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.
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Japanese documentary producer arrested in Myanmar
A Japanese documentary producer was imprisoned with two protesters after joining an anti-government protest in Yangon last Tuesday. The media reported that Toru Kubota, a 26 year old male photographer and documentary filmmaker, was arrested at a protest in the South Dagon Township in the southeastern area of Yangon on July 30. The report said he was arrested while gathering…
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Lucky American wins US$1.3 billion in lottery, identity still unknown
One lucky American bought the winning lottery ticket at a convenience store outside Chicago in a draw on Friday and landed a US$1.3 billion jackpot. The lucky winner hasn’t been identified yet but, whoever it is, they have scooped the third biggest lottery jackpot in US history. The winning numbers were 13, 36, 45, 57, and 67, plus the mega…
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PayPal, Yahoo, gaming sites blocked for users in Indonesia
Social media is erupting in Indonesia after the government blocked multiple gaming websites, PayPal, and Yahoo for failing to follow licensing rules in the country. The new regulations, enacted last November, allow authorities to force websites to share data of users and take down unlawful content that is said to disturb public order within 24 hours, or four hours for…
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Burmese and Karen forces battle for 7 hours near Thai border
Burmese and Karen forces battled each other for seven hours yesterday, close to the border between Myanmar and Thailand’s northern Tak province. It was the second day of consecutive fighting between the Burmese junta army, and the Karen National Liberation Army alongside Myanmar’s People’s Defence Force. The Burmese army had arrived in a Karen area aiming to capture it, but…
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Thai pop star flees to UK after fearing for her safety in Thailand
A controversial pop star from Thailand has relocated to the relative safe haven of the UK after fearing for her life. Constant fears of being incarcerated because of the clash between the kingdom’s conservatism and her contentious musical lyrics have driven Peeralada Sukawat from her homeland. It’s been something of a meteoric rise for the 29 year old musician, known…
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Travel packages mired by pricey airfare, slowing tourism recovery
Many that have been eagerly awaiting the full reopening of Thailand and the return of tourism, did not anticipate the severe cost of airfare and travel packages that has come with it. Now, tourism recovery in Thailand is threatened by the staggeringly high cost to fly, pricing many would-be travellers out of the trip. The president of the Thai Travel…
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10 million baht kidnapping of businessman by Chinese crooks is comedy of errors
The botched 10 million baht kidnapping of a Vanuatu businessman by three Chinese gangsters had the hallmarks of a blockbuster comedy movie stamped all over it. The hostage and ransom demand situation may not have been funny to the businessman and his girlfriend but the situation was pure slapstick and would not look out of place on the silver screen.…
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US $6.1 million paid for rare Gorgosaurus dinosaur skeleton
Got a couple of million dollars to blow and loved the latest Jurassic Park movie? You just missed your chance to own a rare dinosaur skeleton, as a rare Gorgosaurus fossil just sold at auction for US$6.1 million. The high bid was the fifth most expensive dinosaur sales ever. Sales like this are rare as most countries consider fossils from…
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37 million baht fines issued to Cambodian contraband thieves
Customs and excise chiefs revealed they will be handing out fines of 37 million baht after seizing contraband worth about 6 million baht on the Cambodian border. Excise officials, soldiers, and police yesterday captured almost 39,000 packs of various foreign cigarettes near a canal on the Cambodian border in the Aranyaprathet district of Sa Kaeo. They were discovered in 49…
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Southeast Asian Arts Forum 2022 is ready to rock n roll
If the arts, sustainability, and storytelling are your thing then you’re in luck because the Singaporean-based Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts is hosting a Southeast Asian Arts Forum 2022. The two-day hybrid forum, on August 4 and 5, kicking off at 1pm Bangkok time, wants to highlight where the arts stand in terms of sustainable practices in Southeast Asia. The…
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Study reminds that Long Covid, not just death, a hazard of infection
Much of the debate over the continued importance of the Covid-19 pandemic focuses on the milder variants lowering the death rate even when infections are on the rise. But Long Covid – the long-term effects of an infection that can last for weeks or months or longer – is an often overlooked, but potentially major, problem now and in the…
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Tenfold tourist increase due after Thailand-Saudi route opens
Thailand is expecting a tenfold increase in visitors from Saudi Arabia after the launch of the Bangkok to Jeddah route on August 19. Deputy government spokesperson Rachada Dhnadirek estimates that the upcoming launch of the direct air route between the holy city of Mecca and the Kingdom of Thailand’s capital city will push up the number of visitors from 30,000…
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Illegal massage therapists from Thailand arrested in Malaysia
Malaysian police swooped in to arrest the author of a sex syndicate trafficking Thai massage therapists in and out of Malaysia. The man was one of 28 people apprehended by the Malaysian Immigration Department as part of a three-day operation from July 21 to 23 around Johor Bahru. Immigration Director General Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud revealed the 40 year…
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Lulo Rose: Largest coloured diamond in 300 years found in Angola
What experts believe to be the largest coloured gemstone unearthed in 300 years, the “Lulo Rose” is a beautiful pink diamond that weighs in at an impressive 170 carats. Discovered at the Lulo alluvial diamond mine in the African nation of Angola, it was announced to the world by the Australian-based Lucapa Diamond Company that owns the mine on Wednesday.…
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Thailand deny Uyghurs deportation to China
Fears Thailand is in the process of deporting asylum-seeking Uyghurs back to China have been denied by the government. News broke yesterday that dozens of Uyghurs from all around Thailand had been rounded up and impounded in a detention facility in Bangkok, raising fears among non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that the government plans to deport them back to China. It sparked…
