The Village Health Volunteer Club of Thailand has defended the integrity of more than one million village health volunteers, rejecting claims that the network has been used by candidates as a vote-buying tool in elections.

Authorities have named six firms suspected of running foreign-controlled coconut businesses through Thai nominees, while preparing legal amendments to close regulatory loopholes.

Consumers across the country are worried about the rising cost of goods as global energy prices and supply chains have been hit by the war in the Middle East, pushing up prices for everyday necessities.

PARIS (FRANCE) - Arctic sea ice is headed for one of its smallest winter peaks on record, an AFP review of US data showed Wednesday, as climate change shrinks the region's frozen cover and heightens geopolitical tensions.

PARIS (FRANCE) - Billions of mussels scorched and baby birds dropping from sweltering nests: North America's 2021 heatwave caused a cascade of ecological damage, some of it catastrophic, some unexpected, a new study showed Wednesday.

GENEVA - A UN watchdog warned on Wednesday that “racist hate speech” by US President Donald Trump and other political leaders coupled with intensified immigration crackdowns were fuelling grave rights violations.

The Thai government is widening efforts to curb demand for fuel, as it burns through cash fighting to keep domestic diesel prices artificially low amid surging global energy costs.

GOMA - A French aid worker for the UN children’s agency has been killed in an air strike in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in a city controlled by the Rwanda-backed M23 militia.

LONDON - Oil prices rallied and equities mostly dropped on Wednesday as traders assessed the latest developments affecting global markets as a result of the Middle East war.

A Thai‑flagged bulk carrier was struck by Iranian missiles near the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, with 20 Thai crew rescued by the Royal Navy of Oman and three still on board, according to the Royal Thai Navy.