Speak out loud

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin FC Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez has spoken on his team's new four man midfield, the futures of midfielders Sergio Busquets and Pablo Torre, plus the hunt for more silverware ahead of Sunday's meeting with Sevilla in La Liga. "Tomorrow's opponent is difficult. Despite their position [in La Liga], they have a great team," said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. "[Jorge] Sampaoli has recovered a strong and competitive Sevilla. He is a great coach, he works very well on the defensive aspect. Sevilla will be a physically tough opponent who will complicate things. They have players with a lot of experience. We arrived in a very good moment of form, but we will need the fans to take the three points". On the new four-midfielder formation which is yielding great results and has Barca top of La Liga, Xavi claimed: "We feel comfortable in any system. We've also had good games with two wingers. Only the names … [Read more...] about Xavi Speaks On Busquets And Torre Futures, Plus Hunt For More Silverware Ahead Of FC Barcelona-Sevilla Clash

Leading Thai celebrities were scammed out of over 20 million baht in a massive online toy scam , joining more than 300 other victims. Twenty representatives filed a complaint to the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) yesterday. The group of 20 victims were led by 40 year old Phiphitpon Pookkanasood, a famous Thai singer from the band named Jetset’er. Phiphitpon revealed that two years ago, he purchased a Saint Seiya character figurine from the Facebook page “All in Toys.” The total cost was 13,000 baht, however, he only paid a 5,000 baht deposit and never received the merchandise. Phiphitpon wasn’t the only victim. Another male victim, Kamon, fell for the store’s false promises after following them for five years without suspecting any wrongdoing. Related news Thai passport worth less than Cambodian | Thailand News Today 2 hours ago Police bust Belarusian man in Phuket for allegedly stealing cash, crypto from Russians 2 hours … [Read more...] about Thai celebrities duped out of 20 million baht in online toy scam, 300 victims speak out

SHANGHAI – China’s move this week to streamline stock market listing rules is unlikely to result in a flood of initial public offerings, bankers say, citing the prospect of state intervention on national security and other grounds that would result in delays. Beijing published draft rules on Wednesday to broaden its fledgling registration-based IPO system, expand the U.S.-style mechanism to all corners of China’s stock market in a shift designed to speed up listings and corporate fundraising. Under the new system, China’s stock exchanges will themselves vet IPOs with a focus on information disclosure. Currently, IPOs on China’s blue-chip boards need clearance from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) under an approval-based system – one that means long delays and IPO prices capped by the regulators. The reform was hailed by state media and analysts as a key milestone that would make China’s IPO market more inclusive, transparent and efficient. But in reality, … [Read more...] about China’s latest IPO reform seen unlikely to flood markets with new issuance

BEIJING  – China’s policymakers plan to show more support for domestic demand this year but are likely to stop short of splashing out big on direct consumer subsidies, keeping their focus mainly on investment, three sources close to policy discussions said. In recent weeks, top policymakers have repeatedly signalled their intention to work towards harvesting the consumer power of China’s 1.4 billion people, after economic growth in 2022 slumped to one of its weakest levels in nearly half a century. That has raised expectations that large-scale household stimulus measures could be announced at an annual parliament meeting in March. Prominent academics have felt emboldened to speak publicly about sizeable demand-side measures such as 1 trillion yuan ($148.28 billion) or more in nationwide consumption vouchers. The sources close to policy discussions, however, expect China to stick more closely to its familiar playbook of policies to support key industries and splurge on … [Read more...] about Big stimulus unlikely as China considers steps to support consumers-sources

The Union Budget will boost the order pipeline for the infrastructure sector, but the pace of implementation and execution of the big-bang capital expenditure plan announced by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1 will be key to success, said R Shankar Raman, chief financial officer of Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T). Some ongoing issues in the infrastructure sector, like dispute resolution and pace of ordering, need to be addressed to help the industry accelerate growth, Raman told Moneycontrol’s Rachita Prasad. Raman also spoke about the opportunities and risks and how L&T is preparing for 2022-23. Pushing project execution, managing people and closing the divestment of its non-core assets is on the top of the agenda for the engineering giant. Edited excerpts: The Union Budget made a big commitment to capex . What is your key takeaway for the infrastructure sector? The Rs 7.5 lakh crore is generous. The good part of the allocation is … [Read more...] about Interview | Budget plan implementation, faster dispute mechanism key to infrastructure growth: L&T CFO

