Thailand’s cabinet has agreed to draft a law to regulate cryptocurrency trading, seeking to tax the largely unregulated market. Government spokesman Nathporn Chatusripitak said Tuesday the Ministry of Finance also proposed the new regulations to help prevent use of digital currencies in money laundering and fraud. He said details of …
your ad hereCambodia Looks to Foreign Investors to Boost Casino Gaming Industry
Cambodia is pushing ahead with new legislation in a bid to lure foreign investors to its vibrant casino and gaming industry, promoting the Kingdom as a key gaming center in South East Asia. The proposed legislation, expected to be passed after general elections this year, has been three years in …
your ad hereAn English Town Puzzles Over a Spy Who Came in From the Cold
For Amber McAuley, life in Salisbury – a picturesque cathedral town best known as the gateway to Stonehenge – has become surreal ever since the town became the scene of a spy drama worthy of John le Carre. The 20-year-old film student became a bit player in the story when …
your ad hereCholera Outbreak Sparks Blame Game in Malawi
Malawi continues to register new cases of cholera in an outbreak that has now reached half of the country’s 28 districts. However, the government and communities trade blame over containment efforts. According to the latest figures from the Ministry of Health 23 people have died from cholera since the …
your ad hereBali to Shush Social Media for Day of Silence
Bali’s annual Day of Silence is so sacred that even reaching for a smartphone to send a tweet or upload a selfie to social media could cause offense. This year it will be nearly impossible to do that anyway. The head of the Bali office of Indonesia’s Ministry of Communications, …
your ad hereA New Method for Extracting CO2 from Seawater
Scientists are always on the lookout for affordable and efficient methods for capturing carbon dioxide, responsible for global warming and the rising acidity of seawater. A new procedure, developed at the University of York in Britain, promises to extract large amounts of CO2 from seawater and store it safely, and …
your ad hereUN Chief Calls Himself ‘Proud Feminist,’ Urges Men to Follow
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called himself “a proud feminist” Monday and said all men should support women’s rights and gender equality. His statement was loudly applauded by hundreds of women and a sprinkling of men at the opening of the annual two-week meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women, …
your ad hereAmid Trump Visit, it’s Business As Usual for Border Towns
The daily commute from Mexico to California farms is the same as it was before Donald Trump became president. Hundreds of Mexicans cross the border and line the sidewalks of Calexico’s tiny downtown by 4 a.m., napping on cardboard sheets and blankets or sipping coffee from a 24-hour doughnut shop …
your ad hereStone Age People in South Africa Unharmed by Supervolcano Eruption
A supervolcano eruption about 74,000 years ago on Indonesia’s island of Sumatra caused a large-scale environmental calamity that may have decimated Stone Age human populations in parts of the world. But some populations, it seems, endured it unscathed. Scientists on Monday said excavations at two nearby archeological sites on South …
your ad hereReview: Stone Temple Pilots Still Rocking With New Singer
Stone Temple Pilots, “Stone Temple Pilots” (Rhino Records) Everything from the 1990s seems to be making a comeback these days, from “The X-Files” and “Will & Grace” to the Spice Girls and velour tracksuits. So is it time for Stone Temple Pilots? Totally, as the kids said back then. …
your ad hereChilean Financial Minister: Pinera to Impose Austerity But Not ‘Mega-adjustments’
Chile’s new government is preparing belt-tightening measures after inheriting a larger-than-anticipated fiscal deficit from its predecessor, but the measures will stop short of “mega-adjustments,” Finance Minister Felipe Larrain said on Monday. Conservative billionaire Sebastian Pinera took office on Sunday vowing to combat economic “stagnation” and calling for a return to …
your ad hereUN Investigators Cite Facebook Role in Myanmar Crisis
U.N. human rights experts investigating a possible genocide in Myanmar said Monday that Facebook had played a role in spreading hate speech there. Facebook had no immediate comment on the criticism Monday, although in the past the company has said that it was working to remove hate speech in Myanmar …
your ad hereTrump Blocks Broadcom Takeover of Qualcomm
U.S. President Donald Trump is blocking Singapore-based Broadcom, maker of computer and smartphone chips, from taking over U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm. Trump cited national security grounds in stopping the takeover, following the recommendation of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). The committee reviews national security implications when …
