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You are reading the Morning Briefing newsletter. Get the news that prepares you for the day ahead, delivered to your inbox. Subscribe to our newsletter.
School traffic congestion in Bukit Timah more manageable, but long queues of cars remain
Parents continue to wait along Dunearn Road as early as 1.10pm to pick their children up.
Japan’s Slim moon craft short on power after successful lunar landing
Solar panels angled wrongly, but officials hope shift in angle of sunlight may restore craft's functions.
ABC Brickworks hawkers soldier on as business blues continue after TB screening
Over 2,000 people signed up for TB screening in Jalan Bukit Merah after 10 new cases were detected there.
Plunge in the number of babies born to teens as youth get more savvy about contraception
Meanwhile, the incidence rate of abortions has remained largely unchanged at about two in 1,000 teens from 2018 to 2022.
Claim limit for victims of mis-selling by financial institutions to go up to $150k
The move is significant as the amount refers to the losses suffered, and not the size of the investment.
Missile attacks across Middle East raise Gaza escalation risks
Iran said five of its Revolutionary Guards were killed in a missile strike on a house in Damascus which it blamed on Israel.
John and I celebrated our Golden Anniversary and it felt ‘same same’
There’s no real secret to a long marriage, but here’s a tip from the world of acting.
New mature look of Kim Jong Un’s daughter said to set stage for possible succession
Despite Kim Ju Ae’s high public profile, some analysts believe Mr Kim is still keeping his options open for now.
Orchard Road gears up for a new era
It gears up for a different kind of buzz as a lifestyle hub, after shedding the last vestiges of its risque nightclub scene with the closure of Orchard Towers outlets.
Shrek or Pikotaro? CNY dragon decor in Chinatown fires up social media
The student designers took the criticisms in their stride and said they would strive to do better in their next design.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/morning-briefing-top-stories-from-the-straits-times-on-jan-21-2024
| 2024-01-21T01:29:06Z
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LIMA - Peruvian President Dina Boluarte faced fierce backlash on Saturday from residents during a visit to the southern Andean region of Ayacucho, where 10 people were reported killed during anti-government protests in December 2022.
Unverified videos shared on social media show people pushing up against security officials shouting "Dina is a murderer!"
One woman, who said her husband had been killed in mid-December 2022 in protests that would go on for months, managed to evade security and shake up the president. Local media reported that she was taken away by police but not detained.
The woman identified herself to reporters as Ruth Barcena and said her late husband, Leonardo Hancco, had been fatally shot during protests in December 2022.
"My husband was murdered here. They killed my husband, and they want me to calm down?" Barcena shouted in the crowd.
The December 2022 protests broke out after former President Pedro Castillo was ousted and arrested while illegally trying to close Congress. His vice-president, Boluarte, was rapidly sworn in but dozens died in ensuing protests, mostly in southern Peru.
Boluarte has faced a constitutional complaint and probe on charges of "genocide, qualified homicide and serious injuries," charges she denies.
Prime Minister Jorge Otarola condemned Saturday's protest as a "lamentable" act on X, saying it had "put in danger the head of state's integrity and this is very serious. With violence, we all lose as a country."
Peru's interior ministry said it would carry out investigations to identify those responsible. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/murderer-peru-president-faces-fierce-backlash-in-slain-protesters-hometown
| 2024-01-21T01:29:16Z
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The Australian lock that the Hurricanes signed out of MLR in America
Ben Grant was the tallest player in Major League Rugby (MLR) last year and is the tallest recruit in the Hurricanes Super Rugby squad in 2024.
The Australian lock stands 2.05m making him the second tallest player in MLR history behind Houston lock Justin Allen (2.08m).
Conspicuous height wasn’t the only reason Grant stood out. The 25-year-old helped the San Diego Legion win 15 out of 16 games en route to the final which they devastatingly lost to the lower-ranked New England Free Jacks (24-25).
Two years in California, however, was a personal triumph for Grant. He started 28 matches and has revived prospects of a long sought-after Super Rugby career by singing with the Hurricanes.
Grant had spent four years with the Force and had a stint as injury cover for the Reds. He made an Australian Under 20’s training squad in 2017 that featured future internationals Tate McDermott, Rob Valentini, Harry Hooper, and Mack Hansen.
“I guess I’ve taken the scenic route to Wellington,” Grant laughed as he spoke with RugbyPass.
“The chance to be here came about in America. Jamie Mackintosh (Hurricanes assistant coach) was coaching the Austin Gilgronis and we struck up a bit of a relationship.
“My dad Travis played in New Zealand. I’d always wanted to do the same thing. Issac Ross, the former All Black, has become a mentor. He used his contacts to help me get a gig in the NPC at North Harbour and that suddenly opened doors.
“In 2017 I was only a teenager when I came across from Queensland to join the Force Academy on a development contract. The next season we were removed from Super Rugby, but I decided to stay around which was a hell of an experience.”
Grant played locally with the Cottesloe club and professionally for the Perth Spirit in the National Rugby Championship. The Spirit won in 2019. The Force refused to disappear and instead participated in Global Rapid Rugby established by billionaire mining magnate Andrew Forrest.
Global Rapid Rugby featured teams from Hong Kong, Fiji, Samoa, China, and Malaysia. It reduced the duration of matches by ten minutes and introduced a 9-point ‘power try’ for attacks launched within 22 meters of the scoring team’s own try line. Time limits were set for scrums and lineouts, and teams were disallowed from gaining ground by kicking directly to touch, even within their 22. The Force won the first title in 2019 before Covid put an end to the competition.
“Andrew was very passionate and involved with the Force. He was often at training. We went to a huge gathering on his cattle farm, and he came to all the games. At one game he donated $100,000 for every try we scored. At halftime, he announced that on the loudspeaker after we’d only scored one try in the first half,” Grant laughed.
“Ironically the travel restrictions of Covid helped save the Force. There is a real zeal for rugby in the West and a lot of good people.
“Personally; I struggled with a lack of game time. I was being told I needed to get bigger and bigger. You can train the house down, but it’s hard to improve if you’re not playing.”
Grant insists American rugby is improving despite the New York and Toronto franchises folding at the end of the last season. A record crowd of more than 10,000 fans attended the 2023 final at the neutral SeatGeek Stadium in Chicago.
“It was disappointing to see those clubs fall over but there are plans afoot to replace them. Almost everyone I talked to said that the competitiveness of MLR has increased. The coaching is better, and some teams are really solid and organised,” Grant said.
Since 2018 San Diego has won 51 of their 77 matches and made four playoff appearances.
Grant models his game on Wallabies legend Nathan Sharpe (116 Tests).
“The thing that stood out about Nathan apart from his lineout and leadership was the good attacking lines he ran. He was really smart and aggressive on the carry. He’d hit holes and make ground others couldn’t.”
Sharpe made 92 of his 162 Super Rugby appearances for the Force who ironically are the Hurricanes first opponent in Super Rugby 2024 in Perth on February 24.
“My first goal is to make my Super Rugby debut but there is a lot of competition at lock. Caleb Delany, Justin Sangster, James Tucker, and Isaia Walker-Leawere are all established Super players,” Grant said.
“It’s been amazing to rub shoulders with All Blacks and train with New Zealand players. They have a really attacking mindset to the game which is quite different from what I’ve experienced. I want to put my best foot forward and keep growing.”
Dominic Bird and Mark Cooksley, officially the tallest All Blacks of all time, played for the Hurricanes.
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https://www.rugbypass.com/news/the-australian-lock-that-the-hurricanes-signed-out-of-mlr-in-america/
| 2024-01-21T02:08:33Z
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Watch: Son of former Wallabies great Lynagh produces stunning solo try
Louis Lynagh, son of a former Wallabies great and once in line to be an England winger, may have helped reboot his international rugby dream with a spectacular performance for Harlequins in the European Champions Cup.
The English club’s Australian boss Billy Millard reckoned he would be toasting a quite stunning solo try by Lynagh – one of two from the 23-year-old in their 47-19 win over Ulster – over a glass of red wine on Saturday night.
Lynagh, son of the World Cup-winning maestro Michael Lynagh, skinned four defenders in a blistering run launched from his own 22 at The Stoop in Twickenham after a quick tap and pass from Marcus Smith once he’d taken a mark.
But that first try came as a big surprise for Lynagh, who didn’t even think he’d be playing.
Initially overlooked for selection because of his recent indifferent form, he was rushed back on to the Quins’ bench just before kick-off after an injury forced Millard to reshuffle the squad.
Lynagh was then surprised to be asked to enter the fray after just over quarter-of-an-hour when Oscar Beard failed a 17th-minute head injury assessment.
He took the chance spectacularly, scoring two of Quins’ seven tries as they powered towards a place in the last-16 of Europe’s top rugby club tournament.
The first, though, was the most spectacular as Lynagh sped into the gap, smashed through one midfield tackle from Billy Burns, then kicked ahead and outstripped his Ulster pursuers, before getting a kind bounce that enabled him to outmuscle Jacob Stockdale and dive over for one of the the tries of the European season.
A solo STUNNER from Louis Lynagh 🔥
And @Harlequins‘ BP win puts themselves in contention for a home knockout…
ADVERTISEMENTInstant #InvestecChampionsCup highlights ⬇️
— Investec Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) January 20, 2024
“When Marcus caught the high ball and called a mark, I was looking and we saw a little gap, it just opened up and then the rest well, I kind of don’t really know what happened.,” laughed Lynagh.
“Sometimes you try stuff on the rugby field and they pay off – and that was one of those moments.
“The ball bounced my way and I’m glad that I could finish it. I was very tired at the end – but it was really cool to do that and, hopefully, I can have many more moments like that.”
Six minutes later, he went over again with real opportunism, pouncing on some fumbling from the visitors’ defence to pick up and shoot in for another score against the run of play.
The performance was a great boost for Lynagh, who had been on the fringes of England selection under Eddie Jones only to fall down the pecking order after injury woes last season.
Quins’ director of rugby Millard was delighted for him.
“Louis has been around us a long time so he knows exactly what the deal is. He’s worked really hard and deserves it. He gave us a real foothold into the game,” said the Aussie.
“Louis is outstanding and he showed that – I will sit back and watch his try over a glass of red. It was just that determination to stay in it. He’s a big part of it here.”
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https://www.rugbypass.com/news/watch-son-of-former-wallabies-great-lynagh-produces-stunning-solo-try/
| 2024-01-21T02:08:40Z
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Best Surprise of 2023 - Article
by Lee Mehr , posted 42 minutes ago / 162 ViewsWhether in games, movies, or what have you, everyone likes an underdog story. When you consider the arduous task of making a good game, the odds can already feel stacked against everyone; now, consider making that good title and garnering attention in today's age. But that's also the beauty of today's age: being too cash-strapped in your marketing can be a non-issue if you seize on the right opportunity - perhaps a couple of popular influencers or consistent word of mouth - and catch an audience off-guard. The games that exceed someone's expectations, whether through ignorance or reserved pre-judgement before playing it, are what this award wants to highlight.
Even though some of the titles that've reached this shortlist have big corporate support, it's the story behind them that caught so many people by surprise last year. That's the important context to consider as to what makes something qualify for, and ultimately win, this category. After much deliberation, here are the finalists.
The Shortlist:
Sea of Stars
F-Zero 99
Pizza Tower
Hi-Fi RUSH
Dave the Diver
The Runner-Up:
F-Zero 99
The last time "new F-Zero game" was uttered as an official announcement was nearly two decades ago! Feeling old yet? When you think of how big of a missed opportunity that was for the Wii, DS handhelds, and Wii U, it seems preposterous to think Nintendo would simply smack its forehead and remember it had this series collecting cobwebs. Enter F-Zero 99: the classic skeleton of the SNES era melded with the modern craze of battle royale.
The premise is that simple: you race against 98 other online players in real time around a track, with each track completion winnowing out a select pie slice of the slowest. Of course, it's not simply about out-racing the competition but also out-living them as well. Gauging your energy meter (health & boost reserves) is crucial in knowing when to execute certain maneuvers while also avoiding slower AI bumper cars that replace previous losers. To see Nintendo casually throw this successful mixture of kinetic racing and battle royale is why this franchise revival has been welcomed by the community at large. Now let's see a big-budget F-Zero again, shall we?
The Winner:
Hi-Fi RUSH
It's understandably strange to see the gold and silver going to titles backed by two of the biggest publishers in the industry, especially compared to last year's winner. But bear with me for a moment. There are two barriers to break down here: Tango Gameworks' and Microsoft's reputation. For the former, seeing a prominent AAA horror developer making a colorful rhythm-action title might ordinarily lead to suggestions that you're better off sticking to your lane. For the latter, to see a publisher that suffers from premature declarations (Everwild, State of Decay 3, Perfect Dark, etc.) withhold a game announcement until shadow-dropping it at a smaller-scale conference is almost impossible to comprehend.
Another benefit is it's a genuinely fun time. As our own Paul Broussard put it: "Hi-Fi RUSH is like a solid debut show for a new band." When you combine all of these interesting elements together, from the creativity of its design to its antithetically humble method of arriving on stage, it's almost as though the stars aligned to make it such a media darling. A smashing success story for Tango Gameworks.
More Articles
HiFi is the very definition of a surprise, it came completely out of nowhere. Xbox fans knew beforehand that John Johanas was leading a smaller team at at Tango to work on a new IP, but we had no idea what that IP would be or when it would release, so the shadow reveal and shadow release on the same day came as a huge surprise.
my choice is sea of stars, congrats Hi Fi!
If I'm being quoted in the article now, I would also like to quote myself as saying "I hope everyone who didn't vote Pizza Tower steps on a Lego."
(/s if it's wasn't obvious; everyone's free to have their own opinion)
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https://www.vgchartz.com/article/459597/best-surprise-of-2023/
| 2024-01-21T03:00:43Z
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SYDNEY – On Dec 22 at 8pm, police in Australia were called to a quiet beach north of Sydney after a person discovered a strange package that had washed ashore.
The package, which was covered with barnacles, was found after testing to contain 39kg of cocaine that had been carefully wrapped in plastic.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/australianz/cocaine-washes-up-on-beaches-across-sydney-as-police-warn-of-growing-drug-trade
| 2024-01-21T03:01:18Z
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MANILA - Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr drew flak on social media for his use of a presidential helicopter to attend a concert by British rock band Coldplay in a province north of the capital, Manila.
The Philippine Arena, the world's largest indoor arena, saw an influx of 40,000 concert-goers resulting in "unforeseen traffic complications along the route," the Presidential Security Group said in a statement.
The traffic situation posed a security threat to Marcos who attended the Friday night concert with his wife, prompting the use of the presidential chopper, it added.
But social media users criticised the use of taxpayer money by Marcos, the son and namesake of the late strongman president whose rule ended nearly four decades ago in a historic "people power" revolution.
"Using official resources, like the presidential chopper, for personal and non-official activities is generally considered an abuse of power or misuse of government resources," Facebook user James Patrick Aristorenas said in a post on Saturday.
"We paid for the use of the chopper, fuel and security, who knows even for the tickets for everyone," Facebook user Arvine Concepcion said. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-21T03:01:28Z
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AYODHYA, India - A grand temple to Hindu god Lord Ram opens on Monday on a site in India millions believe is his birthplace, in a religious spectacle led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi months before he seeks a rare third term in elections.
The construction of the temple is a 35-year-old, central promise of Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a contentious political issue that helped catapult the party to prominence and power.
Hindu groups are portraying the inauguration ceremony in the northern city of Ayodhya as the peak of Hindu awakening after centuries of subjugation by Muslim and colonial powers.
It is also being seen as the virtual launch of the deeply religious strongman Modi’s re-election campaign for general elections due by May.
The temple site was bitterly contested for decades with both Hindus and Muslims laying claim to it and was a flashpoint for violence after a Hindu mob in 1992 destroyed a 16th century mosque which stood there.
India's majority Hindus say the site is the birthplace of Lord Ram, and was holy to them long before Muslim Mughals razed a temple at the spot and built the Babri Masjid or mosque there in 1528.
In 2019, the Supreme Court handed over the land to Hindus and ordered allotment of a separate plot to Muslims.
On Monday, Modi will take part in the culmination of rituals to inaugurate the temple, for which thousands of members of BJP and its affiliates, religious leaders and devotees from across the country are expected to gather in Ayodhya.
Some of India’s top business leaders, movie actors and sportspersons have also been invited for the consecration, organisers said.
RELIGIOUS OUTPOURING, POLITICAL CONTROVERSY
“The Lord has made me an instrument to represent all the people of India during the consecration,” Modi said on X as he began 11 days of special rituals ahead of the inauguration.
Calling it a “historic moment” when Lord Ram will take his place in his grand temple, Modi has urged Indians to light lamps in their homes and neighbourhood temples on Monday evening and once again celebrate Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights which usually falls in October-November.
“The consecration of the temple feels more like the launching of the general election campaign rather than a religious ritual,” said Prithvi Datta Chandra Shobhi, a political commentator who teaches at Krea University in southern India.
“The prime minister appears to inhabit the role of an emperor who is undertaking a major ritual sacrifice,” he said.
The temple has been built on a 2.67-acre (1.08 hectares) site inside a 70-acre (28.33 hectares) complex and only its first phase is ready. The second and final phase is expected to be completed in December 2025.
The project is estimated to cost 15 billion rupees ($181 million) and is entirely funded by donations from within the country.
India has witnessed an emotional outpouring among Hindus ahead of the consecration, with residential colonies and markets flying holy flags, organising special prayers and making plans to show the live telecast of Monday’s event on giant screens.
The inauguration has also sparked a political controversy with major opposition parties, including the main opposition Congress, declining invitations to attend saying it had been converted into a political, Modi event.
Muslim groups were not happy with the 2019 court verdict which gave the site to Hindus but said they would accept it “with humility”. Nearly five years on, they indicated they had moved on.
“The construction of the temple is going on as per the direction of the Supreme Court, so we welcome it. I don't think there's any feeling of ill-will in the Muslim community,” said Zufar Ahmad Faruqi, head of the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation that is building a new mosque in Ayodhya about 25 km (15 miles) from the temple. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/religious-spectacle-to-mark-opening-of-ram-temple-by-indias-modi
| 2024-01-21T03:01:38Z
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KAMPAR, Perak - Different types of coral fossils, estimated to be some 300 million years old, were discovered in a 6.9ha area near Kampung Changkat Tualang in Perak.
The fossils of the long-extinct sea snail species were found by a group of researchers from the Perak Geotourism Association who were conducting research in the area near there.
Association vice-chairman Mohd Fadly Md Noor said the group explored the area after referencing old journals including old researcher records.
“We found more than three or four types of Gastropod, Rugosa and Crinoid fossils. The fossils, mostly Gastropods, were found attached to the rocks in 50 spots.
“This discovery is the first in Perak so far, especially in the Kinta district, and these fossils are ancient marine creatures from the Paleozoic era before the time of the dinosaurs,” he told a press conference here on Jan 19, reported Bernama.
Mr Mohd Fadly said that all the specimens found had not yet been taken out of the location and the discovery had been relayed to the Perak Mineral and Geoscience Department.
“All fossils are still in this area because this land belongs to the state government and so far we have not taken any samples. The sampling will be done once a notice is issued by the department and every report will be sent to it, including those related to the Kinta Valley geosite.
“We believe that there are more such fossils in this area because it is quite large and we will continue the search to find specimens or other types of fossils,” he added.
In a related development, the Perak government said it would gazette the 6.9ha site where the ancient coral fossils were discovered as another geosite in the state. State communications, multimedia and NGO committee chairman Mohd Azlan Helmi said the area has its own uniqueness that highlights the scientific, recreational, aesthetic and historical values.
According to information and investigations conducted by researchers, the area boasts various invaluable treasures, making it the first geosite in the state to have coral fossils, he said.
“We must implement control measures as the record of Earth’s evolution needs preservation to generate new knowledge for future generations.
“Hence, it requires gazetting,” Mr Azlan Helmi said after visiting the site here on Jan 19.
Mr Azlan Helmi, who is Tualang Sekah assemblyman, stressed that the site can be used for educational and research purposes and has great potential as a new tourist destination in Perak. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/300-million-year-old-coral-fossils-discovered-in-perak
| 2024-01-21T03:01:49Z
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KUANTAN – A total of 2,095 farmers in the agri-food sector nationwide have been affected by the north-east monsoon floods to date, involving an estimated area of 4,701ha.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Arthur Joseph Kurup said 72 fruit and vegetable farmers were affected in Pahang, with an initial report indicating an affected area of 58.8ha in Pekan, Kuantan and Rompin districts.
“We are still collecting and updating data as the weather is uncertain. Flood-affected farmers need to register with their respective district agriculture department so that data collected can be used to approve aid to those eligible.
“We will strive to deliver assistance as quickly as possible so that they can quickly return to operating their farms before the next flood season returns,” he told reporters after participating in a walkabout programme in Sungai Atong on Jan 20.
At the event, 22 agri-food farmers cultivating crops such as sugar cane received agricultural input help, including fertiliser and pesticides, as well as agri-food kits, which are expected to lighten their burden to resume farming.
Datuk Arthur said the Agriculture Department will also conduct a study to help farmers in flood-prone areas reduce losses during the monsoon season.
“Among things that can be done is to reintroduce corn cultivation as this area was cultivated with the crop before being managed with other crops more recently.
“Corn is a short-duration crop where farmers can start planting in February every year and harvest twice before September to reduce losses due to year-end floods,” he said. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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| 2024-01-21T03:01:59Z
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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead a ceremony on Monday to consecrate a grand new temple to the Hindu god-king Ram, delivering on a campaign promise his political party made more than three decades ago.
The construction, begun in 2020, had been a contentious issue as the temple stands on the site of a 16th century mosque demolished by Hindu mobs in 1992, sparking nationwide riots that killed 2,000 people, mostly minority Muslims.
Legal battles ended in 2019 with the Supreme Court deciding to allow a Hindu temple to be built there, on condition that Muslims received another plot to build a mosque.
WHAT ARE THE FEATURES OF THE NEW TEMPLE?
Modi laid the foundation stone of the temple to one of Hinduism's principal deities on a 2.7-acre (one-hectare) plot within a complex that sprawls over 70 acres (28 hectares).
Supervised by a panel headed by Modi's former chief of staff Nripendra Misra, construction cost an estimated 15 billion rupees ($181 million), funded by contributions amounting to more than twice that from 40 million people in India.
WHAT WAS THE RELIGIOUS DISPUTE ABOUT?
The Indian epic, the Ramayana, mentions Ayodhya, a town in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh nearly 700 km (435 miles) east of New Delhi, as the birthplace of Ram, whom Hindus believe to be a physical incarnation of Lord Vishnu.
The razed mosque dating from 1528, during the rule of Babur, India's first Mughal emperor, is believed by many Hindus to have been built on the spot where Ram was born, following the demolition of an earlier temple there.
In Dec. 1949, authorities seized the mosque after Hindu activists placed idols of Ram inside the disputed structure. Court orders barred removal of the idols, and the structure's use as a mosque effectively ceased.
Hindu and Muslim groups filed separate claims over the site and the structure. In 1989, a high court ordered the maintenance of status quo.
HOW WAS THE MOSQUE RAZED?
Hindu and Muslim groups tried unsuccessfully to resolve the dispute through talks, before Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched a nationwide campaign in 1990 to build the temple.
Lal Krishna Advani, the president of the party at the time, embarked on a cross-country journey on a truck fitted out to resemble an ancient chariot.
It whipped up Hindu fervour, deepening rifts with Muslims but also catapulting the party to national prominence.
The BJP campaign climaxed in a rally in Ayodhya on Dec. 6, 1992, when a mob climbed the mosque and smashed its domes with axes and hammers, levelling the entire structure.
The event triggered sectarian riots in several parts of India, killing about 2,000 people, mostly Muslims.
Muslims are a minority in mainly Hindu India, making up about 14% of its 1.42 billion people.
As a foot soldier of the party at the time, Modi helped organise the chariot's journey, which began in his home state of Gujarat.
He rode to the office of prime minister in 2014 on a Hindu nationalist platform that included the promise to build the temple. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-21T03:02:10Z
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BERLIN – Germany started the year with Berlin’s streets choked with tractors and farmers blaring horns in furious protest at proposed budget cuts. Then train engineers walked off the job to demand better pay, stranding commuters and carloads of freight and leaving the country angry and gridlocked.
The same could be said for the state of the German economy. In 2023 it contracted 0.3 per cent, official figures showed last week, making it not only the largest economy but also the slowest growing among the 20 countries using the euro. Industrial production has fallen five months in a row.
“The economy is at a standstill in Germany,” said Federation of German Industries president Siegfried Russwurm. “We don’t see any chance of a rapid recovery in 2024.”
Since it was rebuilt after World War II, Germany has been Europe’s main driver of economic growth, becoming an industrial powerhouse known for vast factories and fine-tuned engineering.
But now its automakers must compete with relatively cheap electric cars from China, and it vies with the United States to attract tech giants. There is a growing realisation that Germany has not been successful in updating its industry with sufficient flexibility and digital know-how to remain competitive.
As the economy sputtered in 2023, the government was nearly paralysed by bickering among members of the three parties that make up Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s ruling coalition. Then came a budget crisis in November, causing the government’s popularity to plunge in polls.
Many of those disputes were over how to fill a €17 billion (S$24.8 billion) gap in the budget after the country’s highest court in November threw out the previous spending plan. That decision was driven by the country’s so-called debt brake, a law enshrined in its Constitution to keep public deficits low.
But geopolitical crises and new industrial rivalries in China and the US have weakened demand for German-made products abroad. Germany grew rich in recent decades by selling its goods to the world, racking up a trade surplus that strained ties with the US under president Donald Trump.
The restrictions on borrowing are preventing the government from making badly needed investments in public infrastructure, from schools and public administration to railways and energy networks.
“Writing that into the Constitution gave it the binding effect that was intended at the time”, when debt soared after reunification with East Germany and spending rose after the financial crisis in 2008, Ms Monika Schnitzer, a government adviser, told the Hessischer Rundfunk podcast. “But nobody thought it through to the end about what it could mean in a serious crisis, that there is not enough room to manoeuvre.”
Ms Schnitzer, who heads the German Council of Economic Experts, is among the economists urging lawmakers to adjust the mechanism. But that would mean changing the Constitution, which requires a two-thirds majority in Parliament, implying a level of cooperation between the opposition and the government that is unthinkable in the current political environment.
That means, for 2024 and 2025, Germans will instead find themselves faced with cuts on government spending, affecting a raft of subsidies to farmers and filmmakers alike. Travellers will face a new tax on airline tickets. Incentives for solar power and electric vehicles will be curtailed. Money to improve rail links will also be cut.
Economists have warned that taking a red pen to spending instead of raising taxes – a move vehemently opposed by the fiscally libertarian Free Democrats, the smallest party in Mr Scholz’s coalition but the one that controls the Finance Ministry – will be a further drag on the economy.
The spending cuts could not come at a worse time for Germany’s stumbling economy. They have prompted the country’s three leading economic institutes to cut their economic growth forecasts for 2024 to between 0.6 per cent and 0.9 per cent, down from a range of 1.1 per cent to 1.4 per cent predicted last September.
Within the Group of 20 nations, which include developed and developing economies from around the world, Germany is expected to come in at the bottom, with only Argentina seeing weaker growth projected for the year, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Slowing growth in China has also reverberated in Germany. Although China’s economy grew 5.2 per cent in 2023, it is undergoing significant change as the country’s leaders try to wean it off property and construction, long pillars of growth.
Not everything is negative, economists say. Double-digit inflation fell to 3.8 per cent in December, and high interest rates are expected to begin easing later in 2024. That, coupled with an increase in wages won after labour actions like the train engineers’ strike, could encourage German consumers to spend more, albeit at the risk of fanning further inflation.
But that will not be enough to fix Germany’s structural problems. One is a lack of domestic energy sources: The country relies on imports to sustain the industries that have formed the backbone of its economy for decades. They include carmaking, steel and the chemicals industry, which reported that production fell 11 per cent in 2023.
