BANGKOK: The Lao People’s Revolutionary Party on Friday elected Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith as new secretary general, replacing retiring party chief Bounnhang Vorachit, state media reported.

UBON RATCHATHANI: A public health official arrested for car theft told police his sideline tour business had suffered huge losses since the Covid-19 outbreak and he was deeply in debt.

People can mark the New Year by doing several things, including lying in coffins at a temple to rid them of bad luck. - Jetjaras Na Ranong

The new cocktail of illicit drugs that has killed many people contains a huge overdose of tranquilizer, Justice Minister Somsak Thepsutin said on Friday.

NAKHON PHANOM: Nakhon Phanom University is investigating the disappearance of 200-million-baht from the budget allocated to its deeply troubled International Aviation College.

JAKARTA: Indonesian investigators have successfully downloaded information from the flight data recorder (FDR) of the Sriwijaya Air jet that crashed into the sea last week, its transport safety agency said on Friday.

FRANKFURT AM MAIN: Germany on Friday passed two million coronavirus cases as a World Health Organization emergency committee readied to issue advice on stemming the spread of new, more contagious strains of the disease.

BHOPAL, India: A homegrown coronavirus vaccine will be rolled out in India from Saturday even though clinical trials have not been completed. But the government insists it will be safe and effective.

MELBOURNE: A racing pigeon detained by Australian authorities and set to be destroyed over concerns it was an American intruder received a lifeline Friday, when experts revealed its leg tag was probably fake.

SURAT THANI: A Spanish couple became lost after going for a walk in a hilly forest on Koh Phangan and called for help, and were found after a six-hour search that extended late into the night.