World News
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Sponsored New in July: Save 10% for life on family health plans in Thailand
Cigna has a special offer this July for families in Thailand. When you sign up three or more people on a family health plan, you will save 10% on your premiums for life. This deal helps you get affordable, high-quality...
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World in Progress: Kenya’s mysterious rising lakes
Antje Diekhans went to explore how people and wildlife are coping with the dangers of rising water levels. Her feature is narrated by Evelyn McClafferty. SOURCE: DW News
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Cambodia, Phillippines report first cases of Omicron Covid-19 variant
Omicron appears to be quickly making its way into Southeast Asia, as the Philippines and Cambodia both reported the first cases of the new variant on the same day. The Philippine Department of Health said today that it has detected the country’s first two imported cases of the Omicron virus strain following the 48 samples sequenced yesterday. Those two patients…
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Sakharov Prize: European Parliament to honor Alexei Navalny
Speaking to DW ahead of the ceremony Navalny’s chief of staff Leonid Volkov said, “the Sakharov prize is a very important recognition of our anti-corruption activities as a whole and the achievement of the Anti-Corruption Foundation founded by Alexei Navalny 10 years ago.” “He’s not a lonely man in an ocean of silence, he is a man who managed to…
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Singapore Airlines launches vaccinated travel lane service to Bangkok
Singapore Airlines is joining Jetstar Asia in offering a vaccinated travel lane service between Singapore and Thailand, with 25 flights a week between Bangkok and the city-state. TTR Weekly reports that out of the 25, 14 will be VTL flights, meaning quarantine-free travel for vaccinated passengers arriving in Singapore The VTL flight numbers are SQ705 and SQ707, with the addition…
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COVID-19: South Africa develops own coronavirus vaccine
From the outside, the building in an industrial district of Cape Town looks like any other nondescript warehouse. In fact, it is a beacon of hope for the biotech industry and vaccine productionof the entire African continent. Inside, preparations are ongoing for future mRNA vaccine production. The Covax initiative for the development of COVID-19 vaccines called on manufacturers to apply…
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The 77 Percent — The retirement age impasse
How long do you want to work before retiring? In most African countries the retirement age is 60. But in Uganda, some civil servants want to change their age legally so that they can stay in the job market for longer. Unsurprisingly, young Ugandans who face crippling unemplyment are very much against the idea. On this week’s show we delve…
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Siarhei Tsikhanouski: From blogger to activist to political prisoner?
Belarusian video blogger Siarhei Tsikhanouski was in pretrial detention for more than 18 months. On Tuesday, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison on charges of organizing mass unrest and of inciting social hatred. Tsikhanouski’s emergence on the Belarusian political scene in the spring of 2020 came as a surprise to many in the country. In May 2020, media…
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AfricaLink On Air – 14 December 2021
Nigeria’s security situation at a glance +++ Gambia’s main opposition party heads to the supreme court to challenge the outcome of the December 4th presidential election +++ Is Cameroon serious about protecting the LGBTQ community? +++ Mali’s young creative farmers changing the game +++ Russia – Ukraine tension SOURCE: DW News
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Staying young — and on the payroll: Why Ugandan public servants are changing their legal age
Some Ugandan public sector workers nearing retirement are trying to stay on the government payroll — by seeking to change their legal age to remain employed. Currently, Ugandan public service laws require all workers to retire at the age of 60. But an increasing number of employees — especially those with links to politicians — are doing all they can…
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Indonesia: Epidemiologists warn of high COVID risk at disaster shelters
As a sprawling archipelago on the ring of fire, Indonesia frequently experiences strong earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. A 7.3-magnitude earthquake in the Flores Sea on Tuesday sent people runningfrom the coast in panic, although a tsunami warning was called off, and damage was reported to be minor. However, disasters in Indonesia can often be more serious. The sudden eruption…
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UK’s nationality bill could strip millions of Britons of their citizenship
What is the Nationality and Borders Bill? The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act passed in 2002 enabled the government to strip someone of their British citizenship provided they had another nationality. Since 2006, the British home secretary has had the power to deprive dual nationals of their British citizenship if doing so is “conducive to the public good.” In 2014,…
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Is South Korea close to officially ending the Korean War?
South Korean President Moon Jae-in said this week that the United States, China and North Korea agreed in principle on declaring a formal end to the Korean War, replacing an armistice agreement that ended hostilities in 1953. However, analysts are not sure it will happen, or if such a step is advisable, given concerns over the security situation in northeast…
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Travelling to the UK? Order a PCR test early, high demand slams provider
Travelling back to the UK? Make sure to get your hands on a PCR test ahead of time, or at least from a reliable provider. Many customers who ordered a PCR test from a company recommended on the UK government’s official website say the deliveries, which were promised to within the next working day, were delayed. Fully vaccinated travellers entering…
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Malaysia donates 283,400 AstraZenaca vaccine doses to Laos
Laos received a total of 283,400 AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines at Wattay International Airport in Vientiane, which were donated by Malaysia as a part of ongoing global efforts to end the pandemic. Laos is set to reopen to international tourists in 2022 and plans to vaccinate at least half of the adult population by the end of the year in order…
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Vietnam’s Hanoi Metro faces boycott, lacks of passengers
The Cát Linh-Ha Dong line of the Hanoi Metro, Vietnam’s first mass transit train service, which was launched on November 6 this year, is reportedly facing a public boycott for cooperating with China despite its initial excellent service and high expectations. It came to attention as local media reported last month that the service is lacking passengers, at around 12,000…
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Lithuania: Taking a stand against China
The building at the heart of the row is a rather inconspicuous office block in the Lithuanian capital. Behind its shiny glass facade you can find law firms, consultancies and other companies. But, at the end of November, new tenants moved into 16b J. Jasinskio Street in Vilnius — and that was when the trouble really started. It’s the Taiwanese…
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Suu Kyi imprisonment: Will the EU impose sanctions on Myanmar?
