World News
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US, Australia take hawkish tone towards China in talks
Australian and US foreign and defence ministers have taken a hawkish tone against China in the latest round of annual talks between the two countries. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo set the tone for the talks saying to the the Australian ministers that the United States “knows the threats that you and the rest of the free world face”. “And…
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Vietnam in new virus scare as 15 cases emerge
Vietnam, which recorded its first locally transmitted case of Covid-19 since April, has now closed the coastal resort city of Da Nang to tourists after 15 new cases were recorded there over the past 5 days. Tourists cannot enter the city for 14 days and up to 80,000, mostly domestic visitors, are being flown home. Vietnam, along with Thailand, has been…
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Malaysia and Singapore to test re-opening of maritime border for business travellers
The Malaysian and Singapore governments have agreed to re-open the Straits of Johor border (the land bridges linking Malaysia and Singapore) from August 17, initially only for those travelling on business. The move comes after Malaysia closed its border 5 months ago in mid-March, at the height of the Covid-19 crisis. Now the Foreign Affairs Ministers of both countries, Hishammuddin…
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Rohingya boat incident leaves 24 feared dead off Malaysian coast
A Rohingya boat incident has left at least 24 people feared to have drowned off the coast of Malaysia after a sole survivor swam to shore on the resort island of Langkawi. The 27 year old, named Nor Hossain was detained by police after arriving on the island. A search and rescue operation was launched using 2 aircraft and 2…
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Hope among Pakistan’s elderly as 103 year old man recovers from Covid-19
Pakistan’s elderly population is finding hope in the news that a 103 year old grandfather in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province has recovered from the Covid-19 virus. Aziz Abdul Alim, from the Chitral sub-district, was diagnosed with the coronavirus in early July and hospitalised for treatment. Given his age, his family say they were very concerned about his chances of survival, but Aziz…
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Migrants seek to return to Thailand after lockdown
With the introduction of Phase 6 of easing Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, businesses have reopened and begun hiring, but migrant workers, who went home and waited for outbreak to end, now find themselves on the outside looking in, unable to reenter the kingdom and get back to work. The prospects for their return don’t look good despite soaring demand to revive the…
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North Korean border city locked down over suspected Covid-19 case
North Korea has, until now, claimed not a single case of Covid-19 within its borders, a claim widely doubted by experts. Today, North Korea state media reports that the secretive nation’s “dear leader” Kim Jong Un has placed the city of Kaesong, near the border with South Korea, under total lockdown after a person was found with suspected coronavirus symptoms,…
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First Covid-19 case in Vietnam since April
Health authorities in Vietnam today reported the first first locally transmitted case of Covid-19 in nearly 100 days, in a country whose swift and draconian lockdown won international praise for controlling the spread of the disease. “Patient 416”, a 57 year old retired man in the central city of Da Nang, is the first case of local transmission since April…
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620 baht Covid-19 vaccine could be ready in 2021
The first vaccine against Covid-19 for human use is expected to be available in 2021, and is expected to be available in Thailand for a cost of about 620 baht per dose; this from the secretary-general of the National Vaccines Committee today. Dr Siriroek Songsivilai says the price is based on the 100 million doses, valued at about 2 billion…
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9 illegal migrants nabbed in 2 provinces
6 Burmese have been nabbed in the central city district of the western Prachuap Kiri Khan province. They allegedly paid a Thai broker 6,500 baht each to help them enter Thailand. A combined team of border police, soldiers and immigration officers was dispatched to a border area in tambon Ao Noi following a tip that illegal migrants would be smuggled…
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16 Thais, Burmese arrested in raid on illegal Narathiwat casino
Officers of the Crime Suppression Division arrested 16 Thai and Burmese gamblers at an illegal gambling den in Sungai-Kolok, on the Malaysian border in the southern Narathiwat province. The casino reportedly had a monthly cash flow of over 388 million baht, and was operating in an apartment with many games to choose from. Officials got a tip about a location…
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Overly harsh travel restrictions are destroying aviation: AAPA
More than 6 months into the Covid-19 pandemic, the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines is urging governments around the region to ease what they view as unduly burdensome restrictions on international air travel and re-establish global connectivity with evidence-based measures to safeguard public health. The industry is taking initial steps toward restarting international operations by working closely with governments, health…
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Face masks become mandatory in Malaysia’s fight against Covid-19
Even when it was in the grip of Covid-19 in March, reporting daily new cases in triple digits, Malaysia never made the wearing of face masks mandatory. Defense Minister Ismail Sabri says this was to avoid placing financial stress on the country’s poor, given that face masks should be changed at least once a day. However, as the country reports…
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South east Asia’s budget airline dilemma
South east Asia’s low-cost carriers are staggering as demand plunges, and countries are ever-wary about re-opening their borders, raising questions whether they will be needing any new planes in the short to medium term. Malaysia’s AirAsia Group and Vietnam’s VietJet are publicly canvassing their cashflow and funding problems. Indonesia’s Lion Air has shelved a planned flotation this year. But prior…
