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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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German election: Pakistani-origin female politician eyes Bundestag seat
Misbah Khan, a Green party candidate for the German federal parliament, talks to DW about her journey in German politics as a young female politician with a migration background. SOURCE: DW News
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Covid-19 UPDATE: Provincial totals, vaccinations and more
Today, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration reported 12,697 new Covid-19 cases and 132 coronavirus-related deaths. In Thailand’s latest wave of the virus, which was first recorded on April 1, the CCSA has reported a total of 1,508,447 confirmed Covid-19 infections. In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA reported 13,540 recoveries. There are now 127,392 patients in…
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UN General Assembly: Germany struggles to define its place in the world
It’s morning at the German mission to the United Nations and diplomats are buzzing around the lobby, getting set for one of the many “side events” that flank the UN General Assembly (UNGA). Germany is hosting a meeting on the Libyan peace process, an attempt to keep the country on track to holding democratic elections for the first time ever…
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Contrary to Anutin, US says delivery of vaccines awaits Thailand
In a meeting with Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan, founder of the new Thai Sang Thai Party, US Senator Tammy Duckworth stated that she is pushing for more vaccine donations from the US to Thailand, but that Thailand has yet to collect 1 million Pfizer vaccines waiting for them now. The conversation took place in Washington DC on Wednesday. Duckworth was born in Thailand and…
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Tackling malnutrition in Ghana
Nurses in Pelungu, eastern Ghana teach pregnant mothers how to cook food to retain maximum nutrition. Malnutrition and anemia are prevalent among rural Ghanaians despite an abundance of fresh food. SOURCE: DW News
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CCSA approves reopening delay, state of emergency extension
The state of emergency in Thailand has been extended and the reopening of the country postpone following approval by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. The CCSA subcommittee met yesterday to approve the extension proposal and discuss reopening. Chairman of the subcommittee National Security Council Secretary-General Natthapon Nakpanich approved the proposal that keeps Thailand in a state of emergency and…
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Phuket Covid-19: 3 new deaths, 322 released from medical care
Phuket had 228 new infections and 3 new Covid-19 deaths yesterday, bringing the total to 64 since the start of the third wave of the pandemic in Thailand, with 16 of those deaths occurring over the last week and 44 of them happening in the month of September. The death toll stood at 20 as this month began, and has…
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Malaysia considers further re-opening to domestic tourism
Malaysia’s tourism minister says the re-opening of inter-state travel is now a high priority as the country seeks to reboot domestic tourism. Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri says other islands are hopeful they will soon be able to follow Langkawi, which re-opened for vaccinated domestic tourists on September 16. According to a TTR Weekly report, the tourism ministry is considering re-opening…
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Weather warning issued as tropical storm Dianmu approaches
The Thai Meteorological Department has issued a warning for the North, Northeast, East and Central regions, as it monitors tropical storm Dianmu, which is expected to be downgraded to a tropical depression. The TMD says the storm made landfall over the central Vietnamese province of Quang this morning and is about 260 kilometres southeast of Amnat Charoen province, in north-east…
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Education ministry to accelerate vaccination of over 200,000 teachers
All vocational and secondary school students should be fully vaccinated by November 15 and the vaccination of 210,000 teachers is being accelerated ahead of schools re-opening. So says Suphat Champatong from the Education Ministry, adding that the government has taken delivery of 3 vaccine types – viral vector, live attenuated, and inactivated. In a Bangkok Post report, Suphat says the…
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Tourism operators slam government as re-opening postponed to November
Tourism operators have expressed frustration as Thailand’s re-opening is pushed back a month, primarily due to inadequate vaccination levels. The re-opening of Bangkok, Chon Buri, Chiang Mai, Hua Hin, and Phetchaburi has been postponed from October 1 to November 1. According to a Bangkok Post report, this is the third time the re-opening of Pattaya, Chiang Mai, and Hua Hin…
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Friday Covid Update: 12,697 new cases and 132 deaths
Today, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration reported 12,697 new Covid-19 cases and 132 coronavirus-related deaths. In Thailand’s latest wave of the virus, which was first recorded on April 1, the CCSA has reported a total of 1,508,447 confirmed Covid-19 infections. In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA reported 13,540 recoveries. There are now 127,392 patients in…
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Partitions to be added to 3,000 taxis to fight Covid-19
A pilot project is underway, launched by the Department of Land Transport, to install 3,000 partitions in taxis for Covid-19 safety throughout the month of October. The Minister of Transport Saksayam Chidchob stated they hope the move instils confidence in hired transportation services and increases public safety against the spread of Covid-19. The acrylic partitions will be installed in taxies…
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Police warn against OnlyFans creators dressing as sexy police
After police arrested a popular Thai OnlyFans creator a few days ago and subsequently warned the people of Thailand that posting explicit content on OnlyFans or similar sites is illegal in Thailand, the Royal Thai Police have issued an additional warning for a specific subset of adult content creators they intend to crack down on. The police threatened that they are seeking…
