New video of China tennis star surfaces amid global outcryChinese tennis star Peng Shuai, seen here in 2017, has accused a former vice premier of sexually assaulting herBEIJING - Chinese state media posted video Saturday purporting to show tennis star Peng Shuai smiling and well, as international pressure mounts for information about her whereabouts since she accused a former vice premier of forcing her to have sex. In the other video clip, Peng -- a two-time Grand Slam doubles champion -- is maskless sitting at a table chatting with people over a meal. Hu wrote in English on Twitter that the second video shows "Peng Shuai was having dinner with her coach and friends in a restaurant. The conversation revolved around "tennis matches" and a man sitting with Peng and two other women says "tomorrow is November 20th." Peng represented China in the Beijing, London and Rio de Janeiro Olympics and won gold for China at the 2010 Asian Games.

In the auto industry, car companies are starting to unwind decisions made over decades to outsource key components to outside suppliers. Even before the pandemic jacked up demand for chips, semiconductor companies were complaining of an acute shortage of qualified engineers. GM and Ford exploring the chip business shows how car companies are selectively bringing key technologies in house to develop expertise in areas they see as critical to their future competitiveness. The chip shortage has hurt some auto makers worse than others, while its duration and course have proven unpredictable. Mike Hogan, a senior vice president in charge of GlobalFoundries automotive business, said the Ford tie-up should improve the auto maker's technical capabilities while expanding future U.S. chip production for the car business broadly.

(Photo: Apichit Jinakul)Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has revealed that Thailand will have at least 90 million Covid-19 vaccine doses next year. After the meeting, Mr Anutin said the Covid-19 situation in the country has improved and Thailand has enough doses for this year. So far, 86 million doses have been administered, he said, adding the government is still aiming to reach the 100-million milestone this month. Mr Anuthin said Thailand will have at least 90 million doses -- 60 million from AstraZeneca and 30 million from Pfizer -- next year. On Wednesday, the ministry was informed that France would donate 400,000 Pfizer vaccine doses to Thailand but the date has not yet been confirmed, he said.

Norway's Telenor said in a statement that it is in talks with conglomerate Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group, the parent of True, to explore the possibility of a merger between DTAC and True. A telecom specialist who requested anonymity said speculation regarding the merger of True Move H Universal Communication (TUC), a mobile arm of True, and DTAC TriNet, a mobile operator of DTAC, has been rife for a few weeks among major investors in the SET. According to the source, True and DTAC are likely to form a joint venture under a share swap model between the two. Pisut Ngamvijitvong, an analyst at Kasikorn Securities, said if True succeeds in acquiring DTAC, True will become the market's leader and its mobile phone market share will rise from 32% to 53%, while AIS will become the second at 47%. He said if the deal is true, it's possible that True will use the share swap method to merge with DTAC.

Ending the lung disease pandemicCovid-19 has exposed the limited ability of health systems around the world to cope with a pandemic of respiratory infection. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, an estimated 2.5 million adults and children died from pneumonia each year. In high-income countries, deaths are concentrated among older adults, while in low-income countries, children are the primary victims. It will also require action to reduce the leading risk factors for pneumonia death, including air pollution. After all, our world is changing in ways that will accelerate the risk of another respiratory pandemic.

Twilight for the Kims? Mr Kim's dog-eared script is not helping his cause. Mr Kim acknowledged as much at the party congress in January, emphasising the need for "self-reliance" and explicitly sidelining reform. But Chinese help with the North Korean nuclear issue has only ever been intermittent at best. Time is not on Mr Kim's side.

Global shares stall amid China growth worriesRecap: Global shares struggled near record highs on Friday as concerns over slowing China growth and a resurgence of the pandemic in Europe stalled a widespread equity market rally. The SET index moved in a range of 1,635.22 and 1,656.27 points this week before closing yesterday at 1645.06, up 0.68% from the previous week, in daily turnover averaging 83.75 billion baht. Institutional investors were net buyers of 3 billion baht and brokerage firms bought 1.22 billion baht. Retail investors were net sellers of 2.23 billion baht and foreign investors offloaded 1.98 billion baht worth of shares. The economy contracted 0.3% in the third quarter, reflecting the impact of Covid curbs, compared with 7.6% year-on-year growth in the second quarter.

Modest upward trend seen as optimism buildsThai shares continued to rebound this week and reached key resistances at 1,645 and 1,650 points late in the week as the earnings season ended and many companies conducted analysts' meetings. Earnings were considered generally positive and confirmed the recovery trend after the easing of coronavirus-related lockdowns. We expect the SET Index to move sideways up this week and break key resistance levels to build a new base at around 1,650 or 1,660. As well, oil-linked commodities could consolidate amid a steadying of global crude prices, after a decent rally in the past quarter. A potential supply increase from the US could drag on oil prices and pressure heavyweight energy and refinery plays on the SET.

