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☆ Thai king's hospitalised daughter stable 'at a certain level' - royal palace
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BANGKOK, Dec 19 (Reuters) - The eldest child of Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn is in a stable condition "at a certain level", with doctors using medication and equipment to support her lung, heart and kidney functions after she suffered a heart problem, the palace said on Monday. The princess was taken ill and lost consciousness on Wednesday while preparing her dogs for a competition in northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima province, the palace said. Princess Bajrakitiyabha is one of three children of King Vajiralongkorn who have formal titles, making her eligible for the throne under a palace succession law and the country's constitution. In its statement, the palace said her "condition is stable at a certain level" and her heartbeat was being controlled by medicine, but her heart contraction was still weak. The princess was born on Dec. 7, 1978 as the daughter of the king and his first wife, Princess Soamsawali.

☆ Toyota Chief Says ‘Silent Majority’ Has Doubts About Pursuing Only EVs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( River Davis | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

‘Because the right answer is still unclear, we shouldn’t limit ourselves to just one option,’ said Toyota Motor President Akio Toyoda. BURIRAM, Thailand— Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda said he represented a silent majority of auto-industry people who are questioning whether electric vehicles should be pursued exclusively as the future of cars. “People involved in the auto industry are largely a silent majority,” Mr. Toyoda said Sunday to reporters in Buriram, a small agricultural town 190 miles northeast of Bangkok. “That silent majority is wondering whether EVs are really OK to have as a single option. But they think it’s the trend so they can’t speak out loudly.”

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☆ Prayers in Thailand for king's hospitalised daughter
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Well-wishers sign a book and pay their respects for Thailand’s Princess Bajrakitiyabha as she has been hospitalized due to a heart problem at Chulalongkorn hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, December 16, 2022. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and many senior officials, politicians and religious leaders visited Chulalongkorn hospital on Friday to lay orange flowers, the colour associated with the princess, and sign a book of well wishes. Thailand's Buddhist Supreme Patriarch, Somdet Phra Ariyavangsagatayana has requested all Thai temples at home and abroad to conduct special daily chanting sessions for the princess, an official announcement from the National Office of Buddhism said. The princess is one of three children of King Vajiralongkorn who has a formal title, making her eligible for the throne under a 1924 Palace Law of Succession and the country's constitution. Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um and Athit Perawongmetha; Editing by Kanupriya KapoorOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Eldest daughter of Thai king hospitalised with heart problem - palace
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Thailand's Princess Bajrakitiyabha greets her royalists as she leaves a religious ceremony to commemorate the death of King Chulalongkorn, known as King Rama V, at The Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand, October 23, 2020. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha/File PhotoBANGKOK, Dec 15 (Reuters) - The eldest child of Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn has been hospitalised due to a heart problem and her condition has stabilised to a certain level, the royal palace said on Thursday. She was flown by helicopter to Bangkok after her condition stabilised at a certain level, the palace said in a statement, without elaborating. The princess is one of three children of King Vajiralongkorn who have formal titles, making her eligible for the throne under a 1924 Palace Law of Succession and the country's constitution. King Vajiralongkorn has yet to formally designate an heir since becoming king in 2016 and there has been no official discussion on the prospect of the princess taking the throne.

☆ Police in China arrest gang who laundered $1.7 billion via crypto even after Beijing's crackdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The gang are said to have used various different cryptocurrency trading accounts to convert the money back into Chinese yuan. Police in China arrested 63 people accused of laundering as much as 12 billion Chinese yuan ($1.7 billion) via cryptocurrency, amid Beijing's intense crackdown on the trading of digital coins. The authorities said more than 130 million Chinese yuan worth of proceeds was confiscated from the gang. Chinese users have typically turned to overseas-based exchanges to trade cryptocurrencies, but this became harder as the crackdown from authorities intensified last year. The authorities said two of the suspects had fled to Bangkok, Thailand, but were persuaded to return to China.

