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NEW YORK – Your shrimp cocktail comes with a side of carbon dioxide, according to scientists who have for the first time quantified greenhouse emissions caused by a destructive fishing technique known as bottom trawling.
Bottom-trawling ships deploy huge weighted nets – up to 800m in length – that scour the ocean floor to scoop up shrimp, crab, cod, halibut and other fish. Scientists and environmentalists have long opposed bottom trawling for the damage it inflicts on seabed ecosystems such as coral reefs, and for killing sea turtles, sharks and other non-targeted marine species inadvertently caught in the drag nets.
There is also a climate cost to be paid, according to a paper published on Jan 18 in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science. Researchers calculated that bottom trawling’s disturbance of CO2 sequestered in seabed sediments results in as much as 370 million tonnes of the greenhouse gas being released into the atmosphere each year. That is more than twice the CO2 emitted by the global fishing industry’s burning of fossil fuels.
The authors of the new paper also estimated that any released CO2 that remains in the ocean is acidifying the surrounding waters, which can dissolve the shells of crabs, mussels, sea urchins and other seafood people depend on.
“These are enclosed areas, particularly like the Mediterranean, where we can see that CO2 can create localised acidification that could be quite substantial,” said Dr Trisha Atwood, the study’s lead author and an associate professor of watershed sciences at Utah State University. She noted that further research is needed to quantify the local impact of acidification as the researchers’ modelling looked at the ocean on a global scale.
The Frontiers study is not the first to connect trawling and CO2; a 2021 paper in the journal Nature, which analysed measurements of CO2 in trawled areas, established for the first time that disturbed sediment had released the planet-warming gas into the ocean. The new research, based on that data, used computer models to show that 55 per cent to 60 per cent of carbon dioxide released from trawled sediment makes its way into the atmosphere from depths of at least 500m, while the rest remains in the ocean.
Though it can take decades for dissolved carbon dioxide in seabed sediments to be released into the atmosphere, depending on depth, the scientists’ models showed that CO2 from trawling entered the air relatively quickly between 1996 and 2020.
“It only takes about nine years for it to make it completely out of the ocean and into the atmosphere, and there’s enough CO2 that is being emitted by global trawling each year that people need to pay attention to it,” Dr Atwood said. “Some of the CO2 is very, very old and might have been laid down in the ocean 10,000 years ago.”
Dr Anastasia Romanou, a National Aeronautics and Space Administration scientist who studies the ocean carbon cycle and is a co-author on the new paper, said the speed at which CO2 from trawling reaches the atmosphere means that curbing the practice would have an almost immediate climate benefit. “Any mitigation effort will be very effective, and we’ll be able to see the results,” said Dr Romanou, a contributing author to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The findings are also still underestimating CO2 emissions from bottom trawling, Dr Atwood said, as data was not available for certain under-monitored trawling hotspots, such as South-east Asia. The scientists identified the Baltic Sea, the East China Sea, the Greenland Sea and the North Sea as most impacted by bottom trawling.
The new research is likely to face pushback from some corners of the scientific world. After publication of the 2021 paper, a group of scientists wrote a response that questioned the methodology used and contended that the researchers had overestimated the amount of CO2 released from seabed sediment due to trawling.
The lead author of the 2021 paper, marine scientist Enric Sala, said in a statement that the new research validated his colleagues’ initial findings. “Many people dismissed the importance of the findings of the 2021 study, saying that the carbon in the water is inconvenient but that atmospheric emissions are what count,” said Dr Sala, also a co-author of the new paper and executive director of the National Geographic Society’s Pristine Seas initiative. “This (new) report is essential in that it shows that roughly half of the emissions from bottom trawling do pollute the atmosphere, and the other half increases the acidity of the ocean.”
Dr Romanou said that while the estimated release of atmospheric CO2 from trawling would be a significant percentage of emissions from fishing, it is a small figure in the context of overall global emissions. Still, bottom trawling’s footprint is growing, she noted, and policymakers are not yet considering its impacts on ocean acidity and CO2 emissions.
“As humanity expands trawling activities and intensifies them, we expect to see larger regions being affected,” Dr Romanou said. BLOOMBERG
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/bottom-trawling-is-releasing-370m-tonnes-of-carbon-dioxide-a-year-study-shows
| 2024-01-18T08:52:23Z
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DARTFORD, England - Silvia Sherwood believes it is time for a change of government in Britain at this year's election, saying an economy that forces cash-strapped elderly women to seek warmth in shops needs to be fixed.
In an era of deep divisions in Britain, voters like Sherwood are becoming some of the best predictors of who will win the election, living in a town where results have aligned with the national vote in every national election since 1964 - the longest consecutive record.
If that track record is any reliable guide, then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak should be worried. Polling and interviews with a couple of dozen voters in the area suggests the governing Conservatives are likely to lose control of the seat.
On the streets of Dartford, a commuter town on the outskirts of London where pensioners wheeled their trolley-bags to the supermarket and mothers pushed their toddlers in prams up the main high street, the one thing that almost every voter agreed on was a sense that Britain's best days were behind it.
"Life has just got harder for people in recent years," said Sherwood, a 75-year-old retired cleaner, recounting a recent meeting with another elderly woman who had sought warmth in a grocery store. "It is the worst I can remember."
Dartford offers clues to the national picture.
Opinion polls show Sunak's Conservatives are trailing the opposition Labour Party by around 20 percentage points against a backdrop of sluggish economic growth, inflation shrinking disposable incomes, and a public sector under strain after years of spending cuts.
British households have suffered the biggest fall in living standards in modern history since the last election in 2019 following the coronavirus pandemic, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Britain's exit from the European Union.
'BEST OF A BAD BUNCH'
Once the centre of paper making in England, Dartford, like many medium-sized towns, has seen manufacturing decline in recent decades.
The disaffection in Dartford is ominous for a political party that must win seats like this to have any chance of staying in power - something Sunak must have known when he visited twice last summer.
Even among traditional Conservative voters in Dartford there is little enthusiasm for Sunak, who replaced Liz Truss as prime minister just over a year ago.
Joanne Godwin, a personal assistant and a Conservative voter, described him as the "best of a bad bunch" - too cautious and without a bold vision to turn the economy around.
Goodwin, who works full-time along with her husband and has two school-age children, said she had to cut down Christmas spending on food and presents because they have become so expensive.
"If we are struggling, I don't know how people on one income are doing," she said.
Kevin Matthews, a sales engineer for a lighting company, who voted for the Conservatives in the last election, said he was going to back the right-wing Reform Party this time because he thought it would be more likely to reduce immigration.
Matthews said a record influx of migrants had made it harder to see a doctor and for younger people to buy homes.
Michael Ostertag, 38, who works as a photographer and stylist and plans to vote for Labour, said the lack of affordable housing was the major issue for him. "A lot of people are feeling quite bitter and angry," he said.
Dartford residents struggled to explain why the area has mirrored national results more consistently than anywhere else in Britain. The area has broadly similar demographics to the national average, but is slightly wealthier, has lower unemployment and a higher mix of ethnic minorities.
Like elsewhere, there is a widespread dislike of politicians. The one hope for the Conservatives was that some voters said they still have not decided which party they will back.
Ali Syed, the manager of a local pizza shop just off the high street, said he would back Labour if voting took place now, but would see what the Conservatives offered in the coming months.
If the Conservatives "improve their policies, then maybe I can think again", he said. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/bellwether-english-town-disenchanted-with-pm-sunaks-conservatives
| 2024-01-18T08:52:33Z
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TROSTIANETS, Ukraine - An excavator belches out fumes as it clears earth and rubble from between the train and bus stations in the Ukrainian town of Trostianets to make way for a reimagined transport hub.
Badly damaged in fighting with Russian forces almost two years ago, Trostianets is one of six settlements being rebuilt with state funds in a pilot programme to develop the skills and experience needed for a far broader reconstruction drive later.
Mayor Yuriy Bova said time was running out to breathe life back into towns, or risk losing millions of Ukrainians who could help redevelop the country to permanent exile in Europe.
“We’re fighting for every person who should return; for every child who needs to return and build their future here,” he told Reuters in the town, barely 30km from Russia.
“To walk around and see this every day, that will morally traumatise a person,” Mr Bova said of the ruined north-eastern town. “We need to restore everything, starting with cafes, libraries, factories, schools, hospitals.”
Officials in Kyiv have also signalled the urgency of rebuilding Ukraine, an effort that will require hundreds of billions of dollars and involve more than quick fixes to critical sites such as hospitals, power stations and railways.
The war, however, shows no signs of abating. Short on cash, Ukraine is defending against new Russian attacks after its own counter-offensive failed to yield significant gains.
Moscow has also resumed a campaign of mass air strikes on population centres far beyond the front line.
For Mr Pavlo Kuzmenko, the mayor of Okhtyrka, a town only 20km down the road from Trostianets that also bears the scars of heavy Russian bombing at the start of the war, resurrecting town squares is a luxury Ukraine cannot afford right now.
Officials in Okhtyrka were slow to finish clearing away the rubble on the main boulevard that was once the city hall and have not yet fixed the gutted department store across the street. Most schools, however, have been repaired with new windows, roofing or bomb shelters, thanks in large part to international donors.
Mr Kuzmenko, who publicly criticised the plans for Trostianets in 2023 and bemoaned a lack of resources, said the focus should be on patching up homes and critical infrastructure only. Any other available funds should go to the military.
“There is plenty to rebuild,” Mr Kuzmenko told Reuters. “Squares, and all their decorations, can be done after the war.”
Standing near the remains of the city hall, Okhtyrka resident Antonina Dmytrychenko, 65, said she agreed with her mayor: “First we need victory, then reconstruction.”
The different views in the neighbouring towns reflect a broader debate about wartime spending playing out across Ukraine.
Most visibly, a growing grassroots protest movement is demanding that discretionary projects, such as sprucing up streets and public spaces, be shelved in favour of the military.
‘Economies win wars’
In a sign of the tension, officials in the Odesa region cancelled more than US$9 million (S$12 million) of tenders during the last three months of 2023.
They said spending on things such as road repairs, the renovation of a stadium and software was “unacceptable” during wartime.
The disputes highlight the need for a clearly communicated government strategy for what recovery and, more broadly, a war-adapted economy should look like, said Ms Orysia Lutsevych at the Chatham House think-tank in London.
She said officials must urgently unlock Ukraine’s economic potential by restoring income-generating growth opportunities that can help defeat Russia – and that meant luring people back as well as stopping more leaving the country for good.
“Militaries win battles, but economies win wars. It’s part of the same equation,” she said.
It might make sense, for example, to build more schools in the comparably safer western city of Lviv for the many Ukrainians displaced there by fighting elsewhere, so they will stay and contribute to the wartime economy, Ms Lutsevych said.
“This is what rebuilding is: maybe it’s not fancy playgrounds, maybe it’s not new zoos,” she said. “But it must be a category of projects that fits within the wider strategy of how Ukraine will sustain this war.”
One of the officials in charge of rebuilding Ukraine, Mr Mustafa Nayyem, acknowledged that reviving heavily damaged towns such as Trostianets would require major administrative muscle.
“The state has never done a comprehensive reconstruction of settlements before,” Mr Nayyem, head of Ukraine’s Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development, told Reuters. “We don’t have that kind of experience.”
That is why Kyiv picked six projects, each with different challenges, to be financed by a state fund comprising mainly of seized Russian assets. The aim was a complete transformation of those places into something better, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said when unveiling the programme in April 2023.
In one case, a village is being entirely rebuilt, another is undergoing mass repairs of housing, while in Trostianets, which is home to a Mondelez chocolate factory, the focus is on several key projects in part to help restore economic life.
The skills required range from the often painstaking work of establishing legal ownership of properties going back generations to replanning entire apartment blocks or new energy networks.
‘Not renewing libraries’
So far, more than US$1.6 billion has been earmarked from the fund for reconstruction, Mr Shmyhal said in October 2023. The pilot projects received about US$86 million in 2023, though the 2024 budget has not yet been set, a spokesperson for the reconstruction agency said.
Overall, the World Bank has estimated that rebuilding Ukraine will cost more than US$400 billion over the next decade, and Western lenders have signalled they are prepared to provide the bulk of the financing.
But the ongoing war has made long-term planning difficult, Mr Nayyem said, citing the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in June 2023. The disaster forced his agency to rush to build a critical water supply line in south-eastern Ukraine in a matter of months, sapping time and resources.
What officials can plan for, Mr Nayyem said, was the “infrastructure of reconstruction” - firming up standards and procedures, building teams and nurturing relationships with international partners.
“These are things that we are developing to the maximum in preparation for the moment when we can allow ourselves to, more or less, plan in greater detail,” he said. “And it isn’t necessarily only after our victory.”
Mr Nayyem defended the pilot projects against critics such as Mr Kuzmenko, saying no one was rebuilding anything unnecessary, just homes and the services people need to live.
He said strategic roads facilitating military movements or trade across Ukraine, as well as administrative buildings, should also be priorities.
“We’re not renewing libraries or museums,” he said.
In Trostianets, the plan is to restore two apartment blocks, three medical facilities, the train station, the square, another building nearby and a main road through the town.
Money from international donors, meanwhile, has already helped rebuild a new wing of the main city hospital.
“We believe our town will become even better, to the detriment of our enemies,” said Ms Natalia Androsova, 60, one of the many locals in Trostianets who praised mayor Bova for his leadership and for attracting state funding.
The five other pilot projects are in Borodianka and Moshchun near the capital Kyiv, Yahidne in the north, Tsyrkuny in the east, and Posad-Pokrovske in the south.
Despite the damage in Okhtyrka, which resisted a Russian onslaught despite three weeks of intense shelling, the town is full of life as families criss-cross a park and celebrate special occasions at one of several popular restaurants.
But some yearn for a sense of normalcy beyond critical or immediate needs.
Mr Yaroslav Bybyk, 19, said he wished officials would do more to revive the cultural and youth scene which flourished there before the war.
“I haven’t gone out much in the last few months,” he said. “I don’t see the point.” REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/ukraine-starts-to-rebuild-towns-and-cities-even-as-the-war-rages-on
| 2024-01-18T08:52:44Z
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BERLIN - Heavy snowfall and icy conditions upended air, car and train travel across Germany for a second day on Thursday.
At Frankfurt airport, Germany's largest hub, more than 300 out of almost 1,000 planned arrivals and departures were cancelled in the morning, according to a spokesperson.
Trains to and from Paris were again cancelled, German rail operator Deutsche Bahn said, and for other train journeys, occasional disruption could still occur due to the weather.
Traffic jams built up on highways in central Germany, according to police, who said that clearing the roads would still take several hours and asked drivers to avoid unnecessary trips.
According to local media, drivers in the region caught in the kilometres-long congestion for hours late on Wednesday were provided with hot drinks and blankets by the Red Cross.
The German weather service warned of more snow over the course of the day, with up to 15 centimetres predicted in some parts of southern Germany, and some lingering stormy weather. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/winter-weather-upends-travel-in-germany-for-a-second-day
| 2024-01-18T08:52:54Z
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OSLO -Weather-related disruption at ports in northern Europe and the diversion of vessels away from the Red Sea are causing congestion at container terminals, A.P. Moller-Maersk said in an update to customers on Thursday.
Maersk and other shipping groups have diverted vessels away from the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden following attacks by Yemen's Houthis, sending them on a long journey around Africa rather than through the Suez Canal shortcut.
In northern Europe, winter storms and the effects of the recent holiday season have led to terminal closures and navigation stoppages, the company said.
"Winter weather conditions as well as the Red Sea contingencies are expected to affect operations across Europe and Hub terminals," Maersk said.
"This is leading to increased yard density across terminals and customers are kindly asked to pick up their units as soon as possible after discharge to support fluidity," it said.
Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc on Wednesday said the disruption to global shipping caused by the attacks on vessels in the Red Sea will probably last at least a few months.
"While we hope for a sustainable resolution in the near-future and do all we can to contribute towards it, we do encourage customers to prepare for complications in the area to persist and for there to be significant disruption to the global network," the company said in its update on Thursday.
Maersk said it also offers customers the option to shift some cargo from vessels to air freight at ports in Oman and the United Arab Emirates to fly goods to final destinations in Europe or the United States.
Container shipping rates for key global trade routes have soared, with U.S. and UK air strikes on Yemen stirring fears of a prolonged disruption to global trade traffic in the Red Sea, one of the world's busiest routes. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/maersk-says-winter-weather-red-sea-disruption-cause-congestion
| 2024-01-18T08:53:05Z
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As summer brides look for inspiration for their impending big day, there is a certain summer ceremony that comes to mind as potentially the most dreamy day imaginable. Former Made in Chelsea star and co-host of the NewlyWeds podcast Sophie Habboo, 30, married her MIC sweetheart Jamie Laing, 35, last summer in a two-part wedding that was always destined to be picture-perfect.
Now as she partners with USA Pro on a new activewear line, Sophie exclusively chats to HELLO! just one month into her first full year of marriage to remember her special day and give her advice for brides ahead of theirs.
"It was perfect, I don't regret anything," Sophie says, remembering the moment she said 'I do' at Sotogrande's magical Villa Las Sirenas last summer, and frankly, who could blame her? The podcasters tied the knot in a spectacular al fresco ceremony following their legal wedding at Chelsea Old Town Hall in London just weeks prior. The bride and groom were surrounded by their nearest and dearest dressed in their finery as they pledged to spend the rest of their lives together in a truly picturesque setting that had fairytale written all over it.
The setting radiated natural beauty, much like the blushing bride who stunned in an ethereal lace gown made bespoke by Emma Beaumont. A far cry from the stylish Vivienne Westwood mini dress that wore as she and Jamie were covered in confetti at their London do, the floor-length figure-hugging gown with intricately detailed sleeves and an elegant train was about as classic and timeless as it gets.
"They were very different," Sophie says, recalling the contrasting dresses. "I've always wanted lace and I knew I wanted lace sleeves. I had a vision for the Spanish wedding, I didn't have a vision for the English wedding. It really just came together very sporadically, it wasn't that planned. I like the look of it but I always knew what I wanted for my Spanish wedding. I wanted kind of traditional."
The aesthetic of the English ceremony felt modern, with Sophie sporting a bow in her hair and a pair of stunning diamanté-encrusted Jimmy Choo heels. Jamie grew up around Chelsea and she says that it "felt right" to officially tie the knot there. And yet, Sophie reveals that it was not tightly planned like the Spanish wedding that fans heard about on the wedding-centred NearlyWeds podcast.
"The English wedding just came together, I don't know how it came together!," Sophie says. "The Spanish wedding was a long time that we were getting that dress made and I got it done by a designer called Emma Beaumont and her place is up in Manchester so it was quite a long process. I would go and visit her in Manchester, she would come down to London and it was a really exciting time."
A special moment for Sophie was her mother, Sarah Wigley, seeing her in the bespoke dress for the first time. Sophie remembers: "It was really emotional. I cried! I had my bridesmaids. My mum was in Portugal because she lives in Portugal so that was sad but she came to all my other fittings. But it was actually quite special because she saw me for the first time on the day which was a big moment when I showed myself on the day before I walked down the aisle as she got ready with me so it was all really special."
The co-host of the Wednesdays podcast also reveals the highlight of the day in Spain that she had spent so long meticulously planning. "Walking up the aisle with my dad holding my arm and seeing Jamie at the top of the altar was pretty special," she says recalling her day when she was surrounded by family and friends including her former Made in Chelsea co-stars Sam Thompson, Ruby Adler and Millie Mackintosh.
Sophie's number one tip for brides who are set to get married this summer is simple. She says: "Don't sweat the small things. I know everyone says it but if you're getting worked up about something or panicking about something, just take 15 minutes to yourself and think 'Why am I really getting worried about this'?'
"Nothing is worth getting stressed over. I made the mistake of getting a little bit stressed about things and really on the day it's so perfect. It's the most amazing day, everyone there is rooting for you, they're there because they all love you and no one worries if the napkin was rolled the wrong way."
The newlywed also has tips for keeping your hair and makeup in place. Sophie herself wore her hair in loose blow-dried waves for her English do, but for her main event, she went for a slicked bun and wore a timeless makeup look featuring a subtle winged eyeliner and cheek-bone defining contour that had to last in the heat. "Tinted suncream is the best thing ever," Sophie says. "I don't love foundation so I wore this Ultra Violette tinted SPF ['Daydream Screen'] and it's SPF50. Obviously, if you're doing an abroad wedding that is key and now I wear it all the time."
She adds that there was also a rather handy trick that she kept up her lace-adorned sleeve for keeping her makeup on all day and all night. "Put your makeup on using a beauty blender," she tells us. "If you spray your beauty blender with setting spray, like I use Charlotte Tilbury ['Airbrush Flawless'] setting spray, your makeup will honestly stay on and it will be flawless and then you put setting spray on afterwards."
She also says not skipping your full skincare routine on the morning of your wedding is also key, no matter how excitable things get in your dressing room. Speaking from experience, Sophie tells us that "how your skin is underneath is going to make it ultimately nice and stay on. Keep getting that skincare routine key before you go. Also exfoliating. I know it's hit and miss about how many times you should be exfoliating but I use a daily microexfoliator from Dermalogica so you can use it daily and it gives your skin a really nice surface to put your makeup on."
As Sophie enters her first full year of marriage she is looking forward to new adventures with her husband Jamie as they take their podcast on tour, but also solo ventures that pique her interest. The star has launched a new line of gorgeous fitted activewear with USA Pro and she says it is her secret to feeling confident when working out. "This is why the collection has been so amazing because it's really flattering, it's really thick material," she tells us. "It's stretchy, its soft material, the colours are great so that's really why I wanted to design it because I wasn't finding anything I loved working out in, and I love working out in this collection."
Taking that time for yourself is crucial amongst the joy, and sometimes stress, of wedding planning - a fact Sophie is familiar with. She says that taking time to work out followed by a sauna, a walk in nature or an acai bowl at her favourite post-gym spot is the personal well-being time she cherishes.
With two gorgeous ceremonies to take inspiration from, Sophie's wedding is the perfect place to start when creating your bridal mood board or when searching for places you can add that extra sparkle on your special day.
DISCOVER: 9 white hen party dresses for the bride to wow in
Shop Sophie Habboo’s USA Pro collection now via sportsdirect.com/usa-pro/sophie-habboo
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/brides/511472/exclusive-sophie-habboo-perfect-spanish-wedding-jamie-laing/
| 2024-01-18T09:14:57Z
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On 17 January, the first ever meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council in military format at the level of Chiefs of Defence took place in Brussels. However, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhnyi did not take part.
According to sources from Ukrainska Pravda, the General instead attended a military briefing with President Zelenskyy in Kyiv, which likely signals Zaluzhnyi’s priorities.
Ukraine was represented by Major General Serhiy Salkutsan, although earlier plans stipulated that Valeriy Zaluzhnyi would join the meeting via video link.
“He briefed on the current situation on the battlefield, highlighted the priority needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, called for increased weapons supplies, including air defence systems and missiles,” said the Mission of Ukraine to NATO in a Facebook post.
The NATO-Ukraine Council was established at the NATO Vilnius Summit in July 2023 to serve as a high-level forum for joint consultations, decision-making, and practical cooperation between NATO and Ukraine.
Read more:
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/01/18/the-first-ukraine-nato-meeting-of-chiefs-of-defence-took-place-without-zaluzhnyi/
| 2024-01-18T09:17:57Z
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Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov has canceled his visit to France over security concerns, where the launch of an artillery coalition to aid Ukraine was set to take place. This was confirmed by the French Ministry of Defense.
Umerov’s cancellation comes amidst hesitancy from the West over further support for Ukraine, with €50 billion stuck in limbo in the EU and $60 billion held up in the US
During his visit, Umerov and French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu were to tour Nexter factories in Bourges, where CAESAR self-propelled howitzers are produced, as well as visit the MBDA missile shipyard in Selles-Saint-Denis. The Ukrainian Defense Minister will now participate remotely via video link.
The artillery coalition to aid Ukraine is led jointly by France and the US under the framework of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, established at the Ramstein format. The coalition was set up to provide for Ukraine’s short-term and long-term defense needs.
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/01/18/ukraines-defense-minister-umerov-cancels-france-visit/
| 2024-01-18T09:18:38Z
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Influencer Mila De Jesus, who rose to fame after documenting her weight loss journey on social media, has passed away at the age of 35.
The news was confirmed by her family via separate statements on social media. On Facebook, her husband George Kowszik wrote: "I am not really good with words and talking here… I lost my beautiful wife and my best friend yesterday that I love so much for her. I don’t know what to say."
Two days later, Mila's daughter Anna Clara took to her mother's Instagram page with a black and white picture of the influencer. In the caption, translated from Portuguese to English, she penned: "I, Anna Clara, am posting this condolence note. We are very sad to hear of the passing of our beautiful mother. We appreciate all the prayers and condolences. Continue to pray for us. Thank you."
Fans rushed to the comments section to share their sadness, with one person writing: "Sending lots of love and comfort to you family and close friends. She brought so much joy and will be missed," while another commented: "So sad, still can't believe it. My deepest condolences to the family."
Mila, who was originally from Brazil but lived in Boston, Massachusetts, leaves behind four children, including Anna Clara. Her cause of death has not been revealed.
The 35-year-old gained a large following online after undergoing bariatric surgery in October 2017, after which she documented her weight loss journey.
In her latest update from November 2023, she shared a before and after post featuring two pictures taken 13 years apart. "13 years between one picture... 6 years since a decision that changed my life in so many ways," she penned. "On one side Mila aged 22 and on the other Mila aged 35, how much we change huh, how we grow and how we learn. Pride girl pride."
Mila amassed over 60K Instagram followers and 100k YouTube subscribers through her weight loss documentation.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/celebrities/511530/influencer-mila-de-jesus-dies-aged-35/
| 2024-01-18T09:58:50Z
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Our thoughts are with the Wales family, after Princess Kate was admitted to hospital for planned abdominal surgery.
The royal, who turned 42 last week, has rarely been ill since stepping into the spotlight on the arm of Prince William, and prior to this week has been the picture of health, only publicly admitted to hospital while pregnant due to extreme morning sickness.
Of her hospitalisation this week, a statement from the palace read in part: "Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales was admitted to The London Clinic yesterday for planned abdominal surgery.
"The surgery was successful and it is expected that she will remain in hospital for ten to fourteen days, before returning home to continue her recovery. Based on the current medical advice, she is unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter."
We take a look back at Princess Kate's almost impeccable clean bill of health…
Princess Kate's pregnancy illness
Princess Kate was unwell with extreme morning sickness throughout all three of her pregnancies, but it was so severe when she was pregnant for the first time with Prince George that the royal was admitted to hospital.
When unable to keep anything down, a hospital stay will allow any fluids to be administered via a drip to keep the mother and baby hydrated and healthy.
Princess Kate's childhood injury
Princess Kate has a three-inch scar running along her temple on the left-hand side of her head, which caused royal watchers to speculate over how she sustained the injury, with some suggesting she was injured in a hockey match.
Keen to put rumours to bed, a spokesperson for Kensington Palace told E! News in 2011: "The scar is related to a childhood operation."
No further details were given and Princess Kate has never spoken about undergoing surgery in her childhood.
DISCOVER: Who is looking after the Princess of Wales' children while she recovers from abdominal surgery?
Princess Kate's minor injuries
The royal is often seen with a plaster on her finger during royal engagements, most recently in September 2023 during a visit to men's prison HMP High Down in Surrey.
Princess Kate admitted she'd hurt herself on the trampoline at home. A spokesperson for Kensington Palace says it was a "small injury, nothing serious".
Princess Kate's Covid exposure
The Princess of Wales never publicly discussed contracting Covid, but in July 2021 she missed several engagements after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for Covid, according to a statement from Kensington Palace. The royal reportedly showed no symptoms, but isolated in line with the guidelines at the time.
While other royals have also missed engagements due to flu and cold, Princess Kate has no track record of such.
Here's hoping she makes a swift recovery!
Royally obsessed? Listen to the latest episode of HELLO!'s Right Royal Podcast here...
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/healthandbeauty/health-and-fitness/511529/princess-kate-illness-over-years/
| 2024-01-18T09:58:56Z
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Living in your partner's shadow can be a challenging pill to swallow. But for many of us, watching our partner thrive, and cheering them on as they do so, is a deeply rewarding and satisfying experience.
There's no denying that Queen Mary has stolen the hearts of the Danish people — many of them affectionately refer to her as 'King Mary'. But how does the new King Frederik feel about his wife's immense popularity?
A Right Royal Podcast is back, and in this episode, our hosts Emmy and Andrea examine the relationship between the new King and Queen. Joined by Chris Ship, royal editor at ITV News, alongside Wim Dehandschutter, royal reporter at DPG Media and Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty Magazine, they discuss and dissect the dynamic between the pair.
"It was clear that Mary is the most popular one of the two. I mean, the cheers for her when she stepped out on the balcony was absolutely huge," Andrea said. Queen Mary sparked a raucous outpouring of applause when she emerged onto the balcony during her husband's accession on Sunday.
While the new King and Queen are both overwhelmingly well-liked with the Danish public, during the episode, Chris explained that King Frederik had to contend with the fact that his wife is, perhaps, even more popular than he is.
"She really has a star quality or regal quality about her which we will see in the years to come when she's wearing all the really big sparkly jewels that until now, haven't been hers to wear," Chris said.
In the podcast episode, he went on to compare their relationship to the marriage of the then-Prince Charles and Princess Diana, looking at similarities and differences between the two couples.
Listen to the podcast below to find out exactly what Chris had to say about Queen Mary's immense popularity.
The accession of King Frederik and Queen Mary last Sunday came after the shock abdication of Queen Margrethe during her New Year TV address earlier this year, and the announcement has firmly placed the Danish royal family in the spotlight.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/511495/how-king-frederik-really-feels-about-queen-marys-popularity/
| 2024-01-18T09:59:02Z
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MOSCOW - Russia said on Thursday it was impossible to discuss nuclear arms control with the United States without taking into account the situation in Ukraine, accusing Washington of seeking military dominance.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference that Washington had proposed separating the two issues and resuming "strategic stability" talks between the two countries, which hold by far the world's biggest nuclear arsenals.
But Lavrov said the proposal was unacceptable to Russia because of the West's backing for Ukraine in the war now approaching the end of its second year.
The absence of dialogue is significant because the New START accord that limits both sides' strategic nuclear warheads is due to expire in February 2026. Its lapse would leave the two countries with no remaining nuclear arms agreement at a time when tensions between them are at the highest point since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962.
"We do not see the slightest interest on the part of either the United States or NATO to settle the Ukrainian conflict and listen to Russia's concerns," Lavrov said.
He accused the West of pushing Ukraine to use increasingly long-range weapons for strikes deep inside Russia. Such strikes have intensified in recent weeks, including an attack on the southern city of Belgorod that killed 25 people on Dec. 30.
Lavrov did not provide any evidence for his assertion that the West was encouraging Ukraine to carry out such strikes but accused the United States of seeking military superiority over Russia.
There were no grounds to discuss arms control while the West was conducting what he described as "hybrid war" against Moscow, he said.
"We do not reject this idea for the future, but we precondition this possibility on the abandonment by the West of its policy of undermining and not respecting Russia’s interests," said Lavrov. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/russia-says-it-wont-discuss-nuclear-arms-control-with-us-while-it-backs-ukraine
| 2024-01-18T10:21:05Z
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MANILA – The Philippines’ Agriculture Ministry said on Jan 18 it has temporarily banned poultry imports from Japan due to an outbreak of avian influenza.
Agriculture Minister Francisco Tiu Laurel said in a statement that the import ban was necessary to protect the local poultry population from exposure to the H5N1 avian influenza strain.
The Philippines has imposed similar bans on imports from California and Ohio in the United States, as well as from Belgium and France.
