MECCA, Saudi Arabia: Hundreds of thousands of hajj pilgrims began streaming out of Mecca Thursday ahead of the highlight of the annual rites, which have attracted huge crowds despite the continuing pandemic and unforgiving heat.

Retail prices of petrol and all types of gasohol except E85 will drop by 3 baht per litre, E85 by 1.8 baht per litre, on Friday morning. Diesel prices remain unchanged.

Thai consumer confidence in June picked up for the first time in six months, bolstered by improved economic activity following an easing of Covid-19 curbs, but high living costs remained a worry, a survey showed on Thursday.

Fifty-nine opposition MPs voted with government coalition parties in approving the method of calculating list MPs, which is expected to favour small parties at the next general election.

MOSCOW: When it comes to looking good, Russian women are happy to splash out, even on a bit of nip-and-tuck plastic surgery.

Police commandos arrested a son of late influential boxing promoter Klaew Thanikul and the father of TV actors Nachat and Natcha Janthaphan, and 14 other suspects, when executing arrest warrants in 12 provinces on Thursday.

The Bank of Thailand (BoT) will hold a media briefing on the policy interest rate and the baht on Friday at 10.30am, as the local currency trades at its weakest level in more than six years against the US dollar.

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission has set a daily fine of 1 million baht for any mobile phone operator that fails to support government efforts to suppress the rampant scourge of call centre scams.

Cambodia has invited Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to annual Asean-related meetings slated for early August, with the decision likely to cause concern among the international community which has been split in its response to Moscow's invasio...

KYIV/KRAMATORSK, Ukraine: Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said attempts by the West to punish a nuclear power such as Russia for the war in Ukraine risked endangering humanity, as the near five-month conflict leaves cities in ruins and thous...