The agents, arrested by Dutch intelligence services earlier this year, were implicated in a planned attack on the Spiez laboratory in Bern, which was investigating the poisoning of Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in Britain, according to Swiss officials and media reports.

The Swiss attorney general’s (OAG) office told AFP on Saturday that the same two individuals have separately been under criminal investigation since March 2017 “due to a cyber-attack against the World Anti-Doping Agency.”

“The proceedings are being conducted on suspicion on political espionage,” an OAG spokeswoman, Linda von Burg, told AFP in an email.

She confirmed that the individuals linked to the alleged hack at WADA’s Swiss office “are those affected by the operation mentioned by the Federal Intelligence Service,” in connection with the Spiez laboratory attack.

The attorney general has asked Switzerland’s justice ministry for permission to prosecute the individuals over the WADA incident, von Burg said.

WADA declined to comment.

Tensions between Russian and WADA have been elevated for several years.

The Montreal-based watchdog suspended Russia’s Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) in 2015 after declaring it to be non-compliant following evidence of a vast plan backed by Moscow to cheat at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

On Friday, WADA announced that its independent Compliance Review Committee had cleared RUSADA to be reinstated.

Russia has admitted shortcomings in its anti-doping programme but has rejected the existence of a state-supported cheating programme.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also condemned Friday’s reports that Russian agents targeted the Spiez laboratory, saying he could not believe the arrests would have not been picked up at the time by the media.

The agents, believed to be working for Russia’s GRU military intelligence, allegedly targeted the laboratory analysing data related to poison gas attacks in Syria, as well as the March 4 attack using the nerve agent Novichok on Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury in southern England.

The laboratory does analytical work for the Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the global chemical arms watchdog.

Exact details of the alleged agents’ arrest are unknown.

But on March 26, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced that his cabinet had decided to expel “two Russian intelligence workers from the Russian embassy” as a result of the Skripal attack, without giving further details.

The mission will inform sea level rise forecasts and is “exceptionally important for science,” according to Richard Slonaker, ICESat-2 program executive at NASA.

The half-ton satellite should reveal unprecedented detail about the current thickness of ice at the vulnerable polar regions as the climate warms.

The weather forecast was 100 percent favorable for the 40-minute launch window opening at 8:46 am (1246 GMT) on Saturday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The measurements will be “extremely precise,” down to the width of a pencil, said team member Kelly Brunt.

It has been nearly a decade since NASA had a tool in orbit to measure ice sheet surface elevation across the globe.

The preceding mission, ICESat, launched in 2003 and ended in 2009. From it, scientists learned that sea ice was thinning, and ice cover was disappearing from coastal areas in Greenland and Antarctica.

In the intervening nine years, an aircraft mission, called Operation IceBridge, has flown over the Arctic and Antarctic, “taking height measurements and documenting the changing ice,” NASA said.

But an update is urgently needed.

Humanity’s constant reliance on fossil fuels for energy means planet-warming greenhouse gases are continuing to mount.

Global average temperatures are climbing year after year, with four of the hottest years in modern times all taking place from 2014-2017.

Ice cover is shrinking in the Arctic and Greenland, adding to sea level rise that threatens hundreds of millions of people along the coastlines.

ICESat-2 should help scientists understand just how much melting the ice sheets are contributing to sea level rise.

“We are going to be able to look at specifically how the ice is changing just over the course of a single year,” said Tom Wagner, cryosphere program scientist at NASA.

Advanced lasers

ICESat-2 is equipped with a pair of lasers — one is on board as a back-up — that are far more advanced than the kind aboard the preceding ICESat mission.

Though powerful, the laser will not be hot enough to melt ice from its vantage point some 300 miles (500 kilometers) above the Earth, NASA said.

The new laser will fire 10,000 times in one second, compared to the original ICESat which fired 40 times a second.

The result is a far higher degree of detail, akin to taking 130 images of a single football field, compared to one shot of each goal post.

