Then, like any other local leader, he embarks on a day of solving problems for his constituents in the jail and surrounding area. "I represent every incarcerated person on the planet," Caston told AFP in a recent video interview from his makeshift office in the prison. Caston said, recalling being roused by guards at 5:00 am one day in June to be told of his election victory. - Working from prison -Caston's journey to elected office began in July last year as local lawmakers voted to grant felons the right to vote from prison. Meanwhile the younger prisoners he mentors have been getting him up to speed on technology so he can meet constituents by video call on a laptop.

For eight months after the attacks, tens of thousands of people -- many of them immigrants -- cleaned Ground Zero and nearby damaged buildings. - 'Injustice' -Gil, like all the cleaners spoken to by AFP, cannot work because of illnesses believed to be derived from the 9/11 operation. More than 2,000 cleaners, rescuers and police officers died from illnesses linked to 9/11, according to the federal victims' compensation fund. Most of the 9/11 cleaners have full medical coverage through the World Trade Center's federal health program, but many have not received compensation for their illnesses. Rosa Duque, a 56-year-old Guatemalan cleaner who has difficulty breathing, says the cleaners are "in oblivion" and must be given permanent residency.

Bar-B-Q Plaza on V-Avenue claims to be the world's first virtual reality restaurant. SET-listed telecom operator Advanced Info Service (AIS) and Food Passion have launched Bar-B-Q Plaza virtual restaurant on the carrier's virtual shopping mall V-Avenue to create a new customer experience. He said AIS worked in tandem with Food Passion to open the world's first virtual restaurant -- Bar-B-Q Plaza on V-Avenue -- to enable online food orders. "They bring leading brands such as Bar-B-Q Plaza to the table for us to jointly develop a virtual restaurant." The virtual shop's front has been designed with the distinctive logo of Bar-B-Q Plaza with Bar B Gon, its green dragon mascot.

The Thai pair defeated Cynthia Mathez and Karin Suter Erath of Switzerland 2-0 (21-11, 21-12) in the bronze medal match of the women's wheelchair doubles WH1-WH2 event at Yoyogi National Stadium. The 35-year-old Sujirat also won silver on Saturday in the WH1 singles event of the sport making its Paralympic debut in Tokyo. The 24-year-old wheelchair racer has so far won five gold medals and could surpass the 40-year-old Prawat, who has won seven gold medals. PRIt was 'Silver bullet' Hug's sixth Paralympic gold of his career. The US also claimed gold in men's wheelchair basketball, beating Japan 64-60 after a fourth-quarter comeback.

Pornprom SatrabhayaThe Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) has warned investors to be cautious when trading Delta Electronics (DELTA) shares after its price spiked 33%, from 560 baht to 746 baht, over the past trading week. Pakorn Peetathawatchai, the SET president, urged investors to carefully study risks before trading DELTA as its price and trading volumes had posted unusual increases. During Friday's morning trading session, DELTA ranked second among listed companies with a trading value of 2.37 billion baht. With the surge in trading value, the company's market capitalisation rose to 931 billion baht during the same period, suggesting these are unusual movements without any changes in fundamentals. With every 1% increase in these stocks, the SET Index rose 3.8 points.

Coexisting with diseaseCustomers use the escalators at Terminal 21 mall in Bangkok, which resumed operations last Wednesday following a relaxation of rules by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. Despite the factory sandbox, Mr Kriengkrai is not confident it can ensure the overall health of the industrial sector. "Now our business has two models: serving customers at restaurants and delivering ready-to-eat food to them at home via the retail business," Ms Natalie said. While many companies chose to close their restaurants or freeze their business expansion in light of periodic state measures, Mr Boonyong remains positive. He said helping both individual and business customers with debt restructuring over the longer term is the banks' key role over the next 3-5 years.

Perk upgrades urged for 3 new economic corridorsThe government needs to revamp investment privileges to support the smooth development of three new economic corridors that are instrumental to increasing investment and rehabilitating the economy over the next 5-6 years, says a central planner. According to Anek Memongkol, deputy secretary-general of the National Economic and Social Development Council, the Northern Economic Corridor (NEC), the Northeastern Economic Corridor (NEEC) and the Southern Economic Corridor are similar in form to the flagship Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC). They are scheduled to be promoted in the 13th national economic and social development plan that spans 2023-27. "The government also needs to drive more serious regional development to distribute income to provincial areas and generate economic growth after the pandemic." The NEC is designated to cover four northern provinces: Chiang Mai, Lamphun, Lampang and Chiang Rai.

Depa offers digital support for 10,000 small enterprisesOne of Depa's programmes provides digital skill training for around 10,000 people per year. A smart economy plan for micro and informal enterprises was initiated last year as a trial run, with tech support provided to small vendors on Phahon Yothin Road in Bangkok. Last year, more than 2,000 micro-enterprises and stall vendors adopted tech solutions provided by Depa- supported startups, which helped streamline their operations and sales. Depa president and chief executive Nuttapon Nimmanphatcharin said the programme offers a broad range of digital solutions for small enterprises with technologies developed by local startups. Since 2018, Depa has initiated 900 development projects with financial support from its digital transformation fund, said Mr Nuttapon.

