Business

Fixing the US-China tech split
Asia, Business, China, Singapore, World

Fixing the US-China tech split

Fixing the US-China tech split Heightened US-China tensions have raised the prospect of a deep global technology divide, potentially forcing other countries to choose which camp to join. There are plenty of grim scenarios involving irreconcilable splits between core technologies that power a wide range of products and services, from aircraft and automobiles to precision engineering for robotics and payment systems for e-commerce. Should these scenarios materialise, the world's two largest economies will pour huge amounts of resources into a zero-sum race to control technology's cutting edge. Both the United States and China understand the central role of technology in driving their economies and global development. They also know that mastering it, as well as safeguarding relevant intell...
Virus cases pass 1 million
Business, China, Opinion, World

Virus cases pass 1 million

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha talks to a Covid patient via a telehealth system during his visit to 'Sanam Saeng Haeng Jai' field hospital in Samut Prakan province on Friday. The facility has 450 beds and uses robots to get food and medicines to patients. (Government House photo) There are several lessons the country must learn from the mishandling of the Covid-19 crisis after Thailand reached the grim milestone of more than one million accumulated cases on Friday, according to the president of the Rural Doctors Society. The first domestic case on Jan 12 last year was a 61-year Chinese woman from Wuhan where Covid-19 had first been detected the previous month. Then, the first Thai to test positive was on Jan 31 after a 50-year-old taxi driver drove an infected arrival from Wuhan to ho...
Nearly 65,000 Hong Kongers apply for UK visa scheme
Business, China, World

Nearly 65,000 Hong Kongers apply for UK visa scheme

Nearly 65,000 Hong Kongers apply for UK visa scheme Passengers wearing protective masks walk through MRT Central Station in Hong Kong on Aug 17, 2021. (Reuters photo) HONG KONG: Around 64,900 Hong Kongers applied for a new pathway to British citizenship in the first five months of the scheme, with 47,300 approved, continuing a wave of emigration after the introduction of the national security law. Some 71% of those applications for the British National (Overseas) visa scheme were filed from outside Britain, while the rest were made inside the country, according to official figures released on Thursday. Of the applications approved so far, 35,000 - or 74% - were filed overseas. There were 27,900 main applicants, with 19,400 dependants. However, the number of applicants for the scheme f...
Brutal benchmark: Arizona passes 1 million COVID-19 cases
Business, China, Conflict, World

Brutal benchmark: Arizona passes 1 million COVID-19 cases

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona surpassed 1 million COVID-19 cases Friday, becoming the 13th state to reach the grim milestone while contending with yet another major spike in infections. The benchmark is the latest in a tumultuous year and a half where Arizona went from being touted as a pandemic success story to being “the hot spot of the world” and then being a model again when vaccinations became available. Now, the state, like the rest of the country, is coping with a surge — mostly of the unvaccinated — and ongoing conflicts over mask and vaccine mandates. It ranks 13th nationwide in the number of cases per 100,000 residents, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID Data Tracker. COVID-19 came early to Arizona. In January 2020, a person with ties to Arizona
‘No Dash, no deal’: Aerospace workers spar with company owned by Canada’s richest family over future of Downsview plant
Business, World

‘No Dash, no deal’: Aerospace workers spar with company owned by Canada’s richest family over future of Downsview plant

“Whose plant? Our plant!” The chant echoed across the De Havilland aircraft manufacturer in Downsview on Monday, where dozens of workers gathered to protest the planned relocation of one of the company’s staple programs. Since late July, workers at the decades-old plant have been on strike following a decision from their relatively new employer, Longview Aviation Capital, to move production of their signature Dash 8 aircraft elsewhere in Canada. Longview, majority owned by Thomson family heir Sherry Brydson, owns De Havilland, the aerospace manufacturer that bought the Dash 8 program from Bombardier in 2018. Canada’s wealthiest family, the Thomsons, created Longview in 2016 to build a portfolio of long-term investments in the Canadian aerospace industry. Longview’s move to leave its Do
‘What will happen to people left behind?’ Afghanistan’s future shaped by big questions
Asia, Business, China, Conflict, Politics, World