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UPDATE: Body of foreigner found dead in Phuket is US man
UPDATE: The foreigner’s body that was found in waters off Yanui Beach in Phuket’s main city district yesterday morning has been named as US citizen John Joseph Sheridan. The 74 year old’s body was discovered floating in the water after he apparently fell on sharp rocks and bled to death. Fisherman found Sheridan, from Pennsylvania, floating on the rocky part of the shore…
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UPDATE: Latest information about Philippines earthquakes – four dead
Here’s the latest from this morning’s series of earthquakes in the northern Philippines. The most prominent shake today was a 7.1-magnitude earthquake that rocked the northern Philippines Wednesday morning, Filipino time. The tremor shattered windows of buildings in the central Abra province and shook office buildings more than 300 kilometres to the north in the capital of Manila. Four people…
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New studies show Covid-19 started in Wuhan market, not lab
Two new studies suggest rumours of a lab leak or unnatural starts to Covid-19 are likely wrong, as a Wuhan animal market appears to be the epicentre of the pandemic’s beginnings. The studies were published Tuesday in Science, an academic journal, and point to a natural transition from animals to humans as the start of Covid, not any sort of…
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Magnitude 7+ earthquakes hit northern Philippine islands – VIDEO
The island of Luzon in the Philippines has been hit by a powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake sending strong tremors felt in many areas nearby, including the capital Manila. The earthquake was measured at around 10 – 40 kilometres deep. There have been other similar magnitude earthquakes being reported this morning (below). At this stage there are no immediate reports of…
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Australian passengers queuing up outside airport terminals as unions threaten more delays
The world’s travel woes have made their way to Australia. Long queues and equally long delays at Australian airports are set to get worse as baggage handlers across the east coast initiate industrial action at a lunchtime meeting today. The strike threatens to impact baggage handling for up to 20 airlines including Singapore Airlines, Qantas, Etihad, and Air Canada. With cancellations…
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Three killed during graduation ceremony in the Philippines
A former city mayor from the restive southern Filipino province of Basilan, along with her executive assistant and a university security guard, were killed in a shooting in the Philippine capital Manila. The incident occurred at the Ateneo de Manila University before a graduation ceremony that was to be presided over by the Philippines Supreme Court chief justice. Rose Furigay…
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US leads international outcry over execution of 4 Burmese anti-government activists
The US State Department has reacted to the murder of four democracy activists in a state-sanctioned execution, promising that there would be “further measures” to punish the military junta. US State Department spokesperson Ned Price called on countries to refuse to recognise the junta as Myanmar’s rightful government refuses to sell sales of military equipment to the military-controlled nation. “All…
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Thailand & Cambodian netizens row over lamduan flower
A row has broken out between Thai and Cambodian netizens over Cambodia’s national flower, which is featured on posters promoting the historical Thai movie Love Destiny 2. The Thai film studio GDH uploaded the poster on its official Facebook page on Saturday inviting audiences to reserve the tickets in advance as the film would be screened in five days on…
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Untold stories of Herculean cave rescue in Thailand
The heroic story of the Thai cave rescue has been told a number of times. We’ve read and heard about the Two British cave divers, John Volanthen and Richard Stanton, and their Herculean efforts to rescue the 12 boys and their football coach from the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Chiang Rai Province in northern Thailand. But what about the untold stories, the…
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Project proposal for Vietnamese city to become more walkable
Ho Chi Minh City officials are on a mission to make the Vietnamese city more walker friendly. In a proposed new pedestrian street project, the city will block 22 streets to traffic on weekends. The project will be spread into three phases between 2022 and 2025. In the first phase from 2022 and 2023, streets around the International Square roundabout…
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Monkeypox declared a Global Health Emergency by WHO
Monkeypox has been found in 74 countries around the world, including Thailand and now Cambodia, and the World Health Organisation (WHO)has now officially declared it a Global Health Emergency. The warning is the highest rating the WHO can assign, after nearly 17,000 people worldwide have been afflicted with the disease. The chief of the WHO held a press conference where…
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Rohingya genocide case allowed to move forward in UN Court
After more than a year of a violent and often bloody military coup in Myanmar, it’s easy to forget that the country was already mired in genocide accusations before forces overthrew the government in February of last year. But in an ongoing case, the International Court of Justice at the United Nations has rejected Myanmar’s attempt to avoid trial for…
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Nigerian monkeypox fugitive arrested in Cambodia
The first monkeypox case in Thailand has now become the first monkeypox case in Cambodia. A Nigerian man on the run after disappearing on Tuesday when diagnosed with monkeypox in Phuket has been apprehended in Cambodia. The deputy governor of Phnom Penh confirmed that 27 year old Osmond Chihazirim Nzere was arrested yesterday in the Cambodian capital city. The man…
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Japan keeps hitting new records in Covid-19 cases
Japan keeps hitting new records in its number of Covid-19 cases. Yesterday (Friday), there were over 190,000 cases in the island nation. On Thursday, there had been 186,246 cases. Last week, Japan hit a record of 110,600 cases. This news comes as Japan faces a seventh wave of Covid, caused by the BA.5 Omicron sub-variant. BA.5 makes up nearly 100%…
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Singapore hangs a fifth person in four months
Singapore has hanged its fifth person in the past four months. Malaysian 64 year old Nazeri bin Lajim was hanged at 6am at Changi Prison. He was sentenced to death in 2017, five years after he was arrested with two bundles containing heroin. It is understood that his family members were at the prison to claim his body and make…
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