World News
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Sponsored Thinking of retiring in Thailand long-term? Here’s your health checklist before the move
Thinking of retiring in Thailand long-term? Thailand is a popular choice for retirees because of its beautiful landscapes, warm climate, and affordable living. Cities like Chiang Mai and coastal areas offer a relaxed lifestyle with friendly communities. The country also...
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Woman jailed in Singapore for lying to Covid contact tracers
A 65 year old Singaporean woman, who tested positive for Covid-19 in February, has been jailed for 5 months after officials discovered she lied about having contact with a male friend. Oh Bee Hiok did not disclose that she’d met up with 72 year old Lim Kiang Hong 5 times in the weeks leading up to her diagnosis. It’s understood…
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US health experts say rampage through Capitol was textbook super-spreader event
A day after thousands of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol building, the country experienced its deadliest day since the Covid-19 pandemic began, recording 4,000 deaths from the virus. And health experts say those figures are certain to get worse, describing the unprecedented rampage through the Capitol as a textbook super-spreader. Thousands of protesters crowded together, forcing their way into…
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US jobs market stumbles back into decline
The labour market for the world’s largest economy is heading back into reverse mode after slowly chugging back into gear over the past 8 months, following the March stock crash and initial impacts of the US state lockdown measures.. The December report was the first drop since April figures, providing the strongest evidence of the impact of the huge number…
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Boeing fined $2.5 billion USD following charges linked to 737 Max crashes
Boeing is facing a US$2.5 billion fine following criminal charges pressed by the US Justice Department for defrauding regulators. The department says Boeing concealed information about the 737 Max jet’s automated flight control system, MCAS, that was a major factor in the passenger flight crashes in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people. In October 2018, Lion Air Flight 610 crashed…
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Protesters call rally in Bangkok to support activists charged over German Embassy petition
Pro-democracy activists have called a protest at Thung Mahamek police station in Bangkok, in a show of solidarity with 13 protesters arrested for delivering a petition to the German Embassy. Last October, members of the pro-democracy Ratsadon group led a march of thousands of people to the German Embassy on Sathorn Road. The protesters’ plan was to submit a petition…
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Pro-Trump rioters storm the US Capitol building, stopping the count of Electoral College votes
The heart of United States democracy, the US Capitol Building, was stormed by a mob of unruly pro-Trump protesters. Inside, the House of Representatives and the Senate were in the early stages of an unprecedented debate to certify the Electoral College votes that named Joe Biden as the winner of the Presidential vote held on November 3, 2020. The protesters…
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Los Angeles ambulances won’t take cardiac patients unlikely to survive as Covid crisis worsens
As the state of California finds itself in the midst of a full-blown Covid-19 crisis, medical workers in Los Angeles are being faced with some stark choices. According to County Supervisor Hilda Sollis, a memo issued by the county’s Emergency Medical Services instructs ambulance workers not to pick up patients who’ve suffered a heart attack if their chances of surviving…
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A year of COVID – from Wuhan to World Pandemic | VIDEO
12 months ago the news of a mysterious respiratory illness started to emerge from hospitals in the central Chinese province of Hubei. Chinese health authorities said they were investigating a small cluster of pneumonia-like cases with an unknown cause linked to a seafood market in Wuhan. Those early days have given rise to any number of conspiracy theories that the…
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How Asian countries celebrate the arrival of another year
As the dust settles on this year’s somewhat muted New Year celebrations, some Asian countries still have their own festivities to look forward to. And it’s not all fireworks and drunken parties – in Asia, the dawn of a new year is seen as a time to celebrate family and good fortune, while washing away the bad luck of the…
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Good things that happened in 2020
There’s no disputing the fact that none of us are going to remember 2020 with great fondness. With a global pandemic wreaking havoc around the world, and no end in sight in the immediate future, it’s hard to see any positives in the year just gone. However, buried in the midst of all the doom and gloom, there were some…
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WHO approves emergency use of the Pfizer/BionTech Covid vaccine
The World Health Organisation has granted “emergency validation” for the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, allowing countries across the globe to now approve its import and distribution for their citizens. In a statement released on the final day of 2020, the WHO said its validation, the first since the start of the pandemic, “opens the door for countries to expedite their own…
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2020: A year in Covid-19 milestones
As the world embraces the dawn of a new year, while tentatively waiting to see what it has in store, it will be some time before the trauma of 2020 can be laid to rest. The year that has just ended will forever be remembered for the Covid-19 pandemic that has claimed over 1.8 million lives to date, infected millions worldwide,…
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2021’s new normal – the digital Covid passport
Looking forward to travelling, shopping, going to the movies? Now that Covid-19 vaccines are beginning to be rolled out around the world, you may now need something in addition to the actual vaccine. Documentation… a vaccine passport. Documentation, including your current Covid status and vaccination details, will become 2021’s biggest challenge as governments, businesses, and world travel, try and re-establish…
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Bangladesh moves towards relocating Rohingya refugees, UN denies involvement
Despite rights groups advising not to relocate Rohingya refugees anymore, Bangladesh is pressing on to move a 2nd group of refugees from Myanmar to the remote island of Bhasan Char in the Bay of Bengal this month. The new group consists of about 1,000 refugees and is in addition to more than 1,600 refugees that were moved earlier this month,…
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Japan suspends entry for non-resident foreigners amidst new Covid variant
Japan is suspending nonresident foreign nationals from entering the country starting tomorrow through late January as a precaution to stop the spread of a new and possibly more transmissible strain of the Covid-19 virus. Japanese citizens and foreign residents alike will also have to submit negative virus test results within 72 hours of departing to Japan from countries and territories…
