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SINGAPORE – From June 1, commuters will need to change out or update their existing travel cards to pay for bus and train rides.
This is due to a decision by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to move the bulk of commuters to its SimplyGo account-based ticketing platform.
But things are not so simple, as new or updated travel cards that work with SimplyGo – unlike the old ones – cannot be used to pay for retail and motoring expenses, such as parking and Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) fees. This means yet another card to keep in one’s wallet.
What’s more, with SimplyGo, fares charged and the remaining stored value on the card will also no longer be displayed on bus and train fare readers, in a move criticised to have placed organisational cost-cutting over public convenience.
The lack of response by LTA to a barrage of questions posed online and in The Straits Times Forum added to public outrage. Memes such as SimplyNoGo, SimplyCannotGo and SimplyGo Away have also been created to show displeasure.
Double the trouble?
The growing bulge in people’s wallets today is a deja vu of miscalculations in the smart card space years ago.
It beats many why a small nation such as Singapore – with an average public transport ridership of 6.4 million passengers a day – needs two travel card issuers, namely, EZ-Link and Nets.
In leading public transport hubs London and Hong Kong, there is only one card issuer each for the Oyster and Octopus smart cards, respectively.
As Singapore’s card history goes, EZ-Link was set up as a subsidiary of LTA in 2002 to issue ez-link contactless travel cards for bus and train ride payments. Contactless cards were said to be better as they allow speedier boarding.
The ez-link system – based on the Sony FeliCa technology – ran alongside Singapore’s old magnetic farecard system until the latter was retired later in 2002.
EZ-Link had a monopoly on bus and train fare payments in Singapore until 2009. That year, Nets, which dominated ERP and carpark payments, entered the market for public transportation.
Similarly, EZ-Link entered the payment space where Nets had a stranglehold with its CashCard. The move was said to promote competition and offer more choices for users.
To foster inter-operability, Singapore created its own standard for contactless payment and called it Cepas (Specification for Contactless e-Purse Application).
A mass replacement exercise ensued to switch out the old ez-link cards for new Cepas-compliant ones. All public bus and train fare readers have since also been upgraded to the Cepas standard.
But things were more complicated for Nets because it deals with private carpark operators, many of whom didn’t want to pay for new Cepas-compatible fare readers. For more than two decades, motorists still kept a Nets CashCard on hand, even if they hold a Cepas-compliant Nets FlashPay card.
Thus, Singapore’s Cepas introduction did nothing to streamline the number of payment cards in people’s wallets.
And there seems to be no letting up on the growing bulge with the recent LTA announcement.
From June 1, the Nets FlashPay card will no longer be accepted at bus and train fare gates. Commuters will have to switch to Nets Prepaid cards, which, like bank cards, are compatible with SimplyGo. Also, existing ez-link cards will need to get a software update at ticketing machines to work with SimplyGo from June 1.
That is not all. Nets Prepaid cards cannot be used for motoring payments. Users need to keep their existing FlashPay card to do so, or get the Nets Motoring Card. Also, ez-link cards updated to work with SimplyGo cannot be used for motoring-related expenses.
In short, the card mess has worsened.
Why SimplyGo or nothing?
The SimplyGo system was launched in 2019, when LTA started to allow commuters to tap Mastercard and Visa contactless credit and debit cards to pay for adult bus and train fares.
Mobile wallets – Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Fitbit Pay or Garmin Pay – have also since been accepted, allowing commuters to ditch their plastic travel cards.
Singapore proudly became the second city in the world, after London, to offer this convenience.
SimplyGo is an account-based ticketing system. This type of ticketing is carried out by scanning a secure token – be it a bank card, smart card or mobile wallet – at fare gates. Bus and train fares are then processed at the backend, and charged to one’s financial account after the journeys are completed.
Older ez-link and FlashPay cards still in use today are different. They allow transaction data to be stored on the card itself, in what is known as a card-based ticketing system. This is why fares collected and the card’s remaining value can be displayed instantly at fare gates.
Both systems have run in parallel since 2019.
On Jan 9, 2024, LTA announced plans to phase out its card-based ticketing system as its operational lifespan is near expiration.
“Instead of renewing the card-based ticketing system and continuing to run two systems, which is very costly, we have decided to continue only with the SimplyGo system for adult commuters from June 1,” the authority said.
The move has confused people, as concession card holders, including seniors and students, can continue to use their cards after June 1, even if they have not been updated to SimplyGo.
Affected commuters also have not been convinced that the benefits of SimplyGo justify the drastic move. Chiefly, SimplyGo allows users to remotely cancel their misplaced card if it is paired with the SimplyGo app, and retain the monetary value in their account, which was not possible under the card-based ticketing system.
Many people marvel at how London still offers its old-school Oyster travel card, which carries transaction data, despite having introduced account-based ticketing. They wonder why Singapore can’t do the same.
There are still 1.5 million daily fare payments using the card-based ticketing system as at December 2023, compared with 2.6 million daily payments on the SimplyGo system. This is a sizeable number of commuters to consider.
Legacy machines
It is not known how costly it is to maintain two systems, and what avoidable costs would have been incurred if the two systems were to run in parallel for a longer period. LTA has kept silent after its Jan 9 announcement.
Industry sources named ageing ticketing machines across the island for topping up cards and checking recent transactions as potential costly items to maintain. Many are due for an overhaul.
Add Value Machines are among the oldest installations. Hundreds of these can be found in stations along the North-South Line and East-West Line, Bukit Panjang LRT, bus interchanges, select bus stops and Changi Airport.
Add Value Machines, which accept only Nets payments, are progressively being upgraded to newer Top-Up Kiosks seen in stations along the newest Thomson-East Coast Line. Top-Up Kiosks accept all kinds of card and mobile wallet payments. Some even have cash deposit slots to process cash transactions, making travel more inclusive for unbanked users.
Hundreds more general ticketing machines, installed at all MRT and LRT stations since 2002, have also been earmarked for upgrading.
Fewer machines would be needed if most commuters are on SimplyGo, as compatible ez-link cards and the Nets Prepaid Card can be topped up remotely via the EZ-Link and Nets apps, respectively. The apps are linked to bank accounts. The number of ticketing machines can be kept low, even if LTA continues to expand its rail and bus network.
Indeed, as part of the authority’s push for automation and online self-help, all new ticketing machines will be streamlined into these next-generation machines: SimplyGo Kiosks, Top-Up Kiosks and Assisted Service Kiosks.
Take, for example, Assisted Service Kiosks found in stations along the Thomson-East Coast Line. They connect commuters to centrally located customer service agents via video calls to provide assistance for everything, from topping up travel cards to upgrading concession cards.
Short-term inconvenience?
There is another piece of the transport payment puzzle that needs explaining: ERP.
For one thing, LTA will be retiring ageing physical ERP gantries to make way for a new Global Navigation Satellite System-based ERP 2.0 system. Will this new system support account-based ticketing?
If switching to account-based ticketing is part of the ERP 2.0 plan, it needs to be communicated. This means the inconvenience of having to use separate cards for public transport and ERP toll payments would only be short term.
ERP 2.0 is slated to be rolled out after the installation of the new on-board unit in all Singapore-registered vehicles is completed by the end of 2025, though LTA has said it has no immediate plans to switch to distance-based charging.
In the absence of big-picture transport payment plans, forcing commuters to switch to SimplyGo does not make sense. LTA needs to communicate better.
The June 1 deadline is also puzzling. LTA underestimated commuters’ attachment to getting instant feedback on the funds left in their travel card. It has been an established habit for over two decades, and cannot simply be changed overnight.
Perhaps commuters could be given more time to adjust.
But if the trade-off for saving millions of dollars of avoidable maintenance contracts for ageing systems is some short-term inconvenience, it is not hard to understand LTA’s move.
Again, it would help if LTA had been more detailed and transparent in explaining its decisions.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/tech/tech-news/drastic-simplygo-move-puzzling-in-the-absence-of-big-picture-transport-payment-plans
| 2024-01-21T21:36:25Z
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NASHUA, New Hampshire - US Representative Dean Phillips, attempting a longshot bid for the Democratic nomination, assailed Joe Biden as “unelectable and weak” on Jan 20 as he tried to take advantage of the president’s absence from New Hampshire’s primary.
Mr Biden did not register for the New Hampshire vote after national Democrats opted to move their first primary to South Carolina, which offers a more diverse population.
But Mr Biden’s supporters are mounting a write-in campaign in New Hampshire to ensure a win in the state on Jan 23, and a CNN/University of New Hampshire poll released on Sunday showed Mr Biden drawing 63 per cent of the primary vote in that state, with Mr Phillips at 10 per cent.
The Democratic National Committee has ruled that the New Hampshire election effectively won’t count and the winner won’t amass New Hampshire’s 23 delegates in the march to the party’s nomination.
Mr Phillips, a wealthy Democrat from Minnesota, said during a campaign event in Nashua, New Hampshire, that he hoped to do well in voting on Jan 23.
Mr Phillips said a strong showing by him would be getting upwards of 20 per cent or more of the vote - “going from zero to somewhere in the 20s would be pretty awesome, I think.”
“Sadly it’s going to demonstrate that our incumbent president is unelectable and weak and I think it’s going to show this country that there’s a candidate here who can actually do here what has been promised for generations,” Mr Phillips told reporters, after addressing dozens of people at a senior citizen activity centre.
He also noted Mr Biden’s age - 81.
“If you listen to the voters, people feel he’s at a stage of life that makes it incompatible to leading the free world. And the same is true of Donald Trump,” said Mr Phillips, 55.
