Bayern’s Kane eyes single-season goals recordBayern Munich forward Harry Kane continues to break records. (Photo: AFP)BERLIN - With Bayern Munich well on the way to another Bundesliga title, striker Harry Kane has another milestone in sight: Robert Lewandowski's single-season goals record. Bayern are just 14 goals away from breaking the single-season record of 101 goals set in 1971-72. With 30 goals in 24 league games this campaign, Kane is 11 shy of Lewandowski’s record from the 2020-21 season. Fourteen of Kane’s 30 league goals have come from the spot this season — meaning Undav has just two fewer strikes from open play than the England captain.

INET bets on sovereign cloud with B2.5bn expansionMrs Morragot says the new data centre is meant to support the company's strategy to become a sovereign provider. Internet Thailand Plc (INET), a Thai-owned local cloud and digital platform provider, plans to invest 2.5 billion baht to build its fourth data centre in Thailand to tap enterprises' rising demand for data sovereignty. The new data centre is slated for Khon Kaen. The company urged policymakers to consider digital data sovereignty for highly sensitive data, as it will strengthen the protections of the country's data jurisdiction. Investment in the new data centre will span two years and be divided into phases, with the first phase commencing within 24 months, she said.

The perils of creating a power vacuum in IranA black flag flies over Tehran, Iran, after the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. If they secure weapons-usable nuclear material, the logic of nuclear deterrence itself would be broken. The state that currently maintains custodianship over Iran's nuclear material -- however imperfect or hostile -- is the only entity with which an enforceable constraint could be achieved. Destroy it, and you make resolving the nuclear threat both more urgent and effectively impossible. Lower-grade nuclear material, meanwhile, could be repurposed into radiological dispersal devices ("dirty bombs") capable of contaminating urban areas.

Hudson to announce squad on March 12Sarawut Treephan will be serving as interim Port coach. PRAnthony Hudson has called on Thailand's footballers to maintain peak form with their clubs as he prepares to name his squad for a decisive Asian Cup qualifier later this month. The national head coach will announce his 23‑man list on March 12 for the Group D clash against Turkmenistan at Bangkok's Rajamangala National Stadium on March 31. Tickets for the fixture are already on sale, with Hudson set to lead Thailand at home for the first time. Port coach hospitalisedPort have appointed Sarawut Treephan as interim head coach after Alexandre Gama was admitted to hospital with pneumonia.

The public health system has yet to experience any direct impact from the escalating conflict in the region, acting Public Health Minister Pattana Promphat said on Wednesday. While expressing confidence the unrest will not be prolonged, he acknowledged concerns over possible price speculation. Despite progress, Thailand still faces structural limitations, particularly in the production of precursor chemicals, most of which are supplied by international companies. The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation says essential medicines are stocked in sufficient quantities to meet demand for up to one year. Recent inspections of pharmaceutical inventories found production capacity and supply chains were stable.

Israel keeps up Lebanon strikes as ground forces advanceAn ambulance is parked near a sweeping blaze following Israeli bombardment on a solar farm and electricity generation facility in Lebanon's southern coastal city of Tyre. On Tuesday, Israel's military said it was creating a buffer zone inside Lebanon to protect Israeli residents. Southern suburbs targetedA series of strikes on Wednesday hit Beirut's southern suburbs following evacuation warnings from Israel's military. One of the strikes targeted a building near a major hospital, according to an AFP photographer. In Aramoun and Saadiyat south of Beirut -- two towns outside of Hezbollah's traditional sphere of influence -- the health ministry said Israeli strikes killed at least six people.

ScreenshotCaretaker Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has instructed police to coordinate with Interpol to seek a red notice for fugitive businessman Benjamin Mauerberger, also known as "Ben Smith", amid ongoing asset seizures. Asked whether Amlo was targeting additional assets belonging to Thai politicians, Mr Anutin said all actions would be taken in accordance with the law. His comments came after Mr Mauerberger's lawyer, Witoon Kengnga, said his client would not return to Thailand. Financial inquiries showed that some of the six had transferred money to Mr Mauerberger, claiming it was for investments. On Tuesday, Mr Mauerberger's lawyers, Mr Witoon and Yodsakorn Laochotthanakul, said the case concerned a civil dispute over share sales, not fraud or money laundering.

