The government extended temporary stay and work authorization for eligible migrant workers from Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam until December 11, 2027, addressing labor shortages and economic stability in critical sectors.

Key Points

• The government has extended temporary stay and work authorization for eligible migrant workers from Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam until December 11, 2027, ensuring economic stability and addressing workforce shortages. This decision, announced by Deputy Government Spokesperson Patdarasm Thongsaluaykorn, specifically benefits currently registered workers.
• This extension prevents potential disruptions in industries like manufacturing, construction, and agriculture, crucial for major industrial and tourism areas. It aims to help employers maintain workforce continuity and avoid production suspensions.
• Relevant agencies will enhance worker databases and improve documentation processes while the Ministry of Labor will issue new regulations. Employers are advised to follow official sources to avoid scams related to payments or benefits.

The government has extended temporary stay and work authorization for eligible migrant workers from Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam until December 11, 2027, to support economic stability and address labor shortages.

​Deputy Government Spokesperson Patdarasm Thongsaluaykorn announced that the Cabinet approved the extension on July 14, 2026. This measure applies only to current workers already registered in the government system and does not allow new registrations.

​Many migrant workers’ permits were set to expire at the end of 2026. Without this extension, businesses relying on these workers could face disruptions in manufacturing, construction, services, and agriculture, especially in major industrial and tourism areas.

​This measure will help employers maintain workforce continuity and reduce the risk of production suspensions or temporary closures.

​During the extension, relevant agencies will enhance migrant worker databases and integrate information systems. This initiative aims to ensure proper documentation, strengthen oversight, reduce irregular immigration and unauthorized employment, and help businesses meet international labor standards.

​The Ministry of Labor will issue detailed regulations and procedures, and will work to simplify documentation and speed up processing.

​Employers and business operators should follow official announcements from the Department of Employment at www.doe.go.th or contact the Ministry of Labor hotline at 1506, then press 2. Authorities urged the public to rely only on official information to avoid fraudulent requests for payments or benefits.

Source : Thai Government Extends Stay and Work Period for Three Migrant Worker Groups

Other People are Reading

Jars of garlic powder sold at discount stores across Canada have been recalled due to concerns about possible bacterial contamination, according to an alert issued by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

The recall affects 70-gram containers of Heavenly Spices brand garlic powder, which the CFIA said could potentially contain the bacteria Bacillus cereus. The agency issued the recall notice on July 15, directing retailers and consumers to take immediate action regarding the affected product. “Do not use, sell, serve or distribute the affected product,” the CFIA’s alert stated.

What consumers need to know

The affected garlic powder was sold both in physical Dollarama stores throughout Canada and online, according to the CFIA. Consumers can identify the recalled product by its identification number, RA-82337, which appears on the packaging.

The CFIA classified the recall as a Class 2 risk, a designation indicating a moderate risk that consuming the affected food could lead to short-term or non-life-threatening health problems, a lower severity classification than the agency’s highest-risk category reserved for products posing more serious or potentially fatal health consequences.

About Bacillus cereus

Bacillus cereus is a type of bacteria known to cause food poisoning, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Common symptoms of infection include vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain, with illness typically lasting around two days in most cases. The bacteria can be found across a range of different food products, including dairy items, fish, sauces and starchy foods such as rice, pasta and potatoes, making it a relatively common source of foodborne illness when contaminated food is not properly handled or stored.

While complications from Bacillus cereus infection are considered rare, health officials note that if left untreated, the bacteria can, in unusual cases, spread beyond the digestive system to affect other organs in the body, underscoring the importance of seeking medical attention if symptoms persist or worsen following potential exposure.

How Dollarama is responding

A spokesperson for Dollarama confirmed to CTV News that customers who purchased the affected garlic powder can contact the retailer directly to receive a $2 electronic gift card as a form of replacement compensation for the recalled product. PEOPLE magazine reported that it reached out to Dollarama directly for additional comment on the recall but had not received an immediate response at the time of publication.

