World News
World news, global politics, business, technology, and culture—stay updated with breaking stories, international trends, and major events. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted source for global news.
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Sponsored Do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?
Thailand’s healthcare system is well-regarded across Southeast Asia, with options ranging from public hospitals to world-class private facilities. But when it comes to foreign residents or tourists, healthcare access isn’t as straightforward. So, do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?...
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Argentine football legend Diego Maradona dies at age 60
Argentine football legend Diego Maradona died yesterday at 60 years old. Maradona, known as one of the greatest football players of all time, suffered from a heart attack. Maradona scored the famous “Hand of God” goal and the “Goal of the Century” in the World Cup 1986 quarter-finals, defeating England 2-1. Maradona, then captain, was known for inspiring to win…
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BBC names Thai protest leader Panusaya in global list of 100 most inspiring women
The BBC has named prominent Thai pro-democracy activist, Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, aka, “Rung”, as one of the world’s 100 most inspiring and influential women of 2020. The BBC’s “100 Women of 2020” list singles out women around the world who are driving change in challenging times. Panusaya is one of 3 Thai women to be listed. As the leader of protest…
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No vaccine, no flight – Qantas will require international travellers to be vaccinated
Qantas, Australia’s national airline, is announcing a new requirement that all international travellers will need to have a vaccination against Covid-19 in a move that could become the norm for the world’s airline industry. Qantas CEO Alan Joyce says the Australian flag carrier would implement the measure once a coronavirus vaccine was made available to the public. “We are looking…
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Technical issues force Singapore aircraft to land on Malaysian highway – VIDEO
A single-engine prop plane from Singapore has been forced to make an emergency landing on a Malaysian highway due to technical difficulties. A report in Coconuts says the aircraft touched down on the hard shoulder of a highway in Johor, as cars sped past. The 2 pilots on board are believed to be in stable condition. Chester Voo, CEO of…
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China imposes community lockdowns in 3 cities with small Covid outbreaks | VIDEO
Millions of people are now being tested in China, with new lockdowns and some districts shutting down schools. On Sunday there were 11 new cases, yesterday another 22 across the country. After a relatively low number of local transmissions for several months now, locally transmitted Covid-19 cases are popping up in 3 cities across the country – Tianjin, Shanghai and Manzhouli.…
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Half a tonne of high grade compressed marijuana seized in NE Thailand
Thai border police have seized half a tonne of “high grade marijuana” Nakhon Phanom province, north east Thailand, saying a border with Laos and the Mekong River. Border police announced the seizure of 480 kilograms of marijuana during a routine roadside search. Police announced that a car was intercepted on a road near Ban Khok Sawang. The driver, 25 year old…
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US may receive first Covid vaccine doses by mid-December
The head of the US government’s covid vaccine effort is saying that the first vaccine doses may be shipped by mid-December. Moncef Slaoui, the head of a federal vaccine development program, made the comments just 2 days after Pfizer and BioNTech applied for emergency vaccine use approval from the US Food and Drug Administration, after their versions of the vaccines…
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US federal judge shoots down President Trump’s attempt to block Pennsylvania vote certification
A US federal judge has shot down US President Trump’s campaign team’s attempt to block the certification of votes in the state of Pennsylvania. The judge issued the order that also refuted claims of widespread irregularities for mail-in ballots. The news comes after President Trump has refused to concede the election despite other leaders worldwide already recognising Joe Biden, a…
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Trump’s son, Donald Jr, tests positive for Covid-19
The eldest son of US president, Donald Trump, has tested positive for Covid-19, an anonymous White House spokesperson has confirmed. 42 year old Donald Trump Jr. is understood to be asymptomatic and currently self-isolating, following the diagnosis earlier this week. His girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, tested positive back in July. In October, President Trump tested positive for Covid-19, as did his…
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South Australia lockdown to end early, after man lied about how he contracted virus
A strict 6-day lockdown for South Australia will end early, as officials reveal an infected pizza parlour worker lied about how he contracted the virus. South Australia Premier, Steven Marshall, says a chef employed at a pizza business that was found to have a cluster of infections, misled officials. The worker told contact-tracers that he was a customer of the…
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Vaccine could be ready by the end of next month – BioNTech/Pfizer
BioNTech has announced the candidate Covid-19 vaccine, the German company is developing with US pharmaceutical company Pfizer, could be released for public distribution before the year, at least in the US and Europe. BioNTech co-founder Ugur Sahin says that both companies plan to apply for “emergency use authorisation” of their candidate vaccine in the US today (US time), while European regulators…
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Latest traveller trends and top recovering destinations – TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor and Phocuswright have jointly released the findings of a comprehensive research paper into the shifting trends in global travel demand and traveller behaviour, as they chart the industry’s road to a recovery, of sorts, in the wake of the ongoing global pandemic. The report, 2020 – A Year in Travel: Charting the Travel Industry’s Path to Recovery, analyses TripAdvisor’s first-party…
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Boeing’s 737 MAX takes its next step to re-enter commercial service
The US Federal Aviation Administration has approved the next step for the beleaguered Boeing 737 MAX to resume commercial flights after a 20 month grounding. But the factors that partly contributed to the plane’s grounding have not been addressed leaving the plane reliant on software to control its flying characteristics. The plane, a fourth generation makeover of 50 year old…
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More positive news in Covid fight as second vaccine found to be nearly 95% effective
Health officials around the world are sounding more cautious notes of optimism, with news that US company Moderna has found its Covid-19 candidate vaccine to be 94.5% effective in clinical trials. Following results last week that a vaccine developed by US firm Pfizer, in conjunction with its German partner BioNTech, had an effectiveness rate of 90%, both developments would appear…
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Astronauts to plant Thai tree seeds on International Space Station
