New York Philharmonic marks 'homecoming' after pandemic cancellations
New York Philharmonic marks 'homecoming' after pandemic cancellationsFriday's concert by the New York Philharmonic was a 'homecoming' for musicians limited to live streams, one-off and outdoor shows for more than a yearNEW YORK - Following 556 days of pandemic-inflicted cancellations and unconventional concerts, the New York Philharmonic opened its new season Friday, a "homecoming" for musicians limited to live streams, one-off and outdoor shows for more than a year. The pandemic forced the famed symphony orchestra to cancel its 2020-21 season, resulting in more than $21 million in lost ticket revenues. Despite everything, Chris Martin, the orchestra's principal trumpet player, said the start of a fresh season "feels like coming home." "But to come back in this space... to have an audience again, that's the part that really feels like a homecoming." The pandemic, which dealt an early and particularly deadly blow to New York, hit in the middle of the violinist-turned-conductor's second season as music director.
Source:Bangkok Post
September 18, 2021 03:33 UTC
Lisa-mania boosts Buri Ram's annual meatball fair
Lisa-mania boosts Buri Ram's annual meatball fairA vendor in a traditional dress similar to the one Lisa wears in her new video at a meatball fair in Buri Ram. (Photo: Surachai Piraksa)Trade at an annual meatball fair in Buri Ram was brisk this week after Thai K-pop star Lalisa "Lisa" Manoban said she really missed the event that her mum used to take her to when she was a kid. This year's event runs from Saturday until Thursday at Buri Ram railway station in tambon Nai Muang of Muang district, with many activities planned, including the addition of some extra Blackpink songs to go with the meatball promotions. The fair is jointly run by state provincial offices in Buri Ram, the State Railway of Thailand and the province's tourism council and tourism businesses association. The fair was previously due to go-ahead last month but was postponed due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Source:Bangkok Post
September 18, 2021 03:00 UTC
Critics warn of Apple, Google 'chokepoint' repression
Critics warn of Apple, Google 'chokepoint' repressionGoogle and Apple were under the microscope over their decision to pull a Russian opposition appWASHINGTON - The global dominance of tech giants serves as a convenient online chokepoint for authoritarian governments to crack down on dissent or rig elections, critics of Apple and Google said Friday. "The app stores are the new frontier for censorship," Natalia Krapiva, tech legal counsel at rights group Access Now told AFP. But after an app advising opposition supporters on how to vote out Kremlin allies in Russia's parliamentary election was removed from the app stores of both Apple and Google, advocates warned of another threat. In the case of Russia, pressure has been building after Moscow accused the US tech giants of election interference and demanded they remove the app. Sources close to the decision to pull the opposition app said both companies faced threats of criminal charges or the jailing of staff and general "bullying" from authorities.
Source:Bangkok Post
September 18, 2021 02:26 UTC
Five things to watch at the Emmy Awards
Five things to watch at the Emmy AwardsThe red carpet area is readied for the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles. (AFP Photo)LOS ANGELES: The Emmy Awards honouring the best in American television return on Sunday for the first in-person ceremony since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Two years ago, its star Billy Porter became the first openly gay black man to win the best drama actor prize. "The Handmaid's Tale" was the first ever streaming show to win best drama at the Emmys. This has caused a scramble among those up for best drama, best comedy and best limited series, as each show usually has a large number of producers listed as nominees and eligible to attend.
Source:Bangkok Post
September 18, 2021 01:52 UTC
US firefighters optimistic over world's biggest tree
US firefighters optimistic over world's biggest treeA dead tree (L) stands alongside living trees as smoke rises during the KNP Complex fire in the Sequoia National Forest near Red Fir, California on September 17, 2021RED FIR (UNITED STATES) - Firefighters battling to protect the world's biggest tree from wildfires ravaging the parched United States said Friday they are optimistic it can be saved. Flames are creeping closer to the majestic General Sherman and other giant sequoias, as man-made climate change worsens California's fearsome fire season. The biggest of them all, the General Sherman stands 83 meters (275 feet) tall. "We have folks up in the Giant Forest protecting structures and preparing everything. But the larger, hotter blazes that are laying waste to the western United States are dangerous to them because they climb higher up the trunks and into the canopy.