☆ Australia imposes sanctions on Iran, Russia over human rights violations
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa/File PhotoSYDNEY, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Australia's foreign minister on Saturday said the government would place targeted sanctions on Russia and Iran in response to what it said were "egregious" human rights violations. Seven Russians involved in what the foreign minister said was the attempted assassination of former opposition leader Alexei Navalny would also have human rights sanctions imposed on them, she said. In addition to human rights sanctions, Wong said Australia was placing further targeted financial sanctions on three Iranians and one Iranian business for supplying drones to Russia for use against Ukraine. "The supply of drones to Russia is evidence of the role Iran plays in destabilising global security. Australia's previous Liberal-National coalition government first imposed Magnitsky-style sanctions - measures that impose financial penalties and travel bans against individuals - in March against 14 Russian individuals.

[1/3] Suspected Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout is escorted by members of a special police unit after a hearing at a criminal court in Bangkok October 5, 2010. "Everyone will forget about Griner tomorrow," Russian state television host Yevgeny Popov wrote on Telegram on Thursday. "Bout's life is only beginning." Bout arrived in Moscow late on Thursday after Russia and the United States swapped the arms dealer for Griner at Abu Dhabi airport. U.S. anger at Bout's release has been widely covered in the Russian media, with the pro-Kremlin tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets claiming that Department of Defense officials were "disturbed" by the exchange, citing U.S. media reports.

☆ New Zealand's Ardern hopes to lead trade mission to China once border controls allow
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Lucy Craymer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WELLINGTON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Friday she hoped to lead a trade mission to China once border settings are changed to allow travel to her country's biggest trading partner as it emerges from the pandemic. Ardern said New Zealand's trade and economic links with China have proven resilient, despite the challenges of COVID. Delivering a speech marking 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Ardern said New Zealand's relationship with China was important but complex and evolving. Ardern said "we continue to recognise that there are areas where China and New Zealand do not agree, where our interests or world view differ." While Australia's relationship with China has deteriorated, New Zealand and China's interactions have remained largely cordial.

☆ Who Is Viktor Bout? What to Know About the Man Traded for Brittney Griner
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( James Hookway | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A former Soviet air force officer, Viktor Bout had been regarded as one of the world’s leading arms traffickers when the U.S. agents helped arrest him in a sting operation in Bangkok in 2008. Critics called him one of the world’s most effective arms traders and he was rumored to have been the inspiration for the Hollywood movie “Lord of War.” Suspected clients included Liberia’s Charles Taylor and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi . He has spent the last 10 years in a U.S. prison, to which he had been sentenced after being convicted of trying to sell weapons to Colombian rebels. Russian authorities had long tried to secure his release, however, finally achieving their goal in a prisoner exchange with Brittney Griner , the WNBA star who had been sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony.

"Grateful for the long-overdue release of Brittney Griner today from Russian custody. "Thank you to every single person that kept Brittney Griner’s name alive #WEAREBG," tweeted one of her Phoenix Mercury teammates, Brianna Turner. The Biden administration wasn't able to secure Whelan's release because the Russian government is treating his case differently than Griner's, Biden said. “While we celebrate Brittney’s release, Paul Whelan and his family continue to suffer needlessly,” Blinken said. Share this -Link copiedWho is Viktor Bout, Russian arms dealer that the U.S. exchanged for Brittney Griner?

In the 2005 Nicolas Cage movie “Lord of War,” the character loosely based on Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout evades his American law enforcement pursuers, apparently saved by the CIA. Now he is on his way back to Russia after a high-profile prisoner exchange that saw WNBA star Brittney Griner free early Thursday. Under federal sentencing rules, Bout could have been released from prison in five years. Bout, a former Soviet military officer who became rich as an arms dealer, has always maintained his innocence. His U.S. lawyer, Steve Zissou, says the whole operation was unfair, because Bout had been retired and living in Moscow.

☆ Who Is Viktor Bout? The ‘Merchant of Death’ Russian Arms Dealer Swapped for Brittney Griner
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( James Hookway | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A former Soviet air-force officer, Viktor Bout had been regarded as one of the world’s leading arms traffickers when U.S. agents helped arrest him in a sting operation in Bangkok in 2008. Critics called him one of the world’s most effective arms traders and he was rumored to have been the inspiration for the Hollywood movie “Lord of War.” Suspected clients included Liberia’s Charles Taylor and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi . He has spent more than a decade in a U.S. prison, to which he had been sentenced after being convicted of trying to sell weapons to Colombian rebels. Russian authorities had long tried to secure his release, finally achieving their goal in a prisoner exchange with Brittney Griner , the WNBA star who had been sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony.

