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 Why traders in Thailand are choosing EC Markets for gold and forex trading
Gold and forex trading have long been favourites among investors in Thailand, but why are so many traders now turning to EC Markets? The answer lies in a combination of tight spreads, ultra-fast execution, Thai baht (THB) deposit support, and...
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Thai PM expected to embark on first overseas trip since start of pandemic
The Thai PM is expected to attend the COP26 climate summit in Scotland, his first overseas trip since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to a Pattaya News report, there are reports Prayut Chan-o-cha will travel to Glasgow for the conference, which kicks off at the end of this month. Over 120 world leaders are expected to attend the…
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Africa looks to kick-start COVID vaccine production
As countries around the world hit COVID vaccine milestones, many African states remain worryingly behind in their initial rollout plans. But two major companies are looking to change that. Moderna and BioNTech — who have both manufactured effective mRNA vaccines — are now engaged in a race-of-sorts to boost production capacities in Africa. Until now, Africa has largely relied on…
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Kashmir: Artisans fight for survival amid dying art of pottery
As the paddy harvest season is nearing its end with the onset of winter, Dilshada Bilal, 35, is busy producing earthenware including fire pots and electric cooking heaters. Her modest workshop in the village of Larm-Ganjipora in southern Kashmir’s Anantnag district has a potter’s wheel, an oven, and storage space for her work. She lives a few meters away in…
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The route from Iraq to Belarus: How are migrants getting to Europe?
To put it into perspective: Since the beginning of October, there have been 11,300 attempts to illegally enter Polish territory from Belarus. So far this year, around 23,000 such attempts have been registered. From there, many make their way to the German border. Three German states border Poland: Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony. Border police say there have been around…
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Crude oil price fluctuations expose Africa’s fossil fuel dependence
As fuel prices skyrocket around the world, it has become clearer that African countries will remain exposed to the detrimental impacts of sporadic fluctuations — at least until the global shift to renewable energy is realized. The economies of many African nations are fueled by petroleum, leaving the continent particularly vulnerable to volatile international fuel price fluctuations. In most countries,…
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Are Southeast Asian nations fulfilling their climate commitments?
Southeast Asia is among the most at risk regions in the world to the impacts of global warming, with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) warning in its most recent report that the region is facing rising sea levels, heat waves, droughts and increasingly intense rainstorms. “Recent studies estimate that up to 96% of the ASEAN region is likely…
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Myanmar no-show a focus as ASEAN summit gets underway
The exclusion of Myanmar military leader Min Aung Hlaing from the ASEAN summit is looming over the annual regional meeting, with PM Prayut Chan-o-cha pointing to international focus on ASEAN’s response to the situation. As reported by Reuters, Prayut noted that the role of the regional association in addressing the matter is of “paramount importance”, with action taken to “have…
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China removes top financial news outlet from official media list
In recent weeks, the Chinese government has revealed new plans to consolidate its control over the media landscape in China. On October 8, China’s National Development and Reform Commission, which oversees the country’s social and economic policies, released the “2021 Negative List of Market Access” and stated that “non-public capital” can’t invest in the establishment and operation of news organizations.…
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Australian government to lift ban on overseas travel for vaccinated citizens
Over 18 months after it was implemented, a ban on Australian citizens travelling overseas will soon be lifted. According to an AFP report, the government has confirmed that fully vaccinated Australians will no longer need permission to leave the country. Officials have also confirmed that Australian borders will re-open to skilled workers and foreign students by the end of the…
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Cambodia confirms partial reopening to international tourists from November 30
The Tourism Ministry in Cambodia has confirmed that the country will reopen partially to vaccinated travellers from the end of next month. The country’s prime minister also reportedly ordered that quarantine be waived for air arrivals from Thailand. The first areas in Cambodia set to reopen to overseas travellers are the popular tourist destinations of Sihanoukville and Koh Rong, as…
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Burkina Faso’s silent refugee crisis
Jacob Ouermi does not like to talk about what his family has gone through. He, his wife Elisabet Simpore and their seven children lived in a village in northern Burkina Faso — until the violence started. “People were kidnapped, so we fled and didn’t take anything with us,” said Ouermi, sitting on a narrow wooden bench in the shade of…
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Explained: Why Turkish President Erdogan is backpedaling in diplomatic row
What happened exactly? Over the weekend, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan instructed his Foreign Ministry to declare the ambassadors of 10 states, including those of Germany and the US, “persona non grata.” Following a Cabinet meeting on Monday, Erdogan stuck a more conciliatory tone, explaining that the embassies had “taken a step back from this slander against our country and…
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In pictures: A rare look into Amazon tribe’s funeral rites
When the chief dies, the endangered Indigenous people in Brazil’s Xingu region gather for a unique ritual. A Reuters photographer was the only journalist invited to the funeral ceremony in September. SOURCE: DW News
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Why Iran fears chaos in Afghanistan
Iran is hosting a meeting of Afghanistan’s neighbors plus Russia on Wednesday to discuss the current situation in the war-ravaged country. The conference, organized by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, will see the foreign ministers of Iran, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Russia holding talks in the Iranian capital Tehran on Afghanistan’s political future and the formation of a new…
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A Rasta president for The Gambia?
