International news with relevance to Thai and regional readers
HONG KONG (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping officiated the swearing-in ceremony of Hong Kong’s new leader John Lee on Friday as the city marked the 25th anniversary of its return to Chinese rule after being pulled in recent years under much tighter Communist Party control. Lee, a former security official who oversaw the crackdown
HONG KONG (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrived in Hong Kong on Thursday ahead of the 25th anniversary of the British handover and after a two-year transformation bringing the city more tightly under Communist Party control. It is Xi’s first trip outside of mainland China in nearly 2 ½ years. Supporters waving Chinese and
MANILA, June 30 (Reuters) – The son and namesake of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos was sworn in as president of the Philippines on Thursday, completing a stunning comeback for one of Asia’s most famous political dynasties, 36 years after it was ousted in a popular uprising. Marcos Jr scored a rare landslide victory in last
TOKYO, June 30 (Reuters) – Japan’s electricity grid creaked on Thursday under the strain of Tokyo’s hottest June streak since 1875, as the sudden shutdown of a power plant left tens of millions of residents a step closer to blackouts that would bring air conditioners to a halt. Temperatures of around 40 C were predicted
Hong Kong (AFP) – Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to visit Hong Kong Thursday, prompting a massive security effort ahead of celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of the city’s handover to communist China. Government leaders have been forced into a closed-loop system, parts of the city shut down, and multiple journalists barred from Friday events
MOSCOW, June 29 (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia would respond in kind if NATO deployed troops and infrastructure in Finland and Sweden after they join the U.S.-led military alliance. “With Sweden and Finland, we don’t have the problems that we have with Ukraine. They want to join NATO, go ahead,”
MANILA, June 29 (Reuters) – Philippine Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa pledged on Wednesday to fight an order by the corporate regulator to shut down her online news site Rappler, known for its critical reporting of President Rodrigo Duterte’s policies. The ruling against Rappler, handed down by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on
NEW YORK (AP) — Ghislaine Maxwell, the jet-setting socialite who once consorted with royals, presidents and billionaires, was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison for helping the financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse underage girls. The stiff sentence was a victory for a group of women who spent years fighting for justice after an earlier generation of prosecutors failed
MADRID/HELSINKI (Reuters) – NATO ally Turkey lifted its veto over Finland and Sweden‘s bid to join the Western alliance on Tuesday after the three nations agreed to protect each other’s security, ending a weeks-long drama that tested allied unity against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The breakthrough came after four hours of talks just before a NATO summit began in Madrid, averting an embarrassing impasse at the gathering
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump rebuffed his own security’s warnings about armed protesters in the Jan. 6 rally crowd and made desperate attempts to join his supporters as they marched to the Capitol, according to dramatic new testimony Tuesday before the House committee investigating the 2021 insurrection. Cassidy Hutchinson, a little-known former White House aide,
SCHLOSS ELMAU, Germany, June 28 (Reuters) – The Group of Seven economic powers have agreed to explore imposing a ban on transporting Russian oil that has been sold above a certain price, they said on Tuesday, aiming to hit Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war chest. The war in Ukraine and its dramatic economic fallout, in particular soaring food and energy inflation, dominated this year’s summit
KREMENCHUK, Ukraine (Reuters) – Firefighters and soldiers searched on Tuesday for survivors in the rubble of a shopping mall in central Ukraine after a Russian missile strike killed at least 16 people in an attack condemned by the United Nations and the West. Family members of the missing lined up at a hotel across the street where rescue workers had set up a base after Monday’s strike on
