World

EXPORTS REMAIN RESILIENT IN THE MIDST OF THE PANDEMIC
13Jun By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, China, Singapore, World

EXPORTS REMAIN RESILIENT IN THE MIDST OF THE PANDEMIC

EXPORTS REMAIN RESILIENT IN THE MIDST OF THE PANDEMIC Thailand’s food exporters have found opportunities in the midst of the current crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. As consumers worldwide visit supermarkets and dine in restaurants less often, they are buying more processed and canned foods to cook at home as well as more ready-to-eat foods. Thailand recorded a healthy growth in the export of processed foods such as fruits and vegetables and canned seafood, which is in part attributed to economic recovery in those buying countries. The trend has highlighted the strength and diversity of Thailand’s food supply chain, which is serving the country’s goal of producing foods to cater to the growing demand among global consumers for nutritious and functional foods that serve their s
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Tanker’s impossible voyage signals new sanction evasion ploy
13Jun By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, World

Tanker’s impossible voyage signals new sanction evasion ploy

MIAMI (AP) — The Cyprus-flagged oil tanker Berlina was drifting near the Caribbean island of Dominica earlier this year when the safety signals it is required to transmit showed it stopping in its tracks and in two minutes turning around 180 degrees. It was an amazingly quick pivot since the 274-meter (nearly 900-foot) ship needs roughly 10 times that amount of time to perform such a maneuver. Even more intriguing: Around the same time in March the Berlina was pinging that location at sea, it was physically spotted loading crude oil in nearby Venezuela despite U.S. sanctions against such trading. Meanwhile, nine other tankers, some connected to the same Greece-based owner of the Berlina, were sending signals that showed them moving nearby in the Caribbean at an identical speed and direc
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How media’s groupthink effect led to bungling of COVID’s origin story
13Jun By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, China, Opinion, Politics, World

How media’s groupthink effect led to bungling of COVID’s origin story

As the end of the pandemic mercifully nears, everything old is becoming new again. Nowhere is that more evident than in the ongoing debate — revisionist history and all — over the origins of COVID-19. You may already be familiar with the widely accepted version of the story, which involves animal-to-human transmission beginning in or around a wet market in Wuhan. If you are familiar at all with the competing “lab leak” hypothesis, it may be as a fringe conspiracy, parroted by a certain former president and peddled by the likes of Fox News. Recent events, however, have helped return this idea from the fringe to the mainstream. The lab leak theory holds that the virus may have escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. When this theory was originally posited, it was based on the idea o
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Wieters, Frazier, Kemp on US roster for Olympic qualifying
12Jun By Desk TeamNo Comments
World

Wieters, Frazier, Kemp on US roster for Olympic qualifying

CARY, N.C. (AP) — Pitchers Homer Bailey, Edwin Jackson and David Robertson, catcher Matt Wieters, infielder Todd Frazier and outfielders Matt Kemp and John Jay were among 28 players announced Sunday for a U.S. training camp ahead of the Americans’ second chance to qualify for the Olympic baseball tournament. Left-hander Clayton Andrews and right-hander Brandon Dickson are the only holdovers from the 28-man roster in November 2019, when the U.S. was three outs from qualifying for the Olympics at the Premier12 tournament in Tokyo before wasting a ninth-inning lead in a 3-2, 10-inning loss to Mexico. Matt Clark hit a tying home run off Dickson leading off the bottom of the ninth inning, and Efren Navarro had a broken-bat single against Caleb Thielbar to drive in the winning run in the 10th.
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India asks Twitter to follow tough new social media laws
12Jun By Desk TeamNo Comments
World

India asks Twitter to follow tough new social media laws

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s government on Saturday warned Twitter to immediately comply with the country’s new social media regulations, which critics say give the government more power to police online content. Twitter is involved in a tense battle with the Indian government, which has often asked it to restrict content alleging Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is trying to silence criticism, including of its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. In a letter to Twitter, the Electronics and Information Technology Ministry said the new rules came into force on May 26, but the social media site so far hasn’t complied. It asked Twitter to treat Saturday’s letter as a final notice, otherwise the company “shall be liable to consequences,” the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
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China’s Zhurong rover makes history with Mars landing
12Jun By Desk TeamNo Comments
China, World