Measurements will be taken every 2.3 feet (0.7 meters)along the satellite’s path.

“One of the things that we are trying to do is, one, characterize the change that is taking place within the ice, and this is going to greatly improve our understanding of that, especially over areas where we don’t know how well it is changing right now,” Wagner said, mentioning the deep interior of Antarctica as one such area of mystery.

The mission is meant to last three years but has enough fuel to continue for 10, if mission managers decide to extend its life.

The invitation offered few details but the mention of “4x fun” led to speculation the about a new smartphone with four cameras or possibly a foldable handset.

The South Korean electronics giant, the world’s leading smartphone maker, unveiled its latest flagship Galaxy Note 9 in August.

Samsung and other device makers are looking for ways to boost momentum in a sluggish smartphone market.

Research firm IDC expects worldwide smartphone shipments to decline 0.7 percent in 2018 to 1.455 billion units, with growth likely to resume as 5G devices become available.

Despite its leadership position, Samsung saw a 22 percent drop in mobile technology sales in the second quarter.

The news from Samsung comes days after Apple unveiled a new lineup of iPhones focusing on the premium smartphone segment at prices starting between $749 and $1,099 for US customers.

Apple recently slipped to third place in the smartphone market behind Huawei, even though the Chinese firm’s sales in the United States are limited.

Google, which is looking to gain ground in the premium segment with its own branded handsets, has scheduled a media event October 9 expected to unveil its updated Pixel handsets.

AIMING to successfully lead Thailand into a digital economy, the Digital Economy Promotion Agency has set ambitious goals, including the country emerging as the Internet of Things (IoT) hub of Asia within five years, and the agency itself taking the lead in helping Asean countries join the digital economy.

Nuttapon Nimmanphatcharin, president and CEO of Digital Economy Promotion Agency (Depa), said their goal is to be the leader in driving Thailand’s digital economic development and emerging as the IoT hub of Asia.

Depa’s four-year strategic plan to promote the country’s digital economy through 2021 has four main missions – to promote human development, economic development, social development and infrastructure-fund development.

Depa was established in 2017 with a Bt280-million budget, along with an ad-hoc budget of Bt1.5 billion to drive the digital economy under the government’s Thailand 4.0 strategic plan.

Its 2019 budget will also get an infusion of Bt1.2 billion to oversee the World Expo and to run the agency’s routine projects.

“Each initiative and project that Depa funds [is chosen] to stimulate digital economic development in the ecosystem,” explained Nuttapon. “We do not just invest money, we also join in the development, give advice and assistance and create and expand the market.”

Nurturing talent 

Driving development of the digital economy first requires digital human resources, Nuttapon said, and Depa aims to help nurture the digital talents of up to 100,000 people within four years. To achieve the goal, it has initiated four schemes – Coding Thailand, technology certification, scholarships and digital literacy.

Coding Thailand is a collaboration between Depa and tech giants including Microsoft, Google, and Cisco to develop coding curriculum and encourage Thais to learn coding at codingthailand.org. Depa has joined hands with 2,000 pilot schools nationwide to encourage around 200 students at each school to learn coding with the aim of 400,000 students learning the future-oriented digital language.

Depa has also joined hands with tech giants and universities to encourage students to get certified in special areas of technology, such as cloud computing and artificial intelligence. It aims to certify 4,000 students from 10 universities.

Moreover, Depa will offer scholarship for multidisciplinary mechatronics engineering innovators working on projects that address the painful points of businesses.

Depa will join hands with universities and the private sector to provide funds worth up to Bt1 million for each new mechatronics engineering project. Depa will invest 60 per cent of the scholarship grant, with the private sector putting up the remaining 40 per cent for each project.

Last, but not least, is nationwide digital literacy training.

The agency will work with tech firms, including Google and local startups, to establish a self-learning platform so people can increase their digital literacy on their own, anywhere and at any time.

