World News
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Sponsored Do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?
Thailand’s healthcare system is well-regarded across Southeast Asia, with options ranging from public hospitals to world-class private facilities. But when it comes to foreign residents or tourists, healthcare access isn’t as straightforward. So, do foreigners get free healthcare in Thailand?...
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Beijing Winter Olympics to take place without overseas spectators
The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics will take place without any overseas fans present, according to a decision made by the Chinese organisers. The decision was announced by the International Olympic Committee yesterday. Attendance at the games will be limited to people living in China, in a bid to mitigate the risks posed by Covid-19. The games are scheduled to take…
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Ivermectin poisonings increase in the US, ineffective for Covid-19
In a recent report, the Financial Times said that reported poisonings and serious adverse health effects have more than doubled from Americans consuming the controversial drug Ivermectin, falsely believing it is a cure for Covid-19. The antiparasitic drug, commonly used in veterinary science, with limited applications for use on humans, has been touted by some as a vaccine-free solution to…
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Minister Don meets US officials over vaccine donation to Thailand
In Washington DC, Minister of Foreign Affairs Don Pramudwinai met with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and US Senator Tammy Duckworth to discuss the 1 million Pfizer vaccines the US donated that Thailand has yet to collect. Last week both sides argued that they were waiting on the other’s bureaucratic red tape to complete the donation, with Minister of…
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Indonesian officials look to Phuket sandbox amid tentative re-opening plans for Bali
Tourism officials in Indonesia are monitoring the Phuket sandbox as they consider gradually re-opening Bali to foreign tourists. According to an AFP report, a final decision on re-opening the normally hugely popular island of Bali could happen today. However, the country’s tourism minister, Sandiaga Uno, says any re-opening will have to proceed with caution. “My recommendation is that we move…
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Indian Right Livelihood winner: ‘Blurred lines between ecology and human rights’
Ritwick Dutta, a founding lawyer of the Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE), which works with communities through a grassroots approach, was thrilled to receive the Right Livelihood Award. “Our work is not so publicized and to be honored in this way is definitely a recognition of the fight against some of India’s most significant environmental threats,” Dutta told…
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The Egyptian women reviving an ancient musical tradition
SOURCE: DW News
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The music uniting Tigrayan soldiers and refugees amidst conflict / The Tigrayan musical traditions helping soldiers and refugees heal
A conflict between the central government in Ethiopia and the northern region of Tigray has spawned a dire humanitarian situation. Amid widespread famine and death over the past year, Tigrayan soldiers and refugees alike have taken comfort in the healing power of their own musical traditions. Reporter Emily Johnson met with some of the musicians at a refugee camp in…
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Ethiopia’s Tigray crisis: What’s the latest?
After months of rising tensions, fighting broke out in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region in November 2020, pitting Tigrayan forces against the central government and forces from neighboring Eritrea. Nearly a year later, both sides face allegations of human rights abuses as the conflict continues. William Davison, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, updates us on the situation. SOURCE: DW…
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Guinea’s coup leaders try to keep investors happy
In the view of one official working in Guinea for the Russian aluminum giant Rusal, the military coup of September 5, which toppled President Alpha Conde, has not disrupted the mining sector as much an some had predicted. “Everything is stable, business is going on,” he told he told news agency AFP. “It’s just a transition period we are going…
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Tunisia’s opposition stands up to president’s power grab
At first, they praised him for taking such direct action to resolve Tunisia’s problems. But over the past few days, President Kais Saied has come under increasing pressure from some of his former allies. On July 25, faced with economic turmoil, the COVID-19 pandemic and political gridlock, Saied suspended Tunisia’s parliament, dismissed sitting Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and granted himself…
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The tragedy of Babi Yar: An assembly line of death in Kyiv
Anna Furman has been able to identify around 28,300 names so far. “In the past year, more than 1,000 new names were added,” the project manager at the Ukrainian Babi Yar Memorial Center told DW. But Furman and her colleagues still have a lot of work to do. Exactly 80 years ago, on September 29 and 30, 1941, the Nazis…
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2021 Right Livelihood winners fight for climate and justice
Marthe Wandou Marthe Wandou has been fighting against sexual violence and promoting women’s and children’s rights in Cameroon for decades. Founded in 1998, her nongovernmental organization, Action Locale pour un Developpement Participatif et Autogere (ALDEPA), applies a holistic approach focusing on education, abuse prevention, and providing psychosocial care as well as legal counsel. ALDEPA also seeks to effect broad societal…
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Ethiopia: War and optimism collide as Abiy Ahmed prepares to form a new government
On October 5 2020, the mandate of the current Ethiopian Parliament expired. Planned elections had been postponed — officially because of the COVID-19 pandemic — sparking swift criticism from opposition parties. That same day, the leaders of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) — the dominant party in the country’s northern Tigray region — declared they would no longer recognize…
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Who will be Japan’s next prime minister?
Japan’s minister for vaccines and reform, Taro Kono, is way ahead of his rivals for the job as head of the country’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) when party members and its elected politicians vote on Wednesday, according to opinion polls. Despite that popularity, analysts believe that quietly agreed pacts and promises between the party’s rival factions will ensure a…
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Yo, dude! Surfing dogs on Huntington Beach
America is known for its crazy competitions, and the annual Surf City Surf Dog event on Huntington Beach, California, is definitely one of them — a totally rad get-together for the world’s top surfing dogs. SOURCE: DW News
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Member of European Parliament wants Bulgarian cops watched
At a press conference in Sofia recently, Sophie in’t Veld, the chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, accused Bulgarian Prosecutor General Ivan Zhev of invoking “extraordinary powers” to target the opposition. In ‘t Veld, who led a European Parliament delegation to Bulgaria in December to investigate reports of official misdeeds, said Zhev had…
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Will China’s move against coal power improve its image in EU?
