a condominium by Thai and Vietnamese police where a so-called “call centre” gang had been operating. Pol Maj Gen Surachate said the raid was…
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Malaysian investigators arrest human trafficking ‘kingpin’
PHOTO: Mass graves discovered in southern Thailand mid-2015 The Malaysian Criminal Investigation Division (CID) has arrested a person they allege is the godfather of a human trafficking ring that ran boats to carry people from Bangladesh to Malaysia. “Mohammad Asem, also a business teacher at Tejgaon College in Dhaka, and his cohorts have raked in a lot of money, evident…
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Chinese tourists love going local and doing their own bookings – Hotels.com
PHOTO: Jing Daily How much have Chinese millennials (that’s the people born after 1990) increased their spending in the last year? 80%! Research by accommodation booking portal, Hotels.com, reveals that younger Chinese spenders are pushing the boundaries of international travel, increasing their expenditure over the past year by a staggering 80%. Part of the increased expenditure goes to fund social…
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77 reportedly shot in Asian Games crackdown – Amnesty International
From Jakarta Post, via Asia News Network The Asian Games have barely opened in Jakarta. The last thing they need is this explosive claim from Amnesty International. Dozens of people have been shot by the police as part of an escalating crackdown against petty crime in the months leading up to the Asian Games, a human rights organisation alleged on…
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Indonesian President Jokowi declares Asian Games 2018 open
PHOTO: Thai PBS The Asian Games 2018 torch relay has finally completed its one-month-long journey covering a total distance of 18 thousand kilometers and touring 53 cities and districts in 18 provinces across Indonesia, Anatara News reported. Arriving in Jakarta on August 15, the torch was handed over to President Joko Widodo at Merdeka State Palace on August 17, coinciding…
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Australian police detain five Thai nationals involved in human trafficking
Human trafficking from Thailand to Australia’s capital city, Canberra, is under investigation after raids on Fyshwick brothels (massage parlours) this week. An Thai-Australian woman has been charged and five Thai nationals detained over immigration offences as a result of simultaneous raids on ‘escort agencies’ in Fyshwick, Canberra, this week. The Canberra Times has reported that a Canberra court has heard one…
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World’s most liveable cities 2018 – Two Asian cities in the Top 10
PHOTO: Vienna pips Melbourne for the top spot this year The popular, and often-quoted ‘World’s Most Liveable Cities’ have been announced for 2018 and there’s only two Asian cities in the list, both in the same country. After seven years at the top of the list, Australia’s southern capital, Melbourne, has lost its crown as the world’s most liveable city. The…
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Thailand takes over the chair for ASEAN next year. What’s at stake?
“As Thailand takes over the ASEAN chairmanship next year, it is important for the country to drive ASEAN forward to achieve the utmost benefits for Thais and peoples across the ASEAN region.” The integration story of Southeast Asian nations, widely known as ASEAN, began in 1967 and has since brought about significant changes to the Southeast Asian region. For decades,…
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Indonesia all set for the Asian Games
Having taken on the responsibility for hosting this year’s Asian Games after Vietnam pulled out, Indonesia says it’s ready for the sporting expo starting next week. Jakarta and Palembang in Sumatra will be host to over 11,000 athletes and 5,000 officials from 45 Asian countries for the Asian Games, the world’s largest multi-sport event behind the Olympics. Indonesia has set…
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Damage toll continues to rise on Lombok
Whilst the death toll continues to rise – and will rise as rescuers scramble through the rubble – the toll mounts on those that remain to try and rebuild their lives. It’s now nearly a week after the 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck the Indonesian island. Damages and loss caused by last week’s earthquake in Lombok and Bali are estimated to…
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The mystery of Myanmar’s missing airlines
PHOTO: Asian Wings Airways Any trip on a local airline usually means planes either full or mostly full. But some of Myanmar’s smaller local airlines have been struggling through this year’s wet season along with a drop in tourism to the country of around 6% for the past 12 months. At least three airlines appear to have thrown in the…
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11 year old Thai child bride sent back to Thailand
The 11 year old Thai girl, caught up in the middle of a ‘child marriage’ storm, has been sent back across the border to Thailand. The girl’s ‘marriage’ to a 41 year old Malaysian man caused a social media meltdown and strong negative response from human trafficking groups, human rights groups and the Malaysian government. A Malaysian social activist claims…
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Lombok earthquake toll climbs to 347
PHOTO: VOA News The death toll from Lombok’s devastating earthquake last Sunday evening rose alarmingly yesterday following the discovery of many bodies buried under rubble in the island’s northern towns. The death toll has now climbed to 347. Rescue networks report that around 200,000 people live in northern Lombok, a mountainous region away from the more touristy southern and western…
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Laos government inspecting all dams, shelving new hydro projects
PHOTO: EJAtlas The Laos government is announcing a full examination of safety standards applied to the construction of hydropower dams across the country. This follows the avoidable deadly disaster when a dam in the southern Attapeu province breached spilling millions of cubic litres of deadly floodwater downstream. Vientiane Times is reporting that the Laos cabinet made the announcement shortly after…
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Rescuers try to free people trapped in collapsed mosque – Lombok
PHOTO: Basarnas National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho says that on Monday at 3pm heavy equipment arrived in the Lading-lading village, Tanjung district, Lombok, to assist with the search for people thought to be buried under the debris from a collapsed mosque. Local devotees were busy with their evening prayers when the quake hit. At 7pm last…
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98 confirmed dead. Rescuers fear more as relief pours into Lombok.
