World News

World news, global politics, business, technology, and culture—stay updated with breaking stories, international trends, and major events. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted source for global news.

  • Sponsored

    The hidden costs of ignoring pre-existing conditions in Thailand

    The Thaiger key takeaways Not declaring pre-existing conditions can result in denied claims, high costs, or visa problems. Cigna provides coverage for common chronic conditions like diabetes and arthritis with high limits and direct billing. Honest disclosure ensures proper coverage,...

  • Trump’s son, Donald Jr, tests positive for Covid-19 | Thaiger

    Trump’s son, Donald Jr, tests positive for Covid-19

    The eldest son of US president, Donald Trump, has tested positive for Covid-19, an anonymous White House spokesperson has confirmed. 42 year old Donald Trump Jr. is understood to be asymptomatic and currently self-isolating, following the diagnosis earlier this week. His girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, tested positive back in July. In October, President Trump tested positive for Covid-19, as did his…

  • South Australia lockdown to end early, after man lied about how he contracted virus | Thaiger

    South Australia lockdown to end early, after man lied about how he contracted virus

    A strict 6-day lockdown for South Australia will end early, as officials reveal an infected pizza parlour worker lied about how he contracted the virus. South Australia Premier, Steven Marshall, says a chef employed at a pizza business that was found to have a cluster of infections, misled officials. The worker told contact-tracers that he was a customer of the…

  • Vaccine could be ready by the end of next month – BioNTech/Pfizer | Thaiger

    Vaccine could be ready by the end of next month – BioNTech/Pfizer

    BioNTech has announced the candidate Covid-19 vaccine, the German company is developing with US pharmaceutical company Pfizer, could be released for public distribution before the year, at least in the US and Europe. BioNTech co-founder Ugur Sahin says that both companies plan to apply for “emergency use authorisation” of their candidate vaccine in the US today (US time), while European regulators…

  • Latest traveller trends and top recovering destinations – TripAdvisor | Thaiger

    Latest traveller trends and top recovering destinations – TripAdvisor

    TripAdvisor and Phocuswright have jointly released the findings of a comprehensive research paper into the shifting trends in global travel demand and traveller behaviour, as they chart the industry’s road to a recovery, of sorts, in the wake of the ongoing global pandemic. The report, 2020 – A Year in Travel: Charting the Travel Industry’s Path to Recovery, analyses TripAdvisor’s first-party…

  • Boeing’s 737 MAX takes its next step to re-enter commercial service | Thaiger

    Boeing’s 737 MAX takes its next step to re-enter commercial service

    The US Federal Aviation Administration has approved the next step for the beleaguered Boeing 737 MAX to resume commercial flights after a 20 month grounding. But the factors that partly contributed to the plane’s grounding have not been addressed leaving the plane reliant on software to control its flying characteristics. The plane, a fourth generation makeover of 50 year old…

  • More positive news in Covid fight as second vaccine found to be nearly 95% effective | Thaiger

    More positive news in Covid fight as second vaccine found to be nearly 95% effective

    Health officials around the world are sounding more cautious notes of optimism, with news that US company Moderna has found its Covid-19 candidate vaccine to be 94.5% effective in clinical trials. Following results last week that a vaccine developed by US firm Pfizer, in conjunction with its German partner BioNTech, had an effectiveness rate of 90%, both developments would appear…

  • Astronauts to plant Thai tree seeds on International Space Station | Thaiger

    Astronauts to plant Thai tree seeds on International Space Station

    Astronauts orbiting the Earth on the International Space Station are going to plant Thailand’s national tree and study how the plant, known as the Golden Shower (yes, we know…) for its yellow hanging flower clusters, grows in an environment without gravity. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 4 astronauts as well as the seeds and supplies for the project was…

  • Thailand News Today | The RCEP reset, Hotel Talkfest, Protesters to be arrested | November 16 | Thaiger

    Thailand News Today | The RCEP reset, Hotel Talkfest, Protesters to be arrested | November 16

    First day of the week with another Thailand News Today, all the latest news from around Thailand and the region. Hoteliers to discuss how to revive Thailand’s crippled hospitality industry The Tourism and Sports Ministry is holding a talkfest with15 hotel operators expected to join to discuss recovery solutions for the battered industry. Some top executives are planned to pitch…

  • Vamco weakens into tropical storm, misses northern Thailand altogether | Thaiger

    Vamco weakens into tropical storm, misses northern Thailand altogether

    Typhoon Vamco, which killed some 67 people when it stormed through the middle of Luzon island late last week, has turned into a tropical storm which will have minor effects on Thailand’s weather over the next few days. Isolated light to moderate rains will be likely over the Northeast and the North today as a result… Vamco will track on…

  • 15 Asia-Pacific countries form the world’s largest trade bloc, the great RCEP reset | Thaiger

