Israel captures two of six Palestinian jail breakers
Israeli media said police were alerted by local residents who reported seeing two men searching litter bins for food. Israel had launched a manhunt for the six prisoners who made a daring jail break Monday from the high security Gilboa prison through a tunnel dug beneath a sink in a cell. Israeli authorities had said the six jail breakers were members of armed Palestinian groups who were being held for plotting or carrying out attacks against Israelis. In Nablus, youths set tyres alight during confrontations with Israeli security forces. The prisoners' group had reported "tensions" in jails on Wednesday, and a spokeswoman for the Israeli prison authorities told AFP fires had been lit in Ktziot and Ramon jails.
Source:Bangkok Post
September 10, 2021 23:15 UTC
Shares rally but stimulus questions persist
Shares rally but stimulus questions persistRecap: European and Asian stocks rallied yesterday, albeit in a cautious mood, as global investors continue to digest moves by major central banks to end stimulus. The SET index moved in a range of 1,620.58 and 1,658.08 points this week before closing yesterday at 1,635.35, down 0.91% from the previous week, in daily turnover averaging 90.66 billion baht. Foreign investors were net buyers of 4 billion baht and retail investors bought 889.4 million. Institutional investors were net sellers of 3.66 billion baht and brokers sold 1.23 billion baht worth of shares. The Phuket Sandbox scheme generated revenue of 1.63 billion baht in its first two months, governor Narong Woonciew said, citing a report from the Tourism and Sports Ministry.
Source:Bangkok Post
September 10, 2021 23:02 UTC
Video shows last US Afghan strike may have targeted aid worker: NYT
Video shows last US Afghan strike may have targeted aid worker: NYTAfghan relatives gather on August 30, 2021 next to a damaged vehicle after a US drone strike that has come under scrutinyWASHINGTON - A video analysis shows the United States may have mistakenly targeted an aid worker rather than Islamic State fighters in its final strike in Afghanistan which killed 10 civilians, The New York Times said Friday. Ezmarai Ahmadi was an electrical engineer for the California-based aid and lobbying group Nutrition and Education International and himself was among thousands of Afghans who had applied for resettlement in the United States, relatives said. US officials say that a larger blast took place after the drone strike, showing that there were explosives in the vehicle. But the New York Times investigation said there was no evidence of a second explosion, with only one dent on a nearby gate and no clear signs of an additional blast such as blown-out walls. The New York Times noted that a rocket attack the following morning, claimed by the Islamic State group, was carried out from a Toyota Corolla similar to Ahmadi's.
Source:Bangkok Post
September 10, 2021 22:52 UTC
KTC pins its Q4 hopes on tourism subsidies
KTC pins its Q4 hopes on tourism subsidiesJanejit Ladpli, KTC's vice-president for travel and leisure marketing. SET-listed Krungthai Card (KTC) hopes tourism subsidy campaigns will spur domestic trips and drive travel spending via its cards in the fourth quarter. Tourism-related expenditure via KTC cards in 2019 was 18 billion baht, before plunging to 9.3 billion last year. The slowdown of 2020-21 saw tourism spending fall out of the top 10 for KTC cards. Ms Janejit believes tourism confidence will return in 2022 along with tourism spending.
Source:Bangkok Post
September 10, 2021 22:41 UTC
Remote work boon for domestic travel
Remote work boon for domestic travelBooking via online travel agents stood at 23.5%, a decrease of 12 percentage points from last year. The trend among local travellers of working from anywhere will continue after the outbreak, with a rise in direct hotel bookings, according to SiteMinder, a Sydney-based distribution hospitality platform provider. Mr Haines said the ability to work from anywhere started to become embedded in corporate culture during the pandemic, allowing people to take advantage of work flexibility, combining holiday time with work. Booking via online travel agents stood at 23.5%, a decrease of 12 percentage points from last year. He said destinations near Bangkok that are popular for domestic tourism started to see more advance bookings than those faraway, as people are not confident about air travel restrictions.
Source:Bangkok Post
September 10, 2021 22:41 UTC
Curfews to stay until end of September, says CCSA
Curfews to stay until end of September, says CCSAThe curfew imposed from 9pm–4am to curb coronavirus infections in some provinces, will remain in place until the end of this month at least, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) has announced. He also said the CCSA discussed the kingdom's upcoming vaccination drive on Sept 27–Oct 31, which will see the distribution of 24 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to five target groups. Of the total jabs, 10 million doses are from AstraZeneca, 8 million from Pfizer and 6 million from Sinovac. The vaccine doses that will be used for this group account for 70%, or 16.8 million, of the total 24 million doses. Students aged 12-17 will receive two Pfizer doses, accounting for 20%, or 4.8 million, of the 24 million total vaccine doses.
Source:Bangkok Post
September 10, 2021 22:30 UTC
Ronaldo not at Man U for 'vacation'
A banner of Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo, fourth left, and teammates is displayed at Old Trafford. (Reuters photo)London: Cristiano Ronaldo will make an eagerly anticipated second debut for Manchester United today while Arsenal aim to get themselves off the foot of the Premier League table. After winning the Golden Boot at Euro 2020 and in Serie A for Juventus last season, Ronaldo set another personal record by becoming the top goalscorer in the history of international football last week. Since Ferguson's retirement in 2013, the Red Devils have failed to seriously challenge for the Premier League title. Mikel Arteta's position as manager is under increasing threat, with the Spaniard reportedly given four more Premier League games to save his job.
