World News
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Cyclone Amphan: Crossed the coast and now saturating India and Bangladesh
Cyclone Amphan made reached the coastline late yesterday afternoon near the Indian town of Digha, on India’s eastern coast, near the border with Bangladesh. As the storm marched up the Bay of Bengal since the weekend, strengthening, thousands of people were evacuated as a precaution for the major storm system. Millions of other have taken shelter or made their way…
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Thailand scores highest for mask-wearing in survey of ASEAN nations
A survey carried out by internet-based market research firm YouGov reveals that Thais are the most likely to wear face masks and to use hand sanitiser. Khaosod English reports that the survey examined the habits of citizens from 6 ASEAN member-states and found that 95% of Thais always wear a face mask in public. (It’s currently still law to wear…
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12 Rohingya arrested for illegal entry in Tak province
Police in the western Thai province of Tak, near the Burmese border, say 12 Rohingya were arrested in the Mae Sot district and charged with illegal entry. The Rohingya are an ethnic group in Myanmar. Most live in Rakhine State on Myanmar’s western coast. Myanmar is a majority Buddhist state, but the Rohingya are primarily Muslim, though a small number…
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Thais on repatriation flight from London were reported with ‘fevers’
Of the 264 passengers who arrived from London on a repatriated flight 2 days ago, yesterday deputy director of operations at Suvarnabhumi Airport reported that 9 Thais on the flight were discovered with a high temperature at the initial screening when they deplaned. “Airport staff screened all passengers who arrived on the EVA Air flight number BR068 from London.” “The…
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Trial Covid-19 vaccine shows promising results – VIDEO
US biotech firm Moderna announced yesterday that its trial vaccine, the first to be tested on humans, appears to be safe and able to stimulate an immune response against Covid-19 infection, offering a glimmer of hope in the ongoing battle to contain the pandemic. (Interview with trial patient below) The initial findings, from the first 8 people to receive 2…
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Global recovery unlikely to happen next year – IMF
The head of the International Monetary Fund says the global economy is going to take longer than initially thought to recover fully from the shock caused by the Covid-19 coronavirus. She’s also warning against the danger of protectionism. Kristalina Georgieva says the Fund is likely to revise its forecast for a 3% contraction in GDP in 2020 downward, but gave…
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“Off the charts” – biggest drug seizure in decades
“Truly off-the-charts.” That was the assessment of Jeremy Douglas from the UN Office of Drugs and Crime talking about a major drug seizure in Myanmar’s northern Shan state. How off the charts? Authorities seized 200 million methamphetamine tablets (yaba), more than 500 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine (ice), and 35.5 tonnes and 163,000 thousand litres of precursor chemicals used to manufacture…
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Global aviation in acute crisis
by Andrew J Wood “…by the end of May 2020 most airlines in the world will be bankrupt.” Global aviation has been battered and commercial scheduled air traffic remains mostly grounded as countries enforce their lockdowns and travel restrictions. There are few signs that the end is in sight. For the largest of carriers like IAG (British Airways), United, American…
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Cambodia discharges last Covid-19 patient, no new cases in a month
Thailand’s neighbour Cambodia has had no new Covid-19 cases for a month and its last patient has recovered and left hospital, leaving the country with 0 cases. But no easing of restrictions related to the virus, including school closures and border entry checks and quarantines, was mentioned in the statement from the Cambodian Ministry of Health. Cambodia’s last reported new…
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Synthetic drugs growing in east, Southeast Asia: UN report
The synthetic drugs market in East and Southeast Asia continues to expand and diversify, and the price of methamphetamine “yaba” tablets has dropped to the lowest level in a decade as the supply has surged. A report released yesterday by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime titled “Synthetic Drugs in East and Southeast Asia: Latest Developments and Challenges”, warns…
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Nearly 100 million baht of methamphetamine seized in Nong Khai
General Suchart Theerasawat, Deputy Director of the Nong Khai Police station (northeastern Thailand), has put the results of a massive drug haul on display for the media. Police had confiscated 28 sacks containing illicit drugs – 5,600,000 methamphetamine tablets (yaba) and 2 sacks of crystal methamphetamine (ice) weighing 33 kilograms. The drugs had an estimated street value of 93,900,000 baht.…
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Singapore nurse leads Covid-19 patients in dance routine – VIDEO
A video posted online shows a Singaporean nurse at a Covid-19 isolation facility leading a group of patients in a morning dance routine. The patients are all migrant labourers now recovering after being treated for the virus. Singapore experienced an unexpected second wave of infections when over 20,000 migrant workers, all living in close proximity, caught the virus, with hundreds of…
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Vongfong, aka. Ambo, barrels into Philippines’ east coast
Typhoon Vongfong (aka. ‘Ambo’ in the Philippines) has made landfall, forcing tens of thousands of people to quickly evacuate whilst in the middle of lockdown amid their local Covid-19 outbreak. The typhoon struck the Phillipines east coast islands around Samar at around noon yesterday. Around 200,000 people living in the coastal areas near Samar have been affected. Vongfong packed winds of…
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Alleged Burmese poachers arrested with carcasses of protected species
Forest rangers arrested 2 alleged poachers from Myanmar in the Thong Pha Phum National Park in the western border province of Kanchanaburi province yesterday. Officers seized shotguns and the carcasses of several protected animals from the suspects. The chief of the national park said the rangers caught the suspects in Hindad subdistrict in Thong Pha Phum district, which borders with…
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WHO spokesman: Covid-19 may never be wiped out
As nations around the world begin gradually lifting lockdown restrictions enacted to stem the spread of Covid-19, the World Health Organisation is warning that the virus may never be completely wiped out. The virus was first detected in Wuhan in China in December last year and has now infected more than 4.3 million people and killed nearly 300,000 worldwide. The WHO’s…
