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WASHINGTON - The nature of the security threat posed by North Korea could change "drastically" in the coming decade as a result of its unprecedented cooperation with Russia, the White House's senior director for arms control, Mr Pranay Vaddi, said on Jan 18.
"What we're seeing between Russia and North Korea is an unprecedented level of cooperation in the military sphere," Mr Vaddi told Washington's Centre for Strategic and International Studies think-tank.
"And I say unprecedented very deliberately - We have never seen this before."
Mr Vaddi said it was necessary to pay close attention not just to nuclear-armed North Korea's help for Russia war in Ukraine, primarily in the form of missile systems, but "what could be going in the other direction as well."
"How could that improve North Korea's capabilities? And what does that mean for our own extended deterrence posture in the region with both Korea and Japan?"
"I think the nature of North Korea as a threat in the region could drastically change over the coming decade as a result of this cooperation," Mr Vaddi said.
Mr Vaddi said the United States would continue to work with South Korea to make sure their combined "extended deterrence" was as credible as possible in the face of the evolving North Korea threat - a reference to the US "nuclear umbrella" protecting allies.
Asked how much of a worry it was that such allies would pursue their own nuclear defence capabilities in the face of the growing North Korean threat, Mr Vaddi said:
"We want to make sure that the US nuclear umbrella system as it has existed remains sufficient for deterring threats, including emerging threats that are emanating in Europe and Asia."
Russia said on Jan 17 it was developing its relations with North Korea in all areas, including "sensitive" ones after the North Korean foreign minister held rare talks in the Kremlin with President Vladimir Putin, who has been invited to visit the reclusive nuclear-armed country.
Mr Putin has deepened ties with North Korea since sending troops into Ukraine in 2022, and Washington has condemned what it says have been significant North Korean missile deliveries to Russia, amid concerns that Russia could be sharing weapons technology with Pyongyang in return. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-18T19:36:42Z
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UNITED NATIONS - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Iran and Pakistan to "exercise maximum restraint to avoid a further escalation of tensions" after an exchange of military strikes between the countries, his spokesperson said on Thursday.
"The Secretary-General underlines that all security concerns between the two countries must be addressed by peaceful means, through dialogue and cooperation, in accordance with the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and good neighborly relations," U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.
Pakistan launched strikes on separatist militants inside Iran on Thursday, in a retaliatory attack two days after Tehran said it struck the bases of another group within Pakistani territory. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-18T19:36:53Z
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WASHINGTON - The United States launched additional strikes early on Thursday targeting two Houthi anti-ship missiles that were being prepared to fire into the Red Sea and deemed "an imminent threat" to shipping and U.S. Navy vessels in the region, the U.S. military said.
"U.S. Central Command forces conducted strikes on two Houthi anti-ship missiles that were aimed into the Southern Red Sea and were prepared to launch," U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby, during a briefing aboard Air Force One, said the latest strikes were similar to those Wednesday taking aim at Houthi missiles that were prepared to fire in the southern Red Sea.
Biden separately told reporters earlier on Thursday that air strikes would continue even if they may not be halting the Houthi attacks.
"Are they stopping the Houthis? No. Are they gonna continue? Yes," Biden said before boarding Air Force One to leave the White House.
The latest U.S. strikes come one day after the U.S. returned the Yemen-based Houthi rebels to a list of terrorist groups. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-18T19:37:03Z
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WASHINGTON - The United States believes Russia will conduct "information operations" aimed at turning opinion in Europe against Ukraine as countries across the continent go to the polls this year, the head of the State Department's office for disinformation said on Jan 18.
Dozens of countries worldwide will elect new leaders in 2024, including votes in Britain, Austria and Georgia, as well as European parliament elections in June.
Mr Jamie Rubin, special envoy and coordinator for the Global Engagement Centre (GEC), told reporters that US adversary Russia, as well as China, was working around the world to pass off state propaganda as independent journalism by hiding its true source.
Mr Rubin did not cite specific countries where he has concerns, but said the main threats this year were in Europe, which initially united in opposition to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine and has provided Ukraine with military and other aid.
"Russia is hoping that the number of elections in Europe this year could change what has been a remarkable coalition and disciplined opposition to its war," said Mr Rubin.
"We do believe that the Russians will conduct information operations throughout Europe to try to change opinion on Ukraine during this election season," he added.
The Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The GEC, which is tasked with exposing foreign disinformation campaigns, said in 2023 it had discovered a Russian-financed effort across Latin America to feed propaganda and disinformation to local news outlets.
Russia at the time called the allegations unfounded.
A declassified intelligence assessment, sent to more than 100 governments in 2023, also said Moscow is using spies, social media and Russian state-run media to erode public faith in the integrity of democratic elections. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-18T19:37:13Z
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LONDON - Ivan Toney has set himself goals, literally, for the rest of the season and all eyes will be on the Brentford striker when he returns on Saturday from an eight-month ban for betting offences.
The West London club's top scorer in 2022-23 is available for the late home game against Nottingham Forest and hopes to help Brentford ease their relegation fears after a run of five successive Premier League defeats and seven of the last eight.
The 27-year-old England international is on far bigger clubs' wish lists, notably Arsenal and Chelsea, although the chances of a move in the January transfer window appear to be waning.
For the moment Brentford, with a string of key players absent or injured, need him back with a bang in what would be his first league game since May 2023.
Scorer of 20 goals in 30 league appearances last season, Toney hit a hat-trick for Brentford's B team in a friendly earlier this month and looks likely to feature.
He said he already had a goal target in mind but would not share it until he hit it.
"It’s achievable and hopefully it can help me get to the Euros in the summer," he told the club website, adding that scoring was how he intended to thank the fans for their continuing support.
"There’s no better feeling than scoring a goal, no matter who it’s against... I can’t wait for it to be against the big boys, scoring goals and helping the team get where they should be," he added.
Brentford are 16th in the league, three points above the drop zone but with two games in hand over 17th placed Everton and 19th placed Burnley.
Forest, with Nuno Espirito Santo installed as manager just before Christmas, are a revived 15th but in danger of a 10 points deduction after being charged by the Premier League for a breach of the financial rules.
Arsenal are in action at home to Crystal Palace in the lunchtime game, with the Gunners fourth and five points adrift of leaders Liverpool after a recent run of two defeats and a draw.
Mikel Arteta's side have lost their last three games in all competitions but have not been beaten for four in a row since March 2018.
Liverpool will go five points clear of champions Manchester City at the top if they beat Bournemouth away on Sunday. City are not in action again until the last day of the month, at home to lowly Burnley.
In Sunday's other game, last-placed side Sheffield United host West Ham United while Wolverhampton Wanderers travel to Brighton & Hove Albion on Monday. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-18T19:37:24Z
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AC Milan's Christian Pulisic was voted the 2023 U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year, for a record-equalling fourth time, the sport's national governing body said on Thursday.
The 25-year-old helped the U.S. to win the 2022-23 CONCACAF Nations League where he was named Best Player, and the winger has been in exceptional form since joining the Serie A side in July.
Pulisic first won the award in 2017, and has now equalled Landon Donovan's record of four awards.
"It's an honour to win this award again for the fourth time," Pulisic said.
"It was an incredible season for me. I always enjoy playing with the National Team and winning more trophies with the National Team. Of course, coming here to AC Milan, it's been just a really exciting year."
Pulisic has scored six goals in 18 league games with Milan this season, and also scored in their Champions League win over Newcastle United, after struggling in his last season with Chelsea, scoring only once and making just eight league starts.
His Milan team mate Yunus Musah came second in the vote with 21.5%, with Pulisic receiving 53% of the votes. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-18T19:37:34Z
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ABIDJAN - Nigeria handed Africa Cup of Nations hosts Ivory Coast a 1-0 defeat in their Group A clash at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium on Thursday with a second-half penalty settling the encounter.
Captain William Troost-Ekong struck home the 55th minute spot kick after a VAR review showed that young Ivorian defender Ousmane Diomande had impeded Victor Osimhen.
The result means Nigeria move above the Ivorians in the standings on four points along with Equatorial Guinea, who beat Guinea Bissau 4-2 earlier. The hosts have three.
The clash of the west African heavyweights was a largely languid affair, dominated by physical battles and with few clear-cut chances created. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-18T19:37:44Z
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Wales winger Louis Rees-Zammit, who quit rugby union for the American gridiron, began his dream of playing in the National Football League on Thursday joining 15 other international hopefuls at a Florida training camp.
It marks another step on the International Player Pathway (IPP) for Rees-Zammit that he hopes will lead to an NFL career, where the minimum salary is $750,000.
"We are thrilled to welcome the International Player Pathway program Class of 2024," said Peter O’Reilly, executive vice president international, club business and major events at the NFL in a statement. "As we focus on the global growth of the game, expanding international talent within the NFL is critical — connecting our sport with fans across the world.
"The 2024 program participants are an elite, diverse group of athletes and we look forward to following their journeys in the months ahead."
Just minutes before he was set to be named in Wales' Six Nations squad on Tuesday, Rees-Zammit announced his career change and shortly after was on his way to Bradenton, Florida for an intensive 10-week training camp at the IMG Academy.
In rugby union Rees-Zammit was a versatile winger who earned 32 caps for Wales but in the U.S. the 22-year-old will try to translate those skills to the running back/wide receiver positions.
"I have never played the game so it is going to be very difficult for me at the start," Rees-Zammit said.
"There's going to be a lot of me watching film and certain plays. That's going to be the biggest challenge. There are going to be a lot different skills but, at the same time, I can improve on what I've got already. The quicker I can learn the game, the better for me because then I can show everyone what I can do."
At the conclusion of training camp, the IPP athletes will be eligible to fill a 17th practice squad roster spot on any of the 32 teams — an additional spot reserved for an international player.
This year's IPP class includes athletes from eight countries and various sporting backgrounds including rugby, basketball, athletics, Gaelic football and Australian rules football.
Nigeria (with one player listed as joint Scottish) and Ireland will each have four players at the camp, with three from England, two from Australia and one each from Wales, Austria and the Dominican Republic.
Since the program began in 2017 a total of 37 international players have signed with NFL teams with 18 currently on NFL rosters.
The IPP program is part of the NFL's global expansion plans and an escalating push into new markets.
Next season the NFL will play five international regular season games, three in London another in Munich and the first ever in South America when the league visits Sao Paulo.
The NFL in December voted to double the number of games in 2025 from four last season up to eight.
"Becoming a global sport is a major strategic priority for the league and 32 teams," said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. "Increasing international game inventory allows us to grow our global presence and share our game with exciting new markets to connect with more fans around the world." REUTERS
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| 2024-01-18T19:37:55Z
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MELBOURNE - A change of racket helped Daniil Medvedev come from two sets down and prevail over Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori at the Australian Open on Jan 18, in a battle that stretched four hours and 21 minutes.
In a tense match on Rod Laver Arena, the two-time Australian Open finalist started off wobbly but turned things around by tiring Ruusuvuori in the early hours to win 3-6 6-7(1) 6-4 7-6(1) 6-0.
After losing the second set to a one-sided tiebreak, the Russian changed equipment and soon began to dominate, winning the next two sets to level the match then racing past Ruusuvuori in the decider.
He delivered a total of 23 aces, in contrast to his opponent's one. Of those 23, 16 came after the second set.
"Then I (changed my rackets) and finally found one where I felt like I was playing better. Sometimes it is just something you create in your mind," the third seed told reporters.
"I stayed with this racket. I started with it at the beginning of the third set and stayed with it until the end of the match.
"It was not easy to start the match and in the first set I was missing too much. I was missing all over the place."
Medvedev looked at his best in the final portion of the match and said the titanic duel "will remain in his memory".
"If I was a fan, maybe I would have gone home and watched the match on TV. I would have watched 30 minutes and gone to bed. So I thank you from the bottom of my heart for sticking around, you guys are very strong," he added.
Medvedev continues his bid for a second Grand Slam title when he faces 27th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada in the third round on Jan 20. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-18T19:38:05Z
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GUAYAQUIL/QUITO -Two suspects have been arrested in connection with the murder of Ecuadorean prosecutor Cesar Suarez who was allegedly targeted by a gang, police said on Thursday, as security forces continued interventions in prisons.
Ecuador is reeling from a wave of violence, with President Daniel Noboa declaring 22 gangs as "terrorist" groups and a 60-day state of emergency.
Incidents this month have included an attack by armed gunmen on the TC television station, the hostage-taking of more than 200 prison staff and the kidnapping of police officers.
Suarez, who focused on pursuing organized trans-national crime in Guayas province, was attacked as he drove in northern Guayaquil by gunmen in two cars, the city's police chief General Victor Herrera told journalists at a press conference.
Suarez was in charge of investigating the television station attack, when journalists and others were briefly held hostage, as well as cases connected to corruption and drug trafficking, Herrera said.
"The hypothesis that the national police have is that these criminals belonged to the terrorist group ChoneKiller, the motivation (for the crime) is still under investigation," Herrera said.
Police have collected 18 ballistic pieces of evidence and conducted raids in various homes, locating one of the vehicles. The other was found burned in another part of the city, Herrera said.
Suarez had not had permanent police protection since May 2023 and had not requested protection for a hearing on Wednesday because it was virtual, authorities said.
Some 62 staff at the attorney general's office have national police and other security protections, the office has said.
Police detained 13 people, including two minors, in connection with the television station attack.
Security forces were carrying out an operation at the Guayaquil prison that was the site of an escape by Adolfo Macias, the leader of the Los Choneros gang, earlier this month.
The raid is not connected to Suarez's killing, Herrera said.
Widespread security force operations have resulted in nearly 2,000 arrests since last week.
Ecuadorean bonds continued to rise on Thursday on views the crisis could become a catalyst for policy action.
Following an initial selloff last week, an index of Ecuadorean sovereign external debt has gained over 6% since Jan. 9 and sits at a more than two-month high. "The latest developments suggest an increased likelihood of stronger fiscal accounts, as policymakers can build popular support in the fight against crime while still engaging in fiscal austerity," said BancTrust analysts in a Thursday client note. Spreads at over 1,900 basis points remain among the highest in Latin America and prices are at levels indicating concern over a default.
The legislature has backed Noboa's efforts but several parties have said they will not support a value added tax hike meant to fund security initiatives. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/ecuadorean-prosecutor-killed-by-gang-two-arrested-police
| 2024-01-18T19:38:16Z
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida - A fighter pilot poised to become Turkey's first person in orbit and three other astronauts representing Europe were set for launch on Thursday headed for the International Space Station in the latest commercially arranged mission from Texas startup Axiom Space.
A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying the Axiom quartet was due for liftoff atop a Falcon 9 rocket at 4:49 p.m. EST (2149 GMT) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, beginning a planned 36-hour voyage to the orbiting laboratory.
The mission marks the third such flight organized by Houston-based Axiom over the past two years as the company builds on its business of putting astronauts sponsored by foreign governments and private enterprise into Earth orbit.
The company charges its customers at least $55 million for each astronaut seat.
Originally scheduled for Wednesday, the launch was postponed for 24 hours to allow more time for final inspections and data analysis, including an issue related to the parachute system used to slow the capsule's return descent before splashdown, the company said.
The latest forecast for Thursday's launch window predicted an 80% chance of favorable weather conditions.
Plans for the Axiom-3 mission call for the crew to spend roughly 14 days aboard the ISS conducting more than 30 scientific experiments, most of them focused on the effects of spaceflight on human health and disease.
More symbolically, the mission reflects the growing number of nations venturing to Earth orbit as a way of enhancing global prestige, military prowess and satellite-based communications.
Turkey, a longtime applicant for EU membership, was poised to enter the exclusive-but-expanding club of ISS-guest countries by sending Alper Gezeravcı, 44, a Turkish Air Force veteran, on his nation's debut human spaceflight as an Ax-3 mission specialist.
He was being joined by: Italian Air Force Colonel Walter Villadei, 49, Ax-3's designated pilot; Swedish aviator Marcus Wandt, 43, another mission specialist; and retired NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría, 65, a dual citizen of Spain and the United States acting as mission commander. López-Alegría, an Axiom executive, also commanded the company's first mission to the ISS in April 2022.
Axiom said the flight would represent the "first all-European commercial astronaut mission" to the space station.
In May 2023, Axiom-2 launched a team of two Americans and two Saudis, including Rayyanah Barnawi, a biomedical scientist who became the first Arab woman ever sent to orbit, on an eight-day mission to the ISS.
SpaceX, the privately funded rocket and satellite company of billionaire Elon Musk, provides Axiom's launch vehicles and crew capsules under contract, as it has for NASA missions to the ISS. SpaceX also runs mission control for its rocket launches from the company's headquarters near Los Angeles.
NASA, besides furnishing the launch site at Cape Canaveral, assumes responsibility for the astronauts once they rendezvous with the space station.
Axiom, an eight-year-old venture headed by NASA's former ISS program manager, is one of a handful of companies building a commercial space station of its own intended to eventually replace the ISS, which NASA expects to retire around 2030.
Launched to orbit in 1998, the ISS has been continuously occupied since 2000 under a U.S.-Russian-led partnership that includes Canada, Japan and 11 countries that belong to the European Space Agency. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-18T19:38:26Z
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TULKARM, West Bank - The Israeli military raided the city of Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank for a second day on Thursday, saying it had killed eight people.
The Palestinian health ministry confirmed that six people had died and an organisation which represents those held in Israeli jails - the Palestinian Society Prisoner's Club - said hundreds had been arrested over the two days.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said four had been badly beaten by Israeli forces. Video footage showed many buildings had also been badly damaged or destroyed.
The Israeli-occupied West Bank has seen a surge of violence in parallel to the Gaza war that erupted on Oct. 7 with a shock cross-border killing and kidnapping spree by Islamist Hamas militants in southern Israel.
The Israeli military says it has arrested 2,700 suspects in the West Bank since the start of the war, and that around half belonged to Hamas.
Tulkarm, one of the main crossing points between the West Bank and Israel, has seen repeated raids.
The Israeli military said on Thursday it had carried out a more than 35-hour long counter-terrorism operation in Tulkarm, killing eight militants, arresting 15 suspects, seizing weapons and destroying dozens of explosive devices.
It said in a statement that it had returned fire with armed militants.
Faisal Salameh, the head of the services committee in Tulkarm, told Reuters that 10 houses had been blown up, others had been damaged by Israeli tanks and infrastructure had been destroyed. Israel said it had discovered bomb-making facilities.
"As you can see, the room is gone, there used to be a bathroom, a yard and a wall here, there used to be trees," said Tulkarm resident Issam Asfour. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-18T19:38:36Z
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NEW YORK - The trial of a minority rights activist in Russia this week sparked one of the biggest outbreaks of social unrest in the country since the start of the war in Ukraine, highlighting the strain the conflict has imposed on Russia’s complex ethnic relations.
Hundreds of protesters clashed with the police on Jan 17 in the provincial town of Baymak, near Russia’s border with Kazakhstan, after a local court sentenced an advocate for the local Bashkir ethnic minority to four years in prison.
He was convicted of inciting ethnic discord and discrediting the Russian army.
A Russian legal aid group, OVD-Info, said that at least 20 people had been detained and another 20 injured in the protest.
A video published on social media and verified by The New York Times showed protesters throwing snowballs at a wall of police officers in riot gear; other videos showed the police leading some protesters away and protesters exposed to what appeared to be tear gas.
Tensions in Baymak, in the Republic of Bashkortostan region of Russia, flared on Jan 15, after residents gathered outside the courthouse to protest over the trial of the activist, Fail Alsynov.
Alsynov had called for greater cultural and economic autonomy for the predominantly Muslim Bashkir people of Russia’s Ural Mountains.
Alsynov has also criticised Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the 2022 mobilisation, which he said had disproportionally affected ethnic minorities like the Bashkirs.
“The smartest, strongest Bashkir men are being put under fire,” Alsynov said on social media in 2023, a post that contributed to his arrest. “This is not our war. Our land has not come under attack.”
The trial of Alsynov has shown how long-running ethnic grievances in the Russian provinces can swiftly assume anti-war undertones, in a potentially explosive mix that the government has demonstrated in Baymak that it will act decisively to prevent.
“The Kremlin is afraid of nationalism and separatism,” said Mr Abbas Gallyamov, an exiled ethnic Bashkir and former speechwriter for President Vladimir Putin of Russia, in a written response to questions.
“Putin and his circle were traumatised by the collapse of the USSR and are worried that Russia will repeat its fate.”
Videos of the protests showed hundreds of security officers in full riot gear clashing with demonstrators outside the courthouse of Baymak, a town of 15,000 people, and local media reported that mobile data access in the area had been restricted.
Several social media accounts that covered the protests have disappeared from platforms popular in Russia this week, and the Russian Prosecutor’s Office in Moscow said on Jan 17 that it had opened a criminal case over the incitement of riots.
OVD-Info, the rights group, said two students from Bashkortostan’s capital, Ufa, were detained Jan 18, seemingly in connection with Alsynov’s case.
The crackdown came despite attempts by the protesters to emphasise that their focus was on supporting Alsynov, rather than criticism of the federal government or calls for greater autonomy.
“We are the people of the Republic of Bashkortostan, a subject of the Russian Federation. We are not extremists,” one Baymak protester said, in a video addressed to President Putin on Jan 15.
The leader of Bashkortostan, Mr Radiy Khabirov, said in a social media post on Jan 18 that his office had worked to charge Alsynov with extremism and to ban his organisation, Bashkort, which had promoted Bashkir language and culture and opposed mining in the region.
“I must protect people from any attempts to weaken interethnic unity,” Mr Khabirov said, in a video posted on his Telegram channel.
In his public war speeches, President Putin has portrayed Russia as a harmonious multi-ethnic society united against what he claims are Western attempts to dismember it. He has lauded ethnic minorities for their contribution to the war and stressed the shared history of the country’s diverse ethnic groups and a common commitment to what he calls “traditional values.”
But President Putin’s use of Russian imperialist rhetoric to justify the war in Ukraine has also empowered once-ostracised far-right movements, leading to an outbreak of xenophobic rhetoric.
Alsynov, the convicted activist, made reference to the Kremlin’s conflicting messages in his social media post about the war in 2023.
President Putin, he wrote, had argued for action because “in Ukraine they are harassing Russian people, they don’t teach the Russian language,” contrasting that stance with what he characterised as mistreatment of the Bashkir language in Bashkortostan. NYTIMES
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| 2024-01-18T19:38:47Z
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JERUSALEM - Israel has destroyed around two thirds of Hamas' fighting regiments in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday, vowing to press on with the war until "complete victory."
"There are two stages to the fighting; The first is destroying the Hamas regiments, those are their organised combat frameworks," Netanyahu said at a news conference in Tel Aviv.
"Up until now sixteen or seventeen out of twenty four have been destroyed. After that there is the (stage) of clearing the territory (of militants). The first action is usually shorter, the second usually takes longer."
Holding up a photo of a fallen Israeli soldier, Netanyahu said troops will not have died in vain and pledged fighting would continue until Hamas has been defeated and the hostages in Gaza recovered.
"Victory will take many more months but we are determined to achieve it," Netanyahu said. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-18T19:38:57Z
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ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE - White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan is meeting on Thursday with families of hostages being held by Hamas militants, fellow national security adviser John Kirby said. REUTERS
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE - White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan is meeting on Thursday with families of hostages being held by Hamas militants, fellow national security adviser John Kirby said. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/national-security-adviser-meeting-thursday-with-families-of-hostages-held-by-hamas-white-house
| 2024-01-18T19:39:08Z
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LONDON - Countries in the Red Sea region need to enhance security to protect seafarers at risk as attacks on merchant shipping worsen, industry officials said on Thursday.
Attacks on ships by Yemen's Iran-allied Houthi militia since November have slowed trade between Asia and Europe and alarmed major powers in an escalation of the war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza.
Seafarers were innocent victims, Arsenio Dominguez, Secretary-General of UN shipping agency the International Maritime Organization, told a meeting with shipping industry officials on Thursday, adding that freedom of navigation must be upheld, to guarantee the flow of goods by sea.
Stephen Cotton, General Secretary of the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), the leading union organisation for seafarers, said the body was "very concerned", adding "seafarers' safety must be the number one priority".
The Houthis are holding 25 crew members from the Galaxy Leader, which was hijacked by the militant group on Nov. 19.
Cotton said the Galaxy Leader's crew must be unconditionally released.
In a positive step, the Indian Navy said on Thursday it had rescued the crew of a U.S.-owned vessel in the Gulf of Aden after a Houthi attack.
In December areas deemed warlike and high risk were extended into the southern area of the Red Sea as part of negotiated arrangements between seafarers and commercial shipping companies, known as the IBF.
Lawyers said the measure increased protection for seafarers.
"This designation triggers increased costs for shipowners, as seafarers covered by IBF agreements are entitled to double their basic pay, along with double compensation for death or disability," David Ashmore, employment lawyer at global law firm Reed Smith, said.
Some 12% of global trade is estimated to pass through the Red Sea. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-18T19:39:18Z
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Fans of Kate Hudson know that she comes from a pretty large – and very tight-knit – Hollywood family, led by beloved couple Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell.
However, no family comes without its fair share of complications or even estrangements, and the How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days actress isn't afraid to discuss the ones in her own family.
Through her podcast with brother Oliver Hudson, Sibling Revelry – which is dedicated to conversations with fellow celebrity siblings – the two have explored and opened up about their own relationships with their half siblings.
Kate, 44, and Oliver, 47, are a product of their mom Goldie's marriage to Bill Hudson, from 1976 to 1982, however they were raised by Kurt, who they call their "Pa," and who Goldie has been with for forty years.
The longtime couple also share son Wyatt, 37, while Kurt shares son Boston, 43, with Season Hubley. As for Bill, he shares Zachary, 38, and Emily, 42, with Cindy Williams, plus Lalania, 18, with Caroline Graham.
During their latest podcast episode, Kate gave a happy update on where her relationship with her other siblings stands, after previously expressing her hopes of reconnecting with them last year.
"I had this moment last year where I was like, 'I don't know why I don't talk to my other siblings,'" she explained, adding: "I have two sisters that I don't speak to for no other reason than our family is separated."
