New peoples army

BANGKOK: Thailand reported 102 new COVID-19 cases and three more deaths, the country's public health ministry said on Sunday (Apr 5). The latest numbers raised the total in the Southeast Asian nation to 2,169 cases. Twenty-three people have died in Thailand since the outbreak first emerged in January. On Friday, police and soldiers set up hundreds of checkpoints across Thailand to enforce an indefinite nationwide curfew, banning most people from outside in a bid to curb the spread of the new coronavirus. The curfew includes exceptions for people transporting medical supplies and health workers travelling to and from work. Authorities said police, army and other security forces would set up 421 checkpoints across the country to enforce it. Thailand was the first country outside China to report a case of the new coronavirus, which since emerging in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year has infected more than one million people worldwide and killed at least 50,000. … [Read more...] about Thailand reports 102 new COVID-19 cases, 3 more deaths

TIRANA: Albania reported 29 new cases of the coronavirus on Saturday (Apr 4), the highest daily number in a single day, as 2.8 million Albanians started a third 40-hour lockdown to break the contagion's chain. The country now has a total of 333 cases and 18 deaths related to COVID-19. As the map of infections widened, pictures of people milling around in an outdoor market ahead of the 1 p.m. lockdown prompted the government to impose stricter rules. Albania has limited shopping to one person per family for one hour after getting permission online and until the end of the the outbreak will shut down any activity, its borders and transport except for goods in the eight-hour daily window. The coronavirus epidemic follows an earthquake last November that killed 51 people and left 17,000 homeless and Prime Minister Edi Rama's government is applying strict distancing measures to prevent overburdening its health system. "Unfortunately, many of you might think we have won this war … [Read more...] about Albania’s 29 new COVID-19 cases mark highest daily surge

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON: The Trump administration is tightening rules to prevent China from obtaining advanced U.S. technology for commercial purposes and then diverting it to military use, several sources told Reuters. Three measures agreed to by senior U.S. officials in a meeting last Wednesday, but not finalized, would introduce hurdles that could be used to stop Chinese companies from buying certain optical materials, radar equipment and semiconductors, among other things, from the United States. The moves are advancing as relations between the United States and China, a key customer for U.S. technology, sour over the deadly coronavirus pandemic, which originated in Wuhan, and tit-for-tat expulsions of journalists from each country. They are also a sign of growing nervousness within the U.S. government over China's "civil-military" fusion promoted by President Xi Jinping, which aims to build up its military might and super-charged technological development in tandem. China … [Read more...] about Exclusive: US officials agree on new ways to control high tech exports to China – sources

ZURICH: On Mar 6, Gianluca Preziosa, the head of an Italian ventilator maker, received an urgent request. The Italian authorities wanted his help for an all-out effort to meet a desperate need for ventilators. Now, his Bologna-based company, Siare Engineering International Group srl, has 25 army technicians working with its production supervisors to manage the expanded production and help assemble machines. The army also has made personnel available to the company’s suppliers, Preziosa said. "Usually we produce 160 machines a month. The goal is to produce 2,000 in four months, so more than triple our monthly production," Preziosa told Reuters in an interview. The executive added that companies involved in the supply chain of producing ventilators "cannot respond to the enormous demand because this is a niche industry". Siare belongs to a normally quiet corner of the medical equipment market that has found itself on the front line of the century’s biggest health crisis caused by … [Read more...] about COVID-19: Army joins the production line as ventilator makers scramble to meet demand in Italy

New Delhi: Myanmar`s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in good health at a court hearing via video conferencing on Monday, during which an additional charge was added to those filed against her after a coup a month ago, a lawyer for her said. Lawyer Min Min Soe told Reuters Suu Kyi had requested to see her legal team during the hearing via video link. The additional charge is from the country’s colonial-era penal code, which prohibits publishing information that may "cause fear or alarm". According to Reuters reports, Suu Kyi looked healthy as she took part in a court hearing via video conferencing in the capital, Naypyitaw. The leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) has not been seen in public since her government was ousted in a February 1 military coup and she was detained along with other party leaders. Min Min Soe said the next hearing would be March 15. Initially, she was charged with illegally importing six walkie-talkie radios. Later, a … [Read more...] about Myanmar’s Suu Kyi appears at court hearing via video conferencing, faces new charge