Bird flu is carried by migrating wild birds and can then be transmitted between farms. It has ravaged flocks around the world in recent years, disrupting supply and pushing up food prices. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/philippines-bans-poultry-imports-from-japan-due-to-avian-flu-outbreak
| 2024-01-18T10:21:15Z
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SEOUL - The nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States, and Japan condemned North Korea for its recent missile tests, arms trade with Russia and increasingly hostile rhetoric at a meeting in Seoul on Thursday.
Pyongyang's transfer of short-range ballistic missiles and other weapons to Russia for use against Ukraine, and human rights violations against North Koreans, demand attention and coordinated action, Jung Pak, U.S. senior official for North Korea, said in an opening statement.
"The United States is also deeply concerned by the recent uptick in hostile rhetoric particularly toward the Republic of Korea from the DPRK (North Korean) regime," Pak said.
The three countries have increased joint efforts to deter North Korea in recent years including trilateral meetings and launching a missile warning data sharing system in December.
The meeting comes days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for his country's constitution to be changed to ensure that South Korea was seen as the "primary foe", saying Pyongyang did not intend to avoid war should it happen.
South Korea on Wednesday announced sanctions on two individuals, three entities and 11 ships linked to North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes, days after North Korea fired a new intermediate-range, solid-fuel hypersonic missile.
Kim Gunn, Seoul’s Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs, said North Korea's would only hurt itself with its 'closed door policy' of closing agencies handling inter-Korean exchanges and blaming South Korea and the U.S. for rising tensions.
Japan's envoy, Hiroyuki Namazu, condemning Pyongyang's ballistic missile launch and said there must be close monitoring of what Russia might be providing to North Korea in return for armaments. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/skorea-us-and-japan-nuclear-envoys-condemn-north-korea-over-arms-trade-with-russia
| 2024-01-18T10:21:26Z
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SEOUL - South Korea's major political parties vowed more public housing and easier loans in efforts to stem population decline outlined on Thursday ahead of elections in April, aiming to allay fears of "national extinction" as fertility rates crumble.
The parties' focus on population in their election planks reflects growing alarm after spending of more than 360 trillion won ($268 billion) since 2006 has failed to reverse record low fertility rates.
With South Korea expected to become a "super-ageing" society in 2025, as more than a fifth of its population passes 65, the government projects numbers will fall to 36.2 million in 2072 from 51.6 million in 2022.
"National extinction is not something that will happen far in the future, but instead it is an imminent challenge," Lee Jae-myung, a leader of the opposition Democratic Party, said at a meeting rolling out its proposals.
South Korea projects its fertility rate, or the average number of children born to a woman, is likely to fall to 0.68 in 2024, past the figure of 0.78 in 2022, which was already a record low, the latest data show.
That compares with figures of 1.3 in Japan and 1.66 in the United States in 2021. But South Korea's woes date from 1983, when the figure fell below 2.1, the level that will ensure population replacement.
"We don't have a lot of time," President Yoon Suk Yeol said in a New Year message, referring to the population crisis.
His conservative People Power Party, in its programme to make life easier for parents, focused on longer leave and flexible work conditions, as well as tax breaks for employers to offer family-friendly working conditions.
At the April vote for a new parliament, Yoon's conservatives will try to wrest the majority from the Democrats and help boost his pro-business agenda, including tax cuts, deregulation and market reforms.
The Democrats, campaigning to retain their majority, pledged more public housing for young families and low interest loans that will be cancelled if they have children, for whom they will receive tax-free child grants through the years to high school.
"Having to choose not to have children, and there are many reasons for that, is truly a cruel reality," Lee said, adding that the focus was to put money where families say it is most needed to help them start and raise a family.
The Democrats propose to help young families become home owners by giving those with children the option of buying rental housing at rates below market priced.
Newly married couples will be entitled to low-interest loans of up to 100 million won, which will be cancelled if they have three children, with a similar amount in grants on offer, tied to the number of children.
Housing and education costs in a society where relentless competition can begin as soon as the preschool years have been cited as the reason why fewer young people get married each year and families have fewer children later in life.
The share of couples married for five years or less with no children touched a record high of 46.4% in 2022, government data shows. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-korean-parties-promise-homes-loans-in-steps-to-boost-population
| 2024-01-18T10:21:36Z
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SINGAPORE - Listings of initial public offerings on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) are expected to remain subdued, but experts at Deloitte Singapore are sanguine about the prospects.
The stock exchanges of Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia lead South-east Asia in displaying resilience against challenging macroeconomic conditions, with the region managing a constant number of IPO listings, they said in a report on Jan 18.
However, in line with global trends, there was a 24 per cent decrease in the total IPO amount raised to US$5.8 billion (S$7.8 billion), the lowest in eight years, and a 26 per cent decrease in total IPO market capitalisation.
On Singapore’s subdued performance, the Deloitte report noted that Singapore companies are exposed to various opportunities in the global markets as various stock exchanges have held marketing road shows in the Republic to compete for new listings on their bourses.
Mr Darren Ng, Deloitte Singapore’s disruptive events advisory deputy leader, said there are many Singapore companies enjoying international recognition for their robust business fundamentals that have explored cross-border listings on global exchanges.
Many of these companies have chosen to list in the United States for better exposure to key target markets, access to a deeper pool of investors, or for liquidity and status. Since 2021, 14 Singapore companies, including property platform Ohmyhome and facilities management platform Simpple, have listed in the US.
But the economic infrastructure and initiatives by the Singapore Government and SGX provide an ideal platform for companies aspiring to go public, Mr Ng said.
“Singapore, with its political stability and strong regulatory environment, sets the stage for unprecedented capital inflows, acts as a strategic bridge between the US and China, and is the regional headquarters of choice for numerous funds and family offices,” he added.
Six IPOs on SGX’s Catalist board raised about US$35 million in proceeds in 2023. This compares to a total of US$428 million in proceeds raised by 11 IPOs in 2022, and US$1.2 billion in proceeds by eight IPOs in 2021.
Deloitte’s IPO tally excludes secondary listings and reverse takeovers.
The six companies which listed in 2023 were YKGI, the company behind Yew Kee duck rice; engineering service provider Ever Glory United Holdings; medical supplier Pasture Holdings; dermatology and medical skincare company Niks Professional; renewable energy-related Sheffield Green; and game developer Winking Studios.
These came after secondary listings resumed in Singapore after five years, with two such listings which do not involve any share offer for subscription or sale on the mainboard in 2023. These were wireless solutions provider Comba Telecom Systems Holdings from Hong Kong and oil palm plantation company TSH Resources Berhad from Malaysia.
In a first for Singapore, live-streaming platform 17Live Group debuted on the SGX mainboard in December after its business was merged with Singapore’s first special-purpose acquisition company (Spac), Vertex Technology Acquisition Corporation.
Spacs, or “blank cheque” firms, are shell companies that raise capital in an IPO and use the cash to merge with a private company in order to take it public.
Deloitte noted that since the listing of Vertex and two other Spacs in January 2022, interest in Spacs on SGX has cooled.
Out of the three Spacs, only Vertex has managed to successfully complete an acquisition, although shares of 17Live are down by more than 76 per cent since their SGX debut in December.
Meanwhile, the other two Spacs – Novo Tellus Alpha Acquisition and Pegasus Asia – have both announced that they would not conclude any merger.
“Spacs have a limited shelf life, and there are still many Spacs in the market looking for targets before the end of their shelf life, especially in the United States which is the largest market for Spacs globally,” Deloitte experts said in the report.
The report added that with Singapore’s sound Spacs framework, companies will tap this opportunity when the time is right.
“Spacs typically target high-growth tech-enabled companies. With the current challenging economic outlook, many of these high-growth companies are also facing challenges, coupled with a lack of readiness of investors in the current economic climate, hence leading to an accumulation of factors that do not optimise the SGX Spac framework at the moment,” it said.
Singapore will continue to be the destination of choice for Reits aspirants, going forward, even though high interest rates in recent years have kept most at bay.
A high interest rate environment means Reit IPO aspirants will need to offer higher dividend yields to attract investors. Most economists expect rates to ease later this year.
South-east Asia produced 163 IPOs which raised US$5.8 billion in funds in 2023. Compared with 2022, the number of IPOs in the region was unchanged, but the total IPO proceeds fell from US$7.6 billion.
This was led by listings from Indonesia’s renewable energy as well as metals and minerals sector. The country saw 79 companies listed in 2023, up from 59 in 2022.
Deloitte expects to see more growth in Indonesia’s energy and resources sector, especially those related to the electric vehicle supply chain leading to sizeable and more IPOs in 2024.
Elsewhere, the US and Hong Kong enjoyed a minor rebound in IPOs, although they are still a far cry from the pre-Covid-19 levels.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/asean-weathers-ipo-drought-sgx-potential-intact-amid-subdued-performance-deloitte
| 2024-01-18T10:21:47Z
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HONG KONG – Citigroup is planning to lay off around 20 equity researchers in Asia-Pacific as part of its global overhaul, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.
Two researchers in Hong Kong are going to be impacted, with the rest of the headcount reduction likely to take place in Japan, Australia and South Korea, the person said.
The cuts are going to make a small dent in the Wall Street bank’s regional research workforce, where it has several hundred employees based in multiple markets, according to the source.
Citi declined to comment.
Amid its sweeping reorganisation, which is expected to lead to as many as 20,000 jobs being cut over the next two years, three senior executives were leaving Citi’s equity trading division, sources told Reuters on Jan 17.
Bloomberg reported on Jan 18 that Dr Liu Li-gang, Citi’s head of Asia-Pacific economic analysis, and Mr Rob Hoffman, head of investment counsellors for South Asia, at its Asia wealth division were leaving. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/banking/citi-to-cut-20-asia-pacific-equity-research-jobs-in-global-overhaul-source-says
| 2024-01-18T10:21:57Z
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SINGAPORE – The final three months of 2023 were far from festive for smaller businesses, with deteriorating economic conditions making life a bit more difficult than in the third quarter, a report noted on Jan 18.
An index focused on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) fell to 49.5 points in the three months to Dec 31, down a smidgeon from 49.6 points in the third quarter and marking the fourth straight quarter of decline.
A reading below 50 indicates worsening business activity relative to the same period a year earlier. A reading over 50 indicates an improvement.
The quarterly index compiled by OCBC is based on the transaction data of more than 100,000 of its SME customers here with annual sales turnover of up to $30 million.
Mr Linus Goh, OCBC’s head of global commercial banking, said several industries serving the domestic market such as food and beverage (F&B), education and business services turned slightly contractionary after expanding for six or more quarters.
“The externally oriented industries led by wholesale trade, manufacturing and transport and logistics remained contractionary as headwinds persisted in global trade,” he added.
SMEs will likely continue to face rising business costs and slowing global demand in 2024, while those looking to venture overseas may be impacted by geopolitical uncertainties, Mr Goh told The Straits Times.
Manpower-intensive sectors such as transport and logistics are most at risk, especially if there is prolonged impact from the ongoing Red Sea conflict, he said.
SME sales collections and payments slipped in the fourth quarter due to soft external demand and domestic cost challenges, the report found.
Only three industries – retail, building and construction, and healthcare – recorded better performances in the fourth quarter compared with the same period a year earlier. This compares with five of such industries in the third quarter and four in the second.
The retail sector’s score was unchanged from the previous quarter at 50.9, while building and construction continued to expand even as its reading dipped to 50.3, down from 50.8 in the third quarter.
A steady pipeline of public and private construction projects has supported the sector’s growth over the past year, but the reading has been on a decline since the first quarter of 2023 in light of an economic slowdown and inflationary pressures.
Healthcare posted a score of 50.2, reversing two quarters of contraction, thanks to higher collections and payments.
While firms that distribute medical supplies continued to underperform, the industry was buoyed by healthcare providers amid the latest wave of Covid-19, which would have generated some demand, noted the report.
Meanwhile, the education industry turned slightly contractionary in the wake of declines in collections and payments at training centres.
A separate OCBC poll showed that only a quarter of respondents within this sector experienced an improved business performance in the fourth quarter compared with the previous three months – the lowest share across all sectors.
A slowdown in wholesale trade turned the F&B industry contractionary, said the report, adding that spending during the year-end festive season was likely moderated by an increase in outbound travel and higher prices.
The business services industry shrank as well, reversing its expansion in the third quarter. It was weighed down by weaker demand for advisory, consultancy and human resources services amid softer hiring and businesses cutting costs.
However, the business services, F&B and education sectors might recover this year as they had been consistently expanding for at least five quarters before turning contractionary in the fourth quarter, said Mr Goh.
“This dip might be due to the extraordinary outbound travel demand in the fourth quarter, so we should have a better sense (of how these sectors will fare) from the findings in the first quarter of this year.“
The poll of 1,400 business owners in the fourth quarter showed that SMEs were slightly less optimistic about the outlook for the first half of 2024 and were also concerned about rising costs.
It noted that 14 per cent of firms expect a decline, slightly higher than the 13 per cent in the third quarter, but 47 per cent expect their businesses to perform better over the next two quarters, while 39 per cent predicted that performance will remain the same.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/rocky-end-to-2023-for-smaller-firms-as-economic-woes-weigh-on-consumer-spending-ocbc-index
| 2024-01-18T10:22:07Z
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Coco Lee’s fans from around the world gathered in the Chinese city of Wuhan on Jan 17, as they marked the late Mandopop star’s first “birthday” since her death in July 2023.
The Hong Kong-American singer died at the age of 48 on July 5, 2023, and her ashes were interred at the Shimen Peak Memorial Park in her mother’s ancestral home town of Wuhan.
Fans began gathering at the park from morning, bearing gifts to mourn their idol and turning the place into a sea of flowers.
Lee’s family was also invited to the event, which began at 1.17pm, with her 86-year-old mother accompanied by Lee’s elder sisters Carol and Nancy.
The original plan was for Lee’s mother to cut the cake at the event. But she was overcome with emotion, and crying, so her two sisters accompanied the fans in cutting the cake instead. Fans also performed some of Lee’s songs and dances at the event.
“2023 was a difficult year for my family and all the fans who love Coco,” Nancy said in a speech on behalf of the family. “Jan 17, 2024 is Coco’s first birthday since she left us, and my family would like to thank fans who came here from around the world to send their blessings.”
Nancy, 51, said she hoped fans would remember what Lee left behind, and that they would work hard to live with her love and positive energy.
“My mum said after Coco left us that she is getting old, and my elder sister and I are no longer young,” Nancy said. “We hope that Coco’s story can still be passed down by the fans and their children so that the world will not forget about her.”
At the event, Lee’s mother announced that a platform has been established for her global fan club to disseminate information on commemorative events.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/coco-lee-s-fans-turn-up-at-memorial-park-to-mark-late-singer-s-birthday
| 2024-01-18T10:22:18Z
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SINGAPORE – Ask serious collectors to pick a favourite in their collection, and most will tell you they cannot. It is like being asked to choose a favourite child, they say.
Not National University of Singapore (NUS) law professor David Tan. From his stash of almost 300 couture jackets, one now has his heart – a “deconstructed” Louis Vuitton piece that gives the illusion of separate parts floating in the air.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/style/viva-la-veste-s-pore-law-professor-s-42-couture-jackets-on-display-in-new-exhibition
| 2024-01-18T10:22:28Z
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Most students have a favourite teacher. In the future, could that teacher be... a chatbot? The answer depends in part on whether artificial intelligence (AI) succeeds in becoming the next great educational technology innovation, or joins the long list of ed-tech disappointments.
Two kinds of AI-driven education are likely to take off, and they will have very different effects. Both approaches have real promise, but neither will make everyone happy.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/your-child-s-favourite-teacher-may-soon-be-a-chatbot
| 2024-01-18T10:22:39Z
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SINGAPORE – A 21-year-old man died after an accident between his motorcycle and a lorry at the junction of Ang Mo Kio Street 22 and Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 at about 6.15pm on Jan 17.
The motorcyclist was taken to hospital but later died from his injuries, police said.
An eyewitness told Chinese news outlet Shin Min Daily News that he saw the motorcyclist lying motionless in the middle of the road when he drove past the accident site.
He said he saw someone assessing the motorcyclist’s injuries, another person helping to direct traffic, and a third phoning for help.
Shin Min reported that the lorry driver and several passers-by tried performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the motorcyclist before the Singapore Civil Defence Force arrived.
The lorry driver, 29, who was seen sitting on a curb by the road in visible shock, told the paper that he was preparing to make a right turn when the accident occurred.
He said: “I suddenly heard a loud noise and felt the lorry sway.”
The driver, who was on the way to pick up his colleagues after work, said he immediately got out to check on the motorcyclist, and then informed his manager about the incident.
The driver’s manager told Shin Min: “(The driver) has many years of driving experience and has always been very cautious.”
He said the lorry was stationary when the collision occurred.
Police investigations are ongoing.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/21-year-old-motorcyclist-dies-after-collision-with-lorry-in-ang-mo-kio
| 2024-01-18T10:22:49Z
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You are reading the Evening Update newsletter. Get up to speed with the important stories from the day. Subscribe to our newsletter.
Former transport minister Iswaran faces 27 charges including corruption, says he is not guilty
PAP’s stance on corruption is non-negotiable, part of its DNA: DPM Lawrence Wong on Iswaran’s case
There can be no compromise, relaxation, or fudging the issue; no matter the political price, said DPM Wong.
‘I am innocent and will now focus on clearing my name’: Iswaran resigns, will return salary
From Jan 18, Acting Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat will replace Iswaran as transport minister.
Tickets to F1, Harry Potter shows and football matches: What are the 27 charges Iswaran faces?
He is accused of 24 counts of obtaining, as a minister, items with a total value of more than $200,000 from property tycoon Ong Beng Seng.
Nothing to suggest F1 S’pore GP contracts disadvantaged Govt: MTI
“The terms of all the agreements were considered carefully by the Government,” MTI added.
Recap: Iswaran faces 27 charges
Catch up on the latest key developments in the corruption case involving former minister Iswaran in the ST blog.
Price freeze for popular seafood, vegetables at FairPrice from Jan 18 through CNY period
Seafood items such as Chinese pomfret, as well as selected vegetables like nai bai will have their prices locked.
EV chargers installed at 700 HDB carparks; new public fast chargers in Toa Payoh, Punggol
Drivers of taxis, private-hire cars and fleet vehicles can top up batteries faster with the roll-out of the first public fast chargers in HDB commercial carparks.
Constant replenishing of skills key to successful industrial policy: President Tharman at WEF
Developing human capital requires education systems that provide high quality of education for all, he said.
Month-old baby with heart defect had 2 strokes, 2 ops; parents raising money for treatment
They aim to raise $70,000, with the amount paid directly to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/evening-update-today-s-headlines-from-the-straits-times-on-jan-18-2024
| 2024-01-18T10:22:59Z
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PARIS - French police have searched the Finance Ministry's tax administration offices over allegations of favourable treatment granted to football club Paris-Saint-Germain over the transfer of Brazilian star Neymar, a source close to the investigation said.
The source, who confirmed earlier reports of the raid by news outlet Mediapart, added that the raid was part of a bigger investigation.
Mediapart had reported earlier that the suspected favourable tax treatment was given to the club as part of Neymar's 2017 transfer from Barcelona to PSG.
The Economics and Finance Ministry declined to comment.
Paris-Saint-Germain did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/french-police-search-finance-ministry-tax-offices-over-neymar-transfer-source
| 2024-01-18T10:23:10Z
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MELBOURNE – Novak Djokovic has long credited a series of unusual methods for helping him become one of the greatest tennis players ever, not least his 15-year “special relationship” with a Melbourne tree.
The world No. 1, who swears by a plant-based diet, extols the virtues of meditation and has previously used a spiritual guru, has never been shy of talking about his eccentricities.
As he targets an unprecedented 11th Australian Open title, he said he had been connecting again with his “old friend” – a Melbourne fig tree in the city’s Royal Botanic Gardens that he likes to hug and climb.
“It is true. It is true. There’s one particular tree that I’ve been having a special relationship with, so to say, in the last 15 years,” the 24-time Grand Slam champion said after battling into the third round on Jan 17.
“I love every corner of the Botanic Gardens. I think it’s an incredible treasure for Melbourne to have such a park and nature in the middle of the city.
“That particular tree, I cannot reveal which one, I’ll try to keep it discreet for myself when I’m there to have my own time. I like to ground myself and connect with that old friend.”
The Serb broke through for his first Grand Slam title at the 2008 Australian Open and he has been a regular visitor to Melbourne since, long professing an affinity with its vegetation.
Asked why he was attracted to that particular tree, he replied: “I just liked it. I liked its roots and the trunks and branches and everything. So I started climbing it years ago. That’s it. I just have a connection.”
Earlier in the tournament, he insisted that he was not superstitious “but I do obviously like to visit certain places that have brought me luck”.
“Just be by myself in nature, just grounding, hugging trees, climbing trees and stuff,” he added.
“Whether that’s the secret of success here in Australia or not, I don’t know, but it has definitely made me feel good.”
Djokovic’s fondness for the unusual has made him stand out from his peers, who enjoy a more straightforward lifestyle.
He has previously spoken about using hyperbaric oxygen chambers and healing “pyramids”, while meditating with Spanish guru Pepe Imaz, a former journeyman player who extols a “love and peace” philosophy.
Th 36-year-old has also dabbled in various diets including gluten-free and dairy-free, and is now a proud “plant-based athlete” – the subject of a Netflix documentary, “The Game Changers”, for which he was executive producer.
Known for his humanitarian work as well as his sporting prowess, Djokovic also made headlines after claiming it was possible to alter the composition of water and food through the power of positive thinking.
He is a known vaccine-sceptic, a stance that led to his deportation from Melbourne ahead of the 2022 Australian Open during the Covid pandemic. AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/tennis/novak-djokovic-s-15-year-special-relationship-with-melbourne-tree
| 2024-01-18T10:23:21Z
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SINGAPORE – A more mature and positive Yeo Jia Min claimed her second top-10 scalp in back-to-back tournaments in 2024 as she beat Indonesia’s world No. 7 Gregoria Tunjung 25-23, 21-14 in the India Open’s round of 16 on Jan 18.
The Singaporean world No. 20 will face top-ranked An Se-young next on Jan 19 at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall in New Delhi. The South Korean had progressed with a 21-19, 14-21, 21-14 win over American Zhang Beiwen.
Yeo’s quarter-final with An will be a rematch of their last-eight showdown at last week’s Malaysia Open, when An prevailed in three games to extend her head-to-head superiority to 7-1. Yeo had beaten China’s world No. 8 Han Yue earlier in the Super 1000 tournament.
The US$850,000 (S$1.14m) India Open is a Super 750 competition on the third level of the Badminton World Federation World Tour, behind the World Tour Finals and Super 1000 events.
Yeo’s fine start to 2024 is in stark contrast to her five straight defeats to open 2023, in which she did not make it past the second round of a Super 1000 or Super 750 event, and could not beat any top-10 player in 14 attempts.
The 24-year-old told The Straits Times: “I focused on the details of improving my game and saw results in training. That gave me confidence to challenge any top player now. However, I don’t like to compare myself to others or look back on the past too much. I will focus only on what is next for me.
“I became friends with An Se-young when I trained with her and her teammates in South Korea for two weeks in November, and I will try to be mentally sharper for our next match.”
Yeo had gone into her match against Tunjung trailing 2-6 in their past encounters, with the Indonesian enjoying a breakthrough in which she rose from world No. 31 to a career-high seventh in 18 months. She also beat the Singaporean thrice in 2023.
Under slow conditions that were conducive for long rallies, the first game was a roller-coaster, with both players taking turns to build four-point advantages early on before trading leads nearer to the end.
Yeo was fortunate to win a couple of points while being out of position, but showed tenacity to save two game points while requiring three of her own to clinch the opener. While she won only four out of 13 games that went to deuce in 2023, she has managed a perfect two-for-two in 2024.
In the second game, Yeo beat Tunjung at her own game with good court coverage and aggression to record another encouraging win.
National singles head coach Kelvin Ho said: “Jia Min is more mature now in handling different shots and is more accepting of changes in the game.
“She has grown through the wins and losses in 2023, and developed well working with the coaching team and sparring partners. She understands better her strengths and how to bring them into her playing style, so she can be more positive when creating her game plans.”
Singapore Badminton Association technical director Martin Andrew noted Yeo’s improvement since she won the Polish Open in March 2023 to snap the run of losses.
He said: “Since then, her performances have grown and she is showing she can match all the top women’s singles players. In the year before that, she had numerous poor draws and struggled to win when she had decent draws. But she learnt more about herself and her playing style, which is what is showing through now.
“Every athlete goes through low spells and this is normally where you learn and develop. There is no easy answer to players improving or not getting results. They just have to keep working hard and believing in themselves.
“Progression is not linear in one-v-one sports. Even if they train hard, they may not get the rewards. But if they continue to train the right items and keep pushing, then they give themselves a chance to get good results.”
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/yeo-jia-min-continues-fine-start-to-2024-with-another-top-10-upset
| 2024-01-18T10:23:31Z
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HELSINKI - Finnish centre-right presidential front-runner Alexander Stubb slightly extended his lead against liberal Green Party member Pekka Haavisto in a new opinion poll published on Thursday ahead of the Jan. 28 election.
The winner will succeed Sauli Niinisto, who is stepping down after two six-year terms, in a new era marked by the country joining NATO last April prompted by neighbouring Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The Jan. 12-17 survey commissioned by Maaseudun Tulevaisuus newspaper showed 24% of respondents backing Stubb, a former prime minister and a member of the governing National Coalition Party, while 21% supported Haavisto, who until last year was foreign minister.
Support for Stubb increased by 1 percentage point from a similar survey a month ago as backing for Haavisto fell by 2 percentage points in the same period, while in November Haavisto led Stubb by more than 7 percentage points.
Support for far-right Finns Party candidate Jussi Halla-aho increased by 3 percentage points to 15%, placing him third in the poll.
Halla-aho is particularly popular among young people, as shown by an unofficial poll of some 94,000 teenagers organised by the Finnish National Youth Council, placing Halla-aho second with 20.8% support, right behind winner Stubb at 21.5%.
Other candidates include the EU's former economic commissioner and Bank of Finland governor Olli Rehn, who was fourth in the poll with 12% support, and social democrat EU Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen who got 7% backing.
The president is the commander-in-chief of Finland's defence forces, represents Finland in NATO meetings and leads foreign policy in cooperation with the government.
A second round run-off will be held on Feb. 11 if no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote on Jan. 28. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/finlands-stubb-extends-lead-in-opinion-poll-ahead-of-election
| 2024-01-18T10:23:42Z
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PARIS - Ukraine has bought six Caesar howitzers, France's defence minister said on Thursday, adding that Paris would send 50 precision-guided missiles a month to Kyiv to aid its fight against Russia's invasion.
Speaking to France Inter radio, Sebastien Lecornu said Caesar manufacturer Nexter had managed to half the production time of the howitzer to 15 months meaning that some 78 units would be available this year.
In Ukraine's first purchase of French-made weapons since the start of the war, Lecornu said Kyiv had bought six for between 3 to 4 million euros ($3.26 to $4.35 million) each and France was now approaching allies to purchase the rest. Ukraine currently has 49 Caesar self-propelled howitzers gifted by France and Denmark.
"We want to share the bill and enable European countries to share the financial burden," Lecornu said.
Ukraine's defence minister had been due in Paris on Thursday for a conference on improving artillery supplies to Kyiv, but the visit was cancelled at the last minute.
President Emmanuel Macron will head to Ukraine in February to finalise a deal under which Paris would deliver more sophisticated weaponry, including long-range cruise missiles, and provide long-term political, aid and reconstruction commitments.
Europeans would ramp up their support for Ukraine in the coming weeks, Macron said on Tuesday, so it could continue to defend itself, nearly two years on from Russia's full-scale invasion.
Lecornu said France would also deliver about 50 precision-guided A2SM missiles per month to Ukraine from January, adapted for Soviet-type planes.
The Safran-made missiles can carry bombs ranging from 125, 250, 500 and 1,000 kilogrammes.
The minister also said France would also start producing from this year 3,000 155 mm shells a month, around 36,000 a year, up from just 2,000 in 2023.
Ukrainian officials say they use between 5,000-15,000 shells a day. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/ukraine-buys-six-french-caesar-howitzers-france-to-supply-missiles
| 2024-01-18T10:23:52Z
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DAVOS – The United States presidential election in 2024 will help determine whether the world stems global warming fast enough to avoid its most severe impacts, according to Mr John Kerry, the country’s climate envoy.
The transition to a lower-carbon economy is inevitable because companies are investing billions of dollars in cutting emissions, Mr Kerry said in an interview with Bloomberg TV at the World Economic Forum in Davos. But the speed at which that change happens will be affected by whoever wins the vote, which is why the stakes are “as high as they can get”, he said.
Mr Kerry has been a strong proponent of private sector-driven decarbonisation. Apple, Microsoft and Boeing are participants of the First Movers Coalition, an initiative he helped create in 2021 to persuade technology and industrial behemoths to clean up dirty industries. That effort is now bearing fruit, he said.
“General Motors, Ford, Volkswagen, Hyundai and Toyota have spent billions retooling their plants,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who the president of the US is, these CEOs won’t go back.”
The possibility of former president Donald Trump winning the Nov 5 election has been a hot topic in Davos, with concerns that his return to the White House could stymie climate progress. Mr Kerry said that policies already in place, as well as lower prices for renewable energy and some of the key components of electric vehicles, will ensure the shift to greener alternatives continues.
“The marketplace is going to support this transition and it’s irrevocable now – we’re going to get there,” Mr Kerry said. “The only question is if we’re going to get there in time to not be ravaged by the worst consequences of the climate crisis.”
Mr Kerry is stepping down from his role as climate envoy and will join President Joe Biden’s campaign for re-election.
The unmitigated burning of fossil fuels is the only cause of the climate crisis, he said, but defended the increase of US oil production to record highs as a “policy necessity”.
“You obviously can’t shut down the economies of the world – you have to try to keep the economy stable and keep the price low enough that you don’t have revolutions,” Mr Kerry said. “But that has to be accompanied by a very clear set of policies that are moving in the direction of transitioning away from fossil fuels.”
Even as the US spends billions on clean power and technologies under the Inflation Reduction Act, it also faces obstacles, from disinformation campaigns to community opposition to renewable energy projects. This is delaying a transition the country should be embracing, Mr Kerry said.
“If you’re going to have years of litigation on whether you’re going to have a wind farm nearby, we’re in trouble,” he said. “We’re not going to get there; we have to accelerate that.” BLOOMBERG
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/us-election-will-have-major-impact-on-global-climate-fight-john-kerry
| 2024-01-18T10:24:03Z
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The Queen of Spain was spotted on an outing in Madrid on Tuesday and she looked as stylish as ever. Queen Letizia, 51, looked stunning as she put a glamorous spin on workwear for a meeting with the AECC (Spanish Association Against Cancer).
The royal was spotted wearing the ‘Manet Austrian Jacket' by Frambua – a navy light tweed style with black piping and statement silver buttons. She wore the piece undone to reveal the ‘Banora’ blouse by Hugo Boss which was a white top with gathered fabric around the neck which she wore tucked into a pair of black cigarette trousers that cut off at the ankle.
On her feet, the mother of two wore a pair of black kitten heels to add a touch of glamour. She was also seen carrying a chic handbag, the 'Rosario’ style from Mauska that had gold hardware to match her gold droplet earrings named the 'Large Sugar Earrings' by PDPAOLA.
The Queen's hair was worn in a straight mid-length style with volume at the root. We love how Letizia is embracing the strands of grey through her gorgeous brunette locks. Her makeup was understated with an apricot-toned lip and a warm brown eyeshadow was blended into the socket line and under her eyes for definition.
The meeting is an important event in the royal's calendar as she is the Honorary President of the Spanish Association Against Cancer and of the Scientific Foundation of the Spanish Association Against Cancer.