Overall, Germany’s industrial sector is struggling to cope with not only the high price of energy, but also the transition to a future that is more nimble and more digital. Plans to digitise the country’s prized but paper-bound bureaucracy, which traces its roots to 19th-century Prussia, largely stalled in 2023, according to an official index.
The country failed to reach its goal, set in 2017, of requiring all public offices to offer digital services by the end of 2022. That infrastructure lags miles behind that of the rest of the European Union, where on average 56 per cent of homes are connected to fibre-optic cables, compared with 19 per cent of German homes.
In the private sector, companies complain that the amount of paperwork required to build or expand hampers growth.
Germany recently showed that it can move quickly when it has no choice. After Russia cut off flows of natural gas in 2022, the government approved the procurement and construction of several terminals to bring in liquefied natural gas.
Within months, Germany was able to fill natural gas storage facilities to the brim while it encouraged companies and consumers to conserve fuel.
“Germans are so risk-averse, it’s almost a psychological thing,” said Mr Sander Tordoir, an economist at the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank in Berlin.
He pointed to the country’s growing green tech sector as a bright spot in the economy, those industries that develop technology for environmental protection, renewable energies and the efficient use of resources.
Semiconductor makers are another source of investment. Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co plan to build factories in eastern Germany, helped by subsidies worth €20 billion, which have survived government budget cuts.
Economists have argued over the wisdom of spending so much to attract such deep-pocketed companies, worth billions in their own right. But the idea that such firms are needed to help bring German industry into the 21st century is not in doubt.
“The Germans need to think about what kind of economy they want,” Mr Tordoir said. “But once they make the jump to deregulate and let go of fiscal straitjackets, there is a lot of potential in the German economy. It’s just not being used.” NYTIMES
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/germany-once-a-powerhouse-is-at-an-economic-standstill
| 2024-01-21T03:02:20Z
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Strong sanctions must be implemented to combat racism, AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan said after he briefly left the pitch in protest during a 3-2 win in a Serie A match at Udinese on Saturday.
Maignan alerted the referee before leaving the pitch due to repeated racist chants from the local fans, according to Italian media. He was followed by his team mates to the tunnel before returning to the goal after a few minutes.
"I said we cannot play football like this. It is not the first time it has happened this way," Maignan told Sky Sports Italy.
"They must hand out very strong sanctions, because talking no longer does anything.
"We have to say that what they are doing is wrong. It is not the whole crowd, most fans want to cheer on their team and jeer you, that’s normal, but not this."
FIFA president Gianni Infantino showed his solidarity with Maignan and called for measures to be taken in cases of racism.
"The events that took place in Udine and Sheffield Wednesday are totally abhorrent and completely unacceptable. There is no place for racism or any form of discrimination, either in football or in society. The players affected by Saturday's events have my full support," he said in a statement.
"In addition to the three-step process (match stopped, match stopped again and match abandoned), we need to enforce automatic defeat for the team whose fans committed racism and caused the match to be abandoned, as well as worldwide stadium bans and criminal charges for racists," he added.
Media reports said Coventry midfielder Kasey Palmer accused Sheffield Wednesday fans of racist chants during their English Championship clash, which his team won 2-1.
In describing the events that led to him leaving the field, Maignan said that in the first half, he heard monkey noises.
"The second time I went to get the ball, I heard it again. I told the fourth official and my bench what happened.
"I was angry, because this isn’t the first time it has happened. I did not want to play, but we are a family and I could not leave my team mates like that," he added,
A stoppage-time goal by striker Noah Okafor secured Milan a 3-2 win. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/milan-keeper-maignan-calls-for-sanctions-to-combat-racism
| 2024-01-21T03:02:30Z
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MELBOURNE - Highlights of the eighth day of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Sunday, all times local (GMT +11):
1215 PLAY BEGINS AT MELBOURNE PARK
Coco Gauff and Magdalena Frech kicked off their fourth round clash at Rod Laver Arena. The temperature was hovering around 21 degrees Celsius (70 Fahrenheit) with a slight chance of rain later in the day.
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Only something 'miraculous' can stop Djokovic in Melbourne: Laver REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/tennis/australian-open-day-eight
| 2024-01-21T03:02:41Z
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CHICAGO - Where have you gone, Chicago rat hole? Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.
Life, as German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer once said, is a pendulum that swings between pain and boredom. But Mr Schopenhauer could not account for the elation with which residents of Chicago embraced an unlikely attraction in January: a hole in a side walk shaped like a rat.
And then Jan 19 morning, the pendulum swung back to pain: The hole was no more. The rat hole was dead. Long live the rat hole. NBC Chicago reported that the hole, which for weeks had attracted amused gawkers to a quiet residential area of the Roscoe Village neighbourhood, had been filled in with “what appeared to be plaster or concrete.”
“Someone did this,” Mr Jonathan Howell told NBC Chicago. “Some vandal did this.”
By Jan 19 afternoon, however, the pendulum had taken another swing as residents banded together to fix the hole – in this case by restoring it. Among them was Mr Howell, who used his Illinois licence plate as a scraper to dig out the rodent-shaped crater, the NBC station reported.
“As a Chicagoan, I feel the preservation of history is important,” he said.
Block Club Chicago, a non-profit news organisation that covers Chicago’s neighbourhoods, reported that by the early afternoon, the hole had been, uh, made whole, because local residents went to work to dig out the substance.
Ms Ann M Williams, a state representative, had said in a video on social media earlier Jan 19 that she was “shocked and saddened” to learn that the hole had been filled and that she was “closely monitoring this developing situation.”
Hours later, she was back to share some good news. “The Chicago Rat Hole has been restored to its former glory after local residents braved the cold and icy conditions to scrape out the plasterlike substance from the Rat Hole,” she wrote. “This is what community is all about.”
The rat hole became a sensation this month after Mr Winslow Dumaine, an artist and comedian, posted a photo of it on social media. (Some Roscoe Village residents believe that a squirrel, not a rat, caused the hole.)
Within days, the hole became a source of joy for the city, as residents made pilgrimages to the street oddity. Many offered coins or built mini shrines around it. Candles and cinnamon rolls were placed next to it. Memes appeared on social media, and the hole even got its own Wikipedia page.
It was Chicago’s Stonehenge: No one knows exactly how it came to be, but it was something that people loved to gather around and stare at for a while.
Then, for a few bleak hours on Jan 19, the hole ceased to be, and the city mourned. A source of glee had been snatched from the streets in a sign of civilization’s relentless need to pour cold concrete on our hopes and dreams.
Or was it really that bad?
“Spiritually, if you look at this kind of thing, the reality is that it was never about the phenomenology of a hole,” Mr Dumaine said in an interview. “It was always about the fact that we found a silly thing, and we massively gathered around it. Nobody knows where the ark of the covenant is. Nobody knows where the true cross is. Yet Christianity still exists.”
The hole has turned Mr Dumaine, 32, into a worldwide celebrity. He has conducted interviews with journalists in Poland, France and Canada, among other countries, and he said he has an appearance booked on “The Kelly Clarkson Show.”
For Mr Dumaine, and many Chicagoans, the hole represents a brief respite from an onslaught of negative headlines and a chance to build a community that will outlast the unsuspecting animal that got caught in a slab of drying concrete.
“Yes, there are some people that will spoil the fun, but one person put concrete in the rat hole, and thousands of people put coins in it,” Mr Dumaine said. “And I choose to just think that those thousands of people who came together and did something genuinely very sweet – that’s worthy of more attention than the person who tried to destroy it.” NYTIMES
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/someone-filled-the-chicago-rat-hole-residents-took-action
| 2024-01-21T03:02:51Z
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JAKARTA – A new breed of young, self-made tycoons has struck gold by tapping unfulfilled market gaps in Indonesia. Driven by a commitment to social impact, these entrepreneurs have flourished while uplifting and building mutual prosperity for their communities.
Here are some success stories.
Trading up
Mr Wellson Lo and his football buddy Johny Susanto, who met as students in Melbourne, co-founded what is now one of Indonesia’s three largest stock brokerages by number of investors.
They started Stockbit in 2012 as a social analytics platform, with the aim of democratising capital market investment financial data in a country with low investing literacy.
But a year into operations, Mr Wellson realised they faced two main hurdles.
One was that investment was not a typical topic in everyday conversations among Indonesians in general. “It was totally different from working adults in Singapore or Australia, who talk about investment on a daily basis,” Mr Wellson, 39, told The Straits Times.
The second challenge was that venture capitalists and global investors back then were keen only on start-ups that served the mass market, such as e-commerce and ride-hailing companies.
“It was very hard to do fund raising in the early years... as venture capitalists shunned niche markets like what Stockbit operated in,” said Mr Wellson, who started his entrepreneurial journey after quitting his job as a senior audit associate at KPMG Singapore in 2009.
Confronted with these two challenges, Mr Wellson reached out to an IT professional friend and started to build a social network into Stockbit for like-minded people to share their own stock analyses and discuss news that impacted the markets in real time.
In 2015, Stockbit finally managed to raise seed funding from Jakarta-based venture capital firm Ideosource. The undisclosed amount was to further develop its mobile app, recruit new talent and beef up marketing for the platform, which also added brokerage services in 2021.
This successful effort also gave them the momentum for successive rounds of fund raising.
In its sixth year, Stockbit expanded into the wealth management business when it established a platform called Bibit, a robo-adviser app that helps people build a personalised investment portfolio. Half of the mutual fund transactions in the country are currently done on Bibit.
Investing on both Stockbit and Bibit starts from 10,000 rupiah (90 Singapore cents), and the two platforms have more than five million mostly millennial users combined.
“Stockbit was built as a social forum to meet like-minded people to discuss, exchange ideas about investment, stock picking and other economic issues that affect investment. It helps the masses trade smarter to build wealth,” Mr Wellson said.
He added: “If you develop a good product, build an experience that your users like, while you focus, concentrate and persevere, the result will usually be excellent and beyond your expectations.”
Rural venture nets success
As a college student, Mr Gibran Huzaifah often pondered how emerging tech companies innovated to address problems faced in the cities, changing the way people buy and sell goods and services.
It struck him that no one seemed to care about problems in rural areas.
“Important sectors such as agriculture, aquaculture, barely saw digital innovations. I told myself that problems in these sectors need solutions,” said Mr Gibran, 33, who founded Bandung-based fish and shrimp farm technology company eFishery in 2013.
Indonesia is the world’s second-largest seafood producer after China, but fish farming has been plagued by low margins.
This is partly due to inefficient, manual feeding techniques used for generations. Fish feed accounts for 80 per cent of fish breeders’ costs, said Mr Gibran.
Overfeeding eats into profits – and pollutes the water, affecting the health of fish – while underfeeding results in slow-growing fish.
To address this issue, Mr Gibran – who used to farm catfish himself as a biology student at the Bandung Institute of Technology to pay for his school fees – devised automated feeders.
These dispense the right amount of feed into ponds based on how hungry the fish or shrimp are, which is gauged by their movements. The feeders are rented to fish breeders, who save up to 28 per cent on feeding costs, Mr Gibran said.
An initial hurdle, however, was convincing the breeders that the tools would benefit them.
“They finally wanted to try, not because they believed in such technology, but because they pitied me for my perseverance in persuading them. Introducing the Internet of Things technology to fish breeders was very challenging because they were not Internet users,” said Mr Gibran, who taught farmers how to create an e-mail and a social media account and search for information on YouTube to help open up their minds.
His company turned profitable in 2018. Today, eFishery has partnered with breeders that operate one million ponds and expanded into other activities, including financing fish feed purchase and buying fish and shrimp from farms it services for export to the United States and China.
The world’s first aquaculture unicorn – valued at US$1.4 billion – is now expanding to India, with more countries in Asia and the Middle East in its sights.
Business that has a social impact
Indonesia’s first company to sell carbon credits worldwide, Rimba Makmur Utama, was sparked by a “crazy idea” from Mr Dharsono Hartono, 50, and Mr Rezal Kusumaatmadja, 54.
Through restorative initiatives and by actively preventing the deforestation and degradation of 157,000ha of carbon-rich peat forest it manages in Kalimantan, the company ensures that 50 million tonnes of carbon remain locked in the ground instead of becoming pollutive emissions.
Called the Katingan Mentaya Project, the world’s largest nature-based solution generates an average of 7.5 million certified carbon credits annually – equivalent to taking two million cars off the road – which are sold to companies like giant automaker Volkswagen and Singapore’s DBS Bank.
The co-founders, who come from middle-class families and studied at Cornell University in the 1990s, founded their firm in 2007 when they were in their 30s.
They were driven by the shared goal of combating climate change through carbon financing to manage, preserve and restore peatland ecosystems in Central Kalimantan, a region prone to plantation and forest fires due to farmers clearing land by a slash and burn method.
But it took them six years to secure an ecosystem restoration concession, a licence that allows private-sector players to restore degraded lands while profiting from selling non-timber products and environmental services – which, in Rimba Makmur Utama’s case, meant selling carbon credits.
In the interim, Mr Dharsono and his team made regular visits to villages in Central Kalimantan to share their vision of transformative change – that the locals’ help in protecting the environment would have financial and health payoffs, on top of conserving forests and biodiversity.
“Although we had not received a concession licence then, we started various empowerment programmes... such as handicraft home industry training... for the villagers in the field, to build our social capital,” said Mr Dharsono, whose family got by on his wife’s salary during those initial years.
“We reached out to the villagers and I, as the company CEO, explained to them how our project would bring about benefits to them. Villagers’ roles are to help guard the environment and carry out activities in a sustainable way.”
These programmes received funding from foreign donors, with donations going directly to the villages. Still, Mr Dharsono recalled, “it was not easy to get funding then”.
Villagers were initially leery of outsiders, as it is not uncommon for investment projects to harm local communities, such as by causing displacement or water pollution.
“Transparency is key to building trust. I shared my personal mobile-phone number with the villagers and told them I would respond myself to their queries, concerns or inputs,” Mr Dharsono said.
Rimba Makmur Utama took another five years to get its project certified and verified so it could start selling carbon credits in a voluntary market in 2018, and achieved cumulative break-even by 2021.
Today, 35 partner villages surrounding Katingan Mentaya Project’s forest land act as a buffer against outside threats.
Over 500 people are employed by the project: Former illegal loggers now help fight and prevent fires; locals help with work to restore water levels in peat swamps, to prevent carbon-releasing peat decomposition; and 50,000 native saplings are also planted each year on degraded land.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/meet-indonesia-s-new-breed-of-businessmen-focusing-on-social-impact
| 2024-01-21T04:33:31Z
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LOS ANGELES - FedEx is waging financial battles on two fronts.
The delivery giant wants a more profitable contract with the US Postal Service (USPS) and is seeking an elusive labour deal with its pilots. How both efforts shake out will be key to improving profit at its largest business, overnight-delivery provider FedEx Express.
If the domestic contract with USPS, Express’ largest customer, lapses later in 2024, it would erase nearly US$2 billion (S$2.7 billion) in annual business that funds hundreds of pilot jobs. A failure to reach an agreement with pilots could further delay retirements and buyouts that could reduce operating costs at Express. That lack of expense relief could increase the risk that FedEx will have to furlough pilots for the first time in its 52-year history.
The pilot talks have been ongoing since May 2021 and there is no set deadline. In the midst of softening global demand, dwindling USPS revenue and some pilots postponing their retirement in hopes of more lucrative contract terms, FedEx executives have said the company’s 5,800 pilots are 700 too many. Margins in the company’s Express business remain stubbornly low and investors want chief executive Raj Subramaniam to be bolder in slashing costs.
“FedEx has too many planes and too many pilots,” said Mr Trip Miller, founder of Memphis-based hedge fund Gullane Capital Partners, which has a small stake in the company. He wants FedEx to cut Express capacity by 15 per cent to 20 per cent.
FedEx postal revenue loses altitude
FedEx is the No. 1 USPS domestic air contractor, supplying the speed for the agency’s Priority Mail and other quick services under a contract that will expire on Sept 29.
USPS payments to FedEx reached US$2.4 billion during the postal service’s fiscal year ended September 2020. That shrank to US$1.7 billion in fiscal 2023 after the postal service shifted letters and packages from planes to trucks. The switch appears to be starving the daytime air operation that FedEx created for USPS of the volume it needs to keep planes about 70 per cent full and generating profit.
“It’s a big contract and it was very profitable for a very long time. I’m not sure it is any more,” TD Cowen analyst Helane Becker said.
USPS now provides about 4 per cent of Express’ annual revenue, according to a Reuters calculation. FedEx has vowed to walk away from its 22-year relationship with the postal service if financial terms do not improve.
“We are focused on ensuring it continues to make good business sense for both parties,” FedEx said in a statement last week.
USPS, meanwhile, is reorganising its own operations to accommodate customers who are adopting Amazon.com’s strategy of moving distribution centres closer to people who buy their products. That proximity means that fast deliveries have less need for air services.
“There is no reason for USPS to pay more” for domestic air transport, said Mr Satish Jindel, who helped found a company purchased by FedEx. Mr Jindel analysed for Reuters almost one billion packages shipped in the United States and found a significant increase since 2008 in parcels travelling less than around 480 km – a distance easily handled by trucks.
USPS declined to comment. In its 10-year plan released in 2021, the agency said it sees opportunities in “diversifying the mix of air carriers and enhancing carrier contract management”. Its other air service providers include FedEx rival United Parcel Service, which had US$308 million in USPS business in fiscal 2023.
Pilot deal up in the air
As many as 300 pilots at FedEx could be out of work if the company loses the USPS contract in 2024, news provider FreightWaves said earlier in January 2024, citing a recording of a meeting between a FedEx executive and pilot evaluators. FedEx also hopes to convince 400 tenured pilots to take early retirement, the executive said.
That message landed as FedEx and the Air Line Pilots Association (Alpa) gathered for the first negotiations of 2024.
FedEx said the recorded comments represented that executive’s “personal speculation” and that the company is committed to reaching a fair contract agreement.
Asked if pilots were willing to make concessions to avoid furloughs, Captain Billy Wilson, chair of the FedEx Alpa master executive council, said its members “remain steadfast in their resolve”.
A group dominated by newer pilots rejected a tentative deal last July, which some analysts saw as a risky move because it paused the departures of senior pilots who are last in line for cuts.
“The problem is that when you furlough, you furlough from the bottom. You can’t furlough from the top,” TD Cowen’s Ms Becker said, referring to pilot seniority. “If I was a younger pilot at FedEx, I’d be kicking myself that I rejected the contract.” REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/analysis-fedex-express-revamp-hangs-on-fate-of-usps-pilot-talks
| 2024-01-21T04:33:42Z
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Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto 3 and Symphony 3
Jae-Hyuck Cho with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra under Hans Graf
Esplanade Concert Hall
Jan 18
Pity the pianist who must perform Rachmaninov’s titanic third piano concerto a week after American pianist Garrick Ohlsson’s magnificent performance of the more approachable second piano concerto in the same hall with the same orchestra.
South Korean pianist Jae-Hyuck Cho made a game attempt, delivering almost all the notes Rachmaninov wrote, mostly in the right order. Any pianist with the guts to tackle this large, loose, baggy monster of a work deserves applause, and Cho clearly had some original ideas.
But his performance felt fitful and impetuous, not always in a good way.
The extravagant fatalism at the heart of the concerto requires soloists to marshal their resources carefully to avoid sounding like an aimless rampage through a gloomy forest of notes. Although Cho leapt into the abyss with commendable abandon, it was not clear that he had thought deeply about which of those many notes mattered most.
For all his good intentions, this was a performance of sentimentality rather than sentiment. Melodies were frequently distended out of shape, or lost among the thickets of the piano part.
His eagerness to belabour every passing phrase meant that important moments lost their intended force. And his penchant for certain pianistic mannerisms – such as his habit of rolling large chords – did no favours for a work already perched on the border between drama and melodrama.
Cho often seemed physically tense, producing a brittle sound that came dangerously close to breaking at climactic moments, such as the avalanche of chords concluding the first movement’s cadenza. His tendency to rush difficult passages also resulted in several missteps with the orchestra, particularly in the third movement.
Rachmaninov’s third symphony, which comprised the concert’s second half, has never quite achieved the acclaim it deserves. Despite some moments of bombast, it is a taut, enigmatic work that seems to have one foot in the 19th century and one in the 20th without fully inhabiting either.
As with their excellent performance of the second symphony last week, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) under Hans Graf showed their world-class credentials in this repertoire.
They played as a single organism, producing a rich but never cloying sound in the darkly moving first movement, and delivering shattering chords and manic fugal passages with irresistible momentum in the third.
One would love to hear Graf and the SSO do more late-Romantic repertoire. Time for a Mahler cycle perhaps?
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/arts/concert-review-jae-hyuck-cho-makes-a-game-attempt-with-rachmaninov-s-piano-concerto-no-3
| 2024-01-21T04:33:52Z
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SINGAPORE – Frustrations are mounting among companies that are looking to sell insects as food, with some mulling over business closure, as the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) delays its approval for the sale of these species for human consumption.
In April 2023, SFA said that 16 species of insects – including crickets, silkworms and grasshoppers – will receive the green light for consumption in the second half of 2023, given that the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation has promoted their benefits as a sustainable form of protein.
Crickets are like a superfood – full of protein, vitamins, minerals and fibre.
As at Jan 19, SFA has not given the approval. The European Union and countries such as Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Thailand allow the consumption of certain insect species.
The Straits Times asked SFA for the reason behind the delay, when the approval can be expected, and if SFA will be extending support to affected businesses. In reply, a spokeswoman said the agency is finalising the implementation details and “will announce the date of effect in due course”.
“We are also aware of some interest from food business operators on the import of insect and insect products as food and will continue to engage them to provide relevant assistance,” she added.
Industry players that had started gearing up in 2023 for local product launches are now finding themselves in limbo, with some considering exiting the business altogether. Currently, there are at least four companies in the insect protein space in Singapore.
Mr Christopher Leow, chief executive and co-founder of Singapore-based Future Protein Solutions, which was founded in 2019, initially wanted to test the local market to see how receptive Singaporeans would be to consuming insects like crickets.
“I embarked on research and development (R&D) to develop different consumer products made from crickets, including chocolates, pastas and even prata,” he added.
Cricket farming is thought to be more sustainable than conventional poultry farming, as it uses far less water, feed and land, thus emitting minimal greenhouse gas emissions. Cricket waste can also be used as fertiliser for plants.
To determine if it would be cost-effective and sustainable to farm crickets on home soil, Mr Leow piloted a small, high-tech cricket farm in Lim Chu Kang in 2021. At its peak, the farm produced 60kg to 120kg of crickets a month for R&D.
But without SFA approval, nothing it has harvested can be sold.
“Our investor eventually pulled out their funding, and we had to stop all operations,” he told ST.
“We haven’t formally closed down our business yet, in case there is a lucky break further down the line. But for now, the co-founders will move on to other endeavours,” he added.
Either way, developing a cricket farm in Singapore – and by extension, running a business in the insect protein industry as a whole – is a challenging feat, considering the lack of incentives or grants to lower the costs of pilot projects, R&D and market testing. Grants for alternative protein companies are only for those working on plant-based protein, microbes-based protein, and cultivated meat – and not insects.
There is also no zoning of land for insect farming, unlike for vegetable farms, said Mr Leow.
Co-founder Yuvanesh T.S. of Asia Insect Farm Solutions, which produces cricket powder for use in flour and cookies, said that business has been slow over the past year. Since the Singapore-based company started in 2021, it has been exporting to consumers in Britain and the United States, although it stopped doing so in 2023 as sales were poor.
In December 2023, the company launched nutritional snack crisps incorporating cricket flour under the brand name Plento, which was done in collaboration with Bugsolutely Bangkok, an insect protein firm in Thailand.
“We wanted to focus on snacks (with a small portion of insect ingredients), because we realised that edible insect consumer products are not appealing to consumers,” he added.
The company is looking to do a test run in Thailand first to see how things go, before deciding on its next steps, said Mr Yuvanesh.
“It’s quite likely that I’ll stop running the company if things do not look up over the next few months. I can’t justify doing business at a loss,” he added.
For Ms Christina Rasmussen, the co-founder of future-food themed bar Fura, the absence of approval for insects meant having to remove about a quarter of the bar’s food menu.
With a strong focus on sustainable dining, Fura, which opened for business in Singapore in September 2023, spotlights ingredients that are either abundant or in excess, such as locusts, crickets and mealworms.
“We curated our dishes carefully, based on SFA’s list of approved species, and we also sourced our insects responsibly, ensuring that there’s proper certification from the farms to ensure traceability,” said Ms Rasmussen.
After learning that it was not allowed to sell any insect-based dishes without SFA’s formal approval, the bar had to remove some items from its menu, as well as tweak the recipes of other dishes. This disappointed some customers who were drawn to the outfit’s novelty, Ms Rasmussen said.
No details were given on when SFA’s approval would come either, despite months of asking the authorities for an update, she added.
“This was a massive blow for us, as it really takes away the spirit and vision of what we had initially set out to do,” she said.
Meanwhile, local company Altimate Nutrition, which creates protein bars made from cricket flour, is set to launch in the United Kingdom by March or April, said its co-founder Gavriel Tan.
While he is disappointed by the delay in approval here, the setback did not stop the 23-year-old from turning to the market in the UK, where he is currently doing his undergraduate studies in biological sciences at the University College London.
“We have secured on-paper approval to sell in the UK, so we are finishing up discussion with some retailers here,” he said.
In Singapore, the company had decided to focus on public education efforts, while engaging local retailers and distributors in anticipation of the sale of its cricket-based protein bars, which come in six flavours, such as matcha green tea and mixed berries.
Altimate Nutrition has previously inked a partnership with the House of Seafood restaurant to serve an array of insect dishes – ranging from crickets to mealworms to silkworm pupae – which will start once SFA gives the go-ahead, said Mr Tan.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/frustrations-mounting-among-companies-selling-insects-as-food-as-sfa-delays-approval
| 2024-01-21T04:34:03Z
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SINGAPORE – Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) students were able to improve the bus captain rostering for service 979 through a collaboration between the institution and public transport company SMRT.
Work that usually takes half a day can now be accomplished with a few clicks of a computer mouse using an automated system designed by SIT students.
For his final-year project in January 2023, Mr Clifford Chong, 25, worked with SMRT for seven months to improve how it rosters the bus drivers’ working shifts.
This manual process required SMRT staff to consider various factors, such as the bus captains’ working hours, start times and end times, to optimise productivity while ensuring safe driving conditions, including adequate rest between shifts.
Mr Chong designed an algorithm executed in the Microsoft Excel program to automate this process.
The automated user interface that Mr Chong designed is being used for service 979 and will be refined for deployment across more bus services.
It is one of three projects that SIT students have completed in collaboration with SMRT Buses, since SIT and SMRT Corp signed a memorandum of understanding in November 2022 to strengthen their research and development collaboration for the advancement of Singapore’s transport industry.
The other two are the use of statistical analysis to optimise the maintenance of buses and the improving of a system for identifying bus captains who are at risk of getting into accidents.
A key part of the collaboration is the Transport Living Lab, which leverages “SMRT’s experience as a public transport operator and SIT’s engineering capabilities to develop and implement solutions for real-world problems”.
SIT’s president, Professor Chua Kee Chaing, told The Straits Times: “Through such initiatives like the Transport Living Lab, we are making our partners’ operational systems available as extended classrooms for our students, academic staff and industry partners to co-create solutions. This increases the level of authenticity of our education through projects grounded in the real world.”
He added that the partnership has also provided SMRT with deployable products, and SIT students have had the satisfaction of seeing their work adopted and even finding jobs at SMRT.
The Transport Living Lab partnership between SIT and SMRT will run for three years until 2025, with potential for extension.
To date, a total of 48 SIT graduates have been hired by SMRT, including Mr Chong, who was hired upon graduation in September 2023. He currently works as a system integration and support executive at SMRT Buses’ Kranji depot.
Mr Chong said that working with SMRT on his smart bus captain rostering final-year project better prepared him for the workforce.
