Author: Desk Team

Gem traders at heart of new cluster
10Jun By Desk TeamNo Comments
World

Gem traders at heart of new cluster

More than 100 gemstone traders from Africa have come down with Covid-19 over four days in Chanthaburi, although none carried the African or Indian variants of the virus. The provincial public office said the 109 traders tested positive May 6-9. They are from Guinea, Mali, Cote D'Ivoire and Gambia. Chanthaburi has attracted many traders of precious stones from Africa. Medical workers from hospitals and the provincial health office also set up a testing site at a Buddhist centre targeting 250 residents who came into contact with the African traders. Police warned the traders must comply strictly with health measures and go into quarantine for at least 14 days. Head of the African trader group, Cewse, police some traders were infected possibly by the gemstone sellers. After that the trad...
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Scientists race to study variants in India as cases explode
10Jun By Desk TeamNo Comments
World

Scientists race to study variants in India as cases explode

NEW DELHI (AP) — A potentially worrisome variant of the coronavirus detected in India may spread more easily. But the country is behind in doing the kind of testing needed to track it and understand it better. On Monday, the World Health Organization designated the new version of the virus a “variant of concern“ based on preliminary research, alongside those that were first detected in Britain, South Africa and Brazil but have spread to other countries. “We need much more information about this virus variant,“ said Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical lead for COVID-19. ”We need more sequencing, targeted sequencing to be done and to be shared in India and elsewhere so that we know how much of this virus is circulating.” Viruses mutate constantly, and the surge in infections here has resu
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The wonder women among us
10Jun By Desk TeamNo Comments
World

The wonder women among us

Kelsey Ellis after a day of facilitating a surf therapy programme. (Photos © National Geographic) What does a superhero like Wonder Woman do while taking a break from fighting crime? Actress Gal Gadot has found a new way to make the world a better place as as executive producer of the documentary series National Geographic: Impact With Gal Gadot, which shows off some real-life heroines. The short-form documentary series follows the powerful stories of resilient young women who are making an extraordinary impact on their communities around the world. Despite living in areas marred by poverty, trauma, violence, discrimination, oppression and natural disasters, these strong women remain undeterred and unafraid to dream, speak out and lead. The women featured in the show come from very diff
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Asian World Cup qualifiers to be moved from China to UAE
10Jun By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, World

Asian World Cup qualifiers to be moved from China to UAE

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — China’s COVID-19 travel restrictions have forced World Cup qualifying matches scheduled for the eastern city of Suzhou to be relocated to the United Arab Emirates. The Chinese Football Association issued a statement Monday saying the outbreak of infections in the Maldives and Syria meant both national teams would have to undergo strict quarantine after arriving in China, and couldn’t play as scheduled. The Asian Football Confederation confirmed in a statement Tuesday that the qualifying matches would be moved from China to the UAE. “The remaining seven matches in Group A, which comprises leaders Syria, China, Philippines, Maldives and Guam, will be held at the Sharjah Stadium, with the proposed match schedule to be confirmed soon after discussions with the
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Seven of my grandfather’s siblings lay in residential school graves. The 215 children found confirms what Indigenous people have known about Canada
10Jun By Desk TeamNo Comments
World

Seven of my grandfather’s siblings lay in residential school graves. The 215 children found confirms what Indigenous people have known about Canada

Warning: This story contains details of residential schools and the abuse that took place there. My mother tells us the story of my grandfather’s childhood. When he was four years old, the BC government ordered the entire Sen̓áḵw community to gather at the waterfront with their belongings. They were placed on a barge and deported from their land, watching from the water as their entire community was burned to the ground making way for the development of Vancouver’s highly desired Kitsilano neighbourhood. The forceful removal of ‘Indian’ people from their homes and homelands was completely legal under Canada’s Indian Act. In fact, under said act, any Indian community situated within six miles of a white settlement could be expropriated and its people moved. When he was six years old, he
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Army of fake fans boosts China’s messaging on Twitter
10Jun By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, Opinion, World