Letizia learned about the association's plans for 2024 including a social initiative 'Everyone against cancer', which aims to achieve 70% survival by 2030. Tobacco consumption is also an issue that concerns the association and the meeting delved into the fight against tobacco and new consumption devices that impact young people with the aim of becoming the first tobacco-free generation European nation by 2040.
King Felipe's wife has shown that she will be just as stylish this year as she was the last. She was spotted with her husband at a visit to the CEIP Gumersindo Azcárate School in Leon, Spain to award them with the Princess of Girona School of the Year Prize. As she arrived Letizia was photographed wearing a chic longline cream coat by & Other Stories and once inside, took the piece off to reveal a stunning cobalt blue fine knit jumper by Massimo Dutti which she wore tucked into a pair of belted wide-eg trousers, also by Massimo Dutti, in a grey check pattern.
She added a pair of suede brown boots by Magrit which tied in seamlessly with her leather crossbody bag in tan by Massimo Dutti. She was seen interacting with children at the school and was taken on a tour of the centre's ecological school garden.
Just the day before, Letizia was seen on a solo outing to the central headquarters of the Association for the Prevention, Reintegration, and Care of Prostituted Women (APRAMP) in Madrid. She wore a red tweed cropped jacket crafted by female victims of trafficking under APRAMP which she paired with a pair of super stylish black culottes.
She also popped on a pair of stylish Mary Jane-style patent shoes and a black longline coat for an extra layer of warmth. The centre has spaces for training including the Fashion School and the Survivors School. The royal was taken on a tour of the facilities and she met the staff working there, as well as some of the women under the care of the project.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/fashion/royal-style/511533/queen-letizia-epitomises-style-cropped-jacket-form-fitting-trousers/
| 2024-01-18T10:47:07Z
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Chicago Fire returned to NBC on Wednesday night, marking Taylor Kinney's return to the show following a leave of absence last year. While fans were over the moon to see the actor, who plays Kelly Severide, back on their screens, some were left a little irritated by a storyline involving his on-screen wife, Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo).
While Severide and Stella's steamy shower scene confirms their chemistry is fully intact despite his recent absence, Kelly clearly has some work to do when it comes to rebuilding his wife's trust.
Upon his return to Firehouse 51, Stella shared her reservations about Severide becoming involved in another arson investigation in fear of him potentially leaving her again. When Severide pushes back, she tells him: "I basically had to fly to Alabama, put you in handcuffs, and drag you home. You get so caught up in these arson cases, it's like a drug. I didn't even know where you were in that last case, and it's taken six months for us to even try to build back any real trust."
Taking to social media, fans criticized Stella's reaction and called for the character to be less "controlling" over her husband. One person penned: "Stella should let Severide be and not be so controlling towards him. Period," while another agreed, adding: "Yeah, Stella's acting more like a mother than a wife, it's just terrible. She needs to be more sensitive."
A third person commented: "I'm actually looking forward to the #Stellaride tension. But I'm not liking that Stella seems to be controlling him when it comes to OFI. I actually like him doing OFI he seems more happy and content. He loves solving cases let him be happy."
One fan defended Stella, writing: "I don't think she's being controlling. I think it's about Stella trying to prevent Kelly from being like Benny in that doing an arson investigation was one of the factors alongside his infidelity that led to his family falling apart. She's scared of history repeating itself."
Chatting with HELLO! about the tension between Severide and Stella in season 12, showrunner Andrea Newman teased: "There's been some simmering tension underneath and the audience very much gets to be a part of that journey instead of us being like, 'Oh, it's resolved and they got through it!' What we find out is they've been burying some things.
"They're very much in love, obviously - it's obvious within two seconds of the premiere that they can't keep their hands to themselves! – but there's definitely a new element to this relationship and we get to see that play out and see the journey of getting through that and how that affects them."
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/film/511535/chicago-fire-fans-issue-same-demand-after-season-12-premiere/
| 2024-01-18T10:47:14Z
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The Princess of Wales is set to be away from public duties for up to three months to give her time to recover from abdominal surgery.
The Prince of Wales is also stepping temporarily back from official duties while his wife is in hospital and in the immediate aftermath while she recuperates.
And following the news that King Charles will undergo hospital treatment for an enlarged prostate next week, the monarch will also be out of action, meaning that duties will fall on other senior royals.
The King's slimmed down monarchy only has four working royals under the age of 65, the Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh.
And with William and Kate out of action, extra duties could be expected to fall to Prince Edward and Sophie.
The Edinburghs resumed their royal duties after the Christmas break with Edward visiting a school in Windsor and carrying out a number of engagements across Birmingham and the West Midlands.
Meanwhile, Duchess Sophie enjoyed a hands-on visit to a Battersea-based charity on Tuesday and will tour the Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel Exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Other working royals include the Princess Royal, known for her no-nonsense hard-working approach, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, and the Duke of Kent, 88, and Princess Alexandra, 87, but the latter two have appeared increasingly frail in recent times.
Alexandra's public outings have lessened in recent years. She carried out three engagements in 2023, including attending King Charles's coronation, visiting the Chelsea Flower Show and presenting medals to members of The Royal Lancers (Queen Elizabeth's Own) in her role as Deputy Colonel-in-Chief.
But despite being the oldest working royal, the Duke of Kent undertook 69 engagements in 2023, according to The Telegraph.
Meanwhile, Princess Anne had already resumed her public duties on 4 January following the festive break.
And she and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, were the first royals to undertake an overseas visit to Sri Lanka earlier this month.
Princess Anne is known to also pack a large number of engagements into her days, with as many as four or five.
Following her three-day trip to Sri Lanka last week, the Princess Royal was back to her busy schedule on Tuesday, visiting a number of charities and patronages across Scotland.
The prospect of the King being treated in hospital and the Prince of Wales halting his official duties to care for his wife raises questions over which Counsellors of State might be needed to step in.
The prospect of the King being treated in hospital and the Prince of Wales halting his official duties to care for his wife has also raised questions over which Counsellors of State might be needed to step in.
In the event a monarch cannot undertake their duties as sovereign on a temporary basis due to illness, two or more Counsellors of State are appointed by Letters Patent to act in their place. Usually the duty would fall to William in the first instance.
Buckingham Palace has said, however, that it did not anticipate Counsellors of State being necessary when the King is treated in hospital for an enlarged, benign prostate next week.
Provisions for the counsellors are made under the Regency Acts 1937 to 1953 and those who can currently stand in for Charles include Queen Camilla, and the four most senior adults in the line of succession over the age of 21, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Sussex, the Duke of York and Princess Beatrice.
But in 2022, the King asked Parliament to add his youngest brother the Duke of Edinburgh and sister the Princess Royal as extra Counsellors of State so they can deputise for him if need be, and the addition was fast-tracked into law.
There has been calls from royal watchers for Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie to become full-time working royals. However the York sisters have carved out their own full-time careers since graduating from university.
Beatrice, 35, is Vice President of partnerships and strategy for Afiniti technology, while Eugenie, 33, is a director at Hauser & Wirth art gallery.
The Princesses have been attending events at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, with Eugenie giving a talk in support of her charity, The Anti-Slavery Collective.
LISTEN: A Right Royal Podcast - Abdications
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/511537/princess-anne-duchess-sophie-step-in-for-king-charles-princess-kate-hospitalisations/
| 2024-01-18T10:47:20Z
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The Traitors’ latest episode has been hailed by fans on Twitter/X as the “greatest ever”, after the action involved a funeral procession, a poisoned chalice, and two Traitors going head-to-head during the roundtables. But fans think they already have the upcoming episodes worked out after praising brilliant gameplay from one particular contestant. Find out more…
In the episode, the contestants discovered that one of the Faithfuls had been ‘poisoned’, with Zack quickly working out that the Traitors could have given someone a drink that ‘murdered’ them. After a funeral procession confirmed that it was Diane who had been given the poisoned chalice, Traitor Paul accused Miles of giving Diane the cup, eventually banishing him from the show.
Although Paul successfully betrayed his fellow Traitor in the sneaky roundtable table, fans spotted the third and final Traitor, Harry, who appeared to be playing a game of his own, whispering to Zack, ‘Do you reckon there’s two Traitors going at each other?’
While talking to the camera, Harry revealed that he thought Paul was doing “too much” and revealed plans to betray him by recruiting another Traitor to team up with him against Paul.
Taking to Twitter/X to discuss, one person wrote: “I’m sorry but I am fully behind Harry now. This line and then the way he manoeuvred Paul into recruiting too so he can shank him. Genius little snake.” A third person added: “Just clapped so hard at Harry being an absolute genius backstabber that my watch tried to call me an ambulance.”
Another person added: “So unbelievably delicious the way Paul thinks he's Head Traitor and Harry is just WIPING THE FLOOR WITH HIM.” Another posted: “I can’t believe I’m saying this but I believe I may have underestimated Harry… a quiet genius is in our midst.”
Talking predictions, one person posted: “Paul is so obviously going home soon, they’ve set up his downfall all season by editing him as super strong but also cocky and planting seeds of his downfall throughout. My prediction is a Harry or recruited Traitor win. Harry is getting super strong now that was basically a 10/10 episode for him and he’s been shown pretty positively all season. Plus the faithfuls are genuinely awful, way too many duds and way too much absolutist thinking.”
Another fan added: “Honestly think they're crazy to recruit after that roundtable. Anyone who comes in as a traitor will quickly realise that Paul can't be trusted in the slightest after stabbing Miles in the back - and I'm not sure why Harry would suggest Zack considering he's already floated the idea to Zack that it was two traitors going up against each other, showing he can't be trusted either.”
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/film/511544/the-traitors-episode-seven-theories-next-episode-harry-paul/
| 2024-01-18T11:31:02Z
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Ellen Pompeo's Emmys night was made even more special when she brought along "the best" date.
Taking to Instagram, the Grey's Anatomy alum revealed her chosen guest of honor was her 14-year-old daughter Stella - and she's looked like a superstar.
Ellen shared video of her glam squad ahead of the awards and then revealed her red carpet look alongside the teen who is almost as tall as her famous mom.
While Ellen looked incredible in a sheer Monique Lhuillier silver shirt and black, silk skirt, Stella almost eclipsed her in a gorgeous, strapless jumpsuit.
"Thank you again, to everyone that made this happen yesterday! We had the best night," she captioned the post.
Stella looked so much like her mom with the same beaming smile and sparkling eyes, but gets her dark locks and skin-tone from her dad, Chris Ivery.
The outing was made more special as Ellen and her producer husband keep their three children, including Sienna May, nine, and Eli Christopher, six, out of the spotlight.
The couple have preferred to keep their personal life private since they got together. Ellen met Chris in a grocery store in Los Angeles in 2003.
They were friends before it blossomed into something more and they got married in 2007, with the New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg as the legal witness to the ceremony.
She hid her first pregnancy for as long as possible but it eventually became obvious and she decided to take a break from her career to focus on her family.
After the birth of their second daughter, Sienna, Ellen and Chris turned to a surrogate to welcome their son.
Ellen is clearly a proud mom but confessed to InStyle that it isn't always plain sailing: "I make a lot of mistakes. You just learn," she said before adding: "Kids are just so open and honest, and you could get down on yourself a lot as a parent, like 'Oh I'm not there enough.'
"It's easier to beat yourself up and feel guilty. But you can't adopt a sort of victim's attitude. You have to adopt an optimistic, can do, 'how do I fix it?' attitude with kids."
Ellen and Stella had a fabulous night at the Emmys where they were reunited with some Grey's Anatomy co-stars. Katherine Heigl, Justin Chambers, James Pickens Jr. and Chandra Wilson joined Ellen for an onstage reunion as they handed out the award for outstanding supporting actor in a limited or anthology series or movie.
Get the lowdown on the biggest, hottest celebrity news, features and profiles coming out of the U.S. Sign up to our HELLO! Hollywood newsletterand get them delivered straight to your inbox.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/healthandbeauty/mother-and-baby/511536/ellen-pompeo-striking-teen-daughter-steals-show-steps-into-limelight-ultra-rare-appearance-chris-ivery-photo/
| 2024-01-18T11:31:08Z
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If you haven’t heard the name Callum Turner before (though the likelihood is you'd recognise his face), we guarantee he’s going to be on your radar from this moment forward.
The 32-year-old British actor and former model became the internet’s gossip subject of the week after rumours he was in a romantic relationship of sorts with global powerhouse Dua Lipa. And the two confirmed their status after a display of public affection in Hollywood on Wednesday.
Naturally, the next question is, who is Callum Turner? Here’s everything you need to know…
He’s an English actor
Callum has starred in numerous films and TV shows, notably War & Peace, The Boys in the Boat, Emma alongside Anya Tayloy-Joy and the latter two Fantastic Beasts films. Most recently he starred in the new Apple TV+ series, Masters of the Air with Saltburn star Barry Keoghan and Elvis, aka, Austin Butler.
MORE: Dua Lipa just wore the tricky Tasman UGG's and styled them to perfection
RELATED: Dua Lipa’s latest outfit is giving TikTok mob wife
The Callum and Dua relationship timeline is short and sweet
Dua did say "One kiss is all it takes," right? Britain’s newest Hollywood couple's love story goes way back a whole... week. Questions about the two’s ‘friendship’ began when Dua supported Callum at the premiere after party for Masters of the Air on January 10. Seven days later we received official confirmation via some major PDA captured by TMZ, after a date night at Sushi Park in West Hollywood. The end.
Callum Turner used to be a model
When beginning his career he modelled for the likes of Next and Reebok, and appeared as a poster boy for Burberry in both its FW11 campaign - when he received the BAFTA Breakthrough Brits Award in partnership with Burberry; an initiative which supports the UK’s future stars of film and TV - and again for FW16, shot by Mario Testino.
Despite fronting campaigns for one of England’s biggest labels not once, but twice, Callum told British Vogue in 2020 “I wasn’t that successful” - a man with modesty? Green flag.
Famous girlfriends are his type
He was in a relationship with The Crown actress and fashion icon Vanessa Kirby from 2016 to 2020. They met on the set of Queen and Country in 2014.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/hfm/culture/511541/callum-turner-who-is-dua-lipas-new-boyfriend/
| 2024-01-18T11:31:14Z
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The Princess of Wales is currently recovering in hospital after undergoing "planned abdominal surgery" on Tuesday 16 January, confirmed by a statement released by Kensington Palace. The spokesperson explained that Princess Kate's surgery was successful and that she is expected to remain in the hospital "for ten to fourteen days, before returning home to continue her recovery."
Although the future Queen is receiving the best care possible while staying as an inpatient at The London Clinic, which is one of the best-equipped and largest private hospitals in the country, the royal will no doubt look forward to returning home to be with her husband Prince William and their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
This was reiterated in the statement, which explained further: "The Princess of Wales appreciates the interest this statement will generate. She hopes that the public will understand her desire to maintain as much normality for her children as possible; and her wish that her personal medical information remains private."
It's not been confirmed where exactly the Princess of Wales will recover after she is discharged from hospital, but given she is not expected to return to royal engagements until after Easter, it's likely that she will return to her and Prince William's home in Windsor, Adelaide Cottage.
This also means that the three royal children can continue to go to school at Lambrook, located in Winkfield Row, near Ascot, maintaining "normality" for the royals while Princess Kate continues her recovery at home.
Adelaide Cottage was built in 1831 for Queen Adelaide Consort and King William IV as a day house, a place to visit during the day. The property is located on the grounds of the Windsor Estate in Windsor Great Park, just off the track of The Long Walk. It sits on 655 acres of land and is just a ten-minute stroll from the main castle.
The Grade II-listed residence has four bedrooms – a modest scale in comparison to their London residence – and while royal fans haven't seen the inside of the property, photos of the outside show how stunning the building is. The light-pink exterior and white detailing around the roof, gutters and windows, as well as being surrounded by greenery give the beautiful building a total fairy tale feel.
A photo posted on a royal fan account on Instagram shows the exterior of Adelaide Cottage including the driveway full of visitor cars – before it was resided by the royals – which also highlights the size of the house. However, the photo in question is a few years old as the walls of the house are white, which have since been painted pink during a renovation.
As well as the main building, there is also a smaller outhouse located just behind. It is not known what the Wales family use this separate property for, however, it could perhaps be used as staff quarters.
In addition to four bedrooms, a kitchen and generous outdoor space, the cottage has an office area for the Prince and Princess of Wales to work from when they're not busy on location for their royal engagements. The inside of their home office was shown briefly during a video posted by Kensington Royal showing Prince William on a virtual call.
The future King was working from an Apple Mac desktop and, in the background, a glass cabinet can see been, full of beautiful chinaware and ornaments.
Prince William and Kate moved into Adelaide Cottage in September 2022 shortly before Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis enrolled at Lambrook.
The royals do still have their Kensington Palace 1A apartment in the capital, available for when they undertake engagements in London, but residing mostly at Adelaide Cottage affords the family a level of privacy away from the hustle and bustle of the city, as well as being closer to their children's school.
The royals made the decision to move to Windsor to be closer to Queen Elizabeth II, however, the same month they moved into their idyllic cottage, Her Majesty passed away aged 96. The Wales family also have their country home, Anmer Hall, located on the Sandringham Estate.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/homes/511538/kate-middletons-cosy-fairytale-cottage-recovering-with-prince-william-and-children-following-hospital-stint/
| 2024-01-18T11:31:20Z
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The Uniqlo crossbody bag is going nowhere – it’s still, almost two years after it first launched, everywhere. The £15 “round mini shoulder bag” was dubbed the bag to end all bags on TikTok, thanks to its cool Scandi-designer vibes but definite ‘end of the month’ price tag.
And when I say it’s everywhere, I mean not just in the news (which it is right now) or the in the metaverse, but real life. I don’t think I can do one school run or trip to the supermarket without seeing a fellow Uniqlo bag fan, even two years on.
Just what is the appeal, you might ask? The data speaks for itself - it’s become Uniqlo’s bestselling bag of all time, praised for being small, but deceptively roomy with Mary Poppins vibes in terms of what you can fit in. It even has its own hashtag, #uniqlobag, with over 40 million views. Is it really that good?
In a word, yes. I’ve had mine for 18 months now, and every time I think to myself, don’t use that bag today, I use that bag – because it really does fit everything* in (*almost). It’s become such a part of my daily uniform that friends of mine send meme’s of the Uniqlo bag. Along with my Stanley cup, Varsity sweatshirt and mom jeans, I’m about as cliché a 40-something year-old as you can get, but do I care? Do I heck, I wear my Uniqlo bag with pride.
And it says something about a bag when a brand keeps releasing it in new colourways and fabrics (the cord version launched last year) - Uniqlo's latest incarnation of the ubiquitous bag includes eight pastel shades, such as spring blue, lemon yellow and macaron pink. Since mine is starting to look a touch shabby (only a touch, to be fair), I’ll be upgrading my dark camel version for a lemon yellow bag for spring.
When I first purchased the Uniqlo bag in 2022, I even added a few to basket for the fellow mums in my life, who battled chasing their child around a playground while hauling their valuables in some sort of bag (mine had been a cloth bag or a structured leather half-moon bag, not the most practical).
And as a mum of one, it’s perfect for days out with the four-year-old. I can easily fit everything she needs in it. We’re talking her water bottle, a few snacks, baby wipes and a change of clothes along with my purse, keys, lip balm and phone. I even managed to squeeze in a mini cuddly unicorn and her sunglasses, because my daughter always has to have these along for the ride. If you’ve got a baby or toddler, you’d be able to fit in a nappy or two, if you forfeit the unicorn.
Slinging it across my body, I find I’m free of the restraints of my usual cloth bag falling off my shoulder, and being wipe-clean (it's a nylon-mix fabric) meant my daughter’s sticky fingers weren’t held at arm’s-length. And when I’m walking the dog, it’s an ideal bag for those dog-walking essentials too. It’s lightweight in itself that it doesn’t weigh you down, and has an adjustable strap for fitting over a puffa too. A few other friends have since bought the bag (a pink version and the green, FYI that are now out of stock).
My HELLO! colleague Rachel Avery has bought it in stone. "This cult bag is a staple in my wardrobe as I can pair it with everything from my gym gear to dresses. You’ll be genuinely astounded by how much you can easily fit into it - Mary Poppins eat your heart out!"
And another HELLO! staffer, Leanne Bayley, has one in black: "My sister bought me the viral crossbody Uniglo bag for Christmas, and well, it's kind of amazing isn't it? I have the black one as I ideally wanted to wear it with gym outfits. Choosing a bag to go with activewear or a hoodie can be a bit tricky but this just looks awesome. I also love that your possessions feel safe as well. I'm always so paranoid about my phone being pinched, and this bag just makes me feel more reassured. I want the macaron pink next!"
The downside of the bags? They do get dirty - my dark beige bag has had to be washed, but that's the good news, you can pop it into the washing machine. I’ve put mine on a cool cycle a few times and it’s always come out sparkling.
Yes, they’re everywhere, but you can’t deny a good bag when you see one. The cost per wear of mine must be running into minus figures by now...
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/shopping/511534/uniqlo-bag-viral-crossbody-review/
| 2024-01-18T11:31:26Z
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French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced that France will manufacture 78 Caesar howitzers for Ukraine.
“There are currently 49 in Ukraine, which have enabled tactical successes on the ground. We plan to produce 78 Caesar cannons in 2024 and encourage our European partners to help share the costs,” Lecornu added.
Citing the French Ministry of Defense, AFP reports that the first 6 SPGs will be delivered to Ukraine in the coming weeks, with the remaining 72 by year’s end. The first 6 howitzers were ordered in September 2022 through a direct commercial contract between manufacturer Nexter and the Ukrainian government.
“Ukraine has purchased 6 Caesars with its own funds to kickstart this initiative,” Lecornu clarified.
‘Collective financing’ still needs to be secured for manufacturing the additional howitzers, but the production capacity exists to fulfill the order.
The Caesar system costs between €3-4 million each, which Minister Lecornu said was a reasonable expense for Ukraine’s allies as “the logic of supplying equipment stripped from army stockpiles nears its end.”
Lecornu indicated that since the war began, Caesar production lead times were cut from 30 to 15 months, enabling increased output.
The Minister also shared plans to begin deliveries to Ukraine shortly of the approximately 40 SCALP cruise missiles promised by President Macron, to continue throughout 2023.
On 18 January, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Umerov was slated to fly to France but canceled over security concerns. During his visit, Umerov was to tour Caesar manufacturer Nexter and missile-maker MBDA, but will now attend meetings remotely.
Umerov’s canceled trip comes as Western hesitancy persists regarding further support for Ukraine, with €50 billion stuck in EU bureaucracy and $60 billion held up in the US Congress.
Read more:
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/01/18/france-to-manufacture-78-caesar-howitzers-for-ukraine-defense-minister/
| 2024-01-18T11:50:36Z
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In the early hours of 18 January, Ukrainian drones attacked an oil depot in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg. Citing its sources in the security services, Ukrainska Pravda reported that this was a special operation carried out by Ukrainian military intelligence.
Attacks by Ukrainian drones on targets in Russia have been occurring nearly daily, however most strikes have targeted border regions adjacent to Ukraine. The attack on Saint Petersburg, located 900 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, demonstrates Kyiv’s capability of conducting strikes with long-range drones.
“This was an operation by Ukraine’s Chief Intelligence Directorate using advanced Ukrainian equipment. Data collection is ongoing, with confirmed target hits. From now on, military sites in Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast are within range of Ukrainian forces,” a Ukrainian intelligence source told the outlet.
The source also specified that while Ukrainian drones have attacked Russia’s Leningrad Oblast before, this operation was markedly different.
On 18 January, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported an attack by Ukrainian drones in Leningrad Oblast, claiming the drones had been shot down. However, influential Russian Telegram-channel Baza reported that while three Ukrainian drones were downed, two fell into the Gulf of Finland, while a third crashed onto the territory of the oil depot between fuel oil tanks, causing a fire.
The Saint Petersburg Oil Terminal opened in 1996 on the site of the Leningrad Port’s Oil Harbor. It is Russia’s largest oil products transshipment terminal in the Baltic region (with a capacity of 12.5 million tonnes per year), as well as the largest stevedoring company at the Port of Saint Petersburg.
Read more:
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/01/18/media-ukrainian-drones-strike-oil-depot-in-saint-petersburg/
| 2024-01-18T11:51:16Z
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A 57-year-old woman was killed and two men, aged 57 and 61, were injured after Russian forces shelled Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast, reported the head of the Kharkiv Oblast State Administration Oleh Syniehubov.
“The occupiers hit a residential apartment building. Emergency crews continue to survey the impact sites,” the official wrote on Telegram.
Kupiansk spent six months under Russian occupation before being liberated by Ukrainian forces in September 2022 during the counteroffensive operation in Kharkiv Oblast. Russian troops have since been attempting to retake the strategic city, heavily shelling both Kupiansk and its outskirts.
Read more:
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/01/18/russians-shell-residential-building-in-kupiansk-kharkiv-oblast-killing-woman/
| 2024-01-18T11:51:56Z
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CHANCAY, Peru - In September, a group of Brazilian farmers and officials arrived in the Peruvian fishing town of Chancay. The draw: a new Chinese mega port rising on the Pacific coast, promising to turbo charge South America's trade ties with China.
The $3.5 billion deep water port, set to start operations late this year, will provide China with a direct gateway to the resource-rich region. Over the last ten years, Beijing has unseated the United States as the largest trade partner for South America, devouring its soy, corn and copper.
The port, majority-owned by Chinese state-owned firm Cosco Shipping, will be the first controlled by China in South America. It will able to accommodate the largest cargo ships, which can head directly to Asia, cutting the journey time by two weeks for some exporters.
Beijing and Lima hope Chancay will become a regional hub, both for copper exports from the Andean nation as well as soy from western Brazil, which currently travels through the Panama Canal or skirts the Atlantic before steaming to China.
"The Chancay mega port aims to turn Peru into a strategic commercial and port hub between South America and Asia," Peru's trade minister Juan Mathews Salazar told Reuters.
Part of China's decade-old 'Belt and Road' drive, the new port embodies the challenge facing the United States and Europe as they look to counter Beijing's rising influence in Latin America. China's trade muscle has helped it win allies and gain leverage in political forums, finance and technology.
Full construction started in 2018 at Chancay, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Lima. Workers are now laying thousands of piles and breakwaters; work signs are written in white-on-red Chinese characters.
The first phase of Chancay is set be completed in November 2024. Chinese President Xi Jinping, expected in Peru for an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit that month, could inaugurate the port, a diplomatic source in Lima said.
China's embassy in Lima did not respond to Reuters queries.
"It's part of China's new Silk Road," said Mario de las Casas, corporate affairs manager for Cosco Shipping, which holds a 60% stake in the port. The remainder is controlled by local miner Volcan, in which Glencore owns a stake.
Jose Adriano da Silva, a farming entrepreneur from Brazil's western Acre state who visited the port, said the project would accelerate regional development. He said talks between Peruvian and Brazilian officials were underway to resolve overland transport challenges.
Peru's government is planning an exclusive economic zone near the port and Cosco wants to build an industrial hub near Chancay to process raw materials that could include grains and meat from Brazil before shipping them to Asia.
Brazil's ambassador in Peru, Clemente Baena Soares, said there were plans for meetings between officials early this year to seek to resolve logistical, sanitary and bureaucratic hurdles at the border so Brazilian trucks can more easily reach the port.
"It's an opportunity for grain and meat production - especially from Rondonia, Acre, Mato Grosso and Amazonas - to go to Asia through the port of Chancay," said Soares, who also visited Chancay in September, naming four states in western Brazil.
"(Brazilian businesses) are delighted with the possibility of not using the Panama Canal to take their goods to Asia."
He added there would need to be investment in an existing road known as the Interoceanic Highway - which runs from further south in Peru across the Andes to Brazil - to improve transport routes. A long-discussed rail link remained in the study phase, he said.
STARK TRANSFORMATION
China overtook the United States on trade in South and Central America under former President Donald Trump, despite his administration warning the region about the dangers of getting too close to Beijing. Under President Joe Biden the gap has widened despite attempts to reverse it.
U.S. officials are now taking a different tack, arguing that the United States offers the region other things beyond trade, including investment in high-tech industries.
"I think using the metric of trade to evaluate the influence of China is not an accurate way," Juan Gonzalez, a White House adviser and the National Security Council's Western Hemisphere senior director, told Reuters in Buenos Aires.
"We're confident in our ability to compete with China," he added, urging regional governments to ensure there were no "political strings attached" to trade with Beijing.
Beijing says its trade and investment in Latin America is a win-win for both sides. Some 150 countries have signed on to the Belt and Road with China, including 22 in Latin America.
The change over ten years is stark.
A decade ago, Peru, the world's no. 2 copper producer, traded slightly more with the United States than China. Now, China has a more than $10 billion lead in bilateral trade, the latest annual data show.
That trend is playing out around the region.
Reuters interviewed two dozen officials, business leaders and trade experts, along with an analysis of ten years of trade data, revealing how China's infrastructure spending is cementing its role as the key trade and investment partner for South America, defying an economic slowdown at home and U.S. warnings about debt trap diplomacy.
Part of the shift is pragmatic. Fast-growing China needs the copper and lithium from South America's Andes, along with the corn and soy from the plains of Argentina and Brazil.
But its widening trade lead - some $100 billion around South America in the most recent annual data - brings extra clout.
Beijing has in the last year upgraded ties with Uruguay and Colombia to "strategic partnerships" - the latter a U.S. ally.
Argentina's President Javier Milei, once highly critical of China, has softened his stance since taking office last month, reflecting Beijing's importance to the crisis-hit economy.
It is the top buyer of Argentina's soy and beef and has an $18 billion currency swap line with the country - which Argentina's cash-strapped government has tapped to pay its debt, including with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
"The last thing our dear Argentine friends need in these challenging times is to lose the support of an important partner like China," the Chinese ambassador in Colombia wrote on social media platform X following Milei's inauguration.
'POINT OF LEVERAGE'
Peru's trade with China doubled in the last decade to $33 billion in 2022, driven by rising copper exports, even as its commerce flatlined with the United States. China has invested some $24 billion in Peruvian mines, the power grid, transportation and hydro-electric power generation over the same period.
Exports to China grew 9.3% in the first eleven months of last year, government data show, faster than the 5.3% growth of exports to the United States. Peru has a $9.4 billion trade surplus with China and a $1.3 billion deficit the United States.
Peru's President Dina Boluarte met China's Xi in November at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in San Francisco. They discussed the Chancay port, which Boluarte said was a "significant boost to free trade and new Chinese investments."
That came after an awkward on-the-move parlay in Washington with Biden, which was not given full bilateral meeting status.
"China is taking advantage of our absence and that's a real problem," said Eric Farnsworth, a former White House adviser and State Department official, who is now a Latin America expert at the Council of the Americas and Americas Society.
He said the port bolstered China's powerful position in Peru and created a "point of leverage" in the region.
Two regional diplomats said it also reflected a more muscular and ambitious China, often backed by deep pockets: a far cry from a wave of Chinese immigration to Peru two centuries ago when migrants came as cotton workers or to set up 'chifas' - Chinese food outlets.
"Now business executives or bankers come, with big projects tucked under their belts," said Juan Carlos Capuñay, Peru's former ambassador to China.
'NEW BATTLE GROUND FOR MINERALS'
China hasn't had things all its own way. Its Belt and Road has faced pushback in Asia and Europe - Italy recently pulled out of the initiative - while bad debts owed to China have ballooned. In Latin America, projects from Argentina to Venezuela have faced hold-ups.
Diplomats and trade experts also cautioned that the Chancay port would only be successful if regional infrastructure including roads and railways improved to enable goods to get there, including grains from Brazil.
Currently, the Interocean Highway - a little-used road corridor of some 2,600 kilometers (1,616 miles) in five sections, built more than a decade ago - links the Pacific Coast in the south of Peru to Brazil's state of Acre.
