US, China to Resume Trade Talks Ahead of August Deadline
The latest round of talks comes ahead of an Aug. 12 deadline, after which tariffs are set to sharply increase unless an agreement is reached.
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The Star
19 minutes ago
- The Star
Police raid luxury mansion in Chiang Mai, arrest 18 Chinese call centre gang members
CHIANG MAI: Officers from the Provincial Police Region 5 and the Technology Crime Suppression Division, along with tourist police, on Wednesday (July 30) conducted a raid on a luxury mansion in Huay Sai subdistrict, Mae Rim District, Chiang Mai, worth around 40 million baht. The operation was carried out under a search warrant issued by the Chiang Mai Provincial Court. The mansion was reportedly being used as a base of operations for a gang of Chinese nationals running a call centre scam. The group had been defrauding Chinese customers via multiple online platforms and applications. Inside the mansion, authorities found the suspects working on computers and mobile phones. As police moved in, all of the suspects attempted to escape, with some jumping from the second floor of the mansion, which was over eight metres high. This resulted in eight people being injured, including one who broke their leg, while others sustained minor injuries from falls and abrasions. During the search, authorities seized over 20 computers, more than 100 mobile phones, and Chinese SIM cards used to contact victims in China. The group had defrauded over 10 Chinese victims. Maj Gen Thawatchai Pongwiwatchai, Deputy Commander of the Provincial Police Region 5, revealed that the 18 suspects had been in Thailand for around three months, renting the mansion through a Chinese leader who organised the accommodation for the group. The gang worked around the clock, eating, sleeping, and living in the mansion. Initial investigations show that each member of the call centre gang was paid between 10,000 to 20,000 yuan (approximately US$1,500 to 3,000) per month. Their main task was to deceive Chinese citizens, including scams related to online product sales, requests for money transfers to solve airline or banking issues, and extorting money as part of a typical call centre scam. Authorities are now expanding their investigation to identify the mastermind behind the operation and uncover potential cross-border criminal networks. There are strong indications that the gang is linked to larger international cybercrime syndicates. - The Nation/ANN
Business Recorder
19 minutes ago
- Business Recorder
Bullish momentum grips PSX as Pakistan, US strike strategic trade deal
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw bullish momentum during the early hours of trading on Thursday, as investors rejoiced after the US struck a trade deal with Pakistan. At 9:50am, the benchmark KSE-100 index was hovering at 139,657.99 level, an increase of 1,245.74 points or 0.90%. Across-the-board buying was observed in key sectors, including automobile, cement, commercial banks, fertilizer, oil and gas exploration companies, OMCs, refinery and power generation. Index-heavy stocks including HUBCO, PSO, SNGPL, MARI, OGDC, PPL, POL and SSGC traded in the green. Analysts attributed the buying spree to investor optimism after the US and Pakistan struck a deal that will result in lower tariffs for the South Asian nation, as well as an agreement in which Washington will help develop Islamabad's oil reserves. 'We have just concluded a Deal with the Country of Pakistan, whereby Pakistan and the United States will work together on developing their massive Oil Reserves,' US President Donald Trump wrote on social media on Wednesday. 'We are in the process of choosing the Oil Company that will lead this Partnership.' Trump's social media post did not provide further details. Meanwhile, Pakistan's Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, in a video message on Thursday, termed the trade deal a 'win-win' situation for both countries. 'We are in a good place today in Pakistan, in terms of where we have arrived before August 1. We have come a long way in terms of our overall strategic partnership between Pakistan and the United States,' he said. Pakistan faced a potential 29% tariff on exports to the United States under tariffs announced by Washington in April on countries around the world. Tariffs were subsequently suspended for 90 days so negotiations could take place. US total goods trade with Pakistan was an estimated $7.3 billion in 2024, according to the website of the Office of the US Trade Representative, up from around $6.9 billion in 2023. The US goods trade deficit with Pakistan was $3 billion in 2024, a 5.2% increase over 2023. Internationally, Asian equities slipped on Thursday after weaker-than-expected Chinese activity data and a plunge in copper prices, while investors weighed a trade deal between South Korea and the US The dollar held near a two-month high as investors weighed a Federal Reserve decision to hold rates steady and strong earnings from megacap tech firms. Nasdaq futures surged 1.2% after better-than-expected earnings from Microsoft and Meta Platforms. S&P 500 futures advanced 0.8%, while the US dollar held steady after hitting a two-month high. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.7%, though still on track for its fourth consecutive monthly gain in July. This is an intra-day update