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Australian government takes on Google and Facebook over re-publishing ‘news’
A leading Australian consumer watchdog is calling for Google and other tech giants to pay Australian news outlets A$600 million (12.4 billion baht) a year under a new code of conduct ordered by the government. News Limited and Nine Entertainment have also voiced their support for the news ‘tax’. The Australia government announced plans to force Google, Facebook, and other…
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Fewer Chinese tour groups, more independent travellers to reboot SE Asia travel
Hoping that Chinese tourism is going to ride magically back into Thailand on the back of a gleaming red dragon and save the tattered tourism sector may be precipitous. Of course there are so, so many unknowns even the regular travel writers and consultants are scrambling to forecast a way forward. For Thailand, the ban on international flights hasn’t even…
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Typhoon Vongfong closes in on the Philippines, hits coast later today
The Philippines is bracing for the arrival of Typhoon Vongfong. During Tuesday and Wednesday, Vongfong strengthened from a modest tropical storm with winds of 95 kph to the equivalent of a major typhoon. Maximum sustained winds are now up to 195 kph and the typhoon continues to strengthen as it approaches the Philippines’ coast. The only difference between a ‘hurricane’ and…
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‘Vongfong’ heads northwest along Philippines coast
The first potential typhoon for this year’s typhoon and storm season in the western Pacific now has a name. It’s been called ‘Vongfong’ and is is quickly becoming a threat to the Philippines. While the peak of the western Pacific typhoon season is late summer, there are frequent storms in the winter or early spring due to the warm waters of…
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Regional travel bubbles, the short-term tourism solution
As nations slowly get their heads around the first outbreaks of Covid-19, the attention is now pivoting to re-opening businesses. And re-opening borders for tourism. But, at least for the short term, the future of tourism will probably be regional travel bubbles – loose agreements between neighbouring nations to allow (reasonably) free travel between two or three countries. Staying isolated…
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Thailand rescue dog from meat trade performs on Britain’s Got Talent
A dog rescued from Thailand’s illegal meat trade brought tears to those on the TV show Britain’s Got Talent. There was silence as the story of Miracle the dog played on a screen to the audience. A photo flashed on the screen of when the dog was crushed in a cage piled high with dogs. “When the dog rescuer first saw him…
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China on alert as 17 new Covid-19 cases reported, highest in two weeks
China has recorded its highest daily increase in new Covid-19 cases since April 28, with 17 new cases. Five of those are in Wuhan, where the outbreak began in late 2019, and is the highest number recorded there since March 11. A Reuters report says that 7 of the cases recorded yesterday involve arrivals from overseas, a big jump from…
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Border patrols nab 29 Thais sneaking back from Malaysia
Border patrol police arrested 29 Thai nationals for illegal entry yesterday, as they were attempting to sneak over the Malaysian border into the Sabayoi district of Thailand’s southern Songkhla province, mostly heavily wooded forest. The group – 18 men and 11 women – rode through forests on 15 motorbikes to avoid immigration checkpoints. They were intercepted by police on a…
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Rock legend Little Richard – dead at 87
The music world has lost an icon: Little Richard, a pioneer who, with a few others, transformed Chicago (electric) blues into the frenzied new style called rock ‘n’ roll, has died. He was 87. His outrageous antics showmanship and lightning-fast rhythms intoxicated crowds in the 1950s with hits like “Tutti Frutti” and “Long Tall Sally.” Rolling Stone magazine said yesterday…
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Coronavirus pandemic reaches 4 million people infected
Across the world some 4,100,000+ people are now infected with Covid-19. The actual number is much higher but, for lack of testing and diagnosis in some countries, we may never know the exact number. Still the statistics, as varied and unreliable as they may be, still provide some general trends and provide scientists with valuable data. There has never been…
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US State Department claims China and Russia conspiring to rewrite coronavirus narrative
The US yesterday accused China and Russia of cooperating to spread false claims the Covid-19 pandemic, claiming Beijing is increasingly adopting techniques perfected by Moscow. Lea Gabrielle, coordinator of the US State Department’s Global Engagement Centre, which tracks foreign propaganda, told reporters: “Even before the Covid-19 crisis we assessed a certain level of coordination between Russia and the People’s Republic…
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Bike-riding monkey attacks, drags Indonesian toddler – VIDEO
A video showing a monkey grabbing and dragging a toddler along a street in Indonesia has gone viral, leaving netizens around the world arguing over what actually happened. Was it a simian kidnap, a monkey mucking around, or a hungry monkey with evil intentions? Asiaone reports that the incident occurred in Surabaya, Indonesia last week. The clip shows the monkey…
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Former Garuda Indonesia CEO jailed over aircraft engine rort
A former CEO for Indonesian national carrier Garuda Indonesia has been jailed for bribery and money laundering. The sentence was related to the procurement of planes and engines from Airbus and Rolls-Royce for the airline. Emirsyah Satar has been handed down an 8 year sentence and fined US$1.4 million by the country’s corruption court. Mr. Satar served as CEO of…
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Thousands of cruise ship crew stranded at sea
Tens of thousands of cruise ship crew members remain stranded at sea, virtual prisoners on their ships with no clear end in sight as the Covid-19 coronavirus drags on around the globe. The cruise industry has been shuttered and shattered by the crisis, with onboard outbreaks, denial of port access and no clear idea of when guest will return and…
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Leading Philippines broadcaster shut down after clashes with Duterte
The Philippines’ leading television and radio broadcaster, ABS-CBN, has been ordered to shut down by the country’s parliament, where the majority of members are loyal to President Rodrigo Duterte. Critical coverage of President Duterte’s controversial war on drugs angered the Philippine leader, but his gripe with ABS-CBN goes back to the 2016 presidential election when he accused the network of refusing to…
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