"The issue today is a lack of regional connections, which is very complex for the success of the project," said Fernando Reyes Matta, former Chilean ambassador to China.
Nonetheless, several of the people said China's rise in South America was solidifying despite these headwinds, with the region desperate for financing and foreign currency.
A senior European diplomat based in South America said the big gap in infrastructure funding in the region made it hard for the United States to "strong arm" local governments to turn down Chinese money.
Meanwhile, global interest had grown in South America's resources such as lithium, copper and grains.
"Latin America has become a new battle ground for those minerals between the United States, Europe and China," he said. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/china-widens-south-america-trade-highway-with-silk-road-mega-port
| 2024-01-18T11:53:50Z
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TOKYO – Japan signed a deal with the United States on Jan 18 to buy 400 long-range Tomahawk missiles as it ramps up its military capacity to counter regional security threats.
Faced with growing Chinese military clout and a nuclear-armed North Korea, the Japanese government plans to double its defence spending to the Nato standard of 2 per cent of gross domestic product by 2027.
A sale of up to US$2.35 billion (S$3.16 billion) for two types of Tomahawks, which have a 1,600km range, was approved by Washington in November.
“The conclusion of this signing starts the procurement of the Tomahawk missiles,” a defence official told reporters on Jan 18 after the deal was signed in Tokyo.
“Through sound implementation of the (defence) budget, we will extensively strengthen our defence capacity,” he added.
Japan has approved a record defence budget worth US$56 billion for the next fiscal year from April.
Japan has a pacifist post-war Constitution, which limits its military to ostensibly defensive measures.
But when it updated key security and defence policies in 2023, Tokyo explicitly outlined the challenge posed by China.
At a press conference earlier in the day, US Ambassador Rahm Emanuel lauded Japan’s new defence push.
“As aggressors grow more and more belligerent, Japan is at the forefront of countries rallying to protect peace and prosperity by raising the costs of aggression,” he said.
In December, Tokyo loosened arms export controls to enable it to sell Patriot missiles made in Japan under licence to the US, which is seeking to replenish its stocks after sending the weapon systems to Ukraine. AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/japan-inks-deal-to-buy-400-long-range-tomahawk-missiles-from-us
| 2024-01-18T11:54:01Z
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LONDON - The International Monetary Fund faces tough choices on how to deal with Pakistan after the February election and how to assess the country's debt situation, a former central bank governor of the South Asian nation said.
The country, which is operating under a caretaker government, secured a $3 billion loan programme with IMF in July that helped pull the cash-strapped nation back from the brink of a sovereign debt default. However, the programme was a nine-month standby arrangement, set to expire this spring.
"The IMF will have to decide whether to pull the plug on Pakistan or not, and by that I mean it will have to decide about its assessment of debt sustainability," said Reza Baqir, head of sovereign advisory services at Alvarez & Marsal.
The Fund labelled Pakistan's debt as sustainable, but also emphasised the significant and pronounced risks said Baqir, who negotiated Pakistan's 2019 IMF programme and also worked at the Washington-based lender for almost two decades.
"That's almost like having it both ways," he said, adding investors would be watching whether the Fund would continue to label the debt as sustainable or whether it would offer its support on a debt restructuring as part of a new programme should Pakistan's authorities chose to go down that route.
The country's public external debt stood at just under $100 billion by end-September 2023, according to central bank data, with China and its lenders being the single largest creditor to the country.
Pakistan's shorter-dated bonds are trading at 96 cents, fairly close to par, though longer-dated ones maturing after 2030 stand at just over 60 cents, well below the 70 cent threshold below which debt is seen as distressed. On Thursday, the bonds suffered sharp falls after Pakistan conducted strikes inside Iran amid rising tensions with its neighbour.
Pakistan would also be a potential candidate for a "debt-for-nature"-style debt swap said Baqir, pointing to deadly 2022 floods that affected more than 33 million people.
Debt-for-nature swaps - where countries introduce eco-policies in return for having their debt cut, are growing in popularity after successful recent deals in places such as Belize and Ecuador's Galapagos Islands.
Eugenio Alarcon, who recently joined Alvarez & Marsal responsible for Latin America & the Caribbean, said "countries have seen the benefits of these type of transactions because they can take a huge reduction in the stock of debt." REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/imf-debt-dilemma-looms-after-pakistan-election-former-cenbank-governor
| 2024-01-18T11:54:11Z
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AMMAN - Israel should allow displaced Palestinians in Gaza to return to their homes, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on Thursday.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Amman, Safadi also said it was essential to end the war in Gaza and avert an escalation of violence in the wider region.
"With regard to the current priorities, they are clear: ending the aggression in Gaza, letting in sufficient permanent humanitarian aid to all parts of the Strip, south and north, stopping the destruction, and working immediately for the return of displaced Gazans to their areas and homes," Safadi said.
The Israeli offensive - launched in the wake of a deadly rampage by Hamas militants in southern Israel on Oct. 7 in which Israel says 1,200 people were killed - has displaced most of Gaza's population of 2.3 million and caused the deaths of more than 24,000 people, Palestinian health officials say.
Armed groups backed by Iran have launched attacks in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen in solidarity with the Palestinians. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/israel-must-let-displaced-gazans-return-to-their-homes-jordan-minister-says
| 2024-01-18T11:54:21Z
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PUTRAJAYA – The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (Macc) has confirmed that businessman Mirzan Mahathir was called to assist an ongoing probe.
The Macc said Mr Mirzan came to its headquarters at 9am on Jan 17.
Mr Mirzan is the eldest son of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.
“The Macc presented him with a notice whereby he is required to declare his all his assets in the country and abroad.
“He has been given 30 days from the date of the notice to do so,” the Macc said in a statement on Jan 18.
The order, it said, was follow-up action for an investigation being carried out in relation to the Panama Papers as well as his business activities in relation to the sale and acquisition of a government-linked company.
The Macc said it had been investigating entities named in the Pandora and Panama Papers since 2022.
“To date, 10 witnesses have been summoned. The Macc is also in the process of reviewing financial statements and asset ownership of entities listed in the reports,” it said.
On Jan 17, The Star reported that the Macc had summoned the son of a former Malaysian prime minister over its probe into his business activities in the 1990s.
Sources with knowledge of the investigation said that the individual was called to the Macc headquarters several weeks ago to record his statement over allegations of corruption and misappropriation. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/malaysian-anti-graft-agency-orders-former-pm-mahathir-s-son-to-declare-assets
| 2024-01-18T11:54:32Z
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As many financial entities adopt a digital first approach, digital inclusivity becomes more of a concern. What can be done to assist those who face challenges adapting?
Serene Koh, head of group digital business and transformation, global consumer financial services, OCBC shares their strategies with Howie Lim.
Synopsis: The Business Times Branded Podcasts; finely curated, intelligent, thought provoking content for decision-makers. Inspired by the newsroom of your trusted partner.
Follow on audio apps Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts, or Google Home smart speaker devices. Produced by The Business Times, SPH Media.
This episode of Tech in Finance podcast is presented by OCBC.
Highlights:
00:58 How inclusive true digitalisation is
02:13 Digital first is not digital only
04:05 Digitally assisting when needed
06:20 Assisting less digitally savvy employees
09:29 Changing mindsets
11:16 Closing gaps in the transformation journey
More about:
OCBC Personal Banking Accounts: https://www.ocbc.com/personal-banking/deposits.page
OCBC Digital Silvers Programme: https://www.ocbc.com/personal-banking/campaign/silver-years-digital-wor…
OCBC Money Lock: https://www.ocbc.com/personal-banking/security/secure-banking-ways/ocbc…
Written and hosted by Howie Lim (howielim@sph.com.sg)
With Serene Koh, head of group digital business and transformation, global consumer financial services, OCBC
Edited by: Howie Lim & Claressa Monteiro
Produced by: Howie Lim
Engineered by: Joann Chai Pei Chieh
Executive producer: Claressa Monteiro
A podcast by BT Podcasts, The Business Times, SPH Media
---
Follow Tech In Finance podcasts:
Channel: bt.sg/btbrpod
Apple Podcasts: bt.sg/bpap
Spotify: bt.sg/bpsp
Google Podcasts: bt.sg/bpgo
Website: bt.sg/brpod
Feedback to: btpodcasts@sph.com.sg
Do note: This podcast is meant to provide general information only. SPH Media accepts no liability for loss arising from any reliance on the podcast or use of third party’s products and services. Please consult professional advisors for independent advice.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/bt-tech-in-finance-podcast-tech-enabling-digital-inclusivity
| 2024-01-18T11:54:42Z
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SINGAPORE – The local market was as flat as the Death Valley highway on Jan 18 as traders searched high and low for some buying inspiration.
It was not much better across the region, with mixed results in the wake of red ink on Wall Street overnight as investors there remain wary over the direction of United States interest rates.
The uncertainty sent the Straits Times Index (STI) inching down 2.44 points or 0.1 per cent to 3,139.78. Losers pipped gainers 261 to 254 across the broader market on a reasonable level of trade given the mood – 1.1 billion shares worth $1 billion.
The showing elsewhere in Asia was hot and cold with the Jakarta Composite 0.6 per cent higher, while the Shanghai Composite added 0.4 per cent, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong advanced 0.57 per cent and Seoul’s Kospi put on a modest 0.17 per cent.
The losers included the Nikkei in Tokyo, down 0.03 per cent, and the ASX in Sydney, off 0.6 per cent to a new five-week low and its fifth consecutive negative session.
Wall Street extended the sell-off overnight with all three key indexes heading south. The culprit? Better-than-expected data pointed towards the Federal Reserve’s less-than-eager inclination to cut rates.
SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said the Fed appears to be setting a higher bar for rate cuts than the market initially anticipated.
The standout on the local bourse was Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, which added 1.3 per cent to $1.60, a day after the China-based firm reported bagging an order to build six container ships but without stating the deal value. The counter was one of the five index stocks with the highest net institutional inflow over the past 12 sessions, based on Singapore Exchange data.
Yangzijiang Financial, the investment management company spun off from Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, closed 1.5 per cent lower at 32 cents despite a raft of share repurchases in the past week. THE BUSINESS TIMES
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| 2024-01-18T11:54:52Z
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SINGAPORE – The Singapore economy is expected to grow at a projected 2.4 per cent in 2024 from an estimated 1.2 per cent last year on the back of a travel recovery and an improvement in global trade, HSBC said on Jan 18.
The Government forecasts that the economy will expand at between 1 per cent and 3 per cent in 2024.
Mr Frederic Neumann, HSBC’s chief Asia economist and co-head of global research in Asia, believes Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports are showing signs of a recovery, but he remains cautious given semiconductor shipments are still falling.
“Like other export-oriented economies, Singapore’s external sector remains sensitive to the global trade cycle. These headwinds continue to pose downside risks to growth,” said Mr Neumann.
Growth could also be hit by about 0.2 percentage points if the Red Sea crisis worsens and results in a prolonged shutdown in shipping that disrupts supply chains, he added.
However, the inflationary impact from the Red Sea turmoil will be less direct and felt mainly in higher rising energy prices.
There are many other variables as well, including China growing faster than expected, that could cushion the potential impact on Singapore’s growth, Mr Neumann said.
Attacks by Iran-backed Houthi militia on ships in the Red Sea over the past two months have slowed trade between Asia and Europe and alarmed major powers.
One of the brighter lights on the economic horizon for 2024 lies in travel, with related sectors here being underpinned by a robust recovery in Chinese visitors, a trend that is expected to grow further in coming months.
Regional growth is also set to pick up in many of Asia’s smaller and more open economies, even if the larger ones pull back, Mr Neumann said.
Asia’s real gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow at an average of 4.1 per cent in 2024, compared with a projected 4.4 per cent expansion in 2023.
Japan could deliver higher than expected growth, thanks to a generous fiscal stimulus, Mr Neumann noted, while China’s economy is expected to expand at around 4.9 per cent this year, a touch slower than in 2023.
Its property sector will remain a drag for some time yet, but there are pockets of growth driven by support for areas like manufacturing investment.
Growth in Hong Kong could also slow as the tailwinds from the reopening from the pandemic fade.
India could see slower expansion but still lead much of the region even as sticky inflation exerts a drag, but there could be interest rate cuts just when the country holds national elections.
Indonesia, which is facing elections as well, could see growth ticking along and household spending picking up steam.
Thailand is grappling with weak investment, but fiscal easing offers a welcome boost, while Malaysia should see improvements as well, helped by steadying exports.
The Philippines is on course to deliver another impressive year, achieving the second-highest growth rate in Asean after Vietnam, which should enjoy a snap-back from a challenging 2023.
Mr Neumann warned that trade might remain hampered by subdued demand in key markets.
Like in the United States, most central banks in Asia will shift to cutting interest rates or other means to ease money supply.
The monetary reins in Singapore, India and Indonesia may be loosened even before the US Federal Reserve moves. Others such as Australia, Thailand and Malaysia may wait until 2025, or even longer, before cutting interest rates.
Japan’s central bank may embark on a gradual normalisation of monetary policy, as the government will be more concerned about overtightening than about moving too slowly after years of tussling with deflation, Mr Neumann said.
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| 2024-01-18T11:55:03Z
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SINGAPORE – Condominium rents marked the fifth consecutive month of decline in December 2023, wiping out the growth seen in the first half of 2023. The Housing Board rental market, however, continued registering growth in rents and leasing volumes.
Condo rental prices declined 0.5 per cent from November 2023, led by rental falls across all the regions, according to flash data from real estate portals Singapore Real Estate Exchange and 99.co released on Jan 18.
But overall condo rents were still 2.6 per cent higher compared with December 2022. Rents in the Outside Central Region (OCR) or suburbs were 4.4 per cent higher, and in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) or city fringes, rents were up 2.6 per cent. Core Central Region (CCR) or prime area rents were 0.9 per cent higher on the year.
Mr Mark Yip, chief executive of property firm Huttons Asia, noted that the decline in private rents in December was milder than the previous month, which was likely caused by a slight uptick in demand from new hires starting work in 2024.
Mr Eugene Lim, key executive officer of real estate firm ERA Singapore, noted that landlords will have to bear the brunt of rising annual values and property taxes in 2024, saying: “With interest rates still high currently, more landlords may decide to settle for lower rents, rather than leaving the unit vacant.”
Analysts expect private rents to ease further in 2024.
Mr Nicholas Mak, chief research officer of property portal Mogul.sg, said: “As the supply-and-demand dynamics in the rental housing market continue to normalise in 2024, the rental rates of private residential properties could decrease by 10 to 15 per cent in the coming 12 months, which would bring the rates to the levels seen in 2022.”
Ms Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist of real estate firm OrangeTee Group, expects the growth of condo rents to continue moderating at 2 to 5 per cent in 2024, slower than the 29.7 per cent in 2022 and 9.9 per cent in 2021.
Condo leasing volumes increased 14 per cent on the month to an estimated 5,644 units in December.
Ms Sun attributed the increase to more landlords being willing to accept lower rents and more lease renewals before the new year – as seen at the end of 2022 and 2021. “Demand will likely be sustained in January 2024 as tenants continue to sign new leases or renew leases at the start of the year,” she noted.
On the year, rental volumes were down 11.6 per cent. They were 12.6 per cent lower than the five-year average volume for the month of December. The OCR accounted for 38.2 per cent of total leasing volumes, while the RCR contributed 33.6 per cent and the CCR formed 28.2 per cent.
Rising rents for all HDB room types
In December, the HDB rental market recorded a 1 per cent increase in overall rents on the month. Rents in mature estates edged up 1.2 per cent, while those in non-mature estates gained 1 per cent.
All room types registered rising rents, with three-room flats gaining 2.1 per cent, followed by five-room units (1 per cent), executive flats (0.9 per cent) and four-room units (0.1 per cent).
Year on year, overall HDB rents rose 10.1 per cent. Rents in mature estates increased 10.4 per cent, while those in non-mature estates climbed 10.3 per cent.
Executive flats recorded the largest rental increase on the year at 14.7 per cent, followed by five-room units (10.7 per cent), three-room flats (10.5 per cent), and four-room units (8.9 per cent).
HDB leasing volume increased 7.4 per cent to an estimated 2,891 flats in December, from 2,693 units in November.
The figure was 12.8 per cent higher compared with December 2022, but 0.1 per cent lower than the five-year average volume for the month of December.
Four-room flats had the most transactions in December, at 36.2 per cent of total leasing volumes. Three-room units contributed 34.1 per cent, followed by five-room flats (24 per cent) and executive flats (5.7 per cent).
While the HDB rental market is on the rise, analysts have mixed views on its 2024 outlook.
ERA’s Mr Lim expects average HDB rents to grow 8 to 10 per cent in 2024. “ERA expects the number of rental approvals to range between 37,000 and 38,000 in 2023, and stay similar between 36,000 and 38,000 contracts in 2024,” he said.
Ms Sun from OrangeTee & Tie said that despite a tighter HDB market with a reduced number of flats that will reach their minimum occupation period, she does not expect rental hikes since affordability remains tenants’ key concern. She said: “HDB rental prices are anticipated to stabilise in 2024, with a slight gain of 1 to 3 per cent.”
Mogul.sg’s Mr Mak expects HDB rents to start declining in the first quarter of 2024. He noted: “As the rentals of private residential properties are expected to decline in 2024, the rentals of HDB flats cannot continue to defy gravity.” THE BUSINESS TIMES
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| 2024-01-18T11:55:13Z
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DOHA - Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu has no issues with fan criticism of his team's performance in their Asian Cup group victory over Vietnam, saying on Thursday that it meant they are keenly following the Samurai Blue's campaign in Qatar.
Vietnam, who are managed by former Japan coach Philippe Troussier, took a shock 2-1 lead in their Group D opener before four-time champions Japan roared back to win 4-2.
"Some fans may be unsatisfied with conceding two goals against Vietnam. People may have expected us to win by more goals, but it doesn't make a difference to how we prepare," Moriyasu told reporters ahead of their second game against Iraq.
"Negative news is not a bad thing, it shows people are watching us. I don't really mind criticism.
"It's natural (in football), what we managed to do and couldn't do. I'm not worried about what we couldn't do, but it's important to learn from our mistakes. What we could do we can do better, but we're preparing normally."
Japan defender Ko Itakura echoed his coach's sentiments, saying things do not always go according to plan in big tournaments like the Asian Cup.
"What we experienced was unexpected in the Vietnam game," said the centre back, who plays for Borussia Moenchengladbach.
"We didn't take it for granted, but we can take many positive things from the game to play better in upcoming games."
Their next opponents Iraq are one of the West Asian heavyweights who won the tournament in 2007.
Although Japan are unbeaten in their last nine games against Iraq, they have not played each other since 2017 and Moriyasu said he expected a far more physical contest compared to the Vietnam game.
"We've been analysing them for the last few games. They're physically strong, but they can play well together as a unit. That's my impression of the team," Moriyasu said.
The 55-year-old coach also said Arsenal full back Takehiro Tomiyasu is back in training after missing the first game and is in contention to play against Iraq. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-18T11:55:23Z
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LONDON - Mercedes Formula One technical director James Allison has followed principal and co-owner Toto Wolff in committing to the team for years to come, the former champions announced on Thursday.
Mercedes said the Briton, 55, had signed a long-term extension.
The news will be welcomed by seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton and team mate George Russell as Mercedes seek to end the dominance of Red Bull and triple champion Max Verstappen and prepare for a new engine era in 2026.
Allison joined Mercedes in 2017 and was involved in five of the team's eight successive constructors' championships from 2014 to 2021.
He moved to a part-time chief technical officer role in July 2021 but returned to a more frontline role in April last year when he swapped positions with Mike Elliott, who has since departed.
"It is a great privilege to continue this adventure, working alongside brilliant colleagues and fighting together for championship success," Allison said in a statement.
Wolff, who this week announced a three-year extension to his contract, hailed the Briton as "the most impressive technical leader in our sport.
"His gladiator spirit, along with his knowledge, experience and determination, make him second to none," added the Austrian. "His influence and impact, however, goes so much further than that.
"Since joining in 2017, he has been a key ally and sparring partner for me personally. We can challenge each other openly and honestly."
Mercedes finished third in 2022 and were runners-up last year to Red Bull after wrestling with an uncompetitive and tricky car.
They accepted early on last season that they needed to rethink their car after sticking with a concept that ultimately failed to deliver.
Hamilton, the sport's most successful driver of all time, has not won a race since 2021 while the team's last grand prix victory was secured by Russell in Brazil in 2022.
Wolff said this week he was hopeful the new car would be more competitive.
The W15 car will be unveiled at a digital launch event from Silverstone on Feb. 14. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-18T11:55:34Z
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A decision on the sliding venue for Italy's Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will come by the end of the month, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Thursday.
Italian organisers have been urged to use an existing sliding centre outside the country to avoid any new construction.
The track hosts the bobsleigh, luge and skeleton competitions during the Games and Italy's initial plan to reconstruct a sliding centre where an old, defunct venue existed had hit obstacles from the very start of preparations.
"We know with certainty that a decision will be made soon, by the 31st of January," Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi said at a press conference in South Korea's Gangneung after an IOC Executive Board meeting.
"Our position is unequivocal. We from the very beginning felt that this venue (in Italy) was extremely complex in terms of cost, legacy and timing. We have promoted the use of an existing track," Dubi said.
Organisers in October had said they would proceed with identifying a venue abroad before the Italian government decided to consider the option of using the now-defunct sliding centre in Cesana, which would need extensive reconstruction, in order to keep the competitions in the country.
Moving Olympic sports competitions to another country is extremely rare, with Stockholm hosting the equestrian competitions of the 1956 Games in Melbourne due to quarantine restrictions in Australia.
The IOC, however, has in recent years relaxed hosting rules with cities that do not possess specific venues, encouraging the use of existing ones -- even in other countries -- to reduce costs and simplify operations.
Switzerland, France and Austria all have sliding tracks as does Germany. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-18T11:55:45Z
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VIENNA - Austria's Beer Party, founded largely as a joke, hopes to provide some kick against more established parties as its leader on Thursday announced plans to run in this year's parliamentary elections.
The party, set up in 2015, is known for its light-hearted projects but has taken serious swipes at the political establishment and those embroiled in corruption and other scandals.
It has campaigned on issues as frivolous as installing public beer fountains in Vienna, but also on improving the public health system.
It ran in the last parliamentary election in 2019 and secured just 0.1% of the vote but its leader Dominik Wlazny, a 37-year-old doctor and rock musician with the stage name Marco Pogo, came third in 2022's presidential election with 8.3%. To enter parliament, a party needs 4% of the vote.
"Yes, we are ready, for now," Wlazny told a news conference in a black hooded sweatshirt, outlining issues including reducing child poverty, improving equality of opportunity in education and addressing the surging cost of living.
"Why are we doing this? We don't want to moan but rather do things ourselves. Because we are convinced the Beer Party can make a positive contribution in parliament," he said.
Whether the party actually enters the race, however, will depend on whether it can gather enough funds, which is plans to do by increasing its membership to 20,000 by the end of April from "around 1,300 active members" at the end of 2023, Wlazny said. Party membership dues are 59 euros a year, he added.
Any effect on other parties in the race remains to be seen. The party has been particularly critical of the far-right Freedom Party, which is currently leading in the polls.
The Beer Party's egalitarian message also appeals to left-wing voters: the leader of the opposition Social Democrats, Andreas Babler, has said he voted for Wlazny in the last presidential election. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-18T11:55:55Z
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COPENHAGEN - While many people in Greenland were glued to TV screens on Sunday to watch Denmark's new king take the throne, younger generations dreaming of independence from the former colonial ruler have mixed emotions about the royal family.
King Frederik X took the throne on Sunday, succeeding his mother, Queen Margrethe II, becoming head of state not only in Denmark but also in two former colonies, Greenland and the Faroe Islands, both sovereign territories in the kingdom.
The royal family remains hugely popular in Greenland, despite strained relations with Denmark in recent years. In the capital Nuuk, a cultural centre organised a big screen viewing that was attended by jubilant Greenlanders.
"I feel like I'm standing outside a bubble looking in at a lot of Greenlanders cheering and being extremely happy and proud that Frederik has become king," said Qupanuk Olsen, 38, a Greenland native living in Nuuk.
Greenland, which was a Danish colony until 1953, was granted broad self-governing autonomy in 2009, including the right to declare independence from Denmark.
An independence movement has gained traction in recent years in part due to several revelations of misconduct by Danish authorities during the 20th century, including a 1950s experiment in which children from Greenland were taken to Denmark. Last year, Greenland's government presented its first draft constitution.
"Some are dissatisfied with many things that Denmark have done, but they still like the royal family. It's a bit of a double standard," said Sasha Blidorf, 23, owner of a jewellery firm in Greenland, adding that she also watched the royal succession live on TV.
The royal family has traditionally made visits to the Arctic island each year, often disembarking their royal yacht wearing Greenland's national dress which has contributed to the royals' popularity.
"The royal family has stayed above the political opposition and helped keep the kingdom together," said Michael Bregnsbo, a historian at the University of Southern Denmark.
King Frederik himself has spent extended periods of time in Greenland, including a four-month expedition on the ice sheet.
"He knows Greenland well, which should help him continue to be a unifying figure. This is something the new royal couple should give high priority to," said Bregnsbo.
Qupanuk Olsen said she wants Greenland eventually to be independent.
"I can't see the king remaining the head of state over Greenland in the future," she said. "I want us to have our own president." REUTERS
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| 2024-01-18T11:56:06Z
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NEW DELHI/WASHINGTON – The Indian Navy on Jan 18 said it rescued the crew of a United States-owned vessel in the Gulf of Aden after an attack by Yemen’s Houthi movement, as tensions in the region’s sea lanes disrupted global trade.
Following the attack on the US Genco Picardy late on Jan 17, the US military said its forces had conducted strikes on 14 Houthi missiles that “presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and US Navy ships in the region”.
Attacks by the Iran-allied Houthi militia on ships in and around the Red Sea since November have slowed trade between Asia and Europe and alarmed major powers in an escalation of the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The Houthis say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians and have threatened to target US ships in response to American and British strikes on the group’s positions.
India said it diverted a warship deployed in the region to rescue the 22 crew on board the Genco Picardy, including nine Indians. The crew were all safe, and a fire on board the vessel had been extinguished.
The Houthi movement said its missiles made a “direct hit” on the bulk carrier.
Shipping operator Genco confirmed the attack. It said its vessel was hit by a projectile while it was transiting through the Gulf of Aden with a cargo of phosphate rock.
Trade flows disrupted
The US on Jan 17 returned the Yemen-based Houthis to a list of terrorist groups. US officials said the move was aimed at cutting off funding and weapons the movement has used to attack or hijack ships.
On Jan 15, Houthi forces struck the US-owned and -operated dry bulk ship Gibraltar Eagle with an anti-ship ballistic missile. There were no reports of injuries or significant damage.
The attacks target a route that accounts for about 15 per cent of the world’s shipping traffic and acts as a vital conduit between Europe and Asia.
The alternative shipping route around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope can add 10 to 14 days to a journey compared with passage via the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.
The crisis was rippling through the business world, with banking executives worried the crisis might reignite inflationary pressures.
War-hit Ukraine said the situation had led to a slowdown in its agricultural exports in January.
Pepco Group, owner of the Poundland group of discount retail stores, warned that its inventory levels could be impacted.
Denmark’s Maersk and other large shipping lines have instructed hundreds of commercial vessels to stay clear of the Red Sea, sending them on the longer route around Africa or pausing until the safety of vessels can be assured.
The attacks, as well as weather-related closures and stoppages in Europe, were causing congestion at several container terminals, Maersk told its customers on Jan 18.
Italian ports are concerned that they are being bypassed as ships steer away from the Mediterranean route.
Freight rates have more than doubled since early December, according to maritime consultancy Drewry’s world container index, while insurance sources say war risk premiums for shipments through the Red Sea are also rising. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-18T11:56:16Z
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DAVOS, Switzerland - Israel is praying that an emergency shipment brought to the Gaza border through Egypt, in a deal arranged by Qatar and France, will reach hostages held by Hamas in the besieged Palestinian enclave, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said on Thursday.
"We are praying that all the medication .... will reach them, but that's only the beginning," Herzog told the World Economic Forum in Davos, sitting next to a picture of the youngest of the 132 hostages, one-year-old Kfir Bibas.
Herzog, whose role is largely ceremonial, repeated his government's stand that the Gaza war must result in the removal of the ruling Palestinian Islamist faction Hamas, which carried out a shock cross-border rampage in southern Israel on Oct 7.
While saying he was not shying away from the "human tragedy" inflicted on Gaza civilians, Herzog cast the Israeli offensive as a step towards more peaceful relations with the Palestinians in the future, and as bolstering global security.
Herzog called on world powers to help in post-war Gaza and noted that, before the Hamas attack, Israel had been on a path to establishing relations with Saudi Arabia after doing so in 2020 with Gulf neighbours United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
"We all understand that there has to be a vision, and I think part of it should be also going back to the normalisation process of Israel and its neighbours in the region. I think it's part of a package," he said.
"But that requires to support Israel's efforts to undermine the capabilities of Hamas, and it's still there." REUTERS
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| 2024-01-18T11:56:27Z
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YANOMAMI INDIGENOUS LAND, Brazil - Brazil is losing the upper hand in its battle to save the Yanomami Indigenous people, who are dying from flu, malaria and malnutrition brought into their vast, isolated Amazon rainforest reservation by resurgent illegal miners.
A year after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declared a humanitarian crisis among the Yanomami and vowed zero tolerance for illegal mining, environmental enforcers warn that Brazil is jeopardizing last year's hard-won progress, when about 80% of roughly 20,000 wildcatters were ousted from the Portugal-sized reservation.
As the Brazilian military has rolled back its support for the government crackdown, the gold-seeking miners have come back, they say, making fresh incursions into Yanomami land.
According to Brazil's health ministry, 308 Yanomami died of disease, malnutrition and violence last year, with 50% of the deaths being children under four. Deaths from malaria, which is introduced by the miners, doubled in 2023 from 2022.
The presence of armed miners has also scared the Yanomami from planting manioc, their staple along with river fish, and reduced the game they can hunt.
During a Reuters visit to the Yanomami territory in December and January, agents of environmental protection agency Ibama said they are now flying solo in the battle against the miners after crucial military support was scaled down.
The Brazilian military reduced operations in mid-2023 and stopped transporting fuel for Ibama's helicopters to forward bases inside the reservation, limiting their range across the giant territory. The Air Force has not enforced a no-fly zone, despite being ordered to do so by Lula in April, while the Navy is not doing enough to blockade rivers that are the miners' main access for machinery and supplies, three Ibama officials said.
Brazil's Army, Navy and Air Force did not reply to requests for comment.
The ineffective no-fly zone has led to growing numbers of unregistered pilots flying miners into Yanomami land, and then crossing the border to safety in Venezuela when intercepted by Ibama helicopters, said Ibama pilot Carlos Alberto Hoffmann. Venezuela's government did not reply to a request for comment.
"The state is not effectively present today in Yanomami territory, and we are seeing the return of illegal mining," said Hugo Loss, Ibama's head of enforcement operations. Without more military support, he added, "we will lose all this year's work."
A Reuters photographer spent a week on Yanomami land, embedding with an elite Ibama unit as they swooped down by helicopter into mining camps to destroy dredging pumps, airplanes and other mining supplies. Miners fled at the sound of approaching helicopters, and the armed Ibama officers chased stragglers into the jungle to arrest them.
The photographer also visited the Auaris medical station near the Venezuelan border, where naked Yanomami children, their bellies swollen by malnutrition, were nursed back to health.
"Most of the miners had gone, but they are coming back," Yanomami shaman Davi Kopenawa, whose activism helped create the government-protected Yanomami territory in 1992, told Reuters. "Illegal mining is so bad for us."
Along with poisoning rivers and spreading disease, the return of the gold miners boosts criminal groups that traffic drugs and timber across the Amazon, undermining Lula's pledge to restore law and order there and end deforestation by 2030.