MORE: Kate Hudson gets emotional as she marks son Ryder's milestone birthday with heartfelt tribute
MORE: Kate Hudson is so chic in killer boots and incredible 70s coat
She then declared: "I don't care what the history is with our parents," before detailing the emotional breakthrough she recently had with the other three Hudsons.
"My sister and I and my brother have all just started communicating again," she shared, before revealing: "Honestly, I got on the phone with my sister and we just started bawling our eyes out. It was great. [My sister] even said it, 'We start now. We start now.'"
MORE: Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell reunited with oldest grandchild in joyful family update
Kate previously opened up about her decision to reach out to her siblings in another podcast episode in early 2023, in which she told her brother: "You know what I've been thinking about lately? Dad. I've been thinking a lot about Dad," and added: "I've been thinking about our sisters that we don't spend any time with and our brother – brothers. We've got four siblings we don't spend any time with."
She noted: "We've been talking so much about sibling relationships and distraught relationships, and we're sitting here like, 'We've got the best family, we're so great,' and yet we don't ever acknowledge the fact that we have four other siblings. Four."
"It would be nice to connect a little bit – especially with my sisters," she continued, and ultimately reflected: "So I've been thinking a lot about the Hudsons. Thinking it's important that we reach out with all of our siblings and maybe connect with them a little bit."
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/celebrities/511613/kate-hudson-relationship-estranged-siblings-emotional-encounter-bill-hudson/
| 2024-01-18T19:59:59Z
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Kelly Clarkson has always looked flawless, but the singer truly turned heads this week with her new physique as she shared a piece of exciting news.
Taking to her social media, the host of 'The Kelly Clarkson Show' showed down her trimmed-down figure, after losing 50lbs, and she donned a skintight sequinned dress that had an incredible plunging neckline. The star added plenty of necklaces to her get up, which just added to her beauty.
Kelly struck a sultry pose for the photo as she stared down the camera, while wearing her luscious blonde hair loose, allowing it to sweep down her shoulders.
In her caption, Kelly made an incredible announcement, confirming some new concert dates, as she posted: "Just announced! I'm coming to Hard Rock Live in Atlantic City for 2 nights on May 10 & 11. Tickets on sale Friday!"
Her fans went ecstatic over the news as one enthused: "Already got my tickets!!!!! Woooooo can't wait," while a second penned: "I got my tickets today on presale!!! So freakin' excited… I had tickets to see her twice and the shows were canceled!!! I CAN'T WAIT!!!"
A third commented: "Very beautiful girl and I love you so much," while a fourth posted: "She is so good live y'all! If you're local you have to go see her!" while many others begged the 'American Idol' star to come and perform in their city or country.
Kelly recently relocated to New York City, and the singer has also made a dramatic change in her weight, which in an interview with People magazine she confessed that she was losing weight for "health reasons."
"I dropped weight because I've been listening to my doctor," she told the outlet. "A couple years I didn't."
This means not only adding more exercise to her regime but focusing on a healthy diet too. "I eat a healthy mix," said the star. "90 percent of the time I'm really good at it because a protein diet is good for me anyway. I'm a Texas girl, so I like meat. Sorry, vegetarians in the world!"
SEE: Kelly Clarkson gets fans talking with new look featuring leg-baring leather skirt
RELATED: Kelly Clarkson wows fans as she rocks green jumpsuit: 'She looks amazing'
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/fashion/celebrity-style/511612/kelly-clarkson-flawless-skintight-dress-plunging-neckline/
| 2024-01-18T20:00:05Z
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In 2017, researchers used a virtual telescope the size of our planet to image the shadow of a supermassive black hole for the first time. The image was of M87*, the black hole at the center of galaxy Messier 87, and was the first image of the shadow of the event horizon and bright accretion disk around a black hole ever taken. Now the team has released a new image of M87* from observations conducted a year later that show the shadow is not only a persistent feature, as predicted, but that the brightness of the ring has changed.
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) team used eight independent imaging and modeling techniques to analyze the data from the April 2018 observations and found the brightness peak of the orange disk has shifted by about 30 degrees counterclockwise – now at the 5 o'clock position, which can be seen in the image above on the right – compared to that seen in 2017, while the size of the ring and the shadow are unchanged, as general relativity predicted.
"Confirmation of the ring in a completely new data set is a huge milestone for our collaboration and a strong indication that we are looking at a black hole shadow and the material orbiting around it," Dr Keiichi Asada of the Academia Sinica Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Taiwan said in a statement.
M87* weighs 6.5 billion times the mass of our Sun and is located 53.5 million light-years away. The shift in the brightness spot seen in the new observations was predicted, the idea being that the emission from the turbulent, messy accretion disk around the supermassive black hole – full of material that couldn't escape the black hole's gravitational pull – will cause the brightest part to wobble. The wobble can be used to test our theories about the behavior of the magnetic field and plasma around the black hole.
The EHT images of these incredible objects are possible thanks to a fantastic property of light. Observations from radio telescopes that are a certain distance apart can be combined in a way that is equivalent to a telescope the size of their distance. By combining radio telescopes around the world, the initial 2017 EHT was the size of our planet. For the 2018 observations, new telescopes in Greenland and Mexico had been added, and even more have been added since.
"The inclusion of the Greenland Telescope in our array filled critical gaps in our earth-sized telescope," Rohan Dahale, a PhD candidate at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía. "The 2021, 2022, and the forthcoming 2024 observations witness improvements to the array, fuelling our enthusiasm to push the frontiers of black hole astrophysics."
In 2022 we got the first image of our own galaxy's supermasive black hole, Sagitarrius A*, and in 2023 the first direct image of a black hole launching its jets, as well as an AI-sharpened M87* glow up. With every new image or details revealed, and more telescopes adding to the size and capabilities of the EHT, the question is: what are we zooming in on next?
The study is published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
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https://www.iflscience.com/brand-new-image-of-first-black-hole-to-be-photographed-reveals-moving-shadow-72517
| 2024-01-18T20:03:24Z
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If you are someone who has a child, plays some other role in a child's life, or are simply near one at a bus stop, at some point you are going to be asked how clouds stay in the sky by a toddler.
Science lessons from your youth fade pretty quickly, we get it. There's also the chance you have been told the incorrect explanation at some point, that clouds float because they are less dense than the air beneath them.
As air near the Earth's surface heats up it does indeed begin to rise, carrying water vapor with it, being less dense than the surrounding (mostly) nitrogen and oxygen. This is the same principle that lifts hot air balloons off the ground. Think of how a balloon held underwater will rise to the surface, where it stops, as the air within it is roughly as dense as the air around it. Or at least, it is not dense enough to sink in water, and not sparse enough to keep on flying upwards. If you filled it with the less dense helium, it would continue to float upwards.
But air – and the water vapor contained within it – does not forever fly upwards and out of our atmosphere like helium, reaching a height where it is roughly the same density as the air around it. As air cools, water and ice droplets are formed within it in big enough volumes to make the clouds we see, as sunlight reflects off the large numbers of water droplets.
Droplets of water within clouds, though, make up only a tiny proportion of the cloud's volume. A common cumulus cloud, for example, has approximately 0.5 grams (0.018 ounces) of water per cubic meter. This adds up quite quickly given the enormous volume of clouds. A 1-cubic-kilometer (0.24-cubic-mile) cloud would weigh 500,000 kilograms (1.1 million pounds).
So, how does something that heavy stay up there, when throwing a truck out the window of an airplane would result in a truck smashing to the ground and probably a few lawsuits?
Water droplets inside the clouds are not concerned with how heavy the air around them is in total. The numerous droplets within a cloud may make a huge total, but that doesn't matter for the individual droplet. These stay aloft (until they don't) due to their large surface area.
The upwards force of air resistance (aka buoyant force) on small droplets of water is enough to keep their terminal velocity – where the drag force of the air an object is moving through is equal to the downward force of gravity – low, for small droplets. The result is that the smaller droplets are constantly falling, but easily pushed upwards by the air below them.
This doesn't last forever – just ask anyone who lives in the UK. The droplets within the cloud collide and become larger droplets. As this happens, the weight of the droplets compared to the surface area increases, and the droplets fall, the air resistance no longer enough to slow them.
"A droplet of 10-micron radius falls at a speed of 1 cm/sec [0.02 mph]," Louis J. Battan explains in the book Cloud Physics, "while droplets of 50-micron radius fall at a speed of 26 cm/sec [0.6 mph]."
As soon as the radius of the raindrop goes above 0.1 millimeters, the air resistance of upward-flowing air isn't enough to counter gravity, and it's time to fetch an umbrella.
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/clouds-can-weigh-incredible-amounts-so-how-do-they-stay-in-the-sky-72510
| 2024-01-18T20:03:25Z
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This is the computer that helped secure the Allied victory in the Second World War and sent the Third Reich to the trash can of history.
GCHQ, the UK’s intelligence agency, has unveiled never-before-seen images of the code-cracking computers that played a crucial role in the Second World War. They’ve been released to mark the 80th anniversary of the machine arriving at Bletchley Park, where it began to work its wonders.
The Colossus computer was the world's first programmable, electronic, digital computer. It was created by the British during World War Two to decipher messages between Adolf Hitler, his entourage of leading Nazis, and senior German generals.
The computer’s sole job was to decipher German radio messages that had been encrypted by a Lorenz cipher. Using around 2,500 valves, Colossus would recognize patterns and perform statistical analysis that worked out the settings of the cipher machine's 12 wheels, thereby allowing them to read the coded message.
One of its most significant achievements was revealing that Hitler had been successfully dubbed into thinking that the Allies would be launching their D-Day invasion of mainland Europe from Pas De Calais, not Normandy. This sneaky act of deception helped to ensure the Normandy Landings were a success for the Allies (albeit a very costly one).
“Colossus was perhaps the most important of the wartime code breaking machines because it enabled the Allies to read strategic messages passing between the main German headquarters across Europe,” Andrew Herbert OBE FREng, Chairman of Trustees at The National Museum of Computing, said in a statement.
Along with its role in World War Two, the pioneering device paved the way for the development of modern electronic digital computers. Experts who worked on the war-winning computer went on to develop “the Manchester Baby” in 1948, which was the world’s first electronic stored-program computer.
Colossus was developed by a team of engineers led by British General Post Office engineer Tommy Flowers. The work of Alan Turing helped inspire parts of its design, although this computer engineering legend did not work directly with the Colossus project.
The gigantic device was stationed at Bletchley Park, a quiet country house in Milton Keynes that became the powerhouse of the Allied code-breaking effort during World War Two.
Despite this huge historical importance, Colossus remained a highly classified state secret for decades. Its existence was revealed in 1975, but it was not until the early 2000s that substantial information about the project was released to the public.
“I worked as an engineer on Colossus for a year during the 1960s. I had just signed the Official Secrets Act and knew nothing about GCHQ but was offered ‘interesting work’ which I believed would be dealing with telegrams for a government department,” explained Bill Marshall, a former GCHQ engineer.
“I was told very little about the machine I was working on – what the machine was actually doing was not for me to know. My job was to repair it as necessary, using just a few circuit diagrams and no detailed user handbook. It wasn’t until much later that I found out that the several of the systems and detailed design information were supposedly destroyed at the end of WWII,” Marshall added.
Sadly, the original machine is no more. Following the end of the war, Cold War paranoia quickly sunk in. Eight out of the ten Colossus machines at Bletchley Park were promptly dismantled to ensure the technology did not fall into the hands of the Soviet Union. The remaining two, which were kept by British Intelligence, were later destroyed in the 1960s.
There is, however, a fully working reconstruction of a Colossus computer that you can see at the National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park.
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https://www.iflscience.com/colossus-never-before-seen-photos-show-the-computer-that-helped-win-ww2-72513
| 2024-01-18T20:03:25Z
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Humans are too recent arrivals on Earth to have taken advantage of a time when Antarctica was habitable, let alone when continental drift made it possible to walk there. Nevertheless, humans have visited many places they found too forbidding to stay, raising the question of whether humans saw, or even set foot on, Antarctica before records were kept.
Although Antarctica’s location has been stable a lot longer than the other continents, it certainly hasn’t always been icebound. During the Cretaceous, when the world was warmer, it had rainforests around its coast; even the long winters did not deter dinosaur inhabitants. However, those days were long gone before humans, even early humans such as Homo erectus, appeared on the scene.
Consequently, even during interglacial periods it’s unlikely any part of Antarctica would have been habitable without modern technology. Moreover, such warm periods would have been the worst time to try to colonize the place. High sea levels during interglacials, driven by the partial melting of Antarctica and Greenland, would have made the seas around the continent an even more extensive barrier than they are today.
Plenty of people who take Alien Vs. Predator as a documentary think hi-tech ancient civilizations built cities beneath the ice, but there is not a scrap of evidence to support that. Not even evidence hidden by the laughingly named “big archaeology”.
That doesn’t mean the history of human interaction with Antarctica began with Europeans, however. The extraordinary feats of Polynesian navigation, reaching places as remote as New Zealand, Hawai'i and Rapa Nui, suggest it may not have been beyond their capacity to find a much larger, albeit more inhospitable, land further south.
Dr Priscilla Wehi the University of Otago of led a study exploring the Māori connection to Antarctica. Along with a modern contribution to exploration and research, Wehi and coauthors point to evidence New Zealand’s indigenous people were aware of the continent’s existence. Whales play a central role in Māori culture, including species that feed off the Antarctic coast and migrate north to breed.
Tales of sailor Hui Te Rangiora who led a boat into the far Southern Ocean, probably following migrating whales, appear to date to around 1,400 years ago. How close to Antarctica the voyage got is unknown. However, the name Te tai-uka-a-pia – meaning the “frozen ocean” – for those waters was handed down, indicating someone had seen ice floes at least, and perhaps even the land itself.
It is much closer from Tierra Del Fuego to the Antarctic Peninsula than it is from New Zealand to East Antarctica. The Yaghan people of the island didn’t embark on the epic voyages the Polynesians did, and until recently were not thought to have sailed far from their shores.
That view has been called into question recently, with evidence presented that Native Americans visited the Falkland Islands, and possibly stayed a while, in the 14th century. Indeed, there are more tentative hints such visits began thousands of years earlier.
These claims are not universally accepted, but if they are right, it would be much more plausible that people set foot on the Antarctic Continent long before European exploration. The Drake Passage between the South Shetland Islands and South America is about 800 kilometers (480 miles) wide, less than twice the distance between the Falklands and the South American mainland. The passage is notoriously rough, even more dangerous than the South Atlantic, but if people made the voyage to the Falklands, it’s not impossible they also reached the island chain around the same time. From there, it would have been a relatively small step to the Antarctic Mainland.
Nevertheless, no reliable evidence that this happened has been reported, although forgeries have. Moreover, if people couldn’t establish an ongoing settlement at the Falklands with the technology of the day, they would have found Antarctica even less appealing, whether the mainland or islands off the coast.
Consequently, while it is quite possible that people knew of Antarctica before the Age of Discovery, and may even have set foot there, proof remains elusive and they certainly didn’t stay.
Archaeology in Antarctica is a serious topic, but most of it is focused on the legacy of 19th and 20th century explorers, and those who followed the whales for less benign purposes. If earlier visitors left any traces, they will not be easy to find.
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https://www.iflscience.com/did-humans-ever-inhabit-antarctica-what-about-prehistoric-visits-72523
| 2024-01-18T20:03:27Z
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Planetary scientists believe they have found an enormous deposit of water ice near the Mars equator. Almost two decades ago, researchers discovered some peculiar deep deposits underneath the Medusae Fossae Formation (MFF). The latest data suggest these deposits are extremely rich in ice.
The MFF is made of many wind-sculpted features and has an area of about one-fifth of the continental United States. It is believed to be the biggest single source of dust on Mars and it extends all the way to Gale Crater, which NASA’s Curiosity is exploring.
Data from the European Space Agency’s Mars Express suggest that there is so much ice there, that if it were to melt it would cover Mars in a layer of water 1.5 to 2.7 meters ( 4.9 to 8.6 feet) deep. That’s the amount of water found in the whole Red Sea on Earth.
“We’ve explored the MFF again using newer data from Mars Express’s MARSIS radar, and found the deposits to be even thicker than we thought: up to 3.7 km [2.3 miles] thick,” Dr Thomas Watters of the Smithsonian Institution, USA, lead author of both the new research and the initial 2007 study, said in a statement sent to IFLScience.
“Excitingly, the radar signals match what we’d expect to see from layered ice, and are similar to the signals we see from Mars’s polar caps, which we know to be very ice-rich.”
Since the initial observations, researchers considered the possibility that the deposit was rich in ice. It was relatively transparent to radar and low in density, so it was certainly not hard rock, but they couldn’t rule out that it could be a giant deposit of dust, volcanic ash, or sediments.
“Here’s where the new radar data comes in! Given how deep it is, if the MFF was simply a giant pile of dust, we’d expect it to become compacted under its own weight,” said co-author Andrea Cicchetti of the National Institute for Astrophysics, Italy. “This would create something far denser than what we actually see with MARSIS. And when we modelled how different ice-free materials would behave, nothing reproduced the properties of the MFF – we need ice.”
The current view sees the MFF as made of vast layers of ice and dust, topped by a final protective layer of dust or ash several hundred meters thick. This is what has kept the ice protected. Although scientists are unsure for how long.
“This latest analysis challenges our understanding of the Medusae Fossae Formation, and raises as many questions as answers,” said Colin Wilson, ESA project scientist for Mars Express and the ESA ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO).
“How long ago did these ice deposits form, and what was Mars like at that time? If confirmed to be water ice, these massive deposits would change our understanding of Mars climate history. Any reservoir of ancient water would be a fascinating target for human or robotic exploration.”
A paper about this research is published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
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https://www.iflscience.com/enormous-ice-deposit-nearly-4-kilometers-thick-discovered-under-marss-equator-72512
| 2024-01-18T20:03:28Z
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In I898, Olof Öhman, a Swedish immigrant living in Minnesota, claimed to have found a huge 90-kilogram (200-pound) slab of stone, hidden in the roots of a tree. The slab was covered in characters of the runic alphabet used by peoples of northern Europe, Britain, Scandinavia, and Iceland before the 17th century. A translation of the runes tells the story of a group of Scandinavian explorers in the area being attacked in 1362.
"Eight Geats and twenty-two Norwegians on an exploration journey from Vinland to the west," a translation of the inscription reads. "We had camp by two skerries one day’s journey north from this stone. We were [out] to fish one day. After we came home [we] found ten men red of blood and dead. AVM (Ave Virgo Maria) save [us] from evil. [We] have ten men by the sea to look after our ships, fourteen days’ travel from this island. [In the] year 1362."
Over the years, people have believed this – and other similar "finds" in Oklahoma – to be evidence that Vikings made the journey all the way to Minnesota. But though there is evidence that Vikings made it to the coast of North America long before Columbus, there is no evidence that they made their way inland.
The runestone, like the others, is a hoax – or at least a forgery for other purposes later believed by someone else to be the real deal. The language on the stones does not fit with the language used in 1362, and fits much better with a 19th-century understanding of the language rather than the 14th century. The rune included characters that had died out centuries before 1392, as well as characters still in limited use in the 18th and 19th centuries. Either this is a hoax (which it is) or we have ourselves a case of the only thing cooler than Vikings: time-traveling Vikings.
Researchers believe that Öhman learned how to create the runes from a book called The Well-Informed Schoolmaster by Carl Rosander. A copy was found in Öhman's possession, signed and dated March 2, 1891, eight years before the rune was "found", as well as another book on runes. As well as a 19th-century understanding of runes, the hoax shows a 19th-century understanding of history and Native Americans.
"The broadest and most obvious reason for the durability of the Viking legend is that it took root in a Scandinavian community that was proud of its heritage," anthropologist Michael Michlovic wrote of the hoax in a paper. "One of its earliest constructions portrays Scandinavian explorers struggling through the wilderness. One party is ambushed, killed and scalped by Indians; another party discovers the remains and records the attack on the stone with a prayer for help. The language used may be taken to reflect popular attitudes about Indians and Norsemen. Indians are described as savages, wild heathens, pillagers, hostile, vengeful, wild nomads, wild beasts, suspicious, and snakelike. The Norse are referred to as undaunted, brave, daring, intrepid, and faithful."
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https://www.iflscience.com/how-the-supposedly-ancient-kensington-runestone-became-inscribed-with-19th-century-runes-72519
| 2024-01-18T20:03:50Z
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Honey is enjoyed by humans and animals alike the world over, but if stories about it being delicious bee barf have put you off your breakfast, you can rest assured it’s not vomit – but it’s also not much better.
There are around 20,000 species of bees in the world and, of these, less than 4 percent produce honey. The honey-producing species feed on nectar and pollen. Nectar is a sugary energy source that facilitates flying and comb building in adult bees, but it is also taken back to the hive to be converted into honey to feed to the colony’s young.
While honey is made up of at least 181 components, it is essentially just 80 percent sugar and 15 percent water. It's also somewhat acidic and has mild antiseptic properties, as well as being downright delicious.
Honey-producing bees produce two kinds of food for their young in the hive, and while they’re both made using nectar, it’s the process that makes the products unique. And no, neither is vomit.
The honey that we eat is produced in the bee’s honey sac, or honey stomach, and it gets its flavor from the type of flower the nectar is collected from. While the term “stomach secretions” is not exactly helping honey beat the vomit allegations, the organ honey is produced in is entirely separate from the bee’s functioning "food stomach".
The honey sac, or crop, is a specialized organ that works as a store for nectar or water, enabling the bee to safely transport it back to the hive. Once home, the bee will regurgitate the nectar in a process called trophallaxis, and begin adding sugar-inverting enzymes to the nectar to create sweet, sweet honey. This honey is then stored in a honeycomb within the hive and is used to feed both the adult and larval bees.
In addition to the honey we know and love, bees also produce royal jelly. This is a highly nutritious secretion used to feed queen bee larvae throughout the larval period and to feed worker and drone larvae for the first three days of their lives. Royal jelly is a thick, white substance produced from the glands in the heads of worker bees.
People have also thought to combine the two bee products and market it as “royal honey”. But while both honey and royal jelly do have nutritional benefits for humans, the claims that royal honey can be used as a powerful aphrodisiac are entirely unsubstantiated.
So, what did we learn? While honey does technically come from a “stomach”, and royal jelly comes from a gland, let’s just stick to calling them “bodily secretions” rather than incorrectly labeling it as vomit. Oh, and royal honey won’t make you good in bed.
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https://www.iflscience.com/is-honey-bee-vomit-72522
| 2024-01-18T20:03:56Z
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Tomorrow is a big day for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The space agency will attempt to land its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, on the Moon. If the mission is successful on a soft touch down, Japan will become the fifth nation to land on the Moon and the third this century after China and India.
SLIM is expected to begin its descent at 10 am ET Friday (midnight of Saturday in Japan) and land 20 minutes later. This important mission to the lunar surface for JAXA is designed to demonstrate precise lunar landing, a level of accuracy that has not been demonstrated by any mission. It is expected to get down to the Moon within 100 meters (330 feet) of a specific target area.
The landing site for Apollo 11’s Eagle landing module was an ellipse 20 by 5 kilometers (12 by 3.1 miles) and required last-minute manual adjustments by the astronauts. SLIM is using software first designed for facial recognition to know precisely where it is. Thanks to data collected by JAXA’s SELENE mission (also known as Kaguya), SLIM should know where it is and where it should go for its correct landing. The nickname of Moon Sniper is accurate.
"The big objective of SLIM is to prove the high-accuracy landing... to achieve 'landing where we want' on the lunar surface, rather than 'landing where we can'," JAXA President Hiroshi Yamakawa told a news conference back in September when the mission launched.
All going well, SLIM will release two rovers. The first one will move using a hopping mechanism and it is equipped with cameras and a few science payloads. The second one is a rover of just 250 grams (9 ounces) and it is capable of changing shapes to best adapt to lunar conditions.
Reaching and landing on the Moon is not an easy task, even before we get to the challenge of doing so with the high precision expected of SLIM. In November 2022, JAXA’s OMOTENASHI lander was lost before it reached the Moon. In April 2023, a Japanese startup attempted to become the first private company to land on the Moon, but it also lost communication with its spacecraft. In August, the promised Russian return to the Moon ended with its spacecraft crashing on the surface, creating a brand new crater that was imaged by NASA.
Private US mission Peregrine-One also failed to reach the Moon and it burned, falling back into Earth’s atmosphere on Thursday, January 18.
A live stream of SLIM's landing process can be followed above.
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https://www.iflscience.com/japan-set-to-become-fifth-nation-ever-to-land-on-the-moon-tomorrow-72526
| 2024-01-18T20:04:02Z
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A marsupial that has sex until it drops dead has been found to cannibalize the spent remains of males that died in the frisky fray. Before you question their stamina, you should know that these animals embark on mating marathons that can go on for over 10 hours, resulting in an attack of hormones that becomes too much to bear.
“During the breeding season, male and females mate promiscuously in frenzied bouts lasting as long as 14 hours,” said Associate Professor Andrew Baker from QUT School of Biology and Environmental Science in a statement. “Certain stress-induced death follows for all males as surging testosterone causes cortisol to flood uncontrolled through the body, reaching pathological levels.”
And the bad times don’t stop there, as it turns out the bodies of spent males have one thing left to give when their loving days are done.
“The males drop dead, which provides an opportunity for cheap energy gain via cannibalism for still-living males and pregnant or lactating female antechinuses,” added Baker.
Producing milk is an energetically expensive pastime (just ask polar bear moms), and creating life even more so. It makes sense not to waste calories when they keel over in front of you, but it was still an unusual and surprise discovery for the researchers that first spotted the behavior.
“While cannibalistic behaviour has been reported in some dasyurids (the family which includes antechinuses, quolls and Tasmanian devils), it is very rare to observe in the wild,” Baker continued.
The finding comes following photos of a mainland dusky antechinus (Antechinus mimetes) eating a dead member of its own species. The photos were taken last year in New England National Park, New South Wales, Australia.
The range of mainland dusky antechinus crosses over with another closely related species, meaning the sex deaths can sustain other species as well as their own.