After the United States, Britain and Canada last Friday announced additional sanctions on Myanmar’s military junta, pressure is growing on the European Union to follow suit. The vice president of the European Parliament called earlier for additional measures against Myanmar’s junta and its associated businesses, which took power illegally in a coup on February 1. However, EU spokespersons contacted by…
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Cambodia PM orders to destroy, store US weapons following arms embargo ban
Cambodia PM Hun Sen is not quite happy following an arms embargo ban by the United States last week and asked the country’s military to examine any US-made weapons or equipment in its possession to be stored in warehouses or destroyed, although the country has never acquired arms from the States under the current administration. According to the Phnom Penh…
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Geminid meteor shower: 100s of shooting stars visible late Monday night
For those up late tomorrow night, the Geminid meteor shower will be visible in the night sky late on Monday night. The heavenly display happens each year, usually between December 4 and December 17 each year and is one of the best opportunities to see dozens of shooting stars with the naked eye. In a post on Facebook, the National…
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Thai officials watching bird flu after a woman’s death in China
While Covid-19 and Omicron are on everyone’s mind, the Department of Livestock Development has gone on high alert after a woman died from the bird flu last month. The woman died in China of the H5N6 strain of avian influenza and officials in Thailand are focused on making sure the virus doesn’t make it across the border and into the…
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Thailand: 1st in Asia, 5th worldwide in Global Health Security Index
Out of 195 countries, Thailand was ranked fifth in the world – and first in Asia – on the Global Health Security Index this year. The list is compiled by John Hopkins Centre for Health Security at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and other health experts worldwide. The index evaluates the health security of countries by analysing…
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EU devises new measures against ‘economic coercion’
China last week put a ban on imports from Lithuania, an EU member state. It had nothing to do with a trade conflict: Beijing simply wants to persuade Vilnius to change its friendly policies toward Taiwan. Lithuania has allowed Taiwan to open a kind of embassy but China sees Taiwan as a renegade province awaiting reunification with the mainland. Now,…
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Rohingya vs. Facebook: What are the chances of success?
In August 2017, tensions escalated between Myanmar’s Buddhist majority and the Rohingya, a Muslim minority that lives mostly in the country’s northwestern state of Rakhine. Prior to that, the militant group “Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army” (ARSA) had carried out a number of attacks on police stations and border posts. The Myanmar military responded with a massive operation in the course…
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AfricaLink On Air — 10 December 2021
Odinga’s bid for the Kenya presidency+++Ghana introduces Mandatory vaccinations +++Tackling COVID surge in Johannesburg+++Zambia’s domestic workers fight for their rights+++Qatari sportswashing SOURCE: DW News
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GirlZ Off Mute celebrates one year of stories told by African girl reporters
Chelsea Boakye vividly recalls her first time working in front of the camera for GirlZ Off Mute. “I still remember it like it was yesterday,” 16-year old Chelsea said. “The documentary was about a young female footballer whose family neglected her because she wanted to pursue football as a future career.” Boakye was amazed by how determined the girl was…
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Afghanistan opium trade booms since Taliban takeover
The cultivation of opium poppy as a medicinal plant has a long tradition in Afghanistan. The milky sap extracted from the seed pods is dried to produce raw opium, an effective remedy for severe pain. Today, opium is used primarily as an intoxicant and as a raw material for the production of stronger drugs like heroin. In the last harvest…
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Huge stash of marijuana intercepted near the Malaysian border
Police have discovered some 1.6 tonnes of compressed high-grade marijuana. The stash was hidden in amongst other freight being carried on an 18 wheeler truck in Narathiwat. That’s a LOT of weed! The truck was on its way, allegedly to transfer into a boat to cross the Malaysian border, nearby. Local drug authorities estimate the high-grade marijuana would have a…
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Meta bans Myanmar military-owned telco from Facebook
Myanmar’s military junta chief has woken up to find his partly-owned telecom company Mytel being barred from Facebook as Meta, Facebook and Instagram’s new company umbrella, is pulling the plug on business related to the Tatmadaw, the Burmese military. Facebook has nearly 29 million users in Myanmar, in a country with a population of 54 million. Mytel is on of…
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From child mother to entrepreneur in Cape Verde
Sara de Pina is a regular at this market in Assomada. She’s searching for the best bananas on the whole of Santiago Island. Then she meticulously sets to work. She and her family fry about 30 kilos of bananas a day. In the morning, she takes her daughter to school. She washes the utensils and peels the bananas to fry…
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Nigerians are livid over UK’s omicron travel ban
Nigeria became the eleventh African country to be added to the UK’s red list earlier this week over fears travelers from the country could help spread the omicron COVID-19 variant in Britain. Announcing the ban, the UK’s Department of Health said 21 Omicron cases, or 16% of all omicron known cases at the time, were linked to travel from Nigeria.…
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