Miners arrested and handcuffed by Ibama special forces said they were poor and needed an income from gold prospecting to feed their families. Most were removed from the reservation and freed, and police said they are now seeking the backers who financed the gold digs.
The destruction of the rainforest was evident from gaping pits some five meters (16 ft) deep in mining sites cleared of trees, along with dozens of ponds where dredged sludge was pumped into rivers, turning pristine waters a bright orange from the mud.
"This is war because people are dying. Hundreds of Yanomami have died in the humanitarian crisis, and they are Brazilians too," said Felipe Finger, head of the Ibama special forces unit.
According to the 2022 census, there are 30,000 people from the Yanomami and related Ye'kwana people on the reservation, including groups with little or no contact with outsiders.
Ibama chief Rodrigo Agostinho said in a statement to Reuters that the environmental agency will not give up fighting the illegal mining on Yanomami land despite the challenges.
"We are aware of the existing adversities and we recognize the persistent presence of illegal miners in the area," he said.
Lula held a Dec. 22 cabinet meeting that included commanders of the armed forces, where he emphasized that removing illegal miners was a government priority, according to the head of the Indigenous protection agency Funai, Joenia Wapichana.
Last week, Lula's government pledged 1.2 billion reais ($245 million) on security and assistance efforts for the Yanomami, and Federal Police Director General Andrei Rodrigues said Brazil's government must throw its full weight into defending the Indigenous people.
On Wednesday, Federal Police announced the start of a new operation against illegal mining in Yanomami territory and said in a statement they will have the support of the armed forces.
Sydney Possuelo, Brazil's top expert on isolated Indigenous tribes, helped create the Yanomami reservation and expel some 40,000 gold miners in 1992 when he headed Funai. The government must do more, he said in an interview.
"Ibama and the police simply do not have enough personnel there to get rid of the miners. The government is just saying this to show that it is doing something.
"The Air Force is not enforcing the no-fly zone. The Army and the Navy are doing nothing." REUTERS
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GAZA/DOHA – Israeli forces fighting to seize the southern Gaza Strip's main city pounded areas near the biggest hospital still functioning in the enclave on Jan 18, sending patients and residents fleeing a battle they feared would lay the city to waste.
The heaviest battle of 2024 so far was under way in Khan Younis, a city that is sheltering hundreds of thousands of people who fled the north earlier in the war, now in its fourth month.
The charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), which has doctors at the city’s Nasser Hospital, said patients and displaced people sheltering there were fleeing in panic.
In Rafah, farther south, 16 bodies were laid out on the bloodstained cobbles outside a morgue, most in white shrouds, a few in plastic body bags: a branch of the Zameli family wiped out in a strike that destroyed their home overnight.
Half the bundles were tiny, holding the bodies of small children. Authorities said 17 people were killed in total.
A grey-haired man howled in sorrow as he clung to one of the bodies, burying his face in the face of the shrouded corpse. A woman in a pink headscarf keened and stroked one of the shrouds.
At the scene of the bombing, the home had been completely obliterated. A girl’s tattered princess schoolbag lay in the rubble. Tears rolled down the cheeks of 10-year-old Mahmoud al-Zameli, who lived next door and had escaped.
“Yesterday, I was playing with the children over there. They have all died,” he sobbed.
“I’m the only one still alive.”
More than three months into a war that has killed more than 24,000 Palestinians and laid much of the Gaza Strip to waste, Israel has said it is planning to wind down its ground operations and shift to smaller-scale tactics.
But before doing so, it appears determined to capture all of Khan Younis, which Israel says is a main base for the Hamas fighters who attacked southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, and killed at least 1,200 people. Around 240 people were also taken hostage.
Israelis marked the first birthday of the youngest hostage, Kfir Bibas, who was not among the scores of women and children released during a week-long truce in late November.
Hamas says Kfir, his four-year-old brother Ariel and their mother Shiri were killed in an Israeli air strike but, unlike in the cases of other slain hostages, has not released images confirming their deaths.
“His whereabouts are unknown,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog said at the World Economic Forum in Davos in Switzerland, sitting next to a photograph of the baby. “I call upon the entire universe to work endlessly to free Kfir and all the hostages.”
Fighting approaches key hospital
Khan Younis residents said on Jan 18 the fighting had come closer than ever to Nasser Hospital, the biggest hospital still working in the enclave.
It has raised fears the facility would fall under siege and be shut like Shifa, the main hospital in the north, captured by Israeli forces last November.
“What is happening in Khan Younis now is complete madness: the occupation bombards the city in all directions, from the air and the ground too,” said Mr Abu El-Abed, 45, displaced several times with his family of seven since leaving Gaza City in the north earlier in the war.
“It is similar to what happened in Gaza before they took control of Al Shifa hospital,” he said by phone from Rafah, farther south, where he was looking for supplies and scouting for possible places to move his family again. “In the last three days, they have destroyed complete residential districts in the centre of the city and also in the eastern town of Abassan.”
Khan Younis itself is cut off from communication by a week-old mobile phone and Internet blackout. Gazans can communicate with the outside only by accessing Egyptian or Israeli mobile networks close to the border fence.
The Israeli military said it had killed 60 fighters in the previous 24 hours, including 40 in Khan Younis. The figures were impossible to verify but give an idea of the location and intensity of the fighting.
Two-thirds of Gaza’s hospitals, including all medical facilities in the northern half of the enclave, have already ceased functioning altogether, and the rest are only partly functional. Losing Nasser would sharply curtail the limited trauma care still available for Gaza’s 2.3 million residents.
“According to MSF’s surgeon in Nasser hospital, last night Israeli forces heavily bombed the area close to the hospital with no prior evacuation order, causing patients and many of the thousands of displaced civilians who had sought refuge in Nasser to flee in a panic,” the medical charity said on X, formerly Twitter.
In a video that included footage of dark columns of smoke rising above crowded central Khan Younis, MSF Head of Mission for Palestine Leo Cans, who reached the hospital, said the fighting had come “very close”.
“We hear a lot of bombing around. A lot of shooting around,” he said. “The wounded people that we take care of, many of them lost their legs, lost their arms. There are really complex wounds that require a lot of surgery. And we don’t have the capacity to do this now. The situation has to stop.” REUTERS
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WASHINGTON - U.S. President Joe Biden's emerging strategy on Yemen aims to weaken the Houthi militants but stops well short of trying to defeat the group or directly address Iran, the Houthi's main sponsor, raising risks of prolonged conflict, experts say.
The strategy - a blend of limited military strikes and sanctions - appears aimed at preventing a wider Middle East conflict even as Washington seeks to punish the Houthis for their attacks on Red Sea shipping.
But it is unclear whether it will accomplish Biden's main goal: halting the militants' attacks.
Analysts warn a middle-road attempt could mean continued instability along a vital global shipping chokepoint without removing the risk of greater regional military confrontation.
"I think the strategy is sustainable. I just don't think it's going to work," said Seth Jones at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.
"Limited strikes against Houthi targets are not going to deter attacks around the Red Sea."
The Houthis say their attacks on Red Sea shipping are intended to support Palestinians against Israel, a popular cause in Yemen. The Houthis' campaign has disrupted global commerce, stoked fears of inflation and deepened concern that fallout from the Israel-Hamas war could destabilize the Middle East.
After months of warnings, Biden last week authorized a wave of airstrikes against Houthi military targets, hitting missiles, drones and radar stations. But the Houthis have kept up their attacks.
On Tuesday, the U.S. military struck four anti-ship ballistic missiles as they prepared to launch against Red Sea targets and on Wednesday strikes destroyed 14 more. Both actions suggest the U.S. is choosing military targets based on real-time intelligence.
"If we see a target, we will hit it," one U.S. official said.
Biden's national security adviser has publicly hinted at the likely need for more military action.
"We anticipated the Houthis would continue to try to hold this critical artery at risk and we continue to reserve the right to take further action," Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday.
Some U.S. officials and experts believe the Houthis welcome the confrontation with the United States, saying it helps them win popular support in Yemen and burnishes their brand in the Middle East as part of the Iran-backed "Axis of Resistance."
And the Houthis appear to believe they can endure U.S. bombings, even if some stocks of missiles and drones are destroyed.
"The fact of the matter is that (drones and missiles are) relatively easily replaced," said Gerald Feierstein, a former U.S. ambassador to Yemen. "Whether they get the motors or the guidance systems or something else from Iran, they can put together the pieces themselves."
TERRORIST DESIGNATION
The U.S. strategy of balanced escalation was apparent on Wednesday when the Biden administration returned the Houthis to a list of terrorist groups.
But it delayed implementation for 30 days, to help limit the impact on humanitarian aid to Yemen, and Biden also stopped short of relisting the group as a "foreign terrorist organization (FTO)."
The FTO designation includes far stricter measures than the Houthis new designation as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist" (SDGT).
Gregory Johnsen, a non-resident fellow with the Arab Gulf States Institute, said he doubted the step would be effective.
"This is largely a symbolic act that's going to have some humanitarian repercussions, but it's not going to do anything to prevent the Houthis from carrying out these attacks," he said.
One senior Biden administration official, briefing reporters on the decision, said Washington was still "committed to resolving the conflict in Yemen" and to reach a durable ceasefire between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis.
Jonathan Lord, director of the Middle East security program at the Center for a New American Security, said Biden was hoping to deter the Houthis and effectively "stick the landing in some sort of negotiated peace in Yemen."
But Lord, a former Pentagon official, said the strategy largely ignored the Houthis main backer - Iran - and would tie up valuable, and costly, U.S. Navy assets.
"Iran can provide the Houthis with capabilities that are asymmetrically cheaper," Lord said.
"U.S. capabilities, by and large, live off of aircraft carriers and other naval vessels which need to go in and out of the region, but also are needed elsewhere in the world." REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/bidens-strategy-on-yemen-aims-to-weaken-not-destroy-houthis
| 2024-01-18T11:56:58Z
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BEIRUT - Lebanon’s Hezbollah group has rebuffed Washington’s initial ideas for cooling tit-for-tat fighting with neighbouring Israel, such as pulling its fighters farther from the border, but remains open to US diplomacy to avoid a ruinous war, Lebanese officials said.
United States envoy Amos Hochstein has been leading a diplomatic outreach to restore security at the Israel-Lebanon frontier as the wider region teeters dangerously towards a major escalation of the Gaza war.
Attacks by Yemen’s Houthis on shipping in the Red Sea, US strikes in response, and fighting elsewhere in the Middle East have added urgency to the efforts.
“Hezbollah is ready to listen,” a senior Lebanese official familiar with the group’s thinking said, while emphasising that the group saw the ideas presented by veteran negotiator Hochstein on a visit to Beirut last week as unrealistic.
Hezbollah’s position is that it will fire rockets at Israel until there is a full ceasefire in Gaza. The group’s rejection of the proposals presented by Mr Hochstein has not been previously reported.
Despite the rejection and Hezbollah’s volleys of rockets in support of Gaza, the group’s openness to diplomatic contacts signals an aversion to a wider war, said one of the Lebanese officials and a security source, even after an Israeli strike reached Beirut on Jan 2, killing a Hamas leader.
Israel has also said that it wants to avoid war, but both sides say they are ready to fight if necessary. Israel warns it will respond more aggressively if a deal to make the border area safe is not reached.
Such an escalation would open a major new phase in the regional conflict.
Branded a terrorist organisation by Washington, Hezbollah has not been directly involved in talks, said three Lebanese officials and a European diplomat.
Instead, Mr Hochstein’s ideas were passed on by Lebanese mediators, they said. Reuters consulted 11 Lebanese, US, Israeli and European officials for this story.
One suggestion floated last week was that border hostilities be scaled back in tandem with Israeli moves towards lower-intensity operations in Gaza, the three Lebanese sources and a US official said.
A proposal was also communicated to Hezbollah that its fighters move 7km from the border, two of the three Lebanese officials said.
That would leave fighters much closer than Israel’s public demand of a 30km withdrawal to the Litani River stipulated in a 2006 United Nations resolution.
Hezbollah has dismissed both ideas as unrealistic, the Lebanese officials and the diplomat said. The group has long ruled out giving up weapons or withdrawing fighters.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment on “reports of diplomatic discussions” in response to questions from Reuters for this story. Spokespeople for Hezbollah and the Lebanon government did not immediately respond to detailed requests for comment.
The White House declined to comment on Reuters’ reporting.
Hezbollah has, however, signalled that once the Gaza war is over, it could be open to Lebanon negotiating a mediated deal over disputed areas at the border, the three Lebanese officials said, a possibility alluded to by Hezbollah’s leader in a speech in January.
“After the war in Gaza, we are ready to support Lebanese negotiators to turn the threat into opportunity,” one senior Hezbollah official told Reuters, speaking on the condition of anonymity. He did not address specific proposals.
Hezbollah previously held fire during a seven-day Gaza truce in late November.
Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy, in response to a Reuters question at a media briefing on Jan 17, said there was “still a diplomatic window of opportunity”, to push Hezbollah away from the border.
Mr Hochstein has a track record of successful mediation between Lebanon and Israel. In 2022, he brokered a deal delineating the countries’ disputed maritime boundary – an agreement sealed with Hezbollah’s behind-the-scenes approval.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, in whose Cabinet Hezbollah has ministers, has said that Beirut was ready for talks on long-term border stability.
During his Jan 11 visit to Beirut, Mr Hochstein met Mr Mikati, the Parliament Speaker and army commander. He said publicly at the time that the US, Israel and Lebanon all preferred a diplomatic solution.
Mr Hochstein was hopeful “all of us on both sides of the border” could reach a solution to allow Lebanon and Israel to live with guaranteed security, he told reporters.
Iran
The spearhead of the Iran-aligned “Axis of Resistance”, Hezbollah was drawn into a battle it has said it did not expect when Palestinian ally Hamas stormed Israel on Oct 7.
It triggered the current war that has also spilled into the Red Sea, where US strikes have targeted Yemen’s Houthis over their attacks on shipping.
Hezbollah has said its campaign has aided Palestinians by stretching Israeli forces and driving tens of thousands of Israelis from their homes.
It has come at a cost, with around 140 Hezbollah fighters and at least 25 Lebanese civilians killed, as well as at least nine Israeli soldiers and a civilian. The intensity has been growing in recent weeks.
Hezbollah, founded by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982, is the most powerful and influential of the groups that Iran backs. It has played a big part in Teheran’s wider foreign policies.
Sources familiar with Hezbollah thinking have said that it knows all-out war would be ruinous for Lebanon, a country already destabilised by years of financial and political crises, and where Hezbollah’s vast arsenal has long been a point of contention. Experts say the cache includes more than 100,000 rockets.
Even as Iran-aligned fighters draw US fire elsewhere in the region and Iran launches strikes in Syria and Iraq, Teheran would be loathe to see Hezbollah and Lebanon subjected to massive destruction, not least because it has previously had to foot the bill of reconstruction, said Mr Mohanad Hage Ali, deputy director of the Carnegie Middle East Centre, a think-tank based in Beirut.
Iran’s Foreign Minister on Jan 17 said attacks against Israel and its interests by the “Axis of Resistance” will stop if the Gaza war ends.
Mr Hage Ali said Hezbollah clearly wanted to avoid full-scale conflict. It did not want to be left in a situation where Israeli strikes continue or intensify in Lebanon after the Gaza war ends or is significantly scaled back, he said.
“A process in which it can engage, or support, the Lebanese state as it negotiates would provide the benefits of de-escalation,” he said.
‘Threats and inducements’
The diplomacy faces significant complications, and many observers see a serious risk of an escalation in fighting. Israel has said its army will act if diplomacy cannot restore security to northern Israel.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the group had heard “threats and inducements”.
The threat, Mr Nasrallah said in a Jan 15 speech, was the warning that Israel would move forces to its northern border as it shifts to the next phase of the Gaza war.
Hezbollah was ready for war and would fight without “any limits, rules or boundaries”, he said.
But he has also alluded to diplomatic possibilities, saying in a Jan 5 speech that once the Gaza war was over, Lebanon had “a historic opportunity” to liberate land.
Those comments were widely interpreted as reflecting the possibility of a negotiated deal settling the status of disputed border areas.
Four Lebanese officials briefed on the matter said Mr Hochstein has discussed ideas aimed at advancing such a deal, but he had not presented any draft proposals. The officials did not provide details of the ideas.
An Israeli official told Reuters that the Israeli government has “relayed lots of demands”, without giving details. “One way or another, our 80,000 northern residents will be returning home,” the official said.
France has also been involved in de-escalation efforts. A source familiar with French thinking said Mr Nasrallah’s public comments alluding to a possible border deal were “direct messages to the Americans and to the French”.
“He’s telling us: ‘The door is open’.” REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/hezbollah-rejected-us-overtures-still-open-to-diplomacy-to-avoid-wider-war-0
| 2024-01-18T11:57:08Z
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BELFAST -Northern Ireland's biggest public sector strike in a generation shut schools, halted transport services and left icy roads ungritted in sub-zero temperatures on Thursday, with people warned to only travel or seek medical help in an emergency.
Unions representing around 170,000 of the region's 225,000 public sector workers called the 24-hour strike after failing to receive pay increases despite multi-decade high inflation, following the collapse of the region's power-sharing government in early 2022.
Car drivers beeped horns in support of workers at picket lines outside schools, hospitals and bus depots, adding pressure on the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to end its two-year protest over post-Brexit trade rules for the region.
Workers Reuters spoke to criticised the DUP but also the British government, which has pledged to provide the funds for pay rises but only if power-sharing resumes. Public pay has risen in the rest of the United Kingdom.
"We'll keep going until we get what we deserve... We've had enough," healthcare assistant and union representative Liam Stewart said outside Belfast Mater hospital.
Stewart said the squeeze on incomes had left some higher paid colleague's struggling to pay mortgages, while lower paid staff have asked the union for help accessing food banks.
The health service asked the public to "take all sensible steps" to reduce their chances of requiring care and assume any appointments due on Thursday were cancelled.
The strike began amid ice and snow across Northern Ireland, prompting warnings that only essential road journeys should be taken due to the conditions and limited gritting. Road service staff are among those set to strike for a week.
"There are a very small number of people in the DUP who are stopping this (the pay increases) from going ahead," said science teacher Dr David Roberts, who was striking for the first time in his 28-year career.
The DUP says it will only return to government once it wins further concessions on the trade rules London agreed with the EU upon leaving the bloc.
The party said its goal to ease the barriers many unionists feel undermines their place in the United Kingdom should not prevent London from immediately increasing public sector pay.
Irish nationalists and pro-British unionist politicians are obliged to share power under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday peace accord that ended three decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/northern-ireland-grinds-to-a-freezing-halt-over-public-pay-dispute
| 2024-01-18T11:57:19Z
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Zinedine Zidane married his childhood sweetheart Veronique Fernandez in 1994, five years after they first met.
The former Real Madrid manager, 51, has sweetly opened up about his enduring love for his wife on numerous occasions, but photos of their wedding day remain few and far between. One resurfaced picture reveals the couple, aged just 22 and 23, shyly smiling during their wedding ceremony at Bordeaux town hall as the footballer slipped a wedding band on his bride's finger.
Aside from the grand chandelier and intricately carved walls in the background, we couldn't tear our eyes away from the groom's bold outfit choice. Ditching a traditional black suit, Zidane jazzed up his ensemble with a polka dot tie and a matching pocket square, sweeping his dark hair away from his face.
His bride looked stunning in a puff-sleeve wedding dress with a drop waist and a princess skirt with a giant bow at the back, which she paired with silk gloves, a pearl necklace and a white floral hair accessory pinned into her updo.
Zidane met his wife in 1989 while living in the same youth accommodation, where the footballer was with the Cannes training centre and the dancer was taking classes at the Rosella Hightower school. However, their love story had a slow start as they reportedly crossed paths many times before plucking up the courage to talk to one another.
Zidane gushed that he fell for his wife very quickly during an interview at the Valdebebas after retiring from his football career following the 2006 World Cup: "When I met her, I would have thrown myself from the top of a building for her to love me."
Veronique has similarly looked back fondly on their relationship, which she described as a fairytale: "It [meeting Zidane for the first time] was a crush, like a fairy tale, but it was also and from the I start an honest relationship, a normal relationship. I married him, he is and will be forever the man of my life."
They are now parents to four sons, all of whom have inherited their father's passion for football. Enzo plays for FC Lausanne-Sport, Luca plays in goal for Real Madrid, Theo is a midfielder in Cadete A, and Elyaz plays in Infantil B for Real Madrid Academy.
Their eldest son recently celebrated his own wedding in Karen Goncalves in Marrakech on 3 December 2022. They chose very different outfits from Enzo's parents, with the groom rocking a tux and bow tie while his wife looked radiant in an embellished V-neck gown with a fur shawl draped over her shoulders.
On Valentine's Day, Enzo shared a sweet message for Karen alongside new wedding photos: "How lucky is mine to have you by my side for this adventure that is life, I love you forever KG."
READ NEXT: Sophie Turner makes surprising move over ex Joe Jonas claims amid custody battle
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/brides/511543/polka-dot-clad-zinedine-zidane-grins-radiant-bride-veronique-resurfaced-wedding-photos/
| 2024-01-18T12:19:18Z
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Princess Eugenie was very "decisive" about what wedding dress she wanted when she married Jack Brooksbank in 2018, hinting she didn't want a style that was "out of fashion."
As with all royal weddings, anticipation was high in the months leading up to her big day, especially when it came to details about her wedding dress and bridal tiara. Sarah Ferguson's daughter teased when discussing her chosen look during an interview on The One Show. After being asked whether she wanted a straight or meringue silhouette, she replied: "Maybe a mix of both. Can you do that? Is there such a thing?
"No meringue shoulders - that's a little bit out of fashion - maybe it's in fashion now? We'll see what happens."
The Princess settled on a gown designed by Peter Pilotto and Christopher De Vos with a V at the front and the back which, combined with her lack of veil, showed off her scoliosis scar. It was a style she had envisioned from the moment she started her wedding dress search following Jack's proposal on New Year's Day in 2018.
"As soon as we announced the wedding, I knew the designer, and the look, straight away," she told Vogue. "I never thought I'd be the one who knew exactly what I like, but I've been pretty on top of it."
She added she found wedding planning a little "nerve-wracking", which is understandable considering she only made some decisions on the morning of her big day! "It's very nerve-wracking because you want it to be perfect but then you realise that you're going to be with the person you love forever and nothing else really matters," Eugenie added.
It's reported that Eugenie and Jack were unsure which carriage they should use but just hours before their wedding began, they chose the Scottish State Coach in case the unpredictable British weather brought them rain.
The couple met during a Verbier ski holiday in 2010 when Princess Eugenie was 20 and Brooksbank was 24, and they dated for eight years before Jack got down on one knee during their holiday in Nicaragua.
Speaking of the emotional moment, she explained on The One Show: "The lake was so beautiful, it was a special light and I even said, 'This is an incredible moment' and then he popped the question, which was really surprising even though we had been together seven years. It was the perfect moment because we knew it was going to end up this way." She added: "I was over the moon, crying."
Eugenie revealed the late Queen Elizabeth II was one of the first people to hear about the engagement, and she was "very happy" for them. She said: "Granny actually knew right at the very beginning, she was one of the few people who knew. She was very happy, as was my Grandfather."
Following eight months of wedding planning, the royals got married on 12 October 2018 at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle – the same venue chosen by Eugenie's cousin Prince Harry five months earlier.
RELATED: Princess Beatrice's rebellious wedding: From stepson's secret role to her vintage wedding ring
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/brides/511546/princess-eugenie-unearthed-comments-out-of-fashion-wedding-dress/
| 2024-01-18T12:19:24Z
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Cillian Murphy is no stranger to stardom, but lately, his star has been shining even more brightly than usual. The Irish actor just won Best Actor at the Golden Globes for his performance in Oppenheimer. And proudly cheering him on, as usual, was his ever-dependable wife, Yvonne.
The pair have been married for almost 20 years and according to astrologer Debbie Frank, this should come as no surprise: they are actually "super-glued together" because "their charts are perfect for each other".
Speaking exclusively to HELLO!, Debbie deftly delves into the astrological charts of Cillian and Yvonne, showing exactly why the married couple are so compatible.
"Cillian is not the typical restless Gemini who shies away from commitment. He has Venus and Mercury in steady Taurus indicating he wants security rather than chasing excitement.
"His blueprint for love is a strong woman who knows her own mind as his Moon resides in fiery Aries. He doesn't expect the relationship to revolve around him," Debbie explains. "In fact, both Cillian and Yvonne moved to London together before they were married so that she could attend the Royal College of Art. It's an equal partnership."
Debbie explained that Yvonne's creativity has a magnetic pull on Cillian due to his astrological makeup. "Venus describes what you look for in love and Cillian's Venus in Taurus describes an attraction to a creative woman. Yvonne is renowned for her installations which incorporate film, performance, sculptural and textile elements, sound and writing," she said.
"Such an electric and eclectic multi-media mix stems from Yvonne's Sun in artistic Libra positioned close to progressive, innovative Uranus. She thrives on producing creative visual experiences that make people think and this is what delights Gemini Cillian, who adores the way her mind works and how she continually surprises him."
Yvonne is also a grounded source of stability for Cillian, thanks to her Venus in Virgo. "Yvonne is no head-in-the-clouds person. Her own Venus is in earthy Virgo which matches his in earthy Taurus. She provides the family stability whilst he works away and they are both in this for the long haul.
"Both of their Sun signs are in the sparkly Air element which keeps them interested in life and in each other and their Venuses are both in loyal Earth signs which gives them staying power. She is both a seeker (Moon in Sagittarius) and a stalwart – her Venus constantly doing what it takes to make the relationship work.
"Their marriage continues to be happily rock-solid even with Cillian's star in the ascendant all year with wow-factor Uranus and fortunate Jupiter bringing an incredible array of acting offers his way during 2024."
Despite his incredible talents, Debbie explained that Cillian remains a down-to-earth individual who doesn't let himself be blinded by the bright lights of Hollywood. "The actor is unlikely to change his stance on shunning the spotlight. He's at heart a worker bee with his Mars close to nose-to-the-grindstone Saturn.
"His chart bestows lucky breaks which gift him amazing opportunities but he applies himself to the nth degree. Cillian's Saturn (planet of karmic lessons) is in home-loving Cancer and he got the memo long ago that home is where his heart lies."
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/celebrities/511548/what-makes-cillian-murphy-and-his-wife-of-20-years-yvonne-mcguinness-so-perfect-for-each-other/
| 2024-01-18T12:19:31Z
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Jennifer Hudson put on a cozy display with her boyfriend Common on Wednesday when they stepped out for a sporty date night in LA.
The American Idol alum looked dazzling courtside as she showed off her long legs while taking in the game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks at Crypto.com Arena.
Jennifer was casually dressed in a long leather coat which was worn open to reveal her bare legs which she crossed as she sat alongside the rapper as they took in the game.
Despite her casual appearance, Jennifer still added a touch of glam with red lipstick and long, perfectly painted nails.
She and Common didn't pack on the PDA, but appeared comfortable and relaxed as they put on an animated display in their front-row seats.
The 42-year-old EGOT winner was first linked to Common – real name Lonnie Rashid Lynn – in 2022 but refrained from naming him as her new beau.
However, during an appearance on CBS Mornings in November 2023, she admitted that she is "very happy" with her love life.
During a conversation with Gayle King, Jennifer was asked how she is feeling about her "very nice relationship with someone who shall remain nameless".
Unable to hide her glee, Jennifer responded with a smile: "I am very happy, yes, ma'am." The 'Dreamgirls' actress also indicated that she sees long-term potential with her new man.
"Boo'ed up? I think it's more sophisticated than boo'ed up," she added. "Definitely not an entanglement. That's for sure."
Jennifer was previously in a decade-long relationship with her ex-fiancé David Otunga.
They kickstarted their romance in 2007 and got engaged a year later. In 2009, they welcomed their son, David Daniel Otunga Jr., but eight years later they ended their romance.
Common, 51, is also a dad and is a father to his daughter, Omoye Assata Lynn. He shares her with his ex-girlfriend, Kim Jones, who he split from in 2008. Omoye is now 26 years old and graduated from law school in 2022, making Common one proud dad.
He has a decorated dating past and was previously in a relationship with Eryka Badu, who Common called his "first love".
Empire actress, Taraji P Henson, was once the apple of Common's eye as was tennis ace, Serena Williams, before she found love with her husband, Alexis Ohanian.
He was in a long-time relationship with actress and comedian, Tiffany Haddish, but has never married any of his partners.
Get the lowdown on the biggest, hottest celebrity news, features and profiles coming out of the U.S. Sign up to our HELLO! Hollywood newsletterand get them delivered straight to your inbox.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/celebrities/511556/jennifer-hudson-all-legs-leather-look-date-night-common-photos/
| 2024-01-18T12:19:37Z
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Julianne Hough has debuted a brand new LBD and this may be our favourite yet. The Dancing with the Stars host, 35, looked sensational in a post that shared with her 5.2 million Instagram followers. The dancer was styled by Jennifer Mazur who picked out a slinky black dress by MÔNOT.
Julianne's dress featured an unusual halterneck that connected to cut-out cups in the bodice. The piece was form-fitting and grazed the floor in a supremely elegant way. She was photographed by a roaring fire with her newly transformed hair which is such a fun style for the New Year. The pro dancer recently chopped off her gorgeous blonde locks into a bob that sits just below the ear.
On this occasion, the Safe Haven actress tucked her hair, which was styled straight, behind her ears and pulled a strand forward that had been coated in product so that it sat over one eye. Though Julianne wore a glamorous evening dress, she opted to keep her makeup pared back. Her skin looked lit from within with just a touch of mascara and a raspberry-toned lip. The look was light on accessories with just a silver ear cuff completing the look.
Her followers were beside themselves with joy when they saw Julianne's new look. Fashion stylist Rob Zangardi commented: "Dying over all these looks!", whilst a fan said: "Killing it". Julianne rocked a similar black evening dress earlier this month when she stepped onto the red carpet for the Creative Arts Emmys.
She was photographed alongside her brother and Dancing with the Stars judge Derek Hough wore a plunging black gown by Grace Ling with a metal bar connecting the straps. Her chic bob was once again styled straight and tucked behind her ears but she ditched the no-makeup-makeup look in favour of a warm smokey eye and glossy pink lip.
The Rock of Ages star paid tribute to her brother on the special occasion. She wrote: "What an honor to present last night at the 75th Creative Arts Emmys, and an even bigger honor to have stood there in support as my brother won his 4th Emmy!
"Not only is he the most nominated choreographer (14 times!) in history, but to have won such an amazing award after this past month was an extraordinary way to welcome Derek home - a true depiction of experiencing the highs and lows while so gracefully showing up in gratitude Derek! So proud of you! Love you," she added.
She was also spotted looking so glam as GLAAD celebrated its Governors Award From The TV Academy With A Pre-Emmys Toast To The Future Of LGBTQ Representation. She wore a sensational sheer silver dress with a corset top and loose skirt covered in large paillettes for a disco aesthetic.
The Footloose star was seen alongside her brother at the 2024 BAFTA Tea Party at The Maybourne Beverly Hills last week. Julianne rocked a billowing tiered chiffon dress in off-white that had a high ruched neck and floaty sleeves. She styled the piece with a pair of black stockings and pointed-toe black heels that blended into the stockings for a leg-lengthening effect.
She teamed the unusual dress with a sequinned white clutch, gold statement earrings, and a rosy makeup look. It has been lovely to see Julianne and Derek spend so much time together as she continues to prop up her brother whose wife was taken ill over Christmas. He has said that "she was diagnosed with a cranial hematoma from a burst blood vessel and required an emergency craniectomy", but added that she is in "stable condition".
