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It must be tough being a kid these days. Born too late to actually enjoy the internet, too early to declare yourself god-emperor of a desert wasteland run on water scarcity and guzzoline – and should you try to numb the pain with a little light math, you’ll most likely have to put up with coming second to a robot.
“The International Mathematical Olympiad is a modern-day arena for the world's brightest high-school mathematicians,” write Trieu Trinh and Thang Luong, research scientists at Google DeepMind, in a new blog post about their breakthrough artificial intelligence (AI) system, AlphaGeometry.
AlphaGeometry is "an AI system that solves complex geometry problems at a level approaching a human Olympiad gold-medalist – a breakthrough in AI performance,” they announce. “In a benchmarking test of 30 Olympiad geometry problems, AlphaGeometry solved 25 within the standard Olympiad time limit. For comparison […] the average human gold medalist solved 25.9 problems.”
It’s not just the system’s score in the contest that’s impressive. It’s been almost 50 years since the first ever mathematical proof by computer – essentially a brute-force workthrough of the four-color theorem – and since then, the admittedly controversial realm of computer-assisted proofs has come on leaps and bounds.
But very recently, with the dawn of things like big data and advanced machine learning techniques, we’ve started to see a shift – however slight – away from using computers as simple number-crunchers, and towards artificial intelligence that can produce genuinely creative proofs.
The fact that AlphaGeometry can tackle the kinds of complex mathematical problems faced by Olympiad mathletes may signal a key milestone in AI research, Trinh and Luong believe.
Until now, such a program would face at least two major hurdles. Firstly, computers are, well, computers; as anybody who’s ever written out 50 pages of code only to have the whole thing foiled by one mistyped semicolon in line 337 can tell you, they’re not great at things like reasoning or deduction. Secondly, math is kind of difficult to teach even the most cutting-edge machine learning system.
“Learning systems like neural networks are quite bad at doing ‘algebraic reasoning’,” David Saxton, also of DeepMind, told New Scientist back in 2019.
“Humans are good at [math],” he added, “but they are using general reasoning skills that current artificial learning systems don’t possess.”
AlphaGeometry, however, takes on these challenges by combining a neural language model – good at making quick predictions, but rubbish at making actual sense – with a symbolic deduction engine. These latter machines are “based on formal logic and use clear rules to arrive at conclusions,” Trinh and Luong write, making them better at rational deduction, but also slow and inflexible – “especially when dealing with large, complex problems on their own.”
Together, the two systems worked in a sort of loop: the symbolic deduction engine would chug away at the problem until it got stuck, at which point the language model would suggest a tweak to the argument. It was a great theory – there was just one problem. What would they train the language model on?
Ideally, the program would be fed millions if not billions of human-made geometric proofs, which it could then chew up and spit back out in varying levels of gobbledegook. But “human-made” and “geometric” don’t exactly work well with “computer program” – “[AlphaGeometry] does not ‘see’ anything about the problems that it solves,” Stanislas Dehaene, a cognitive neuroscientist at the Collège de France who studies foundational geometric knowledge, told the New York Times. “There is absolutely no spatial perception of the circles, lines and triangles that the system learns to manipulate.”
So the team had to come up with a different solution. “Using highly parallelized computing, the system started by generating one billion random diagrams of geometric objects and exhaustively derived all the relationships between the points and lines in each diagram,” Trinh and Luong explain.
“AlphaGeometry found all the proofs contained in each diagram, then worked backwards to find out what additional constructs, if any, were needed to arrive at those proofs,” they continue. They call this process "symbolic deduction and traceback".
And it was evidently successful: not only was the AI nearly as good as the average human IMO gold medalist, but it was 2.5 times as successful as the previous state-of-the-art system to attempt the challenge. “Its geometry capability alone makes it the first AI model in the world capable of passing the bronze medal threshold of the IMO in 2000 and 2015,” the pair note.
While the system is currently confined to geometry problems, Trinh and Luong hope to expand the capabilities of math AI across far more disciplines.
“We’re not making incremental improvement,” Trinh told the Times. “We’re making a big jump, a big breakthrough in terms of the result.”
“Just don’t overhype it,” he added.
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https://www.iflscience.com/googles-newest-ai-beats-all-but-the-best-math-olympians-72527
| 2024-01-19T19:46:36Z
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Today, January 19, at 3:20 pm UTC, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has made history – not just for Japan, but for the whole world. Its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) successfully soft-landed on the Moon. The goal was to be able to do so within just 100 meters (330 feet) of a specific target area. Never before have humans attempted such precision in landing a spacecraft on another world. It looks like it achieved this but confirmation of the precision is expected next week.
With SLIM, Japan becomes the fifth nation ever to soft-land on the Moon, and the third this century. Two other Asian countries – China and India – also performed the not-so-easy feat, joining the previous success of the United States and former Soviet Union from the 1960s and '70s.
SLIM is a technology demonstration for high-precision landing. It used observations from another JAXA mission, SELENE (also known as Kaguya), to know precisely where it was on the surface of the Moon and move precisely to the target area. In comparison, the expected landing site for Apollo 11 was an ellipse 20 kilometers by 5 kilometers (12 by 3.1 miles). Achieving a landing “where we want” rather than “where we can” is a truly incredible feat.
However, not everything has gone perfectly. After a much-anticipated press conference, JAXA confirmed SLIM's solar cells are not charging and generating electricity so it is currently using only its batteries. If SLIM can't charge, its mission life could be just a few hours. There is a chance that when the Sun's direction changes it may hit the solar cells and they could start charging, but for now JAXA has shut down part of the spacecraft to save power and is prioritizing downloading the landing data and photographs taken. Still, the mission has achieved much already, including the precision landing and the release of its two rovers, which are both communicating with Earth.
Both rovers have some interesting experimental designs: the first will move using a hopping mechanism and is equipped with cameras and a few science payloads. The second, an extremely light rover weighing just 250 grams (9 ounces), is a shapeshifter that can change shape to best adapt to various conditions it might encounter on the Moon’s surface.
Despite the human Moon landings and the several soviet missions from decades past, reaching and landing on our natural satellite is fraught with complications – and we are not just talking about the precision reached by SLIM today. Japan has failed before. Back in November 2022, JAXA’s OMOTENASHI lander was lost before it reached the Moon while a similar fate was suffered in April 2023 by a Japanese startup attempting to become the first private company to land on the Moon.
In August last year, Russia attempted its promised return to the Moon. This also ended poorly, with the spacecraft crashing on the surface, creating a brand new crater that was imaged by NASA. Just yesterday, the private US mission Peregrine One also failed to reach the Moon, instead burning up as it fell back into Earth’s atmosphere.
With many more Moon missions scheduled for this year, success is not guaranteed, even 50 years after humans walked on the lunar surface. For now, Japan has achieved a major milestone today, taking us another step forward in Moon exploration.
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https://www.iflscience.com/japan-becomes-fifth-country-to-land-on-the-moon-successfully-72541
| 2024-01-19T19:46:42Z
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There’s a city in California where a community of people are living longer, healthier lives than the US average. Known as Loma Linda, it was recognized as one of five shining examples of longevity across the globe, so what are they getting so right?
In You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment, the Netflix show highlights how people in Loma Linda eat differently from neighboring communities. Here, there is plenty of access to plant-based and whole foods, while elsewhere in the region, people experience “food deserts” where access to nutrition isn’t a given.
Loma Linda is one of the world’s “blue zones”. What this means is that it’s an area where residents have high longevity, living longer and staying healthier into old age, and it’s a concept that was founded by explorer, journalist, and author Dan Buettner.
Buettner named Loma Linda in California as one of the five original blue zones across the globe, joining Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; and Ikaria, Greece, as a place of exceptional longevity. What makes Loma Linda especially interesting is that it’s a city within San Bernardino County, and yet its 9,000-strong community lives around 10 years longer than those outside the city, with men reaching around 89, while women can expect to live to 91.
The blue zone “Power 9®” suggests that there are nine key contributors to long life, and it could be that Loma Linda’s religious beginnings count towards the “Belong” and “Right Tribe” categories. However, another key contributor is diet.
The Loma Linda diet is linked to the faith of the region, as the Seventh-day Adventists promote plant-based eating, exercise, community, and reduced stress as a lifestyle. The “twin experiment” reference in the Netflix series title is out of Stanford University, and it too found that plant-based diets are good news for longevity.
“Our study… suggests that anyone who chooses a vegan diet can improve their long-term health in two months,” senior author Christopher Gardner, a professor of medicine at the Stanford Prevention Research Center, said in a statement.
“Based on these results and thinking about longevity, most of us would benefit from going to a more plant-based diet. A vegan diet can confer additional benefits such as increased gut bacteria and the reduction of telomere loss, which slows aging in the body.”
If you’re wondering where’s a good place to start, nutritionally speaking, you could do worse than to begin with beans.
“In every Blue Zone, they're eating about a cup of beans a day," Buettner said to Insider. "I believe the only superfood there is in the world is beans."
"Americans don't have a clue on how to make beans taste delicious," he said. "People in Blue Zones, their great genius is they know how to make beans sing — on the way in, not on the way out!"
Singing beans is one thing, but as Buettner discovered while he explored the world’s Blue Zones, there’s no one silver bullet for longevity. “I discovered it was really a silver buckshot,” he explained. “Lots of little things, but the same little things.”
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https://www.iflscience.com/loma-linda-blue-zone-why-do-people-there-live-so-much-longer-72536
| 2024-01-19T19:46:48Z
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It has long been presumed that primate societies were predominantly run by males. With the exception of lemur society, which was thought to be an outlier, most primates, including gorillas, chimps, and monkeys were believed to be largely male-dominated. Now, a literature review of 79 primate species is challenging that long-held assumption, suggesting that things are a lot more equal than they seem.
Researchers at The University of Texas have suggested that although male power dynamics are more common, female-biased power structures, or even social equality between males and females of a primate social group, can be found in every major living primate clade and likely even existed throughout their evolution.
"In the past, primatologists have often focused on the role of males and male power in primate societies," said Rebecca Lewis, a professor of anthropology and co-author of the paper, in a statement. "What has sometimes been overlooked is the important role of female power in primate societies."
The team divided the 79 primate species into groups based on whether they were female-dominant, male-dominant, or co-dominant, and which factors were common across these groups. For instance, the team found that female dominance was more likely to be the case in social groups when the size difference between males and females was smaller.
The study also took into account the challenges with categorizing species in this way and the authors write in the paper that the female and co-dominant groups “exhibit very different intersexual social relationships than species labeled as male dominant.”
Overall, the team found that 58 percent of the species that they looked at did exhibit male-biased power in their social groups. However, in Old World monkeys and apes, the team found multiple examples of species that do not have a male power style social dynamic. New World monkeys had the most variable power structures, with 40 percent of those species either co- or female-dominant.
While lemur society has been known to be female-led, other smaller primate species such as gibbons and marmosets were also likely to show female or co-dominant power structures. The team found that male-biased power was associated not only with males being larger than females, but also when there were more females within a group.
“Our work suggests that more economic forms of power might really come to the forefront in primate species in which males and females are similar in size and in which females are therefore less readily coerced by males," continued Lewis.
Looking not just at modern primates, but back into the fossil record, the researchers also think that the assumption that most primate groups were male-dominated through evolutionary time is not accurate. They suggest that the last common ancestor of primates did not necessarily live in a male-dominated society, but the last common ancestor of monkeys, apes, and humans most likely did.
"Primates have been thought to be mainly male dominant, which would suggest that male dominance was present in primates from early in their evolutionary history," said Chris Kirk, a professor of anthropology at UT and a co-author. "However, we show that this assumption of ancestral male-biased power in primates isn’t necessarily supported by the data."
The study is published in Animals.
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https://www.iflscience.com/male-dominance-in-primate-groups-may-not-be-the-default-after-all-72535
| 2024-01-19T19:46:54Z
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This week, water flows freely down the Klamath River for the first time in 100 years, the oldest known supermassive black hole was found at the center of GN-z11, and a 14,000-year-old woolly mammoth tusk tells the tale of the animal's huge journey. Finally, we ask what will be happening on the surface of the Moon in 2075.
Subscribe to the IFLScience newsletter for all the biggest science news delivered straight to your inbox every Wednesday and Saturday.
Astronauts Heading To Mars Will Experience The Effects Of Time Dilation
When astronauts head to Mars, they will experience time dilation. That's to be expected. In fact, your feet and your head experience time dilation, with your head aging ever so slightly faster than your feet. But how much time dilation will they experience (relative to Earth observers)? Read the full story here
Water Is Freely Flowing Down The Klamath River For First Time In 100 Years
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. Now, 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. Read the full story here
Oldest Black Hole Found Gobbling Gas Just 400 Million Years After The Big Bang
Astronomers have estimated the size and activity of a supermassive black hole discovered in one of the most distant galaxies we have ever seen. Because the speed of light is finite, looking farther into the universe is like looking farther back in time. The light from this galaxy comes from just 400 million years after the Big Bang, making this the oldest known supermassive black hole found yet. Read the full story here
Tusk Tells The Tale Of Huge Journey Made By A Woolly Mammoth 14,000 Years Ago
Using little more than a tusk, scientists have pieced together the lifetime travels of a single woolly mammoth that wandered North America more than 14,000 years ago. Starting life in the western Yukon, the mammoth traveled hundreds of kilometers through northwestern Canada before arriving at her final resting place, an early human settlement in present-day Alaska. Read the full story here
How Worried Should We Be About The New COVID-19 Variant JN.1?
It’s almost four years since COVID-19 was officially declared a pandemic. Although the state of emergency has now passed, and vaccines and treatment advances have helped turn the tide, the virus is very much still out there. The latest variant, JN.1, has brought with it some unexpected new symptoms – but how worried should we be? Read the full story here
TWIS is published weekly on our Linkedin page, join us there for even more content.
Feature of the week:
It’s The Year 2075. This Is What It Looks Like On The Moon Now
The year is 2075. The place: the Neil Armstrong International Lunar Base in Henson Crater. Two astronauts sit side by side inside a pressurized, six-wheeled, lunar transporter. They have just exited the station’s car airlock and are rolling down the Moon highway. The Earth’s natural satellite is no longer just a desolate celestial sphere. Read the full story here
More content:
Have you seen our free e-magazine, CURIOUS? Issue 18, January 2023, is out now. Check it out for exclusive interviews, book excerpts, long reads, and more.
PLUS, the entire season 3 of IFLScience's The Big Questions Podcast is available now.
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https://www.iflscience.com/mars-astronauts-will-experience-time-dilation-how-worried-we-should-be-about-the-new-covid-19-variant-and-much-more-this-week-72528
| 2024-01-19T19:47:00Z
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Nearly 75 percent of the US – an area that’s home to hundreds of millions of Americans – is at risk of experiencing earthquake damage over the next 100 years. That’s according to new maps and data released by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
The areas at the highest risk are California, Alaska, and the Big Island of Hawai‘i. The chance of damaging earthquake shaking in the next century is over 95 percent across a significant part of these seismically active states.
The new model has upped the risk for Hawai‘i as having greater potential for shaking in light of recent volcanic eruptions and seismic unrest on the islands.
Recent data has also brought some “noteworthy changes” to the possibility of more damaging earthquakes along the central and northeastern Atlantic Coastal corridor, which could impact the cities of Washington DC, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston.
Earthquakes are notoriously tricky to predict, but this huge, multi-year research project has aimed to understand where the risk lies using seismic studies, historical geological data, and cutting-edge data collection technologies. As part of this effort, USGS identified 500 additional fault lines that have the potential to produce damaging earthquakes.
"Earthquakes are difficult to forecast but we’ve made great strides with this new model. The update includes more faults, better-characterized land surfaces, and computational advancements in modeling that provide the most detailed view ever of the earthquake risks we face," Mark Petersen, USGS geophysicist and lead author of the study, said in a statement.
Earthquakes are caused by the movement of the tectonic plates that form the outer layer of the planet. As these plates interact – crashing into each other and grinding past one another – the built-up stress can exceed the strength of the rocks, leading to a sudden rupture and the release of energy in the form of seismic waves that shake the ground.
The US is relatively seismically active for a country. Much of this activity is concentrated on the West Coast and within the Pacific due to the influence of the Ring of Fire, a horseshoe-shaped zone that encircles the Pacific Ocean and is known for high seismic activity.
However, earthquake activity has been documented further afield. During the last 200 years, 37 US states have experienced earthquakes with a magnitude of 5 or higher.
The deadliest on record is thought to be the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, which killed some 3,000 people and destroyed the vast majority of the city, leaving half the population homeless. It was caused by a rupture in the San Andreas Fault – an incident that could happen again in the future.
Geologists believe that the San Andreas Fault causes significant earthquakes every 200 years or so. It’s not a matter of “if” another earthquake will strike the area, but “when.”
This hypothetical earthquake has been dubbed the “Big One". If it were to occur today, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake stemming from the southern San Andreas Fault could lead to more than 1,800 deaths, displace millions, and cost $200 billion in damage.
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https://www.iflscience.com/new-maps-show-75-percent-of-us-may-be-impacted-by-earthquakes-in-next-century-72544
| 2024-01-19T19:47:06Z
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Quasicrystals are very interesting entities. They have ordered structures but they do not repeat, so they are – as the name suggests – almost like crystals, but not exactly. This difference is certainly not a disadvantage, since quasicrystals often showcase properties your common-or-garden material could only dream of. And this is the case for a truly unusual quasicrystal that is being studied by researchers in Japan.
This is the first time that the magnetic properties of this particular quasicrystal have been explored, and the research shows that they are quite unique. The team believes that the breakthrough is pushing the field of condensed matter physics and quasicrystal research into brand new territories. The researchers are confident that it could pave the way for new and more advanced electronic devices, and even magnetic refrigeration technologies.
The quasicrystal in question is made of gold, gallium, and terbium. One of the structures is an icosahedron – a 3D figure with 20 faces – as well as an approximant crystal (AC) that is cubic. Both of them are Tsai-types. These kinds of quasicrystals and approximants are made of four concentric shells with a tetrahedron at the very center. A tetrahedron is a pyramid shape in which all four faces are triangles.
Next up is the magnetism part. These quasicrystals don’t follow the classical Heisenberg model of ferromagnetism, and it is expected that their magnetic nano-patterns are whirls or vortices. The pattern for each tiny crystal is like many little magnetic poles winding around a central region. This resembles a tornado or a whirlwind, hence why it is described as "whirling magnetism".
This might already seem quite complex, but we are just getting started. In the immortal words of Samuel L. Jackson in Jurassic Park: "Hold on to your butts".
Depending on the number of available electrons per atom (the e/a ratio), the magnetic properties of these quasicrystals are wild. Above a ratio of 1.9, the crystal is a so-called spin glass, so all the magnetic moments of the atoms are randomly interacting.
Below that, things get interesting. Around a ratio of 1.8, the material has strong whirling ferromagnetism – the magnetic moments all align, and the crystal is magnetized and remains so.
But if the ratio falls below 1.7, a third thing happens. The structure becomes a whirling antiferromagnet. Its magnetic moments all cancel out, delivering zero total magnetism.
The oddities all happen at just a handful of degrees above absolute zero. It shows that magnetic behavior is far from simple for both the icosahedral quasicrystals (iQCs) and their AC counterparts.
"These results offer important insights into the intricate interplay between magnetic interactions in non-Heisenberg Tsai-type ACs. They lay the foundation for understanding the intriguing properties of not only non-Heisenberg ACs but also non-Heisenberg iQCs that are yet to be discovered," senior author Professor Ryuji Tamura, from Tokyo University of Science, said in a statement.
Quasicrystals such as this are considered potential units for memory storage in future tech, so understanding their magnetic behavior is paramount to actually using them for such devices.
The study is is published in the journal Materials Today Physics.
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https://www.iflscience.com/oddball-quasicrystals-dramatically-change-their-magnetic-properties-with-changing-electrons-72546
| 2024-01-19T19:47:13Z
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New research has revealed a grave historical error at Palacio de Cortés in Mexico. It was long assumed that a skeleton on display at the palace was that of a Spanish monk – but a new analysis has shown that it actually likely belonged to an Aztec woman.
Palacio de Cortés in the city of Cuernavaca was damaged by the deadly Puebla earthquake in September 2017, sparking a renovation project to restore the building to its former glory. During the restoration work, anthropologists from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) took a fresh look at the supposed monk buried in the palace.
While most believed the body belonged to a Spanish “man of the cloth” named Juan Leyva, the identity of this person was never certain.
The label that has been accompanying the remains for almost 50 years reads as so: “Burial found in situ of a man with deformed vertebrae. Traditionally it is stated that it may be the monk Juan Leyva, who served the Marchioness Doña Juana de Zúñiga de Arellano, wife of Hernán Cortés and resident of this palace, however, due to the type of posture it may be an indigenous burial.”
To settle the mystery once and for all, INAH researchers launched a detailed archeological analysis of the remains and its setting.
Wear-and-tear on their teeth indicates the person was 30 and 40 years old when they died. Despite their “deformed vertebrae”, they found no evidence of disease in the skeleton, leaving it uncertain how the person died.
Based on the size of their humerus (an upper arm bone), the researchers suggest they were around 147 centimeters (under 4 foot 10 inches) tall. The wider shape of the pelvis also clearly shows that the skeleton was feminine.
Crucially, the study suggests the body dates to an era spanning 1450 to 1500 CE. Since European colonizers did not arrive in modern-day Mexico until 1511 CE, we can safely assume this is not the body of a Spanish man.
Instead, the researchers argue that the people belonged to a pre-Hispanic group, most likely the Tlahuica people of Central Mexico. The Palace of Cortés was only constructed by the Spanish in the 1520s, so it appears the structure was built around this pre-existing grave from a previous era.
“It is more related to a pre-Hispanic burial, which could belong to the contact period or earlier,” Jorge Angulo, an archaeologist with the INAH, said in a statement.
He added that the previous theory didn’t make sense because it was very strange “that a clergyman was buried outside his community, even more so that his burial system was not associated with the Catholic canons of the time.”
In light of this work, the archaeological display has recently been reopened with a new certificate, which states that the burial belonged to a “Tlahuica Woman.”
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https://www.iflscience.com/skeleton-of-spanish-monk-turns-out-to-be-an-aztec-woman-72529
| 2024-01-19T19:47:19Z
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Snake fangs get a lot of attention, from their use in creating anti-venom to figuring out how they evolved. One area of research has now gone beyond just the fangs, looking at the way that all of the teeth and their morphology are related to the whole of the snake as it moves in response to prey.
Researcher Bill Ryerson found that looking closely at the form of the teeth could tell him more about the different feeding strategies different snakes were using. And by closely, we mean really closely. Ryerson took CT scans of nearly 70 snakes belonging to 13 species to look at the tooth morphology of not just the fangs, but the rest of the teeth within the mouth too. Using snazzy high-speed video cameras, he also collected footage of the different species attacking prey items.
"I think the other teeth have been overlooked for a few reasons. First was that because venom is such an interesting development for vertebrates, the fangs naturally drew a lot of attention. The second is that the differences in the non-fang teeth are not as obvious at first glance," Ryerson told IFLScience.
This information helped Ryerson sort the snakes – which included northern copperheads, reticulated pythons, boa constrictors, Kenyan sand boas, California kingsnakes, Brook's kingsnakes, Arizona mountain kingsnakes, and Brazilian rainbow boas – into two categories.
Boa constrictors and pythons, for instance, were categorized as “strikers”, with lightning-fast attacks that typically came from above their prey. King snakes, on the other hand, were classed as “lungers” and attacked much more straight on. They attacked much more slowly, however, at 1.5 meters per second compared to the speedy strikes of the pythons at 2.7 meters per second.
The lungers "strike more slowly and don't open their mouths as wide,” said Ryerson in a statement sent to LiveScience. "They make contact with both jaws simultaneously."
The teeth of lungers were broad and curved along the lengths of the jaws and during the attacks, the lower teeth impaled the prey first to help the snake secure it. The strikers had more variation in their dentition, with tall teeth at the front of the lower part of their mouth and short, broad, and curved teeth at the back; this curvature helps the snake swallow its prey.
"The main difference between the two groups is that 'strikers' have very narrow, upright teeth in their lower jaws, related to how that part makes first contact and acts as a pivot point for the rest of the head to rotate over," Ryerson told IFLScience. "The "lungers" have shorter, more curved teeth that work to grip the prey so it can't escape. They typically aren't venomous or use constriction."
“I was surprised at well the different strike types separated out, and how well the tooth morphology could predict the different types of strikes," said Ryerson, who plans to investigate more species, speaking to LiveScience. Those investigations aim to see if the pattern continues or if, by looking at snake species that live in trees or underground, a whole new category could emerge.
Ryerson recently presented the research at the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. The work was also published in a book, Snakes: Morphology, Function, and Ecology, edited by David Penning.
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https://www.iflscience.com/snakes-revealed-as-lungers-or-strikers-in-mesmerizing-slow-motion-footage-72515
| 2024-01-19T19:47:25Z
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The Underwater Photography Guide has revealed the winners of their 12th annual Ocean Art competition, showcasing some of the finest underwater photography you’ll see this year.
The Ocean Art 2023 competition featured 14 different categories, ranging from Portrait and Marine Life Behavior to Underwater Conservation and Black & White. They even have a category dedicated solely to nudibranchs, the colorful and desperately photogenic “sea slugs” that inhabit the planet's oceans.
The top prize was swooped by Suliman Alatiqi for their portrait of a crab-eating macaque swimming through the ocean near the Phi Phi Islands, Thailand.
Originally submitted to the Portrait category, the judges picked the image as the "Best in Show" winner as the shot took months of planning to document, which they said in a press release seen by IFLScience “represents the zeal and commitment needed to capture the world’s best underwater image.”
“During fieldwork at Phi Phi Islands, Thailand, spanning several weeks, I focused my efforts on documenting the maritime behavior of the Crab-eating macaque with particular focus on their water forages,” Alatiqi said in a statement explaining the winning photo.
“The macaques have adapted very well to living around the sea and will venture into the water for various reasons including transportation, scavenging, cooling down and playing. Highly efficient swimmers, they can dive for up to half a minute and can cover short distances faster than most humans. This photo offers a rare glimpse of the swimming movement of a male macaque,” Alatiqi added.
This year’s competition saw the judges – renowned underwater photographers Tony Wu, Mark Stickland, and Marty Snyderman – sift through thousands of images from over 90 countries. This year’s competition also featured new rules that banned generative AI imagery in the primary categories, meaning these photos are 100 percent real.
A total of $120,000 in prize money was awarded to this year’s category winners, while many others won prizes gifted by top scuba diving resorts, liveaboard dive yachts, and underwater photo gear manufacturers.
A curated selection of this year's winners (and some of our favorites) can be seen below.
If this kind of photography is your thing, be sure to check out the previous winners of the Ocean Art competition here and here.
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https://www.iflscience.com/the-beautiful-winners-of-this-years-ocean-art-photo-awards-have-arrived-72538
| 2024-01-19T19:47:26Z
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If we’re talking fat, the visceral type is the real baddie. Though it makes up just 10 percent of body fat, it’s implicated in a number of health concerns, including diabetes and heart disease. Here’s everything you need to know about the adipose antagonist hiding deep inside.
What is visceral fat?
Fat comes in a few different “flavors”: white, brown, beige, and even pink. White fat cells are the most abundant and are important for energy storage – they tend to accumulate in the belly, thighs, and hips; brown are found mostly in infants, but also to a lesser extent in adults, to keep them warm; while beige and pink are types of white fat that can be converted when exposed to low temperatures or during pregnancy and lactation, respectively.
Fat can also be defined by its location, which is where visceral fat comes into the picture.
Sometimes referred to as “belly fat”, visceral fat, a type of white fat, lies deep within the abdominal cavity where it surrounds digestive organs such as the pancreas, intestines, and liver. It can also wrap itself around the heart. Some levels of visceral fat are necessary to protect our organs.
It is distinct from subcutaneous fat, which sits directly under the skin’s surface and that you can pinch between your fingers. Extreme amounts of subcutaneous fat can be a threat to our health, though not as much as visceral fat.
Why is it dangerous?
First of all, fat itself is not (necessarily) a villain. Having the right amount is vital to keep us warm, give us energy and essential fatty acids, help us to produce hormones, and absorb essential vitamins and minerals. It’s only when we have too much of it that fat can become a problem.
And visceral fat, in particular, poses a threat to our health. It has been linked with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and certain cancers, among other things.
One of the main problems is that fat is biologically active: it secretes hormones and other molecules that can affect other tissues in the body, even those far away. Visceral fat, compared to subcutaneous fat, produces more such molecules, with potentially detrimental side effects for our health. For example, it releases more cytokines – proteins that are important in cell signaling – which are implicated in inflammation and associated with a number of chronic conditions.
Visceral fat is also thought to make proteins that constrict our blood vessels, which can cause blood pressure to rise.
Other medical conditions that have previously been linked to visceral fat include: dementia, asthma, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer.
Both genetic and environmental factors can influence a person’s levels of visceral fat: someone can be predisposed to store more of it, but their diet, lifestyle, and other factors such as stress levels also play an important part.
Symptoms of visceral fat, most notably a growing belly, are frustratingly similar to those of subcutaneous fat, so it is advised to seek a doctor's advice if you have concerns.
How to get rid of it
Visceral fat can be difficult to target. People tend to lose weight pretty uniformly throughout the body so efforts to lose weight, while helpful, may not be enough. Instead, making a long-term commitment to eat a balanced diet and follow exercise guidelines is recommended to help reduce visceral fat.
It’s also worth considering other lifestyle changes, such as improving your sleep hygiene and attempting to reduce stress levels or alcohol intake – all of which are associated with visceral fat.
But, as always, you should talk any concerns over with your doctor and consult them before instigating any major changes.
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/visceral-fat-around-organs-is-the-real-baddie-heres-what-to-know-72532
| 2024-01-19T19:47:32Z
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A collection of previously unknown documents relating to a weird but important part of American history have gone to auction for the first time. The documents belonged to a physician who autopsied the body of US president William McKinley after his assassination in 1901. Following the autopsy, the doctor in question then performed a strange experiment involving rabbits and a pet dog, all in an attempt to figure out what killed the unfortunate president.
The archives of Dr Herman Matzinger, an influential expert on blood analysis at the time, have only recently emerged after they were rediscovered by his family. They have now been put up for auction at the Raab Collection for $80,000.
The documents include Matzinger’s laboratory notebook containing his scientific observations, a draft copy of his autopsy report, a copy of the final report, the government’s acknowledgement of the president’s death certificate, tickets to McKinley’s funeral, and other documents.
Through these sources, we gain important insights into what happened at the time of McKinley’s death as well as the doctor’s attempts to investigate the exact causes. So what happened?
Bullets, bodies, and pets
On September 6, 1901, President William McKinley, the 25th American president, was attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, when he was approached by an anarchist called Leon Czolgosz who went to shake his hand. In the process, Czolgosz shot McKinley in the chest at close range.
Soon after, McKinley was tended to by doctors who were able to stabilize him following an apparently successful operation. However, his health soon deteriorated, and he died on September 14. He was the third American president to be assassinated.
From the moment he died, rumours started to circulate about the exact cause of death. Although it was officially recorded as pancreatic necrosis, or necrotizing pancreatitis, there were those who suspected more.
Within the medical community, criticism fell on Dr Matthew Mann, the gynaecological surgeon who initially operated on McKinley.
Mann had been attending the Pan-American Exposition and was the first physician to respond. Mann had a hard time in his procedure, as he struggled to find the bullet in the layers of fat on McKinley’s body. In the end, he left the bullet in place and simply sewed up two stomach wounds that he found. It is possible this caused an infection that led to the president’s death.
In addition to a potential botched operation, there were those who believed Czolgosz had shot McKinley with a poisoned bullet, or one laced with bacteria. This conspiracy is still alive today.
In order to investigate these claims, Dr Matzinger was asked to perform a “bacteriological examination” of the president’s body, in addition to the autopsy. Through his work, he concluded that the infection had likely been caused by the bullets and not Mann’s operation, and that there was no evidence of poisoning.
The documents now on sale provide fascinating insights into how Matzinger reached these conclusions. In one test, the good doctor grew “whitish” bacteria cultures that he took from McKinley’s wound and then injected them into rabbits and a dog. We still have quite a few questions about this procedure – why he did it, who owned the animals and so on – but we do know that he carefully monitored the dog over the next few days. He noted the animal’s body temperature, which had become elevated, but ultimately the dog was “acting well”.
The documents also offer insights into the type of pressures that were on the doctor at the time. According to his letters, Matzinger was being pressed by Dr P.M. Rixey, who wanted the results ASAP. Still, Matzinger took his time and eventually submitted his report 18 days after McKinley’s death.
These documents really are a veritable treasure trove. They offer information that we rarely get to see in recorded history and tell us much about the context surrounding the president’s death, as well as how autopsies of high-ranking officials were performed.
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https://www.iflscience.com/why-did-a-doctor-inject-rabbits-and-a-dog-with-bacteria-after-autopsying-a-president-72533
| 2024-01-19T19:47:38Z
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Some memories are best forgotten. Granted, this observation is unlikely to make you feel better if you’re running late for work because you can’t remember where you put your keys… but when we’re talking about memories associated with addictive substances, the possible issues around this become clearer. A new study has uncovered the mechanism that allows the brain to latch on to these stubborn memories and keep them hanging around.
“A fundamental operation of the brain is to internally represent information related to life experience in our environment,” said first author Dr Charlie Clarke-Williams of the University of Oxford in a statement. “This principle usually ensures that we interact with the world in the most suitable manner. However, in the case of experiencing drugs of abuse like cocaine, this natural mechanism is hijacked and can lead to inappropriate actions and, ultimately, addiction.”
Recreational drugs like cocaine, which played a role in 24,486 deaths in the US in 2021 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are known to produce exceptionally powerful memories. Users can vividly recall details of their surroundings or what they were doing at the time of their drug use, and reminders of these actions or environments can induce cravings so powerful that even someone in recovery for addiction can find it almost impossible to avoid a relapse.
While efforts are underway to find treatments that could help combat this, there was still a gap in our knowledge: how do these extra-strong memories form in the first place?
Clarke-Williams and the team suggest that the abnormal strength of these memories could be down to them taking advantage of cooperation between multiple brain regions. They tested their theory in mice by monitoring five regions of their brains at the same time: the prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, amygdala, hippocampus, and ventral tegmental area.
As the mice were exposed to cocaine in a five-stage experiment lasting several days, the authors observed that simultaneous spikes in activity across all of these brain regions were predictive of robust memory formation. Toning down this activity changed the behavior of the mice, stopping them from seeking the cocaine in the same way.
Understanding the system within the brain that causes these memories to linger opens up the possibility of targeting it with treatments to help those in recovery from addiction.
“Recreational drug use is a widespread problem in our society, impacting the lives of many people and placing a strain on our healthcare system. Memories should be balanced. Weak memories are often observed in aging or dementia. But at the other end of the spectrum are abnormally powerful memories, which are characterised by unfiltered information processing,” said senior author Professor David Dupret.
“Strong memories that can drive inappropriate actions are seen in a wide range of brain conditions, such as drug addiction or post-traumatic stress disorders. This research provides vital new understanding of how these memories are created in the brain, an important step in identifying new targets for treatments.”
The study is published in the journal Cell.
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https://www.iflscience.com/why-some-memories-are-so-hard-to-forget-and-why-that-can-be-a-problem-72531
| 2024-01-19T19:47:44Z
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Some discoveries are more impressive than others and finding the largest deep-sea coral reef habitat in the world is pretty damn impressive.
The team at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has discovered an area larger than the state of Vermont that contains a whole seascape of cold-water coral mounds that had, until now, remained undiscovered off the southeastern coast of the US.