Part of a broader wave of recent food recalls

The garlic powder recall adds to a growing list of food safety alerts that have affected consumers across North America in recent weeks. Just days earlier, Taylor Farms issued a voluntary recall of iceberg lettuce linked to a nationwide Cyclosporiasis outbreak that has sickened more than 1,600 people across five U.S. states, an investigation that continues even after the FDA walked back an earlier report of a positive lab sample connected to the outbreak, describing that specific result as a false positive while noting Taylor Farms product remains linked to the broader investigation.

Beyond the lettuce recall, other recent food safety actions have included General Mills recalling more than 736,000 packages of Pillsbury Kaiser roll dough due to potential glass contamination concerns, as well as a separate recall affecting popular potato chip brands that the FDA classified at its highest risk level. Additional recent recalls have touched a wide range of food categories, including frozen organic blueberries linked to reported illnesses across multiple states, soft cheese products recalled over potential listeria contamination tied to a deadly multistate outbreak, and frozen meatloaf recalled due to an undeclared allergen.

Why spice recalls carry particular risk

Recalls involving spices and seasonings like garlic powder can present unique challenges compared with recalls of fresh or perishable foods, given that dried spices typically have long shelf lives and are often stored in pantries for extended periods before being fully used. That extended usage window means recalled spice products can remain in consumers’ homes and potentially continue being used well after the initial recall announcement, particularly if consumers are not actively monitoring food safety alerts.

Earlier this year, a separate recall affecting peeled garlic products drew heightened attention after the FDA classified it as carrying the potential for “serious adverse health consequences or death,” marking the agency’s highest possible warning level, a distinction not applied to the current Heavenly Spices garlic powder recall given its more moderate Class 2 risk designation.

What affected consumers should do

Consumers who have purchased Heavenly Spices brand garlic powder bearing the RA-82337 identification number are advised to stop using the product immediately and avoid selling, serving or distributing it to others, in line with the CFIA’s official guidance. Those seeking a refund or replacement for the affected product can contact Dollarama directly to arrange for the $2 electronic gift card offered by the retailer.

Consumers experiencing gastrointestinal symptoms after using the recalled garlic powder, including vomiting, diarrhea or stomach pain, are encouraged to consult a healthcare provider, particularly if symptoms persist beyond the typical two-day duration associated with Bacillus cereus infection or appear to worsen over time.

With the recall now in effect nationwide, Canadian health officials are expected to continue monitoring for any reported illnesses tied to the affected garlic powder as part of the broader investigation. Consumers are encouraged to check their pantries for the affected product and to stay informed through official CFIA recall notices, particularly given the ongoing wave of food safety recalls affecting a wide range of grocery products across North America in recent weeks.

I went to the Hacienda exactly once, in the early nineties, a Londoner up for the weekend who queued for an hour, paid over the odds for a warm lager and was condescended to all night by men in bucket hats. Years later, as an investor in an online recruitment marketplace based in Manchester, the walk to board meetings took me past the site of the club, by then reborn as apartments.

The most famous nightclub on earth is now posh flats. On Monday afternoon, watching Andy Burnham outside Number 10 promising to be a circuit breaker for Britain, it was the flats I kept thinking about.

The universe does not often hand you a metaphor that cleanly. The Hacienda was the Manchester nightclub that defined a decade, launched a thousand bands and lost money on very nearly every pint it ever sold. It was run by Factory Records and Tony Wilson, a man so allergic to paperwork that he signed his artists with a contract written in his own blood, promising them everything and the company nothing.

Which brings us, with grim inevitability, to our new Prime Minister.

Burnham arrived in Downing Street this week as the seventh occupant since 2016, a churn rate that would embarrass even a Manchester band. Joy Division lost a frontman and simply rebranded as New Order. Labour has now pulled the same trick twice in two years and is hoping nobody checks the back catalogue. Starmer has gone, and the party is trying very hard not to look back in anger.

Credit where due, though: the man can talk. His first address from the steps of Number 10, promising a new political model, a new economic model and the reindustrialisation of Britain, was the strongest debut single any government has released in years. Definitely Maybe, as manifestos go. Whether the album holds up is another question entirely.

