International news with relevance to Thai and regional readers
In a time of dire economic trouble, Egyptians are holding fast to the Ramadan tradition of charity, with both donors and those in need pinning hopes on holiday generosity. Families have buckled under the weight of inflation, which hit 32.9 percent in February as Egyptians tried to fill their shelves ahead of the Islamic holy
A battle in the intense diplomatic war between China and Taiwan is being fought in Latin America, where Honduras has become the latest country to ditch Taipei and align itself with Beijing. Paraguay will be the next front as it holds a presidential election in April, with opposition candidate Efrain Alegre having vowed to reevaluate
Storm-ravaged Mississippi struggled on Sunday with the aftermath of a huge tornado that tore across the southern US state, killing at least 25 people, with devastated communities bracing for a fresh bout of extreme weather. Search-and-rescue workers surveyed the damage of shredded homes, flattened buildings and smashed cars in Rolling Fork, a small town all
US bank First Citizens said Monday it has agreed to purchase all loans and deposits from Silicon Valley Bank, whose collapse this month sparked global fears about the sector. SVB, a key lender to the tech industry since the 1980s, became the biggest US bank to fail since 2008 when regulators seized it after a
A heavily armed 28-year-old fatally shot three children and three adult staffers on Monday at a private Christian school the suspect once attended in Tennessee‘s capital city before police killed the assailant, authorities said. The motive was not immediately known, but the suspect had drawn detailed maps of the school, including entry points for the building, and left behind a “manifesto” and other writings that investigators
Japan has proposed a new Free and Open Indo-Pacific or FOIP strategy, with more cooperation and funding for the Indo-Pacific region, according to a highly placed and informed source. The new FOIP improves on the earlier version introduced in 2016, and has broader scope for cooperation with the countries in the Indo-Pacific region as well
Rescuers combed through rubble on Saturday (March 25) after a powerful storm tore across Mississippi overnight, killing at least 25 people there and another person in Alabama, leveling hundreds of buildings and spawning at least one devastating tornado. The tornado stayed on the ground for about an hour and cut a path of destruction some
The death toll in U.S. air strikes on pro–Iran installations in eastern Syria has risen to 19 fighters, a Syrian war monitor said on Saturday, in one of the deadliest exchanges between the U.S. and Iran-aligned forces in years. The U.S. carried out strikes in eastern Syria in response to a drone attack on Thursday that left one American contractor dead, and another one wounded along with five U.S. troops. Washington said the attack was of Iranian
The United Nations said Friday it was “deeply concerned” by what it said were summary executions of prisoners of war by both Russian and Ukrainian forces on the battlefield. The allegations came shortly after Kyiv accused Russian forces of killing a captured Ukrainian serviceman who was filmed saying “Glory to Ukraine” before being shot dead.
U.S. lawmakers at a congressional hearing on Thursday (March 23) accused TikTok of serving harmful content and inflicting “emotional distress” on young users, grilling the Chinese-owned app’s CEO on the company’s outsized influence on teens. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican from Washington, kicked off the hearing with TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew saying that within minutes of creating an account on TikTok, the content algorithm promotes self-harm and eating disorder content, and
Violent demonstrations against pension reform in France led to the postponement Friday of King Charles III’s trip to the country, highlighting the growing security and political problems faced by President Emmanuel Macron. The choice of France for Charles’ first foreign visit as sovereign had been intended to highlight warming Franco-British relations, but it has become
Four flight attendants working for Vietnam Airlines have been released on bail after being caught allegedly transporting 11.4kg of ketamine and cocaine from Paris to Ho Chi Minh City. Nguyen Thanh Thuy, Vo Tu Quynh, Tran Thi Thu Ngan, and Dang Phuong Van were detained upon arrival at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi
