THAILAND

Australia's Centennial Coal Co Ltd agreed to a $2 billion takeover offer from Thailand's Banpu Public Co Ltd , giving the Thai group a beachhead in Australia it has long sought.

In a blow to Indian jewelers, the US has stopped the duty-free status for gold necklaces from India as the product was found to be competitive in US markets. Earlier, US used to allow duty-free status to certain products from developing countries to help them expand their economies. Other items that have been struck off the duty-free list are passenger tyres from Thailand and wood flooring from Brazil.

Gold bounced from a 5-week low on Friday as weaker prices ignited buying by bargain hunters and jewelers, but investors were cautious ahead of the release of a U.S. employment report. Investors shrugged off a small drop in ETF holdings, turning their attention to the June non-farm payrolls data which will set the tone for currencies and equities. Gold tumbled nearly 4 percent on Thursday as funds sold bullion to cover losses in other markets.

Global rice ending stocks for 2009-10 are expected to be 90.4 million tons against the early estimation due to the lower export by the major growers, said International Grain Council. However, the global rice production is projected to decline in 2009-10 owing to poor output in countries such as India, where worst drought impacted the production, IGC noted.

Ford Motor Co plans to invest $450 million to build a new manufacturing plant in Thailand, with the bulk of the output destined for export markets as part of its expansion in Asia Pacific.

Will Ahmedabad replace London as the location for clearing houses for the world bullion trade. If noted expert on bullion market Bhargava N Vaidya's words are of any value, Mumbai and Ahmedabad are better suited for the location for bullion trade clearing houses rather than Loddon.

Once engorged to peak levels, the sugar prices have recently bottomed out at ten-month low levels on weak demand due to monsoon season and anticipation of higher-than-expected sugar production this year trimming the gains of the sugar stocks on the bourses.

Gold firmed on Wednesday on bargain hunting driven by persistent worries that debt problems in Europe were worsening, but rising stock markets could still spur a shift to riskier assets.

U.S. technology companies hope a preliminary World Trade Organization ruling expected on Friday will persuade the European Union to drop tariffs on three products at the center of the dispute.

Isolated for decades behind Asia's bamboo curtain, communist Laos will soon take a great leap into the global capitalist marketplace with the launch of a stock exchange to fuel a quiet mining and hydro-power boom.

Asia is one of the more interesting gas markets in the world. Places like Thailand and its southeast Asian neighbors have seen phenomenal demand growth over the last several years. Total has said they're in Thailand for gas. (Part of the reason I believe Thai shale gas may become an interesting play over the coming years.)

Australian Medical Association (AMA) vice president Steve Hambleton has urged caution on the risk of taking up cosmetic plastic surgery and dental holidays offered by a new launched Gold Coast Business.

As political tensions rise in Thailand, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has advised non-transit passengers not to travel to Bangkok.

Japanese online mall operator Rakuten said on Thursday it will acquire Buy.com Inc for $250 million, foraying into the U.S. market for the first time as it steps up its push to expand overseas.

Thailand's economy was recovering well this year until anti-government protesters started a mass rally in Bangkok in the middle of March, which has sparked the country's deadliest political violence in 18 years.

(Reuters) - HIV prevalence among gay and bisexual men has hit alarming levels in Asia and most of them do not have access to services and care due to punitive laws which drive them underground, a U.N.-backed report said on Monday.

Toyota Motor Corp said it would close one of its four vehicle plants in Thailand as the economic crisis hammered exports, in a rare move for what was until a few years ago the world's fastest-growing carmaker.

The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has forecasted 4% increase in the global rice output this year with the expected production of 643 million tons of rice in Asian region.

* Fears of dollar squeeze seen in Thai, Indian markets * Worries grow that Greek debt crisis will spread * New Zealand swaps curve shifts upwards, rate hike seen

The Asian Development Bank launched a $9 billion solar power initiative to develop projects generating 3,000 megawatts by 2012. The announcement, which came at the regional lending agency's annual meeting in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, said that Central Asian countries would be prime candidates for siting the projects.

European leaders warned on Wednesday that the euro zone debt crisis could spread like a bushfire beyond Greece, and investors sold stocks and the euro as Greek anti-austerity unrest claimed its first lives.