World News
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Starting a new life abroad is exciting—new culture, new lifestyle, and new chances to grow. But living far from home also means taking steps to protect your health in unfamiliar surroundings. Without the right coverage, even small health issues can...
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Cambodia leads Asia for highest percentage of fully-vaccinated population
Cambodia is topping the list in Asia for the country with the highest percentage of fully-vaccinated individuals in its population. The country’s 16 million-plus population has seen around 82% receiving at least 2 doses of a Covid-19 vaccine since November 3, according to ourworldindata.org. The percentage of those fully-vaccinated has beat out Singapore, Brunei and South Korea by 1%. And,…
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Deepavali holidaymakers leave popular Malaysian cities full of rubbish
Popular tourist spots in Malaysia are resembling rubbish dumping grounds as the recent 4 day Deepavali holiday, ended in mounds of litter. The Deepavali, or Diwali, holiday last week saw the Penang Island City council cleaning up an estimated 5,256 tonnes of garbage. Xavier Sebastian, the city council urban services department director, told the Straits Times that the increase was…
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Malaysia and Singapore confirm travel bubble for vaccinated travellers
From November 29, vaccinated passengers can fly between Kuala Lumpur International Airport and Singapore’s Changi Airport, without having to quarantine. Bloomberg confirms that both countries have agreed a travel bubble arrangement for what is one of the world’s busiest air corridors. It’s understood the agreement could also be extended to land crossings in the near future. Vaccinated travellers will not…
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These EU countries have managed to keep COVID numbers down
For the first time during the coronavirus pandemic, Germany’s nationwide seven-day incidence rate has crossed the 200 threshold. On Monday, it stood at 201.1. The rate, which indicates the number of new COVID-19 infections diagnosed per 100,000 people over a seven-day period, had previously peaked at 197.6 in December 2020. In other words: The fourth wave has crashed on Germany’s…
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Pakistan: How patriarchy is raising the risk of deadly breast cancer
Pakistan has one of the highest rates of breast cancer in Asia, and trends suggest this is likely to increase unless more is done to remove barriers on early screening. An estimated 40,000 women die each year in Pakistan due to breast cancer, and 83,000 are diagnosed with the disease, according to the Shaukat Khanum Research Center in Lahore. Health…
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Thai Red Cross urges government to formalise humanitarian assistance to Myanmar
Thailand’s Red Cross organisation is calling on the government to formalise humanitarian aid to Myanmar refugees. The request was made at the 3rd Thai foreign policy webinar series on “ASEAN’s Future and Crisis in Myanmar.” The Surin Pitsuwan Foundation, Chiang Mai University’s School of Public Policy, Thai PBS and Asia News Network, all jointly hosted the webinar. Former editor of…
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46 Cambodian nationals arrested after trying to illegally cross Thai border
At least 46 Cambodian nationals have been arrested for allegedly illegally crossing over the Thailand border in Sa Kaeo province. Police there say the arrests are happening daily as the Cambodian nationals are trying to find work in Bangkok and neighbouring provinces. And, with the Covid-19 pandemic, the allegedly illegal border crossers are paying as much as 20,000 baht to…
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Thailand to welcome British Foreign Secretary as part of Southeast Asia visit
The British Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, will visit Thailand as part of a Southeast Asia trip that will also see her travel to Malaysia and Indonesia. According to a Reuters report, the purpose of the week-long trip is to strengthen the UK’s economic and security ties in the region. The UK is increasingly looking to countries beyond Europe as it…
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Tension in Ethiopia as Tigrayan forces advance
When Adam* returned to his home after a haircut on the morning of Saturday, November 6, he saw his parents and sister being forced into a police van. With them were two other families living in the compound – all of them of Tigrayan origin. Before leaving, Adam’s mother was able to lock the house, he said, taking with her…
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WHO: Global pandemic exposed unpreparedness and inequality
A new report by the World Health Organisation Global Preparedness Monitoring Board says that the Covid-19 pandemic exposed the world’s lack of preparedness, accountability, and equality. The first year of Covid-19 showed that so many countries failed to be serious about preparedness and taking action on scientific data, while national Covid-19 responses ignored the interconnectedness of the world, revealing massive…
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How realistic is Bangladesh’s climate prosperity plan?
At the COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called on wealthy nations to fulfill their pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions and provide the promised $100 billion (€86 billion) annually in financial aid to less wealthy countries to help them adapt to climate change and mitigate further rises in temperature. Only a tiny fraction of…
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COVID-19 means disruption, change for new set of ‘boomerang kids’
Not much had changed in the room where Faissal Sharif spent his childhood, in a small village in a remote part of the central German state of Hesse. Various posters, his old bed, a desk covered by a thin layer of dust — it was all still there. He set out to explore the world at the age of 18,…
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The era of tech whistleblowing is here — but will it lead to lasting change?
Whistleblower Frances Haugen says she hates attention so much she stopped throwing birthday parties years ago. She never wanted the world to know her name. And the idea of stepping in front of thousands of people gives her anxiety. And yet, the data scientist decided to give up her anonymity to expose wrongdoing at tech giant Facebook, she told some…
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What are the chances for peace in Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict?
“The situation in Ethiopia is currently very perilous. This is probably the most dangerous moment in the country for decades,” Murithi Mutiga, International Crisis Group Project Director for the Horn of Africa, based in Nairobi, Kenya, told DW. “The primary issue is that all sides have decided that they can settle this conflict militarily.” According to the analyst, the Tigrayan…
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Who are the Tigray fighters, and why is Ethiopia at war with them?
