World News
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Sponsored Why health insurance costs more each year and how expats in Thailand can save more money
Each year, many expats living in Thailand see their health insurance premiums go up and often without a clear reason. This can be frustrating, especially when you're trying to plan your budget. But by understanding why prices rise and learning...
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US Embassy in Thailand issues security alert due to violence near Myanmar border
Mortar shells and rocket-propelled grenades from Myanmar have landed in Thai border towns in the Tak and Mae Hong Son provinces. With the ongoing violence between the Burmese military and ethnic armies following the February coup now with clashes near Thai border towns, the US Embassy in Thailand has issued a security alert and is now requiring all US government…
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Hong Kong police arrest 5 executives and raid offices of pro-democracy newspaper
Hong Kong newspaper, Apple Daily, has confirmed that police have raided its offices and arrested 5 executives accused of foreign collusion under the national security law. The controversial law was introduced by Beijing a year ago and prohibits, “collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security.” According to Apple Daily’s own report, CEO Cheung Kim-hung,…
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Ethiopia’s Oromia region is volatile ahead of elections
Kidane Bekele is farmer and a community leader in his small village of 2,000 people. With elections approaching, he spends his evenings guarding polling stations and surrounding areas, a rifle slung over his shoulder. Every night after dinner, he puts on the khaki uniform of Oromia’s militia and makes his way to the small compound of the election station, where…
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Trial begins in Myanmar for former leader Aung San Suu Kyi
Trials are now underway for Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate, a beacon for democracy in Myanmar, and the ousted Burmese leader that has been held prisoner by the military junta for 4 months after their coup on February 1. The former leader of Myanmar is on trial for sedition and a number of lesser and archaic law violations.…
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Afghanistan: Polio vaccinators killed in ‘coordinated attack’
The Taliban have denied attacking five health workers who were gunned down at three separate locations on Tuesday. Four other workers were also wounded, with two of them in critical condition. But police spokesman Farid Khan said the Taliban were ‘’targeting health workers to deprive people of polio vaccines.” The attack has now halted the inoculation drive in the city…
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How local journalism can help rebuild democracy
When democratic principles are chipped away, what does it look like? Whether it’s the apparent hijacking of a plane to detain a critical journalist or arresting opposition leaders, the disruption of democracy is consequential and often punitive. So as technology and the media evolve, particularly in the digital age, such a powerful platform also has its vulnerabilities. Timothy Snyder, a…
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What can India gain from its ‘engagement’ with the Taliban?
Reports published in Indian media last week suggest that New Delhi is willing to start a dialogue with factions of the Afghan Taliban. The outreach is reported to be led by security officials and is limited to the Taliban factions that are considered “nationalist” and not under the influence of Pakistan or Iran. The reported move comes months after the…
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Burkina Faso: ‘Terror is a big part of the economy’
Burkina Faso recently lived through one of the bloodiest terrorist attacks in its history. On the first weekend of June, armed men attacked the village of Solhan in Yagha province in the north of the Sahel state, set houses on fire and killed at least 138 people. President Roch Marc Christian Kabore described the arrack as “barbaric.” Violence and insecurity…
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‘Clearview AI’ controversy highlights rise of high-tech surveillance
You don’t want your face to appear in the database of Clearview AI? The company’s CEO doesn’t seem to care. “All the information we collect is collected legally and it is all publicly available information,” Hoan Ton-That said Monday during DW’s Global Media Forum (GMF), addressing criticism that the firm’s controversial technology infringes on the privacy of hundreds of millions.…
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Global Media Forum highlights innovations after COVID disruption
The COVID-19 pandemic is shaping the start of this year’s Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum (GMF), which opened on Monday with a hybrid launch event held partly on site at DW’s broadcasting center in Bonn, and partly online with guests appearing via video link. German Chancellor Angela Merkel began proceedings by addressing participants in the two-day event, which included delegates…
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Myanmar: Time running out for NGOs to avoid humanitarian catastrophe
Myanmar has been in a downward spiral since the military overthrew the country’s democratically elected government in a coup on February 1. The economy has been battered and millions of people are falling into poverty. In Myanmar’s ethnic minority states, conflict between the military, known as the Tatmadaw, and armed rebel groups is quickly creating a refugee crisis. In Myanmar’s…
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Kashmir: Why are militants targeting Modi’s BJP leaders?
On June 2, anxiety and trepidation engulfed south Kashmir’s restive Tral town when militants shot dead a local leader of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Rakesh Pandita, 55, was murdered hours after Indian security forces had killed the brother of a slain militant, Muhammad Amin Malik, 38, inside a police station in Tral. Markets were shut…
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After Netanyahu era, Israel ready for change
A special session of Israel’s parliament approved the country’s new coalition government with a razor-thin majority on Sunday evening, with 60 Knesset members voting in favor of the new government, 59 lawmakers opposing and one abstention. After four elections and years of uncertainty, Israel now has a new government made up of a potentially fragile coalition of eight parties. Naftali…
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Southeast Asia sees highest tally of Covid-19 infections in a single day
Southeast Asia has recorded its highest number of Covid-19 infections in a single day, with 26,435 new cases reported yesterday. However, the death rate has lowered overall. Yesterday’s infections were an increase on Saturday’s 25,656 and the highest in 2 weeks. According to a Nation Thailand report, 387 additional deaths were reported yesterday, down from 426 the day before. ASEAN…
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Lockdown extended for another 2 weeks in Malaysia
The Covid-19 lockdown in Malaysia, which was due to be lifted today, is being extended for another 2 weeks, until June 28. The decision follows a spike in infections, including 60 clusters linked to religious festivals. According to a TTR Weekly report, the extension has been confirmed by Senior Defence Minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob. During the lockdown, economic activities may…
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DW honors Nigerian reporter Tobore Ovuorie for defending the voiceless
Screams filled the dark corners of the high-security camp. The young women around Tobore Ovuorie scrambled to escape into the night. She was frozen from horror. Her clothes splattered with blood, and her eyes transfixed on the two bodiless heads that just tumbled to the ground. Everything turned black, her consciousness drifting from her body. When Ovuorie recounts her experience…
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Dmitry Gudkov: ‘We have a choice between exile and jaiI’
The Russian authorities are intensifying their pressure on opposition politicians and activists and the upcoming elections are going to be an “election without a choice,” according to former member of the State Duma Dmitry Gudkov, who was forced to leave Russia last week. On June 1, his dacha in the outskirts of Moscow was searched and he was detained for…
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With nearly 60% of their population vaccinated, why is Chile’s Covid rate surging?