“It gave me a glimpse of SMRT’s work environment. I had the opportunity to work and familiarise myself with SMRT staff, so it made the transition from school to work much easier and more seamless,” he said.
Mr Lee Joonmin, 26, a senior dispatch supervisor at SMRT who mentored Mr Chong during the project, said that working with SIT students gave him new perspectives on how operations and processes at the company could be further improved.
“Some of the ideas that they proposed really challenged me to think differently. For example, given the situation of the (manual rostering), they were able to use Microsoft Excel and data tools in ways that I had not seen before to automate the bus captain roster,” said Mr Lee.
For the students, they got to “experience the real-world challenges of working in the transport industry”, he said.
“And it was also an opportunity to network with professionals and experts in the field,” he added.
SIT moves to its new campus located within the Punggol Digital District (PDD) in September, and Prof Chua says this will facilitate the vision of the new campus functioning as a living lab.
“This co-location facilitates and deepens SIT’s linkages with companies in PDD, some of which we are already collaborating with in the education of our students and others in discussions for research collaboration.”
He added that the living lab concept at the new campus will have operational systems.
These include Singapore’s largest multi-energy microgrid, which SIT is developing in partnership with Singapore Power. It will test solutions that can contribute to the Republic’s energy transition.
Developed in partnership with French energy company Engie, SIT’s district cooling system in the new campus will be used to create a test bed for the development and pilot deployment of advanced district cooling solutions.
The campus will also be equipped with 10,000 sensors for measuring ambient temperature, light and human presence. Students and partners can use data from these measurements to develop and implement solutions to enhance campus experience and workspace efficiency.
These operational systems will create opportunities for authentic learning experiences, Prof Chua said.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/sit-students-help-improve-smrt-processes
| 2024-01-21T04:34:13Z
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MELBOURNE - Fourth seed Coco Gauff reached the Australian Open quarter-finals for the first time on Sunday with a 6-1 6-2 victory over Pole Magdalena Frech.
The U.S. Open champion, who has yet to drop a set at the Melbourne Park major this year, broke the unseeded Frech in the opening game at a chilly Rod Laver Arena and never let her settle into a rhythm.
With Australian great Rod Laver watching in the crowd, Gauff wrapped up the match in just over an hour to seal a last eight berth against unseeded Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk or Russian qualifier Maria Timofeeva.
"There's no better court in Australia than Rod Laver Arena and it was an honour to play in front of you, so thank you for coming to my match," the 19-year-old said.
"Luckily when I noticed he came I was up a lot, so I wasn't too nervous. You guys were clapping and I was like 'I know it's not for us' then I saw the screen ... There's a lot of legends in the box there."
Gauff, who successfully defended her Auckland title before the year's first Grand Slam, looked flawless from the baseline and in her forays to the net as she went 5-1 up and sealed the opening set when the 69th-ranked Frech made a forehand error.
The American found the going a little tougher in the next set as the 26-year-old Frech looked to lengthen the rallies but she broke for a 3-1 lead and pushed home her advantage to extend her unbeaten run in 2024 to nine matches. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/tennis/gauff-fells-frech-to-reach-first-melbourne-quarter-final
| 2024-01-21T04:34:23Z
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MOSCOW - A fire broke out at a terminal of Russia’s largest liquefied natural gas producer Novatek on the Baltic Sea, the governor of the Leningrad region said early on Jan 21, amid reports of drone sightings in the area.
“There were no casualties as a result of the fire at the Novatek terminal in the port of Ust-Luga. The personnel were evacuated,” Mr Alexander Drozdenko said on the Telegram messaging app.
Mr Drozdenko did not say what caused the fire at the Novatek terminal at the all-season port in the Russian part of the Gulf of Finland, about 170 km west of St Petersburg and 35 km from the Estonian border.
Russian news outlet Shot reported on Telegram that residents in the area had heard a drone followed by several explosions.
St Petersburg-based news outlet Fontanka said at least two drones were spotted in the sky flying towards St Petersburg before the reports of the fire at the terminal.
Baza, a Russian news outlet known for its security services contacts, posted on Telegram footage of big flames shooting into the sky over what seemed like an industrial complex.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports.
Russia and Ukraine have targeted each other’s energy infrastructure in strikes designed to disrupt supply lines and logistics and to demoralise the other side in a nearly two-year war that shows no sign of ending.
On Jan 19, a drone attack hit an oil depot in Russia’s western region of Bryansk bordering Ukraine, for which Moscow blamed Ukraine. That followed a Jan 18 attack on a Russian Baltic Sea oil terminal that Russian officials said was unsuccessful.
Mr Drozdenko said a “high alert regime” had been introduced in the area and officials had gathered for an emergency meeting. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/fire-breaks-out-at-russias-novatek-terminal-on-baltic-sea
| 2024-01-21T04:34:34Z
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Humans have been influencing complex weather conditions for the last century, resulting in some areas getting increasingly drier while others see wetter conditions. According to new research published in Nature, researchers say these trends are only likely to continue with worsening consequences for humans.
To come to their conclusions, scientists detected a “fingerprint” of human-driven global warming, affecting patterns of drought, moisture, and temperatures across the world dating back to 1900. In this particular study, the team went beyond precipitation levels and looked at soil moisture – the measure of precipitation against evaporation – to determine systemic changes in the hydroclimate already underway. Computer models paired with long-term observations of tree rings dating back as far as 900 years allowed the team to estimate soil moisture before and after the Industrial Revolution to determine if the two synced up.
For the first time, they have identified the long-term global effects on vital water supplies that provide for crops and cities globally.
"We asked, does the real world look like what the models tell us to expect?" said study co-author Benjamin Cook in a statement. "The answer is yes. The big thing we learned is that climate change started affecting global patterns of drought in the early 20th century. We expect this pattern to keep emerging as climate change continues."
Altogether, the team broke the study down into three periods. First, 1900 to 1949, where the global-warming fingerprint was the most obvious. During this time, drying of soils was observed in Australia, most of Central and North America, Europe, the Mediterranean, western Russia, and southeast Asia. However, it got wetter in western China, central Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Indonesia, and central Canada – predictions indicated by both the computer models and tree ring analysis.
Flash forward to between 1950 and 1975, when the weather seemed to be a bit more erratic. Here, researchers say enormous amounts of industrial aerosols were poured into the air before modern pollution controls became the norm, impacting cloud formation, rainfall, and temperatures, which ultimately masked the effects of greenhouse gas.
Beginning in the 1970s, many countries implemented strict clean-air laws that allowed atmospheric aerosol levels to level off or decline. However, greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase into the present day, resulting in increased temperatures and the global-warming signature on the hydroclimate that has become increasingly obvious in recent years.
"If we don't see it coming in stronger in, say, the next 10 years, we might have to wonder whether we are right," said lead author Kate Marvel. "But all the models are projecting that you should see unprecedented drying soon, in a lot of places."
Compounding factors such as increasing population and more blaring demand for water will only cause agricultural production to continue drying the climate, according to the scientists. They say it could result in much of the world becoming permanently arid, while others may see more rainfall, rising temperatures, and more evaporation of moisture in soils.
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https://www.iflscience.com/humans-have-been-influencing-droughts-for-100-years-and-its-likely-going-to-get-worse-52329
| 2024-01-21T04:53:55Z
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Leo Ku: I Really Love To Sing Around The World 2024 In Singapore
Sands Grand Ballroom
Jan 19, 8pm
Bright and cheery, and often spotting an infectious toothy grin, Hong Kong singer Leo Ku is the epitome of wholesomeness.
And things do not get any more family-friendly than the Cantopop star’s most recent concert, which was attended by close to 6,000 people, and included his parents, wife and four-year-old son Kuson.
The endearing show, which featured five outfit changes, celebrated the 51-year-old’s passion for singing. As a vocalist, his goal has always been to let listeners feel a sense of tenderness in their lives.
Here are three highlights from the 130-minute show, which included many familiar numbers such as Love And Honesty (2004), Killing Move (2003) and Never Too Late (2006).
1. Love all around
Jan 19 is the birthday of his wife and assistant, Ms Lorraine Chan, who is in her 50s.
They met through work and, prior to going public with their relationship in 2014, dated in secret for some two decades.
In a surprise segment, Ku sang a birthday song together with the audience – in both Cantonese and Mandarin – for Ms Chan, who was backstage.
“Let’s record a video of so many of us wishing her happy birthday, okay?” he suggested, as he captured the moment on an iPhone.
Their tight-knit relationship was evident. He said that his camera-shy spouse had recently joked about what he would buy for her birthday present, adding that he generally kept his gig earnings with her anyway.
To express his affection for her, the star performed the tender ballad Finding You Is My Biggest Accomplishment (2015).
Ku later invited two couples onstage to share how they met. He performed for them the sentimental tracks Hobby (1999) and Making A Wish (1999).
It was a sweet celebration of love which came a little early for Valentine’s Day, but imbued his show with warmth.
2. Theme songs of yesteryear
Ku is also an actor. His best-known roles are as righteous reporter He Shuhuan in the Chinese television period drama Romance In The Rain (2001) and fifth prince Yongqi in My Fair Princess 3 (2003).
As a nod to his on-screen work, he performed two songs from Romance In The Rain – the title track and Really Want To.
Three decades in show business have also seen him helm several other theme songs, such as Righteous Sea Of Heroic Love from the TVB drama No Regrets (2010), which also made the set list.
He said: “Whenever we hear these melodies, the images and memories from these shows will come back. I hope you like them.”
3. Not one, but two, medleys
Ku performed Jade Solid Gold (2005), a 10-minute medley of 35 Cantonese and Mandarin love songs, such as Joey Yung’s My Pride and Eason Chan’s Shall We Talk. But the opening number was sadly a shortened version which lasted only five minutes and hit just 18 tracks.
As if he were attempting to make it up to fans, Ku’s final number was another medley, The Big Hits 2 (The King Of Love Song) (2008), a sequel to Jade Solid Gold.
Alas, this was also a condensed version. It clocked in at only five minutes, instead of the medley’s full 12.
Perhaps the veteran star was going with the show-business adage of always leaving the audience wanting more. And that, he certainly did.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/concert-review-leo-ku-celebrates-wife-s-birthday-at-singapore-concert
| 2024-01-21T06:05:52Z
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SINGAPORE - More than 400 rental households have moved out of two blocks in Toa Payoh as part of broader plans to redevelop older estates to provide new homes and amenities.
The relocation exercise for the 414 rental households in Blocks 29 and 31 Lorong 5 Toa Payoh started in 2021 and took two years, with the last tenant moving out in May 2023, said the Housing Board on Sunday.
About half of the households opted to move to rental flats within Toa Payoh, while 22 per cent moved to new rental flats in nearby Bidadari – a new public housing estate with 12 Build-To-Order (BTO) projects.
Another 20 per cent moved to rental flats in other towns, while the remaining households either bought a flat or no longer required a rental flat from HDB, the board said.
The site of the two Toa Payoh rental blocks is zoned for residential use under the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) masterplan.
It has a gross plot ratio of 4, which allows for buildings much taller than the existing 11-storey blocks. In the same site, four 36-storey HDB blocks that were completed in 2018 sit next to the two blocks.
The two blocks – located behind the iconic dragon playground – are being demolished.
Retired taxi driver Ang Tiau Hong, 84, opted to move into a two-room rental flat in Bidadari with his wife instead of remaining in Toa Payoh as they wanted a newer flat that would require less maintenance.
“I like living in Toa Payoh but the flats are very old, everything is yellowing and needs to be repaired. In Bidadari, the toilet pipes and electrical wires are all new,” said Mr Ang, who is now paying $50 a month in rent, up from $44 when he was living in Toa Payoh.
“The only thing is food at the nearby shopping mall is too expensive so I prefer to take one of the three buses to Toa Payoh to have my meals,” he added.
HDB said tenants were given $2,500 in rehousing allowance to help defray the cost of moving. Tenants who relocated to further towns were given an additional $2,500 in rental credits.
Those who were ready to buy their first flats received a $15,000 relocation grant on top of other housing grants they were eligible for, said HDB.
Tenants were first informed of the relocation exercise in July 2021 by HDB officers who went door-to-door to explain their rehousing options and benefits.
Mr Gary Woo, senior estate manager at HDB’s rental housing department, said the large-scale relocation project required close coordination among several public and social service agencies.
“Many seniors lived in the two blocks, so naturally there were some concerns and anxieties,” he said. “Along with our partners on the ground, we all worked towards the same goal of ensuring as seamless a journey as possible for the tenants and no one is left behind.”
Retired regional director Ang Hock Pho was among 13 volunteers from the Singapore University of Social Sciences Gerontology Student and Alumni Community who helped 50 to 60 vulnerable seniors in their relocation process, including the collection of keys and inspection of their new place.
“For seniors, moving homes is already stressful. If they see the flat they’re moving into is in a lousy condition, they’ll be even more stressed. We also turn on the utilities, fix up the lights and coordinate the moving of their belongings for them,” said the 59-year-old, who had already been delivering weekly bento sets to the two rental blocks before the relocation notice.
“We started with a goal to help vulnerable seniors move with ease. Along the way, we worked out best practices for future relocation exercises as there are bound to be more in land-scarce Singapore,” said Mr Ang.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/more-than-400-rental-households-in-toa-payoh-relocated-two-blocks-to-be-redeveloped
| 2024-01-21T06:06:03Z
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MELBOURNE - Former Olympic champion and advocate for clean sport Mack Horton has announced his retirement from swimming only a few months before the Paris Summer Games that were expected to be his swansong.
The 27-year-old Australian, who won his only individual global gold in the 400 metres freestyle at the 2016 Rio Olympics, said he no longer felt he was able to give his best to the sport.
"I dearly wanted to swim in Paris but the hunger wasn't there," Horton, who recently got married, said in a Swimming Australia new release.
"I always want to give my all and I am not someone who just wants to make up the numbers, so this is the right time to step away.
"I have felt so privileged to represent Australia and wear the green and gold ... I just hope Australia thinks I did them proud."
Apart from his Olympic gold, Horton will be best remembered for refusing to stand on the podium next to Sun Yang after winning the silver medal behind the Chinese swimmer in the 400m freestyle at the 2019 Gwangju world championships.
Sun was under investigation for tampering with the doping process, charges which ultimately earned him a ban of four years and three months in 2021.
Horton, who had previously called Sun a "drug cheat", was subjected to a huge amount of abuse on social media for his stand and accused of hypocrisy when he did not similarly call out fellow Australians who were found guilty of doping offences.
"I am so grateful for my time in swimming and in regard to legacy, I hope my team mates and the sport think that I was able to help them and the sport in some way," Horton added.
"And I hope they just remember me as Mack." REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/australian-horton-calls-it-quits-months-out-from-paris-olympics
| 2024-01-21T06:06:13Z
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MELBOURNE - Reigning champion Aryna Sabalenka reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in dominant fashion on Sunday when she swept past American Amanda Anisimova with a clinical 6-3 6-2 victory on Margaret Court Arena.
The top remaining seed after Saturday's early exit for world number one Iga Swiatek, Sabalenka's biggest enemy has often been her own emotions but she continued to keep them strictly under control to reach the last eight without dropping a set.
"I'm super happy with the level, super happy with the win," said Sabalenka.
"I just tried to stay focused on my game, and just focus every single point. I want to stay here right until the very end and hopefully we can get this one again."
The Belarusian was not distracted by her relegation to the second showcourt for the first time in the tournament, or by a couple of rain showers that interrupted the contest and forced the closure of the stadium's roof.
Anisimova, ranked 442nd in the world after an eight-month break from the game, had held a 4-1 lead in career meetings with Sabalenka but found the 2024 version of the 26-year-old a much tougher nut to crack.
In the opening set, the former French Open semi-finalist was unable to win a single point off Sabalenka's first serve, which on occasion was clocked at the 195 kph mark.
One break was enough for Sabalenka to win the opening set and another to start the second stanza killed off any hopes the American had of building pressure on her opponent.
Another break for 5-2 in the second set allowed Sabalenka to serve for the match and, although Anisimova finally managed to earn her first break point, the second seed was soon celebrating her spot in the last eight.
Sabalenka, who will next meet 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva or ninth seed Barbora Krejcikova, did not drop a set at last year's Australian Open until the final as she landed her maiden Grand Slam title.
Her opponent on Rod Laver Arena that day, Elena Rybakina, exited in the second round and Coco Gauff and Krejcikova are the only other top 10 seeds left in the field. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/tennis/clinical-sabalenka-strides-into-melbourne-quarter-finals
| 2024-01-21T06:06:24Z
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MELBOURNE - Novak Djokovic marked a rare daytime appearance at the Australian Open with a dominant victory over Adrian Mannarino on Sunday as the 10-times champion flirted with a 'triple bagel' before sealing a 6-0 6-0 6-3 win to reach the quarter-finals.
Djokovic, handed an early session slot at Melbourne Park for the first time since 2021, said earlier in the week he had been battling a viral affection and the world number one was coughing and appeared to be breathing heavily at times during the match.
The Serb's health issues had no impact on his play, however, and with the roof at Rod Laver Arena closed due to rain he powered to a 32nd straight match victory at the tournament and a 58th Grand Slam quarter-final, equalling the all-time record of Swiss maestro Roger Federer.
"The way I played today, I don't mind playing in the day to be honest," said Djokovic, who is chasing a 25th Grand Slam to go past Margaret Court.
"It's no secret I like to play at 7 p.m. but it was not too bad today at all."
Tricky left-hander Mannarino can pose problems for the best of players by working the angles and the world number 19 pushed Djokovic hard in the opening game of the contest but still found himself down a set in only 33 minutes.
Djokovic let out a roar after breaking early in the second set, and delivered another body blow in the third game when he held serve after six deuces.
Two sets down and still not on the scoreboard, Mannarino finally won a game early in the third to draw level at 1-1, avoiding a rare "triple bagel" - 6-0 6-0 6-0 - and smiled as the crowd cheered.
Djokovic soon closed out victory, however, and said it had been one of his best performances.
"Yeah, after the first two sets, one of the best I've played in a while," he said. "I really wanted to lose that game in the third set because the tension was building up in the stadium.
"I just needed to get that one out of the way so I could refocus on what I need to do to close out the match. I played great from the first to the last point." REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/tennis/no-triple-bagel-but-djokovic-thumps-mannarino-to-reach-quarters
| 2024-01-21T06:06:34Z
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The scale of NATO's Steadfast Defender 2024 exercises mark an "irrevocable return" of the alliance to Cold War schemes, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told the state RIA news agency in remarks published on Sunday.
NATO said on Thursday it was launching its largest exercise since the Cold War involving some 90,000 troops, rehearsing how U.S. troops could reinforce European allies in countries bordering Russia and on the alliance's eastern flank if a conflict were to flare up with a "near-peer" adversary.
"These exercises are another element of the hybrid war unleashed by the West against Russia," Grushko told RIA.
"An exercise of this scale ... marks the final and irrevocable return of NATO to the Cold War schemes, when the military planning process, resources and infrastructure are being prepared for confrontation with Russia."
NATO did not mention Russia by name in its announcement. But its top strategic document identifies Russia as the most significant and direct threat to NATO members' security.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 in what Kyiv and its Western allies have said was an unprovoked imperialistic land grab.
Moscow, and its chief diplomat Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, have since often accused "the collective West" of conducting a "hybrid war" against Russia by backing Ukraine through financial and military aid. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/natos-steadfast-defender-exercises-mark-return-to-cold-war-schemes-russia-says
| 2024-01-21T06:06:45Z
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WASHINGTON - Nasa has re-established contact with its tiny helicopter on Mars, the US space agency said on Jan 20, after an unexpected outage prompted fears that the hard-working craft had finally met its end.
Ingenuity, a drone about 50cm tall, arrived on Mars in 2021 aboard the rover Perseverance and became the first motorised craft to fly autonomously on another planet.
Data from the helicopter is transmitted via Perseverance back to Earth, but communications were suddenly lost during a test flight on Jan 18, Ingenuity’s 72nd lift-off on Mars.
“Good news today,” Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) wrote on X, formerly Twitter, late on Jan 20.
The agency said that contact had finally been made with the helicopter by commanding Perseverance to “perform long-duration listening sessions for Ingenuity’s signal”.
“The team is reviewing the new data to better understand the unexpected comms dropout during Flight 72,” it added.
Nasa previously said that Ingenuity had attained an altitude of 12 metres on Flight 72, which was a “quick pop-up vertical flight to check out the helicopter’s systems, following an unplanned early landing during its previous flight”.
But during its descent, “communications between the helicopter and rover terminated early, prior to touchdown,” the agency said.
JPL had noted on Jan 19 that Perseverance was temporarily “out of line-of-sight with Ingenuity, but the team could consider driving closer for a visual inspection”.
In a response to a post on X asking if Ingenuity would be able to fly again, JPL said on Jan 20 that “the team needs to assess the new data before that can be determined”.
Nasa has lost contact with the helicopter before, including for an agonising two months last year.
The mini rotorcraft, which weighs just 1.8kg, has far exceeded its original goal of undertaking five flights over 30 days on the red planet.
In all, it has covered just over 17km and reached altitudes of up to 24m.
Its longevity has proved remarkable, particularly considering that it must survive glacially cold Martian nights, kept warm by the solar panels that recharge its batteries during daylight hours.
Working with Perseverance, it has acted as an aerial scout to assist its wheeled companion in searching for possible signs of ancient microbial life. AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/nasa-regains-contact-with-mini-helicopter-on-mars
| 2024-01-21T06:06:55Z
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Prince William and Prince Harry's estranged relationship has very little chance of being mended, royal author Robert Hardman has said whilst in conversation with HELLO!'s A Right Royal Podcast team.
In a special podcast episode, which you can listen to below, Robert reveals that whilst King Charles is open to a reconciliation with his youngest son, one between brothers might be more difficult as Prince William was left “really hurt” by Prince Harry’s revelations in his memoir Spare.
LISTEN: Robert Hardman on why Prince William was 'really hurt' by Harry
“William is a very private man, who guards his family's privacy very, very closely," Robert told hosts Andrea Caamano and Emmy Griffiths and HELLO!’s royal editor Emily Nash. "And so, to have so many tender childhood secrets, stories and conversations just chucked out into the public domain, I think that really hurt.”
He also explains how Harry’s “veiled criticisms of the new Princess of Wales” really affected the heir to the throne.
“I just think that's a tougher obstacle,” Robert says of the road to a reconciliation, though the royal author doesn't rule it out completely.
He adds: “But as we've seen with the royals, all through the years, and all through history - never say never. Things change, they move on, we all adapt to make concessions and get over things.”
In his book, Robert touches upon William and Harry’s relationship and reveals some unknown truths about their brief reunion during the late Queen’s funeral in September 2023, such as William’s kind gesture to his brother despite their strained relationship.
He also clarifies why Prince Harry didn't fly with Prince William and other members of the royal family to Aberdeen, on the day the late Queen died.
Robert writes in his book Charles III New King. New Court. The Inside Story, “Had the Sussexes been that keen to share a flight, they could have asked their staff to contact Prince William’s staff. ‘They had all the numbers,’ says a senior Kensington Palace aide, who is adamant that there was no call from the Sussexes’ camp that morning."
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/511593/prince-william-really-hurt-by-prince-harrys-veiled-criticisms-of-kate/
| 2024-01-21T07:35:07Z
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HENAN - Authorities in central China’s Henan Province on Jan 21 were looking into the cause of a night-time fire that killed 13 schoolchildren as they slept in a dormitory.
The inferno, which took place at the Yingcai School in Yanshanpu village, was reported to the local fire department at 11pm local time on Jan 19 and was put out around 40 minutes later, official news agency Xinhua said.
Thirteen students died in the accident, while one other person suffered injuries.
Dozens of police were in and around a cordoned-off area near the school on Jan 21 morning, AFP journalists saw.
An official at the scene told AFP: “There is an investigation ongoing inside. Nobody can go in.”
Several windows on the side of the school were broken – the only obvious signs of a major accident at the building.
Vertical metal bars covered the school’s windows, AFP saw, while a permanent sign on the building’s facade read: “Enter the kindergarten happily and go home happily.”
A teacher at the school told state-run Hebei Daily that all the victims were from the same third-grade class of nine and 10-year-olds.
On Jan 21 morning, a row of shops next to the school stood mostly shuttered, while a small clinic in a crumbling courtyard building appeared unattended.
A few locals went about their day and a couple of children played as police cars made loops around the cordoned-off area.
Some people passing by Jan 21 morning stared at the scene, and one man at an auto workshop across the street told AFP that he had been unaware of the fire until Jan 20 morning.
Authorities in the area are investigating the fire’s cause, and at least one person linked to the school has been detained, Xinhua reported on Jan 20.
No official explanation of the precise cause of the deadly blaze has yet been provided, although some domestic media reports suggested it was related to an electric heating device.
Yanshanpu village lies on the outskirts of Nanyang, a city of nearly 10 million people about 850 kilometres west of Shanghai.
Little information about the boarding school is publicly available, though social media videos published earlier showed young children including kindergarteners wearing smocks with the school’s logo as well as older children learning calligraphy.
Fires and other deadly accidents are common in China due to lax safety standards and poor enforcement.
In November 2023, 26 people died and dozens were sent to hospital after a fire at a coal company office in northern China’s Shanxi province.
In June 2023, an explosion at a barbecue restaurant in northwestern China left 31 dead and prompted official pledges of a nationwide campaign to promote workplace safety.
In April 2023, a hospital fire in Beijing killed 29 people and forced desperate survivors to jump out of windows to escape. AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/investigation-under-way-after-china-school-fire-kills-13
| 2024-01-21T07:38:07Z
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When Microsoft announced it was baking ChatGPT into its Bing search engine last February, bullish analysts declared the move an “iPhone moment” that could upend the search market and chip away at Google’s dominance.
“The entire search category is now going through a sea change,” chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at the time. “That opportunity comes very few times.”
Almost a year later, the sea has yet to change.
The new Bing – powered by OpenAI’s generative AI technology – dazzled internet users with conversational replies to queries asked in a natural way. But Microsoft’s search engine ended 2023 with just 3.4 per cent of the global search market, according to data analytics firm StatCounter, up less than 1 percentage point since the ChatGPT announcement.
Bing has long struggled for relevance and attracted more mockery than recognition over the years as a serious alternative to Google. Multiple rebrandings and redesigns since its 2009 debut did little to boost Bing’s popularity. A month before Microsoft infused the search engine with generative AI, people were spending 33 per cent less time using it than they had 12 months earlier, according to SensorTower.
The ChatGPT reboot at least helped reverse those declines. In the second quarter of 2023, US monthly active users more than doubled year over year to 3.1 million, according to a Bloomberg Intelligence analysis of SensorTower mobile app data. Overall, users were spending 84 per cent more time on the search engine, the data show. By year-end, Bing’s monthly active users had increased steadily to 4.4 million, according to SensorTower.
To build on the momentum, Microsoft has been adding more AI tools to Bing. In October, the company integrated the latest version of OpenAI’s image-generating model, DALL-E 3. Visitors can use it to create realistic-looking images with simple text prompts.
The offering does nothing to enhance Bing’s search abilities. But its addition generated a spike in usage, according to Microsoft’s corporate vice president of search and AI Jordi Ribas.
“We noticed an increase in usage by 10 times and that took us by surprise because if you think about it, DALL-E 2 was already quite good,” he said in an interview. “It really made a difference in the engagement and the users that came to our product.”
Microsoft’s consumer chief marketing officer Yusuf Mehdi declined to specify how many active users Bing has.
“Look, it’s still early days and new behaviors are being built,” he said. “We’re still learning new things, but have millions and millions of people using the new tools.”
Even as the Bing team adds crowd-pleasers, Google has been racing to develop its own AI tools. In May, it launched an experimental version of its search engine called the “search generative experience,” which delivers conversational responses atop the familiar list of links. Dubbed SGE for short, it’s still not widely available. However, Google plans to embed its most powerful large language model, Gemini, into SGE sometime in 2024.
