International news with relevance to Thai and regional readers
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Newspaper vendor Man, 60, was speechless when she saw the headline that Beijing plans to impose national security laws on Hong Kong, and worried what the future holds for youth in the Chinese-ruled city. Communist Party rulers in Beijing on Friday unveiled details of the legislation that critics see as a
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran on Saturday moved to open businesses, religious and cultural sites as it eases restrictions imposed to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Museums and historical sites are to reopen on Sunday to coincide with the Eid el-Fitr celebrations that end the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, President Hassan Rouhani said on state
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing politicians sought to allay worries about the impact of China’s proposed national security legislation on the Asian financial hub’s business environment, saying it would boost investor sentiment. The legislation aims to tackle secession, subversion, terrorism, and foreign interference and could see mainland intelligence agencies set up bases in
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s most populous state said on Saturday it recorded just three new cases of the coronavirus the previous day and urged younger people to get tested as it prepares to further loosen restrictions on pubs and restaurants. New South Wales (NSW), which includes the city of Sydney, is home to nearly half
South America has become “a new epicentre” of the deadly coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organization said Friday, following a surge in the number of COVID-19 infections. “In a sense, South America has become a new epicentre for the disease. We have seen many South American countries with increasing numbers of cases,” WHO emergencies director
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China recorded no new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the mainland for May 22, down from four the previous day, the National Health Commission (NHC) said in a statement on Saturday. This was the first time China had seen no daily rise in the number of cases since the pandemic began in the
A total of 80 bodies have been recovered after a Pakistani plane crashed with nearly 100 people on board in the southern city of Karachi on Friday, provincial health officials said in a statement, with more feared dead. The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane had made multiple approaches to land at the city’s airport when it
In New Zealand, no one is exempt from the strict coronavirus prevention measures – not even Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who was denied entry to a cafe because of her own social distancing rules. Ardern, her fiance Clarke Gayford and a group of friends were turned away from a cafe in Wellington on Saturday (May
Packed with winds measuring 195kph, Cyclone Amphan is moving through the upper part of the Bay of Bengal towards Bangladesh at a speed of 10kph. This will bring heavy rain to Thailand’s southwestern coast from today until Friday. In its first announcement about Cyclone Amphan, issued today, the Meteorological Department warned people in northern, southern
ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s government on Saturday approved a decree which will allow travel to and from abroad from June 3, in a major development as it moves to unwind one of the world’s most rigid coronavirus lockdowns. The government will allow free travel across the country from that same day. Some regions had pushed
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s total novel corornavirus cases rose to 85,940 on Saturday, taking it past China, where the pandemic originated last year, though a strict lockdown enforced since late March has reduced the rate of contagion. State leaders, businesses and working class Indians have called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reopen the
