World

Ubon Chansoi has lived in a modest wooden home in rural Thailand for about 60 years, farming and rearing fish for a living that is now threatened by an ambitious plan to turn agricultural land in her village in Chachoengsao province into an industrial zone. Chachoengsao is one of three provinces covered by the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) project that includes several industries, a high-speed railway line, an airport and upgrades to two deep-sea ports in an area of about 1.3 million hectares. The $45 billion EEC project is a centerpiece of the Thai government’s efforts to boost economic growth and encourage investment with speedier approvals, tax breaks and special visas for investors, as well as land leases for up to 99 years. But for tens of thousands of villagers who have lived in...

At age 26, Collete DiVitto had just graduated from Clemson University. She moved to Boston in hopes of working and living on her own — but hiring managers kept saying she "wasn't a good fit." "I was ready to be independent," DiVitto, now 31, tells CNBC Make It. "[But] it was hard to find jobs." Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, DiVitto — who was born with the genetic disorder Down syndrome — had quiet aspirations to turn her baking hobby into her own business. The process felt daunting, so her mother, Rosemary Alfredo, decided to teach her the basics of getting a small business up and running. Today, DiVitto is the CEO and COO of Collettey's Cookies, a fast-growing bakery start-up that sells cookies online, at 7-Eleven convenience stores and at the TD Garden sports arena in Boston. Th...

Scientists are keeping a close watch on a recently discovered sub-variant of the omicron version of the COVID-19 virus to determine how its emergence could affect the pandemic going forward. The initial omicron variant has become the dominant virus strain in recent months but British health authorities have notably identified hundreds of cases of the latest version, dubbed BA.2. International data suggest it could spread relatively quickly. The U.K. Health Security Agency (UKHSA) identified more than 400 cases in Britain in the first ten days of this month and has indicated the latest variant has been detected in some 40 other countries, accounting for a majority of most recent cases in some nations including India, Denmark and Sweden. The UKHSA indicated Friday it had designated the BA...

BEIJING: China's factory activity unexpectedly accelerated in December, but only by a small margin, according to an official survey released on Friday (Dec 31), with analysts foreseeing more economic headwinds in the near term and policymakers being pressured to offer support measures. The official manufacturing Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) rose to 50.3 from 50.1 in November, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed. Analysts had expected it to fall slightly to the 50-point mark, which separates growth from contraction. The world's second-largest economy has lost steam since the early summer after rebounding from last year's pandemic slump, weighed down by a slowing manufacturing sector, debt problems in the property market, carbon emissions-related curbs, and small-...

Indonesia’s parliament on Tuesday passed a law approving the relocation of its capital from slowly sinking Jakarta to a site 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) away on jungle-clad Borneo island that will be named “Nusantara.” The House of Representatives vote provides the legal framework for the move, which was first tipped by President Joko Widodo in April 2019, citing rising sea levels and severe congestion on densely populated Java island. Home to more than 30 million people in its greater metro area, Jakarta has long been plagued by serious infrastructure problems and flooding exacerbated by climate change, with experts predicting up to a third of the city could be underwater by 2050. The new capital will cover about 56,180 hectares (216 square miles) in East Kalimantan province on the ...

SINGAPORE: The United States has updated its travel health notice for Singapore, about a week after it advised against travel to the country. In an update on Monday (Jan 10), the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reclassified Singapore as a Level 3 destination, where COVID-19 levels are “high”. “Make sure you are fully vaccinated before travelling to Singapore,” the updated notice said on the CDC website. “Unvaccinated travellers should avoid nonessential travel to Singapore.” According to the CDC website, Level 3 countries have a COVID-19 incidence rate of between 100 and 500 new cases over the past 28 days per 100,000 population. Other Level 3 countries include Malaysia, Australia, Israel, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates. On Jan 4, the CDC said that the le...

China’s steady jobless rate is masking pain in the labor market that leaders will find hard to ignore as they look to stimulate the economy in a crucial political year. Alternative indicators and anecdotal reports suggest unemployment is worse than the official monthly figures show. From weak consumer spending to strict COVID-19 control measures to the government’s regulatory crackdown on the edutech and property industries, the labor market is under considerable strain, economists say. Jobs are an overriding consideration for government officials as the Chinese Communist Party prepares for a twice-a-decade leadership meeting later this year. Beijing has already signaled a pro-growth bias in its policies, with economists expecting interest rate cuts and a pick-up in fiscal spending early...

JAKARTA :Indonesia's state utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) said on Friday that together with the energy ministry it was strengthening a coal delivery monitoring system to ensure enforcement of domestic sales rules and energy security. The world's biggest thermal coal exporter introduced an export ban on Jan. 1 as coal inventories at local power plants were at critically low levels, amid low compliance with a so-called Domestic Market Obligation (DMO). Under the DMO, miners must sell 25per cent of their output to the local market with a price cap of $70 per tonne for power plants, below the current market price. Coal deliveries to local power plants will be monitored throughout the supply chain by PLN and the energy ministry's mineral and coal department, and miners would receive...

NEW YORK : Annette Clayton is well aware of how few women there are in the energy industry. She is using her power as one of the most senior females in the field to change it. “I'm a huge believer in mentoring,” says Clayton, who is CEO and president of the North America Operations of Schneider Electric, which is headquartered in Rueil-Malmaison, France. Clayton, whose operations are based in Andover, Massachusetts, oversees 30,000 employees. She notes that mentoring has been key to the success of “non-obvious candidates” in her field. “You find yourself mentoring people that need the skills that you have,” Clayton said. “And it’s really democratized the process of open roles and promotions.” Clayton spoke to Reuters about the power of mentoring. Edited excerpts are below. Q. Tell us ...

NEW DELHI : A Delhi court has halted arbitration proceedings between Indian conglomerate Future Group and its estranged U.S. partner Amazon.com in light of the national antitrust agency's suspension of a 2019 deal between the two sides. The decision on Wednesday is a setback for U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon, which had successfully used the terms of its 2019 investment in a Future unit to block the Indian company's attempt to sell retail assets to a rival. But after the Competition Commission of India (CCI) suspended the 2019 deal last month, citing suppression of information by Amazon while seeking clearances, Future argued there was no legal basis for the arbitration between the two sides to continue in Singapore. A two-judge bench led by Chief Justice D. N. Patel of the Delhi High Cou...