Chile, with nearly 60% of its population fully vaccinated, has gone into another lockdown to curb a new surge of the coronavirus. The Chilean Health Ministry says the 7 day average of new Covid infections remain above 7,000 people per day, and there were only 30 intensive care beds left in the capital as of last night. Santiago has a…
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Are we losing the fight against child labor?
When global coronavirus lockdowns and economic disruptions closed schools and curtailed millions of families’ income, an alarming increase in child labor across developing nations made headlines. But even before the pandemic, the number of children forced to work was on the rise. A report by the International Labor Organization found that 160 million children around the world are engaged in…
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Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya says ‘harsh’ sanctions needed
Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya — currently living in exile in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius — has called for harsher sanctionsagainst strongman Alexander Lukashenko’s regime, adding this is the only effective way to put pressure on him and his administration. “Lukashenko only understands the language of force and economic sanctions. This is the mechanism that should be used … the…
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COVID vaccines in the workplace: Can I ask who got their shots?
Jon works for the local government in the US state of Virginia. The 40-year-old received both his COVID shots in April. Most of his coworkers are vaccinated, too. But how does he know that’s the case? “I find most people will volunteer the information,” Jon told DW. “Even though we’re not supposed to ask.” In many other workplaces around the…
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UN report: Changes in Southeast Asia drug trafficking during the pandemic
While the notorious Golden Triangle remains a major production base for methamphetamine, drug syndicates in Southeast Asia have changed up trafficking routes and added production bases to not only survive but capitalise during the pandemic. Large-scale methamphetamine production has emerged in Cambodia during the pandemic, according to the annual UN Office on Drugs and Crime report on synthetic drugs in…
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United States to return 27 stolen antiquities to Cambodia
The United States is returning 27 stolen antiquities to Cambodia. The antiquities, which include Buddhist and Hindu statues from the Angkorian era, are valued at around USD$3.8 million. It’s unclear where the statues were found, or when they were smuggled to the US, but reports say investigators in New York spent years working to recover the antiquities. Operations from Manhattan’s…
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China arrests 1,100 in cryptocurrency money laundering bust
In what will only fuel perception in China that cryptocurrency is nothing more than a money laundering tool, security officials have arrested 1,100 people accused of using criminal profits to buy crypto. Chinese officials have been cracking down on cryptocurrency trade, which is banned in the country. The Ministry of Public Security in China says that Chinese police reportedly caught…
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Singapore restrictions to be eased in stages as Covid-19 infections drop
Singapore is set to relax some of its Covid-19 containment measures as infection rates in the city state drop. The fall in case numbers comes after a month of strict restrictions that limited group sizes and imposed a ban on in-house dining at restaurants. Bloomberg reports that from June 14, the limit on group sizes increases from 2 to 5…
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UN report: Myanmar could face mass starvation and death
A new United Nations report predicts the imminent threat of mass starvation and death in Myanmar due to the civil unrest after the military coup that has upended the country since February. The UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar issued the grave warning as the countries infrastructure collapses in the ongoing chaos of protestors and insurgents clashing with…
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Defrocked American priest on trial in East Timor for alleged child sex abuse
The trial has started for the 84 year old defrocked American priest who allegedly sexually abused girls at an orphanage he founded in East Timor back in the early 1990s. Richard Daschbach, once revered by the Southeast Asian community for founding the Topu Honis Shelter to support impoverished children and orphans, is now facing charges of sexual abuse, child pornography and…
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11 dead in Mumbai building collapse
Last night, a residential building collapsed in Mumbai, India’s city that is situated on the west coast. The collapse claimed 11 lives. Of the 11 dead, 8 were children. Indian media says the incident happened around 10:15 pm. Police say 18 people have been extracted from the debris, albeit only 7 lived. It is reported that the injured have been…
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Burmese junta tells Doctors Without Borders to stop aid in Dawei
Thousands of lives have been placed in peril after the Burmese military junta currently controlling Myanmar commanded Doctors Without Borders to cease operation. The well-known medical charity famous for providing emergency healthcare worldwide regardless of geopolitical borders warns of the urgent danger of stopping care on thousands of HIV and tuberculosis patients. Yesterday the junta order that all medical charity…
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Taiwan reports holdup on Thai-made AstraZeneca vaccine order
Taiwan is expecting a holdup on its order of the Thai-made AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. Malaysia and the Philippines have also reported that shipments of the vaccine from the Siam Bioscience manufacturing plant in Thailand have been delayed. Siam Bioscience, which is wholly owned by a subsidiary of the Crown Property Bureau, is planned to be the AstraZeneca distribution hub for…
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