Thai Airways increasing flights to India to meet growing demand
Chai Eamsiri, CEO of Thailand's flag carrier Thai Airways, calls Bangkok a "regional hub" and adds that the airline will be increasing the frequency of flights to India and neighboring Southeast Asian countries.
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Eater
a day ago
- Eater
Longtime Lower East Side Restaurant Pig and Khao Is Closing
Pig and Khao, Leah Cohen's Southeast Asian restaurant, which had been on the Lower East Side for more than a decade, is shutting down. An Instagram announcement stated that the restaurant's last day at 68 Clinton Street, near Rivington Street, is June 22. The lease had been up for renewal, and with the building 'requiring significant investment to remain operational,' they made the decision not to renew. Eater has reached out for more information. Cohen first opened Pig and Khao 13 years ago on the coattails of making a name on Top Chef. It had a dramatic first year before cementing itself as a longtime standby in the Lower East Side amidst so much change in the neighborhood. Cohen has expanded the Pig and Khao name over the years: She opened Piggyback, an offshoot concept, near Penn Station in 2020, with creative spins influenced by food in Japan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and her travels. Cohen also announced this week that she would be shutting this restaurant down on June 22 as well. It is survived by her last-remaining Manhattan operation: Pig and Khao on the Upper West Side, which opened a couple of months ago. In 2021, it was reported that Pig and Khao would undergo an unlikely partnership, for 'financial and strategic support,' combining forces with the speakeasy cocktail bar team PDT and chef Marc Forgione's restaurants under a newly-formed hospitality group, Apres Cru. Sign up for our newsletter.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Inside Saudi's hajj-only barbershop, shaving thousands of heads in a day
Near the holy city of Mecca, men in white robes stand quietly in a long queue, waiting for the next important act of their hajj pilgrimage: a haircut. Shaving or cutting the hair comes near the end of the hajj, and marks the moment when pilgrims can change out of the Ihram clothing that signifies purity and devotion. The barbershop, strategically positioned by the Jamarat complex in Mina, where the "stoning of the devil" ritual took place on Friday, opens exclusively for the annual hajj and does a roaring trade. On the pilgrimage's last day, which coincides with the major festival of Eid al-Adha, its barbers typically handle 6,000 customers, said manager Imad Fawzi, an official employed by the hajj organisation. Inside, men in plastic aprons wield electric clippers and cut-throat razors, shearing scalps on an industrial scale for 60 riyals ($13) a time. Despite the rush -- there are so many customers that an usher is required -- Ahmed, a 28-year-old barber from Egypt, is happy in his work. "This is a very simple thing to do, but it brings us so much joy," he says. Fawzi, who grew up in Mecca, called himself a "child of the hajj". "I've been working in hajj since I was seven," he says. - 'This outfit is exhausting' - The once-a-year hairdresser's is not the only place for a cut: parts of Mecca and the plain of Mina, on its outskirts, turn into an open-air barbershop at this stage of the hajj. Leaving the Jamarat, a Southeast Asian man took out a razor and started scraping the back of his head as he walked. Further down the street, a group of African men were shaving each other with clippers. In Mecca, entire streets are lined with barbershops doing brisk business. While men shave their hair, women trim theirs by a fingertip-length. About 1.6 million pilgrims have gathered in and around Mecca, Islam's holiest city, for this year's hajj, which all Muslims with the means must complete at least once. Outside the Jamarat hairdresser's, Hani Abdel Samih is looking forward to changing out of the wrap-around skirt and shawl he has been wearing for the past three days. "The stoning of the devil at Jamarat requires great effort and we've been wearing these clothes all day," he said. "We wanted to wear our everyday clothes and be comfortable, so we went to the nearest barbershop we could find after the Jamarat," said the Egyptian. Yet his face is beaming with joy. He said he does not mind the wait for a haircut that bears a special place in his spiritual journey. "I'm excited, of course! Because this is Sunnah from the Prophet, peace be upon him," he said, referring to the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed. "We like (this ritual) and we cannot break it," he said. The hajj retraces the Prophet's last pilgrimage, with rites at Mecca's Grand Mosque and Mount Arafat before "stoning the devil" -- throwing pebbles at three giant walls at Jamarat. aya/th/ysm
CNBC
2 days ago
- CNBC
The world could be facing another 'China shock,' but it comes with a silver-lining: Cooler inflation