“In places such as Point Lookout where two antechinus species (A. mimetes and the brown antechinus, A. stuartii) are living in the same area, the two slightly separated breeding periods provide the opportunity to cannibalise both their own and the other species,” said Baker. “Each species may benefit from eating dead males of the other."
The benefit of this cannibalism likely changes depending on the breeding window of each species. For the antechinus that breeds earlier, the lactating females probably benefit most, while the later breeding group may be near-death males sustaining themselves off of already dead ones.
Unfortunately for the male antechinus, eating your own doesn’t prevent the inevitable.
“The antechinus seen feeding on its dead comrade appeared vigorous and large-bodied, but it had damage to its right eye and hair loss on its arms and shoulders, which is associated with stress-induced decline in males. He was perhaps destined soon to become somebody else’s meal.”
The study is published in Australian Mammalogy.
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https://www.iflscience.com/marsupial-that-has-sex-until-it-dies-cannibalizes-fallen-suitors-72511
| 2024-01-18T20:04:08Z
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Those of you who are chronic users of TikTok (welcome to the gang) may have seen an unusual animal video doing the rounds this week: a two-headed calf. It’s a condition known as polycephaly, and although it’s widespread in mythology, it’s much rarer in reality.
What is polycephaly?
The term polycephaly stems from the Greek poly, meaning many or multiple; and kephalē, meaning head. As seen in the calf from the video, it is usually a case of an organism with a single body and two heads, known as bicephaly or dicephaly, although cases of tricephaly have been – perhaps more unreliably – reported.
How rare is it?
Cases of polycephaly tend to make the news or go viral because of just how rare a phenomenon it is – to the point where, back in 2006, an American aquarium attempted to auction off a two-headed snake for $150,000.
It’s difficult, however, to truly know the scale of this rarity. As vet Dr Alaina Macdonald told Huron County Museum, which is home to two taxidermied polycephalic calves, it’s a chance event that “would generally result in the early loss of pregnancy, and those pregnancies often are undetected. Indeed, it is exceptionally rare for the embryo to develop into a full-term fetus, and to survive the length of the gestation.”
That being said, the viral calf video demonstrates that the live birth of polycephalic animals is possible, and it’s been documented across a range of animals. It’s most commonly seen in snakes and turtles, but it’s also been reported in pigs, sheep, and even dolphins. The oldest known case was discovered in the Yixian Formation in China – a fossilized reptile believed to date back to the Early Cretaceous.
Polycephaly can also occur in humans. You may have heard of Abigail and Brittany Hensel, conjoined twins who share a body; in humans, this is known as dicephalus parapagus dipus.
What causes it?
Speaking of twins, scientists have looked to their development to figure out how polycephaly occurs. Identical twins occur when a single fertilized egg splits into two embryos. In the case of polycephaly, this split is incomplete, known as axial bifurcation.
As for why this might happen, though there are theories, the answers are unclear. “No one knows the exact mechanism behind the abnormal splitting of the embryo,” said Macdonald. “Trace mineral deficiencies and environmental factors such as increasing water temperatures and toxin exposure have been implicated in some species, but there are likely many causes. Anything that disrupts that delicate timing of gene expression (including random chance) can cause abnormalities in embryonic development.”
It’s also not something that’s considered to be inherited, as polycephalic animals often don’t live long enough to reproduce.
So, we probably shouldn’t get too attached to the now internet-famous two-headed calf, but you never know; another bicephalic cow born in the 1990s, the aptly named Gemini, managed to survive for nearly a year and a half.
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/polycephaly-the-rare-phenomenon-of-multi-headed-animals-72518
| 2024-01-18T20:04:14Z
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Most of us experience some sort of trauma during our lifetime, yet only about 25 to 35 percent of people who are exposed to severely disturbing events go on to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). According to a new study, a person’s vulnerability to the condition may be determined by their responsiveness to stress hormones, thus offering a potential explanation for this discrepancy.
People with PTSD typically display fear extinction deficits, whereby their conditioned responses to stimuli associated with traumatic events don’t soften over time. Other hallmarks of the condition include a reduction in the volume of the hippocampus - a brain region that plays a key role in memory and emotion - as well as rapid eye movement (REM) sleep disturbances.
Because REM sleep is crucial for memory consolidation, disruptions to this key sleep phase are likely to impede any attempts to overcome one’s trauma. Interestingly, however, studies have also shown that PTSD sufferers tend to have lower levels of glucocorticoids – or stress hormones – such as cortisol.
“There are considerable differences in the levels of glucocorticoids that individuals release to the bloodstream when stressed,” explained study author Carmen Sandi in a statement. “Low glucocorticoid levels are frequently observed in PTSD patients following trauma exposure and were initially suspected to be a consequence of trauma exposure.”
“The possibility that this could be a trait constituting a preexisting PTSD risk factor has been an outstanding open question for many years,” she said. To provide an answer, the study authors conducted experiments on mice that had been genetically engineered to display a blunted response to stress hormones.
Brain scans revealed that these rodents had reduced hippocampi, while recordings of brain activity also revealed deficits in REM sleep. Furthermore, after the mice had been conditioned to associate a noise with receiving an electric shock, mice with dampened cortisol responses were less able to un-learn this association, and continued to freeze in fear whenever they heard the noise.
These findings suggest that fear extinction deficits, hippocampal reductions, and REM disturbances may all be mediated by glucocorticoids, and that people with low levels of these hormones might therefore be more vulnerable to PTSD.
To confirm the robustness of this conclusion, the study authors injected the mice with the stress hormone corticosterone, and found that this ameliorated the animals’ excessive fear and REM disturbances.
The researchers therefore assert that “blunted glucocorticoids were associated with PTSD-related features such as impaired fear extinction, reduced hippocampal volume, and REMS disturbances.” As such, they propose that dampened sensitivity to stress hormones “not only predicts but may also contribute causally to core PTSD symptoms.”
Obviously, these findings will need to be replicated in humans before such hypotheses can be confirmed, although the authors suggest that glucocorticoid treatments may be effective for some people suffering from PTSD.
The study is published in the journal Biological Psychiatry.
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https://www.iflscience.com/this-may-explain-why-not-everyone-develops-ptsd-after-trauma-72516
| 2024-01-18T20:04:20Z
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If anywhere is going to be cursed, it's the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, where thousands of bodies are perfectly preserved by the volcanic ash and pumice from an extraordinarily powerful eruption that wiped out everything, including neighboring town Herculaneum, thousands of years ago.
Even rational people who know curses are Not A Thing might think twice about removing an ancient artifact from its eerie grounds, even after overcoming the obvious moral reasons why you shouldn't steal historic items in the first place.
Not so for many tourists, apparently. Over the years, hundreds of items have been taken from the UNESCO World Heritage Site before either being returned in a fit of conscience years later, or because the thieves believed themselves cursed by the objects, usually sent back with letters of apology. So many so, in fact, that Pompeii has a permanent exhibition of these items and the accompanying remorse.
Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the archaeological park in Pompeii, recently shared such a note that had been placed at the site by a remorseful visitor.
"I didn't know about the curse," the letter reads, in all caps. "I didn't know that I should not take any rocks. Within a year, I got breast cancer. I am a young and healthy female, and doctors said it was just 'bad luck'. Please accept my apology and these pieces."
Similar letters have been sent to Pompeii, accompanying artifacts.
“I am now 36 and had breast cancer twice,” one unfortunate visitor wrote in 2020. “The last time ending in a double mastectomy. My family and I also had financial problems. We’re good people and I don’t want to pass this curse on to my family or children.”
The curse is, of course, not a real thing. People are attributing bad or unlikely events in their lives to the artifacts after hearing about the supposed curse – a sort of confirmation bias, as well as a misunderstanding of statistics.
It may seem unlikely that one young person would get cancer one year after removing an artifact from Pompeii. But if a fair amount of young people remove artifacts from Pompeii, the odds are far shorter that one of this group will go on to develop cancer. If enough people took artifacts from, for example, an In-N-Out Burger, a small portion of them would go on to have terrible lives (this isn't a burn on the customer base, merely statistics). Nobody would say that In-N-Out Burger is cursed.
The larger group of people who didn't get cancer, or any other perceived bad luck, are the ones who don't tend to shout about it. "I took this rock years ago and everything's basically been fine" isn't exactly an all-time great anecdote.
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https://www.iflscience.com/tourist-returns-stones-to-pompeii-explaining-i-didnt-know-about-the-curse-72525
| 2024-01-18T20:04:26Z
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Following years of activism from Indigenous communities and environmentalists, the removal of dams along the Klamath River is allowing water to flow freely once again, marking a new hope for the region’s iconic salmon.
The Klamath River, which trails for 414 kilometers (257 miles) between Oregon and northwestern California, was once the third-largest salmon-producing river on the West Coast. It supported a healthy population of Chinook salmon, coho salmon, and steelhead trout, which served as a vital source of nutrition for the Yurok, the Karuk, and other Indigenous tribal groups that live in the river basin.
However, the construction of PacifiCorp’s hydroelectric dams along the river between 1911 and 1962 led to a major decline in wild fish stocks. The dam effectively stopped the strong flows of water needed to “flush out” toxic algae, worms, and other organisms that can cause disease in fish.
Now, the dams are reaching the end of their lifetime, signaling an ideal time to remove them and attempt to revive the river’s once-thriving ecosystem.
The dams have caused severe headaches for the Yurok Tribe who had relied on the rivers for decades. Salmon from the Klamath River wasn’t just a key food source for the community but also played a significant role in their culture and identity.
After an especially severe die-off of Chinook salmon in 2002, Indigenous groups and environmentalists ramped up their efforts to push for the removal of the dams.
Against the odds, their effort paid off. In 2022, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission officially announced they would be decommissioning and removing the dams from the Lower Klamath Hydroelectric Project.
“It fills my heart to know that salmon will migrate through this river reach on their way to spawn in the upper basin,” Yurok Vice Chairman Frankie Myers said in a statement last year.
“For the last century, we have watched the dams suffocate the life out of the river and it has negatively impacted every member of our tribe," Myers added.
The dam removal project is now reaching a key stage. As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, water behind three of the dams was released last week, allowing water to flow freely through the Klamath River for the first time in a century.
“We’re now pulling the plug and throwing it away,” Myers told the newspaper.
“Not to get too mushy about it but being able to look at the river flow for the first time in more than 100 years, it’s incredibly important to us. It’s what we’ve been fighting for: to see the river for itself,” he added.
However, the river’s salmon will now face a new challenge: climate change. Recent years have seen record droughts and intense wildfire activity in this pocket of North America, which could hamper the recovery of wild fish populations.
While the dam removal is set to boost their numbers, the salmon of the Klamath River aren’t out of the woods yet.
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https://www.iflscience.com/water-is-freely-flowing-down-the-klamath-river-for-first-time-in-100-years-72520
| 2024-01-18T20:04:33Z
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If you received an invitation to get tested for the “Celtic Curse”, you might think you’d stumbled back in time, or through an enchanted piece of furniture to some fantasy realm. But the condition that goes by this nickname is very much a reality, and many sufferers are walking around without realizing they have it. Its more scientific name? Hereditary hemochromatosis.
What is hereditary hemochromatosis?
Hemochromatosis is a disorder in which too much iron builds up within the body.
The condition can sometimes be caused by having regular blood transfusions for another medical condition, such as sickle cell disease. Red blood cells are rich in iron, but the body struggles to deal with the iron overload. Similarly, people with severe liver disease can experience a buildup of iron, and in very rare cases excessive amounts of iron in the diet can cause hemochromatosis too.
These types of hemochromatosis are known as secondary hemochromatosis.
What we're interested in, though, is primary hemochromatosis caused by genetic mutations, most commonly in a gene called homeostatic iron regulator (HFE).
The HFE gene encodes a protein that’s vital for the regulation of iron production and absorption in the liver. When everything is working correctly, our bodies absorb about 10 percent of the iron obtained from our diet. When this finely balanced system goes wrong due to a genetic mutation, toxic levels of iron can start to accumulate.
The mutations in the HFE gene are recessive, meaning that you would have to inherit two faulty copies of the gene, one from each parent, to develop hereditary hemochromatosis.
What are the symptoms of hereditary hemochromatosis?
Iron is a vital mineral for the human body, but you can have too much of a good thing.
Having too much iron in the blood can lead to a number of symptoms, including:
- Feeling tired or weak – this can be a tricky one as it’s also a symptom of an iron deficiency (anemia)
- Weight loss
- Joint pain
- A bronze or grayish look to the skin
- Abdominal pain
- Erectile dysfunction
Over time, if left untreated, the iron toxicity can cause more serious complications, such as diabetes and heart failure, and can even be fatal.
Symptoms typically arise around age 40. In women, because of natural iron loss during menstruation and childbirth, the symptoms sometimes do not present until after the menopause.
Who is at risk of hereditary hemochromatosis?
The reason why hereditary hemochromatosis is sometimes known as the Celtic Curse is because it’s particularly common in those with Irish or Scottish ancestry. Because the symptoms can be mild, or mistaken for other conditions, it’s thought a large number of people with the condition are going undiagnosed.
Until a few years ago, this was not considered to be a major problem. However, a pair of studies published in early 2019 raised alarm bells by suggesting that hereditary hemochromatosis quadruples the risk of liver disease and doubles the risk of arthritis as patients age.
The sudden death of 59-year-old Aberdeenshire resident Miranda McHardy in spring 2023, which was attributed to a late diagnosis of hereditary hemochromatosis, has sparked a recent initiative by charity Haemochromatosis UK to run a screening program across this region of Scotland.
Research suggests that one in 113 people in Scotland are predisposed to the disease, but fewer than one in 20 have been diagnosed. To try to combat this, over 25,000 households will soon be offered a free postal genetic test, along with information about the symptoms to look out for.
“If Miranda had known what she had she would still be here now,” said McHardy’s sister Louisa Leader in a statement. “She had chronic arthritis, type one diabetes, heart and liver damage all of which was completely preventable if she had known that she had haemachromatosis.”
Can hereditary hemochromatosis be treated?
There is some good news for anyone who discovers through this screening program that they do, in fact, have hereditary hemochromatosis. Treating the condition before it causes lasting damage is comparatively simple. Listen up, medieval medicine enthusiasts: we’re talking bloodletting.
The safest way to remove the excess iron is to remove some red blood cells from the body. Patients with diagnosed hemochromatosis therefore have blood drawn on a regular basis, while doctors monitor their iron levels to determine the best schedule going forward.
As an added bonus, some of the blood collected in this way can be used for transfusions, like regular blood donation, so patients get a double whammy of feeling better and helping others.
Ideally, treatment for hereditary hemochromatosis will begin early, before the disease has had a chance to cause more serious complications. That’s why coming forward for screening is so important. If you know you have a family history of the disease, or suspect you might and have any of the symptoms, it’s best to speak to a healthcare provider and request a test. You could also seek advice from organizations in your area that raise awareness of hemochromatosis, such as Hemochromatosis.org and Haemochromatosis UK.
The content of this article is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.
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-celtic-curse-and-could-you-be-at-risk-72521
| 2024-01-18T20:04:39Z
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Russia’s war against Ukraine is highly likely to negatively impact the outlook for the Russian economy, an intelligence update by the UK Defense Ministry has suggested.
“Imports have risen faster than exports, likely contributing to the rouble depreciating since the start of the war – highly likely a driver of inflation. As Russia ramps up its defense spending at the cost of other areas, the risk of the Russian economy overheating remains likely,” the British intelligence said on X.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 18 January 2024.
Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/0npPvd2nrM #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/mhfzrIQ3Lx
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) January 18, 2024
According to the update, Russia’s Central Bank has increased its interest rate by 1% to a new base rate of 16%.
“This is the fifth increase since the current cycle of rises began in July 2023, when the base rate was set at 6.5%,” the UK Defense Ministry informed.
Russian inflation continued to accelerate until the end of 2023, rising to 7.5% year-on-year in November, up from 6.7% in October. Overall, inflation for 2023 is estimated to be 7.4, nearly double the Central Bank’s target.
Read more:
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/01/18/british-intel-war-against-ukraine-likely-to-negatively-impact-outlook-of-russian-economy/
| 2024-01-18T20:18:26Z
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The Dutch Ministry of Defense has confirmed the completion of extensive repairs on two Leopard 2A4 tanks for Ukraine, undertaken by the German defense firm Rheinmetall. These repairs are part of a larger commitment of 14 tanks, jointly announced by Denmark and the Netherlands in April 2023. Notably, the process has taken longer than expected, with the first two tanks requiring nine months for overhaul.
The Leopard 2A4 tanks, acquired from external sources rather than the countries’ own reserves, required significant refurbishment. According to Defense Express, this lengthy repair time, executed by Rheinmetall, highlights the current operational capacity of the German defense industry, contrasting with the faster production rates during the 1980s when up to 300 Leopard 2A4s were produced annually.
Accompanying photographs show the tanks post-overhaul, indicating that they have undergone major repairs without additional modernization, Defense Express reported. This suggests a similarly extended timeline for the remaining 12 tanks, which the Dutch Ministry indicates will be ready “in the coming months.”
The precise start date of Rheinmetall’s work on these tanks is not specified, but it is likely to have followed the government’s announcement, with initial expectations of delivery by early 2024 now delayed. Defense Express concluded that this situation underscores the current capabilities of the European defense sector within NATO.
Lithuania is also engaged in the repair of Leopard tanks for Ukraine, specifically those damaged on the frontline. These repairs are conducted by the Lithuania Defense Services, a joint venture established in 2022 by Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann. In December, the Lithuanian Defense Ministry announced the completion of repairs on Leopard 2 tanks and confirmed preparations to send these armored vehicles back to the front.
Read also:
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/01/18/rheinmetall-overhauls-two-of-14-leopard-tanks-for-ukraine-in-nine-months/
| 2024-01-18T20:19:06Z
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On 17 January, Ukrainian Main Military Intelligence Directorate Deputy Chief Major General Vadym Skibitskyi said that Russia does not have enough reserves to conduct large-scale offensive operations in several directions at the same time, as per an update by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the Kremlin planned to achieve tactical victories in Ukraine before the elections in Russia to motivate the population to vote for Russian leader Vladimir Putin. “They will advance. It is approximately clear what they want – tactical victories before the elections and prepare for something global and massive after them,” noted Zelenskyy, according to ICTV.
The Ukrainian leader added that, for its purpose, Russia would continue building up its military forces and send convicts to the war against Ukraine.
In his turn, Skibitskyi stated that it is currently impossible for the Russian military to conduct strategically significant offensive operations without “powerful” reserves and implied that Russia does not have such reserves.
Despite active mobilization measures in Russia that rely heavily on volunteer recruitment and the coercive mobilization of convicts and migrants, it is unclear if the campaign has provided or would be able to provide the increased number of personnel that an intensified Russian offensive effort would require, said the ISW.
Skibitskyi’s statements suggested that although Russia is able to generate enough manpower to conduct routine operational-level rotations in Ukraine, it may not necessarily be able to enlist a number of personnel that would allow its forces to conduct simultaneous offensive efforts in several directions.
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/01/18/ukrainian-intelligence-russia-lacks-reserves-for-simultaneous-offensive-efforts-in-multiple-directions/
| 2024-01-18T20:19:46Z
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In a recent panel discussion in Davos, Ukraine’s Minister for Strategic Industries, Oleksandr Kamyshin, confirmed that a drone that attacked Russia’s Leningrad Oblast on the night of 18 January was of Ukrainian manufacture, Interfax-Ukraine reported.
“We are able to produce something that flies and costs $350 per item, something that flew to St. Petersburg this night. It’s produced in Ukraine. Yes, last night we hit the target and this thing flew exactly 1,250 kilometers,” Kamyshin said.
This statement not only confirms the strike’s success but also highlights the range of Ukrainian-made drones and the overall efficiency of Ukraine’s drone production.
On 18 January, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported an attack by Ukrainian drones in Leningrad Oblast, claiming the drones had been shot down. However, the 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.
According to Ukrainska Pravda, the attack was a special operation carried out by Ukrainian military intelligence.
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/01/18/ukrainian-made-drone-flew-1250-km-and-hit-target-near-st-petersburg-minister-confirms/
| 2024-01-18T20:20:26Z
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It's been a little over a week since Jason Momoa and Lisa Bonet finalized their divorce, which comes over two years after they first separated.
Despite this new phase in their lives, the two have remained amicable and friendly as co-parents to their two children, and that relationship has also extended to Lisa's first ex-husband, Lenny Kravitz.
Read on to learn more about the relationship Jason and Lenny possess, including what they've said about each other, their bonds with Lisa, and their blended family…
They're great as members of one big blended family
In an interview with Esquire last November, Lenny, 59, revealed that while it took some work, he and his ex, 56, were on great terms, and that extended to her now ex-husband Jason, 44, as well.
He shared that Lisa and Jason's two children, Lola Iolani, 16, and Nakoa-Wolf, 15, even referred to him as "Uncle Lenny," and says of maintaining that bond: "I wouldn't think of it as this heroic feat. This is just normal to me."
Jason showed up when no one else could
In the same interview, the musician praised the Aquaman star for showing up for his daughter Zoë Kravitz, 35, at the New York premiere of her film The Batman.
MORE: Jason Momoa details unique living situation amid divorce from Lisa Bonet: 'I got a sleeping bag'
He revealed that when neither he or Lisa could make it, Jason stepped up. "I got you," he told the Hunger Games star. "I'm going to this one. I'll be there," and even brought Lola and Nakoa-Wolf. Lenny gushed: "It was beautiful."
At the premiere, Jason told Entertainment Tonight: "We're just so proud! Lisa couldn't be here so we're representing, me and the babies. We're very excited to just be here… It's still family, you know?"
They're also the best of friends
In an interview with Men's Health back in 2020, Lenny was complimentary of his ex-wife, but even more so of her then-husband, saying: "People can't believe how tight Jason and I are, or how tight I still am with Zoë's mom, how we all relate.
MORE: Jason Momoa admits he 'doesn't have a home' following divorce from Lisa Bonet
"As far as Jason and I? Literally the moment we met, we were like, 'Oh, yeah. I love this dude.'"
He also told ET at that time: "[Jason's] a big teddy bear. He's a kid at heart and that's why I love him. We really love each other. We're not only family, but friends."
The feeling is definitely mutual
Lenny has often taken to social media to show his appreciation for Jason, sharing tributes to the actor, to which he receives gushing replies.
MORE: Channing Tatum's A-list love life explored amid Zoë Kravitz engagement reports
In a sweet moment back in March 2022, the star posted photographs of the pair riding motorcycles, captioning it: "Ride or die. Brothers for life," to which Jason responded: "Love u bro. Ohana for life."
MORE: Jason Momoa's massive transformation in then-and-now photos will leave you stunned as he turns 44
They have matching rings
Back in 2018, Lenny showed up at Saturday Night Live to support Jason's hosting debut, and Jason reciprocated the sweet moment by getting them a pair of matching skull rings.
"I got @lennykravitz a present made by @leroyswoodentattoos amazing bone skull ring," he gushed alongside a photo of the pair.. "Check him out insta. Mahalo Lenny for coming to support me on @nbcsnl aloha j."
Get the lowdown on the biggest, hottest celebrity news, features, and profiles coming out of the U.S. Sign up to our HELLO! Hollywood newsletter and get them delivered straight to your inbox.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/brides/511616/inside-jason-momoa-lenny-kravitz-relationship-blended-family-lisa-bonet/
| 2024-01-18T20:43:52Z
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A new promotional video for 9-1-1 may have first sparked excitement for fans – but that has now turned to trepidation as the video hints at one major change. The hit ABC series follows the firefighters of Firehouse 118 and so, on January 18, the official social media account posted a video of Aisha Hinds, Ryan Guzman, Kenneth Choi and Oliver Stark exclaiming: "Happy one-eighteen day!"
But with Ryan, who stars as Eddie Diaz, and Oliver, who plays Evan 'Buck' Buckley in their normal LAFD fire hats, it was Aisha, who appears in the show as Hen Wilson, who sparked speculation as she wore a fire hat with the word 'Captain' on it.
Bobby Nash (played by Peter Krause) is the captain of the 118, but Hen has often taken on the responsibilities when Bobby is on vacation or out of action. With Hen now wearing the Captain hat, speculation has turned to whether season seven will feature any kind of time jump – and what that means for the fate of Bobby.
We know that the season seven premiere will feature an explosion on the cruise ship, and the working theory is that Bobby and his wife, Sergeant Athena Grant (Angela Bassett) are on the ship as they headed out for a delayed honeymoon – without telling anyone – at the end of season six.
Teaser videos have also hinted that Athena and Bobby will be on the ship, as a Sergeant badge is seen floating in the water.
Filming returned for the new season earlier in January, and 9-1-1 has traditionally remained chronological with real-world events – for example, the COVID-19 pandemic was a storyline in season four – and due to the extended absence because of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, it was thought that season seven would therefore pick up almost a year after the events of season six.
If the opening episode does not feature a time jump, it would therefore make sense for why Hen was wearing the Captain hat – because Bobby was still on vacation with Athena. She will then hand back the position to Bobby when he returns.
The hat could, however, also mean that post-episode one of the new season, Bobby is still not back from any potential injuries he faces after the explosion, leaving Hen in charge of the 118.
There is also the possibility of a time jump after the opening episode, with episode one picking up immediately after season six with the honeymoon cruise emergency, before skipping ahead several months for the rest of the season.
We'll find out for sure on March 17 when the new season drops on ABC for the first time after six years on Fox.
Award-winning actress Angela previously told HELLO! that fans can expect the shortened seventh season to be "full throttle".
"It's a shortened season because we had such a crazy year in Hollywood, so we are going to give it to you, we won't be coasting, we are coming full throttle," she said, before admitting this is her "favorite opening" in seven seasons, adding: "It is going to be very wet and wonderful, wet and wild."
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/film/511615/9-1-1-fans-confused-new-video-aisha-hinds-and-ryan-guzman-sparks-questions/
| 2024-01-18T20:43:58Z
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DUBAI/ISLAMABAD - An Iranian strike on Pakistan this week that drew a rapid military riposte and raised fears of greater regional turmoil was driven by Iran's efforts to reinforce its internal security rather than its ambitions for the Middle East, according to three Iranian officials, one Iranian insider and an analyst.