Trump, 77, is the leading Republican candidate. The former president was defeated by Mr Biden in his bid for a second term in 2020.
The White House has repeatedly dismissed concerns about Mr Biden’s age, though polls show voters are concerned about it.
“Our perspective is that it’s not about age, it’s about the president’s experience,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Mr Biden’s 81st birthday. “We have to judge him by what he’s done, not by his numbers.”
The Biden re-election campaign did not respond to a request for comment and has avoided commenting directly on Mr Phillips’ challenge. When the congressman launched his challenge in October, it issued a statement saying Mr Biden’s “campaign is hard at work mobilising the winning coalition that President Biden can uniquely bring together to once again beat the MAGA Republicans next November.”
Minnesota’s Democratic Governor, Mr Tim Walz, in a fund-raising email at the time said: “You know, I have to say this about Minnesota: it’s a great state, full of great people. And sometimes they do crazy things.”
The New Hampshire primary on Jan 23 offers the first at-the-polls gauge of Mr Biden’s political strength this election cycle, and the unprecedented situation will be closely watched amid polls showing him tied with Trump.
A poor showing by Mr Biden against Mr Phillips and self-help author Marianne Williamson would likely fuel concerns that Mr Biden is weak heading into the general election.
Both Mr Phillips and Ms Williamson appeared to have little chance of defeating Mr Biden.
Backers of the write-in campaign are staging events throughout the weekend to educate voters on how to write in Mr Biden’s name and generate support for him.
Ms Williamson told several dozen people at an event in Manchester that she also felt Mr Biden was weak and questioned the wisdom of nominating him for a second term just because he beat Trump in 2020.
“To say he beat Trump once and therefore he’ll beat him again - for me it’s like saying to an actor who’s nominated for an Oscar twice. ‘He won last time so it’s only reasonable to think he’ll win this time. Well, it’s a different movie,” she said. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/biden-challenger-dean-phillips-in-new-hampshire-calls-us-president-weak
| 2024-01-21T21:36:35Z
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WASHINGTON - Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who was once the leading Republican rival to Donald Trump, ended his election campaign on Jan 21 and threw his support behind the former president.
Mr DeSantis’ withdrawal, after months of weakening support, leaves only low-polling Nikki Haley standing between Trump and the nomination as the Republican Party’s candidate for the US presidential election in November.
In a video message, Mr DeSantis said that following his second place finish last week in the Iowa caucuses he could not “ask our supporters to volunteer their time and donate their resources if we don’t have a clear path to victory. Accordingly, I am today suspending my campaign.”
The decision came less than two days before the New Hampshire primary, where polls showed him far behind front-runner Trump and former UN ambassador Ms Haley.
“It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance,” Mr DeSantis said, noting he has had differences with the former president, notably over the coronavirus pandemic.
“He has my endorsement because we can’t go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear or (a) repackaged form of warmed-over corporatism that Nikki Haley represents.”
Trump stormed to victory in Iowa last Jan 16, with 51 per cent of Republican voters choosing the twice-impeached former president over Mr DeSantis, who gained only 21 per cent, and Haley at 19 per cent.
No candidate has ever lost the race after claiming the first two states, and Trump would almost certainly declare the Republican nomination over with a win in New Hampshire.
‘One fella and one lady’
Many Republicans had pinned their hopes on Mr DeSantis, who at just 45 was embraced by some as a rising star of right.
But his candidacy, announced at the end of May, struggled to establish itself as a threat to Trump, 77.
Mr DeSantis, a former naval officer, was elected in 2018 as governor in Florida after receiving the valuable endorsement of Trump.
Since then, he often distanced himself from Trump and gained notoriety for a series of hard-right stances on education, immigration and LGBTQ issues.
Mr DeSantis appeared almost daily in the national media to lock horns in the cultural wars against “woke” politicians, businesses and professors he accuses of forcing their progressive ideology on Americans.
His most headline-grabbing initiatives have included allowing Floridians to carry concealed guns without a permit and imposing one of the country’s most restrictive abortion laws.
Ahead of the New Hampshire vote on Jan 23, Ms Haley had largely refrained from hitting out at Trump, but she has begun questioning his mental acuity, making comparisons between him and the 81-year-old incumbent Democrat Joe Biden.
At an event in Seabrook, New Hampshire, she said Mr DeSantis “ran a great race, he’s been a good governor, and we wish him well.”
“Having said that, it’s now one fella and one lady,” she continued.
“This comes down to ‘what do you want.’ Do you want more of the same or do you want something new?” AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/ron-desantis-suspends-campaign-backs-trump-to-be-republican-nominee
| 2024-01-21T21:36:46Z
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GUATEMALA CITY - A group of hundreds of US-bound migrants has disintegrated in Guatemala a day after setting out from neighbouring Honduras, with about 200 detained and a smaller group allowed to continue with travel documents, authorities said on Jan 21.
On Jan 20, Guatemalan Migration Institute spokeswoman Alejandra Mena said about 200 migrants had been detained near the border with Honduras.
About 80 people with the documents required to transit through Guatemala were allowed to continue their journey, Ms Mena said in an update on Jan 21.
Local media said a caravan of about 500 people – mainly Venezuelans – had set out from the northern Honduran city of San Pedro Sula on Jan 20 – the first such group to leave the country this year.
It was made up of people of several different nationalities.
Since 2018, caravans of thousands of people hoping to find a better life in the United States have set out from Honduras to try and cross Guatemala and Mexico on foot.
Often driven from their home countries by poverty and violence, many had by then already crossed the inhospitable Darien gap between Colombia and Panama.
More than half a million crossed the gap in 2023, mainly fleeing economic misery in Venezuela but also from Ecuador, Haiti and other countries. AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/us-bound-migrant-caravan-breaks-up-in-guatemala
| 2024-01-21T21:36:56Z
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TAICHUNG – The charms of Taiwan are many. Friendly people, fantastic service in stores and restaurants, excellent street food, abundant – and delicious – vegetables and fruit.
Until 2024, however, I had stuck to Taipei, finding endless places to explore and enjoy.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/food/eating-high-and-low-in-taichung?utm_campaign=STPicks
| 2024-01-21T21:37:06Z
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SINGAPORE – A significant chapter in Singapore’s entertainment history came to a close with the shuttering of nightlife outlets at Orchard Towers in late 2023.
Its vice-tainted location at 400 Orchard Road is a shadow of the sophisticated cabaret performances that played there and made headlines in the 1960s.
But Orchard Road was always destined to be a great street for all sorts of commerce.
In 1968, it grabbed headlines around the world when Singapore’s first entertainment complex called the Tropicana Theatre Restaurant and Niteclub opened in Scotts Road.
It was Orchard Road’s first major attraction, which later paved the way for the thoroughfare’s journey in transforming itself into one of the world’s foremost retail and fashion draws, on a par with Fifth Avenue in New York and the Champs-Elysees in Paris.
The nightspot was the culmination of a series of talks in the 1960s between the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board (STPB), now called Singapore Tourism Board (STB), and the local business community. They were aimed at adding buzz to the street, which in the 1960s was popular as a grocery-shopping haunt, with colonial-era supermarkets such as Fitzpatrick’s and Cold Storage.
There was also a cinema hall called Pavilion, mainly for the British to catch up on Hollywood hit films and drink whisky at the same time.
STPB collaborated with property developer Shaw Sung Ching to come up with early sketches for Tropicana in 1966, which turned out to be a game changer.
The classy Tropicana, with its fine dining and topless European troupes, was a shot in the arm for then-sleepy Orchard Road. International royalty, celebrities and jet-setters downed a mouthful at its sophisticated fine-dining restaurants, then were later in for an eyeful at the nightclub’s nightly shows.
When it was officially opened by then-STPB chairman P.H. Meadows, on March 30, 1968, on a 25,000 sq ft plot, Mr Shaw declared that for the first time, the Republic was on an equal footing with world-class nightclubs with cabaret shows in Asia, such as the Mikado in Tokyo.
“We believe that such a complex will not only meet the needs of the most demanding nightclub-goer, but also become another reason for the international traveller to want to come to Singapore,” said the late Mr Shaw, a Shanghai-trained architect who made his fortune in the construction sector after arriving in Singapore. He died in 2003 at the age of 93.
Tropicana was such a success that it was fully booked every night for its first three years. It closed in 1989 after stiff competition from topless revues at Neptune Theatre Restaurant in Collyer Quay and Golden Million at Peninsula Hotel.
Tropicana’s allure also began to fade after a new music phenomenon called disco swept the world with its throbbing music and catchy lyrics. This new entertainment wave coincided with Singapore’s hotel construction boom of the late 1960s and 1970s.
Hoteliers wasted no time opening discos to capitalise on the rampant demand for cramped spaces with strobe lights, mirror balls and the blaring disco music of Donna Summer, the Bee Gees and the Village People.
From the 1960s to the late 1980s, discos started popping up all over Orchard Road, such as Barbarella at Ming Court Hotel (1970), Xanadu In Shangri-La Hotel (1981) and, later, Top Ten at Orchard Towers (1985).
Building a great street
Between 1999 and 2001, Singapore-based global architectural practice DP Architects (DPA) served as the lead consultant on a schematic planning study commissioned by STB in dialogue with various local agencies, Orchard Road Business Association (Orba) and other stakeholders. The brief: to transform Orchard Road into a globally recognised destination.
Mr Jeremy Tan, 61, a DPA director who was involved in the earliest Orchard Road masterplan then, recalls some of the big ideas that were discussed.
“There was talk about linking the different buildings and districts in Orchard Road and raising the concept for an underground pedestrian network connecting major crossroads,” says Mr Tan, who has been with the firm for more than 30 years.
