International news with relevance to Thai and regional readers
Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health is considering listing Italy as one of the high-risk countries for COVID-19 infection, travellers arriving from which will be screened at their port of entry into Thailand, Dr. Thanarak Plipat, deputy director-general of the Disease Control Department, told a media conference today. He said that the additional measure, now under
The World Health Organization warned Saturday that African health systems would be ill-equipped to respond to the deadly coronavirus outbreak should cases start to proliferate on the continent. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on African Union member states “to come together to be more aggressive in attacking” the virus, known as COVID-19. “Our biggest concern
Iran on Saturday reported one more death among 10 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of deaths in the Islamic republic to five — the highest of any country outside the Far East. Since it emerged in December, the virus has killed 2,345 people in China, the epicentre of the epidemic, and 16 elsewhere
South Korea reported 142 more coronavirus cases Saturday, the sharpest spike in infections yet, with more than half of the new cases linked to a hospital in a southern city. The national toll of 346 is now the second-highest outside of China, with the jump in cases at a hospital in Cheongdo following a similar spike
A cruise ship with over 2,000 people on board and which has been denied entry by three countries is now on its way to Cambodia after Thai authorities said it would not be allowed to dock in Thailand, its operator reported Wednesday evening. Holland America Line said on its twitter that the Westerdam cruise ship
Preparations are under way to evacuate 21 Thai citizens on board Holland America’s MS Westerdam cruise ship and to provide necessary supplies to the ship, once there is a greenlight from the Thai government. An informed source in the Marine Department said that, for the time being, there has been no permission received from the
The UN health agency on Tuesday announced that “COVID-19” will be the official name of the deadly virus from China, saying the disease represented a “very grave threat” for the world but there was a “realistic chance” of stopping it. “We now have a name for the disease and it’s COVID-19,” World Health Organization chief Tedros
Thailand has thrown away a very good opportunity, amidst all the crises, to demonstrate to the world that the country has humanity, said Assistant Professor Piti Srisaengnam, a lecturer at the Faculty of Economics of Chulalongkorn University. Writing on Facebook today, he described the Thai government’s decision not to allow a cruise ship to dock
Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said today that the Government will provide humanitarian aid to Holland America’s Westerdam cruise ship, after it was refused permission to dock at Laem Chabang deep-sea port by Thailand’s Ministry of Transport,. The ship, which left Hong Kong on February 1st, has already been refused entry to the Philippines and
South Korean thriller “Parasite” — a dark comedy about modern poverty and wealth that has brought down language barriers to open new audiences to foreign film — can now call itself a history-making Oscar winner. The movie snapped up four Academy Awards on Sunday — becoming the first non-English-language film to take home best picture honors —
Brad Pitt’s Oscar win on Sunday marks a fitting comeback for the veteran actor whose personal life, rather than his on-screen roles, have dominated headlines in recent years. Pitt won the golden statuette for his role as a laid-back fading stuntman in Quentin Tarantino’s ode to 1960s Tinseltown, “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.”
Here are the winners in key categories for the 92nd Academy Awards, which were handed out on Sunday in Hollywood. South Korean film “Parasite” was the big winner of the night, taking home four prizes — for best picture, best director, best original screenplay and best international feature film. Best picture: “Parasite” Best director: Bong
