World News
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Sponsored Is private health insurance in Thailand worth it? Real costs vs risks explained
Thailand has a strong healthcare system with both public and private options. Public hospitals offer affordable care, but many people, including expats, choose private health insurance for faster service, modern facilities, and more treatment choices. To decide if private health...
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Thailand ranked 3rd to last worldwide on Covid-19 handling
In a display of just how far you can fall, Thailand, once ranked as one of the top countries in the world for Covid-19 handling is now almost at the bottom of the rankings, number 118 out of 120. The Nikkei Asia Covid-19 recovery index calculated data from 120 countries worldwide and ranked Thailand third from last. The study combines…
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Coronavirus digest: WHO puts death toll at 4 million
The global death toll from the coronavirus had reached 4 million, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday. The UN’s health agency called on governments to be cautious in lifting measures aimed at combating the pandemic. “The world is at a perilous point in this pandemic,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, saying the latest toll was an underestimate…
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Anger and tears over shooting of Dutch crime reporter Peter R. de Vries
“Your work is not finished, Peter R. de Vries. Keep fighting,” says 61-year-old Renate Tjon-Fo who is standing in front of the rows of flowers placed where Dutch crime journalist Peter R. de Vries was shot on Tuesday night. Television crews and journalists from across the world gather outside the studio of RTL Boulevard, a popular Dutch daily television program.…
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Anger and tears over shooting of Dutch crime reporter Robert R. de Vries
“Your work is not finished, Peter R. de Vries. Keep fighting,” says 61-year-old Renate Tjon-Fo who is standing in front of the rows of flowers placed where Dutch crime journalist Peter R. de Vries was shot on Tuesday night. Television crews and journalists from across the world gather outside the studio of RTL Boulevard, a popular Dutch daily television program.…
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World in Progress: Lake Kivu, a ticking time bomb?
This in-depth feature by Thomas Kruchem is presented by Neil King. SOURCE: DW News
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European Parliament demands action over Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ law
Members of the European Parliament are set to vote overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution demanding the EU fast-tracks legal action against Hungary over its new anti-LGBTQ law. During a debate on the issue in Strasbourg, German Green MEP Terry Reintke said “democracy, fundamental rights and the rule of law are dismantled inside the EU before our very eyes.” The…
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Taliban advances: Why are Afghans so skeptical about Pakistan?
Most media outlets and political commentators in Afghanistan are blaming Islamabad for the current turmoil in their country, alleging that the Pakistani military and its intelligence agencies are backing the Taliban amid the withdrawal of foreign troops, helping militants capture more territories. These are not new accusations; Afghan officials have long maintained that Pakistan provides shelter and military support to…
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COVID: Indonesian hospitals grapple with shortages as cases surge
Indonesia’s health care system and hospitals are struggling to keep up with an influx of new COVID patients. One of the largest hospitals in Indonesia’s Yogyakarta province reported last week that dozens of patients died after the hospital ran out of oxygen due to the large numbers of COVID-19 patients coming in. Meanwhile, in the capital Jakarta, the daily funeral…
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Africalink 06.07.21 – 16 UTC – MP3-Stereo
Africa struggles under the new COVID-19 delta variant+++ Zambians prepare for the funeral of first president Kenneth Kaunda+++ +++Nigeria kidnappings+++ Ndikung: Someone to suit Berlin’s House of World Cultures SOURCE: DW News
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Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa on the defensive
Arriving in Strasbourg, Jansa was greeted with a protest sign demanding his government “protects the rule of law.” He has attacked independent journalists from his Twitter account and supported former President Donald Trump’s claims that last November’s elections in the United States were rigged. Inside the European Parliament chamber, MEPs listened to Jansa outline his priorities for Slovenia’s six-month EU…
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What is the future of democracy in the Philippines?
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has announced plans to run for vice president when his term ends in May 2022, raising concerns about how it could bypass presidential term limits and keep him in power, while granting immunity from criminal charges. “Consider me a candidate for the vice presidency at this time, maybe to maintain equilibrium for all,” Duterte told reporters…
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Cannes: Film spotlights one of Japan’s last WWII stragglers
An international production about a Japanese soldier who remained in the Philippine jungle for 29 years after the end of World War II, will make its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival this month. “Onoda — 10,000 Nights in the Jungle,” which is set to debut on Wednesday, is expected to receive glowing reviews from foreign audiences. The movie will…
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Nigerian kidnappings reach crisis point
Gunmen kidnapped 140 students from a boarding school in northwestern Nigeria on Monday. It was the latest in a wave of mass abductions targeting schoolchildren in Africa’s most populous nation. The assailants opened fire and overpowered security guards after storming the Bethel Baptist High School in Kaduna state before abducting most of the 165 pupils boarding there overnight. ‘Government failure’…
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9 Hong Kongers arrested on terror charges, 6 out of 9 teenagers
Hong Kong police announced today that 6 of 9 Hong Kongers that were arrested on terror charges for allegedly trying to make a bomb were kids. Police say 5 males and 4 females between the ages of 15 and 39 were arrested on suspicion of “conspiracy to use explosives for terrorist activities”. 6 are teenage students and 3 are adults…
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16 apprehended near Myanmar border
From yesterday to today, 16 people were apprehended today near the Myanmar border in Tak, a northern Thai province The apprehended include 11 illegal migrants, 3 Thais who assisted the migrants, and 2 Chinese nationals who had escaped from quarantine. A concealed army patrol saw a pickup truck pull up close to a natural border crossing in the Wang Takhian…
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Northern Thai police seize assets, drugs valued at over 900 million baht