“We also looked at how to seamlessly integrate malls with the streetscape to draw the crowds out and extend the Orchard Road experience, raising the idea to open up the malls from their traditionally closed facade designs.”
Mr Tan says the team studied internationally renowned retail concepts and experiences in global cities. The benchmark: to see how they could reimagine Orchard Road as a “great street” with the vibrancy and dynamism of the world’s best shopping streets.
He notes that these efforts are evident today in the seamless connectivity that makes Orchard Road pedestrian-friendly and in the green respites along its streetscape with its many cafes, the food and beverage (F&B) kiosks and street performers. “And in the changing faces of the malls with their inviting facades that blend seamlessly with the streetscape to extend the Orchard Road experience beyond four walls,” he adds.
“The exciting part is also the new works and programming that are ongoing and new plans that are envisioned for Orchard Road that will continue to make this one of the most iconic streets of Singapore.”
Since the 1980s, DPA has been involved in the design and reinvigoration of about 10.76 million sq ft of mixed-used commercial spaces and has also helped reinvent 20 buildings in Orchard Road, such as Wisma Atria, Orchard Central, Paragon Shopping Centre and Mandarin Gallery.
Mr Chua Zi Jun, 45, DPA director and design lead for retail typology, cites Wisma Atria as an example of how one building tells the story of Orchard Road’s evolution and progress – from when it was first built in 1986 by pioneer architect Gan Eng Oon, then revamped twice by DPA chairwoman and veteran architect Angelene Chan.
Wisma Atria, Mr Chua notes, was first built in a 1980s American mall typology featuring an atrium in a centred box form, reminiscent of contemporary designs then.
In 1991, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) released a revised concept plan to modernise Orchard Road and Wisma Atria was given a facelift in 2004. Its facade was reconstructed with a glass frontage that changed the building’s elevation into a storefront window with external escalators going to the upper floors, connecting its multi-storey retail shops with the sidewalk.
“This revamp made Wisma Atria the first in the region to reverse its ‘closed’ design into an open one,” recalls Mr Chua, who notes that many malls subsequently followed suit and modernised.
This gave rise to the street-integrated urban mall, which refreshed the face of Orchard Road, increasing its vibrancy with pedestrian and side-street activities.
Wisma Atria underwent another makeover in 2012, when Ms Chan designed a glass facade to further increase its visibility and street engagement.
“These efforts to transform Orchard Road’s buildings and foster connectivity has helped shape its evolution over the decades,” says Mr Chua.
He adds Orchard Road’s rejuvenation and transformation continues today, with one of the largest redevelopments comprising Forum The Shopping Mall, voco Orchard Singapore and HPL House, to form a mixed-use development.
“This redevelopment is set to further revitalise the area and, when built, will feature the first performance theatre and one of the largest rooftop gardens in Orchard Road.”
In 2019, STB, together with URA and National Parks Board (NParks), announced plans to strengthen Orchard Road’s position as a lifestyle destination and to bring back the orchard in Orchard Road.
As a lifestyle destination, it will have sub-precincts with unique identities. For instance, Somerset will have a “youth vibe”, while the carpark in Grange Road near Somerset MRT station will be reimagined as an event space combined with retail offerings.
The shopping belt will also become a lush green urban corridor connecting to historical green spaces, such as Singapore Botanic Gardens and Fort Canning Park. The streets will be enhanced through a curated showcase of vibrant trees and shrubs that depict the colours of the tropics.
Global draw for tourists
Today, Orchard Road is one of the world’s foremost retail and fashion shopping streets. According to the Singapore Tourism Analytics Network, Singapore received more than 12 million visitors from January to November 2023. Orchard Road remains a top draw for tourists here, garnering four out of five stars in 2024 on global travel site Tripadvisor, which rates it one of the must-see local places.
Ms Guo Teyi, STB’s director of retail and dining, says Orchard Road distinguishes itself through its dynamic fusion of shopping, dining and entertainment, catering to diverse consumer preferences. Ongoing rejuvenation efforts, driven by new developments and concepts from both public and private sectors, aim to enhance Orchard Road’s position as a must-visit lifestyle destination.
“The introduction of first-to-market concepts such as Trifecta, Asia’s first snow, surf and skating lifestyle destination; as well as flagship stores such as the Nike one at 268 Orchard; the addition of hospitality and dining offerings, such as the newly opened five-star hotels The Singapore Edition and Artyzen Singapore; and French patissier Cedric Grolet’s first Asia outpost at Como Orchard; all contribute to the appeal,” she adds.
Mr Mark Shaw, chairman of Orba, notes that in the last 25 years, the nation’s economic growth, technological advances and shifting cultural trends have all transformed the retail landscape.
Orchard Road establishments have kept pace with these changes to remain relevant.
“Developers have been steadily reconfiguring older malls and designing new malls to accommodate more F&B outlets as Singapore evolves to become one of the major culinary hubs in the region, drawing not just Michelin-starred chefs, but also young local entrepreneurs who, within a few years, have created an exciting restaurant and cafe culture,” says Mr Shaw, 54.
Retailers have also pivoted with offerings to cater to changing consumer behaviour. Experiential shopping with artificial intelligence-assisted interactive features, omnichannel touchpoints and sustainable products are commonplace in physical stores and online today, he adds.
He has seen tourism demographics shifting significantly towards arrivals from China, Indonesia and India.
“Orba’s retail members are adopting a more differentiated approach,” says Mr Shaw. “Surveys have found that Chinese visitors spend more on shopping and less on accommodation and food. Practical measures include incorporating payment options, such as WeChat Pay and Alipay, that Chinese consumers can use.”
Orchard Road also boasts the biggest collection of international hotels along a 3.1km stretch. In addition, there is a presidential palace, an outdoor park for youth activities and a charming enclave of Peranakan shophouses – Singapore’s finest examples of Chinese Baroque-style shop-and-terrace houses – at Emerald Hill, says Mr Shaw.
“The diversity found in Orchard Road makes it unique, with a character that subtly changes as you delve into its many malls.”
Partying in new ways
Besides retail, lifestyle hot spots and an urban corridor, Orchard Road will offer something new by 2025 at the end of the stretch bordering Penang Road, where Temasek Shophouse now stands.
Temasek Shophouse is expanding to better cater to a growing community of changemakers and social entrepreneurs who are given access to event venues, co-working and community spaces, as well as networking opportunities to enhance and strengthen the impact work they do.
Besides the four shophouses involved in the expansion – No. 16, 22, 38 and 28 (the current Temasek Shophouse) – there are also plans to rejuvenate and activate surrounding outdoor spaces, including Handy Green and Stamford Canal, for the public to enjoy.
“With the transformation and expansion, Temasek Shophouse will be able to support more impact organisations, such as social enterprises, ground-up initiatives, social service agencies, non-profit organisations and charities with access to resources and networking within Temasek Shophouse’s community,” says Ms Yvonne Tay, general manager of Temasek Shophouse.
One person who is misty-eyed to see the last of the red-hot Orchard Road nightlife hot spots fade into the pages of history is entertainer-emcee Moe Alkaff. The 61-year-old was a resident deejay at Top Ten during its heyday in the 1980s before it closed at Orchard Towers in 2005.
“Top Ten was a legendary club where Singapore’s high society went to let their hair down,” recalls Mr Alkaff, who was in charge of the band line-up and deejayed there every night from 1985 to 1989.
“Models, ‘mad men’ from the advertising agencies and international airline crew had to get in line in snaking queues just to get in. Every night was like a Saturday night because the party never seemed to end,” recalls the entrepreneur, who founded events management company Moezik Events International.
But he says it is sad to see the nightlife element dialled down to just a few nondescript bars and pubs.
“Vibrant nightlife makes a place seem like the fun never ends and that is what is missing in Orchard Road. We need to find ways to bring the party back to our Great Street,” he adds.
“Orchard Road was the street to go to for serious partying. Now, people will be drawn to other places, such as Clarke Quay and Marina Bay Sands.”
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/home-design/orchard-road-gears-up-for-a-new-era?utm_campaign=STPicks
| 2024-01-21T21:37:17Z
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In this series, manpower reporter Tay Hong Yi offers practical answers to candid questions on navigating workplace challenges and getting ahead in your career. Get more tips by signing up to The Straits Times’ HeadSTart newsletter.
Q: Does it reflect well on me if I resign from my current employer soon after a promotion?
A: In most circumstances, it is not advisable to resign shortly after a promotion, says Ms Loh Kaili, recruitment manager at recruitment firm RGF Singapore.
“This is especially so when the promotion is part of succession planning and has been a topic of discussion for the past few months,” she notes.
The move does not reflect well on the employee and may burn bridges if not handled properly, she adds.
This could mean the candidate is jeopardising future interactions with the past employer, such as for job references.
“We would recommend the employees stay in their new role for nine to 12 months before considering a move.”
Recruitment firm chief Foo See Yang says that although all employees have the right to resign from their jobs at any time and there is no hard rule on how long one should stay in a newly promoted role, resigning from a job after having been recently promoted is traditionally frowned upon.
This is because of the preconceived notion that the employee was merely waiting for a better title to increase the chances of easily getting hired elsewhere, says Mr Foo, who is managing director and country head at Persolkelly Singapore.
Nonetheless, employees have become more open to frequent job changes following the Covid-19 pandemic, he notes.
As for reasons employees might leave despite a promotion, Mr Foo says one possibility is that the new role is not living up to expectations.
A divergence between long-term career goals and the new role may play a significant role too.