China’s Zhurong rover makes history with Mars landing

China's Zhurong rover makes history with Mars landing Graphic on China's Mars rover Zhurong. BEIJING: China's Zhurong rover touched down on Mars early Saturday, state media reported, a triumph for Beijing's increasingly bold space ambitions and a history-making feat for a nation on its first-ever Martian mission. The lander carrying Zhurong completed the treacherous descent through the Martian atmosphere using a parachute to navigate the "seven minutes of terror" as it is known, aiming for a vast northern lava plain known as the Utopia Planitia. The mission "successfully landed in the pre-selected area", state broadcaster CCTV said, while the official Xinhua news agency cited the China National Space Administration (CNSA) in confirming the touchdown. It makes China the first country t...
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Mass jab hopes a crucial test for Prayut
12Jun By Desk TeamNo Comments
China, World

Mass jab hopes a crucial test for Prayut

Mass jab hopes a crucial test for Prayut A vial of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine with Gen Prayut's name on it. Chanat Katanyu Despite reassurances from Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul that the mass Covid-19 vaccinations for people over 60 and those suffering from seven non-communicable underlying diseases across the country will proceed as scheduled on June 7, scepticism remains strong among many about whether this administration can still be trusted after repeated blunders in the handling of the pandemic. From the failure to postpone the Songkran long holidays and reluctance to impose travel restrictions which caused the Thong Lor cluster to spread nationwide, to putting all the eggs in one basket by betting on just the locally produced ...
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Australia resumes WCup qualifying with 3-0 win over Kuwait
12Jun By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, Singapore, World

Australia resumes WCup qualifying with 3-0 win over Kuwait

SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of - The Socceroos previewed their first match in 567 days with a simple message: We’re back. It took just 55 seconds for the Australians to start proving it. After the coronavirus pandemic forced a 19-month delay in their World Cup Asian qualifying campaign, it took less than a minute for Mathew Leckie to head in the opening goal of a 3-0 win over Kuwait on a sweltering Thursday night in Kuwait City. Jackson Irvine extended Australia’s lead midway through the first half, firing home the rebound after Martin Boyle’s penalty miss. Eintracht Frankfurt’s Adjin Hrustic netted the third with a free kick in the 66th minute as Australia sealed a fifth win in five games. Australia coach Graham Arnold assembled a squad of players from more than a dozen leagues around the
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Global stocks mixed after Wall St ends May with gain
12Jun By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, Conflict, Singapore, World

Global stocks mixed after Wall St ends May with gain

BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets were mixed Monday after Wall Street ended May with a gain and Japan’s factory output grew less than expected. London opened higher while Frankfurt retreated. Tokyo declined while Shanghai and Hong Kong gained. Wall Street futures were higher. U.S. markets were closed for a holiday. Investors are wavering between optimism about consumer spending and factory output reviving and unease that rising inflation might prompt governments and central banks to withdraw stimulus. “It still feels like a market looking for direction in the face of uncertainty,” said Patrik Schowitz of JP Morgan Asset Management in a report. In early trading, London’s FTSE 100 was down less than 0.1% at 7,022.61. The DAX in Frankfurt fell 0.2% to 15,485.89 while the CAC 40 in Pari
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Police and soldiers killed in eastern Myanmar amid heavy fighting
11Jun By Desk TeamNo Comments
China, World

Police and soldiers killed in eastern Myanmar amid heavy fighting

Police and soldiers killed in eastern Myanmar amid heavy fighting Myanmar has been in chaos and its economy paralysed since the February putsch. YANGON: Dozens of Myanmar security force members were killed Sunday, rebel fighters said, after heavy fighting in the coup-hit country's eastern fringe. Myanmar has been in chaos since the February putsch, as the military uses lethal force to crack down on dissent. The civilian death toll has climbed to at least 815 people, according to a local monitoring group. The violence has pushed some in the anti-junta movement to form a so-called "People's Defence Force" (PDF) in their own townships -- made up of civilians who fight back against security forces with homemade weapons. There were clashes in eastern Myanmar over the weekend, particularly...
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