World News
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Helicopters high over Halong Bay, Vietnam
Your visit to Vietnam’s Halong Bay, a cruising Mecca for half a century, can now be enjoyed from above. The Northern Vietnam Helicopter Company will now provide scenic flights over the famous bay, one of the most popular tourist destinations in Vietnam. Flights will start at $125 (3,920 baht) for a 12 minute flight – that will take you over six tourist sites,…
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Goodbye iTunes, hello new dedicated Apps
In January 2001 Apple announced iTunes. It changed everything in the music industry and has gone on to spawn other more modern forms of music purchases and sharing. It was a true ‘disrupter’ for the time. Then, just eight months later would come the iPod which fundamentally changed the way we listen to music as well. Now Apple is introducing…
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Campaign to clear ‘Ghost Nets’ from Mergui Archipelago, Myanmar
A team of experienced divers from around the world have launched a campaign to clear lost and disused fishing nets, known as ghost nets, from the coral reefs in Myanmar’s Mergui Archipelago. Ghost nets, or ALDFG (abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear), include fishing nets, lines and traps which are left in the ocean and become entangled in rocks and…
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Japan’s Nissin Electric moves production to Myanmar from Thailand
Nissin Electrics of Japan are building a new plant in Myanmar, which will shift some of their production from factories in Vietnam and Thailand, in an effort to cut labour costs. Nissin Electrics manufacture gas insulated switchgears, capacitors, transformers, instrument transformers and medium-low voltage metal enclosed equipment. Bangkok Post reports that the company announced it will form a joint venture with Hosoda…
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Travel’s dynamic changes – A personal perspective
by Andrew J Wood – President SKÅL International Bangkok With the dramatic announcement of the sale of retail travel giant Thomas Cook following the loss of £1.5 billion brings the blight of the travel agent community into the news once more. Last week Wall Street bank Citigroup advised investors to sell shares in the travel company. Confidence that travel agents…
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ASEAN group calls for end of judicial ‘harassment’ of Thai MPs
The ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights, based in Jakarta, is calling on Thai authorities to end what they describe as harassment of the Future Forward party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit. They’ve also asked the ruling Junta to stop their efforts to undermine anti-military parties in the new Thai parliament. Charles Santiago, Chair of APHR and a Member of Parliament in Malaysia…
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Lee Kuan Yew’s grandson marries same sex partner in South Africa
by The Star – Asia News Network The grandson of the late Singapore PM Lee Kuan Yew, Li Huanwu, has married his “soul mate” in Cape Town, South Africa. This was revealed by Li’s partner, Heng Yirui, who made the announcement on his personal Instagram account. “Today I marry my soul mate. Looking forward to a lifetime of moments like this with…
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Bali flights cancelled as Mount Agung stirs again
Mount Agung, Bali’s active volcano, has erupted again, spewing ash and hot lava that ran down 3 km from the crater, causing authorities to cancel flights in and out of Denpasar. Indonesia’s Center of Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation (PVMBG) says the eruption was recorded at 19:30 Central Indonesian Time (WITA) and lasted for 4 minutes and 30 seconds. The…
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Chinese, Taiwanese and Singaporeans dominate Asia’s cruise market
Chinese travellers continue to dominate Asia’s passenger cruise market, but Taiwanese and Singaporeans aren’t far behind. This according to the 2018 Asia Cruise Industry Ocean Source Market Report. Commissioned by the Cruise Lines International Association, the report looks at the growth, demographics and trends of the top source markets in Asia. While China continues to dominate the passenger share of…
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“Very dangerous” Huawei could be part of a US-China trade deal
President Donald Trump has reiterated his complaints against China’s Huawei Technologies but conceded that they could be resolved as part of a negotiated US-China trade deal. Without providing evidence, he went on to call the Chinese telecommunications giant “very dangerous.” The US has virtually banned firms from conducting business with Huawei, the world’s largest telecom manufacturer, citing unspecified national security…
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Second night of violence over election results – Jakarta
Indonesian police have again fired water cannon and rubber bullets at protesters who were setting fires and trying to breach barbed wire barricades yesterday as demonstrations over the results of the presidential election hit the capital for a second night. The riots followed the announcement by the General Election Commission confirming that President Joko Widodo had had won the election…
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US temporarily ease restrictions on Huawei
PHOTO: Huawei’s founder Ren Zhengfei and Chinese President Xi Jinping – SCMP The US has temporarily eased some of the restrictions on China’s Huawei, the world’s largest phone and telecom equipment maker, to minimise disruption to its customers. But Huawei’s founder, Ren Zhengfei, says it means little because the company was well prepared for any US restrictions to their trading. The…
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‘Game of Thrones’ finale rates high, fails the landing
WARNING: GOT Spoiler alerts!! “This final season has obviously been divisive, and a good deal of the criticism, especially of the penultimate episode, was justified.” by Brian Lowry After eight seasons, 73 episodes and a much-debated flurry of plot developments, that signature first-season line proved the key to unraveling the “Game of Thrones” finale, which, after a season that was…
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Google cut off Huawei’s access to some Android apps and services
In a surprise response to the ongoing Huawei vs Trump administration spat, Google has halted its business operations with Huawei. Huawei is one of the leading mobile phone manufacturers in the world. The Google ‘pull out’ is effective immediately, according to a report from Reuters. The halted business streams include anything in relation to the transfer of hardware and software…
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Conservative Liberal coalition wins Australian election
(For US readers, ‘Liberal’ is the name of the main conservative party in Australian, not to be confused with the way the term ‘liberal’ is used in American politics) Australia’s ruling Liberal conservative party coalition has defied polls to hold onto power in the Australian national election yesterday. While it remains unclear if PM ScottMorrison’s Liberal party and their country-based…
