The Israel-Hamas War|The Victims
The Thai release is seen as a diplomatic victory
About 100 hostages have been released from Hamas and of these 23 are Thai guest workers, writes AP, which also reports that six Thais are still being held hostage by the terrorist organization.
The release of the Thais comes under a separate agreement to that between Hamas and Israel and is seen as a major diplomatic victory for Thailand.
When 17 of the hostages arrived at Bangkok airport on Thursday, they were greeted by a video call from Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin.
- Are you happy? You are home now, he said.
Before the war broke out, about 30,000 Thais worked in Israel, making the group one of the largest immigrant groups in the country. Among the 1,200 people killed by Hamas on October 7, 39 were from Thailand.
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The climate threat|The climate meeting COP28
Ovation after decision on climate fund - despite uncertainties
The
UN's major climate meeting COP28 started with the countries being able
to agree on one of the most controversial issues to date, that of the
climate fund for poor countries, writes The Guardian.
The fund is to be financed by the world's rich countries and is to compensate the poorer countries for climate damage. The
decision to create the fund was already made at last year's meeting in
Egypt, but Thursday's decision means that the fund will be launched.
In addition, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and the European Union pledged to contribute nearly $370 million. The sum is a fraction of meeting the need, which is estimated at $400 billion annually. The hope is that more rich countries will give money to the fund.
Although the announcement was met with a standing ovation, many question marks remain. For example, it is not clear how the fund should function and who should be able to withdraw money.
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Britain's former Chancellor of the Exchequer is dead
Britain's former Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling is dead, British media reports. The Labor politician turned 70 years old.
He was an MP between 1987 and 2015 and was Chancellor of the Exchequer in Gordon Brown's government.
- When there was a crisis, Alistair was the one you wanted next to you, he kept calm and had great integrity, Brown told the BBC after the death sentence.
Darling was British Chancellor of the Exchequer between 2007 and 2010 and was thus the one who steered the country's economic policy during the 2008 financial crisis.
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