“In such cases, the individual may choose to resign to pursue a path that better aligns with their ultimate career objectives.”
Better prospects in another industry may also prompt an employee to resign despite a promotion.
Mr Foo adds that work-life balance is another crucial consideration.
“If the demands of the new role become overwhelming or clash with personal priorities, the individual might decide to resign,” he says.
Ms Loh notes that some candidates may have the right skills and abilities but are in an unsuitable work environment that adversely impacts their performance.
On how to decide whether and when to leave, Mr Foo advises employees to consider if the role they were promoted to aligns with their long-term career goals.
“Resigning too soon may not allow the individual to fully capitalise on the opportunities and experiences the promotion offers.”
Another factor to consider is how future employers might perceive frequent job changes after a promotion.
“They may question the candidate’s commitment and reliability if they observe a pattern of resigning shortly after receiving a promotion.”
In addition, Mr Foo says, resigning shortly after a promotion might raise concerns about the candidate’s ability to adapt to the increased responsibilities and challenges associated with the higher role.
“Hiring managers may wonder if the candidate struggled with the demands of the position or if their performance was a factor in the decision to leave.”
Resigning shortly after a promotion could be seen as not honouring the investment by companies to train and develop employees for higher roles, Mr Foo says.
Honesty and transparency are essential when discussing the subject of resigning from a previous job after being promoted, to reassure prospective employers, he advises.
He also says it is crucial for candidates who find themselves in this situation to reassure potential employers during interviews with transparency, self-awareness and a clear career plan, to prove the potential new job is what they are looking for to advance their careers.
“This may involve explaining the reasons behind the decision, highlighting the lessons learnt from the previous role, and emphasising a commitment to the responsibilities of the new position.”
Have a question? Send it to askst@sph.com.sg
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/jobs/will-quitting-right-after-a-promotion-hurt-chances-for-your-next-job?utm_campaign=STPicks
| 2024-01-21T21:37:27Z
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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?utm_campaign=STPicks
| 2024-01-21T21:37:48Z
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SINGAPORE – Dragons of different shapes and sizes have emerged to usher in Chinese New Year (CNY) on Feb 10.
It will be the Year of the Wood Dragon, and the auspicious creature in the Chinese zodiac symbolises power, strength and good fortune.
Here are some highlights from the kaleidoscope of CNY activities around the island.
Chinatown
The cultural enclave sets the pulse for CNY festivities. An array of breathtaking dragon dioramas themed “Soaring into the Auspicious Dragon Year” illuminates New Bridge Road, Eu Tong Sen Street, South Bridge Road and Upper Cross Street after the official light-up on Jan 19. They are setting Chinatown aglow from 7pm to midnight till March 9.
Among some of the highlights is a festive fair till Feb 9 in Sago Street, Smith Street, Temple Street, Trengganu Street and Pagoda Street from 10am to 10pm daily. A countdown party will ring in the new year at Kreta Ayer Square on Feb 9 at 10pm.
The Chinatown Business Association has also organised a series of festive workshops on making nian gao (sweet rice cake) and pineapple plush toys at the Chinatown Visitor Centre in Banda Street. More details at https://chinatown.sg
The library@chinatown in Chinatown Point will have festive events like dragon-themed craft activities and Chinese calligraphy workshops. More information at https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/programmes-at-librarychinatown-2631629
Chingay
The annual multicultural extravaganza, Chingay Parade, will return to the F1 Pit Building on Feb 23 and 24 with the theme “Blossom”.
It will feature 3,500 performers, 17 community-made floats, five Chingay large floats and, for the first time, a 230m interactive floor projection – Singapore’s longest for a street parade.
A section of the event venue will be turned into a PAssionArts Street, where art activities and community art installations co-created by residents and community artists will be showcased.
The Chingay spirit will be brought to the heartland with performances and a caravan of floats parading through various estates over several weekends from Feb 25.
More information at https://www.chingay.gov.sg
River Hongbao and Gardens by the Bay
River Hongbao 2024 will be held from Feb 8 to 17 at Gardens by the Bay, with overseas performances making a return after a three-year hiatus.
A stunning 140m-long dragon suspended between two Supertrees will take centre stage, together with the God of Fortune and a dazzling display of 30 firecrackers.
Besides River Hongbao, the centre of Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay will be transformed into Dahlia Dreams, with a 15m-long dragon centrepiece close to 7m in height rising from amid more than 1,000 dahlias of 40 varieties.
Complementing this central spectacle are four colourful dragon lantern sets, each symbolising the elements of metal, water, fire and earth.
Gardens by the Bay chief executive officer Felix Loh said: “With CNY being an important time of reunion, we hope that Singaporeans will celebrate the festive period with us through our various displays and programmes as they bond with their families and friends amidst the beauty of nature.”
Resorts World Sentosa
Bask in the spirit of spring at Resorts World Sentosa with its Starlit Dragon Spectacular live performance that features a majestic 88m LED dancing dragon under a starry night sky. The free public show is set at the Lake of Dreams, at level one at the Forum. It will take place from Feb 10 to 13, and Feb 16 to 18 at 7.30pm and 8.30pm. Guests can look out for the God of Fortune on these dates.
Visitors can also capture Insta-worthy moments at AVE8’s Wealth of Dragons installation from Jan 23 and enjoy live band performances on selected dates in February at both AVE8 and Gourmet Park. More details at www.rwsentosa.com/en/events/chinese-new-year
Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre and Singapore Chinese Orchestra
Soak in the Chinese New Year vibes at the CNY Family Fun event co-organised by the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre (SCCC) and Singapore Chinese Orchestra (SCO) from Jan 26 till 28 at SCCC and Singapore Conference Hall.
Families can join in CNY traditions through interactive activities such as games, performances, workshops and craft activities.
An art installation called BeLONG’s Art Playground at SCCC’s roof garden will allow visitors to explore Singapore’s unique CNY customs in a fun and colourful playground inspired by Singapore’s HDB playgrounds.
Catch an illuminated dragon dance featuring a symphony of lights and motion against a cityscape backdrop at SCCC’s roof garden on Jan 26 and 28 at 8pm, and Jan 27 at 8.20pm.
More details at https://singaporen.sg/festivals/chinese-new-year/familyfun/
Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall
Catch the festive spirit at the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall’s Wan Qing Festival of Spring on Feb 17 and 18, from 10am to 7pm.
There will be workshops such as dragon lantern making and dragon’s beard candy making, storytelling and craft activities. Visitors will also be entertained with performances by the Singapore Chinese Orchestra and Chinese wind and percussion ensemble Reverberance.
A crowd-puller is the inflatable installation of Dino, a modern interpretation of the mythical dragon, which is on display on the memorial hall’s lawn till Feb 25.
Admission is free except for some ticketed activities. More information at https://www.sysnmh.org.sg
Museum Roundtable Hongbao
The annual Museum Roundtable Lunar New Year Hongbao Campaign is on till Feb 9, when visitors to any of the 43 participating museums, heritage institutions and galleries can collect an eight-piece set of red packets unique to that particular museum.
This year’s hongbao set features dragons designed by Colombian artist Carlos Puentes. More details at go.gov.sg/MRHongbao2024
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/enter-the-dragon-activities-to-usher-in-chinese-new-year-2024?utm_campaign=STPicks
| 2024-01-21T21:40:07Z
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According to Greek mythology, Zeus punished Prometheus for giving fire to humans. He chained Prometheus up and set an eagle to feast on his liver. Each night, the liver grew back and each day, the eagle returned for his feast. In reality, can a liver really grow back?
The liver is the largest internal organ in the human body. It is needed for hundreds of bodily processes, including breaking down toxins such as alcohol. As it is the first organ to “see” alcohol that has been drunk, it is not surprising that it is the most susceptible to alcohol’s effects. However, other organs, including the brain and heart, can also be damaged by long-term heavy alcohol use.
As a liver specialist, I meet people with alcohol-related liver disease every day. It is a spectrum of disease ranging from laying down of fat in the liver (fatty liver) to scar formation (cirrhosis) and it usually doesn’t cause any symptoms until the very late stages of damage.
At first, alcohol makes the liver fatty. This fat causes the liver to become inflamed. In response, it tries to heal itself, producing scar tissue. If this carries on unchecked, the whole liver can become a mesh of scars with small islands of “good” liver in between – cirrhosis.
In the late stages of cirrhosis, when the liver fails, people can turn yellow (jaundice), swell with fluid, and become sleepy and confused. This is serious and can be fatal.
Most people who regularly drink more than the recommended limit of 14 units of alcohol per week (about six pints of normal strength beer [4 percent ABV] or about six average [175ml] glasses of wine [14 percent ABV]) will have a fatty liver. Long-term and heavy alcohol use increases the risk of developing scarring and cirrhosis.
Good news
Fortunately, there is good news. In people with fatty liver, after only two to three weeks of giving up alcohol, the liver can heal and looks and functions as good as new.
In people with liver inflammation or mild scarring, even within seven days of giving up alcohol, there are noticeable reductions in liver fat, inflammation, and scarring. Stopping alcohol use for several months lets the liver heal and return to normal.
In heavy drinkers with more severe scarring or liver failure, giving up alcohol for several years reduces their chance of worsening liver failure and death. However, people who drink heavily can be physically dependent on alcohol and stopping suddenly can cause alcohol withdrawal.
In its mild form, it causes shaking and sweating. But if severe, it can cause hallucinations, fits, and even death. Going “cold turkey” is never recommended for heavy drinkers, who should seek medical advice about how to safely give up alcohol.
Other benefits
Giving up drinking also has positive effects on sleep, brain function, and blood pressure.