The Gambia is going to the polls in December, to vote their new president. And among those who wants to be president is independent candidate, Rasta man Bankole Yao Jojo Ahadzie, aka Banky. It is the first presidential and parliamentary election since the departure of Yahya Jammeh, who ruled for 22 years. SOURCE: DW News
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Critics seek proof after Israel designates Palestinian rights groups as terrorists
The Israeli Defense Ministry’s unexpected decision to designate six Palestinian human rights and civil society establishments as terror organizations has resulted in swift criticism from Palestinians and several international organizations. Palestinian civil rights activists, international human rights organizations and some United States lawmakers have denounced the move, which was first announced Friday. They have accused Israel of trying to silence…
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Japan: Princess Mako marries commoner amid controversy
Japanese Princess Mako has quietly married a commoner without traditional wedding celebrations and said their marriage “was a necessary choice to live while cherishing our hearts.” The couple’s marriage document was submitted by a palace official Tuesday morning and made official, the Imperial Household Agency said. There was no wedding ceremony, reception banquet or other marriage rituals for the couple.…
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US President Biden to join ASEAN summit as leaders poised to discuss key regional issues
US President Joe Biden is taking part in Tuesday’s virtual summit with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, marking the first time the US has joined at a presidential level since his predecessor, Donald Trump, attended a meeting in 2017. Reuters reports that the US embassy in Brunei has confirmed Biden will lead the US delegation for the ASEAN-United States summit…
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Why Dubai plans to build infrastructure in Kashmir
The government of Dubai, one of the UAE’s seven emirates, recently inked an agreement with India to ramp up infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government said the deal will see Dubai building infrastructure in the troubled region including industrial parks, IT towers, multi-purpose towers, logistics centres, a medical college and a speciality hospital. “The world…
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Japan: Princess Mako set to marry commoner amid controversy
Hours before Japan’s Princess Mako is due to marry her commoner fiance, Kei Komuro, there is little indication of the public or the domestic press relenting their criticism of the first imperial family wedding in nearly 30 years. An unforgettable day of traditional pomp and finery will instead be reduced to the signing of paperwork and a press conference. The…
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Ho Chi Minh launches 3-stage reopening plan, international on January 1
Shortly after announcing plans to restart tourism tentatively beginning with Phu Quoc Island, the Vietnamese government launched a road map to reopen Ho Chi Minh City to international travellers at the beginning of next year. The megacity and financial hub of Vietnam has a 3-stage plan for tourism recovery with strict Covid-19 safety measures in place. The plan is designed…
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Criminal gangs smuggle sodas into Portugal to avoid sugar tax
Customs officer Helder Mendes has lost count how of many trucks he has already stopped on this October day. “Good afternoon, your papers, please. What is your load?” he asks a truck driver. Since seven in the morning, he and five colleagues have been checking trucks en route from Spain at Vilar Formoso, one of Portugal’s busiest border crossings. The…
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Joe Biden’s Taiwan gaffes create concern in China and Asia
In August, ABC television asked US President Joe Biden what he thought of Chinese media’s claims that the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan without a fight had shown Taiwan that Washington could not be relied on to come to its defense. Biden replied that the US’s commitments to Taiwan, South Korea and NATO were fundamentally different situations than what had happened…
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Vietnam to test reopening starting with Phu Quoc Island
Vietnam was one of the earliest countries to lockdown due to Covid-19, a strategy that had done it well until a massive outbreak in April, just like Thailand. And now, also like Thailand, they are looking to relaunch their tourism industry after close to two years of closures. Vietnam is now looking to reopen in late November, starting with the…
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Ethiopia: Renewed airstrikes pummel Tigray region
Ethiopian authorities have confirmed that its military launched airstrikes on Tigray’s regional capital Mekele on Friday. It is the fourth wave of airstrikes to hit Mekele since Monday as the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed seeks to regain control of the northern region from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). Getachew Reda, a TPLF spokesperson, told Reuters news agency…
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Ecuador grapples with spiraling violence
It was meant to be a fun family trip to an ice cream parlor. But it ended in tragedy. Eleven-year-old Sebastian was standing at the counter; his parents were sitting at a table with his little sister. Suddenly, shots rang out. Two gunemen exchanged fire with the police on the street corner in front of the ice cream parlor. The…
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Turkey’s Osman Kavala case: A break with Europe?
Turkish philanthropist and activist Osman Kavala has never been convicted of a crime — yet he has been in prison for almost four years in Turkey, despite the ruling of a top European court. On September 17, the Council of Europe issued Turkey its final warning to release the 64-year-old entrepreneur, warning that infringement proceedings against Ankara would start at…
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Philippines: What happened to the victims of Marawi’s deadly siege?
The siege had been raging for two days before Gilda could contact her son Jessie. He worked in a bakery in Marawi, a city on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. Aged 17, he wanted to help his mother provide for his three sisters. “He said there was no electricity and they had nothing to eat. He said it was…
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Niger’s Festival of Nomads
The Cure Salee, or Festival of Nomads, takes place at Ingal, northern Niger. Here, nomadic people of the Sahara celebrate their culture, music and animals. The camel race is just one of the event’s highlights. SOURCE: DW News
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EU leaders call for tougher migration controls amid border surge
The divisive issue of refugees and migrants was top of the agenda as European Union leaders met in Brussels for the second day of their summit. Their meeting came amid a surge of migrants and refugees trying to cross the Belarusian border into Poland, Lithuania and Latvia from countries including Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and Iran. Many EU leaders have accused…
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