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/fashion/celebrity-style/511542/julianne-hough-sultry-goddess-sensational-halterneck-dress/
| 2024-01-18T12:19:43Z
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The EE BAFTA Film Awards are a cornerstone of awards season, and it's easy to see why. The only awards show out of the major players including Golden Globes, Emmys and Oscar Awards to take place in the UK, it is an amazing chance to celebrate British cinema - and this year will be no different! Hosted by the Doctor himself, David Tennant, the prestigious event will take place at London's Royal Festival Hall on 18 February - and we can't wait to see who will be celebrating their big wins on the night.
Speaking about the nominees, HELLO!'s Film Editor Emmy Griffiths said: "It has been great to see the stars of some of our favourite movies from the last year recognised! The nominees are definitely hinting at a big victory for Oppenheimer and it's starry cast - but as we saw at the Critics Choice when Paul Giamatti took home the accolade for Best Actor - anything could happen!
"It was nice to see some outliers receive recognition too, Anatomy of a Fall's nods and The Zone of Interest are both hugely well deserved - and I can't wait to see if there are any surprises on the night.
Without further ado, see the full list of nominees here...
Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer
- “Blue Bag Life” — Lisa Selby (Director), Rebecca Lloyd-Evans (Director, Producer), Alex Fry (Producer)
- “Bobi Wine: The People’s President” — Christopher Sharp (Director) [also directed Moses Bwayo]
- “Earth Mama” — Savanah Leaf (Writer, Director, Producer), Shirley O’Connor (Producer), Medb Riordan (Producer)
- “How to Have Sex” — Molly Manning Walker (Writer, Director)
- “Is There Anybody Out There?” — Ella Glendining (Director)
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
- “Anatomy of a Fall” — Justine Triet, Arthur Harari
- “Barbie” — Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach
- “The Holdovers” — David Hemingson
- “Maestro” — Bradley Cooper, Josh Singer
- “Past Lives” — Celine Song
Adapted Screenplay
- “All of Us Strangers,” Andrew Haigh
- “American Fiction,” Cord Jefferson
- “Oppenheimer,” Christopher Nolan
- “Poor Things,” Tony McNamara
- “The Zone of Interest,” Jonathan Glazer
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/film/511554/ee-bafta-film-awards-2024-nominations-see-full-list-from-x-to-x/
| 2024-01-18T12:19:49Z
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Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's daughter, North West, showed off a dramatically different look to her teeth on Wednesday – the same day her dad unveiled his $850,000 titanium dentures.
The 10-year-old featured in two videos posted on the joint TikTok account she shares with her mom, and as soon as North smiled for the camera, she unveiled a sparkling grill adorning her pearly white teeth.
In the montage of pictures – which Kim captioned, "The things, my daughter makes on my phone ha ha" – North can be seen posing with some friends before the next slide shows a close-up of her dental jewelry.
In the image, North pulls her lips apart to reveal eight, jewel-encrusted covers placed over her teeth. Another video that appeared to have been filmed around the holidays also showed North sporting her grill.
Of course, North's teeth transformation isn't permanent as the grill is removable, and in her latest TikTok video, she isn't wearing them.
Her dad, however, appears to have opted for a permanent transformation to his teeth as he shared a photo on Wednesday of his titanium dentures.
Taking to his Instagram Story, the 46-year-old posted a close-up of his mouth, unveiling the bright silver blocks that have replaced his teeth.
Seemingly taking his inspiration from a James Bond villain, Kanye shared another image of the fictional assassin, Jaws, who was known for the set of stainless-steel teeth in his mouth.
"Ye was a pleasure to work with every step of the process," his dentist, Dr Thomas Connelly, told DailyMail.com.
"His vision for designing unique art transcends the dental progression. The marriage of his vision with dental science has created a new look that is epic!" he added.
Kanye and North are not the only members of the family to opt for teeth makeovers – Kim is also a fan of a grill.
In 2019, the mom-of-four showed off the accessory on her lower teeth, and in 2021 she posted a photo of her "new opal birthstone grill".
Even the former couple's son, Saint, eight, has sported the dental accessory, wearing what appeared to be a gold grill featuring the Louis Vuitton logo on his front teeth in June 2023.
Alongside North and Saint, Kim and Kanye are also parents to son Psalm, four, and daughter, Chicago, six. The former couple finalized their divorce in 2022 after nearly seven years of marriage.
Recently, Kim opened up about how she navigates difficult questions her children ask her following her split from their dad.
She told GQ: "Ultimately, what matters is that kids feel loved and heard. You want to be sensitive because they're just kids, and it's hard to go through no matter what age."
The Skims founder continued: "You have to make sure that you only go to a level that they can understand. It's okay to show a vulnerable side. You never go to a negative side."
"Just because I know how to manage my stress well doesn't mean that I don't feel the emotions," she said. "If I'm sad, of course I will cry and feel it."
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/healthandbeauty/511552/kim-kardashian-kanye-west-daughter-north-west-teeth-transformation/
| 2024-01-18T12:19:55Z
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Comedienne Dawn French shares one child, daughter Billie aged 32, with her former husband, Lenny Henry, who she split from in 2010 after 25 years of marriage.
Dawn, 66, lives nearby her daughter in Cornwall, with her husband Mark Bignell, who has two grown-up children of his own, Olly and Lily. Lenny has been in a long-term relationship with theatre director Lisa Makin since 2013.
Read on to learn about Dawn and Lenny's adoption journey with Billie…
When Dawn and Lenny adopted Billie
Lenny and Dawn married in 1984 in Covent Garden, London, and adopted Billie in 1991 when she was just two weeks old, after struggling to conceive naturally.
Dawn told the Sunday Telegraph: "I had grief for a while. I did have miscarriages, so I’ve had grief about that as well.
"But the minute Billie arrived that was it for me. She fills everything I needed to be as a mother."
Dawn opened up about adopting Billie on Elizabeth Day's How To Fail podcast, revealing: "The minute we met her and she came into our lives - I think a week afterwards - you just hit the ground running."
"Suddenly there's a phone call. And it happened right in the middle of when we were about to make a French and Saunders series - we had the studios booked, we had the directors booked, we had all our crew booked, we were writing the series ready to go into the studio."
Dawn added that her co-star Jennifer Saunders was her rock throughout the process, covering for her and keeping everything private.
Dawn and Billie 's relationship
The Vicar of Dibley star Dawn has previously spoken to HELLO! about her bond with Billie.
She explained: "[Our bond] is unbreakable. We have the same amount of mother/daughter friction that any mum and daughter have, it's no more or less. But I've learnt a lot about her. And she's learnt a lot about me." She added that her daughter is: "My biggest test and my biggest joy."
Opening up to The Telegraph, Dawn revealed how Billie enjoyed being an only child.
"I’ve got a daughter who bought a T-shirt for herself when she was about eight that said, ‘I’m an only child, let’s keep it that way,'" she said.
"She perfectly well likes her new stepbrother and sister but she has been an only kid for a long time so I have to keep that in mind. She’s had a lot of me to herself."
The mum-of-one and Billie live 12 minutes away from each other, with Dawn telling the publication they have had challenging moments: "We could no longer live together - there would be murder. But we have to live nearby."
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/healthandbeauty/mother-and-baby/511547/dawn-french-lenny-henry-adoption-story-daughter-billie/
| 2024-01-18T12:20:01Z
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Technically the famed Italian fashion house is marketing said paperclip as a “money clip” but I have a sneaking suspicion that both fashion fanatics and those less interested see it for what it really is, a glorified piece of stationary retailing for a stellar £340.
The most mind-boggling part of this whole designer paperclip debacle is that this isn’t the first time they’ve sold it. Back in 2017, the brand launched the same product, however this time it was priced at a more affordable £145 (I guess that's inflation huh?)
As you can imagine the world went crazy, just like it is today. One fan (or cynic) even made the paperclip it's own Instagram, which sadly isn't doing great follower-wise.
In recent years designer brands have leaned into their humorous side to create expensive versions of typically affordable items. Any publicity is good publicity right?
Back in 2016, Christopher Kane started selling neon cable ties for £23 after using them as hairbands and bracelets on the spring/summer 2016 catwalk.
MORE: Valentine's Day: 10 Luxury gifts for her
RELATED: The 14 fashion restaurants and cafés your Instagram will thank you for
When Pharrell Williams took the Louis Vuitton reigns back in February of last year, his first collection for the house featured a £2,460 leather sandwich bag.
Balenciaga has been known to cause their fair share of conflicting fashion views. Back in 2017, creative director Demna Gvasalia reinvented the famed IKEA Frakta bag which shoppers usually pay $0.75p for and whacked a whopping £1,365 price tag on it. Before that, there was the whole DHL logo scenario, where Demna adorned the well-known courier services logo across jumpers, t-shirts, hats and basically every other accessory possible.
Just recently Balenciaga also collaborated with the elite superfood store Erewhon to create a brown shopping bag, which according to Variety, “one onlooker whispered, ‘I heard the bags are $1,000.'” Kim Kardashian was of course the first to sport the bag, trading in her Birkin for the brown paper bag at last year's Fall 24 fashion show in Los Angeles.
In Prada’s defence, they knew exactly what they were doing when they reintroduced the branded paperclip. It’s both comical and ironic because everyone knows that the only people who would actually ever use this are those in the % who deal exclusively with cash money.
The real question is, will you be copping?
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/hfm/fashion-trends/511540/prada-is-selling-a-340-paperclip/
| 2024-01-18T12:20:07Z
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On Wednesday, it was announced that Princess Kate underwent abdominal surgery at The London Clinic. But you may be wondering what a hospital stay is like for a senior royal.
HELLO! has been given an exclusive glimpse inside the impeccable facilities at the "first-class" hospital which is nestled in the heart of Marylebone. As you might expect, the facilities rival that of the slew of ultra-luxe hotels that sit just a stone's throw away and include a personal doorman, a la carte three-course menus, concierge service and rooms that come complete with a stunning view.
Chris Lawrence, 60, was treated at The London Clinic in 2023 and gave us a full run-down of what's in store for Princess Kate.
"I'm certain the Princess will be treated no different to myself and any other patient during their stay as the level of care is amazing. Take it from me she has nothing to worry about and she can rest assured knowing she's in very competent hands.
"Everything from admission through to surgery then recovery through to being discharged as an outpatient was first class.
"Following my prostate cancer diagnosis in early 2023, I underwent radical robotic prostatectomy surgery.
"If asked how I would rate my experience being a patient at The London Clinic, I can honestly say it was faultless.
"From the doorman through to the reception and then on to the nursing and surgical staff, not forgetting the catering personnel, everyone was patient, focused, polite, friendly and filled me with confidence in their respective abilities.
"I must confess, initially I thought I was checking into a very nice hotel, following completion of initial admin paperwork, I was shown to my room on the first floor overlooking Marylebone Road.
"Post-surgery I was able to fully make use of the hotel… I mean, the hospital room! From taking advantage of my own en-suite bathroom through to watching the numerous channels on the TV.
"Whilst under constant supervision there were only a couple of times I used my call bell, and the nursing staff response was amazing. Breakfast, lunch, and evening meals were picked from either the light bite or a la carte menus and the options catered for everyone, including those suffering from food allergies such as coeliac.
"There was something to eat and drink for all. Likewise, when family visited they were also made to feel welcome."
What's on the menu?
The illustrious three-course a la carte menu includes whipped goat cheese with beetroot and molasses dressing, chickpea shawarma, and roast aubergine tabbouleh for light dining.
As for mains, patients can dine out on ginger and soy seabass, sirloin steak, and cheeseburgers with onion marmalade or even kimchi fried rice and wild mushroom ramen - sounds delicious!
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/511551/i-stayed-kate-middleton-private-hospital-recovering-abdominal-surgery/
| 2024-01-18T12:20:13Z
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When I started research for this round up of the best electric blankets of 2024, the first thing that struck me is how popular electric blankets are with the HELLO! Online team - it seems everyone either owns one, has gifted one or has one on their wish list!
It's no wonder - when the temperatures really drop (and each winter seems more frosty than the last these days), layers of blankets don't exactly do the trick.
And it appears we're not alone - Tesco made headlines when it slashed the price of a popular electric blanket, with chilly shoppers rushing to buy it; as I'm writing this, there isn't a single electric blanket to be found on the site.
"I absolutely love my electric blanket and it’s a must-have product with energy bills being so expensive," says HELLO! Homes Editor Rachel Avery. "I pop it on when I’m getting into my PJs so it’s nice and toasty when I climb in. Another top tip is to buy a single size if your partner (like mine) gets too hot at night.
"You haven't felt joy quite like getting into bed on a cold night with a toasty electric blanket dialled up," concurs HELLO! Director of Lifestyle & Commerce Leanne Bayley. "It's like getting a lovely big hug in the comfort of your own bed. This is peak cosy living and I'm all for that."
Modern electric blankets are machine washable and fire-safe, with automatic switch off and remote controls to give you a selection of heat levels - they're a plug-and-go instant source of heat.
"We can't ignore the fact that it's another thing to use your electricity on but they're pretty cost-efficient these days, and it often means you can turn your heating down (or off!) earlier," explains shopping expert Leanne.
"Also, if you have an electric blanket for your mattress, you can set it to a timer and have full control over when to warm up your bed. They've also modernised these days and you can get electric blankets that will heat only one side of the mattress - perfect if you're in a couple and one partner prefers to be cold.”
What are the benefits of an electric blanket?
An electric blanket - you can choose between an underblanket, which fastens directly to your mattress with straps, or a heated throw, to be used similarly to a traditional blanket - provides more heat and warmth than the standard blanket. Basically a major cosiness upgrade!
Not only do electric blankets keep you extra warm, but they have also can help to relieve pain, help you sleep and boost your mood. They are super simple to use and can be money- and energy-savers if you turn down the heat in your home, electric blankets can cost as little as 1p per hour.
There are a whole host of electric blankets available to shop online now, so knowing what brands are the best to whittle down your selection can be difficult. Among our recommendations you'll find popular brands like Silentnight and Dreamland, plus more top-rated heated throws and underblankets from retailers like Dunelm.
How I chose the best electric blankets
When putting together this edit of the best heated blankets, I took into consideration:
- Personal experience: While we haven’t been able to personally test all of the electric blankets on this list, I’ve included the best that have been bought - and loved - by HELLO! Editors.
- Brand: I’ve included the most popular and reputable brands and retailers to ensure that both the product and customer experience will not disappoint.
- Verified reviews and ratings: In the case that we haven’t been able to try out the blanket ourselves, I’ve scoured hundreds of reviews from verified shoppers, and have not included any electric blankets that do not have consistent positive ratings.
Shop the best electric blankets 2024
Double Electric Blanket
We say
"This electric blanket has been a lifesaver this winter. I've had this for the past couple of years, and wish I invested in one of these sooner. It's very soft, and adds extra comfort to my mattress. I can change the settings, depending how warm I want the bed. My tip? Set an alarm to switch on your electric blanket half an hour before bed. It's a game changer. Honestly, it's so satisfying when you get into the warmth when it's cold outside." - Sharnaz Shahid, HELLO! Deputy Online Editor
The details
- Type: Electric Underblanket
- Size: 135 x 120 (Double). Also available in Single, King, Super King
- Heat control: 3 heat settings
- Material: 100% polyester fleece, polyester fill
- Care: Machine washable, 40ºC
Fleece Electric Throw Blanket
We say
"If you're looking to gift someone the gift of heat, a luxury throw blanket is the perfect pressie and they're great for elderly relatives who hate the cold. The Dreamland Luxury Heated Throw would be my top pick and it can be transported around the house, so it's ideal for when you're watching the soaps at night but equally as wonderful when you go to bed. It's also easy to use and can look chic draped over a sofa, too." - Leanne Bayley, HELLO! Online Director of Lifestyle & Commerce
The details
- Type: Throw blanket
- Size: L120 x W160 cm
- Heat control: 6 temperature settings, auto shut off timer of 1, 3 or 9 hours
- Material: Polyester
- Care: Machine washable and tumble dryer safe
This low consumption throw - Dreamland’s heating products start from just 1p to run - features 5 minute fast heat up, and detachable Intelliheat control for precise temperature setting.
Wearable Electric Blanket With Sleeves
Editor's note
Details
- Type: Wearable electric blanket
- Size: One size fits all. Width: 144.5 cm; Length: 82 cm
- Heat control: 6 heat settings
- Colours: Natural; Grey
- Material: Fleece - 100% polyester
- Care: Machine washable, line dry
Marks & Spencer’s wearable heated hooded blanket is made from cosy heavyweight teddy fleece, which features automatic shutoff and a kangaroo pocket, and is designed for ultimate thermal performance on the coldest of days.
Reversible Sherpa Electric Blanket
Editor's note
“If you’re looking for an electric sherpa throw to keep you warm, Cosi is a popular choice with more than 900 sold per month on Amazon. It’s reversible so you can choose which cosy texture you want - perfect if you can’t decide if you’re in a sherpa mood or feeling more fleece.”
The details
- Type: Throw blanket
- Size: 160x130cm
- Heat control: 10 adjustable heat settings
- Material: Micro fleece & sherpa (polyester)
- Care: 100% machine washable
Cosi Home’s quick-heating reversible throw blanket features 10 heat settings and a 10-hour timer for day and night use
Dual Control Electric Blanket
Editor's note
“This fitted electric blanket, which is trending on the Marks & Spencer website, is perfect for couples because each side of the bed's temperature can be regulated individually. ‘Saves on arguments,’ was the most relatable comment from verified reviewers!”
The details
- Type: Electric underblanket
- Size: King size 150cm x 160cm, but ranges from Double (137cm x 150cm) to Super King (160cm x 200cm)
- Heat control: Dual heat controls; 3 heat settings
- Material: Fleece
- Care: Machine washable
Budget-friendly electric blanket
Editor's note
"If you’re on a budget, or having to find blankets for multiple beds without spending too much, you’ll want to take a look at this top rated Dunelm electric blanket. Reviewers call it ‘a good value’ and ‘the best purchase I’ve ever made’. ”
The details
- Type: Electric Underblanket
- Size: Single: 65cm x 135cm; Double: 120cm x 135cm; King Size: 142cm x 150cm
- Heat control: 3 heat settings
- Material: 100% polyester
- Care: Machine washable, line dry
Created by Dunelm’s in-house brand, this affordable electric blanket comes with the same basics as more expensive underblankets, including a multi-setting remote and elasticated straps to hold it in place on your bed.
XXL Heated Throw
Editor's note
“Sometimes only a giant electric blanket will do, and the double-bed sized throw by Beurer is a top pick for shoppers - it has all the convenience of a smaller throw but it’s designed for two. In the US, Amazon carries a similar XXL electric blanket ($42.99) that’s getting top reviews.”
The details
- Type: Extra-large electric blanket
- Size: 200 x 150 cm
- Heat control: 6 electronically regulated temperature settings.
- Material: Fleece; also available in faux fur
- Care: Machine washable up to 30°C
Beurer’s XXL electric blanket is made from luxury soft fleece and has special sensor technology to prevent overheating and trigger automatic shutdown if necessary.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/shopping/511421/best-electric-blankets/
| 2024-01-18T12:20:19Z
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On January 27, Mercury and Mars will pass a fifth of a degree (12 arcminutes) from each other from Earth’s perspective. That will make both easily visible in the same field of view of a backyard telescope, let alone binoculars. However, you will not only need to be an early riser to see them, but to have a good view east or southeast, depending on your location, and willing to make allowances for the twilight. That said, it will be the closest conjunction of the year between planets visible to the naked eye.
The passage of the planets through the sky means the faster movers pass the slower ones quite frequently, forming what is known as a conjunction. If the plane in which the planets orbit was perfectly flat, then every conjunction would see one planet pass directly in front or behind the other. However, while Jupiter has done a good job of mustering its lesser siblings into line, it hasn’t been that good. Deviations from the plane mean that conjunctions can often be several degrees apart, enough to greatly diminish the show.
On the other hand, some rare conjunctions are so close it can be hard to tell the planets apart with the naked eye. In such cases, even small optical instruments reveal a magnificent sight. The 2020 Great Conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn was a particularly memorable experience for those with a telescope. This year, Mars and Mercury won’t look quite as impressive, but they will be almost as close.
The great conjunction took place over more than a week, since Jupiter and Saturn move slowly against the stars and each other. Anything with Mercury involved is much quicker, so if you miss this event, the distance will be a lot greater the next day. The closest approach is at 3:48 pm GMT (11:48 am ET), at which time it will be the middle of the day North America. The best views of the event will be from New Zealand (where it will be seen on the morning of January 28), or Hawai'i. Still, the separation will not be too great for those who see it a few hours off its best.
The event takes place in Sagittarius, which no doubt astrologers will consider very significant in ways we will ignore. Being a southern constellation, however, this means that it will be much easier to see from the Southern Hemisphere.
The planets will be less than 20 degrees east of the Sun, and therefore rising just over an hour earlier.
There will be six other conjunctions between naked-eye planets this year. Some, such as between Venus and Saturn on March 21, will be almost as close. However, not only will the closest of these also be early morning events, but they will be even more affected by predawn light by the time the planets rise.
On the other hand, if you count conjunctions that require optical instruments, Mars and Neptune will be less than a twentieth of a degree apart on April 29.
For those who think the predawn hours are for sleep, or simply lack a handy view east, the Moon has conjunctions of its own with planets (and stars for that matter). Tonight (Thursday), there will be a closer than average conjunction with Jupiter. It will be visible from shortly after sunset until around midnight. The pair won’t be anything like as close as Mars and Mercury (at least two degrees separation), but the brightness of the pair may compensate.
Don’t be too upset if you’re reading this after the chance has been missed. The Moon moves much faster from our perspective than any planet, and it will pass Jupiter again each month. Both the February 15 and March 13 events will be close enough to be impressive, and visible at civilized hours of the night.
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https://www.iflscience.com/this-months-mars-mercury-conjunction-will-be-the-closest-this-year-72509
| 2024-01-18T12:29:01Z
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Prince Abdul Mateen, Brunei's former most-eligible bachelor, is officially a married man.
The Bruneian royal's wedding to his bride Anisha Rosnah came to a close on 16 January after a glittering ten-day event saw the couple tie the knot in front of thousands of esteemed guests from across the globe.
A ten-day long royal wedding extravaganza undeniably calls for spectacular outfits, though nothing could have prepared the world for a breathtaking Anisha's final bridal gown - a custom ZUHAIR MURAD - designed to dazzle guests at the couple's wedding reception.
Ending the week-long celebrations, Prince Abdul and his wife Anisha treated their guests to an evening of grandeur with a banquet at Balai Persantapan at the palace. Looking sublime, the royal bride slipped into the spectacular sparkling gown, walking hand-in-hand into the venue with her new husband.
Guests were dazzled by Anisha's spellbinding gown that boasted a high scooped neckline, elegant long sleeves, and a billowing fishtail skirt elevated with a rippling train.
The 29-year-old looked breathtaking in the bespoke bridal gown, which was adorned with thousands of hand-sewn jewels. The beguiling bride paired her ivory gown with an exquisite embroidered veil, topped with Mateen's sister Princess Fadzilah of Brunei's diamond bridal tiara as a marker of her newly received royal stature.
"I had the honour to be part of the Brunei family royal wedding by designing Prince Abdul Mateen’s bride wedding dress. Congratulations to the beautiful couple, wishing them a lifetime of love and happiness," her bridal couture designer proudly shared on Instagram, sparking a rapture of excitement in the comments from royal style fans.
"She has the biggest diamonds on her but her smile is somehow brighter the diamonds! Such a beautiful young lady," penned one, as another comment read: "This dress is a piece of art."
"She’s so perfect I thought she was AI at first," chimed in another, as a fourth quipped: "Your work is flawless."
Prince Mateen, meanwhile, officially marked the end of his bachelor days and embarked on married life in a dapper black military uniform.
"This wedding left me speechless," said photographer German Larkin, a sentiment likely shared by royal fans across the world.Speaking of the final celebration, he penned: "Last day of the wedding festivities. A royal banquet for 5,000 people from all over the world. HRH Prince Mateen and Anisha shined bright."
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/brides/511553/prince-abdul-mateen-royal-bride-anisha-rosnah-glittering-banquet-bridal-dress/
| 2024-01-18T13:03:12Z
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Director Alexander Payne said it himself: The Holdovers relies on our humanity. A relatable, coming-of-age classic, the movie transports audiences back to high school – or more specifically, Barton Academy – a fictional, New England prep school, in December 1970.
Faced with the prospect of spending Christmas on campus, a group of mishmash teens are forced to spend the holidays with Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) – a curmudgeonly Classics teacher with a condition that leaves him smelling like fish.
While four of the students get a lucky escape – it's misunderstood, rebel without a cause, Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), that gets left behind; his only companions, cranky old Mr Hunham, and grieving 'cafeteria lady' Mary Lamb (Da'Vine Joy Randolph).
A breakout star in every sense of the word, Dominic Sessa is the beating heart of this movie. A drama student plucked from class by Alexander Payne, The Holdovers marks his first on-camera job, lending a raw, and earnest sincerity to his performance.
Capturing the many layers of Angus, a teen carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, Dominic holds his own against Hollywood heavyweights Paul Giamatti and Da'Vine Joy Randolph – and that's no easy feat.
Hilariously snarky and charismatic, yet bitterly alone and desperately awkward, Angus is the human embodiment of every confused, and angst-ridden teen – we root for him because, at one point or another, we've all been him.
But don't be mistaken, The Holdovers isn't a tale of doom and gloom. Alexander Payne is a master of the comedy-drama genre, and he gives us as many moments of laughter and levity, as he does longing and sorrow.
Akin to the best buddy comedies, Paul and Angus develop a mutual respect, understanding, and unlikely friendship with time. And as the film rolled on, I couldn't help but think of the warmth and sentimentality of the great John Hughes vehicles: Trains, Planes and Automobiles and The Breakfast Club.
There's no doubt about it, The Holdovers is the kind of movie that'll acquire a cult following, but it won't be everyone's cup of tea. It's the small moments that count – a last-minute Christmas party and trips to the bowling alley and ice skating rink in Boston – that ground the movie. But, if you're looking for grand gestures and big dramatic moments, that's not what you'll find here.
For me, The Holdovers is not only a Christmas classic but a coming-of-age classic too. It feels like it was made in the 1970s with vintage credits and a grainy earth-tone aesthetic. Plus, the fictional Barton is a real boarding school – Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts – to be exact. The film's quite literally rooted in authenticity.
MORE: Da'Vine Joy Randolph reveals her 'deal breaker' for The Holdovers
READ: HELLO!'s 13 feel-good films to beat the January blues
Every single element of The Holdovers has been meticulously and painstakingly crafted. Da'Vine Joy specifically requested to cook in scenes; zoning in on Mary's instinctual ability to nurture, even after her son has passed. To create a sense of community, director Alexander Payne refused to use monitors on set – it's a decision that allows the actors to be as flawed, raw and human as possible – and it pays off.
The great tragedy of The Holdovers is that audiences didn't get to watch it in cinemas at Christmas but, like Alexander Payne and Paul Giamatti's first collaboration since 2004's Sideways, it's better late than never...
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/film/511532/hello-review-the-holdovers-starring-paul-giamatti-da-vine-joy-dominic-sessa/
| 2024-01-18T13:03:18Z
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The EE BAFTA Film Awards are a cornerstone of awards season, and it's easy to see why. The only awards show out of the major players including Golden Globes, Emmys and Oscar Awards to take place in the UK, it is an amazing chance to celebrate British cinema - and this year will be no different! Hosted by the Doctor himself, David Tennant, the prestigious event will take place at London's Royal Festival Hall on 18 February - and we can't wait to see who will be celebrating their big wins on the night.
Speaking about the nominees, HELLO!'s Film Editor Emmy Griffiths said: "It has been great to see the stars of some of our favourite movies from the last year recognised! The nominees are definitely hinting at a big victory for Oppenheimer and it's starry cast - but as we saw at the Critics Choice when Paul Giamatti took home the accolade for Best Actor - anything could happen!
"It was nice to see some outliers receive recognition too, Andrew Haigh's nod for adapted screenplay for All of Us Strangers and Rosamund Pike's nomination for Saltburn are both hugely well deserved - and I can't wait to see if there are any surprises on the night.
Without further ado, see the full list of nominees here...