Avoiding alcohol for long periods also reduces the risk of several types of cancer (including liver, pancreas and colon) and the risk of heart disease and stroke.
However, alcohol is not the only cause of ill health. Giving it up has many health benefits, but it is not a panacea. It should be seen as part of a healthy lifestyle, including a balanced diet and regular physical exercise.
So, to answer the question posed by the myth of Prometheus, the liver has an amazing power to repair itself after it has been damaged. But it cannot grow back as new if it was already severely scarred.
If you stop drinking and only have a fatty liver, it can quickly turn back to normal. If you had a scarred liver (cirrhosis) to start with, stopping alcohol will allow some healing and improved function but can’t undo all the damage that has already been done.
If you want to look after your liver, drink in moderation and have two to three alcohol-free days each week. That way, you won’t have to rely on the liver’s magical self-healing power to stay healthy.
Ashwin Dhanda, Associate Professor of Hepatology, University of Plymouth
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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https://www.iflscience.com/what-happens-to-your-liver-when-you-quit-alcohol-72543
| 2024-01-21T21:53:48Z
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Matt Baker recently shared exciting news of a new career venture, not long after his wife Nicola made a major leap herself.
But the long-time couple also enjoy time with their family away from work and on Sunday, the Countryfile presenter asked fans for help with a name as he shared the most adorable video of his mum Janice's new puppy, as you can see in the clip below…
Being an animal lover like her husband, Nicola was among the first to comment, sweetly writing: "He's so lovely… My heart has totally melted!" Another of the star's followers agreed, commenting: "That describes what's just happened to my heart!"
Other fans chimed in: "The whole nation goes 'Awwwwwwww," "So cute," and: "Handsome chap". Reflecting on what the new arrival should be named, "Call him Bear," one commenter added, to which Matt responded: "Like it!" Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, meanwhile, suggested one of his own children's names, writing: "Bless him, Buddy I reckon, sweet dog and family x."
Although clearly very proud of her husband, Nicola doesn't often step into the spotlight and the star surprised his fans earlier this year when he shared a rare insight into the couple's home life.
The duo own a farm in County Durham and Matt took to social media to share a brief video of a tractor ploughing some nearby fields while Nicola hand-fed several donkeys.
Nicola then shared a longer version of the video, writing in the caption: "I love this time of year when the hay is cut and baled… and so do the donkeys! Good excuse for a donkey cuddle too!"
"Hay," her doting husband sweetly quipped in the comment section, alongside a heart emoji. While the star mostly keeps his marriage out of the spotlight, he has made a handful of comments about their relationship.
The former The One Show presenter met physiotherapist Nicola at the age of 18, and he has since admitted it was "the best day of my life." Since then, they have welcomed two children: Luke and Molly, who are now teenagers.
Speaking about their fateful meeting, when asked what was his best decision in life, he recalled to The Telegraph: "Going up to my wife and saying hello. I was working in a 1970s dance troupe called Disco Inferno when I was 18, touring the nightclubs of the North.
"We were performing in Cleethorpes and I spotted her as soon as she came in and plucked up the courage to go over. She was there as a punter and we got chatting. Then I had to perform but I didn’t tell her. Weeks went by and I just used to disappear a quarter of the way through the evening. Eventually, she figured out that I was one of the performers."
Matt has since confessed he's glad he knew her before he became famous, and has often credited her for her support during his career.
"I'm so lucky that I met my wife Nicola before any of this telly lark started. I knew way back then she was the one and I don't think I could have done all this without her," he told The Mirror in 2011.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/celebrities/511762/matt-baker-wife-nicola-melt-hearts-adorable-new-family-addition/
| 2024-01-21T22:12:46Z
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NCIS is gearing up for its grand return with the long-delayed season 21, which was pushed from the 2023 Fall season to February 12 due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
The show has officially shared its first peek at the upcoming season, and managed to surprise fans with a nod to former star Mark Harmon's character Leroy Jethro Gibbs.
However, many were left divided by the first peek at the season, check out the official first sneak peek of NCIS season 21 in the video below…
"You think you know someone and then…," the caption of the video, which featured appearances from stars Gary Cole, Sean Murray, Katrina Law, and Wilmer Valderrama read.
Many fans of the show were excited for its return, and found the explosive first scene to be the perfect tease. "I like this," one wrote, with another saying: "I can't wait to watch it I'm so excited," and a third adding: "I have been so excited for this since last summer omg!"
However, a few others felt that the reference to fan favorite Gibbs just highlighted how much his presence was missed, leaving responses like: "Bring back Gibbs," and: "Not the same without Gibbs," as well as: "Yeah, this so not damn good!"
Quite a few commenters also expressed their adoration for the late David McCallum, who played Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard on the show from the very first season till his passing in September, asking for a proper tribute to the actor.
Speaking of former characters, fans of the show received major news earlier in the week that implied the possible return of another favorite, that being Michael Weatherly's Anthony DiNozzo.
MORE: NCIS star Daniela Ruah sparks major fan reaction with on-set photo amid return to franchise
The actor was a part of the show from its first season till its 13th, but hinted at his return to his character on X when a fan asked if he preferred DiNozzo or his Bull character Dr. Jason Bull.
"There will be more DiNozzo someday because he is the one character that felt unfinished… that's my plan! We shall see…"
MORE: NCIS star Brian Dietzen sparks major fan reaction with new season 21 photo
As for Mark, while he does not plan to return to the flagship series anytime soon, he remains an executive producer, and is currently in the process of helming a prequel series, titled NCIS: Origins, which will relate the backstory of his character.
While the 72-year-old won't star in it himself, he will act as executive producer with his son Sean Harmon (who played a younger version of Gibbs on NCIS), and will also serve as its narrator. The search is still on to find an actor to portray the lead role.
MORE: All we know about NCIS: Origins – from Mark Harmon's comeback to all the returning characters
Sean, 35, said in a statement: "The character of Gibbs has been an important part of my life for 20 years, both in watching my father craft the role and previously having the honor to play young Gibbs myself.
"I always felt there was a tale worth telling about his earlier years, so I am thrilled to be stepping into a producing role alongside [NCIS writers-producers Gina Lucita Monreal, David J. North] and my dad as we tell this story and reveal a new side of this beloved character."
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/film/511763/ncis-reference-mark-harmon-first-look-season-21-fans-conflicted/
| 2024-01-21T22:12:52Z
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The entertainment world mourns the loss of David Gail, a talented actor best recognized for his role in the iconic 1990s show Beverly Hills 90210.
At the age of 58, David passed away, leaving behind a legacy that includes a memorable portrayal as the one-time fiancé of Shannen Doherty's character, Brenda Walsh.
The news of his passing was confirmed by his longtime friend, Peter Ferriero, host of the Beverly Hills, 90210 rewatch podcast.
While the cause of David’s death has not been revealed, Peter paid homage to his friend by sharing clips from David’s appearance on the podcast.
In these clips, David reminisced about his character Stuart and his whirlwind romance with Brenda, a storyline that remains etched in the hearts of fans.
David's career spanned various notable roles, including his performance as Dr. Joe Scanlon in the General Hospital spin-off Port Charles from 1999 to 2000.
Although his last on-screen appearance was in 2008's "Belly of the Beast," he continued to lend his talents to the entertainment industry, most recently voicing characters in the 2019 video game Blacksad: Under the Skin.
His diverse acting journey also included appearances in shows like Savannah, ER, and Robin's Hoods.
Remembering David, Peter Ferriero described him as a kind and life-filled human being. "David was a kind human. Someone I wish I spoke to more," Peter wrote. "He was filled with life and incredible stories. I am grateful I got to know him. I am so saddened for your loss, and the world’s loss. He was a gift to us all."
David's sister, Katie Colmenares, shared a heartfelt tribute to her brother, highlighting the deep bond they shared throughout their lives.
"There’s barely been even a day in my life when you were not with me by my side always my wingman always my best friend ready to face anything and anyone with me," she wrote.
"The bears will never be the same but I will hold you so tight every day in my heart you gorgeous loving amazing fierce human being missing you every second of every day forever there will never be another."
Tributes from fans and colleagues have been pouring in, expressing their love and admiration for David. Sheri Sussman of Spiral Gate Productions remembered him as "one of the good guys in life."
Fans reminisced about his character, with comments like "So sad tragic news loved him as Stuart" and "So sad forever Stuart Carson rip."
Get the lowdown on the biggest, hottest celebrity news, features and profiles coming out of the U.S. Sign up to our HELLO! Hollywood newsletter and get them delivered straight to your inbox.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/celebrities/511764/beverly-hills-90210-star-david-gail-dies-aged-58/
| 2024-01-21T22:56:38Z
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Weekly Money FM Podcasts (22 Jan 2024)
What is the enduring impact of a family friend on a business legacy? (featuring Er. Dr. Lee Bee Wah, former Member of Parliament and engineer, and Mr Tan Yue Wei, founder, YWA Studio & director of TEP One Group)
Why Singapore’s first active ETF is looking to Japan (featuring Ms Ong Ai Ling, head of artificial intelligence of investments (AIOI), senior director, portfolio manager Lion Global Investors)
A new possible pandemic - Disease X (featuring Professor Dale Fisher, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, senior consultant, National University Hospital)
ART SG back for second edition, curation process, trendspotting key galleries, artists (featuring Ms Shuyin Yan, fair director, ART SG)
How Singapore is taking action to fight trafficking of endangered animals (Ms Anbarasi Boopal, co chief executive, ACRES Wildlife Rescue Centre and Dr Charlene Yeong, senior manager, Wildlife Health and Rehabilitation at Mandai Nature)
Why Iswaran’s alleged graft case could drag out (featuring Mr Eugene Tan, Associate Professor of Law, Singapore Management University)
Discover Money FM 89.3 Podcasts: http://www.moneyfm893.sg/podcast/
SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/
Spotify: https://str.sg/JWVx
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/weekly-money-fm-podcasts-why-singapore-s-first-active-etf-is-looking-to-japan
| 2024-01-21T23:03:21Z
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LECCE, Italy - A second-half brace from Dusan Vlahovic and a late header from Gleison Bremer earned Juventus a 3-0 away win over Lecce on Sunday, lifting them to the top of Serie A.