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde (Image: PTI/File) Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday said the state government is positive about the Old Pension Scheme for teachers and government employees. He said the state education department is studying the OPS. Addressing a campaign rally for upcoming Legislative Council polls, Shinde also said the state government will respond to allegations raised by the Opposition regarding investment proposals inked at the recently-held Davos summit by its work. "The government is positive about Old Pension Scheme for teachers and government employees, non-aided schools, and also for 25 per cent reservation in English medium schools. The education department is studying the OPS," he added. Speaking about the Davos summit, he said some foreign companies, instead of making a direct investment, prefer to go in for joint ventures. Read More "Hence many industrialists at the Davos conference are from India. … [Read more...] about Maha govt positive about Old Pension Scheme for teachers and govt employees: CM

Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon speaks during a press conference. [NAVER] Naver will launch its own version of ChatGPT in the Korean market in the first half of this year to respond to the widely popular chatbot system, the company announced Friday. The announcement follows weaker-than-expected financial results for 2022. Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon said during a conference call that the operator of the country’s largest search portal will introduce its “SearchGPT” that specializes in queries in Korean. “We will respond to the new trend of generative AI,” Choi said, “We will solve the weaknesses of ChatGPT such as its low reliability, shortage of up-to-date information and lower accuracy when translating from English into Korean,” Choi said. Short for Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer, ChatGPT is a free chatbot system capable of generating conversational dialogue and human-like text such as articles and summaries. Developed by OpenAI, a San Francisco, California-based company, … [Read more...] about Naver to launch competitor to ChatGPT

Republican State Treasurer Todd Russ of Oklahoma sent a letter to over 100 financial institutions to determine if their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) policies disqualify them from working with the Oklahoma government, Russ’ office announced Wednesday. Companies will have until March 31 to respond to a series of 19 questions that the state of Oklahoma will use to determine if the company is violating Oklahoma law by engaging in a boycott of energy companies, according to the letter obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. Russ specifically mentioned BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager and frequent target of GOP criticism for its consistent support of ESG investing, which Republican critics allege violates its fiduciary duty to its clients, in a statement to the DCNF. “This list is crucial to provide accountability for our government entities, including organizations responsible for pension funds such as the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement … [Read more...] about Oklahoma Treasurer Presses Financial Institutions To Say Whether They’re Boycotting Energy Firms

Former Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio ripped House Speaker Kevin McCarthy Thursday, calling McCarthy a “chicken shit” who will “punch down.” “I just think he’s chicken shit. Like between me and you,” Ryan told former Obama administration official David Axelrod on “The Axe Files” podcast . (RELATED: Failed Senate Candidate Tells Bill Maher The Democrats’ Brand Is ‘Toxic’) “He will take a shot,” Ryan added. “He will punch down. He will punch down at someone who can’t defend themselves.” Ryan claimed that McCarthy attacked Dr. Brian Monohan, then the attending physician for the House of Representatives, over a mask mandate during debate on the appropriations bill that funds the legislative branch. Monohan recommended that masks be required in July 2021 following an increase in COVID-19 cases, the New York Post reported . LISTEN: “I just left speaking with Dr. Monahan from the House. He said he used the CDC recommendation on a report that hasn’t been printed … [Read more...] about ‘Chicken Sh*t’: Failed Dem Senate Candidate Rails Against House Speaker Kevin McCarthy

Florida universities “under-reported” how much taxpayer money is spent on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and Critical Race Theory (CRT) programming, according to Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration. Public universities outlined their line-by-line spending to comply with a December request by the Office of Policy and Budget to determine how much taxpayer money was allocated toward these initiatives. “Consequently, the Executive Office of the Governor is working to ensure that a full and truthful compilation of CRT- and DEI-related spending is gathered, and these efforts are ongoing,” Bryan Griffin, DeSantis’ press secretary, wrote in an email sent to the Daily Caller News Foundation. Florida universities “misreported” or “under-reported” the amount they spent on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and Critical Race Theory (CRT) programming on campus, Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration alleged Thursday afternoon. The state Office … [Read more...] about Florida Universities ‘Misreported’ Diversity, Equity And Inclusion Spending, DeSantis Admin Says