World

Above Taekwondo star Panipak Wongpattanakit celebrates on the podium after winning the women's 49kg class. Reigning Olympic champion Panipak Wongpattanakit won her third straight SEA Games gold medal after reigning in the women's 49kg class on Thursday. The world No.1 taekwondo star lived up to her billing by outclassing her opponent Julius Dhaysi Oo of Myanmar 29-0 in the gold medal match. The victory extended Panipak's 36-match winning streak dating back to November 2018. Another medal hope Athi Sararat also triumphed in the men's 87kg class when he beat Indonesia's Nicolas Armanto 19-6 in the final. Myanmar's Kyaw Min Naing took bronze. Sasikarn Tongchan had to settle for silver in the women's 62kg after losing to Vietnam's Pham Thi Thu Hien in the final. Cambodia's Casandre Nico...

Xi speaks with Bachelet, defends China's rights progress Graphic on selected reports on the human rights situation in China's Xinjiang region BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping held a video call with UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet on Wednesday, as she visits Xinjiang during a mission overshadowed by fresh allegations of Uyghur abuses and fears she is being used as a public relations tool by the Communist Party. Beijing is accused of detaining over one million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the far-western region as part of a years-long crackdown the United States and lawmakers in other Western countries have labelled a "genocide". Bachelet is expected to visit the cities of Urumqi and Kashgar as part of a six-day tour that has been dogged by concerns from Western official...

GENEVA (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization said China’s extreme approach to containing the coronavirus is unsustainable because of the highly infectious nature of the omicron variant, but that it’s up to every country to decide what policy to pursue. At a media briefing on Tuesday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described China’s “zero-COVID” strategy as “not sustainable” after similar remarks last week drew sharp criticism from China. “We know the virus better and we have better tools, including vaccines, so that’s why the handling of the virus should actually be different from what we used to do at the start of the pandemic,” Tedros said. He added that the virus had changed significantly since it was first identified in Wuhan in late 2019, when China large

Insoon Lee left her native South Korea for a better life in Canada, but upon arriving in Toronto in the ’70s, she found herself working nights as a worm harvester. This was before she established herself as a respected businesswoman, prolific volunteer and founding member of Toronto’s Koreatown and the Canadian-Korean Buddhists’ Association. “The Korean community was really small when our family immigrated to Toronto, maybe 5,000 to 6,000 (people),” says Insoon’s daughter Seung-Yoon Lisa Lee. “There was only one Korean grocery store and one Korean restaurant on Bloor Street. There were a couple of small Korean-Protestant churches and a Korean-Catholic church, but no Korean-Buddhist temples.” Her mother took that as a challenge. Born in Jincheon County in North Chungcheong Province, Insoo

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is launching desperate measures to “stabilise” the faltering Chinese economy as President Xi Jinping is adamant about not diluting his Zero Covid policy even at the risk of alienating more people. What impact the mauled economy has on the 20th Party Congress where Xi wants to get his third term is anybody’s guess. In an unusual incident that shows how rattled the government is with the flailing economy, Premier Li Keqiang presided over a State Council Executive Meeting recently. It is said the executive may have decided on the measures much earlier but decided to announce the results only now. The measures finalised by the State Council prove without doubt what the media calls “the economic dislocation from Beijing's Zero-COVID policy, bruised inves

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — U.S. President Joe Biden called Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday to congratulate him on his apparent landslide victory in the Philippine presidential election, Manila’s ambassador to Washington said. Biden is among the first world leaders to recognize the electoral triumph of the namesake son of the ousted dictator, whose candidacy has alarmed human rights activists and pro-democracy groups. “President Biden told him Washington is looking forward to working with him and cited the shared history of the longtime treaty allies,” Philippine Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez told The Associated Press, adding the two spoke for more than 10 minutes. Biden also aims to expand cooperation on a wide range of issues, including the fight against COVID-19 outbreaks, the cli

Ukraine rules out concessions as Russia steps up attacks Ukrainian children Andrii, 12 and Valentyn, 6, patrol with their toy guns as cars pass near their homes, amid Russia's invasion, in the village of Stoianka, in the Kyiv region, Ukraine, on May 22. (Photo: Reuters) KYIV: Ukraine ruled out a ceasefire or any territorial concessions to Russia, and Poland's president said any loss of Ukrainian territory would be a "huge blow" to the entire West as he warned against appeasing Russian President Vladimir Putin. Air raid sirens blared across Ukraine on Monday morning, sounding the daily alarm ahead of anticipated attacks by Russian forces in the east and south of the country. Russia has stepped up its pounding of the Donbas and Mykolaiv regions with air strikes and artillery fire, in what...

A Nissan Leaf EV is charged at the Bangkok International Motor Show 2022. Governments in Southeast Asia are floating very ambitious plans to capture a share of the electric vehicle market. And rightfully so. As the world prepares for carbon neutrality, the automotive industry is embarking on a fundamental transformation. At the COP26 summit in November, various nations and leading car manufacturers pledged to phase out fossil fuel-powered vehicles by or before 2040. In Southeast Asia, the aim is clearly to create opportunities for the EV industry to serve both the export and domestic markets. Thailand has traditionally had the strongest automotive footprint in the region, assembling 2.5 million units at its peak in 2013 and -- after the pandemic hit -- 1.7 million in 2021. The country ...

BoT preps measures for household debt The atmosphere at Money Expo 2022, which kicked off on Thursday and runs until Sunday at Impact Muang Thong Thani. The financial exhibition offers attractive deals, including zero-interest loan rates. (Photo: Nutthawat Wicheanbut) The Bank of Thailand plans to implement new measures to ease household debt, focusing on lower-income borrowers. The central bank, in collaboration with the government and the private sector, has been considering household debt solutions, particularly to assist vulnerable borrowers classified as lower-income earners. Helping this group of borrowers to increase its income is a major goal to strengthen their capability for debt repayment, said central bank deputy governor Ronadol Numnonda. The low income and high debt burd...

Ratchanok Intanon plays a shot against Pusarla V Sindhu of India in the Uber Cup quarter-finals. Thailand defeated India to set up a semi-final clash against defending champions China in the Uber Cup on Friday. Thailand, led by world No.8 Ratchanok Intanon, defeated India 3-0 in the quarter-finals on Thursday at Muang Thong Thani's Impact Arena in Nonthaburi. China defeated Indonesia 3-0 in the other quarter-final tie. Japan and South Korea face off in the other semi-final match-up. Japan beat Taiwan 3-0 while South Korea beat Denmark by the same scoreline. The Thai women are now guaranteed of at least a bronze medal after making it to the last four of the tournament. Ratcnanok won the first match-up for Thailand, fighting back after losing the first game to beat seventh-ranked Pusar...