Seeding and accelerating

Economic development is a crucial part of Depa’s mission to develop a digital economy. The agency will support startups and other businesses, especially small and medium enterprises (SME) and factories.

Depa’s support for startups will begin at the startup idea stage, continue through the vulnerable early-stage and then on to the growth stage, Nuttapon said. Seed money of Bt50,000 will be spread among startup proposals, with the goal of seeding 4,000 ideas.

Depa has invited venture capitalists and corporate capital ventures to sit as judges for startup pitches. Solid startup proposals will receive Bt1 million from Depa – Bt300,000 as a grant and Bt700,000 as investment. Depa will in turn take 25 per cent of the Bt700,000 in shares.

The main evaluation criteria at this stage are innovation, scalability and repeatability. Depa aims to invest in 20 early-stage startups, and has done so with five so far.

Growth-stage startups are also in Depa’s support plan. The agency will inject Bt5 million in startups whose pitches succeed in meeting those same three criteria, and will hold 50-per-cent of the shares. It has so far invested in two growth-stage startups and plans to invest in another five.

“We are not only giving them money, but will also accelerate them and connect them to the world market through collaboration between Depa, government and the private sector in each country,” Nuttapon said. He cited examples of Tripple i in Taiwan, Trust Holdings in China, TechStar in Singapore, CyberPort in Hong Kong, as well as Cisco in the United States and Israel.

In addition to helping startups, Depa has also focused on helping the real sector (the manufacturing and industrial economy but not services), both SMEs and manufacturers. It plans to help 1,000 SMEs through digital transformation with the help of startups in Depa’s list and with a grant of Bt10,000 each.

Meanwhile, larger manufacturers will get a Bt1-million grant to help with their digital transformations that draw on the solutions of startups.

Last but not least, it is to help attain Thailand emergence as the IoT hub of Asia over the next five years. Nuttapon said, after setting up an IoT institute, Depa plans to spearhead an IoT Innovation Centre, to be located in Digital Park Thailand in the Eastern Economic Corridor of Innovation (EECD). That centre would include facilities for research and development across the new “S-curve” industries such as IoT, artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), data analytics and mathematics. It will also offer the IoT testing standard and provide space for developing prototypes.

“It will be the turning point of digital economy development for the country,” Nuttapon predicts. “It will enhance the power of digital services and hardware makers by adding in the value of the design stage in order to create new products and service.”

From local to Asean-wide

Society’s digital economy development is an another important focus. Depa encourages communities nationwide to join hands with startups to create a local community digital-economy project focused on tourism, agriculture or local business. Subsidies of Bt500,000 are available.

To spur social digital-economy development, Depa will inject money into infrastructure projects that draw on digital technologies to enhance social infrastructure in smart cities. Currently, there are seven smart cities including Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen, Phuket, Chon Buri, Rayong and Chachoengsao.

Depa will provide budgets ranging from Bt5 million to Bt50 million for each social infrastructure project. The initial focus will be on projects in three smart cities – Chon Buri, Rayong and Chachoengsao. Potential projects could include smart mobility, smart port, smart living, smart farming and smart environment. Funding could be paid back to Depa within three years or 49 per cent of shares could be transferred to the agency.

“Our role in promoting the digital economy is to be a co-creator, co-investor and co-partner with our stakeholders, including people, businesses, communities and society. We play the role of facilitator and ‘angel investor’ for them,” Nattapon summed up.

Finally, Depa aims to lead in helping Asean countries move towards developing the digital economy. They will initiate the Asean Smart City Network in 2019 as a key step in paving the way for all Asean countries to work together to develop a regional digital economy.

A leading scientific organisation, Geneva-based CERN uses the world’s largest and most complex scientific instruments to investigate the fundamental structure of the universe. Their mission has attracted many of the world’s foremost particle-physics scientists.

The International Cooperation Agreement (ICA) was signed by CERN’s director for international relations, Charlotte Warakaulle, and permanent secretary of the Science and Technology Ministry, Soranit Siltharm, in a ceremony presided over by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn.

