International news with relevance to Thai and regional readers
New Zealand’s incoming prime minister Chris Hipkins criticised the “abhorrent” treatment endured by Jacinda Ardern and vowed on Sunday to shield his own family, three days after her shock resignation. Hours after being unanimously endorsed by Labour Party MPs as the party’s leader and the nation’s next prime minister, Hipkins attacked the personal abuse suffered
Three years after a once-mysterious virus plunged the Chinese city of Wuhan into a terrifying lockdown, residents are celebrating the arrival of the Year of the Rabbit with fireworks, flowers and offerings to the loved ones they have lost to Covid-19. But while many stocked up Saturday on colourful blooms at the bustling flower market
The coronation weekend for King Charles III will feature a star-studded concert, nationwide “big lunch” and volunteering initiative as well as the traditional ceremony and royal processions, Buckingham Palace announced late Saturday. The three days of ceremonial, celebratory and community events in early May will be a chance for “people to come together in celebration
The head of the IMF warned Friday that Western subsidies to combat climate change and encourage the transition to clean energy sources risked hitting the economies of the developing world. The United States under President Joe Biden has passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) which contains sweeping subsidies and tax cuts worth around $370 billion for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, making it the largest-ever US programme
Taiwan has learned important lessons from Ukraine’s war that would help it deter any attack by China or defend itself if invaded, the self-ruled island’s top envoy to the U.S. said in an interview Friday with The Associated Press. Among the lessons: Do more to prepare military reservists and also civilians for the kind of
New Zealand’s incoming prime minister Chris Hipkins vowed Saturday to “get things done” and win a looming October general election after being chosen as his party’s only candidate to replace Jacinda Ardern. The 44-year-old red-headed politician emerged as the sole nominee to lead the ruling Labour Party in a meeting of fellow members of parliament,
Google’s parent company Alphabet announced about 12,000 job cuts globally on Friday, becoming the latest US tech giant to enact large-scale restructuring. “We’ve decided to reduce our workforce by approximately 12,000 roles,” Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said in an email to employees, adding that the cuts were in response to a changing “economic reality”. The
Jacinda Ardern’s shock resignation sparked a push on Friday for New Zealand to choose its first Maori prime minister, as a small pack of candidates emerged for the top job. Ardern, a global figurehead for progressive politics, stunned New Zealand on Thursday by announcing her abrupt exit from office, less than three years after securing
More than a million people marched in France on Thursday to protest pension reforms, with some demonstrators clashing with police in Paris, as strikes disrupted public transport, schools and much of the civil service. The interior ministry put the total number of protesters marching against President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to extend the retirement age at 1.2
Alec Baldwin is to be charged with involuntary manslaughter over the accidental shooting of a cinematographer on the set of the low-budget western “Rust,” a prosecutor said Thursday. Baldwin was holding the Colt .45 during rehearsals for the film when it discharged, killing Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza in October 2021. The film’s
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, a global figurehead of progressive politics, shocked the country Thursday by announcing she would resign from office in a matter of weeks. The 42-year-old — who steered the country through natural disasters, the Covid pandemic, and its worst-ever terror attack — said she no longer had “enough in the
A Twitter bird statue fetched $100,000 on Wednesday as Elon Musk auctioned off furniture, decorations, kitchen equipment and more from the tech firm’s downtown San Francisco headquarters. An online auction of “surplus corporate office assets of Twitter” that lasted slightly more than 24 hours also featured a 10-foot neon light in the shape of Twitter’s bird logo, which brought in a winning bid of $40,000, Heritage