Original screenplay
- “Barbie” — Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach
- “Anatomy of a Fall” — Justine Triet, Arthur Harari
- “The Holdovers” — David Hemingson
- “Maestro” — Bradley Cooper, Josh Singer
- “Past Lives” — Celine Song
Adapted Screenplay
- “All of Us Strangers,” Andrew Haigh
- “American Fiction,” Cord Jefferson
- “Oppenheimer,” Christopher Nolan
- “Poor Things,” Tony McNamara
- “The Zone of Interest,” Jonathan Glazer
Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer
- “Blue Bag Life” — Lisa Selby (Director), Rebecca Lloyd-Evans (Director, Producer), Alex Fry (Producer)
- “Bobi Wine: The People’s President” — Christopher Sharp (Director) [also directed Moses Bwayo]
- “Earth Mama” — Savanah Leaf (Writer, Director, Producer), Shirley O’Connor (Producer), Medb Riordan (Producer)
- “How to Have Sex” — Molly Manning Walker (Writer, Director)
- “Is There Anybody Out There?” — Ella Glendining (Director)
Film not in the English language
- “20 Days in Mariupol” — Mstyslav Chernov, Raney Aronson Rath
- “Anatomy of a Fall” — Justine Triet, Marie-Ange Luciani, David Thion
- “Past Lives” — Celine Song, David Hinojosa, Pamela Koffler, Christine Vachon
- “Society of the Snow” — J.A. Bayona, Belen Atienza
- “The Zone of Interest” — Jonathan Glazer
Director
- “All of Us Strangers,” Andrew Haigh
- “Anatomy of a Fall,” Justine Triet
- “The Holdovers,” Alexander Payne
- “Maestro,” Bradley Cooper
- “Oppenheimer,” Christopher Nolan
- “The Zone of Interest,” Jonathan Glazer
Animated Film
- “The Boy and the Heron” — Hayao Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki
- “Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget” — Sam Fell, Leyla Hobart, Steve Pegram
- “Elemental” — Peter Sohn, Denise Ream
- “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” — Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson, Avi Arad, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Amy Pascal, Christina Steinberg
Supporting Actress
- Emily Blunt, “Oppenheimer”
- Danielle Brooks, “The Color Purple”
- Claire Foy, “All of Us Strangers”
- Sandra Hüller, “The Zone of Interest,”
- Rosamund Pike, “Saltburn”
- Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “The Holdovers”
Supporting Actor
- Robert De Niro, “Killers of the Flower Moon”
- Robert Downey Jr., “Oppenheimer”
- Jacob Elordi, “Saltburn”
- Ryan Gosling, “Barbie”
- Paul Mescal, “All of Us Strangers”
- Dominic Sessa, “The Holdovers”
Leading Actress
- Fantasia Barrino, “The Color Purple”
- Sandra Hüller, “Anatomy of a Fall”
- Carey Mulligan, “Maestro”
- Vivian Oparah, “Rye Lane”
- Margot Robbie, “Barbie”
- Emma Stone, “Poor Things”
Leading Actor
- Bradley Cooper, “Maestro”
- Colman Domingo, “Rustin”
- Paul Giamatti, “The Holdovers”
- Barry Keoghan, “Saltburn”
- Cillian Murphy, “Oppenheimer”
- Teo Yoo, “Past Lives”
Outstanding British Film
- “All of Us Strangers” — Andrew Haigh, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Sarah Harvey
- “How to Have Sex” — Molly Manning Walker, Emily Leo, Ivana MacKinnon, Konstantinos Kontovrakis
- “Napoleon” — Ridley Scott, Mark Huffam, Kevin J. Walsh, David Scarpa
- “The Old Oak” — Ken Loach, Rebecca O’Brien, Paul Laverty
- “Poor Things” — Yorgos Lanthimos, Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Emma Stone, Tony McNamara
- “Rye Lane” — Raine Allen-Miller, Yvonne Isimeme Ibazebo, Damian Jones, Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia
- “Saltburn” — Emerald Fennell, Josey McNamara, Margot Robbie
- “Scrapper” — Charlotte Regan, Theo Barrowclough
- “Wonka” — Paul King, Alexandra Derbyshire, David Heyman, Simon Farnaby
- “The Zone of Interest” — Jonathan Glazer, James Wilson, Ewa Puszczyńska
Best Film
- “Anatomy of a Fall” — Marie-Ange Luciani, David Thion
- “The Holdovers” — Mark Johnson
- “Killers of the Flower Moon” — Dan Friedkin, Daniel Lupi, Martin Scorsese, Bradley Thomas
- “Oppenheimer” — Christopher Nolan, Charles Roven, Emma Thomas
- “Poor Things” — Ed Guiney, Yorgos Lanthimos, Andrew Lowe, Emma Stone
Documentary
- “20 Days in Mariupol” — Mstyslav Chernov, Raney Aronson Rath
- “American Symphony” — Matthew Heineman, Lauren Domino, Joedan Okun
- “Beyond Utopia” — Madeleine Gavin, Rachel Cohen, Jana Edelbaum
- “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” — Davis Guggenheim, Jonathan King, Annetta Marion
- “Wham!” — Chris Smith
Casting
- “All of Us Strangers” — Kahleen Crawford
- “Anatomy of a Fall” — Cynthia Arra
- “The Holdovers” — Susan Shopmaker
- “How to Have Sex” — Isabella Odoffin
- “Killers of the Flower Moon” — Ellen Lewis, Rene Haynes
Cinematography
- “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Rodrigo Prieto
- “Maestro,” Matthew Libatique
- “Oppenheimer,” Hoyte van Hoytema
- “Poor Things,” Robbie Ryan
- “The Zone of Interest,” Łukasz Żal
Editing
- “Anatomy of a Fall,” Laurent Sénéchal
- “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Thelma Schoonmaker
- “Oppenheimer,” Jennifer Lame
- “Poor Things,” Yorgos Mavropsaridis
- “The Zone of Interest,” Paul Watts
Costume Design
- “Barbie,” Jacqueline Durran
- “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Jacqueline West
- “Napoleon,” Dave Crossman, Janty Yates
- “Oppenheimer,” Ellen Mirojnick
- “Poor Things,” Holly Waddington
Make up and Hair
- “Killers of the Flower Moon” — Kay Georgiou, Thomas Nellen
- “Maestro” — Sian Grigg, Kay Georgiou, Kazu Hiro, Lori McCoy-Bell
- “Napoleon” — Jana Carboni, Francesco Pegoretti, Satinder Chumber, Julia Vernon
- “Oppenheimer” — Luisa Abel, Jaime Leigh McIntosh, Jason Hamer, Ahou Mofid
- “Poor Things” — Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier, Josh Weston
Original Score
- “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Robbie Robertson
- “Oppenheimer,” Ludwig Göransson
- “Poor Things,” Jerskin Fendrix
- “Saltburn,” Anthony Willis
- “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” Daniel Pemberton
Production Design
- “Barbie” — Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
- “Killers of the Flower Moon” — Jack Fisk, Adam Willis
- “Oppenheimer” — Ruth De Jong, Claire Kaufman
- “Poor Things” — Shona Heath, James Price, Zsuzsa Mihalek
- “The Zone of Interest” — Chris Oddy, Joanna Maria Kuś, Katarzyna Sikora
Sound
- “Ferrari” — Angelo Bonanni, Tony Lamberti, Andy Nelson, Lee Orloff, Bernard Weiser
- “Maestro” — Richard King, Steve Morrow, Tom Ozanich, Jason Ruder, Dean Zupancic
- “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One” — Chris Burdon, James H. Mather, Chris Munro, Mark Taylor
- “Oppenheimer” — Willie Burton, Richard King, Kevin O’Connell, Gary A. Rizzo
- “The Zone of Interest” — Johnnie Burn, Tarn Willers
Special visual effects
- “The Creator” — Jonathan Bullock, Charmaine Chan, Ian Comley, Jay Cooper
- “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” — Theo Bialek, Stephane Ceretti, Alexis Wajsbrot, Guy Williams
- “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One” — Neil Corbould, Simone Coco, Jeff Sutherland, Alex Wuttke
- “Napoleon” — Henry Badgett, Neil Corbould, Charley Henley, Luc-Ewen Martin-Fenouillet
- “Poor Things” — Simon Hughes
British Short Animation
- “Crab Day” — Ross Stringer, Bartosz Stanislawek, Aleksandra Sykulak
- “Visible Mending” — Samantha Moore, Tilley Bancroft
- “Wild Summon” — Karni Arieli, Saul Freed, Jay Woolley
British Short Film
- “Festival of Slaps” — Abdou Cissé, Cheri Darbon, George Telfer
- “Gorka” — Joe Weiland, Alex Jefferson
- “Jellyfish and Lobster” — Yasmin Afifi, Elizabeth Rufai
- “Such a Lovely Day” — Simon Woods, Polly Stokes, Emma Norton, Kate Phibbs
- “Yellow” — Elham Ehsas, Dina Mousawi, Azeem Bhati, Yiannis Manolopoulos
EE Rising Star Award
- Phoebe Dynevor
- Ayo Edebiri
- Jacob Elordi
- Mia McKenna-Bruce
- Sophie Wilde
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/film/511554/ee-bafta-film-awards-2024-nominations-see-full-list-from-saltburn-to-oppenheimer/
| 2024-01-18T13:03:20Z
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Watching Love Island All Stars has us all wondering one thing - how does Maya Jama always get her hair to look so sensational in the hot South African sun? The TV presenter, 29, has become known for her iconic curls and we just know that it is the style we are all going to want to have in our arsenal as the summer months approach as it is the perfect style for taking from day to night.
Celebrity hairstylist Jay Birmingham has worked with an array of incredible stars ranging from Khloe Kardashian and Sofia Richie to Rochelle Humes and Eva Longoria. But we have to admit, we are just obsessed with the beachy waves he creates time and time again on the beautiful Maya Jama. Now, he tells HELLO! how to get the look.
"Maya is a dream to work with as she loves to try new styles and loves nothing more than gorgeous hair," Jay tells us. "The overall look for the evening depends on what look and feel we go for. However she loves a voluminous blow-dry, it definitely is a favourite."
Jay adds that he loves to create a gorgeous updo on Maya's stunning locks. "I love creating something a bit different and one of my favourite ever looks was Maya’s vintage, voluminous ponytail," he recalls. "Styled into a side parting, the hair was kept very sleek and full of fabulous shine with a subtle vintage wave implemented to the front right section – giving it a sense of uniqueness. The ponytail itself was full of voluminous curls and both of them partnered together was the perfect combination."
But topping it all has to be her beachy waves. Maya is known to wear her hair in long loose waves that have previously been pulled back into a ponytail or piled onto the top of her head for a stunning updo that transitions the look from day to night with minimal output. Jay lets us in on how he creates curls that never look frizzy and that last all day.
"The secret to Maya’s iconic curls is a fabulous volumising shampoo and gorgeous texturizing spray – my two must-have products," he tells us. "When drying the hair, I opt for a big, bouncy blow-dry – focusing heat at the root and drying the hair up to achieve a real ‘lift’. I always use a large or extra large barrel brush in order to really create a beautiful bounce with gorgeous curls."
A texturising spray gives the hair the ability to grip so the style will last. Maya's looser curls can also be created at home using a curling wand with a narrow barrel if you are not as adept at coordinating a barrel brush to create bouncy curls. Mousse will be key in keeping this style in and ensuring that it doesn't drop or go limp as the day goes on.
Jay also offers some tips for styling your hair in curls like Maya's that have got to survive hot climates. Take note as you look for inspiration for your summer holiday hairstyles this year. "When it comes to preventing fizz in the hot weather and preventing humidity, my go-to product is Color Wow 'Dream Coat Supernatural Spray', £21.60 – this is absolutely fantastic and something I use consistently on Maya’s hair. Being in so many different climates, this is vital and instantly looks in the hair preventing any frizz or flyaways."
He adds: "Another piece of advice is to ensure that hair is well conditioned, as this impacts when in a much hotter climate. Packing in the hydration is key and I use the Jay B 'Haircare Shampoo and 'Conditioner' to ensure her hair is full of nutrients and is as healthy as can be."
Though Jay recommends some amazing products that are tried and tested to ensure Maya's hair looks amazing and lasts well, he does say that you shouldn't be tempted to go overboard on products when recreating her look. "I am always very careful not to overload Maya’s hair with product – her hair works incredibly well with a minimal amount of product and I always go with the ‘less is more’ approach," he says. "We always opt for products that aren’t too heavy, we don’t want to overload the hair too much."
DISCOVER: Love Island All Stars 2024: meet the full line-up of past contestants
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/healthandbeauty/511563/maya-jama-sensational-beachy-curls-must-have-look-summer/
| 2024-01-18T13:03:21Z
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The Prince of Wales has visited the hospital where Princess Kate has been recuperating following surgery.
Prince William, 41, was seen leaving the private London Clinic at around 12.35pm on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Kensington Palace revealed that the Princess of Wales is being treated in hospital after undergoing successful abdominal surgery.
The future Queen is expected to remain in hospital for ten to 14 days before returning home to continue her recovery.
The Palace said that Kate, 42, is likely to spend between two and three months recovering and is not expected to return to public duties until after Easter based on current medical advice.
Meanwhile, Prince William will not undertake official duties while his wife is in hospital and during the immediate period following her return home.
The heir to the throne will combine being at Kate's side with caring for their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Princes Louis, and has already postponed a number of engagements.
The Palace refused to confirm what Kate was being treated for but confirmed the condition was non-cancerous. In a statement, the palace said: "Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales was admitted to The London Clinic yesterday for planned abdominal surgery.
"The surgery was successful and it is expected that she will remain in hospital for ten to fourteen days, before returning home to continue her recovery. Based on the current medical advice, she is unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter.
"The Princess of Wales appreciates the interest this statement will generate. She hopes that the public will understand her desire to maintain as much normality for her children as possible; and her wish that her personal medical information remains private.
"Kensington Palace will, therefore, only provide updates on Her Royal Highness' progress when there is significant new information to share.
"The Princess of Wales wishes to apologise to all those concerned for the fact that she has to postpone her upcoming engagements. She looks forward to reinstating as many as possible, as soon as possible."
The London Clinic has previously treated members of the royal family, including the late Duke of Edinburgh, who was admitted to the hospital for "abdominal investigations" in 2013.
The late Princess Margaret also had an operation to remove a benign skin lesion at the clinic in 1980.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/511484/prince-william-visits-kate-middleton-hospital-recuperates-surgery/
| 2024-01-18T13:03:21Z
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King Frederik and Queen Mary shared a tender moment on the balcony at Christiansborg Palace after Frederik's proclamation last Sunday.
Mary joined her husband just moments after, with the couple waving and smiling at the thousands of people in the crowd.
Frederik then leaned in to give his wife a kiss, and cameras appeared to pick up their 16-year-old daughter Princess Isabella's reaction to the sweet moment.
Take a look in the clip below…
Frederik's accession to the Danish throne came just two weeks after his mother Queen Margrethe announced her shock abdication in her New Year's address.
A spokesperson from the royal palace confirmed to Danish newspaper Berlingske that the queen only informed both her sons, Frederik and Prince Joachim, three days before her public announcement.
On 14 January – 52 years to the day that Margrethe succeeded her father King Frederik IX – she signed a formal declaration of abdication.
An hour later, Frederik was then proclaimed King by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen at Christiansborg Palace.
Frederik and Mary's four children, Crown Prince Christian, 18, Princess Isabella, and 13-year-old twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine also made an appearance on the balcony.
HELLO!'s A Right Royal Podcast is back and our hosts are examining the relationship between King Frederik and Queen Mary, who will celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary in May.
While the new King and Queen are both overwhelmingly well-liked with the Danish public, during the episode, Chris Ship, ITV News Royal Editor, explained that King Frederik had to contend with the fact that his wife is, perhaps, even more popular than he is.
Take a listen below…
On Monday, the King, Queen and the Crown Prince made their first public appearance since the accession, attending a meeting at the Danish parliament, Folketing.
The Danish royals are expected to attend a celebratory service at Aarhus Cathedral on Sunday.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/511561/princess-isabella-reaction-king-frederik-queen-mary-kiss/
| 2024-01-18T13:03:32Z
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It was mid-October, 1863, when a budding mathematics lecturer from the University of Oxford ventured into London to meet with a publisher. He had just completed what would one day be seen as his magnum opus: a 12-chapter treatise on some of the most controversial topics in modern math. He had named his book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Yes, most of us today (and indeed at the time) think of Alice as being much more a “harmless children’s fantasy tale” than an “exploration and lambasting of abstract math” – but underneath all the whimsy and extremely Victorian wordplay there lies a genuine critique of what, at the time, was some of the most cutting-edge math around.
And it’s not complimentary: topology and projective geometry are mutated into body horror; abstract algebra leads to a vortex of meaninglessness; even negative numbers are cast as unnatural and paradoxical. Carroll, it seems, was not a forward-thinking scientist.
Which is why it’s so funny that today, his book is used to explain a phenomenon in quantum physics that may or may not exist.
What is the Cheshire Cat effect?
You’d think that, given their field’s technical definition as “who knows, I mean, the cat is literally dead and alive at the same time, don’t ask me”, there wouldn’t be much that could surprise quantum physicists.
Yet, when a couple of papers seemed to show subatomic particles being separated from their own intrinsic properties – analogous to “colors going around without the objects that carry them,” Federal University of Minas Gerais physicist Raul Corrêa told Phys.org at the time – it seemed weird even by their standards.
“The possibility of separating a particle from one of its intrinsic properties […] is rather intriguing and questions a very basic everyday notion, by which the properties of things are always with the things themselves,” Corrêa said. “[S]till more intriguing, [is that] this completely weird phenomenon is said to happen in the physical world.”
The first example of this seemingly nonsensical phenomenon turned up in 2013, when researchers from Tel Aviv and the UK came up with an experiment that would divorce a photon from its polarity. Using a two-armed interferometer – a device that gleans information from the interference of two or more superimposed light sources – the team claimed to show that a photon could travel with 100 percent certainty through the left arm, while its polarization would be detected in the right.
Like Carroll’s infamous Cheshire cat, the photon’s intrinsic property seemed to have been left behind by the photon – and the researchers embraced the literary comparison, beginning their paper with a direct quote from the book:
’All right’, said the Cat; and this time it vanished quite slowly, beginning with the end of the tail, and ending with the grin, which remained some time after the rest of it had gone.
‘Well! I've often seen a cat without a grin', thought Alice, 'but a grin without a cat! It's the most curious thing I ever saw in my life!’
What’s going on?
“No wonder Alice is surprised. In real life, assuming that cats do indeed grin, the grin is a property of the cat – it makes no sense to think of a grin without a cat. And this goes for almost all physical properties,” the team wrote.
Similarly, “polarization is a property of photons; it makes no sense to have polarization without a photon,” they explained. Yet "in the curious way of quantum mechanics, photon polarization may exist where there is no photon at all.”
But did it really? While further experiments by other researchers seemed to support the idea – only one year later, a team from Vienna reported separating a neutron from its magnetic moment, providing what seemed to be the first experimental proof of the effect – other experts weren’t convinced.
“Most people know that quantum mechanics is weird, but identifying what causes this weirdness is still an active area of research,” said Jonte Hance, a research fellow at Hiroshima University and the University of Bristol, earlier this year. “It has been slowly formalized into a notion called contextuality – that quantum systems change depending on what measurements you do on them.”
You may already know about wavefunction collapse – the quantum phenomenon where a wavefunction that exists as a superposition of eigenstates “collapses” into one single state upon observation. It’s the idea behind the Schrödinger’s Cat thought experiment: it’s not that Tiddles is either alive or dead and we just don’t know which – it’s both at once, up until we look at it.
Contextuality is similarly confounding: basically, it’s somehow the case that if we measure, say, a particle’s location and then its speed, it will give a different result from measuring the speed first and the location second. It’s a classic example of logic going haywire in the quantum universe – and, Hance and his colleagues argued, it’s the explanation for the Cheshire cat’s lingering grin.
“Different results are obtained if a quantum system is measured in different ways,” explained Holger Hofmann, a professor at Hiroshima University and, along with Hance, one of the authors of a recent paper claiming to debunk the quantum Cheshire Cat effect.
“The original interpretation of the quantum Cheshire cat only comes about if you combine the results of these different measurements in a very specific way, and ignore this measurement-related change,” he said.
So much for quantum wonderland, then. Schrödinger’s cat may be alive, but the Cheshire cat is most likely dead.
At least – this version is.
The other Cheshire cat effects
Long before Alice’s feline friend started shedding fur all over the laws of physics, it had already bequeathed its name to some very different disappearing acts.
Take the coccolithophores, for example – a teeny-tiny organism just one cell big which spends its life building a mysterious chalky shell around itself, chowing down on carbon dioxide, and reproducing asexually. Goals, amirite?
But just as for humans, with reproduction comes vulnerability. During their splitting process, they are uniquely susceptible to viral infections – and they’ve come up with a pretty ingenious solution.
“The haploid [with a single set of chromosomes] phase of [the coccolithophore] E. huxleyi is unrecognizable and therefore resistant to EhVs [E. huxleyi viruses] that kill the diploid [with two sets of chromosomes] phase,” reports a 2008 paper describing the organism’s so-called “Cheshire cat escape strategy”.
“We further show that exposure of diploid E. huxleyi to EhVs induces transition to the haploid phase,” it explains. “These ‘Cheshire Cat’ ecological dynamics release host evolution from pathogen pressure and thus can be seen as an opposite force to a classic ‘Red Queen’ coevolutionary arms race.”
But wait – what’s the smile in this analogy? And what’s all this about a red queen? Well, this phenomenon actually gets its name from a different part of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – when the Red Queen, midway through a croquet game, demands the Cat’s execution by beheading.
But of course, nothing could be so simple in Wonderland. This time, the cat is not vanishing, but appearing, face-first – and, in fact, face only. This made everybody “very uncomfortable,” Carroll wrote, with the executioner protesting that “you couldn't cut off a head unless there was a body to cut it off from: that he had never had to do such a thing before, and he wasn't going to begin at his time of life.”
Similarly, the coccolithophore logic goes, a diploid host can’t be infected if it’s only haploid – and so by “vanishing” the part of itself that makes it vulnerable, it lives to guzzle CO2 another day.
A grin without a cat
The Cheshire cat’s grin may not be separated from the cat in quantum physics – but strangely, it’s sort of possible in the real world.
“Normally, your two eyes see very slightly different pictures of the world around you,” explains the Exploratorium Museum of Science, for which the effect was designed back in 1979. “Your brain analyzes these two pictures and then combines them to create a single, three-dimensional image.”
But sometimes, things get a bit complicated. When one eye sees one image, and the other sees a very different one, we get what’s called a binocular rivalry – basically, your brain doesn’t know which one to concentrate on, so it alternates.
This version of the Cheshire cat effect exploits this neurological indecision by setting you with one eye looking at a partner, and the other – via a mirror – looking at a plain wall. You then “move your hand in front of the white surface as if passing a blackboard eraser over the surface,” the museum advises, and “watch as parts of your friend’s face disappear.”
See, since our jumpy monkey brains don’t know how to process the conflicting inputs, they try to figure out what’s most important and build a picture based on that. And what our brains think is important, usually, is anything that’s moving or changing – like your hand waving around in front of a plain background.
Your partner, meanwhile, can pretty safely be ignored, your brain figures. “Because the other person is sitting very still, your brain emphasizes the information coming from your moving hand, rather than the unmoving face,” the Exploratorium explains. “As a result, parts of the person’s face disappear.”
“No one knows how or why some parts of the face may remain, but the eyes and mouth seem to be the last features to disappear,” they note.
As Carroll so presciently wrote: the grin… remained some time after the rest of it had gone.
All “explainer” articles are confirmed by fact checkers to be correct at time of publishing. Text, images, and links may be edited, removed, or added to at a later date to keep information current.
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https://www.iflscience.com/what-is-the-cheshire-cat-effect-that-depends-on-which-one-you-mean-72507
| 2024-01-18T13:03:55Z
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Dear ST reader,
We hope you’ve been keeping well.
The world’s movers and shakers have gathered on the snowy slopes of Davos, Switzerland this week to exchange views on the big issues affecting the world today, from wars and inequality to climate change and artificial intelligence.
China’s Premier Li Qiang used the platform of the annual World Economic Forum to announce his country’s better-than-expected 2023 growth figures, a day ahead of its official release. This unusual move was designed to signal hope and confidence in the world’s second-largest economy, analysts tell our correspondent Aw Cheng Wei.
Singapore’s leaders were also represented at the forum, with President Tharman Shanmugaratnam speaking about developing human capital and Communications and Information Minister Josephine Teo calling for regulation of artificial intelligence and deepfakes.
Closer to home, Taiwan’s elections last weekend returned another Democratic Progressive Party leader, Lai Ching-te, as President, but the party failed to secure a majority in the legislature. Expect governance paralysis and inter-party politicking ahead, reports Ho Ai Li from Taipei.
In other upcoming polls, our Indonesia bureau gives the lowdown on how campaigning is playing out online and whether the cute dancing and cats will translate into votes on Feb 14.
Turning to geopolitics, associate editor Ravi Velloor analyses the new global competition heating up in the Arctic, while Mara Cepeda reports on how closer Indonesia-Philippines ties could bolster Manila’s claims in the South China Sea. If podcasts are more your thing, follow our Asian Insider series here.
Rounding up our offerings this week are Tan Tam Mei’s reminiscences from her stint in Bangkok and Walter Sim’s on-the-ground accounts of life after the devastating earthquake in Japan’s Ishikawa prefecture.
No honeymoon period for new Taiwan government
Can going viral garner votes in Indonesia’s polls?
China exceeds growth target but challenges remain
Troubled property market and tepid consumer demand is expected to continue weighing on growth.
Read more on economic issues:
Houthi attacks pose global threat to shipping
It’s consumers who will have to pay the price for the maritime menace in the Red Sea.
More on the after-effects of the Israel-Hamas war:
A textbook lesson come to life
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/asian-insider-no-honeymoon-for-taiwan-s-new-leader-getting-a-thai-tattoo
| 2024-01-18T13:26:10Z
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MOSCOW - Russia's foreign ministry on Thursday called on Iran and Pakistan to show maximum restraint and solve their differences through diplomacy or risk playing into the hands of those who would like to see the region descend into chaos.
Moscow spoke out after Pakistan said it had used killer drones and rockets to strike separatist Baloch militants inside Iran on Thursday, two days after Tehran said it had attacked the bases of another group within Pakistani territory.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova in a statement noted that the two countries are part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a grouping that Russia helped found.
"It is regrettable that this is happening between friendly SCO countries, with which we are developing partnership relations. Further aggravation of the situation plays into the hands of those who are not interested in peace, stability and security in the region," said Zakharova.
Any anti-terrorist operation on another country's sovereign territory had to be carried out in agreement and coordination with the authorities of that country, she said. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/russia-calls-on-iran-and-pakistan-to-show-maximum-restraint-embrace-diplomacy
| 2024-01-18T13:26:30Z
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MOSCOW - Russian state prosecutors asked a Moscow court on Thursday to sentence prominent nationalist Igor Girkin to five years in prison for inciting extremism, the RIA news agency reported.
Girkin, regarded in the West as a war criminal, publicly accused President Vladimir Putin and the army top brass of not pursuing the war in Ukraine harshly or effectively enough. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/russian-prosecutors-seek-5-year-jail-term-for-pro-war-nationalist-putin-critic-ria
| 2024-01-18T13:26:41Z
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VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis met a delegation from Vietnam's Communist Party on Thursday and the Vatican's foreign minister said the pontiff was keen to visit the Southeast Asian country in the wake of upgraded relations.
The meeting followed a private audience between the pope and Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong in July, when both sides announced that Vietnam was allowing a Resident Papal Representative to return to Hanoi for the first time since the end of war in 1975.
The Vatican's foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, told reporters that Thursday's meeting with the 16-member delegation from the Communist Party was "very positive" and that he would be visiting Vietnam in April.
Asked about a possible papal trip to Vietnam, Gallagher said: "I think it will (take place) but there are a few further steps to be taken before that would be appropriate."
"But I think the Holy Father is keen to go and certainly the Catholic community in Vietnam is very happy to want the Holy Father to go. I think it (a papal trip) would send a very good message to the region," he said.
Vietnam broke off relations with the Vatican after the communists took over the reunited country at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. The authorities at the time viewed the Catholic Church in Vietnam as having been too close historically to the former colonial power, France.
Vietnam is home to nearly 7 million Catholics, about 6.6% of the population of 95 million.
Apart from the Vatican, Communist Party-ruled Vietnam has in the past two years upgraded ties with the world's top powers, including former foes, China and the United States, as part of its "bamboo diplomacy", which it has proactively pursued to navigate rising global tensions.
"Vietnam is an increasingly important country in the region. It is a little bit of an economic miracle in many ways," Gallagher said, speaking on the sidelines of another event at the Vatican.
He said the Vatican was "confident" that relations with Vietnam would improve further, adding that Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin would likely visit Vietnam separately later this year.
"This (Thursday's meeting) represents quite a renewal of their attitude to the international community, to the Church," Gallagher said.
"We are, of course, hoping to encourage them along lines of greater religious freedom, which they have in their constitution and that they are practicing but it's obviously a work in progress," he said.
Vietnamese government media have rejected criticisms from groups such as the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a congressional watchdog that has placed Vietnam on its list of "countries of particular concern". REUTERS
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| 2024-01-18T13:26:51Z
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BANGKOK – A 30-year-old Thai man is facing a record 50 years in prison for royal insult over dozens of social media posts perceived to criticise the monarchy, after an appeals court on Jan 18 added more jail time to his initial conviction.
Mongkol “Busbas” Thirakot, an online clothing vendor from northern Chiang Rai province, was handed 22 years in jail time after an appeals court found more royal insult violations, adding to a 28-year sentence handed down by a criminal court in 2023.
Thailand’s lese majeste law, one of the strictest in the world, protects the palace from criticism and carries a jail sentence of up to 15 years for each perceived violation, a punishment condemned by international human rights groups as extreme.
Mongkol was arrested in April 2021 and received a 28-year sentence last January for 14 violations of lese majeste. The appeals court confirmed his prior conviction and found him guilty of 11 more violations.
Thailand’s lese majeste law, which protects King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his close family from criticism, is referred to as 112, after the relevant section of the criminal code.
“He faces 50 years’ jail, the longest in the history of Article 112 cases,” Mr Theeraphon Khoomsap, Mongkol’s lawyer told Reuters.
Mr Theeraphon said Mongkol denies wrongdoing and will appeal against his sentence in the Supreme Court.
The previous record conviction of lese majeste was in 2021 when Anchan Preelert, a retired civil servant, was handed an 87-year jail term for 29 counts of royal insult. Her sentence was reduced to 43 years because she acknowledged her violations.
According to legal aid group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, at least 262 people have been charged with lese majeste offences since 2020, when unprecedented youth-led street demonstrations erupted, in which protest leaders openly criticised the monarchy. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/thai-online-vendor-faces-a-record-50-years-in-jail-for-royal-insult
| 2024-01-18T13:27:01Z
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COPENHAGEN – Shipping giants AP Moller-Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd are teaming up to combine parts of their fleets, shaking up existing alliances that have dominated the seaborne container market for much of the past decade.
The long-term operational cooperation will start in February 2025 with a fleet of about 290 vessels, the companies said in statements issued on Jan 17.
Maersk will deploy 60 per cent and Hapag-Lloyd the rest. The ships will be able to carry 3.4 million 20-foot container units.
The announcement from Copenhagen-based Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd of Hamburg, Germany, marks another retooling of the world’s three major shipping alliances – essentially vessel-sharing agreements that the biggest players have operated under to maximise capacity and keep costs low.
Maersk and MSC Mediterranean Shipping announced the end of the 2M Alliance in 2023, effective in 2025. The latest move sees Hapag-Lloyd exiting THE Alliance, which includes Asian carriers Ocean Network Express, Yang Ming Marine Transport and HMM.
Left intact is the Ocean Alliance, with France’s CMA CGM SA, Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine and China Cosco Shipping.
“By entering this cooperation, we will be offering our customers a flexible ocean network that will be raising the bar for reliability in the industry,” said Maersk chief executive Vincent Clerc. “This will strengthen our integrated logistics offering.”
Maersk is transforming from a shipping line to a transport company handling almost the entire supply chain for its customers, also pursuing growth in land-based transport and air freight where profit margins for end-to-end services are higher.
Hapag-Lloyd, by comparison, has focused on its core container business.
Closely held MSC remains the world’s largest container line.
Hapag-Lloyd is a better match for Maersk than MSC, given the Danish shipping giant’s strategic focus on delivery reliability and efficiency, Sydbank A/S analyst Mikkel Emil Jensen told local news agency MarketWire. BLOOMBERG
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/maersk-hapag-lloyd-team-up-in-another-shakeup-of-ship-alliances
| 2024-01-18T13:27:11Z
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SINGAPORE - Engineering company Tee International and its former chief executive officer and managing director Phua Boon Kin have been reprimanded by the Listings Disciplinary Committee (LDC) of the Singapore Exchange (SGX).
In a statement on Jan 18, SGX said that the reprimand was for failing to disclose claims served to a subsidiary, and for having unsatisfactory systems of internal controls and risk management.
The LDC brought six charges in total against the mainboard-listed company.
Three charges were for failing to disclose claims served to its subsidiaries. These lapses contravened Mainboard Rule 703 (1)(a), with the disclosure of the claims necessary to avoid the establishment of a false market.
- Claims served by “various creditors” to Tee International subsidiaries Trans Equatorial and PBT Engineering on or about Oct 19, 2020, for an aggregated amount of $4,281,971.68. This represented 22.3 per cent of the company’s net asset value (NAV).
- A claim from Fuji SMBE Technology served on Trans Equatorial for $2,694,000 on or about Dec 2, 2020, representing around 13.9 per cent of the company’s NAV.
- Two claims from Power-Link Engineering served on Trans Equatorial for a total of $5,115,127.51 on or about Dec 16, 2020, representing 26.6 per cent of the company’s NAV.
SGX brought two charges – in accordance with Mainboard Rule 705(2) – for failing to disclose or provide commentary on the claims for the company’s financial statements in the half year ended Nov 30, 2020, and for the third quarter ended Feb 28, 2021.
SGX also brought one charge of failing to have in place adequate and effective systems of internal controls and risk management systems to monitor the claims received, and to escalate matters to the board for timely disclosure.
According to LDC findings, Mr Phua had failed to bring these claims to the attention of the board in a timely manner, with the summary of the above claims revealed to the board only on June 3, 2021.
SGX said that having regard to Mainboard Rule 1402 (6), Phua was himself also charged for causing the company to be in breach of the above-mentioned six charges.
He had been an executive director of the company since 2008 and was CEO and managing director since September 2019, and “at all material times” was also executive director of Trans Equatorial and PBT Engineering.
The LDC has required Phua to provide a signed, written undertaking to not seek any directorship on the board of directors, or role as a key executive officer of SGX-listed issuers for two years starting from Dec 11, 2023.
Tee International’s shares have been suspended from trading since June 2021.
On Jan 12, 2024, the company received a notification of delisting from SGX. Its application requesting a further extension of time until Mar 31 to submit its revised trading resumption proposal was rejected by SGX.
Tee International had formerly been reprimanded by SGX in 2021 for unauthorised remittances. THE BUSINESS TIMES
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/sgx-reprimands-tee-international-and-its-former-ceo-over-failure-to-disclose-claims
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YOKOHAMA - Serviced apartment provider Oakwood has secured over 3,000 units across more than 20 properties since it was acquired by CapitaLand Investment’s (CLI) lodging arm, The Ascott, in the second half of 2022.