The Alphabet division also retains considerable advantages. It has more than 90 per cent of the market and is the default search engine on Apple hardware, including iPhones, giving Google crucial critical mass. The more people who use it, the more the search engine knows and the more Google can use that data to deliver and rank results in a way people find useful.
The retooling of search by both technology giants reflects a shared conviction that generative AI will fundamentally change the way people seek and receive answers online. For Microsoft, the shift is an opportunity to propel Bing forward. But the incremental gains so far make clear that buzzy AI features alone probably won’t transform it into a formidable search player.
“We are at the gold rush moment when it comes to AI and search,” said Professor Shane Greenstein, an economist and professor at Harvard Business School, who has studied the commercialisation of the internet. “At the moment, I doubt AI will move the needle because, in search, you need a flywheel: the more searches you have, the better answers are. Google is the only firm who has this dynamic well-established.”
Still, he said Bing, being the underdog, has more latitude to experiment. “Google has to be careful not to hurt its brand and product when it comes to testing new AI tools,” he said. “Bing can afford to take the risk. It has nothing to lose.”
Microsoft is also betting that generative AI will change how advertisers allocate their search spending. The current ad model rests on costs-per-click, but AI-powered searches are getting consumers to answers faster and more directly without a litany of blue links, according to marketing chief Mehdi.
“We have advertisers telling us they’re getting better outcomes as a result of our AI efforts and are deeply interested in how this works,” he said. BLOOMBERG
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/microsoft-s-bing-market-share-barely-budged-with-chatgpt-add-on
| 2024-01-21T07:38:17Z
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Same Same
Dame de Pic/Cie Karine Ponties & Temporary Collective (Belgium and Czech Republic)
Esplanade Theatre Studio
Jan 20, 8pm
Two women in office blazers, skirts and heels, engaging in actions at times mundane, at times ridiculous. Same Same presented a quirky look at the work culture of banality and burnout.
When one entered the theatre, a performer, Petra Tejnorova, was already there, jiving in a corner of the stage.
Apart from her red-wired earphones and brown sports shoes, the stage colours were otherwise black and white. There were straight lines of black tape running across the white floor, giving a sense of industrial monotony.
As audience members settled down, Tejnorova’s arm and body movements gradually expanded, transitioning to cover more stage space. She was soon joined by her co-performer Tereza Ondrova.
The two women’s relationship was a curious mix of antagonism and cooperation.
In their first scene together, they positioned themselves behind a staircase-shaped platform, with only their upper bodies visible.
Eventually, Ondrova started a series of finger movements drumming on the platform surface, with Tejnorova attempting to copy them as quickly as possible. Who they were, why they were there, what they were doing – all these were questions left for audience members to surmise for themselves.
This pattern continued in various iterations throughout the hour-long performance.
At one point, the two women engaged in a competition of sorts, walking in heels around the stage while carrying a wooden board shaped like a briefcase.
At another, Tejnorova supported Ondrova as the latter, body seemingly limp from exhaustion, fell and landed in various contortions.
Their movements created images at once ridiculous and humorous, for example, Tejnorova banging her head against a pile of thin chair pads. She later used them as knee guards while throwing herself down the staircase, to gasps from the audience.
Things degenerated into greater chaos as the performance wore on, with props increasingly strewn around the stage and the women’s office wear becoming dishevelled. The evident growing physical exhaustion of the performers perhaps mirrored the mental state of workers in today’s office culture.
Scene changes were indicated by a sudden, uncomfortably loud buzzer, sometimes accompanied by a flashing green fluorescent light hung upstage centre. At this cue, the performers would abruptly stop whatever they were doing and move on to the next scene. It was not unlike life throwing rude shocks along the way, and people having no choice but to move on.
As the lights went down, the audience was left with a final image of the two women stacked on top of each other, Tejnorova making cycling movements as if they were cartoonish circus performers.
No answers were provided, but it was an image with which to contemplate the absurdity of people’s lives.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/arts/dance-review-same-same-contemplates-absurdity-of-work-culture
| 2024-01-21T07:38:27Z
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SINGAPORE - A former male nurse who allegedly stole banking details from patients in his care, will be charged in court with cheating, theft and unauthorised access to computer material, among others.
The accused, 23, was a Woodlands Health nurse deployed to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital at the time of the offence, police said in a statement on Jan 21.
The nurse was arrested after a former patient at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital discovered multiple unauthorised transactions made using his bank card details and lodged a police report.
While hospitalised, the victim had awoken when he spotted an unknown man rifling through his belongings but could not check on his things as he was in a drowsy state then.
Officers from the Jurong Police Division investigated the matter after the police report was lodged, identified the nurse, and arrested him.
Further investigations revealed that the nurse had allegedly also been involved in more such cases involving other patients of the hospital, with his victims losing more than $12,000, police said.
The man had misused the trust expected of a staff member of a health institution, accessed the banking details of his patients, even through their phones, and so “committed a myriad of offences”, they added.
He faces amalgamated charges of cheating and unauthorised access with intent to commit or facilitate theft, on top of charges of unauthorithised modifications to a computer and unauthorised access to computer material.
If found guilty of cheating, he may be fined and imprisoned up to 10 years.
If found guilty of theft, he may be fined, imprisoned for up to three years, or both.
If found guilty of unauthorised modification of computer material, he may be fined up to $10,000, jailed for up to three years, or both.
If found guilty of unauthorised access to computer material, he may be fined up to $5,000, jailed up to two years, or both.
If found guilty of access with intent to commit or facilitate commission of an offence, he may be fined up to $50,000, jailed up to 10 years, or both.
In September 2023, a 38-year-old nurse from Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital was sentenced to six months’ jail for stealing her colleagues’ debit cards.
She had filched their cards in the staff changing room and used them to buy hotpot and bird’s nest.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/former-nurse-to-be-charged-over-stealing-patients-bank-card-details-to-make-unauthorised-transactions
| 2024-01-21T07:38:38Z
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SINGAPORE – Make family time all the more special with these ideas and activities.
CNY Family Fun
Chinese New Year starts on Feb 10, but you can get your kids pumped up about the Year of the Dragon from Jan 26 to 28 at CNY Family Fun.
Organised by the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre and Singapore Chinese Orchestra at their premises in Shenton Way, the event is themed Engaging Traditions.
At the centre’s concourse, your family can be part of an interactive free performance based on the Chinese folk tale of Nian the monster. Turn up in red outfits to help ward it off.
Make your way to the roof garden for an Instagram-worthy art installation inspired by iconic dragon-themed neighbourhood playgrounds.
You can catch free LED-lit dragon dance shows, try your hand at couplet calligraphy as well as redeem hongbao packets, wall decorations and ice cream.
Do also support the paid activities, such as a storytelling walk and treasure hunt, and shop for apparel and crafts at a bazaar.
Go to str.sg/7nYw for activity details and showtimes.
Dragon’s beard candy-making
Experience the ancient art of crafting dragon’s beard candy with your kid.
The thumb-size traditional treats are delicate threads of malt wrapped around crushed peanuts. Legend has it that they were served to the emperor in the imperial palace during the Qing Dynasty.
Over 1½ hours at Marina Square atrium, you will learn to make it in eight auspicious steps, which start with softening and pulling a hard rock of malt by hand.
Register for the workshop – it runs on Jan 27 and Feb 3, from 3 to 4.30pm – at the mall’s customer service counter.
The fees are $38 for an adult with a child below 12 years old, and include hongbao packets and an ice-cream voucher.
Until Feb 24 at the atrium, you can also pose for photos with 12 adorable Chinese zodiac characters.
Bluey on Disney+
Your family can now watch Bluey on Disney+. Started in 2018, the animated series from Australia follows the canine family of six-year-old Bluey, her four-year-old sister Bingo and their parents.
There are three seasons comprising 150 episodes. The stories are relatable and heart-warming, which is perhaps why many parents enjoy the show too.
In the episode Relax, for instance, Bluey and Bingo get more excited about their hotel room’s bunk bed than hitting the beach during their holiday. And in Show And Tell, Bluey wants to know why Dad is always bossing her around.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/parenting-education/fun-with-kids-cny-family-fun-make-dragon-s-beard-candy-bluey-series
| 2024-01-21T07:38:48Z
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SINGAPORE – When Marco Chua had to pick a company for a work experience programme organised by his school in 2022, he decided on a funeral home as he was curious about what went on behind the scenes.
Even though he had no plans to go into that industry, he was eager to see what soft skills he could learn.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/parenting-education/interning-at-a-funeral-home-students-may-benefit-from-attachments-not-related-to-future-careers
| 2024-01-21T07:38:58Z
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SINGAPORE – I had put off writing about this for more than two years and the reason is a bit silly: I did not want to tempt fate.
You know, that feeling that you will jinx your good luck if you draw attention to it.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/parenting-education/minor-issues-coming-to-terms-with-my-child-s-epilepsy
| 2024-01-21T07:39:09Z
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SINGAPORE - StarHub users complained of log-in issues late on Jan 20, which prevented them from accessing the telco’s TV services.
Several users faced issues which extended until the early hours of Jan 21, with some telling The Straits Times that the incident had also prevented their viewing of English Premier League matches, as they were unable to access any service, and thus could not watch the football games.
The two EPL matches scheduled during the period the StarHub users had complained about were between Arsenal and Crystal Palace (Jan 20, 8.30pm Singapore time), as well as Brentford and Nottingham Forest (Jan 21, 1.30am Singapore time).
At about 12.12am on Jan 21, a StarHub user who wanted to be known only as Ms Lim, said her husband had experienced issues logging on to watch the EPL broadcast, and she had called the StarHub hotline for assistance.
“In the meantime, we tried to change our password, but the link to do so was not working. I waited at least 20 minutes to get technical assistance. Then, when I finally got through, I was told there was an overall problem,” she told ST.
“So we didn’t bother to try again after we were told it was an overall issue.”
Ms Lim added that she asked the StarHub representative if EPL subscribers would be compensated, but he was unable to provide an answer.
A Facebook post from StarHub on Jan 20 – which was the most recent on its page at the time – saw more than 10 complaints regarding such log-in issues.
Facebook user Zack Lim at 1.29am on Jan 21.“Wasted 30 minutes of my life reconnecting all the hardware, restarting, trying to log in, again and again. Then took me more than 30 minutes waiting on the phone line to confirm the server is down!”
Said user Kakao Cheng at 1.09am on Jan 21.“At least post to inform your users that TV services are down. Called StarHub customer care waited for 30 minutes then your agent tells me that there is an issue and to try logging into my TV box tomorrow.”
Several users said they were eventually told by a StarHub representative that there was an issue with the servers, after multiple attempts to rectify their log-in issues via restarting their devices and logging in again as instructed by the telco.
In response to ST’s queries, StarHub said “some users faced intermittent log-in issues” and its team had “provided assistance promptly”.
“There was no disruption to last night’s Premier League Match,” said the telco, adding that “if there are anticipated network issues or scheduled maintenance, we do inform our users in advance”.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/starhub-users-complain-of-log-in-issues-on-jan-20-some-unable-to-watch-epl-matches
| 2024-01-21T07:39:19Z
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MELBOURNE - Australia opener Usman Khawaja looks increasingly likely to play the second test against West Indies in Brisbane this week after completing concussion protocols on Sunday.
The 37-year-old batsman retired hurt on Friday in the final few overs of Australia's thumping 10-wicket victory in the first test after being struck on the helmet by a Shamar Joseph delivery.
"Usman Khawaja continues to progress through protocols following a head impact in the first test match against the West Indies. He completed normal concussion assessments today," the team said in a statement.
"Khawaja will continue to be monitored for any delayed symptoms. He will be reviewed again tomorrow prior to returning to training ahead of the second test match in Brisbane."
Australia will have to find a new opener for the second time in the series if Khawaja is unfit to play when the day-night second test begins on Thursday.
Steve Smith moved up the order to replace David Warner when the veteran opener retired from the format in the wake of the 3-0 series sweep of Pakistan around the New Year.
Barring another positional switch, Matt Renshaw looks most likely to open in Brisbane if Khawaja misses out. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/australias-khawaja-set-to-return-to-training-for-brisbane-test
| 2024-01-21T07:39:29Z
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CALIFORNIA – Nick Dunlap tied the lowest round by an amateur in PGA Tour history on Jan 20, shooting a 12-under 60 to carry a three-shot lead into the final round at The American Express in La Quinta, California.
Dunlap, a 20-year-old sophomore at the University of Alabama, posted 10 birdies and an eagle – on the par-five sixth – at La Quinta Country Club to finish at 27-under 189 through 54 holes.
According to the PGA, four amateurs have won a Tour event since 1940. The last amateur to win on Tour was Phil Mickelson at the 1991 Northern Telecom Open in Tucson, Arizona.
“I made a lot of putts,” Dunlap said after the third round. “The putter felt really good. I don’t think I missed anything that I should have made, per se... I don’t have any negatives after that round. I did everything pretty well.”
The 60 matches the amateur record set by Patrick Cantlay at the Travelers Championship in 2011. The 12-under score relative to par is a new amateur record.
After his round, Dunlap admitted that shooting a 59 did cross his mind.
“On 17, I did (think about it),” he said. “I ran it by, I wasn’t leaving that one short. No – and (caddie) Hunter (Hamrick) mentioned it on 18. He’s like, ‘Let’s go ahead and make this.’ So, no, I did.”
Sam Burns, the leader after two rounds, shot a 7-under 65 on the Stadium Course and sits in second and 24-under 192.
Justin Thomas nearly matched Dunlap’s mark, tying the Stadium Course record with an 11-under 61 to sit in third at 23-under 193. Thomas, who won a national title as a member of the Crimson Tide in 2013, equalled his career high with six straight birdies at one point.
Thomas and Dunlap will be in the final group on Jan 21 (Jan 22, Singapore time), something Thomas knows will draw extra eyes in Tuscaloosa.
“I haven’t played with Nick (on tour), no. We’ve just been in touch and we text from time to time.” Thomas said. “But he’s in college, so we don’t run into each other too much. I know (Alabama golf coach Jay) Seawell will be a very, very happy man, and a very anxious man (on Jan 21), I’m sure.”
South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout shot a 7-under 65 – also on the Stadium Course – to finish the day in fourth, two strokes behind Thomas.
A quintet of players finished Jan 20 tied for fifth at 20-under 196: Eric Cole (shot 66 on the Nicklaus Tournament Course), South Korean Si Woo Kim (66, Stadium Course), Adam Hadwin of Canada (66, La Quinta Country Club), J.T. Poston (64, Nicklaus Tournament Course) and Xander Schauffele (63, Stadium Course).
Meanwhile, English duo Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrrell Hatton have committed to the PGA and DP World Tour, despite interest from the lucrative Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit.
Fleetwood and Hatton both sit in the top 15 of the world rankings and helped Europe to Ryder Cup glory in 2023.
Reigning US Masters champion Jon Rahm joined LIV in December in a deal reportedly worth hundreds of millions of dollars in a huge coup for the upstart tour.
The Spaniard’s move has sparked a frenzy over which other star names could turn their backs on golf’s traditional tours with LIV Golf chief executive Greg Norman promising “more apples falling from the tree.”
However, Fleetwood and Hatton, who are in action at the Dubai Desert Classic, said they are happy to remain where they are for now. REUTERS, AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/golf/nick-dunlap-ties-amateur-record-with-60-at-american-express
| 2024-01-21T07:39:40Z
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MELBOURNE - Taylor Fritz stormed past last year's runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas and into the Australian Open quarter-finals for the first time after beating the Greek seventh seed 7-6(3) 5-7 6-3 6-3 at Melbourne Park on Sunday.
The American 12th seed arrived in Australia having never beaten a top-10 opponent at a Grand Slam and sealed a memorable victory with a clinical performance to equal his best result at a major.
Fritz, a quarter-finalist at last year's U.S. Open and Wimbledon in 2022, sent down 13 aces and 50 winners as Tsitsipas's frustration mounted, and closed out the contest in just over three hours with a backhand winner.
"I was just really trusting my shots," the 26-year-old said in his on-court interview. "I served well the whole match. It just kept me in it and then when I really needed it at the end I just started playing my best tennis."
Fritz's victory came at a cost for his girlfriend Morgan Riddle, who had promised her social media followers she would eat an entire jar of Vegemite on Instagram Live if he won the match.
"My girlfriend thought I was too confident to win the match," Fritz added when he was handed a jar of the Aussie food spread by his on-court interviewer.
"This is a big jar but a bet's a bet. I have tried it, but I'm not the biggest fan so I won't be partaking.
"But I'll make sure it happens." REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/tennis/fritz-stuns-tsitsipas-to-reach-last-eight-in-melbourne
| 2024-01-21T07:39:50Z
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ADDIS ABABA - Thousands of Ethiopian Orthodox followers gathered in the capital Addis Ababa on Friday and Saturday to celebrate Epiphany, also called Timket, a religious festival commemorating Jesus' baptism in the Jordan River.
The annual festival is recognised by UNESCO as an important intangible cultural heritage.
Followers marched from churches to Jan Meda, an open field in the capital, while priests carried tents called tabots, replicas of the Ark of the Covenant that are sacred in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, one of the world's oldest churches.
Students sung hymns as youth ran ahead of the tabots to cover a street with red carpets to show their respects as priests spread incense and sprinkled holy water.
The faithful wearing white traditional fabrics chanted, sang and bowed down before the tabots.
At the gathering on Saturday, Abune Mathias, patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, underscored the significance and symbolism of the day and called for peace, unity and forgiveness.
He also urged Ethiopia's leaders to work and advocate for peace.
"At the moment our fellow citizens: children, elderly, mothers and sisters are waiting to die because of hunger. Our Christian faith will be in question if we keep quiet," he said.
A two-year conflict in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region that ended in November 2022 drove people from their homes, destroyed harvests, leaving widespread hunger in the area.
Although the religious festival was celebrated across the country, in some areas it was disrupted by conflict in the Amhara region.
Gondar, Amhara region's second-biggest city, usually attracts many people during the Timket festival.
But a few days prior to the festival clashes broke out between government forces and Fano, a local militia.
"Many who planned to attend Timket in Gondar have already cancelled their plan," a resident of Gondar told Reuters.
Fano has been battling the army since late July, leading the government to declare a state of emergency in the region. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/ethiopians-celebrate-timket-festival-that-marks-jesus-baptism
| 2024-01-21T07:40:01Z
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Exports of the Korean staple kimchi reached a new high in 2023, amid the climbing popularity of South Korea’s other wildly successful product – K-entertainment.
Outbound shipments of kimchi surged 7.1 per cent to 44,041 tonnes, breaking the previous record set in 2021 when export volume hit 42,544 tonnes, according to data compiled by the Korea Customs Service.
In monetary terms, the traditional Korean side dish made from fermented cabbage brought in US$155.6 million (S$209 million) in 2023, up 10.5 per cent from 2022, reported Korean news outlet Yonhap.
“Kimchi exports experienced a significant surge last year, primarily attributed to the increased popularity of K-content,” an agricultural ministry official said.
Japan was the top importer of kimchi in 2023, accounting for 20,173 tonnes, followed by the United States in second place (10,660 tonnes) and the Netherlands, a distant third (1,756 tonnes).
South Korea also imports kimchi, mostly from China, due to high production costs in the domestic market.
The country reported lower volume of kimchi imports in 2023, valued at US$163.5 million, down 3.4 per cent from the year before.
South Korea finished with a kimchi trade deficit of US$7.95 million.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/kimchi-exports-hit-record-high-in-2023-as-k-entertainment-soars
| 2024-01-21T09:10:29Z
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KABUL – The Russian aviation authorities said on Jan 21 that a Russian-registered plane with six people thought to be on board had disappeared from radar screens over Afghanistan the previous night.
This came after local Afghan police said they had received reports of a crash on Jan 21.
The Russian aviation authorities said in a statement that the plane was a charter ambulance flight travelling from India, via Uzbekistan to Moscow, on a French-made Dassault Falcon 10 jet manufactured in 1978.
The police in northern Afghanistan received reports of a plane crash in Badakhshan province, said a provincial police spokesman on Jan 21.
Mr Zabihullah Amiri, a spokesman for Badakhshan’s provincial government, told Reuters a team had been sent to the location of the crash, but it was a remote area more than 200km away from provincial capital Fayzabad and would take the team 12 hours to reach.
India’s civil aviation authority said that the plane crash was not a scheduled commercial flight or an Indian chartered aircraft and that “more details are awaited”.
It added that the aircraft had initially flown from Thailand, with it stopping to refuel at Gaya Airport in Bihar – a state in east India.
The Afghan provincial police spokesman said in a statement that the crash had taken place overnight in a remote, mountainous region of Badakhshan in Afghanistan’s far north.
He said there were no confirmed details on the type of plane, the cause of the crash or casualties.
Aircraft manufacturer Dassault did not respond immediately to a request for comment outside normal business hours. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-asia/russian-charter-flight-with-6-people-disappears-over-afghanistan-crash-reported
| 2024-01-21T09:10:40Z
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BAD ISCHL, Austria – Eurovision Song Contest 2014 winner Thomas Neuwirth, better known as Conchita Wurst, was a star attraction in the spa town of Bad Ischl on Jan 20.
Singing three songs, including his Eurovision hit Rise Like A Phoenix, the drag queen helped launch a year-long programme of festivities for the Austrian region of Salzkammergut.
The area comprising 23 municipalities is the first rural region to be anointed one of Europe’s Capitals of Culture (ECOC) for 2024.
Bad Ischl, normally a summer attraction for tourists and famed as the favourite getaway of Emperor Franz Joseph I, pulled out the stops for the opening.
Austrian music icon Hubert von Goisern, known for fusing traditional folk music elements such as yodelling and accordions with contemporary rock music, composed a new work for a massive choir of 1,000.
The work, incorporating atonality, yodelling and a traditional brass ensemble, was the opening act at Kurpark Bad Ischl. Residents and visitors began trickling in as early as 3.30pm for the 5pm ceremony.
High art sat comfortably next to low as the programme concluded with Austrian choreographer Doris Uhlich’s Powder Dance. A body-diverse ensemble, including two dancers in wheelchairs, performed naked despite temperatures dipping to minus 4 deg C.
The approximately 5,500-strong crowd rewarded them with some of the loudest cheers of the evening.
The opening ceremony, broadcast live on Austrian television, was accompanied by art installations dotted around the town. There was also a staging of Oscar Straus’ operetta A Woman Who Knows What She Wants as well as a festival club night that offered throbbing live dance music by Austrian acts.
Salzkammergut shares the ECOC title with Estonia’s Tartu and Norway’s Bode in 2024.
The ECOC initiative, launched by the European Union in 1985, aims to highlight the richness and diversity of cultures in Europe. Named cities offer a year-long programme of arts and culture activities.
Salzkammergut has programmed more than 300 projects on a budget of €30 million (S$43.8 million).
Highlights in 2024 include celebrations of Austrian composer Anton Bruckner’s 200th birth anniversary, the reopening of composer Franz Lehar’s newly restored holiday villa in Bad Ischl and Klassik am Dom Linz, a concert series at the New Cathedral in the city of Linz which will feature Norah Jones, Placido Domingo and David Garrett.
- The writer is in Austria on the invitation of the Austrian National Tourist Office.
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| 2024-01-21T09:10:50Z
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NEW YORK – Two Madonna fans are suing the megastar for damages over concerts in New York that started two hours late, accusing her of “flippant difficulty”, court documents show.
Mr Michael Fellows and Mr Jonathan Hadden are suing Madonna, 65, as well as touring giant LiveNation and New York venue the Barclays Center for an unspecified amount over late starts of her Celebration Tour gigs in December 2023.
Both fans had attended the show on Dec 13, but the legal documents note that other nights at the same venue, on Dec 14 and 16, also reportedly started more than two hours late.
“The concerts at the Barclays Center were advertised to start at 8.30pm, but Madonna did not take the stage until after 10.30pm on all three nights, with most concert attendees leaving the Barclays Center after 1.00am,” read the court documents obtained on Jan 19.
“Madonna had demonstrated flippant difficulty in ensuring a timely or complete performance that resulted in the ticket holders waiting for hours for the concerts to begin.
“Others were left stranded in the middle of the night because they missed their arranged ride home or public transportation.”
The complaint, filed in a Brooklyn federal court, alleges that “Madonna has a long history of arriving and starting her concerts late, sometimes several hours late”.
The Barclays Center, LiveNation and a representative for Madonna did not respond to requests for comment.
Madonna was admitted to hospital in June 2023 with a bacterial infection that saw her treated in an intensive care unit.
The illness required Madonna to postpone her near sell-out, 84-date Celebration tour that was due to start July 15, forcing the delay of the New York dates at the centre of the litigation to December.
The sell-out Celebration tour finally kicked off in London on Oct 14, and it was a greatest hits show that included more than 40 songs from her career, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of her breakout single, Holiday (1983). Concert venues included the US, Canada and Europe. The tour is schedule to conclue in April.
The Grammy-winning icon behind classics, including her 1984 hits Like A Virgin and Material Girl, has asserted incalculable influence as one of music’s top stars.
In 2020, she underwent hip replacement surgery following an injury sustained on her Madame X tour. AFP
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| 2024-01-21T09:11:00Z
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SINGAPORE – Local actress Zoe Tay spent a memorable afternoon on Jan 20 when she volunteered at the Lee Ah Mooi Old Age Home in Bukit Merah.
The event, organised by Tay’s fans from Zoe Tay Official FC, was also to celebrate the veteran home-grown star’s 56th birthday on Jan 10.
Tay and her fans treated the nursing home’s residents to chicken rice and donated daily necessities such as milk powder and adult diapers.
The Mediacorp ah jie (big sister in Chinese) entertained the seniors, who used wheelchairs, with songs and got them to join her to do some simple hand actions.
Tay was presented with a birthday cake baked by one of her fans, who shared the same birthday as the My One And Only (2023) actress.
The star thanked her fan club for arranging the event on Instagram Stories.
“Thank you all for planning and having a meaningful birthday party with me where I can help spread joy to the uncles and aunties,” Tay wrote.
She recently sent her eldest son Brayden off to Pulau Tekong, where the 18-year-old began his basic military training on Jan 2. Her husband is former Royal Singapore Air Force pilot Philip Chionh.
The mother of three – she has two other sons, Ashton, 16, and Nathan, 13 – shared on Instagram on Jan 3 that it was Brayden’s rite of passage to go from “ah boy to man”.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/zoe-tay-celebrates-birthday-with-residents-at-lee-ah-mooi-old-age-home
| 2024-01-21T09:11:11Z
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SINGAPORE - A 49-year-old man was arrested and taken to the hospital on Jan 20 after he had allegedly armed himself with a knife in public and climbed onto the roof of a connecting sheltered walkway in a Housing Board estate.
The police said they received a call for assistance at Block 623 Hougang Avenue 8 at 8.05pm on Jan 20.
Preliminary investigations show that after the man had allegedly armed himself with a knife in public, he returned to his home at Block 626 Hougang Avenue 2, said the police. He refused to allow police officers to enter his flat.
He later armed himself with a chopper and a frying pan, then climbed onto the kitchen ledge before making his way to the roof of a connecting sheltered walkway, said the police, who added that the man was naked.
“As it was assessed that the man might pose a danger to himself, officers from the Special Operations Command, Crisis Negotiation Unit and Singapore Civil Defence Force responded to the incident,” said the police.
Shin Min Daily News reported that a resident recounted that the man was holding a knife and loitering near a coffee shop.
The resident also said that the man was covered in blood, likely due to scratches by the tree branches which he tried to hide near while on the roof of the sheltered walkway.
After a three-hour standoff, at about midnight, the man was finally subdued, according to Shin Min.
The police said the man was secured after he fell from the roof of the sheltered walkway.
He was subsequently arrested for possession of an offensive weapon, appearing nude in public, and was apprehended under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act.
He suffered minor injuries and was conscious when taken to the hospital.
No other person was injured in the incident. Police investigations are ongoing.
The Straits Times has contacted the Singapore Civil Defence Force for more information.
