Phi Phi island closure extendedKRABI: The communicable disease control committee of this southern coastal province has extended the closure of Phi Phi island for another seven days from, Sept 18-24. Only tourists under the Phuket Sandbox 7+7 programmes are allowed to visit the island during the closure. The infections spread to grocery shops and Koh Phi Phi police. The additional cases prompted the provincial communicable disease committee to extend the closure from Sept 18-24, banning most visitors from the island. Only tourists under the Phuket Sandbox 7+7 programme can travel to the island, by boat on a sealed route.

HK unions urge caution as catering businesses prod staff to get Covid-19 jabsOnly certain groups of people in Hong Kong must receive vaccines or face regular testing. As of Monday, 64.6% of the eligible population in Hong Kong had received the first dose of vaccine and 57% were fully inoculated. Simon Wong Ka-wo, president of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades, said 70% of staff in the catering industry had received two jabs. Yeung Wai-sing, chairman of the Association for Hong Kong Catering Services Management, said he also would welcome mandatory vaccination. Danny Lau Tat-pong, honorary chairman of the Hong Kong Small and Medium Enterprises Association, said SMEs preferred to give staff the freedom to make their own decisions.

Californians vote to keep Democratic governor: US media projectionsMask mandates and pandemic lockdowns spurred the recall vote in CaliforniaLOS ANGELES - Californians voted overwhelmingly to keep their Democratic governor Tuesday, roundly rejecting a Republican attempt to unseat him in a special recall vote spurred by mask mandates and Covid lockdowns. "'No' is not the only thing that was expressed tonight," Newsom said in Sacramento moments after the race was called. - 'Get rid' -The recall initiative, which has cost the state some $280 million, is one of 55 such efforts to depose a governor in state history. "I did the math and even if every registered voter turns out, it would cost more than $12 per vote," he said. "The Governator," who ended up running the state for more than seven years, was California's last Republican chief executive.

"If we don't have a male team any more, there would be no hope for cricket overall," said the 28-year-old, who was the director of women's cricket at the Afghanistan Cricket Board from 2014-2020. This time round, the hardline Islamists have shown they do not mind men playing cricket, pulling together a match in the capital Kabul shortly after foreign forces withdrew. The Afghan men's team is also scheduled to play the T20 World Cup from October 17 to November 14 in the United Arab Emirates and Oman. The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) last week urged Australia not to punish its men's team, saying it was "powerless to change the culture and religious environment of Afghanistan". The men's team now rank in the world's top 10 for both one-day internationals and Twenty20 games.

Digital doggies: pet influencers on the rise in SingaporeTerriers Sasha and Piper are pet influencers who earn thousands of dollars for product endorsementSINGAPORE - Two fluffy white terriers wearing neckerchiefs pant quietly as their owner waves a treat and snaps a photo for the dogs' tens of thousands of Instagram followers. They are among a growing number of pet influencers on social media in Singapore, a trend fuelled by a rise in online shopping and pet ownership during the coronavirus pandemic. The pair have earned thousands of dollars endorsing products ranging from vacuum cleaners to shoes -- and are even represented by an agency. - 'Can't hate them' -"It's fun -- fun for the dogs, fun for me," said Er, as she shoots pictures with her phone of the dog celebrities. "I think pet influencers generally have an advantage because we just love pets," said Peh, whose company has about 6,000 pet social media profiles in its network.

Remote work goes 'luxury', but many may be left outTech giants are pushing ahead with premium new offerings for remote work. But experts warn that while top-of-the-line features may benefit privileged Americans, millions of others can barely access remote work tools already available. Author and remote work expert Rhiannon Payne said virtual reality will become as normal a part of how people do their jobs as cell phones and laptops. She agreed the risks of excluding people cannot be ignored, but also that high tech tools can make life better. "Companies are trying to find ways to make remote work genuinely easier and to help us increase connections with our colleagues," she told AFP.

Embracing the Afro in revolt against Venezuela's 'bad hair' stereotypeHair and race identity are closely intertwined in VenezuelaCARACAS - Two years ago, Victoria Mejias abandoned her slavish pursuit of sleek tresses -- a common obsession in Venezuela where hair and race identity are closely intertwined. Mejias said she long felt ashamed of her "pelo malo" (bad hair), as natural Black hair is called in Venezuela -- a symptom, some say, of deep-seated racism. Hair discrimination also has more practical, day-to-day implications. Under such indoctrination, she herself used long, straight hair extensions until four years ago, when she decided to switch to dreadlocks. The pair work at Afro Caracas, a salon specializing in black hair styles.

US startup aims to transform pet food with lab-made chowA US startup is growing nutritional pet food in a lab. BOULDER, US: Cloudy liquid bubbling in glass tubes is key to a US startup's hopes of remaking the pet food industry by growing nutritional chow in a lab. Most pet food includes animal protein, which requires the slaughter of animals and is ultimately a source of planet-warming gases. Kelleman was convinced by research that if a company could "crack the code" for lab-grown pet food there would be a market for it. But the company has many hurdles to cross in its quest to become the new normal in pet food.