Ascott on Jan 18 said its Oakwood portfolio has grown by more than 20 per cent to almost 18,000 units, up from about 15,000 units at acquisition, making it one of the company’s fastest-growing global brands in 2023.
Oakwood has been expanded to 48 cities, including Busan in South Korea, Ha Long in Vietnam, as well as several new markets in Indonesia, Malaysia and India.
Mr Kevin Goh, chief executive of Ascott and CLI Lodging, said the uplift in revenue and improved margins led to an improved financial performance for the Oakwood portfolio, which includes brands such as Oakwood, The Unlimited Collection, as well as other unbranded properties.
For example, two properties it took over from other operators in Jakarta and Manila were converted and began operations within months of their signings in 2023.
“With more operationally ready properties coming onstream at a faster pace, we are seeing immediate contribution of the Oakwood portfolio to Ascott’s recurring fee income, which is in line with our aim to double fee earnings to more than $500 million by 2028,” he said.
CLI in July 2022 announced that it was buying Oakwood Worldwide from Mapletree Investments for an undisclosed amount. The move aimed to provide further fee income stability for Ascott amid global travel recovery post-Covid-19.
In its third-quarter business update published in November 2023, CLI posted a 3 per cent drop in revenue, due to an 8 per cent decline in the revenue of its real estate business.
But it still reported growth in its fee-based business, which stood at $249 million, led by stronger operating performance and higher contribution from Oakwood.
Mr Goh said: “Ascott will continue to pursue transformative deals which can accelerate our expansion and provide us with immediate access to new markets, diverse customer bases and valuable synergies.”
Oakwood, known for its serviced apartments for corporate travellers, will also offer more city hotels and full-service resorts as part of efforts to refresh its brand.
Oakwood Ha Long, a villa resort, was opened earlier in 2024, and another two resorts, in Bali and Chongli, will open in the first half of 2024.
The refreshed Oakwood brand aims to provide “comforts of home and beyond”, while Oakwood Premier, targeted at the upper upscale segment, will have “a touch of luxury”, the firm said.
Ascott managing director for brand and marketing Tan Bee Leng said the refresh was targeted at the changing needs of business travellers as they observed more people extending their work trips for leisure purposes.
For instance, rooms will have dedicated workspaces with USB ports, and guests can also take part in activities such as marathon cooking sessions and food festivals.
“Our refreshed Oakwood brand aims to address this growing market of business professionals who increasingly value holistic travel experiences,” said Ms Tan.
The brand refresh is expected to be rolled out in all existing Oakwood properties by 2025.
In a media briefing in Oakwood Suites Yokohama on Jan 18, Mr Christian Baudat, Ascott’s country general manager for Japan, said that Japan is the firm’s second largest source market, with the acquisition of Oakwood doubling its portfolio there.
After the acquisition was completed, Oakwood’s revenue per available unit grew about 50 per cent year on year in 2023, he added.
He also said that long stays made up 60 per cent of Ascott’s business in room nights in Japan in 2023, while short stays made up about 65 per cent of revenue.
When asked if Ascott would focus more on short stays, Mr Baudat said its flex-hybrid business model – which allows for custom duration of stay, room occupancy and services – lets the company provide more short stays when there is demand but it will continue to focus on long stays.
Meanwhile, Ascott on Jan 16 launched lyf Ginza Tokyo, the co-living brand’s second property in Japan, in addition to lyf Tenjin Fukuoka, which opened in 2021.
The 140-unit property in Ginza, an upmarket shopping district, brings Ascott’s Japan portfolio to 2,900 units in 22 properties across five brands, which includes Ascott, Oakwood, Somerset and Citadines.
A third lyf is expected to open by 2024 in Shibuya, one of Tokyo’s most popular neighborhoods.
Ascott has more than 30 lyf co-living properties in operation and in the pipeline, comprising more than 5,500 units in 21 cities. These include four in Singapore – in Funan, one-north, Farrer Park and Bugis, which was jointly acquired by Ascott and CapitaLand Wellness Fund earlier in January.
It aims to have 150 lyf properties with over 30,000 units by 2030.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/ascott-grows-oakwood-by-over-20-since-acquisition-introduces-resorts-in-brand-refresh
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NEW YORK - Social media platform Reddit has drawn up detailed plans to launch its initial public offering (IPO) in March, moving forward with a listing it has been eyeing for more than three years, according to people familiar with the matter.
It would be the first IPO of a major social media company since Pinterest’s debut in 2019, and would come as Reddit and its peers face stiff competition for advertising dollars from the likes of TikTok and Facebook.
The offering would also test the willingness of some Reddit users to back the company’s stock market debut. Many investors posting on the platform have helped fuel dozens of “meme” stock rallies in the last three years, from retailer GameStop to movie operator AMC Entertainment Holdings.
Reddit, which filed confidentially for its IPO in December 2021, is planning to make its public filing in late February, launch its roadshow in early March, and complete the IPO by the end of March, two of the sources said.
The San Francisco-based company, which was valued at about US$10 billion (S$13.44 billion) in a funding round in 2021, is seeking to sell about 10 per cent of its shares in the IPO, the sources added. It will decide on what IPO valuation it will pursue closer to the time of the listing, according to the sources.
The sources cautioned that Reddit’s IPO plans could be pushed back, as has happened in the past, and asked not to be identified discussing confidential deliberations.
A Reddit spokesperson declined to comment.
Founded in 2005 by web developer Steve Huffman and entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian, Reddit became best known for its niche discussion groups and its users voting “up” or “down” on the content posted by other members.
The company, which generates its revenue primarily through advertising and also offers premium access for US$5.99 per month, has yet to turn a profit, Mr Huffman said in a Reddit post last June.
In the past, the company has attributed its losses to investing in the platform and its users engaging less with advertising on its site than other social media.
The company held back from pulling the IPO trigger until it came closer to profitability. Bouts of market volatility that shut down the IPO market for much of the last two years also contributed to it delaying its plans.
Reddit expected to generate slightly over US$800 million in advertising revenue in 2023, up more than 20 per cent from a year earlier, The Information reported in December 2023.
Reddit said in 2023 it would charge companies for access to its application programming interface (API), which is used by technology companies to train large-language models used in artificial intelligence. The move upset some users who rely on third-party apps to access Reddit.
Large social media stocks have rebounded over the past year, driven mainly by a rally in technology stocks as interest rates peaked. Shares of Meta Platforms, which operates Facebook, have more than trebled in value over the past 12 months, while Snap’s shares rose 60 per cent over the same period. REUTERS
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SINGAPORE - Back in 1945, Madam Lee Kim Choo began selling Peranakan kueh chang (rice dumplings) and kuehs in a makeshift stall in Joo Chiat Road and Everitt Road.
After World War II, she relocated her business – known as Kim Choo Kueh Chang – to a shophouse at 60 Joo Chiat Place where her daughter-in-law, Madam Helen Lim, took over the business in 1997.
Much to her mother-in-law’s scepticism, Madam Lim brought in new innovations and recipes to boost sales. It was her idea to introduce bite-size rice dumplings and dumplings with mock meat and chicken filling to overcome challenges faced during the swine and bird flu crisis in the early 2000s.
Today, Kim Choo Kueh Chang continues to sell Madam Lee’s renowned homemade rice dumplings, using the recipe she created in 1945, among many other Peranakan snacks.
The business is run by Madam Lim’s son, Mr Edmond Wong, in the same shophouse, along with his two older brothers. They have another outlet in East Coast Road.
The shop now has a “mini museum” showcasing artefacts from its earlier years, as part of an initiative by the National Heritage Board (NHB) to document the heritage of businesses in Singapore.
These artefacts include a coin that was placed in a rice steamer and used as a makeshift alarm, as well as a pair of sandals worn by Madam Lee, which is adorned with Peranakan motifs that symbolise love and harmony.
Kim Choo Kueh Chang is one of six heritage businesses featured in NHB’s Street Corner Heritage Galleries scheme held in the Katong-Joo Chiat precinct that was launched on Jan 18.
This is the fifth edition of the scheme, with other heritage businesses in locations such as Chinatown and Kampong Glam featured in a pilot over the past four years.
NHB partners closely with businesses that have over 30 years of history to co-create “mini museums” in their shops to display heritage items.
It also works with them to develop programmes that complement the showcases, and provides opportunities for them to participate in events such as guided trails and workshops to increase awareness of their businesses.
Mr Gerald Wee, NHB’s director of education and community outreach, said the success of the pilot and positive feedback from businesses that were previously featured spurred them to expand the scheme, with hopes that more heritage businesses can benefit from higher public awareness and support.
Mr Wong, 41, who joined his brothers in running the business in 2009, said they feel a sense of responsibility and belonging towards the business and the family.
“We’ve shared memories not only with our family, but also with many Singaporeans who enjoy our delicacies. We realised that it’s important to continue this business, to keep it going, and to ensure that this can continue on for many more generations to come,” said Mr Wong.
“It is important for Singaporeans to understand that as a young nation, we have a large history and heritage that gives us our identity. We want to promote the essence of what it is like to be Peranakan.”
Another business featured in the scheme is Kway Guan Huat Joo Chiat Popiah, one of Singapore’s oldest popiah and kueh pie tee-makers.
Located at 95 Joo Chiat Road since it was founded by the late Quek Tren Wen in 1938, the shop takes pride in its handmade popiah skin and fillings. Mr Quek died in 2001.
Artefacts on display include a heating coil used by Mr Quek while preparing ingredients, which acted as a stove.
Third-generation owner Michael Ker, 47, gave up his previous profession as a pharmacist and took over the business in 2012. He used various methods to promote the business, creating an online presence for the store and catering services for hotels.
Yet, he chooses to pay homage to his roots and the traditional essence of the business, retaining recipes and cooking methods.
“While it is important to keep up with the times, we have to remember our beginnings and traditions,” he added.
Other businesses that are part of the NHB initiative include Peranakan restaurant Guan Hoe Soon Restaurant, Joo Chiat Fei Fei Wanton Mee, Sin Heng Bak Koot Teh and D’Bunz.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/famous-popiah-and-peranakan-kueh-chang-in-katong-joo-chiat-feature-in-nhb-s-latest-heritage-galleries
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South Africa World Cup winner Elton Jantjies has been suspended for four years after being found guilty of using the banned substance Clenbuterol, the South African Institute for Drug Free Sport (SAIDS) announced on Thursday.
Flyhalf Jantjies, now 33, was part of the Springbok squad that lifted the World Cup trophy in 2019, but not the side that claimed the 2023 trophy in France last year.
He said in August he had tested positive for Clenbuterol but maintained his innocence and added he was “shocked and sad”.
The drug is generally used to burn fat, though it is also found in some asthma medication. It is also known to increase stamina.
Jantjies said at the time he would fight the allegation.
SAIDS noted in its ruling that "the athlete did not exercise his right to have their case heard before an Independent Doping Hearing Panel”.
Jantjies' agent Anthony Johnson told South Africa’s Herald newspaper that his client would not be making any public statements and suggested the player had instructed his legal team to fight the outcome.
“Elton would prefer not to engage with the media and his legal team is working on the case,” he said.
Jantjies last played for French second tier side Agen in a brief stint in early 2023. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/former-springbok-jantjies-banned-for-four-years-after-positive-drug-test
| 2024-01-18T13:28:03Z
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The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Thursday said it was confident French authorities would keep the Paris 2024 Olympics safe with an extensive security plan.
The French capital is preparing for hundreds of thousands of visitors at the 16-day Games, including a July 26 opening ceremony along the river Seine with 600,000 spectators expected to watch 160 boats carrying the athletes through central Paris.
The opening ceremony is considered a major security challenge by itself with more than 45,000 security staff deployed on that day.
French President Emmanuel Macron said last month that France was prepared to move the opening ceremony to another location should the security situation require it.
European security officials have warned of a growing risk of attacks by Islamist militants amid the Israel-Hamas war, with the biggest threat likely to be from "lone wolf" assailants who are hard to track.
France raised its security threshold in October, when a man with a knife killed a teacher in a school in northern France.
"Obviously we are in constant contact (with Games organisers)," IOC spokesperson Mark Adams told a press conference in South Korea's Gangneung at the end of an IOC Executive Board meeting.
"We do have very high confidence in authorities to make sure that these Games are safe and secure."
With a security budget of 320 million euros ($348.42 million), France will be deploying some 35,000 security staff for the days after the opening ceremony, with many competitions and events held in the centre of the city.
"This confidence was built on a report received in December (from French authorities) ... on the measures to be taken during the Games," said Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi.
"They are mobilising all the resources needed, to the tune of about 45,000 security forces the day of the opening ceremony and for all remaining days 35,000, each and every day, 24 hours a day.
"This is a great effort being made here," Dubi said. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/ioc-has-full-confidence-in-paris-2024-olympics-security-plans
| 2024-01-18T13:28:14Z
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MELBOURNE - Holger Rune's hopes of bettering last year's run to the fourth round of the Australian Open were shattered by Arthur Cazaux as the French wildcard ran out a worthy 7-6(4) 6-4 4-6 6-3 winner in their second-round clash on Thursday.
Cazaux was not ranked high enough to even get into qualifying at Melbourne Park last year but outplayed the Danish eighth seed to record his second win on his Australian Open debut and set up a clash with Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor.
"It was a crazy match," said the 21-year-old. "Holger is a wonderful player, I knew it would be a big fight and I was ready. I'm so happy.
"Tennis is a show and I gave all I had in me."
Rune, 20, is regarded as one of the most promising talents in the men's game but for the first two sets at least it was Cazaux who looked the pick of the two youngsters wearing matching backwards white baseball caps.
The world number 122, riding a big serve that earned him 18 aces, clinched the first set on a tiebreak before a single break put him two sets up to the delight of a noisy band of his compatriots on Margaret Court Arena.
Rune, who took a medical timeout and received regular attention to his left thigh during changeovers, finally got a look at Cazaux's serve in the 10th game of the third set and broke to cut the deficit.
The aggressive Frenchman, who beat Laslo Djere over five sets for his first Grand Slam win in the first round, came straight back at the Dane with a break to open the fourth and Rune needed to fight hard to prevent Cazaux going 3-0 up.
Facing defeat, Rune threw everything he had at his opponent but Cazaux stood firm in the face of some ferocious shots and summoned up a brilliant backhand cross-court winner to break the Dane one more time and secure a famous victory. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-18T13:28:24Z
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MELBOURNE – Third seed Elena Rybakina’s bid to reach back-to-back Australian Open finals ended in disappointment on Jan 18, as she crashed to a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (22-20) second-round defeat by unseeded Russian Anna Blinkova after a wild deciding tiebreak.
At 42 points, it is the longest tiebreak in a singles match in Grand Slam history.
The big-hitting former Wimbledon champion Rybakina, who lost to Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka in the 2023 title clash, began the match sluggishly as her ex-doubles partner capitalised with an early break which proved enough for her to go on and wrap up the opening set.
Blinkova built up the pressure and pounced on her opponent’s serve again in the second set to take a 2-1 lead, but Russian-born Kazakh Rybakina responded with one of her own as the duo were evenly matched after eight games.
Rybakina then shifted up a gear and drew level at one set apiece before the players traded breaks freely in the decider, which was settled in a tiebreak for the ages as Blinkova equalled her best Grand Slam performance.
“Thank you so much to the crowd for encouraging me, it gave me so much energy to fight till the end,” said Blinkova.
“It was super tough, I had so many match points and I tried to be aggressive but my hands were shaking and my legs too. I tried to be calm as hard as I could, and I’m super happy to win.
“This day I will remember for the rest of my life.”
There was another upset as Britain’s Emma Raducanu was defeated 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 by Wang Yafan of China.
Just two days after beating American Shelby Rogers in straight sets to win her first Grand Slam match following an eight-month absence due to injuries, she failed to progress further in Melbourne.
The former US Open champion called for a medical timeout when she was 2-0 down in the deciding set and had her blood pressure checked. She seemed to be suffering from illness and could not recover from then onwards.
In other matches, Iga Swiatek admitted she was mentally “at the airport” before staging an astonishing comeback against American Danielle Collins to stay alive in the Australian Open.
The Polish world No. 1 was up a set and a break before faltering badly and slipping to a 4-1 deficit in the final set.
But just as she appeared to be heading home, she reeled off five straight games to win 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 and extend her winning run to 18 matches.
“Oh my God, I was at the airport already,” joked the four-time Slam champion, who has never won the Australian Open.
“I wanted to fight until the end. I knew she played perfectly but it would be hard for anybody to keep that level, so I wanted to be ready for if the mistakes would come from the other side.
“It wasn’t easy. I had the momentum going and then she started playing suddenly two times faster and I had no idea how to react. I came back, and I thought the only thing I could focus on was myself.”
In the men’s draw, sixth seed Alexander Zverev conceded he was also fortunate to prevail 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (10-7) over Slovakian world No. 163 Lukas Klein, whose iron grip on their 4½-hour contest had the German plotting his journey back to Monte Carlo.
“I was thinking there’s a Qantas flight at 11 pm tonight straight to Dubai and then one to home,” he said.
Casper Ruud, the 11th seed, was forced to battle hard for his place in the third round as well as he was taken to a fifth set tiebreak by Australian Max Purcell before winning 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (10-7).
Spanish world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz matched his best Melbourne result by reaching the last 32 with a 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 7-6 (3-7) win against Italy’s unseeded Lorenzo Sonego.
Eighth seed Holger Rune of Denmark, however, crashed out with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 loss to Frenchman Arthur Cazaux. REUTERS, AFP
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| 2024-01-18T13:28:35Z
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LISBON/BARCELONA - Portugal's caretaker government has ordered cuts to the amount of water used in farmland irrigation and in urban environments including hotels in the tourism-dependent southern region of Algarve, where a severe drought has nearly emptied reservoirs.
Across the Iberian peninsula, Spain's northeastern region of Catalonia is suffering its worst drought on record and authorities in the greater Barcelona area said on Thursday they would reduce water pressure in some towns' supply systems.
Portugal's Environment Minister Duarte Cordeiro said late on Wednesday agricultural irrigation in the region will have to drop by an average of 25% from last year's levels, but the cuts could reach as much as 50% around certain dam reservoirs with less water.
Urban consumers, including golf courses and hotels, will face cuts of 15%.
"Algarve reservoirs are at their lowest levels ever. If nothing was done in relation to moderation on the consumption side, we would reach the end of 2024 without water for public supply," he said.
Water reservoirs in mainland Portugal are 73% full on average, with some in the north at capacity as a result of heavy rains, while in the Algarve they are on average only 25% full, with some as low as 8%-15%, compared to 45% a year ago, he said.
A 2022 study showed that climate change had already left the Iberian peninsula at its driest in 1,200 years.
Meanwhile, Catalan authorities this week warned that new emergency restrictions, of up to 80% for agricultural water usage, would be imposed once the region's overall reservoirs level reaches 16%. Reservoirs are now just 16.2% full.
Filling empty swimming pools will be banned, including for tourism facilities. For outdoor pools, clubs will be obliged to shut all their showers. Beach showers will also be shut.
Those breaching the restrictions will be fined up to 3,000 euros in the Barcelona area.
In the southern region of Andalusia, officials on Thursday said there would be water restrictions in big cities such as Seville, Cordoba or Malaga by the summer in the absence of substantial rain before then. Water pressure has already been reduced at night in some towns. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-18T13:28:45Z
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DOMASINEC, Croatia - Croatian artist Tomislav Horvat is not the first person to make models out of matchsticks, but he may be the most ambitious.
Horvat thinks nothing of putting 210,000 matchsticks to use to create a life-size sculpture of a pianist playing a grand piano, complete with matchstick strings.
Not content with that, the 34-year-old from the northern village of Domasinec is just a year and a half away from completing his version of Michelangelo's giant sculpture of David.
"I need another 30,000 matchsticks to finish it. That is, it'll need about 430,000 in total," he said. "I've been working on it for six years."
Horvat began making much smaller models, but in 2013 took on a more substantial challenge - a life-size rendition of actor Al Pacino as his iconic character Don Corleone from Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 film "The Godfather".
Sculptures on that scale would collapse without a supporting structure, which he moulds from papier-maché or wood.
"The Pianist" is his second work on a grand scale, and his third is "Desperate Man", a thematic collection with 54,000 matches that took a year and a half.
Horvat has exhibited his works in galleries in Croatia, including the capital Zagreb. But they are not, for now, available to buy. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/croatian-matchstick-michelangelo-makes-his-labours-life-size
| 2024-01-18T13:28:55Z
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BRUSSELS - European Union leaders will meet in Brussels on Feb. 1 to try again to agree on granting Ukraine new financial aid as Kyiv fights against Russia's invasion.
Last month, Hungary vetoed extending 50 billion euros ($55 bln) to Ukraine via EU budget through 2027.
The bloc's chief executive this week sounded confident there would be a deal among all 27 member states. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has made comments suggesting an agreement was possible, although his chief of staff said on Thursday Budapest and the EU remained far apart.
Following are some options for a deal being considered in the EU's political hub Brussels, and how they are viewed in the Hungarian capital:
DEAL AMONG ALL 27 EU NATIONS, WITHIN JOINT BUDGET
The EU's "Plan A" until Orban struck it down last month. He has since said he would veto it again.
That option includes a revision of the bloc's joint 2024-27 budget to assign 50 billion euros in new aid to Ukraine.
Orban has spoken against committing money for years in advance while the situation in Ukraine is highly unpredictable. He has said supporting Kyiv must not "harm" the EU budget.
All EU countries contribute to central coffers according to their size and wealth. The budget is run by the EU executive, the Brussels-based European Commission. It has said this option would give Ukraine crucial longer-term financial predictability.
DEAL AMONG THE 27, OUTSIDE OF EU BUDGET
An option seen as second-best in Brussels is committing funds through a special financial vehicle created by all the 27 member states - but outside of their shared budget.
It could be formed by member states providing more financial guarantees for the EU, against which the Commission would borrow cheaply on the market.
This is how the bloc provided 18 billion euros to Ukraine in 2023, a deal that Orban initially also blocked. This time around, Budapest said it was against taking loans for Ukraine.
But Orban welcomed placing assistance to Ukraine outside of the joint coffers by saying on social media: "The Commission's plan B is the Hungarian plan A!".
Budapest wants commitments based on countries' gross national income and assistance to Kyiv agreed annually.
That would give Ukraine less predictability and reinforce the threat of a Hungarian veto every time.
26 MOVE AHEAD WITHOUT HUNGARY
Mindful of that, the other 26 EU countries are also looking at moving ahead without Hungary, a message to Orban that his obstruction has its limits.
That could take the form of the 26 states agreeing to extend support to Kyiv but each doing so on its own. Such a formula would be more complicated and expensive, however, as well as less stable than acting together under the EU umbrella.
It would also expose a major rift within the bloc over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, weakening EU cohesion and the message it wants to send to Moscow by providing continued support to Kyiv.
UPSET STILL POSSIBLE
Officials in Brussels have expressed cautious optimism that the Feb. 1 EU leaders' summit will reach an agreement. Officials in Budapest also said they expect the meeting to be conclusive.
While that makes an upset seem less likely than a deal of some kind, EU watchers always keep an eye out for any unexpected development that changes the calculus at the last minute.
IMPLICATIONS FOR EU FUNDS FOR HUNGARY
While formally separate, the discussion overlaps with an ever-more bitter feud over the rule of law in Hungary between the EU and Orban.
Brussels suspended tens of billions in EU handouts earmarked for Hungary over widespread accusations that Orban damaged democracy at home during his 13 years in power.
Last December, the Commission unlocked some 10 billion euros of that as the bloc sought to win Orban's backing for Ukraine.
Around twice as much remains frozen, including in connection with Budapest's curbs on the rights of migrants and LGBT people. Hungarian officials said adopting EU democratic requirements in these fields was "far beyond the red line". REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/eu-options-for-granting-aid-to-ukraine-and-what-hungary-wants
| 2024-01-18T13:29:06Z
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The head of one of Russia's biggest ethnically mixed republics accused what he called extremists and traitors on Thursday of trying to bring about its secession, a day after police used tear gas and batons to break up a rare demonstration.
The clashes took place in a small town in Bashkortostan, a republic of 4.1 million people in the Urals Mountains, where a leading rights activist was sentenced on Wednesday to four years in a penal colony.
The activist, Fail Alsynov, had led successful protests in 2020 against plans to mine for soda on a hill that local people consider sacred, and was head of a banned nationalist movement. He denied the charge against him of inciting ethnic hatred.
Bashkortostan's leader, Radiy Khabirov, said on Thursday that he himself may have been at fault in the past for failing to explain to people that what he described as extremists in the region were masquerading as activists.
"You can put on the mask of a good environmental activist, a patriot, but in reality the situation is completely different," he said in a statement on Telegram.
"A group of people, some of whom are abroad and who are essentially traitors, are calling for the separation of Bashkortostan from Russia. They are calling for guerrilla warfare here."
LOCAL GRIEVANCES
Among the alleged traitors he named Ruslan Gabbasov, a co-founder with Alsynov of the banned Bashkort movement. Gabbasov has been labelled a "foreign agent" by Russia and now lives in Lithuania.
Gabbasov told Reuters in a telephone interview that the grievances of ethnic Bashkir people, who make up just over 30% of the republic's population, were driven by the policies of Russian President Vladimir Putin that had eroded the status of their own language and culture.
He said they were also angry over the environmental impact of mining operations and the disproportionate number of ethnic minority men who are being recruited to serve in Russia's war in Ukraine.
"Compared with ethnic Russians, they send a lot more of us to the war, and the number who die is correspondingly higher," he said. "We don't want to live as part of Russia any more. Why do we need that? To die and gradually disappear? Not even gradually - with this policy it will happen very quickly."
Six people were arrested at Wednesday's protest, of whom five were detained for 10 days and one for 13 days, the local news agency Bashinform said.
Protests in Russia have become very rare since the start of the war in Ukraine because of the risk of arrest at gatherings that the authorities deem unauthorised.
But Gabbasov said activists were calling for a big demonstration in support of Alsynov on Friday in Ufa, the capital of Bashkortostan.
"What happened yesterday shows that people are tired of being afraid," he said. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/head-of-russian-region-denounces-traitors-after-rare-protest
| 2024-01-18T13:29:16Z
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BUDAPEST - Sweden has not done anything to boost confidence in its suitability for NATO membership, and has given the impression that joining the alliance is not a priority for the country, an aide to Hungary's prime minister said on Thursday.
Sweden applied to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in May 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine but the accession process, which requires the approval of all existing members, has been held up by Turkey and Hungary.
Ratification has been stranded in the Hungarian parliament for more than a year, with Prime Minister Viktor Orban's ruling nationalists saying there is no threat to Sweden's security and citing what they call undue Swedish allegations that they have eroded democracy in Hungary.
Sweden was "not taking any steps to strengthen trust in order for our relationship to become one of allies and friends", Gergely Gulyas, Orban's chief of staff, told a briefing.
"This relationship is one of allies legally right now, but it cannot be considered friendly, thus I need to conclude that it is not a priority for Sweden to join NATO quickly at all today."
The Swedish foreign ministry did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Gulyas suggested that Sweden's foreign minister or prime minister should "get in touch and ask what concerns the Hungarian parliament has" about Sweden's NATO accession.
Replying to a reporter's question, he said Hungary wanted to avoid being the last country to ratify Sweden's NATO accession, but "we will probably not manage to do so without Sweden's help. Why should it be important to me if it is not important to Sweden?"
Orban's government, which has maintained warm ties with Moscow despite Russia's invasion of Ukraine, has repeatedly promised that it will not be the last to ratify the Nordic country's bid.
Hungary's parliament, currently on a winter break, will resume its work some time around mid-February.
The Turkish parliament's general assembly may debate Sweden's NATO membership bid in the coming weeks, the ruling AK Party's parliamentary group chairman said last week. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/nato-accession-looks-to-be-not-a-priority-for-sweden-hungary-says
| 2024-01-18T13:29:27Z
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ISTANBUL - It took 15 years for Mustafa Camlica to earn international recognition for his wines, but he and many other small and medium sized Turkish producers fear a planned new financial burden could destroy livelihoods in a sector already facing daunting hurdles.
Under the rule of President Tayyip Erdogan's Islamist-rooted AK Party for 21 years, alcoholic drinks makers in Turkey have faced an increasingly onerous tax burden and other restrictions, leaving the multi-billion dollar market stagnant.
Now small winemakers and breweries fear a planned financial collateral requirement will make it even harder for them to survive in the tough local market, and frustrating efforts to develop their unfulfilled export potential.
Producers already face obstacles such as a ban on online sales since 2011, a prohibition on marketing and restrictions on retail sales. Alcohol cannot be sold in close vicinity to public buildings or schools,
"After the ban on online sales, we can say this is another nail in the coffin for small producers," said Camlica, founder of Chamlija Winery in Kirklareli, northwest Turkey. Camlica recently won two awards at the AWC Vienna competition for his Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot reds.
Turkey has made some strides towards international recognition two decades ago, but failed to capitalise on that, a local vineyard owner said.
"A few of us braved the export market, but just a few. If this draft is implemented, what will we have to show for it?," he said, requesting anonymity to avoid drawing authorities' attention.
Winemakers operate in a region with an ancient tradition of production dating back thousands of years, but in a Muslim country and under an Islamist-rooted ruling party that frowns on alcohol consumption.
While Turkey was the world's number five grape grower in 2021, with 419,000 hectares (1.04 million acres) of vineyards , according to International Organisation of Vine and Wine, only 15% of that area was dedicated to wine production.
While drinking alcohol is forbidden in Islam, it is drunk relatively freely in Turkey, though mainly in more secular, western and tourist coastal regions. Local wine consumption was 834,000 hectolitres in 2021, just below Bulgaria, with less than a tenth of Turkey's population.
COLLATERAL REQUIREMENT
Under the draft regulation that emerged last month, the agriculture ministry will require alcohol producers to provide financial collateral to cover tax or administrative fines that they may face in the future.
All alcohol producers and importers will have to deposit 5 million to 50 million lira ($1.7 million) collateral, which would be seized if a fine is left unpaid, under the regulation, the draft of which was seen by Reuters.
"Once in place, there is nothing to stop them from raising arbitrarily, perhaps doubling, collateral next year," Camlica said.
He and other producers say the collateral represents a multiple of the initial outlay for a small winery, creating a barrier for new investors, threatening expansion plans or even forcing some to quit the market.
Small producers are set to be hit hardest. Some 130 of around 180 vineyards and wineries in Turkey are small, with capacity at less than 500,000 litres.
Wine production and storage capacity in Turkey totals nearly 160 million litres, with four major producers accounting for more than a third.
Producers asked the ministry to drop the collateral at a meeting this month, but it signalled the measure would go ahead, potentially at a lower level, two people familiar with the discussion said.
"Some producers will not be able to meet collateral rules and cease production. Many will have to scale down," the Turkish Wine Producers Association said in a statement, asking the ministry to refrain from cancelling production licenses for those that cannot post collateral.
The ministry declined to comment.
INDEPENDENT BREWERIES
In a market dominated by two big names independent breweries are also at risk and some may close, according to brewmaster Cem Guney.
"The financial burden will constrict independent breweries and the nascent culture, handing the market back to large commercial breweries," he said.
The overall tax burden on the sector is already very high by international standards.
Producers are required to buy permit stamps before shipping to retailers, then an excise tax indexed to inflation is added and a sales tax is applied.
The excise tax amounts to 2.5 times the EU average for beer and 1.6 times the wine average. It provided 1.9% of Turkish tax revenues in 2022, the fourth highest level among EU countries. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/turkeys-planned-alcohol-deposit-another-nail-in-the-coffin-small-producers-say
| 2024-01-18T13:29:37Z
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