SINGAPORE -- Vincent Xue runs an online grocery retail business, offering fresh produce, canned food, packaged easy-to-cook ingredients to cost-conscious local consumers in Singapore. Xue's Nasdaq-listed Webuy Global sources primarily from suppliers in China. Since late last year, one third of his suppliers, saddled with excess inventory in China, have offered steep his company discounts of up to 70%. "Chinese domestic markets are too competitive, some larger F&B manufacturers were struggling to destock their inventories as weak consumer demand drags," he said in Mandarin, translated by CNBC. Xue has also gotten busier this year after sealing a partnership with Chinese e-commerce platform Pinduoduo that has been making inroads into the Southeast Asian country. "There will be about 5-6 containers loaded with Pinduoduo's orders coming in every week," Xue said, and Webuy Global will support the last-mile delivery to customers. At a time when steep tariffs are deterring Chinese exports to the U.S., while domestic consumption remains a worry, overcapacity has led Chinese producer prices to stay in deflationary territory for more than two years. Consumer inflation has remained near zero. Still, the country is doubling down on manufacturing, and this production overdrive is rippling through global markets, stirring anxiety in Asia that a flood of cheap imports could squeeze local industries, experts said. "Every economy around the world is concerned about being swamped by Chinese exports ... many of them [have] started to put up barriers to importing from China," said Eswar Prasad, senior professor of trade policy and economics at Cornell University. But for inflation-worn economies, economists say the influx of low-cost Chinese goods comes with a silver-lining: lower costs for consumers. That in turn could offer central banks some relief as they juggle lowering living costs while reviving growth on the back of rising trade tensions. For markets with limited manufacturing bases, such as Australia, cheap Chinese imports could ease the cost-of-living crisis and help bring down inflationary pressure, said Nick Marro, principal economist at Economist Intelligence Unit. Emerging growth risks and subdued inflation may pave the way for more rate cuts across Asia, according to Nomura, which expects central banks in the region to further decouple from the Fed and deliver additional easing. The investment bank predicts Reserve Bank of India to deliver additional rate cuts of 100 basis points during rest of the year, central banks in Philippines and Thailand to cut rates by 75 basis points each, while Australia and Indonesia could lower rates by 50 basis points, and South Korea by a quarter-percentage-point. In Singapore, the rise in costs of living was among the hot-button issues during the city-state's election campaigning in the lead up to the polls held last month. Core inflation in Singapore could surprise at the lower end of the MAS forecast range, economists at Nomura said, citing the impact of influx of cheap Chinese imports. Singapore is not alone in witnessing the disinflationary impact as low-cost Chinese goods flood in. "Disinflationary forces are likely to permeate across Asia," added Nomura economists, anticipating Asian nations to feel the impact from "China shock" accelerating in the coming months. Asian economies were already wary of China's excess capacity, with several countries imposing anti-dumping duties to safeguard local manufacturing production, even before the roll-out of Trump's sweeping tariffs. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the world economy experienced the so-called "China shock," when a surge in cheap China-made imports helped keep inflation low while costing local manufacturing jobs. A sequel of sorts appears to be under way as Beijing focuses on exports to offset the drag in domestic consumption. Chinese exports to the ASEAN bloc rose 11.5% year on year in the first four months this year, as shipments to the U.S. shrank 2.5%, according to China's official customs data. In April alone, China's shipments to ASEAN surged 20.8%, as exports to U.S. plunged over 21% year on year. These goods often arrive at a discount. Economists at Goldman Sachs estimate Chinese products imported by Japan in the past two years to have become about 15% cheaper compared to products from other countries. India, Vietnam and Indonesia have imposed various protectionist measures to provide some relief for domestic producers from intense price competition, particularly in sectors facing overcapacity and cheap imports. While for a large number of countries an influx of Chinese goods is a trade-off between lower inflation and the adverse impact on local production, countries such as Thailand could be facing a double-edged sword. Thailand will likely be the hardest-hit by "China shock," even sliding into a deflation this year, Nomura economists predict, while India, Indonesia and the Philippines will also see inflation falling below central banks' targets.
