World News
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Sponsored How to reduce out-of-pocket medical expenses in Thailand?
Managing medical expenses in Thailand is important as healthcare costs continue to rise. The country’s healthcare system includes both public and private options, but even with the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) for citizens, many still face high out-of-pocket medical expenses....
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UPDATE: British Embassy statement on income letters
Officials knew about problems back in May and say that US nationals will also be affected. The British Embassy in Bangkok has responded to requests for clarification by Thaivisa on the issuing of letters regarding income. They said that they had a meeting with immigration in May and told Thaivisa that they are “not verification experts”. They have also claimed…
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Singapore Airlines takes off tonight for the world’s longest flight
The world’s longest commercial flight takes off from Singapore tomorrow morning, with the national airline resuming its non-stop route to New York for the first time since 2013. Singapore Airlines previously flew Airbus A340s on the route, but the four-engine aircraft proved to be fuel guzzlers and made the non-stop flight economically unsustainable. The flight will cover a 16,700 kilometres and…
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AirAsia integrates AI to become a travel technology company
by The Star – Asia News Network AirAsia is integrating Google Cloud’s machine learning and AI (artificial intelligence) technologies into every aspect of its business, as part of its transformation into a travel technology company. Speaking at the Google Cloud Next London event, AirAsia group CEO Tony Fernandes said, “It’s a huge mission, but we’ve never done anything easy.” “We are…
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The rise of Kpop stars reveals the dark side of music sweatshops
• They’ve had two number one selling albums in the Billboard Top 200 this year. • They’re the first pop act to score two Number One albums in a calendar year since One Direction in 2014. • They were the first Kpop artists to win a Billboard Music Award. • The group officially holds the world record for most Twitter engagements…
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18 years of internet growth in Asia
Sourced from DataLEADS – Asia News Network The internet continues to grow swiftly in all parts of the world. Asia continues to show impressive growth trends in the last eighteen years although there are still many pockets in south east asia that need improved access to the www. To say that access to the internet has made a profound change to…
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Satellite timelapse – Palu devastated by land liquefaction
by The Jakarta Post – Asia News Network The earthquake and tsunami caused enough damage in Palu. But few people have seen or understand the process of liquefaction, here caught on satellite in a time lapse. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNBP) spokesperson in Indonesia, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, overseeing the relief and rescue efforts in Sulawesi, shared a time-lapse of satellite imagery on…
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Thailand donates to the Indonesian relief effort whilst thousands flee the region
Thai PM Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha says the Kingdom of Thailand has made a donation of 5 million baht to the relief program to assist victims of Indonesia’s earthquake and tsunami. International efforts to assist the Indonesian government to deal with the devastating natural disasters gathered pace amidst concerns over hundreds of thousands of survivors with little food and water. Thai…
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Najib’s wife arrested, to be charged with money laundering – Malaysia
Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, the wife of the former Malaysian PM, Najib Tun Razak, has been arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). According to her lawyers, she was arrested at 3.20pm while giving a statement at the headquarters of the MACC. It has been learnt that the wife of the former prime minister will be charged with money laundering…
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An earthquake, a tsunami, now a bubbling volcano – Sulawesi
PHOTO: North Sulawesi’s Mt Soputan erupts, status raised to Level 3’Alert’ – The Jakarta Post Mount Soputan in North Sulawesi’s Minahasa regency is emitting a 4 kilometre high plume of ash this . It started at 8:47 am local time, or 7:47 am. Jakarta time, prompting authorities to raise the volcano’s status to a Level 3 of the national four-level volcano alert system. Mount…
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Thousands of children among survivors desperate for aid – Sulawesi
PHOTO: VOA News “Survivors are also stepping forward on their own to retrieve bodies trapped under soil.” Tens of thousands of children are in an “extremely precarious” condition in the wake of last Friday’s earthquake on Sulawesi island, eastern Indonesia, even as survivors grow desperate for aid and fears mount that the death toll could rise further. Four days after…
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Survivors try to flee Palu as aid starts to flow in
PHOTO: Locals and aid volunteers are trying to start the long clean up in Palu – VOA News As aid and volunteers continue pour into north-western areas of Sulawesi, following last Friday’s 7.4-magnitude earthquake and the subsequent tsunami, survivors are scrambling to salvage food supplies and other items. Aid from the central Indonesian government is beginning to trickle into the…
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71 foreigners, including 32 Thais, found safe in Sulawesi
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency in Indonesia has announced that 71 foreign tourists were affected by the earthquake and tsunami that struck Sulawesi last Friday evening. Authorities say they have found 66 of the foreigners and declared them safe and accounted for. Two of the rescued tourists, a Singaporean and a Belgian, have now been moved to Jakarta. Of those,…
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Typhoon Trami cuts across Japan
Another powerful typhoon is unleashing heavy rain and winds on southern Japan as it slowly trudges its way north-east toward the Japan’s main islands and population centres this morning. Typhoon Trami is the equivalent of Category 2 hurricane. It passed over the Ryukyu Islands on Friday evening after taking a slow right-hand track and heading north out of the Pacific…
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Death toll approaches 400 in Sulawesi earthquake aftermath
Rescuers are still struggling to reach remote communities on the island of Sulawesi hit by an earthquake and tsunami just before 6pm, local time, on Friday. A spokesperson of the local disaster agency has confirmed that the official death toll is now up to 384, almost all from the coastal township of Palu as a result of a tsunami. A…
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India has highest number of Facebook users but Singapore is Asia’s FB star
By DataLEADS – Asia News Network Facebook is the most popular social network worldwide and Asia is Facebook’s most active region in terms of active users. India has the most number of Facebook registered users not only in Asia but in the world. Facebook users in India now number 251 million, becoming the largest audience country for the social media giant.…
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Large earthquake in Sulawesi. Palu struck by tsunami.
