International news with relevance to Thai and regional readers
We are now three years into the pandemic that has infected almost 760 million people around the world and killed almost 7 million, according to figures released by the World Health Organization (WHO) early in March 2023. For many of us, life has returned to normal and COVID-19 no longer preoccupies our minds. In the
NEW YORK (AP) — The references seem endless, and they can come from anywhere. In recent days, Pope Francis compared Nicaragua’s repression of Catholics to Hitler’s rule in Germany. In Britain, a BBC sportscaster likened the nation’s asylum policy to 1930s Germany, resulting in his brief suspension and a national uproar. For Holocaust and anti-Nazi
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Germany’s response to the explosion on North Sea pipelines showed that the country remained “occupied” and unable to act independently decades after its surrender at the end of World War Two. Putin, interviewed on Russian television, also said European leaders had been browbeaten into losing their sense of sovereignty and independence. Western countries, including Germany, have
The U.S. military said a Russian fighter plane clipped the propeller of one its spy drones and made it crash into the Black Sea in the first such direct encounter between the two world powers since Russia invaded Ukraine over a year ago. U.S. DRONE INCIDENT A U.S military MQ-9 surveillance drone crashed into the Black Sea after being intercepted
The United States, Australia and Britain unveiled details of a plan to provide Australia with nuclear–powered attack submarines from the early 2030s to counter China‘s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific. Addressing a ceremony at the U.S. naval base on Monday in San Diego, accompanied by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, U.S. President Joe Biden called the agreement under the 2021 AUKUS partnership part of a shared commitment to a
The South Korean military has decided to purchase the SM-6 missile interceptors from the U.S. and load them onto the King Jeongjo the Great Aegis destroyer by 2031. The deal will cost 770 billion won. So far, South Korea’s Aegis destroyers could only detect and trace North Korean ballistic missiles, but intercepting them was deemed
South Korea and the United States kicked off their largest joint military exercises in five years on Monday, after nuclear-armed Pyongyang warned such drills could be seen as a “declaration of war”. Washington and Seoul have ramped up defence cooperation in the face of growing threats from the North, which has conducted a series of
Oil giant Saudi Aramco reported Sunday earning $161 billion last year, claiming the highest-ever recorded annual profit by a publicly listed company and drawing immediate criticism from activists. The monster profit by the firm, known formally as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., came off the back of energy prices rising after Russia launched its war
North Korea has decided to take “important practical” war deterrence measures, state media reported Sunday, a day before Seoul and Washington begin their largest joint military drills in five years. The decision was made at a meeting of the ruling party’s military commission presided over by leader Kim Jong Un, according to the official Korean
Another powerful storm pummeled California overnight into Saturday, forcing thousands to evacuate and resulting in at least two deaths, while causing a levee to give way in coastal Monterey County. “We were hoping to avoid and prevent this situation, but the worst case scenario has arrived with the Pajaro River overtopping and levee breaching at
The anonymous tip that led Mexican authorities to a remote shack where four abducted Americans were held described armed men, people wearing blindfolds and plenty of activity around a ranch. Authorities headed for the rural area east of Matamoros on Tuesday morning, leaving the highway and driving remote dirt roads looking for the described location,
BEIJING, March 10 (Reuters) – Xi Jinping secured a precedent-breaking third five-year presidential term on Friday during a parliamentary session in which he further tightened his control as China faces mounting challenges at home and globally. Nearly 3,000 members of China’s rubber-stamp parliament, the National People’s Congress (NPC), voted unanimously in the Great Hall of