Northern Thai police have seized assets/drugs valued at $31.127 million US dollars (over 900 million baht) from a drug cartel that has been based out of the Golden Triangle. Secretary General of the Office of the Narcotics Board Wichai Chaimongkol, said yesterday that the cartel moved heroin from Northern Thailand into Malaysia by way of a production centre somewhere in…
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Bangladesh struggling to rein in COVID delta variant
Bangladesh has been witnessing an alarming rise in coronavirus cases over the past several days, prompting the government to deploy the military to the nation’s streets to ensure that people stay indoors and don’t violate lockdown restrictions. The surge in the South Asian country’s COVID infections is blamed largely on the highly infectious delta variant first detected in India. Hospitals…
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Journalists under threat: July’s 10 most urgent cases
Across the world, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to exert a toll on the way we live, it has also reshaped the way journalists work. Covering the pandemic and its aftermath has led to direct exposure to the virus, but just as concerningly, journalists have been exposed to the whims of authorities in some countries that use the contagion as…
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COVID: High medical expenses take toll on poor families in India
Anindita Gupta, a resident of the eastern city of Kolkata, said she had to sell some of her jewelry to pay for the treatment of her brother-in-law at a private hospital. Her brother-in-law, who had contracted COVID-19, needed the support of an ECMO, which is used to pump and oxygenate a patient’s blood outside the body. So, at the end…
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Indonesia bars unvaccinated foreign visitors as Delta variant spreads
Foreign nationals who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19 will be barred from entering Indonesia as the Southeast Asian country works to contain the more transmissible Delta variant. The order goes into effect tomorrow. The government made an announcement yesterday saying that along with being vaccinated, foreign travellers must test negative for Covid-19 and undergo an 8-day quarantine upon arrival.…
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Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone building airport, crime feared
Construction has resumed on a private airport in Laos on the Thai border as part of the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone, a casino resort complex considered to be rife with illegal activity. The owner of the development, Zhao Wei, is the chairman of the Dok Ngiew Kham Group and has been named in connection with human trafficking, drugs, money…
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France hopes deporting more alleged radicals will bring security
When the French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin summoned the country’s regional prefects in June, his message was clear. The authorities in France’s regions had to take swift, decisive action against foreigners who committed crimes. Residence permits should be reviewed, and more offenders should be deported if they had committed particularly serious crimes, such as second-degree murder, drug trafficking, and rape…
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Philippines military plane crashes, 17 confirmed dead
A C130 Hercules, Philippines military plane crashed earlier this morning. 92 people were on board. 17 people have been confirmed dead and 40 people have survived and were taken to a nearby military hospital. The plane crashed in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, 950 kilometres/600 miles south of the capital, Manila. The condition of the remaining soldiers is currently…
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South Korea launches Sandboxesque reopening
Vaccinated travellers can avoid 14-day quarantines as long as they have proof of World Health Organisation-approved vaccination, a negative Covid-19 test, are not travelling from a high-risk country, and get advance approval before travelling. Wait, wait! Before you click away, this isn’t yet another Phuket Sandbox story; this is the strikingly similar reopening plan enacted by South Korea that also…
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COVID-19: Africa plans a vaccine revolution
The third wave of coronavirus is rolling through much of Africa — and it could be the most severe of the pandemic yet, experts fear. The conditions on the continent could not be worse: The more contagious and arguably more dangerous delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which has already wreaked havoc in India, is now spreading in Africa, where…
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Caregivers face difficult labor conditions in Germany
“Polish nurses are desperate to leave Germany for Switzerland,” the caregiver Izabela Marcinek told DW. She herself spent years working as a caregiver after arriving in Germany and has since found work in Switzerland. “The differences are immense,” said Marcinek, who is 58, “especially when it comes to regulated working hours.” In the German domestic-nursing sector, she added, overextended caregivers…
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As Lebanon nears collapse, EU debates sanctions
Lebanon continues to unravel as its economic and political crisis worsens. The country has not had a government for almost a year now and its economy is in the process of collapsing after decades of mismanagement and corruption. Over the past month, there have been stories both absurd and horrifying coming out of the small Mediterranean nation. For instance, at…
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Myanmar trapped in a vicious cycle of violence
Since the military coup in Myanmar and the army’s violent suppression of pro-democracy protests, new armed resistance groups and conflict regions have been emerging in the Southeast Asian country. While a kind of urban guerilla has begun in major cities such as Yangon and Mandalay, the ousted democratically elected government has been trying to form a federal army underground, the…
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Emergency restrictions to be imposed in Indonesia as Covid infections surge
The Indonesian government is introducing emergency measures aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19 as infection rates rise steeply. President Joko Widodo says the restrictions are aimed at reducing new daily cases to below 10,000 and avoiding a collapse of the country’s healthcare system. “This situation has forced us to take stricter steps. I have decided to impose emergency restrictions.”…
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Volcano eruption in the Philippines, thousands evacuated
The public is reminded that the entire volcano island is a Permanent Danger Zone One of the world’s smallest active volcanoes, the Taal Volcano in the Philippines, is forcing tens of thousands of residents to evacuate after it started blasting out a kilometre high plume of gas and steam yesterday. The alert went out that that the volcano, which is…
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