International news with relevance to Thai and regional readers
BERLIN (AP) — Masks during class, masks only in the halls, no masks at all. Distance when possible, no distance within same-grade groups, no distance at all. As Germany’s 16 states start sending millions of children back to school in the middle of the global coronavirus pandemic, the country’s famous sense of “Ordnung” has given
WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Saturday launched her re-election campaign promising a “laser-like” focus on boosting jobs and economic growth hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The charismatic 40-year-old leader is on track for a comfortable victory in the Sept. 19 election, according to opinion polls, having won global praise for
WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden’s controversial remarks about race this week risk alienating young Black voters who despise President Donald Trump but are not inspired by his Democratic rival. When pressed by Errol Barnett of CBS News on whether he’d taken a cognitive test, Biden responded that the question was akin to asking the Black
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – White House officials trying to broker a deal on new coronavirus legislation will advise President Donald Trump to act on his own to deliver relief to Americans suffering from the pandemic, after talks with top Democrats in Congress broke down on Friday. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of
KOZHIKODE, India (Reuters) – At least 17 people were killed and more than 100 injured when an Air India Express passenger plane repatriating Indians stranded by the COVID-19 pandemic overshot the runway in heavy rain near the southern city of Kozhikode on Friday, officials said. The Boeing-737 flight from Dubai to Calicut International Airport was
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, the territory’s current and former police chiefs and eight other top officials for what Washington says is their role in curtailing political freedoms in the territory. The sanctions were imposed under an executive order President Donald Trump signed
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House and Donald Trump’s campaign on Sunday sought to shut down the Republican president’s musings on delaying the 2020 vote, saying there will be an election on Nov. 3. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said Trump was raising concerns about mail-in ballots when he floated the idea of
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said on Friday he would sign an executive order as soon as Saturday to ban TikTok in the United States, ratcheting up the pressure on the popular short-video app’s Chinese owner to sell it. The move would be the culmination of U.S. national security concerns over the safety
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean authorities arrested the founder of a secretive Christian sect at the centre of the country’s largest outbreak of COVID-19 infections on Saturday for allegedly hiding crucial information from contact-tracers and other offences. Lee Man-hee is the powerful head of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus which is linked to more than
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Friday postponed a Sept. 6 election to the Chinese-ruled city’s legislature by a year because of a rise in coronavirus cases, dealing a blow to the pro-democracy opposition which had hoped to make huge gains. The United States quickly condemned the move, saying it was
July 30 (Reuters) – Twitter Inc, whose internal systems were breached about two weeks ago, said on Thursday the incident targeted a small number of employees through a phone “spear-phishing” attack. The U.S. microblogging site said the hackers targeted about 130 accounts, tweeted from 45, accessed inbox of 36, and were able to download Twitter
SEATTLE (Reuters) – Thousands of people marched in Seattle on Saturday in the largest Black Lives Matter demonstration in weeks, with a renewed energy sparked by violent clashes between activists and federal agents in nearby Portland. Police said officers used non-lethal weapons in attempts to disperse the crowd in the late afternoon after some protesters