Both the heavily-armed neighbours, oftentimes at odds over instability on their frontier, appear to want to try to contain the strains resulting from the highest-profile cross-border intrusions in recent years, two analysts and two of the officials said.
Iran sent shockwaves around the region on Tuesday with a missile strike against what it described as hardline Sunni Muslim militants in southwest Pakistan. Two days later, Pakistan in retaliation attacked what it said were separatist militants in Iran - the first air strike on Iranian soil since the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.
Tuesday's strike was one of Iran's toughest cross-border assaults on the Sunni militant Jaish al-Adl group in Pakistan, which it says has links to Islamic State. Many of Jaish's members previously belonged to a now-defunct militant group known as Jundallah that had pledged allegiance to Islamic State.
The move deepened worries about Middle East instability that have spread since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October. Iran-allied militias from Yemen to Lebanon have launched strikes on U.S. and Israeli targets, including on Red Sea shipping, in sympathy with Gaza's Palestinians.
It also came a day after Iran launched attacks in Iraq and Syria, which it said targeted Israeli espionage and Islamic State operations, respectively.
But the tit-for-tat blows between Iran and Pakistan occurred far from that war zone, in remote borderlands where separatist groups and Islamist militants have long carried out attacks on government targets, with officials in Pakistan and Iran often accusing each other of complicity in the bloodshed.
Gregory Brew, an analyst at Eurasia Group, an international risk consultancy, said Tehran's strikes were motivated in large part by Iran's rising concerns about the threat of domestic militant violence in the wake of a deadly Jan. 3 bombing claimed by the Islamic State group.
"There's a lot of domestic pressure to 'do something,' and the leadership is responding to that pressure," he said.
Spokespeople for the Iranian and Pakistani foreign ministries could not immediately be reached for comment.
'CRUSHING RESPONSE'
Pakistan recalled its ambassador from Iran in protest at Tuesday's attack. For its part, Tehran strongly condemned Pakistan's strikes on Thursday, saying civilians were killed, and summoned Pakistan's most senior diplomat in Iran to give an explanation.
But in their statements, neither government sought to make a link to the Gaza war or to attacks carried out in support of Palestinians by a network of Arab militias allied to Iran from the Mediterranean to the Gulf.
In a public statement on Thursday, the foreign ministry in Tehran said: "Iran considers the security of its people and its territorial integrity as a red line" and expects "friendly and brotherly" Pakistan to prevent armed militant bases on its soil.
For Iran, the trigger for the flare-up was a devastating bombing on Jan. 3 that killed nearly 100 people at a ceremony in the southeastern city of Kerman to commemorate commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by a U.S. drone in 2020.
Soleimani, architect of Iran's drive to extend its influence across the Middle East, was a hero to supporters of the hardline establishment. Tehran publicly vowed revenge against Islamic State, the ultra-hardline Sunni Muslim militant group that claimed responsibility for the bombing.
An Iranian insider close to the country's ruling clerics described the Kerman bombing as "an embarrassment for the leadership" that had shown Iranian security to be vulnerable.
Tuesday's strike was aimed at demonstrating the security organisations' capabilities amid concern among Iranians about a lack of security in the country, the Iranian insider said.
"Such terrorist attacks will get a crushing response from Iran," the insider said.
Iran has also arrested dozens of people linked to Islamic State.
On Tuesday, Iranian missiles struck two bases of the Sunni Muslim group Jaish al-Adl (or the Army of Justice) in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan, which borders Iran. The group's ultra-hardline Sunni Islamist militancy is seen as a threat by Iran, primarily a Shi'ite Muslim country.
A senior Iranian security official told Reuters that Iran had provided Pakistan with evidence that Jaish al-Adl was involved in the Kerman attack, coordinating its logistics, and had asked Pakistan to act against it. Iran had obtained evidence that members of the group were among a number of militants planning further attacks in Iran, he said.
"We have warned everyone that any action against our nation, our national security will not go unanswered," the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity due to sensitivity of the matter.
IRAN 'LOST PATIENCE'
Iran has been pressing Islamabad for years to address the presence of militants near its border, Brew said. The missile strikes were a sign that Tehran has lost patience, he said.
To be sure, Iran continues to see its role and influence in the Middle East as a central to its security goals.
Brew said that Iran's strike on Pakistan was also intended to signal its resolve, to both enemies and allies, to defend itself in the context of the regional crisis over Gaza.
Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center, a Washington-based think tank, said bilateral tension on border security was a longstanding problem for Iran and Pakistan.
De-escalation would be difficult in the immediate term, "given the high tensions and temperatures at play", he said.
Neither country appears poised for conflict, however. In public statements, both countries have observed their attacks were not aimed at each other's nationals, and signalled they don't want escalation.
Kugelman said both countries might welcome bilateral dialogue and potential third party mediation from a country like China, which has good relations and leverage with both countries. "Diplomacy will be critical from here on out," he said. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/iran-pakistan-flare-up-rooted-in-restive-borderlands-not-mideast-strife
| 2024-01-18T21:08:47Z
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CAIRO - British maritime security firm Ambrey on Thursday said that a Marshall Islands-flagged US-owned bulk carrier reported that four unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) approached and circled the vessel approximately 87 miles southeast of Yemen's city of Mukalla.
"One of the UAVs reportedly fell into the water. No damage or injuries were reported. The bulker was not impacted and continued its voyage," Ambrey said in an advisory note.
The maritime security firm said that the drones remained in the bulker's vicinity, highlighting that it's the second incident involving the vessel, which was not named.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) also said it received a report of an incident 85 nautical miles South East of Yemen's Ash Shihr. It provided no further details.
Attacks by Yemen's Houthi militia on ships in the region since November have slowed trade between Asia and Europe, and alarmed major powers.
The Iran-allied Houthis, who control most of Yemen, say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and have threatened to expand their attacks.
In response, the United States and Britain conducted a series of strikes on Houthi targets to degrade their ability to carry out attacks in the Red Sea. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/us-owned-bulk-carrier-approached-by-drones-off-yemen-british-security-firm
| 2024-01-18T21:08:58Z
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WASHINGTON - The United States does not expect formal nuclear arms-control negotiations with China anytime soon, but does want to see a start of discussions on practical risk-reduction measures, a senior White House official said on Thursday.
Pranay Vaddi, the senior White House official for arms control and non proliferation, told a Washington think tank it had been important to have initial arms-control talks in November with China, but stressed the need for them to involve key Chinese decision makers or influencers on the country's nuclear posture.
"We know that we are not going to leap into formal arms control negotiations anytime soon. We know that their arsenal is still being built up," Vaddi told the Center for Strategic and International Studies, while adding:
"On the arms-control front, we really want to see China respond to some of our more substantive ideas on risk-reduction, and we're still waiting to see if they will."
The U.S. and China held their first talks on nuclear arms control in nearly five years on Nov. 6, amid growing U.S. concerns about China's nuclear build up, but the meeting produced no specific results.
Those talks came ahead of a December summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping that announced a resumption of military-to-military dialogue.
Vaddi said Washington wanted to maintain open lines of communication with China and that there was value in having the arms-control consultation in November, "but for us, we want to be able to actually make progress on these issues."
"As it relates to arms control, we want to see some practical measures start to get discussed," he said, adding that such discussions could be bilateral, or in the context of the permanent five members of the U.N. Security Council - the U.S., China, Russia, Britain and France.
"It's not really in our interest to just have meetings," he said. "For us to have an actual channel devoted to these issues, we want to use these channels for specific purposes and that's to solve some of these problems that we've identified."
The U.S. and China held two days of military talks in Washington last week, their latest engagement since agreeing to resume military-to-military ties.
In its annual report on the Chinese military in October, the Pentagon said China has more than 500 operational nuclear warheads and will probably have over 1,000 warheads by 2030.
The U.S. has a stockpile of about 3,700 nuclear warheads, of which roughly 1,419 strategic nuclear warheads were deployed. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/us-urges-discussions-with-china-on-practical-nuclear-risk-reduction-steps
| 2024-01-18T21:09:08Z
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Shereen Wu, a Taiwanese-American model, didn’t ask for money to participate in an October fashion show. Then 21, the Californian was in it for the exposure.
So Wu was stunned a few days later when she saw a video of the show posted on the fashion designer’s Instagram account. There was Wu, walking down a runway in a black Michael Costello dress. Except, it wasn’t Wu: Her face had been replaced with the face of a white woman she didn’t recognise.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/invest/ai-is-threatening-the-livelihood-of-runway-models
| 2024-01-18T21:09:19Z
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Most of us probably spent the 2023 holiday season helping to break a record.
Online shopping in the US hit a new high, raking in US$222.1 billion (S$295.9 billion) from the start of November to the end of December. And there is no sign of e-commerce slowing down.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/invest/time-to-give-online-shopping-a-break
| 2024-01-18T21:09:29Z
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Singapore Art Week, the country’s biggest celebration of visual arts, is back this year, with over 150 events taking place across the island. Leading the hub for South-east Asian contemporary art is the much-awaited S.E.A. Focus. If you’re an art enthusiast keen on a highly curated and enriching art experience, you’ll want to add this event to your calendar.
Now in its sixth edition, S.E.A. Focus returns to Tanjong Pagar Distripark from Jan 20 to 28, with Bank of Singapore as its Main Sponsor. The sponsorship supports S.E.A. Focus as a home-grown art platform in highlighting the region’s rich cultural heritage and artistic diversity, and gives artists the unique opportunity to showcase their talents.
The boutique exhibition brings together 22 galleries and more than 40 artists from around the region who have responded to the theme “Serial and Massively Parallel”, which explores the relationship between humanity and technology, showcasing artworks that reflect on human creativity and expression in this digital age.
Visitors and collectors can expect to see large-scale works and installations, including a designated screening room featuring artists’ video works.
Get your tickets here, and read on for key artworks to look out for from some of the best artists in the region.
Conversing with the “Sun”
Living in a digital age means being glued to one's devices, particularly smartphones. It is common practice to be constantly taking photos and videos to share on social media, if not storing them as keepsakes.
But Thai artist and acclaimed filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul sees this practice in a different light, saying: “To film is not to keep, not to remember, but to have a dialogue with the present.”
His introspective video installation work, “A Conversation with the Sun”, was first presented at BANGKOK CITYCITY GALLERY in 2022. Inspired by Weerasethakul’s contemplations of the sun on his long walks, the piece is a profound exploration of memory and perception, featuring self-documented video footage of landscapes, people and objects taken over several years. Like a personal memory archive, these clips offer a peek into the artist’s mind.
The footage is ingeniously displayed with a large, mobile curtain backdrop mechanised by Thai visual design studio DuckUnit. This distinctive use of the fabric-curtain-backdrop is a recurring motif in Weerasethakul's work, seen in his past projects such as “Fever Room” (2015) and “Constellations” (2018). In this latest installation, the curtains are not just static displays but mobile elements that interact with the video, adding a layer of theatricality and mystery.
Insect larvae as art?
Aside from entomologists, not many people would pay much attention to moth larvae. Malaysian artist Tan Zi Hao is an exception.
His fascination with plaster bagworms – tiny, often unnoticed household pests – are the stars of his macro photography series titled “Bags of Stories”. In this series, created using UV printing on fabric and displayed in a lightbox, these larval cases – which appear grey and monochromatic from afar – suddenly become an explosion of colour and pattern.
Through this work, Tan, who is represented by A+ Works of Art, draws a poetic parallel between humans and these moths, known scientifically as Phereoeca (meaning “bearer of house”). His work reveals how these larvae's cases, made from everyday remnants like hair or carpet fibres, symbolise the interconnectedness of human life and nature.
Exquisite glass sculptures
When you think of blown-glass objects, decorative ornaments like vases may come to mind. But Filipino artist Goldie Poblador, represented by MONO8, uses this fascinating art form to draw attention to issues such as environmental health, femininity and her identity as a Filipina living in a postcolonial society.
A selection of Poblador’s “Sea Anomaly” series will be exhibited at S.E.A. Focus. These intricate blown-glass sculptures, such as a colourful sea slug perched on a branching coral, reflect on the fragile marine life affected by the 2023 oil spills in the Verde Island Passage in the Philippines.
Through the sculptures, Poblador takes visitors on a journey into environmental awareness, cultural identity and the power of art as a vehicle for change.
Elsewhere in the exhibition, check out Vietnamese-American artist Dinh Q Le’s stunning, highly sought-after photo-weaving series, “Splendor & Darkness”, which were created with the help of the Singapore Tyler Print Institute’s (STPI’s) technical capabilities. Meanwhile, Indonesian artist Alexander Sebastianus Hartanto’s five-panel work of batik prints on pixelated, archived photographs begs a closer look.
Selected outstanding artworks showcased during the exhibition will be acquired for the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) collection under the SAM S.E.A. Focus Art Fund. This initiative was established by S.E.A. Focus in 2023, and backed by founding sponsor the Yenn and Alan Lo Foundation, to celebrate the region’s artistic talents.
S.E.A. Focus will be held from Jan 20 to 28 at Tanjong Pagar Distripark, 39 Keppel Road, Singapore 089065. Tickets are on sale at $10 via www.seafocus.sg. Each ticket is valid for multiple entries.
Visit this website for more information on programmes, artists and ticketing.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/arts/best-south-east-asian-contemporary-art-sea-focus-2024
| 2024-01-18T21:09:39Z
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In Singapore, nothing says CNY dinner quite like a steamboat. You’ll need the perfect steamboat pot to start your feast on the right note if you’re hosting reunion dinner or a Chinese New Year gathering at home this year.
Whether you’re simmering a traditional hot pot, grilling on a BBQ or cooking up a storm with traditional Lunar New Year dishes, we’ve put together a list of kitchen appliance deals to make your festive food prep easier and faster.
Take a look through our pick of deals on steamboat pots, steamboat and BBQ grill sets, multi-cookers and other kitchen tools to help you create an easy, fuss-free meal.
Quick links to BBQ and steamboat pot deals
Steamboat pots
- Cornell 2-in-1 Steamboat BBQ Set, $88 at Amazon
- Toyomi Up and Down Smart Steamboat, $99.90 at Amazon
- Cornell Steamboat Multi-Cooker with Yuan Yang Pot, $52.90 at Lazada
- Sona Yuan Yang Steamboat & BBQ Grill Set, $99 at Lazada
Multi-cookers and BBQ grills
- Toyomi Stainless Steel Multi-Cooker with Grill Pan, $82.90 at Amazon
- Instant Pot Duo Plus 9-in-1 Cooker, $297 at Amazon
- La Gourmet Healthy Electric Pressure Cooker, $259 at Robinsons
- Toyomi Electric BBQ Grill, $47 at Lazada
- Philips Daily Collection Induction Cooker, $94.99 at Amazon
Food prep tools and appliances
- Simplejoy Vegetable Spiraliser, $19.95 at Amazon
- Ninja Professional Food Processor, $196.89 at Amazon
- Hecef 8-inch Chinese Cleaver, $31.99 at Amazon
Featuring a non-stick grill and steamboat function with individual temperature control, this versatile two-in-one steamboat set is perfect for cooking everything from shabu-shabu to grilled chicken wings.
Its detachable parts ensure easy cleaning, while the excessive oil collector keeps your meals healthier. Ideal for reunion dinners, it comfortably serves up to 10 people.
Available for $88 at Amazon
Toyomi Up and Down Smart Steamboat, $99.90
Original price: $118 (15 per cent off)
The unique up and down steamer tray in this steamboat means you no longer need to fish around for ingredients in the pot.
Outside of steamboat, this can also be used to steam food and cook rice. With its Low-Carb Rice function which drains excess carbohydrates, you can select from three levels of rice firmness.
Available for $99.90 at Amazon
Cornell Steamboat Multi-Cooker with Yuan Yang Pot, $52.90
Original price: $168 (69 per cent off)
Whether your family is split between mala and non-spicy, meat-forward and vegetarian, the ‘yuan yang’ pot allows you to cook your steamboat with two different broths at the same time.
With three-stage temperature control, intuitive controls and easy to clean, this is perfect for festive feasts.
Available for $52.80 at Lazada and Shopee
Sona Yuan Yang Steamboat & BBQ Grill, $99
Original price: $139 (29 per cent off)
For the family who wants a little bit of everything for their Chinese New Year meal, this features a 3.5-litre non-stick ‘Yuan Yang’ pot and non-stick BBQ grill pan. Also included is an oil collection tray that ensures a healthier dining experience.
Available for $99 at Lazada
Multi-cookers and grills
Toyomi Stainless Steel Multi-Cooker with Grill Pan, $82.90
Original price: $95 (13 per cent off)
With its stainless steel pot and non-stick grill pan, you can grill, steam, slow cook and much more. Perfect for BBQ, hot pot, or steaming your favourite veggies, this versatile cooker transforms everyday meals into a special occasion.
Available for $82.90 at Amazon
Instant Pot Duo Plus 9-in-1 Cooker, $297
Original price: $356.40 (17 per cent off)
This best-selling multi-cooker replaces multiple appliances, offering a wide array of cooking options - pressure cook, sauté, steam, slow cook, cook rice, keep food warm, and can even make yogurt.
Perfect for both side dishes and large family meals, its advanced microprocessor technology monitors and adjusts heating intensity and duration, ensuring every dish is cooked to perfection.
Available for $297 at Amazon
La Gourmet Healthy Electric Pressure Cooker, $259
Original price: $499 (48 per cent off)
With unique features like essence extractor and deep fryer modes, this 14-in-1 appliance also has advanced safety features like an anti-blockage vent and child lock. You’ll be whipping up healthy, delicious dishes in no time.
Available for $259 at Robinsons and Lazada
Toyomi Electric BBQ Grill, $47
Original price: $59.90 (22 per cent off)
Ideal for up to eight people, this BBQ grill uses thermostat technology to ensure consistent, even cooking. It’s got a dual surface with griddle and grill, allowing you to cook a variety of items, from steak to vegetables. There’s also a heat selector for precise control, drip hole to drain excess oil and removable oil tray for easy cleaning.
Available for $47 at Lazada
Philips Daily Collection Induction Cooker, $94.99
Original price: $139 (32 per cent off)
With multiple modes, such as hot pot, fry, roast and steam, this induction cooker is useful to have on hand for all those festive meals, whether it acts as an additional hob or keeping on the table for steamboat. It heats up quickly for efficient cooking, is easy to clean and even comes with a pot included.
Available for $94.99 at Amazon
Food prep tools and appliances
Simplejoy Vegetable Spiraliser, $19.95
Original price: $24.99 (20 per cent off)
Get all the veggies for yusheng prepped and ribboned in a snap with a spiraliser. This Simplejoy tool has five interchangeable blades to switch between spirals, ribbons, noodles or chips. It also comes in a foldable design to make storing away easier.
Available for $19.95 at Amazon
Ninja Professional Food Processor, $196.89
Original price: $249 (21 per cent off)
Enlist the help of a food processor to race through food prep. This 850 Watts powerhouse has a 2.1 litre capacity and is boosted by Ninja's Auto-iQ technology, which intelligently automates tasks like chopping and pureeing with pre-programmed settings for consistent, perfect results.
Available for $196.89 at Amazon
Hecef 8-inch Chinese Cleaver, $31.99
Original price: $39.99 (20 per cent off)
Made from premium high carbon steel, this versatile cleaver excels in slicing fish, meat and vegetables with its curved blade. Use the sharp tip to slice vegetables, the middle part to smash garlic and the bottom to mince meat.
Available for $31.99 at Amazon
All prices are correct at time of publication
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/bbq-and-steamboat-pot-cny-dinner-deals
| 2024-01-18T21:09:50Z
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Chinese New Year 2024 starts from Feb 10, marking the start of the Year of the Dragon. With the shops and streets looking more festive, people are in full swing with their CNY preparations.
Getting ready for this period can pinch the wallet, so make full use of this season’s sales to save as much as you can.
We’ve sifted through the Chinese New Year online sales, and have highlighted a list of deals to save you some cash. Get these deals from the comfort of your home, skipping the hustle and bustle of crowded malls.
Keep scrolling to shop deals from these categories:
- Spring cleaning essentials
- Kitchen appliances
- Home and tech appliances
- Bedding
- CNY festive meal must-haves
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CNY gift ideas
Where to find Chinese New Year 2024 sales online
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Amazon:
- Find deals stretching up to 30 per cent off home tech, electronics and kitchen appliances in the Amazon Deals section
- Save up to 30 per cent and buy 2, get 40 per cent off deals on festive essentials, with same-day delivery to your doorstep
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$8 off spring cleaning, health and beauty buys. Shop CNY deals
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Lazada: From home and tech to Redmart groceries and festive treats, there are plenty of daily deals stretching up to 70 per cent off in the run-up to Chinese New Year. Shop Lazada Huat-derful New Year sale
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Shopee: From now until Feb 12, enjoy up to 57 per cent off bundle deals in the CNY Supermarket Sale. Find flash deals in kitchen and home categories as well throughout this period. Shop Shopee Chinese New Year sale
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Robinsons:
- Get up to $110 off in the Home and Bedding sale
- Up to 25 per cent off home and kitchen buys
- Up to 28 per cent off Robinsons Hotel collection bedding
- Enjoy up to 52 per cent off Robinsons Luggage collection
Chinese New Year 2024: Spring cleaning essentials
From vacuum cleaners to steam mops, here are deals on cleaning aids to get your home looking spick and span.
Chinese New Year 2024: Kitchen appliances
Hosting reunion dinner or a Lunar New Year meal at home? You'll need a steamboat pot. Save on kitchen appliances to help with your festive meal prep.
Chinese New Year 2024: Home appliances, smart TVs and more
Whether you are expecting guests over or just looking to upgrade your appliances, there are plenty of deals to take advantage of now.
Discover more home and tech deals at HardwareZone:
Chinese New Year 2024: Bedding
New year, new sheets. Find deals on bedding sets, mattresses, pillows and more.
Chinese New Year 2024: Festive meal must-haves
Whether you're having yusheng, steamboat or pen cai for your festive meals, stock up on groceries and drinks from Amazon Fresh with same-day delivery to your doorstep.
Chinese New Year 2024: CNY gift ideas
Save on a range of festive gifts, ranging from abalone sets to CNY goodies.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/chinese-new-year-singapore-sales
| 2024-01-18T21:10:00Z
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As CNY 2024 approaches, it's time to get your home spotless and ready for the festivities. Spring cleaning is an essential part of the Lunar New Year tradition, and with the help of the right cleaning appliances and aids, you can make the task much easier.
From cordless vacuum cleaners to steam mops and cleaning aids, we've curated a list of the top products that’ll get you a sparkling clean home in no time. Check out these deals and get ready to welcome the Year of the Dragon with a fresh and tidy space.
Quick links to CNY 2024 spring cleaning deals
Best cordless vacuum cleaner deals
- Dibea HC26 5-in-1 Cordless Wet and Dry Floor Washer and Vacuum, $350 at Amazon
- Shark Wandvac System, $277.20 at Amazon
Best handheld vacuum deals
- Shark Wandvac Cordless Handheld Vacuum, $189 at Amazon
- Black + Decker 20V Max Handheld Vacuum, $114.64 at Amazon
Best robot vacuum deals
- Ecovacs Deebot T20 Omni Robot Vacuum, $1,299 at Lazada
- Yeedi k650 Robot Vacuum, $199 at Amazon
Best steam mop deals
- Shark Steam and Scrub Automatic Mop, $117 at Amazon
- Leifheit Steam Mop Clean Tenso, $299 at Robinsons
Best cleaning aid deals
- Mr. Siga Microfibre Cleaning Cloths, $17.15 at Amazon
- Dettol Multi Surface Cleaner, Citrus, $7 at Amazon
- Mr Siga Dish Soap Dispenser and Scrub Sponge Set, $23.33 at Amazon
- Clorox ToiletWand Disposable Toilet Cleaning System, $27.04 at Amazon
Read on for more details on the vacuum cleaners that will give you the best bang for your buck this CNY.
Best cordless vacuum cleaner deals
Dibea HC26 5-in-1 Cordless Wet and Dry Floor Washer and Vacuum, $350
Original price: $479 (27 per cent off)
Toss out your mop and bucket this CNY — this Dibea 5-in-1 wet and dry vacuum will clean and sterilise your floors in no time. Thanks to the 4,000 mAh battery capacity, it can also perform a non-disruptive cleaning for up to 42 minutes.
Its upgraded dual-tank design also enables cleaning a larger area efficiently without frequent refilling and emptying. Plus, it comes with a two-year local warranty.
Available for $350 at Amazon
Shark Wandvac System, $277.20
Original price: $408 (32 per cent off)
Available on sale in a pretty rose gold, the Shark Wandvac System is a powerful but lightweight 3-in-1 cordless vacuum offering versatile cleaning.
It can be converted from a cordless stick to handheld and is particularly suitable for families with pets. This excels on hard floors, effortlessly tackling pet hair and debris.
Its advanced anti-hair wrap technology prevents tangles, offering powerful suction and a one-touch easy-empty feature. It's the ideal choice for quick, efficient cleans.
Available for $277.20 at Amazon
Best handheld vacuum deals
Shark Wandvac Cordless Handheld Vacuum, $189
Original price: $258 (27 per cent off)
Want something extra light? Weighing at only 640g, this handheld vacuum is ideal for quick and easy cleaning. Best for small messes and spills, hard-to-reach areas, cars and more.
Available for $189 at Amazon
Black + Decker 20V Max Handheld Vacuum, $114.67
Original price: $130 (10 per cent off)
This cordless handheld vacuum is designed for powerful and convenient cleaning. With a 200-degree pivoting nozzle, extendable crevice tool and a large, easy-to-empty dirt bowl, it effectively cleans hard-to-reach spaces.
The high-performance motor and cyclonic action provide strong suction for a deep clean, while the compact charging base offers convenient storage.
Available for $114.67 at Amazon
Best robot vacuum deals
Ecovacs Deebot T20 Omni Robot Vacuum, $1,299
Original price: $2,999 (57 per cent off)
This all-in-one robot vacuum and mop is an ideal choice for anyone seeking a hassle-free cleaning experience. Truly intelligent, this device is voice-activated, will map out your floors, as well as lift up mopping pads upon detection of carpets while vacuuming.
