World News
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US President Trump tests positive for Covid-19, reported to be “well”
United States President Donald Trump has tested positive for Covid-19. He announced on Twitter that both he and his wife Melania Trump have tested positive for the virus and are now in isolation. “Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER.” The US presidential election…
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UPDATE: US President Trump and First Lady test positive for Covid-19
The US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania have tested positive for Covid-19. The President made the announcement on his Twitter account in the early hours of Friday morning, US time. The 74 year old President was diagnosed just hours after it became public that Hope Hicks, a Trump aide who had been travelling with him on Air Force…
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The man who wrote the bad reviews for Koh Chang’s Sea View Resort has a criminal record
In the ongoing stoush between the American, Wesley Barnes, and Koh Chang’s Sea View Resort, the story is now reaching way beyond Thailand’s borders, being reported in mainstream media around the world. Much of the media discussion has focused on whether it is appropriate to be able to sue people over a bad review with criminal defamation. Defamation is a…
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The world’s Top 10 languages, spoken by native speakers
I battle to speak one language, English, and can barely order my lunch in Thai. And, whilst studying French for 7 years at school, I can only ask a French-speaker for the time or order coffee. Sacre Bleu! The world’s most common languages changes over time and a world interlinked on the internet and aviation, like never before, is making…
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Covid-19 deaths surpass 1 million whilst more reports emerge about former patients’ “brain fog”
The world’s Covid-19-related deaths has passed the 1 million mark overnight as the the cycle of the world’s lockdowns and re-openings are getting mixed results. As of this morning, Thai time, the number of total deaths has reached 1,002,389, with 4,000-6,000 deaths still being recorded, globally, every day. And rising. On a more positive note, the number of daily deaths…
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IATA proposes Covid testing before travelling to replace quarantine on arrival
The International Air Transport Association is proposing travellers to take a Covid test prior to departure to replace worldwide mandatory quarantines on arrival. The push comes after it announces that international travel is down by 92% this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. As many countries are imposing mandatory quarantines that can be not only expensive but up to 14…
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Vietnam’s booming manufacturing sector reduced to a trickle as world pandemic kills demand
Vietnamese finance officials are downgrading expectations for a recovery of the south east Asian nation’s economy in 2021. The normally fast-growing gross domestic product in 2020 has stalled due to a huge drop in local and global demand, and the absence of international tourism. The booming economy, growing at an average of 6% per year since 2012, will struggle to reach…
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Singapore’s population contracts along with its GDP
The little south east Asian island nation of Singapore, which has always punched way above its weight, with the fourth largest economy, but the biggest GDP per capita in the region, is getting smaller. Both its economy and population. The population of the Republic of Singapore is shrinking for the first time since 2003. Border closures and, mostly, job losses, are…
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Myanmar’s Covid-19 spike causes mass lockdowns as Thai authorities scramble to seal the border
Myanmar is currently suffering a wave of Covid-19, causing concern in Thailand as its western border authorities bump up security measures and patrols. Burmese authorities have been introducing increasingly draconian restrictions to control the sudden spread of the virus over the past 4 weeks. Whilst the case load is still relatively small, the concerns are focussing on the porous western borders…
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Burmese child contracted Covid-19 while crossing the border, report says
The 2 year old Burmese child, who tested positive for Covid-19 after leaving Thailand, may have contracted the virus while travelling from Thailand to Myanmar, according to a report from Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health Disease Control Department. The department says they suspect the child was exposed to the virus while crossing the border from the Mae Sot border district…
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Richest 1% responsible for twice the amount of carbon emissions than the poorest 50%
The richest people in the world, who make up just 1% of the population, are responsible for a significant amount of carbon emissions. A study shows that the “1 percenters” make up twice as much carbon pollution than the poorest half of the world. Some say the poor are the least responsible for climate change, but have to deal with…
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England’s self-quarantine rule breakers will receive up to a 10,000 pound fine
England’s self-quarantine rule breakers are receiving up to a 10,000 pound fine, starting September 28, according to British PM Boris Johnson. The fine will be handed down to anyone who tests positive for the virus or has been in contact with someone who has the virus and dodges the rules for self-quarantine. For the first offence, rule breakers will receive…
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Myanmar reports 15 new Covid-related deaths in the past 24 hours
Myanmar has reported 15 new covid-related deaths over the past 24 hours prompting the Burmese government to re-impose restrictions on domestic travel and transportation quotas across the Thailand-Myanmar border. The current death toll in the nation sits at 75 as of today which includes those with other underlying diseases succumbing to the Covid-19 virus. The Myanmar health department also added…
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US accuses Chinese companies of exploitation along the Mekong River
The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is accusing Chinese companies of “exploitative practices” in the Mekong River region after a new partnership has been launched to combat “transnational crimes”. Pompeo named the China Communications Construction Company as one of the big offenders and says the Chinese Communist Party is responsible for the increase in human, wildlife and drug trafficking…
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‘Noul’ weakens as it pushes through Central Thailand today
The remnants of Tropical Storm Noul are now situated over Central Thailand after passing over Vietnam’s central coast yesterday morning and then into Laos and north eastern Thailand last night with some high winds and rain preceding the eye of the storm. Provincial officials warned of flash floods and landslides in northern provinces ahead of the storm. The depression, now…