Straits Times
19 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Too much too young? Swimming's dilemma over 12-year-old schoolgirl
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox While Yu Zidi's performances have been impressive and could well yield a medal, not everyone thinks she should be competing in Singapore. SINGAPORE – Swimming is a sport well used to talented teenagers, but Yu Zidi's participation aged 12 at the World Championships has sparked debate about how young is too young. The prodigious Chinese schoolgirl is not just making up the numbers at the event in Singapore this week. Yu qualified for Monday's final of the 200m individual medley and came fourth, missing out on a remarkable medal by just 0.06sec in what is not considered her strongest event. The race was won by Canada's Summer McIntosh – she competed at the Tokyo Olympics as a 14-year-old and last summer in Paris won three golds at age 17. Yu was at it again on Wednesday in Singapore, racing alongside McIntosh to reach the finals of the 200m butterfly. Yu, who turns 13 in October, will also race in the 400m medley later this week. The Chinese prodigy, who discovered swimming aged six as a way to cool off in China's roasting summers, has drawn historical comparisons to Inge Sorensen. At 12, the Dane was the youngest-ever winner of an Olympic swimming medal after her bronze at the Berlin Games of 1936. More recently, there was Bahrain's Alzain Tareq, who was 10 when she competed at the swimming World Championships in Kazan, Russia, in 2015. Unlike Yu, however, she never came close to a medal. Asked this week if she was a 'genius', Yu replied: 'No, not really. It's all the result of hard training.' While Yu's performances have been impressive and could well yield a medal, not everyone thinks she should be competing in Singapore. Some in the sport have raised questions about the impact on Yu mentally and physically of high-level training and competing at an age when she is still developing as a person. Under current World Aquatics rules, the minimum age is 14 but younger swimmers can compete at the championships if – like Yu – they are fast enough. Christian Hansmann, sports director of German swimming, called her participation in Singapore 'questionable'. 'Putting a girl of 12 in front of a World Championship crowd of 5,000 spectators, with the high pressure from the media and the coaches, is far too early in my opinion,' said Hansmann, who has children of a similar age. French swimmer Lilou Ressencourt admitted it 'pisses me off to be beaten by a girl 10 years younger than me' and said she was surprised by how fast Yu is at such a young age. She too fears for Yu's physical and mental well-being. 'I'm 22 and handling World Championships, even French championships, can be difficult,' Ressencourt said. 'I tell myself that at 12, you have a heavy responsibility... it's not normal at 12 to have that kind of pressure.' Yu's presence in Singapore could force a rethink of the rules at World Aquatics, the sport's governing body. Executive director Brent Nowicki admitted they had been surprised that someone as young as Yu had been fast enough to qualify. Nowicki said World Aquatics 'feel quite good about where we are with our safeguarding approach in our sport', but admitted that Yu could force a re-evaluation of its rules. 'She's great. I mean, there's a big future there for her. Hopefully there could be good things that could happen out of this, and it could be great,' he said. But he added: 'Obviously we have to make sure that that's what it is, right? We don't want to tip that balance and go the other way, and we have to be careful about that.' Many other sports have wrestled with the same age issue. In 2022, ice skating's governing body voted to raise the minimum age for senior competition from 15 to 17, months after an Olympics drug scandal involving Russian teenager Kamila Valieva. Katarina Witt, who was 18 when she won Olympic skating gold at the 1984 Sarajevo Games for East Germany, said the change was 'primarily protecting the female athletes from their sometimes over-ambitious managers'. AFP