International aid organisations are now seeking assistance some of the key groups get people onto the ground to start providing much-needed relief to the northern parts of the island. Following the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Indonesia’s Lombok Island on Sunday evening, rescue workers are actively searching the province to rescue and aid victims. According to The Guardian, Katy Flay, who…
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British tourist freaks out after being told she’d overstayed her visa by 160 days
An ‘aggrieved’ tourist by the name of Auj-e Taqaddas, holding a British passport, assaulted a patient and calm immigration officer in Bali, Indonesia after being told she’d overstayed her Indonesian visa. A British tourist has been caught on camera screaming and slapping an immigration officer at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport today (Saturday) after being told that she had to…
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Earthquake toll rises to 91, state of emergency announced
PHOTO: Jakarta Post The death toll from the powerful earthquake to hit Lombok and Bali on Sunday evening has climbed to 91. The latest figures announced this afternoon by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) in Jakarta. North Lombok island suffered the largest number of fatalities with 72 people killed, while Bali has so far recorded two fatalities. Most victims…
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Lombok earthquake kills 82 and injured hundreds
An earthquake has struck the Indonesian holiday island of Lombok killing 82 people (the toll is expected to rise) and wounded hundreds. The tremor was measured at a magnitude of 6.9, triggering panic among locals and tourists. The quake hit last night (Sunday) and shook up the neighbouring island of Bali. An initial tsunami warning, which was later cancelled, had…
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Laos Energy Ministry joins the investigation – Attapeu dam failure
The Vientiane Times is reporting that the Laos Ministry of Energy and Mines will join all private stakeholders in a government investigation to oversee the cause of the damage to saddle dam D at the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydropower project. The breach of the dam resulted in serious flooding and destruction in Sanamxay district, Attapeu province in the south of Laos.…
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Will Bamboo Air grow as fast as the real bamboo?
A new player is about to enter the regional airline market. Based out of Vietnam, Bamboo Airlines is a fresh start-up under the patronage of Trinh Van Quyet who currently presides over a Vietnamese property empire and is betting billions on his new airline. The 43 year old property tycoon says his company has a market capitalisation of around US$200 million. He…
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Muslim father’s online petition inspires Thai anti-child marriage activists
In the wake of the ‘marriage of a 41 year old Malay man and an 11 year old Thai girl, Malaysia’s government and netizens are proposing ways to ban child marriages. Meanwhile, an online petition by a UK-based Malaysian Muslim father to ban child marriages has triggered an activist to begin a similar petition to ban them in Thailand too.…
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Mekong breaks its banks flooding seven Thai provinces
Persistent heavy rain and the overflow of water from the Mekong River and its tributaries has caused severe flooding in seven provinces in the north-east, Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department director-general Chayapol Thitisak said this morning (Thursday). The seven provinces are Nakhon Phanom, Mukdahan, Amnat Charoen, Ubon Ratchathani, Bung Kan, Sakon Nakhon and Roi-et are all under flood-alert after the…
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Air traffic controllers didn’t follow standard procedures during MH370 flight – Report
PHOTO: News In Flight In the wake of the release of the final official report into the disappearance of Malaysian Airways flight MH370 yesterday, new details have emerged about a departure from ‘standard operating procedures’ at the time the Boeing 777 ‘vanished’ from radar. Air traffic controllers in KL and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, did not act according to…
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