International news with relevance to Thai and regional readers
(AFP) – North Korea on Saturday defended its recent flurry of missile tests as a legitimate counter to US military threats. The reclusive communist country has conducted six sanctions-busting launches in less than two weeks, the latest coming Thursday with the firing of a pair of ballistic missiles. On Tuesday, it fired an intermediate-range ballistic
Human rights activists from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, a strong rebuke to Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose invasion of Ukraine ruptured decades of nearly uninterrupted peace in Europe, and to the Belarusian president, his authoritarian ally. The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2022 prize to imprisoned Belarus activist
(AFP) – North Korea fired two ballistic missiles into the sea early Sunday, Seoul’s military said, the seventh such launch in two weeks, just hours after a nuclear-powered American aircraft carrier wrapped up joint drills off the Korean peninsula. Seoul, Tokyo and Washington have ramped up combined naval exercises in recent weeks, infuriating Pyongyang, which
(AFP) – The International Monetary Fund announced Friday it will provide $1.3 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine through its new food crisis assistance program. The package will help meet Ukraine’s “urgent balance of payment needs… while playing a catalytic role for future financial support from Ukraine’s creditors and donors,” the IMF said in a
(APF) – An agreement was reached on Friday to try to achieve net-zero carbon emissions in air travel by 2050, the International Civil Aviation Organization said. The assembly, which brought together representatives from 193 nations at the ICAO’s Montreal headquarters, reached a “historic agreement on a collective long-term aspirational goal (LTAG) of net-zero carbon emissions
“All kinds of crazy things” is how Carolyn Bertozzi, a 2022 Nobel laureate, describes her life’s work. Actually performing “chemistry in cells and in people.” When she started her research in 1997, the Stanford professor was aiming only to observe the evolution of certain molecules on the surface of cancer cells. Today, thanks to her
North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters Thursday after the United States redeployed an aircraft carrier near the Korean Peninsula in response to Pyongyang’s previous launch of a nuclear-capable missile over Japan. The latest missile launches suggest North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is determined to continue with weapons tests aimed
Major oil producers led by Saudi Arabia and Russia were set to meet Wednesday as reports said they were mulling an output cut of up to two million barrels per day in a bid to prop up slumping prices. If implemented, it would be the first such major cut since a landmark curb on production
As speculation mounts ahead of Friday’s much-anticipated Nobel Peace Prize announcement, observers suggest the committee may sound the alarm over the war in Ukraine or climate change. Prize experts are split over who will get it. One camp thinks this year’s award winner will be a critique of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
President Emmanuel Macron of France has officially confirmed that he will attend the upcoming Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum scheduled for November 18-19, according to spokesman of the Foreign Ministry Tanee Saengrat. He said Macron will be here as a special guest of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. Thai PBS World reported last week that
A malfunctioning South Korean ballistic missile blew up as it plowed into the ground Wednesday during a live-fire drill with the United States that was a reprisal for North Korea’s successful launch a day earlier of a weapon that flew over Japan and has the range to strike the U.S. territory of Guam. The explosion
South Korean and US fighter jets carried out precision bombing drills Tuesday, Seoul’s military said, in response to North Korea firing an Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile over Japan. “With the participation of four South Korean Air Force F-15Ks and four US Air Force F-16 fighters, South Korea’s F-15K fired two joint direct attack munition (JDAM) bombs against a virtual