Juve lead the standings with 52 points, one ahead of second-placed Inter Milan, who did not play a league match this weekend as they were participating in the Italian Supercup. Lecce are 14th with 21 points.
After 59 minutes, Juve broke the deadlock when Vlahovic sent the ball bouncing into the far corner.
Nine minutes later, Vlahovic doubled Juve's lead by deflecting a header from Weston McKennie that was already on course for the net.
Bremer completed the win by leaping over the Lecce defence to head the ball into the net from a set piece five minutes from time. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/juventus-climb-to-top-of-serie-a-with-win-over-lecce
| 2024-01-21T23:03:32Z
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KORHOGO, Ivory Coast - South Africa veteran Themba Zwane scored twice as they comfortably overcame neighbours Namibia 4-0 in their Africa Cup of Nations Group E clash on Sunday to boost their chances of progressing to the last-16.
Zwane’s double at the Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium came after Percy Tau converted a 14th-minute penalty, having fired one wide in their first match against Mali last week, while substitute Thapelo Maseko netted the fourth.
The 34-year-old Zwane scored twice in the space of 15 minutes to take a first-half lead from which Namibia never recovered.
South Africa, whose victory margin was the biggest of the tournament in the Ivory Coast, moved ahead of Namibia on goal difference in the standings, behind leaders Mali who have four points but two points ahead of top-seeded Tunisia, who have one.
Namibia had upset Tunisia in their opening game and might have gone ahead early against their neighbours had key striker Peter Shalulile taken two good early chances. He missed a sitter from right in front of goal in the eighth minute, facing his club mate Ronwen Williams in the South African goal.
South Africa were then handed a penalty for a second successive game courtesy of a VAR check, which showed a handball from left back Riaan Hanamub as he tried to halt South Africa winger Thapelo Morena’s progress up the flank.
Tau, who had a horror miss from the spot against Mali, made no mistake this time to put South Africa ahead.
Zwane then finished off a smart pullback from Morena to make it 2-0 in the 25th minute and glided past the defence for the third goal in the 40th minute, outpacing the Namibia backs before slotting home.
The speed of Maseko was also key for the fourth goal in the 75th minute as he ran onto a ball played over the midfield, sprinting away to score.
South Africa, beaten 2-0 by Mali in their opening game, conclude their group campaign against Tunisia, who will need a win to stand any chance of progressing, while Namibia go up against Mali. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/south-africa-secure-emphatic-win-over-neighbours-namibia-at-cup-of-nations
| 2024-01-21T23:03:42Z
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DeSantis suspends presidential campaign, backs Trump
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who was once the leading Republican rival to Donald Trump, ended his election campaign on Jan 21 and threw his support behind the former president.
Mr DeSantis’ withdrawal, after months of weakening support, leaves only low-polling Nikki Haley standing between Trump and the nomination as the Republican Party’s candidate for the US presidential election in November.
In a video message, Mr DeSantis said that following his second place finish last week in the Iowa caucuses he could not “ask our supporters to volunteer their time and donate their resources if we don’t have a clear path to victory. Accordingly, I am today suspending my campaign.”
The decision came less than two days before the New Hampshire primary, where polls showed him far behind front-runner Trump and former UN ambassador Ms Haley.
Netanyahu rejects Hamas conditions for hostage deal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Jan 21 rejected conditions presented by Hamas to end the war and release hostages that would include Israel’s complete withdrawal and leaving Hamas in power in Gaza.
“In exchange for the release of our hostages, Hamas demands the end of the war, the withdrawal of our forces from Gaza, the release of all the murderers and rapists,” Mr Netanyahu said in a statement. “And leaving Hamas intact.”
“I reject outright the terms of surrender of the monsters of Hamas,” Mr Netanyahu said.
Britain’s Duchess of York diagnosed with skin cancer
Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, has been diagnosed with a form of skin cancer, British media reported on Jan 21, in another health problem for a member of Britain’s royal family.
Sarah, 64, who was married to Prince Andrew, was treated for breast cancer in 2023 and has now been diagnosed with malignant melanoma after several moles were removed.
“She is undergoing further investigations to ensure that this has been caught in the early stages,” Sky News quoted her spokesman as saying.
Jota, Nunez send Liverpool five points clear
Liverpool shrugged off the absence of Mohamed Salah to move five points clear at the top of the Premier League as Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez struck twice in a 4-0 win at Bournemouth on Jan 21.
The Reds’ title credentials will be tested while their star man is away with Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations.
But Jota and Nunez stood up to be counted to secure a vital win at one of the form sides in the Premier League.
De Minaur devastated over Australian Open exit
Alex de Minaur’s belief that he could beat Andrey Rublev and finally reach the Australian Open quarter-finals made Jan 21’s defeat all the more devastating for the local favourite.
On a day when Australia Open defending champions Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka were both in action, all eyes in Melbourne were on 10th seed Alex de Minaur as he aimed to keep home interest in the competition alive.
De Minaur was the last Australian left in the singles, but his 6-4 6-7(5) 6-7(4) 6-3 6-0 loss to the fifth seed was certainly a world away from last year’s exit at the same stage, when he was demolished in straight sets by Djokovic.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/while-you-were-sleeping-5-stories-you-might-have-missed-jan-22-5
| 2024-01-21T23:03:52Z
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Following a drone attack by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) on Russian gas giant Novatek’s terminal in the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga, tankers nearby moved far out to sea with their loading disrupted, Ukrainian outlet NV reported citing its sources. Additionally, Russians are forced to redeploy even more air defense systems from the front to protect the rear areas.
The Ust-Luga port is a key node in Russia’s energy export system, including a gas processing plant and major port for shipping petroleum products abroad.
“The targeted terminal is one of the newest and most important in Russia. It works on exports but also supplies fuel for Russian troops. This SBU attack caused significant material but also reputational damage to Russia. The vaunted Russian air defenses have shown their porousness,” an NV source said.
Russian natural gas producer Novatek has suspended operations at its terminal in the Ust-Luga port after an attack by 🇺🇦 drones, Bloomberg reports.
Novatek is one of the world's largest private natural gas companies.
🎞️ https://t.co/hmU0FjfU1w pic.twitter.com/wZAxWMQELD
— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) January 21, 2024
On the night of 21 January, explosions and fire broke out at the Ust-Luga port near Saint Petersburg. The flames engulfed a terminal owned by Novatek – one of the world’s largest private natural gas producers. Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing SBU sources, that it was a Ukrainian drone attack.
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/01/21/media-after-ukrainian-drone-attack-on-novatek-moscow-shofts-air-defenses-from-frontline-to-rear-areas/
| 2024-01-21T23:09:35Z
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Ukraine’s Tavria operational-strategic group has stated that its forces were not involved in the strike on occupied Donetsk. Self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) leader Denis Pushilin blamed Ukrainian forces for the attack which he said killed 28 people and injured 30 others.
Russian forces might shell Donetsk to falsely blame Ukraine, creating doubt and weakening support for military aid. This aims to undermine Western solidarity and pave the way for a potential Russian offensive.
“We responsibly declare that the forces subordinate to the Tavria operational-strategic group did not conduct combat operations with means of destruction in this case. Donetsk is Ukraine! Russia will have to answer for the lives of Ukrainians taken,” the Tavria operational-strategic group wrote on Facebook.
The shelling hit a market in the Kirovskyi district of Donetsk on the morning of 21 January. Pushilin claimed the attack came from Ukrainian 152mm and 155mm artillery from the Kurakhove and Krasnohorivka directions.
However, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Volunteer Army Serhiy Bratchuk reported that the Russians did this from their positions at the Chervonohvardiyske mines in Makiivka, a satellite city of Donetsk.
According to Russian media, Russia has called an emergency UN Security Council meeting over the shelling, with participation from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Donetsk city and its surrounding region in eastern Ukraine, occupied by Russian-backed forces since 2014, often experience shelling attacks. Moscow-installed authorities blame the Ukrainian military, but evidence suggests that Russian troops shell Ukraine-controlled areas from residential neighborhoods, using civilians as human shields.
The Ukrainian government also claims that Russians shell occupied territories to intimidate local residents. About 20 km from the frontline, the city has witnessed intense fighting in nearby areas like Mariinka and Avdiivka.
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/01/22/ukrainian-military-deny-role-in-deadly-strike-on-market-in-russian-occupied-donetsk/
| 2024-01-21T23:10:15Z
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Hurricanes recruit Brad Shields ‘open’ to captaincy in Ardie Savea’s absence
Before leaving New Zealand’s shores to pursue an opportunity with then-Eddie Jones-coached England, backrower Brad Shields was handed the captaincy duties at his beloved Hurricanes.
During that season in 2018, the men from the capital charged into the Super Rugby semi-finals – but that’s where their journey ended. The Crusaders moved on with a commanding 30-12 win.
Shields went on to play club rugby for the London Wasps and Perpignan in France, as well as nine matches for England, during a headline-grabbing stint in the northern hemisphere.
