Apart from Thaksin, there are four other people suspected of being involved in the decision, Mr Niwatchai said. Between 2002 and 2004, Thaksin's cabinet approved THAI's plan to purchase 10 A340-500 and A340-600 aircraft worth about 53.5 billion baht. The purchase plan was submitted by Mr Suriya at the time. But THAI ended up suffering 39.8 billion baht in losses on all the routes, it said. On Wednesday, Thaksin appeared on Clubhouse again, discussing a topic on Thai politics and the future of young Thais.

TCG expands soft loan guarantee allocation by B100bnThai Credit Guarantee Corporation (TCG) expanded its guarantees yesterday for the Bank of Thailand's soft loan scheme by an additional 100 billion baht after the first allocation of 100 billion was exhausted, says acting general manager Wasukarn Visansawatdi. TCG is open to requests for the loan guarantee until Oct 9, 2023. The central bank launched the soft loan scheme worth 250 billion baht to help businesses and individuals survive the impact of the prolonged pandemic. The firm charges corporates a guarantee fee of 1% for the first two years, with a maximum loan guarantee of up to 150 million baht. Under the loan scheme, TCG also provides full compensation to cover the damage to lenders if SME and micro-SME loans become non-performing loans (NPLs).

The satellite business has been disrupted by innovation for decades," Thaicom chief executive Anant Kaewruamvongs told the Bangkok Post. Thaicom 4 is a broadband satellite and Thaicom 6 is broadcasting satellite. Thaicom can continue to operate Thaicom 7 and 8 satellites under a single licence provided by National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC). "Thaicom also plans to enter the smart solution business linked with the space economy," said Mr Anant. Mr Anant retires at the end of this year and his deputy Patompop Suwansiri is expected to succeed him.

Classrooms enhance value of learningA Thai university lecturer conducts an online lesson for students via Zoom for the first time in March last year. They have salvaged more than an entire academic year of study for our Thai university students. However, I worry that we may under-state the value of a classroom in the total education of a young person. Over this year, I have been interviewing university students about these questions. Learning online and alone made clear their benefits.

Now comes hard part for champ RaducanuSome may regard the British reaction to the stunning, success of Emma Raducanu as being a bit over the top … and they would be partly right. Like Raducanu, she was born in Canada with her father from Ecuador and mother a Filipina. She pushed Raducanu all the way and the 6-4, 6-3scoreline did not fully reflect the closeness of the match. Raducanu has already appeared on the cover of Vogue magazine and in assorted American TV talk shows. There was inevitably also much emphasis on the financial rewards awaiting Raducanu with speculation that she could become the first British billion-dollar sports star.

US admits strike in Kabul killed 10 civilians, not IS militantsThe scene of the August 29 US drone strike in Kabul that the Pentagon now admits mistakenly killed 10 people, including seven children, who were not a threat. Intelligence reports had led US forces to watch for a white Toyota Corolla that the group was allegedly using, he said. "Clearly our intelligence was wrong on this particular white Toyota," he said. The drone strike killed 10 people, including seven children, according to McKenzie, none of who ultimately were linked to IS. McKenzie said that no civilians had been spotted in the area at the time the strike was authorized.

10,000 migrants, many Haitian, packed under Texas bridgeHaitian and Central American migrants march to the Siglo XXI Migratory Station in Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico, aiming to travel to the United States. HOUSTON - More than 10,000 undocumented migrants, many of them Haitians, were being held under a bridge in Texas on Friday, US officials said, posing a new challenge to President Joe Biden's immigration policy. Bruno Lozano, the mayor of Del Rio on the US-Mexico border, said that the migrants were crowded in an area controlled by the US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) beneath the Del Rio International Bridge. "The border patrol right now is so overwhelmed with the influx of migrants in the Del Rio sector," Lozano said. "To prevent injuries from heat-related illness, the shaded area underneath Del Rio International Bridge is serving as a temporary staging site while migrants wait to be taken into Border Patrol custody," it said.

Romer was World Bank chief economist at the time, and criticized Georgieva for engineering a "whitewash" of separate concerns he raised about the institution's flagship Doing Business report. The push came while bank leadership was engaged in sensitive negotiations with Beijing over the bank's lending capital. The IMF has its own a series of reports on national economies, which could be called into question following the allegations against Georgieva. He said Georgieva's leadership of the IMF calls into question other dealings with Beijing and "has implications for China's influence at the Fund. She is also expected at the IMF and World bank annual meetings in early October.

World on 'catastrophic' path to 2.7C warming: UN chiefA bombshell "code red" for humanity warned Earth's average temperature will reach 1.5C a decade earlier than projected only three years agoPARIS - A failure to slash global emissions is setting the world on a "catastrophic" path to 2.7 degrees Celsius heating, UN chief Antonio Guterres warned Friday just weeks before crunch climate talks. This shows "the world is on a catastrophic pathway to 2.7-degrees of heating," Guterres said in a statement. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that emissions should be around 45 percent lower by 2030 compared with 2010 levels to meet the 1.5C goal. It warned that the target for 2020, which saw the world shaken by the Covid-19 pandemic, would be missed. "The fight against climate change will only succeed if everyone comes together to promote more ambition, more cooperation and more credibility," said Guterres.