‘What will happen to people left behind?’ Afghanistan’s future shaped by big questions

WASHINGTON—The departure of the last U.S. military plane from Afghanistan left the region facing uncertainty, with the Taliban seeking to cement control of a nation shattered by two decades of war and an economy long dependent on foreign aid and opium sales. Now the U.S., its allies, and adversaries including Russia and China must all regroup and assess how they’ll approach the Taliban, which swept to power with stunning speed as American and NATO troops withdrew over the summer. The chaos of the American withdrawal following the collapse of Ashraf Ghani’s government only underscores the country’s fragility and the daunting challenges that await. After evacuating some 120,000 people, the U.S. says it will look to help any Americans who remain in the country. Less certain is the fate of t
Nualphan appointed first manager of national football team
Asia, Business, World

Nualphan appointed first manager of national football team

Nualphan appointed first manager of national football team Nualphan Lamsam, appointed the first manager of the men's national football team. (Photo: Football Association of Thailand) The Football Association of Thailand has appointed businesswoman Nualphan Lamsam the manager of the men's national team, after the War Elephants crumpled in the Asian qualifying round of the World Cup. The FAT said on Monday that Nualphan "Madam Pang" was well qualified for the post. She had steered the women's side to the final round of the Fifa World Cup twice when she was their manager. The Thai football governing body said it hoped she would replicate that success with the men's team. She will also manage the U-23 side. She would "restore the dignity of the Thai national team", the FAT announcement sa...
Hong Kong police arrest Tiananmen vigil organisers
Business, China, World

Hong Kong police arrest Tiananmen vigil organisers

Hong Kong police arrest Tiananmen vigil organisers The Hong Kong Alliance organised three decades of vigils commemorating the victims of Beijing's Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989. HONG KONG: Hong Kong police on Wednesday arrested multiple members of the group behind the city's Tiananmen Square vigils, a day after their organisation declared they would refuse to cooperate with a national security investigation. In a short statement to reporters, the Hong Kong Alliance confirmed three members -- Simon Leung, Sean Tang and Chan To-wai -- were arrested on Wednesday morning. An AFP reporter also saw another member, barrister Chow Hang-tung, being led away by police in handcuffs from her office in the city's central business district. Police have not yet confirmed the arrests or charges. ...
Relationship between horses and humans is special and here to stay, says equine expert
Asia, Business, Opinion, World

Relationship between horses and humans is special and here to stay, says equine expert

Working horses in Ontario live in some of the best conditions and are protected by some of the most stringent animal welfare laws in the world, says a University of Guelph veterinary expert. And removing a horse as a working animal also diminishes its importance in the history of human culture, said Dr. Luis Arroyo, of Guelph’s equine studies program. Animal rights protesters have become almost as much of a Niagara-on-the-Lake fixture as ice cream shops and vineyard visiting cyclists over the past three years. On any given weekend or holiday “carriage-free by 2023” banners can be seen adorning the intersection of Queen and King streets. With the rise of a pro-carriage protest movement, The Lake Report sought out an expert on equines to offer insight on the difficulties and strains that
PM AWARD 2021
Business, World

PM AWARD 2021

PM AWARD 2021 The Ministry of Commerce recently hosted the 30th anniversary edition of Prime Minister's Export Award (2021). The ceremony for Thailand’s highest accolade for exporters was held as a virtual live event on 3 September 2021, and can be viewed at: https://www.facebook.com/familyditp In celebrating three decades of generating success, this year’s PM Awards introduce new additions to the existing categories that further boost inspiration and increase sustainable competitiveness and recognition of Thai products and services in the international arena. The awards aim to inspire and encourage Thai entrepreneurs to establish and maintain an international presence for Thai ingenuity through leading Thai brands. The Prime Minister’s Export Awards 2021 comprise seven categories: Bes