The inclusion of a smartphone app enables convenient control and scheduling of cleaning sessions from any location.
Available for $1,299 at Lazada
Yeedi k650 Robot Vacuum, $199
Original price: $249 (20 per cent off)
If you have a pet that sheds, this is the robot vacuum for you. The vacuum boasts a tangle-free silicone main brush that effectively cleans pet hair without getting stuck.
Its 800ml dustbin reduces the frequency of emptying, while the upgraded sensors detect Boundary Strips to prevent the robot from cleaning specific areas.
With the Yeedi app, users can easily schedule cleaning, change modes, and adjust suction power. It also supports voice control via Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant for added convenience.
Available for $199 at Amazon
Best steam mop deals
Shark Steam and Scrub Automatic Mop, $117
Original price: $208 (44 per cent off)
Steam away dirt, dust, grease and grime on floors with this steam cleaner mop. It cleans and sanitises your floors using just water, with no need for cleaning solutions.
To use, simply fill the water tank, attach the Dirt Grip steamer pad, and start mopping. When you're done, simply peel off the Dirt Grip pad and toss it in the washing machine for easy cleaning.
Available for $117 at Amazon
Leifheit Steam Mop Clean Tenso, $299
Original price: $488 (39 per cent off)
With the Leifheit Clean Tenso, cleaning is hygienic and as simple as it gets. Using hot steam, the Clean Tenso removes up to 99.9 per cent of bacteria and germs and is an indispensable cleaner – especially if you have kids who play on the floor.
Available for $299 at Robinsons
Best cleaning aid deals
Mr. Siga Microfibre Cleaning Cloths, $16.99
Original price: $21.99 (23 per cent off)
This ultra soft and highly absorbent microfibre cleaning cloth cleans fine dust that cannot be seen with the naked eye. Great for cleaning windows, kitchenware, cars or other delicate surfaces.
Available for $16.99 at Amazon
Dettol Multi Surface Cleaner, Citrus, $7
Original price: $9.95 (30 per cent off)
Claiming to kill 99.9 per cent of germs, this antibacterial all-purpose cleaning solution can be used on all floors, especially kitchens and bathrooms, and will leave a lasting refreshing citrus fragrance, making your home smell even fresher.
Available for $7 at Amazon
Mr Siga Dish Soap Dispenser and Scrub Sponge Set, $23.33
Original price: $32.99 (29 per cent off)
Get a dish soap dispenser with a sponge holder as well as six non-scratch dish sponges for less than $25. You’ll have your kitchen sink and dishes scrubbed and tidy in no time.
Available for $23.33 at Amazon
Clorox ToiletWand Disposable Toilet Cleaning System, $27.04
Original price: $36.24 (25 per cent off)
The Clorox ToiletWand Disposable Toilet Cleaning System includes a wand, six disposable refills and a storage caddy. The preloaded disposable scrubbing pads deep clean, remove stains, and eliminate germs from your toilet bowl.
Available for $27.04 at Amazon
All prices are correct at time of publication
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/cny-2024-singapore-spring-cleaning-deals-cordless-vacuum-cleaner-shark-steam-mop
| 2024-01-18T21:10:11Z
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Make SkillsFuture Credit transferable
I would like to suggest a potential enhancement to the SkillsFuture Credit scheme (Only ‘small minority’ of S’poreans have used up SkillsFuture credit, even as more attend training, Jan 10).
It was reported that mature mid-career Singaporeans could receive a substantial top-up of SkillsFuture Credit. Can credits be replenished for those who have used their existing credits? The Government should also explore allowing the transfer of unused SkillsFuture Credits to family members.
Gwendolen Lim Jing Yun
Let joint account holders buy Treasury bills
The Monetary Authority of Singapore and the banks have made it easy for people to buy Singapore Treasury bills.
It would be beneficial if they could enhance the system to allow joint Central Depository (CDP) account holders to buy Treasury bills as joint beneficiaries.
This would be useful for people who need to put funds in joint accounts, to buy Treasury bills and put them in a joint CDP account.
Sum Siew Tak
Stop mailing out annual reports
My household received copies of annual report booklets consisting of hundreds of pages from a sharelisted company. Every shareholder with the same address received this in duplication.
This is a waste of resources and adds to the carbon footprint. Some sharelisted companies ask shareholders if they would like to receive copies of annual reports.
Resources saved could be better channelled to shareholders in the form of more dividends.
Tan Keong Boon
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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/forum/forum-excerpts-from-readers-letters-62
| 2024-01-18T21:10:32Z
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I refer to the article “More fresh poly grads in full-time jobs with higher pay in 2023” (Jan 12).
It was reported that 5 per cent of the respondents polled in the 2023 Polytechnic Graduate Employment Survey had indicated “freelancing” as their employment status.
This figure was 5.9 per cent in 2022 and 4.7 per cent in 2021 – reflecting a stable base of young people entering the workforce as freelancers. This trend is unsurprising.
In sectors such as the arts, creative, media, fitness and sports, changing business models have led businesses to prefer hiring a small core team of employees and a revolving door of freelancers with expertise that augments the core team’s.
It would be timely and necessary for polytechnics and other tertiary institutions to expand education and career guidance to cater to the needs of their students considering freelancing as a career.
Institutes of higher learning could increase students’ appreciation of emerging and evolving freelance work models and the knowledge and skills needed to thrive in non-traditional work environments.
Education and career guidance could help young adults know how to sustain a viable career as a freelancer, such as what constitutes fair freelancing contract terms, where to seek recourse for disputes, how to enhance income security via social safety nets like the Central Provident Fund (CPF), and how to guard against non-payment of fees and the undertaking of uncompensated work.
The NTUC Freelancers and Self-Employed Unit has been active in advocating for more support for freelancers and organising workshops and coaching sessions.
We have also opened our talks to polytechnic students.
We and our affiliated associations look forward to partnering institutes of higher learning to give young people a head start in career navigation, particularly those seeking careers in freelancer-dominated sectors.
Jean See Jin Li
Director
NTUC Freelancers and Self-Employed Unit
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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/forum/forum-more-support-needed-for-young-people-opting-for-freelancing-careers
| 2024-01-18T21:10:42Z
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E used to spend her days at meetings discussing issues both urgent and important. She retired in 2023, just shy of 60.
People asked if she wanted to take on roles that would tap her skills and networks. She said no to all.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/midlife-transitions-moving-to-that-second-mountain
| 2024-01-18T21:10:52Z
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From the Himalayan heights of Bhutan to the island nations of Maldives and Sri Lanka, South Asia will witness a series of elections in 2024, the outcomes of which will shape not just the trajectory of domestic politics but also the contest for influence between the two Asian giants – India and China.
The string of elections began with Bangladesh and Bhutan on Jan 7 and 9 respectively, with more to come in India, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/south-asia-elections-open-multiple-fronts-in-sino-india-battle-for-influence
| 2024-01-18T21:11:03Z
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Singapore seeks to encourage a global conversation on generative artificial intelligence (AI) by proposing a new governance framework for the technology and seeking international feedback on it. The new Model AI Governance Framework for Generative AI builds on an existing framework from 2019 that covers only traditional AI, and comes at a time when the generative AI scene is still developing. The palpable advantages and dangers of generative AI require a set of consistent principles that are applicable globally to create a trusted environment for the use of such technology whose projected impact has been likened to that of the invention of the steam engine, electricity and the Internet itself. The goal is to arrive at a global consensus on how end users can use generative AI confidently and safely while allowing space for cutting-edge innovation.
Generative AI is here to stay, with its influence being felt in key areas of social and economic life. In one analysis, it will feature in the creation of more than 30 per cent of new drugs and materials by 2025. Only 2 per cent of outbound marketing messages were synthetically generated in 2022. This figure is predicted to hit 30 per cent by 2025. Sixty per cent of website and mobile app designs will be automated using generative AI by 2026. By that year, more than 100 million people will work alongside robots. All this would reflect the inevitability of generative AI, whose benefits include faster product development, enhanced customer experience and improved employee productivity. Generative design allows companies to optimise solutions tailored to the specific goals and limitations of their customers in the manufacturing, automotive, aerospace and defence industries.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/st-editorial/a-framework-to-govern-generative-ai
| 2024-01-18T21:11:13Z
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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/st-picks-the-challenges-air-traffic-controllers-face-in-keeping-airports-going
| 2024-01-18T21:11:24Z
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During a regular breast self-examination in 2021, former radio deejay Jamie Yeo felt a lump in her breast. She didn’t think much of it but decided to arrange for a health screening just to be on the safe side.
She underwent a targeted ultrasound and biopsy. The biopsy results were inconclusive, but she decided to remove the lump. During the surgery, the doctors discovered that the lump was indeed cancerous.
“I just didn't know how to react because I had gone through all this roller-coaster of emotions. When it was confirmed, I was just shocked. But then I was very relieved because at that point it had already been taken out,” she recalls.
Watch Jamie Yeo’s cancer journey in this video:
As her cancer was detected early, her doctor recommended radiation therapy to target the affected area. She did 20 sessions and finished a course of medication to block oestrogen.
“Radiation therapy or radiotherapy can help deal with residual or potentially malignant cells which may not be detected at the time of diagnosis. It can reduce the risk of the cancer coming back to the same area where it was first found, from a lifelong risk of over 35 per cent to about 19 per cent. The risk of mortality from breast cancer also drops by 4 per cent from 25 to 21 percent,” explains Dr Yang Tuck Loong, a radiation oncologist at Gleneagles Hospital.
Two years later, Ms Yeo has become a strong advocate of early screening and testing. She is sharing her story to help protect the health and lives of other women.
“Get yourself checked. The good thing about breast cancer is you can feel for it [lumps], and catch it early. No matter how young you are, it really just takes a few minutes to self-examine and only a few hours to get professional screening,” says the mother-of-two, with children aged six and 12.
Getting appropriate care for your situation
What happens after getting a diagnosis for cancer? In Ms Yeo’s case, she recalls being “very scared”.
“One minute you’re numb, one minute you’re just so fearful you can’t even speak,” she says.
She decided to go to Gleneagles Hospital as she’d given birth to her daughter, and always felt comfortable, there.
The hospital focuses on helping its patients navigate their treatment with the aim of regaining their quality of life.
Gleneagles Hospital Singapore chief executive officer Thomas Wee says: “At Gleneagles, the patient is at the centre of all that we do. Personifying our tagline ‘On Your Side’, our multi-disciplinary team empathises with the patient, to understand his or her needs. In this way, we ensure the patient's healing journey is complete and comprehensive.”
Ms Yeo had a team of multidisciplinary healthcare professionals including a medical oncologist, surgeon, radiation oncologist and nurses to care for her and to work out a comprehensive and customised treatment roadmap from diagnosis to post-surgery recovery.
“Having cancer gave me a fresh perspective on life and I knew what really mattered in life,” says Ms Yeo.
“I can’t emphasise enough how important it is to detect cancer early.”
Why early screening for cancer matters
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Singapore, and also the leading cause of cancer death among women here.
However, it is also one of the most detectable and, if detected early, it is treatable. Screening for breast cancer includes self-examination of the breast and a mammogram.
Other than breast cancer, other types of cancers can also be detected via screening.
Dr Bertha Woon, general and breast surgeon at Gleneagles Hospital, says: “Early detection of common cancers such as breast cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer – and for women, cervical cancer – can save lives. It leads to less treatment, higher chance of recovery, lower chance of recurrence, less intense treatment and less financial outlay. Screening can mean the difference between curing and symptomatic management.”
One in four people may develop cancer in their lifetime and screening is one of the most efficient ways to detect and get treatment before cancer spreads.
If breast cancer is detected and it is localised or has not spread, the five-year survival rate is 99 per cent. The survival rate is 86 per cent if the cancer has spread to the regional lymph nodes, according to the American Cancer Society.
However, Dr Woon cautions that these statistics are only rough estimates as there are many different variables to consider.
The survival rates are also different for different types of cancer, which is why early detection is still a priority.
Get screened today
Gleneagles Hospital provides general cancer screening packages.
- The Basic LifeScreen package involves a clinical examination and medical consultation to check for basic body vitals, presence of tumour markers and blood in stool (colorectal cancer screening). This screening is available at all Parkway Shenton clinics.
- The Comprehensive LifeScreen package comprises all the tests available in the Basic LifeScreen package as well as additional tests to screen for nasopharyngeal, lung and gender specific cancers. Women are offered screening tests for breast and cervical cancers, while men are screened for prostate cancer.
- The Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screen package checks for up to 50 early cancers by detecting cancer-associated alterations in DNA fragments circulating in the blood.
Individuals experiencing symptoms are recommended to see a general practitioner or specialist at Gleneagles Hospital.
For information related to cancer screening and cancer care, visit the Gleneagles Hospital website.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/jamie-yeo-breast-cancer-screening-packages-gleneagles-hospital
| 2024-01-18T21:11:44Z
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LONDON - England midfielder Jordan Henderson has signed for Ajax Amsterdam after terminating his contract with Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq after six months, the two clubs said on Jan 18.
Henderson joined Al-Ettifaq on a three-year deal after 12 years at Liverpool.
With former Liverpool and England captain Steven Gerrard as coach, Henderson made 17 league appearances for the Dammam-based club, who sit eighth in the standings.
“Ajax has reached an agreement with Jordan Henderson on his transfer to Amsterdam. The midfielder played for Al-Ettifaq in the past six months,” Ajax said, in a statement.
Al-Ettifaq said they had “mutually agreed” to terminate the contract “with immediate effect”.
“The decision follows an amicable conclusion to the relationship with the player,” the Saudi team said.
The 33-year-old’s lucrative switch to Saudi Arabia, where homosexuality is illegal, was criticised as Henderson has long been a supporter of the LGBTQ+ community.
The midfielder was booed by fans when he appeared for England in a friendly against Australia at Wembley in October.
“I can understand the anger. I get it. All I can say around that is that I’m sorry that they feel like that. My intention was never, ever to hurt anyone,” Henderson told the Athletic in September in response to the criticism.
Henderson’s move to Ajax comes with the Dutch club fifth in the Eredivisie, 23 points behind leaders PSV Eindhoven; a disappointing start for the 36-time champions who have not finished outside the top three since 2006.
They have also dropped to the Europa Conference League after finishing third in their Europa League group.
Ajax face RKC Waalwijk in their next league game on Jan 21. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/englands-henderson-terminates-al-ettifaq-contract-to-join-ajax
| 2024-01-18T21:12:05Z
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AL WAKRAH, Qatar - Palestine kept their hopes of reaching the knockout stage at the Asian Cup alive despite being held 1-1 by 10-man United Arab Emirates on Jan 18.
A thrilling game in Qatar took place against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war in the Palestinian territory of Gaza.
Some of the Palestinian players have lost loved ones or have family trapped in Gaza, and the team have been forced to train and play matches overseas.
A brief moment’s silence was held before kick-off.
Most of the crowd of over 40,000 in Doha roared their support for Palestine, but the UAE opened the scoring midway through the first half through Sultan Adil’s header.
Palestine were awarded a penalty and UAE defender Khalifa Al-Hammadi was sent off in the 37th minute, but Tamer Seyam saw his spot kick saved by Khalid Eisa.
Palestine equalised five minutes into the second half when UAE defender Bader Nasser headed the ball into his own goal.
But they could not go on to claim their first ever win at the Asian Cup, with Eisa denying them with a series of crucial saves.
Palestine lost their opening game 4-1 to Iran, one of the tournament favourites.
They play minnows Hong Kong in their final group match on Jan 23.
Eisa heroics
Palestine made a positive start amid a brief rain shower, but UAE burst their bubble with the opening goal in the 23rd minute.
Ali Saleh swung in a cross from the right and Adil headed it past Palestine goalkeeper Rami Hamada.
The goal seemed to suck the energy out of Palestine but they regrouped and won a penalty after a VAR check.
Hammadi was adjudged to have dragged down Oday Dabbagh in the box, and the replay also brought a red card for the UAE defender.
But Seyam, who scored in Palestine’s opening game against Iran, fluffed his lines from the spot, hitting his penalty too close to Eisa.
Palestine pressed hard for an equaliser before the half-time whistle but Dabbagh’s header onto the roof of the net was the closest they came.
They only had to wait five minutes after the break to draw level, when Nasser horribly misjudged a clearance and planted a diving header into his own net.
Eisa scrambled away a goal-bound header from Mohammed Saleh on the hour as Palestine turned the screw.
The goalkeeper was in inspired form, and UAE held off the Palestine attack for the rest of the game to claim a point.
UAE beat Hong Kong 3-1 in their opening game. AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/palestine-and-10-man-uae-play-out-draw-in-asian-cup
| 2024-01-18T21:12:16Z
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WASHINGTON - There is "no way" to solve Israel's long-term security challenges in the region and the short-term challenges of rebuilding Gaza without the establishment of a Palestinian state, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Thursday.
Speaking at a news briefing, Miller said Israel had an opportunity right now as countries in the region were ready to provide security assurances to Israel.
"But there is no way to solve their long-term challenges to provide lasting security and there is no way to solve the short-term challenges of rebuilding Gaza and establishing governance in Gaza and providing security for Gaza without the establishment of a Palestinian state."
The comments came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a press conference he had told Washington that he objected to any Palestinian statehood that did not guarantee Israel's security.
"I clarify that in any arrangement in the foreseeable future, with an accord or without an accord, Israel must have security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River. That's a necessary condition. It clashes with the principle of sovereignty but what can you do," Netanyahu said in Tel Aviv.
He added that the lack of Palestinian statehood had not stood in the way of normalization agreements with Arab states a few years ago and that he still intended to add more countries to those accords.
Israel and its biggest backer the United States appear at odds now, with Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition government largely rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state even though Washington maintains that the two-state solution is the only feasible way to bring lasting peace to the region.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in his fourth trip to the Middle East last week since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, took a rough agreement to Israel that its predominately Muslim neighbors would help rehabilitate Gaza after the war and continue economic integration with Israel, but only if it committed to eventually allowing the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
U.S.-brokered talks on a Palestinian state in territory now occupied by Israel collapsed almost a decade ago.
The latest episode of hostilities in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict started when Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages. Israel says more than 130 remain in captivity.
Israel responded to Hamas' assault with a siege, bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza that have devastated the tiny coastal territory and killed more than 24,000 people, according to Gaza health officials.
Despite the disagreements, U.S. support for longtime ally Israel "remains ironclad," Miller said.
"This is not a question of the United States pressuring them to do anything. This is about the United States laying out for them the opportunity that they have." REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/us-says-no-way-to-solve-israel-security-gaza-war-without-palestinian-state
| 2024-01-18T21:12:27Z
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PORT-AU-PRINCE - Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince was on lockdown on Thursday, as flaming barricades across several neighborhoods forced residents to shelter in place or return home in the latest flare-ups in chronic gang violence plaguing the Caribbean country.
Streets were blocked off by burning tires and rocks, sending up huge plumes of black smoke in the sky across various parts of the city, according to Reuters eyewitnesses.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the siege on the city's Solino area, which first began several days ago.
Analysts say violence has been escalating for months as gangs jockey for power and seek to put pressure on interim Prime Minister Ariel Henry, ahead of the Feb. 7 expiry of a political accord that consolidated his power.
Pierre Esperance, of Human Rights Network RNDDH said two dozen deaths had been reported in Solino, an impoverished neighborhood, since the weekend.
"Police are absent. The public physical force is not present," he said. "And the population in (other) areas have blocked the streets in solidarity with Solino."
The violence comes ahead of a court decision expected on Jan. 26 on a Kenyan-led multinational force to address gang violence in the country, one of the poorest in the Western Hemisphere.
A police spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Henry faces multiple groups seeking to remove him from power, including Guy Philippe, a former rebel and convicted felon in the U.S.
Moïse Jean-Charles, leader of the Pitit Dessalines party, has also called for protests in the coming days and weeks.
There is currently no date set for a new presidential election. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/port-au-prince-residents-sheltering-in-place-as-violence-escalates
| 2024-01-18T21:12:37Z
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TOKYO – Singapore was once dismissed as a “warm-up” for integrated resort (IR) projects in Japan, which had been hailed the world’s largest untapped IR market with the potential to blow even Macau out of the water.
But Japan has become a damp squib while Thailand, with reported plans to legalise up to five IRs by 2025, is emerging as Singapore’s most immediate threat, even as details remain fuzzy as to what its casino laws would entail.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/japan-s-casino-star-has-dimmed-despite-early-fanfare-and-seeming-threat-to-singapore?utm_campaign=STPicks
| 2024-01-18T21:13:15Z
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SINGAPORE - Home-grown singer Jasmine Sokko was disappointed when she could not get tickets to Coldplay’s six upcoming Singapore shows after they sold out quickly in June 2023.
But what happened next went beyond her wildest dreams. The 28-year-old will be one of the opening acts for the British pop-rock band when they play at the 55,000-capacity National Stadium.
Sokko will take the stage on Jan 23, 24 and 26, while fellow home-grown singer Rriley will do so on Jan 27, 30 and 31. Indonesian artiste Jinan Laetitia, known for songs such as Timeless (2022) and Gemini (2020), will perform on all six nights.
Concert promoter Live Nation did not reply by press time when asked how the opening acts were selected.
Coldplay will also have opening acts at their other sold-out South-east Asian stops. Filipino singer Jikamarie will perform at the Manila concerts in the Philippines on Jan 19 and 20, while Thai-Italian singer Valentina Ploy will take the stage at the Bangkok shows in Thailand on Feb 3 and 4.
Sokko, whose real name is Jasmine Wong, says she was bingeing on Coldplay songs with her friends when Live Nation contacted her some time in July 2023 and offered her the opening act gig.
The songwriter and electronic music producer tells The Straits Times: “It was one of the most surreal yet serendipitous moments of my life.”
When she first picked up the guitar at the age of 13, one of the songs she learnt to play was Yellow, Coldplay’s breakout hit from their debut album Parachutes (2000).
Sokko says: “Coldplay songs like Paradise (2011) and Charlie Brown (2011) soundtracked my secondary school days, at a time when the feeling of always being out of place resonated deeply with me. Even today, songs like Fix You (2005) and Magic (2014) remain my go-to remedies when I need some catharsis.”
Backed by a two-piece band, she will play a half-hour set on each night of her Coldplay gig. Her set list will include her signature electronic pop songs such as Tired (2019), which has more than 11.2 million streams on Spotify, and Hurt (2018), which has 4.7 million streams.
“I shiver every time I pass by the National Stadium,” she says, adding that the upcoming gigs will be the biggest shows she has played.
Sokko is a fan of Rriley, who first came to fame as a member of home-grown pop band The Sam Willows. “I’ve followed The Sam Willows since I was in school, and they pushed the ceiling for what music could be in Singapore, so Rriley has always left an impact on me.”
Sokko does not know if she will get to meet singer Chris Martin and the rest of Coldplay after her set, but she is looking forward to watching them perform for the first time.
Known for her cyberpunk-inspired image, Sokko says her live set has been reworked to be more vivid and immersive than her other shows.
“Set in a futuristic Asia-centric universe, I envision the set to follow a distinctive narrative of how a character comes to find her own voice and identity through her music. Through this cinematic journey, I hope to leave the audience with a lingering sense of having teleported to a different dimension, and get pumped up before the main show.”
To ensure her singing voice is at its best, she is laying off some of her favourite dishes.
“I haven’t had any spicy or fried food since December. I miss nasi lemak’s sambal chilli the most. I find tons of joy and fulfilment fine-tuning the performance and losing myself in the music.”
Sokko debuted in 2016 with a self-released single, 1057. Over the years, the self-taught producer rose from local cult favourite to regional pop star, amassing a large following after reaching the finals of Rave Now, a 2018 Chinese reality TV programme for electronic music acts. In 2019, she became the first Singaporean to win MTV Europe Music Awards’ Best South-east Asia Act.
While she is not the first Singapore artiste to open a concert for a major international act, such occurrences are rare. In 2008, for example, a concert by American rapper Kanye West at the Singapore Indoor Stadium featured home-grown acts such as hip-hop turntablist DJ KoFlow and beatboxer Dharni.
American pop star Taylor Swift, too, had local musicians opening her past concerts here, including singer-songwriter Sezairi for her 2011 show at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Sokko hopes that the experience of singing to Coldplay’s large audience will give her a new perspective on being a stage performer.
“There is so much for me to learn in being their opening act. I’m already going through a very transformative process of learning to think bigger even before stepping onto the stage.”
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/i-shiver-every-time-i-pass-by-the-national-stadium-jasmine-sokko-on-opening-for-coldplay?utm_campaign=STPicks
| 2024-01-18T21:13:25Z
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SINGAPORE – Former transport minister S. Iswaran was handed 27 charges on Jan 18, including for allegedly receiving tickets from property tycoon Ong Beng Seng to shows such as Harry Potter And The Cursed Child.
This comes six months after he was arrested by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) in 2023.
This is what we know so far:
May 29, 2023
The CPIB alerts Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to information concerning then Transport Minister S. Iswaran. The bureau came across the information while looking into a separate matter.
July 5
The CPIB director briefs PM Lee on the bureau’s findings and seeks to open formal investigations and to interview Iswaran.
July 6
PM Lee gives his approval for a formal investigation.
July 11
Mr Ong Beng Seng, founder and managing director of Hotel Properties Limited, is also arrested in relation to the case. Both men are released on bail.
July 12
CPIB releases a statement saying that Iswaran is “assisting with investigations”. The matter is made public for the first time.
PM Lee says in a separate statement that he had instructed Iswaran to take leave of absence until the CPIB investigation is completed. He announces that Senior Minister of State Chee Hong Tat will be Acting Minister for Transport.
In a doorstop interview, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong says the Government will be “upfront and transparent” and “will not sweep anything under the carpet” even if it is potentially embarrassing or damaging for the People’s Action Party and the Government. He also said that other MPs from West Coast GRC will cover Iswaran’s duties.
July 13
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) says Iswaran will remain in Singapore during the probe and will have no access to any official resources and government buildings.
July 14
Hotel Properties Limited discloses Mr Ong’s arrest in a Singapore Exchange filing and says he is cooperating with CPIB to provide information on his interactions with Iswaran.
