International news with relevance to Thai and regional readers
Saudi Arabia said Saturday it would suspend international flights for two weeks in response to the coronavirus outbreak. “The Kingdom’s government decided to suspend international flights for two weeks (Starting from Sunday March 15th) as part of its efforts to prevent the spread of #CoronaVirus,” the foreign ministry tweeted. Saudi Arabia has recorded 86 cases
A Canadian woman and her Italian partner kidnapped in Burkina Faso in 2018 have been found alive in the northwest of Mali by UN peacekeepers, diplomatic and UN sources said on Saturday. “UN blue helmets found an Italian citizen and a Canadian citizen near Kidal, who had been taken hostage in Burkina territory in 2018,”
President Donald Trump declared a national emergency Friday in what critics say was a long-delayed admission of the gravity of the coronavirus crisis that’s triggered the shutdown of schools, sporting events, offices and travel in the world’s richest country. Trump’s declaration frees up some $40 billion in disaster relief funds for local authorities. He also surprised reporters
GENEVA (AFP) – The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday that Europe was now the “epicentre” for the global coronavirus pandemic, and warned it was impossible to know when the outbreak would peak. “Europe has now become the epicentre of the pandemic,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a virtual press conference. He
Spain’s government is to declare a state of alert over the rapid spread of the deadly coronavirus, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Friday after infections soared over 4,200 with 120 dead. “There will be a cabinet meeting tomorrow to declare a state of alert across the country for a period of 15 days,” Sanchez
GENEVA (Reuters) – The World Health Organization is characterizing the outbreak of the new coronavirus as a pandemic, Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday. “We are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction. We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can
In light of the global spread of COVID-19 and increasing concern over a potential widespread domestic outbreak, Thailand has suspended the visa on arrival (VOA) facility for citizens of 18 countries and has scrapped visa free access for those from Italy, South Korea and Hong Kong with immediate effect. The 18 countries are Bulgaria, Bhutan,
With stores in India and New York, multiple clothing brands and a global celebrity following, fashion designer Anita Dongre is a feminist powerhouse in a male-dominated industry. But her true ambition is to create an environmentally sustainable company, she says. “Sometimes I wish I could just give up design and focus on sustainability full-time,” the
Saudi authorities have detained three princes including King Salman’s brother and nephew for allegedly plotting a coup, three sources told AFP Saturday, signalling the de facto ruler’s tightening grip on power. The detentions, which cast aside the last vestiges of potential opposition to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, come at a sensitive time as the petro-state
The number of cases from the new coronavirus topped 100,000 worldwide as the US battled to contain an outbreak on board a stranded cruise ship where 21 people have tested positive. The World Health Organization called the spread of the virus “deeply concerning” as a wave of countries reported their first cases of the disease
China’s exports plummeted in the first two months of this year on the back of a coronavirus epidemic that forced businesses to suspend operations, disrupting the world’s supply chains. Exports fell 17.2 percent, the biggest drop since February 2019 during the trade war with the United States, and imports dropped 4 percent, according to official
