Osotspa eyes consumer recovery as demand risesMs Chidapa said the company is looking for partners that would be a good strategic fit. According to Ms Chidapa, Osotspa has studied the potential of cannabis and hemp beverages and personal care products since 2019. This is because we have a strong brand, a local factory and a local team over there,'' Ms Chidapa said. In the first half of this year, the company's revenue from sales totalled 13.68 billion baht, an increase of 8.7% from the same period the previous year, with net profit up 5.4% to 1.82 billion baht. "Strong growth was driven by domestic beverages and the international market,'' Ms Chidapa said.

OIC acts to ensure timely Covid paymentAround 500 people gather in front of The One Insurance Plc on Monday to push for speedier claims reimbursement for Covid-19 insurance. ARNUN CHOLMAHATRAKOOLThe Office of the Insurance Commission (OIC) has issued measures to speed up the claims process for Covid-19 insurance after payment delays were reported. The meeting is scheduled for Sept 12 to collect opinions from relevant agencies and develop guidelines to ensure compliance from insurance companies. According to Mr Suthiphon, the OIC received 1,671 complaints about Covid-19 insurance from policyholders nationwide this year, an increase from 1,305 complaints in 2020. Viriyah Insurance said it received more than 1,000 insurance claims per day, causing the system to slow.

Britain's Raducanu makes US Open history, gets tips from WadeBritain's Emma Raducanu celebrates her victory Monday over American Shelby Rogers to reach the US Open quarter-finalsNEW YORK - British teen Emma Raducanu matched the deepest run by any qualifier in US Open history on Monday, rolling into the quarter-finals and mastering the nervy atmosphere of Arthur Ashe Stadium. "I'm feeling very confident and happy with how I'm performing out here in the States," Raducanu said. I'm really excited to see what I can do on Wednesday." "To be here in the US Open quarterfinals after not playing for 18 months is absolutely just incredible." Virginia Wade, the 1968 US Open champion and most recent British woman to capture the New York title, was cheering on Raducanu on Tuesday.

Marchers walk 7,000 steps for Canadian pair detained by ChinaSupporters of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor take part in a 5-kilometre walk in Ottawa, Ontario on Sept 5, 2021, to mark the pair's 1,000 days in Chinese custody after they were charged with espionage. OTTAWA: Hundreds of supporters of two Canadian men being held on what Ottawa says are specious charges marched 7,000 steps through the Canadian capital on Sunday to mark the pair's 1,000th day of "unjust" detention in China. Similar events in support of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig were held elsewhere in Canada and across the world in cities including Brussels, New York, Washington, Seoul and Singapore. "We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Canada and the international community in calling for the PRC to release, immediately and unconditionally, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig," Blinken said in a statement, referring to the People's Republic of China. "He walks in circles, 7,000 steps, often holding a book, reading, reciting songs, prayers -- five kilometres of courage and contemplation.

Philippine Airlines to return 22 planes, reassures on survivalAircraft of Philippines Airlines park beside a hangar at a runway of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila March 14, 2016. (Reuters photo)MANILA: Philippine Airlines will return 22 aircraft, mostly Airbus and Boeing jets, to lessors as it pursues a financial restructuring programme to survive after the pandemic has decimated global travel, executives said on Monday. With the company not expecting a return to pre-pandemic levels until 2024 to 2025, the carrier will return 22 aircraft to lessors, Philippine Airlines President Gilbert Santa Maria told a news conference. Philippine Airlines will end with 70 aircraft after cutting about a quarter of its fleet of 92 planes. After filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Philippine Airlines said on Friday it was pursuing a financial restructuring plan.

Hunters arrested with wildlife carcassesTwo of three hunters sit on the ground after they were arrested by park rangers in Thong Pha Phum district of Kanchanaburi on Sunday. (Photo: Piyarat Chongcharoen)KANCHANABURI: Three hunters were arrested with a number of wildlife carcasses on Sunday in Khao Laem National Park in Thong Pha Phum district of this western border province. Found in the fertiliser bags were carcasses of two black giant squirrels, two black hornbills, two Asiatic brush-tailed porcupines, one langur, one monkey, one soft-shelled turtle and one clouded monitor lizard. The three men were charged with violating the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act of 2019, the National Park Act of 2019 and the Firearm Act of 1947. They were taken to Thong Pha Phum police station for legal proceedings.

Aug headline inflation dips for first time in 5 months on subsidiesPeople flock to the food court of the Seacon Square shopping centre in Bangkok's Srinakarin area on Wednesday after dine-in is allowed. Government subsidies have contributed to a surprise drop in headline inflation. Without the measures, the headline CPI would have risen more than 1%, ministry official Wichanun Niwatjinda told a briefing on Thursday. However, headline inflation might not reach 1% this year, versus a current forecast of 0.7% to 1.7%, Mr Wichanun said. In the January-August period, headline CPI rose 0.73% from a year earlier, with the core measure of CPI up 0.23%.

SilkAir's aircraft, the Boeing 737 Max 8, sits on the tarmac at Changi Airport. Singapore grounded the 737 MAX in March 2019 following two fatal crashes. China is the biggest market in the region that has yet to approve the return of the 737 MAX, though Boeing last month conducted test flights in the country. Singapore Airlines said on Monday it would continue to work closely with CAAS and other relevant regulators in the coming weeks to meet the requirements to return its 737 MAX planes to service. Further details on its 737 MAX operations will be announced at a later date, the airline added.