But the England international is back. While the Super Rugby Pacific season is still about a month away, Shields is in the mix for the Canes ahead of the 2024 campaign.
After playing for the Wellington Lions in New Zealand’s National Provincial Championship last year, Shields is raring to go ahead of a return to Super Rugby action with the Wellington-based franchise.
Shields’ signing is an important one, too. There’s no Ardie Savea for the Hurricanes in 2024 – there’s no Dane Coles, either. Both All Blacks are plying their club rugby trade in Japan.
While both players can never truly be replaced, there is an opportunity for others to forge their own legacies with the Canes. A new captain will need to step up in Savea’s absence.
Du’Plessis Kirifi and TJ Perenara would have to be in the mix for the honour, but so would Shields – and the England international would entertain the idea as the club continues to develop other leaders.
“I’d certainly be open to it,” Shields told RugbyPass. “It’s not something I’ve put too much thought into.
“Personally, my biggest responsibility coming into the team is just to be as fit and in the best nick as I can rugby-wise that I can be in for the team.
“It’s always tough coming from afar, obviously been in England for a few years – you’re not kind of sure where you sit with the different style of games.
“My biggest thought processes have just been to come into pre-season, bring as much energy, as much knowledge, as much experience and just be the fittest version and the best version that I can possibly bring.
“When you talk about guys like Ardie and Colesy who aren’t in the environment anymore, it gives guys an opportunity to step into those shoes and you’ve almost got no choice but to look within the squad to see who you can develop as a leader. There are definitely a few guys in that space who are doing really, really well.
“We’ve come such a long way in the last few years… but most importantly, those guys like Ardie and Colesy, they leave a big hole. They led by actions and there’s tonnes of really, really positive actions that I’ve seen throughout the pre-season.
“I’m just excited to get to the pre-season games and get to the first couple of rounds and just see where we can take this competition because I think we’re due another really, really good season and take it further than a quarter-final against the Brumbies.”
Savea, who captained the Hurricanes last year before going on to win World Rugby’s Player of the Year award in Paris, came painfully close to a match-winning score in the 2023 quarter-finals.
But the Brumbies held on at home and as they marched on to the semi-finals. The Hurricanes were left to rue what could’ve been.
While the squad looks a little bit different in 2024, the young nucleus of this team is exciting. There’s an abundance of potential within this talented group.
Shields believes the Canes are primed for a “really, really good season.” But with a new coach at the helm, too, the Hurricanes are only focusing on what they can control.
“We’ve got a real mindset of bringing the best out of our squad and the best out of our squad isn’t just the attacking flair that the Hurricanes are potentially used to,” Shields added.
“We’re looking at it from a whole picture. Obviously, success is measured by winning rugby games but we are going to lose games, potentially we’re going to win games, we’re going to win games comfortably hopefully, we’re going to lose games that are probably tight and they’re going to hurt more than any other games.
“The best way to grow is to go through a little bit of that adversity. We’ve looked back on last season and where we fell short.
“Success is winning games and success is winning a championship, but success for us at the moment is getting ourselves in the best possible nick to start Super Rugby and that’s with our connections with each other, the community, and obviously the physical rugby aspect (of) getting our gameplan bloody nailed down.”
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https://www.rugbypass.com/news/hurricanes-recruit-brad-shields-open-to-captaincy-in-ardie-saveas-absence/
| 2024-01-21T23:29:36Z
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Vanessa Bryant recently celebrated a significant milestone in her family, honoring her eldest daughter Natalia's 21st birthday with a heartfelt message.
The proud mother, who recently enjoyed a festive holiday season with her family, took to Instagram on Friday to share her love and admiration for her firstborn.
Accompanied by a video montage filled with cherished memories and set to Stevie Wonder's "Happy Birthday," Vanessa's post expressed her deep pride in Natalia.
"Happy 21st birthday @nataliabryant!!! We love you so much!!!!," Vanessa wrote.
As a philanthropist and wife of the late basketball legend Kobe Bryant, she praised Natalia for her many admirable qualities, describing her as everything a parent could hope and pray for.
Vanessa also shared a nostalgic photo of Kobe, taken courtside the day after Natalia was born, capturing a tender moment where he still wore the hospital bracelet from her birth.
The image, underscored by The Temptations' "My Girl," was a touching reminder of Kobe's role as the 'Best Girl Daddy.'
The loss of Kobe and their 13-year-old daughter Gianna, also known as Gia, in a tragic helicopter crash in 2020, remains a poignant memory for the family.
Despite the loss, the family's love and support for each other continue to shine through.
Family friend Ciara joined in the birthday celebrations, posting a selfie with Natalia and extending her warm wishes.
"Happy Birthday Nani Boo @nataliabryant! The Big 21!! Wow! I’m so proud of you and how you’ve been killing it! Keep shining mama! We love you so much!," she wrote, reflecting the close bond they share.
Model Naomi Campbell and screenwriter Patty Rodriguez also sent their heartfelt messages. Naomi's simple yet affectionate "Happy 21st birthday @nataliabryant" and Patty's admiration for Natalia's growth and talent added to the chorus of well-wishes.
Natalia, beyond her modeling career, which saw her making a debut with Versace in 2023, is also a dedicated third-year film student at USC.
Her recent venture into directing marks a new chapter in her creative journey. Speaking with Town & Country, she shared her enthusiasm for being involved in both fashion and filmmaking, "They’re both collaborative, and you meet so many different people."
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/celebrities/511765/vanessa-bryants-heartfelt-ode-to-kobe-as-she-celebrates-daughter-natalias-21st-birthday/
| 2024-01-22T00:06:46Z
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Deborra-Lee Furness has recently returned to Australia, embracing her new chapter as a single woman following her split from husband Hugh Jackman.
The Aussie actress, known for her dynamic presence on and off-screen, made a bold statement during a recent outing in Sydney's Bondi.
Sporting a white T-shirt emblazoned with 'Expletive HAPPENS' in bold lettering, the 68-year-old Deborra-Lee appeared both relaxed and fit as she stepped out for breakfast at the trendy Bills café in the beachside suburb.
Her outfit, comprising white jeans with rolled-up hems and matching stacked sneakers, complemented her carefree demeanor.
Deborra-Lee chose a clean, peachy makeup look with pink lipstick, and her blonde hair was styled loosely away from her face, adding to her effortless charm.
She completed her ensemble with a black, crossbody bumbag and a pair of round, reflective sunglasses, a testament to her enduring style.
This appearance follows the recent announcement of her separation from Hugh Jackman, the Australian actor, with whom she shared 27 years of marriage.
The couple, who had become an emblem of enduring love in the entertainment industry, surprised fans with their decision to part ways.
In a statement to People, they expressed their gratitude for the years spent together and their commitment to their family.
"Our journey now is shifting, and we have decided to separate to pursue our individual growth," they said. Emphasizing the importance of family, they asked for privacy as they navigate this transition.
Deborra-Lee and Hugh, who tied the knot in 1996 after meeting on the set of Correlli in 1995, adopted two children during their marriage: son Oscar, 23, and daughter Ava, 18.
Their family has always been a focal point of their lives, with both Deborra-Lee and Hugh often speaking about the joy and fulfillment that parenthood brought them.
In another intriguing twist, Hugh hinted last month at the release of a tell-all memoir. According to US Weekly, this book is in its early stages but promises to offer a candid look at Hugh's life and career, including insights into his recent divorce.
The memoir is anticipated to provide a platform for Hugh to share his journey and experiences, marking a new phase of openness in his life.
Get the lowdown on the biggest, hottest celebrity news, features and profiles coming out of the U.S. Sign up to our HELLO! Hollywood newsletter and get them delivered straight to your inbox.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/celebrities/511766/deborra-lee-furness-shares-telling-message-as-she-returns-to-australia-amid-split-from-husband-hugh-jackman/
| 2024-01-22T00:06:52Z
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NEW YORK – Agriculture giant Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) has placed its chief financial officer on leave and lowered its earnings outlook amid an ongoing investigation into certain accounting practices.
CFO Vikram Luthar has been placed on administrative leave, effective immediately, and Mr Ismael Roig will serve as interim CFO, the company said in a statement on Jan 21. The investigation surrounds certain accounting practices and procedures with respect to its nutrition reporting segment, ADM said in the statement.
The company is withdrawing its outlook for the nutrition reporting segment and expects to delay its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings release, according to the statement.
ADM now expects to deliver above US$6.90 (S$9.25) in adjusted earnings per share for the year ended Dec 31, after having predicted in October full-year profits “in excess of US$7”, according to the statement.
“The board takes these matters very seriously,” said Mr Terry Crews, lead director at ADM. “The board will continue to work in close coordination with ADM’s advisers to identify the best path forward and ensure ADM’s processes align with financial governance best practices.”
The investigation is in response to a voluntary document request by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. ADM said it is cooperating with the commission. BLOOMBERG
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/agriculture-giant-adm-places-cfo-on-leave-cuts-earnings-forecast-amid-probe
| 2024-01-22T00:35:29Z
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BENGALURU – SolarEdge Technologies said on Jan 21 that it would lay off about 16 per cent of its global workforce as it tries to reduce operating costs.
The reduction, which would affect roughly 900 employees, follows the firm’s discontinuation of manufacturing in Mexico, reduction of manufacturing capacity in China, and termination of light commercial vehicle e-mobility activity.
“We have made a very difficult, but necessary decision to implement a workforce reduction and other cost-cutting measures in order to align our cost structure with the rapidly changing market dynamics,” said SolarEdge chief executive officer Zvi Lando.
The renewable energy firm trimmed its fourth-quarter revenue expectations in November on weak demand for its solar inverters.