"For years we thought much of the Blake Plateau was sparsely inhabited, soft sediment, but after more than 10 years of systematic mapping and exploration, we have revealed one of the largest deep-sea coral reef habitats found to date anywhere in the world," said Kasey Cantwell, operations chief for NOAA Ocean Exploration, in a statement.
Data from 31 multibeam sonar mapping surveys, as well as 23 submersible dives, were used to produce an almost complete map of the seafloor in the area known as the Blake Plateau, which is about 161 kilometers (100 miles) from the southeast coast of the USA. The researchers also developed a special system to help them look at the number of coral mound features; using this, they identified 83,908 individual coral mound peak features within the data.
The reef habitat is vast – it's nearly the size of Florida. It's thought to consist of nearly continuous coral mound features that span up to 500 kilometers (310 miles) long and 110 kilometers (68 miles) wide, with a core area of high-density mounds up to 254 kilometers (158 miles) long and 42 kilometers (26 miles) wide. Blake Plateau is also not uniform, with lots of variation in the height and density of the coral mound formation across it.
The area, aptly nicknamed “Million Mounds”, consists mostly of the stone coral Desmophyllum pertusum and has an average water temperature of 4°C (39°F). The area is also deep, found roughly 200 to 1,000 meters (656 to 3,280 feet) below the surface. No sunlight can penetrate these depths; instead, the corals filter-feed on nutrients from the surrounding seawater. Despite this, the coral is referred to as an ecosystem engineer, as it provides a foundation for other species, such as corals, sponges, invertebrates, and fish, to live within the mounds.
"Approximately 75% of the global ocean is still unmapped in any kind of detail, but many organizations are working to change that," said Dr Derek Sowers, mapping operations manager for the Ocean Exploration Trust and lead author of the study.
"This strategic multiyear and multi-agency effort to systematically map and characterize the stunning coral ecosystem right on the doorstep of the U.S. East Coast is a perfect example of what we can accomplish when we pool resources and focus on exploring the approximately 50% of U.S. marine waters that are still unmapped," Sowers added.
We can't wait to see what else NOAA and their partners discover next.
The study is published in Geomatics.
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https://www.iflscience.com/worlds-largest-deep-sea-coral-reef-habitat-discovered-off-the-us-coast-72545
| 2024-01-19T19:47:46Z
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Entertainment
How To Watch The 2024 Grammys (& The Performances You Won't Want To Miss)
Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, and Olivia Rodrigo will perform at this year’s ceremony.
This year’s Grammy Awards will be a little bit different. For the first time in, well, probably forever, the majority of the award’s nominees are women, specifically young women. SZA leads the pack with nine nominations, while a slew of female artists including Phoebe Bridgers, Victoria Monét, Billie Eilish, Boygenius, Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, and Olivia Rodrigo, follow close behind with seven or six nominations. The discrepancy is even greater in the major category Record of the Year: Out of the eight albums nominated, only one of them belongs to a man (Jon Batiste’s Worship).
It’s clear now more than ever that music is a woman’s world, and granted, while we found some of the nominations to be pretty predictable, this is still a major shifting moment for the award show. And so far, the ceremony’s highly anticipated roster of performers doesn’t disappoint: The first round of musicians are three of the biggest pop stars of the moment: Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, and Olivia Rodrigo. This year’s ceremony will also feature its most expanded set of genres this year as they introduce three new categories: Best African Music Performance, Best Alternative Jazz Album, and Best Pop Dance Recording.
The 66th annual Grammy Awards kicks off Sunday, Feb. 4, with comedian Trevor Noah returning as host for the fourth year in a row. Below, find everything you can expect from music’s biggest night including the list of performers, presenters, and how you can stream.
When and where are the 2024 Grammys?
The 66th Grammy Awards will take place on Sunday, Feb. 4 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The ceremony kicks off promptly at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.
How can I watch the 2024 Grammys?
The ceremony will air live on all local CBS channels and will be available to stream live or on-demand on Paramount+.
Who is hosting the Grammys?
Returning for his fourth consecutive year, comedian Trevor Noah will once again host this year’s ceremony.
Who is performing at the Grammys?
On Jan. 15, the Recording Academy announced this year’s first batch of performers. So far they include:
Seven-time Grammy award winner Billie Eilish, who will likely be performing her Barbie mega-hit, “What Was I Made For?” (with which she’s already picked up a Golden Globe this award season). Impressively, the song netted the pop star six Grammy nominations this year, including in major categories Record of the Year and Song of the Year, despite the fact she didn’t put out an album.
Dua Lipa, who’s up for two awards this year, in categories Song of the Year and Best Song Written For Visual Media, also for her Barbie song, “Dance The Night.”
And, Olivia Rodrigo, who ties Eilish with a whopping six Grammys nominations this year for her sophomore album GUTS. Rodrigo is up for three of the four major awards of the night: Album of the Year (GUTS), Record of the Year (“vampire”), and Song of the Year (“vampire”).
Check back in as more performers are announced in the days leading up to the show.
Who is presenting at the Grammys?
No presenters have been officially announced yet, but stay tuned.
Who is nominated for a Grammy?
As mentioned above, women artists and young female songwriters are overwhelmingly nominated across the board this year. SZA leads the pack with nine nominations, with Victoria Monét, Phoebe Bridgers, and mixing engineer Serban Ghenea following with seven nominations each. Behind them, eight musicians tie with six nominations: Taylor Swift, Boygenius, Brandy Clark, Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Jack Antonoff, and Jon Batiste.
Barbie, the movie, will also have a major presence at the ceremony this year with its soundtrack and score netting a total of 12 nominations.
See the full list of nominees here.
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https://www.nylon.com/entertainment/2024-grammys-performers-nominees-how-to-watch
| 2024-01-19T20:08:54Z
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Entertainment
How Fcuckers Is Bringing Back '90s Dance One Party At A Time
The band ushering in New York City’s latest wave of party music is just here to have a good time.
You could hear the bassline as you entered the venue. Though it was 8 p.m. on a Wednesday at the Greenpoint venue Warsaw, the floor was filled. Fcukers was on first playing their 12th-ever show, a surprising number considering the New York City-based trio played their first show to 200 people in March 2023, and have since performed in five different countries on three different continents. As their third song, “Shake Ya Ass,” ended, whispers of “What are they called again?” scattered throughout the space. People pulled out their phones to check the name on the lineup as another banger, “Homies,” began. Energy surging, the crowd obeyed when directed to jump; by the end of the last song, most of them so caught up in dancing that they were facing away from the stage.
Helmed by 20-something musicians Shanny, Jackson Walker Lewis, and Ben Scharf, Fcuckers is all about having fun by re-contextualizing ‘90s dance — in the vein of Dee-Lite or The Chemical Brothers — as modern electronic music with a true party spirit.
In person, Fcukers look like they just pulled an all-nighter at The Hacienda. Mixing Lower East Side effortlessness with ‘90s UK raver fashion, they frequently bring what they wear on the street to the stage. “It’s very organic with them, it never feels forced,” Ivan Berko, the band’s go-to producer, tells NYLON. That attitude extends to their swag-filled house shows, where Scharf hammers at a rearranged drum kit while Lewis lights up the keyboard between guitar riffs. Shanny and her psychedelic vocals are the juxtaposing element, pulling you into a trance.
The group’s genesis came about just as naturally. In October 2022, after stints in successful indie bands, all three members were primed for a passion project. Lewis first met Shanny through a friend in the neighborhood. “I knew her voice would be great over house, and I thought I was going to pitch her on making dance music,” Lewis says. “But she said it before me.”
As a prominent downtown DJ who was playing to very receptive crowds at night, Lewis spent his days making his own take on ‘90s house music with Scharf after the breakup of their prior band. When they brought Shanny into the mix, things clicked. “We were all fed up with the industry,” Shanny says. “We said, ‘Let’s just do something different.’ Let's just get some songs out and see what happens.”
Shanny’s voice is the standout element of the band’s music. It’s silky and cloud-like, paired with an effervescent, rebellious stage presence that’s both disarming and seductive. They transform Beck’s “Devil’s Haircut” into the psychedelic Fcukers cover Beck himself reveled in at the band’s September 2023 Market Hotel show, posting it to his Stories. A Lower East Side native, Shanny’s been in the music industry and signed to a label since she was 17, touring and writing songs. “I don’t care if anyone likes [the music] or not,” she says. “It’s for me.” As the frontwoman and celestial voice of Fcuckers, she’s poised to be one of the most talked-about singer-songwriters in the city's downtown scene.
“We said, let’s just do something different. Let's just get some songs out and see what happens.”
When Fcukers formed just over a year ago their only goal was to play live at least once, to see if the songs worked. Lewis booked Brooklyn venue Baby’s All Right in March 2023, giving the band a deadline for finishing the two songs they’d been working on, a bouncy dance track called “Mothers” and the “Devil’s Haircut” cover. When clips of their packed debut show surfaced online the next day, it caught the attention of legendary New York DJ and producer Junior Sanchez, who immediately remixed both tracks, performed them in his own set, and released them on his label, Brobot Records. For Lewis, it was the ultimate stamp of approval. “Of all the things that have come,” he says, “that was the most inspiring vote of confidence.”
They’ve only gotten more co-signs since then. In July, Fcukers was asked to remix LCD Soundsystem’s “Los Angeles” (which they released to eager reception), and they’re set to play Governors Ball 2024 alongside acts like SZA and Reneé Rapp. And, the band says, there’s only more tracks, more shows, more touring, and more real-deal party music on the way — and they’re the ones driving. You can get on board, or not ... they don’t give a fcuk.
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https://www.nylon.com/entertainment/fcuckers-band-new-york-city-music
| 2024-01-19T20:09:00Z
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LOS ANGELES - Alec Baldwin has been charged with manslaughter over the deadly shooting on the set of western film Rust, according to a court document filed on Jan 19.
The charge comes more than two years after cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died during filming of the low-budget movie in New Mexico, when she was shot by a gun Baldwin was holding during rehearsals for a scene.
The US actor was initially charged with manslaughter in January 2023, but the charge was later dropped.
Baldwin reportedly faces up to 18 months in jail if convicted of the new charge.
“We look forward to our day in court,” attorneys Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro said, in a statement carried by trade title Variety. AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/alec-baldwin-again-charged-with-manslaughter-over-rust-movie-set-shooting
| 2024-01-19T20:13:33Z
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ABIDJAN - The extent of Mohamed Salah’s hamstring injury and his future participation at the Africa Cup of Nations finals remained uncertain on Friday after Egypt said examinations had not yet been completed.
Salah pulled up with a hamstring strain before halftime in Thursday’s Group B game against Ghana in Abidjan and was due to have a scan on the injury but Egypt doctor Mohamed Abu El-Ela said they had not completed all their investigations.
“The results of the medical examinations he underwent were not completed today and thus the decision on his participation was postponed,” he said.
He said Salah had initially wanted to continue playing in the key game but when the pain became more acute he asked to be taken off.
Salah's manager at Liverpool, Juergen Klopp, earlier on Friday suggested the injury might be serious, given that Salah was rarely injured or left the field for his club.
"I spoke with him last night and how it was. They are doing further assessments now and then we will know more," Klopp told reporters.
"At that moment he was shocked and couldn't see why he was hit by something so intense. You have these hamstring injuries in a different way. He felt it and we know how rarely Mo goes off, or needs to go off, so it is definitely something but I don't have any more information right now."
The 31-year-old Salah has missed just 10 league games in six-plus seasons for Liverpool.
Klopp said he was uncertain whether Liverpool's medical staff would travel to the Ivory Coast to assess the extent of Salah's injury.
"We will see. It depends on the diagnostics," he said. "We will have ultrasound and MRI and then we will know what it is and we will see and make plans but it's too early (at the moment)," he said.
Losing Salah, who is on the cusp of 100 caps for his country, would be a major blow to seven-time cup winners Egypt, who have made a sluggish start to their campaign in the Ivory Coast.
Salah netted a last-gasp penalty on Sunday, after a VAR decision, for Egypt to draw 2-2 with Mozambique in their opening game and escape an embarrassing defeat.
On Thursday, they twice came from behind to draw 2-2 with Ghana and effectively need a win in their last group game on Monday against the Cape Verde Islands if they are to advance to the last 16. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/examinations-on-salahs-injury-not-complete-says-egypt-doctor
| 2024-01-19T20:13:44Z
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DOHA - Iran booked their place in the Asian Cup last 16 when they beat Hong Kong 1-0 in a Group C game on Friday at the Khalifa International Stadium where Mehdi Ghayedi scored the winner.
The result moved Iran to six points at the top of the group where they will be guaranteed a top-two finish. They sit two points above the United Arab Emirates while Palestine are third with one point.
Iran broke the deadlock in the 24th minute when Milad Mohammadi released Ghayedi into the box where the 25-year-old took his shot from a tight angle and beat the keeper as he guided the ball into the far bottom corner.
Iran dominated possession and had several opportunities to extend their lead but failed to convert their chances as Hong Kong frustrated their more illustrious opponents, much to the disappointment of Iranian coach Amir Ghalenoei.
Hong Kong, who made their return to the Asian Cup after 56 years and are 129 spots below Iran in the rankings, remain winless and are bottom with no points after losing to UAE in their group opener.
Iran play UAE on Tuesday in their final group game which will effectively decide who tops the table and gets a more favourable draw in the knockout stage. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/iran-through-to-asian-cup-last-16-with-narrow-win-over-hong-kong
| 2024-01-19T20:13:54Z
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American Carissa Moore, the current Olympic gold medallist and five-time world champion, said she would step away from competitive surfing following her defence of the title in this year's Paris Olympics.
The 31-year-old Hawaiian native told The New York Times on Friday that she planned to dedicate time to starting a family with her husband but had left open the possibility of returning to competitive surfing in the future.
"I don’t like the word retirement," she said. "I like to say a departure from the tour, or just stepping back, or switching gears, or, like, evolving.
"I’m excited to see what else there is, outside the jersey."
The surfing events in the July 26-Aug. 11 Olympics will be held at Teahupo’o on the island of Tahiti in French Polynesia. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/moore-to-take-break-from-competition-after-olympic-title-defence
| 2024-01-19T20:14:05Z
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ATHENS - Ukraine, Moldova and Slovakia on Jan 19 joined an initiative for a planned corridor to carry natural gas between Greece and countries to its north as Europe steps up efforts to diversify supply and boost energy security.
Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary agreed in 2016 to develop the necessary infrastructure for the realisation of the so-called Vertical Gas Corridor which would allow the bidirectional transmission of gas between the countries.
“The Vertical Corridor will now unite the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline and will allow the transportation of natural gas from Greece to Moldova and underground storage facilities in Ukraine,” Moldova’s Energy Ministry said.
The gas grid operators of Slovakia, Moldova and Ukraine, along with their Greek, Romanian, Bulgarian and Hungarian counterparts signed a memorandum of understanding on Jan 19 to promote the necessary projects for the activation of the scheme, Greek grid operator DESFA said, in a statement.
“Thanks to the participation in the Vertical Corridor initiative, we expect to supply over 7 billion cubic metres of gas from Romania to Central Europe a year additionally,” Mr Dmytro Lyppa, the head of Ukraine’s transit operator, was quoted as saying, on the company’s website.
Mr Lyppa said Ukraine was currently working with Moldova’s gas operator on conditions to use additional capacities on the Trans-Balkan pipeline totalling 6 million cubic metres a day in 2024.
“Working together to strengthen and increase the flexibility of the regional gas systems has emerged as a top priority,” DESFA’s chief executive officer Maria Rita Galli said, in the statement.
The operators agreed to carry out a simultaneous binding market test for capacity allocation in July 2024 at their respective interconnection points.
Greece is preparing to bring into operation a floating gas storage terminal off the northern city of Alexandroupolis, which will allow the regasification of liquefied natural gas arriving by sea to be sent north via pipeline.
The Trans-Balkan pipeline has been used to transport Russian gas to the Balkans via Ukraine, Romania and Moldova but it has been running at low capacity since Gazprom diverted volumes to Turkey through the TurkStream pipeline in 2020. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/ukraine-moldova-slovakia-join-vertical-corridor-european-gas-transportation-scheme
| 2024-01-19T20:14:15Z
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FREETOWN/ABUJA - Sierra Leone's ex-president Ernest Bai Koroma left the West African country by plane and flew to Nigeria on Friday, two Reuters reporters said, after a court allowed him to travel abroad on medical grounds despite treason charges.
On Jan. 3, 70-year-old Koroma was charged with four offences for his alleged role in a failed military attempt to topple the government in November, but a high court on Wednesday ruled he could leave the country.
The decision came amid concerns his indictment could stoke domestic tensions linked to the 2023 election, which saw President Julius Maada Bio reelected for a second term although the main opposition candidate rejected the results and international partners questioned the vote.
Koroma's lawyers have called the charges "trumped up" and part of a political vendetta.
A Reuters reporter at the airport in Sierra Leone's capital Freetown saw Koroma depart on a Nigerian presidential plane on Friday afternoon. The plane later landed in the Nigerian capital of Abuja and Koroma was greeted by Nigerian officials and the president of West Africa's political and economic bloc ECOWAS, a second Reuters reporter at the scene said.
ECOWAS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The president of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Omar Alieu Touray, was in Sierra Leone last week, for the second time since the Nov. 26 coup last year, fuelling speculation the bloc brokered a deal with the Sierra Leone authorities to allow Koroma to relocate. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/indicted-sierra-leone-ex-president-koroma-flies-to-nigeria
| 2024-01-19T20:14:25Z
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The Duchess of Edinburgh was one of many royal brides who turned to the late Queen Elizabeth II for help with her wedding look.
The former PR executive, 59, wore a tiara from her soon-to-be mother-in-law's collection when she married Prince Edward on 19 June 1999, but the headpiece also paid tribute to her future father-in-law Prince Philip.
Walking down the aisle at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, Sophie looked radiant with her short blonde hair styled into a pixie cut and topped with the Anthemion Wedding Tiara – a diamond headpiece estimated to be worth around £1.6 million.
According to Maxwell Stone from Steven Stone: "The Anthemion tiara also pays tribute to another former monarch, as it was reportedly constructed using four pieces from Queen Victoria's Regal Circlet.
"It's also possible that the tiara serves as a tribute to Prince Philip, due to its use of anthemion - a technique used in ancient Greek times. Before he married Queen Elizabeth II, the late royal was Prince of Greece and Denmark.
"It's incredibly difficult to put a price on such a magnificent piece. I'd estimate it to be worth approximately $1.6 million (£1.25 million)."
She teamed it with a black and white pearl necklace and matching earrings, which were a wedding gift from Prince Edward, and her Samantha Shaw silk organza coat dress, which was embellished with over 325,000 pearls and crystal beads.
For her evening reception, it appears as though Sophie took off the coat to reveal a similar second V-neck gown hiding underneath, complete with long sleeves and a sparkly waist. However, her accessories remained the same.
Since her royal wedding in 1999, the Duchess has customised the diamond tiara. The Queen's dresser Angela Kelly confirmed in her book The Other Side of the Coin: the Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe that the headpiece was redesigned by jeweller Harry Collins for Sophie to wear at the Buckingham Palace state banquet for President Trump in June 2019.
The two outer sections of her tiara – shaped like the radiating petals which embellished ancient Greek buildings – were previously further apart, but they had been moved closer to the central diamond cluster and mounted on a new row of jewels along the band.
Sophie and Edward started dating in 1993, and the royal popped the question just before Christmas in 1998 with a three-diamond ring from British royal jeweller Garrard.
While announcing their news on 6 January 1999 at St James's Palace, the couple admitted that a solid friendship was the foundation of their relationship.
"I think we share a number of interests, we laugh a lot and we have a great friendship," said Sophie, and Edward similarly remarked: "We are the very best of friends and that's essential but it also helps that we also love each other very much."
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/brides/511686/duchess-sophie-wedding-tiara-hidden-tribute-father-in-law-prince-philip/
| 2024-01-19T20:34:15Z
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Sofia Vergara has been named in a new lawsuit alleging that her Netflix series Griselda did not seek authorization to use the family's image and likeness.
The actress stars as the infamous Griselda Blanco, who was once one of the world's most prominent drug lords, in the Netflix series but the real Griselda's family has filed a suit calling on a judge to halt the release of the series which is set to drop next week on January 25, 2024.
Netflix has pitched the show as "fictionalized dramatization inspired by the life of the savvy and ambitious Griselda Blanco, who created one of the most powerful cartels in history".
"Set in 1970s-80s Miami, Blanco’s lethal blend of unsuspected savagery and charm helps her expertly navigate between business and family, leading her to become widely known as 'the Godmother'," the synopsis reads.
But the filing alleges that Griselda's son Michael has been taking part in interviews for many years – between 2009 to 2022 — with producers who were hoping to develop his mother's story into a film or TV series, and in 2016 they began shopping the idea to Hollywood executives.
According to the suit, which has been seen by TMZ, "Michael claims he was then told Netflix was interested" but that the streaming service did not want to use any of his own personal details from the interviews or include him as a consultant.
Michael, however, now alleges that the new series does use many of his own anecdotes and family stories, and so he and his siblings are suing the streaming service – and Sofia, who is an executive producer on the project.
Netflix and reps for Sofia have not yet responded to a request for a comment.
Sofia, 51, is most famous for playing the lovable Gloria Delgado-Pritchett in the comedy Modern Family – a role she had for 11 years. But she recently spoke about her new role, and admitted that she "didn't want to create a story where there was a happy ending, I wanted change".
"There were many things that I loved about that character because as an actor getting the opportunity to be someone so complex was fascinating," she mused. "I don't understand many things about her but I took on the role because I'm Colombian, I'm a woman, I'm a mother and I'm an immigrant."
"I don't feel like I need a man. I mean, no, I want one but I don't need one," she said with a laugh, referencing her 2023 divorce from second husband Joe Manganiello.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/film/511694/sofia-vergara-named-in-lawsuit-over-unauthorised-new-netflix-series-griselda/
| 2024-01-19T20:34:17Z
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Stacey Dooley is soon returning to screens with her latest series of Stacey Sleeps Over, and on Friday, Kevin Clifton shared a sweet insight into how he supported his partner as she filmed for the show.
Stacey was filming in the United States just months after giving birth to the couple's daughter, Minnie, who recently marked her first birthday. Making sure she was able to work, and spend time with her newborn, Kevin followed her around the country in an RV with Minnie in tow.
Alongside a gorgeous photo of Stacey standing outside a property in a jumper and short denim shorts, Kevin penned: "Stacey Sleeps Over USA is back in March! @sjdooley @wtvchannel @uktvplay #StaceyDooleySleepsoverUSA. For most of this I was in a trailer outside where she was staying looking after Minnie!"
The former Strictly pro's fans were quick to praise the "modern man" dancer, including his beloved girlfriend, who commented with a heart emoji.
One penned: "So now we'll be thinking about you in the trailer outside with Minnie, so close to your Stacey, but what great team work," while a second posted: "That must have felt a bit strange knowing she was - just there! But a wonderful time for you to bond even more with Minnie."
The couple's daughter recently marked her first birthday, and Stacey celebrated the important milestone by sharing a photo of herself breastfeeding her young girl from when Minnie was just a few weeks old.
"My GOD I'm feeling SO sentimental this morning," Stacey said followed by a flurry of crying emojis. In the photograph, Stacey cradled her newborn to her chest as she nursed the young girl.
The snap was too dark to make out baby Minnie's fiery red hair she shares with her mum, but several other family snaps shared by Stacey show her daughter is every inch her mini me.
Stacey has been in a relationship with Strictly star Kevin since 2019. While the pair seem happier than ever with their family unit, marriage doesn't appear to be on the cards for the couple.
"Marriage has never been massively important to me," the documentary-maker said in an interview with The Sun. "Also, it's well documented that Kev's done it a couple of times before."
She added: "It's just never been something I've dreamt about. But I couldn't have done this (motherhood) without Kev. It's weird. I've always loved him, but it's a different love I have for Kev now."
Kevin had been married three times before he found love with Stacey. He first wed at the age of 20 to a woman believed to be Anna Melnikova, his former professional Latin dance partner. At 24, he found love again with Clare Craze, his co-star on the international tour of the dance show Burn the Floor.
When he and his second wife "drifted apart," Kevin struck up a romance with his fellow Strictly co-star Karen Hauer, tying the knot in 2015 before they decided to separate.
INSIDE: Stacey Dooley's swanky private bedroom with Kevin Clifton looks like a palace
SEE: Stacey Dooley leaves fans swooning with rare glimpse of incredible family kitchen
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/healthandbeauty/mother-and-baby/511695/strictly-kevin-clifton-praised-by-fans-support-stacey-dooley-baby-daughter-minnie/
| 2024-01-19T21:18:07Z
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TOKYO – Sleep deprivation has long been seen as a badge of honour in Japan, where people can commonly be found catching 40 winks on their daily commutes or even at work, with their fatigue deemed a measure of their diligence.
Many surveys have shown that the Japanese sleep the least among those in developed countries.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/japanese-in-pursuit-of-quality-sleep-in-the-world-s-most-sleep-starved-country
| 2024-01-19T21:46:03Z
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WASHINGTON - The US military carried out another round of strikes against Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Jan 19, targeting missile launchers that were preparing for attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, the White House said.
Washington is seeking to reduce the Iran-backed Houthis’ military capabilities, but the Yemeni rebels are still able to continue their attacks despite a week of strikes, and they have vowed that they will keep targeting merchant vessels.
The Houthis began striking Red Sea shipping in November, saying they were hitting Israeli-linked vessels in support of Palestinians in Gaza, and subsequently declared American and British interests to be legitimate targets as well.
“This morning, US forces conducted three successful self-defence strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
“This is the fourth preemptive action that the US military has taken in the past week against Huthi missile launchers that were ready to launch attacks,” Mr Kirby said.
“These actions were... done in self-defence, but it also helps make safer international waters for both naval vessels as well as merchant shipping.”
The air campaign against the Houthis began last week with American and British strikes on nearly 30 sites in Yemen using more than 150 munitions, while US forces later attacked a Houthi radar site in what was described as “a follow-on action” to the previous strikes.
Growing Middle East crisis
Since then, American forces have carried out further air raids against missiles that Washington says were ready to launch and posed a threat to both civilian and military vessels.
Washington is also seeking to put diplomatic and financial pressure on the Houthis, re-designating them as a “terrorist” entity after previously dropping that label soon after President Joe Biden took office.
Yemen is just one part of a dangerous and growing crisis in the Middle East, with Iran-backed militants carrying out attacks on US troops in Iraq and Syria, Israel and Hezbollah exchanging cross border fire on a near-daily basis, and the war against Hamas taking a devastating toll on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The latest round of the Israel-Hamas conflict began when the Palestinian militant group carried out a shock cross-border attack from Gaza on Oct 7 that resulted in the deaths of about 1,140 people, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
Following the attack, the United States rushed military aid to Israel, which has carried out a relentless campaign in Gaza that has killed at at least 24,762 people, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
Those deaths have sparked widespread anger in the Middle East and provided an opening for attacks by armed groups across the region that are opposed to Israel and the United States.
The violence in Iraq and Syria and the continued attacks by the Houthis have raised fears of a broader regional conflict directly involving Iran – a worst-case scenario that Washington is desperately seeking to avoid. AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/us-conducted-three-strikes-against-houthi-targets-on-friday-white-house
| 2024-01-19T21:46:24Z
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Most claims filed against financial institutions are resolved amicably through mediation, with investors receiving some form of goodwill settlement.
While aggrieved customers often bay for blood in all-out battles with their banks or insurers, numbers from the Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre (Fidrec) show that the soft approach appears to work better, especially when investors do not have strong evidence to support their claims.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/invest/most-financial-disputes-resolved-with-goodwill-settlements
| 2024-01-19T21:46:45Z
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Several years ago, my family had to confront a neighbour over his smoking habit. The second-hand cigarette smoke would drift into one of our bedrooms, fouling the air for hours.
Eventually, he agreed to light up only in his toilet or service yard, minimising the impact of second-hand smoke on our living areas.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/can-neighbour-disputes-be-more-than-a-zero-sum-game
| 2024-01-19T21:47:17Z
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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/cartoons/a-cartoonist-s-view-miel-jan-20-2024
| 2024-01-19T21:47:27Z
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Myanmar ushered in the new year with several developments in its ongoing civil war.
A coalition of militias based in northern Shan state made significant gains in the north-eastern part of the country. Following their military successes, China mediated a ceasefire between the ruling junta, or State Administrative Council (SAC), and the rebel alliance.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/for-myanmar-south-east-asia-s-outcast-asean-is-its-only-antidote
| 2024-01-19T21:47:37Z
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We thank Mr Marcus Foong for his feedback (Why accelerate building of some BTO projects but not others?, Jan 5).
We would like to assure Mr Foong that the HDB has applied accelerated construction schedules to all HDB projects delayed by the pandemic, including the projects in Tengah, as well as the highlighted Tampines GreenCrest and GreenGlade, which all faced similar delays of between nine and 12 months.
HDB’s building programme was severely disrupted by the pandemic. The circuit breaker in 2020, and other pandemic-induced challenges such as construction manpower shortages and material supply disruptions, resulted in extensive delays to the projected completion dates of our building projects.
Since then, HDB has been working hard to catch up and minimise further delays to the completion of these projects, while ensuring quality and safety are not compromised. This includes supporting our construction partners with their manpower and cash flow situation, prioritising the completion of residential blocks over precinct facilities, expediting authority clearances, and conducting quieter works after hours and on weekends.
As each project is carried out by different contractors and has different scopes of work, site conditions and operating constraints, the extent of construction time that can be saved or optimised varies from project to project.
We recognise the challenges faced by our flat buyers and that these delays may have affected their life plans. We are committed to delivering all our projects by the revised timelines given to buyers, and do not favour the completion of a specific project over another. Tampines GreenCrest and GreenGlade remain on track to be completed by Q3 2024, which is the revised projected completion date communicated to buyers on March 27, 2022.
Overall, the construction industry recovered strongly in 2023, and much progress has been made in the delivery of housing projects delayed by the pandemic. We have delivered 80 per cent of the 92 pandemic-delayed projects from 2020, and are on track to deliver the remaining 18 projects in about a year’s time. This has enabled us to issue about 22,300 sets of keys to flat buyers in 2023, the highest in the last five years. We thank residents for their continued understanding and patience as we work hard to deliver homes to Singaporeans.
Sylvia Chen
Director (Building Construction Management)
Housing & Development Board
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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/forum/forum-all-pandemic-delayed-hdb-homes-to-be-delivered-to-residents-soonest
| 2024-01-19T21:47:48Z
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Singapore’s moves to step up competitiveness through digitalisation are commendable. Yet, our zealousness to transform the economy leaves a lot to be desired.
At hospitals, customers who want to pay immediately are being turned away, only to be prompted to pay online via SMSes later, as if using credit cards for payment is any less cashless than direct bank deductions.
Barrier-free carparks, such as the one in Punggol Northshore, deduct parking fees without displaying the parking charge.
The initiative provides administrative convenience to the carpark operator, whose bank account is directly credited as soon as the vehicle leaves the carpark.
But the driver is clueless as to the cost of parking.
To monitor the expenditures, one has to spend extra effort digging through an app or bank statement.
With the SimplyGo initiative, commuters leave a bus or train without seeing immediately how much balance is left on their cards, and they also do not know whether there is enough value to carry on with their journey.
We must not have the impression that we have to forgo certain merits of travelling to achieve further benefits of technology.
We could have forgotten that the eventual goal of using technology is to improve public lives, and not solely to save costs for operators.
The manner by which some things have been digitised in Singapore has instead deprived the public of much of their required services.
Singapore’s institutions must move ahead with digitalisation without cutting costs at the expense of consumers by passing the workload to them or artificially trying to impress the authorities that they are functioning “digitally”, but are instead creating problems and not adding value.
Jimmy Ho Kwok Hoong
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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/forum/forum-digitalisation-should-not-come-at-the-expense-of-the-consumer
| 2024-01-19T21:47:58Z
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Due to an ageing population, the number of deaths will increase in future years. In the next 10 years, the aggregate number of deaths could reach over 220,000; and in the next 20 years, the aggregate number may be 450,000 or more.
Does the Government have a long-term plan on where to build the needed niches for the next 20 years and beyond? We should set a limit on the space that can be used for burial and storing of ashes on our main island. The rest may have to be placed on some of our offshore islands.
The Government has had experience in land reclamation from the surrounding waters over the years. We can use land reclamation to expand one or two offshore islands for placing burial niches.
In the long term, we need to persuade more people to accept sea burial or the placing of ashes on offshore islands.
Living in a densely populated island, it is necessary for us to accept certain compromises and that long-held rituals and practices have to change over time.
We need a national conversation on the issue. People’s representatives and religious and community organisations could work with the Government to formulate a plan to deal with the issue.
Albert Ng Ya Ken
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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/forum/forum-national-plan-needed-to-deal-with-space-for-burial-sites
| 2024-01-19T21:48:09Z
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One area of digitalisation that we should look at is the use and acceptance of the physical identification card (IC) versus the digital IC available in the Singpass app.
It is frustrating that the digital IC is not as widely accepted as the physical card.
When I collect documents from law firms, they insist that I show a physical IC for verification. It was the same situation when I opened a new bank account for my daughter. The bank asked for the physical IC.
Government transactions can be carried out with Singpass, yet there are still places like law firms and banks that do not accept the digital IC to verify our identity.
Are we a digital nation or not?
Jason Chiam Chiah Sern
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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/forum/forum-why-is-physical-ic-still-required-instead-of-digital-one
| 2024-01-19T21:48:19Z
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I refer to the letter “We love Singapore and want to remain Singaporeans. Will you let us?” (Jan 12).
Ms Dorlisa Johansson put forth a compelling case, and I am sure there have been many others before her who had unique, personal and striking reasons to request dual citizenship.
However, many of these individuals and families, having weighed things, decided to renounce other countries’ citizenship to become Singaporeans.
We do not know most of their names, and we have not heard their stories. How would they feel if Singapore were to now accept dual citizenship?
There are many well-known individuals who took the same step to renounce citizenship of other countries to become Singaporeans. These include movie star Jet Li.
Regardless of income level, celebrity status or background, all foreigners who became Singaporeans accepted that the Republic does not allow dual citizenship.
Ms Johansson and her family members are free to decide if they want to do the same.
As former US president John F. Kennedy once said: “Ask not what your country can do for you _ ask what you can do for your country.”
I strongly believe that Singapore welcomes all foreigners. And if they love this country, a path to citizenship is available.
They just need to make that decision, and take the necessary steps to become a Singaporean.
Ng Lee Meng
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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/forum/letter-of-the-week-path-is-there-for-those-who-want-to-be-a-singapore-citizen
| 2024-01-19T21:48:29Z
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Recently, my sister’s helper was hospitalised at a restructured hospital after having a heart attack.
The doctor ordered tests and scans, and the bill came up to almost $40,000 for a three-night stay.
The helper asked to be discharged to go back to her home country.
After signing an indemnity form, she was discharged and my sister arranged her flight home.
Most of the insurance policies covering a helper’s hospitalisation and surgical expenses cover only up to $60,000 a year.
The one that my sister bought was for 100 per cent coverage for amounts of up to $15,000, with her co-paying 25 per cent for amounts above $15,000 up to $80,000. In addition, she would have to pay 100 per cent of any amount above $80,000.
As the bill was $40,000, my sister had to pay $6,250, which is not a small amount. It would have been higher if the helper’s condition had worsened, or if she had needed surgery.
Why is there no limit to the liability that the employer of a domestic helper has to bear? I believe companies and statutory boards impose a cap on the medical expenses that an employee can claim.