Then came the line-up changes, conducted with all the serenity of a Gallagher soundcheck. Peter Kyle, the one minister actually loading the van on late payments for small firms, sacked. And the nation’s chequebook handed, in a shock first move, to John Healey, a man who walked out of the last band in a row about money and has now been put in charge of all of it. Some might say that takes brass. The gilt market, humming Blue Monday to itself, nudged yields up all the same.

And here is where business readers will recognise the tune, because the Factory problem is the oldest failure mode in commerce. Wilson had the best story in Britain, the best designers, the best talent, and no unit economics whatsoever. Blue Monday became the best-selling 12-inch of all time in a die-cut sleeve so expensive the label lost money on every copy. The Hacienda was rammed seven nights a week and haemorrhaged cash for fifteen years. Narrative is not margin. Vibes are not cash flow. A charismatic founder with a transformational vision and no grip on the till is not a growth story, he is a cautionary one, and most of us have backed at least one to know.

The till, right now, needs minding. Eight in ten SME owners say they are braced for impact, and the CBI has told the new Prime Minister that stripping green levies from business energy bills, currently 45 per cent above the G7 average, must be a day-one priority. His opening gambit, scrapping VAT on electricity, sounds like a banger until you read the small print and discover most firms will not qualify. A radio edit, if you will, with the best verse cut out.

And yet love will not tear us apart just yet, because the counter-example is parked on Burnham’s old doorstep. The Oasis reunion he watched from the mayor’s office helped drive a record £11.2 billion of music tourism spending, including £1.4 billion in the North West alone. The Gallaghers, once the most gloriously chaotic act in the country, came back as the most ruthlessly well-run reunion in live music history. Proof that Manchester swagger and a properly managed balance sheet can share a stage. People change. Even Manchester learned to love a spreadsheet.

That is the whole test of this premiership, and it fits on a set list. If circuit breaker means Factory, all blood contracts and beautiful stories and nobody getting paid, British business will be sitting down, as James instructed, with its head in its hands. If it means Heaton Park, the same swagger with someone competent on the tills, then this, as the Stone Roses nearly put it, really could be the one.

The site of the Hacienda, after all, is worth more as flats than the club ever made as a business. Wilson used to say Factory learned more from failure than from success, which was handy, because failure was all the accounts ever produced.

Step on, Prime Minister, and mind how you go. Will Andy Burnham end up twisting British business melons?

Richard Alvin

Richard Alvin is a serial entrepreneur, a former advisor to the UK Government about small business and an Honorary Teaching Fellow on Business at Lancaster University.

A winner of the London Chamber of Commerce Business Person of the year and Freeman of the City of London for his services to business and charity. Richard is also Group MD of Capital Business Media and SME business research company Trends Research, regarded as one of the UK’s leading experts in the SME sector and an active angel investor and advisor to new start companies.

Richard is also the host of Save Our Business the U.S. based business advice television show.

The AAA national average price for regular gas is back above $4 again amid the U.S. war with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

As of July 21, the AAA national average for regular fuel is $4.019, up from yesterday’s average of $4.003, the week-ago average of $3.859 and the month-ago average of $3.938. The year-ago average was much lower at just $3.141.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House on Tuesday.

IRS RAISES BUSINESS MILEAGE DEDUCTION RATE AMID FUEL PRICE SURGE

A person pumps gas at a BP station on March 17, 2026, in the Kensington neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images / Getty Images)

“Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over! This directive has been passed on to Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Daniel Caine, and every Leader in the Military,” President Donald Trump asserted in a Monday Truth Social post.

Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who left Congress early this year after a falling out with the president last year, responded to Trump’s comments by writing in a post on X, “Our American soldiers wouldn’t be getting killed if you weren’t fighting an unnecessary war against Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz that was already open before you went to war. End the war. In your 1st term in 2019, gas was under $2 and inflation was 1.8%, DO THAT AGAIN!”

