International news with relevance to Thai and regional readers
WASHINGTON/MOSCOW (Reuters) – The United States will send nearly 3,000 extra troops to Poland and Romania to shield Eastern Europe from a potential spillover from the crisis over the massing of Russian troops near Ukraine, U.S. officials said on Wednesday. Russia has denied plans to invade Ukraine but signalled it was in no mood for compromise on Wednesday by mocking Britain, calling Prime Minister Boris Johnson
Washington (AFP) – A US intelligence agency said Wednesday that its newest spy satellite successfully launched into orbit atop a reusable SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The rocket took off at 12:27 pm local time (2027 GMT) from the Vandenberg Air Force base in California, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), which is in charge of the US
GENEVA (AP) — Late-night disco partying. Elbow-to-elbow seating in movie theaters. Mask-free bearing of faces in public, especially in Europe and North America: Bit by bit, many countries that have been hard-hit by the coronavirus are opening up and easing their tough, and often unpopular, restrictive measures aimed to fight COVID-19 even as the omicron
BEIJING (AP) — Chinese people rang in the Lunar New Year on Tuesday despite pandemic restrictions, as small crowds gathered at temples to offer traditional prayers for the Year of the Tiger. At the Lama Temple in Beijing, dozens of people bowed in prayer before the ornate west gate of the Tibetan Buddhist site that
TORONTO (AP) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday he has tested positive for COVID-19 but is “feeling fine” and will continue to work remotely from home. Trudeau said two of his children have COVID-19 and a test Monday revealed he has been infected as well. The prime minister, who has received two vaccine shots
With a spectacular jail break in Syria and a deadly attack on an army barracks in Iraq, the Islamic State group was back in the headlines the past week, a reminder of a war that formally ended three years ago but continues to be fought mostly away from view. The attacks were some of the
Italian President Sergio Mattarella was pulled away from his impending retirement and reelected Saturday to a second seven-year term as the country’s head of state, ending days of political impasse by party leaders that risked eroding the nation’s credibility. Earlier on Saturday, lawmakers entreated Mattarella, 80, who had said repeatedly he didn’t want a second
North Korea fired an “unidentified projectile” Sunday, the South’s military said, its seventh weapons test this month in one of the most intense spates of launches on record as the regime flexes its military muscles while ignoring US offers of talks. The last time North Korea tested this many weapons in a month was
Beijing (AFP) – The upcoming Winter Olympics are the target of a US-led diplomatic boycott over China’s human rights abuses. But there will still be a gathering of leaders at the opening ceremony of the Games, most with key political or economic links to China. Strategic neighbours Russian President Vladimir Putin was the first foreign leader
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s top diplomat said Friday that Moscow will not start a war in Ukraine but warned that it wouldn’t allow the West to trample on its security interests, amid fears it is planning to invade its neighbor. U.S. President Joe Biden warned Ukraine’s leader a day earlier that there is a “distinct
MELBOURNE, Jan 29 (Reuters) – Hip-hop artist Kanye West will have to be fully vaccinated if he wants to play concerts in Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Saturday, after media said the performer planned an Australian tour in March. The warning comes just two weeks after tennis superstar Novak Djokovic’s hopes for a
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canadian truck drivers determined to shut down central Ottawa over a federal government vaccine mandate rolled across the country toward the capital on Thursday, boosted by praise from Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk. The protesters are unhappy that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government has imposed a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for cross-border