I sought clarification from the Ministry of Manpower, and was told to approach a medical social worker if the employer had difficulties in settling the bill.
I hope the authorities can look into this matter. I understand that the helper needs to be protected, but so does the employer.
Ryna Tan Chwee Eng
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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/forum/letter-of-the-week-set-a-limit-to-employer-s-liability-for-maid-s-medical-bills
| 2024-01-19T21:48:40Z
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SINGAPORE - Criminal charges brought against former transport minister S. Iswaran have been a political setback for the PAP, regardless of the eventual legal outcome, observers told The Straits Times.
They added that the way in which the ruling party rebuilds its brand will therefore be crucial going into the next general election, especially since West Coast GRC – where Iswaran was previously anchor minister – was hotly contested in the previous election.
Iswaran is accused of accepting bribes from hotelier Ong Beng Seng valued at more than $380,000 and obstructing the course of justice. On Jan 18, he was handed 27 charges related to the ongoing corruption probe against him.
Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said on the same day that the People’s Action Party stance against corruption is “part of its DNA” and its zero tolerance for malfeasance is “non-negotiable”.
Even so, the news of Iswaran’s arrest in July 2023 would have taken its political toll.
“On the political front, the months of knowing that Mr Iswaran was being investigated by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau were already politically damaging,” said senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies Gillian Koh.
She added: “Even if we do not wish to prejudice the legal case in saying too much, the political feeling is one of betrayal.”
She and other observers told ST that PAP leaders are expected to uphold a high standard of integrity and probity.
“It is therefore imperative that hints of compromise to probity and integrity are dealt with decisively because it has happened, and no system, personality tests, peer accountability systems are foolproof,” she said.
Political observer and former Nominated MP Zulkifli Baharudin pointed out that the items Iswaran is accused of corruptly obtaining may cause unhappiness among voters, regardless of whether they were ill-gotten.
Iswaran had allegedly obtained items including a ride on a private jet, a luxury hotel stay and tickets to concerts and Premier League football matches.
“It doesn’t seem to matter even if there was no wrongdoing. When ministers enjoy these luxurious things, the court of public opinion is now making comments about the optics,” said Mr Zulkifli.
“The PAP should seek to make it very clear that it has not abandoned its origins of serving people at large, especially during times like these when people are worrying about the cost of living.”
The charges against Iswaran also reveal that his alleged offences date back to 2015.
“This raises questions about why any alleged impropriety was not brought to the attention of law enforcement authorities earlier,” said National University of Singapore associate professor of political science Chong Ja Ian, noting that the issue came to light only in 2023, in the course of investigations into another matter.
All four observers ST spoke to agreed that Iswaran’s ongoing court case would not affect the PAP’s leadership transition plans or the timing of the next general election, since Iswaran has resigned from the party. The next general election must be held by November 2025.
Dr Koh said: “The legal issue will have its timeline, but the political liability will now be better managed.”
But one issue likely to be on the minds of the party leadership is how to beef up the line-up of West Coast GRC, said Dr Mustafa Izzuddin, a senior international affairs analyst at Solaris Strategies Singapore.
In its narrowest win during the 2020 General Election, the PAP secured the five-member constituency with 51.68 per cent of the vote. Its team, led by Iswaran, was up against a Progress Singapore Party team led by Dr Tan Cheng Bock.
Dr Mustafa noted that the constituency would be a hot spot in the next election.
He said of Iswaran: “West Coast GRC is in his DNA, having been the socio-political heartbeat of this constituency by serving there for more than 25 years since 1997.”
Despite the blow to the party politically, observers were of the view that such single events rarely decide elections.
Dr Mustafa said: “It is a consequential political setback, but the Government’s handling of the matter will be its redeeming feature and shows that the system of good governance works in Singapore.”
Dr Chong concurred, saying: “The strong PAP statements coming soon after the relatively quick investigation may mollify voter sentiment on this issue unless the PAP decides to make corruption a key plank of their electoral platform.”
However, he noted that the case could still be a sticking point for the PAP, depending on details revealed during the trial.
Others highlighted the need for more sustained efforts on the PAP’s part.
Dr Koh pointed out that support for the PAP was not only because of politics but also its policies.
She said the party needed to do far more work on the political side to convince the public that Iswaran’s case is not symptomatic of a wider issue.
Likewise, Dr Mustafa said: “PAP needs to stay true to its core principles and values in spite of the current setback, rely on its formidable track record, and keep being upfront and transparent with Singaporeans.
“Demonstrating that the party is bigger than any one person can help the PAP regain the trust of Singaporeans.”
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/iswaran-case-a-political-blow-to-pap-but-trust-can-be-regained-political-observers
| 2024-01-19T21:49:12Z
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SINGAPORE - Almost every evening, Mr Afiq Anuar braces himself for the cacophony from children playing football at the void deck of Block 582 Woodlands Drive 16.
Their piercing screams and swearing, and the sounds of the ball thumping against the ceiling, have from time to time woken his three sons – aged three to seven – from their afternoon nap and disrupted his eldest son’s homework time.
The last straw was when he heard his sons repeat the same foul words spewed by the group.
“When 15 people are playing football, screaming and shouting vulgarities, you really cannot tahan (Malay for tolerate),” said the 33-year-old chef, who lives on the second floor.
Exasperated, Mr Afiq put up six posters at the void deck in August 2023, warning the children not to play ball games.
But he saw a few boys peeling the posters off the next day. And their games continued.
Growing issue of noise
Mr Afiq is not alone in his frustration. A few public amenities across Singapore were closed in recent months over noise complaints in residential estates.
A void deck in Woodlands Ring Road was barricaded temporarily by Sembawang Town Council in November 2023 after residents complained of schoolchildren playing and shouting.
A month later, a street soccer court in Bedok North was temporarily closed in response to reports of “groups of inconsiderate street soccer court users” creating noise late into the night, said Senior Minister of State for National Development Tan Kiat How, the MP for the area.
The moves sparked debate, with some social media users sympathising with residents affected by the noise, while others said Singaporeans have become less tolerant towards their neighbours.
Noise complaints surged during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the Housing Board receiving as many as 2,300 and 3,200 complaints a month in 2022 and 2021 respectively. The number dipped to 2,150 in 2023, but is still significantly higher compared with the monthly average of 400 in 2019.
The issue of noise was discussed in Parliament in recent weeks, with Nominated MP Syed Harun Alhabsyi saying that to “close, barricade or block common spaces appears to suggest that there can be no room for compromise and that the redacted behaviour or activity is so abhorrent that there is no place for it at all”.
Minister of State for National Development Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim replied that some interventions in public housing estates, like the closure of amenities, may seem harsh but are necessary to balance the interests of all residents. These moves are not taken lightly, he added.
Mr Afiq tried to endure the racket when he first moved into the Woodlands flat in early 2022. They were simply children having fun, he told himself.
A year later, he could not stand it any longer. He sent feedback via the OneService app, a portal to submit reports on municipal matters, and has since done so more than 20 times.
He spoke to his MP and wrote to citizen journalism portal Stomp, which published an article about the issue. The town council put up signs and notices at the void deck, but nothing changed.
Speaking to the children directly also did not help. A second-floor resident who wanted to be known only as Madam Mas, 62, said the noise has disrupted her three-year-old granddaughter’s naps and she has scolded the children multiple times.
She said: “They’d say sorry, but 10 minutes later they would start again.”
The group is also unfazed by the police, whom Mr Afiq said he has called more than 10 times. The police officers would come and disperse the children, but the children would gather again mere minutes after the police left.
Dr Harun told ST that for most people, the threshold to complain is usually quite high, as most residents are reasonable.
“It is when the games go late into the night, noise levels from the play are incredibly loud consistently, heated or unsavoury exchanges occur with shouts and vulgarities or if such common spaces are misused, that residents would get concerned and upset.”
A family in Hougang has put up with incessant loud banging and hammering noises from a neighbour’s four-room flat for more than a decade.
The man got aggressive when they approached him to talk. Other neighbours have also tried speaking to him but have been turned away by his elderly mother.
One of the residents, who declined to be named, said they tried bringing the case to court in 2016, but gave up due to the tedious process. Mediation attempts were also unsuccessful, as the man did not show up.
Relocating is not a viable option.
The resident added: “My parents are old. There are a lot of financial considerations with moving out, it would mean we might have to downgrade. As victims, why should we be the ones to suffer a loss or downgrade to a smaller flat just to have peace?”
Over at Yew Tee, a resident who wanted to be known only as Patrick, 42, loses sleep every day because of his neighbour above.
Every night between midnight and 1am, he hears his neighbour walking, dragging chairs and dropping objects. The same noises wake him every morning.
In the day, he can hear his neighbour doing aerobic exercises such as jumping and running across the room.
“It’s like I’m living in a drum, and they are beating the drum,” said Patrick, who works in the logistics industry.
He tried to talk to his neighbour twice, but the neighbour said the noise came from another resident.
Hoping the authorities can do more about this problem, Patrick said: “Just because you can’t see the noise, you can’t deny the noise is there. It’s a big problem relating to mental health and sleep quality.”
Yio Chu Kang MP Yip Hon Weng said common noise-related feedback he receives involves construction noise and noise between neighbours and in the community.
Mr Yip, who helped to set up and run the Municipal Services Office (MSO), including the creation of the OneService app prior to joining politics, said a give-and-take approach is needed to manage noise disputes.
Once, a taiji class asked him if they could start at 7.30am, as the seniors felt it would be too hot later on. He agreed on the condition that they kept their music volume down. So far, no residents have complained, said Mr Yip.
Making mediation compulsory
When noise disputes arise between neighbours, Mr Yip said he usually asks HDB or grassroots leaders to facilitate a conversation between parties, or encourages them to approach the Community Mediation Centre (CMC) or apply to the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunals (CDRT).
At the CMC, trained volunteers help to mediate sessions between the parties involved. Fewer than 30 per cent of applications go to mediation, as it is currently voluntary, though more than 80 per cent of mediated cases are resolved.
If mediation is unfruitful, residents can turn to the CDRT, a specialised court that hears neighbour disputes. It may order errant residents to stop their behaviour or pay damages.
Various MPs have spoken in Parliament about the difficulties they face in getting warring residents to go for mediation, and some like Mr Yip have called for mediation to be made compulsory.
Hougang MP Dennis Tan also said even if both parties participate in mediation, one party may not comply with the mediated obligations.
“For noise-related disputes in HDB estates, until there is a government agency-run effort to handle such disputes with powers to enforce against errant or inconsiderate residents, HDB can do its part by being more proactive when engaging errant residents,” said Mr Tan, adding that the public housing authority has powers which it can use on errant residents, unlike MPs or town councils.
The Government had said previously a new unit would be formed by the end of 2023 to help resolve protracted and egregious disputes between neighbours over noise disturbances.
This unit will be given the power to investigate disputes and stop certain nuisance behaviour. ST understands that it is still in the works.
There are plans to make mediation compulsory. This is one of the proposed enhancements to the community dispute management framework, for which the Government sought public feedback in 2023.
Second Minister for Law Edwin Tong, who spoke on the issue at his ministry’s budget debate in 2023, had said those involved in noise-related disputes could face penalties if they did not attend the mandatory mediation sessions.
The MSO said in response to ST’s queries that the promotion of social norms and government intervention must work hand in hand to tackle the issue of neighbour noise.
The office is also offering basic mediation training for some of its grassroots leaders to assist in such situations.
The MSO has set up a noise experiential lab in Tanglin Halt which allows members of the public to experience how their daily actions may impact their neighbours. The lab, which offers free entry, is open till end of January 2024.
Dr Harun said mediation is an important step to create understanding among all sides.
“To be fair, the challenge for residents is that they are the constant, but the ones who create the noise downstairs or nearby may not be the same and it can get frustrating for the same residents to have to mediate with all parties.
“They may sometimes be seen as the common variable who is upset, but one must also empathise with their predicament and daily lived realities. While mediation may have challenges, it is the only meaningfully sustainable way to achieve a win-win for all parties.”
Noise disputes that may ring a bell
Noisy Bukit Panjang couple barred from flat in Singapore’s first exclusion order
From 2017, Mr Daniel See, who lives in a Housing Board flat in Pending Road, endured the daily racket created by his neighbours downstairs, including sounds of hammering and loud lion dance music in the middle of the night.
Mr See sought help from the police, HDB, town council and his MP, but no one was able to stop the noise. So he filed his first complaint with the CDRT in June 2018.
The tribunal issued a consent order after both parties agreed not to cause excessive noise. However, Mr See’s neighbours – identified in court documents as Madam Iwa and Mr Low Bok Siong – did not comply and the tribunal further granted a special direction ordering the couple to do so.
In January 2020, Mr See obtained an exclusion order to evict his neighbours from their flat for a month. It was the first time such an order was issued by the CDRT.
When the neighbours ignored that too, Mr See filed a Magistrate’s Complaint against them for the breach. The police issued a 12-month conditional warning to Madam Iwa for breaching the exclusion order. This means if she reoffends, she may be prosecuted.
She was also warned for voluntarily causing hurt to Mr See’s father. No action was taken against Mr Low.
Punggol ‘neighbour from hell’ drove six families away
A middle-aged housewife who lived in an HDB block in Punggol Central was accused of splashing oil at her neighbours’ doors, playing loud music and stomping on the floor in the wee hours of the morning.
One resident even claimed the housewife left a bloody pig’s ear on a shoe rack outside her flat. She was dubbed the “neighbour from hell”.
The aggrieved neighbours made multiple police reports, and complained to HDB, their MP and the residents’ committee. Feeling helpless when told by the authorities what the housewife did was not an arrestable offence, six families subsequently sold their flats.
The housewife eventually moved out in 2020, ending years of disputes with her neighbours.
Woman in Yishun who endured noise from neighbours for three years quit job
The woman, who worked as a customer service officer and wanted to be known only as Jessie, had tolerated sounds of dragging furniture and children running and jumping from her neighbours’ flat upstairs in Yishun for about three years.
Her health deteriorated from being sleep-deprived and she had to stop working for six months.
Jessie took her case to the CDRT in July 2020 after three failed attempts at mediation through the Community Mediation Centre. She said her neighbours quietened down for about three weeks after the session, before the noise resumed.
Eventually, she found another job and chose to move out.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/screaming-children-and-noisy-neighbours-residents-driven-nuts-by-noise-in-their-estates
| 2024-01-19T21:49:22Z
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SINGAPORE – As a self-described full-time “kaypoh (Hokkien for busybody) auntie”, Madam Sandy Goh Siew Hua is the one her neighbours turn to when they need help.
The part-time clerk, 55, distributes free food, organises free tuition and art workshops, and coordinates festive decorations for her HDB neighbourhood in Bedok Reservoir Road.
Madam Goh does all this of her own volition without salary or reward.
It started when she moved to the estate in 2006 and helped her illiterate elderly neighbours to read their letters. Gradually, she found herself doing more, and then formalised her roles in 2011.
For example, she set up what she calls an SOS station at the void deck of Block 702 Bedok Reservoir Road, where there are free food, toiletries and even assessment books for residents.
Madam Goh has helped to set up 18 similar corners around Singapore, with more than 50 volunteers. With donations from partner groups, she distributes food, ranging from fruits and vegetables to canned goods and bread, to about 6,000 families across Singapore every week.
She also connects those who need help with others who offer a helping hand. These volunteers, who are usually residents, may be retired hairstylists giving free haircuts, teachers offering free tuition, or tradesmen making elaborate decorations for festive occasions.
Madam Goh is a finalist for the Singaporean of the Year Award, which is organised by The Straits Times to recognise those who have made a significant contribution to society.
This can be through achievements that put Singapore on the world stage, or by going beyond the call of duty to selflessly improve the lives of others in the community, among other ways. The award, now in its ninth edition, is presented by UBS Singapore.
For Madam Goh, who first did volunteer work as a teenager, her desire to help others stems from her experience of personal hardship.
She and her husband had to sell their flat after their construction business went bust during an economic downturn in the early 2000s.
Things got so bad that the couple and their first-born child ended up having to sleep in their lorry for some time.
But they found their feet again after starting a tentage rental service.
The couple and their three children, aged 14 to 20, now live in a three-room flat, which they bought in 2005.
Having suffered and bounced back, Madam Goh wants to help others like her who have fallen on hard times.
She said: “Although life is hard, we still willingly help those who need our support and share our resources until they can get over their difficulties.”
Madam Goh is at the senior residents’ corner at Block 702 every day from 3pm till after midnight, handling everything from administrative paperwork to apply for permits for all her activities and programmes to dealing with suppliers for food distribution.
Any resident who needs help or advice can approach her at the corner.
Madam Goh also manages at least 10 WhatsApp groups of volunteers, who are mainly residents of different neighbourhoods.
“Everyone is contributing. That’s why it’s a community,” she said, hoping to foster the kampung spirit.
Madam Goh finally decided to register a society, Sharing Passion, in 2022 to bring in more volunteers and beneficiaries.
Mr Dave Ng, a beneficiary-turned-volunteer, described her as the “sun” whose all-encompassing warmth has influenced everyone around her positively.
Before meeting her, Mr Ng, now 32, faced financial difficulties in completing his university degree.
As a financial consultant for an insurance company during his university days, he was scouting the area for clients.
He would sit at the senior residents’ corner and do his administrative work, which was how he got to know Madam Goh.
One night, he told her about his struggles with paying his school fees. “She’s a very curious person. She asked me how much the school fees were and how I was coping.”
She then connected him with organisations that provide bursaries.
Throughout his university years, she never gave up on helping him get the aid he needed. “She took it as her responsibility to see this through,” said Mr Ng.
He slowly got roped in to volunteer with her, starting with filling out forms for the elderly and becoming more involved over the years. He never did volunteer work before meeting her.
It is important for Madam Goh that people not only receive but also give.
“There’s a sense of pride when they receive and also contribute,” said Madam Goh, noting that many beneficiaries do volunteer work, including the elderly in wheelchairs, who handle simple sorting tasks.
It is clear that Madam Goh’s neighbours love her.
When she was planning at one point to move out of the estate, her neighbours persuaded her family to stay.
She said: “They went to talk to my husband. When he was driving home, they blocked him in the carpark and pleaded that we not move. Some even cried as they shared their stories (on their problems and the help they received).”
Madam Goh’s dedication to helping others does not slack even when she’s unwell. A few years ago, when she was hospitalised for a heart problem, she was still on the phone directing her volunteers to help those in need.
She said: “If I stop, those people who need food will also stop (getting help).”
As Mr Ng said of her: “Her influence is viral. She’s a transformer. She transforms the community to help others.”
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/singaporean-of-the-year-finalist-having-weathered-hard-times-she-now-helps-others-in-need
| 2024-01-19T21:49:33Z
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SINGAPORE – Even as a toddler, Ms Hani Isnin-Racine would pester her parents to let her help with the family’s food business.
She was already in the kitchen carefully peeling eggs when she was two years old.
Now 40, the law and economics graduate from the National University of Singapore serves up to 300 plates of Malay food to residents of the Jalan Kukoh estate every day.
Each plate, whether lontong or briyani, will set most of her customers back only $2.50, as she has vowed to keep prices low for those living in the many rental flats in the area.
Indeed, the stall at the Jalan Kukoh Food Centre is simply called The $2.50 Shop.
Ms Hani, who runs the stall with her parents, slashed prices in 2021 while inflation was driving prices up. She wanted to do something to help her customers who struggle to afford food.
The family takes home no pay half the time, but their hearts are full from feeding the hungry. They get by on their savings and with the assistance of Ms Hani’s husband, a Frenchman working as an accountant.
Ms Hani is a finalist for The Straits Times Singaporean of the Year 2023 award.
The annual award is organised by The Straits Times and given to a Singaporean or group of citizens who has made a significant contribution to society. This can be through achievements that put Singapore on the world stage, or by going beyond the call of duty to selflessly improve the lives of others in the community.
The award, now in its ninth edition, is presented by UBS Singapore.
As a child, Ms Hani’s parents did not want her to become a hawker, and pushed her to go to university.
Ms Hani said: “They pleaded with me to go study and get a high-flying job that pays well. I gave in because I wanted to make them happy. They said that at the very least, I should have a degree to fall back on.”
Her parents were beyond elated when she landed a job at a law firm, but after two months in the corporate world, she discovered she was miserable. She quit her job and opened a canteen stall in Queensway Secondary School instead.
Her mother, Madam Munah, 70, said: “I was very disappointed. I wanted her to have an easy life.”
Her extended family could not understand her decision either, calling her university education a waste of money.
Despite criticism, Ms Hani was all smiles as she served food to children. If a student came up to her stall and did not have enough money, she would still serve the child something to keep his tummy filled.
She closed the canteen stall after six years to help her parents run their hawker shop as they were getting old and needed an extra hand.
“They kept a watchful eye on me growing up even as they ran their business, so now, it is my turn to keep an eye on them as we run the stall,” she said.
Ms Hani slashed prices when she saw elderly patrons with no money sitting without buying anything.
She was also getting asked by single parents what they could get at her stall for $10 to feed a family of five.
The stall starts selling food at 3.30am, earlier than most.
When ST visited The $2.50 Shop on Jan 16, customers came as early as 3.10am. They were mostly night owls craving hot, hearty food in the wee hours, and night shift workers.
Mr Sim Eng Hua, 65, lives alone in a nearby rental flat. He swung by the stall at 3.45am for some lontong.
The retiree wakes up every day at 3am. Four times a week, he makes his way to Ms Hani’s shop for breakfast to start his day.
He said: “The shop’s prices are very cheap, and the food is very nice. I don’t know how she is able to maintain these prices. I am willing to pay more.”
Even with the slashed prices, some still have trouble paying. From these customers, Ms Hani accepts whatever they can afford to pay.
Ms Hani said: “There are kind souls who come here just to support our stall, and pay the full amount or give extra to cover needy customers. They help us continue what we’re doing.”
Madam Munah said: “She’s always very passionate about what she does and tries her best. When we told her to focus on studying in the past, she worked so hard that she would cry if she got a single question wrong on a test. Now, her heart is set on this career, and her passion is to feed the needy. I’m proud of her.”
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/singaporean-of-the-year-finalist-law-grad-serves-up-cheap-fare-for-struggling-residents-at-hawker-stall
| 2024-01-19T21:49:43Z
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SINGAPORE – Caring for his dad, who was stricken with end-stage colon cancer, made Mr Herman Sing realise how fragile life is.
He left his job as a global account manager in a multinational company when he was 29 to care for his father, who died two years later at the age of 59.
“I felt life is so uncertain, so vulnerable. So I decided to do more,” said Mr Sing, now 45 and working as a logistics director.
He made up his mind to donate his liver to anyone who wanted it, despite knowing the possible impact on his own health.
“When a patient is suffering from a terminal disease, it’s not just the patient (who is affected), it’s also the caregiver... I’m also giving new hope and a new opportunity for a family.”
In early 2023, he donated 67 per cent of his liver to a stranger on the national waiting list. There are around 50 people on the waiting list at any time, and some do not survive the average wait time of one or two years. The Straits Times is unable to reveal when the procedure took place to comply with guidelines relating to recipient anonymity.
Mr Sing is a finalist for the Singaporean of the Year award, organised by The Straits Times.
The award is given to a Singaporean, or a group of citizens, who has made a significant contribution to society.
This can be through achievements that put Singapore on the world stage, or by going beyond the call of duty to selflessly improve the lives of others in the community, among other ways.
The award, now in its ninth edition, is presented by UBS Singapore.
Mr Sing’s wife Lim Pei San broke down when he first told her about his decision in late 2022, after he passed medical tests and was matched to an anonymous recipient.
“Why do you want to go through this? You’re in the pink of health. Why do you want to lose that?” she asked him.
The couple has four children, aged five, nine, 13 and 17. Ms Lim, 45, works as a senior manager at a statutory board.
Friends and family alike questioned why Mr Sing was donating a big part of his liver to a stranger.
But he urged them to focus on the high chance of survival, and explained his rationale. “If our loved ones are (in the same situation) and we cannot donate, won’t we also hope that a stranger will come forward? So why can’t we be that angel to people?”
Mr Sing, who used to go for daily jogs before the operation, now feels breathless after a short walk and struggles to lift heavy bags. He also feels a sharp pain at the incision occasionally, and has to avoid oily food like his favourite laksa, as his gallbladder was removed as part of the surgery.
But he has no regrets.
“I may not know that person, but as long as I know that he or she is doing well, having a wonderful family life, that is the most important to me. Whatever pain, whatever other complication, I can manage,” he said.
“Maybe some people would think that it’s stupid, but I don’t think so... If (the recipient) brings it forward and... (also does) good deeds, then I think that’s how goodness is passed on.”
Mr Sing is no stranger to helping others. For 20 years, he has been volunteering on weekends, such as delivering bread and groceries to those in need, befriending dialysis patients, and beach cleaning.
“Eventually I decided I wanted to do more, to save somebody’s life, because I realised that when you don’t have a healthy body, you really cannot do anything.”
This prompted him to start donating blood, and then blood plasma and platelets – the donation of which requires a longer and more complicated procedure than the jab in the arm for blood donation.
In March 2023, he started a volunteer group to multiply the impact of his volunteer efforts. His goal was to bring in people who wanted to help, but did not know where to start.
The group has about 50 volunteers ranging from the ages of 10 to 67, and they take on tasks such as food delivery and befriending dialysis patients.
Mr Sing also ropes in his wife and four kids during the weekends and school holidays, favouring volunteer work over enrichment lessons. “If I am a good role model, my children will grow up to be good people. That’s the best lesson I can teach them,” he said.
Analyst Peng Paik Yen, 44, who has been a colleague of Mr Sing for more than 10 years, said he inspired her and a few other co-workers to do volunteer work.
“He is very genuine. He always wants to help others with his very pure heart,” Ms Peng said.
About his move to donate his liver, she said: “I feel it’s quite amazing that there’s someone who’s willing to help another stranger and... affect their own self.”
Mr Sing is perhaps the biggest inspiration to his wife of 19 years, who has known him since Primary 1 when they were classmates.
Said Ms Lim: “He’s extraordinary. He’s always doing things that we never think that we would do.”
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/singaporean-of-the-year-finalist-volunteer-who-wanted-to-do-more-gave-most-of-his-liver-to-a-stranger
| 2024-01-19T21:49:53Z
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SINGAPORE – Dealing with noise disputes can be hard. Listening to the routine hammering from your neighbour’s unit in the wee hours of the night makes it harder to muster a friendly greeting the next time you bump into them in the lift.
While the Government has announced that it will be setting up a new unit to help resolve noise disputes between neighbours, what can people do in the meantime?
The Housing Board website said that residents are encouraged to manage disputes by speaking to their neighbours and being willing to compromise to maintain harmony.
The HDB said that “most neighbour disputes can be resolved effectively and amicably with a little thoughtfulness and patience”.
It offers the following advice:
Before the conversation
- Identify the most appropriate time to approach your neighbour.
- Do not confront your neighbour when you are angry as this may upset them.
- Work out what you want to say before you speak to your neighbour.
During the conversation
- Do not lose your temper as this would make things worse.
- Keep calm and be polite while you attempt to talk things through.
Ending the conversation
- Thank your neighbour for their time and leave on a friendly note.
- Wait a few days to see if the problem has been solved.
Residents can also contact grassroots leaders for help with speaking to the neighbour.
Community Mediation Centre
If the issue persists, they can get formal mediation services at the Community Mediation Centre (CMC), which has a panel of trained volunteer mediators.
The CMC was set up in 1998 to help residents resolve social and community disputes.
During a mediation session, a trained mediator will be present to help facilitate the conversation between you and your neighbour to try to reach a mutually acceptable agreement.
Mediation sessions at the CMC are voluntary, and each party has to agree to attend.
Community Disputes Resolution Tribunals
For residents who wish to take the matter to court, they can apply to the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunals (CDRT). The CDRT may order both parties to go for mediation before hearing the case.
A claim can be filed with the CDRT only if the neighbour in question lives in the same building or within a 100m radius of the applicant’s home, and is not living in the same home.
Claims to the CDRT must be made online via the Community Justice and Tribunals System, and will need supporting documents such as police reports, mediation agreements and evidence supporting the claim. If found guilty, the neighbour has to comply with the court order from CDRT.
To reach a grassroots leader: Residents can find their nearest community centre at www.onepa.gov.sg/cc and get in touch with a grassroots leader there.
CMC’s inquiry line: 1800-CALL-LAW (1800-2255-529) from Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays), 8.30am to 5pm.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/what-can-you-do-when-you-have-a-noisy-neighbour
| 2024-01-19T21:50:04Z
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RIYADH - Goals from Marcus Thuram and Davide Frattesi, along with a Hakan Calhanoglu penalty, propelled Inter Milan to a 3-0 victory over Lazio in the Italian Supercup semi-final on Friday, securing their place in the final against Napoli.
After 17 minutes of continuous Inter pressure, Federico Dimarco conjured up a moment of magic with a skilful heel flick, setting up Thuram, who effortlessly tapped in the ball to break the deadlock for the Milan side.
Inter continued to press after the break, with Calhanoglu doubling the lead five minutes in from the penalty spot after Lazio's Pedro Rodriguez had fouled Lautaro Martinez.
Inter scored again three minutes before time when an unmarked Frattesi received the ball just outside the box after a counter-attack and effortlessly put it away.
The game took place in a partially-filled Al-Awwal Stadium in Riyadh.
Inter will play Napoli in the final on Monday at the same stadium, following the Serie A champions' 3-0 victory over Fiorentina in the first semi-final on Thursday. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/inter-sweep-past-lazio-to-reach-italian-supercup-final
| 2024-01-19T21:50:14Z
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Serie A champions Napoli said on Friday they had signed Belgian winger Cyril Ngonge from Hellas Verona.
The deal was worth some 18 million euros ($19.60 million) plus add-ons, according to local media reports.
"From Belgium to Napoli. Welcome Cyril," the club said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The 23-year-old Ngonge joined Verona in January last year from FC Groningen and played a total of 36 games in all competitions, scoring 11 goals and providing three assists.
Napoli, who also completed the signings of Pasquale Mazzocchi and Hamed Traore earlier this month, reached the final of the Italian Supercup with a 3-0 win over Fiorentina on Thursday. They are eighth in the Serie A standings. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/napoli-sign-ngonge-from-hellas-verona
| 2024-01-19T21:50:25Z
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LONDON - The United States and other top powers need to use their influence with Israel to end the ongoing "carnage" in Gaza, Jordan's Prime Minister, Bisher al Khasawaneh, said on Friday.
Jordan, which shares a border with the occupied West Bank, has been highly critical of Israel's bombardments of Gaza with Khasawaneh saying on Friday that they "ticked all the boxes of war crimes against humanity."
Israel has denied allegations that it has committed war crimes.
Khasawaneh said heavyweight international diplomacy and influence was needed to secure a ceasefire.
"Leadership is needed from our American friends and our American partners, and from various capitals in the world, that can influence the decision making process in Israel in genuine terms to bring this carnage to an end," the Jordanian prime minister said at an event at the London School of Economics.
He added that public opinion in the West was clear in its concerns about the violence and the pressure the international rules-based system was being put under around issues such as providing aid to the devastated parts Gaza.
"The main powers are under not only just a morale responsibility but also an obligation in the context of preserving the rules-based international system to come and tell the current Israeli government that this needs to stop," he said.
The hope was that then things could "move into a mode that fundamentally resolves this vicious cycle of violence and killing," said Khasawaneh, who had been met with loud protests as he arrived at the event from LSE students and Arab diaspora.
Israel and its biggest backer the United States appear at odds now, with Prime Minister Benjamin 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 neighbours 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.
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.
U.S.-brokered talks on a Palestinian state in territory now occupied by Israel collapsed almost a decade ago. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/jordans-pm-urges-us-to-take-lead-in-ending-gaza-carnage
| 2024-01-19T21:50:35Z
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WASHINGTON - Dozens of President Joe Biden's fellow Democrats signed a letter on Friday urging his administration to reaffirm that the United States strongly opposes "the forced and permanent displacement" of Palestinians from Gaza.
The letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, led by U.S. Representatives Ayanna Pressley and Jamie Raskin, was signed by 60 Democratic House of Representatives members, reflecting concern, especially on the left, over the steep toll on Palestinian civilians of Israel's campaign against Hamas.
"We urge you to continue to reiterate the United States’ firm commitment to this position and ask that you provide clarification regarding certain provisions of the administration's supplemental humanitarian and security funding request," the letter said.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The United States gives Israel $3.8 billion in annual military assistance. Biden has asked Congress to approve an additional $14 billion, part of a sweeping supplemental funding request stalled in Congress as Republicans and Democrats negotiate immigration policy changes.
Separately, a group of Democratic senators said on Friday that 18 Democrats in that chamber support an amendment that would require that any country receiving funding in the supplemental use the money in accordance with U.S. law, international humanitarian law and the law of armed conflict.
Also this week, Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, forced a vote on a resolution that would have frozen security aid to Israel unless the State Department produced a report within 30 days examining whether Israel committed human rights violations in its campaign against Hamas.
Seventy-two senators voted to set the resolution aside, versus 11 who backed it, easily clearing the simple majority needed to kill the resolution in the 100-member chamber.
Israel launched the war to eradicate Hamas, an Iran-backed group sworn to Israel's destruction, after militants stormed across the border on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and capturing 240 hostages, Israeli tallies showed.
Gaza health authorities said the war, now in its fourth month, has killed more than 24,760 people in the Palestinian enclave. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/us-democrats-push-biden-over-civilian-toll-in-israels-gaza-campaign
| 2024-01-19T21:50:45Z
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WASHINGTON - An Atlas Air Boeing 747 cargo plane made an emergency return to Miami International Airport following an engine problem shortly after takeoff, the airline said – prompting another investigation into the aviation giant.
The plane, which was headed to Puerto Rico, landed safely late on Jan 18 “after experiencing an engine malfunction soon after departure,” an Atlas Air spokesman told AFP in a statement.
No injuries were reported.
“The crew followed all standard procedures and safely returned to MIA,” the spokesman said, adding that the airline would investigate the cause of the incident.
A post-flight inspection revealed a softball-size hole above the second engine, said the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in a notice.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) told AFP that it has opened an investigation into the case.
Boeing said in a separate statement that it is supporting its customers and will aid with the NTSB review.
The plane uses four engines made by GE Aerospace, which is also providing technical assistance as investigations proceed.
Atlas Air, which started operations in 1992, said on its website that it runs the world’s biggest fleet of Boeing 747 freighter aircraft.
Heightened scrutiny
US aviation giant Boeing is under intense global scrutiny over its 737 Max 9 jet, following a scare on an Alaska Airlines plane earlier in January, when a panel came off mid-flight and forced an emergency landing.
There were no fatalities or serious injuries in that case either, but US regulators grounded 171 Max 9 planes with the same configuration as the jet involved in the incident.
Boeing shares took a hit earlier in the month, with the FAA launching a safety probe into the Jan 5 Alaska Airlines incident too.
The FAA said this week that its probe would extend to Boeing’s manufacturing practices and production lines.
This was the first major in-flight safety issue on a Boeing plane since two fatal 737 Max crashes, one in 2018 and one in 2019, led to a nearly two-year grounding of the aircraft.
Several incidents involving Boeing planes have since garnered attention, with an All Nippon Airways flight reportedly having to turn back on Jan 13, after a crack was found on the cockpit window of the Boeing 737-800.
On Jan 17, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was forced to delay his return from Switzerland due to what a US official called a “critical failure” of his airplane, also a Boeing.
A separate plane was sent to retrieve Mr Blinken, with aides returning to Washington by commercial flight.
