Author: Desk Team

The entrance to the Tham Luang Cave in Chiang Rai province, Thailand, on Aug 17, 2022. The rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach trapped in the cave in 2018 has since become the focus of documentary films and Hollywood blockbusters. (NYT photo) CHIANG RAI: Four years ago, it was a muddy, chaotic and emotionally fraught scene outside the Tham Luang Cave, where thousands of people, from volunteers to parents to cave divers from around the world, had gathered with one goal: to rescue 12 boys and their football coach trapped deep inside. Over an 18-day ordeal, much of the world’s attention was fixed on the cave, with many fearing the worst. But against incredible odds, the entire team was brought out alive. The miraculous rescue has since become the focus of documentary films and Hollywo

As Covid-19 continues to spread, new findings show all available vaccines are effective at preventing severe illness and death Coronavirus vaccines can reduce disease severity and fatality, but the emergence of new strains has raised questions about their effectiveness and future vaccination strategy. Some vaccine makers are rolling out variant-specific boosters to head off the Omicron surge, while others are developing pan-coronavirus vaccines that will hopefully offer protection against all variants. (Photo © 123rf.com) Yet, only some countries have access to vaccine technology and supply. Using a global database, infectious disease experts in Asia and Latin America conducted a review of more than 50 real-world studies, which found that current booster shots are effective in preventin

NEW YORK (AP) — Looking to “reintroduce the Philippines“ to the world, new President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ambitious plans for his nation on the international stage and at home — if, that is, the twin specters of pandemic and climate change can be overcome or at least managed. And if he can surmount the legacies of two people: his predecessor, and his father. He also wants to strengthen ties with both the United States and China — a delicate balancing act for the Southeast Asian nation — and, like many of his fellow leaders at the United Nations this week, called on the countries that have caused global warming to help less wealthy nations counteract its effects. Marcos, swept into office this spring, is already drawing distinctions both subtle and obvious between himself and his vol

A farmer works his rice field with a mechanical plough in Lat Khum Kaew disrict of Pathum Thani on May 10, 2021. (Photo: Pattarapong Chatpattarasill) Thailand and Vietnam have reached an accord aimed at raising the price of locally-produced rice in the global market amid soaring costs for farmers, the government said on Saturday. The agreement secured with Vietnam is the first of its kind, Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Chalerm­chai Sri-on said, adding both nations will immediately set up special teams to drive the idea at home. It was reached during the end of recent talks between the two countries on rice export prices, he said. Alongkorn Ponlaboot, his adviser, was appointed head of Thailand's price negotiation team, while the ministry was ordered to hold meetings with farmer

BANGKOK (AP) — A court in Myanmar on Friday sentenced ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to three years’ imprisonment with labor after finding her guilty of election fraud, adding more jail time to the 17 years she is already serving for other offenses prosecuted by the military government. The latest verdict also carries potentially significant political consequences for Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party by lending support to the government’s explicit threats to dissolve it before a new election the military has promised for 2023. Suu Kyi’s party won the the 2020 general election in a landslide victory, but the army seized power the following February and kept her from a second five-year term in office. The army contends it acted because of alleged widespread fraud in the polls

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt, the host of this year’s upcoming U.N.-led climate conference, is rejecting reports by a rights group saying that authorities in the Middle East country are stifling environment activism as part of a broader crackdown on dissent. According to the report by Human Rights Watch, the Egyptian government’s restrictions amount to a violation of basic human rights and throw into question its ability to meet basic climate commitments. The report was based on interviews with more than a dozen academics, scientists and activists. The global COP27 summit will take place in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh in November. Egypt’s foreign ministry said late Monday that the report was misleading and that its publishing was “counterproductive.“ The statement did not address

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. food chief warned Thursday that the world is facing “a perfect storm on top of a perfect storm” and urged donors, particularly Gulf nations and billionaires, to give a few days of profits to tackle a crisis with the fertilizer supply right now and prevent widespread food shortages next year. “Otherwise, there’s gonna be chaos all over the world,” World Food Program Executive Director David Beasley said in an Associated Press interview. Beasley said that when he took the helm of WFP 5 1/2 years ago, only 80 million people around the world were headed toward starvation. “And I’m thinking, `Well, I can put the World Food Program out of business,’” he said. But climate problems increased that number to 135 million. The COVID-19 pandemic, which began in early 2

OTTAWA— The presence of top Canadian and NATO officials in Nunavut on Thursday is a sign Canada is renewing its focus on Arctic security and its place in the 30-member military alliance, experts say. As climate change thaws pathways into the Far North, Russia expands its military footprint in the Arctic and China sets its sights on the region, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg toured Cambridge Bay to kick off a flurry of meetings on defence and security. Trudeau and Stoltenberg visited the region’s North Warning System site, which is part of a series of radar stations jointly operated by the United States and Canada. The sites help detect airborne threats as part of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NOR). The pair was joined by Defence

MOSCOW - Russia is holding major military exercises involving China and India as President Vladimir Putin pushes back against attempts by the US and its allies to isolate him over his invasion of Ukraine. More than 50,000 troops and 5,000 pieces of military equipment, including more than 140 aircraft and 60 warships, are due to take part in the week-long Vostok-2022 war games that start on Thursday in Russia's far east, including naval drills in the Sea of Japan or East Sea. The regular exercises bring together member states and partners of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation of former Soviet republics. Even as the US is wooing India as a defence partner and urging it not to undermine international sanctions on Russia over th...

Taiwan hosts dozens of foreign lawmakers in Washington to push China sanctions FILE PHOTO: Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen (7th left) poses for a photo with a US congressional delegation led by US Representative Stephanie Murphy (6th left) and other officials at the Presidential Office in Taipei on Sept 8, 2022. (Photo by Handout / Taiwan Presidential Office / AFP) WASHINGTON: Taiwan's de facto ambassador in Washington, Hsiao Bi-khim, hosted on Tuesday dozens of international lawmakers who back sanctions on China for aggression toward the island, a show of support for Taipei amid military pressure from Beijing. The unannounced gathering of about 60 parliamentarians from Europe, Asia and Africa at Taiwan's sweeping hilltop diplomatic mansion in Washington - called Twin Oaks - is the lat...