Source:Bangkok Post
September 18, 2021 01:41 UTC
Back on the catwalk: live shows return at London Fashion Week
Back on the catwalk: live shows return at London Fashion WeekThe coronavirus pandemic forced London Fashion Week online last year but it is back on the catwalk after restrictions were lifted. LONDON: Catwalk shows resumed at London Fashion Week on Friday, after previous editions of the landmark industry event were forced online by the coronavirus pandemic. The London Fashion Council said the September shows "mark the long-awaited cultural reopening of London and brings back the global fashion industry to the UK". Some designers this time round are preferring to present their latest creations by appointment only, or via videos on the London Fashion Week platform. Bounce backFollowing on from New York and preceding Milan, London Fashion Week is dedicated to spring-summer 2022 collections and is intended to be "gender neutral".
Source:Bangkok Post
September 18, 2021 00:51 UTC
14,109 new Covid cases, 122 more deaths
(Photo: Nutthawat Wicheanbut)Thailand logged 14,109 new Covid cases and 122 more fatalities during the previous 24 hours, the Public Health Ministry said on Saturday morning. Since the pandemic started early last year, the country has logged 1.46 million cases, 1.32 million of whom recovered. The kingdom’s all-time 24-hour high of Covid fatalities was 312 recorded on Aug 18. Four southern border provinces logged 1,506 cases and 13 fatalities while 67 other provinces recorded a combined 6,911 cases and 59 deaths. Global Covid cases rose by 563,887 in the past 24 hours to 228.4 million.
Source:Bangkok Post
September 18, 2021 00:45 UTC
Fed policy and Evergrande debt weigh on sentiment
Fed policy and Evergrande debt weigh on sentimentRecap: European and emerging markets were mixed on Friday as global investors and traders weighed the prospect of reduced US Federal Reserve stimulus and risks from a likely default by the debt-ridden Chinese property developer Evergrande. Institutional investors were net buyers of 2.95 billion baht, foreign investors bought 682.19 million and brokers purchased 545.27 million baht worth of shares. Retail investors were net sellers of 4.18 billion baht in shares. Apple CEO Tim Cook strode through a slickly produced video on Tuesday to launch new iPhones and other products, with few hints of the troubles facing the company including policy reversals, a spyware attack and legal fights. SCB Securities recommends selective buying of healthcare stocks including BDMS, BCH, CHG and RJH.
Source:Bangkok Post
September 18, 2021 00:33 UTC
US tycoon Robert Durst guilty of Beverly Hills murder of best friend
US tycoon Robert Durst guilty of Beverly Hills murder of best friendRobert Durst is an estranged member of one of New York's wealthiest and most powerful real estate dynastiesLOS ANGELES - US real estate scion Robert Durst was Friday convicted of killing his best friend to prevent her talking to police about his wife's disappearance. Durst, an estranged member of one of New York's wealthiest and most powerful real estate dynasties, was never charged in his wife's case. He was arrested in March 2015 in a New Orleans hotel room in connection with Berman's murder, hours before the final episode of the HBO documentary "The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst" aired. He repeatedly denied any involvement in Berman's death, but acknowledged he had written an anonymous letter to police telling them that her body lay in her Beverly Hills home. He said a friend of Durst had testified that the real estate magnate had told him of Berman: "It was her or me.
Source:Bangkok Post
September 18, 2021 00:33 UTC
New Zealand Cricket silent on security threat ending Pakistan tour
New Zealand Cricket silent on security threat ending Pakistan tourHeavy security has been deployed in Pakistan to escort the visiting New Zealand players and their hostsWELLINGTON - New Zealand Cricket officials on Saturday threw a veil of secrecy over the security threat that forced the abrupt cancellation of their Pakistan tour. "New Zealand Cricket makes its own security decisions and has its own security arrangements in place for all international tours," a ministry spokesman said. When New Zealand Cricket first announced it was abandoning the Pakistan tour, it said the decision followed "a New Zealand government security alert" and advice from its own security advisers. A New Zealand Cricket official told AFP no further comment was planned "at this juncture" and would not say if the security threat that caused the cancellation had been passed to the Pakistan Cricket Board or any other cricket-playing nation. Pakistan's interior minister Ahmad was adamant there was "no threat to cricket in Pakistan, there was no threat to New Zealand and there is no threat to England".
