Social Media

CNN Hong KongCNN — China will fully reopen borders with its special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao next week, in what is expected to be a major boost for the economies of the two cities. From Monday, travelers entering mainland China from Hong Kong or Macao will no longer need to provide proof of negative Covid tests, as long as they have not traveled abroad in the previous week, the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office said in a Friday statement. Daily quotas on the number of travelers will also be scrapped.

A man who arrived at Windsor Castle armed with a crossbow and told a protection officer "I am here to kill the Queen" has pleaded guilty to a charge under the Treason Act. Jaswant Singh Chail, from Hampshire, was arrested on Christmas Day 2021, when the late monarch was living at Windsor due to the Covid pandemic. At the Old Bailey earlier, Chail, 21, pleaded guilty to three charges. He is the first person in the UK to be convicted of treason since 1981. Chail, from North Baddesley, near Southampton, also admitted making threats to kill and possessing the loaded weapon in the castle.

Disgraced former pop star Gary Glitter has been freed from prison after serving half his 16-year jail term. Glitter, 78, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was sentenced in 2015 for attempted rape, four counts of indecent assault and one of having sex with a girl under 13. At the time, the judge said it was clear his victims "were all profoundly affected" by the abuse. Glitter was one of the biggest music stars of the 1970s. Gadd had been at the height of his fame when he attacked two girls aged 12 and 13 after inviting them backstage to his dressing room.

Petty nonsense and emoji trolling removed. Going the rightway to get those emojis removed again ! Permanently this time.

CNN CNN — Without cracking a single textbook, without spending a day in medical school, the co-author of a preprint study correctly answered enough practice questions that it would have passed the real US Medical Licensing Examination. But the test-taker wasn’t a member of Mensa or a medical savant; it was the artificial intelligence ChatGPT. The tool, which was created to answer user questions in a conversational manner, has generated so much buzz that doctors and scientists are trying to determine what its limitations are – and what it could do for health and medicine.

Reported post re moved. Please, if quoting another person, quote the entire post, not a part of it as this can remove context and is not allowed.

Up to 40 countries could boycott the next Olympic Games, making the whole event pointless, said Poland's sport and tourism minister Kamil Bortniczuk. His comments came after Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia jointly rejected an International Olympic Committee (IOC) plan to allow Russians and Belarusians to compete in 2024. Ukraine has threatened to boycott the Paris Olympics if that occurs.

Once again off topic potentially derailing posts removed. If you wish to discuss historic "missing/deaths" then I suggest you open a seperate topic in that regard. This topic is about a "UK Divers death on Koh Tao"

Similar concept except these are digital, higher rated tarriff and no credit no gas ! Basically you cannot have unless its prepaid at a high rate.Not a good situation for families with young children or the elderly.

Off topic removed.

Post with link to Bangkokpost has been removed as per forum rules.

Citing a visit to Seoul by US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin who, with his South Korean counterpart, vowed to expand military exercises to counter North Korea's weapons development - Pyongyang warns the move threatens to turn the region into a "huge war arsenal". The statement by the country's foreign ministry, carried by state news agency KCNA, said Pyongyang was not interested in dialogue as long as Washington pursues hostile policies. "The military and political situation on the Korean peninsula and in the region has reached an extreme red line due to the reckless military confrontational manoeuvres and hostile acts of the US and its vassal forces," it said.

Two MEPs have had their legal immunity lifted by European lawmakers, following a request by Belgian authorities investigating a corruption scandal that has rocked the European Parliament. Italian Andrea Cozzolino and Belgian Marc Tarabella deny wrongdoing. The Qatargate affair unfolded when a Greek lawmaker and three other suspects were arrested on suspicion of corruption and money-laundering. One of the suspects then agreed to "tell all" as part of a plea deal. Pier Antonio Panzeri is alleged to have led a network that took bribes from Qatar and Morocco in return for influencing the European Parliament. Some €1.5m (£1.3m) was recovered in cash in a series of raids in Brussels and elsewhere. Both Qatar and Morocco have strenuously rejected allegations that they sought to gain influence over MEPs. However, prosecutors said Mr Panzeri had admitted "criminal responsibility".

Iran has blamed Israel for a drone attack on a military site in the central city of Isfahan on Saturday. Its ambassador to the UN said findings indicated Israel "was responsible for this attempted act of aggression". Iran, he said, reserves the right "to respond resolutely to any threats or wrongful actions" by Israel. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied it was behind the attack, which Iran said caused minor damage, though this has not been independently verified. The two countries are arch-foes and in recent years have been engaged in what has been described as a "shadow war" of unclaimed attacks on each other's assets, infrastructure and nationals.

The Bank of England is expected to push interest rates higher today, in the 10th hike in in a row. But some experts think the Bank is heading towards the end of its cycle of rate hikes, bringing some potential relief to strained borrowers. Markets expect the Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) to raise interest rates to 4% on Thursday, from the current rate of 3.5%.

CNN — At its annual Unpacked event on Wednesday, Samsung unveiled its latest Galaxy S smartphones – and the company is betting that focusing on improvements to the camera will be enough to get consumers to upgrade. The new lineup, which includes the 6.8-inch Galaxy S23 Ultra, 6.6-inch Galaxy S23+, and 6.1-inch Galaxy S23, look similar to last year’s models, but with new photo features, a longer lasting battery life (with faster charging speeds) and an exclusive chip.