International news with relevance to Thai and regional readers
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats powered a massive $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill through the House on Friday, an election-year measure designed to brace a U.S. economy in free fall and a health care system struggling to contain a pandemic still pummelling the country. The 208-199 vote, over strong Republican opposition, advances what boils down to
WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand businesses including malls, cinemas, cafes and gyms will reopen on Thursday after some of the tightest restrictions in the world to stop the spread of the coronavirus were further loosened on Monday. The Pacific nation was locked down for more than month under “level 4” restrictions that were eased by
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong authorities arrested more than 200 people during pro-democracy protests, media reported on Monday, after a sing-along demonstration at a shopping mall spilled out on to the streets of the Chinese-ruled city. Hundreds of riot police were deployed to disperse the protesters on Sunday, with some members of the media
Millions of people in France and Spain were set to embrace a relaxation of stay-at-home rules on Monday, but Britain extended its lockdown as countries plot their way tentatively through the coronavirus crisis. Fears of a second wave of the pandemic, which has killed more than 280,000 people worldwide and wrecked the global economy, stalked
BEIJING (Reuters) – China reported 17 new COVID-19 cases for May 10, rising from a day earlier and marking the highest daily increase since April 28, according to official data published on Monday. Of the new cases, seven were so-called imported cases involving travellers from overseas, compared with two imported infections on May 9. Five
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Walt Disney Co reopened its Shanghai Disneyland park on Monday to a reduced number of visitors, ending a roughly three-month closure caused by the coronavirus outbreak. This marks a milestone for Walt Disney and provides a glimpse of how it might recover from the pandemic that has forced it to shut parks
TOKYO (Reuters) – The Japanese government will consider lifting the state of emergency on many of the 34 prefectures that are not among the hardest-hit by the coronavirus epidemic before the nationwide deadline of May 31, Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said. Tokyo, Osaka and 11 other prefectures are not among the regions that could see
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Children in some Australian states began returning to school on Monday after an extended break due to the new coronavirus, as the country’s rate of new infections continued to slow. Students of New South Wales, the most populous state, and the northern state of Queensland began going back to school on a
Britain plans to introduce a 14-day mandatory quarantine for most international arrivals, reports said Saturday, despite growing pressure on the government to relax virus lockdown measures. It comes as the UK, which has the world’s second highest coronavirus death toll after the US, cautiously charts a way forward after imposing strict stay-at-home orders in late
BEIJING (Reuters) – China will reform its disease prevention and control system to address weaknesses exposed by the coronavirus outbreak, a senior health official said on Saturday. China has been criticised domestically and abroad as being initially slow to react to the epidemic, which first broke out on a large scale in Wuhan. The virus
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Australia’s most populous states held back from easing COVID-19 restrictions on Saturday even as some states allowed small gatherings and got ready to open restaurants in line with the federal government’s three-stage plan for reopening businesses. Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday outlined plans to remove most curbs by July in a
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States issued a new rule on Friday tightening visa guidelines for Chinese journalists, saying it was in response to the treatment of U.S. journalists in China, a shift that comes amid tensions between the two nations over the coronavirus global pandemic. The United States and China have been engaged in
