BMA deputy permanent secretary Sunthorn Sunthornchart said this move came as PM2.5 (fine particulate dust) in the capital reached unsafe levels for many consecutive days, causing the number of patients affected by air pollution to increase. As City Hall should monitor PM2.5’s impact on health closely, the public-health emergency response centre was opened to mitigate the situation’s impact with cooperation from several agencies, he explained. He said Public Health Centres across the capital have been ordered to launch mobile units to assist people, especially the vulnerable. Hospitals under the BMA, meanwhile, have been ordered to take care of people’s health…
Author: Asia News Network
ASEAN countries welcomed more than 123 million foreign tourists last year, an increase of 30.6 percent compared to 2023. The increase is attributed to the introduction of travel incentives, such as easier visa rules and the development of new tourism products. The encouraging figure was reported at the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2025 which took place in Malaysia from January 15-20, with the theme “Unity in Motion: Shaping ASEAN’s Tourism Tomorrow”, which was attended by Laos’ Deputy Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Mrs Darany Phommavongsa and her delegation. The meeting agreed to promote and strengthen the ASEAN tourism cooperation framework…
China’s homegrown AI model, DeepSeek, has surged to the top of the free app download charts in the United States region of the Apple App Store, surpassing the once-dominant ChatGPT. It also secured the number one spot on the free app rankings in China. On Jan 20, Chinese artificial intelligence firm DeepSeek officially launched its latest AI model, DeepSeek-R1, positioning its performance to rival OpenAI’s o1 official version. In benchmark tests on Friday, DeepSeek-R1 ranked third across all categories on the international large model leaderboard, Arena. In the style control model (StyleCtrl) category, it tied with OpenAI’s o1 for first…
China’s first corgi police dog, Fu Zai, had its year-end bonus docked after it was caught sleeping on the joined the police force in Weifang, Shandong province, Fu Zai joined the police force in Weifang, Shandong province, as a reserve explosives-detection operative in January 2024. It soon became a viral sensation with its expressive eyes, stubby legs and remarkable skills, and has since graduated to become a fully qualified police dog. Its first performance review was shared in a Jan 19 video on Douyin, TikTok’s sister app in China. In the video, Fu Zai is seen sitting across the table…
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has begun making arrangements to forgo participating as an observer at a meeting of signatories to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons to be held in the United States in March, it has been learned. As the security environment surrounding Japan is becoming increasingly severe, Ishiba has concluded that it would be appropriate to take a pragmatic approach based on the importance of deterrence capabilities supported by the U.S. nuclear umbrella, according to several government sources. Nuclear powers do not participate in the treaty, which prohibits the development and use of nuclear weapons. The…
The World Economic Forum concluded its annual meeting on Friday. The meeting, under the theme “Collaboration for the Intelligent Age,” focused on five pivotal areas: reimagining growth, industries in the intelligent age, investing in people, safeguarding the planet, and rebuilding trust. Some topics have frequently appeared in media reports and meeting discussions, becoming the keys to understanding the current development. Here’s some keywords you need to know. AI agents AI agents, widely used in sectors such as healthcare, education, and finance, are autonomous systems capable of sensing, learning, and acting upon their environments. The World Economic Forum published a white…
South Korean prosecutors indicted President Yoon Suk Yeol on Sunday over charges of insurrection, after Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung convened a meeting with senior prosecutors on the same day. Prosecutors said they indicted Yoon as “concerns about destruction of evidence remain unresolved.” With the arrest warrant set to expire on Monday, the prosecution had to choose between releasing President Yoon or indicting him with arrest to keep him in custody. Although the prosecution received the case from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials on Thursday, it didn’t have a chance to question him. Indicting him means the trial begins…
JAKARTA – The Bali Police’s Internal Affairs Division (Propam) detained two low-ranking police officers on Wednesday in connection with the alleged extortion of a Colombian tourist.The incident came to light as the National Police face widespread public scrutiny for a separate extortion scandal at the 2024 Djakarta Warehouse Project (DWP) music festival last month. Bali Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Ariasandy said investigators had made the arrest after finding sufficient evidence that the two officers, identified only as First Adj. Insp. GKS and First Adj. Insp. S, had violated the police’s code of ethics. “We are still questioning both officers. If…
DAVOS (Switzerland): Asean is progressing cautiously on Myanmar as it is critical to secure peace in the country, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. He said Asean’s approach is not about enforcing a particular system but ensuring inclusivity and peace as well as the importance of participatory democracy. “The first positive indication in the last few months is the preparedness to engage, and I assure them through colleagues and our agencies, particularly intelligence agencies, (that) we are not here to impose. “The systems of governance, even within Asean, are a bit different. Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam or Laos, they are…
BANGKOK – The Government House on Wednesday released a video of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, which utilised AI technology to convert her voice into Chinese. The video aims to reassure Chinese tourists that Thailand is a safe destination to visit. The 1-minute 32-second clip was shared on the Thai Ku Fah Facebook page of the Government House at 10:09 am, following concerns circulating on Chinese social media about Thailand’s safety for Chinese visitors. Warnings about visiting Thailand have been widely shared among Chinese social media users after reports emerged of Chinese entertainers being lured by call-centre gangs to work in…