International news with relevance to Thai and regional readers
TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan will keep bolstering its defences to ensure nobody can force them to accept the path China has laid down that offers neither freedom nor democracy, President Tsai Ing-wen said on Sunday, in a riposte to Beijing that its government denounced. Claimed by China as its own territory, Taiwan has come under growing military and political
Thousands of protesters including members of far-right groups demonstrated in central Rome on Saturday against the extension of the Covid-19 health pass system to all workplaces. There were scuffles with police as the demonstrators took aim at the health pass, which has been a requirement to enter museums, sporting events and restaurants since August. Although
BEIJING, Oct 9 (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed on Saturday to realise peaceful “reunification” with Taiwan, though did not directly mention the use of force after a week of tensions with the Chinese-claimed island that sparked international concern. Taiwan responded shortly after by calling on Beijing to abandon its coercion, reiterating that only
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly all Americans agree that the rampant spread of misinformation is a problem. Most also think social media companies, and the people that use them, bear a good deal of blame for the situation. But few are very concerned that they themselves might be responsible, according to a new poll from The
LONDON (AP) — Google is cracking down on digital ads promoting false climate change claims or being used to make money from such content, hoping to limit revenue for climate change deniers and stop the spread of misinformation on its platforms. The company said Thursday in a blog post that the new policy will also
OSLO, Oct 8 (Reuters) – Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov, journalists whose work has angered the rulers of the Philippines and Russia, were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, an award the committee said was an endorsement of free speech rights under threat worldwide. The two were awarded “for their courageous fight for freedom
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Thursday the electric carmaker plans to move its headquarters from Silicon Valley’s Palo Alto, California to Austin, Texas, where it is building a massive car and battery manufacturing complex. Tesla joins Oracle, HP and Toyota Motor in moving U.S. headquarters to Texas from California, which has relatively high taxes
HELSINKI, Oct 7 (Reuters) – Finland on Thursday paused the use of Moderna’s (MRNA.O) COVID-19 vaccine for younger males due to reports of a rare cardiovascular side effect, joining Sweden and Denmark in limiting its use. Mika Salminen, director of the Finnish health institute, said Finland would instead give Pfizer’s vaccine to men born in
QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — A powerful earthquake collapsed at least one coal mine and dozens of mud houses in southwest Pakistan early Thursday, killing at least 23 people as the death toll continued to creep higher. At least another 200 people were injured, an official said. The death tally was expected to rise even further
NAIROBI, Oct 6 (Reuters) – The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday the only approved vaccine against malaria should be widely given to African children, potentially marking a major advance against a disease that kills hundreds of thousands of people annually. The WHO recommendation is for RTS,S – or Mosquirix – a vaccine developed
ZURICH (AP) — With tensions rising between the global powers, President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are expected to hold a virtual meeting before year’s end, according to the White House. The agreement in principle for the talks was disclosed after White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and senior Chinese foreign policy
CASABLANCA, Chile, Oct 6 (Reuters) – Down a dusty farm track in Chilean wine country, behind a wooden gate wrapped in chains, forestry experts are nursing a plantation of saplings whose bark holds the promise of potent vaccines. Quillay trees, technically known as Quillaja saponaria, are rare evergreens native to Chile that have long been