your ad hereMet Opera Fires Conductor Levine After ‘Credible Evidence’ of Misconduct
New York’s Metropolitan Opera said on Monday that it had fired its longtime conductor and musical director James Levine after an inquiry found “credible evidence” to support accusations against him of sexual misconduct. The Met suspended Levine, 74, in December after several accusations of sexual misconduct stretching from the 1960s …
your ad hereEurozone to Unlock New Loans to Greece, Working on Debt Relief
Eurozone creditors are expected to disburse new loans to Greece this month and are working on debt relief measures, the head of the bloc’s finance ministers said on Monday, steps that should help underpin its economic recovery. Greece’s 86-billion-euro bailout program, its third since 2010, is due to end in …
your ad hereUS Barbershop Study Trimmed Black Men’s Hair and Blood Pressure
Trim your hair, your beard, your blood pressure? Black men reduced one of their biggest medical risks through a novel project that shows the power of familiar faces and trusted places to improve health. The project had pharmacists work with dozens of Los Angeles barbershops to test and treat clients. …
your ad hereBusiness Lobby: Mexico Front-Runner Must Respect Oil, Airport Contracts
Mexico’s powerful CCE business lobby on Monday urged the leftist front-runner for a July 1 presidential election to stop questioning major planks of the government’s economic agenda lest it damage investment. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who has led opinion polls by a wide margin for weeks, has gradually moderated his …
your ad hereCentral Banks Warned to Weigh Risks of Virtual Currencies
A global financial body warns central banks should carefully weigh the risks before introducing their own virtual currencies, saying such innovations could risk destabilizing banking systems and unleash disruption across borders. But it said some forms of digital innovation could help by making trading in stocks and currencies more efficient. …
your ad hereAustrian Court Deals Blow to Government’s Plan to Cut Benefits
Austria’s Constitutional Court on Monday dealt a blow to the government’s plans to cut benefits for groups including refugees, striking down identical rules in one province and saying refugees deserve special treatment. Austria’s parliamentary election in October was dominated by Europe’s immigration crisis, when it took in some of the …
your ad hereWomen Farmers Join ‘Long March’ to Mumbai to Demand Land, Forest Rights
Thousands of women farmers marched into Mumbai alongside their male peers on Monday demanding the government recognizes their rights over forests and stops the takeover of land for industrial projects. The protesters, who over several days walked 180 kilometers (112 miles) from the town of Nashik, northeast of Mumbai, also …
your ad hereWorld Wide Web Inventor Says Big Tech Must Be Regulated
The inventor of the worldwide web, Tim Berners-Lee, called on Monday for powerful internet platforms and social media companies to be regulated to prevent the internet from being “weaponized at scale.” The British computer scientist, in an open letter published on the 29th anniversary of the creation of the web, …
your ad hereJay-Z, Beyonce Announce New Joint Tour
Music’s first couple Beyonce and Jay-Z on Monday announced a new joint tour in what will likely mark some of the year’s most lucrative concerts. The rapper and diva, who in June gave birth to twins, will open the stadium tour on June 6 in the Welsh city of Cardiff. …
your ad hereFishing Boats Switch Off Trackers, Raise Suspicions of Illegal Fishing
Fishing vessels that temporarily switch off a public tracking system raise suspicions that they are hiding illegal fishing, according to the advocacy group Oceana. Vessel owners say Oceana is relying on the wrong tracking system. They note that government regulators monitor them through a separate, private system. The automatic identification …
your ad hereMalala Yousafzai Working on Book About Refugees
The next book from Nobel winner Malala Yousafzai is a story of refugees. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers told The Associated Press on Monday that Yousafzai’s “We Are Displaced” will come out Sept. 4. The book will combine her own experiences with accounts she has heard while visiting …
your ad hereRussia Picks Deaf Museum Cat as World Cup Oracle
Russia on Monday named a deaf white cat who lives in Saint Petersburg’s historic Hermitage Museum as its official prognosticator for the World Cup. Achilles the Cat will hope to repeat the fabled exploits of Paul the Octopus and other “psychic” animals tasked with predicting winners of football’s showpiece event. …
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