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Boeing knew about problems with 737 Max 8 jets before second crash
PHOTO: American Airlines They knew because plenty of pilots told them, on tape. In the months between the two Boeing 737 Max airplane crashes, pilots from American Airlines confronted a Boeing official about the controversial MCAS computerised anti-stall system that preliminary reports have now implicated in both deadly wrecks. The audio of the meeting has been obtained by the US’…
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Now you can ‘Grab’ a hotel as well
If you’ve used Grab you’ll realise what a big announcement this is. It immerses yet another service within their intuitive App. Grab, already a leading App in Southeast Asia, has announced the launch of its ‘Hotels’ booking service. The company says customers will now be able to book hotels and other accommodation from Agoda and soon, Booking.com directly from their Grab…
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Urgent meetings to consider impact of US-China trade war on Thai exports
The Thai government is reacting quickly to perceived threats to the Thai export business by the ongoing US-China trade wars which have been ramped up in the past week by, firstly, US President Donald Trump rising the tariffs on a raft of additional Chinese items. Then China announced yesterday that it will impose tariffs on US$60 billion of US goods from June…
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US-China trade tensions reverberate around the world
New global diplomatic and economic fault lines are appearing, with new and untested consequences emerging. ‘Volatile’ does’t even start to describe the current situation. US President Donald Trump’s combative stance, made clear with a new round of import tariffs imposed, continues to upend decades of trade diplomacy and cautious negotiations as he tries to coax China to change their trading…
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It is a great ‘responsibilty’ to print 46 million bank notes
You had one job… 46 million freshly minted $50 notes have just been printed. They’re a lovely new design but with one minor problem. There’s a typo, according to the Australian Reserve Bank. The “new and improved” A$50 banknote was rolled out last year, including new artwork and new technologies. But the yellow-ish new A$50 note also contains a typo…
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Vietjet reports strong revenue for Q1 2019
Vietjet has reported revenue is up by nearly 28% during the first quarter of 2019. In its Q1 (first quarter) financial report the Vietnamese budget airline says international route revenue surpassed domestic revenue reaching 55% of total revenue. In the first quarter Vietjet launched four new international and two domestic routes, a total of 111 routes in its network. Vietjet…
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Brunei backs down on gay sex death penalty
Brunei’s sultan now says that death by stoning for gay sex and adultery will not be enforced after a global backlash, but critics are still calling for harsh sharia laws to be completely abandoned in the tiny ASEAN country. The code, also punishing theft with amputation of hands and feet, came into force in April in the sultanate on the…
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New Disneyland ‘Star Wars’ park opens May 31
May the forward sales be with you. Fans have raced to be the first to experience the new Disneyland Star Wars theme park, based on the iconic film series. The park is being opened at the original Disneyland site in Annaheim, California. The new theme park began accepting requests on Thursday to visit “Galaxy’s Edge” during the first three weeks…
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Facebook bans political fanatics and conspiracy theorists
Facebook is banning prominent US conspiracy theorists like the Infowars founder Alex Jones and the outspoken activist Louis Farrakhan in its crackdown on hate speech and fake content. Others blocked from Facebook and Instagram (owned by Facebook) were Milo Yiannopoulos, a high-profile right-wing provocateur; Paul Nehlen, a political candidate espousing white supremacist views; and conspiracy theorists Paul Joseph Watson and…
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Boeing 737 Max ‘sensor’ issues flagged 216 times to the US FAA
A small sensor, sitting just outside the cockpit of the Boeing 737 Max jets, was previously flagged in more than 200 incident reports submitted to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). But Boeing admits it did not flight-test the scenario which may have caused the crashes of two of its brand new jets – one in Ethiopia and one in…
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New Japanese Emperor to ascend throne at 5pm today
Thailand’s not the only country with special royal occasions this week. For the first time in more than 200 years, Japan’s emperor will abdicate today. His son will ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne which ushers in a new era for the world’s oldest monarchy. The historic abdication has resulted in an unprecedented 10 day holiday for Japan marked as special days to celebrate…
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Kata Rocks launches new partnership with Singapore Yacht Show
The Singapore Yacht Show 2019, was held between April 11 to 14 2019 for its 9th year, at the prestigious ONE°15 Marina Sentosa Cove. This year, the Kata Rocks Superyacht Rendezvous (KRSR) launched a marketing partnership with the SYS2019 giving the KRSR team a great opportunity to meet a full range of people. From existing partners to new ones, by…
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McDonald’s in Beijing serves chicken wings, with feathers attached
by The Star – Asia News Network Put down whatever you’re eating. OK, here we go… A woman in Beijing, China got an unpleasant surprise when the chicken wings she ordered from McDonald’s arrived with the feathers still attached. Zhou didn’t notice the unwanted additions until after she had fed the wings to her young daughter, according to Guancha.cn. “A chicken…
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Sri Lankan death toll revised down
The Sri Lankan Health Ministry has revised down the death toll from last Sunday’s deadly terror attacks on churches and upscale hotels. The latest official toll is now 253, down from the previous death toll, which stood at 359. In a statement, the health ministry claimed the previous death toll released by the ministry was 290, and not 359 as…
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Sri Lanka attacks ‘retaliation for Christchurch’ – Government minister
The Islamist suicide bombings that killed 321 people, and injured many others in Sri Lanka at the weekend, are believed to have been carried out in revenge for last month’s attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. Fifty people were shot dead on March 15 at two mosques in the South Island, New Zealand city by an avowed white…
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