Author: Desk Team

Privilege usage surges among exporters in H1
1Sep By Desk TeamNo Comments
World

Privilege usage surges among exporters in H1

Privilege usage surges among exporters in H1 The use of free trade agreement (FTA) privileges and the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) by Thai exporters surged by 34.3% in the first half of the year to US$40.2 billion, boosted largely by a recovery in global demand. Of the total, the use of FTA privileges contributed $38.3 billion, up 34.3% year-on-year, while shipments under the GSP stood at $1.92 billion, up 35.6% year-on-year. According to Keerati Rushchano, director-general of the Foreign Trade Department, the top five export markets with the highest use of FTA privileges were Asean ($13.4 billion), China ($12.7 billion), Australia ($4.27 billion), Japan ($3.48 billion) and India ($2.33 billion). Products that saw the most use of privileges varied, covering categories such a...
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India set to clear Boeing 737 Max to fly again within days
1Sep By Desk TeamNo Comments
World

India set to clear Boeing 737 Max to fly again within days

India set to clear Boeing 737 Max to fly again within days FILE PHOTO: A Boeing 737 MAX airplane lands after a test flight at Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington, US, June 29, 2020. (Reuters) India is set to allow Boeing Co’s 737 Max jets to resume flights in the country within days, according to a person familiar with the matter, clearing one of the last remaining hurdles for the US planemaker as it seeks to get the model flying again worldwide. The South Asian nation has been satisfied with the plane’s performance since it was un-grounded in the US, Europe and a number of other nations, and Boeing has met India’s own requirements, which included setting up a Max simulator there, the person said, asking not to be identified because the matter is confidential. Rajeev Jain, a spokesman
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Manny Pacquiao for president?
31Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
Politics, World

Manny Pacquiao for president?

In the twilight of the twilight, Manny Pacquiao is doing the same things in the same place. The autograph hunters still gather outside Wild Card Boxing Club in Los Angeles, crowding into the shopping plaza at the corner of Santa Monica and Vine. The workouts inside resemble those from 10 years ago, right down to the bamboo stick that’s jabbed into his abdomen. The differences now, though, are striking and important. They speak both to why he’s still fighting and why that choice is dangerous—even more than usual, in the most dangerous of sports. They illuminate the boxer’s future plans, on horizons near and far. And they point to grand political ambitions, even beyond the senatorial office he’s held since 2016. In fact, it’s not an exaggeration to say that when he meets Yordenis Ugas for a
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233 Covid deaths, 19,014 new cases announced Sunday
31Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
Singapore, World

233 Covid deaths, 19,014 new cases announced Sunday

233 Covid deaths, 19,014 new cases announced Sunday People wearing masks queue up at a fruit shop in Bangkok's Yaowarat, the Chinatown in Samphanthawong district, on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s Sart Jeen festival, or Chinese Ghost Festival, amid the Covid-19 outbreak. (Photo: Apichart Jinakul) Thailand saw 233 Covid-19 fatalities and a 19-day low of 19,014 new cases over the previous 24 hours, the Public Health Ministry reported on Sunday morning. Over the previous 24 hours, 20,672 Covid-19 patients were discharged from hospitals. The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration said the 233 fatalities, 140 of whom were men, ranged from seven months to 101 years old, with an average age of 66. All were Thai except for four Myanmar nationals and one each from Cambodia, China and Singapo
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Cantlay outlasts DeChambeau in BMW Championship playoff
31Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
World

Cantlay outlasts DeChambeau in BMW Championship playoff

OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Clutch down the stretch and for six dynamic playoff holes, Patrick Cantlay put a fitting end to an epic battle with Bryson DeChambeau by making an 18-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to win the BMW Championship on Sunday. DeChambeau missed a 6-foot putt for 59 on Friday and missed four birdie putts to win in regulation and in the playoff Sunday. And then he missed the most important putt of the week from just inside 10 feet to extend the playoff. Cantlay made putts from 8 feet for par, 8 feet for bogey and 20 feet for birdie on the final three holes of regulation for a 6-under 66, the last one to force a playoff at Caves Valley in the PGA Tour’s first appearance in Baltimore in nearly 60 years. He holed par putts of 6 feet and 7 feet on the 18th hole in the play
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Jacques Rogge, IOC president for 12 years, dies at 79
31Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
China, Politics, Singapore, World