ARMY IDS 2 VICTIMS KILLED IN JORDAN AIR BASE ATTACK; TRUMP: IRAN WILL PAY ‘MANY TIMES OVER’

U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Iraq, Ali al-Zaidi, in the Oval Office of the White House on July 14, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images / Getty Images)

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., declared in a Monday post on X, “Gas prices are back above $4 per gallon. The Republican war of choice in Iran is making life more expensive. Why is Pete Hegseth still around?”

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) noted on Monday that it had “completed another round of strikes against Iran at 9 p.m. ET, July 20.”

TRUMP WEIGHS IRAN WAR EXPANSION AS FRESH US STRIKES TARGET HORMUZ SHIPPING THREATS

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol Building on July 13, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images / Getty Images)

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

“U.S. forces struck Iranian military command centers, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and air defense systems to degrade Iran’s ability to continue attacking commercial vessels flowing through the Strait of Hormuz. Commercial vessel transits through the vital international maritime corridor continue. Since early May, CENTCOM forces have helped facilitate the transit of approximately 900 commercial vessels and 450 million barrels of crude oil,” the release noted.

Copyright ©2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

Andy Burnham has been in Downing Street for barely a day, and rural Britain has already presented him with his first invoice. Farmers, landowners and the wider countryside economy are demanding that the new Prime Minister and his surprise Chancellor, John Healey, reverse the inheritance tax changes that have convulsed British agriculture since 2024.

The pressure lands squarely on the new occupant of No 11, a former Treasury minister who now inherits the most contentious tax policy of the Labour era alongside the nation’s chequebook.

The row dates back to Rachel Reeves’s first Budget, when she announced that agricultural property relief (APR) and business property relief (BPR), the mechanisms that allow farms and family firms to pass between generations without a tax bill forcing a sale, would be restricted from April 2026.

After months of tractor protests in Westminster, the government blinked just before Christmas. The threshold for 100 per cent relief was raised from £1 million to £2.5 million per estate, with married couples able to combine allowances to £5 million, and 50 per cent relief above that. According to the House of Commons Library, the Treasury expects the concession to halve the number of affected estates, from 375 to 185 in 2026-27.

For many in the sector that was mitigation, not resolution. The Country Land and Business Association has argued the reforms could affect around 70,000 farms, and a group of farmers took the government to the High Court in March in a judicial review over the lack of formal consultation on the changes.

What gives the campaign fresh teeth is Burnham’s own words. During his by-election campaign in Makerfield, he said: “I personally have heard from farmers on family farms and I do think that needs looking at again.”

Farming groups intend to hold him to it. CLA director north Harriet Ranson said: “To date, he has made several commitments to the farming and food sector such as pledging to revisit the growth-inhibiting inheritance tax on farms, as well as directing the public sector to procure food more locally.”

She added: “It is my sincere hope that our ‘prime minister in waiting’ will appreciate the entrepreneurial attitudes and business brains that make up the rural economy and work with us to strengthen food production, nature recovery and the valued skills of the communities we represent.”

The prize, from the Treasury’s perspective, is modest revenue. The risk is a repeat of the scenes that defined the past 18 months: tractors on Whitehall, farm-gate protests and a rural economy that feels singled out. NFU president Tom Bradshaw described December’s concession as one that “will come as a huge relief to many”, while CLA president Gavin Lane said it spared family farms from “seeing their businesses taxed out of existence”. Neither organisation regards the matter as closed.

For Burnham, the politics are finely balanced. He has already signalled there is “room for movement” on tax, pledging business rates cuts for pubs and high street firms. Extending that flexibility to the countryside would delight a sector that spans everything from dairy farms to diversified visitor attractions, the breadth of enterprise celebrated at the Rural Business Awards, which are taking place at the National Conference Centre this November.

For rural business owners, the practical advice is unchanged: succession planning cannot wait on Westminster. But with a Prime Minister on record promising to look again, and a Chancellor with his first Budget to write this autumn, the countryside has rarely had a clearer window in which to press its case.