Two-thirds of Cuba, including Havana, hit by blackoutCuba's latest power blackout is plunging millions of residents into darkness, as a worsening energy crisis grips the island nationHAVANA - A grid failure knocked out power Wednesday to two-thirds of Cuba including Havana, the national electric company UNE said, the latest electricity collapse for residents suffering daily impacts of US-imposed energy restrictions. Maduro's administration supplied about half of Cuba's fuel. Still, President Donald Trump has maintained his blockade of sorts, and oil shipments from Caracas to Havana are in limbo. The Caribbean island of Cuba lies some 150 kilometers (93 miles) off the southern coast of the US state of Florida. Also on Wednesday, Cuba found itself in a diplomatic spat with Ecuador, which ordered the expulsion of its ambassador to Quito.

Oil prices have increased substantially as war ramps up in the Middle East, which could cause the baht to weaken to 33 per dollar, says K-Research. The greenback is also supported by expectations the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates gradually and fewer times than the market anticipated, as US inflation rises in response to higher oil prices, she said. K-Research anticipates the baht weakening to 32.8 to the dollar in a worst-case scenario based on the war in the Middle East. "But if oil prices top $100 per barrel for a prolonged period, the baht will almost certainly slide to near 33 to the dollar," she said. Thailand spends roughly 5-6% of GDP on oil imports, significantly higher than neighbouring Southeast Asian countries, said Ms Kanjana.

Curb online hate nowAs Thailand and Cambodia observe a truce, a group of social media users is pursuing aggressive online campaigns to incite hatred between the peoples of the two countries. Such online hostility strips the public of empathy when armed forces resort to aggressive measures instead of dialogue to resolve border disputes, as jingoism and xenophobia peak. Security issues between Thailand and Cambodia topped the list, followed by government services, disasters and health concerns. The commission stopped short of detailing what authorities had done to curb such practices. In Thailand, however, the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society and cyber police appear to lag behind online disinformation actors.

AFPThis article is a follow-up to my previous piece titled "Fiscal deficit will trigger 2026 crisis". Unlike the 1997 crisis, a 2026 crisis would not be triggered by inadequate foreign reserves, but by insufficient domestic liquidity. I believe I have said enough to unsettle readers about liquidity risk and the possibility of crisis. As this is fundamentally a liquidity risk, the earliest signs of trouble will appear in the money market. The balance has fallen from a peak of 631 billion baht in September last year to 325 billion baht in January 2026.

Mideast war weighs on transport costsContainer-laden shipping vessels docked at the Laem Chabang deep-sea port in Chon Buri province on April 25, 2024. Airlines are required to carry additional fuel reserves for safety, reducing the cargo weight aircraft can transport and tightening air freight capacity. The imbalance between rising demand and limited air cargo capacity is likely to push air freight rates higher in the coming weeks. The longer flight paths add pressure to operating costs for carriers, particularly fuel expenses, said Kettivit Sittisoontornwong, chief executive of Leo. Rising crude oil prices result in higher bunker fuel costs for vessels and likely adjustments to the bunker adjustment factor and emergency bunker surcharge, noted Mr Kettivit.

Conservation officials warn that the Northeast, particularly the Phu Khieo–Nam Nao Forest Complex, which includes Phu Luang, risks becoming the country's second major conflict hotspot after the Eastern Forest Complex. "If we have done nothing, it will repeat the severe situation in the eastern forest complex. The average annual growth rate stands at around 3%, rising to 8.2% in the eastern forest complex, where conflict is most acute. More than 191 monitoring teams operate nationwide, supported by 227 local networks receiving 50,000 baht each to help prevent elephant intrusions. After successful trials in African elephants, three animals in the eastern forest complex received the vaccine in January, with plans to expand to 15 more.

"To date, no opposition leader has managed to forge the kind of broad-based coalition needed to unify the fragmented opposition landscape," Ali Vaez, Iran Project Director at International Crisis Group, told AFP. Inside Iran, opposition figures have been repressed and imprisoned, as was the case with jailed 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi. His supporters have attacked other opposition figures online and clashed with the spectrum of ethnic minority opposition groups, who experts say wouldn't accept Pahlavi. - 'Somebody from within' -Asked on Tuesday about Pahlavi, Trump was tepid. "It would seem to me that somebody from within (Iran) maybe would be more appropriate" than Pahlavi, Trump said.

Mideast conflict a major roadblock for long-haul marketsTourists enjoy the Songkran festival on Khao San Road in Bangkok in April last year. Varuth HirunyathebAs the conflict in the Middle East weighs on global travel prices and travellers' pocketbooks, tourism operators project long-haul markets in 2026 will fall short of last year's 10 million arrivals. "Tourism arrivals this year could dip even more severely than last year." The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) set a target of 11.6 million arrivals from long-haul markets this year, with total arrivals of 36.7 million. In the long term, Thailand seeks to develop itself as an aviation hub by increasing direct flights to the country, according to the TAT.