International news with relevance to Thai and regional readers
BERLIN (AP) — An escape tunnel underneath the Berlin Wall opened to the public on Thursday for the first time amid celebrations of the 30-year anniversary of the opening of communist East Germany’s border. The tunnel at Bernauer Strasse, near the city’s main Wall memorial, was opened by Mayor Michael Mueller. He thanked those who
A night-time earthquake in northwestern Iran on Friday killed five people and injured 120, according to early reports on state television. The 5.9-magnitude quake struck about 120 kilometres (75 miles) southeast of the city of Tabriz, in East Azerbaijan Province, in the early hours of the morning, the Iranian Seismological Center said. Described as
Thailand’s English proficiency ranking among non-native English speaking countries has dropped for the third consecutive year to 74th out of a total of 100 countries. According to the EF English Proficiency Index 2019, prepared by Swiss-based Education First, Thailand scored 47.62, which is regarded as very low proficiency. Last year, Thailand scored 48.54 and was
Far out in the South Atlantic Ocean, invisible to the South African coastline, diver Pascal Van Erp surfaced with an abandoned lobster cage covered in algae and other marine organisms. He pulled it up to the deck of the Arctic Sunrise, a Greenpeace vessel conducting research around Mount Vema, an underwater mountain located around
Concern, by India, over the prospect of cheap and mass-produced Chinese products flooding the Indian market has stalled plans to sign the world’s largest trade deal, known as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, during the ASEAN Summit in Bangkok. India has significant outstanding issues, which remain unresolved, said a joint leaders’ statement on
UN Secretary General António Guterres has called on countries in the Southeast Asian region to be at the front line in stopping the use of coal power which has been largely responsible for climate change. He said the world’s addiction to coal “remains a major threat in relation to climate change and one of the
The Appeals Court on Thursday upheld the convictions of, and lengthened the sentences for a former army general, several police officers and local officials all found guilty of trafficking Rohingya illegal migrants. Former army advisor Lt-Gen Manas Kongpan and former Pol Sub-Lt Narathon Samphan, former deputy inspector of Ranong province, had their 27-year prison sentences
The second Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge, across the Moei River in Mae Sot district of Thailand’s north-western province of Tak, was officially opened to traffic today (Wednesday). The new crossing is expected to help boost Thai exports to 100 billion baht a year, from 78 billion at present. The opening ceremony was jointly led by Thai
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong police fired tear gas at protesters throwing petrol bombs on Sunday as thousands staged an illegal march through the Kowloon district that will test the strength of the pro-democracy campaign after four months of unrest. Police inside the Tsim Sha Tsui police station fired volleys of tear gas and
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The Catalan regional capital is bracing for a fifth day of protests over the conviction of a dozen independence leaders. Clashes with police broke out in Barcelona late on Thursday when a mob of far-right anti-independence activists tried to storm a big separatist protest. Health authorities in the region say
DATE, Japan (Reuters) – Rescue workers in Japan searched for the missing on Wednesday as the death toll from one of the worst typhoons to hit the country rose to 74, public broadcaster NHK said, many drowned by flooding after scores of rivers burst their banks. Public broadcaster NHK said 12 were missing and more
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday passed four pieces of legislation taking a hard line on China, three related to pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong and one commending Canada in its dispute over the extradition of a Chinese telecom executive. All four measures passed by unanimous voice vote, as members of