The ICA builds on a decade-long relationship and collaboration between Thailand and CERN. In the first initiative of Her Royal Highness, the first six memoranda of understanding (MoUs) were signed between Thailand’s universities and institutes and CERN.

Suvit Maesincee, Minister of Science and Technology, said the ministry will develop human resources as well as technology and innovation in line with CERN’s objective. This latest, higher level of cooperation is expected to open up more opportunities for Thai scientists to participate in world-class research and thus develop the country’s science capabilities, as well as further develop applied research to benefit the real sector.

Pairash Thajchayapong, secretary-general of the Information Technology Foundation, paid tribute to the Princess for initiating cooperation with CERN in 2000 and through five visits to the facility that led to six contracts between Thai universities and institutes and CERN. The Information Technology Foundation is an initiative of Her Royal Highness.

Warakaulle noted the three mutual elements of the ICA – strengthening Thailand’s scientific participation through working with CERN; training a new generation of scientists, engineers, technicians and teachers, and helping build Thailand’s capacity for science, and particularly in particle physics.

“The relations between Thailand and CERN have been strengthening over the past decade, with Thai scientists working in our two experiments, CMS and ALICE [A Large Ion Collider Experiment],” Warakaulle said. “This is the first government-level agreement that we’ve had. Previously, we had agreements with the universities and institutes in Thailand on their scientific participation.”

This latest government-level agreement is an important step and has raised the collaboration to a higher level. Similar agreements have been adopted by all 22 member states of CERN.

“It is a very significant step in relations between Thailand and CERN. And it allows us to have much deeper cooperation and to spread it much more widely, particularly once they come to the scientific exchange between CERN and Thailand,” Warakaulle added.

Given that this is a framework agreement, it is not yet possible to discuss the specifics of the scientific exchange, she said. There are three pillars to the ICA – to enhance scientific collaboration; enhance training and education for scientists, engineers, and teachers; and to increase capacity building. Though not yet detailed, the agreement opens up opportunities for developing the three areas.

Some scientists are already working on CERN-related research, but under the agreement more universities and their scientists will come on board, either joining existing groups or forming new ones, and strengthening the country’s participation in current experiments or working on new ones.

“We hope to see more Thai teachers, more Thai students come to CERN with these agreements,” Warakaulle said. “We would like to see a great outreach in particle physics and fundamental research here in Thailand. So, we cannot yet quantify that, but we can see the potential, this is the best agreement we’ve had for expanding the cooperation.”

CERN is a physics lab focused on using an accelerator to accomplish high-energy particle physics experiments. Thailand’s opportunity is to participate in particle physics experiments, which is on the very cutting edge of science today, and brings with it cutting-edge technological development. The cooperation has both a scientific component and a technological-development component.

“We really hope very much that the cooperation agreement, through strengthening its relationship with CERN, will open up for Thailand both experiments in particle physics and science, and also advance technology development.

Advancing research

Fundamental research is an important element in any country’s development, and this agreement is signed not only within the context of the momentum of particle physics research, but also that of fundamental research more broadly in Asia.

Thailand is deliberately joining in that momentum and consolidating its participation, because a strong base in fundamental science is needed for the country to continue to develop. It is important to have scientists working on fundamental research in order to later participate in applied research that draws on the fundamental research.

“There is a good balance between fundamental research and applied research – it is great science that adds to the dynamism of Thailand,” Warakaulle explained. “There is so much focus on fundamental research, we see that as very positive and very encouraging, and see real opportunities for Thailand to continue its development. It is a very important component of the healthy economy and healthy growth, and the long-term sustainable perspective for Thailand.”

The Kingdom has great potential to be the leader in the Asia region for fundamental research, and this cooperation now brings a framework allowing Thailand to develop that leadership, she says. With a lot of scientific research underway, Thailand will focus on specific areas and develop them to world-class status.

