International news with relevance to Thai and regional readers
BEIJING, Dec 7 (Reuters) – The United States will have to “pay a price” for its diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, China said on Tuesday, just weeks after talks aimed at easing tense relations between the two sides. The White House said on Monday U.S. government officials would boycott the Winter Olympics
From human rights to coronavirus and tennis star Peng Shuai, February’s Beijing Olympics have been overshadowed by several controversies. With under two months until the Games begin, the United States on Monday reacted by announcing a diplomatic boycott. AFP Sports looks at the issues hanging over the Olympics: Peng Shuai There was grave international concern
LONDON (Reuters) – Future pandemics could be even more lethal than COVID-19 so the lessons learned from the outbreak must not be squandered and the world should ensure it is prepared for the next viral onslaught, one of the creators of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine said. The novel coronavirus has killed 5.26 million people across the world, according to Johns Hopkins University, wiped out trillions of dollars in
Russian President Vladimir Putin will arrive in India on Monday for just his second overseas trip since the pandemic, seeking to bolster military and energy ties with a traditional ally being courted by Washington. In its efforts to address a rising China, Washington has set up the QUAD security dialogue with India, Japan, and Australia,
LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) Alec Baldwin on Thursday denied responsibility for the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of his Western movie “Rust,” saying he would have killed himself if he believed it was his fault. In an emotional television interview, the actor said he did not pull the trigger on the gun he was holding during a rehearsal, and
WASHINGTON, Dec 2 (Reuters) – New rules requiring international air travelers arriving in the United States to obtain a negative COVID-19 test within one day of travel will take effect Monday at 12:01 a.m. ET (0501 GMT), U.S. officials confirmed Thursday. Under current rules, vaccinated international air travelers can present a negative test result obtained
BERLIN/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States, Germany and Russia joined countries planning stricter COVID-19 restrictions on Thursday as the Omicron coronavirus variant rattled markets, with investors concerned about the impact on the global economic recovery. Much remains unknown about Omicron, which was first detected in southern Africa last month and has spread to at least two dozen countries, just as parts
Beijing (AFP) – Beijing summoned the Japanese ambassador to China over former prime minister Shinzo Abe’s “extremely erroneous remarks” on Taiwan, the foreign ministry said Thursday, as tensions rise over the democratic island. With Chinese warplanes making historically high levels of incursions into Taiwan’s air defence zone in recent months, fears among Western allies like the
LONDON (AP) — The Duchess of Sussex on Thursday won the latest stage in her long-running privacy lawsuit against a newspaper publisher over its publication of parts of a letter she wrote to her estranged father. The Court of Appeal in London upheld a High Court ruling in February that publication of the letter that
JOHANNESBURG/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Heavily mutated Omicron is rapidly becoming the dominant variant of the coronavirus in South Africa less than four weeks after it was first detected there, and the United States on Wednesday became the latest country to identify an Omicron case within its borders. The first known U.S. case was a fully vaccinated person in California who returned to the United States from South Africa on Nov. 22 and tested positive seven days
TOKYO (AP) — Japan continued its aggressive stance against a new coronavirus variant on Wednesday, asking international airlines to stop taking new reservations for all flights arriving in the country until the end of December in a further tightening of already strict border controls. The transportation ministry said the request is an emergency precaution amid
Tel Aviv is the world’s most expensive city to live in as soaring inflation has pushed up living costs globally, according to a survey published on Wednesday. The Israeli city climbed five rungs to score top place for the first time in the authoritative ranking compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Thai capital Bangkok