BAAC boasts uptick in app usageThe number of active users on the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives' (BAAC) mobile app has soared to 50% of its total 2.73 million userbase, says president Tanaratt Ngamvalairatt. He said the ratio between the bank's A-Mobile app users, who actively conduct transactions via the app, and app users who still prefer to go to branch counters rose to 50:50 as more users avoid branches because of the pandemic. Before the outbreaks, active A-Mobile users comprised 20-30% of total app users. BAAC has 5.6 million customers. They can use the lottery as collateral and borrow up to 90% of total lottery value.

Taliban push deep into Afghanistan's holdout Panjshir ValleyThe Panjshir Valley is the last major pocket of resistance in Afghanistan against the Taliban. KABUL - Taliban fighters have advanced deep into Afghanistan's holdout Panjshir Valley, with resistance fighters saying they are keeping the Islamists at bay, but analysts warned they are struggling. "The Taliban army has been hardened with 20 years of war, and make no mistake, the Taliban trained an army," Roggio tweeted Sunday, adding that "the odds were long" for the Panjshir resistance. "The Taliban army was injected with a massive amount of weapons and munitions after the US withdrawal and collapse of the ANA" (Afghan National Army), he added. "It will be quite easy to verify a video showing Taliban within the Panjshir valley," Waters said.

El Salvador's Bukele gets greenlight to run for re-electionSalvadoran President Nayib Bukele enjoys broad popularity but has been accused of authoritarian tendenciesSAN SALVADOR - El Salvador's top court has said that populist President Nayib Bukele would be allowed to run for a second term, despite the country's constitution prohibiting the head of state from serving two consecutive terms in office. The Supreme Court decision on Friday will allow Bukele to run for a second term in 2024 -- potentially making him the Central American nation's first president to serve more than five years in office since the 1950s. In its ruling, the court said a sitting head of state could seek re-election for a second term as long as they have not "been president during the immediately preceding period". However, that ruling did allow the head of state to run again in a subsequent election. Last year, Bukele dispatched troops to the country's parliament in a bid to pressure lawmakers.

China tests new Myanmar trade route in boost to tiesChina held a test run of a new overland trade route with Myanmar last month, in a show of support for its neighbour that has been hit with Western sanctions after a coup this year, the South China Morning Post reported. Around 60 containers were sent in the first trial of the China-Myanmar corridor last month, the Post reported. The test comes after the first visit to Myanmar by a Chinese high-level official, Special Envoy for Asian Affairs Sun Guoxiang, since a military junta seized power in February, the paper said. The new route could help boost trade with Myanmar and help link China with the Indian Ocean, the report said. China has been keen to increase its influence in Southeast Asia through its Belt and Road Initiative, and has invested heavily in transportation infrastructure in the region.

Phuket Sandbox generates B1,634m in two monthsA tourist takes a photo with the colourful letters spelling the name of the island displayed on a beach in Phuket. The revenue from tourism during the period was estimated at 1,634 million baht - including 565 million baht from accommodations, 376 million baht from goods and services, 350 million baht from food and drinks and 229 million baht from medical and health services. A report from the Phuket immigration office, the accumulated number of tourists from July 1-Sept 3 was 27,609. Of the total, 10,355 had left the country and 17,254 were still in the county, with 4,762 remaining in Phuket. Under the Phuket Sandbox programme, from July 1 vaccinated tourists are allowed to visit Phuket without quarantine.

Marathon golds decided as 'most important' Paralympics wrap upMarathon events were decided on the final day of the Tokyo Paralympics on SundayTOKYO - Swiss wheelchair master Marcel Hug defended his marathon title on the final day of the Tokyo Paralympics on Sunday, as organisers hailed the "most important edition" of the Games ever. Empty," said Hug, who won the sixth Paralympic gold of his career in a time of 1hr 24min 2sec. There was also gold for host nation Japan in the women's T12 marathon, with Misato Michishita coming home in a time of 3:00.50. Morocco's El Amin Chentouf won the men's T12 marathon, while China's Li Chaoyan took the honours in the men's T46. - 'Stronger than ever' -With the Games almost at a close, International Paralympic Committee chief Andrew Parsons declared the Tokyo Paralympics the "most important edition" in history.

Fashion Week returning to New York with in-person energyThe Michael Kors runway show in February 2019 during New York Fashion WeekNEW YORK - After a long hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, New York is opening its Spring/Summer 2022 Fashion Week with the return of in-person runway shows featuring big names like Tom Ford and Altuzarra. The pandemic overshadowed the last two fashion weeks, in September 2020 and February 2021, as both were dominated by virtual runway shows. Steven Kolb, chief executive of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), says he sees room for both digital and in-person shows. - The Covid factor -Fashion Week this year overlaps with the Metropolitan Museum of Art's own fashion extravaganza, a high point of the city's social calendar, set for Monday. Meantime, the pandemic, by at least temporarily de-emphasizing in-person shows, has left some designers with mixed feelings.