Narcotics police detail busts, shooting of suspectSenior police and soldiers with packages of meth pills and crystal methamphetamine seized in seven cases this month, at a joint media briefing on Friday. Soldiers and narcotics suppression police manning a checkpoint in Mae Ai district signalled a pickup truck to stop for a search. Instead, the driver opened fire at them and attempted to accelerate away, Pol Lt Gen Sarayut said. In the ensuing exchange of gunfire the driver was shot dead, Pol Lt Gen Sarayut said. He said Jakha had a criminal record and was also wanted on an arrest warrant issued by the Lampang provincial court for smuggling 400,000 meth pills in 2017.

(File photo)The Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group) and Telenor of Norway are exploring a merger of their telecom units in Thailand that could form a new mobile market leader in the country. A deal, if completed, would merge the telecom operations of SET-listed Total Access Communication (DTAC) and CP Group’s True Corp (True), Oslo-based Telenor said in a statement. Telenor will not provide any further comments at this stage of the process,” the Norwegian company said. Telenor serves 172 million customers with roughly half its revenue generated in Asia and half in the Nordic region. A deal, if approved by regulators, would give the combined entity a market share in Thailand of around 54%, surpassing AIS.

Govt explains delay in reopening entertainment venuesEntertainment venues in Ekamai and Thong Lor areas of Bangkok were closed in early April to help contain the spread of Covid-19. Apisamai Srirangson, a spokeswoman for the CCSA, admitted on Friday that when the government postponed their reopening from December to Jan 16 the operators of entertainment venues were bitterly disappointed. Covid-19 vaccination of staff of entertainment venues was among the criteria of the SHA+ standard. Visitors would look for such signs at entertainment venues, Dr Apisamai said. Entertainment venues have been ordered closed since early April after some of them were found to be the centre of Covid-19 outbreaks.

Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth, Bangkok Airways president and also president of the Airlines Association of Thailand (AAT), said after many discussions, the government hasn't provided any commitment to allocate soft loans and seven airlines are giving up hope of getting that support. "From the government's explanation, they cannot allocate soft loans to us because it might discriminate against other industries that also suffer from the pandemic. Last year, seven local airlines submitted 24-billion-baht's worth of soft loan requests to the state, but due to the subdued response, they reduced the proposed figure to 5 billion baht. The number of employees at Bangkok Airways was cut by 30% during the pandemic, and the firm may have to streamline its workforce again next year. Recently, Bangkok Airways announced the resumption of a second international route from Bangkok to Phnom Penh in Cambodia, starting from Dec 1.

Gen Prayut on Thursday held a meeting with businessmen from the American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand (Amcham) via teleconference. Gen Prayut said he stressed the need for investment in energy, digital technologies, research and development (R&D), and health tourism. Asked by reporters if the American businessmen enquired about the political situation in Thailand, Gen Prayut said they hadn't. Gen Prayut also assured the US business sector of Thailand's economic capabilities, and invited them to take part in efforts to revive the Thai economy and the regional economy by increasing cooperation and investment in Thailand, Mr Thanakorn said. The meeting showed that the government was ready to be open to suggestions from the business sector, Mr Thanakorn quoted Mr Wong as saying.

Government calls on Americans to boost stakesThe government has called on American investors to ramp up their investment, particularly in the sectors which are regarded as the world's new investment trend and in industries that can reduce global warming. According to the premier, many members of Amcham are keen to invest in sectors which can support Thailand rehabilitating the economy affected by the pandemic. "Those US investors who have already invested about US$50 billion in Thailand said they are interested in expanding their investment and businesses in Thailand next year," said Gen Prayut. The prime minister also urged US investors to tap more into Thailand as a gateway to neighbouring countries, both in terms of trade and investment. The government also pledged to develop new economic zones to draw more investment and improve existing laws and regulations to facilitate the investment.

A third of job losses in Asia linked to tourism - ILOFILE PHOTO: Shiva Samui resort on Koh Samui, Surat Thani province is deserted on July 3, 2021. It was the country that saw the largest difference between employment losses in tourism and non-tourism related sectors. In Mongolia, tourism employment and average working hours contracted by about 17% and 13% respectively. In Thailand, average wages in the tourism sector decreased by 9.5% as workers moved into lower-paid jobs, while average working hours declined by 10%. In Vietnam, average tourism wages fell by nearly 18%, with the decline for women employees even higher at almost 23%.