Astronauts orbiting the Earth on the International Space Station are going to plant Thailand’s national tree and study how the plant, known as the Golden Shower (yes, we know…) for its yellow hanging flower clusters, grows in an environment without gravity. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 4 astronauts as well as the seeds and supplies for the project was…
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Thailand News Today | The RCEP reset, Hotel Talkfest, Protesters to be arrested | November 16
First day of the week with another Thailand News Today, all the latest news from around Thailand and the region. Hoteliers to discuss how to revive Thailand’s crippled hospitality industry The Tourism and Sports Ministry is holding a talkfest with15 hotel operators expected to join to discuss recovery solutions for the battered industry. Some top executives are planned to pitch…
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Vamco weakens into tropical storm, misses northern Thailand altogether
Typhoon Vamco, which killed some 67 people when it stormed through the middle of Luzon island late last week, has turned into a tropical storm which will have minor effects on Thailand’s weather over the next few days. Isolated light to moderate rains will be likely over the Northeast and the North today as a result… Vamco will track on…
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15 Asia-Pacific countries form the world’s largest trade bloc, the great RCEP reset
After 8 gruelling years of negotiation, 15 countries have signed onto the largest free trade bloc in history. In a joint statement, the leaders of the countries, signatories of the trade deal, say RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) will form a crucial part of economic recovery once the pandemic is over. The deal excludes the US, which withdrew from a…
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Asian trade deal to be signed today
Today, 15 countries are set to sign a wide-reaching Asian trade deal to help them recover from the Covid pandemic. Such countries as China, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan are part of the pact which also includes 10 south east Asian economies – the 10 countries of ASEAN. The deal is seen as a Chinese-led alternative to the…
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Trump supporters march in Washington, repeating claims of election fraud
Supporters of US President Donald Trump staged a march through Washington yesterday, protesting unsubstantiated claims of election fraud. A week since Democrat candidate Joe Biden clinched the electoral college numbers required to claim the presidency. Meanwhile Donald Trump, a Republican, continues to refuse acknowledgment or accept the outcome, launching a barrage of legal challenges to overturn the results. Most of these…
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US President-elect Biden eyes 306 electoral college votes, to Trump’s 232
US President-elect Joe Biden has likely bagged 306 votes in the Electoral College vote that decides who wins the keys to the White House. At this stage Donald Trump has won 232 votes in the tally. First to 270 Electoral College votes wins the US Presidency. Even if the state of Georgia somehow flips in a recount – historically unlikely –…
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South East Asian leaders foreshadow a pivot to the US in the new administration
So what will the presidency of US President-elect Joe Biden mean for south east Asia? And how will it differ from the administration of President Trump? South east Asia already knows Joe Biden from his term as US vice president from 2008 – 2016, and his “Asia pivot” that provided high-level diplomacy and resources with strategic trade relationships. The Obama-era…
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Vamco kills 7 as typhoon-weary communities mop up in northern Philippines | VIDEO
‘Vamco’, aka Ulysses in The Philippines, is now a severe tropical storm heading westward towards the central Vietnamese coastline after making landfall on The Philippines yesterday as the latest typhoon. At least 7 people have died and 12 others missing after Vamco made landfall on Wednesday night. A 68 and 70 year old are among those killed. More than 180,000…
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Man arrested in China for allegedly selling his newborn baby
A man was in China allegedly sold his newborn son to an online buyer for 18,000 pounds or 722,000 baht. The father claimed the Covid-19 pandemic left him unemployed and he needed the money, so he put his baby – just 40 days old – up for sale. The alleged buyer was a woman who was unable to have children,…
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UPDATE: Pfizer and BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine candidate is “strongly effective”
Pfizer is claiming that it’s current Covid-19 vaccine candidate “may be 90% effective” at preventing infection from the coronavirus. The pharmaceutical company says later this month they could be ready to file an ’emergency use’ application with US regulators. US-based Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech are claiming that their vaccine against Covid-19 was “strongly effective” and has “exceeded expectations”…
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UPDATE: US President continues to wage war against the election results on Twitter
President Trump continues to insist on Twitter that ballots “have not been properly considered” and argues that President-elect Joe Biden’s victory is premature. But sources from the President’s inner circle are saying that “under some conditions” the president would consider a civil transition of power, accord to Fox News. At this stage, lawyers representing the Trump campaign have already filed…
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Letter to President Donald Trump
OPINION John Magee was the owner of The Thaiger’s predecessor, the long-running Phuket Gazette. As a US citizen and longtime Republican, he’s penned a letter to the US President Donald Trump… November 7, 2020 Dear Mr President: Let me propose something to you in the simplest possible English, with no word exceeding ten letters or five syllables. As an American…
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Vietnam plans to keep borders closed and not rely on vaccine strategy
The Vietnamese Covid-19 task force says it plans to maintain its strategy of containing the coronavirus rather than “rush into a vaccine”, even if a successful vaccine becomes available, that could pose a financial burden the country. Vietnam, despite a month-long surge around Da Nang, has been able to largely contain the local outbreak. Yesterday the world’s Covid numbers reported…
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UPDATE: President Trump repeats fraud claims, counting continues in too-close-to-call election
The US President Donald Trump has again repeated unproven and outlandish claims that widespread voter fraud has marred the US presidential election. In a handful of crucial states the results are too close to call as votes continue to be counted. Speaking at the White House, the President was defiant, accusing pollsters and the Democratic Party of engaging in fraud. It’s…
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Burger King Indonesia urges diners to share the love – by ordering at McDonald’s
The fast food chain Burger King has come in for online praise (and no doubt, some helpful PR) after suggesting its customers in Indonesia should order from other struggling businesses, including rival burger joint, McDonalds. Burger King Indonesia is believed to have followed the example of its UK counterpart, who posted the same suggestion, in a tweet that has since…
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