People have a picnic on Cenang beach on Tuesday as Langkawi gets ready to open to domestic tourists from Thursday. Langkawi, a cluster of 99 islands in the Straits of Malacca, will reopen from Thursday to fully vaccinated travellers as part of a domestic tourism bubble, with strict protocols in place to thwart the spread of the coronavirus. The plan is similar to that introduced in Thailand, which started with the July reopening of Phuket, 220 kilomoetres north of Langkawi, to vaccinated foreign tourists. What is important is that we can control the tourists to ensure their compliance," said Tuan Nasaruddin Abdul Muttalib, head of the Langkawi development authority. Malaysia has recorded 2 million coronavirus cases overall among its 32 million population, one of Asia's highest per-capita infection rates, with more than 20,000 deaths.

"Feedback from tourists about the Phuket sandbox is positive, but applying for the COE and expensive RT-PCR tests remain obstacles," said Chaiwat Tamthai, director of the TAT's Dubai office. Mr Chaiwat said if Thailand maintains the same travel conditions, the number of tourists from the Middle East should reach 20,000 in the final quarter. In 2019, Thailand logged 506,657 tourists from the Middle East, a reduction of 8% year-on-year, contributing 39.3 billion baht, a decrease of 7.2%. The top three markets in the Middle East are the UAE (130,158 tourists generating 9.7 billion baht), Oman (85,680 tourists generating 6.3 billion baht) and Kuwait (78,199 tourists generating 7.4 billion baht). He said tourists from the Middle East should reach 200,000 next year as they usually travel in a group comprising 5-6 family members.

Middle East tourists face obstaclesA man stands near health workers at the Phuket airport as the island reopens to vaccinated foreign tourists without quarantine on July 1. Thailand’s attempt to attract more visitors from the Middle East is being undermined by a complicated certificate of entry (COE) application process and relatively costly Covid-19 tests, says the Dubai office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). "Feedback from tourists about the Phuket sandbox is positive, but applying for the COE and expensive RT-PCR tests remain obstacles," said Chaiwat Tamthai, director of the TAT's Dubai office. Mr Chaiwat said Phuket welcomed 5,000 tourists from the Middle East in the first month of the sandbox programme, before dropping to 2,000 in August due to stricter regulations and the start of a new school semester in the Middle East. Mr Chaiwat said if Thailand maintains the same travel conditions, the number of tourists from the Middle East should reach 20,000 in the final quarter.

After first visit, family of Nicaraguan detainees describe abuseSeveral high-profile opponents of President Daniel Ortega are being held in Nicaragua's notorious El Chipote prisonMANAGUA - Isolation, daily interrogations, threats and hunger: relatives fear for the welfare of dozens of opposition figures held in Nicaragua under conditions denounced by human rights observers. Ortega's government has been accused of political persecution for its rounding up of opposition figures, including seven aspiring presidential candidates. - Talking to spiders -Family members say the prisoners are being held without adequate food and no access to medical care. On Monday, UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet urged the Nicaraguan government to "immediately and unconditionally" release detainees and stop its "persecution of the opposition, the press and civil society." The Washington-based Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has also called on the Nicaraguan government "to end the harassment of opposition figures, including (human rights) defenders, as well as to immediately free those detained arbitrarily."

13,798 new Covid cases, 144 more deathsA woman receives a Covid-19 vaccine at The Mall Bangkapi shopping centre in Bangkok on Tuesday. (Photo: Varuth Hirunyatheb)Thailand logged 13,798 new Covid-19 cases and 144 more fatalities during the previous 24 hours, the Public Health Ministry announced on Wednesday morning. On Tuesday, 14,133 Covid-19 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovering from the coronavirus. Since April 1, when the third wave of Covid-19 began, Thailand has treated 1,391,477 Covid-19 patients, 1,249,603 of whom have recovered to date. Since the pandemic started early last year, there have been 1,420,340 Covid-19 cases, with 1,277,029 complete recoveries so far.

Dubious of Trump's sanity, US general secretly called China: bookUS Army General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sought to reassure China over the potential threat from president Donald Trump, according to a new book, "Peril," by Washington Post journalists Robert Woodward and Bob Costa. "General Li, I want to assure you that the American government is stable and everything is going to be okay," Milley told Li in the October call, Woodward and Costa write. To reassure the Chinese, Milley went so far as to have the Pentagon's Indo-Pacific Command postpone military exercises that Beijing might have viewed as a possible threat. The system had "a lot of checks" to forestall extreme behavior by the president, Milley responded. "These actions by General Milley demonstrate a clear lack of sound judgement, and I urge you to dismiss him immediately," he said in a letter to Biden.

International animations which screen in Thailand can earn 100 million baht, but Thai animations earn only 40-50 million baht. If investors want to produce a Thai animation, they must be able to sell it abroad to cover their investment," said Rutt. Thai animations released in cinemas usually feature characters and storylines that relate to Thai literature, which can limit its reach to international viewers. Rutt commented that not all Thai animations have to include Thai identity. However, talented young animators like Pattama and Ramita already have jobs.