Source:Bangkok Post
September 18, 2021 00:33 UTC
Ubon Bio Ethanol sets subscription price for B3.28bn IPO
Ubon Bio Ethanol sets subscription price for B3.28bn IPOCassava-based ethanol maker Ubon Bio Ethanol (UBE) has set a subscription price for its initial public offering (IPO) at 2.4 baht per share as it aims to raise 3.28 billion baht to fuel its shift towards value-added food production. Proceeds from the IPO will support UBE's transformation into a major producer of organic food using technology, said the company. UBE plans to spend 70% of the budget on organic flour production, 10% on new organic agricultural product development and 20% on expansion of ethanol production. Mr Daechapon said the company wants to increase annual production capacity of organic cassava flour to 90,000 tonnes, up from 30,000 tonnes at present, to serve growing overseas demand. Mr Daechapon said organic cassava flour has a profit margin of more than 36%, higher than the 11-13% of native cassava flour.
Source:Bangkok Post
September 18, 2021 00:21 UTC
Industry clusters set to generate B1.2bn
Industry clusters set to generate B1.2bnThe Department of Industry Promotion (DIP) expects to generate 1.2 billion baht in economic value for Thailand with its plan to help entrepreneurs modernise their businesses through industrial cluster development. The number of clusters will increase to 34 in fiscal 2022, up from 29 with 680 businesses this year, according to DIP. "Among the 29 clusters are coffee, spa and herbs as well as fruit processing and rubber," said Nattapol Rangsitpol, director-general of DIP. DIP allocated 19 million baht for 29 clusters for fiscal 2021. The Thailand Industrial Design Center aims to help the clusters get the hang of packaging design through computer software as well as 3D printing.
Source:Bangkok Post
September 18, 2021 00:21 UTC
Reopening optimism an investment driver
Reopening optimism an investment driverIn the past week, Thai shares moved sideways in a range between 1,620 and 1,640 points. We expect the SET to drift sideways up in a range between 1,625 and 1,650 in the coming week. Top picks remain beneficiaries from the Bangkok reopening and speculative plays such as oil-related stocks, refineries, container and bulk shippers as the monsoon season will likely affect refineries, oil rigs and terminals. Reopening, value and laggard plays should see more upside in the recovery phase later this year. That would represent a discount by half the cost of equity, 10.4%, from our 2022 target, and is well above our base-case 2021 target of 1,624 (fully discounted for the cost of equity).
Source:Bangkok Post
September 18, 2021 00:21 UTC
NSL strategy looks to new ventures
"We are adjusting our strategy to cope with obstacles or uncontrollable factors that may occur in the future," said NSL president Somchai Asavapiyanond. Somchai Asavapiyanond, the company's president, said NSL wants to raise the sales proportion of the new businesses to contribute about 30% of total sales in five years from 6% now. The bakery business makes up 94% of the company's total sales. NSL reported total revenues of 1.56 billion baht in the first six months this year, a 9.8% increase over the same period last year, with net profit rising 98.9% to 123 million baht. "With the uncertainty of the pandemic, our sales this year are likely to stay on par with last year's level at 2.92 billion baht," he said.
Source:Bangkok Post
September 18, 2021 00:21 UTC
Blazes at bird's nest caves leave industry in soup
Blazes at bird's nest caves leave industry in soupMy friends call me a foodie because of my boundless passion for hunting delicious food and trying new menus. With bird's nest soup, harvesting in caves in the southern part of Thailand has involved armed security guards. Yet, news last week about a big fire at seven bird's nest caves in Phatthalung reminds us of how shady this business is. The fire at the seven bird's nest caves means the natural habitat of birds, which provide revenue for the province have been destroyed. As for bird's nest soup lovers, hopefully, news of the fire at the bird nest caves will make their dish a little harder to swallow.
Source:Bangkok Post
September 18, 2021 00:13 UTC