Source:Bangkok Post
September 10, 2021 22:30 UTC
Donated trains stir controversy
Social media criticism erupted this week after the railway company on Monday announced its plan to hire a company to ship the donated trains from Japan to Thailand. Some Facebook users with high followings began asking why Thailand must pay the 42.5 million baht for the used trains. In a prior statement, the SRT said it received donated trains from Japan. It noted that it had earlier received a number of donated railway carriages from JR-West. Ekkarat Si-arayanphong, director of the SRT's public relations centre, said a recent inspection of the 17 donated train carriages found they were in very good condition.
Source:Bangkok Post
September 10, 2021 22:30 UTC
Lockdown sees gyms sweat
Lockdown sees gyms sweatOperators of fitness centres and personal trainers have submitted a petition to a House committee on sports, urging further easing of Covid-19 restrictions to allow them to reopen. Thanpawat Thetphuwadolvithit, a representative of a gym and fitness operator group, said the industry is drafting a Covid-19 prevention plan for the sector so that they can safely resume operations. Mr Thanpawat also asked the government to assist trainers made unemployed following the preventative shutdown order. We are likely to earn only 50% of pre-pandemic income while shouldering full expenses," he said. Boonlue Prasertsopha, chairman of the House committee on sports, said the panel will see what it can do to help the group in the red zones when it meets next Wednesday.
Source:Bangkok Post
September 10, 2021 22:18 UTC
Tackling Covid waste
Tackling Covid wasteThe Ministry of Public Health will start delivering 8.5 million Covid antigen test kits (ATKs) to the public on Wednesday. The discarding of used ATKs will only add to an ever-growing mountain of Covid-infectious waste which is currently mainly face masks. During normal times, such waste is typically limited to hospitals and medical facilities and is managed by a professionally licensed waste disposal company, which is costly. There had been a suggestion to allow industrial incinerators and furnaces to burn infectious waste but it did not gain much attention from the authorities. Let's hope something comes from it, as without a proper disposal system, infectious waste from Covid measures will become a new problem for our "new normal" Covid lifestyle.
Source:Bangkok Post
September 10, 2021 22:12 UTC
PM U-turns on tackling 'Ferrari' culture
PM U-turns on tackling 'Ferrari' cultureA parade marks National Police Day on Oct 13 each year. Despite a moderate police salary, Pol Col Thitisan, aka "Joe Ferrari" to those in the area, was found to have property worth an estimated 600 million baht. Let's face facts -- Joe Ferrari is just the tip of an RTP iceberg of graft and dodgy dealings. It should therefore come as no surprise that Joe Ferrari had been tipped as a rising star at the RTP. In many ways, the Joe Ferrari case is similar to the infamous Boss saga.
Source:Bangkok Post
September 10, 2021 22:07 UTC
Big C targets Cambodia retail dominance with store blitz
Big C Supercenter Plc plans to increase investment to expand its retail business in Cambodia over the next five years. Recently Big C opened its first Mini Big C store at Depo Market located on Jawaharlal Nehru Boulevard in Phnom Penh. Roughly 80% of products at Mini Big C Phnom Penh are imported from Thailand, with 20% local products. Big C plans to open two hypermarkets in Thailand in the fourth quarter this year and 150 Mini Big Cs this year. Of the total, 152 stores are Big C hypermarkets, 61 Big C Markets, 1,259 Mini Big Cs and 144 are Pure drug stores.
Source:Bangkok Post
September 10, 2021 22:07 UTC
Sept 11 didn't change the world forever
Sept 11 didn't change the world forever'Changed the world forever' is the most hackneyed phrase in journalism, and if you can get through this week (the 20th anniversary of the Sept 11 attacks) without hearing it half a dozen times you'll be very lucky. With the benefit of hindsight, how much has the world changed as a result of Sept 11? So there were really no big changes in the Arab world as a result of Sept 11, and that goes for the rest of the Middle East too. But most of those deaths were "collateral damage", and the US military-industrial-academic complex would almost certainly have found other excuses for that scale of spending if Sept 11 hadn't happened. Did the world change forever?
Source:Bangkok Post
September 10, 2021 22:07 UTC
When Prayut plays tough
Capt Thamanat has been accused of being behind a move to topple Gen Prayut in last week's censure debate. It's reported that Gen Prayut did not offer much of an explanation to Gen Prawit except that he had his reasons and he would take care of things. Gen Prayut and Capt Thamanat were believed to have cleared the air in a meeting hosted by Gen Prawit ahead of the censure vote last Saturday. In hindsight, Gen Prayut did show signs that things would not end well for Capt Thamanat. The move also sends a message to PPRP MPs and coalition partners that Gen Prayut can be tough when needed.
Source:Bangkok Post
September 10, 2021 21:56 UTC
Medvedev advances to US Open final as Djokovic eyes Slam
Medvedev advances to US Open final as Djokovic eyes SlamRussia's Daniil Medvedev advanced to the US Open final on Friday by defeating Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime. Medvedev, the 2019 US Open runner-up, reached his third Grand Slam final by eliminating 12th seed Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 7-5, 6-2. "I don't think I played my best today but I'm really happy to be in the final," Medvedev said. Medvedev, who lost to Djokovic in this year's Australian Open final, trails Zverev 5-4 in their all-time rivalry and trails Djokovic 5-3. By beating Zverev to reach the brink of the Slam, Djokovic would match Federer's all-time record of 31 men's Slam final appearances.
Source:Bangkok Post
September 10, 2021 21:45 UTC