Paul Jones

Harvard alumni and former New York Times journalist. Editor of Business Matters for over 15 years, the UKs largest business magazine. I am also head of Capital Business Media’s automotive division working for clients such as Red Bull Racing, Honda, Aston Martin and Infiniti.

The financial math behind fleeing high-tax states for a Florida paradise is hitting a major roadblock.

While the absence of a state income tax in the Sunshine State remains a powerful draw for transplants, a combination of rising property taxes, soaring property insurance premiums and everyday inflation has pushed Miami’s total cost of living above New York City’s for the first time.

A recent Bloomberg analysis found that data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis indicate that the combined cost of living in the Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach region — dubbed the “Gold Coast” — is now roughly 5% higher than that of the New York metropolitan area and its surrounding suburbs.

CEO: MIAMI’S LUXURY BOOM FUELS ‘MECCA’ FOR WEALTHY AS OTHER BUYERS FEEL PRICED OUT

Additionally, consumer prices in South Florida have risen 36% since 2019, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That represents the second-highest inflation surge among major American markets, trailing only Tampa.

The Miami metro area has now outpaced New York City for cost of living. (Getty Images/stock / Getty Images)

Despite the state’s lack of an income tax, S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller data show South Florida home prices have jumped 79% since the pandemic, while the average annual homeowners insurance premium stands at $8,292 — the highest in the country and roughly four times the average cost of insuring a home in New York.

U.S. Census Bureau data also shows that the typical household income in the Miami metro area sits approximately $1,000 below the national median, and the cost of daily tasks like dining out has climbed 4% year-over-year to $94 per person per restaurant bill, compared to New York City’s average of $79 per person per check.

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

However, price relief could be on Florida’s horizon after Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature approved a proposed constitutional amendment for the November 2026 general election ballot that would expand the state’s homestead exemption. Under the proposal, eligible homeowners could receive up to a $250,000 exemption from non-school property taxes, phased in beginning in 2027 if voters approve the measure.

If approved by at least 60% of voters, the constitutional amendment could mean lower property tax bills and significant savings for millions of Florida homeowners.

READ MORE FROM FOX BUSINESS

Thames Water’s main lenders are offering the government a “golden share” and more control for local authorities in a bid to stop the troubled supplier from being nationalised.

The government recently rejected a previous rescue proposal, and the BBC understands the lenders are preparing a legal challenge in case the new Andy Burnham-led government takes the firm into public hands.

In his first speech as prime minister on Monday, Burnham said he wanted to see greater public control of “life’s essentials”.

The new proposal offers local authorities greater involvement in the firm, similar to the relationship between United Utilities and Greater Manchester agreed when Burnham was the city’s mayor.

The London & Valley Water (L&VW ) consortium of lenders had already proposed a £10bn deal to prevent Thames Water from entering administration. It would involve writing off nearly half of its debt and injecting new cash in return for leniency on future pollution fines.

The deal was rejected by the government in June, with then-environment secretary Emma Reynolds saying it did not do enough for consumers or the environment.

Sources close to the new deal said the creditors had sweetened it with hundreds of millions in new money on top of the existing offer. A golden share would give the government veto power over decisions.

The government has been contacted for comment.

L&VW said on Tuesday that the new offer had “material improvements” on the old one, and would benefit customers.

A spokesperson said: “We continue to believe that the L&VW plan is by far the fastest and most reliable route to solving Thames Water’s complex problems and improving outcomes for customers and the environment.”

They said the new deal “achieves this without any government funding or cost to taxpayers”.

Fears first emerged three years ago that Thames Water could collapse and it has recently warned it could run out of cash by November.

The company, which supplies water and wastewater services for 16 million people across London and parts of southern England, was handed a £122.7m fine last year, the biggest ever issued by the industry regulator Ofwat, for breaching rules on sewage spills and shareholder payouts.

Sources close to the creditors have previously told the BBC that in the event of full nationalisation, they would pursue payment in full of the outstanding debts as has happened in previous cases, which could leave the government with a multi-billion-pound bill.

If the company does go bust, households will still have drinking water and sewerage services.