The company also says that Mr Ong will post bail of $100,000 and will travel overseas from July 14.
CPIB confirms Iswaran’s arrest.
July 18
Iswaran is seen leaving CPIB headquarters in Jalan Bukit Merah in the evening, some 10 hours after he was spotted entering the premises.
July 20
The PMO says PM Lee and DPM Wong did not disclose Iswaran’s arrest on July 12 as revealing such information is CPIB’s decision to make.
Online blog Political Sophistry is asked to put up a correction notice under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act for falsely claiming that Iswaran’s arrest was intentionally concealed because it was “politically embarrassing”.
Aug 2
Parliament discusses the CPIB probe. PM Lee makes a ministerial statement and tells the House that Iswaran’s monthly pay was reduced to $8,500 when he was interdicted.
Minister-in-charge of the Public Service Chan Chun Sing answers MPs questions on the matter. He says CPIB did not initially announce the arrest as it wanted first to establish more facts of the case, including hearing Iswaran’s side of the story.
Sept 19
Parliament debates a motion by Progress Singapore Party Non-Constituency MP Hazel Poa to suspend Iswaran. MPs reject the motion and vote to consider the matter when there is an outcome from the corruption probe.
Jan 8, 2024
National Development Minister Desmond Lee says in an interview with The Straits Times and Lianhe Zaobao that the corruption probe into Iswaran was a “very worrying development” and has had a big impact on West Coast GRC.
Mr Lee, who is an MP in the GRC, says: “Since (the news broke) in July, we have been able to hold the team together, energise them to continue serving the ground with passion and dedication.”
Jan 9
Mr Chan tells Parliament the CPIB has completed its investigation into Iswaran and the matter was before the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
In a written reply to a parliamentary question, he says: “I understand that there is much public interest in this matter. I want to give my assurance that this case will be put through the due legal process.”
Jan 15
CPIB informs Iswaran that he will be charged and takes his statement.
Jan 16
Iswaran writes to PM Lee to inform him about the charges. He says he rejects the allegations and will focus on clearing his name. He also steps down as minister and MP and resigns from the People’s Action Party.
Jan 17
Iswaran writes to PM Lee again to say that he will return all that he received in ministerial salary and MP allowances since the start of the CPIB probe, although he has not been asked to do so.
He adds that he will not be seeking the return of the monies if he is acquitted.
PM Lee, in a letter, accepts Iswaran’s resignation and acknowledges the former minister’s decision to return his salary and allowances.
“It is essential that I deal with such matters rigorously in accordance with the law. It is the right thing to do. We must uphold the integrity of the party and the Government. I am sure you understand the importance of doing so. Singaporeans expect no less,” says PM Lee.
Jan 18
Iswaran is charged at the State Court. His resignations as transport minister and West Coast GRC MP are announced, with the PMO releasing letters between the former minister and PM Lee.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/iswaran-charged-6-months-after-cpib-arrest-how-the-case-unfolded?utm_campaign=STPicks
| 2024-01-18T21:13:36Z
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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 at the junction of Joo Chiat Place 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 the early 2000s.
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 home-made 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 greater 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 popiah skins, 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 Noodle House, Sin Heng Claypot Bak Koot Teh and D’Bun.
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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?utm_campaign=STPicks
| 2024-01-18T21:13:46Z
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While we're enduring minus temperatures here in the UK, we can always rely on a bit of escapism with Jane McDonald, where the star is exploring the sunny Canary Islands.
Jane has been sharing several sun-soaked offerings from her latest series, in her most recent snap, the former Loose Women star proved why she's the ultimate beach babe as she stood barefoot in the sandy shores while rocking a very classy outfit, complete with her signature pair of sunglasses.
Jane looked absolutely beautiful in the photo, which saw her wearing a flamboyant floral shirt, finishing the stylish look in a stunning pair of white trousers. We hope they didn't get dirty in the sand!
The star decided to keep her caption simple for her Instagram Stories post, only saying: "The Canary Island with Jane McDonald. New episode."
Jane's latest series began on 5 January, and the star had fans going "bananas" as she posted a series of photos to tease her series, including a unique outfit that was covered with a banana print.
Sharing what would happen on her new adventure, Jane penned: "New Series: The Canary Islands with Jane McDonald - starts this Friday. Join me on my island-hopping adventure across the Canaries, where I'll be discovering the hidden treasures that each destination has to offer.
"Starting in Tenerife, I'll be staying in Playa de las Americas and heading up Mount Teide by cable car. I'll be tasting the Canarian banana, visiting the old town of La Orotava, visiting Siam Park, and taking a day trip to neighbouring island La Gomera! Episode 1: Friday 5th January 9pm on Channel 5."
The presenter's followers were over the moon with the announcement, as one shared: "Jane in the Canaries - sounds like the perfect thing to banish New Year blues. Bring on the light! Love you Jane," and a second enthused: "What a great start to 2024 my favourite islands and you as well, doesn't get better than that!"
A third added: "Bring it on. Jane in the Canaries in striking canary yellow is the perfect antidote to a grey UK January. You are the Bringer of Light," and a fourth commented: "Bloody fabulous start to the year this like."
Jane's new series isn't the only exciting project she has in the works, as the singer recently confirmed she would be heading on tour towards the end of the year, which will be dedicated to her late fiancé, Eddie Rothe.
Speaking to the Mail, Jane said: "It's not a mournful thing. I haven't had a chance to celebrate his life, so here it is. I had 13 amazing years with that man. I think I had the best of him. I'm glad I was privileged enough to have that time. I should be grateful for that."
MORE: Jane McDonald wows in red hot suit as she shares 'exciting' career news - fans react
SEE: Jane McDonald, 60, is an ethereal snow queen in daring sheer dress with cheeky leg slit
Eddie passed away from lung cancer in 2021 and due to the coronavirus restrictions that were in place at the time, Jane said he didn't get a large funeral and she was unable to give him the "tribute" that she had initially wanted to.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/fashion/celebrity-style/511617/loose-women-jane-mcdonald-beach-babe-wows-striking-new-look-canary-islands/
| 2024-01-18T21:32:09Z
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Parts of Crimea, annexed by Russian troops in 2014, were left without electricity on the evening of 18 January, Reuters has reported. Later, the Russian Energy Ministry said power was restored.
According to the occupation authorities, the blackout was caused by an emergency shutdown of a power plant in Balaklava, which resulted from an interruption of its gas supply. However, what caused the malfunction was not clear.
Since Russia annexed the peninsula, Crimea has served as one of the largest Russian military bases used by the occupiers to strike peaceful Ukrainian cities and villages.
In 2023, Russia launched five types of missiles at the south-Ukrainian port city of Odesa, destroying port infrastructure and at least six residential buildings and damaging dozens of cars in an attack that aimed to undermine Ukraine’s grain exports.
Russian night attack ruins largest Orthodox cathedral in Odesa
Then, Ukraine’s air defense reported that it intercepted nine of the 19 missiles that Russia fired at Odesa:
- 5 Onyks cruise missiles from the Bastion coastal missile system (Crimea);
- 3 Kh-22 air-launched cruise missiles – launched from Tu-22MZ aircraft (Black Sea);
- 4 Kalibr sea-launched cruise missiles – allegedly from a submarine (Black Sea);
- 5 Iskander-K land-launched cruise missiles (Crimea);
- 2 Iskander-M ballistic missiles (Crimea).
In the past year, Ukrainian missile and surface suicide drone attacks forced Russia to relocate many ships from its Black Sea Fleet’s main base in Sevastopol, occupied Crimea, to ports in Russia located further away from Ukraine.
UK Defense Minister: 20% of Russia’s Black Sea fleet destroyed over past four months
According to UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps, 20% of Russia’s Black Sea fleet was destroyed, and those who claimed stalemate in the Russo-Ukrainian war were incorrect.
Read also:
- What Russian Black Sea Fleet ships were destroyed by Ukraine
- Photo shows submerged wreckage of Novocherkassk landing ship as Russia claims Ukrainian attack just damaged it
- Ukraine destroys Russian Navy’s Novocherkassk landing craft in occupied Crimea
- Ukrainian maritime drones create 200-mile security zone in Black Sea
- UK intel: Russia’s Black Sea Fleet missile ops face logistics hurdles
- Ukrainian Navy: 15 Russian warships destroyed, 12 damaged
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/01/18/reuters-russian-annexed-crimea-hit-by-power-blackout%EF%BF%BC/
| 2024-01-18T22:10:07Z
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Nikita Kuzmin is currently preparing for a nationwide tour with the Strictly Live! Tour, but the dancer couldn't help but reminisce about a recent holiday.
After just missing out on the Glitterball Trophy on the latest series of Strictly Come Dancing with Layton Williams, the star headed out to Dubai with his girlfriend, Lauren Jaine. Nikita shared some more of his holiday snaps including one where he showed off his ripped physique as he relaxed on a boat in the sunshine.
The Ukrainian-born professional dancer also shared several photos with his girlfriend, Lauren Jaine, as the pair rode on a quadbike in the desert and the model posed on the beach.
However, the sweetest photo saw the couple sharing a kiss in front of a banner reading '2024' as they welcomed the New Year in on their romantic trip.
The star lamented being away from his paradise as he quipped: "A week since the last tan," alongside a sunshine emoji.
Many fans couldn't help but note the dancer's physique as one penned: "Stop that posing semi naked what you trying to do to us poor women who can do nothing but admire?" and a second posted: "That's a beautiful boat, it so deserves you to adorn it."
A third joked about their own recent trip, writing: "Looks amazing, I'm just back from NYC where I defo didn't get a tan cos it was freezing," and a fourth said: "Looks a dream," while Nikita's recent Strictly partner Layton cheekily posted: "Oi oi!"
Nikita and Lauren are fast becoming one of our favourite couples and the pair melted hearts when they celebrated the dancer's birthday together alongside his family.
In photos shared to Instagram, the 26-year-old could be seen partying up a storm whilst surrounded by his parents Natalia and Ievgen and his lookalike sister, Anastasia, who is also known in the ballroom and Latin dance world.
One beaming snap showed the Strictly finalist flanked by a pair of metallic '26' balloons, whilst a second photo showed Nikita enjoying a sweet moment with his pet cat.
Amongst the carousel of images, Nikita also included two black-and-white images of Lauren, smiling sweetly for the camera. "Birthday with the loved ones [white heart emoji and '26']" Nikita noted in his caption.
READ: Nikita Kuzmin's fans full of praise after Strictly star opens up about health 'battle'
RELATED: Nikita Kuzmin's rarely-seen girlfriend Lauren shows support with sweet gesture backstage Strictly
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/celebrities/511619/strictly-nikita-kuzmin-loved-up-lauren-jaine-kiss-toned-physique/
| 2024-01-18T22:16:02Z
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Jenna Dewan is trying to take everything about her pregnancy day by day, and same goes for her role on The Rookie.
The Step Up actress, 43, announced she was expecting her third child – her second with fiancé Steve Kazee – this week.
In a cover story for Romper sharing the happy news, the soon-to-be mom-of-three addressed where things stand with her character, Bailey Nune, what it's really been like to work while pregnant, and just how soon she might be going back to set after giving birth.
When Jenna gave birth to her first child, daughter Everly, ten – who she shares with ex-husband Channing Tatum – she was in London while her then-husband was filming a movie, and instead of the water birth she had planned, she gave birth via c-section.
She went back to work only six weeks later, flying back and forth from Vancouver, and now says: "That was hard on me. It was hard to be thrown into call times and still be in the throes of postpartum. It was also my first baby."
On the other hand, with her son Callum, three, it was the opposite: he was born in March 2020, the month the world virtually shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now for her third, which she says is her last, she's not sure what her schedule will look like. She reveals she has been filming season six of The Rookie while pregnant, and describes it as "exhausting," but her post-labor work schedule – and the fate of Bailey Nune – is still up in the air, depending on whether the ABC police procedural is renewed for a seventh season.
MORE: Jenna Dewan wows in tiny black bikini after reuniting with ex Channing Tatum
MORE: Channing Tatum details 'terrifying' divorce from Jenna Dewan
Regardless, Jenna has nothing but praise for her very stable and comfortable working conditions on The Rookie, which boasts 22 episodes per season.
"It's a well-oiled machine," she says, and while tiring, she continues: "But [it's] also amazing. It helps balance my mind. And The Rookie is truly the most dreamy, incredible job."
MORE: Jenna Dewan shares relatable Halloween photos with her children
She went on: "Everyone is so lovely. It’s really fun, and it's easy, and it flows, and so I think that's a big part of why it’s easy for me to work pregnant. I've been on other sets that are obviously a lot more difficult. So I love it. You're tired, but when is a mom not tired?"
"I'm not sure the body necessarily gets right back into action the way it did years ago," she does note, but adds: "I'll report back, but I do think there's a bit of ignorance, this dancer in me that just says 'OK, well, you just get it done.' I've recovered great every time, but I'm open to whatever happens."
Get the lowdown on the biggest, hottest celebrity news, features and profiles coming out of the U.S. Sign up to our HELLO! Hollywood newsletter and get them delivered straight to your inbox.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/film/511620/jenna-dewan-addresses-fate-the-rookie-amid-pregnancy/
| 2024-01-18T22:16:08Z
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Happy birthday Jim Carrey! The beloved actor, known for starring in some of the most iconic comedies of the '90s and '00s, turned 62 on Wednesday, January 17.
While the Canadian-American star had a quiet affair, and was able to keep it lowkey thanks to not being on social media, one of his celebrity friends gave a glimpse into the celebration.
David Spade took to his Instagram to share a snapshot of the birthday dinner that was organized for the actor, and it looks like all we can say to it is "legends only."
In the photo, Jim was seen posing beside David and Adam Sandler, all dressed casually, while the Ace Ventura actor sported a distinct change to his appearance, rocking shoulder-length hair with his thousand-watt smile.
"Happy birthday to Jim Carrey who has made me laugh on and off the field so many times," David, 59, wrote alongside the snapshot. "Such a cool dude. I rarely bust out the cake emoji but I will today [cake emoji]."
Rob Lowe gushed: "Too much talent for one room!" and several other fans were stunned to see Jim's new look. Several even drew comparisons with Heather Shaw, a comedian who went viral for her own resemblance to the actor. They left comments like: "That's the jim Carrey lady from tiktok," and: "Are you messing with us!? I can't tell if that jim or the woman that looks like jim."
However, many others took to celebrating his life and legacy, with fellow comedian Jeff Ross revealing that he was the one who took the photo.
On his own Instagram page, Jeff, 58, shared a much larger picture of the party, and the line-up of funny men invited is truly stacked. Alongside Jim, David, Adam, and Jeff, the occasion included Cary Elwes, Ben Schwartz, Howie Mandel, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Green, Craig Robinson, and more.
The iconic group crowded around a table full of food and drink, while Jim sat in the middle for the photo, screaming into the void as everyone else around delighted in his joy.
SEE: Celebrities like Jim Carrey who own vacation homes in Canada
Fans were astonished, sharing comments on the photo like: "WOW that's a room overflowing with talent," and: "Telling my kids this was Jesus Christ and his apostles," as well as: "I'm hanging this in my dining room," plus: "Wish I could have been a fly on the wall."
The actor last made a public appearance at the premiere of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in Los Angeles in April 2022, and soon after, broached the subject of retiring altogether.
"Well, I'm retiring. Yeah, probably. I'm being fairly serious," the star of The Truman Show told Access Hollywood. "It depends. If the angels bring some sort of script that's written in gold ink that says to me that it's going to be really important for people to see, I might continue down the road, but I'm taking a break."
He added: "I really like my quiet life and I really like putting paint on canvas and I really love my spiritual life and I feel like – and this is something you might never hear another celebrity say as long as time exists – I have enough. I've done enough. I am enough."
Get the lowdown on the biggest, hottest celebrity news, features, and profiles coming out of the U.S. Sign up to our HELLO! Hollywood newsletter and get them delivered straight to your inbox.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/healthandbeauty/hair/511618/jim-carrey-unrecognizable-new-look-sparks-debate-star-studded-62nd-birthday-party/
| 2024-01-18T22:16:14Z
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NEW YORK - Stocks on Wall Street jumped on Jan 18, with a rebound in tech propelling major indices into positive territory and snapping a recent losing streak.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.4 per cent to 15,055.65, while the broad-based S&P 500 ended the day up 0.9 per cent at 4,780.94.
And the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the day 0.5 per cent higher at 37,468.61.
The surge was led by chip-making behemoth Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, which saw its share price in New York surge almost 10 per cent after beatings earnings expectations.
Apple’s share price was lifted by 3.3 per cent after its stock was upgraded to “buy” by a Bank of America analyst.
Earlier on Jan 18, a senior Federal Reserve official indicated he expected the US central Bank to cut interest rates in the third quarter – and maybe even earlier than that.
“If we continue to see a further accumulation of downside surprises in the data, it’s possible for me to get comfortable enough to advocate normalization sooner than the third quarter,” Atlanta Fed president Raphael Bostic told a conference in the city.
“But the evidence would need to be convincing,” added Mr Bostic, who is a voting member of the Fed’s rate-setting committee this year.
Mr Bostic’s comments follow those of other Fed officials, whose remarks appear intended to cool market expectations of an interest rate cut in March.
But despite policymakers’ recent remarks, futures traders still assign a probability of more than 55 per cent that the Fed will cut interest rates in March, according to data from CME Group. AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/us-stocks-jump-on-tech-rebound
| 2024-01-18T22:41:13Z
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It was a wake-up call.
The fiery collision of two aircraft at Japan’s Haneda Airport shows the role of air traffic controllers, the part they play in ensuring the safety of aircraft movements in busy airports, and what can happen when mistakes are made.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/airplane-crashes-and-the-challenges-facing-air-traffic-controllers-in-keeping-the-world-s-busiest-airports-going
| 2024-01-18T22:41:24Z
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I have observed that some customers, especially the elderly, rely on the supermarket staff overseeing the self-checkout station to do everything for them, such as scanning the grocery items, bagging them and making payment.
Understandably, these customers do not know how to use the self-service points. But then, they must realise that the staff members are there to help as and when needed, not to serve customers like the usual checkout cashiers do.
Some older people like me want to navigate the self-checkout process independently. It can be done if we adopt a hands-on approach, and this involves actually doing it ourselves.
Going through the whole learning process entails making errors or encountering difficulties and this is where the staff on duty can step in to help.
After a few hands-on attempts, customers are more likely to manage using the self-checkout counter independently.
Jeffrey Law Lee Beng
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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/forum/forum-don-t-ask-supermarket-staff-to-do-everything-at-self-checkout-counters
| 2024-01-18T22:41:34Z
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It was reported that some government departments have an online initiative to inform the public of the locations of coffee shops which offer budget meals (Great Budget Meal Hunt officially launched to allow public to crowdsource cheap meals, Jan 16).
During this time of cost-of-living pressures, the initiative is commendable.
However, one very important consideration has to be that these budget meals are also healthy.
I feel that the Healthier SG programme or the Health Promotion Board (HPB) should be involved as a partner of the above initiative.
Budget meals are very important for budget-conscious consumers and, potentially, the ones who could benefit the most are those who lack resources and health literacy.
We do not want the website BudgetMealGoWhere to drive consumers to places where the meals are cheap and probably tasty but not healthy.
This will affect their health in the long term, leading to the classical outcome of being “penny wise but pound foolish”.
Now that we have the laudable Healthier SG programme taking shape in Singapore, the social prescription for a budget meal has to be a healthy one.
Consumers can also reap a tangible reward on their Healthy 365 app by increasing their points, which can be redeemed for supermarket vouchers.
Thus, a virtuous circle can be set up by nudging healthy behaviours – an intangible reward.
Kanwaljit Soin (Dr)
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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/forum/forum-make-sure-budget-meals-are-healthy-meals-too
| 2024-01-18T22:41:44Z
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ABIDJAN - Mohammed Kudus scored a brace of goals but Ghana twice let a lead slip to draw 2-2 with Egypt in their Africa Cup of Nations Group B clash in Abidjan on Thursday, with the latter facing an anxious wait over an injury concern for Mohamed Salah.
Salah limped out of the game just before halftime with what appeared a muscle injury as he grabbed the back of his leg following a bursting run. It will have set off alarm bells at Liverpool, too.
Both teams still have work to do to qualify for the knockout rounds. Record seven-time winners Egypt, who had Omar Marmoush and Mostafa Mohamed on the scoresheet, have two points from two games and face pool leaders Cape Verde next on Monday.
Ghana have gone a team record six games without a win at the Cup of Nations and have a single point from their two matches. They will likely have to beat Mozambique in their final pool fixture to book a knockout place. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/egypt-face-anxious-wait-over-salah-injury-after-ghana-draw
| 2024-01-18T22:41:55Z
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MONTREAL - Former world pole vault champion Shawn Barber of Canada has died at age 29 at his home in Texas, his agent announced on Jan 18.
Barber won the 2015 world title at Beijing by clearing 5.90 metres and captured his other major international crown on home-nation soil in Toronto at the 2015 Pan American Games.
Paul Doyle, Barber’s agent, announced his passing on an Instagram posting.
No cause of death was revealed.
“A friend that will never be forgotten. Canadian Olympic Pole Vaulter Shawn Barber has passed away,” said the message on Doyle Management’s Instagram page.
“He is currently the Canadian record holder with his personal best of 6.00m and was the 2015 World Champion in the Pole Vault.
“Shawn was also an Olympic finalist at the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro. He will be greatly missed.”
Barber set the Canadian indoor record of 6.00 in 2016 at the Pole Vault Summit and cleared 5.93 in July 2015 to set a Canadian outdoor mark.
Barber, who held dual US and Canadian citizenship, took silver at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games after claiming a bronze in 2014 at Glasgow.
At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Barber finished 10th, clearing 5.50m. AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/former-world-pole-vault-champion-barber-dead-at-29
| 2024-01-18T22:42:05Z
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Ayaka Furue of Japan birdied her final two holes for a bogey-free, 7-under-par 65 to take the first-round lead at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions on Thursday in Orlando, Fla.
Furue secured a two-shot edge over Sweden's Maja Stark and Mexico's Gaby Lopez (5-under 67) in the first event of the LPGA season. Ally Ewing and Danielle Kang are tied for fourth after shooting 4-under 68 at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club.
The field of 35 comprised of players who won on tour any time in the past two seasons includes Furue, 23, thanks to her title at the 2022 Women's Scottish Open, which remains her only win on tour to date.
"I feel this course is really difficult," Furue said, "and not only my shot but also my putt was really good today, so I think my putt was kind of excellent for me today."
Lopez, 30, showed no signs of jetlag despite being married Dec. 16 and embarking on a three-week honeymoon with her husband.
"We closed it up in Punta Mita in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico," Lopez said. "That's where I started training. That's what I love to do. Every time we go back to Punta Mita to do just intense training, intense golf, and then just let it flow on the golf course."
Lopez carded three bogeys, but balanced the blemishes out with eight birdies, including four straight to open her round on the back nine.
"Sometimes when you come with low expectations you kind of relax a little bit, and that's always -- for me the start of the year kind of comes to that," said Lopez, who won this event in 2020.
Stark, 24, had six birdies and a single bogey on Thursday. The one-time LPGA Tour winner said her goals for the year include winning on U.S. soil and representing Sweden at the Olympic Games.
Rose Zhang, still just 20, is entering her first full season on the LPGA Tour after turning pro last summer and winning her first tournament as a pro. She recovered from back-to-back bogeys to post a 3-under 69 Thursday, tied with the likes of New Zealand's Lydia Ko, Canada's Brooke Henderson and others for sixth.
"Really want to work on myself and how I carry myself on and off the golf course," Zhang said. "You know, it's just I think I became a little stagnant in my growth, and this year it's more so just every single day, finding some purpose to do stuff and to fulfill all my competitiveness."
Lilia Vu, who won two majors last season, and Nelly Korda are part of a tie at 1-under 71.
The event bypasses the traditional 36-hole cut due to the limited field.
--Field Level Media REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/golf/ayaka-furue-holds-first-round-lead-at-lpga-season-opener
| 2024-01-18T22:42:16Z
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Alessio Zerbin scored twice as he propelled Napoli to a 3-0 win over Fiorentina in their Italian Supercup semi-final on Thursday.
In the closing minutes of the match with only one goal separating the sides, substitute forward Zerbin came alive, initially tapping in Napoli's second goal in the 84th minute at the far post before completing the brace two minutes later.
Napoli broke the deadlock after 22 minutes when Juan Jesus delivered a perfectly timed pass into the box for Giovanni Simeone to slot in from an acute angle.
Fiorentina forward Jonathan Ikone won a penalty just before halftime after being fouled by Mario Rui. However, Ikone sent his spot kick well over the bar.
The game took place in a partially-filled Al-Awwal Stadium in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
Inter Milan and Lazio are set to play on Friday in the other semi-final, with the final scheduled for Monday. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/zerbin-brace-leads-napoli-to-italian-supercup-final
| 2024-01-18T22:42:26Z
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JERUSALEM - Israeli cabinet minister and former military chief Gadi Eizenkot told Israel's Channel 12 on Thursday that he prevented Israel from preemptively attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon in the days after Hamas' deadly Oct. 7 onslaught on southern Israel.
Eizenkot, whose youngest son was killed in fighting in the Gaza Strip last month, said Israel was on the verge of striking Hezbollah though the group, designated as a terror organization by Western states, had not yet fired on Israel. Eizenkot said he convinced officials in the war cabinet to hold off.
"I think our presence there prevented Israel from making a grave strategic mistake," Eizenkot said.
The Israel-Lebanon frontier has seen daily fighting but has stopped short of an all out war. The wider region teeters dangerously toward a major escalation of the conflict ignited by the Gaza war.
Both Israel and Hezbollah have signaled they want to avoid war, but both say they are ready to fight if necessary.
Opposition party members Eizenkot and Benny Gantz, also a former army chief, joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government shortly after the Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian militants Hamas which prompted an Israeli air, ground and sea offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Israel has vowed to annihilate Hamas after its fighters killed 1,200 people in Israel and dragged 240 more back to Gaza as hostages, according to an Israeli tally.
Some 24,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to the health ministry there, and around 1.9 million, 85% of the population, have been displaced.
