World

VW faces Brazil hearing over dictatorship-era slavery claims A picture shows the Volkswagen logo in a vintage Volkswagen Kombi bus: the German carmaker faces an audience with Brazilian prosecutors over allegations of human-rights violations at a farm it ran during Brazil's military dictatorship. RIO DE JANEIRO: German carmaker Volkswagen faces an audience with Brazilian prosecutors Tuesday over allegations of human rights violations at a farm it ran during Brazil's military dictatorship, including slave labour, rapes and beatings. Prosecutors have assembled a 90-page dossier they say documents years of atrocities committed by Volkswagen managers and hired guns at a cattle ranch the company owned in the Amazon rainforest basin in the 1970s and 80s. In the latest attempt to bring justice...

A worker in a protective suit passes food through a gap in the barrier at a residential area in Shanghai on Thursday. (Reuters Photo) SHANGHAI: China’s biggest city is inching toward gradual reopening from two months of gruelling Covid-19 lockdowns, while Beijing has said some mobility curbs would be loosened starting on Sunday. However, most of the restrictions that have dramatically curtailed movement in the Chinese capital remain in place even as new daily case numbers decline to low double-digits. Shanghai aims essentially to end its lockdown from Wednesday. More people have been allowed out of their homes and more businesses permitted to reopen in the past week, although most residents remain largely confined to their housing compounds and most shops are limited to making deliverie

A large rainbow flag is seen being held by participants of Bangkok Naruemit Pride 2022, the event aimed at boosting gender equality. (Photo: Wichan Charoenkiatpakul) Bangkok saw an explosion of glamour, gilt, and glitter Sunday as the country's LGBTQ community celebrated their first Pride parade in almost 16 years -- but attendees warned true equality was still distant. Bangkok's "Naruemit Pride 2022" -- Naruemit means "creation" in Thai -- was organised by a coalition of non-governmental groups with the city's newly ratified Governor Chadchart Sittipunt also throwing his weight behind it. Allies and people of all genders, including drag artists, sex workers, feminists and even a few furries -- people who are interested in or dress up as animal characters with human personalities -- bou...

National Institute of Metrology (Thailand) thrives in digital era as it marks its 24th Anniversary Thailand’s GDP is expected to grow around to a relatively high 3.2% in 2023. In Southeast Asia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia are also contributing to the regional strong growth prospects. Despite slow economic recovery Thailand’s National Metrology Institute still strives for the best and remains one of the most trusted excellent center of metrology in Asia Pacific regions on par with Singapore. “Internationally recognized measurement capabilities ensure that high quality products and services could access markets and customer around the globe” said Ajchara Charoensook, Director of National Institute of Metrology (Thailand). “Thailand has great potential to build

Cashless payments, online shopping and revenge travel on the rise in the new 'endemic world', says Visa study Cashless payments, online shopping and revenge travel are the three leading trends that will feature in the "endemic world", according to a survey by Visa. Thai consumers (89%) lead Southeast Asia in their intention to use cashless payment methods more often, followed by those in Vietnam (83%), Malaysia (78%), Indonesia (78%), and the Philippines (78%), the company's Consumer Payment Attitudes Study shows. The study also found Thai consumers have the highest confidence in digital payments. Over four in five (86%) Thais perceived digital payments as safer than cash, followed by Vietnam (80%), the Philippines (79%), Indonesia (79%), and Malaysia (75%). "During these past two year...

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Within a two-week span, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan caused a stir by throwing a wrench in Sweden and Finland’s historic request to join NATO, lashing out at fellow alliance member Greece and announcing plans for a new incursion into Syria. Erdogan appears to be using Turkey’s role as a mediator in the Ukraine war and its ability to veto new NATO members as an opportunity to air a variety of grievances and to force other nations to take action against groups the Turkish government views as terrorists, including Kurdish militants. Amplifying his strongman image by focusing on international disputes also could resonate domestically as Turkey gears up for a general election next year. Here’s a look at Erdogan’s latest brinkmanship and what he can hope to gai

BANGKOK (AP) — The world’s largest recorded freshwater fish, a giant stingray, has been caught in the Mekong River in Cambodia, according to scientists from the Southeast Asian nation and the United States. The stingray, captured on June 13, measured almost 4 meters (13 feet) from snout to tail and weighed slightly under 300 kilograms (660 pounds), according to a statement Monday by Wonders of the Mekong, a joint Cambodian-U.S. research project. The previous record for a freshwater fish was a 293-kilogram (646-pound) Mekong giant catfish, discovered in Thailand in 2005, the group said. The stingray was snagged by a local fisherman south of Stung Treng in northeastern Cambodia. The fisherman alerted a nearby team of scientists from the Wonders of the Mekong project, which has publicized

Occupancy rate stood at just 10% in May Three Thai women make their way with their luggage into Malaysia at the Sadao border checkpoint in the southern province of Songkhla on April 1. Thailand reopened the southern checkpoint after a period of prolonged closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic. (AFP photo) Tourism operators in Hat Yai are calling for additional support when it comes to registration for the Thailand Pass and bus services at the Malaysian border, particularly at the Sadao checkpoint, in order to bring back tourists. "Tourism operators in Hat Yai are still struggling to maintain their business despite the reopening as most arrivals are Malaysian businessmen, not tourists," said Kamon Suttiwannopat, president of Songkhla Tourism Association. Obstacles at the Sadao checkpoint,...

SINGAPORE - United States Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin met his counterpart, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, in Singapore on Friday (June 10), where they discussed ways to further strengthen defence cooperation, including in cyberspace. The two leaders reaffirmed the excellent bilateral defence relationship and the mutually beneficial partnership between the two countries during a bilateral call at the Shangri-La Hotel, said the Ministry of Defence (Mindef). Mr Austin, a retired four-star general, is in Singapore for the Shangri-La Dialogue - an annual high-level defence summit taking place from Friday to Sunday - where he is expected to deliver a major speech on US defence policy in the Indo-Pacific. The dialogue is being held as a fully in-person event for the first time in three years....

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — China and Russia blocked the U.N. Security Council from issuing a statement Friday expressing concern at the violence and serious humanitarian situation in Myanmar and the “limited progress” on implementing a regional plan to restore peace to the strife-torn Southeast Asian nation, diplomats said Friday evening. The council was briefed virtually behind closed doors Friday afternoon by Cambodia’s Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, the special envoy for Myanmar for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and U.N. envoy for Myanmar Noeleen Heyzer on efforts to resolve the crisis in the country since the Feb. 1, 2021 military coup. When the army ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, it claimed with scant evidence that the general election her party won in N