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| 2024-01-21T09:11:21Z
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WASHINGTON – Damian Lillard “got into a rhythm” and scored a season-high 45 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo added 31 to lead the Milwaukee Bucks over the National Basketball Association’s doormats, the Detroit Pistons, 141-135 on Jan 20.
Lillard, who arrived from Portland in a pre-season trade, had 11 assists and made 12-of-22 shots from the floor, five-of-11 from three-point range, and hit all 16 of his free throw attempts.
“When the game started, I felt like I had a good warm-up, a good rhythm to the game,” Lillard said. “Saw a couple shots go in and I just felt good.”
His coach Adrian Griffin added: “Dame was so great tonight, and he was competing on both sides of the ball. I had no idea he had 45, but he’s a rhythm player and he definitely got into a rhythm out there. He made big shots, and that’s why he’s on this team.”
Lillard became the first player in Bucks history with 40 or more points, 10 or more assists and five three-pointers in a single game and did so three nights after Milwaukee were thumped 135-95 on the road by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“I knew it was an important game. I picked my spots. I moved the ball when I needed to move it. I attacked when I needed to attack,” Lillard said. “I’ve been slowly getting back to how I play more naturally and tonight was one of those nights.”
Greek star Antetokounmpo added 10 rebounds, nine assists, two steals and a blocked shot for visiting Milwaukee, who improved to 29-13, three games behind the Boston Celtics for the Eastern Conference lead.
Said Griffin: “Giannis was big on both ends. He got us some stops at the start of the second half and he was aggressive with the ball and getting to the rim. When he draws fouls, he gets us to the bonus faster than a lot of teams, and that’s invaluable.”
Alec Burks scored 33 points off the bench, hitting seven-of-14 three-point shots, to lead Detroit, who fell to a league-worst 4-38.
Said Pistons coach Monty Williams: “Burks has been phenomenal... His ability to score the ball and communicate with the young guys on the floor have helped us a ton.”
But he added: “It’s hard to play defence when a team has (49) free throws. I feel bad for our team because we’re trying to play good basketball and good defence.”
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid had his 20th consecutive game since mid-November with at least 30 points, scoring 33 while grabbing 10 rebounds for Philadelphia in a 97-89 victory at Charlotte.
The Cameroonian star sank 11-of-23 shots from the floor and 11-of-12 from the free throw line with five assists and three blocked shots for the 76ers.
Said Charlotte coach Steve Clifford: “He’s a brutal guy to defend.”
Miles Bridges led the Hornets with 25 points and 11 rebounds.
In Minnesota, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 33 points to power the Oklahoma City Thunder over the Timberwolves 102-97, lifting the visitors (29-13) to within a game of the host Timberwolves (30-12) for the Western Conference lead.
A Gilgeous-Alexander three with 74 seconds remaining gave the Thunder a 96-94 lead. Rudy Gobert sank a free throw for Minnesota but Jalen Williams made four free throws in the final 15 seconds to seal Oklahoma City’s victory.
In New York, Jalen Brunson scored a game-high 38 points while Julius Randle added a triple-double with 18 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists to lead Knicks over the Toronto Raptors 126-100.
In Washington, French rookie star Victor Wembanyama scored a game-high 24 points, pulled down eight rebounds, blocked six shots and had four assists to spark the San Antonio Spurs over the Wizards 131-127.
The 20-year-old, 2.24m centre was the top pick in last year’s NBA Draft and his seven points led a closing 22-6 run over the final five minutes by the Spurs (8-34) to defeat the Wizards (7-34) in a match-up of the NBA’s second- and third-worst clubs.
“His whole game was fantastic,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of Wembanyama. “His rebounding, his shot – it ain’t pretty but it goes in more than most of our guys. He does a hell of a job in a lot of ways at both ends of the court.”
Meanwhile, Turkish centre Alperen Sengun had game highs of 37 points and 14 rebounds to spark the Houston Rockets over visiting Utah Jazz 127-126 in overtime.
Sengun’s two free throws with 20 seconds remaining sent the game into overtime at 115-115 and his three-point play with 52 seconds left in overtime lifted the Rockets level at 126-126.
Jabari Smith put Houston ahead with a free throw and Utah’s Jordan Clarkson, who led the Jazz with 33 points, missed a jumper on the final shot to give the Rockets the victory.
In Atlanta, Donovan Mitchell and reserve Sam Merrill each scored 18 points to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers over the Hawks 116-95.
DeMar DeRozan scored 18 points and Ayo Dosunmu added 20 off the bench to lead Chicago in a 125-96 home victory over Memphis. AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/basketball/damian-lillard-s-45-points-spark-milwaukee-bucks-to-win-joel-embiid-s-33-lift-philadelphia-76ers
| 2024-01-21T09:11:31Z
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TORONTO - Dricus du Plessis outpointed Sean Strickland to claim a split-decision win and the UFC middleweight title at UFC 297 at the Scotiabank Arena on Saturday, becoming South Africa's first world champion in the promotion.
In the co-main event, Raquel Pennington came on strong over the final two rounds to secure a unanimous decision win over Mayra Bueno Silva to take the vacant women's bantamweight crown.
Despite some stiff jabs from Strickland, who won the belt in September with a huge upset of Israel Adesanya, Du Plessis had the better of the opening exchanges.
The 30-year-old continued to push the American back in the subsequent rounds but while he enjoyed plenty of success with takedowns he could not keep Strickland on the mat for any length of time.
Du Plesis continued to mix up his striking, aiming thudding kicks to the body and landing several left high kicks to keep Strickland guessing.
With a stream of blood running from a cut on his left eye, Strickland opened up late in the final round with a series of huge punches but was unable to find a finish and the fight went to the judges' scorecards.
Du Plessis earned the split decision victory and sank to his knees in tears before thanking his coaches.
"I honestly thought with the takedowns, I made sure in every round. I could feel it was a close one, I definitely gave him the first round," a triumphant Du Plesis said in a post-fight interview before calling out former champ Adesanya. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/combat-sports/mixed-martial-arts-du-plessis-outpoints-strickland-to-take-ufc-middleweight-title
| 2024-01-21T09:11:42Z
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FLORIDA – New Zealand’s Lydia Ko carded a four-under 68 on Jan 20 to remain atop the leaderboard after three rounds at the Tournament of Champions in Orlando, Florida.
World No. 12 Ko entered the day in a tie for first with Ayaka Furue of Japan before playing bogey-free golf while tallying four birdies at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club. She now sits in sole possession of first at 12-under 204.
“I was able to attack pins and not get worried about am I going to miss the fairway or not,” Ko said. “I may not execute it the way that I want to, but I felt comfortable and really good out there.”
World No. 25 Furue struggled on Jan 20, posting a one-over 73 to slip into a tie for fourth.
Alexa Pano (67 on Jan 20) is two strokes off the lead in second, while Ally Ewing (68) sits in third at 8-under 208 through 54 holes.
Joining Furue in fourth are Scotland’s Gemma Dryburgh and Mexico’s Gaby Lopez, who each fired one-under 71s.
After making par on each of the first seven holes, Ko started to heat up, sinking back-to-back birdies at the par-four eighth and the par-five ninth.
She picked up her last two birdies at Nos. 11 and 14 to put herself 18 holes away from her first victory on the LPGA Tour since November 2022, when she won the Tour Championship. She has 19 LPGA Tour wins.
The former world No. 1 has not had a bogey since picking one up in the first round at the par-three 17th.
“I played solid these past few days. It’s just great to kind of feel these nerves and excitement. I think because I am at home in ways, maybe the nerves are a little less than if I was somewhere else,” said Ko, who currently resides in Orlando. “I’m excited for (Jan 21).”
Meanwhile, Pano finished with five birdies en route to her first career bogey-free round on the LPGA Tour.
“I didn’t know what was my first one ever. I know I’ve been close a few times and bogeyed coming down the stretch,” Pano said.
“I’m having a great time. I don’t know if anyone is having more fun than me. I’ve been playing pretty solid all week, even when I struggled today I was able to keep it together, so just staying positive, having a good time and sticking to my game plan.”
England’s Charley Hull (70), Rose Zhang (70) and Canadian Brooke M. Henderson (71) are in a tie for seventh, while Megan Khang (69), Marina Alex (70) and Cheyenne Knight (71) are tied for 10th, seven strokes back from Ko.
Japan’s Mone Inami had the low round of the day with a six-under 66. With that, she climbed 11 spots on the leaderboard into a tie for 23rd. REUTERS, AFP
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| 2024-01-21T09:11:52Z
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SINGAPORE – Sore arms, calloused palms and blistered hands are par for the course in kayaking. But beyond the scars that remain long after the races, Singapore kayaker Stephenie Chen also had to endure the anguish of missing out on an Olympic spot by less than a second – twice.
In a bid to banish those demons, the 32-year-old has been hard at work on the Gold Coast in Australia as she prepares for the April 18-21 Asian Canoe Sprint Olympic Qualifiers in Tokyo.
Two quota places – up from just one at the last qualifiers – are up for grabs as kayakers seek qualification for the Paris Games.
At the Asian Olympic qualifiers in Pattaya in May 2021, Chen missed out on a quota spot in the women’s singles K1 500m by just 0.938sec. She was second in 1min 54.649sec, with the winner, Kazakhstan’s Natalya Sergeyeva, clinching the sole spot.
It went even more agonisingly close a day later in the K1 200m, with a mere 0.067sec standing between her and a ticket to the Tokyo Olympics.
She was third in 40.325sec, behind Kazakhstan’s Inna Klinova (40.123sec) and Japan’s Yuka Ono (40.258sec). As Kazakhstan had already clinched an Olympic spot, Ono claimed the K1 200m quota spot.
On the double whammy of 2021, Chen said: “It just made me a bit angrier. It made me really want to do better the next time. I missed out on both events by one place so that was not fun.
“But I know that you can have losses, and that makes the wins a lot better. It did hurt but I took learning lessons from all of my races and tried to improve.”
The improvement brought about a historic achievement in Hangzhou last October, when Chen won a historic Asian Games silver.
“The performance at the Asian Games just shows me that I’m on the right track. But you don’t want to count your chickens before they hatch and Asia always has surprises. It is not a shoo in for me to qualify but the chances are good,” said Chen, who is looking to qualify in the K1 500m.
Singapore canoeist Lucas Teo is in the same boat, not literally, but the 33-year-old is as determined to book his maiden Olympic spot.
As part of his preparation for April’s qualifiers, Teo competed in the Singapore Canoe Marathon at the Sports Hub Water Sports Centre, where close to 800 participants competed in the two-day event.
While he is looking to secure an Olympic spot in the men’s K1 1,000m, competing in the marathon allowed him to have a winning experience as he clinched the men’s K1 28km event in 2hr 18min 9sec on Jan 20, ahead of 22 competitors.
Like Chen, Teo’s confidence was boosted at the Asiad, where he finished fifth out of nine in 3min 56.235sec, less than five seconds behind the bronze medallist.
A year earlier, Teo had won his second individual SEA Games canoeing gold – seven years after his first – in the men’s K1 1,000m in Hanoi.
Teo, who has been part of the national team since he was 16, said the difference between him and his Asiad rivals was power and strength. To close the gap, he has religiously hit the gym to beef up, while balancing his day job as a canoe coach.
Asked about his qualification chances, he said: “I will only truly know when I’m at the start line. But I am tracking my progress and working on weaknesses like my power and strength so that I will have a good chance.
“Every single competition I have had gives me more experience. So, I’m always improving and I’m always getting better.”
National canoe coach Bill Lee is confident of Singapore securing an Olympic spot for the first time since London 2012, when Geraldine Lee clinched a K1 500m spot to become the Republic’s first Olympic canoeist.
Lee said: “Stephenie’s showing at the Asian Games gives us confidence but we also do not want to be complacent. The key is to continue to do what works and build on the success.
“For our men’s, Lucas’ timing in Hangzhou was positive and very close to the top three. These performances have been encouraging but qualifying for the Olympics is really not an easy feat.
“In Steph’s case, she missed by a hair’s breadth previously... you also sometimes need luck to be on your side.”
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| 2024-01-21T09:12:03Z
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MELBOURNE - Novak Djokovic flirted with a rare "triple bagel" and Aryna Sabalenka produced yet another powerful performance as the defending champions swept into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Sunday.
American fourth seed Coco Gauff also rattled through her match in double quick time and while she was only on court for an hour, the U.S. Open champion showed she has all the weapons to win a second Grand Slam title.
Djokovic, playing in an unfamiliar rare daytime match, blanked Adrian Mannarino in the opening two sets and threatened to become only the sixth player to win 6-0 6-0 6-0 in the main draw of a Grand Slam.
However, the Frenchman salvaged some pride in the third set, leaving Djokovic with a 6-0 6-0 6-3 victory, the Serb's 32nd straight match win at his favourite stomping ground.
It also earned the world number one a 58th Grand Slam quarter-final berth, equalling the all-time record of Swiss maestro Roger Federer.
Djokovic said he was almost glad when Mannarino got on the board in the third set.
"I almost felt like it's good to give away the game, just to be able to reset and refocus, because the tension was growing as the match progressed without him winning a game," he told reporters.
"Of course, it's tough for him, but also for me to be able to not think about that ... I was happy that got that out of the way, 1-1 third set, then focused on what I need to do to close out the match."
The Serb next meets Taylor Fritz after the American beat last year's runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(3) 5-7 6-3 6-3 to reach the last eight for the first time.
'PRETTY EASY'
While Djokovic is seeking an 11th Australian Open title and 25th Grand Slam overall to surpass Margaret Court, Sabalenka is a defending major champion for the first time and the second seed was full of confidence after beating Amanda Anisimova 6-3 6-2.
The field lost top seed Iga Swiatek on Saturday and Sabalenka will fancy her chances even more as she bids to become the first woman to retain the Melbourne Park title since fellow Belarusian Victoria Azarenka in 2012-13.
"I think I feel stronger than last year," said Sabalenka, who is yet to drop a set and takes on 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva or ninth seed Barbora Krejcikova in the next round.
"So far I feel good. Hopefully I can keep it up."
Gauff is also new to the Grand Slam winners' club after her home triumph at the U.S. Open and the American was happy to sail through without having to endure the same kind of "dogfights" she faced at Flushing Meadows.
The 19-year-old outclassed unseeded Pole Magdalena Frech 6-1 6-2 in only 63 minutes for her ninth straight victory after she successfully defended her Auckland title this month.
"I don't feel uncooked at all. I would love for every match to go pretty easy. I know that's not the case," Gauff said.
"Yeah, at the U.S. Open, every match I won was like pretty much a dogfight. I don't know if that's the ideal way to win a slam because you have to last seven matches.
"I think I had the physical and mental ability to do that."
Up next for the American is Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk, who eased past Russian Maria Timofeeva 6-2 6-1.
Fourth seed Jannik Sinner is facing Russian Karen Khachanov with the winner set to play either local hope Alex de Minaur or fifth seed Andrey Rublev, who square off in the evening session. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-21T09:12:23Z
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MELBOURNE - Jannik Sinner was far from his best but found a way to come out on top in the key moments as he reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open with a 6-4 7-5 6-3 win over Karen Khachanov on Sunday.
The Italian fourth seed, widely tipped as a title contender after a scorching finish to last season, had stormed into the fourth round without really being tested but knew he had been in a match on a blustery Margaret Court Arena.
"Usually when we play it's a tough match, he's an incredible player, I tried to stay focused, mentally and physically," Sinner said.
"Every match has its own story. Today I won so I'm very happy. We have quite a similar game style, so it's a kind of ping-pong. I tried to mix it up a bit today."
Khachanov, a Melbourne semi-finalist in 2023, should have been the first player to take a set off Sinner this year as the Italian struggled with his serve early in the match.
The Russian 15th seed earned 10 break points over the first two sets but, partly through his own mistakes and partly through fine clutch serving from Sinner, failed to convert all but one.
Sinner, by contrast, clinically drove home his advantage on all three of the break chances he carved out and went two sets up with his eighth ace after nearly two hours on court.
The 22-year-old was unable to relax, however, knowing that Khachanov had come from two sets down to beat him in their only previous Grand Slam meeting at the 2020 U.S. Open.
Sinner is a different player three years on and looked comfortable going toe-to-toe with Khachanov in the power stakes, while also trying out the drop shots that new coach Darren Cahill has brought to his game.
Khachanov did manage to save three break points in the third set but when he gave up the fourth with a wild forehand to go 4-3 down, the writing was on the wall for the Russian's campaign.
Sinner played his best tennis in the final two games, adding a couple more winners to his final tally of 46 and moving onto a meeting with Andrey Rublev or Alex de Minaur in his second visit to the Melbourne Park quarter-finals. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-21T09:12:34Z
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ADELAIDE – Welshman Stephen Williams surged away from his rivals to win the sixth stage up Mount Lofty and claim Australia’s Tour Down Under crown in the WorldTour season opener in Adelaide on Jan 21.
Three riders were in the final general classification mix in the summit finish but Williams (Israel-Premier Tech) dashed clear in the final 250 metres to beat Ecuador’s Jhonatan Narvaez (Ineos Grenadiers) and Mexican Isaac del Toro Romero (UAE Team Emirates).
Williams, who was tied with Scotland’s Oscar Onley on time but led the race on countback after the penultimate stage, made certain of his overall victory with his determined finish to the 128-kilometre final stage and the day’s third climb up the 710-metre Mount Lofty.
The composed Welshman completed the race in a time of 19 hours 13 minutes 34 seconds over the six stages totalling 824.6km, and had nine seconds to spare over Narvaez, with earlier ochre jersey leader Del Toro Romero third 11 seconds behind the lead.
Williams became the first British winner in the 24th staging of the Tour Down Under.
“Everything goes through your mind when you cross the line. Just how hard this sport is and to win races, they don’t come around very often,” Williams said.
“To do it here in Australia, the first world tour race of the season, is fantastic.”
Williams stayed on the wheels of his rivals until he pounced and neither Narvaez nor Del Toro Romero could match his finishing pace.
“That finish is perfect for me. It’s so punchy,” he said. “I’ve got a knack of being able to hold and hold and luckily I was able to get back on the wheel, read the situation and capitalise, opened up with 250 to go.
“Everyone’s legs were dead by then, so I thought if I got the jump, then I’d be in with a good chance.
“What a stage, so over the moon. Just really proud to come down here to start the season like this on the front foot and head back to Europe and continue on.”
Onley, who won fifth stage up the famed Willunga Hill on Jan 20 narrowly from Williams, finished 21st in Jan 21’s stage to be fourth overall for his dsm-firmenich PostNL team – 20 seconds behind Williams with Dutchman Bart Lemmen (Team Visma) fifth.
France’s double world champion Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-Quick Step) finished sixth overall just ahead of Britain’s Simon Yates (Team Jayco-AlUla), both 33 seconds behind.
The points classification was won by Australia’s triple-stage winner Sam Welsford (Bora-hansgrohe) with the mountain classification going to Luke Burns (Australian National Team). AFP
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| 2024-01-21T09:12:44Z
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A fire at a terminal of Russia's largest liquefied natural gas producer Novatek on the Baltic Sea was caused by two explosions, the state RIA news agency reported on Sunday, citing local officials.
The agency said that the fire has since been contained to a 100-cubic-metre fuel depot. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-21T09:12:54Z
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Andy Murray has found the silver lining of leaving the first round of the Australian Open in Melbourne earlier this week – getting time to spend more time with his four children, Sophia, Edie, Teddie and Lola.
The Wimbledon champ, who shares four children with wife Kim Murray, posted a hilarious photo of himself to Instagram dressed up in a wizard hat and red sparkly waistcoat on Sunday morning.
Andy, who was defeated by Argentinian tennis player Tomas Martin Etcheverry on Monday, wrote: “One of the huge advantages to losing in the first round of @australianopen is getting to play Harry Potter dress up at 5.30am on a Sunday with my daughters. Dumbedad.”
Fans were quick to rally behind the former world No.1, commenting: “Love it! You’re a legend” while another wrote: “Spending time with your children, that’s something no amount of trophies can ever be better than.”
One fan cheekily quipped: “Which house did you sort into?”
Earlier in the week, Andy hinted that this may be his final Australian Open tournament. "It's a definite possibility that will be the last time I play here. I think probably because of how the match went and everything,” he said in a press conference. “While you're playing the match, you're obviously trying to control your emotions, focus on the points and everything. When you're one point away from the end, you're like, 'I can't believe this is over so quickly, and like this.’”
The 36-year-old added: "In comparison to the matches that I played here last year, it's the complete opposite feeling walking off the court. I wish I involved the crowd more. Just disappointed with the way I played and all of that stuff. (It's a) tough, tough way to finish."
Andy, a three-time grand slam winner, recently opened up about plans to retire, revealing: "I haven't made any definite decisions on that. Yeah, it's obviously something that I need to think about and see exactly when that is."
He continued: "I have spoken to my team about it. I've spoken to my family about it multiple times. It's not like it hasn't been something that's been on my mind."
Tennis aside, Andy has plenty to keep him busy, with his four young children; Sophia, born in 2016, Edie, born in 2017, four-year-old son Teddie and Lola, two. The Scottish sportsman is a self-confessed family man, with his wife Kim Sears often sitting courtside during his matches.
The couple, who relocated from a £5M home in Oxshott, Surrey, to Leatherhead last year, married in 2015 at Dunblane Cathedral after dating for 10 years.
The doting dad even revealed that his eldest daughter, Sophia, is already following in his footsteps. "My eldest daughter plays tennis once a week and if she wanted to I'd be happy – but at their ages, it's important to be doing stuff with their friends," he told The Mirror.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/healthandbeauty/mother-and-baby/511741/andy-murray-cute-parenting-confession-after-australian-open-exit/
| 2024-01-21T10:39:24Z
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SEOUL – With Seoul quickly becoming a centre of luxury spending, even when compared to cities like London and Paris, global luxury powerhouses are flocking to the city to launch gourmet programmes at their flagship stores as part of their efforts to cement their loyal fan base, as well as attract new buyers.
Industry insiders say such high-end gourmet experiences allow customers to enjoy a unique atmosphere that incorporates the diversity and identity of each brand.
Woori Louis Vuitton
The French luxury brand kicked off its latest pop-up restaurant on Nov 17, 2023, in collaboration with the “godmother” of Korean cuisine Cho Hee-sook, of modern Korean restaurant Hansikgonggan.
Woori Louis Vuitton is serving Korean cuisine, a first for the brand, through Feb 8.
Also participating in the pop-up restaurant are renowned contemporary Korean chefs Cho Eun-hee and Park Sung-bae of Onjium, Kang Min-goo of Mingles, and Korean-French-inspired dessert boutique Lysee’s pastry chef Lee Eun-ji.
“Woori... unveils an authentic, gastronomic experience that puts Korean culture, history and national pride at its forefront,” Louis Vuitton said in a statement.
Located in the affluent Cheongdam-dong neighborhood in southern Seoul, Woori is set inside the Louis Vuitton Maison Seoul, designed by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry, who focused on building with natural elements in earthy tones, traditional Korean textures, and a soft colour palette of ivory, white and blue.
Address: 4th floor, Louis Vuitton Maison Seoul, 454, Apgujeong-ro, Gangnam-gu
Price: 280,000 won (S$281) for lunch, 340,000 won for dinner
Opening hours: 11.30am to 9.30pm, daily except Monday
Gucci Osteria Seoul
Joining the flagship Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura in Florence, Italy, and other locations in Los Angeles and Tokyo, Gucci’s fourth global restaurant opened in Seoul in March 2022.
Located on the top floor of the Gucci Gaok flagship store in Itaewon, Yongsan-gu, this contemporary restaurant infuses creativity, elegance, playfulness and sensuality into traditional Italian cuisine.
The menu was created by internationally acclaimed chef Massimo Bottura, the owner and chef of the three-Michelin-starred Osteria Francescana, and Karime Lopez, executive chef of Gucci Osteria Florence, together with the restaurant’s executive chef,Jun Hyung-kyu and head chef Davide Cardellini.
The restaurant’s distinctive dishes include the signature Emilia burger, made with hanwoo (Korean beef) and tortellini with parmigiano reggiano cream, alongside the Seoul garden salad.
Gucci Osteria’s outpost in Seoul also has a culinary concept that follows the seasons, according to Gucci.
“There is an invisible thread that runs through each of the Gucci Osteria globally, one that entwines Italian food with the food and produce of other great global cuisines. Korea, like Italy, embraces its food as part of its culture,” said Chef Bottura.
Address: 6th floor, Gucci Gaok, 223, Itaewon-ro, Yongsan-gu
Price: A la carte dishes are priced between 26,000 won and 39,000 won each, while prix fixe dining is priced between 130,000 won and 180,000 won.
Opening hours: Noon to 10pm, daily
Dior Cafe Seongsu
In addition to Cafe Dior, which opened on the fifth floor of Dior’s flagship boutique in Cheongdam-dong in 2015, Dior Seongsu, a concept store that will only operate through 2025, has become a new hot spot for a special cafe experience.
Dior Seongsu, which opened in May 2022, became the talk of the town for its building inspired by the Christian Dior flagship store at 30 Montaigne in Paris. Guests would feel like they are walking into Montaigne Avenue in Paris, as Dior Seongsu is filled with colorful flowers, green trees and grass, a la a fairy tale-like French garden.
Owned and run entirely by Dior, Dior Cafe offers drinks, desserts and a simple brunch in a posh setting. An Americano is priced at 19,000 won and comes with three mini macarons. The cheapest drink at the cafe is a single espresso, at 18,000 won.
The cafe’s must-try menu items are the Dior signature cafe latte (20,000 won) and the Cafe au chocolat (24,000 won), which is decorated with Dior’s signature “star” symbol.
Address: 7 Yeonmujang 5-gil, Seongdong-gu
Price: 18,000 won to 24,000 won
Opening hours: 11am to 8pm, daily
THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/luxury-brand-flagship-stores-are-now-gourmet-hot-spots
| 2024-01-21T10:43:09Z
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SEOUL – Mr Choi Seung-hoon, 32, a regular patron of self-service venues in South Korea, recently broadened his experiences in unstaffed shops by purchasing a takeaway sashimi dinner set at one.
“I usually eat alone,” he told The Korea Herald at Sea Fridge, an unmanned sashimi store near Sangwangsimni Station, central Seoul, as he looked through the glass refrigerator door at a selection of vacuum-packed, aged fish, mostly in packages with one or two servings.
“I think this is good because I can buy sashimi without going to seafood markets or raw fish restaurants.”
Mr Choi’s choice was a 150g serving of yellowtail sashimi, priced at 15,000 won (S$15).
Unstaffed retail is well-established in South Korea, with many neighbourhood convenience stores now operating without any employees during the night. But recently, there has been a noticeable expansion and diversification, with young entrepreneurs bringing the concept into traditional sectors such as fish markets, butchers, clothing stores and pet shops.
There is no comprehensive data on the number of unstaffed retail spaces nationwide, but a recent survey by the National Fire Agency from 2022 to 2023 showed that there were at least 6,300 such establishments.
Appeal of unstaffed stores
The owner of the sashimi store near Sangwangsimni Station, Mr Kang Dong-yoon, 34, runs a total of three shops under the Sea Fridge brand.
To compete with traditional sashimi restaurants, which often display live fish in water tanks, unstaffed stores must ensure the freshness of their food, he said.
To do this, Mr Kang procures fish three times a week through auctions at Noryangjin Fish Market, the largest seafood market in Seoul. He films the process and shares it on the shop’s Instagram page.
Managing his three sashimi outlets takes him about 10 hours a week.
“This includes everything from fish procurement to slicing, packaging, shop display and maintenance,” he said.
Mr Kang, who has 10 years of experience in running a franchise business, now plans to open another unstaffed shop, a butcher shop, also by himself.
A clothing shop owner, Ms Lee So-in, 34, said the primary benefit of self-service retail is the flexibility it affords merchants in managing their time.
Her shop, My Sassy Fairy, in Gimpo, Gyeonggi province, opened as a conventional store with a human clerk – herself – in early 2023. In the summer, it became an unstaffed store because Ms Lee needed to care for her baby. Now, she works at the shop only once a week to restock clothes and accessories.