Hamas, designated as a terrorist group by the United States and other Western countries, is sworn to Israel's destruction.
A November hostage deal saw around half the hostages released, but Eizenkot said the more than 100 who remain in captivity are scattered throughout the enclave and a renewed deal would be required to bring them home.
"It's impossible to retrieve the hostages alive soon without a deal," Eizenkot said. He said the wars aims of stripping Hamas of power in Gaza and killing those responsible for the Oct. 7 attack would "still be valid" after a temporary ceasefire. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/israeli-cabinet-minister-says-he-prevented-strike-on-hezbollah-in-days-after-hamas-attack
| 2024-01-18T22:42:36Z
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Nato announces months-long exercise with 90,000 troops
Nato announced on Jan 18 that it would begin its largest military exercise in decades next week, involving 90,000 troops and testing the allies’ ability over months to engage in a conflict with an adversary like Russia.
Steadfast Defender 2024 will run to late May and involve units from all 31 Nato member countries plus candidate-member Sweden, US General Christopher Cavoli, Nato’s Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, told journalists.
The exercise, composed of a series of smaller individual drills, will span from North America to Nato’s eastern flank, close to the Russian border.
It will involve 50 naval vessels, 80 aircraft and over 1,100 combat vehicles.
Calls for calm after Iran, Pakistan trade strikes on militants
The United Nations and the United States appealed for restraint on Jan 18, after Iran and Pakistan traded deadly air strikes on militant targets on each other’s territory.
The rare military action across the porous border between the heavily armed neighbours has further stoked tensions already enflamed by the Israel-Hamas war.
Pakistan’s strikes against militant targets in Iran early on Jan 18 came two days after similar Iranian strikes on its territory, and prompted Teheran to summon Islamabad’s envoy.
At least 12 children drown in Indian lake as boat capsizes
At least 12 children and their two teachers drowned in India on Jan 18 when a boat on which they were riding during a picnic capsized, officials said.
Rescuers pulled 20 children to safety from Harni Lake in Vadodara city and are searching for two more who are missing, police and district officials said, adding that some children are undergoing intensive care treatment.
It was not immediately clear how many people were on the boat and local media reports cited overcrowding as a possible reason behind the incident, which police did not confirm.
Russia protests put spotlight on wartime ethnic grievances
The trial of a minority rights activist in Russia this week sparked one of the biggest outbreaks of social unrest in the country since the start of the war in Ukraine, highlighting the strain the conflict has imposed on Russia’s complex ethnic relations.
Hundreds of protesters clashed with the police in the provincial town of Baymak, near Russia’s border with Kazakhstan, after a local court sentenced an advocate for the local Bashkir ethnic minority to four years in prison.
He was convicted of inciting ethnic discord and discrediting the Russian army.
Henderson leaves Saudi after six months to join Ajax
England midfielder Jordan Henderson has signed for Ajax Amsterdam after terminating his contract with Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq after six months, the two clubs said on Jan 18.
Henderson joined Al-Ettifaq on a three-year deal after 12 years at Premier League side Liverpool.
“I’m sad to say that I will be leaving Al Ettifaq with immediate effect. It wasn’t an easy decision but one that I feel is best for me and my family,” Henderson said on X.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/while-you-were-sleeping-5-stories-you-might-have-missed-jan-19-5
| 2024-01-18T22:42:47Z
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The recent reunion of the Suits cast at the Golden Globes has sparked renewed interest in the hit series, especially in light of rumors about a new LA-based spin-off show that intriguingly includes a character seemingly crafted for Meghan Markle.
Aaron Korsh, the creator of Suits, has penned a new series set in a Hollywood law firm, introducing a character named Erica, described as an African-American, career-driven Californian woman in her 30s, who is 'smarter than everyone' and has a vibrant personal life.
This character's description has led to speculation that it could be a perfect fit for Meghan, who portrayed Rachel Zane in the original series.
Meghan, now the Duchess of Sussex, attended the Suits reunion but has been clear about not wanting to return to acting. She has shifted her focus to philanthropy and entrepreneurship.
She is also expected to support her husband, Prince Harry, who is being honored as a Living Legend of Aviation at an awards show.
Beatrice Springborn, an executive at NBC Universal, described the new show as "so fun and happy," promising it will carry "the same energy and good-looking people that the original" had.
Star Gabriel Macht told HELLO! why the cast probably won't return – although his phone line is always open.
"I don't know if we will be involved," he said on the Golden Globes red carpet, adding: "There is always a phone line or a number – and I always pick up the phone but right now, I think it will be taking place in a different, Los Angeles world."
Suits, which aired from 2011 to 2019, starred Patrick J. Adams as a rising star in a New York law firm and featured his character marrying Meghan's character, Rachel Zane.
Patrick, who attended Meghan's 2018 wedding to Prince Harry, shared his apprehensions about reaching out to her post their children's births, citing fear and intimidation. "I think it's pure fear. I guess I'm scared about the idea of breaking through whatever walls exist to have that conversation," he said in 2020.
During the Golden Globes reunion, Gina Torres revealed that the cast no longer has Meghan's contact information.
When asked about inviting Meghan to the event, Gina responded, "We don't have her number. We just don't so. She'll see. She'll watch. She'll be happy that we're here."
Suits has gained a new fanbase since becoming available on Netflix in 2023, despite ending in 2019. Meghan's last episode aired in April 2018, a month before her wedding.
Meanwhile, Prince Harry was recently seen in Santa Barbara, California, amidst revelations from Robert Hardman's new biography about the late Queen Elizabeth's reaction to the couple's use of her childhood nickname, Lilibet.
A staff member of the Queen reported her as being 'as angry as I'd ever seen her' over the claim that they had her blessing to use the nickname. "I don't own the palaces, I don't own the paintings, the only thing I own is my name. And now they've taken that," the Queen reportedly said.
Get the lowdown on the biggest, hottest celebrity news, features and profiles coming out of the U.S. Sign up to our HELLO! Hollywood newsletter and get them delivered straight to your inbox.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/film/511621/meghan-markle-set-for-return-to-acting-in-suits-creators-new-spin-off/
| 2024-01-18T23:04:17Z
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Chicago Fire season 12 returned to NBC on January 17, and the opening moments revealed that Lieutenant Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) was back in the city after taking an extended break from Firehouse 51 to help out OFI (the Office of Fire Investigation).
But the last six months have not been plain sailing for Severide, as the episode revealed his lies has left "simmering tension" between him and wife Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) – and his 'addiction' to working arson investigations continues to be a sore point between the pair.
Some fans have questioned whether a fourth spin-off in the One Chicago world may ever see Severide working full-time with OFI, but showrunner Andrea Newman has now told HELLO! that although they have considered the option, Severide is "too critical" to 51 to ever let him go.
"We have [considered it] but having lost Severide for a bit [in season 11,] it was a reminder of what a critical part of 51 he is," Andrea says, adding that "OFI is a great internal struggle" for Kelly which makes it a great arc for the character.
"As Kidd says early on in the episode, she considers arson as his 'drug,' and it's an addiction for him and he gets lost in it," Andrea continued.
"It's partly because it's in the blood, his dad was also in OFI, but partly because there's something that just taps into something deep within him when he gets into it. It then becomes a danger zone for him in some ways – but he also loves it and obviously has the skills for it. So that struggle will be a big part of the first few episodes of the season."
Upon his return to Firehouse 51, Stella shared her reservations about Severide becoming involved in another arson investigation and when Severide pushed back, she told 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."
Andrea added: "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."
The new season also revealed that Randall 'Mouch' McHolland (Christian Stolte) was safe and alive, while Blake Gallo (Alberto Rosende) left Firehouse 51 to live with family members he had discovered in recent months, and Christopher Hermann appeared to have been left injured after saving the team from a bomb.
"[Hermann's] big heroic save at the end of the premiere will have consequences for him both psychologically and physically – and it's going to take Darren Ritter (Daniel Kyri) with a big move to help him get past that," revealed Andrea. "Those two will end up having their relationship tested a little bit; Ritter is the one who kind of comes to save the day for Hermann."
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/film/511622/chicago-fire-bosses-considered-ofi-spin-off-kelly-severide-taylor-kinney/
| 2024-01-18T23:04:23Z
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Penélope Cruz recently shared a rare glimpse into parenting her children. Now, Leo, 12, and Luna, 10, growing up, she remains resolute in her decision to keep them away from the digital world's potential harms.
"It’s so easy to be manipulated, especially if you have a brain that is still forming," the Spanish actress shared with Elle Magazine in its February 2024 issue.
"And who pays the price? Not us, not our generation, who, maybe at 25, learned how a BlackBerry worked. It’s a cruel experiment on children, on teenagers," she added.
Penélope, who shares her children with fellow actor Javier Bardem, has been consistent in her approach to parenting in the digital age.
In a 2021 interview with "CBS Sunday Morning," she revealed her strict rules regarding technology use, underscoring the importance of protecting her children's mental health.
"But not phones until they are much older, and no social media until at least 16. I really see that as protecting mental health. But I seem to be part of a minority," she stated, acknowledging her stance might not be widely shared.
Her relationship with social media is cautious and limited. Penélope expressed concern for teenagers today, feeling as though they are unwitting participants in a global experiment. "It's almost [as] if the world was doing some kind of experiment on them. 'Oh, let's see what happens if you expose a 12-year-old to that much technology.'"
When discussing her children's future, particularly whether they would follow in their parents' creative footsteps, Penélope was hesitant to divulge details.
"It’s for them to decide if they are going to have a job that is more exposed to the public or not. They can talk about that when they’re ready," she told Elle Magazine, respecting their autonomy and privacy.
At 39, Penélope cherishes her role as a mother, a vocation she always knew she would embrace.
"Ever since I was a little girl, I knew I wanted kids. But I knew I wanted them older. I wanted to wait until I felt I was ready. I was sure it would be the most important thing I would do in my life," she explained. She embraced motherhood at 36 and again at 39.
In her acting career, Penélope often portrays maternal figures. Her upcoming role in the biopic Ferrari sees her playing Laura Ferrari, a bereaved mother.
Reflecting on her roles, she observed: "At my age, 80 percent of the characters that I play will be about motherhood or divorce or abandonment or characters who didn’t want to have children or couldn’t or who lost children. I’ve played mothers since I was very young."
Her frequent collaborations with Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar have been significant. Penélope shared how Almodóvar recognized her nurturing instincts even before she became a mother.
"Pedro always saw me as a mother," she recounted. "He would watch me going to talk to strangers just to see their babies. He always saw that strong, inevitable instinct in me, and I saw him see it."
Get the lowdown on the biggest, hottest celebrity news, features and profiles coming out of the U.S. Sign up to our HELLO! Hollywood newsletter and get them delivered straight to your inbox.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/healthandbeauty/mother-and-baby/511623/penelope-cruz-shares-rare-glimpse-into-parenting-children-luna-10-and-leo-12-with-husband-javier-bardem/
| 2024-01-18T23:48:12Z
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NEW PARIS — National Trail’s boys basketball team rallied from a 12-point fourth quarter deficit to get within two, but fell to Arcanum 56-54 on Friday, Jan. 12
The Blazers couldn’t complete a fourth quarter comeback that saw them trim a 12 point deficit with two minutes left to two points with 10 seconds left. Arcanum made two free throws before Nick Brubaker hit a shot to cut it back to two before the final buzzer. Trail’s final attempt to foul was ignored and time ran out.
Tayden Blevins led the team with 16 points, 12 coming in the second half.
Kellen Laird had 10 points, all in the second half. Logan Smith had nine first half points and finished with 14 points. Brubaker had eight points and Tyler Lesh hit two 3-pointers to finish with six points.
Trail (5-8, 3-3 WOAC) is scheduled to play Friday and Saturday, Jan. 19-20. On Saturday, the 1999 conference championship team honored before NT takes on Milton Union. On Friday, the Blazers will travel to Tri-Village.
Girls fall to Bradford
NEW PARIS — In a low scoring WOAC matchup with Bradford on Saturday, Jan. 13, Trail took a 17-10 lead into the half, limiting the Railroaders to just a single point in the second quarter.
The lead slowly diminished in the third, with Bradford pulling ahead in the final frame to drop the Lady Blazers to 5-7 overall and 1-6 in conference play.
The Railroaders limited the Lady Blazers to one field goal in the second half, and only one point in the fourth, mostly relying on their size inside coupled with two clutch three point field goals to take control late in the game, securing the 30-23 victory.
According to Trail coach Ken Stewart, Trail often beat themselves with multiple unforced turnovers, especially in the second half.
Freshman Lillian Cordle provided a spark off the bench in the second quarter, connecting on a field goal to put the Blazers on top, while junior Josie Stiner and sophomore Ollie Mason contributed six points each. Fellow sophomore Morgan House had four, Junior Hannah Henderson, three, and Senior Kendyl Johnson, two.
Trail looks to bounce back from their back-to-back conference losses with a Thursday tilt at home vs. Tri Village. JV tips at 6 p.m. with varsity to follow.
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https://www.registerherald.com/2024/01/16/blazer-boys-girls-fall-in-close-contests/
| 2024-01-18T23:57:20Z
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LEWISBURG — January is an important time to give blood. Join the mission of National and Ohio Blood Donor Awareness Month by donating at the Parker Hannifin Lewisburg community blood drive Wednesday, Jan. 24, from 12:30-to 2:30 p.m. at 700 W. Cumberland St.
Schedule an appointment to donate with Solvita (formerly Community Blood Center) on the Donor Time app, by calling 937-461-3220, or at www.donortime.com.
Everyone who registers to donate at any Solvita blood drive, or the Solvita Dayton Center in January and February will receive the “Donor Love” long-sleeve, hoodie shirt, while supplies last.
Solvita currently has an urgent need for multiple blood types. January Blood Donor Awareness Month was proclaimed nationally in 1969 and by the Ohio General Assembly in 2018. The joint purpose is to honor donors and encourage more donations during the winter months when the holiday season, severe weather, and seasonal illness get in the way of maintaining an adequate blood supply.
Save time while helping save lives by using “DonorXPress” to complete the donor questionnaire before arriving at a blood drive. Find DonorXPress on the Donor Time App or at www.givingblood.org/donorxpress.
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https://www.registerherald.com/2024/01/16/blood-drive-set-in-lewisburg/
| 2024-01-18T23:57:26Z
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Souper Supper at New Hope
New Hope Church will host its next Souper Supper on Saturday, Jan. 27, from 4-6 p.m. On the menu: ham and beans, hashbrown casserole, cornbread, salads, desserts and drinks. New Hope Church is located at 5367 U.S. 35 West, Eaton. A free will offering is collected to support this outreach.
Griefshare Class in Camden
Have you suffered a loss? A new Griefshare Class has begun on Monday nights at the First Southern Baptist Church in Camden at 6 p.m. Call 937-452-7291 for information.
Camden Kids for Christ
Northside Chapel First Church of God at 6820 N. Main St. in Camden offers Camden Kids for Christ for students in kindergarten through 6th grade on the third Saturday of each month from 5-7 p.m. All are welcome.
Gospel Light Baptist location change
Gospel Light Baptist Church is currently meeting at William Bruce Elementary School, located at 506B Aukerman Street in Eaton, while its new church building is being built. The public is invited to worship with the Gospel Light church family this Sunday at 9:15 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. For more information go to www.gospellighteaton.org.
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https://www.registerherald.com/2024/01/16/church-briefs-314/
| 2024-01-18T23:57:33Z
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OLENTANGY — After a two week layoff, Eaton’s women’s wrestling team turned in an other solid performance at the Olentangy Orange Pioneer Classic on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 12-13.
“Another great weekend for the Eaton Women’s Wrestling team,” coach Mark Silvers said of his teams fourth place finish.
The Eagles finished fourth out of 54 teams.
“The group continues to grow each week, learning to believe in themselves and how to compete,” Silvers said. “Their willingness to learn and work is awesome to see. We travel this far to see competitors that we will see at the state tournament.”
Four survived the grind to finish in the top ten.
Sarah Abner went 5-2 to finish 5th, Abbie Schmidt went 3-2 to finish 4th, Maycee Adams went 4-1 to finish 3rd and Caroline Klawon went 4-0 for finish 1st.
This week, the Eagles are scheduled to travel to Brookville on Tuesday, Jan, 16 and Centerville on Thursday, Jan. 18 for dual meets. Then Saturday, Jan. 20, they will be attending the Northmont Tournament.
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https://www.registerherald.com/2024/01/16/eaton-4th-at-pioneer-classic/
| 2024-01-18T23:57:39Z
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EATON — On Thursday, Jan. 11, Lisa White, Executive Director of the Preble County Historical Society, sat down with Marjorie Jordan for the PCHS’ most recent documentary, filmed on location inside the home of famous local painter and art teacher, Laura Hunt.
Jordan grew up in Preble County along with her eight siblings. She and her friends exchanged valentine cards, went to skating rinks, had dances and parties to celebrate. She spoke of her first car being a 1960-something Plymouth. She talked about fashion and not being allowed to wear pants to school, only skirts or dresses.
Jordan worked as a school lunch lady in the cafeteria. She loved cooking and her job. She also spoke about her many years of baking and entering projects in the Preble County Fair. She has many blue ribbons.
During the interview, Jordan also spoke of her friend Laura Hunt, who designed and built the home she now lives in. There is even a sink upstairs where Hunt rinsed her paint brushes and the windows surround the area for natural light when teaching her students.
The documentary is set to release this spring or early summer, according to White.
”PCHS is proud to present these incredible local history stories through the documentary lens,” White said. “Majorie was a delight to talk to. Hearing her stories, about her life and the life around this county, meant so much. We are excited to share more of these in the future.”
Follow other stories on the Preble County Historical Society’s YouTube page by searching @preblecountyhistoricalsociety and subscribing. For more information, call 937-787-4256 or email [email protected].
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https://www.registerherald.com/2024/01/16/pchs-introduces-upcoming-documentary/
| 2024-01-18T23:57:45Z
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Too often in politics, words can be used to confuse, manipulate, and mask the truth. Politicians try to get creative with phrasing and language choice, hoping and praying that Americans go along with these games. If you know me, you I‹now I am always willing to call a spade a spade, which is why I am not afraid to raise the red flag on a recently-introduced bill that will have a terrible impact on consumers, ag & business.
The Foreign Pollution Fee Act is the latest iteration of a proposal to impose carbon “tariffs” that would raise the price of everyday goods for consumers and businesses while laying the groundwork for a new domestic carbon tax regime. Its reemergence has sponsors like Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) fighting alongside liberal climate activists and against working American families. The Wall Street Journal says the bill “could well have been written by the Sierra Club and AFL-CIO.” Former President Donald Trump objected to a similar tax scheme when in office, calling it “a bad deal” for Americans.
The misguided idea behind the legislation is to punish countries with higher Co2 emissions than the U.S. In reality, it would punish American workers and consumers, drive jobs overseas, and prolong the inflation crisis. As a businessman and champion for agriculture, I refuse to be fooled by fancy lingo and carefully-chosen titles.
A tariff is a tax, plain and simple. But businesses that pay it ultimately pass it on to their customers. In this case, taxes on a variety of goods our economy depends on — which would include cement, oil, plastics, and paper — could all increase. As the Journal notes, the Foreign Pollution Fee “will be absorbed by American businesses, workers and consumers, as all tariffs are.”
“U.S. production of most goods on the tariff lÎSt doesn’t come close to meeting domestic demand,” the Journal argues. “That means importing businesses won’t have an alternative to paying the tariffs, which would be filtered through supply chains and passed to consumers.”
This is basic economics. And common sense. President Trump was right, imposing border adjustment taxes on working families is a bad deal.
Americans are already straining under the regulatory onslaught and inflationary policies of the Biden administration. The last thing we need is more woke environmental policies set by an unelected bureaucracy that would eliminate working class jobs and hurt families.
During his tenure in the United States Senate, J.D. Vance has shown the unique ability to tune out the swampy Beltway noise and stand for Ohio’s working men and women. I hope he will take a firm position against this job-killing proposal.
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https://www.registerherald.com/2024/01/16/say-what-you-want-its-a-tax/
| 2024-01-18T23:57:51Z
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Veronica Dearth
FAYETTE, MISSOURI — The office of Central Methodist University Provost Rita Gulstad announced recently the students included on the Fall 2023 Dean’s List. More than 850 students across all campuses and online learning met the requirements for placement, including a grade point average of 3.50 or higher for the semester. Veronica Jo Lyn Dearth, of West Alexandria, was among those on the Fayette campus who earned recognition by the University.
Fall 2023 President’s List at MU
OXFORD — Miami University students ranked in the top three percent of undergraduate students within each division for the fall 2023 semester have been named to the President’s List recognizing academic excellence. Local students listed included: Ashton Geoit of Eaton, Coen Reed of Brookville, Izzy Bowen of Lewisburg, Lillian Davis of Lewisburg, Ashley Earley of Eaton, Jaelyn Hawkins of Lewisburg, Kami Hawley of Camden, Owen Hewitt of Eaton, Lehua Hoops of Brookville, Angel Bowers of Eldorado, Ayden Childers of Camden, Gracie Lovely of Camden, Alexis Miller of Camden, Kendra Worley of Camden, Buddy Henderson of West Alexandria, Sydney Aldrich of West Alexandria, Gabrielle Brown of Eaton and Hailie Edwards of Eaton.
Dean’s List at Miami University
OXFORD — Miami University students who are ranked in the top twenty percent of undergraduate students within each division for the Fall semester 2023 have been named to the Dean’s list recognizing academic excellence. Mallory Deaton of Eaton, Lindsey Koenig of Lewisburg, Cam Lewis of Eaton, Lorena Cravens of Eaton, Eliot Feck of Eaton, OH Dylan Jackson of Eaton, Vanessa Mann of Eaton, Joel Combs of Eaton, Taylor Murray of Camden, Travis Pittman of Eaton, Chelsey Pauley of Brookville, Allie DeLong of West Alexandria, Kurtis Anderson of Camden, Tristan Bowers of Eldorado, Lily Hampton of College Corner, Anna Kramer of Eaton and Wes Taylor of New Paris.
Cumberlands President’s List
WILLIAMSBURG, KENTUCKY — In recognition of academic performance, the Office of Academic Affairs at University of the Cumberlands has announced the students named to the President’s List for the fall 2023 semester. To be eligible for the President’s List, students must be enrolled in at least 12 credit hours (a full course load), maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 4.0 for the semester, receive an “A” grade in UC Engage, and be in good academic standing. (Note: All students who are named to the President’s List automatically make the Dean’s List, since the Dean’s List requires a minimum semester GPA of 3.5; however, Cumberlands only lists students on either the Dean’s List or the President’s List, to avoid overlap.) The following students from the local area made the Fall 2023 President’s List: Erika Wilkinson of Eaton, Ceridwyn Salyers of Eaton,
Madison Hundley
WILLIAMSBURG, KENTUCKY — In recognition of academic performance, the Office of Academic Affairs at University of the Cumberlands has announced the students named to the Dean’s List for the fall 2023 semester. To be eligible for the Dean’s List, students must be enrolled in at least 12 credit hours (a full course load), maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.50 for the semester, and be in good academic standing. Madison Hundley of West Alexandria was named to the Dean’s List for the fall 2023 semester.
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https://www.registerherald.com/2024/01/16/student-notes-166/
| 2024-01-18T23:57:58Z
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CLAYTON — The match Thursday night between Northmont and Greenville ended in a 42-42 deadlock, but the Thunderbolts were awarded the victory by tie-breaker criteria.
Greenville forfeited two matches while Northmont had one forfeit, which awarded the victory to the Thunderbolts.
It was a hard fought, well contested match.
Northmont limped into the match worn out and beat up, essentially running on fumes after competing in several arduous tournaments.
First was the Edgewood Invitational in mid-December, the Greater Miami Valley Wrestling Association Holiday Tournament two days after Christmas, and the Perrysburg Invitational on Jan. 5 and 6.
Asked if he expected the match with Greenville to be so tough, Northmont coach Brad Statzer said, “I did. We had some kids out of the lineup and one didn’t show up for weigh-in. We snuck through a win because usually if you give up that many pins you aren’t going to win, so we were very fortunate tonight to get criteria and have fewer forfeits than they did tonight.”
Northmont lost five matches by pin.
The match started with the 120 pound weight class where Connor Slentz won by fall (5:56) over Ashton Noggle to give the Thunderbolts an early 6-0 lead.
Greenville tied the score at 126 pounds where Avery Meade won by fall (1:15) against Henry Pergram.
132: Noah Allen won by forfeit.
138: Bradley Bush won by fall (5:51) against Cameron Johnson to tied the match 12-12.
144: Layden Wion won by fall (4:30) against Vann Edwards to put Greenville up 18-12.
150: Greenville increased its lead to 24-12 as William Bush won by fall (1:57) against John Wright.
157: Charlie Wendt won by fall (4:17) over Tristan Bay-Russell to cut Greenville’s lead to 24-18.
165: The Green Wave countered with another pin when Hunter Harter won by fall (2:37) over Dylan Cleary to take a 30-18 lead.
175: Marcos Velasquez won by fall (1:11) against Gavin Hayes to cut the deficit to 30-24.
190: Devin Jones won by forfeit to tie the match 30-30.
215: Christian Moncrief put the Thunderbolts on top 36-30 when he pinned Anthony Gutierrez in 1:55.
285: Charlie Henson won by fall (5:39) over Andrew Winner to put Northmont up 42-30.
Greenville won the last two matches to tie the score 42-42.
106: Jack Suter took a 7-0 lead after the first period and then won by fall (3:42) over Elijah Humphrey.
113: Henry Alread won by forfeit.
“We’ve had a pretty rough schedule up to this date, so we are recovering from a lot of injuries with kids banged up or out sick,” Statzer added.
Greenville coach David Guillozet was pleased with the effort of his team.
“I’m proud of the way my kids wrestled. They came out and fought hard. We got some pins and got some good wins, some unexpected wins, but that’s how it goes,” Guillozet said.
The Thunderbolts will host the Scott Newburg Invite this Saturday at 10 a.m. Participating teams attending include Tippecanoe, Troy, and Walnut Hills.
