World News
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Thai government says no need to evacuate citizens from Myanmar for now
Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the deteriorating situation in Myanmar is not serious enough to require the evacuation of Thai citizens. Thani Saengrat from the MFA says the situation is being assessed on a daily basis and the ministry is working with the Royal Thai Embassy in Yangon to prepare an evacuation plan should such a step become necessary.…
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Government ready to assist Thai businesses affected by Suez Canal blockage
The Thai government says it’s ready to help businesses affected by the blockage of the Ever Given cargo ship in Egypt’s Suez Canal. The 400-metre container ship was blown off course and got stuck sideways in the canal last Tuesday, leading to chaos in world shipping. The blockage in one of the world’s most significant trading routes has caused a…
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Thousands of displaced Burmese flee to Thailand following military air strikes
As the situation escalates in Myanmar, and fears grow that civil war is about to break out, around 3,000 displaced Burmese villagers have fled to Thailand. The Bangkok Post reports that on Saturday, the Burmese army launched an air offensive on a village controlled by an armed ethnic group. The village in the southeastern Karen state is close to the…
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Myanmar army kills over 100 citizens in 24 hours
As the country commemorated its annual Armed Forces Day, Myanmar army troops continued to turn on the country’s citizens with reports of more than 100 people killed over the past 24 hours. News site Myanmar Now report’s yesterday’s death toll had reached 114. On the BBC, more than 90 deaths in yesterday’s violence was confirmed by the Assistance Association for…
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The cost of one stuck ship in the Suez Canal – rising costs of fuel, household goods, food
That container ship is still stuck in the Suez Canal. It’s created a huge traffic jam at either end – some 240 ships. Even if they clear the blockage (get the ship out of the way to let other ships pass) soon, it’s predicted to take most of April to clear the backlog. The cost to world shipping has been…
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At least 16 shot and killed by Myanmar military on Armed Forces Day
At least 16 people are dead after Myanmar’s military fired shots at protesters today despite it being Armed Forces Day. Despite widespread condemnation, the Burmese junta leader issued a statement that the military will “continue to protect its people and strive for democracy”. The protesters seemed to defy the military’s warnings that they could be shot in the head and…
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Hundreds of Burmese refugees flee to Thailand, risking arrest and deportation
Hundreds of Burmese refugees are fleeing to Thailand in a risky bid to escape the Myanmar army, which seized government in a coup de etat on February 1. The Royal Thai Army has set up temporary camps to deal with the massive influx of immigrants, but since Thailand is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, the immigrants are…
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Japan kicks off Olympic torch relay, Thailand launches “Flag of Nation” relay
Japan has officially kicked off its countdown to the postponed 2020 Olympic Games with a torch-lighting ceremony in the prefecture of Fukushima yesterday. The lighting of the torch comes 10 years after a 2011 earthquake and tsunami caused the meltdown of 3 nuclear reactors in the prefecture. The Japanese women’s football team, winners of the 2011 World Cup, started the…
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Suez Canal blocked by large container ship blown off course
Cargo ships on one of the busiest trade routes in the world, the Suez Canal, came to a stop after a large container vessel got stuck sideways and blocked marine traffic. More than 100 ships were reportedly blocked from transit along the canal, which stretches across Egypt from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean connecting Asia to Europe. Apparently, a…
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Myanmar’s military releases 600 detainees after today’s silent protest by anti-coup demonstrators
The Myanmar military has freed more than 600 detainees after today’s silent protest by those opposing the recent coup. One of those released included 32 year old Thein Zaw, an Associated Press photographer who was arrested while covering the rallies. He was charged with spreading fake news, along with 5 other journalists. The release of the detainees comes after a…
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Burmese anti-coup demonstrators plan silent protest after 7 year old girl killed
Myanmar’s anti-coup protesters are planning a silent strike today, after violence took the life of a 7 year old girl. The girl was killed in her home when security forces allegedly opened fire during a crackdown in Mandalay, further corroborating the claims by the UN that women and children were among those being killed. The soldiers allegedly were aiming at…
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Rohingya refugee camp fire leaves at least 11 dead in Bangladesh
A fire at a Bangladesh Rohingya refugee camp has left at least 11 dead. The camp, in Cox’s Bazar was destroyed by the fire leaving at least 10,000 Rohingya families without homes. The Inter Sector Coordination Group reports that those families total around 45,000 people, but say that number could climb as rescue organisations assess the situation. Hospitals, schools, women’s…
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UNAids staffer who reported sexual assault at a Bangkok hotel loses dismissal case
A former policy advisor for a United Nations programme fighting AIDS, who claims she was sexually assaulted in a Bangkok hotel elevator by a then-senior official for the agency and was later fired after going public with the accusations, lost her appeal against her termination from UNAids. The 41 year old Martina Brostrom from Sweden says she was sexually assaulted…
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Children in Thai border town trained to duck and cover in case of Myanmar conflict
With the ongoing violence in Myanmar following last month’s coup, children just across the border in Thailand’s northern Mae Hong Son province are being trained by Thai army rangers to duck, crawl and take cover, just in case potential conflict between the military in Myanmar and ethic armies makes its way to the Thai-Myanmar border. According to Reuters, there are…
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Furious pageant fans accuse Laos of copying Thai contestant’s fishy costume
Beauty pageant fans in Thailand are furious about a move by neighbouring Laos that could create a major diplomatic incident between the 2 countries. Supporters of Miss Universe Thailand, Amanda Obdam, say Miss Laos, Phatthana Khidaphone, has stolen Obdam’s costume idea and plans to wear it at an earlier pageant in Bangkok this week. According to a Coconuts report, the…
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EU, US imposes sanctions on 11 Burmese officials over coup violence
The European Union, along with the US is issuing sanctions on 11 Myanmar officials over military violence against anti-coup protesters. 10 top military officers were among those to receive sanctions which include travel bans and the freezing of assets. 2 senior officals, including the national police chief were also targetted by the EU. The eleventh person to be sanctioned is…
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Burmese healthcare workers take to the streets to protest military coup
Healthcare workers in Myanmar staged a dawn rally yesterday, in protest at the February 1 military coup that deposed the government of civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. The group of doctors and nurses took to the streets just before dawn, in a bid to avoid a clash with security forces. The protest action follows another weekend of military crackdowns…
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Bangkok fiddles whilst Chiang Mai burns – who’s behind the annual smoke season?