Jacques Rogge, IOC president for 12 years, dies at 79

LONDON (AP) — Jacques Rogge approached the job of running the Olympics the same way he approached his work as a physician: Listen, analyze and consult. Before taking over as president of the International Olympic Committee, Rogge, whose death was announced Sunday, was an orthopedic surgeon who saw 5,000 patients and performed 800 operations a year at his medical practice in Ghent, Belgium. Rogge’s medical background heavily influenced his leadership style during his 12-year reign in the most powerful post in international sports, bringing stability and a steady hand to the IOC after its worst ethics scandal. He also pursued a hard line against doping as IOC president. While his predecessor, Spaniard Juan Antonio Samaranch, operated in an autocratic and secretive fashion, Rogge embraced
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Biden picks Burns for China ambassador; Emanuel for Japan
31Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
China, Politics, World

Biden picks Burns for China ambassador; Emanuel for Japan

President Joe Biden is nominating longtime former senior State Department official Nicholas Burns to serve as his ambassador to China and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to serve as his envoy to Japan. The White House formally announced the much-anticipated nominations Friday. Emanuel was also a former three-term congressman who served as President Barack Obama’s first White House chief of staff and was a senior adviser in President Bill Clinton’s administration. If confirmed by the Senate, Emanuel will be dispatched to Tokyo at a critical point in the U.S.-Japan relationship as Biden has made strengthening relations with partners in the Pacific a priority as he increases focus on China. Biden with his pick of Burns turns to a seasoned career foreign service officer to serve as his e
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Imprisoned Chinese citizen journalist not well, lawyer says
31Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
China, World

Imprisoned Chinese citizen journalist not well, lawyer says

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A Chinese citizen journalist serving a four-year sentence after reporting on the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic in the city of Wuhan is in ill health after staging a long-running hunger strike, according to a lawyer who spoke with her family. Zhang Zhan was hospitalized on July 31 and now weighs less than 40 kilograms (90 pounds), according to a message sent by Zhang Zhan’s mother to a group on Chinese social media. Authorities notified the family that she was in poor health and told them to come to the prison, said Peng Yonghe, a lawyer who spoke with Zhang’s mother about the visit. Her parents and brother went to Shanghai on August 2 but were only permitted to speak with her over the phone. “We just hope that she can get out of jail, because her hunger stri
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New Vulnerability Assessment Tool from Toshiba and Peraton Labs Strengthens Cyber Resilience of Infrastructure
30Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
Business, World

New Vulnerability Assessment Tool from Toshiba and Peraton Labs Strengthens Cyber Resilience of Infrastructure

New Vulnerability Assessment Tool from Toshiba and Peraton Labs Strengthens Cyber Resilience of Infrastructure Identifies critical cyber security threats on industrial control systems TOKYO—Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502) and Peraton Labs today announced a new jointly-developed vulnerability assessment tool that emulates cyberattacks on industrial control systems. Dubbed Automated Attack Path Planning and Validation (A2P2V), this powerful new tool automatically generates cyberattack scenarios and simulates attacks that combine advanced offensive techniques to test and determine control system security status. It verifies results to identify security threats that need to be prioritized among the increasing number and range of cyberattacks. A2P2V combines industrial control system confi
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Thousands jam Philippine vaccination sites over false news
30Aug By Desk TeamNo Comments
Business, World

Thousands jam Philippine vaccination sites over false news

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Thousands of people jammed coronavirus vaccination centers in the Philippine capital, defying social distancing restrictions, after false news spread that unvaccinated residents would be deprived of cash aid or barred from leaving home during a two-week lockdown that started Friday. Officials placed Metropolitan Manila back under lockdown until Aug. 20, as a new spike in COVID-19 infections that health officials say could be due to the highly contagious delta variant threatens to overwhelm hospitals. Three other regions, including nearby Laguna province, were also placed under lockdown until Aug. 15. Only authorized workers for essential businesses and residents on medical emergencies or food-buying errands can venture out. An eight-hour curfew was imposed in t
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