The agreement is the basis for Thailand and CERN to develop together, Warakaulle said, “and for Thailand to really take a step forward when comes to particle physics and also fundamental research more generally”,

Three key factors

Meanwhile, there are three important elements for Thailand. One is the government’s clearly strong support and that of the Princess, who is very engaged in this area.

The second is the international outlook in an era in which big science requires big intellectual collaboration.

Third is the vital need for the country’s institutes and universities to collaborate and ensure coherent studies, as is done under the CERN umbrella and other international collaboration.

“Strong government support, international outlook, and a strong course at the national level are really important,” Warakaulle said. “I think Thailand has all of that. Now we just need to continue.”

Meanwhile, Professor Emmanuel Tsesmelis, chief of associate member and non-member state relations at CERN, sees the ICA as a springboard to strengthen the cooperation between Thailand and his organisation.

“I look forward to a future together,” Tsesmelis said.

“The areas we continue to work together are in the science programme and technology development, R&D projects – we hope this ICA strengthens those areas. But it will also bring more young people to CERN to get training and develop skills in a high-tech environment. This is part of capacity building.”

And that capacity building now has recognition at the highest levels from the government of Thailand, and in particular the ministry, in terms of activities involving CERN and Thai scientists and teachers. The next step is to strengthen that institutional relationship.

One thing is certain, everyone agrees – the ICA will help Thailand develop its science and technology.

A visitor experiences 5G remote driving at the 15th China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning city, South China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Sept 13, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua]

Photo taken on Sept 13, 2018 shows bus models at the 15th China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning city, South China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. [Photo/Xinhua]

Visitors interact with a robot at the 15th China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning city, South China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Sept 13, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua]

A visitor experiences virtual reality live broadcast at the 15th China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning city, South China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Sept 13, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua]

A boy interacts with a robot at the 15th China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning city, South China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Sept 13, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua]

Photo taken on Sept 13, 2018 shows a civilian drone at the 15th China-ASEAN Expo Nanning city, South China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. [Photo/Xinhua]

Visitors watch robot dance at the 15th China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning city, South China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Sept 13, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua]

A visitor looks at a meteorological radar at the 15th China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning city, South China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Sept 13, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua]

Photo taken on Sept 13, 2018 shows a model of high-speed railway at the 15th China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning city, South China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. [Photo/Xinhua]

Thailand has long been a haven for foreign criminals, a convenient base to plot and commit crimes or just to hide out.

Thai law enforcers have fought back, joining with their counterparts overseas to arrest a string of notorious terrorists, criminals and gangsters on our soil.

The list runs from “Bali Bomber” Hambali, al-Qaeda’s chief in Southeast Asia, to Mozambican Momade Assif Abdul Satar, Interpol’s prime suspect for more than 50 kidnappings and murders, to infamous Lao drug kingpin Xaysana Keopimpha. The latest big fish netted on Thai soil is Alexandre Cazes, founder of the “darknet” marketplace AlphaBay.

The size of the haul is impressive, but it attests to huge holes in our perimeter security. Thailand’s borders are notoriously porous. Criminals travelling on fake passports ease through Immigration with the help of well-placed bribes. Others bypass checkpoints altogether and sneak in unnoticed via jungle or sea.

Once inside, evading the attentions of police is much easier, making efforts to bring them to justice difficult or near impossible.

The challenge for police has become trickier still with the advent of untraceable cryptocurrency, which is oiling international crime.

At a recent Bangkok seminar on Internet criminality, government agencies pleaded for new legislation to fight a growing wave of cybercrime that, they said, is about to skyrocket.

An early warning came with the arrest of Cazes, aka DeSnake, in Bangkok last year.

AlphaBay and the FBI

The Canadian was the focus of an FBI investigation, accused of  co-founding and running AlphaBay, a darknet hub for drug trafficking and money laundering. The website sold class A drugs, illegal pornography, stolen credit cards and weapons of war.