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12 months ago a number of “mysterious” respiratory cases came to the notice of a Chinese doctor
A year ago nothing much was known about the coronavirus that has now decimated the world’s economy and killed 1,764,697 people (as of Saturday morning, December 27, 2020 Thai Time). Exactly 12 months later there are now 80,720,204 positive infections registered around the world. On December 27, 2019, there was little known about the mysterious new coronavirus. How infectious was…
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From the beautiful to the bizarre: 6 Christmas traditions from around Asia
Wherever you find yourself on Christmas Day this year, it’s sure to be slightly different to previous years – or even extremely different, depending on how severe the Covid-19 situation is in your location. But in happier, more normal times, these 6 Asian countries have their own unique ways in which to celebrate the holiday. Eating KFC in Japan Did…
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Thai social media gets nasty as old animosities resurface over the Burmese migrants
A Covid-19 outbreak in Samut Sakhon, centred around a seafood market and the local fishing industry’s Burmese migrant population, has unbottled a new wave of anti-Burmese sentiment in Thai social media, never bubbling far beneath the surface. The revelations of an outbreak of some 1,000+ positive infections has opened a long-standing wound between the two countries, including straight out online…
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Christmas across Asia: How Thailand’s neighbours celebrate
Those of us living in Thailand (and those who holiday here in more “normal” times), are familiar with what Christmas looks like in the Land of Smiles. But what about other Asian countries? Here’s a round-up of what the festive season looks like for some of our neighbours. Indonesia Despite being a primarily Muslim nation, Christmas is celebrated by many…
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Thai government urged to offer amnesty to illegal migrants and their employers
The Thai government is being urged to grant amnesty to undocumented migrant workers in the Kingdom and to extend the reprieve to their employers. The call has been picked up by a number of Thai media outlets, as well as Thai citizens concerned about the latest Covid-19 outbreak. Those calling for the amnesty say it would stop workers fleeing quarantine…
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US conservative media walk back allegations on voter fraud
Some of America’s biggest right-leaning media have spent the last week walking back on their earlier promotion of conspiracy theories surrounding alleged voter fraud and tampering from the November 3 election. Both Fox News and Newsmax have aired segments this week contradicting earlier stories about election fraud and claims focusing on vote machines manufacturer Smartmatic. Without specifically retracting their earlier…
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WHO calls for calm over new coronavirus variant
The World Health Organisation is calling for calm over the emergence of a new strain of Covid-19 in countries including Britain and South Africa. WHO emergencies chief Mike Ryan says virus mutation is to be expected and is not a cause for major alarm. His comments come as a growing number of countries impose travel bans on passengers from the…
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New Covid-19 variant prompts many countries to stop travel from the UK
A new strain of Covid-19 quickly spreading in southern England has prompted a number of countries to ban travel from the United Kingdom while other nations are mulling similar restrictions. The new coronavirus variant is said to spread more quickly than others. British PM Boris Johnson placed London and southeastern England on a Tier 4 lockdown. He announced that both Christmas…
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Netizens demand Minister of Public Health to resign after Covid surge
Today, Thai netizens are demanding the resignation of Thailand’s Minister of Public Health after the largest daily amount of Covid infections is being reported in Samut Sakhon Province. That number of infections, reported today, is now up to 576, 516 of which includes migrant workers who have been in the news recently after several were found to have entered Thailand…
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US cybersecurity agency alleges Russian hacking campaign
A cyberattack, which was first identified when US government agencies were targeted, has also been aimed at cyber targets worldwide, raising fears about global computer security. Microsoft has already announced that it’s notified more than 40 large customers hit by the malware which allegedly originated from hackers linked to the Russian government. The malware has been allowing attackers unfettered access…
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Sydney Covid outbreak sparks border clampdowns in other Australian states
A spate of Covid-19 cases on Sydney’s northern beaches has prompted other Australian states to impose strict restrictions on arrivals from the region. With 28 new cases confirmed along the city’s northern beaches, and fears that number will grow, New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian is calling for vigilance. “Everyone in greater Sydney needs to be on high alert.” Thai…
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China’s Moon probe successfully returns to Earth this morning | VIDEO
China’s Chang’e-5 mission has arrived safely back on Earth after a successful 3 week mission to the Moon, collecting rocks and soil from the surface, and then retuning. It’s the first time since the 1970s a space mission like this has been completed. China becomes only the 3rd country in the world to successfully collect rocks from the moon. The mission…
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Chiang Rai officials insist province is now safe to visit
Officials in the northern province of Chiang Rai are assuring potential tourists from the rest of the Kingdom that it is safe to visit, saying the Covid-19 situation is under control. Chiang Rai hit the headlines in recent weeks, when a number of Thai nationals entered the province illegally from Myanmar. After bypassing health checks and quarantine, several subsequently tested…
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25 Burmese arrested for allegedly crossing the Thai-Myanmar border illegally
Military and police patrol arrested 25 Burmese people for allegedly crossing the Thai-Myanmar border illegally to Kanchanaburi’s Muang district. With Covid-19 cases rising by more than 1,000 each day in the neighbouring country, some Thais fear that migrants crossing the border illegally, avoiding the mandatory 14 day quarantine, could potentially spread the virus to people in Thailand. Covid-19 fears were…
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Foreign media express anxiety over Thailand’s press freedoms
Foreign journalists in Thailand are expressing concern about what they are calling restrictions on press freedom. Speaking at a recent Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand forum, speakers said that the current laws are “proving to be an obstacle to reporting of the anti-government protests”, despite government assurances there have been no curbs on freedom of expression. The “Journalism Without Fear…
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