While US air safety regulators have completed inspections on 40 grounded 737 Max planes, they have not specified when the aircraft would be cleared to return to service. AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/boeing-747-cargo-plane-makes-emergency-landing-in-miami
| 2024-01-19T21:50:56Z
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BEIJING - Six months after China sacked its foreign minister under mysterious and unexplained circumstances, it could be close to naming a successor, potentially during its annual parliamentary season in March.
Political pundits have their money on seasoned diplomat Liu Jianchao, after he made a recent high-profile visit to the United States where he met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer, and spoke at an event organised by think-tank Council on Foreign Relations.
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| 2024-01-19T21:51:37Z
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SINGAPORE – Former transport minister S. Iswaran’s case is the first time in 153 years that anyone in Singapore has been reported to be charged under Section 165 of the Penal Code, since 1871 when the Penal Code was introduced here.
Legal experts and lawyers told The Straits Times that no other person here is believed to have been charged before under this Section, which makes it an offence for a public servant to accept gifts from someone involved with them in an official capacity.
Of the 27 charges Iswaran faces, 24 of them fall under Section 165.
He is accused of obtaining items worth more than $218,000 – including tickets to musicals and football matches – from billionaire hotelier Ong Beng Seng.
Iswaran also faces two charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) and one charge of obstructing the course of justice.
The value of the items in Iswaran’s 27 charges is more than $380,000.
1. What constitutes an offence under Section 165 of the Penal Code?
Adjunct Professor Kevin Tan from the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) law school said the offence penalises public servants who obtain or accept gifts, or attempt to do so, from an individual with whom the public servant has official dealings without necessarily giving or doing anything in return.
He added that Section 165, which has been in the Penal Code since it was introduced in Singapore in 1871, is intended to deter public servants from abusing their positions to enrich themselves or others.
In Iswaran’s case, he is accused of obtaining valuable items from Mr Ong, who is founder and managing director of Hotel Properties Limited and chairman of Singapore GP, which organises the Formula One night race at the Marina Bay Street Circuit annually.
Mr Ong has not been charged.
ST reported earlier that in the mid-2000s, then junior trade minister Iswaran and Mr Ong convinced then Formula One Group chief executive Bernie Ecclestone to make Singapore the venue for the sport’s first night race, starting in 2008.
Singapore Management University associate professor of law Eugene Tan said that while Singapore has no reported cases under Section 165, countries such as Malaysia and Brunei have used the provision in their penal codes.
He pointed to the case of former Selangor chief minister Mohamad Khir Toyo, who was sentenced to a year in jail in September 2015 after he was convicted of corruption charges, including those under Section 165 of Malaysia’s Penal Code.
Mohamad Khir was found guilty of buying land and property below market value from a businessman who had dealings with him at the time.
Another case involved former Brunei minister of development Ismail bin Pengiran Damit, who was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2010 after being convicted of 11 corruption charges, including eight offences under the Brunei Penal Code’s Section 165.
He was found guilty of accepting gratification from a managing director of a building contractor who had contracts with the Brunei government.
Prof Eugene Tan said the defence and prosecution on Iswaran’s case could refer to cases abroad involving Section 165 when presenting their interpretations of the provision.
If convicted of an offence under Section 165, Iswaran faces a punishment of up to two years’ jail, a fine, or both.
2. How are offences under Section 165 different from those under the PCA?
The PCA defines the primary offences of corruption and their punishments in Singapore.
In Iswaran’s PCA charges, he is accused of corruptly obtaining F1 tickets, flights between Singapore and Doha, and a night’s stay in Four Seasons Doha from Mr Ong in exchange for advancing the latter’s business interests.
These business interests include a facilitation agreement between Singapore GP and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), and a proposal for a contract with STB to hold a concert in Singapore.
Assistant Professor Benny Tan from NUS law school said there are additional elements that the prosecution needs to prove for offences under the PCA, which is Singapore’s primary anti-corruption legislation, as opposed to Section 165.
He added: “Under Sections 5 and 6 of the PCA, the prosecution needs to prove that the gratification was used as an inducement for some kind of benefit. The PCA can apply to anyone, not just public servants.
“But for Section 165 offences, the prosecution does not need to prove that a favour was given in exchange for something in return.”
Therefore, the law professor said, offences under the PCA carry a more severe punishment of a jail term of up to five years, a fine of up to $100,000, or both.
As Iswaran’s alleged PCA offences involve contracts with STB, a statutory board, he faces a higher maximum sentence if convicted.
The maximum punishment for each of his PCA offences is a jail term of up to seven years, a fine of up to $100,000, or both.
3. Is it an offence if I receive gifts from someone I have business dealings with?
Lawyers said the rules are stricter in the public service than in the private sector.
Under Singapore’s public service rules on gifts, civil servants cannot retain gifts worth more than $50, unless they pay the market value of the gift to the Government.
Minister-in-charge of Public Service Chan Chun Sing said in Parliament in August 2023 that political office-holders adopt “similar spirit and principles” in their official activities and there are specific rules spelt out in the code of conduct for ministers.
For the private sector, senior criminal defence lawyer Rajan Supramaniam from Regent Law said different companies have their own guidelines on how to deal with gift-giving.
He added: “It is better to be transparent and declare what you have received to your department or superiors to avoid being in a grey area.
“You never know if accepting a gift from a client, for example, may lead to them making a request in future, which you may feel obligated to accede to, and doing so may constitute a corruption offence.”
4. What’s next for Iswaran, and how long will his case take?
Iswaran told the court on Jan 18 that he intends to plead not guilty.
Prof Benny Tan said that does not mean the former minister will definitely be claiming trial eventually, as the accused can change his mind during pre-trial conferences (PTCs).
“During PTCs, the prosecution may make a plea offer and the defence, after reviewing the evidence, may also be able to persuade the prosecution to drop charges,” he added.
Mr Supramaniam said Iswaran’s case could stretch to the next year, as it depends on the course of action the former minister takes and how complex the case is.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/askst/askst-iswaran-is-the-first-reported-person-to-be-charged-under-section-165-what-is-this-provision?utm_campaign=STPicks
| 2024-01-19T21:51:48Z
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SINGAPORE – The Straits Times talks to seven designers and architects on their dream projects for 2024, what inspires them, and how the projects are helping them hone their craft and design sensibilities.
These upcoming works include a collapsible rattan coffee table, paintings and ceramics, architecture and design books, as well as sustainable builds in Singapore and around the world.
Architect aims to think like a painter
Mr Rene Tan, 59, is the director of RT+Q Architects, which he co-founded in 2003. He was named Designer of the Year at the President’s Design Awards 2016.
The firm, too, has won accolades, including the Singapore Institute of Architects’ Architectural Design Awards and Urban Redevelopment Authority Architectural Heritage Awards, for projects such as the Petit Jervois apartments and a semi-detached house dubbed the House of Spice.
“I hope my inspiration for 2024 will be a non-architecture one. In fact, I want architecture to be the last thing on my mind, in terms of motivation. I think it’s essential that I exorcise all architectural things from my being in order to clear the way for new ideas.
In short, don’t think like an architect. Perhaps think and feel like a painter. I think painting will liberate me from my prejudices about design and free me from my hang-ups about architecture. These days, I produce a painting for every project my firm does.
Painting is an important activity. It makes me think about composition and form rather than plans and buildings.
I also want to listen to more jazz. I believe the ad libitum aspect of jazz, which allows the artist to improvise, will steer me away from the tyrannical rules and dogmas of design.
In terms of buildings, we have projects whose completion we are looking forward to in 2024. These represent a new kind of thinking towards sustainable design. They are different from our previous works in the way they rethink materials, reconsider the weather and reimagine form.
We just published our book, Rethinking The Tropical House – 20 Years Of RT+Q Architects, which features 29 of our projects.
There is also the ongoing LC150+ project by RT+Q Architects. This is a travelling exhibition of physical models of the 20th-century master architect Le Corbusier’s work.
The models are products of RT+Q interns, who spend their first week building a model of one of Le Corbusier’s architectural works. Over the past 20 years, we have amassed some 220 models that are now touring the world.
These models are at Yale University in the United States, which I graduated from in 1987 with a double major in music and architecture. We share these models free of charge with the world.
We also send our colleagues as ambassadors globally to meet people and give talks. The tour has already been to 23 venues around the world.
I see this project as the logical conclusion to, and physical manifestation of, lessons I learnt in architecture – especially in negotiating our increasingly digital world.
Another challenge in the future is to develop better working synergies between consultants and builders, and to understand each other’s trade better. This will produce better buildings and foster a more desirable environment.
In 2024, I will be buying less and designing more; shopping less and creating more.” – Arthur Sim
Serving the community
Mr Lim Cheng Kooi, 60, is the principal director of award-winning architecture firm AR43, which was founded in 2006.
Its accolades include the DFA Design for Asia Awards and International Architecture Awards for projects such as the Golden Pagoda Buddhist Temple and a building dubbed the Perforated House.
“My motivation this year is to focus on doing things that matter most and are close to my heart – perhaps working at a more comfortable pace, travelling more and spending more time doing paintings and ceramics, which I have been passionate about for over 35 years.
I hope to work on projects that will benefit and make a difference to people or the community as a whole.
The firm has been involved in pro-bono work in Bylakuppe, India, designing facilities for the aged and those with disabilities for welfare organisation Karuna Home. AR43’s first project for the organisation, a home for children with disabilities, was opened by the Dalai Lama in 2000.
A 28-room home for the elderly was completed just before the end of 2023 and I was unfortunately unable to attend the opening ceremony. It will be satisfying to visit it in 2024.
Our dream would be to work on a similar project in Singapore.
We have been working on several projects since before the pandemic, including the upgrading of two mosques, which were delayed for a few years.
These two mosques are fully funded by devotees. Unfortunately, the delay caused the budget to tailspin due to high inflation. Our motivation is to create a design that is sympathetic to their needs while being mindful of the budget.
This year, I also hope to work on my paintings and ceramics. Hopefully, I will have enough good pieces before the end of 2024 to have an exhibition.
My last solo exhibition was in 2008, with all sales proceeds donated to Karuna Home and a bursary programme for Northbrooks Secondary School. The challenge for 2024 is about juggling my time between architecture and art.
Our profession has many challenges ahead. Inflation is making the practice harder in terms of managing higher business costs, and the interest of young architects is dwindling. We need to put an end to some outstanding problems such as the issue of undercutting architects’ fees by some players.
I hope for fairer remuneration, equal opportunities for smaller practices like ours, and to streamline business costs for the architectural profession to stay healthy.” – Arthur Sim
From Japanese ikebana to Chinese construction
Mr Kelvin Bing, who is in his 50s, is the founder of design and project management firm Renaissance Planners & Designers, which was established in 1994.
The firm has designed and completed 60 landed homes and over 300 interior design projects. Its accolades include the Singapore Design Award for private homes in Sunset Way and Namly Avenue.
“This year will be my 30th in the design industry and I want to give back to it, especially to those just starting out, by sharing the knowledge and experience I have gained along the way.
I recently published a book, Choreographing Spaces, featuring the firm’s works. I am working on another book that I hope will serve as a guide and reference for those in the design and building construction industries, using case studies from my firm to describe real-life processes better, as well as practical aspects of design – for instance, project management and the properties of construction materials.
I hope the new book will inspire young designers and architects to persevere in their chosen career. If design is going to be a lifelong endeavour, it is important to find satisfaction and inspiration from the profession.
When I was starting out in the 1990s, I was inspired by Singapore’s pioneer architects – such as the late William Lim, Alfred Wong and Tang Guan Bee – to push the boundaries of design. Their notable works, like Golden Mile Complex, the National Theatre and Marine Parade Community Club, are still inspiring.
I have also practised ikebana, the Japanese art of floral arrangement, since the 1990s. It has taught me how to be calm and still. More recently, I have been inspired by traditional Asian architecture, and intend to explore a more pluralistic approach to design that integrates different cultures.
In 2023, I visited the Imperial Palace in Beijing, China, and was able to get a good look at the timber structural system used in the buildings. Chinese architecture uses a unique bracket system that cantilevers from the column, like branches of a tree, to hold up huge roofs.
The joinery used is essentially a tongue-and-groove system. I was inspired to adopt this traditional form of Chinese design for a house that my firm is working on, and hope to complete it this year.
I also want to focus on sustainable design, including incorporating Zero Energy Buildings principles like maximising natural light and cross-ventilation to create a bright and airy environment indoors.
My firm is working on using more sustainable building materials and renewable energy sources in our projects by integrating the use of recycled materials, as well as solar and wind energy systems.
In addition, I see the need for increasing collaboration between designers and contractors on projects.
One of the aspects of design is the ability to fuse different cultures and traditions with new technology in a coherent and aesthetically pleasing way. I believe designers are a key part of the process.” – Arthur Sim
Weaving big dreams
Ms Ng Si Ying, 30, is a full-time user experience designer by day and rattan artisan by night. She began working with rattan in 2016 and sees it as an area of study as well as a craft.
She creates custom pieces for corporate and individual clients, and chronicles her work at @atinymaker on Instagram.
“I aim to make some progress on my Rattan As Weave project, where I explore all the different ways of flat weaving patterns with rattan. Flat weaving features the interface of vertical threads (warp) and horizontal threads (waft).
My progress is quite slow at the moment, at only 14 out of the goal of 100 patterns. But I shall not attempt to set unrealistic expectations, as I tend to get distracted by other ideas.
I’m also eager to explore larger designs with rattan and experiment with different material combinations, and to discover additional functionalities that rattan can fulfil.
One of my to-do projects this year involves repurposing a rattan hula hoop into a collapsible coffee table. Despite having the idea for a while, I’ve delayed it due to indecision.
Spring cleaning at the end of 2023 reminded me that the hula hoop has been silently waiting its turn. At the same time, I didn’t want to be caught up in repeating things that I was comfortable doing. I haven’t acquired the skills for it – that’s also part of the growing that I hope to do this year.
This is the year I’m committed to bringing this project to life and figuring out the weave I’ve been meaning to learn.
Working on smaller objects with thinner rattan strips has been my focus for a while, so exploring a larger work will definitely provide valuable lessons.
Smaller projects, such as flower pots and tea cosies, have been more manageable in terms of size and weaving. The size of the material that I have is also on the finer end.
I also tend to jump around projects, so a big project would require me to focus on one thing for a long time. I wasn’t sure if I was ready for that in my early days with this craft.
I’m accustomed to crafting every part that goes into my works, but creating larger pieces – especially furniture – will demand some collaboration with experts. I’m not yet sure what kind of experts, but being able to express my design ideas is going to be a new skill set that this project will foster.
Many things have inspired my work with rattan. But recently, I’ve been interested in the designs of living spaces – their colours, textures and materials – and how rattan could fill them.” – Yamini Chinnuswamy
Sustainability on her mind
Ms Ivy Koh, 42, is the deputy chief operation officer of SJ Architecture, part of the Surbana Jurong Group. Headquartered in Singapore, the group is a global urban, infrastructure and managed services consulting firm with a talent pool of around 16,000 in more than 120 offices spanning about 40 countries. Ms Koh plays a key role in leading a team of architects, as well as collaborating across teams and overseeing the implementation of design concepts.
“One of my dream projects is the design and restoration of the Temasek Shophouse Extension, a row of 1920s conservation shophouses in Orchard Road.
Temasek Shophouse is envisioned to be Singapore’s downtown social impact hub when it is ready by 2025.
The extension will add about 4,100 sq m of space, notching up the total area to 6,400 sq m, with larger and more diverse spaces for events and exhibitions, as well as for social enterprises, retail, and food and beverage outlets.
The unit at 28 Orchard Road was completed in 2019 and won the Urban Redevelopment Authority Architectural Heritage Award in 2019. The adjacent shophouses in the extension will be restored to honour their heritage.
Some of the key architectural features of the conservation shophouses – such as the facade, staircases, mosaic floor finish and ceiling details – will be carefully restored to retain their unique characteristics.
Designing the building to accommodate diverse functions within a single space was also one of the major challenges. It needed to be agile and adaptable to cater to its various uses and user groups.
The journey of designing Temasek Shophouse, as well as its extension, has been truly inspiring for the design team, and I see more opportunities to bring about new ideas in future projects that can make a meaningful impact not only on society, but also on culture, the environment and people.
Designing for sustainability will continue to be a priority in 2024. It goes beyond the design of a building. We also have to think about a building’s day-to-day operations.
Another important trend we are following is regenerative design – which goes beyond conventional sustainability practices – that restores and enhances ecosystems using artificial intelligence (AI).
AI is a valuable part of the creative process and we need a mindset shift to dispel concerns of AI replacing designers.
Instead, designers should think of AI as ‘assisted intelligence’, as there is vast potential to harness its computational capabilities to create more innovative and captivating designs.” – Chantal Sajan
Preserving the soul of spaces
Mr Peter Tay, 52, is a President’s Design Award recipient of Designer of the Year 2014. After graduating in architecture from London’s Architectural Association in 1999, he pivoted to interior design. He manages high-end global projects with his team at Peter Tay Studio, which he founded in 2003, and is known for redesigning the homes of celebrities such as Chinese-American singer Wang Leehom and Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi.
“I’m working on several dream projects, such as the interior design for an upcoming residential development by billionaire Peter Lim in Ardmore Park.
I’m also redesigning the main lobby, two sky terraces and a rooftop communal space at South Beach Office Tower in Beach Road. The building was designed in 2016 by British architectural firm Foster + Partners.
But one project that stands out is the reimagining of the interiors of the luxe J-Sekka Suites, a hotel in Niseko in Hokkaido, Japan. Niseko is known as the St Moritz of the East for its ski slopes and powdery snow.
I was tasked with redesigning J-Sekka’s luxury residential apartment comprising studios, two-bedroom suites and two penthouses. Amenities at the apartment include a bar, a lounge, a spa, a wellness centre and restaurants.
The hotel boasts stunning views of Mount Niseko Annupuri’s snow-capped peak.
I conceptualised the interiors with local woods, such as birch and hinoki (Japanese cypress), to provide a counterpoint to the winter wonderland outside.
My approach to interior design is to find opportunities in the layout to incorporate a reflective surface, such as a ceiling mirror, or use metal or glossy veneers for a mirror-like effect.
Reflections gently nudge people to slow down and contemplate. I have been designing meditative alcoves with reflective accents for almost two decades.
I am not concerned about trends, as a site tells me everything I need to know about how it should be transformed.
I look at the historic underpinnings of the place and try to unearth the unwritten ‘literature’ inherent in the site.
This is done through intensive background research about the character of the site, its owners, their aspirations and, most importantly, what the space is going to be used for.
When the provenance of a site is respected and reimagined as a modern space, it creates a legacy.
My dream projects allow me to freeze the ‘soul’ of a space as I see it, through its history, colours, furnishings and accents.” – Chantal Sajan
Sustainability meets gastronomy and culture
Mr Tan Kay Ngee, 67, founder of global firm Kay Ngee Tan Architects, picked up the President’s Design Award 2023 for Designer of the Year. The firms’ work on two bungalows in the Gallop Extension of the Singapore Botanic Gardens won the Singapore Institute of Architects’ Architectural Design Award 2023 for Design of the Year, as well as the Urban Redevelopment Authority Architectural Heritage Award for distinction in conservation in 2022.
“We have several irons in the fire that would fit the ‘dream project’ billing, but one that stands out in 2024 is the Tariria Culture, Art and Gastronomy Centre in Van in eastern Turkey.
It is envisioned by the Turkish government as a premier tourism destination, and its culinary academy aims to integrate local culture, history, architecture and nature. It is named after Queen Tariria of the Urartu Dynasty, who established gardens and a sprawling orchard on the project site more than 2,800 years ago.
Everything about the project evokes an ethereal charm. When my team and I visited the site years ago, there was a rare, dream-like quality about the land, perhaps from its long history.
Many parts are still untouched and just waiting to be discovered. There is also a 12th-century church on Akdamar Island in Lake Van, which has some of the region’s most beautiful architecture.
Our goal is to strike a balance between the region’s vast cultural heritage and contemporary architectural innovations.
Tariria Centre is designed using Turkish hardwoods, such as chestnut and walnut, and locally sourced volcanic stones, such as ahlat stone.
Feature glass walls, supported by a locally produced steel structure, blur the lines between the outdoors and indoors.
The hall of the lobby can seat up to 150 people for events such as conferences or seminars, and can be converted into a lounge or bistro.
There is also a multi-purpose hall that can accommodate up to 800 visitors, and a two-storey restaurant area with panoramic views of Lake Van and Mount Suphan which, at 4,000m high, is one of Turkey’s highest volcanos.
By using sustainable materials for construction and preserving the traditional values of the indigenous people, we can ensure the economic development of the communities that call Van home.” – Chantal Sajan
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| 2024-01-19T21:51:58Z
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SINGAPORE – Ask serious collectors to pick a favourite in their collection, and most will tell you they cannot. It is like being asked to choose a favourite child, they say.
Not National University of Singapore (NUS) law professor David Tan. From his stash of almost 300 couture jackets, one now has his heart – a “deconstructed” Louis Vuitton piece that gives the illusion of separate parts floating in the air.
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| 2024-01-19T21:52:09Z
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The recent outcry over changes to payment methods for public transport, involving the EZ-Link and SimplyGo platforms, holds a lesson that the needs of the actual end user – the customer – must be the starting point.
From June 1, adult fares on public buses and trains can no longer be paid using ez-link cards that are not compatible with the SimplyGo platform. Nets FlashPay cards will also not be accepted. These changes were announced on Jan 9 by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and have since been met with complaints and concerns.
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| 2024-01-19T21:52:19Z
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172 tickets, two plane rides and a hotel stay
Here’s a summary of the items allegedly obtained by Iswaran from 2015 to 2022.
Here are all the charges against Iswaran, annotated
The 27 charges were provided in separate PDF documents, each page contains one charge ordered by date of alleged obtainment by Iswaran.
The charges are listed in order of the approximate date the items were allegedly obtained by Iswaran. This first charge is for two tickets to theatre show Thriller for around £200 (approximately S$429.94, according to court documents), around November 2015.
The second charge is for another set of theatre tickets also obtained in November 2015.
The next two charges involve football match tickets…
also allegedly obtained in November 2015.
The next charge moves to September 2016 for the first set of Singapore Formula One Grand Prix (GP) Green Room tickets included in the charges. The tickets give guests access to an air-conditioned suite that has prime views of the race track. At that time, Iswaran was the chairman of the F1 Steering Committee.
The next two charges involve Singapore F1 GP tickets he allegedly obtained in September 2017...
which totalled about $82,265.
The next five charges move to December 2017, involving tickets to the musical The Book Of Mormon...
… football match tickets featuring Chelsea FC v Southampton FC…
… tickets to parts one and two of the Harry Potter And The Cursed Child play…
… more football matches…
and more musicals.
In September 2018, he allegedly obtained tickets to the Singapore F1 GP again. This time, it included six Twenty3 tickets that offer panoramic views of the finish line…
and 13 general admission tickets, totalling to approximately $29,937.
The next three charges took place in December 2018. It involved theatre tickets to The Play That Goes Wrong...
… and School Of Rock.
He also allegedly obtained tickets to a football match.
The next three charges were theatre tickets he allegedly obtained in June 2019. It included four tickets to Hamilton...
… four tickets to Waitress...
… and four tickets to Betrayal.
In September 2019, he allegedly obtained tickets to the Singapore F1 GP. That year, it involved six Green Room tickets…
… and 16 general admission tickets, totalling about $47,251.
The 23rd charge was two tickets to the show Back To The Future, which he allegedly obtained in December 2021.
That month, he also allegedly obtained tickets to the musical &Juliet. This was the last set of theatre tickets obtained. The total value of all theatre tickets amounted to about $10,694.
The 25th charge is the final set of Singapore F1 GP tickets he allegedly obtained in September 2022. It involved 50 tickets, all totalling about $145,434. There are a total of 116 tickets for the 2016 to 2022 Singapore F1 GP events.
The 26th charge involves expenses for a trip to Doha in December 2022. This involved an outbound flight on Mr Ong Beng Seng’s private plane, a business class flight back from Doha to Singapore, as well as a one-night stay in Four Seasons Doha. These add up to about $20,848.
Finally, the last charge is for obstruction of justice. Iswaran had allegedly repaid the cost of the business class flight back from Doha to Singapore on May 25, 2023. In December 2022, he had allegedly taken the flight – valued at $5,700 – at Mr Ong’s expense.
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| 2024-01-19T21:52:30Z
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Ihor Mazepa, the founder of Concorde Capital investment company, was detained at the Ukraine-Poland border checkpoint, Concorde Capital announced on 18 January.
On 19 January, Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigations (DBR) confirmed the detention of Mazepa, his brother, and two other individuals in connection with a scheme involving the unlawful privatization of land belonging to the hydro-technical structures of the Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant. The DBR alleges that the scheme organizers attempted to seize 300 hectares valued at over 1 billion UAH.
The focus of this investigation is on the nearly 50-hectare Goodlife Park complex. According to the LUN portal, the cheapest cottage available in Goodlife Park, measuring 220 square meters, is currently priced at approximately UAH 25.3 million (approx $670.000). On the OLX platform are listings for fully renovated 500-square-meter cottages priced at UAH 87 million (approx $2.3 million). Within the Goodlife Park area is a yacht club, mini-hotel, restaurant, children’s park, sports facilities, and fitness center.
On the same day, the Pechersk District Court in Kyiv ruled that Mazepa would remain in custody until 27 February. The court partially granted the prosecutor’s request, setting bail at over UAH 349 million (approx $9.2 million), while the prosecution had initially requested UAH 700 million (approx $18.6 million), Hromadske reported from the courtroom.
Ukrainian MoD contractor nabbed amid $ 1.2 bn fraud probe as minister vows to clean house
“Both the prosecutor’s office and the DBR have taken the first step towards a dangerous precedent in the country, where an honest businessman who does not fear and does not hide his companies behind secretaries and drivers can be held accountable for entrepreneurial initiative,” Mazepa stated after the court hearing.
When asked whether he intends to post bail, Mazepa replied, “The morning is wiser than the evening; there is time until Monday to consider what to do next.” He also emphasized his intention to file an appeal. The defense argued that the detention was unlawful, contending that there were no grounds for it and asserting that Mazepa crossed the border not to evade authorities but for legitimate purposes — to attend the Davos forum in Switzerland.
The defense also claimed that the protocol of detention indicated that Mazepa had attempted to evade law enforcement. The lawyer asserted that the border detention was a “staged setup to characterize Mazepa’s departure from the country as an evasion of pre-trial investigation.”
In contrast, the prosecution argued that, according to the investigation, Mazepa decided to leave the country upon learning of his impending criminal liability. The prosecutor cited risks, including the possibility of hiding from law enforcement and influencing witnesses, as reasons for requesting detention with the option of posting 700 million UAH bail.
The defense team also requested the involvement of sureties, but the court rejected the request.
In 1997, Ihor Mazepa began his career as an investment banker at the Russian-American investment company Prospect Investments and founded his own company, Concorde Capital, seven years later. From July to September 2014, he was a member of the supervisory board of Russian Alfa-Bank, run by Russian oligarchs Mikhail Fridman and Pyotr Aven. From November 2016 to August 2018, he served on the supervisory board of Ukrsotsbank. Mazepa was considered one of the closest allies of Ukrainian oligarch Serhiy Tihipko and was part of the “Sylna Ukraina” party list headed by Tihipko during the 2014 elections.
Read also:
- Ukraine’s anti-graft agency and Transparency International Canada to enhance cooperation in corruption disclosure
- Why Ukraine’s defense minister Reznikov resigned and who is tapped to replace him
- Media: Supplier for Ukraine’s army acquires Croatian hotels
- “No support for Ukraine and its army”: PepsiCo restricts mentions of war in its PR?
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| 2024-01-19T21:54:43Z
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Elizabeth Hurley is known to turn heads with her fashion offerings and the model got her followers talking as the star shared her latest beachside photos.
However, this time Elizabeth wasn't in one of her signature bikinis as the star had actually decided to don a partially see-through gold leaf shirt. In several of the photos, Elizabeth threw her arms up in the air in celebration, showcasing the stunning outfit in its full glory, while also highlighting her beautiful hourglass figure.
The daring item showed off the star's toned legs and underneath, it appeared that Elizabeth was in a bikini. The star accessorised with a pair of sunglasses and allowed her brunette hair to flow down past her shoulder.
It appeared that the 58-year-old had reason to celebrate, as the fashionable item had returned to her store, and in her caption, she enthused: "Yeehaaa. My favourite Gold Leaf shirt is back in stock. Link in bio."
Fans also fell in love with the photos that Elizabeth shared, as one commented: "Now that is my favorite gold leaf shirt," and a second added: "You're beautiful in everything you wear Elizabeth," while a third posted: "You magical beauty, you are so inspiring. Have a wonderful weekend gorgeous."
A fourth penned: "Elizabeth, what a great picture of you at the beach all smiles that's a beautiful sentiment. Amen God bless," and a fifth said: " Always so beautiful and splendid, a charming woman."
Elizabeth's photos have often broken the internet and last week, she shared a gorgeous photo taken in the shade of a palm tree wearing a two-piece that appeared to have been embellished with dozens of crystals, which caught the sun ray's perfectly.
The 58-year-old allowed her beautiful brunette hair to fall down her face as she gave a sultry look at the camera. Speaking about her brand, the star shared: "Last weekend of our New Year sale at Elizabeth Hurley Beach, link in bio," adding a string of heart emojis, and her followers quickly fell in love with the stylish snapshot.
When it comes to her fitness, Elizabeth has previously said how she loves the outdoors and makes sure she avoids being sedentary for too long. "I love working in my garden and am never happier than when wielding a strimmer. I walk my dogs a lot too," she previously told MailOnline, adding: "I don't do any set exercise but can't sit still for long."
MORE: Elizabeth Hurley reunites with ex-husband Arun Nayar for special NYE celebration
A half-hour walk is something she incorporates into her day-to-day life, but she does like to weave in some core work with some Pilates and yoga for toning muscle. "I think it's important to stay sort of firm," she told E! News previously. "I don't go to the gym, but I don't lie around on the sofa."
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| 2024-01-19T22:06:23Z
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Alec Baldwin has been charged for a second time with involuntary manslaughter after the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust. Haylna was killed on the set of Rust in October 2021 after Alec fired a prop gun that had not been properly checked.
The incident occurred on set in New Mexico and the film's director, Joel Souza, was also injured.
The charges were dropped in early 2023 but after the gun was sent for further testing with two experts reconstructing the gun – which was broken during FBI testing – they concluded that it could only have been fired by a pull of the trigger.
"This fatal incident was the consequence of the hammer being manually retracted to its fully rearward and cocked position followed, at some point, by the pull or rearward depression of the trigger,” the report concluded.
"Although Alec Baldwin repeatedly denies pulling the trigger, given the tests, findings and observations reported here, the trigger had to be pulled or depressed sufficiently to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer of the evidence revolver."
If convicted, Alec – a father of eight – faces up to 18 months in prison.
The film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, is set to go on trial on February 21, on charges of involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence; she is accused of mistakenly loaded live bullets into the gun, not dummies.
The first assistant director, David Halls, pleaded no contest in March 2023 to a misdemeanor gun charge; in return he was given six months of unsupervised probation.
Halyna's husband, Matthew Hutchins, reached a settlement in October 2022 which ensures that insurance funds and a portion of the film's profits will go towards their son, who is now 11.
"I have no interest in engaging in recriminations or attribution of blame (to the producers or Mr. Baldwin),” Matthew said at the time of the settlement. “All of us believe Halyna’s death was a terrible accident. I am grateful that the producers and the entertainment community have come together to pay tribute to Halyna’s final work.”
He later claimed he "supported the charges" aimed at Alec, and that he would "fully cooperate with this prosecution, and fervently hope the justice system works to protect the public and hold accountable those who break the law".
The film returned to production in early 2023 and completed filming; Joel Souza resumed his role as director to honor the legacy of Halyna, while producers also confirmed that the scene in which Halyna was shot has been completely rewritten.
Alec became a father for the eighth time in September 2022 when wife Hialria gave birth to their daughter Ilaria Catalina Irena. The 39-year-old and the 30 Rock star, share three daughters Carmen Gabriela, 10, Maria Lucia Victoria, two, and 16-month-old Ilaria, as well as four sons Rafael Thomas, eight, Leonardo Ágel Charles, six, Romeo Alejandro David, five, and Eduardo Pao Lucas, two.
Alec is also dad to daughter Ireland Baldwin, 29, whom he shares with ex-wife Kim Basinger.
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| 2024-01-19T22:06:29Z
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The King returned to Sandringham on Friday, ahead of his hospital treatment for an enlarged prostate next week.
Charles, 75, was seen travelling to his Norfolk estate after flying back with Queen Camilla, 76, from Scotland, where the couple have been residing since the start of the new year.
The King, who has cancelled engagements and been ordered to rest, will be admitted to hospital in the coming days for a corrective procedure for the benign condition.
It is understood that Charles was keen to share his diagnosis, in order to encourage other men who may be experiencing symptoms to get checked in line with health advice, a move which has been praised by charities.
One in every three men over the age of 50 will have symptoms of an enlarged prostate including needing to visit the toilet more frequently, with more urgency and have difficulty emptying their bladder.
An enlarged prostate does not usually pose a serious threat to health, and it is not cancer.
As Camilla visited an art gallery in Aberdeen on Thursday, she said her husband was "fine" and "looking forward to getting back to work".
The Queen will be in Swindon on Monday, where she where she will visit one of its oldest family-run businesses – Deacon & Son Jewellers – in Wiltshire.
Buckingham Palace's announcement about Charles' upcoming hospital procedure came just 90 minutes after Kensington Palace confirmed that the Princess of Wales is recuperating at The London Clinic following abdominal surgery.
The King's daughter-in-law, Kate, 42, is expected to remain in the private hospital for ten to 14 days, and it may be three months before she returns to public engagements.
The Prince of Wales was seen driving out of the hospital on Thursday after visiting his wife.
Prince William, 41, has also rescheduled his diary in order to care for Kate and the couple's three children, Prince George, ten, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five.
Kate was last seen publicly on Christmas Day when the royals attended church in Sandringham.
LISTEN: Why King Charles is the ‘happiest’ he has been despite royal dramas
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| 2024-01-19T22:06:35Z
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NEW YORK - Wall Street stocks rallied on Jan 19, boosted by the tech sector, with the S&P 500 and Dow hitting fresh records.
The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 1.2 per cent to close at 4,839.81, surpassing its last all-time high set in 2022.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.1 per cent at 37,863.80, also reaching new heights, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index surged 1.7 per cent to end at 15,310.97.
“The tech stocks are continuing to lead the market higher,” said Mr Adam Sarhan, of 50 Park Investments.
“You have explosive action in SMCI, in Nvidia, in Broadcom, in semiconductors in general, and that remains bullish for the market,” he said.
SMCI shares rocketed 35.9 per cent, Nvidia climbed 4.2 per cent and Broadcom added 5.9 per cent.
But Jose Torres of Interactive Brokers warned in a note on Friday that the “recent market rally lacks broad participation.”
The latest jump comes after economic data showing that high mortgage rates and limited inventory dragged US existing home sales to the lowest annual level since 1995.
But in an encouraging sign, a University of Michigan gauge showed Americans are becoming more positive about the economy, with consumer sentiment rising 13 per cent in January – the highest level in nearly two and a half years.
“The key takeaway from the report is that the increase in sentiment was accompanied by another drop in year-ahead inflation expectations, which have returned to a level not seen in three years,” said Briefing.com, in a note. AFP
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| 2024-01-19T23:18:30Z
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President Joe Biden signaled on Friday that he is hopeful a deal over the U.S.-Mexico border could be worked out next week at least in the Senate, controlled by his Democratic Party, adding that "significant policy changes" were needed.
Republicans in Congress have blocked emergency funding for Ukraine in an effort to push new security policies along the U.S.-Mexico border. They blame Biden's policies for an influx of immigrants into the United States.
"I think next week we're going to be able to work out something, at least in the Senate, and I'm hopeful that it's going to be a bipartisan package," he told an audience of mayors gathered at the White House.
"Now the question is for the speaker and House Republicans, are they ready to act as well?"
In the House, where Republicans hold a slender majority, some hardline members have threatened to try to oust Speaker Mike Johnson if he brings a border security deal to the floor as part of a package that would also include aid to Kyiv.
On Friday, Biden acknowledged that change was needed in immigration policy.
"I believe we need significant policy changes at the border, including changes in our asylum system," he said. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-19T23:18:41Z
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UNITED NATIONS/CAIRO - Between 10,000 and 15,000 people were killed in one city in Sudan's West Darfur region last year in ethnic violence by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied Arab militia, according to a United Nations report seen by Reuters on Friday.
In the report to the U.N. Security Council, independent U.N. sanctions monitors attributed the toll in El Geneina to intelligence sources and contrasted it with the U.N. estimate that about 12,000 people have been killed across Sudan since war erupted on April 15, 2023, between the Sudanese army and the RSF.
The monitors also described as "credible" accusations that the United Arab Emirates had provided military support to the RSF "several times per week" via Amdjarass in northern Chad. A top Sudanese general accused the UAE in November of backing the RSF war effort.
In a letter to the monitors, the UAE said 122 flights had delivered humanitarian aid to Amdjarass to help Sudanese fleeing the war. The United Nations says about 500,000 people have fled Sudan into eastern Chad, several hundred kilometers south of Amdjarass.
Between April and June last year El Geneina experienced "intense violence," the monitors wrote, accusing the RSF and allies of targeting the ethnic African Masalit tribe in attacks that "may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity."
The RSF has previously denied the accusations and said any of its soldiers found to be involved would face justice. The RSF did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Reuters.
"The attacks were planned, coordinated, and executed by RSF and their allied Arab militias," the sanctions monitors wrote in their annual report to the 15-member Security Council.
'SHOT TO THE HEAD'
Reuters last year chronicled the ethnically targeted violence committed in West Darfur. In hundreds of interviews with Reuters, survivors described horrific scenes of bloodletting in El Geneina and on the 30-kilometer (18 mile) route from the city to the border with Chad as people fled.
The monitors' report included similar accounts. They said that between 14-17 June, some 12,000 people fled El Geneina on foot for Adre in Chad. The Masalit were the majority in El Geneina until the attacks forced their mass exodus.
"When reaching RSF checkpoints women and men were separated, harassed, searched, robbed, and physically assaulted. RSF and allied militias indiscriminately shot hundreds of people in the legs to prevent them from fleeing," the monitors said.
"Young men were particularly targeted and interrogated about their ethnicity. If identified as Masalit, many were summarily executed with a shot to the head. Women were physically and sexually assaulted. Indiscriminate shootings also injured and killed women and children," according to the report.
Everyone who spoke to the monitors mentioned "many dead bodies along the road, including those of women, children and young men." The monitors also reported "widespread" conflict-related sexual violence committed by RSF and allied militia.
NEW FIREPOWER
The monitors said the RSF takeover of most of Darfur relied on three lines of support - Arab allied communities, dynamic and complex financial networks, and new military supply lines running through Chad, Libya, and South Sudan.
The U.N. missions for Chad, Libya and South Sudan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"Complex financial networks established by RSF before and during the war enabled it to acquire weapons, pay salaries, fund media campaigns, lobby, and buy the support of other political and armed groups," wrote the monitors, adding that the RSF used proceeds from its pre-war gold business to create a network of as many as 50 companies in several industries.
Since the war started "most of the gold which was previously exported to UAE, was now smuggled to Egypt," the monitors said.
The new firepower acquired by the RSF "had a massive impact on the balance of forces, both in Darfur and other regions of Sudan," the report found.
The RSF has recently made military gains, taking control of Wad Madani, one of Sudan's major cities, and consolidating its grip on the western region of Darfur.
In December the United States formally determined that warring parties in Sudan committed war crimes and that the RSF and allied militias had also committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.
The war has left nearly half of Sudan's 49 million people needing aid, while more than 7.5 million people have fled their homes - making Sudan the biggest displacement crisis globally - and hunger is rising.
The sanctions monitors told the U.N. Security Council that "an excess of mediation tracks, the entrenched positions of the warring parties, and competing regional interests meant that these peace efforts had yet to stop the war, bring political settlement or address the humanitarian crisis." REUTERS
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| 2024-01-19T23:18:51Z
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MADRID - Army units were mobilised to help about 600 drivers who were stuck on a motorway in heavy snow as Storm Juan blanketed many parts of Spain, authorities said on Friday.
Snowfalls left motorists stranded for hours on the N-122 road between Soria and Agreda in northern Spain so authorites said they had dispatched troops from a base in Zaragoza to help move the drivers.
Miguel Ángel Clavero, of the civil protection force, said on Friday that in Aragon in eastern Spain a number of roads were left unpassable by the snowfall and Zaragoza airport was closed.
Temperatures plunged to minus 13 Celsius (8.6 Fahrenheit) in Soria, AEMET, the state weather forecaster, said on Friday.
Heavy rains fell in the western region of Extremadura and in Catalonia in northeastern Spain, Aemet added.
The storm was expected to pass by Saturday, forecasters said. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-19T23:19:01Z
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Japan probe lands on moon; can’t generate solar power
Japan on Jan 20 became the fifth country to put a spacecraft on the moon, but the probe was not generating solar power, its space agency said, during a mission to prove a “precision” landing technology and revitalise a space programme that has suffered setbacks.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) said its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (Slim) landed the moon’s surface at around 12.20am (11.20pm on Jan 19, Singapore time) and re-established communication with earth, but its solar panels were not able to generate electricity, possibly because they are angled wrong.
“Slim is now operating only on its battery, and we are prioritising the transfer of its data onto earth,” Dr Hitoshi Kuninaka, the head of Jaxa’s research centre, told a press conference.
Despite “life-sustaining treatments” such as turning off its heater, Slim’s battery lasts only for “a few hours”, so Jaxa will maintain the status quo rather than take risky actions.
US carries out fresh strikes against Yemen’s Houthis
The US military carried out another round of strikes against Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Jan 19, targeting missile launchers that were preparing for attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, the White House said.
Washington is seeking to reduce the Iran-backed Houthis’ military capabilities, but the Yemeni rebels are still able to continue their attacks despite a week of strikes, and they have vowed that they will keep targeting merchant vessels.
The Houthis began striking Red Sea shipping in November, saying they were hitting Israeli-linked vessels in support of Palestinians in Gaza, and subsequently declared American and British interests to be legitimate targets as well.
Boeing 747 cargo plane makes emergency landing
An Atlas Air Boeing 747 cargo plane made an emergency return to Miami International Airport following an engine problem shortly after takeoff, the airline said – prompting another investigation into the aviation giant.
The plane, which was headed to Puerto Rico, landed safely late on Jan 18 “after experiencing an engine malfunction soon after departure,” an Atlas Air spokesman told AFP in a statement. No injuries were reported.
A post-flight inspection revealed a softball-size hole above the second engine, said the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in a notice.
Nearly 20,000 babies born into Gaza war ‘hell’, says UN
The United Nations said on Jan 19 that thousands of babies had been born in conditions “beyond belief” in Gaza since the war there erupted more than three months ago.
Spokeswoman Tess Ingram, who came back from a recent visit to the Gaza Strip, described mothers bleeding to death and one nurse who had performed emergency caesareans on six dead women.
Nearly 20,000 babies have been born into the war that began after the Hamas attacks inside Israel on Oct 7, according to the UN children’s agency United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef).
Baldwin charged with manslaughter over Rust film death
Actor Alec Baldwin has been charged with manslaughter – again – over the deadly 2021 shooting on the set of his film Rust, court documents filed on Jan 19 showed.
Baldwin was holding a Colt .45 during rehearsals for the low-budget Western in New Mexico when it discharged a live round, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.
Baldwin, who was also a producer on the film, has repeatedly denied responsibility for the October 2021 shooting, insisting he did not pull the trigger on the gun, which in any case should have been loaded with a non-lethal blank.
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| 2024-01-19T23:19:12Z
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Exclusive
Military
General: Russia keeps some 22,000 troops near Ukraine’s northern border. Ukrainian general says Russia has deployed 21,800 troops near Ukraine’s northern borders, but the situation remains under control.
UK new Russian A-50 radar plane kept distant from Ukraine after previous one downed. After the shootdown of Russia’s AWACS A-50 aircraft over Ukraine earlier, Russia has now deployed a replacement A-50 airborne early warning plane farther from Ukraine over Russian territory, per British intelligence.
Expert: FPV drones can not replace artillery but are comparable with battalion mortar systems. 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.
Ukraine allocates record $ 466 million for fortifications. Furthermore, the government approved a mechanism to distribute an additional UAH 33.4 billion (approx $800 million) in subvention to communities.
As of 19 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:
-
-
- Personnel: 374520 (+920)
- Tanks: 6167 (+20)
- APV: 11445 (+35)
- Artillery systems: 8854 (+19)
- MLRS: 966
- Anti-aircraft systems: 654 (+1)
- Aircraft: 331
- Helicopters: 324
- UAV: 6929 (+4)
- Cruise missiles : 1818
- Warships/boats: 23
- Submarines: 1
- Vehicles and fuel tanks: 11831 (+37)
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Intelligence and technology
Media: Ukrainian hackers steal tech docs on 500 Russian defense facilities. Earlier, the Blackjack group attacked a Moscow internet provider, erasing 20TB of data and websites, disrupting internet access; called it a “warm-up” attack before a bigger one in revenge for a hack on a Ukraine telecom, as per security source.
International
Baltic states to build defensive installations along borders with Russia, Belarus. The Estonian Ministry of Defense announced this development, stating that the move aims to bolster defenses and deter potential military threats.
Estonia to provide €14 million annually in development aid for Ukraine. Estonia’s annual support package for Ukraine aims to bolster Ukraine’s economy through business cooperation and to aid in the country’s post-war reconstruction.
CNN: Biden warns top lawmakers that US soldiers on the line if Russia-Ukraine war expands into NATO territory. Biden cautioned Congress leaders that curtailing assistance for outgunned Ukrainian forces risks a spillover of hostilities into neighboring NATO countries, thereby obliging US troops to directly confront the Russians, as per CNN sources.
Political and legal developments
Border Service: Romanian formers partially unblock Ukraine border. Romanian farmers have lifted their blockade at one of the Ukrainian border checkpoints but continue to obstruct the passage of trucks at another.
Investment firm founder detained in unlawful land privatization probe. Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigations detains Concorde Capital founder, Ihor Mazepa, in connection with alleged unlawful land privatization involving the site of the Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant.
Russian FM Lavrov reiterates Russia’s maximalist goals in Ukraine. Russian FM Lavrov reiterates that Russia still wants to “denazify” and “demilitarize” Ukraine, denies Ukraine’s agency as a sovereign state.
New developments
Ukraine identifies US-made components in Russian missile used in Chernihiv attack. The investigation by Ukraine’s anti-graft agency revealed that the missile was manufactured no earlier than March 2023.
Read our earlier daily review here
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| 2024-01-20T00:04:52Z
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Josh Caulfield sees red as Connacht claim Champions Cup win over Bristol
Ireland Sevens star Andrew Smith helped Connacht keep their Investec Champions Cup hopes alive as they beat 14-man Bristol to finally open their account.
Smith scored the fourth try in a 27-10 bonus point Pool 1 victory at the Dexcom Stadium with Shayne Bolton, Jack Aungier and Caolin Blade having crossed earlier on a night when the Bears were a man down for 67 minutes after Josh Caulfield’s dismissal for a stamp on Ireland prop Finlay Bealham.
Connacht, looking for their first point of the campaign in their fourth game, got off to the perfect start when winger Bolton crossed with just seven minutes gone, and they were handed a further boost six minutes later when Bears lock Caulfield was sent off for a stamp on Bealham.
Fellow front rower Aungier doubled the home side’s lead with 20 minutes gone and stand-off JJ Hanrahan added the conversion as England prop Kyle Sinckler headed for the sin bin for an offence during the build-up.
AJ MacGinty reduced the deficit with a penalty as Sinckler returned, but the Irish province went in at the break 17-3 ahead courtesy of scrum-half Blade’s jinking run, although it took a last-gasp tackle from David Hawkshaw to prevent Harry Randall from dragging the visitors back into it.
Smith saw an early second-half try ruled out for a toe in touch after a lengthy review, but he was not to be denied and crossed from replacement fly-half Jack Carty’s pass to secure the bonus point with Carty converting successfully.
Bristol centre Kalaveti Ravouvou was adjudged to have lost control of the ball as he touched down and the visitors made a late push during which they mauled the ball towards the Connacht line, but collapsed as the home side responded.
Sinckler spilled the ball inches out after a quick tap-penalty set up a late chance, but after Carty had kicked a late penalty, the Bears pack made the pressure tell as Connacht collapsed a maul and conceded a penalty try.
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| 2024-01-20T00:11:41Z
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SINGAPORE – Chef Tristin Farmer, who led the team that garnered three Michelin stars for Restaurant Zen, likes to say he has had a 24-year apprenticeship to one day open his own restaurant.
The Scot tells The Straits Times he never thought the time was right. Until now.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/food/a-new-chapter-for-restaurant-zen-s-chef-tristin-farmer
| 2024-01-20T00:50:41Z
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SINGAPORE - The maternity sector is gearing up for a bump in births in 2024 as the auspicious Chinese Year of the Dragon approaches, with some hospitals opening new wards, confinement businesses hiring more hands and a clutch of new services unveiled across the board.
Ahead of Feb 10, the first day of the dragon year, Mount Elizabeth Hospital and Mount Alvernia Hospital have opened freshly renovated maternity wards, while Thomson Medical Centre will finish upgrading its facilities in March.
Service providers like confinement nanny agencies and confinement meal caterers are also ramping up recruitment in a show of optimism, they told The Straits Times.
In Chinese culture, the dragon symbolises luck and power. Boys born in the dragon year are especially privileged and thought to be stronger or destined for success.
The dragon year, which occurs once every 12 years in the Chinese zodiac cycle, has historically set the high-water mark for total live births each decade.
This is even as its lead over other zodiac years continues to shrink - a decline that the industry registers as the dwindling influence of zodiac superstitions on young couples.
According to data from the Department of Statistics, in 2012, the last dragon year, there were 38,641 resident live births recorded, compared with 36,178 in 2011 and 35,681 in 2013. In 2000, there were 44,765 resident live births, compared with 41,327 in 1999, and 39,281 in 2001.
Already closely watched as a benchmark, the stakes are even higher this dragon year after the total fertility rate (TFR) hit a historic low of 1.04 in 2022. The TFR refers to the average number of live births each woman would have in her childbearing years.
Analysts told local media then that the year was an anomaly, blighted twice over by the unpopular Chinese Year of the Tiger and a difficult pandemic, on top of a steadily declining TFR. The imminent dragon year was pitched as the better measure of Singapore’s demographic prospects.
Data for 2023 has not yet been made public.
The maternity industry has already recorded an uptick in customer interest for its services in the dragon year.
Compared with the same period in other years, more obstetrics scans have been scheduled at Thomson Medical Centre, while PEM Confinement Nanny Agency has seen a 5 to 7 per cent increase in bookings, and confinement meal caterer Nouriche said it is inundated with queries.
Most hospitals and service providers ST approached said they are poised for a jump of between 5 and 20 per cent in business.
Star Confinement Nanny was the most optimistic, estimating a rise of about 30 to 40 per cent in demand for its nannies and is upping recruitment accordingly, said director George Tan. The agency, which serves about 800 mothers a year, has also rolled out a new cooking auntie service for which it is still mass hiring and training.
Unlike the traditional confinement nanny, who bears heavier duties of caregiving, aiding breastfeeding and doing light chores, cooking aunties only cook, with their dishes calibrated for mothers’ post-partum needs, Mr Tan added.
Projecting a 5 to 7 per cent rise in demand, PEM also began actively recruiting and training nannies in 2023. Both agencies report a rise in nanny recruitment costs, which PEM is absorbing at the moment, while Star confinement has raised its rates slightly.
Confinement nannies are popular in many parts of Asia where the Chinese concept of “confinement” has new mothers staying home for a month to recuperate from childbirth. Nannies are often hired to help care for mother and baby in this time.
For caterer Nouriche, the numbers are still trickling in, but having witnessed a surge in orders of between 20 and 30 per cent in past dragon years, it intends to hire more kitchen, operations and delivery crew, said its spokesman.
Of the hospitals, Raffles Hospital has added two more employees to its lactation support team, a spokesman told ST.
Hospitals are also launching a suite of new services: a class on baby massages and tele-lactation advice at Raffles Hospital, a maternity programme at Thomson Medical and horoscopic deliveries at Mount Elizabeth Hospital from February 2024.
A horoscopic delivery would allow families to choose their preferred horoscopic or astrological timing for caesarean delivery, said a Mount Elizabeth spokesman.
For instance, a mother due at the cusp of the dragon year might schedule a C-section birth within the dragon year.
Still, industry optimism is tempered by the recognition that zodiac superstitions hold less sway over couples today.
KK Women’s and Children Hospital, one of the most popular hospitals for expectant mothers, is anticipating a slight increase in the number of pregnant women in the dragon year as compared to other years.
Its chairman of gynaecology Tan Hak Koon said: “However, we also recognise that in current times, couples are less influenced by the zodiac sign when it comes to starting a family.”
Couples who ST spoke to were mostly ambivalent about having babies in the dragon year.
Mr Tan Sheng Li, whose wife is expecting their first child, said the timing is coincidental, as they had wanted to “squeeze in a few big trips” after the pandemic, before starting a family.
Vernice Yeoh, 29, who is carrying a dragon baby, said she and her husband had not planned specifically for one, although she is pleased about the baby sharing the same zodiac sign as her husband - a fellow dragon-year baby.
Ms Yeoh’s main consideration had also been timing.
Some, like Ms Eva Tan, even prefer to avoid giving birth in the dragon year.
“We don’t want our first kid to be in the dragon year, it’s too competitive,” said the 30-year-old product manager, referring to the theory that if there are more babies born in a year, the increased competition among that cohort would hurt the prospects of its members.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/hospitals-businesses-prepare-for-bump-not-bumper-crop-of-dragon-year-babies
| 2024-01-20T00:50:51Z
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'I don’t see why not': Former All Black on joining Joe Schmidt in Wallaby switch
More Kiwi recruits could be on the table for the Wallabies in 2024, with former All Black props Alex Hodgman and Jeffery Toomaga-Allen suiting up for the Reds in the upcoming Super Rugby Pacific season.
Hodgeman donned the black jersey four times in 2020 but also qualifies for Australia through his father, and expressed an interest in pursuing the gold and green colours when he signed with the Queensland club.
An interest he reiterated when asked by media this week.
“Yeah, yeah, I don’t see why not,” Hodgman said during a press conference on Thursday.
“I’m always trying to challenge myself. I’m always trying to become a better version of myself, and if that happens to come my way, then I’ll take it.”
The 30-year-old has the benefit of familiarity with new Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt, who was previously with Hodgman at the Blues before moving into a role with Ian Foster’s All Blacks.
Although, as was the case with the coach selection, there in an appetite from the Australian rugby public to stay true to their homegrown talent and invest the Wallabies experience in talent that has come through the local systems.
An appetite that Schmidt acknowledged in his opening press conference on Friday and that Hodgman also understands.
“I think ideally, you’d want to grow the game here first,” he said.
“There’s a lot of talent. What’s awesome is we’re getting the academy guys from the Reds and they’re actually joining our training sessions, and there’s a lot of potential here.
“Ideally, you’d want to look at your home first. But I don’t understand why people always say, ‘New Zealand teams are this and that’. When you verse Aussie teams, it’s going to be tough, and it’s always tough. Even though sometimes the scoreboard doesn’t dictate it, the battles you have with the Aussies teams, they’re tough.”
With young Wallaby prop Zane Nonggorr already in the Reds environment, plus the addition of Flying Fijian Peni Ravi, the two Kiwi additions make for a well rounded, experienced group to combat the loss of Taniela Tupou.
For youngsters like Nonggorr, George Blake and recent Junior Wallaby Massimo de Lutiis, Hodgman can provide strong mentorship, and is making the most of his lessons learnt in New Zealand while starting his new chapter.
“I experienced this before with the All Blacks when I was trying too hard to try become an All Black, I started doing things that were out of character,” he said.
“What I want to do is just be a great Reds man and then, from there, whatever opportunities come my way, I’ll take.
“But, at the moment, it’s like how can I get on the field? How can I compete with the guys around me? And how can I put my best foot forward here? Whatever comes from that, comes from that.”
There are new challenges to be found in the Sunshine State as well, as Hodgman admits to learning the hard way.
“I’m sweating right now. It doesn’t look like it, but underneath I’m very sweaty.
“But it’s cool because it adds another mental barrier that I haven’t had, or experienced, in New Zealand.
“In NZ you just train, you train hard. But here, it’s a different mental toughness because your lungs are burning constantly, so it’s been a good challenge.”
Now in camp, the aforementioned props aren’t the only new faces. Les Kiss succeeded Brad Thorn as head coach of the team following a 2023 season where the team finished eighth.
The coach had made a positive initial impression with Hodgman and the Reds.
“Any pre-season is hard, it doesn’t matter where you go. They always have targets they want to hit or get you to this sort of level, but what I’ve really enjoyed about Les and the staff is they’ve really taken the keys to rugby and rugby’s been the real focus and primary goal.
“Rather than just hit the field and go, we’ve had a real fine balance. I think that’s helped us a lot as a group bond and connect and find the little kinks and figure them out.”
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https://www.rugbypass.com/news/i-dont-see-why-not-former-all-black-on-joining-joe-schmidt-in-wallaby-switch/
| 2024-01-20T01:45:07Z
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Beauty
Kristen Stewart’s Baby Bangs More Of The Best Celeb Beauty Looks Of The Week
A weekly round up of our favorite celebrity beauty moments.
Awards season is in full swing, and the looks just keep on coming. With every passing VIP event, we’re getting a fuller and clearer picture of the landscape of beauty trends in the upcoming season. With both Kristen Stewart and The White Lotus actress Beatrice Grannò showing off mid-forehead bangs within days of each other, it looks like a sign the hard-to-pull off style might be coming in hot. (You’ve been warned!) Otherwise, a few reigning trends from 2023 have kept a strong hold on the red carpet this early in the new year. Bows are still big, as seen atop Riley Keough’s Emmys half updo. At the same event Camila Marrone channeled Pamela Anderson with a red fitted dress and major bombshell hair.
Following the Critic’s Choice Awards, The Emmys, Men’s Paris Fashion Week, and Sundance Film Festival’s Opening Night Gala, there have been almost too many star sightings to keep track. Luckily, we’ve been paying attention. Read on for the celebrity beauty moments of the week that are deserving of a double take.
Kristen Stewart’s Baby Bangs & Messy Top Knot
For Sundance Film Festival’s Opening Night Gala, Kristen Stewart brought her signature casual cool attitude to the red carpet with her hair in a wispy top knot with short bangs and soft smoky eyes.
Kate & Lila Moss’s Twin Blonde Moment
Matching golden blonde highlights made the mother-daughter model duo appear to glow in the dark while sitting front row at the Dior Men’s show in Paris.
Beatrice Grannò’s Amélie Cut
Not everyone can pull off the Amélie-esque short bob with even shorter bangs, but Beatrice Grannò sure can. At the Grammys she wore the style wavy paired with classic red lips.
Riley Keough’s Soft Goth Bow
The black velvet bow, black dress, and raven hair combination gave a dark twist to Riley Keough’s ladylike glam.
Issa Rae’s Feathery Bun
Issa Rae proved the power of the perfect accessory on The Emmys red carpet. The feathers in her otherwise sleek hairstyle tied together her overall ensemble by matching the texture of her gown.
Camila Marrone’s Major Waves
From the low cut red dress, to the smudgy lined eyes and voluminous waves, Camila’s entire Emmys night look was giving ’90s bombshell.
Kelsea Ballerini’s Wind-Swept Lob
Kelsea Ballerini changed up her long hair for a fresh shoulder skimming lob, that looked breezy and effortless while walking through Brooklyn.
Dua Lipa’s Swooshing Fringe
Clearly, Dua Lipa is as obsessed with her ruby red hair as we all are. She keeps playing it up by wearing coordinated outfits and trying out new hairstyles. At the Critic’s Choice Awards she wore her hair in a half-up bouffant style with sweeping side bangs.
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https://www.nylon.com/beauty/best-celeb-beauty-looks-kristen-stewart-baby-bangs-kate-moss-blonde
| 2024-01-20T01:46:10Z
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Entertainment
How Fcukers Is Bringing Back '90s Dance One Party At A Time
The band ushering in New York City’s latest wave of party music is just here to have a good time.
You could hear the bassline as you entered the venue. Though it was 8 p.m. on a Wednesday at the Greenpoint venue Warsaw, the floor was filled. Fcukers was on first playing their 12th-ever show, a surprising number considering the New York City-based trio played their first show to 200 people in March 2023, and have since performed in five different countries on three different continents. As their third song, “Shake Ya Ass,” ended, whispers of “What are they called again?” scattered throughout the space. People pulled out their phones to check the name on the lineup as another banger, “Homies,” began. Energy surging, the crowd obeyed when directed to jump; by the end of the last song, most of them so caught up in dancing that they were facing away from the stage.
Helmed by 20-something musicians Shanny, Jackson Walker Lewis, and Ben Scharf, Fcukers is all about having fun by re-contextualizing ‘90s dance — in the vein of Dee-Lite or The Chemical Brothers — as modern electronic music with a true party spirit.
In person, Fcukers look like they just pulled an all-nighter at The Hacienda. Mixing Lower East Side effortlessness with ‘90s UK raver fashion, they frequently bring what they wear on the street to the stage. “It’s very organic with them, it never feels forced,” Ivan Berko, the band’s go-to producer, tells NYLON. That attitude extends to their swag-filled house shows, where Scharf hammers at a rearranged drum kit while Lewis lights up the keyboard between guitar riffs. Shanny and her psychedelic vocals are the juxtaposing element, pulling you into a trance.
The group’s genesis came about just as naturally. In October 2022, after stints in successful indie bands, all three members were primed for a passion project. Lewis first met Shanny through a friend in the neighborhood. “I knew her voice would be great over house, and I thought I was going to pitch her on making dance music,” Lewis says. “But she said it before me.”
As a prominent downtown DJ who was playing to very receptive crowds at night, Lewis spent his days making his own take on ‘90s house music with Scharf after the breakup of their prior band. When they brought Shanny into the mix, things clicked. “We were all fed up with the industry,” Shanny says. “We said, ‘Let’s just do something different.’ Let's just get some songs out and see what happens.”
Shanny’s voice is the standout element of the band’s music. It’s silky and cloud-like, paired with an effervescent, rebellious stage presence that’s both disarming and seductive. They transform Beck’s “Devil’s Haircut” into the psychedelic Fcukers cover Beck himself reveled in at the band’s September 2023 Market Hotel show, posting it to his Stories. A Lower East Side native, Shanny’s been in the music industry and signed to a label since she was 17, touring and writing songs. “I don’t care if anyone likes [the music] or not,” she says. “It’s for me.” As the frontwoman and celestial voice of Fcukers, she’s poised to be one of the most talked-about singer-songwriters in the city's downtown scene.
“We said, let’s just do something different. Let's just get some songs out and see what happens.”
When Fcukers formed just over a year ago their only goal was to play live at least once, to see if the songs worked. Lewis booked Brooklyn venue Baby’s All Right in March 2023, giving the band a deadline for finishing the two songs they’d been working on, a bouncy dance track called “Mothers” and the “Devil’s Haircut” cover. When clips of their packed debut show surfaced online the next day, it caught the attention of legendary New York DJ and producer Junior Sanchez, who immediately remixed both tracks, performed them in his own set, and released them on his label, Brobot Records. For Lewis, it was the ultimate stamp of approval. “Of all the things that have come,” he says, “that was the most inspiring vote of confidence.”
They’ve only gotten more co-signs since then. In July, Fcukers was asked to remix LCD Soundsystem’s “Los Angeles” (which they released to eager reception), and they’re set to play Governors Ball 2024 alongside acts like SZA and Reneé Rapp. And, the band says, there’s only more tracks, more shows, more touring, and more real-deal party music on the way — and they’re the ones driving. You can get on board, or not ... they don’t give a fcuk.
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https://www.nylon.com/entertainment/fcukers-band-new-york-city-music
| 2024-01-20T01:46:16Z
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Entertainment
10 New Musicians & Bands We’re Betting On In 2024
Welcome music’s newest class of superstars.
Some of 2023’s best albums came from new artists: Take Chappell Roan’s ecstatic queer celebration, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, or NewJeans’s K-pop crossover EP, Get Up, which turned everyone into a stan whether they wanted to or not.
This year proves to be just as fruitful with heavily anticipated debut releases from one of indie rock’s buzziest coquette-core bands, a rising EDM heavyweight, and a colossal new girl group. Below, read on for a primer on the top 10 acts we’re betting on — and get to know them while you’re still ahead of the curve.
BABYMONSTER
Who: South Korean super label YG Entertainment’s first girl group since BLACKPINK, made up of members Ruka, Pharita, Asa, Rami, Rora, and Chiquita.
What: These six teens — the youngest, Chiquita, is just 14 — had perhaps the most feverishly anticipated debut in recent K-pop memory for no reason other than YG Entertainment’s track record of delivering world-dominating girl groups. BABYMONSTER certainly wasn’t the exception when they finally made their horns-blazing entrance with “Batter Up,” a song and music video that proved these, indeed, young monsters possessed charisma and stage presence on par with veteran idols.
Where to start: “Batter Up,” released November 2023, also became the group’s first Billboard charting hit.
What’s next: A second single, titled “Stuck in the Middle,” arrives Feb. 1.
The Last Dinner Party
Who: This indie-rock band from London — made up of vocalist Abigail Morris, guitarist Lizzie Mayland, bassist Georgia Davies, keyboardist Aurora Nishevci, and multi-instrumentalist Emily Roberts — is most easily identified by the opulent, Regency-era gowns they wear on stage.
What: If a rock band existed in Bridgerton, it would probably look like The Last Dinner Party. But it’s not just their flouncy style that’s made them one of indie rock’s buzziest new bands — the music also bangs, like if someone gave Jane Austen a guitar and told her to spill her guts.
Where to start: The band’s massive 2023 single “Nothing Matters” turns red-hot lust into poetry.
What’s next: Their debut album, Prelude To Ecstasy, is out Feb. 2, 2024.
Carlita
Who: Carlita Frayman, 28, is one of EDM’s biggest rising stars and the founder of Senza Fine, a roving dance series that’s taken over NYFW and Art Basel.
What: If nostalgic and transcendent high-BPM house sets are your thing, then Carlita should be on your radar. The Turkish-Italian DJ, who began playing parties in the 2010s, has now become a major festival fixture with her transportive sets influenced by everything from Turkish psychedelic to her classical-cello roots. She’s shared co-hosting duties with Heron Preston and Diplo for her Senza Fine parties — winning co-signs if we’ve ever seen them.
Where to start:
What’s next: A debut album, that she said will “tell a story,” arrives sometime in 2024.
Baby Storme
Who: A singer and TikToker based in New York who got her first taste of virality when Lil Nas X praised her 2021 single “Jackson.”
What: Despite Baby Storme’s many strange dalliances with social-media majorness — ranging from facing discrimination at a Citibank and being kicked out of a Target for inciting a flash mob — the singer’s music is genuinely good: a heady mix of dark ‘80s synth pop and spooky theatrical flair. Her newest release “WHY? (PSA)” has such a catchy (and timely) hook she seems primed to be the next star to break out of the TikTok box.
Where to start:
What’s next: TBA, but her debut EP, Forever Halloween, dropped in October.
FCUKERS
Who: New Yorkers Shannon Wise, Ben Scarf, and Jackson Walker Lewis make up this rabidly followed (and cheekily named) NYC-based band.
What: Fcukers only has two official songs to its name, but they’ve already collaborated with LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, toured internationally with U.K. weirdos Jockstrap, and put on several raucous, sold-out shows across NYC. Why? One listen to their head-banging and psychedelic ‘90s house hit “Mothers” will be enough to explain the hype.
Where to start:
What’s next: TBA, but follow Fcukers’s Instagram to keep up with their ever-updating roster of live shows.
Kanii
Who: The 18-year-old rapper and singer with a keen pop ear has caught the attention of PinkPantheress and millions on TikTok.
What: Google lists Kanii as a rapper, but that’s an insufficient label for the Washington, D.C. native, who moves with more of a bedroom-pop singer-songwriter sensibility. His songs often pair his clear-toned flows with softer, and more eclectic soundscapes, like on his biggest hit “I Know,” an apologetic Jersey Club-rap ballad that hit the TikTok-viral jackpot.
Where to start:
What’s next: Kanii will open for PinkPantheress on tour starting April 2024.
Freakalicious
Who: Hyperpop’s first supergroup made up of That Kid, producer Ayeshia Erotica, and Chase Icon
What: In 2018, a clique of online-savvy pop songmakers got big in the Twitter and Reddit spheres for putting out high-speed raunch-pop that felt like an evolution of PC Music and SOPHIE’s synthetic sounds. That Kid, Ayesha Erotica, and Chase Icon were three of its largest players (in addition to Slayyyter), and they’ve now come together to form Freakalicious.
Where to start: Nothing’s been released yet, but you can listen to “Verse of the Day” by Ayesha Erotica and That Kid for a taste of what’s to come.
What’s next: A debut song (and hopefully project) is “coming soon” in 2024.
Wisp
Who: Wisp is the project of a 19-year-old, Bay Area-based singer and guitarist who’s amassed a cult following around her remarkably evocative shoegaze.
What: Shoegaze is back in vogue among Gen Z, and one of the scene’s biggest newcomers is Wisp, whose first-ever song “Your Face” became a verified sensation amassing 25 million streams and thousands of fans now clamoring to know her name. This isn’t without basis: Her songs are cavernous, emotional maws, with precipitous walls of guitar, and her voice just barely legible through the waves of noise — all pluses when it comes to shoegaze. It’s about time for a genre that’s been dominated by (white) men for so long to finally welcome fresher and feminine perspectives.
Where to start:
What’s next: Wisp will be opening for indie-rock band Pachinko in April 2024.
Portraits of Tracy
Who: Portraits of Tracy is the musical outfit of Baton Rouge-based songwriter Tracy Geneviève Amare, who first got her start on YouTube remaking beats by Tyler, the Creator; Kanye West; and more.
What: Those initial dalliances with music’s biggest oddball creators were perhaps apt foreshadowing of Portraits of Tracy’s subsequent release of original music: diaristic storytelling fusing rock, pop, and undefinable eclectic energy with a bigger-picture vision that tips off her as the next generation’s Frank Ocean.
Where to start:
What’s next: TBA, but hear her latest album, Drive Home now.
Saint Harison
Who: Hailing from Southampton, England, the golden-voiced Saint Harrison already boasts co-signs from Elton John, Justin Bieber, and Timbaland.
What: If Sam Smith, Adele, and Amy Winehouse had a child it would sound like Saint Harison. The 27-year-old singer possesses one of those once-in-a-generation voices, which he wields with exacting precision on his soulful, big-feeling songs, where a 10-note run cuts like a knife to the heart.
Where to start:
What’s next: TBA, but his debut EP lost a friend is out now.
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https://www.nylon.com/entertainment/new-musicians-2024-babymonster-the-last-dinner-party-fcukers
| 2024-01-20T01:46:22Z
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Culture
NYLON’s My Year of Rest and Relaxation Dream Casting, From Mia Goth To Tilda Swinton
And no, we didn’t pick Emma Stone.
Long before #BookTok, Otessa Moshfegh stirred up the literary world with her best-selling novel, My Year of Rest and Relaxation. The follow-up to Eileen is about a blasé, angry, and, ultimately, severely depressed unnamed narrator who wishes to reset her life with a year of sleep. When her divine (and dangerous) pharmaceutical cocktail — including, but not limited to Ambien, Ativan, Klonopin, Xanax, Benadryl, and NyQuil — fails to get her the hibernation she craves, she’s introduced to a miracle, non-FDA-approved pill: Infermiterol. It knocks her out for days at a time, which is ideal — until she finds out she’s been going on unconscious benders throughout New York City.
A Moshfegh novel is a hot ticket in both publishing and Hollywood; Eileen’s film adaptation starred Anne Hathaway and Thomasin McKenzie, and My Year of Rest and Relaxation has Poor Things director Yorgos Lanthimos attached to the project. While we know Lanthimos is working on a script alongside Moshfegh, updates on the film have been sparse — which opens the door for hyped-up fan-casting theories. Below, NYLON got in on the fun with our dream casting for My Year of Rest and Relaxation.
Narrator: Anya Taylor-Joy or Mia Goth
Beyond being so over her life that she wants to sleep it away, the narrator makes it known that she’s a textbook WASP: tall, blond, thin, and a huge b*tch, with beauty worthy of comparisons to a young Faye Dunaway or Kim Basinger. While Lanthimos’ attachment may mean that his go-to leading lady Emma Stone is up for the gig, Anya Taylor-Joy and Mia Goth both have the striking beauty and captivating presence to play up the narrator’s mix of hostility and misery. Plus, for Taylor-Joy, this would be her second role as a pill-popping fiend after her award-winning performance in The Queen’s Gambit.
Reva: Rachel Sennott
Reva is the narrator’s old college roommate and a huge thorn in her side. She’s one of the few people the narrator has in her orbit — and her only friend. Reva is openly covetous of her life and only mildly aware she’s met with nothing but contempt when she regularly shows up unannounced at the narrator’s Upper East Side apartment. Reva’s on-screen portrayal needs to come from a skillful actor who can highlight the absurdity of her dynamic with the narrator. She needs to have comedy chops! And who’s funnier than Rachel Sennott, the Shiva Baby and Bottoms alum who’s proven she can keep audiences laughing out loud even in the tensest scenes?
Dr. Tuttle: Emma Thompson or Tilda Swinton
Dr. Tuttle is a crucial character in My Year of Rest and Relaxation as the narrator’s comically inept psychiatrist. She’s criminally loose with her prescription pad to the point that it leaves you wondering aloud how she still has a medical license. Whoever plays Dr. Tuttle needs to be capital-W wacky. Emma Thompson or Tilda Swinton have already proven that they can play deranged characters lost in their own minds with their roles in the Harry Potter films and Problemista, respectively, and Dr Tuttle would make an excellent, frenzied addition to their casting history.
Ping Xi: Steven Yeun
When the narrator finds out that she’s been partying during her Infermiterol blackouts, she recruits Ping Xi, an artist she worked with when she was a gallery girl, to bring her food and makes sure she stays put in exchange for the greenlight to make any kind of art while she’s unconscious. She agrees, even though she knows he leans perverted; when she worked at the gallery, Ping’s exhibition featured him stuffing paint pellets into his penis and masturbating on a canvas. Steven Yeun can adeptly channel Ping’s farcical and self-serious nature. Plus, we need to see him deliver lines about jerking off on a canvas with a straight face.
Trevor: Christopher Abbott
The narrator has an on-again-off-again relationship with Trevor, an older handsome and detached banker at the World Trade Center who barely cares if she lives or dies. He’s always dumping her to date someone his age, only to crawl back when he’s single again — or when she’s pathetically yearning for his attention. Trevor may play a minor role in the book, but his casting needs to be worthy of such a pitiful dating cycle. Christopher Abbott has a natural aloofness that lends well to Trevor — not to mention he’s, for lack of a better word, hot.
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https://www.nylon.com/life/my-year-of-rest-and-relaxation-dream-casting
| 2024-01-20T01:46:28Z
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SYDNEY - Parts of Western Australia on Saturday were set to swelter through an "extreme" heatwave, raising the risk of bushfires in the vast state, the nation's weather forecaster said.
The Bureau of Meteorology on Saturday had an "extreme heatwave warning" in place for the remote Pilbara and Gascoyne areas of Australia's largest state, warning temperatures there could hit high forties degrees Celsius on the weekend.
In the Pilbara mining town of Paraburdoo, about 1,500 km (932 miles) north of state capital Perth, a maximum temperature of 47 degrees Celsius (116.6 degrees Fahrenheit) was forecast on Saturday, more than six degrees above the average January maximum, according to forecaster data. It was 35.5 C (95.9 F) there at 7:30 a.m.
The hot weather lifts the risk of bushfires in an already high-risk fire season amid an El Nino weather event, which is typically associated with extreme events such as wildfires, cyclones and droughts.
"Very hot and dry conditions combined with fresh southerly winds and a fresh to strong west to southwesterly sea breeze will lead to elevated fire dangers on Saturday," the weather forecaster said on its website, regarding part of the Pilbara.
The warning comes after hundreds of firefighters earlier this month battled an out-of-control bushfire near Perth amid soaring temperatures, prompting evacuations.
Australia's last two fire seasons have been subdued compared with the 2019-2020 "Black Summer" of bushfires that destroyed an area the size of Turkey, killed 33 people, 3 billion animals and trillions of invertebrates. REUTERS
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SINGAPORE – More Generation Z and young millennials in Singapore are diving headlong into solo adventures – the more uncharted the territory, the better. Many are also posting about it to pay their way.
Spontaneous travel, defined as setting off on a trip without a fixed plan, has taken off alongside revenge travel, post pandemic.
Nomadic in nature, these spontaneous travellers subvert the leisurely rulebook of shopping, feasting and lush hotel resorts with niche, adrenaline-fuelled experiences.
The trend is largely subscribed to by backpackers, who prefer to wander the outdoors without a guidebook, keeping to lightweight baggage and tight budgets.
They tend to be of university age to youth under 30, who take flight whenever and to wherever they want, even if it means having to hustle for extra income on the side as content creators and micro-influencers to fund the travel.
In 2023, South-east Asia-based travel website Klook found in a study that 83 per cent of Singaporean Gen Z and millennial travellers were willing to invest in experiences – 63 per cent on nature and outdoor activities, 51 per cent on theme parks, and 56 per cent on massages and hot springs.
Studying 2023 data, travel metasearch platform Skyscanner found that up to a third of Singaporeans – 31 per cent –booked trips a mere week before flying off.
In a survey of 1,000 Singaporeans aged 18 to 34 the same year, Skyscanner also found that when it comes to spending priorities, Gen Zs and young millennials favoured experiences over comfort, allocating 39 per cent of their budget to food, 36 per cent to experiences, more than 15 per cent to accommodation and 10 per cent to flight tickets.
At 27, Singaporean Basanth Sadasivan has visited 195 countries.
He compares travel to an addiction: Once is never enough.
He continues to fly up to twice a month, usually on weekends.
His trips have taken him to observe emperor penguins in Patagonia, ride a dog sled in Norway and see the Amazon rainforests. One of the last nooks of the globe he has yet to visit is the blistery wilderness of Antarctica.
“I have not been to the South Pole yet because cruises there take two weeks. I get seasick and have to stock up on medication,” says the civil servant, who is a brand ambassador for Skyscanner.
His first unaccompanied plane ride, at age 13, to visit his aunt in Australia, developed into a penchant for “off-the-beaten-track” travelling. His next solo adventure, at 17, was to North Korea.
In recent years, an interest in anthropology pertaining to Africa’s tribal ecosystems took him to meet the Bantu and Bedouin tribes in the south-eastern and northern regions of the continent.
But pursuing the dream, he says, is made possible only with extensive planning, as the globetrotter, who speaks Mandarin, French and Spanish with varied fluency, often books accommodation, as well as tour guides or translators, up to months in advance.
He says: “Know what you want to see before going to the place so you can be protected from unforeseen nuisances, such as being unable to secure a room at the last minute.”
He advises “getting out of one’s bubble” to engage as much as possible in local life, be it through eating local cuisine or participating in local rituals, such as festivals.
One of his key discoveries abroad was the concept of Island Time in the Pacific Islands, where a relaxed pace of life meant people were not always punctual for events.
He cites Tonga, Tuvalu, an island in the Pacific Ocean, as an example. Although ranked low in economic output, its society is communally harmonious and one of the “happiest in the world” due to work-life balance.
He encourages solo travel as a way to “detox” and open oneself up to alternative ways of life that may not necessarily be documented on the Internet.
“I tend to see even the most seasoned travellers looking at natives through a sterile, outsiders’ perspective. But with an open mind, even the most remote tribe can impart values and practices which can be inculcated into our lives,” he says.
Visiting 15 countries while studying full time
In 2023, Ms Sharlyn Seet, 22, travelled to 15 countries and 45 cities across Europe, the United States, Australia and Asia, all while being a full-time university student.
The third-year business student at Nanyang Technological University posts about her travels on TikTok under the handle @sharsharcheers. She is a micro-influencer with a following of 66,300.
The comedy skits she posted on her account took off during the Covid-19 circuit breaker. “One of my random videos recreating a viral TikTok audio garnered over one million views. I decided to take social media more seriously,” she says.
In 2022, she did her first solo trip to Penang and Langkawi in Malaysia to find herself again after a break-up and has never looked back.
“What I love about solo travelling is the sense of empowerment I feel navigating places alone, learning to trust yourself and being comfortable with your space,” she says.
Since then, she has ventured to 25 cities – some solo trips and others with fellow travellers – from scuba diving in Honolulu, Hawaii, to frolicking on the beaches of Krabi in Thailand.
How does she juggle travel, side gigs and school?
She says strategic scheduling helps. She has travelled to three countries back to back during her exam season. A getaway with friends to Vietnam during her school’s recess week was followed by media trips to China and Malaysia to promote a bank’s debit card.
She burned the midnight oil, crunched a six-day itinerary into four days, worked on her assignments in between events and opted for an eight-hour layover flight, in order to return to Singapore in time for her exams.
But she has no regrets, saying: “This was my childhood ambition, and I feel privileged to be able to live this lifestyle.”
Some of the advertisers on her social media platforms include UOB’s Mighty FX multi-currency account, sports giant Adidas and online travel platform Trip.com. She declines to say how much she makes from these sponsors.
On the side, she also runs a digital marketing agency, Shark Digital Media, and is a part-time spin cycle instructor at fitness chain Revolution SG.
She is working on building several income streams to create a lifestyle where she is less dependent on location or time.
She adds: “This gives me the ability to sustain myself from anywhere and, in turn, the freedom to fly to places whenever I want to.”
Known for her interactive content, she occasionally seeks viewer suggestions for her next destination and turns these into vlogs.
One of her viral videos, titled Visiting The Most Dangerous City In The World, documented her 2023 trip to Mexico’s Tijuana, a city with one of the highest homicide rates in the world.
Ms Seet has also flown a paraplane – a motorised parachute – in Chiang Mai and camped in the deserts of Monument Valley in Arizona to photograph the Milky Way. Her bucket list is brimming, and she intends to conquer South Asia and Eastern Europe in 2024.
But she is candid about what it is like to hustle for travel.
“Many people have asked me if I plan to become a full-time traveller and content creator, which relies on sponsorships to sustain the lifestyle,” says the business and finance student.
“While it may be a dream for many, it’s quite tiring to travel for a living. You are dealing with deadlines from clients and running around different places to produce content, which may compromise the authenticity of the experience one shares.”
A life of adventure, in the end, hinges on the sums. Last year, she started a travel budget Excel spreadsheet for her followers to help them organise their travel expenditure and be money-savvy.
Ms Seet adds that her path has come with many rewards and sacrifices too.
“With social media, we have seen how an alternative lifestyle compared with a conventional one is possible. However, in order to keep my side gigs running, I am not involved in school and hall activities like I used to be.”
In 2022, the final-year student decided to take a gap year to explore internship opportunities. She ended up doing business internships in financial institutions.
What the travel influencer resolved to do after the year was over was to make self-employment her goal. But she laments: “There is not much of a support system or educational directive in Singapore that teaches you to become self-employed.”
Yet, she is pragmatic about what her options are.
“Travel and content creation will always be a huge part of my life. But I don’t think it’s wise to put all my eggs into that basket. The job can be sustainable only with adequate sponsorships.”
Doing extremist activities for ‘the plot’
For Ms Nicolette Wee, 23, a graduate trainee in e-commerce at TikTok, travel is compelled by impulse. She has checked off a personal goal to skydive off a plane in Bangkok, as well as parasailed in Penang and surfed in Bali – all on the spur of the moment.
Less thinking, just doing, is her motto, says the single, who books flights a day after deciding on her next quest or destination.
The seasoned backpacker, who has travelled to 18 countries, needs less than an hour to shove a fixed set of essentials – passport, four sets of clothing, adapters and a medical kit – into a 50-litre backpack, before she is out of the door.
She says the lure of spontaneous travelling has been made more palpable with TikTok, where content creators teleport between destinations seamlessly through video edits, showing one can have it all, right now.
It is common to see youth travelling, just for the sake of new backdrops and social media aesthetics, she adds.
On her first solo backpacking trip to Hualien County, a mountainous region in Taiwan, at 19 years old, she downed rice wine, then jumped from a cliff into rocky waters, on a dare.
Unlike some who carefully curate their travel itinerary months in advance, Ms Wee is game to tag along with strangers she meets on the road and sample their version of adventure.
No photo, no proof, believes the content creator, who says her go-to icebreaker is to ask fellow tourists to snap her picture. She posts about her exploits on TikTok under @nicolettecalliewe and has 32,400 followers.
“I do it for ‘the plot’,” says the globetrotter, when asked how she justifies her extremist activities.
“The plot”, in Gen Z lexicon, is defined as the overall narrative or “script” of one’s life. The term references film and television series, where an individual imagines himself or herself as the protagonist of his or her life story.
Ms Wee’s rationale – to do it for the plot, in the similar vein as the Latin aphorism “carpe diem” (seize the day) – justifies taking risks for the sake of it. It has seen her ride pillion on strangers’ motorbikes and strike up foreign friendships using Google Translate.
Her passion for exploring new lands stems from her childhood, when she went on road trips in New Zealand and Australia with her parents, who both work in the tech industry, and her elder brother.
“Growing up, my family and my extended family – around 18 of us – would go on long road trips every year.”
Even her parents think her madcap solo travel schedule – where she takes off at least once every three months – is crazy.
“But now that I am a corporate employee, they are more supportive of my decisions. My mother even asks if she can tag along,” says the Nanyang Technological University communications graduate, who began funding her own travel from age 18 through side gigs as a dance instructor and marketing assistant.
While her job in business acquisition gives her the financial means to travel, she is limited to 18 days of annual leave and weekends to satiate her restlessness.
Over the past two years, she has flown to places such as Thailand, Taiwan, Japan and Korea – sometimes just for a three-day-long weekend.
She usually budgets around $800 for a trip in South-east Asia and stays in hostels to save on costs. She skimps by opting out of checked baggage and tucking into street food, including fried grasshoppers, for meals.
Travel compatibility has streamlined her priorities in a prospective partner. She once booked a Singapore Airlines flight to meet her then boyfriend in Spain. She cancelled it – losing $1,800 – when their relationship soured shortly after and decided to forgo the trip.
“I know I want someone who has an adventurous streak, is ready to start a family and have children, so that one day, I may take my kids travelling,” she says.
Her travel has been laced with spontaneous romantic interludes.
She recalls visiting Hualien’s night market with an American tourist she met online in 2019. She even had dinner with his family.
“When we met, I felt an instant connection, and we went around playing arcade games,” she says, adding they had two more dates before she flew home from Taipei.
As a solo female traveller, Ms Wee equips herself with safety tools, such as an alarm buzzer that emits distress signals during a potential attack and a hidden-camera detector to identify covert recording devices that may infringe on her privacy. She also avoids wandering around red-light districts.
‘’In retrospect, I’ve just been fortunate not to fall into any mishaps as I’m quite a gullible person,” she says.
‘My plan is to do whatever I want’
Mr Dion Ong, 27, has tread a winding path in pursuit of wanderlust.
The bachelor and small-business owner says: “My plan is to do whatever I want – be it a train trip to Paris or beyond – before the age of 35, when singles like myself are eligible to buy a Build-To-Order (BTO) flat.”
The Zillenial, a portmanteau of Gen Z and millennial individuals born between 1995 and 2000, says he relates to the idealistic streak of Gen Z youth, as well as the pragmatism of millennials.
After graduating with a diploma in tourism and hospitality management from Singapore Polytechnic, Mr Ong followed in the footsteps of his cousin and elder sister – both flight attendants – and worked as a cabin crew member from 2019 to 2022.
“I was supposed to fly for only two years and return to Singapore to get a full-time degree, but Covid-19 happened and I did not manage to save enough money. I did not want to touch my parents’ money, so I continued working,” says the son of a renovation contractor and hardware storekeeper.
But the glamour of flying soon wore out. His enthusiasm for travel waned, and he grew tired of travelling to the same places – even the fabled cities of London, New York, Dubai and Rome.
He started a jewellery business during the pandemic when flying was disrupted, living mostly on a stipend of $1,500 paid by the airline. He quit working at the airline one year after borders reopened.
In September 2022, he joined Lemon8, an app operated by TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, which gained traction in Singapore that year for its catalogue of lifestyle content.
He made $1,000 producing career- and travel-related content on the app for two months, an amount that covered the cost of an impromptu backpacking trip to Chiang Mai, Thailand, where he hiked solo in the mountainous region of Mon Jam, a village community in the highlands.
Some day, he hopes to embark on a six-month one-man odyssey from Singapore to Paris by land – using public transport.
He was inspired after reading a 2016 blog post of someone who accomplished the feat. The route to London will see him crossing China to Russia, then Poland, an area which has seen major disruptions with the Russo-Ukrainian war.
But Mr Ong, who has visited 30 countries, is not one to shy away from perilous adventures.
He recounts: “In December 2023, I booked a 16-day trip to Mongolia for $4,000 through a Mongolian tourism website – that is significantly cheaper than the packages sold here, which are priced at nearly $7,000. I decided to follow a tour group and did not look at the itinerary.”
The trip involved a four-day trek on horseback in the snowy wilderness to meet a reindeer community located in Dukha, a rural province in north-eastern Mongolia. Sleeping arrangements for the trekkers were teepees, tents made of animal skin. Mid-trek, temperatures plunged to minus 40 deg C.
“I love camping, but coming from a tropical country, I was not prepared for the trip. The thermal wear I took along was useless,” he says.
He recalls hydrating himself by melting ice in a steel pot over a log fire, purchasing a Deel – a traditional Mongolian attire made of wool – to keep warm and responding to nature’s call in a sub-zero open-air toilet.
“By the end of the journey on horseback, my knees were so frozen that for 10 seconds, I could barely walk.”
He now makes his living through brand sponsorships on social media, as well as an online jewellery business, Delicate Ornaments, which he founded in 2020. He also tends to a YouTube channel, @diongdion, alongside posting on TikTok and Lemon8. He has more than 7,000 followers across all three platforms.
Since 2021, he has also been doing a part-time communications degree at Singapore University of Social Sciences. He intends to stick to content creation – before it is time to pay for his BTO flat – and has no plans for a full-time job.
In July, he hopes to go to summer school in Japan and is exploring extending his stay there afterwards on a work visa.
“I have a different expectation of my life compared with my friends, who are starting families and working full time. I respect their decisions, but when it comes to a point of stress and burnout, that’s a problem,” says Mr Ong, who is renting a room from his sister.
“I want to be able to look back on my life and find fun in every moment. I did what I wanted to do and did not push aside travelling just to hustle.”
Watching his travel footprint while seeing the world
Budget takes precedence for avid backpacker Ng Yi Yang, 28. Whether it be soaking up the nightlife in Phuket, Thailand, mountain hiking in Sapa, Vietnam, or conquering the Grand Canyon and Yosemite in the US, he limits his expenditure to $50 a day.
Packing no more than four sets of clothing into a backpack weighing just 10kg, he skips shopping and scours for experiences outdoors, such as scuba diving and hiking.
The managing director of Zyrup Media, a multimedia company comprising a creative studio, youth culture publication and podcast network, is also a content creator on Lemon8 known for his backpacking trips and travel advice.
The communications graduate started travelling spontaneously after graduating from Nanyang Technological University in 2021.
“After my semester ended, I had a week with no exams, so I took a train to Penang without thinking about what activities I would be doing.”
The travel bug bit hard afterwards. He has taken off at least once every two months since, except during the pandemic when borders were closed.
Last year, he visited 16 cities – the highlights were a visit to the fairy-tale Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany and taking diving lessons in the Gili Islands of Indonesia.
The bachelor, who is extroverted by nature, says travelling has opened him to many facets of himself. “On a 2019 solo trip to the US, I spent five days in total silence and found that I am perfectly content doing things alone.”
He opts for hostels over hotels that cost no more than $30 a night in South-east Asia and $50 in Europe, crediting it as spaces to meet new people. Initiating conversations with fellow backpackers in the hostels has enabled him to befriend strangers from Poland and Germany.
“When put into the hostel environment, people tend to be a bit more open and accommodating. Some hostels organise activities and host communal dinners, places for you to break the ice and meet people,” he says.
The backpacking community is dominated by individuals in their early 20s, an age of much soul-searching, revelry and drinking, but he warns backpackers new to the game to play on the side of caution.
During a trip to Berlin, an 18-year-old female American backpacker got drunk, collapsing outside a train station. He and another friend spent three hours trying to take her back to the hostel.
Although Mr Ng is critical of over-hyped tourist attractions, he visits such hot spots with fellow hostel mates. “I don’t always adhere to plans and will approach tourists and ask whether I can jump onto their plans. Sometimes, I’ll ask if they want to go to specific places together with me,” he says, relating how some such encounters have led to whirlwind adventures.
Being self-employed gives him the flexibility to plan work around his holidays. The digital nomad says: “I make full use of weekends, long weekends and public holidays to do work, even when I’m abroad. And on the days when I’m not travelling, I just dream about travelling.”
Next on his travel list are the mountainous regions of Yunnan and Tibet.
But he is against travelling to over-touristed places such as Paris and Bali, where tourism has resulted in a slew of controversies surrounding environmental degradation and cultural disrespect.
“Ultimately, when you travel, you may end up being complicit in a system that directly disadvantages the locals, hence why I’m a huge hater of the over-touristed side of Bali, which can be hot spots for disrespectful, unruly tourists.
“Be careful that your footprint in the countries you are visiting is a positive one, and not directly impacting, affecting and destroying what you’re there to see.”
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/hi-mum-no-dinner-for-me-tonight-i-ll-be-skydiving-in-bangkok-gen-z-and-millennials
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/morning-briefing-top-stories-from-the-straits-times-on-jan-20-2024
| 2024-01-20T02:23:20Z
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MELBOURNE - Highlights of the seventh day of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Saturday, all times local (GMT +11):
1114 PLAY UNDER WAY AT MELBOURNE PARK
Play began as scheduled on the seventh day of the year's first Grand Slam. The weather was pleasant, with a high of 27 degrees Celsius (80.6 degrees Fahrenheit).
Men's second seed Carlos Alcaraz will be in action against China's Shang Juncheng in Rod Laver Arena later in the day, while women's top seed Iga Swiatek will play the Czech Republic's Linda Noskova in the evening session.
READ MORE
Djokovic back in cruise control, Sabalenka, Sinner charge into second week in Melbourne
Djokovic finds his groove to down Etcheverry in Melbourne
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Australian Open order of play on Saturday
No handshakes as Sabalenka downs Ukraine's Tsurenko in third round
Winner Sinner storms past Baez into fourth round
De Minaur aiming to smash through barrier after reaching last 16
Confident Timofeeva relishing Kostyuk test at Australian Open
Kostyuk, Tsurenko vow to keep spotlight on war in Ukraine
Returning Anisimova takes pride in reaching fourth round
Andreeva plans to frame Murray's praise after Melbourne fightback
Tsitsipas hopes emotions of 2023 will boost Australian Open title bid
Raducanu excited by future after return from injury REUTERS
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NEW YORK – An 11-month-old boy died on the morning of Jan 19 after being burned by steam that leaked from a radiator in a bedroom at a Brooklyn apartment, police said.
Police received a 911 call for help at the apartment, on East 14th Street in the Midwood neighbourhood, just after 6am (7pm on Jan 19, Singapore time) officials said. When officers arrived, they found the boy with burn wounds, police said. He was unconscious and unresponsive.
The child, whose name was not released, was taken to Maimonides Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, officials said.
The leak’s cause was under investigation on the afternoon of Jan 19, officials said. Police filed a request with New York City’s Buildings Department for an inspection “due to a faulty radiator causing steam to fill the bedroom,” records show.
The boy’s mother was feeding another child when the 11-month-old wandered into the bedroom and was hit by the steam, police said.
The building’s boiler was last inspected Feb 2, according to Approved Oil, the Brooklyn company that performed the inspection. No defects were found, according to a record filed with the Buildings Department.
Steam heat is ubiquitous in New York City, but injuries caused by it usually occur in industrial workplaces and are relatively rare. Deaths are even rarer.
In 2016, two sisters, ages 2 and 1, died after being severely burned by steam from a radiator in a temporary apartment for homeless people in the South Bronx. In 2017, their parents sued the city, the building’s owner and Bushwick Economic Development Corp., the social services agency that administered housing.
In June, the parents settled with the city for US$300,000 (S$402,000) and with the agency for US$4.5 million, court records show.
City agencies have cited the Midwood property where the child died Friday for 57 violations, most of them from 2010 to 2013, city records show.
Mr Ruvin Itskovich, who is listed in Buildings Department records as the current owner, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The four-story brick building is in a middle-class neighbourhood of similar apartment houses and detached multifamily homes.
On the morning of Jan 19, two police officers and two men wearing skullcaps stood outside the family’s apartment on the first floor. Two strollers sat out front. At one point, Buildings Department officials were seen entering the building.
Inside the building, neighbors who knew the baby and his parents mourned his death.
Mr Muhammad Haseeb said he awoke in the early darkness to screaming on the floor below. A woman wailed, and a man moaned, Mr Haseeb said, trembling at the memory.
Soon, the building’s first floor was swarmed with police officers, firefighters and paramedics.
Shortly after noon, the parents emerged from their apartment, holding hands and flanked by two members of Hatzalah, a volunteer ambulance service that provides help to the Orthodox Jewish community.
Mr Jodion Green, 40, who lives on the floor above the family, clasped his hands as if in prayer and collapsed against a wall in the hallway when another neighbour told him what had happened.
The parents doted on the boy: Mr Green said he spent hours helping the child’s father install an infant car seat. The father often asked Mr Green, who has older children, for advice on parenting.
“It was like a miracle the way they interacted, like he was a miracle child,” Mr Green said. “He had these blue eyes; they were so bright. When he would lock them on you, it was like, wow. He was so beautiful, he was always cheerful, and he was sweet and funny.”
Steam has been a major heat source in New York for about 150 years. It currently heats about 80 per cent of residential buildings in the city, according to a 2019 report by Urban Green Council. The largest steam system in the United States runs from the southern tip of lower Manhattan to 96th Street, serving millions of people.
The council said steam heat was especially common in smaller multifamily properties of less than 50,000 square feet – a category that would include the Midwood building.
Most systems operate with boilers that burn oil or natural gas. Steam heat is no longer used in most new construction because it releases greenhouse gases and can be difficult to distribute evenly throughout a building. Modern buildings use more efficient systems, including geothermal heat pumps.
Mr Victor Buzin, 36, who has lived at the Midwood address since he was a teenager, said that he had never had trouble with his radiator but that the building was old and had its problems.
“It’s terrible,” Mr Buzin said. “How could this happen?”
Mr Green said the parents of the 11-month-old boy recently had twin girls and their father had been trying to figure out whether he should get a three-child stroller so the siblings could travel together.
Mr Green pulled out his phone to text the father, whom he described as a close friend. He struggled with what to write. After a couple of false starts, he decided.
“I’m here for you,” Mr Green wrote. NYTIMES
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/11-month-old-boy-dies-after-being-burned-by-steam-from-radiator
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MANCHESTER - Ms Nikki Haley made it clear to New Hampshire voters on Jan 19: She will not serve as former president Donald Trump’s vice president if he wins the Republican nomination.
Ms Haley, who is challenging Trump for the Republican presidential nod, has long said she won’t “play for second.” But in touring the independent-leaning state this week, she explicitly ruled out being a running mate in November, media reports said.
“I don’t want to be anybody’s vice president. That is off the table,” Ms Haley told voters at a diner stop in Amherst, New Hampshire on Jan 19, Politico and the Washington Post reported.
“I have always said that. That is a game they play that I’m not going to play. I don’t want to be vice president,” Ms Haley added, according to the Post.
Ms Haley, who served as Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, is barnstorming New Hampshire ahead of its Jan 23 contest and further distancing herself from Trump in a state known for a more moderate brand of Republicanism.
Its semi-open primary can also draw more centrist voters, who may be turned off by Trump’s criminal charges, increasingly authoritarian language and efforts to overturn his 2020 re-election loss.
She must close the gap in Republicans’ second primary contest to have any chance at thwarting Trump’s momentum after his decisive win in Iowa’s caucus on Monday.
Only Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has largely written off New Hampshire to challenge Ms Haley in her home state of South Carolina, remains in the three-way contest for the nomination to challenge Democrat Joe Biden in November.
Earlier in January, Trump said he knows who his running mate will be if he wins the nomination but declined to name anyone.
Here is other news from the campaign trail:
Scott ‘excited’ for Trump
Ms Haley faced a blow from her home state on Jan 19, with fellow South Carolinian Tim Scott, a US senator first nominated by Ms Haley, poised to back Trump.
“Oh man. I’m so excited for the announcement tonight,” Mr Scott said in a video taken in front of a Trump-marked plane and posted on X. “Let’s talk about four more years.”
“New Hampshire here we come!” he wrote.
Mr Scott, who had also challenged Trump for the Republican Party’s nomination but ended his campaign in 2023, will endorse his former rival at a rally on Jan 19 night in Concord, a source told Reuters.
As South Carolina governor, Ms Haley tapped then US Representative Scott to fill a Senate vacancy in 2012.
“Tim Scott wouldn’t have a job without Nikki Haley,” New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, a Republican backing Ms Haley, said in a Fox News interview on Jan 19, according to the Washington Post.
“Nobody cares,” Mr Sununu said of the endorsement as he chatted with restaurant patrons in Milford, the New York Times reported.
Here today, gone tomorrow
Mr DeSantis would like the people of New Hampshire to know something: He’s still here.
The Florida governor called a press conference on Jan 19 at St Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, amid reports that he was abandoning the state.
Polls show Mr DeSantis lagging way behind Trump and Ms Haley ahead of the Jan 23 primary. He has events scheduled on Jan 20 in South Carolina, which holds a primary in February, and his campaign has not said if he will return to New Hampshire.
He chose St Anselm because it was supposed to host a debate this week, but both Trump and Ms Haley declined to participate, further cutting off Mr DeSantis’ political oxygen.
Mr DeSantis was asked if thought he could still win the nomination.
“As long as I’m in the hunt, that tells me that I’m seeing a pathway,” he said. “The minute I don’t, I’m not going to do this just for my health.”
If Jan 19 was Mr DeSantis’ farewell to the New Hampshire media, he left an impression. The press conference was scheduled for 3.30pm – outside in the winter cold. Reporters, along with a few die-hard supporters, stood and waited, shivering, for Mr DeSantis to arrive.
The windchill was minus 11 deg C. Some supporters gave up and trickled off, followed by a few members of the media.
“It’s not that cold. It’s not too too bad,” said Ms Katherine Prudhomme O’Brien, 53, of Derry, holding a DeSantis sign. She was jumping up and down to keep herself warm.
“He’s lost my vote!” one attendee shouted, and the crowd laughed.
Finally, after nearly an hour, Mr DeSantis’ car rolled up and he bounded out without a winter coat, looking like he had just flown in from Tallahassee.
He took a handful of questions and then abruptly cut off the session after about 10 minutes. The crowd groaned.
A minute later, he was gone – off to a town hall in Nashua. Presumably indoors.
Standing up for Joe
Meanwhile, New Hampshire voters will offer a glimpse into Mr Biden’s re-election efforts next week – even if his name’s not on the ballot.
Mr Biden shunned the state’s primary contest after it ignored demands to cede its early spot in the campaign calendar to South Carolina, a more populated and diverse state the party has sought to boost along with Nevada.
While the Democratic National Committee has said the New Hampshire contest effectively will not count, residents can still write his name in on the ballot.
“We’ve got to stand up for Joe Biden,” said Mr David Watters, a write-in advocate and Democratic state senator in New Hampshire.
Democratic longshots Dean Phillips, a Minnesota congressman, and self-help author Marianne Williamson are seeking to challenge Mr Biden.
Married couple Elliot and Edith Smith plan to vote for Mr Biden in the state’s primary - but not enthusiastically, citing concerns about the 81-year-old’s age.
“I am disgusted with both parties, but we can’t elect Trump,” said Mr Elliot Smith. “I’m a Democrat, but would consider other Republicans like Haley or Christie in the general election, but there’s no chance they can beat Trump.” REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/haley-says-no-to-vice-presidency-as-former-rival-backs-trump
| 2024-01-20T02:23:51Z
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Sports Illustrated (SI), the venerable bible of sports journalism, has been in decline for years, as the Internet annihilated print magazines and cost-cutting turned the weekly publication into a monthly and whittled its staff.
But on Jan 19, the magazine received perhaps its toughest blow yet.
The company that publishes SI said in an e-mail to employees that it is laying off many of them.
The move came after the Arena Group, which publishes the magazine and website under a complicated management structure, had its licence to operate the publication revoked.
Reporters and editors for SI were asked on Jan 19 to attend a Zoom call at 2pm Eastern time (3am on Jan 20, Singapore time). It lasted just seven minutes.
On the call, Mr Jay Frankl, Arena’s newly hired chief business transformation officer, said: “We will continue to produce the Sports Illustrated brand and online content until the situation is fully resolved.”
This was according to a recording of the meeting heard by The New York Times. No questions were taken.
Some SI staff members received e-mails with immediate layoff notices, while others were told in further Zoom meetings that they would keep their jobs for at least 90 days. Around 100 journalists work for SI.
Arena executives told SI staff they plan on continuing to publish the magazine and website, despite having their licence to operate the publication revoked. But it was not immediately clear how that would work.
It was also unclear whether the magazine’s owner, Authentic Brands Group, would strike a new agreement with Arena or find a new company to operate it.
But it seems certain that even if SI survives in some form, it will be severely diminished.
The mood among staff members in the wake of the layoff announcement was a mix of anger, frustration and confusion.
Journalists at SI texted and messaged one another on Slack, unsure in some cases who had been laid off, and what the ultimate fate of the magazine would be.
For decades, SI was a weekly must-read for sports fans and a financial engine for the Time Inc. empire. It once had more than three million subscribers, and its writing, reporting and photography were considered the pinnacle of sports journalism.
Landing on the cover was the most coveted endorsement an athlete could receive, even well into the television and Internet eras.
And its annual swimsuit issue was a pop culture phenomenon.
“I think it is one of the best magazines to ever exist, with some of the best photographers, writers and editors that have ever been in one building,” said Mr Rick Reilly, who for years wrote the magazine’s popular backpage column.
He added: “If it is really dead, it has kind of been dying.”
SI has been in trouble for years. It struggled to shift to the digital media world, and was hampered by mismanagement.
Meredith Corporation purchased Time Inc., which included SI and other media assets, for US$3 billion (S$4 billion) in 2017.
Two years later, the media conglomerate sold SI to Authentic, which is primarily a licensing company that acquires the rights to celebrity brands, for US$110 million. It was bought for the value of the SI name and intellectual property, not because Authentic intended to run a magazine.
Arena – which owns Men’s Journal, Parade and TheStreet and was previously known as the Maven – quickly struck a 10-year agreement with Authentic to operate and publish SI. It paid at least US$45 million for the right to do so, while Authentic retained commercial rights for things like a potential SI-branded hotel in Michigan.
In a statement, Authentic said it is committed to ensuring that “the brand of Sports Illustrated, which includes its editorial arm, continues to thrive as it has for the past nearly 70 years”.
A spokeswoman for Arena said it is in negotiations with Authentic and plans to continue to publish SI. “We hope to be the company to take SI forward but if not, we are confident that someone will,” she said in a statement.
The union representing SI confirmed that Arena is laying off many employees.
“This is another difficult day in what has been a difficult four years for Sports Illustrated under Arena Group (previously the Maven) stewardship,” the union said in a statement. “We are calling on ABG to ensure the continued publication of SI and allow it to serve our audience in the way it has for nearly 70 years.”
It has been a particularly tumultuous several months at SI. In August, Mr Manoj Bhargava, the entrepreneur behind the 5-Hour Energy drink, agreed to buy a major stake in Arena, raising hopes that he might provide a measure of stability.
But shortly after he agreed to buy the stake, SI was thrown into chaos. Several Arena senior executives were forced out of the company, including its chief executive officer (CEO) Ross Levinsohn, president Rob Barrett, chief operating officer Andrew Kraft and general counsel Julie Fenster.
In November, reports circulated that SI published product reviews under fake author names, seemingly generated by artificial intelligence, which Arena blamed on a vendor.
“My God, they had AI writers with backstories, robots they were trying to pass off,” Mr Reilly said, before invoking renowned SI writers. “This is a place that hired Jim Murray and Dan Jenkins.”
The situation got worse after that. In early January, Arena failed to make a US$3.75 million payment to Authentic, breaching its licensing agreement.
Days later, Mr Bhargava resigned as its interim CEO, and the company signed an agreement with FTI Consulting to help turn the business around.
Things came to a head on Jan 18, when Authentic sent Arena a letter terminating the SI licence, according to public filings, setting off an immediate US$45 million payment to Authentic. The same day, Arena announced it was cutting one-third of its workforce.
In 2020, shares of Arena traded for as much as US$14.20. On Jan 19, they were trading for under US$1. NYTIMES
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/sports-illustrated-thrown-into-chaos-with-mass-layoffs
| 2024-01-20T02:24:02Z
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SINGAPORE – Enter the dragon, plated in various guises this Chinese New Year, which falls on Feb 10.
Inspired by the mythical creature, chefs’ imaginations have run wild, mostly seizing upon any ingredient that invokes or is partially named after the “long” (Chinese for dragon).
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/food/from-lobster-to-longan-here-are-18-dragon-inspired-cny-dishes-to-try
| 2024-01-20T03:55:13Z
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Pebble Bar (1963)
Pebble Bar, which was also known as Pebbles Bar, opened in 1963 at the Singapura Forum Hotel, the site of the current Forum The Shopping Mall.
The hotel was the first local hospitality venture by the late property tycoon Ng Teng Fong, who founded Far East Organization in 1960. It cost Mr Ng $5.5 million to build the hotel then.
Besides being the first local hotel to be managed by an international hotel chain, the InterContinental Hotels Group, it was also the first to open a 24-hour coffee shop.
Pebble Bar initially attracted British residents, as well as foreign businessmen staying at the hotel, but later became a vibrant live-performance venue dominated by local band Tania in the mid-1970s.
Fronted by Zul Sutan with flamboyant vocalist Alban de Souza, and supported by bandmates such as bassist Ibrahim Zainal, Tania painted their faces with glitter dust like American band Kiss and performed chart toppers to a packed venue every night.
In the mid-1980s, the band moved to Anywhere Music Pub at Tanglin Shopping Centre after the hotel changed ownership.
Mr Ng sold the hotel in 1982 for $178 million to Dubai-based businessman A.W. Galadari. It was then acquired by Al-Khaleej Investments, which demolished the building and built Forum Galleria mall. It was later sold and renamed Forum The Shopping Mall.
Tropicana (1968)
Construction of the first entertainment complex in Singapore and the region started in April 1967 on a 25,000 sq ft plot of land at 9 Scotts Road, where Pacific Plaza currently stands.
Called Tropicana, the four-storey air-conditioned building designed by Kee Yeap Associates housed many attractions, notably an 18m-wide stage that could slide, be elevated and revolve to enhance the performances of topless revues flown in from Europe and Asia. It cost about $1.75 million to build and another $1 million to equip the complex then.
Owner Shaw Sung Ching commissioned Mr Will Fernandez from Manila in the Philippines to create “first-class interiors” for the building. There was wall-to-wall carpeting, opulent chandeliers and a rock garden with a wall fountain. Tropicana employed about 130 people when it opened in 1968.
On the ground floor was the Orchid Lantern Chinese restaurant and nightclub with a mainly Cantonese menu, which could seat up to 500 diners and clubgoers. The restaurant was carved into different levels to provide diners with an uninterrupted view of the late-evening topless shows.
There was also a 200-seat Rasa Sayang restaurant, which served European and Indonesian cuisines, and the Le Bistro cocktail bar and private lounge.
By early 1989, Tropicana’s novelty faded, with increasing competition from shinier and newer nightclubs and discos. It was sold to Hong Kong-listed company London & Edinburgh Trust Pacific for $70 million.
Barbarella (1970)
It was billed as an “experiotheque” with a dance floor that was split into three levels, space age decor and 24 psychedelic slide projectors.
Barbarella opened at Ming Court Hotel in 1970 during a time when disco fever was on the cusp of becoming a worldwide phenomenon that dominated the 1970s and 1980s. As more discos opened, Barbarella upped the ante with a $300,000 revamp to get more people onto its dance floor and explore its futuristic interiors that were inspired by the hit 1968 Hollywood movie Barbarella, starring Jane Fonda.
Mr Jerry Fernandez, frontman of The Neu Faces – a six-piece local band that played six nights a week at Barbarella – remembers the glitzy interiors.
“It was a really glamorous place to be, with locals and foreigners jostling for space to jive on the split dance floor that looked like it was out of the set of the movie Barbarella,” recalls Mr Fernandez, 74, a proud grandfather of two grandchildren and who recently celebrated 50 years in show business with four of his bandmates.
“Barbarella was known for its buzz, sassy decor and sophisticated disco sound system.”
Crowds queued to get in to catch big names in the music industry, such as The Pitiful Souls, a five-piece British vocal group who wore white suits and toured Europe, the Middle East and Japan.
In June 1977, The Straits Times reported that Barbarella was slated to close in December that year.
The report said that business was poor at the disco since its reopening in 1976 after three years of being shuttered. In 1973, Barbarella was ordered to shut down, along with five other discos, by the Government because they were found to be popular haunts for drug addicts and traffickers.
Xanadu In Shangri-La (1981)
When Shangri-La Hotel opened in April 1971, it also unveiled Lost Horizon nightclub, which had an upbeat nautical theme and played soul, jazz and top hits. It was relaunched as Xanadu in 1981, and went through further revamps in its concept and refurbishments to keep the tills ringing.
Its most talked-about makeover was in May 1995, when nightlife veteran Dennis Foo, owner of entertainment company Europa Holdings, partnered Shangri-La to manage Xanadu. At the time, Mr Foo was known as the show business wunderkind who had the “secret sauce” for making nightspots turn in a profit.
He had opened six nightspots in Orchard Road by the mid-1990s, including Ridley’s at ANA Hotel in 1992 and Pleasuredome at Phoenix Hotel in the late 1990s. He also believed Orchard Road should be the beating heart of the nightlife scene in Singapore.
After Mr Foo and his team took over Xanadu, crowds snaked around the block and in just a few months, the disco’s takings multiplied almost 10 times. In 1997, Europa terminated the arrangement with Shangri-La, and the hotel resumed management of Xanadu.
Xanadu closed in the late 1990s as partygoers looked for more novel nightlife offerings away from Orchard Road.
Mr Foo, 71, who has since retired, says Orchard Road needs to find its party groove again.
“I remember nightlife in Orchard Road was dead in the late 1980s and early 1990s,” he recalls. “A feature in The Straits Times in the 1990s titled I Will Take Orchard Road spurred me to do just that and we landed up with six top venues in the heart of the tourist belt.”
He says the decade prior to 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic struck, had seen the growth of major nightlife destinations such as Clarke Quay, St James Power Station and dance venues such as Marquee at Marina Bay Sands.
“Now that the big players in nightlife have disbanded, Orchard Road, with all its prerequisites for a premier nightlife draw, should make its comeback.”
Top Ten (1985)
One of Singapore’s most successful nightspots, Top Ten opened in 1985 at Orchard Towers, and was a hit with locals and tourists for its three-storey-high ceiling and replica of a city skyline illuminated on its walls.
Owned and managed by Swiss-born Singapore permanent resident Peter Bader, Top Ten treated clubgoers to live performances from world-class acts such as 1980s American soul and disco stars The Three Degrees, the Commodores and Chaka Khan, as well as Puerto Rican chart-topper Jose Feliciano.
It also provided a platform for talented home-grown entertainer-deejays, such as Moe Alkaff who teased, cajoled and danced onstage, as well as played Billboard Top 10 hits, till the club closed at about 2am daily.
Top Ten was awarded the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board’s Tourism Award for Best Night Entertainment in 1987.
It shuttered in November 2005. At the time, there was intense competition from newer clubs. By then, alternative venues for international acts had sprung up – mega shows started to be staged at the Singapore Indoor Stadium since the late 1980s.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/home-design/from-high-class-nightclubs-to-disco-fever
| 2024-01-20T03:55:23Z
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SINGAPORE – A significant chapter in Singapore’s entertainment history came to a close with the shuttering of nightlife outlets at Orchard Towers in late 2023.
Its vice-tainted location at 400 Orchard Road is a shadow of the sophisticated cabaret performances that played there and made headlines in the 1960s.
But Orchard Road was always destined to be a great street for all sorts of commerce.
In 1968, it grabbed headlines around the world when Singapore’s first entertainment complex called the Tropicana Theatre Restaurant and Niteclub opened in Scotts Road.
It was Orchard Road’s first major attraction, which later paved the way for the thoroughfare’s journey in transforming itself into one of the world’s foremost retail and fashion draws, on a par with Fifth Avenue in New York and the Champs-Elysees in Paris.
The nightspot was the culmination of a series of talks in the 1960s between the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board (STPB), now called Singapore Tourism Board (STB), and the local business community. They were aimed at adding buzz to the street, which in the 1960s was popular as a grocery-shopping haunt, with colonial-era supermarkets such as Fitzpatrick’s and Cold Storage.
There was also a cinema hall called Pavilion, mainly for the British to catch up on Hollywood hit films and drink whisky at the same time.
STPB collaborated with property developer Shaw Sung Ching to come up with early sketches for Tropicana in 1966, which turned out to be a game changer.
The classy Tropicana, with its fine dining and topless European troupes, was a shot in the arm for then-sleepy Orchard Road. International royalty, celebrities and jet-setters downed a mouthful at its sophisticated fine-dining restaurants, then were later in for an eyeful at the nightclub’s nightly shows.
When it was officially opened by then-STPB chairman P.H. Meadows, on March 30, 1968, on a 25,000 sq ft plot, Mr Shaw declared that for the first time, the Republic was on an equal footing with world-class nightclubs with cabaret shows in Asia, such as the Mikado in Tokyo.
“We believe that such a complex will not only meet the needs of the most demanding nightclub-goer, but also become another reason for the international traveller to want to come to Singapore,” said the late Mr Shaw, a Shanghai-trained architect who made his fortune in the construction sector after arriving in Singapore. He died in 2003 at the age of 93.
Tropicana was such a success that it was fully booked every night for its first three years. It closed in 1989 after stiff competition from topless revues at Neptune Theatre Restaurant in Collyer Quay and Golden Million at Peninsula Hotel.
Tropicana’s allure also began to fade after a new music phenomenon called disco swept the world with its throbbing music and catchy lyrics. This new entertainment wave coincided with Singapore’s hotel construction boom of the late 1960s and 1970s.
Hoteliers wasted no time opening discos to capitalise on the rampant demand for cramped spaces with strobe lights, mirror balls and the blaring disco music of Donna Summer, the Bee Gees and the Village People.
From the 1960s to the late 1980s, discos started popping up all over Orchard Road, such as Barbarella at Ming Court Hotel (1970), Xanadu In Shangri-La Hotel (1981) and, later, Top Ten at Orchard Towers (1985).
Building a great street
Between 1999 and 2001, Singapore-based global architectural practice DP Architects (DPA) served as the lead consultant on a schematic planning study commissioned by STB in dialogue with various local agencies, Orchard Road Business Association (Orba) and other stakeholders. The brief: to transform Orchard Road into a globally recognised destination.
Mr Jeremy Tan, 61, a DPA director who was involved in the earliest Orchard Road masterplan then, recalls some of the big ideas that were discussed.
“There was talk about linking the different buildings and districts in Orchard Road and raising the concept for an underground pedestrian network connecting major crossroads,” says Mr Tan, who has been with the firm for more than 30 years.
“We also looked at how to seamlessly integrate malls with the streetscape to draw the crowds out and extend the Orchard Road experience, raising the idea to open up the malls from their traditionally closed facade designs.”
Mr Tan says the team studied internationally renowned retail concepts and experiences in global cities. The benchmark: to see how they could reimagine Orchard Road as a “great street” with the vibrancy and dynamism of the world’s best shopping streets.
He notes that these efforts are evident today in the seamless connectivity that makes Orchard Road pedestrian-friendly and in the green respites along its streetscape with its many cafes, the food and beverage (F&B) kiosks and street performers. “And in the changing faces of the malls with their inviting facades that blend seamlessly with the streetscape to extend the Orchard Road experience beyond four walls,” he adds.
“The exciting part is also the new works and programming that are ongoing and new plans that are envisioned for Orchard Road that will continue to make this one of the most iconic streets of Singapore.”
Since the 1980s, DPA has been involved in the design and reinvigoration of about 10.76 million sq ft of mixed-used commercial spaces and has also helped reinvent 20 buildings in Orchard Road, such as Wisma Atria, Orchard Central, Paragon Shopping Centre and Mandarin Gallery.
Mr Chua Zi Jun, 45, DPA director and design lead for retail typology, cites Wisma Atria as an example of how one building tells the story of Orchard Road’s evolution and progress – from when it was first built in 1986 by pioneer architect Gan Eng Oon, then revamped twice by DPA chairwoman and veteran architect Angelene Chan.
Wisma Atria, Mr Chua notes, was first built in a 1980s American mall typology featuring an atrium in a centred box form, reminiscent of contemporary designs then.
In 1991, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) released a revised concept plan to modernise Orchard Road and Wisma Atria was given a facelift in 2004. Its facade was reconstructed with a glass frontage that changed the building’s elevation into a storefront window with external escalators going to the upper floors, connecting its multi-storey retail shops with the sidewalk.
“This revamp made Wisma Atria the first in the region to reverse its ‘closed’ design into an open one,” recalls Mr Chua, who notes that many malls subsequently followed suit and modernised.
This gave rise to the street-integrated urban mall, which refreshed the face of Orchard Road, increasing its vibrancy with pedestrian and side-street activities.
Wisma Atria underwent another makeover in 2012, when Ms Chan designed a glass facade to further increase its visibility and street engagement.
“These efforts to transform Orchard Road’s buildings and foster connectivity has helped shape its evolution over the decades,” says Mr Chua.
He adds Orchard Road’s rejuvenation and transformation continues today, with one of the largest redevelopments comprising Forum The Shopping Mall, voco Orchard Singapore and HPL House, to form a mixed-use development.
“This redevelopment is set to further revitalise the area and, when built, will feature the first performance theatre and one of the largest rooftop gardens in Orchard Road.”
In 2019, STB, together with URA and National Parks Board (NParks), announced plans to strengthen Orchard Road’s position as a lifestyle destination and to bring back the orchard in Orchard Road.
As a lifestyle destination, it will have sub-precincts with unique identities. For instance, Somerset will have a “youth vibe”, while the carpark in Grange Road near Somerset MRT station will be reimagined as an event space combined with retail offerings.
The shopping belt will also become a lush green urban corridor connecting to historical green spaces, such as Singapore Botanic Gardens and Fort Canning Park. The streets will be enhanced through a curated showcase of vibrant trees and shrubs that depict the colours of the tropics.
Global draw for tourists
Today, Orchard Road is one of the world’s foremost retail and fashion shopping streets. According to the Singapore Tourism Analytics Network, Singapore received more than 12 million visitors from January to November 2023. Orchard Road remains a top draw for tourists here, garnering four out of five stars in 2024 on global travel site Tripadvisor, which rates it one of the must-see local places.
Ms Guo Teyi, STB’s director of retail and dining, says Orchard Road distinguishes itself through its dynamic fusion of shopping, dining and entertainment, catering to diverse consumer preferences. Ongoing rejuvenation efforts, driven by new developments and concepts from both public and private sectors, aim to enhance Orchard Road’s position as a must-visit lifestyle destination.
“The introduction of first-to-market concepts such as Trifecta, Asia’s first snow, surf and skating lifestyle destination; as well as flagship stores such as the Nike one at 268 Orchard; the addition of hospitality and dining offerings, such as the newly opened five-star hotels The Singapore Edition and Artyzen Singapore; and French patissier Cedric Grolet’s first Asia outpost at Como Orchard; all contribute to the appeal,” she adds.
Mr Mark Shaw, chairman of Orba, notes that in the last 25 years, the nation’s economic growth, technological advances and shifting cultural trends have all transformed the retail landscape.
Orchard Road establishments have kept pace with these changes to remain relevant.
“Developers have been steadily reconfiguring older malls and designing new malls to accommodate more F&B outlets as Singapore evolves to become one of the major culinary hubs in the region, drawing not just Michelin-starred chefs, but also young local entrepreneurs who, within a few years, have created an exciting restaurant and cafe culture,” says Mr Shaw, 54.
Retailers have also pivoted with offerings to cater to changing consumer behaviour. Experiential shopping with artificial intelligence-assisted interactive features, omnichannel touchpoints and sustainable products are commonplace in physical stores and online today, he adds.
He has seen tourism demographics shifting significantly towards arrivals from China, Indonesia and India.
“Orba’s retail members are adopting a more differentiated approach,” says Mr Shaw. “Surveys have found that Chinese visitors spend more on shopping and less on accommodation and food. Practical measures include incorporating payment options, such as WeChat Pay and Alipay, that Chinese consumers can use.”
Orchard Road also boasts the biggest collection of international hotels along a 3.1km stretch. In addition, there is a presidential palace, an outdoor park for youth activities and a charming enclave of Peranakan shophouses – Singapore’s finest examples of Chinese Baroque-style shop-and-terrace houses – at Emerald Hill, says Mr Shaw.
“The diversity found in Orchard Road makes it unique, with a character that subtly changes as you delve into its many malls.”
Partying in new ways
Besides retail, lifestyle hot spots and an urban corridor, Orchard Road will offer something new by 2025 at the end of the stretch bordering Penang Road, where Temasek Shophouse now stands.
Temasek Shophouse is expanding to better cater to a growing community of changemakers and social entrepreneurs who are given access to event venues, co-working and community spaces, as well as networking opportunities to enhance and strengthen the impact work they do.
Besides the four shophouses involved in the expansion – No. 16, 22, 38 and 28 (the current Temasek Shophouse) – there are also plans to rejuvenate and activate surrounding outdoor spaces, including Handy Green and Stamford Canal, for the public to enjoy.
“With the transformation and expansion, Temasek Shophouse will be able to support more impact organisations, such as social enterprises, ground-up initiatives, social service agencies, non-profit organisations and charities with access to resources and networking within Temasek Shophouse’s community,” says Ms Yvonne Tay, general manager of Temasek Shophouse.
One person who is misty-eyed to see the last of the red-hot Orchard Road nightlife hot spots fade into the pages of history is entertainer-emcee Moe Alkaff. The 61-year-old was a resident deejay at Top Ten during its heyday in the 1980s before it closed at Orchard Towers in 2005.
“Top Ten was a legendary club where Singapore’s high society went to let their hair down,” recalls Mr Alkaff, who was in charge of the band line-up and deejayed there every night from 1985 to 1989.
“Models, ‘mad men’ from the advertising agencies and international airline crew had to get in line in snaking queues just to get in. Every night was like a Saturday night because the party never seemed to end,” recalls the entrepreneur, who founded events management company Moezik Events International.
But he says it is sad to see the nightlife element dialled down to just a few nondescript bars and pubs.
“Vibrant nightlife makes a place seem like the fun never ends and that is what is missing in Orchard Road. We need to find ways to bring the party back to our Great Street,” he adds.
“Orchard Road was the street to go to for serious partying. Now, people will be drawn to other places, such as Clarke Quay and Marina Bay Sands.”
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/home-design/orchard-road-gears-up-for-a-new-era
| 2024-01-20T03:55:34Z
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SINGAPORE – Ms Roshni Mahtani Cheung did not step into a Housing Board flat until she was 15 years old.
Her father owned a textile business and the family lived in a bungalow in the Mountbatten area.
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| 2024-01-20T03:55:44Z
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ASTANA – Major Italian tour operator Alpitour has added Kazakhstan to its catalog, marking a significant move to spotlight the country’s cultural and natural diversity on the global stage, reported the Kazakh Tourism national company on its Instagram page on Jan. 18.
According to Kazakh Tourism, this inclusion reflects the country’s increasing popularity as a tourist destination, particularly among culture and adventure enthusiasts.
The Alpitour Group comprises leading tour operators in Italy, boasting an extensive network of over 2,500 travel agencies, along with the Voi Hotels and Neos Airlines. The group achieves an annual turnover exceeding 2 billion euros ($1.8 billion).
In 2019, pre-pandemic, out of the total turnover of nearly 2.4 billion euros ($2.2 billion), tour operator activities constituted 58%, aviation services – 20%, inbound tourism – 18%, and hotel management – 5%.
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https://astanatimes.com/2024/01/kazakhstan-joins-leading-italian-tour-operators-network/
| 2024-01-20T04:47:50Z
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The Duke of Sussex made his first appearance of 2024 on Friday January 19, as he was given an incredible honour in Los Angeles.
Prince Harry, 39, made a solo appearance - despite rumours his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex would be joining him - as he was inducted into the "Living Legends of Aviation" for his work as a British Army veteran, skipping the red carpet and sneaking in to the Beverly Hilton hotel, in Beverly Hills, California, via the back doors.
Wearing a black velvet tuxedo, paired with a white shirt, the father-of-two was put on the spot by host John Travolta in the actor's opening remarks, with the Grease star asking the audience: "What can you remember about your first flight?"
The royal then remarked: "It's classified," to laughter from the room.
Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe, who appeared on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, shared a picture from inside the ballroom, after taking a selfie with Harry.
Lauren Sanchez, who is engaged to Jeff Bezos, received the Elling Halvorson Vertical Flight Hall of Fame Award.
Director Catherine Hardwicke was in attendance, to help celebrate her friend Lauren, and she called the evening "dazzling," joking that "her head was going to explode" at the idea of being in the same room as British royalty.
Gregory Feith was honored by the organisation in 2016 after a lifetime in aviation safety, and he praised the induction of Harry for "drawing young people to the industry, and that's what it is all about, getting young people involved, and Pricne Harry, and his name and accomplishments, draws attention to an organisation like this".
The event was set up in 2003 to honour those who make significant contributions to aviation and aerospace.
The Duke completed two tours of Afghanistan as a forward air controller and an Apache helicopter pilot, having flown countless training missions in the UK, US and Australia. He served for ten years in the military, rising to the rank of Captain.
Harry has taken his place alongside other aviation and aerospace "legends" including Buzz Aldrin, Jeff Bezos, Tom Cruise, Harrison Ford, Morgan Freeman, Elon Musk and Saudi Prince Sultan bin Salman Al Saud.
This year's recipients also included US navy pilot Fred George and former world speed record holder Steve Hinton.
Announcing the news earlier this month, the award's website said: "Prince Harry is a humanitarian, military veteran, mental wellness advocate and environmentalist. He has dedicated his life to advancing causes that he is passionate about and that bring about permanent change for people and places."
Following his army career, Harry has continued to support his fellow servicemen and women.
The Duke founded the Invictus Games in 2014, an international adaptive multi-sport event in which wounded, injured or sick armed services personnel and veterans participate. It celebrates the power of sport in recovery and how it can help, physically or psychologically, those suffering from injuries or illness.
The first Invictus Games took place in London and since then has been held in Orlando in 2016, Toronto in 2017, Sydney in 2018, the Hague in 2022 and most recently, Düsseldorf in 2023.
The 2025 tournament will take place in Vancouver and Whistler, Canada.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/511690/prince-harry-honoured-living-legends-of-aviation-awards/
| 2024-01-20T04:58:38Z
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Veteran West Michigan banker Tom Welch expects West Michigan’s economy to track with the overall U.S. economic performance this year.
The regional president for Fifth Third Bank, who also co-chairs Grand Action 2.0, believes West Michigan “muddles” through next year economically as outlooks generally predict slow GDP growth for the U.S.
In an interview with Crain’s Grand Rapids Business, Welch said he anticipates interest rates to come down, but business borrowers can expect banks to maintain tighter lending standards at least through the first half.
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This interview is edited and condensed for length.
What do you see the local economy doing in 2024?
What we believe, and what I’ve always believed, is the local economy is going to mirror the national economy, not exactly, but directionally. If you think about it, 70% of U.S. GDP is driven by consumer spending. I really think the job market is going to dictate how the national and local economy does. If unemployment stays around 4% and payroll sees monthly gains, then I think you’re going to see an economy that kind of muddles through 2024. Not great, but not terrible.
If you think through the cost of capital, you’ve essentially gone from 0% to 5.25% or 5.5% in the last 18 months. You raise that, you make it less attractive for business owners to grow and invest, so they do less of both, and that slows earnings and cashflow growth, which slows overall growth.
What does Fifth Third Bank believe will happen with interest rates this year?
If you believe this past year has been a bit murky, I think 2024 is going to be the year of clarity. We’ve had two years of restrictive monetary policy, and I believe the Fed can start cutting rates. In short, you have a strong labor market and above 2% inflation, that’s going to force the Fed to keep interest rates where they’re at for a time.
The market believes the Fed will start cutting rates in March or May. I’m not so sure about that. I think the Fed is finished raising rates, but if inflation gets back to 2% quickly, or the economy breaks and is in need of some stimulus, then you could see rate cuts in the back half of the year.
If inflation remains above 2% and unemployment’s somewhere around 4% — still low — I think it’s not likely rates will be cut. So, I see the first six months of next year the Fed holding steady, and then based on inflation and unemployment, you’ll know whether it’s going to be kind of slow-paced cuts and a soft landing, or a little faster pace if we hit a recessionary area.
What kind of lending environment will businesses face in 2024?
I would say more of the same. Lending standards at banks nationwide are tight. … For the first six months of the year, I think you’re going to get more of the same. Terms and conditions for loans (are) much more stringent than in the past few years. I believe borrowers are going to find the environment for securing loans in 2024 similar to 2023, which is somewhat difficult. It’s a higher bar to get a loan and higher rates, and this means that respective loan growth at the banks is going to be lower, too.
What’s the mood among borrowers right now?
If you think more locally, middle market-wise, costs of loans and most supply chain items were up and higher rates caused increased pressures on cashflows and leverage, and borrowing slowed dramatically. You throw in the geopolitical issues and many businesses are kind of in a wait-and-see mode. I would say many businesses in West Michigan, they’re less likely to take a risk in the environment we’re in. Companies are using cash when available to prevent borrowing at the elevated rates, and the bank’s lending has been light this year, but demand hasn’t been all that strong in 2023.
Based on what we see, which is a growing pipeline of requests, we’d expect 2024 to be lighter than normal, but I think it’s going to be better than 2023.
What’s your advice for a business that’s planning an expansion this year and needs credit?
Be cognizant of the rate environment, be cognizant of where’s inflation, where’s unemployment, because at some point the Fed is going to start dropping the rates. That point is when you can really sit down and say, ‘OK, from this point forward then let’s look at cashflow, let’s look at our investment strategy and all that’ and really determine ‘is it now?’ Or, if we believe that the Fed will really cuts rates, do we wait? From a positioning standpoint, it’s kind of both. When does it makes sense from a leverage and cashflow standpoint, and at the point when demand starts to pick up, I also think you’re going to see less stringent lending requirements as the banks move out of this restrictive Fed policy as well.
What’s going to drive loan demand this year?
We see right now demand primarily driven simply by pent-up demand and most of the businesses we’re working with, at least in the conversations I’ve had, don’t believe it’s going to get any worse and they’re starting to move ahead slowly and cautiously. A lot of it’s going to be where we see the Fed begin to lower rates, what happens geopolitically, how that fits in to each business owner’s business model and how that works.
See more executive outlook in the 2024 Crystal Ball edition from Crain’s Grand Rapids Business.
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https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/banking-finance/why-fifth-third-banks-top-west-michigan-exec-expects-not-great-but-not-terrible-economy-in-2024/
| 2024-01-20T04:59:43Z
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Bell’s Brewery Inc. is betting on automation equipment to help it churn out more variety packs of its popular beers.
At its Comstock Township brewery east of Kalamazoo, Bell’s is investing $2.6 million to boost packaging automation capacity, along with an additional $500,000 project to reduce waste at the production facility. The investments come just months after the company wrapped up an 18-month expansion project that doubled the brewery’s canning capacity.
The company decided to invest in the automation line to boost output for its “hottest pack by far from a consumer perspective,” Carrie Yunker, executive vice president at Bell’s Brewery, told Crain’s Grand Rapids Business.
Bell’s has found recent success in using the variety pack to introduce consumers to new flavors, Yunker said. While taproom business continues to rebound from the pandemic, sales haven’t quite returned to normal, making retail variety pack options a key tool in reaching loyal Bell’s fans.
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“This is really how folks taste innovation these days,” Yunker said. “There’s a lot of younger drinking-age folks who are picking up a variety of beverages instead of the previous generation who had a go-to beverage. So (we) certainly have to continue to be innovative and meet drinkers where they are in 2024.”
To that end, industry publication Brewbound reported this week that Bell’s IPA variety packs were the 11th fastest-growing craft beer brand nationally in 2023, based on NielsenIQ data. Bell’s had two other products in the top 20 fastest-growing brands: Hazy Hearted IPA (No. 17) and Two Hearted IPA (No. 20).
The automation project, which kicks off in early 2024, will increase variety pack production at the facility by fivefold, giving Bell’s the ability to produce up to 2.5 million variety cases annually.
“This will really sort of take the top off of the capacity concerns that we have,” Yunker said.
At the same time, the brewery also plans to install new infrastructure ranging from technology to beer tanks to move beer through the brewery more efficiently and reduce the internal loss of liquid within the facility.
The investment, also slated to begin in the coming weeks, will help the brewery save around 10,000 barrels, or 310,000 gallons, of liquid annually, resulting in potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings, Yunker said.
“We care a lot about the environment and, in particular, beer has a lot of solids in it. This (investment) would be about our ability to package more of that beer and have less go down the drain,” she said.
For Bell’s, the investments follow the 2021 deal in which the company was acquired by Australia-based Lion Little World Beverages Inc., a division of Japan’s Kirin Holdings Co. Ltd. The deal also included Escanaba-based Upper Hand Brewery. Bell’s is now operated by Lion-owned New Belgium Brewing Co., based in Fort Collins, Colo.
The company previously said that it produced around 500,000 barrels of beer annually at its brewing facility in Comstock Township. Bell’s also finished building out its national footprint to all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico last year.
According to the Brewbound report, NielsenIQ ranked Bell’s Brewery as the 11th largest “craft vendor” last year with sales of nearly $112.4 million, a year-over-year increase of 6.5%. Bell’s also grew its production volume by 7.1%.
The Kalamazoo-based brewery ranked two notches below Founders Brewing Co., which had sales of $125.9 million, a 2.2% increase, according to the data. Production volumes dipped 0.6% for Grand Rapids-based Founders, which is owned by the Spanish brewer conglomerate Mahou San Miguel.
Monster Beverage’s Canarchy Craft Brewery Collective, the owner of Alpine Township-based Perrin Brewing Co. and other operations across the country, experienced a 5.6% decline in sales to $97.1 million, according to data in the report.
While Michigan breweries are turning to new products and approaches to continue to appeal to consumers in a saturated market, Bell’s is anticipating another year of growth as the company leans into its classic brands and elevates new ones for another generation of drinkers.
“For us to continue to be able to make large investments here feels really good,” Yunker said. “(It) keeps people employed, keeps people drinking and being able to have a beer across the bar.”
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Crain’s Grand Rapids Business editor Joe Boomgaard contributed to this report.
More from Crain’s Grand Rapids Business:
Kalamazoo billionaire donates $100M to Black women’s college in Atlanta
Financing, construction costs stall 39-unit Grand Rapids housing project
Global packaging company to close Grand Rapids-area plant, laying off 111 workers
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https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/food-drink/bells-brewery-investing-2-6m-in-automation-to-boost-variety-pack-production-five-fold/
| 2024-01-20T04:59:50Z
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Trinity Health has brought another new medical service to Grand Haven with the addition of a detoxification program that opened this month.
Partnering with Saint Charles, Mo.-based SpecialtyCare Hospital Management, Trinity Health Grand Haven launched the New Vision detox service Jan. 10 for adult patients with withdrawal symptoms from alcohol and drug addictions. Patients voluntarily self-refer to the detox service and can stay for up to five days and are then referred to follow-up treatment.
The health system partnered with SpecialtyCare Hospital Management as incidence rates for substance abuse rose sharply over the years, especially in the pandemic, and drove demand for treatment higher.
“It’s just increasing exponentially,” said Trinity Health Grand Haven President Shelleye Yaklin. “We have just continued to see, post-pandemic, this blossoming of need for all things behavioral health, but specifically in the chemical dependency area. It’s not something anybody really offers out here out the lakeshore.”
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The partnership with SpecialtyCare Hospital Management gives better structure and formality to how Trinity Health Grand Haven handles detox patients.
Patients who have addictions and need detox typically come to the hospital through the emergency room or are brought in via ambulance or by the police, Yaklin said. The hospital is “not really doing detox. We’re just assisting them in the moment and helping them get somewhere,” she said.
“Now we want it to be purposeful,” Yaklin said. “We need the skillset of someone who lives and operates and understands this part of the health care continuum better than we do as far as the clinical protocols that can have success, and we can just carry them out.”
An annual report issued by the UnitedHealth Foundation shows that drugs deaths in Michigan increased steadily over several years to 31.2 per 100,000 people as of 2021, up from 28.1 in 2020, and 13.9 in 2014.
Doctors and nurses at hospitals follow established protocols and guidelines from SpecialtyCare Hospital Management, which performs the initial screening on detox patients. The organization also helps “to ensure that we’re taking patients that we can care for here and that we can put on a good path to success once they’re discharged from this hospital and need their continuing care,” Yaklin said.
SpecialtyCare Hospital Management also handles other aspects of the New Vision program, including discharge planning to help patients “get that next appointment, so they know exactly what that next step looks like post-discharge” for further treatment and their continued recovery, said Michelle Belt, regional director of operations for the service.
The New Vision service offers treatment for substances that include alcohol, opioids, benzodiazepines such as Valium and Xanax, methamphetamine, cocaine, combined substances, and prescription medications.
Trinity Health Grand Haven expects to draw detox patients from around West Michigan and treat two to four people at a given time, Yaklin said.
SpecialtyCare Hospital Management, owned by Dallas, Texas-based BayMark Health Services, partners on more than 30 New Vision services at hospitals across the country. In Michigan, New Vision services are in place at Three Rivers Health and MyMichigan Medical Center in Clare.
The detox service represents the latest medical care added in Grand Haven since Trinity Health acquired the former North Ottawa Community Health System in October 2022. Other additions include PET scans and a planned long-term acute care hospital that’s targeted to open this summer.
The 81-bed Trinity Health Grand Haven, which operates at a low inpatient occupancy rate, awaits approval from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services on a certificate-of-need application filed in November to open a 42-bed long-term acute care hospital. The LTACH would replace a Muskegon facility that closed three years ago and would help to fill a service void on the lakeshore market.
The LTACH, which is proposed for the hospital’s second floor, would serve a projected 142 admitted patients in the first year of operation, and grow to 203 in the second year and 261 in the third 12 months, according to Trinity Health Grand Haven’s CON application to the state.
More from Crain’s Grand Rapids Business:
Financing, construction costs stall 39-unit Grand Rapids housing project
Global packaging company to close Grand Rapids-area plant, laying off 111 workers
Talent constraints drive need for pre-planning in 2024 construction projects
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https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/health-care/trinity-health-adds-new-medical-service-in-grand-haven/
| 2024-01-20T04:59:56Z
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Former U.S. Rep. Justin Amash said Thursday that he is exploring whether to run as a Republican for Michigan’s open Senate seat, saying other candidates are “uninspired, unserious and unprepared.”
Amash served five terms representing the Grand Rapids area and in the final one, 2019-2020, left the GOP to become an independent and later a Libertarian.
He said “many” people are urging him to enter the Republican primary, a crowded field that includes former seven-term Rep. Mike Rogers; ex-Rep. Peter Meijer, who served one term; former Detroit police chief James Craig, businessman Sandy Pensler; and State Board of Education member Nikki Snyder among others.
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“They see what I see: contenders for the seat who are uninspired, unserious, and unprepared to tackle the chief impediment to liberty and economic prosperity — an overgrown and abusive government that strives to centralize power and snuff out individualism,” Amash wrote on social media. “The people of Michigan and our country deserve better.”
The Senate, he said, needs a “principled, consistent constitutional conservative … with a record of taking on the bipartisan oligarchy, defending sound money and free speech, fighting the surveillance state and military-industrial complex, and protecting all our rights.”
Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow is retiring, an opening for a GOP that has not won a Senate contest in 30 years. The Democratic field includes third-term Rep. Elissa Slotkin, actor Hill Harper and others.
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https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/politics-policy/former-u-s-rep-justin-amash-explores-run-for-u-s-senate/
| 2024-01-20T05:00:02Z
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Two Grand Rapids businesses are collaborating on a new pop-up restaurant that they hope will expand the customer base for both brands.
Texan-style brunch restaurant Basalt and Speciation Artisan Ales are partnering to launch Oso Provisions inside the microbrewery’s location at 928 Wealthy St. SE.
Oso Provisions will serve a variety of comfort foods inside Speciation’s taproom, the first permanent menu the brewery will offer after several years of featuring food trucks and other food vendors during on-site events.
According to co-owner Mitch Ermatinger, the most common request from Speciation customers has been for the brewery to serve food.
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“It’ll be really nice to have that as an option,” he said, adding that Basalt owner Steven Martinez is “just ridiculously good at what he does.”
As a fan of Basalt, Ermatinger said he’s looking forward to seeing what Martinez will create outside the constraints of a Tex-Mex menu.
“We think it’s going to be a really mutually beneficial relationship,” Martinez said, adding that he’s excited to be able to explore new cuisine.
While Speciation hasn’t featured an on-site kitchen to offer food to guests, Basalt doesn’t own a liquor license and cannot serve alcohol to patrons at its space in Eastown at 1450 Wealthy St. SE. The owners envision Oso Provisions as a new way for both businesses to play to their strengths and maximize customer appeal.
According to Martinez, the two businesses have expressed interest in collaborating since Basalt opened in 2021. Along those lines, Basalt has often operated as a pop-up kitchen at Speciation for its live music events. Now, however, the collaboration has a name and a permanent place at Speciation, as Basalt finishes creating a micro-kitchen at the brewery.
An initial menu, debuting this weekend as part of Speciation’s seven-year anniversary event on Jan. 20, features grilled cheese, mac and cheese and a variety of sides.
While an official launch date for the kitchen has yet to be announced, Martinez said he aims to keep Oso Provisions open every day Speciation’s taproom is open.
While the regular menu will revolve around “really damn good comfort food,” according to Martinez, Ermatinger anticipates having some flexibility with specials to pair with specific beers at Speciation events.
“For now, I just want to give Steven the freedom to be able to create stuff on his own,” Ermatinger said.
Additionally, Oso Provisions can enable Basalt to appeal to a new set of customers who are looking for a drink alongside their meal, while Speciation can entice customers into the taproom and keep them longer by offering new food options, Martinez said.
In a post-COVID landscape that’s left many breweries struggling to attract customers back into the taproom, the ability to diversify offerings through on-site events, new menus or non-alcoholic beverages can change the game for craft brewers.
The new endeavor follows a weather-related rough patch for both companies, who experienced lower sales as customers stayed home during several days of blizzard-like conditions and single-digit temperatures.
Schools around the area closed for much of this week, while multiple Grand Rapids businesses, events, colleges and cultural institutions closed their doors for some or all of last weekend, as Crain’s Grand Rapids Business reported.
Ermatinger decided to close the Speciation taproom last Sunday after few customers came in on Friday and Saturday. For small businesses like Speciation which rely on weekend crowds, even two days with little sales can be enough to change the course of the business.
“We’re surviving,” Ermatinger said, noting the business generally generates about 80% of its weekly revenue on Friday and Saturday. “To lose that, we can handle it once. But if it’s multiple weekends in a month, that’s when we start to run into cash flow issues where we can’t really pay the bills with the cash that’s coming in.”
According to Uptown Grand Rapids Executive Director Ingrid Miller, area businesses benefited from the warmer winter weather early in the season as customers were unhindered by snowy weather. Now, they just have to focus on making up for a tough few days over the rest of the season.
“In the long term, if you could take the whole year and level it out, (businesses are) hoping to recover from this, but just January in general is a really hard month, especially for our neighborhood businesses,” Miller said.
At Basalt, Martinez worked alongside the restaurant’s manager to keep the business open with limited hours last weekend, but he said customers largely stayed home. Saturday and Sunday typically make up 65% of the restaurant’s business on a weekly basis, he said, calling the snow storm “a really, really tough blow.”
“Winter is already a really tough time in the service industry, so it was already a period where we’re kind of tightening our belts and trying to make sure that we can get into the spring comfortably,” Martinez said.
In addition to debuting Oso Provisions as part of its seventh anniversary celebration this weekend, Speciation also plans to release Biodiversity, a new oak-aged saison, as well as tap various specialty beers. Oso Provisions will serve from 4-10 p.m., or whenever it sells out of food. The event also features live music by Nathan Walton Duo from 7-9 p.m.
More from Crain’s Grand Rapids Business:
Kalamazoo billionaire donates $100M to Black women’s college in Atlanta
Financing, construction costs stall 39-unit Grand Rapids housing project
Global packaging company to close Grand Rapids-area plant, laying off 111 workers
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https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/restaurants-1/pair-of-wealthy-street-businesses-collaborate-on-new-pop-up-restaurant/
| 2024-01-20T05:00:08Z
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SEOUL - Seoul’s chief of police has been charged with professional negligence over the deadly 2022 Halloween crush that killed nearly 160 people, prosecutors in the South Korean capital said.
On Oct 29, 2022, tens of thousands of people – mostly in their 20s and 30s – had been out to enjoy post-pandemic holiday celebrations in Seoul’s Itaewon nightlife district.
But the night turned deadly when people poured into a narrow, sloping alleyway between bars and clubs, the weight of their bodies and a lack of effective crowd control leaving more than 150 crushed to death.
Kim Kwang-ho, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA), was charged with professional negligence resulting in injury or death, Seoul’s Western District Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement released on Jan 19.
As the chief of the SMPA, he “did not take necessary measures, such as deploying sufficient police forces and ensuring proper command and supervision” on the day of the crush, the statement said, although he was able to “foresee potential dangers arising” from overcrowding in the nightlife area.
Kim, the highest-ranking police official to face trial over the tragedy, was charged without detention.
In January 2023, Kim and 22 other officials from the police, rescue and district offices were forwarded to the prosecution by a special police investigation team for their alleged involvement in the government’s mishandling of the crush.
Prosecutors subsequently charged the heads of the police station in Seoul’s Yongsan district, which includes Itaewon, and the Yongsan Ward office, but had been undecided about charging Kim for more than a year.
The statement on Jan 19 said Kim, “along with the chief of the Yongsan Police Station and the head of the Yongsan Ward office who are currently on trial, collectively caused the deaths of 158 individuals and injuries to 312 individuals as a result of professional negligence”.
Families of the victims said they regretted the prosecution’s lengthy decision-making process before charging Kim.
“Chief Kim must immediately step down from his position and face trial,” the families said in a statement.
“President Yoon Suk-yeol must dismiss Kim immediately.”
South Korea’s rapid transformation from a war-torn country to Asia’s fourth-largest economy and a global cultural powerhouse is a source of national pride.
But a series of preventable disasters – such as the 2022 crush and the 2014 Sewol ferry sinking that killed 304 people – has shaken public confidence in the authorities. AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/seoul-police-chief-charged-over-deadly-halloween-crush
| 2024-01-20T05:27:22Z
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JAKARTA – A new study has found that finance and personal loan apps, as well as those that boost Internet security, are the most downloaded in Indonesia.
The popularity of these apps, rather than those for entertainment, social media or messaging platforms, stems from Indonesia’s lack of access to traditional banking services and strict Internet regulations, experts told The Straits Times.
The large-scale study by United States-based tech firm data.ai published on Jan 10 found that app downloads from the finance and personal loan genre in Indonesia amounted to about 222 million in 2023.
In second place, at about 194.7 million downloads, was virtual private network (VPN) apps. VPN is a technology that enables a secure network connection over the Internet.
In third place was personalisation apps, like software to change a user’s phone wallpaper, at about 190.5 million downloads.
Social media and communication apps trailed in seventh place, at 124.4 million downloads, coming after other categories like photo editing and entertainment apps.
The findings were made based on data from Apple’s iOS App Store and Google Play in 2023.
The population of Indonesia exceeds 270 million, with more than half of its people aged 40 and under. According to data analytics firm Statista, nearly 68 per cent of the population in 2022 owned and used a mobile phone.
The number of downloads for personal loan and finance apps in 2023 grew by 22 per cent from 2022, according to data.ai.
A spokesman said that the popularity of personal loan apps in Indonesia is largely due to the country’s high digital and smartphone penetration.
He added that such apps, including the popular home-grown moneylending app EasyCash, appeal to a population which lacks access to traditional banking services.
“Apps offer convenience (and) quick approvals, especially among small-business owners and individuals needing short-term financing,” said the spokesman.
This, however, also brings challenges to the archipelago, he noted, including potential high interest rates, debt risks, privacy concerns, and the need for regulatory oversight and consumer education.
Mr Li Jianggan, chief executive of market research firm Momentum Works, said the download numbers of such apps are due to app developers’ willingness to spend on effective digital marketing. Advertisements on these services are commonly found online in Indonesia, as well as on billboards.
Mr Li added that lending apps like EasyCash are programmes that some users download only when they need to use them and delete them thereafter, unlike TikTok or Shopee which they use much more frequently.
“Therefore, it is not a surprise that the same user might download that app multiple times over the year,” he said.
Compared with finance and personal loan apps, downloads for VPN apps grew even faster by a whopping 59 per cent, according to data.ai.
“VPN apps are popular in Indonesia due to strict Internet regulations and censorship, as they allow users to bypass content restrictions – for example, among video streaming apps – as well as access blocked websites,” he said.
Noting that Indonesians have been among the most prolific users of VPNs over the years, Mr Li pointed out that apps such as Netflix had been restricted by the authorities in the past, and people used VPNs to access them.
The data.ai spokesman said more awareness of digital privacy and security among Indonesian Internet users also drives the usage of VPNs, as they offer a layer of protection against surveillance and data theft.
The study also found that Indonesians are the world’s heaviest mobile phone users, with an average usage of 6.05 hours a day. Thailand is second at 5.64 hours, while Singapore is ranked eighth, at 4.51 hours.
Responding to this finding, Mr Li said that just like the millions of Chinese Internet users back in early 2010s, the majority of the Indonesian population today access the Internet first through their mobile phones.
“As compared to their counterparts in the West who already have access to desktop or laptop computers, it is natural for a lot of Indonesian users to only spend their online time on the mobile (phone),” he said.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/apps-for-loans-and-vpns-most-downloaded-in-indonesia-says-study
| 2024-01-20T05:27:32Z
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TAICHUNG – The charms of Taiwan are many. Friendly people, fantastic service in stores and restaurants, excellent street food, abundant – and delicious – vegetables and fruit.
Until 2024, however, I had stuck to Taipei, finding endless places to explore and enjoy.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/food/eating-high-and-low-in-taichung
| 2024-01-20T05:27:43Z
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SINGAPORE – For more than a month in late 2023, a 73-year-old woman thought she was being investigated by the “police”, and was on the verge of transferring a chunk of her savings to scammers.
Thankfully, the scammers’ attempt to cheat the elderly woman of her life savings was thwarted by vigilant staff from Great Eastern, OCBC Bank and the police.
The retired cleaner said she could barely eat and sleep well during that period, and was even warned by the “officer” – who she later realised was a scammer – not to say a word to her son.
Speaking to the media on Jan 18, Mary (not her real name) said: “The scammer even threatened me with news articles of people taking their own lives. They said that my son would do the same if he found out I was under investigation, and made me promise not to tell him anything.”
She said it all started when she received a letter on Dec 1, 2023, telling her that she was entitled to an insurance payout of around $6,000.
When Mary called the phone number stated on the letter, she was told that she had reached a “bank security department”. The scammer did not state which bank he was from.
“I was told that someone impersonated me and used my credit card in China to spend around 300,000 yuan (S$57,000). I was scared and shocked, but the person kept reassuring me that they’re the police and would help me settle this,” she said.
The retiree was then transferred to several other “police officers” who promised to prove her innocence.
“They were very patient and seemed very kind. It really sounded like they wanted to help me,” she said.
To assist with investigations, Mary was told to report to an “Officer Lin” every day via WhatsApp.
“The first thing I did when I woke up was to wish her a good morning. And before I slept, I would message her good night. I was instructed not to tell my son about this and to even use my earpiece for calls, so my son would not overhear our conversations,” she said.
When she informed the scammer that she had three Great Eastern insurance policies in her name, she was instructed to surrender one of her policies, which would result in her receiving around $93,000.
“They said they needed this money to check that the funds I owned were clean, and I believed them,” she added.
On Jan 4, 2024, Mary visited Great Eastern at Westgate mall in Jurong East, hoping to surrender her insurance policy.
“I wanted to clear my name, so I lied to the Great Eastern staff that I needed the money urgently for my son to open a pawnshop business. I told the staff to transfer the money into my OCBC Bank account,” she said.
Sensing something was amiss, Great Eastern customer service officer Toh Ming Ann did not accede to Mary’s request and alerted OCBC’s anti-scam unit, which informed the police’s Anti-Scam Centre (ASC).
That same day, officers from the ASC visited Mary at her flat to convince her that she was a victim of a government official impersonation scam.
According to annual scam statistics released by the police in 2023, there were 771 cases of government official impersonation scam cases in 2022, with victims losing more than $97 million that year.
In 2021, more than $106 million was lost to such scams.
Mary could have been one of these victims.
She said: “If I had transferred my life savings of around $70,000 and the $93,000 I received from surrendering my insurance policy to the scammers, I would have lost an unimaginable amount.”
Great Eastern’s Mr Toh said: “As a customer service officer, I believe that we’re the first line of defence to prevent potential scam victims from losing money.
“It’s important that we spot signs that our customers have been scammed to help them retain their hard-earned life savings.”
He added that Mary’s defensiveness during their interaction threw up a red flag and made him suspect she might be a victim of a scam.
Mr Loh Chang Xiang, manager at OCBC’s anti-scam unit in the bank’s group financial crime compliance department, said: “In a case like this, time is of the essence, especially when the victim is very adamant to do as the scammer told her.”
He added: “In my work to tackle scams, I’ve noticed that the elderly can be more susceptible to government official impersonation scams. They may feel the need to follow instructions of the scammers thinking these people are the authorities, especially after they’ve gotten confused and intimidated.”
Asked why she wanted to speak to the media about what happened, Mary said: “I don’t want anyone else to fall into the trap I did. I’ve always read the news about scams but I just didn’t realise it would happen to me. I’m just thankful that I didn’t lose any money.”
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/elderly-woman-saved-from-losing-163k-in-government-official-impersonation-scam
| 2024-01-20T05:27:53Z
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SINGAPORE - After months of being shuttered when one owner suffered an aneurysm, western food store Wow Wow West reopened on Jan 16 at ABC Brickworks Market and Food Centre.
However, the festive welcome back it was hoping for was dampened by the lasting effects of the mandatory tuberculosis (TB) screening at Jalan Bukit Merah, which has turned many customers away from the food centre.
Over 2,000 people signed up for TB screening in Jalan Bukit Merah, after 10 new cases were detected there.
Screening was mandatory for residents and workers at Blocks 1 and 3 in Jalan Bukit Merah, ABC Brickworks Market and Food Centre, and Thong Kheng Seniors Activity Centre @ Queenstown as their potential risk of exposure was higher.
While it was once hard to even grab a seat among the sea of people at the popular food centre, there are now many empty tables during lunch and dinner.
Ms Chris Lim, a chef at Wow Wow West, told The Straits Times a queue would usually form outside the store at 2pm, with wait times lasting 30 to 45 minutes. After news of the TB screening broke, business dropped by 30 to 40 per cent, and 90 per cent of orders on the day of their long-awaited reopening were for takeaway.
Mr Lachron Chan, at char siew rice stall Fatty Cheong, said queues of more than 20 people have shrunk to only three to four at a time. Its daily sale of 80 to 100kg of char siew by 6pm has dropped to 40 to 50kg.
Ms Lim and Mr Chan were worried the dip in business, which started on Jan 5 when news of the TB screening broke, would stretch past January. Mr Chan hopes the situation will improve by Chinese New Year, when customers would usually order large quantities of char siew and roast duck for their celebrations.
While this is not the first time the hawkers have faced a dip in business, this has been the toughest, they said.
Several owners and employees said their business is now worse than during the pandemic. Madam Lina Tan Soo Eng, who has run ABC Deji Fish Head Bee Hoon with her husband for almost 50 years, said they would get orders for takeaway during Covid, but even these are now scarce.
Then in 2022, TB screening was done at nearby Block 2 Jalan Bukit Merah after seven people were diagnosed with the air-borne disease.
Madam Tan and her niece, Mrs Halina, who works at the stall, said they were not as badly affected then as the 2022 reports did not mention their centre.
But the hawkers have their loyal supporters. When ST visited the food centre on Jan 17, most diners there either worked or lived nearby, and were not deterred by the TB screening or the risk of infection.
A diner who wanted to be known as Ms In, 48, said she has been eating at the hawker centre almost daily for eight months because she works nearby and likes a “one-stop” place where she can enjoy a variety of food.
She noted that the cleaners and hawkers’ good hygiene and wearing of masks assured her that it was safe to eat there.
Mr Tan, who is in his forties and works in finance, also believes that the TB situation is under control. He said: “The fact that the authorities actually caught (the active TB cases) and got the people to go for screening – that already introduces a level of safety.”
The mass screening exercise from Jan 11 to 15 was a precautionary response to 10 active TB cases detected between February 2022 and July 2023. All 10 detected cases have been treated and are no longer infectious, the authorities said.
TB is typically spread through close, prolonged day-to-day contact of days to weeks – rather than minutes to hours – with an infectious individual, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).
It can spread when a person with active TB coughs, sneezes or speaks. One cannot get TB from shaking hands or sharing cups, utensils or food.
This means that a person who visits only ABC Brickworks Market and Food Centre occasionally – less than 12 hours a month – is not at high risk of catching TB.
Mr Philip Ng, 68, and his wife, Madam Diana Chan, 65, have been going to the food centre from their Simei home once every two weeks since February 2023, They found out about the place after Madam Chan retired and began looking for food recommendations on Google and Facebook, where she discovered the original Ah Er Soup, at ABC Brickworks Market and Food Centre and wanted to try it for herself.
It has since become a favourite for the couple. Pointing to their empty bowls that once held lotus root peanut pork ribs soup, they told ST that Ah Er Soup gives plenty of ingredients in each bowl – more than the soup even, but customers can get free soup refills – and the bones are so soft they can be eaten with the meat.
The dishes are also affordable. Ah Er Soup received the Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2017, an award that recognises great food at affordable prices. The soup and pumpkin rice cost Mr Ng and Mdm Chan less than $6.
Ms Syiffa Amron, a 38-year-old PUB officer, and her family like the food at the nasi ayam penyet stall Project Penyek so much that they go there from Bukit Panjang.
But their patronage is not enough to stop its business decline. Mr Zainul Hassan Ashari, who works at Project Penyek, said his customers particularly enjoy his fresh homemade sambal – which is “spicy enough but not too spicy” – and soy sauce.
To adapt to the decline in business, Mr Ashari has reduced his daily order from 50 chickens to 30 in order to cut down on food waste while ensuring all the meat is fresh and served on the day itself to preserve its texture.
Wow Wow West also prides itself on its high standards. For instance, instead of ordering boneless chicken legs for its chicken chop, it orders whole chicken legs and manually debones and fries them, which helps preserve the meat’s texture, said Ms Lim. Chicken bones are also used in a soup, which is cooked for six hours with carrots, onions and celery, and eventually used to make their brown pepper sauce.
Despite the large portions and all the labour required to make each dish, prices at Wow Wow West are priced below $10.
Other stores, like ABC Deji Fish Head Bee Hoon, are taking more days off when they expect lower traffic, such as on weekends, to cut their losses.
Mr Chan of Fatty Cheong hopes its two stores at ABC Brickworks will not have to close temporarily as it is his family’s business, which was founded around 30 years ago by his father, Mr Chan Tuck Cheong.
Among the many things that make Fatty Cheong so popular is its famous “bu jian tian” char siew – a specially tender cut – which has a good meat-to-fat ratio and is cooked over an intense traditional charcoal fire.
He is hopeful that things will get better.
“If we can get through Covid, we can get through TB,” he said.
- Additional reporting by Leow Wen Xuan
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/hawkers-at-abc-brickworks-soldier-on-as-business-blues-continue-after-mass-tb-screening
| 2024-01-20T05:28:04Z
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MELBOURNE - Steve Smith's first outing as a test opener may not have gone to plan but Australia coach Andrew McDonald said he had the full support of the team and that it would take time for him to build a relationship with Usman Khawaja at the top of the order.
Smith, who moved up from number four following David Warner's retirement, made 12 and 11 not out in the series opener against West Indies, which Australia won inside seven sessions.
Warner and Khawaja had played junior cricket together and shared a great chemistry at the top of the order, and McDonald said Australia would let the new opening partnership develop the same kind of rapport.
"I suppose it's more just the connection of Usman and Smudge (Smith) over time," McDonald said.
"We've seen Davey and Usman's connection and then the partnerships that they've been able to produce.
"They're world-class performers at the top of the order and we think Steve Smith is one of the best problem-solvers in the game.
"We've said that leading into this and it makes sense for us that he's at the top."
West Indies fast bowler Shamar Joseph, who made his test debut in Adelaide, dismissed Smith with his first ball in international cricket and claimed 5-94 in the first innings.
Another debutant, Justin Greaves, claimed 2-36 but McDonald was confident Australian batters would do better in the day-night second test in Brisbane, beginning on Thursday, having gained some familiarity with the new West Indies attack.
"Sight unseen is always difficult for batters, when you haven't seen someone and gotten used to their rhythm and the cues they present," McDonald said.
"Sometimes you do get drawn into shots that potentially you don't play.
"We feel as though now that there's less unknowns going into the second test match, we've had a good look at them, a lot of those little decision-making errors that may have crept in I think will iron themselves out." REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/australia-keep-faith-in-problem-solver-smith-as-opener
| 2024-01-20T05:28:14Z
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MUNICH – Germany said an emotional goodbye to Franz Beckenbauer on Jan 19, with former teammate Uli Hoeness crediting the football legend for making Germans “proud” again.
Beckenbauer, 78, died on Jan 7 in Austria and was laid to rest in a private ceremony in Munich five days later.
The Jan 19 ceremony, which featured leading lights of German football and politics, was open to the public, giving fans a final chance to celebrate the man known as “Der Kaiser” – The Emperor.
Completed for the 2006 World Cup, which Beckenbauer ran as president of the organising committee, Munich’s Allianz Arena was a fitting venue for the public goodbye.
“The Allianz Arena, the most beautiful stadium in the world, would never have been built without Franz,” Hoeness said of the home ground of Bayern Munich, the club Beckenbauer played for from 1964 to 1977.
Despite the chilly conditions, around 20,000 people gathered under blue skies in the Bavarian capital.
The ceremony opened with a rendition of “Con Te Partiro” performed by Munich tenor Jonas Kaufmann.
He ended the event with “Nessun Dorma”, an aria from Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Turandot”, which became the unofficial anthem of the 1990 World Cup. It was sung by the Three Tenors in Rome on the eve of the final which Germany, coached by Beckenbauer, won.
Beckenbauer’s famous No. 5, made of red roses, laid on the green turf of the Allianz, alongside wreaths placed by the biggest clubs in the world including Liverpool and Barcelona.
Born in 1945 in the suburbs of Munich, the peerless Beckenbauer became a national treasure in a Germany still grappling with the legacy of World War II.
Winning national and European titles with Bayern, Beckenbauer’s West Germany captured the 1972 European Championship and the 1974 World Cup.
As a coach, he guided the nation to their next World Cup in 1990, before playing a leading if controversial role in securing the 2006 edition on home soil.
The tournament, known in Germany as the “Summer Fairytale”, helped change the nation’s view of itself, six decades after the end of the war.
Hoeness, who played alongside Beckenbauer at Bayern and at an international level, said bringing the World Cup to Germany was Der Kaiser’s “masterpiece”.
“He worked his butt off for years and travelled to the furthest corner of the earth to get the votes for Germany,” the 72-year-old said in an emotional speech.
He added that the tournament showed “how open and friendly our country can be, with thousands driving through our streets waving flags”.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the World Cup gave Germany a “new, friendly view of ourselves”.
Beckenbauer later faced corruption allegations for securing votes for the tournament, but was never found guilty.
“Dear Franz, you died 12 days ago. And to be honest, I miss you deeply,” Hoeness continued in his speech.
“Rest in peace, a peace that you unfortunately could not enjoy in the past few years in a manner you deserve.”
Fifa president Gianni Infantino sat alongside Uefa chief Aleksander Ceferin and German FA boss Bernd Neuendorf.
Barcelona’s Joan Laporta, Paris Saint-Germain’s Nasser Al-Khelaifi and Real Madrid’s honorary president Jose Martinez Pirri were also in the stands.
With the current Bayern squad in attendance, an array of German football stars came onto the pitch to pay their respects to the man widely viewed as his nation’s finest footballer.
German World Cup winners Paul Breitner, Lothar Matthaeus and Bastian Schweinsteiger walked onto the green grass of the Allianz to lay wreaths in Beckenbauer’s honour.
With Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the stands, Mr Steinmeier called Beckenbauer a “Munich lad who became a citizen of the world” and said he was “one of Germany’s greats”.
“I don’t know if the angels in heaven play sports,” he said, “but if so, then they will have heard a new voice in the past few days, in a Bavarian accent, saying ‘get out there and play football’.”
The President was referring to Beckenbauer’s famous pre-match speech to his players before Germany delivered the 1990 World Cup in Italy.
“That’s a voice we will miss forever. The Kaiser’s voice. Franz Beckenbauer’s voice,” he said. AFP, REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/he-made-us-proud-again-germany-pays-emotional-tribute-to-franz-beckenbauer
| 2024-01-20T05:28:24Z
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New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell will skip the final T20 International against Pakistan with fellow all-rounder Rachin Ravindra replacing him in the squad for Sunday's match in Christchurch, the home side said.
New Zealand have already taken a 4-0 lead in the five-match series and Mitchell would be rested as part of his workload management, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) said on Saturday.
"Daryl is an important player for us across all three formats and ensuring he's in the best place to perform in international cricket is vital," coach Gary Stead said.
"Rachin is coming off a period of rest himself and will bring a valuable skill set to the group in this final match as he continues his return to cricket."
Devon Conway missed Friday's victory after testing positive for COVID-19. New Zealand will wait until Sunday morning before making a decision on whether to field him for the final T20. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/mitchell-rested-ravindra-back-for-final-t20-v-pakistan
| 2024-01-20T05:28:35Z
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'The time isn't quite right' for Dan McKellar or Stephen Larkham with Wallabies
Rugby Australia’s hiring of Joe Schmidt as Wallabies coach looks to wrap a band-aid around a sport in a state of healing after a disastrous 12 months.
Beyond those 12 months there’d been a decline in results, but a World Cup year with an overall record of two from nine was a new low for the Wallaby gold.
In response, former coach Eddie Jones stepped away from the team and there was a huge question mark over who would be his successor.
Given the state of the game in Australia and the work being undertaken by RA to get it back on track, the role was seen as being a little more complex than the average head coaching gig. For that reason, the appetite for an Australian coach to lead the team – a notion that already had plenty of weight behind it – grew.
However, with Schmidt’s appointment, that wish has not been granted. There were local candidates, but the question was were they ready for the next level?
Pundits can only read into the subtext of Schmidt’s opening press conference for insights into what Rugby Australia thought the answers were.
Regardless, the appointment is proving to be a popular one.
“It’s a solid eight or nine, there’s no doubt about it,” Brett McKay said when asked by Newstalk ZB to rank the appointment out of 10.
“When it becomes apparent the Wallabies need a new head coach, then you immediately start casting the mind and start thinking, who’s out there? Who’s available? Who’s good enough? who’s ready? The field probably wasn’t as big as we would have liked as Australian rugby fans.
“Dan McKellar’s name got thrown up, Stephen Larkham’s name got thrown up, but I think deep down, both those guys would probably say that whilst they absolutely would have ambitions of coaching Australia at some point, I think they both would probably concede that the time isn’t quite right at the moment.
“So, then it becomes a question of who is actually the best candidate? There’s been all sorts of opinions expressed in the past 12 months, how the successor to the Wallabies coach should really be an Australian.
“We keep on going on about ‘the Australian way’ and I’ve heard all this talk about the Australian way for 15 years, I’ve never really heard it defined. So, at the moment I think it just needed to be the best person available and Joe Schmidt’s name came up early, his credentials are impeccable, essentially.
“The fact that he was interested is a huge coup for Rugby Australia. And, I suppose it’s an early win for the new regime under Phil Waugh and Dan Herbert – old Wallaby teammates of course – who are trying to do their very best to rebuild the game.”
So, what kind of team is Schmidt inheriting?
“At the moment, the cliché would be to say the system’s broken. Everything’s buggered. What is he inheriting? He’s inheriting a mess. I don’t think things are ever quite as bad or as good as we make out.
“Certainly, he’s got some work to do to rebuild and regain trust of the playing group, and we’ve seen a few quotes and a few comments by Wallabies players who went to the World Cup, and those who were left at home in recent months and with every new quote that comes out, the picture and the narrative around the environment that Eddie Jones was running, only gets worse.
“And so, he’s certainly got a job to rebuild trust with the playing group. And I’m already seeing a few little comments here and there that the Super Rugby coaches are really happy with the appointment, they look forward to working with him.
“So, I think we may see even more collaboration than we have in recent years – and it had been getting a lot better. Certainly, Dave Rennie was very proactive in that area.
“So, he’s got a bit of work to do, but I don’t think it’s insurmountable and that’s going to be the silver lining that Joe Schmidt will be holding on to. Yes, there’s work to do, but it’s not work that’s overly difficult and it’s almost certainly not work that he hasn’t done before. We all know the success he had in uniting the Provinces in Ireland and obviously their restructured set-up and centralised models had a lot to do with that, but he was very much a figurehead in that.
“So, if anyone can bring self-interested states together in Australia, then someone like Joe Schmidt who had to do exactly that in Ireland is definitely well equipped to do that.”
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https://www.rugbypass.com/news/the-time-isnt-quite-right-for-dan-mckellar-or-stephen-larkham-with-wallabies/
| 2024-01-20T06:22:21Z
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NEW DELHI - As Hindu devotees prepare to inaugurate a grand temple to one of their holiest deities, India's minority Muslims plan to begin building a new mosque in the same city later this year, hoping to make a fresh start after a bloody, decades-long dispute.
Haji Arfat Shaikh, the head of the development committee of the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF) that is overseeing the mosque project, said this week that construction would begin in May, after the holy month of Ramadan, and the mosque would take three to four years to build.
Hindu zealots razed a 16th century mosque in the northern Indian city of Ayodhya in 1992, saying that it was built over an ancient temple on the site that marked the birthplace of Hindu god-king Ram.
The dispute had scarred relations between the communities for decades and the destruction of the mosque sparked nationwide riots that killed 2,000 people, mostly Muslims.
India's top court said in 2019 that the razing of the mosque was unlawful, but ruled that evidence showed there was a non-Islamic structure beneath it. It ordered that the site be given to Hindu groups to build a temple and Muslim community leaders be given land elsewhere in the city for constructing a mosque.
While construction of the $180 million temple began within months and the first phase is set to open on Monday, Muslim groups have struggled to raise funds and begin work at a desolate site about 25 km (15 miles) away.
"We hadn't approached anyone ... there was no public movement for it (funds)," said Zufar Ahmad Faruqi, the president of the IICF. Hindu groups aligned with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) began seeking donations more than three decades back and have collected more than 30 billion rupees ($360 million) from 40 million people in India.
The mosque project was delayed also because it had to be redrawn to add more traditional elements in the structure, like minarets, said Athar Hussain, a secretary at the IICF. A 500-bed hospital has also been planned in the complex.
A crowd-funding website is expected to be launched in the coming weeks, said Shaikh, who is also a BJP leader.
The mosque has been named "Masjid Muhammed bin Abdullah" after Prophet Mohammad, moving away from "Babri Masjid" or mosque as the disputed structure was called, after the emperor Babur who established the Mughal empire.
"Our effort has been to end and convert enmity, hatred among people into love for each other...irrespective of whether or not you accept the Supreme Court judgement," said Shaikh. "All this fighting will stop if we teach good things to our children and people". REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/new-mosque-construction-in-indias-ayodhya-to-begin-in-may-muslim-group-says
| 2024-01-20T06:59:40Z
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