OPINION In the December 2020 outbreak of Covid in the seafood markets along the coast of Samut Sakhon Burmese migrant workers, many of them entering Thailand illegally, bore the brunt of the blame. The Thai media reported widely that it was the fault of the illegal migrants. But the source of the migrants, trafficking gangs working for larger corporations to…
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Thailand’s army refutes claims it’s supplying rice to Burmese soldiers
Thailand’s Army claims it has not been providing rice supplies for the Burmese army during their bloody crackdown on citizens since the February 1 coup. Instead, the Royal Thai Army maintain that the rice supplies are just ‘normal trade’. Since February 1. when the Burmese generals seized power from the elected government under Aung San Suu Kyi, an estimated 250…
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Malaysia joins calls to hold emergency ASEAN summit over Myanmar political situation
Malaysia is joining calls to hold an emergency ASEAN summit to discuss the political turmoil in its neighbouring country of Myanmar. Malaysian PM Muhyiddin Yassin says he supports Indonesia’s president who originally proposed the emergency meeting. Muhyiddin says the continued use of lethal violence against unarmed civilians was unacceptable, and urged Myanmar’s military leadership “to change its course and choose…
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Indonesian police may have found officer missing since 2004 tsunami in mental health facility
Officials in the Indonesian province of Aceh believe they may have found a police officer who has been missing since the Indian Ocean tsunami struck 16 years ago. The 2004 Boxing Day tsunami was one of the world’s worst recorded natural disasters, killing around a quarter of a million people in several countries around the Indian Ocean. Aceh was the…
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Investigation underway after 77 migrants allegedly contract Covid-19 at Thai immigration centres
The Disease Control Department has launched an investigation after 77 migrants seemingly contracted Covid-19 while being held at Thai immigration centres in Bangkok. It’s understood around 68 of the illegal migrants are Burmese, while the others are Laotian and Cambodian nationals. They are being detained at immigration offices in the Bangkok districts of Bang Khen and Lak Si. According to…
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Top Buddhist organisation in Myanmar stops activities to protest military violence
Myanmar’s top Buddhist organisation is condemning the use of violence by the military against protesters by stopping its regular activities in an apparent protest. The association, named The State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, accused an “armed minority” of torture and killing innocent civilians in an apparent break with authorities. According to Thai PBS World, Mahana members could not immediately be…
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20 more people killed in Myanmar as UN says victims include women and children
At least 20 more people were allegedly killed in Myanmar as a result of the military cracking down on coup protesters, with the UN saying women and children are among the victims. Now, according to the UN, at least 138 peaceful protesters have been killed since the February 1 military coup. Last Saturday saw 18 people killed, while Sunday saw…
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China to facilitate visas for foreigners inoculated with Chinese-made Covid-19 vaccine
China will issue visas to foreigners who have been inoculated with Chinese-made Covid-19 vaccines. Chinese embassies in various countries including the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom released a statement yesterday saying they would facilitate visas for applicants who have been vaccinated with Chinese-made jabs. Only those who are travelling to China for work, or those who have family…
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Royal Thai Army to set up refugee camps for those fleeing Myanmar
With 100 people thought to be dead in Myanmar since the military took power last month, the Royal Thai Army plans to set up temporary camps for Burmese nationals fleeing the neighbouring country to escape political violence. Some say the actual death toll is much higher. Refugee camps will be set up in Ranong and Chumphon which border Myanmar’s southern-most…
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Martial law declared in Yangon in deadliest day since junta power grab
The Burmese military has imposed martial law in the townships of Hlaing Tharyar and Shwepyitha in Yangon, following a bloody crackdown in which at least 18 protesters died. Around 100 people are now thought to have died since the army deposed of leader Aung San Suu Kyi, claiming the landslide election victory of her National League for Democracy party was…
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3 protesters die overnight in Yangon, Myanmar
The latest tragic loss of life in Myanmar occurred in Yangon overnight. 3 protesters died at vigils in honor of those who have died since the military coup on February 1st, 2021. The military has been using more force against all protests with over 70 lives now lost. The vast majority of demonstrations and arrests happen during the daytime and…
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UK now advising its citizens to leave Myanmar in wake of escalating coup violence
After increasing violence in Myanmar, Britain is now advising its citizens to get out of the country virtually at the same time an UN expert is saying that the military is likely committing “crimes against humanity.” Military authorities are allegedly resorting to murdering protesters, even targetting rescue workers in the process. UN expert, Thomas Andrews, says at least 70 people…
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Myanmar likely committing “crimes against humanity”- UN expert
A UN expert is claiming that Myanmar’s military is likely committing “crimes against humanity” after at least 70 people have allegedly been “murdered” since the military coup in February. Thomas Andrews, the UN’s top expert on rights in Myanmar, reportedly made the revelation to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. He went on to say that the country is…
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