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Quarantine shortening proposed for certain situations
In an attempt to boost the economy, the National Communicable Disease Committee is proposing a shortening of quarantine periods for travellers under certain circumstances. The proposal was made in a meeting today of the committee with Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul chairing the meeting and vowing to pass on the plan to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. The…
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Afghanistan: Girls’ education faces bleak future under Taliban rule
Girls in Afghanistan will have to wait longer to resume studies at secondary schools after the Taliban announced this week that first the group must “finalize things.” They will then allow girls to return to the classroom “as soon as possible.” “In the case of schools (for female students), the Ministry of Education is working hard to provide the ground…
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Opinion: Small-scale farmers must control our food system
The Food Systems Summit in New York is supposed to come up with a global strategy to fight hunger and feed a rapidly growing world population. But it’s focused too much on the big agro industry. Corporate interests are taking center stage and expanding their influence in the UN system to an alarming extent, undermining democratic decisions. The concerns of…
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Togolese fitness coach fights obesity
Mercy Tchawalla from Lome, Togo helps women regain confidence by leading fitness classes. SOURCE: DW News
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PM Prayut announces a 5-point plan for the future economy
In an online meeting hosted by the National Economic and Social Development Council, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha announced his intention to revise Thailand’s economic and production outlook and methods. The plan looks towards future trends and the increasingly ubiquitous digital economy and aims to get Thailand in line for growing the economy now and in new sectors. The goals would…
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Khon Kaen restaurant busted for allegedly serving alcohol
Another venue, this time in northeastern Thailand’s Khon Kaen province, has been busted for allegedly selling customers alcohol. The restaurant tried to hide the fact that they were serving alcohol but proved no match for the officials that raided the eatery, yesterday. The unnamed restaurant, which is somewhere close to the Khon Kaen University, was raided by police and soldiers.…
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14 Burmese migrant workers arrested for allegedly illegally crossing the border
14 Burmese migrant workers were arrested in western Thailand’s Kanchanaburi province this morning. The Bangkok Post says they were found hiding in the forest by army patrol and police. The group was mostly men, and none had travel documents on them. When the workers were questioned, they told officials that they had been walking on natural trails from Dawei, a…
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Cyclist unable to take steep hill plunges to his death in Chiang Mai ravine
A cyclist riding in Chiang Mai, a northern Thai province, was unable to steer his bike down a downhill road yesterday morning and plummeted about 30 metres down a ravine to his death. Police learned of the incident, which occurred on a steep section of the Mae Rim-Mae Sai tourist road in front of the Pongyang Jungle Coaster & Zipline…
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Pattaya Man goes looking for food, later found dead in graveyard
A man went looking for food and was later found dead in a Pattaya graveyard earlier this week. The 35-year-old man’s family says he wasn’t suffering from any illnesses prior to his death. Nongrue Police were alerted to the above-ground corpse residing at the new graveyard, which was built by the Sawang Boriboon Thammasathan Foundation. The police and local news…
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Minor Phuket entry revision: Covid-19 test within 7 days, not 3
The good news is, Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew announced that restrictions and on entering Phuket will ease on October 1. The bad news is, this hasn’t been officially enacted yet and the actual changes to restrictions are extremely minimal. According to the announcement by the governor, a meeting yesterday of the Phuket Communicable Disease Committee has decided on the following overhaul: instead…
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Grenade attack kills ranger in Pattani
A ranger was killed last night during a grenade assault on his station in Pattani, a Deep South Thai province near the Malaysian border, a region that frequently witnesses violent episodes owing to the ongoing religious separatist insurgency. The assailants had thrown 3 hand grenades just before 7:30pm at the security booth that Chanachai Yodthong was stationed at. Chanachai died…
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Reopening Pattaya: Will it happen next week or not?
Depending on which government officials you are listening to and what statement they make on which day, it would be easy to believe that Thailand’s reopening is continuing on October 1, or October 15, or possibly November 1. And Pattaya is perhaps reopening in just over a week or perhaps delaying for weeks or months. So where does the reopening…
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Pattaya restaurant busted selling alcohol, 15 arrested
15 people were arrested at a restaurant in Bang Lamung, accused of drinking illegally in violation of Covid-19 restrictions in Pattaya. Last night, Pattaya City Police raided an unnamed restaurant in Jomtien that was suspected of selling alcohol. Officers arrived at the restaurant early in the evening to discover 9 foreigners and 5 Thai nationals plus the person running the…
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Decision on Hua Hin Hospital “dual pricing” case set for next week
Next week, Thai authorities will announce the outcome of the highly anticipated “dual pricing” case where a Dutch expat claims he was overcharged for his cancer treatment at Hua Hin Hospital. Erwin Buse, who filed the anti-discrimination suit two years ago, told ASEAN Now that the case was officially handed over to judges this week and a decision on the case…
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