The switch, however, did not have a meaningful impact on sales, which stayed more or less the same.
“I lost some regular customers who enjoyed chatting with me, but at the same time, I gained new customers,” she said. “It seems that in the absence of shop staff, customers feel more comfortable trying on different clothes.”
According to a survey by research firm Embrain, which polled 1,000 people, 71.9 per cent of the respondents said they had visited unstaffed stores. Of these, about 80 per cent expressed their willingness to visit them again. The primary reason for their positive response was the elimination of the need to interact with service personnel.
Ms Go Ye-eun, 37, who was shopping at unstaffed store Fredit in Yongsan, Seoul, resonated with the survey’s findings.
She appreciated not having to deal with “nunchi” – having to read subtle signs of judgment from shop staff – particularly when making minor purchases, like a pack of chewing gum costing less than 1,000 won, with her credit card, or when leaving the store without purchasing anything.
“Besides, the products (at unstaffed stores) are more diverse and less expensive,” she said.
Human touch still necessary
Shop owners said that while they do not meet customers face to face, it is still important for them to stay attuned to customers’ needs and engage them through other channels.
Mr Park Seung-min, 34, who operates unstaffed pet supply store Sugar Pet in Seoul, continually studies the latest trends in the pet industry to keep his store’s offerings up to date.
Since 99 per cent of his customers are women in their 20s and 30s, Mr Park tries to provide a pleasant shopping experience for this particular demographic.
Decorated in pink and white, his shop features a special section dedicated to shoppers and their furry friends. One wall is adorned with messages on Post-it notes from shoppers, while a screen displays photos of their pet dogs.
“I also try to post many messages on Instagram about new products to compensate for the lack of personal interaction,” he said.
Clothing shop owner Lee So-in said that even in unstaffed stores, there is no such thing as a fully self-service system.
“Regular maintenance is crucial,” Ms Lee said. “Without it, the lack of human oversight becomes apparent very quickly.”
She visits her store daily to tidy up. While most customers are considerate and try to keep things orderly, there are instances of carelessness, like hangers lying on the floor or clothes hanging haphazardly. Without someone minding the store, items can be mishandled, leading to potential damage such as tears in delicate materials or make-up stains on clothing.
Although not very often, there are times when human assistance is required.
Ms Go Ye-eun once experienced a kiosk error: A product tagged at 2,000 won was charged as 3,000 won at the kiosk. Similarly, Sang-woo, a 27-year-old who frequents unstaffed cafes and convenience stores near his university, recounted an incident at an unstaffed coffee shop where a machine error resulted in a 20-minute wait for a refund.
Dealing with theft
The primary challenge facing owners of unstaffed shops is theft.
Shops that operate by allowing entry only through credit card verification at the door experience minimal incidents. However, stores like ice cream shops or convenience stores, whose customers are often too young to own a card, tend to not have the requirement and face a higher rate of theft.
According to police data, there were 6,018 reported cases of theft in unstaffed shops in 2022, a 71.25 per cent increase from the previous year. The uptick in crime is particularly notable among teenagers.
Data analysis by security management firm S-1 Corp, covering the period between 2020 and 2022, revealed that teenagers accounted for the largest proportion of theft cases at 34.8 per cent. The methods of theft varied, ranging from customers concealing products and leaving the store undetected to shop visitors deliberately omitting payment for items.
Many unstaffed shop owners resort to posting images captured from security footage of theft incidents on their store walls, accompanied by warning signs. However, some are reluctant to adopt this approach, mindful of the potentially negative effect these messages might have on the atmosphere in their store.
Ms Lee recounted one incident of theft in her clothes shop.
While checking the store surveillance cameras, she spotted someone taking clothes without paying. The same individual returned five days later and stole clothes again, seemingly emboldened by the lack of consequences following the first incident.
Ms Lee posted a message on the store’s Instagram page that she has filed a police complaint about the theft, hoping it would serve as a warning sign.
“I didn’t want to spoil the shop’s atmosphere,” she said. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/rise-in-unstaffed-stores-in-s-korea-as-they-expand-to-sectors-like-fish-markets-clothing
| 2024-01-21T10:43:20Z
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CHHATTISGARH, India – While India’s great and good gather for the opening of a controversial temple to the Hindu god Ram, some of his most fervent but least privileged adherents gather separately to celebrate the deity – covered from head to toe in tattoos of his name.
Once barred from entering holy sites because of their place at the bottom of India’s millennia-old caste hierarchy, members of the Ramnami religious movement aim to show that all can worship their beloved Ram.
But as India prepares to inaugurate the temple at Ayodhya – built on the site of an ancient mosque torn down by Hindu zealots in 1992 – the Ramnamis say they have made an even bolder display of their faith.
They have inked Ram’s name over and over on their bodies in flowing rhythmic script.
“I devoted my body in his name,” said Madam Setbai Ramnami, wearing a crown of peacock feathers and draped in a white shawl also covered with Ram’s name.
“I have never been to a temple… I have not even offered flowers to a Ram idol,” said Madam Setbai, who is in her 70s and a member of India’s 200-million-strong Dalit castes, those once known as “untouchables”.
As well as tattoos, members take the movement’s name as their surname to show their total commitment.
When Madam Setbai’s ancestors were denied entry to temples more than a century ago, they fought back with a needle and ink made from the residue of kerosene lamps.
The tattoos were a defiant message to higher caste Hindus that the god they were being prevented from worshipping was for everyone, irrespective of caste and gender.
For many Hindus, the temple opening on Jan 22 will be a long-held dream come true.
In the early 1990s, the party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi backed the campaign to destroy the mosque where the temple now sits – triggering modern India’s worst religious riots that killed 2,000 people, most of them Muslims.
Now, the 15 billion rupee (S$242 million) structure is set to consolidate Mr Modi’s Hindu base as he seeks a third term in the general elections later in 2024.
But the Ramnamis say their devotion, etched on their skin, is stronger than any physical structure built in the god’s name.
“For us, Ram is everywhere, in every particle, in every sound,” said 52-year-old Gularam Ramnami, adding that for those celebrating the Ayodhya temple, Ram “resides in an idol”.
“We made our bodies a temple.”
Many of the scores of Ramnamis meeting on Jan 21 for an annual gathering in Chhattisgarh state said they welcomed the Ram temple’s opening.
But they also urged caution and pointed to the violent history of the structure.
“Ram never says break a mosque, and Allah never says break a temple,” Mr Gularam said.
“We have always said never hurt anybody through thoughts, words or actions.”
It took a whole day for Madam Setbai to have her face tattooed, but she insists she did not feel pain because it was done in devotion.
“There will come a day when we will all leave,” she said. “It is good that I have immersed myself in devotion… this is exactly how I want to die.”
But times are changing for the Ramnamis too.
Full-body tattoos are becoming less common, as some younger devotees looking for jobs limit the etchings to body areas they can cover, although they say they maintain the other strict rules of the group.
Ramnamis are vegetarians, do not drink alcohol or smoke, and mostly grow everything that they eat.
Unlike most Hindus who choose cremation, Ramnamis bury their dead because they do not want Ram’s name to burn.
Many Dalits and other marginalised groups still face violence and discrimination, but Ramnamis say their tattoos show their support of a god all can worship.
“We do not care who thinks we are lower caste, we belong to a land where caste and class hold no significance,” Mr Gularam said.
“Ramnami is an ideology… it is not caste or religion bound.” AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-asia/body-is-a-temple-tattooed-indians-show-hindu-devotion
| 2024-01-21T10:43:30Z
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NEW DELHI - India plans to erect a fence along its vast and porous frontier with Myanmar and will scrap a free-movement border zone agreement, Indian media reported on Jan 21.
The announcement by Home Minister Amit Shah comes after hundreds of troops from Myanmar who were fleeing insurgent attacks crossed into India.
The government had “decided to fence the entire open India-Myanmar border”, Mr Shah said on Jan 20 during a visit to the north-eastern state of Assam.
The frontier stretches for more than 1,200km, ranging from remote jungle to soaring snow-capped Himalayan peaks.
Mr Shah, who gave no details of a timeframe or how the fence would be built, said the government would also end a free-movement agreement.
The deal allows those living in border zones to venture a short distance into each other’s territory without a visa.
Many in the border zones share close cultural and religious ties.
“We are going to end this facility,” Mr Shah said, according to a video posted by The Times of India.
India has already fenced more than 2,000km of its border with Pakistan, and at least 3,100km with Bangladesh, according to government statistics from 2021.
Parts of Myanmar near the Indian border have seen frequent clashes since Arakan Army (AA) fighters attacked security forces in November, ending a ceasefire that had largely held since a 2021 military coup.
In October, an alliance including AA insurgents and other ethnic minority fighters launched a joint offensive across northern Myanmar, seizing vital trade hubs on the Chinese border.
Earlier in January, the alliance announced a China-mediated ceasefire, but it does not apply to areas near the Indian border, where fighting continues. AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-asia/india-plans-to-fence-off-myanmar-frontier
| 2024-01-21T10:43:41Z
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SINGAPORE - At the company’s annual general meeting held on Jan 19, Jumbo Group’s shareholders approved the renewal of its share buyback mandate.
In a bourse filing, the food and beverage player said that it will offer 26 cents in cash per share to buy back up to 10 per cent of the company’s 643,658,465 shares in issue.
The offer represents a 6.1 per cent discount to the average market price of the company’s shares over the last five market days before the offer was announced.
Under the equal access offer, each shareholder can accept to sell to the company up to 10 per cent of their shares.
It added that up to 7.5 million of the shares bought back will be held or dealt with as treasury shares, while the remainder will be cancelled.
Internal resources will be used to finance the $16.7 million required to purchase shares under the equal access offer, the company said.
For the year ended Sept 30, 2023, the company posted a net profit of $14.6 million, reversing a net loss of $91,000 over the same period a year earlier.
“The equal access offer provides shareholders who find it difficult to sell down a substantial portion of the shareholdings in the company as a result of the low trading volume in the shares with an opportunity to liquidate and realise their investment in the shares,” said Jumbo.
“This is an option which may not otherwise be readily available due to the low trading liquidity of the shares.”
Shares of Jumbo closed up 1.8 per cent, or 0.5 cent, to 28 cents on Jan 19, before the announcement was made. THE BUSINESS TIMES
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/jumbo-group-to-buy-back-10-of-shares-at-026-each
| 2024-01-21T10:43:51Z
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Enhypen World Tour Fate in Singapore
Singapore Indoor Stadium
Jan 20, 8pm
Over the weekend, seven young men have been sending teenage girls into a frenzy. K-pop boy band Enhypen were performing in Singapore for the first time.
As their heart-thumping hit Bite Me (2023) goes: “It’s you and me in this world.”
And that was likely how they made their screaming fans feel for nearly three hours on Jan 20 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, the first of two sold-out shows which reportedly drew a total of 20,000 attendees. Fans from around the region had also made their way here.
The concert was part of their Fate world tour, which kicked off in Seoul in July 2023 and has taken them to Japan, the United States and Taiwan.
The members – Ni-ki, 18; Jungwon, 19; Sunoo, 20; Jay, 21; Jake, 21; Sunghoon, 21; and Heeseung, 22 – came together after emerging tops in I-Land, a South Korean reality competition series in 2020.
Following their debut album Border: Day One that same year, the septet cemented their status as one of the fastest rising K-pop acts.
“I don’t know why it took us so long to come to Singapore. You guys are amazing,” leader Jungwon said to the crowd of mostly teenage girls, who sang along to every song with gusto.
All seven members worked hard on the T-shape stage from the get-go. For the opening track Drunk-Dazed (2022), they emerged in suits befitting their Prince Charming image.
They went on to deliver more than 20 songs and had four costume changes, including a set that resembled South Korean school uniforms.
Two members also won hearts with their musical talents. Heeseung played the piano during Just A Little Bit (2021), while Jay strummed the guitar and serenaded alongside his mates for TFW (2022).
There were surprises too, such as when Jake did an acoustic version of Justin Bieber’s Love Yourself (2015) with Jay on the guitar. This was a significant song for Jake, who grew up in Australia and had performed it during a 2019 audition to become a K-pop idol.
“Fandemonium” broke out when the members came offstage to mingle with their fans as they crooned their radio hit Polaroid Love (2021).
The crowd could barely take a breather from the excitement when the group welcomed six adorable Pikachu mascots during One And Only (2023), a collaborative upbeat track with the Pokemon franchise.
Fans also lapped up the many endearing moments, such as when the members lapsed into Singlish (“Thank you, lah”).
At one point, Jake splashed a bottle of water at the crowd out of excitement – and wet the stage as well. Sunghoon then reminded him: “You’re not supposed to do that.”
An embarrassed Jake responded that he would clean up the spill, and a few members joined him immediately on all fours to dry the stage with towels.
They continued to play off one another’s energy throughout the show.
Almost three hours later when they exited the stage, the fans – or “Engene” as the group affectionately calls them – were reluctant to leave the stadium.
The concert resembled a big house party which Enhypen promised to throw again.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/concert-review-k-pop-s-enhypen-enthral-with-nearly-three-hour-gig
| 2024-01-21T10:44:01Z
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Former Hong Kong actress Gigi Lai took to Instagram to share a rare photo with her billionaire husband Patrick Ma (both above) on Jan 19.
The couple, who met after she retired from show business in 2008, celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary on Jan 18.
“Hand in hand, we have walked through 15 years together,” Lai wrote in Chinese on Instagram, along with a photo of her with her 67-year-old husband.
Lai, 56, also shared a photo of a bouquet of red peonies featuring a card with the inscription, “To my wonderful wife Gigi”. Portraits of the couple and their three children could be seen in the background.
She wrote: “Thank you for remembering to send me my favourite flowers every year. Our relationship is like these flowers, colourful and full of vitality.”
Describing their relationship as “nutrients for flowers”, Lai thanked her husband for his “unwavering support and companionship”.
She ended her post with the hashtag #truelove.
Dubbed the “Goddess of Beauty” by the Hong Kong media, Lai rose to fame after starring in the Young And Dangerous trilogy (1996) about Hong Kong triads. She went on to star in popular TVB dramas such as The Heaven Sword & The Dragon Sabre (2000), War And Beauty (2004) and The Gem Of Life (2008 to 2009).
Her abrupt retirement at the peak of her career in 2008 – to look after her younger brother, who had been involved in a serious car accident – took fans by surprise.
Lai married Mr Ma in 2009. They have three daughters – 13-year-old twin girls Patricia and Gianna, and Pegella, 12.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/former-actress-gigi-lai-celebrates-15th-wedding-anniversary-with-tycoon-husband
| 2024-01-21T10:44:11Z
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Synopsis: Every first and third Sunday of the month, The Straits Times analyses the beat of the changing environment, from biodiversity conservation to climate change.
Green Pulse is starting off 2024 with an appropriately green theme -- renewable energy. Specifically, the investment opportunity for green power in South-east Asia.
The region is one of the world’s economic growth engines and it is hungry for power to drive that growth, fuel its factories and lift millions out of poverty.
And yet it remains deeply dependent on polluting coal, oil and gas. But cleaner wind and solar, and increasingly battery storage, are becoming more competitive and compelling investment choices. So what is the outlook? Are we on the cusp of a green revolution?
Our guest is Mr Edward Northam, head of Core Renewables and head of Asia-Pacific for Macquarie Asset Management Green Investments. Singapore-based Mr Northam is a veteran of the clean energy space and we ask him for an investor’s point of view of the opportunities for the region.
Highlights of conversation (click/tap above):
1:23 What are the opportunities for green energy investment in SE Asia?
2:57 Edward Northam on what he sees as the best opportunities in terms of countries and technologies
8:26 What are three key roadblocks to faster investment that need to be overcome?
12:25 Industry veteran Northam on his background and Macquarie’s green investments
19:55 How is Singapore helping SE Asia accelerate the green transition?
22:03 Green investment is good investment: The way of the future?
Produced by: David Fogarty (dfogarty@sph.com.sg), Ernest Luis and Amirul Karim
Edited by: Hadyu Rahim
Follow Green Pulse Podcast here and rate us:
Channel: https://str.sg/JWaf
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Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts
Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg
Follow David Fogarty on X: https://str.sg/JLM6
Read his articles: https://str.sg/JLMu
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Special edition series:
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Follow our shows then, if you like short, practical podcasts!
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/environment/power-to-the-people-south-east-asia-on-cusp-of-green-energy-revolution
| 2024-01-21T10:44:22Z
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SINGAPORE - Several StarHub users said they faced a host of log-in issues late on Jan 20, which meant they could not access the telco’s TV services.
Speaking to The Straits Times, one user said she faced issues that stretched until the early hours of Jan 21, which meant her husband could not watch English Premier League (EPL) games.
The two EPL matches scheduled for broadcast on Jan 20 on StarHub channels were between Arsenal and Crystal Palace at 8.30pm, and on Jan 21 between Brentford and Nottingham Forest at 1.30am.
The user, who wanted to be known only as Ms Lim, said she called the StarHub hotline for help when her husband had experienced issues logging in to watch the EPL games.
She said: “In the meantime, we tried to change our password, but the link to do so was not working. I waited at least 20 minutes to get technical assistance. Then, when I finally got through, I was told there was an overall problem.”
“So we didn’t bother to try again after we were told it was an overall issue.”
Ms Lim added that she asked the StarHub representative if EPL subscribers would be compensated, but he was unable to provide an answer.
Reports of outages on monitoring site Downdetector reached a peak of 180 reports at 10.53pm on Jan 20 before easing to about six reports at 1.23am.
However, the site registered another small spike of about 19 reports of outages at 1.53am, with about 10 reports at 2.53am before stopping at about 3.08am.
The Downdetector portal said it “monitors and analyses signals from platforms in real-time to automatically detect incidents and service disruptions in their very early stages.”
Other StarHub users who faced similar problems flooded a StarHub Facebook post with complaints about not being able to log in to their StarHub TV accounts through their TV boxes and apps.
On Facebook, user Zack Lim on Jan 21 at 1.29am said: “Wasted 30 minutes of my life reconnecting all the hardware, restarting, trying to log in, again and again. Then took me more than 30 minutes waiting on the phone line to confirm the server is down!”
Another user Kakao Cheng, posting at 1.09am on Jan 21, said: “At least post to inform your users that TV services are down. Called StarHub customer care, waited for 30 minutes, then your agent tells me that there is an issue and to try logging into my TV box tomorrow.”
Other users who aired their disappointment on the StarHub Facebook page said they were eventually told by a StarHub representative that there was an issue with the servers, after multiple attempts to rectify their log-in issues via restarting their devices and logging in again as instructed by the telco.
In response to queries, a StarHub spokeswoman said “some users faced intermittent log-in issues” and its team had “provided assistance promptly”.
“There was no disruption to last night’s Premier League match. If there are anticipated network issues or scheduled maintenance, we do inform our users in advance”, she added.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/several-starhub-users-unable-to-watch-tv-epl-matches-due-to-problems-logging-in
| 2024-01-21T10:44:32Z
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Harry Brook has withdrawn from England's squad for their tour of India due to personal reasons, the country's cricket board (ECB) said on Sunday.
The ECB added that it would name a replacement for the right-hander in due course.
"The Brook family respectfully requests privacy during this time," the ECB said in a statement.
"In light of this, the ECB and the family kindly request the media and the public to respect their wish for privacy and refrain from intruding on their private space."
The five-test series against India begins in Hyderabad on Thursday. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-21T10:44:43Z
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DOHA – China’s midfielder Dai Weijun said on Jan 19 that the team still has the confidence to qualify for the Asian Cup knockout stages, after being held to two goalless draws.
In the third round of Group A on Jan 22, China, with two points, will take on host Qatar, who have already won the group with six points. China need a win to guarantee a last-16 berth.
“We are now in a very confident mindset to prepare for the next match. We hope to enter the knockout stage,” Dai noted.
However, he admitted that the team was a little bit nervous in the beginning. He said: “We really wanted to win in the tournament, but it was not that easy... we are on the right track if we can stick to our football style and tactics.
Chinese left-back Liu Yang said he would enjoy the match against the hosts.
“Qatar also plays with five defenders, their football style is quite similar to ours. I know they will have many supporters at home, but it won’t be a pressure for me. We just enjoy the match.”
England-born defender Tyias Browning added: “It is the most exciting game of the group, I am looking forward to the challenge, and I hope the rest of the lads are, too.
“I enjoy the pressure. It is the thrill of the game. We cannot be afraid of it.”
Qatar midfielder Ahmed Fathy, meanwhile, insisted his side will not ease off despite already winning the group. He said: “If you relax after qualifying, it’s going to affect your performance, (it’s important) to continue the winning mentality in the next phase...
“Our goal to enter the knockout stage with nine points, with the best level possible.”
On Jan 20, Malaysia succumbed to late pressure by Bahrain to lose 1-0 and fall out of the running in Group E. Bahrain took all three points from a nervy encounter at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium after Ali Madan scored a 95th-minute winner.
They are third in the group on three points, one point behind Jordan and South Korea, who drew 2-2 in the earlier match. Malaysia are on zero points after two matches.
Madan used the outside of his boot to shoot from the edge of the box, with his strike going through a crowd of defenders and beating goalkeeper Syihan Hazmi to spark wild celebrations in the dugout while some of his teammates collapsed on the pitch in relief.
He said: “It’s spectacular to score, especially at such a crucial time... I’m used to taking such shots in a game, so when I saw the ball, I had a choice to pass or take a shot and I had to make a decision in that split second and was fortunate to score.
“The Malaysian team played well. They have some good players who are quick and they managed to slow us down.”
Meanwhile, Malaysia coach Kim Pan-gon added: “I have too much expectation, I gave too much dream to my players and to the public, that’s my problem.
“Nothing (wrong) from the FA (Football Association of Malaysia), from the players or public, this is coach problem.”
XINHUA, REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/chinese-midfielder-dai-weijun-confident-of-reaching-asian-cup-last-16
| 2024-01-21T10:44:53Z
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MELBOURNE - Stefanos Tsitsipas said he hoped to emerge stronger from his fourth-round defeat by Taylor Fritz at the Australian Open on Sunday after the Greek world number seven suffered his earliest exit in four years at the Melbourne Park Grand Slam.
The 25-year-old reached the last four in 2019 and lost in the third round the following year, but embarked on two more semi-final runs before losing to 10-times champion Novak Djokovic in last year's title clash.
Tsitsipas said he would need a few days to reflect and recover from his 7-6(3) 5-7 6-3 6-3 defeat.
"It's not a negative feeling," he told reporters. "It's a feeling of evolution, of change, which is constant. Change is always constant. One day you're in the top 10, the other day you're not there anymore.
"So you have to keep on working and allowing yourself to flourish through these experiences, allow yourself to seek for all these moments that have been working for you over the last few years, give it another shot time after time."
Tsitsipas, who is yet to win a Grand Slam, said dealing with setbacks was part of the job.
"There's way more moments in your career that are painful and tough to deal with, suffering and all that, than moments of glory and success and opening champagne bottles," he added.
"These are a small percentage of what a tennis player lives on a yearly basis." REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/tennis/tsitsipas-sees-australian-open-exit-as-another-chance-to-evolve
| 2024-01-21T10:45:04Z
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A fire broke out at a Baltic Sea terminal belonging to Novatek, Russia's largest liquefied natural gas producer, regional officials said on Sunday, amid reports of explosions and Ukrainian drone sightings in the area.
The Ust-Luga complex, located on the Gulf of Finland about 170 km (110 miles) west of St. Petersburg, processes stable gas condensate into light and heavy naphtha, jet fuel, fuel oil and gasoil, according to Novatek's website. The port is used to ship processed products to international markets.
"There were no casualties as a result of the fire at the Novatek terminal in the port of Ust-Luga. The personnel were evacuated," Alexander Drozdenko, the Leningrad region's governor, said on the Telegram messaging app.
Russian news agencies reported that two storage tanks and a pumping station had been damaged, but that the fire had now been brought under control.
Drozdenko did not say what caused the blaze, but Russian news outlet Shot reported that local residents had heard a drone operating nearby followed by several explosions.
St. Petersburg-based news outlet Fontanka said at least two drones were spotted in the sky flying towards St. Petersburg before the terminal caught fire.
Russia and Ukraine have targeted each other's energy infrastructure in strikes designed to disrupt supply lines and logistics, each side seeking to demoralise the other in a nearly two-year-old war that shows no sign of ending.
On Friday, a drone attack hit an oil depot in Russia's western region of Bryansk, bordering Ukraine, for which Moscow blamed Kyiv. That came a day after an attack on a Russian Baltic Sea oil terminal that Russian officials said was unsuccessful.
There was no immediate comment on Sunday from Ukraine on the Novatek incident. Novatek did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Baza, a Russian news outlet known for its security services contacts, posted footage on Telegram of large flames shooting into the sky over what appeared to be an industrial complex.
Three international tanker ships were anchored near the fire, though there were no reports of damage to them, the Fontanka outlet said.
Drozdenko said a "high alert regime" had been introduced and that officials had gathered for an emergency meeting.
Novatek processed 3.4 million tons of stable gas condensate at the complex in the first half of 2023, according to the most recent data available, up 0.6% from the same period a year earlier. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/fire-erupts-at-russias-novatek-baltic-sea-terminal-after-explosions-heard
| 2024-01-21T10:45:14Z
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DUBAI - The United Arab Emirates urged the United States to support an immediate ceasefire of Israel’s war in Gaza. It warned that the risk of a regional conflagration is growing daily as the three-month long war rages on.
“We need a humanitarian ceasefire now, we can’t wait another 100 days,” the UAE Ambassador to the United Nations Lana Nusseibeh said in an online interview from New York. “The risks are high, the war in Gaza is very clearly an open wound, and it’s destabilising the region,” she said, adding that the US could play a critical role in easing the tensions.
The warning by one of Washington’s key allies in the region marks a new level of concern about the spiral of attacks involving Israel, Iran and its proxies and US forces. Fighting has dragged on in Gaza amid widespread destruction and a soaring civilian death toll.
The armed group Hamas killed 1,200 people and abducted 240 others in its Oct 7 attack on southern Israel.
Since then, Israel has been engaged in a military offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 24,000 people. Most of the enclave’s 2.3 million residents have also been displaced.
In mid-December, the World Bank estimated Israeli bombardment had damaged or destroyed over 60 per cent of Gaza’s infrastructure.
US President Joe Biden’s administration has refrained from demanding a halt to the Israeli military campaign. It also vetoed a UN Security Council demand for a ceasefire put forward by the UAE in December.
Israel’s far-right government has vowed to pursue its offensive and rejected a US-backed proposal by five Arab nations including the UAE for post-war Gaza reconstruction because it is conditional on Israeli support for a Palestinian state.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, there have been almost daily skirmishes on Israel’s border with Lebanon between Israeli forces and the militant group, Hezbollah.
Regional tensions have increased dramatically since late 2023 with Israel mounting a series of assassinations of Hamas, Hezbollah and Iranian commanders and Iran openly going on the offensive in its proxy war with Israel.
Iran on Jan 20 accused Israel of a deadly rocket attack on a building in the Syrian capital Damascus serving as a residence for Iranian military advisers, killing at least five people.
The strike followed an attack by Iran earlier in the week on what Teheran said was an Israeli spy base in Iraq.
US Central Command also said multiple ballistic missiles and rockets were launched on Jan 20 by militants in Western Iraq, targeting the al-Assad Airbase.
While most of the missiles were intercepted, some impacted the base.
A number of US personnel are being evaluated for traumatic brain injuries and at least one Iraqi service member was wounded, according to a post on social media platform X.
Meanwhile, Houthi rebels in Yemen are disrupting global trade by attacking cargo ships moving goods across the Red Sea, despite US-led military punitive action. Attacks by groups on US bases in Iraq and Syria are also intensifying.
Ms Nusseibeh said: “If the objective is not to increase extremism and terrorism in our region, this would be described as the case study for how not to do it.” BLOOMBERG
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/uae-warns-us-time-running-out-to-avoid-wider-mideast-crisis
| 2024-01-21T10:45:24Z
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The six-legged puppy that made headlines after she was found dumped in a supermarket carpark in Pembrokeshire, Wales, has had surgery to remove her extra limbs.
Well-wishers around the world raised about £15,000 (S$25,550) for Ariel – a spaniel – to have the surgery, reported the BBC.
Though there were fears that one of her four working limbs might have to be amputated, surgeon Aaron Lutchman managed to save them all.
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Lutchman said: “She’s doing really well, she’s bounced back, and she’s a happy little dog, and we’re hoping she’s going to go on to lead a fabulous little life.
“She’s got her own little character and even though she’s had a tough start in life she really has done well to come through this as she has… if we can do what we can to help then that’s just absolutely brilliant.”
Mr Mikey Lawlor, founder and manager of the animal rescue that took her in, said that the vet who assessed Ariel when she was first discovered also found she had an extra vulva.
The 42-year-old head of Greenacres Rescue added that a CT scan revealed she had only one kidney, which complicated the medical treatment required.
He told BBC: “And, due to having two hip joints on one side, Ariel’s pelvis never formed properly.
“As a result her normal back right leg had virtually no muscle tone, so there was a possibility that might have had to come off too.
“Thankfully that wasn’t the case, as it has shown signs of having strengthened a lot in recent months.”
Ariel takes her name from Disney’s Little Mermaid, as her partially fused extra hind legs resembled a mermaid’s tail.
She was operated on at Langford Vets Small Animal Referral Hospital in Somerset on Jan 18.
“There were two procedures which lasted about two hours, but both went fine,” said Mr Lawlor.
“The next day she was up, walking around and eating and drinking.
“Now we just need to keep our fingers crossed she doesn’t get any infections, but she really is in the best hands.”
Langford Vets’ hospital director Vicki Black added: “Ariel was a complicated little dog whose care required close collaboration across a number of our specialist teams, including orthopaedics, soft tissue surgery, anaesthesia and radiology.
“As part of the University of Bristol we are a centre committed to career-long learning and are proud to innovate and treat pets like Ariel.
“We are delighted such a lovely animal has recovered well from her surgery.”
Like the Disney tale, Ariel is set for a fairytale ending. She has been returned to her foster family in west Wales after recovery in hospital.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/six-legged-dog-ariel-has-operation-in-uk-to-remove-extra-limbs
| 2024-01-21T10:45:35Z
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Rhys Carre goes viral after propish mishap
Welsh prop Rhys Carre made headlines this weekend for an unexpected reason after the 20-stone Cardiff powerhouse found himself in a comical collision with the posts in the Champions Cup.
As the game against Racing 92 unfolded, Carre, who wasn’t named in Warren Gatland’s Six Nations squad, was determined to prove his mettle. Displaying his usual bulldozing prowess, he impressed with mighty carries and even scored a try, showcasing his fine form. But it was his unexpected encounter with the posts that stole the show.
The memorable moment came as Carre, in a heroic effort to outpace Argentine legend Juan Imhoff, scooped up a skewed pass.
Carre thundered across the field. However, his momentum proved too great, and in a spectacular fashion collided with the posts.
The posts, after a brief moment of shock, stood tall, seemingly unscathed by the titanic clash.
Fortunately, Carre, true to his resilient nature, bounced back up the pitch and continued the game.
??? pic.twitter.com/W7KJTS535J
— Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) January 20, 2024
The bounce in fact helped Carre’s cause, suggesting it could possibly have been a deliberate ploy from a crafty prop. We’ll likely never know.
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https://www.rugbypass.com/news/rhys-carre-goes-viral-after-colliding-with-posts/
| 2024-01-21T11:15:03Z
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The Netherlands has provided a mobile field hospital to Ukraine’s border guard service, Ukraine’s Border Guard reported on 20 January.
The Netherlands provided a mobile hospital to support Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion. It will likely be deployed near the front lines to provide urgent medical care to wounded Ukrainian soldiers.
The hospital includes an operating room, intensive care units with 36 beds intended for treating wounded soldiers, and housing for medical personnel.
According to the Border Guard Service, the key feature of the hospital is its adaptability to work in cold conditions.
The Border Guard Service stated that Ukraine’s military medics will soon be using this hospital to save the lives of injured fighters in eastern Ukraine.
Earlier in December, the Netherlands provided three Role 2 modular field hospitals on nine trucks, six trailers, and six Toyota Land Cruiser medical evacuation vehicles for Ukrainian border guards, according to European Pravda.
The hospital modules have been adapted for the cold season and have more beds and new air conditioners. The hospitals have a water supply system, including showers.
Since July 2023, Dutch manufacturer Hospitainer, with the support of the Dutch government, has provided 18 Toyota Land Cruisers, 10 Role 1 modular field hospitals, five Role 2 modular field hospitals, five refrigerated vehicles, one dental module and almost 90 cubic meters of medical supplies for the Ukrainian Border Guard Service.
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/01/21/netherlands-provides-mobile-field-hospital-to-ukraine/
| 2024-01-21T11:46:20Z
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Russia’s Ministry of Defense reported on 21 January that Russian Smolensk Oblast came under drone attack overnight, with a total of four unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) shot down by Russian air defenses.
The first attack was around midnight. Russia’s air defense shot down one drone over Smolensk Oblast.
Later, at around 1:30 am local time, three more drones were destroyed over the oblast.
“On-duty air defense assets shot down three unmanned aerial vehicles over the territory of Smolensk Oblast,” the Russian Ministry said.
Russia accused Ukraine of conducting the attacks, saying, “The Ukrainian armed forces made attempts to strike civilian infrastructure in the border regions of Russia.”
Euromaidan Press could not verify the claims as Ukraine has not publicly reported responsibility for any drone strikes inside Russia on 21 January.
On the evening of 20 January, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported destroying one drone over Oryol Oblast.
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/01/21/russia-reports-downing-4-drones-over-smolensk-oblast/
| 2024-01-21T11:47:00Z
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Russian occupation forces attacked Donetsk Oblast 11 times, injuring two people, Ukraine’s National Police reported on 21 January.
Over the past day, six settlements came under fire. In particular, the cities of Avdiivka, Novohrodivka, and Toretsk, the towns of Ocheretyne, Shcherbynivka, and the village of Berdychi in Donetsk Oblast were shelled.
According to the National Police, 34 civilian facilities were damaged – 31 residential buildings, administrative buildings, cars, and power lines.
The Russian army was shelling civilians with Grad multiple launch rocket systems, S-300 anti-aircraft systems, and artillery.
Russian troops hit Novohrodivka with three S-300 missiles, injuring two people. Reportedly, 25 private houses, an administrative building, and power lines were damaged.
The Russian military shelled Toretsk with Grads, with shells hitting two households.
In Shcherbynivka, due to the Russian forces’ attack with artillery and Grad’s multiple launch rocket systems, two private houses were destroyed.
Russia shelled Kherson Oblast 76 times over the last day, Kherson Oblast Governor Oleksandr Produkin said on 21 January.
The city of Kherson was fired on seven times. Russian military hit residential areas of the oblast’s settlements. Reportedly, there were no casualties among the civilians.
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/01/21/russia-shelled-donetsk-oblast-11-times-over-the-past-day-injuring-2-people/
| 2024-01-21T11:47:40Z
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In the early hours of 21 January, explosions and a large fire broke out at the Novatek natural gas company terminal in the Ust-Luga port in Russia’s Leningrad Oblast, local governor Alexander Drozdenko said on Telegram.
The Ust-Luga port handles crude oil and liquefied natural gas exports. Novatek, Russia’s largest independent natural gas producer, operates the facility. In September 2023, the United States broadened its sanctions to target entities linked to Russia’s Arctic LNG 2, Novatek’s project.
Russia left out in the cold as US sanctions torpedo LNG project
According to Drozdenko, there were no casualties. However, “all the personnel” at the facility have been evacuated.
Drozdenko said on social media that “in the Kingiseppsky district of the oblast, a regime of increased readiness was introduced.”
Residents reported hearing drone sounds in the area before the incident. The Russian Defense Ministry has not yet commented on what happened at the Ust-Luga port.
Marine traffic monitoring services indicate approximately five tankers flying the flags of Panama, Gabon, Greece, and Liberia were near the terminal at the time of the fire. The governor did not specify the cause of the fire but posted a five-second video clip showing large flames.
The Ukrainian government has not yet commented on Russia’s Ust-Luga port explosions.
On 18 January, Ukrainian drones attacked an oil depot in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg, Leningrad Oblast. Ukrainska Pravda reported that this was a special operation by Ukrainian military intelligence.
Attacks by Ukrainian drones on targets in Russia have been occurring nearly daily. However, most strikes have targeted border regions adjacent to Ukraine. The attack on Saint Petersburg, located 900 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, demonstrates Kyiv’s capability of conducting strikes with long-range drones. Until 18 January, the Pskov Oblast had been the northernmost and most remote point attacked by Ukraine.
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/01/21/russian-natural-gas-company-in-leningrad-oblast-on-fire/
| 2024-01-21T11:48:21Z
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Ukraine’s Police identified five people involved in illegal actions against Yuriy Nikolov, a journalist of the Nashi Hroshi project, the Kyiv City’s police reported on 21 January.
The identified are residents of Kyiv, Zhytomyr, and Cherkasy oblasts. The authorities searched the suspects’ homes and reportedly seized material evidence used by suspicious to record the offense, including computer equipment and mobile phones.
Yuriy Nikolov said on Facebook on the evening of 14 January that unknown people came to his apartment, banged on his door, and plastered the door with signs such as “traitor!”, “provocateur!” and demands that Nikolov enlist in the army — a popular way to denigrate males in Ukraine. He said it frightened his ailing mother, who lives with him.
Nikolov is an investigative journalist and a co-founder of Nashi Hroshi’s investigative project. He investigated inflated prices and opaque food procurements for the Ukrainian Army. It allegedly prompted a transparency drive and the resignation of Defense Minister Reznikov.
The Kyiv City Police reported on 15 January that law enforcement officers were checking the fact of threats to the journalist.
The Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office is conducting investigative actions with the offenders, and the issue of serving them with a notice of suspicion is being decided.
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/01/21/ukraines-police-identify-five-suspects-in-harassment-of-investigative-journalist/
| 2024-01-21T11:49:01Z
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Stacey Solomon looked sensational as she showed off her incredible figure ahead of a rare night out with husband Joe Swash, to celebrate his 42nd birthday.
The mum of five looked incredible in a lilac strappy mini dress as she shared a mirror selfie of herself and hubby Joe, who she wed in 2022. The couple beamed as they twinned in matching pastel outfits, with Joe topping his birthday look off with a baker boy cap.
Captioning the post, Stacey wrote: “Happy birthday Joe. Mum & Dad are off OUT. Honestly, we take the mick out of each other but I don’t know what I’d do without you. To the moon & stars & back again bub P.S yes obvs I matched his birthday shirt to my dress, he’s ecstatic about it.”
Stacey revealed on her Stories that she and Joe had the night off parental duties, thanks to her dad babysitting their kids. Sitting in the passenger seat of Joe’s car, Stacey asked her husband where he wanted to go next. “Bed,” Joe hilariously replied. Stacey suggested they went clubbing, to which he replied “I couldn’t think of anything worse.”
The pair ended the night with a grinning selfie, which Stacey captioned: “Didn’t make it to the club. But we have had the best dinner ever! A new goal for (us) has been set. Clubbing with Joe.”
Earlier in the day, Stacey let slip that Joe was doing his best to make her “broody” following the birth of his sister’s baby. “We went for lunch with Joe’s family. His sister just had a baby, she’s so amazing. Joe did his best to make me broody.” Joe was the picture of a doting uncle has he gave his new niece or nephew a cuddle during the family lunch.
Only last week Stacey revealed she was feeling broody following her baby daughter Belle’s most recent milestone. Posting a clip of the 11-month-old’s first steps, Stacey, 34, wrote: "Well Done Belle & Rexy. This made my day today… While I’ve been feeling unwell Rex & Joe have been teaching Belle new skills. What happened to my baby? Why am I broody? Hope this makes you smile as much as it did me today."
Fans soon focused on Stacey’s broody comment, asking, "Is this your way of saying number 6 is incoming…"
Stacey is the proud mum to five children; Zachary, Leighton, Rex, Rose and Belle, the younger three whom she shares with Joe.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/fashion/celebrity-style/511742/stacey-solomon-wows-in-lilac-mini-dress/
| 2024-01-21T12:07:09Z
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David Beckham takes wellness very seriously. The sports star – who follows a strict seven-minute skincare regimen, and regularly trains with Gunnar Peterson – is also a fan of cold therapy.
Taking to Instagram on Sunday, David, 48, gave fans a glimpse of his latest 'Self-care Sunday' at what appears to be his £12 million Cotswolds home.
Sharing a video of himself outdoors, the former football star captioned it: "Self-care Sunday. 3 degrees today, perfect for a Sunday rest day @victoriabeckham can I get a HOT CHOCOLATE with a Nespresso shot. Sorry, Victoria just said 'what's the magic word' PLEASE."
Prompting a flirty response from his wife, Victoria, 49, promptly replied in the comments. "As you asked so nicely and are just wearing your tighty-whiteys," she teased.
Cold water therapy, also referred to as cold body therapy or cold therapy, is simply being exposed to cold temperatures. According to Dr Sarah Brewer, medical director of supplement brand Healthspan, cold water therapy can improve circulation, reduce water retention and even regulate blood pressure, as it improves the responsiveness of blood vessels.
Additionally, exposure to cold water can help support our immunity, because it increases the supply of powerful antioxidant glutathione, which is important in our immune response. As for the mental benefits of cold water therapy, Dr Brewer explains that it "stimulates endorphins to improve mood to help combat stress, anxiety and depression."
MORE: David Beckham sparks fan response with daring shirtless workout
"Cold water keeps you in the moment, so it's the ultimate form of mindfulness," she continues. "It helps to achieve calm meditation as you focus on your breathing."
Since retiring from professional football in 2013, David has made wellness a top priority. Speaking to Into The Gloss in 2018, the father-of-four detailed his approach.
"I was lucky when I was playing—I never had to watch what I ate. I always looked after myself, I wasn't a drinker in any way. So for myself, I've always looked after my body, and I was able to go away for the summer for three weeks, eat what I want, and come back and virtually be the same weight," he began.
"Obviously, now I've retired, so it's slightly different—I have to work out and do things that I actually enjoy, because I get bored really easily. I like to jump from boxing to cycling to running, to doing different stuff. But my diet, I like food too much to cut everything out. I'm more aware of it now than I was 20 years ago. I'm a big fan of acupuncture, deep tissue massage, and cupping—things like that," he said.
"When you have sore muscles and sore parts of your body, acupuncture releases that and then the cupping is a kind of release as well. They work for me. I do that as much as possible—I mean, I have four kids, so I have to make the time to actually have a massage. Mostly I have a massage when I'm on the road, travelling, things like that."
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/healthandbeauty/health-and-fitness/511743/david-beckham-shares-topless-video-in-pool-self-care-sunday/
| 2024-01-21T12:07:15Z
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Christopher Dean is one of the most recognisable faces on our screens thanks to his impressive career as an Olympic ice skater as well as his appearances on the judging panel of Dancing On Ice alongside his former professional partner, Jayne Torvill. But before his rise to fame and success in the sporting world, Christopher, 65, didn't have the easiest of childhood.
The television star and former athlete has previously spoken about the trauma he faced as a young child, including how his parent's divorce and his mother leaving the family home affected who he is today…
Christopher Dean's childhood trauma
In an article for MailOnline, Christopher wrote candidly about his father's affair and his mother leaving their family home in Nottingham. "One day, my mum and dad took me to see some friends of theirs. Or at least I always thought they were friends."
He continued: "When we arrived at their house I was told to sit down in the living room. Soon after, I remember an almighty row ensuing. All four of them seemed to be shouting across the room at each other and I was sitting in the middle. Even at six years old I understood what had been going on."
Christopher then explained how his father, Colin, had been having an affair and, soon after, his mother, Mavis, told him she was going away.
"I asked her why but she just deflected the question. Then I started to cry. I pleaded with her not to go but she didn't say a thing. No answer. I remember holding her hand as we walked home, still crying and pleading with her not to go."
He added: "Losing my mum and being an only child definitely went some way to making me who I am today."
MORE: Christopher Dean and Jayne Torvill comment on partners' jealousy amid 'very close' relationship
MORE: Torvill and Dean: six facts about the Dancing on Ice judge duo
During an episode of the ITV series, DNA Journeys, which aired in 2022, Christopher visited his family home in Nottingham and shared more insight into that period of his life, which, he said, he had "blocked out."
"I hadn't been told that she was going, but I just remember her going," the gold medallist explained to his partner during the episode, adding: "And then an hour or so later, another car pulled up and then my stepmum arrived, Betty."
Building bridges
Since then, Christopher has built a relationship with his mum and she has often visited the set of Dancing On Ice to watch her son and Jayne in action as judges.
Elsewhere in the DNA Journey episode, the skater discovered that he had family he never knew on his mother's side, who reside in Utah, US.
Christopher's own marriage history
Meanwhile, regarding the skater's own family, Christopher has been married twice and is a father of two. He was married to French-Canadian World ice dance champion Isabelle Duchesnay between 1991 and 1993.
Following the couple's divorce, he fell in love with American skater, Jill Trenary, with whom he welcomed two sons together, Jack Robert, 25, and Sam Colin, 23. However, their marriage was not to last, and since 2011, Christopher has been in a relationship with DOI head coach, Karen Barber.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/healthandbeauty/mother-and-baby/511681/christopher-dean-blocks-out-memories-from-tragic-family-heartbreak/
| 2024-01-21T12:07:21Z
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SEOUL - South Korea saw its first ever decline in the overall number of registered fuel-powered vehicles in 2023, as reported by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Jan 19.
The total number of registered vehicles powered by petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas fell by 85,000 to 23.647 million in 2023.
This 0.4 per cent decrease, the first since record-keeping began in the 1960s, was mainly driven by a downturn in diesel and liquefied petroleum gas vehicles, despite the registration of petrol vehicles seeing a 2 per cent uptick.
Several factors contributed to the decline, such as governmental policies aimed at reducing vehicle pollution.
These include retiring older, more polluting vehicles, particularly those running on diesel, enforcing operational limitations in Seoul and offering financial incentives to owners for scrapping their high-emission vehicles.
The total number of vehicle registrations, including traditional and eco-friendly models, increased by 1.7 per cent to 25.49 million vehicles.
Petrol cars comprise more than half the total at 12.31 million, while diesel vehicles follow at 9.5 million.
Eco-friendly vehicles, at 2.12 million, represented nearly one in every 12 vehicles.
Within this category, hybrids account for about 72 per cent, electric vehicles (EVs) for around 26 per cent, and hydrogen-powered vehicles, alongside others, fill the remaining 2 per cent.
The eco-friendly segment grew to a total count of 2.12 million registrations, a 33.4 per cent jump from the previous year.
This figure includes 154,000 EVs, up 39.5 per cent, 46,000 hydrogen vehicles, up 15.6 per cent, and 372,000 hybrid vehicles, up 31.7 per cent.
Despite this growth, the rate of the increase in EV count slowed compared with the previous year’s 51 per cent rise, showing a potential moderation in the adoption rate of EVs.
The government has been gradually withdrawing support for hybrid vehicles.
It discontinued purchase subsidies for hybrid EVs in 2019 and ended subsidies for plug-in hybrids in early 2021.
Plans are in place to remove hybrids from the eco-friendly category by 2025 or 2026. THE KOREA HERALD/ ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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| 2024-01-21T12:15:41Z
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SINGAPORE - iFast Corporation has secured in-principle approval from the Securities Commission Malaysia to operate a bond marketplace through its subsidiary Bondsupermart Malaysia.
In a bourse filing on Jan 20, the company said that Bondsupermart aims to be a “centralised and easily accessible” marketplace to buy and sell bonds.
iFast Corp chairman and chief executive Lim Chung Chun noted that bond trading, which predominantly operates over the counter, has suffered from a lack of price transparency and trading efficiency.
“The bond market has not seen much innovation over the past decade when other segments of the securities markets have undergone improvements propelled by technology,” he said.
“By tapping the group’s existing bond trading volume of approximately RM800 million (S$227.4 million) equivalent per month in both ringgit and foreign currency denominated bonds, it will give Bondsupermart Malaysia a solid footing to attract, grow and expand further when more participants are onboarded in future,” he added.
The company said that individual investors will directly contribute to real-time price discovery and transparency to help establish “market-driven and fair market values for bonds based on supply and demand dynamics”.
It added that Bondsupermart Malaysia is expected to launch bond trading services in the second half of 2024.
iFast shares closed down 0.6 per cent, or five cents, at $7.85 on Jan 19, before the announcement was made. THE BUSINESS TIMES
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/ifast-gets-in-principle-approval-to-operate-bond-marketplace-in-malaysia
| 2024-01-21T12:15:51Z
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SINGAPORE - As part of No Signboard’s annual report release on Jan 19, the company’s auditor, PKF-CAP, flagged uncertainty over the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.
The auditor noted that the company posted a net loss of $4.7 million for the financial year ended Sept 30, 2022, with net cash outflow from operating activities of $982,000.
In addition, it noted that the company’s current liabilities exceeded current assets by $6.6 million, while total liabilities exceeded total assets by $7.1 million as at Sept 30, 2022.
The net current liabilities included bank borrowings of $2.1 million that were reclassified from non-current to current as the company defaulted on monthly repayments due to insufficient funds.
“These factors indicate the existence of a material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt on the group’s and company’s ability to continue as going concerns,” the auditor said.
However, the company’s board remains confident that the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between the company and Gazelle Ventures for up to $5 million in investments as well as its restructuring exercise will help it generate cashflows from operations, and meet the company’s and group’s working capital requirements, and to operate as going concerns.
The company had earlier entered into a MOU with Gazelle Ventures for $5 million, of which $500,000 would be secured through subscription of new ordinary shares representing 75 per cent of the enlarged issued and paid-up share capital of the company. The remaining $4.5 million would be provided through a convertible instrument.
The auditor also noted that the company’s executive chairman is under investigation by the Commercial Affairs Department for the abortive share buyback executed by the company’s chief executive in 2019.
It added that the board of directors and management have assessed the matter and concluded that it will not have a significant impact on the company’s financial statements.
As part of the company’s audit, PKF-CAP also identified indicators of impairment in the company’s related right-of-use assets as well as plant and equipment at the company’s restaurants.
This led to an impairment charge of $1.4 million and $807,564 on the company’s right-of-use assets and plant and equipment respectively after the outcome of impairment tests.
The auditor considered this a key audit matter given the heightened level of estimation uncertainty associated with current market conditions, and the significant management judgement involved in determining the recoverable amounts for the assets.
As at Sept 30, 2022, the group’s right-of-use assets and plant and equipment were $136,388 and $438,177 respectively, representing 11.1 per cent and 35.5 per cent of the group’s total assets respectively.
No Signboard shares have been suspended since Jan 24, 2022. THE BUSINESS TIMES
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| 2024-01-21T12:16:02Z
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SINGAPORE — The first two condominium launches in 2024 were off to a slower start, following a year where annual private home sales fell to the lowest level since 2008.
The Arcady at Boon Keng in the city fringe sold about 30 per cent of its units on Jan 20, while suburban condo Hillhaven in Hillview Rise sold about 31 per cent of the units launched, property agencies said.
The Arcady at Boon Keng, a freehold project, sold 51 of its 172 units with prices starting from under $2,400 per sq ft (psf), with the one-bedroom and two-bedroom units making up most of the sales, said PropNex Realty chief executive Ismail Gafoor.
Far East Organization together with its joint venture partner Sekisui House on Jan 20 said the 99-year leasehold project Hillhaven sold 59 units of the 179 units launched at prices starting from $1,903 psf, with the two-bedroom and three-bedroom units proving the most popular.
The project has 341 units in total, which means about 17 per cent of all units were sold.
The buyers were all Singaporeans and permanent residents, with around 70 per cent of buyers aged between 31 and 50, said Far East Organization.
PropNex’s Mr Ismail said sales at both projects are encouraging, although it may take some time for buyers to shake off the year-end lull and for market activity to kick in.
“Generally, we think that buying sentiment is still intact, but prospective buyers may be taking their time to assess the market and review their options,” he said. “The sense is that buyers are still price-conscious, very selective about the property they want to buy, and are not in much of a hurry.”
In 2023, 6,452 new private homes, excluding executive condominiums, were sold – the lowest since 2008, when just 4,264 units were transacted.
Some developers held back on new project launches in 2023 following successive market cooling measures and weak buying sentiment, among other factors for the weaker sales.
While 2024 might be off to a slower start, Mr Ismail said he expects market activity to pick up after the Chinese New Year festive period in February.
ERA Singapore chief executive Marcus Chu said that The Arcady at Boon Keng has the advantage of being the first among 11 freehold projects slated to be launched in 2024.
Units in freehold projects are estimated to make up just 11 per cent of the 11,000 new private homes expected to be launched in 2024, he said.
It is also the first freehold project in district 12 since the 162-unit Verticus, located off Balestier Road, was launched in 2020 and sold out in 2022, he said.
Freehold property prices in District 12 grew by 29.3 per cent over four years while rents in the area rose by more than 40 per cent from 2020 to 2023, reflecting the demand for homes in the city fringe, added Mr Chu.
Meanwhile, PropNex’s Mr Ismail said that Hillhaven is attractively priced when compared with the average transacted price of about $2,150 psf for new 99-year leasehold suburban projects sold in 2023, based on caveats lodged.
Mogul.sg’s chief research officer Nicholas Mak said that while buyers displayed a “cautious mood” for the first two projects of the year, they will be spoilt for choice in 2024, with more than 30 residential projects that could be up for sale throughout the year.
“With a steady stream of new launches, the competition will deter developers from raising prices aggressively. This will slow down the pace of price growth in 2024, which will benefit home buyers,” he said.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/new-condo-launches-arcady-and-hillhaven-sell-over-50-units-each-on-launch-day
| 2024-01-21T12:16:12Z
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| 2024-01-21T12:16:22Z
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Tajikistan will play their last Asian Cup group game against Lebanon like a final as the tournament debutants seek their first win and first goal, coach Petar Segrt said on Sunday.
Tajikistan and Lebanon have one point each to sit third and fourth respectively, five points adrift of already-qualified leaders Qatar but only a point behind second-placed China.
They have a golden opportunity to earn direct qualification to the knockout stage with China facing defending champions Qatar, who have already sealed top spot.
The group winners and runners-up qualify for the last 16 along with the four best third-placed teams.
"I think that all Tajikistan people have stress every day. For us it is an honour to play these kinds of games. We are not stressed, we are relaxed, we want to win this game," Segrt told reporters ahead of Monday's clash.
"For us it is much more important to stay longer in this beautiful tournament. We want to go to the next round. We will have our final tomorrow, just like Lebanon.
"For us it's the most important game in our history. But I hope after this game we will have the most important game in our history once again."
Neither team haves managed to found the net yet and Croatian Segrt said there was no better opportunity to get on the board.
"We must score because now is the time to score ... But to think too much about scoring goals at the moment is, for me as a coach, not a good point because I know my players," he said.
"We have a good character, we have a good atmosphere and what is most important is luck, you must deserve it.
"So we must fight against a strong Lebanon team until the end. I hope we will get our chances."
Lebanon coach Miodrag Radulovic also stressed that luck is a factor after seeing his team create numerous opportunities but ultimately fail to score in their first two games.
"Football rewards serious work and good behaviour. My players do that," he said.
"The situation in our group is interesting - three teams haven't scored. But we created chances against Qatar and China ... Sometimes we need some luck, but I'm satisfied with how the team have played.
"We will be attacking from the start like we did against China. Hopefully the goal will come at the right time in a decisive game. I'm sure my team will score tomorrow, 100%." REUTERS
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| 2024-01-21T12:16:33Z
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MELBOURNE – Coco Gauff said she was enjoying “learning adulthood” after showing poise and determination to storm into a first Australian Open quarter-final on Jan 21.