AlphaBay was shut down on July last year after two years in operation, and transactions in bitcoin and other digital currencies worth more $1 billion. Cazes had left no paper-money trail for the police to follow or identify him.

The FBI lavished huge resources and manpower to flush out the 26-year-old fugitive but came up empty-handed. Finally, after several years of investigations, he was tracked to Thailand. The Feds then asked for help from the Thai police.

Initially, the FBI lacked evidence to secure an arrest warrant, explained Pol Colonel Pisal Erb-Arb, deputy commander of Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB), who took part in the joint operation.

Thai police did some digging and discovered Cazes was married to a Thai woman and enjoying and a life of luxury unsupprted by any visible business concerns.

Police found he had paid cash for an Bt80-million home at the Private House estate in Bangkok’s Thawi Watthana District and also owned a Phuket villa worth Bt200 million. Parked in the driveway were a gleaming set of luxury cars. None of the property was in his own name.

Thai breakthrough

Police asked the court for an order to access his IP address to monitor his financial transactions. Not long after they spotted a huge amount of bitcoin transferred to the couple’s account and Cazes sending Bt30 million to an account in Cyprus.

The evidence confirmed FBI suspicions and US authorities promptly issued an arrest warrant, Pisal said.

Cazes was arrested at his home in July last year, in what US Attorney General Jeff Sessions called “one of the most important criminal investigations of this entire year”.

The darkweb mastermind was found dead a week later in a cell at the NSB. Police said all evidence pointed to suicide. Authorities then confiscated more than Bt726 million of Cazes’ Thai assets.

The saga sounds like the plot for a Hollywood movie, but NSB officers certainly played the starring role.

“The FBI said we had to capture him alive, with his computer online and his mobile phone unlocked,” said Pisal.

Plan A was to have a police officer disguised as a postman deliver mail to his home – but Cazes never showed up to take delivery. It was always his wife or the maids that picked up the mail.

Pisal then came up with the idea of faking an accident in front of the house in hope that the suspect would rush down to check any damage to his cherished supercars.

The hunch paid off.

Cazes arrived at the door and the police pounced. He rushed to tell his wife to turn off the computer, but officers got their first to make sure the machine was still online.

There was still the problem of the locked phone, though. Police already knew that Cazes had been having an affair. They told him he was being arrested on a charge of having an affair with another man’s wife.

“We told him that the husband [of the woman] would settle the case if he [Cazes] phoned the husband,” Pisal recounted.

Cazes was stunned to hear his lover was married. He promptly phoned the husband – in reality, a policeman – and offered to pay Bt100,000 as compensation. The “husband” demanded Bt1 million and without missing a beat Casez asked for his bank account code.

As the conversation ended the police seized his phone – which he had unlocked.

“If his computer or mobile phone had been found locked and encrypted, it could have taken around 300 years to crack the code,” Pisal said.

Cazes’ life of crime may have ended in capture and death, but the story of international cybercrime is only just beginning in Thailand.

In Thailand, eBay SEAPaSS allows for faster handling of paid orders, saving eBay sellers time and money through an easy-to-use system that is available to them at no charge. eBay is also collaborating with Thailand Post to offer special discounts and privileges to sellers who use eBay SEAPaSS together with Thailand Post’s ePacket service to send items to selected international destinations, Boonphan Boonprayoon, country manager for eBay Thailand, said yesterday.

eBay sellers can use the eBay SEAPaSS platform at SEAPaSS.eBay.com. From now until December 31, eBay sellers will get a special Bt10 discount on ePacket shipping fee for each item shipped (for an unlimited number of items) using SEAPaSS labels with the LX and LP tracking codes, which are only generated by SEAPaSS.

Thailand Post’s ePacket service is currently available for shipping items to 12 destination countries: China, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Maldives, Vietnam, Indonesia, Australia, and the United States. An additional five destinations – Germany, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, and Macau – will be added to the ePacket service on October 1.