Army of fake fans boosts China’s messaging on Twitter

BRUSSELS (AP) — China’s ruling Communist Party has opened a new front in its long, ambitious war to shape global public opinion: Western social media. Liu Xiaoming, who recently stepped down as China’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, is one of the party’s most successful foot soldiers on this evolving online battlefield. He joined Twitter in October 2019, as scores of Chinese diplomats surged onto Twitter and Facebook, which are both banned in China. Since then, Liu has deftly elevated his public profile, gaining a following of more than 119,000 as he transformed himself into an exemplar of China’s new sharp-edged “wolf warrior” diplomacy, a term borrowed from the title of a top-grossing Chinese action movie. “As I see it, there are so-called ‘wolf warriors’ because there are ‘wolfs’
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US Judge: Saipan casino builder must pay 7 ex-workers $5.4M
9Jun By Desk TeamNo Comments
World

US Judge: Saipan casino builder must pay 7 ex-workers $5.4M

HONOLULU (AP) — A judge on the U.S. Pacific island of Saipan on Monday ordered a Hong Kong company to pay seven Chinese construction workers a total of $5.4 million for forcing them to work long hours in dangerous conditions to build a casino, while they were denied medical care for injuries and threatened with deportation and death. Chief Judge Ramona Manglona of the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory, said she issued her ruling after Hong Kong’s Imperial Pacific International repeatedly failed to comply with court orders to exchange information with the lawsuit’s plaintiffs. The award covers lost income and future lost income for the workers, payments for emotional distress, pain and suffering as well as punitive damages. Imperial Pacific Internatio
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Virus, Mideast turmoil stifle Eid al-Fitr celebrations
9Jun By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, World

Virus, Mideast turmoil stifle Eid al-Fitr celebrations

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Muslims celebrated Eid al-Fitr in a subdued mood for a second year Thursday as the COVID-19 pandemic again forced mosque closings and family separations on the holiday marking the end of Ramadan. In the embattled Gaza Strip, the call to prayer echoed over pulverized buildings and heaps of rubble as Israeli warplanes continued to pound the territory in the worst outbreak of violence since the 2014 war. Hamas, the Islamic militant group ruling Gaza, urged the faithful to mark communal prayers inside their homes or the nearest mosques and avoid being out in the open. “It is all airstrikes, destruction and devastation,” said Hassan Abu Shaaban, who tried to lighten the mood by passing out chocolates to passersby. Worshippers wearing masks joined communal prayers i
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Thai agencies close in on RCEP approval
9Jun By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, Business, Singapore, World

Thai agencies close in on RCEP approval

A file photo shows economic leaders on screen during the 4th RCEP Summit, part of the 37th Asean Summit in Hanoi, Vietnam in November of last year. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade pact, the world's biggest free trade deal, is making good progress with Singapore and China already submitting their ratifications. According to Auramon Supthaweethum, director-general of the Trade Negotiations Department, other members are accelerating their internal processes, while three Thai state agencies are revving up issuance of related regulations for submission to the Asean Secretariat by October. The agreement was signed by 15 nations in Asia-Pacific including Thailand last November. It requires ratification from at least nine countries (at least six from Asean and three...
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Politician killed in Kashmir, detainee shot dead in camp
9Jun By Desk TeamNo Comments
Conflict, Opinion, Politics, Singapore, World

Politician killed in Kashmir, detainee shot dead in camp

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Assailants fatally shot a politician belonging to India’s ruling party in disputed Kashmir, and separately, police on Thursday killed a detainee who they said snatched an officer’s rifle and fired at officials inside a police camp. The unidentified assailants shot Rakesh Pandita late Wednesday in the southern town of Tral, where he was visiting a friend, police said, blaming anti-India rebels for the attack. He was declared dead in a hospital. Rebels in Indian-controlled Kashmir have been fighting the central government for decades. Suspected militants carried out a string of deadly attacks last year on members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party in Kashmir. Among those killed was a top BJP politician and his father and brother, who were also p
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