International news with relevance to Thai and regional readers
At least 304 people died and hundreds were injured after a major earthquake struck southwestern Haiti on Saturday (August 14), authorities said, reducing churches, hotels, schools, and homes to rubble in the latest tragedy to hit the impoverished Caribbean nation. The 7.2-magnitude quake, which was followed by a series of aftershocks, struck 8 km (5
Taliban fighters on Saturday captured the key northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif and closed in on Kabul, as US President Joe Biden sent more troops to evacuate American personnel and their allies. Just before residents confirmed the fall of Mazar-i-Sharif, once an anti-Taliban bastion, beleaguered Afghan President Ashraf Ghani addressed the nation, vowing to prevent
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban captured another three provincial capitals in Afghanistan on Friday, completing their sweep of the country’s south in a lightning offensive that is gradually encircling Kabul, just weeks before the U.S. is set to officially end its two-decade war. The latest significant blow was the loss of the capital of
Washington (AFP) – The United States on Thursday authorized an extra dose of COVID vaccine for people with weakened immune systems, as the country struggles to thwart the Delta variant. Emergency use authorization for a third injection of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines was granted by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulator. “The country has
New York (AFP) – The number of US residents who identify as “white” has fallen for the first time, according to the latest 2020 census data released Thursday. The United States has grown “more racially and ethnically diverse” and more urban over the past 10 years, according to the Census Bureau. The “white” population decreased by
New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern said Thursday that strict border controls would remain this year but she hoped to cautiously reopen to the rest of the world in 2022 while maintaining the country’s virus-free status. She said the changes would be “careful and deliberate” to avoid allowing variants such as the highly contagious Delta strain into
KABUL (Reuters) – The United States and Britain said on Thursday they would send thousands of troops to Afghanistan to help evacuate civilians, as the Taliban stood poised for their two biggest military victories since they began a broad offensive in May. In response to the militants’ swift and violent advances that are further loosening the Afghan government’s hold on the country, the Pentagon said it
BEIJING (Reuters) – A Chinese court convicted Canadian businessman Michael Spavor of espionage on Wednesday and sentenced him to 11 years in prison, in a case seen in Ottawa and Washington as part of a wider diplomatic spat with Beijing. His sentencing comes as lawyers in Canada representing the chief financial officer of Chinese telecoms
NEW YORK (Reuters) – With a range of political experience that has taken her from a town board in upstate New York to Capitol Hill in Washington, Kathy Hochul is soon to become the first woman to serve as governor of New York. As lieutenant governor, the No. 2 statewide position, she will take over in
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Britain’s Prince Andrew was sued on Monday for having allegedly on three occasions sexually abused a woman who says she was trafficked for sex by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. In a civil complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Virginia Giuffre said the Duke of York, Queen Elizabeth’s second son, sexually assaulted and battered her about two decades ago,
WELLINGTON (Reuters) – Under pressure from businesses and public sectors facing a worker shortage that policymakers fear will fuel inflation, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is due to unveil plans this week to reopen the country’s borders. Ardern garnered global praise for containing local transmission of COVID-19 via an elimination strategy, imposing tough lockdowns and slamming New Zealand‘s international border shut in March 2020. However, that
KABUL (AP) — The Taliban on Monday took control of another provincial capital in Afghanistan, an official said. The city’s fall was the latest in a weekslong, relentless Taliban offensive as American and NATO forces finalize their pullout from the war-torn country. The militants have ramped up their push across much of Afghanistan, turning their
