Stay informed with the latest updates, breaking headlines, and current events from around the world.
Thailand’s Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) is likely to decide on Friday on a full list of business and leisure activities which will be allowed to resume, as part of the second phase of lockdown relaxations, Dr. Taweesin Visanuyothin said today. He said that, for the time being, the issue remains open, but he
The Pantry of Sharing initiative has spurred Thais’ willingness to help out those in need. It remains to be seen, though, whether this new spirit of giving will last amid reports that some people are exploiting the generosity of those who stock the pantries with food donations. The idea behind the Pantry of Sharing is
WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand businesses including malls, cinemas, cafes and gyms will reopen on Thursday after some of the tightest restrictions in the world to stop the spread of the coronavirus were further loosened on Monday. The Pacific nation was locked down for more than month under “level 4” restrictions that were eased by
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong authorities arrested more than 200 people during pro-democracy protests, media reported on Monday, after a sing-along demonstration at a shopping mall spilled out on to the streets of the Chinese-ruled city. Hundreds of riot police were deployed to disperse the protesters on Sunday, with some members of the media
Millions of people in France and Spain were set to embrace a relaxation of stay-at-home rules on Monday, but Britain extended its lockdown as countries plot their way tentatively through the coronavirus crisis. Fears of a second wave of the pandemic, which has killed more than 280,000 people worldwide and wrecked the global economy, stalked
Thailand reported six new COVID-19 cases today, including the four previously unofficial cases reported in Phuket yesterday, bringing the cumulative total to 3,015. No new fatalities were reported. Among the new cases, in the southern resort province of Phuket, is a police officer from Patong police station, who tested positive for the virus on May
On behalf of His Majesty the King, Privy Councilor General Surayud Chulanont presided over Thailand’s annual Royal Ploughing Ceremony, held in the rice demonstration field in the compound of Chitralada Palace today. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and concern for public safety, the traditional royal ceremony, which marks the beginning of the rice growing
BEIJING (Reuters) – Wuhan, the original epicentre of the new coronavirus outbreak in China, reported on Monday its first cluster of infections since a lockdown on the central Chinese city was lifted a month ago, stoking concerns of a wider resurgence of the disease. The new infections add a layer of caution to efforts to
BEIJING (Reuters) – China reported 17 new COVID-19 cases for May 10, rising from a day earlier and marking the highest daily increase since April 28, according to official data published on Monday. Of the new cases, seven were so-called imported cases involving travellers from overseas, compared with two imported infections on May 9. Five
All Thailand’s provincial governors have been instructed, by the country’s Interior Ministry, to screen everyone arriving from the southern resort province of Phuket and to quarantine anyone suspected of being infected with COVID-19. The instruction was issued by Mr. Chalerm Promlet, the ministry’s permanent secretary, after some people, who had recently left Phuket, tested positive
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Walt Disney Co reopened its Shanghai Disneyland park on Monday to a reduced number of visitors, ending a roughly three-month closure caused by the coronavirus outbreak. This marks a milestone for Walt Disney and provides a glimpse of how it might recover from the pandemic that has forced it to shut parks
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean officials scrambled on Monday to contain a new coronavirus outbreak that is threatening to spread throughout the densely populated capital city of Seoul, leading the country to reconsider plans to reopen schools. Officials reported 35 new infections across the country as of midnight on Sunday, the second consecutive day of
Could a new type of ultraviolet lamp be used in stations, airplanes and schools to kill dangerous viruses, becoming a gamechanger in the COVID-19 fight? Researchers at Columbia University have been working on such uses for years, and the current pandemic could confirm the value of their efforts. UVC lamps have long been used to
Can Donald Trump refuse to turn over his tax returns and financial records to Congress and New York prosecutors? The Supreme Court takes up this politically charged question on Tuesday, and it may use the occasion to better define the limits of presidential immunity. The high court’s nine justices, confined at home by the novel
TOKYO (Reuters) – The Japanese government will consider lifting the state of emergency on many of the 34 prefectures that are not among the hardest-hit by the coronavirus epidemic before the nationwide deadline of May 31, Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said. Tokyo, Osaka and 11 other prefectures are not among the regions that could see
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Children in some Australian states began returning to school on Monday after an extended break due to the new coronavirus, as the country’s rate of new infections continued to slow. Students of New South Wales, the most populous state, and the northern state of Queensland began going back to school on a