☆ Who is Viktor Bout, the Russian arms dealer swapped for Griner?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

[1/2] Suspected Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout is escorted by members of a special police unit after a hearing at a criminal court in Bangkok October 5, 2010. Russia got the jailed arms dealer back from the United States on Thursday after exchanging imprisoned U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner for him at Abu Dhabi airport. His notoriety was such that his life helped inspire a Hollywood film, 2005’s Lord of War, starring Nicolas Cage as Yuri Orlov, an arms dealer loosely based on Bout. For some experts, the Russian state's continued interest in Bout, plus his skills and connections in the international arms trade, hint strongly at Russian intelligence ties. “His case has become totemic for the Russian intelligence services, who are keen to show that they don’t abandon their own people,” Galeotti added.

☆ Viktor Bout: The Russian arms dealer swapped for Brittney Griner
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Eliza Mackintosh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Brittney Griner’s freedom ultimately hinged on the release of a convicted Russian arms dealer whose life story inspired a Hollywood film. On Thursday, a source told CNN that the US basketball star had been released from Russian detention in a prisoner swap for Viktor Bout, nicknamed the “Merchant of Death” by his accuser. Viktor Bout is pictured in a temporary cell ahead of a hearing at a court in Bangkok in August 2010. Christophe Archambault/AFP/Getty Images“His early days are a mystery,” Douglas Farah, a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center who co-authored a book on Bout, told CNN in 2010. He said that Bout graduated from the Military Institute on Foreign Languages, a well-known feeder school for Russian military intelligence.

On the surface, Brittney Griner and Viktor Bout are accused of ludicrously different crimes. Bout’s outsized importance to Russia has always been the bigger puzzle. I have seen videos of Bout in the Congo and across Africa, where he was pretty close to the conflicts there. There were suggestions too that he had served alongside senior Russians who are now close to President Vladimir Putin. This is a man who many ordinary Russians may have heard of, and he certainly is of mythological importance to the Russian elite.

US WNBA basketball superstar Brittney Griner arrives to a hearing at the Khimki Court, outside Moscow on June 27, 2022. Kirill Kudryavtsev | AFP | Getty ImagesWNBA star Brittney Griner is free Thursday after the Biden administration negotiated her release from a Russian penal colony in exchange for an arms dealer, according to a senior administration official. Maxim Shemetov | ReutersGriner will be flown to a medical facility in San Antonio where she will receive care, a senior administration official said. Cherelle Griner, will meet her there, according to a senior administration official. People familiar with the negotiations for his release say the Russians refused to release Whelan without getting a Russian spy in return.

(Jack Taylor/Pool/Reuters)Dina Boluarte took office as the new president of Peru on Wednesday after the country's Congress ousted Pedro Castillo through a vacancy motion following his attempt to dissolve the governing body. Boluarte became the country's first female president, and just a few hours before, had served as Peru's vice president. It is the sixth time that Peru has had a new president in less than five years. In 2018, she was a candidate for mayor of Surquillo with the Perú Libre Party. During the 2021 general elections, she was a candidate for the vice presidency for the Perú Libre party.

☆ Tesla launches EVs in Thailand amid competition from cheaper brands
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] The Tesla Model Y is covered by black cloth during Thailand Tesla's official launch event in Bangkok, Thailand, December 7, 2022. It produces about 1.5 million to 2 million vehicles annually, of which about half are exported. Customers who showed up to Tesla's launch in a luxury mall in central Bangkok said they were interested in the new cars being offered. The price differences aren't significant (from other EV brands)," said office worker Thitipun Paisirikul, 36, adding he expected the re-sale value of the car would be high. State-owned energy firm PTT Group this year announced a $1 billion joint venture with Taiwan's Foxconn to produce EVs in Thailand.