Binance removes Singapore products on main platform after regulator's warningBinance logo and stock graph are displayed in this illustration taken on June 28, 2021. (Reuters photo)HONG KONG: Embattled Binance, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, said it will restrict its services in Singapore days after the city state's central bank said it should stop offering payment services. The Monetary Authority of Singapore became the latest regulator to take aim at Binance, warning last week that its global platform, Binance.com, could be breaking the law by providing payment services to Singapore residents without an appropriate licence. Binance.com will stop offering Singapore dollar payment options and Singapore dollar trading pairs from Sept. 10 and the app will be removed from the Singapore iOs and Google Play stores, it said in a post on its website. The restrictions only apply to Binance's global platform and not its Singapore platform, which Changpeng Zhao, the company's chief executive has urged users to switch to.

Islamic State group menace rebounds in AfghanistanMore than 100 Afghan civilians and 13 US servicemen were killed in the August 26 attack on Kabul airport -- the deadliest violence against US forces in Afghanistan since 2011. DOHA: The Taliban had barely completed their takeover of the Afghan capital Kabul when the local affiliate of the Islamic State group struck, sowing mayhem with a bloody airport attack. It was also the bloodiest attack against the US claimed by an IS group affiliate, namely the Islamic State in Khorasan (IS-K), coming at an acutely sensitive moment for the withdrawing forces. IS-K has become the fourth most active Islamic State group affiliate globally since the start of the year, according to an expert on the organisation known on Twitter only as Mr Q. The Kabul attack "propelled IS-K into the political and media spotlight", he told AFP.

High inflation looms over European Central Bank meetingInflation has been running high in the eurozone but the ECB has so far held off adjusting the support for the economy it introduced at the outset of the coronavirus pandemicFRANKFURT - Rising eurozone inflation provides the backdrop for the meeting of European Central Bank (ECB) governors Thursday, with markets hoping for hints when policymakers might start easing their massive pandemic-era stimulus. "We are more worried about the inflation rate being too low in the medium term rather than too high," Isabel Schnabel, a member of the ECB's executive board, said last month. The ECB will on Thursday also unveil the latest quarterly growth and inflation forecasts, but analysts expect few surprises. However, several ECB board members have recently signalled their openness to adjusting the pace of the emergency bond purchases. "If inflation and the economy recover, then there will logically be a gradual normalisation of monetary policy, and of fiscal policy too," ECB vice president Luis de Guindos told a Spanish newspaper.

'Freedom Tower' - the skyscraper symbolising New York's resilienceThe One World Trade Center seen from the Empire State Building on April 3, 2021NEW YORK: It is the skyscraper that replaced the Twin Towers in New York's skyline. Inaugurated in 2014, the One World Trade Center has become a symbol of resilience after the horror of 9/11. From its conception, the tower had to testify to New York's durability -- looking to the future despite the tragedy -- according to one of its architects, Kenneth Lewis. But if the office towers have not yet regained their pre-pandemic occupancy rate, their preeminence in New York's skyline cannot be called into question. While the 9/11 Memorial symbolises "the void" created by the attacks, the "Freedom Tower" represents "the positive", according to Lewis.

One of such solutions is Confidential Computing. Confidential computing is an emerging technology that truly secures sensitive business data while it is being used — it belongs to a new generation of trusted services that enable data owners to control how their data is processed. R3 launched Conclave, a new confidential computing platform that empowers customers to bring about a new era of privacy in data sharing, processing and analysis. At its core, confidential computing is a combination of hardware and software that isolates sensitive data in a protected environment while it is being processed. R3’s Conclave will open up new business opportunities for firms looking to unlock the value of previously inaccessible data to build high-value multi-party analytics, redefining the way data is protected and used.” added Amit Ghosh.

13,988 new Covid cases, 187 deaths MondayFood vendors are back to streets in Yaowarat again after the government eased restriction measures in Bangkok. (Photo: Wichan Charoenkiatpakul)Thailand logged 13,988 new Covid-19 cases and 187 more fatalities during the previous 24 hours, the Public Health Ministry announced on Monday morning. Since April 1, when the third wave of Covid-19 began, Thailand has treated 1,265,659 Covid-19 patients, 1,105,432 of whom have recovered to date. Since the pandemic started early last year, there have been 1,294,522 Covid-19 cases, with 1,133,077 complete recoveries so far. "New cases could reach 30,000 a day next month" if people relax social distancing and other measures, the CCSA said.

Extreme weather a wake-up callWaking up last Wednesday, I was surprised to see pictures of flooding on the Facebook page of my friend, whose house is not far from my place. Chinese cities are far from ready for the extreme weather events wrought by global warming, Greenpeace researchers warned last week. In Asia Pacific, disaster-related losses are currently estimated at $780 billion. The impact of the pandemic has highlighted the urgent need to merge disaster risk reduction strategies into health preparedness systems, especially to support the most vulnerable populations. We need a regional strategy for building back better with disaster, climate and health resilience.