At the same time, the Northmont girls wrestling team will be hosting its first ever all girls tournament, the ‘Scott Newburg Memorial Girls Tournament.’
Reach Ron Nunnari by email: [email protected].
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https://www.registerherald.com/2024/01/16/tbolts-mat-men-edge-greenville/
| 2024-01-18T23:58:04Z
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What’s a Plat Book? I’ve come across this question a few times and that’s when I realize that I’ve been surrounded by books of a technical nature for all of my working life and most of my natural life. We sold Plat Books some 25 years ago while I was in FFA, so it should come as no surprise that all these years later I’m still dealing in Plat Books.
Let’s start with what a Plat Book isn’t. It’s not a plot book. Let’s not use the words “plot book.” I don’t know what a plot book is. It sounds like something used to keep track of your ongoing storyline for a series of novels.
A Plat Book in its most basic sense shows property lines along with property ownership. Many moons ago, banks, other lending institutions, or a local business would sponsor them and hand them out free of charge to customers. Nowadays, more than a few conservation districts and county extension offices sponsor and resell them. The books are still sponsored in part by local businesses.
The latest version of our Plat Book at the Preble Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) consists of a spread of pages for each of our 12 townships. One page shows the parcel boundaries and land ownership for each parcel 10 acres in size or larger. On the opposite page is a current color aerial photo of the township, and on the fold-out page next to that is a black-and-white aerial photo from 1949. This is no coincidence that we chose the 1949 aerial photos. 1949 was the year that Preble SWCD was first formed. These new and old photos can be used to compare changes in land use over the past 75 years. When one attempts to cram an entire township onto a single page, text and photos can start to look mighty small, so you may want to invest in a magnifying glass to pick out the finer details.
But that’s not all. The Plat Book lists current elected officials in Preble County and contains details on how Eaton, Preble County, and all 12 townships came to be named. The back of the book has a few pages of old advertisements from local businesses that first appeared in a Plat Book years ago. A few of these businesses are still a going concern today. If you are honed up on your county geography, or even if you are not, don’t miss the Preble County Place Names Quiz in the back of the book.
Our 2024 Plat Books are available at our office, at the Land Use Management Office at the Preble County Courthouse, and at the Preble County Historical Society. Plat Books retail for $30.00, including sales tax. Come and see us. Preble SWCD is open five days a week from 7 a.m.- 3:30 p.m. and we are located at 2789 U.S. 35 E, halfway between Eaton and West Alexandria, right next to Long’s Truck and Trailer.
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https://www.registerherald.com/2024/01/16/whats-a-plat-book/
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Military experts debate if the cheap first-person-view (FPV) drones can replace artillery in the future. Military analyst Serhii Berezutskyi told ArmyInform that it is early to say that drones can replace artillery despite the fact that both weapons have areas of combat use that partially overlap.
With the US and EU aid packages delayed, Ukraine is ramping up the production of one-way attack suicide” drones to compensate for the lack of artillery shells at the front, the Ukrainian Deputy Defense Ministry said.
First-person view (FPV) is a method for remotely controlling vehicles like military drones from the operator’s perspective using onboard cameras and FPV goggles.
The typical FPV drone used by Ukraine’s Armed Forces combines a quadcopter design, a technical vision system, and a small warhead, usually taken from a grenade launcher’s projectile. The FPV aerial vehicles are one-way-attack or suicide drones that use high-explosive and fragmentation munitions as their warheads to destroy manpower or target armored vehicles.
FPV drone vs artillery
According to Berezutskyi, comparing the use of an FPV drone with an artillery shell is incorrect for a number of reasons, so based on his expertise, it is not advisable to directly compare their impacts.
Unlike artillery systems with the capability to launch heavier projectiles over several dozen kilometers, a standard FPV drone typically has a limited range of just a few kilometers.
Berezutskyi highlights that FPV drones are nearing the range and capabilities of battalion mortars, though this comparison is conditional. While FPV drones with up to a 30-kilometer range exist, it’s premature to claim they can entirely substitute conventional artillery.
What FPV drones can not do?
The expert says the utilization of FPV drones does not currently allow for barrage fire or suppression of a stronghold, but their massive use could disrupt the advance of an enemy column or destroy the firing points of a Russian platoon stronghold before a Ukrainian assault begins.
The FPV drone’s warhead may have lower firepower than an artillery shell, but it makes up for it with remarkable precision. In some instances, FPV drones can penetrate a tank hatch or enter a dugout. The future promises increased tactical effectiveness through the swarming deployment of UAVs.
Therefore, Berezutskyi argues that comparing FPV drone usage with artillery shells is flawed for several reasons despite their shared combat application areas.
The expert underscores the unique roles of these weapon classes. Artillery excels at long ranges. Meanwhile, FPV drones are short-range, cost-effective, precise weapons.
Artillery and missiles, with the added assistance of FPV drones, do the job
According to military observer Viktor Kobzaryk, in both 2022 and 2023, the Ukrainian military was most active in destroying enemy missile and artillery systems in the midst of our counter-offensive and offensive actions. It would have been simply impossible to do the same amount of work to destroy Russian artillery using FPV drones alone.
Armyinform notes that the Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed 2,021 Russian artillery systems in 2022, according to the Ukrainian General Staff’s data. In 2023, a remarkable achievement unfolded as 6,553 enemy self-propelled and towed artillery units, along with the majority of the 947 MLRS, were eliminated without any reliance on air support.
Read also:
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/01/19/expert-fpv-drones-can-not-replace-artillery-but-are-comparable-with-battalion-mortar-systems/
| 2024-01-18T23:59:27Z
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Exclusives
Military
British Intel: War against Ukraine likely to negatively impact outlook of Russian economy. Russia’s war against Ukraine is highly likely to negatively impact the outlook for the Russian economy, an intelligence update by the UK Defense Ministry has suggested.
Media: Ukrainian drones strike oil depot in Saint Petersburg. The Saint Petersburg Oil Terminal is Russia’s largest oil products transshipment terminal in the Baltic region, as well as the largest stevedoring company at the Port of Saint Petersburg.
Intelligence and technology
Ukrainian-made drone flew 1,250 km and hit “target” near St. Petersburg, Minister confirms. “Yes, last night we hit the target, and this thing [drone] flew exactly 1,250 km,” Minister Kamyshin said.
Rheinmetall overhauls two of 14 Leopard tanks for Ukraine in nine months. Rheinmetall has finished the overhaul of two Leopard 2A4 tanks for Ukraine as part of a 14-tank commitment announced by the Netherlands and Denmark in April 2023.
Ukrainian Intelligence: Russia lacks reserves for simultaneous offensive efforts in multiple directions. On 17 January, Ukrainian Main Military Intelligence Directorate Deputy Chief Major General Vadym Skibitskyi said that Russia does not have enough reserves to conduct large-scale offensive operations in several directions at the same time, as per an update by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
International
BILD: NATO plans largest exercise since Cold War, involving 90,000 soldiers, to deter Russia. Steadfast Defender, NATO’s massive exercise, set to kick off in Norway, Lithuania, and Hungary, simulating a Russian attack triggering collective defense measures, as per BILD.
Russian Shahed sucide drone attack damages residential buildings, injures civilians. Overnight on January 17-18, Russia launched an attack on Ukraine involving 33 Shahed-136/131 drones. Ukrainian air defense units successfully intercepted and destroyed 22 of those Russian drones.
Artillery Coalition for Ukraine launches in Paris without Ukrainian Defense Minister. Rustem Umerov canceled his visit at the last minute “due to security concerns”.
Humanitarian and social impact
Russians shell residential building in Kupiansk, Kharkiv Oblast, killing woman. A 57-year-old woman was killed, and two men were injured. A multi-story residential building suffered severe damage.
Political and legal developments
ISW: Medvedev’s remarks on Ukraine signal Moscow uninterested in negotiations with Kyiv. Russia’s ex-President Dmitry Medvedev declared Ukraine’s existence causes endless war with Russia, claiming that Ukrainians will finally accept subjugation to Russia to save their lives.
“Brotherhood of nations”: Russia opens museum of looted Ukrainian belongings. Organizers claim the exhibit aims to showcase the “brotherhood” between Russians and Ukrainians.
New developments
Reuters: Russian-annexed Crimea hit by power blackout. Parts of Crimea, annexed by Russian troops in 2014, were left without electricity on the evening of 18 January, Reuters has reported. Later, the Russian Energy Ministry said power was restored.
Read our previous daily review here
As of 18 Jan 2024, the approximate losses of weapons and military equipment of the Russian Armed Forces from the beginning of the invasion to the present day:
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- Personnel: 373600 (+780)
- Tanks: 6147 (+21)
- APV: 11410 (+38)
- Artillery systems: 8835 (+24)
- MLRS: 966 (+2)
- Anti-aircraft systems: 653
- Aircraft: 331
- Helicopters: 324
- UAV: 6925 (+41)
- Cruise missiles: 1818 (+1)
- Warships/boats: 23
- Submarines: 1
- Vehicles and fuel tanks: 11794 (+39)
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/01/19/russo-ukrainian-war-day-694-paris-launches-artillery-coalition-to-bolster-ukraines-defense/
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TOKYO - Japan aims to become the fifth country to put a spacecraft on the moon when it tries a precision landing on Friday.
The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) is attempting to land within 100 metres (328 feet) of its target. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) says the technology will become essential to searching for water, and other factors that could sustain life on the moon.
Here's a timeline of some events in Japan's space programs leading up to the planned SLIM touchdown.
YEAR PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
1970 Ohsumi A University of Tokyo lab launched
the first Japanese satellite on a
homemade rocket, opening Japan's
space age. Aerospace engineering
was previously banned under a
U.S.-led occupation after the end
of World War II until 1952.
1990- Hiten Japan launched its first lunar
1993 probe and conducted navigational
experiments between the earth and
the moon. The spacecraft was
manually collided onto the moon at
the end of the mission.
2001- H-IIA The flagship medium-lift rocket
Prese has been successful at 47 of 48
nt launches, but JAXA plans to retire
it after two more launches and
replace it with low-cost H3.
2003- Hayabusa The spacecraft made a rendezvous
2010 on an asteroid named Itokawa in
2005 and marked the world's first
mission to deliver asteroid
samples to the earth in 2010.
2007- The lunar orbiter obtained
2009 Kaguya high-definition images of the
(SELENE) moon's surface and other
scientific data until manually
sent to crash onto the moon.
2014- The successor to Hayabusa touched
Prese Hayabusa2 down on the asteroid Ryugu in 2019
nt and brought a sample capsule back
to the earth in 2020. JAXA keeps
operating the craft to study
planetary defence from small
celestial objects approaching the
earth.
Octob Epsilon-6 JAXA manually destroyed the sixth
er model of Epsilon solid-fuel small
2022 rocket after launching because of
its deviant trajectory, marking
Japan's first rocket launch
failure since 2003.
Novem OMOTENASHI The small probe was meant to
ber achieve Japan's first soft landing
2022 on the moon. But JAXA lost contact
with it shortly after it was
launched as one of 10 secondary
payloads for the first mission of
NASA's Artemis Program.
March H3 JAXA manually destroyed the
2023- initial model of the new flagship
Prese rocket after launch due to engine
nt ignition trouble, causing
widespread delays in Japan's space
missions including SLIM. H3's
second model is set be launched on
Feb. 15, 2024.
April Hakuto-R Tokyo-based startup ispace inc
2023 Mission 1 attempted what could have been the
world's first private-sector lunar
landing, but the spacecraft
crashed onto the moon due to
altitude miscalculation. The
company plans to launch the second
mission in the fourth quarter of
2024.
July Epsilon S An engine of a new type of Epsilon
2023 small rocket exploded at JAXA's
testing site. The accident delayed
upcoming satellite launch plans,
including Vietnam's earth
observation satellite that was due
to be brought to space by the
first model of Epsilon S.
Septe SLIM JAXA launched SLIM two weeks after
mber Indian counterpart achieved its
2023- Chandrayaan-3 mission to the
Prese unexplored lunar south pole. SLIM
nt took a fuel-efficient four-month
trajectory to the moon and will
start a 20-minute touchdown phase
from 1500 GMT Friday.
Sources: JAXA, National Diet Library, Reuters reports REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/japans-space-programs-and-moon-missions
| 2024-01-19T00:13:40Z
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MANILA - At least seven people were killed when a landslide hit a house in the southern Philippines on Jan 18, a disaster official said, with the death toll expected to rise.
The incident happened in the morning in a mountainous gold mining region of Davao de Oro province on Mindanao island, where heavy rain triggered flooding and landslides that week.
A family of eight – including six children – had left their evacuation centre and returned home for a prayer meeting with other villagers, Monkayo municipal disaster officer Rocris Idul told AFP.
Rescuers retrieved seven bodies from the mud, including those of the children. Another four people were still missing, Mr Idul said.
“There’s a very slim chance they can survive,” Mr Idul said, noting the huge volume of mud that buried the house.
Three people were pulled out alive, including one who was severely injured, Mr Idul said.
Monkayo Mayor Manual Zamora had issued a warning on Jan 17 for people living in “high risk” areas of the municipality to leave their homes, his chief of staff, Ms Rodielyn Manugas, told AFP.
Schools in the municipality were ordered to suspend classes on Jan 19, with more heavy rain expected in the region. AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/7-killed-in-philippine-landslide
| 2024-01-19T00:13:51Z
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NEW YORK - JPMorgan Chase raised chief executive officer Jamie Dimon’s pay to US$36 million (S$48.4 million) for 2023, a year in which the bank notched the highest profit in the history of American banking.
The board granted Mr Dimon a US$1.5 million salary and US$34.5 million of performance-based incentive compensation, according to a regulatory filing on Jan 18. His total pay is up 4.3 per cent from 2022, when he made US$34.5 million.
“The firm is in a uniquely fortunate position to be led by such a highly talented and experienced executive who continues to grow the company, maintain market leadership positions, strengthen the firm’s reputation, invest in opportunities for the future, promote diversity and best practices, manage risk and develop great leaders, while also maintaining his focus on the firm’s clients,” the board said in the filing.
JPMorgan pulled in US$49.6 billion in 2023, boosted by the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes and its purchase of First Republic Bank in a government-led auction. The bank’s shares rose 27 per cent during the year, outperforming all major rivals.
Mr Dimon, a billionaire, has been in his role for 18 years – a longer tenure than the CEO of any other major bank – and is often the highest-paid of his peers.
In October, New York-based JPMorgan said in a filing that Mr Dimon plans to sell one million of the bank’s shares, the first such transaction since he took the helm at the Wall Street giant, for financial diversification and tax-planning purposes.
He has long quipped that he plans to stay in his seat five more years, no matter when asked. That joke turned serious in 2021 when the board gave him a special incentive package worth more than US$50 million to stay until at least 2026. Still, Mr Dimon has not indicated he views that award as a career closer.
“I can’t do this forever, I know that, but my intensity is the same,” Mr Dimon, 67, said at the firm’s investor day in 2023. “I think when I don’t have that kind of intensity, I should leave.” BLOOMBERG
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/jpmorgan-lifts-ceo-jamie-dimon-s-pay-to-484-million-for-2023
| 2024-01-19T00:14:01Z
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BENGALURU - US department store chain Macy’s is cutting 2,350 jobs and closing five stores, as it aims to streamline its operations, a company spokesperson told Reuters on Jan 18.
The layoffs make up 3.5 per cent of the overall workforce across Macy’s. The company operated 722 store locations as of January 2023 and employed 94,570 full- and part-time employees, excluding seasonal hires.
The job cuts come as an investor group consisting of Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital puts pressure to take Macy’s private in a US$5.8 billion (S$7.8 billion) offer, Reuters reported in December.
Macy’s incoming chief executive officer Tony Spring is also focused on cutting expenses on promotions to boost margins as the company recovers from an inventory glut in 2022.
Macy’s spokesperson said the layoffs were part of its plan “to deploy a new strategy to meet the needs of an everchanging consumer and marketplace.”
As the company evaluates the “right mix of on- and off-mall locations”, it intends to close five of its full-line locations this year, the spokesperson added.
The job cuts were first reported by the Wall Street Journal, which, citing a memo sent to employees, said the layoffs would occur on Jan 26.
In November, the retailer beat analysts’ estimates for quarterly profit on lower inventories and strong demand for beauty products. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-19T00:14:12Z
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NEW YORK - A new batch of US Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has attracted strong investor interest, though it is unclear if they will be able to maintain the pace of inflows in coming weeks.
Investors have poured US$1.9 billion (S$2.55 billion) into nine new exchange-traded funds tracking the spot price of Bitcoin in their first three days of trading, data from issuers and analysts showed, with fund giants BlackRock and Fidelity pulling in the lion’s share of the flows.
Collective flows to the nine funds outpaced post-launch flows into the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, which drew a record US$1.2 billion in the first three days of trading after its 2021 launch. The SPDR Gold Shares ETF attracted US$1.13 billion in the first three days after its 2004 launch.
Still, the investments in the long-awaited ETFs - launched on Jan 11, a day after receiving approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) - fell short of the most aggressive estimates of first-day flows in the billions of dollars.
Market participants said it remained to be seen to what degree funds tracking the notoriously volatile cryptocurrency continue drawing retail and institutional investors, and which issuers will come out ahead. Some bullish analysts have said flows could reach between US$50 billion and US$100 billion by the end of the year.
Bitcoin is down more than 8 per cent since Jan 11, after rallying in recent months on anticipation that the ETFs would finally get the nod from the SEC.
“So far, the launches have almost measured up to the hype,” said Todd Sohn, an ETF analyst at Strategas. “The next question is: What is their staying power? What will those flows look like in six months’ time, or six years from now?”
For now, lower fees and name recognition appear to be key factors in drawing investors. The iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF from asset management giant BlackRock has attracted more than US$700 million, while Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund has topped US$500 million, according to BitMEX Research, a cryptocurrency research and analysis firm.
Fees among the nine issuers - before waivers - range from a low of 0.19 per cent to a high of 0.39 per cent.
“Fees are clearly a key determinant for success,” said Sui Chung, chief executive officer of CF Benchmarks, which is providing the index against which six of the new ETFs will be measured.
“Those that charge the lower management fees will unsurprisingly make themselves more appealing compared to their peers. Brand recognition is another core aspect.”
The next hurdle for the funds will likely be demonstrating their ability to win acceptance among institutional investors, such as pension funds, and investment advisers.
“The question of what to do with these in a portfolio has been drowned out by a lot of the noise” surrounding the new products’ debut, Steve Kurz, head of asset management at Galaxy Digital, said ahead of last week’s launch of its ETF. Galaxy has partnered with Invesco to launch the Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF, one of the nine new spot Bitcoin ETFs.
The process of talking about what kind of allocation is appropriate and how spot Bitcoin ETFs will “work their way into model portfolios will come into focus in the next six months,” he said. REUTERS
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MADRID - Antoine Griezmann and Rodrigo Riquelme scored in extra time to give Atletico Madrid a 4-2 derby victory over Real Madrid that earned Diego Simeone's side a Copa del Rey quarter-final place on Thursday.
Atletico winger Samuel Lino opened the scoring for the hosts from a counter-attack in the 39th minute but goalkeeper Jan Oblak made a mistake trying to punch a Luka Modric free kick away and sent the ball into his own net right before the break.
Alvaro Morata stroked home a loose ball in the 57th minute to put Atleti in front again but Joselu headed in late on to take the match to extra time.
Griezmann worked his magic in the 100th minute to score with a brilliant close-range strike and Riquelme secured the win in the 119th minute with a tidy finish. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/atletico-earn-gutsy-4-2-win-against-real-to-book-cup-quarter-final-berth
| 2024-01-19T00:14:32Z
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Egypt showed their true face in the second half of an exciting 2-2 draw Nations Cup draw with Ghana on Thursday despite going behind twice, coach Rui Vitoria said.
With Mohammed Kudus firing Ghana ahead with a brilliant opener and Egypt losing Mohamed Salah to injury on the stroke of halftime, the omens looked bad for the disjointed Pharaohs.
However, they came out with all guns blazing in the second half, led by lively winger Omar Marmoush, to share honours with Ghana and keep alive their hopes of advancing to the last 16.
"The players, who have an excellent relationship with each other, had a halftime talk and then they showed their true face in the second half despite conceding," Vitoria told beIN Sports after the game.
Eintracht Frankfurt winger Marmoush restored parity on 69 minutes after making the most of a poor back pass from Inaki Williams but Egypt's celebrations were short-lived, with Kudus striking again two minutes later.
However, Mostafa Mohamed ensured Egypt shared the spoils with his second goal in as many games, a trademark poacher's effort that leaves Ghana in precarious situation in the group.
Seven-time record winners Egypt, who also drew 2-2 with Mozambique in their opening Group B game, have two points from two games and face leaders Cape Verde (three points from one match) on Monday. Ghana lie at the bottom with a solitary point.
"The match (against Ghana) was exhausting; we need to have some rest. We have three days to prepare for the next game," Portuguese boss Vitoria added.
"There are no easy games; we saw how Cape Verde beat Ghana. We have to focus on the next game." REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/egypt-showed-true-character-against-ghana-despite-falling-behind-says-vitoria
| 2024-01-19T00:14:42Z
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Blake Shelton has recently announced a new performance in Texas amidst ongoing speculations about his relationship with his wife, Gwen Stefani.
This announcement comes at a time when the couple, who have been married since 2021, are facing rumors of a potential split due to their demanding careers.
Blake, 47, took to his Instagram Stories to share the news of his upcoming gig, posting a photo of himself donned in a blue button-down shirt and a tan jacket.
The announcement, which read, "Blake Shelton, Tuesday Feb. 27, 2024," was accompanied by a caption from his team, stating: "Don't miss Blake at @rodeohouston on February 27! Tickets are on sale now."
This post included a link for fans to purchase tickets to the show. Meanwhile, Gwen, 54, has been making headlines with her latest career move – a reunion with her band No Doubt, set to perform at this year's Coachella.
This marks the first time in a decade that the band will reunite. However, Blake has not publicly mentioned Gwen's recent career developments, adding to the speculation about their marriage.
Gwen teased the band's reunion in a video shared on No Doubt's social media platforms, wherein she reminisced over old band memorabilia and artworks.
“This is actually bringing back so many memories," she said while examining a poster she had crafted herself.
The video climaxed with a group chat among band members, including Tony Kanal, Adrian Young, and Tom Dumont, where they agreed to perform a show, ending with a giant red question mark on a black screen.
Fans were ecstatic about the announcement, with many expressing their excitement and anticipation in the comment section.
"Oh my God. Now why was I just asking for a No Doubt reunion a month ago? Did I manifest this?" one fan pondered. Another shared, "I'm in tears! I love you guys so much please go on tour."
The band's last album, "Push and Shove," was released in 2012, and they haven't been active since 2015, fueling fans' hopes for a reunion.
Amidst their professional achievements, Blake and Gwen have been spending significant time apart due to their busy schedules.
This New Year's Eve, they found themselves in different time zones, with Blake performing in Texas and Gwen in Las Vegas.
Body language expert Inbaal Honigan noted a noticeable change in their public interactions, pointing out Blake's recent tendency to keep his hands in his pockets during public appearances, a stark contrast to their early days of romance in 2015, which were characterized by overt displays of affection.
Inbaal told HELLO!: “For a man who formerly missed no opportunity to touch his beloved, this isn't a comforting sign.”
She further noted that during the CMT Awards, both Blake and Gwen posed with their hands in their pockets, despite smiling.
“Some couples are more tactile than others, and that is fine. But a couple who used to be all over each other and now aren't, are likely going through tough times romantically,” she concluded.
Get the lowdown on the biggest, hottest celebrity news, features and profiles coming out of the U.S. Sign up to our HELLO! Hollywood newsletter and get them delivered straight to your inbox.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/brides/511625/blake-shelton-makes-major-career-announcement-amid-ongoing-speculations-about-relationship-with-wife-gwen-stefani/
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Lisa Vanderpump, the star of Vanderpump Rules, has admitted that her experiences of menopause were 'brutal' and left her feeling like a teenager every day. Almost all women will go through menopause, which is the point in time 12 months after a woman's last period, and during the years before and after this transition women may have changes in their monthly cycles, hot flashes, and other symptoms.
Each woman's experience is different, but for Lisa, now 63, she told HELLO! that menopause for her was something she had to ride out by herself with no help.
"Menopause was brutal and I rode through that with no help at all," she said at the premiere of Vanderpump Rules season 11 in Hollywood on January, 17. "I think women aren't really prepared for menopause because it's just something you hear about – but it's like going back to being a 14-year-old every day. It's not even three or four days a month, it's just all the time and that was hard."
Speaking of the support she received from her husband Ken, Lisa acknowledged that she was lucky to have someone to talk to when it was "overwhelming," but added: "I think partners need to be more understanding, and men need to have an education as much as women an be able to recognize 'this isn't normal' for the person you married."
Lisa has been on American reality TV for over 15 years, appearing on the Real Housewives franchise for several years before launching her own show on Bravo that followed her West Hollywood restaurant Pump and the staff that worked there.
"The worst thing [about aging] is when you see yourself in flashback and you're like, 'Oh, my God, I've been on reality TV for a whole lifetime!' and that's not always the easiest thing to see, but I just get on with it," she said of aging in the entertainment industry, before quipping that the five things that help her are "positivity, exercise, good diet, good attitude – and Botox".
On World Menopause Day on October 8, Candace Bushnell joined HELLO! and No.7, the iconic British skincare brand, for a panel that discussed the misconceptions and taboos surrounding menopause and perimenopause.
Asked about the benefits of life after menopause, she reflected: "Becoming a fuller person, feeling courageous. There are a lot of things that hold us back when we're younger," specifically citing the idea of the "male gaze" and adding that women were encouraged to try new ideas and ventures they hadn't thought of before, now blessed with the freedom of time.
"You're not tied to behave in a feminine way, you're free to become a fuller and more rounded person," she added.
Stream the premiere of Vanderpump Rules season 11 on January 30 on Hayu in Canada and Bravo in the US, and on January 31 on Hayu in the UK
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/healthandbeauty/health-and-fitness/511624/lisa-vanderpump-brutal-menopause-left-her-feeling-like-a-teenager-everyday/
| 2024-01-19T01:20:23Z
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