☆ Xi Jinping: Saudi's MBS rolls out the red carpet for China's president, in a not too subtle message to Biden
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Tamara Qiblawi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Saudi leaders will infuse the trip with a dose of spectacle. The Saudi king – or his powerful Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman – may bestow the Chinese leader with some honors and medals. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman fist bumps US President Joe Biden upon his arrival at Al Salman Palace, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on July 15. Today, the US consumes only a fraction of that Saudi oil, and China is Saudi Arabia’s biggest client and trading partner. Over the last year, Gulf Arab countries appear to have ramped up their independent-minded policy.

☆ Mercedes opens its first EV-only dealership in the world in Japan
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] The Mercedes-Benz logo is seen at the 43rd Bangkok International Motor Show, in Bangkok, Thailand, March 22, 2022. Mercedes-Benz has rolled out five electric models since 2019 and "sees further growth in the electric vehicle market in Japan," it said in a statement. Battery EVs have been slow to catch on in Japan, where domestic makers dominate the market. But foreign brands sold a record 2,357 EVs in November, surpassing a tenth of total imported car sales for the first time, according to the Japan Automobile Importers Association (JAIA). Across all car types, Mercedes-Benz sold 51,722 cars in Japan last year, making it the top-selling foreign vehicle brand, JAIA data shows.

☆ Analysis: Saudi prince seeks Mideast leadership, independence with Xi's visit
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Aziz El Yaakoubi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The Saudi government did not respond to requests for comment on Xi's visit and its agenda. It is China's top oil supplier, although fellow OPEC+ producer Russia has increased its Chinese market share with lower-priced fuel. The Chinese delegation is expected to sign dozens of agreements with Saudi Arabia and other Arab states covering energy, security and investments, diplomats have told Reuters. U.S. officials have declined to comment when asked about Saudi-China bilateral relations ahead of Xi's visit. "The relationships with China pale versus those with the United States in terms of both complexity and intimacy," he said.

☆ Australia's PM says he's not in group of Australian MPs to visit Taiwan
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attends the APEC Leader's Dialogue with APEC Business Advisory Council during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, Friday, Nov. 18, 2022, in Bangkok, Thailand. The group, which includes Australia's governing Labor Party and opposition Liberal-National coalition MPs, will fly to Taiwan on Sunday and is the first delegation of its type to visit there since 2019, The Australian newspaper reported on Saturday. Albanese on Saturday described the trip as a "backbench" visit to Taiwan, not a government-led one. "There remains a bipartisan position when it comes to China and when it comes to support for the status quo on Taiwan," Albanese told reporters in the town of Renmark, in South Australia state. The group will reportedly meet with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, with the visit having support from Taiwan's foreign ministry.

☆ China c.bank says to support growth, sees moderate inflation in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BEIJING, Dec 2 (Reuters) - China's central bank will focus on supporting the slowing economy, People's Bank of China Governor Yi Gang said on Friday, adding that domestic consumer inflation is likely to stay moderate in 2023. The central bank's accommodative policy will help support China's economic recovery and employment, Yi said in a video speech to the Bank of Thailand-BIS conference in Bangkok. "Our focus is growth right now," Yi said, adding that China's economic growth is slower than expected due to the impact from the COVID-19 pandemic and other headwinds. Yi said advanced and emerging-market economies should improve policy collaboration to cope with challenges facing the global economy. Reporting by Kevin Yao; Editing by Tom Hogue & Shri NavaratnamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ ECB's Lagarde warns some fiscal policies in Europe could fuel excess demand
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BANGKOK, Dec 2 (Reuters) - European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde warned on Friday that some European governments' fiscal policies could lead to excess demand, and that fiscal and monetary policies need to work in synch for sustainable, balanced economic growth. "Fiscal policies that create excess demand in a supply constrained economy might force monetary policy to tighten more than would otherwise be necessary," Lagarde said at a conference hosted by the Bank of Thailand and Bank for International Settlements in Bangkok. "We need higher investment and structural reforms to remove the supply constraints and ensure that potential output is not impaired by the changing global economy. "And in a world where external demand is more uncertain, we will also need to strengthen the domestic supply and demand through higher productivity growth," she said. Its rate on bank deposits was increased by 200 basis points to 1.5% in three months.

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