    15 Asia-Pacific countries form the world’s largest trade bloc, the great RCEP reset

    After 8 gruelling years of negotiation, 15 countries have signed onto the largest free trade bloc in history. In a joint statement, the leaders of the countries, signatories of the trade deal, say RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) will form a crucial part of economic recovery once the pandemic is over. The deal excludes the US, which withdrew from a…

  • Asian trade deal to be signed today | Thaiger

    Asian trade deal to be signed today

    Today, 15 countries are set to sign a wide-reaching Asian trade deal to help them recover from the Covid pandemic. Such countries as China, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan are part of the pact which also includes 10 south east Asian economies – the 10 countries of ASEAN. The deal is seen as a Chinese-led alternative to the…

  • Trump supporters march in Washington, repeating claims of election fraud | Thaiger

    Trump supporters march in Washington, repeating claims of election fraud

    Supporters of US President Donald Trump staged a march through Washington yesterday, protesting unsubstantiated claims of election fraud. A week since Democrat candidate Joe Biden clinched the electoral college numbers required to claim the presidency. Meanwhile Donald Trump, a Republican, continues to refuse acknowledgment or accept the outcome, launching a barrage of legal challenges to overturn the results. Most of these…

  • US President-elect Biden eyes 306 electoral college votes, to Trump’s 232 | Thaiger

    US President-elect Biden eyes 306 electoral college votes, to Trump’s 232

    US President-elect Joe Biden has likely bagged 306 votes in the Electoral College vote that decides who wins the keys to the White House. At this stage Donald Trump has won 232 votes in the tally. First to 270 Electoral College votes wins the US Presidency. Even if the state of Georgia somehow flips in a recount – historically unlikely –…

  • South East Asian leaders foreshadow a pivot to the US in the new administration | Thaiger

    South East Asian leaders foreshadow a pivot to the US in the new administration

    So what will the presidency of US President-elect Joe Biden mean for south east Asia? And how will it differ from the administration of President Trump? South east Asia already knows Joe Biden from his term as US vice president from 2008 – 2016, and his “Asia pivot” that provided high-level diplomacy and resources with strategic trade relationships. The Obama-era…

  • Vamco kills 7 as typhoon-weary communities mop up in northern Philippines | VIDEO | Thaiger

    Vamco kills 7 as typhoon-weary communities mop up in northern Philippines | VIDEO

    ‘Vamco’, aka Ulysses in The Philippines, is now a severe tropical storm heading westward towards the central Vietnamese coastline after making landfall on The Philippines yesterday as the latest typhoon. At least 7 people have died and 12 others missing after Vamco made landfall on Wednesday night. A 68 and 70 year old are among those killed. More than 180,000…

  • Man arrested in China for allegedly selling his newborn baby | Thaiger

    Man arrested in China for allegedly selling his newborn baby

    A man was in China allegedly sold his newborn son to an online buyer for 18,000 pounds or 722,000 baht. The father claimed the Covid-19 pandemic left him unemployed and he needed the money, so he put his baby – just 40 days old – up for sale. The alleged buyer was a woman who was unable to have children,…

  • UPDATE: Pfizer and BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine candidate is “strongly effective” | Thaiger

    UPDATE: Pfizer and BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine candidate is “strongly effective”

    Pfizer is claiming that it’s current Covid-19 vaccine candidate “may be 90% effective” at preventing infection from the coronavirus. The pharmaceutical company says later this month they could be ready to file an ’emergency use’ application with US regulators. US-based Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech are claiming that their vaccine against Covid-19 was “strongly effective” and has “exceeded expectations”…

  • UPDATE: US President continues to wage war against the election results on Twitter | Thaiger

    UPDATE: US President continues to wage war against the election results on Twitter

    President Trump continues to insist on Twitter that ballots “have not been properly considered” and argues that President-elect Joe Biden’s victory is premature. But sources from the President’s inner circle are saying that “under some conditions” the president would consider a civil transition of power, accord to Fox News. At this stage, lawyers representing the Trump campaign have already filed…

  • Letter to President Donald Trump | Thaiger

    Letter to President Donald Trump

    OPINION John Magee was the owner of The Thaiger’s predecessor, the long-running Phuket Gazette. As a US citizen and longtime Republican, he’s penned a letter to the US President Donald Trump… November 7, 2020 Dear Mr President: Let me propose something to you in the simplest possible English, with no word exceeding ten letters or five syllables. As an American…

  • Vietnam plans to keep borders closed and not rely on vaccine strategy | Thaiger

    Vietnam plans to keep borders closed and not rely on vaccine strategy

    The Vietnamese Covid-19 task force says it plans to maintain its strategy of containing the coronavirus rather than “rush into a vaccine”, even if a successful vaccine becomes available, that could pose a financial burden the country. Vietnam, despite a month-long surge around Da Nang, has been able to largely contain the local outbreak. Yesterday the world’s Covid numbers reported…

  • UPDATE: President Trump repeats fraud claims, counting continues in too-close-to-call election | Thaiger

    UPDATE: President Trump repeats fraud claims, counting continues in too-close-to-call election