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Border patrol volunteers catch 2 Chinese men who allegedly sneaked across the border
Tak Immigration police arrested 2 Chinese men who allegedly crossed the Thai-Myanmar border illegally. Border police tightened patrols after Myanmar reported a spike in Covid-19 cases in the past month, and even more so recently when a young Burmese child tested positive for the virus after arriving back to his home country from Tak’s Mae Sot district (in Northern Thailand).…
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Travellers from Thailand can enter United Kingdom without quarantine
No more quarantine for those travelling from Thailand and entering the United Kingdom. Thailand and Singapore will be added to the UK’s so called “travel corridor” list starting tomorrow. The Thailand Foreign Ministry deputy spokesperson Natapanu Nopakun says this is “good news, adding that Thailand’s Covid-19 prevention methods have been recognised by other nations. He says several countries have removed…
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Trucks lining up at border checkpoint after Myanmar imposes cross-border quota
Over 600 trucks are stranded at the border between Thailand and Myanmar after the latter country imposed a Covid-19 cross-border quota-allowing only 6 trucks per day to cross from each side. The trucks are carrying goods across the Mae Sai border checkpoint in Chiang Rai to be delivered to the town of Tachileik in the neighbouring country. The tight restrictions…
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‘Noul’ strengthens as it rips into Vietnam’s central coastline – VIDEO
Tropical storm Noul is slamming into Central Vietnam’s coast, the eye of the storm expected to hit just north of Da Nang, after strengthening as it crossed over the South China Sea in a west north westerly direction, this week. It is now being reported to have reached typhoon strength. The storm will cross over the Vietnamese coast, at full…
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Burmese child with Covid-19 was in Ayutthaya before leaving Thailand
Note: Previous reports from various news outlets say the Burmese child with Covid-19 is a boy while more recent reports say the child is a girl. Health officials are tracing back the Burmese family’s steps whose child who recently tested positive for Covid-19 after leaving Thailand. They say the parents worked in Ayutthaya and Nakhon Ratchasima provinces before heading to Tak’s…
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US Covid-19 deaths push past 200,000 people
New Covid-19 cases in the US increase continue to drop slightly as the nation pushes over 200,000 deaths from the coronavirus. Meanwhile, Pfizer’s CEO predicts it’s likely the US will deploy an effective vaccine before the end of the year, despite scientists saying the forecasts are ‘optimistic’ at best. CEO Albert Bourla maintained that it’s “likely” the US will have…
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Covid-19 testing units to be stationed along Thai-Myanmar border
In an effort to prevent a second wave of Covid-19, mobile testing units are being sent out to areas along the Thai-Myanmar border following a surge of cases in the neighbouring country. The Biosafety Mobile Units will be run by medical volunteers along with help from local doctors from the Department of Disease Control. The 13 units will have laboratory…
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Europe is warned of rising Covid-19 rates as it enters the autumn season – WHO
“We are by no means out of the woods” – WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The World Health Organisation is warning that Europe will face a rising death toll from Covid-19 during the northern hemisphere autumn. The warning comes as the number of world daily infections hit a record high. The WHO reported 310,692 new cases worldwide on September 11, with…
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Thai-Myanmar border blocked with barbed wire, security increased due to Covid-19
Prachuap Khiri Khan border patrol say they’ve closed the Thai-Myanmar border, making sure the natural passageways are blocked by barbed wire fences. With Myanmar’s increasing number of Covid-19 cases, border police have drastically increased patrol. New barbed wire was placed around the natural passageways in the western province to prevent Burmese migrants from crossing into Thailand. The army is controlling…
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Thai Alex Albon scores podium finish in Tuscan Formula One GP
Red Bull will be grateful for the good PR today as British-born, Thai Formula One racer, Alex Albon, thanked the energy drink sponsors for their “faith” after he came third in last night’s incident-prone Tuscan Grand Prix, his first Formula One GP podium finish. The 24 year old finished in third place behind the Mercedes drivers to become the first Thai on…
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Police arrest 14 Laotian migrants for allegedly crossing the border
Border patrol police arrested 14 Laotian migrants who allegedly crossed the Thai-Laos border into Ubon Ratchathani. The arrests come after orders to tighten border security in fear that illegal migrants might carry the coronavirus. Police got a call that a white Toyota van looked suspicious and appeared to be carrying migrants from the border. Officers tracked down the van and found…
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Malaysia closes main southern checkpoint into Thailand
Malaysia has closed the Bukit Kayu Hitam border checkpoint, the main southern land border into Thailand, across the border from Sadao in Songkhla. Officials say the border is now closed in efforts to control the spread of Covid-19 in the Kedah state. Although passage of people is not allowed, transport and trade, with requisite paperwork, will be allowed to continue.…
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Lights are out on Ibiza – the world’s party islands go dark
“The party scene, by its nature, is all about getting together, dancing, celebrating ‘closeness’ and being social – the antithesis of social distancing and staying away from other people in the Covid-era.” Some of the world’s tourist islands are suffering badly from the lack of travel, it’s not just Bali and Phuket. The Spanish party island of Ibiza is also…
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Tak immigration officials arrest 30 Burmese migrants and Thai driver
Immigration police in the northern province of Tak have arrested 30 Burmese migrants, along with the Thai driver who tried to drive them back into the Kingdom illegally. Police chief Sompong Chingduang says the Burmese nationals crossed the border via the Moei River and were then picked up by a Thai man, named only as Chinathip. He is accused of…
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Myanmar locksdown parts of Yangon as Covid-19 cases spike
Myanmar is responding to its sudden spike in cases by increasing restrictions and curfews in the largest city Yangon. Burmese health authorities have reported another record daily spike in Covid-19 cases. 261 new infections were reported yesterday taking its overall cases to 2,150. Curbs on entry into Yangon and the Burmese capital Naypyitaw are also now in place. The graph…
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