Thailand hopes a rail link with China will offer faster delivery of goods to southern Chinese provinces. An 80-rai site at the Nong Khai railway station would be developed as a depot to handle international trade, said Kittiphan Panchan, the department’s director-general. Trains between Nong Khai station and the Thanaleng border station in Laos now share the bridge with motor vehicles crossing between the two countries. The department did not give a timeline for the projects, but there is new urgency since the 471-kilometre Laos-China rail line is nearly completed. Thailand now expects to be able to connect with Laos and China in 2028 when the first high-speed train line from Bangkok to Nong Khai is completed.

Austria hears first lawsuit over ski resort Covid outbreakThe case is the first of 15 lawsuits filed by plaintiffs from Austria and GermanyVIENNA - The first civil lawsuit began in a court in Vienna on Friday over a notorious outbreak of coronavirus at a popular ski resort last year, where thousands of people from 45 countries claim to have become infected. It is being brought on behalf of Sieglinde Schopf and Ulrich, the widow and son of 72-year-old Hannes Schopf, who died after contracting the virus in Ischgl. Sieglinde was not present in Vienna's Palace of Justice on Friday but her son Ulrich sat alongside the legal team bringing their case, with a swarm of media filming and photographing the participants before the hearing got under way. During a break in proceedings, Ulrich told reporters the most important thing in the trial was getting "justice" for victims and their families. The Schopf family is suing the Republic of Austria for 100,000 euros ($120,000).

(AFP Photo)PHNOM PENH: Cambodia on Friday began vaccinating children as young as six against the coronavirus, even though the World Health Organisation has yet to approve a vaccine for the under-12s. “It is necessary for us to do this because we have to step ahead,” Hun Sen said. Cambodia plans to give two shots of the Chinese-made vaccine to children aged six to 12, with a third booster dose later. But health experts are not yet sure about the advisability of vaccinating younger children. But Hun Sen, the strongman who has ruled Cambodia for over three decades, dismissed safety concerns.

Launch of MobilSM Fleet Care program in ThailandThe all-new MobilSM Fleet Care has upped its ante with fleet telematics system, enabling a holistic fleet management solutionEsso (Thailand) Public Company Limited launched its MobilSM Fleet Care (MFC) program for its lubricant customers on 15 September 2021. MobilSM Fleet Care is a fleet management solution that provides fleet owners and operators with a holistic view of their fleet’s operational performance. The insights MobilSM Fleet Care provides will help ensure fleet safety and contribute to overall productivity and efficiency. Furthermore, MobilSM Fleet Care program will enhance the fleet business operations in Thailand by connecting and directing the performance report via the LINE application, allowing operators to conveniently manage their fleets from anywhere and anytime.”MobilSM Fleet Care program rollout begins in Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand, and is expected to further expand regionally where customers will have an option to choose from various packages to suit their business needs. For more information on MobilSM Fleet Care program, and to find out more about ongoing promotions, solutions and packages please reach out to local distributors at mobil.com/fleet-care-asean.

Singapore, Hong Kong threaten to retaliate over EU's tougher airport slot rulesSingapore Airlines planes sit on the tarmac at Changi Airport in Singapore on Dec 8, 2020. Cathay Pacific last month warned publicly that the slower recovery in Hong Kong meant it risked losing prized overseas airport slots and harming the city's hub status. Taiwan's China Airlines and Korean Air Lines expressed concern about the EU rules in statements to Reuters, while Singapore Airlines declined to comment. Air France and KLM said their decisions to fly were not based on airport slots. "When the demand is not there it is unreasonable to expect people to operate," IATA Head of Worldwide Airport Slots Lara Maughan said.

President Tsai Ing-wen attends a Taiwanese Air Force fighter jet take-off and landing drill, as part of the annual Han Kuang exercises, in Pingtung, Taiwan on Wednesday. (Taiwan Military News Agency photo via Reuters)TAIPEI: Taiwan’s air force scrambled on Friday to warn away 10 Chinese aircraft that entered its air defence zone, Taiwan’s defence ministry said, the day after the island announced a US$9-billion boost to military spending to counter the threat from China. The latest Chinese mission involved 6 J-16 and 2 J-11 fighters plus one anti-submarine and one reconnaissance aircraft, the Taiwan ministry said. Taiwan sent combat aircraft to warn away the Chinese aircraft, while missile systems were deployed to monitor them, the ministry said. Taiwan’s defence spending “is based on safeguarding national sovereignty, national security, and national security.