    The US President Donald Trump has again repeated unproven and outlandish claims that widespread voter fraud has marred the US presidential election. In a handful of crucial states the results are too close to call as votes continue to be counted. Speaking at the White House, the President was defiant, accusing pollsters and the Democratic Party of engaging in fraud. It’s…

  • Burger King Indonesia urges diners to share the love – by ordering at McDonald’s | Thaiger

    Burger King Indonesia urges diners to share the love – by ordering at McDonald’s

    The fast food chain Burger King has come in for online praise (and no doubt, some helpful PR) after suggesting its customers in Indonesia should order from other struggling businesses, including rival burger joint, McDonalds. Burger King Indonesia is believed to have followed the example of its UK counterpart, who posted the same suggestion, in a tweet that has since…

  • Cambodian PM tests negative for Covid-19 after meeting with Hungarian foreign minister | Thaiger

    Cambodian PM tests negative for Covid-19 after meeting with Hungarian foreign minister

    Cambodian PM Hun Sen says he tested negative for Covid-19, but he will be in self-quarantine for the next 14 days. On Tuesday, the prime minister met with Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter Szijarto, who tested positive for Covid-19 while in Bangkok, Thai officials announced yesterday. The Hungary delegation had a 1-day visit in Phnom Penh on Tuesday before…

  • UPDATE: No clear winner in US Election, but pollsters got the result very wrong, again | Thaiger

    UPDATE: No clear winner in US Election, but pollsters got the result very wrong, again

    Although there’s currently no clear winner, officially reaching the magic 270 Electoral College votes and claiming the US Presidency, there’s already plenty of losers – most with the words “poll’ in their name. US pollsters, largely, got the election result wrong, again. They’d promised to refine their models following the 2016 embarrassment but have just repeated their errors this time…

  • European countries in lockdown as Covid-19 cases top 11 million | Thaiger

    European countries in lockdown as Covid-19 cases top 11 million

    Covid-19 cases across Europe have now topped 11 million, with Austria and Greece the latest countries to impose partial lockdowns. France, Germany, Belgium and Ireland have already done the same, introducing strict restrictions on movement and, in most cases, shutting all but non-essential services. Nearly 285,000 deaths from the virus have now been recorded across the continent. The Bangkok Post…

  • 3 dead after shootings near synagogue in Vienna | Thaiger

    3 dead after shootings near synagogue in Vienna

    3 people are dead, including an alleged shooter, after a series of attacks in central Vienna. The Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz described as a “repulsive terror attack”. One suspect was “shot and killed by police officers”, according to Vienna police. A woman wounded in an attack in central Vienna has since died of her injuries. Her death briought the civilian toll to…

  • Typhoon Goni kills 22, many others missing, now heads towards Vietnam | Thaiger

    Typhoon Goni kills 22, many others missing, now heads towards Vietnam

    Typhoon Goni blasted its way across the northern island of Luzon, tracking just south of the capital Manila. It made landfall around 5am in the morning and by the end of the day it had crossed, heading westwards, and reached the South China Sea, having killed at least 22 and displacing more than 800,000 people. The latest death toll was…

  • 34 Thai provinces affected by heavy rains and flooding, typhoon ‘Goni’ heads towards Vietnam | Thaiger

    34 Thai provinces affected by heavy rains and flooding, typhoon ‘Goni’ heads towards Vietnam

    Heavy rain overnight has flooded parts of the Wang Nam Khiao district in southern Nakhon Ratchasima caused by run-off from the mountainous areas of the Thap Lan National Park. At least 1 person has been reported dead from the north eastern floods, an 18 year old swept away by sweeping waves of water while driving back to house by motorcycle…

  • OBITUARY: Sean Connery, the original Bond and the sexiest man of the 20th century | Thaiger

    OBITUARY: Sean Connery, the original Bond and the sexiest man of the 20th century

    Sir Sean Connery has died aged 90. Jason Bond, his son, announced that he had died peacefully in his sleep after being “unwell for some time”. His career spanned some 70 movies. He was the first actor to have portrayed Ian Fleming’s British spy character James Bond, playing the role 7 times from 1962 to 1983. He won an Academy Award…

  • ‘Goni’ slams into Philippines’ coast, most powerful typhoon of the year – VIDEO | Thaiger

    ‘Goni’ slams into Philippines’ coast, most powerful typhoon of the year – VIDEO

    Typhoon Goni, aka. ‘Rolly’, the region’s most powerful typhoon for 2020, has crossed the coastline in The Philippines packing sustained winds of 225 kilometres per hour. Goni hit Catanduanes island this morning just before 5am, Philippine time. It then moved onto the northern island of Luzon, and will pass some 100 kilometres south of the capital Manila. More than 500,000 people…

Broke? Find employment in Southeast Asia with JobCute Thailand and SmartJob Indonesia. Rich? Invest in real estate across Asia with FazWaz Property Group or get out on a yacht anywhere with Boatcrowd. Even book medical procedures worldwide with MyMediTravel, all powered by DB Ventures.