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Hong Kong facing prospect of curfew amid rise in Covid-19 cases
Medical experts are warning that a curfew may have to be imposed after Hong Kong has seen nearly 500 new cases of Covid-19 in the last week. Yesterday alone saw 73 new cases with 66 being community transmitted. However, officials say they have only identified the sources of transmission for around 30 of those reported cases. A restaurant at the…
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Medical expert says it may be weeks before Melbourne outbreak under control
As Australia’s second-largest city is in the middle of a second wave of the Covid-19 virus, a top medical expert says the outbreak will likely take weeks to control. Melbourne, in the southern state of Victoria, has been hit with a spike in new community-transmitted cases, recording 438 infections on Friday and even more over the weekend. Acting chief medical…
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Cambodian officials deny knowledge of Wanchalearms disappearance
“We know nothing.” Cambodian authorities continue to deny any knowledge of the disappearance of Thai activist in exile Wanchalearm Satsaksit. They claim that Wanchalearm failed tot make any further visa renewal request after his current visa expired at the end of 2017. They say that no Cambodian agencies have any additional information about his whereabouts or disappearance other than what…
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Sa Kaeo police nab 6 illegal migrants, Thai driver
6 illegal Cambodian migrants were caught at a checkpoint in the western border province of Sa Kaeo this weekend. Such checkpoints are proliferating, designed to stop illegal border crossings and the potential risk imported Covid-19 cases. Sa Kaeo Sa Kaeo has been a particular hotspot, with many illegal migrants attempting to cross the border to work in Thailand. ThaiBorder Control,…
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US surpasses 140,000 Covid-19 deaths as outbreak escalates
US deaths from Covid-19 surpassed the 140,000 mark yesterday as cases have continued to rise in 43 of the 50 states over the past 2 weeks. As of today the tally stands at 142,877. Since late June the US has seen a resurgence in new cases and now, 6 weeks later, deaths are also on the rise, according to a…
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Victoria’s capital, Melbourne, records 580 Covid-19 cases in past two days
Australia’s second biggest city, Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, has reported 363 new cases of Covid-19, after 217 cases were recorded yesterday. The recent spike in cases follows almost 2 and a half months of single-digit daily cases. The outbreak has been caused by inbound citizens, returning from overseas and defying quarantine regulations. Victoria’s Premier Daniel Andrews has announced that…
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Transit passengers must have health certificate before buying ticket: CAAC
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand has ordered the implementation of new regulations for any international flights entering Thailand – All passengers must have a medical certificate showing that they are free of Covid-19 before booking their ticket. The move follows China’s decision to temporarily ban Thai Lion Air from flying the Bangkok-Guangzhou route and Thai AirAsia X from flying…
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Philippines, Singapore and Indonesia battling new Covid-19 cases in SE Asia
Indonesia, The Philippines and Singapore are leading the way in South East Asia, contributing the most number of new cases of the coronavirus in the past week (worldometers.info). In the past 24 hours The Philippines (1,841), Indonesia (1,462) and Singapore (327) have added the highest number of new Covid-19 cases in the ASEAN region. In The Philippines the numbers have…
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Hong Kong Disneyland closes the gates, again
Whilst Disney World theme parks in Florida reopened to the public this week, after being closed for four months because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Hong Kong Disney theme franchise closed up again. Less than a month since it reopened Hong Kong Disneyland shutdown following a new coronavirus outbreak in the city. The theme park shuttered at the end of January…
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Chinese aviation bans flights from 2 Thai carriers for bringing Covid-19 into China
The Civil Aviation Administration of China announced yesterday that it’s banning flights by Thai AirAsia X and Thai Lion Air to the mainland from July 20-27 as a punitive measure for allegedly bringing Covid-19 patients into the country. Today both airlines announced that no one disembarked while in Bangkok. After the CAAC announced that 11 travellers aboard Thai Lion Air’s…
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Thailand to allow medical tourism within 2 weeks
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration announced today that Thailand’s medical tourism and wellness programs will go ahead despite the controversy swirling around 2 Covid-19 cases this week – in Bangkok and in Rayong. CCSA spokesman Dr Taweesin Visanuyothin says the Ministry of Public Health will announce a list of hospitals that pass its criteria next week, and the first…
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Thai Immigration police nab human trafficker
Immigration police have arrested a 55 year old “employment agent” who allegedly trafficked illegal migrant workers from neighbouring countries into Thailand. The Immigration Bureau’s commissioner identified the suspect as Petcharat Sathon at a press briefing. Officers arrested her at a hotel in the eastern province of Sa Kaeo, near the Cambodian border. She’s been charged with smuggling migrant workers into…
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A recovering China faces worst floods in decades
As China is still reeling from economic impacts of Covid-19, a new struggle has ensued as the nation is now seeing the worst flooding in decades which have destroyed the homes and livelihoods of millions. The devastating floods have impacted 38 million people. According to the Ministry of Emergency Management, some 2.24 million people have been displaced, with 141 people…
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