Spilornis

Normal for an ex parte injunction. May even have been that Nestle didn't want to submit to the jurisdiction preferring to enforce the foreign arbitration order in its favour. Jurisdictional fights are the norm if you have enough money

Agree Vietnam offered to drop all tariffs on US goods and were immediately told US wants a lot more

The method of how they calculated to trade imbalances has been well publicised. Childish in its simplicity but it is as follows. 10% tariffs was the default level which was imposed even on countries such as Australia which has a trade deficit favouring USA. For the rest it is explained as follows: "There was no explanation given for how each country’s “tariffs charged to the USA” were calculated. Boffins on the outside quickly worked it out: the number is just the 2024 US trade deficit with that country divided by the US’s imports from that country. For example, in 2024, the US trade deficit with China was $US295.4 billion ($469 billion). US imports from China were $US438.9 billion. Dividing the deficit by the imports equals 67 per cent, which is the exact figure shown next to “tariffs charged to the USA” on Trump’s chart. It’s the same for Thailand, Indonesia, the European Union, the Philippines, Israel, Japan and every other country this masthead has checked so far. " You then divide by two for today's tariff imposition

Look behind the mirror and one easily sees that this is not about relative tariffs. It's more about what concessions USA can derive from each country. These deals will be done on a one by one basis and could include so much more than restrictions on the importation of goods. So ask yourself what does USA want from Thailand? I have no idea but it could be an airforce base or it could be delinking from China in some key way. It could also be allowing restriction free importation of pork. My feeling is that Vietnam will be one of the first to do a "deal". At 47% tariff and 40% of its export market being to USA, Vietnam cannot withstand the pain for long. The unknown is of course China. Will they do a "deal." If so one doesn't have to be too smart to understand what Uncle Sam will be asking for. Of course China will blink last hoping that US consumers raise merry hell when they see all those Home Depot prices going up. Welcome to the world of chaos. It's not pretty

The Singapore form even remembers your details from previous visits plus a very easy drop down menu for your hotel. Of the ones in use it's certainly the fastest. A bit of autofill does wonders

They are relatively quiet these days. A few years back they increased the noise level because the fans complained that the cars were too quiet

Quite a few are one week. Melbourne/Shanghai... one week. Austria and Britain is another. Imola, Monaco, Spain .. three races in three weeks, USA and Mexico plus there 's a few more The European races don't pay anywhere near the fees paid by Asia. Italy having two F1 races is not the norm. Las Vegas pay nothing as F1 is trying to expand the US market. Liberty has changed F1 beyond all recognition

There's a week between China and Japan that is free plus the option of extending the season further If an existing F1 is cancelled it will be in Europe. Don't forget they will be keen to return to Sochi in Russia if that becomes possible. The drivers talk of Singapore as being the most physically draining due to the humidity. I expect Bangkok would be the same. Unfortunately Singapore has positioned itself as the networking/must see race for South East Asia. Will the "money" people also come to Thailand. Probably not but you will get a lot of F1 tourists happy to pay US$1k a day for a good seating package

Singapore frequently has monitor lizards crossing the track. Las Vegas had "loose" man covers sucked up due to the incredible down force of the F1 cars. Just part of the theatre

Interesting and surprising. Thailand must be prepared to pay very big money. Street circuits make for great viewing but they are costly and disruptive to build and dismantle each year. Timing wise will it be in the "Singapore" window (September) or the South East Asian window (March/April). Finally will it be a night or day race

Thailand missed its chance pre covid. Expansion races if any will be in USA. Outside USA the rights payments and other F1 demands (eg. all paddock club revenue to F1 promoter) are just too high for many countries. Some of the European races are vulnerable simply on a revenue basis

Multiple motor bike and van travellers have crossed Iran without incident Youtube is full of them. I suspect they flew a drone or got too near a military facility. Or could it have been this.... (dumb to say the least) "Lindsday was conducting a research project during their journey, asking people what constitutes a "good life". She was due to present her findings at a conference in Brisbane in July. Their final social media updates painted a positive picture of their experiences in Iran. One post showed Lindsay meeting with a religious leader at the Madrasa Naseriyeh in Isfahan." https://www.gbnews.com/news/british-couple-detained-iran-distressing-situation

The A 320 Neo is the most in demand aircraft in the world. My guess is 2028 at the earliest for delivery. The range has the potential to revolutionise medium distance flights (six hours) by eliminating hubs

Five year de facto relationship will get her a "fair share" under UK law. (The test is whether or not it is considered reasonable that the testator should have made provision for her in the will.) Lawyers will take most of it if it goes to court. I'd settle but the GBP200k alleged debt complicates things. If I were the kids I'd want some proof before I admitted that claim to the settlement pot. BTW these claims are made much easier if the deceased had made a will saying I'm not leaving any money to X because of ABC

The form is the norm these days but in Thailand's case it's also the precursor to the tourist fee. Let's hop the website/app is more friendly than some others. Indonesia is a pain to say the least. Also would be useful if you could opt to retain info for your next visit or dare I say if Countries had common questions that you could prefill before their "special local" questions

Nothing new. Even India is not meeting replacement rates with numbers being kept up for the next ten years or so by longer lifespans. Immigration aside which will support those countries with desirable economies the world's population will halve in the next fifty years. It's one of the reasons I've become less concerned with "climate change". China will be the world's test case for rapidly reducing population. It has already started despite longer lifespans because of the now abandoned one child policy.

One wonders if Chinese travel agents have made block bookings that they then hoped to onsell to China residents? Can't see tourists being put off by a threat of being recruited by "job scammers".

Never heard of bird strikes impacting landing gear. They cause engine failure but rarely fatal in a two engine jet. Landing gear deployed and locked is flying 101. Something strange has happened

Brings back memories of the long threads on various types of farming. Learnt a lot from the pork thread but my favourite was the thread on rubber tree farming. Hope those guys and their families are doing well. It was certainly a tough market in which to make money

Nothing new in these stats. For the first time in modern history the world's population birth rate went negative (below 2 per woman) during the last few years. (India went negative. The few positive countries are mainly in Africa) The world population numbers increased due to people living longer but this is just a blip in the sense that the temporary bulge will disappear in around 30 years. In simple terms within the space of 70 years world population figures will halve. Without immigration Western countries and developed Asian economies will drop by even more. Is this a good or bad thing... well it's both but the 22nd century will certainly be different to the twentieth century

The self check in systems are great if they work and the airport is designed for the process. If you just stick kiosks into the check in area and leave the old counter structures it's a recipe for chaos if KLIA2 in KL is any example

Is this just a stop en route to another country or does it include the right to pick up new passengers in say Bangkok and proceed to a third country. The latter would be a big change

Yes ... very easy but not much capital appreciation and hard to sell

This is the old scheme that was scrapped in 2020. Now the visa is minimum US$150k deposit plus you have to buy a property https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/06/19/new-three-tier-category-for-mm2h-here-to-stay Needless to say it's not proving too popular. They had another scheme between 2020 and 2024 which was even worse. It had less than 100 applicants as I recall

Here's a video on the automated baggage storage system allowing early check in at Changi airport https://www.channelnewsasia.com/watch/changi-airport-terminal-2-introduces-fully-automated-baggage-storage-facility-early-check-ins-video-3999491 My old favourite used to be city check in facilities. Very few of those left these days