The 19-year-old fourth seed was again in the zone to race past unseeded Magdalena Frech 6-1, 6-2 in just 63 minutes on Rod Laver Arena as she zeroes in on a second Grand Slam title.
The US Open champion, who had never progressed beyond the fourth round at Melbourne Park in four previous attempts, has been in red-hot form and is yet to drop a set.
She is now on a nine-match winning streak following her title run at Auckland and will meet Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, who beat Maria Timofeeva 6-2, 6-1, for a place in the semi-finals.
Gauff made her Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon as a 15-year-old, and it has been a learning process ever since, guided by her parents.
But she is now starting to take charge of her own destiny, on and off the court.
“As each season goes, I’ve definitely been more vocal about what I want on and off the court,” she said.
“At first, like 15, 16, my parents were doing a lot of it for me just so I could focus on tennis. Now I’m moving into more of the role. I’m getting older, having to make more decisions, all of that, on and off court. For me, I know myself pretty well. I know what I need to do to succeed, not every single thing. That’s why we have coaches and people that advise me.
“It’s definitely been a process with each year. Adulthood is something I’m really enjoying learning. I’m not completely there, but every year I think I’m getting better and better at it.”
With seven of the women’s top 10 seeds knocked out in the first week, Gauff has a chance to add to her US Open title, with a potential showdown against defending champion Aryna Sabalenka looming in the semi-finals.
She wasted no time letting Frech know who was in charge, breaking her opponent in her opening service game with a forehand winner and breaking twice more as she romped through the set in just 26 minutes.
The American won 17 of 22 points from the baseline, and all four at the net.
She continued in the same vein in set two, breaking for 3-1 and never relenting to charge home.
Despite the ease of her progress into the last eight, Gauff said she did not feel “uncooked”.
“US Open I did play higher-ranked people earlier. That’s also another reason why I had so many long matches,” she said.
“It doesn’t feel different. I know when it comes to crunch time, if I have a long match the round before or not, I’ll still compete the same and still feel just as sharp.”
Ominously, world No. 2 Sabalenka warned on Jan 21 she is stronger now than when she won her maiden Grand Slam in Australia.
The Belarusian was in total control against unseeded American Amanda Anisimova on Margaret Court Arena, blazing home 6-3, 6-2 in 70 minutes to make the quarter-finals.
Sabalenka has dropped a scant 11 games in her four matches and with top seed Iga Swiatek out of the tournament, is the clear favourite to win a second Grand Slam.
Should she do so, she will be the first woman to retain the title since compatriot Victoria Azarenka completed the feat in 2013.
“I think I feel stronger than last year. So far I feel good. Hopefully I just can keep it up,” said the 25-year-old, who has embraced her status as reigning champion in Melbourne.
“I’m getting stronger because I enjoy the atmosphere and I really want to stay here as long as I can, till the very last day.”
She is the first player to win 11 consecutive matches at the Australian Open since Serena Williams between 2017 and 2019. Williams did not play at the tournament in 2018.
Sabalenka also became the youngest player to reach six consecutive women’s Grand Slam quarter-finals since Amelie Mauresmo, who achieved the feat between the 2003 US Open 2003 and 2005 Australian Open.
Next up for her is Barbora Krejcikova, who ended the dream run of 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva.
Andreeva hammered sixth seed Ons Jabeur in the second round and then had to save a match point against Diane Parry in round three.
But she ran out of road in her last-16 tie on John Cain Arena against her Czech opponent, who lost the first set for the third time at the tournament before coming through 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
“I’m fighting,” said Krejcikova, who had lost her previous two matches against the young Russian. “I’m just trying to give my best and go for every single ball.
“I think I was really improving with every single ball and I was going for it point by point.” AFP, REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/ominous-coco-gauff-embracing-adulthood-as-she-steps-up-in-australia
| 2024-01-21T12:16:43Z
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GAZA STRIP - Gaza’s Health Ministry on Jan 21 said the death toll in the war-torn Palestinian territory breached 25,000 as Israel pushed its southward offensive and renewed bombardment in the north.
Israel is pressing its push against Hamas in southern Gaza as it seeks to destroy the armed group responsible for an attack on the country on Oct 7.
In early January, Israel’s military said the Hamas command structure in northern Gaza had been dismantled, leaving only isolated fighters.
But witnesses told AFP that Israeli boats were bombarding Gaza City and other areas in the north early on Jan 21. Hamas has also reported heavy combat in the north.
“Dozens are still under the rubble,” the Hamas government’s media office said, adding that the dead and injured “could not be transferred to hospitals due to the continued artillery shelling on... Khan Younis and the Tal al-Hawa area in Gaza City and the north”.
The Israeli army said it “eliminated a number of terrorists” in the main southern city of Khan Younis and killed 15 militants in northern Gaza over the past day.
Thick plumes of smoke billowed above Khan Younis on the morning of Jan 21, AFP journalists saw.
The Oct 7 attacks by Hamas resulted in the deaths of about 1,140 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel’s relentless bombardment and ground offensive have killed at least 25,105 people in Gaza, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry.
‘Difficult conditions’ in tunnel
The gunmen also seized about 250 hostages during the October attacks.
Israel says around 132 remain in Gaza, of whom at least 27 captives are believed to have been killed, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
In a briefing on the evening of Jan 20, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said troops found a tunnel in Khan Younis where some hostages had been kept.
Among the evidence of their presence were paintings, including by a five-year-old captive, he said.
“About 20 hostages” had been held there at different times “in difficult conditions without daylight... with little oxygen and terrible humidity”.
Soldiers entered the tunnel and fought a battle with militants in which “the terrorists were eliminated”, Rear-Admiral Hagari said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under intense pressure to return the hostages and account for security failings surrounding the October attacks.
Thousands protested across Israel on the evening of Jan 20 to demand the release of the hostages and early elections to oust Mr Netanyahu.
Mr Avi Lulu Shamriz, the father of Mr Alon Shamriz, a hostage mistakenly killed by Israeli troops earlier in the war, told AFP in Tel Aviv that Mr Netanyahu’s war Cabinet was heading for disaster.
“The way we’re going, all the hostages are going to die. It’s not too late to free them.”
Devastating West Bank raid
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees says about 1.7 million people have been displaced in Gaza, with about one million crowded into the Rafah area.
UN agencies have warned that better aid access is needed urgently as famine and disease loom.
Diplomatic efforts have sought to secure scaled-up aid deliveries for Gaza and a truce, after a week-long cessation of hostilities in November saw Hamas release dozens of hostages in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
Hamas’ Qatar-based chief Ismail Haniyeh was in Turkey on Jan 20 for talks with the Foreign Minister, diplomatic sources said, renewing ties with the key regional power which asked the group’s leaders to leave the country following the October attacks.
Meanwhile, violence has surged in the Israeli-occupied West Bank since Oct 7.
The Israeli military said it demolished two houses in Hebron belonging to two Palestinian gunmen who carried out an attack on a road between Jerusalem and Bethlehem in November.
An AFP journalist saw a fireball erupt and smoke billowing from a home on Jan 21 as Israeli armoured vehicles manoeuvred through Hebron’s roads during the raid.
Palestinians gathered outside the crumpled remains of one of the homes on Jan 21, with young boys weaving their way through a thicket of tangled metal and rubble.
One man removed a banner that Israeli forces had attached to a destroyed house which read: “Terrorism has no home.”
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters in a village south of Jenin and the towns of Arura and Qalqilya.
Rising tensions and violence across the Middle East have also stoked fears of a wider conflagration involving groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
Iranian media said an Israeli strike on Damascus on Jan 20 killed the Revolutionary Guards’ spy chief in Syria and four other Guards members, prompting a threat of retaliation. AFP
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| 2024-01-21T12:16:54Z
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KAMPALA, Uganda - United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Jan 21 denounced Israel for the "heartbreaking" deaths of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and called it unacceptable to resist statehood for the Palestinian people.
"Israel's military operations have spread mass destruction and killed civilians on a scale unprecedented during my time as secretary-general," Mr Guterres said at the opening of a summit of the G77+China in the Ugandan capital Kampala.
"This is heartbreaking and utterly unacceptable. The Middle East is a tinder-box, we must do all we can to prevent conflict from igniting across the region."
Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after the armed group Hamas' Oct 7 attack in which Israeli officials say more than 1,200 people were killed and 240 taken hostage.
Israel's campaign has killed more than 25,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities on Jan 21, and displaced most of the enclave's 2.3 million people from their homes.
Over the course of the war, the Israeli military has expressed regret for civilian deaths.
But it accuses Hamas of operating in densely populated areas and using civilians as human shields, a charge the group denies.
Mr Guterres added that the refusal to accept the two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians is totally unacceptable.
He said denying Palestinians the right to statehood "would indefinitely prolong a conflict that has become a major threat to global peace and security".
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared on Jan 20 to push back against US President Joe Biden's remarks about Palestinian statehood after the war against Hamas ends.
His office said that in talks on Jan 19 with Mr Biden, Mr Netanyahu "reiterated his policy that after Hamas is destroyed Israel must retain security control over Gaza to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel, a requirement that contradicts the demand for Palestinian sovereignty".
Mr Guterres was in Kampala to attend the summits of G77+China and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). Leaders and senior officials from dozens of countries including South Africa, Iran, China, Turkey, Cuba, India, Vietnam and others attended the meetings.
The G77+China is a group of 134 developing countries that champions the common interests of countries from the global south.
A document released late on Jan 20 at the end of the NAM summit included a condemnation of "the illegal Israeli military aggression on the Gaza Strip, the indiscriminate attacks against Palestinian civilians, civilian objects, the forced displacement of the Palestinian population" and called for an immediate and durable humanitarian ceasefire. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-21T12:17:04Z
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Ireland rookie Tom Ahern hospitalised after ugly red card incident
Munster suffered not only a 26-23 defeat to Northampton Saints at Thomond Park in the Champions Cup on Saturday but also a concerning injury to their lock Tom Ahern.
The ugly incident occurred just before halftime when Northampton’s hooker Curtis Langdon made reckless contact with his knee to Ahern’s head during a ruck.
The knee impact was severe enough for referee Tuai Trainini to issue a red card after reviewing the footage on the big screen. Despite being down to 14 men, Northampton went on to maintain their perfect record in the competition.
Langdon will now face an EPCR disciplinary panel over the incident and will likely be staring down the barrel of a three-week ban at the very least.
Curtis Langdon will sit out the rest of the match after being red carded for a knee to the head 🟥
What do you think of the call?#InvestecChampionsCup #MUNvNOR pic.twitter.com/eVe9amhtqS
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) January 20, 2024
The 23-year-old Ahern – who was poised to train with the Ireland squad in Portugal for the upcoming Six Nations – was taken to the hospital and reportedly stayed there over night.
Munster head coach Graham Rowntree expressed concern about the 6’9 forward’s condition, with an update expected this morning from the province.
The team also faces an anxious wait over Peter O’Mahony, who limped off with a hip-flexor injury. Recently appointed Ireland skipper O’Mahony is scheduled to appear at the Six Nations launch on Monday and is a key player for the upcoming match against France.
Munster’s woes were further compounded when a distraught Simon Zebo also exited early in the second half. Conor Murray didn’t even make it to the pitch after he was sidelined due to illness.
As a result of the loss, Munster could end up facing top seeds Leinster in the Round of 16 in Dublin.
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| 2024-01-21T12:48:49Z
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'I’ve been there myself with Eddie and Steve. Steve has got a tough job'
Georgia’s new head coach Richard Cockerill has backed Steve Borthwick’s plan for England in the face of significant changes within camp, not least the absence of Owen Farrell.
The 53-year-old former England forwards coach signed a contract this week with Georgia which could potentially see him charge through to the 2027 World Cup in Australia.
Speaking to RugbyPass this week about the upcoming Guinness Six Nations, Cockerill said that the managing expectations of the English public was also a major factor for any England coach, while the void left by Farrell will change the dynamic behind closed doors. The Saracens star made the difficult decision to temporarily step away from international rugby, citing the toll of persistent online abuse and a desire to spend more time with his young family.
“With England and Farrell moving away for a little while, that will change the dynamics of that team and depending on how they want to play the game, there’s some exciting young players in the Premiership doing some good things but test matches are test matches and it is a hard learning ground,” said Cockerill.
“I’ve been there myself with Eddie and Steve. Steve has got a tough job because everybody expects England to win all of the time, and everybody wants to pick the young fellas and give them a go, and everyone is an expert until they have to do the job.
“I think England have got good players, it is just trying to get the balance and blend to make sure you have enough experience and enough youth in there to keep it moving forward.
“Steve’s a good coach, he’s a good operator. He knows how he wants to play the game and it is well thought out. So whatever plan Steve has I am sure it is the right one.”
Cockerill sounded a note of caution around Fabien Galthie’s France, pointing out that Les Bleus will also be undergoing something of a step change with their coaching ticket.
“France who knows, they have changed a lot of their coaching staff who have been instrumental to what they have done over the last four years,” Cockerill noted.
Read the full interview with Cockerill below:
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https://www.rugbypass.com/news/six-nations-richard-cockerill-backs-steve-borthwick-to-have-right-plan-for-england/
| 2024-01-21T12:48:57Z
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Townsend names 39-man Six Nations squad with Russell and Darge as co-captains
Bath stand-off Finn Russell and Glasgow back-rower Rory Darge have been named as Scotland’s new co-captains for the upcoming Guinness Six Nations.
Jamie Ritchie had been the skipper since the summer of 2022 but Gregor Townsend has opted to make a change in order to “further grow and develop the leadership within the squad” on the back of a disappointing World Cup campaign.
Both Russell and Darge have previous experience of captaining the team in Ritchie’s absence.
Russell, 31, is likely to lead the Scots in the opening match away to Wales as 23-year-old Darge is expected to miss the early part of the championship as he battles to recover from a knee injury sustained at the end of December.
Elsewhere, Ross McCann has replaced Darcy Graham who has been ruled out for at least the first two games of the Guinness Six Nations with a quad injury.
“Appointing co-captains for this year’s Guinness Six Nations allows us to further grow and develop the leadership within the squad,” said Townsend. “Rory and Finn captained Scotland last summer and bring different strengths and styles of leadership to the table. Both are highly respected within our squad and have been part of our leadership group for some time. I’m sure they will thrive with this responsibility and lean on our other leaders to drive certain aspects of our preparation, mindset and performance.”
“Jamie has done an excellent job as our captain since October 2022 and he will continue to be one of the key leaders in our group. He now has the opportunity to focus more on his game and deliver his best rugby over the next few weeks.”
Rory Darge said: “I enjoyed captaining the team last summer and immediately felt proud when Gregor told me the news. To co-captain your country is a tremendous honour and to do it alongside a guy like Finn who is respected across the game and such a talented player will be great for me.
“Everyone in our leadership group plays a vital role and we all have strengths that will take the team forward.
“This year’s Guinness Six Nations represents a chance for us to continue to progress as a group and everyone is looking forward to that first game against Wales”
Finn Russell: “Playing for Scotland is a huge honour and to co-captain the side is a privilege and something I am proud of. We have such a talented squad and to lead them alongside Rory represents a massive opportunity. I can’t wait to get started with this year’s championship.
“Rory has been a key player for us since he made his debut and leads by example during matches and in training. We’ll both have different leadership styles which will complement each other and ultimately benefit the team as we go into the tournament.”
FORWARDS:
Ewan Ashman – Edinburgh Rugby
Josh Bayliss – Bath Rugby
Jamie Bhatti – Glasgow Warriors
Andy Christie – Saracens
Luke Crosbie – Edinburgh Rugby
Scott Cummings – Glasgow Warriors
Jack Dempsey – Glasgow Warriors
Rory Darge – Glasgow Warriors CO-CAPTAIN
Grant Gilchrist – Edinburgh Rugby
Richie Gray – Glasgow Warriors
Matt Fagerson – Glasgow Warriors
Zander Fagerson – Glasgow Warriors
Alec Hepburn – Exeter Chiefs (uncapped)
Will Hurd – Leicester Tigers (uncapped)
Johnny Matthews – Glasgow Warriors
WP Nel – Edinburgh Rugby
Jamie Ritchie – Edinburgh Rugby
Pierre Schoeman – Edinburgh Rugby
Sam Skinner – Edinburgh Rugby
George Turner – Glasgow Warriors
Glen Young – Edinburgh Rugby
BACKS:
Adam Hastings – Gloucester Rugby
Ben Healy – Edinburgh Rugby
George Horne – Glasgow Warriors
Rory Hutchinson – Northampton Saints
Huw Jones – Glasgow Warriors
Blair Kinghorn – Toulouse
Stafford McDowall – Glasgow Warriors
Ross McCann – Great Britain Sevens (uncapped)
Harry Paterson – Edinburgh Rugby (uncapped)
Ali Price – Edinburgh Rugby
Cameron Redpath – Bath Rugby
Arron Reed – Sale Sharks (uncapped)
Kyle Rowe – Glasgow Warriors
Finn Russell – Bath Rugby CO-CAPTAIN
Kyle Steyn – Glasgow Warriors
Sione Tuipulotu – Glasgow Warriors
Duhan van der Merwe – Edinburgh Rugby
Ben White – Toulon
additional reporting RugbyPass
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https://www.rugbypass.com/news/townsend-names-39-man-six-nations-squad-with-russell-and-darge-as-co-captains/
| 2024-01-21T12:49:04Z
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Amanda Holden is the life and soul of the party! Taking to Instagram on Saturday, the mum-of-two gave fans a glimpse of the epic birthday bash she'd thrown for her daughter, Lexi, 18.
Sharing a video from the teen's milestone celebrations, Amanda, 52, grabbed the mic and headed to the dancefloor, where she joined Lexi and her friends. "The latest trend. #murderonthedancefloor @lexi.hughes_official 18th…enjoy. The entire long version with all guests is on my TikTok account…" she captioned the clip.
Shortly after posting, Amanda was inundated with comments from fans. "Never too old to party. Go girl," wrote one. "Show 'em how it's done Manda!" added another. Meanwhile, a third quipped: "What a ledge."
Giving off disco vibes in her shimmering sequin two-piece, Amanda could be seen wearing a silver crop top and wide-leg trousers at the party. With her freshly highlighted locks blow-dried to perfection, the TV star looked seriously glam. As for the birthday girl, a beaming Lexi opted for a beaded mini dress and heels.
A milestone birthday for Lexi, earlier this week, Amanda penned a heartfelt tribute to her daughter. Sharing a video filled with special family moments, the presenter captioned it: "Well...The time has literally slipped by and our beautiful @lexi.hughes_official is 18 today. We just cannot quite believe it.
"Darling. We are so proud of the intelligent, sensitive, funny, perceptive and loving woman you have grown up to be. We are here for you and love you so very much. Cannot wait to celebrate with our family and friends tonight!!"
Amanda shares her two daughters, Lexi and Hollie, 12, with her record producer husband, Chris Hughes. The pair met in Los Angeles back in 2003 and began dating a year later.
The couple tied the knot in December 2008, with their one-year-old daughter Lexi in attendance. In 2012, they welcomed their second daughter Hollie.
MORE: Amanda Holden shows off never-ending legs in daring mini skirt for risqué video
READ: Amanda Holden's risque thigh-high slit look has fans doing a double take
Speaking to Mail Online in May 2023, Amanda revealed that Lexi has big career plans following her 18th birthday. "She's been taken on by Storm [Modelling Agency]. She's 17 but I think when she's 18 we'll start looking for her to be in that field. At the minute they are working on her Lookbook," explained Amanda.
"I'm very mindful of what things we go to," added the star. "We went to the Fashion Awards which was really exciting. So yeah, I want to take her to the right things, the relevant things. She's interested in the fashion side of things."
Addressing why she'd encouraged Lexi to wait until she was 18 to fully pursue modelling, Amanda said: "Lexi's an A* student so I don't want her to mess that up and she wants to do it all."
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/celebrities/511744/amanda-holden-video-from-daughter-lexi-18th-birthday-party/
| 2024-01-21T13:21:44Z
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We could all learn a thing or two from Martine McCutcheon’s latest outfit post, as she gave a masterclass in mixing cosy winter fashion with chic, and sexy, pieces. Wearing a stylish white and black fair isle knit from New Look, the 47-year-old actress proved that cosy doesn’t have to mean covered up by pairing her fluffy jumper with a pair of micro leather shorts.
Martine continued the stylish but warm theme with a pair of chunky black ankle boots, which instantly gave the look a trendy feel, and topped it off with a cream-coloured beanie and black tights for extra warmth. She wore her hair wavy and loose and her makeup natural, and added a few gold accessories for a touch of glam.
The former Eastenders star, posing in her beautiful neutral-themed home which she shares with husband Jack McManus and son Rafferty, wrote on the post: “Anyone else feeling the cold so much, that they are sat at work or home with their woolly hats on?” She continued: “I went for a walk in the cold, crisp weather but the sun is shining, so I’m happy about that bit! I love the sunshine!”
Her post sparked a flurry of praise from fans, with one calling Martine her “style icon” and another commenting that the actress looked “fab as always.”
Martine recently opened up about her peri-menopause journey, revealing that her hair was thinner than usual, and that she’d turned to hair extensions to thicken it out. “With the peri meno, my hair was less full than usual and my normal extensions were making it even thinner. I’ve always had fine hair, but a lot of it, so I felt I was just going to have to accept I couldn’t have the best of both worlds,” she wrote on an Insta snap.
“I was thrilled when my friend told me about the hand tie technique that @stacyodwell.naturalextentions uses, and the quality of the hair being amazing etc. I’ve had every kind of extension for films, music videos, shoots, you name it, for over 20 years and I was a bit sceptical. BUT!!! Hands down, this has been my favourite extension method and hair by a mile. My own hair is still going great and having a chance to thicken and grow while I have my dream hair at the same time.” She added: “Hope it helps and that you get to try it for yourself.”
READ: Is perimenopause causing your hair to fall out?
The mum of one also disclosed that she’s been suffering from hot flushes due to the peri-menopause, a common side-effect. “I know it’s freezing, but I’ve had to come upstairs to open all my windows and take off some clothes as I’m feeling so hot and flushed baby!!” she captioned a series of stunning, topless selfies. Describing herself as ‘glowing’, she continued: “Let’s put it down to that certain time in life shall we?”
“At least my face hasn’t gone like a beetroot this time around, it’s happening less often and the “glow” tonight has given my face a nice, healthy, youthful shine – so I’m sharing looking nice and taking the positives!”
Too right, Martine!
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/fashion/celebrity-style/511745/martine-mccutcheon-exudes-snow-bunny-chic-in-micro-leather-shorts/
| 2024-01-21T13:21:50Z
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Eighteen people were killed and 13 injured after Ukrainian forces shelled the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, Alexei Kulemzin, the city's Russian-installed mayor, said on Sunday.
There was no immediate comment from Ukraine on the incident.
According to Kulemzin, Ukrainian forces shelled a busy area where shops and a market are located.
Reuters photographs taken at the scene showed crying people and bodies lying on a snow-covered street near one of the city's markets.
Pushilin said emergency services were working at the scene and that forensic specialists were trying to collect fragments of the weapons used in the attack.
Donetsk is one of four Ukrainian regions which Russia claimed to have annexed last year in a move condemned as illegal by most countries at the United Nations General Assembly. Russia does not fully control any of the four regions. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/eighteen-killed-after-ukraine-shells-russian-controlled-city-of-donetsk-officials
| 2024-01-21T13:48:16Z
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CAIRO - Egypt will not allow any threat to Somalia or its security, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Sunday, according to a statement from the presidency, after Ethiopia said it would consider recognising an independence claim by Somaliland.
Trying to "jump on a piece of land" to try to control it is something that no-one will agree to, Sisi said in a news conference with Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Cairo.
In a memorandum of understanding signed on Jan. 1, Ethiopia said it would consider recognising Somaliland's independence in return for gaining access to the Red Sea. Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 but it has not won recognition from any country. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/president-sisi-says-egypt-will-not-allow-any-threat-to-somalia-or-its-security
| 2024-01-21T13:48:27Z
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SINGAPORE - More people will benefit from support by the Singapore Indian Development Association (Sinda) after the self-help group broadened its criteria to determine who is eligible for several of its programmes.
In a press statement on Jan 21, Sinda said it has revised its per capita income criterion to broaden its benefit to a larger number of households. Per capita income is derived from the total monthly nett household income divided by the number of household members.
With the increase of the criterion from $1,000 to $1,600 from January 2024, 11,000 – or 12 per cent – more Indian families in Singapore are expected to benefit.
Sinda supports about 25,000 beneficiaries across its range of programmes and support initiatives, of which about 60 per cent use the per capita income criterion.
The programmes using the per capita income criterion include the Sinda Tutorials for Enhanced Performance, a subsidised tuition programme, and bursaries for pre-school to tertiary students.
Sinda said $5 million more is projected to be spent in 2024 to support households because of the larger pool of people qualifying for its financial assistance schemes and programmes. It has set aside additional funds to ensure it can meet the needs of a larger number of beneficiaries.
Speaking to the media at Sinda’s appreciation tea on Jan 21 at Gardens by the Bay, Ms Indranee Rajah, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, noted that Sinda is bringing its programmes, subsidies and bursaries to a much larger group of people.
She added: “We are also very mindful of the fact that the cost of living has increased over the years. So we want to make sure that no one’s left behind. So we’ve essentially widened the net, and we hope that more people will receive assistance this way.”
In her speech at the event, Ms Indranee said Sinda arrived at the new $1,600 ceiling by looking at Singaporeans’ income distribution.
She noted that the 20th percentile of monthly household income from work per household member was $1,623, as at 2022.
“So, Sinda’s revised the (per capita income criterion) to include a broader income band, and this aligns with Sinda’s intention and goal to serve the lower-earning bands of our community,” she said.
She added that middle-income groups will also have access to essential support and will be able to enjoy full fee waivers when they enrol in Sinda programmes.
Office administrator Pavitra Rajendran, 31, and her husband, Mr Vinotha Karunakaran, 35, who works as a planner in an oil and gas company, are among those who will benefit.
They have three children, aged five and three, and eight months. One of them has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, and attends both a mainstream school and a special needs school.
Ms Pavitra said the family is unsure what other costs it may need to incur with regard to this child in future. With the change to Sinda’s criterion, the couple now qualify for bursaries that will ease some of the family’s burden.
Said Ms Pavithra: “It will help reduce our financial burden. We are in the centre (in terms of our income level), not in the low, nor the high. Those in the centre are always the ones struggling here and there.”
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/more-to-benefit-from-sinda-after-widening-of-eligibility-criteria-for-support
| 2024-01-21T13:48:37Z
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JASNA, Slovakia - American Mikaela Shiffrin raced to a record-extending 95th career victory when won the World Cup women's slalom in Jasna, Slovakia on Sunday after building a big lead on her opening run.
Shiffrin's 150th World Cup podium moved her five shy of the record held by Ingemar Stenmark, while her 82nd World Cup slalom podium broke her tie with the Swede for most in a discipline.
The 28-year-old Shiffrin won with a combined time of one minute 48.21 seconds to beat 19-year-old Croatian Zrinka Ljutic by 0.14. Anna Swenn Larsson took third.
Shiffrin's latest victory - the American having broken Stenmark's all-time record when she reached 87 - came a day after her main rival Petra Vlhova sustained a season-ending injury.
"I have been thinking about (Vlhova) a lot the last 24 hours," Shiffrin said. "Honestly, this is just an enormous blow for the sport. It sucks.
"For me personally, over these years, I've grown to love the battles with her, and I think today she would be just so strong, so I really miss watching her ski today and having that battle."
Vlhova tore ligaments in her right knee when she crashed during Saturday's giant slalom. The Slovakian and Shiffrin have dominated women's slalom for years, combining for 14 wins in the past 15 races.
Shiffrin is on pace to claim her eighth World Cup season title in slalom. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/alpine-skiing-american-shiffrin-extends-victory-record-with-95th-career-win
| 2024-01-21T13:48:47Z
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