Another Indonesian earthquake, this time a shallow 7.5 magnitude tremor that was more powerful than the quakes that killed hundreds on Lombok island during July and August, has hit the central Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Rescuers are still scrambling to reach villages in central Indonesia to assess the damage after the earthquake hit, causing buildings to fall down and triggering…
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Typhoon Trami predicted to regain strength and hit Japan this weekend
Tropical Typhoon Trami has weakened and it is no longer considered a “super typhoon” but is still packing winds up to 195 kilometres per hour (121 mph). The islands in the storm’s projected path are bracing for its arrival. If the current projected path of the typhoon holds, Trami will hit the southern Japan Ryukyu islands, including Okinawa, some time…
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Duterte talks down a coup plot to remove him from office
The Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte is calling on his police force not to join any “stupid” coup attempts against his Presidential administration. His warning follows reports of a plot to oust the outspoken President. The plot has been nicknamed “Red October.” Quoted in inquirer.net, President Duterte said yesterday, “Do not go into such stupid thing as coup d’ etat. You’re…
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South Korean band’s motivational UN speech transcends race and gender identity
by Yim Hyun-su (hyunsu@heraldcorp.com) K-pop sensation BTS embraced self-love and encouraged young people around the world to “speak themselves” regardless of their origin, skin color and gender identity, in a speech at the UN General Assembly in New York yesterday. Kim Nam-joon, better known as RM, said, “No matter who you are, where you are from, your skin color, your…
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Budget Phuket to India direct, from October
Indian low-cost airline carrier GoAir will commence direct flights between India and Phuket in October. Flights between Delhi to Phuket start October 11 and from Mumbai on October 12. GoAir is the 5th largest airline in India, with a home base of Mumbai. The city-based airline, which became eligible to fly overseas more than two years ago when it took delivery of its…
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‘Stereotype’ problems for single Thai women travelling out of Thailand
A Thai woman has gone online to describe her experiences of being locked in a Johur Bahru immigration jail for three days. She said that Thai women travelling abroad alone, especially to other places in Asia, are often assumed to be working in the sex industry. The woman made her comments on the Pantip website under the name “Fernchiu” and said…
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Top 10 Museums in Asia
Asia has a lot of museums but many are a reminder about rough days in the past, moments in time remembered so they’re not repeated. Some of these Top 10 museums are just downright creepy. But they’re all interesting. Trip Advisor’s readers have ranked the Top 10 Asian museums. Thailand didn’t make it into the Top 10 but has a…
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Plastic straws to be banned in some Malaysian territories from January 1
Plastic straws are to be banned in all the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan in Malaysia from January 1 next year. Businesses which are still found to be using plastic straws in 2019 risk having their business licences terminated. Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Adnan Mohd Ikhsan says, “The ban on plastic straws is in addition to the…
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Former Malay PM Najib to face up to 20 charges over 1MDB scandal
by The Star – Asia News Network Former Malaysian PM Najib Razak is expected to face “nothing less” than 20 charges under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act. A mountain of legal challenges lies ahead of Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak as authorities bring fresh charges against the former PM over the multibillion-ringgit 1Malaysia Development Bhd…
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Japanese billionaire buys a ticket to the moon
Elon Musk, fresh from being sued by Vernon Unsworth for his slanderous comments during the Tham Luang cave rescue mission, has now announced that he is sending Japanese tourists up with his company Space X’s first moon mission. Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa will be Earth’s first moon tourist. It is not known how much he paid for the return trip…
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Thai fined $6,000 for defaulting on Singapore national service obligations
by The Straits Times – Asia News Network PHOTO: Ong Wee Jin A Thai national, registered as a Singaporean when he was just a year old, but never lived in Singapore, has been fined S$6,000 for defaulting on his national service obligations in the Lion City. 24 year old Ekawit Tangtrakarn, an application engineer, committed the enlistment offence before he ceased…
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Singapore #1, Thailand #6 – Asia’s most innovative nations
by DataLEADS/Asia News Network Singapore, South Korea and Japan are the most innovative countries in Asia whereas Pakistan and Bangladesh are the least innovative, according to the Global Innovation Index 2018 report. Thailand comes in number 6 out of the 17 ranked countries. The report analyses the energy innovation landscape of the next decade and identifies possible breakthroughs in fields…
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Death toll rises in the wake of Mangkhut in northern Philippines
by The Philippine Daily Inquirer – Asia News Network – BAGUIO CITY Massive landslides have killed 64 people while 45 others remain missing in this city and in the provinces of Benguet, Mountain Province, Kalinga and Nueva Vizcaya, as Typhoon “Ompong” (international name: Mangkhut) unleased its fury on Friday night and early Saturday, the Philippine National Police said on Sunday. The PNP…
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Air Asia cancel flights into southern China
Air Asia has announced the cancellation of 32 regional flights through southern China scheduled on Sunday as there was potential the flights could be affected by Typhoon Mangkhut. Flights affected are routes landing in Hong Kong, Macau and Shenzhen, China. The affected return flights are Phuket-Macao, Don Mueng-Hong Kong, Don Meuang-Macao, Don Meuang-Shantou, Chiang Mai-Hong Kong, Utapao-Macao, Phuket-Hong Kong, Chiang…
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Typhoon Mankhut batters Hong Kong and Macau
Swaying buildings, scaffolding being torn off buildings under construction, collapsed walls, smashed windows and flooding. That’s the result after Typhoon Mangkhut slammed into Hong Kong and Macau today around lunchtime. Heavy rain and strong winds have delivered storm surges of up to three metres in coastal regions such as Heng Fa Chuen in eastern Hong Kong Island and Tai O…
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