Since early November 2020, the Ethiopian government and Tigray fighters have been exchanging fire in a conflict that has claimed thousands of lives and has left more than 400,000 people facing famine, according to a recent UN estimate. The conflict has escalated rapidly since June, when fighters began to retake most of Tigray and expand into neighboring regions. The fighters…
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Yazidis still displaced in their own country
A wide gravel road extends into the distance and blurs into the horizon. To the left is a sea of corrugated metal containers and electric poles — beyond that, nothing. This is where the Mam Rashan camp ends. The refugee camp in the Nineveh district of the autonomous Kurdistan region is like a small town. Over 1,500 Yazidi families live…
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Africalink 05.11.21 – 16 UTC – MP3-Stereo
Ethiopia rebels ‘join forces to defeat Abiy government +++ Preparations are in top gear in Cameroon for tomorrows celebration of Paul Biya’s 39 years in power, but his opponents see it as a mockery. +++ Nigeria state votes in key test for the presidential race++++Sports SOURCE: DW News
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Will Russia’s new push in ASEAN be another failure?
Speaking at the fourth Russia-ASEAN summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated his country’s eagerness to boost cooperation with Southeast Asian nations. Moscow has made similar pledges almost annually since Putin announced a new eastward-looking foreign policy in 2010. “Russian interest in its far eastern flank remains unchanged since Peter the Great: access to the region’s development and prosperity,” said Joshua…
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Deputy minister in Vietnam prosecuted in fake medicine scandal
A deputy health minister in Vietnam is being prosecuted, accused by security officials of looking the other way for a ring that was busted trading fake medication. 59 year old Truong Quoc Cuong is the current head of drug and cosmetics management in Vietnam after becoming a deputy minister in 2016. The Ministry of Public Security in Vietnam is run…
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American woman convicted of mother’s murder deported from Indonesia to USA to face charges
An American woman who was convicted of murdering her mother in Indonesia, has been deported to the US to face charges in her home country. Heather Mack, from Chicago, Illionois, was convicted back in 2015, for killing her mother in Bali. Her boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, was also charged. Police say the couple stuffed her mother, Sheila von Wiese Mack’s dead…
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Pop megastars ABBA release first album in 40 years
Some said it would never happen. In fact, they themselves frequently said it would never happen. But pop fans around the world are rejoicing over the return of Swedish supergroup, ABBA. Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny and Anni-Frid have reunited for the release of Voyage, their first album in 40 years. It will be followed by an “avatar” concert planned for March…
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Fighting internet censorship with fashion
Introducing DW’s new Uncensored Collection, designed to draw attention to freedom of information. SOURCE: DW News
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EU-funded hijab campaign sparks outrage
Young European Muslims say a decision to cancel a newly launched EU online campaign to promote acceptance of hijab is “an attack on human rights.” “Attacks on this vital campaign take place in a wider environment of a shrinking of civic space, where government actors routinely censor and limit the freedom of speech when it doesn’t fit their political agenda”…
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Opinion: Ethiopia at risk of Balkanization
Jeffrey Feltman’s visit to Ethiopia on Thursday is the West’s last desperate attempt to rescue the tottering country. The US special envoy for the Horn of Africa will try topersuade Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to agree to a ceasefire and peace talks. The hope is to bring an end to the war between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray…
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COVID: How India is vaccinating isolated tribes in insurgency-hit areas
Minpa village, an isolated settlement in Sukma district in Chhattisgarh state, has just over 650 residents. Located nearly 500 kilometers (310 miles) from the state capital Raipur, the village has no electricity, no potable drinking water supply and no road connectivity. One has to embark on an arduous journey to reach the place as it is located in the dense…
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Britain the first to approve Covid-19 antiviral pill Molnupiravir
Molnupiravir, the antiviral pill that fights Covid-19, has just been approved for use in Britain, the first country in the world to do so. The pill was developed by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics and has been shown to reduce the severity of symptoms in patients infected with Covid-19. The drug is recommended to be used as soon as possible after a…
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Burmese junta adds third charge for American journalist Fenster
The managing editor of Frontier Myanmar, American journalist Danny Fenster, has been held for months by the Burmese junta and has now been charged with a third criminal offence. He had originally been arrested in May when attempting to leave the country. After being held for nearly 6 months, Fenster is still on trial, accused of promoting dissent against the…
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Cape Verde: Turning wastewater into useful energy
This university student wants to avoid wasting water. Patrick Gomes invented a portable sewage tank. The equipment filters wastewater by decantation. But the “RECYCLE BE” project is not just for purifying water. “RECYCLE BE” works autonomously. It seeks to solve water scarcity in Cape Verde. The ecological tank is a sustainable alternative to septic tanks. The environmental impact is lower…
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Chinese travellers forced to stay home as rest of Asia re-opens to tourism
With Asian countries re-opening to foreign arrivals, there will be one significant tourism market missing for now – the Chinese. In China, according to a Reuters report, international air travel is currently at just 2% of pre-pandemic levels, as officials continue to pursue zero-Covid status. The absence of Chinese visitors will mean a US$255 billion annual spending hole in the…
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New York’s mayor-elect Adams: The working-class candidate who embraces big businesses
New Yorkers on Tuesday elected Eric Adams as their next mayor in a landslide election in which the Democrat trounced Republican challenger Curtis Sliwa. Adams, a 61-year-old former police captain, will be the city’s 110th mayor and only the second Black man to lead the largest city in the United States — the first being Democrat David Dinkins, who was…
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