BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand plans to start collecting a 300 baht ($9) fee from foreign tourists arriving in the country beginning in June, with the money raised to support visitors involved in accidents and develop tourist destinations, a minister said on Wednesday. Tourism is a crucial sector in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy and contributed about …
Thailand plans to introduce tourist fee from June Read More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s weather bureau said on Wednesday that there was a 70% chance the La Nina phenomenon will end and normal weather patterns will return by the end of the northern hemisphere winter. It added that there was an 80% chance that normal weather patterns would continue in the spring. A La Nina …
Japan weather bureau says 70% chance that La Nina will end by end of winter Read More »
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo acknowledged on Wednesday a series of incidents amounting to “gross human rights violations” had taken place in his country’s past, including the bloodshed and arrests that took place in 1965 and 1966. In one of the darkest periods of Indonesia’s history, some historians and activists have estimated at …
Indonesia president says “strongly regrets” past rights violations in country Read More »
(Reuters) -Pfizer Inc is not in talks with Chinese authorities to license a generic version of its COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid for use there, but is in discussions about a price for the branded product, Chief Executive Albert Bourla said on Monday. Reuters reported on Friday that China was in talks with Pfizer to secure a …
Pfizer CEO rules out generic COVID drug Paxlovid for China Read More »
BEIJING (Reuters) -Merck & Co’s COVID-19 antiviral treatment molnupiravir was priced at 1,500 yuan ($221.21) per bottle in Tianjin, according to the northern Chinese city’s medical purchasing centre on Tuesday. Each bottle contains 40 pills – enough for one course of treatment – according to the centre. The treatment, which is sold under the brand …
Merck COVID treatment priced at 1,500 yuan per bottle in China’s Tianjin Read More »
ROME (Reuters) – Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida agreed at a meeting on Tuesday to strengthen ties in a range of spheres including the economy, trade and defence, the leaders said. “We have agreed to elevate our relations to the level of a strategic partnership,” Meloni told reporters in …
Italian, Japanese leaders agree to form “strategic partnership” Read More »
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada has imposed sanctions on four Sri Lankan state officials over human rights violations during armed conflict in Sri Lanka from 1983 to 2009, the Canadian foreign ministry said on Tuesday. “Over the past four decades, the people of Sri Lanka have suffered a great deal due to the armed conflict, economic …
Canada imposes sanctions on 4 Sri Lankan officials over human rights violations Read More »
By Martin Quin Pollard and Eduardo Baptista BEIJING (Reuters) – China suspended issuing short-term visas in South Korea and Japan on Tuesday, after announcing it would retaliate against countries that required negative COVID-19 tests from Chinese travellers. China has ditched mandatory quarantines for arrivals and allowed travel to resume across its border with Hong Kong …
China suspends issuing visas in Japan, S.Korea to retaliate for COVID curbs Read More »
By Gopal Sharma KATHMANDU (Reuters) – Former Maoist rebel Pushpa Kamal Dahal was confirmed as Nepal’s prime minister for a third time on Tuesday, winning almost unanimous backing from legislators even though November’s election returned a hung parliament. Dahal, who still goes by his nom de guerre Prachanda, meaning “fierce”, secured 268 ballots in a …
Nepali former Maoist rebel confirmed as premier for third time Read More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The legal team of Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy Hong Kong tycoon sentenced to over five years in jail last month, met a British junior foreign office minister on Tuesday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesperson said. “The British government will always support rights and freedoms and the rule of law,” the spokesperson told …
British minister met Hong Kong tycoon Lai’s legal team – Downing Street Read More »