The Chinese government made the surprise announcement last week that it will stop building coal-fired power stations abroad, a decision that could put it in the good books of the increasingly eco-conscious European Union. The pledge was made by Chinese President Xi Jinping in a pre-recorded address to the UN General Assembly, although he gave few details and questions remain…
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TAT pushes for Indonesia, Malaysia to be added to approved list for Phuket sandbox
The Tourism Authority of Thailand says there is demand in the Malaysian and Indonesian markets, but both countries are currently off the approved list for the Phuket sandbox. The Bangkok Post reports that Sophon Tantayotai from the TAT’s Jakarta office says Indonesians are allowed to travel abroad but cannot avail of the Phuket sandbox, instead having to quarantine for 14…
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Powerful earthquake strikes near the Phillippines main island
A powerful earthquake struck just off the Philippines’ main island of Luzon, today. There was no reported damage or injuries, says the US Geological Survey and officials. The earthquake registered at a deep, 5.7 magnitude and hit near the Batangas province around midnight, Thailand time. Locals in Manila say there were woken up when their houses started shaking. The USGS…
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12 Burmese migrant workers arrested in Kanchanaburi
12 Burmese migrant workers have been arrested near a border village in the Muang district in western Thailand’s Kanchanaburi province. Police say the group was arrested yesterday for illegal entry. The group of 5 men and 7 women were arrested by an army patrol from the Lat Ya Task Force around 4pm. The Bangkok Post says the group was hiding…
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Study says Covid has reduced life expectancy the most since WWII
The Covid pandemic has slashed life expectancy in 2020 by the greatest amount since WWII, says a study published today by Oxford University. The report says the life expectancy of American men has been reduced by over 2 years. The report goes on to say that life expectancy dropped by over 6 months juxtaposed with 2019 in 22 of the…
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Czech Republic: Historic military bunkers go on sale
In the late 1930s, what was then Czechoslovakia built an extensive network of fortifications along the border with what was then the German Reich. Prague feared that the Germans would launch a surprise assault and overrun the country’s defenses before there was time to mobilize the army and reserves. Although the fortifications were not fully completed by September 1938, together…
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10 Burmese migrant workers arrested in Songkhla
10 Burmese migrant workers were arrested this morning at a rubber plantation near the Malaysian border in the southern Thai province of Songkhla. Police say 7 migrant workers managed to evade capture. A combination of provincial and immigration police went to the plantation that is near the Dan Nok Village, opposite Malaysia’s Kedah State, in anticipation of a van full…
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China announces cryptocurrency trading is illegal
China’s central bank has announced that all transactions using cryptocurrencies are illegal and have increased crackdown efforts on illegal mining of the currencies in China. Chinese banks have been prohibited from handling cryptocurrencies for nearly a decade, but traders have continued to buy and sell cryptocurrencies surreptitiously for years. China has also previously been considered one of the biggest producers…
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Switzerland’s same-sex marriage referendum explained
Switzerland is one of the last nations in Western Europe to ban same-sex marriage. That could change on Sundaywhen voters decide if they should extend gay and lesbian couples the same rights as their heterosexual counterparts. The Swiss parliament alreadylegalized marriage for all last December, but a group of conservative Christian parties pushed for the decision to be revised in…
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Transgender who fled to Thailand faces extradition to Malaysia
The future of a transgender Malaysian businesswoman hangs in the balance after she was arrested for illegally entering Thailand while fleeing prosecution under Islamic law in Malaysia. Nur Sajet fled from Malaysia where she faces charges of up to three years in prison and a fine for dressing as a woman in 2018 at a religious event. The transgender cosmetics…
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Libya: Will elections finally bring healing?
Throughout the year, national and international hopes have been pinned to the date of the Libyan national elections on December 24. However, exactly three months prior to this election date, the situation on the ground is becoming increasingly fractured. This week, the Tobruk-based lower chamber of the Libyan parliament, also called the House of Representatives, withdrew its support for the…
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UN General Assembly: Africa’s leaders push for unity
World leaders are delivering their speeches at the United Nation’s General Assembly in New York. In the past, Africans have mainly ignored this event but this year appears to be different. DW has the highlights of what several African nations brought to the global arena. Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan makes debut Making her maiden appearance at the UN General…
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Are the US and China tiptoeing towards an Indo-Pacific Cold War?
The new security partnership between the United States, United Kingdom and Australia, dubbed “AUKUS,” has made waves from Asia to Europe. Beijing called the partnership “highly irresponsible” and indicative of a Cold War-style “arms race.” Washington’s European allies received AUKUS as a surprise and a snub. France was especially furious, as the agreement meant scrapping a multibillion-dollar, diesel-electric submarine deal…
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India: Why many medical students are taking their own lives
In what should be the beginning of a successful career, Barnali took her entrance exam to become a medical student in India this year. But the experience has been far from pleasant, as she explained to DW. “My parents are both doctors,” she began. “So I have always felt pressurized to take up medicine as a career. I don’t think…
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