Growth for the solar energy market in Europe slowed in 2023 due to excess inventories and weakening demand. While in the United States, higher interest rates and a metering reform in California, the country’s largest solar market, have led to lower demand for solar. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/solaredge-to-lay-off-16-of-workforce-to-trim-operating-costs
| 2024-01-22T00:35:39Z
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In Pictures: As Switzerland’s glaciers shrink, a way of life may melt away
Rising temperatures and retreating glaciers threaten the country’s mountain stores of water, sometimes called Europe’s water tower, forcing local farmers to adapt and presaging a way of life that may one day melt away.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/multimedia/photos/in-pictures-as-switzerland-s-glaciers-shrink-a-way-of-life-may-melt-away
| 2024-01-22T00:35:49Z
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DOHA - The second round of Asian Cup group games threw up a few surprises when the pre-tournament favourites were given a reality check as physical Arab teams showed they had closed the gap considerably on their more illustrious opponents.
Japan, four-times champions and the highest-ranked team in the competition, were upset 2-1 by Iraq while South Korea nearly lost to Jordan for the first time before an injury-time own goal spared their blushes.
Iraq had a clear strategy to unsettle Japan, who struggled with the physicality of their West Asian counterparts in a febrile atmosphere where the crowd of largely Iraqi fans made it feel like a home game for the Lions of Mesopotamia.
Iraq could probably have scored more if not for the injury to their striker Aymen Hussein, who scored both goals before the break but did not come out for the second half.
However, Iraq were even effective without the ball, dismantling Japan's possession game with several tackles while they frustrated the Samurai Blue and resorted to tactical fouls to upset their rhythm.
"We analysed before the game and knew how Iraq would play at the start, they did play very aggressively. Unfortunately we couldn't handle it, I know we need to do more," Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu said.
Iraq coach Jesus Casas became a national hero after they claimed their first victory over Japan in 42 years and the Spaniard said he was proud of the players he picked for the tournament.
"Since I took charge, I choose players that can be fighters but good players too. The difference in this level is you need balance between fighting and quality," Casas said.
DISCIPLINED JORDAN
Likewise, South Korea were frustrated by a tactically disciplined Jordan in a 2-2 draw. Juergen Klinsmmann's South Korea side did not score from open play, netting one from the penalty spot and an own goal in added time.
Jordan were not only compact in midfield and defence but their forward line made life miserable for the South Koreans, constantly harrying them into making quick decisions and forcing turnovers.
"What they did really well was they overpowered us physically in the one-v-one battles. There's an old saying in football that you have to win your one-v-one battles," Klinsmann said.
"Jordan fought for every single ball as a unit, as a team. Different styles clashed there. Every game we play against Jordan, against Bahrain, we learn. We need to find solutions.
"I'm very pleased to see the reaction after we went 2-1 down. We won the last seven games and you lose the feeling of going a goal down. The team had to swallow the fact that Jordan were 2-1 up and had to react."
'THEY CAN HURT YOU'
South Korea skipper Son Heung-min, who plays in the Premier League for Tottenham Hotspur, is no stranger to physicality but he said it was another example of how teams can hurt them, having been on the receiving end of crunching tackles against Bahrain as well.
"In the Asian Cup, there's never an easy game. If you're not ready mentally and physically, they can hurt you," Son said.
"As a player, as a team, we learned something from this game. Luckily, it happened in the group stage."
Jordan coach Hussein Ammouta said "Arab teams playing on Arab turf" in Qatar must take the fight to their opponents.
"What's certain is that every national team must believe in their capabilities and should not go into a game insecure because of technical deficiencies. We went into the game with a positive attitude," the Moroccan said. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/physical-arab-teams-prove-they-are-no-pushovers-against-heavyweights-at-asian-cup
| 2024-01-22T00:35:59Z
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BRUSSELS - The Israeli and Palestinian foreign ministers are to meet their European Union counterparts on Jan 22 as the EU considers potential steps toward a comprehensive peace between the two sides even as the war in Gaza rages on.
Israel’s Israel Katz and Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki will take part separately in a regular meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels largely devoted to the Middle East but also taking stock of the war in Ukraine.
Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan and the secretary-general of the League of Arab States will also attend as the gathering focuses on the consequences of the Oct 7 attacks on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas from Gaza and Israel’s military response.
Ahead of the meeting, the EU’s diplomatic service sent a discussion paper to its 27 member countries, suggesting a roadmap to peace in the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
At the heart of the plan is a call for a “preparatory peace conference” to be organised by the EU, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the League of Arab States, with the United States and United Nations also invited to be conveners of the gathering.
The conference would go ahead even if Israelis or Palestinians declined to take part. But both parties would be consulted at every step of the talks as delegates sought to draw up a peace plan, the document suggests.
The internal document, seen by multiple news organisations including Reuters, makes clear one key goal of a peace plan should be the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, “living side by side with Israel in peace and security”.
EU officials acknowledge Israeli officials and diplomats currently display no interest in the so-called two-state solution but insist it is the only option for long-term peace.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Jan 20 after a phone call with US President Joe Biden that “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”.
The EU paper also suggests the peace conference participants should spell out “consequences” for both sides, depending on whether they accept or reject a plan approved by the gathering.
It does not say what these consequences might be, although the EU has some areas of potential leverage. The bloc is a major provider of economic aid to Palestinians and has a broad cooperation agreement with Israel that includes a free-trade area. Some officials have privately suggested the latter arrangement could be used to influence Israel.
But whether the EU’s member countries would approve such an idea is very much open to question, with Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and Hungary all staunch allies of Israel. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/israeli-palestinian-ministers-to-attend-meeting-where-eu-will-push-for-peace
| 2024-01-22T00:36:10Z
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GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories - Palestinian militant group Hamas on Jan 21 defended its Oct 7 attacks against Israel but admitted to “faults” and called for an end to “Israeli aggression” in Gaza, where the health ministry said the death toll passed 25,000.
Southern Gaza is the latest focus of Israel’s battle to destroy the militant group responsible for the deadliest attack in Israel’s history.
In its first public report on the attacks that began the war, Hamas said they were a “necessary step” against Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, and a way to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later vowed “complete victory” and said his government would not accept Hamas’ conditions for releasing hostages still held in Gaza.
Hamas’ 16-page report admitted “some faults happened... due to the rapid collapse of the Israeli security and military system, and the chaos caused along the border areas”.
The war began when gunmen broke through Gaza’s militarised border to attack Israelis and foreigners in the streets, in their homes and at an outdoor rave party.
This resulted in the deaths of about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Accounts of sexual violence emerged but the scarcity of survivor testimonies and a lack of forensic evidence made it difficult to assess their scale.
Militants seized about 250 hostages during the attacks, and Israel says around 132 remain in Gaza.
Dead hostages
The army announced the death of another soldier in the Oct 7 attacks and said his body remains in Gaza.
This brings to 28 the number of dead captives still in the Palestinian territory, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli data.
Hamas – considered a “terrorist” group by the United States and European Union – said in the report that its fighters were committed to “Islamic values”, and if civilians were targeted, “it happened accidently and in the course of the confrontation with the occupation forces”.
It called for Israel to be held “legally accountable” for Palestinian suffering and urged “popular pressure around the world until ending the occupation”.
In response to the attacks, Israel launched a military offensive that has killed at least 25,105 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
Mr Netanyahu is under intense pressure to secure the return of the hostages and account for the security failings surrounding the Oct 7 attacks.
Relatives and supporters of the hostages on Jan 21 again rallied for their return home, near his residence in Jerusalem.
In a video statement released after the Hamas report, Mr Netanyahu said: “In exchange for the release of our hostages, Hamas demands the end of the war, the withdrawal of our forces from Gaza, the release of all the murderers and rapists. And leaving Hamas intact.
“I reject outright the terms of surrender of the monsters of Hamas.”
“Were we to agree to this, our soldiers would have fallen in vain and the next Oct 7 would be only a question of time,” he added.
Israel is obliged to return all the hostages home but “the conditions being proposed by Hamas underscore a simple point – there is no substitute for victory. Only total victory will ensure the elimination of Hamas and the return of all our hostages,” he said.
United Nations agencies have warned of famine and disease as Gazans, 1.7 million of whom are displaced, struggle with shortages of water, medical care and other essentials during daily bombardment.
Diplomatic efforts have sought 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 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
On Jan 21, 260 humanitarian aid trucks were transferred to Gaza, according to COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry body responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs.
On Jan 19, the UN reported 288 trucks had entered, but the figures are far below pre-war levels.
Hamas’ Qatar-based chief Ismail Haniyeh met Turkey’s foreign minister to discuss the conflict and humanitarian aid, diplomatic sources said on Jan 21.
The United States, Arab countries and other governments are seeking a solution involving Palestinian statehood, but Mr Netanyahu has rejected it, saying “Israel must retain security control over Gaza”.
The Hamas report rejected any international and Israeli efforts to decide Gaza’s post-war future.
The war has spurred fears of a wider escalation, with Israel’s northern border with Lebanon seeing near-daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.
An Israeli strike on Jan 21 on south Lebanon killed a Hezbollah fighter, a source close to the group told AFP, with a security official describing the target as a high-level commander who survived.
Israel said its warplanes again bombed Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.
The White House said it was taking “extremely seriously” a weekend attack by Iran-backed militants using “multiple ballistic missiles and rockets” against a base hosting US forces in Iraq.
Dozens of such attacks in Iraq and Syria have occurred since mid-October. Most have been claimed by Iran-linked militants opposing US support for Israel, but the use of ballistic missiles marked an escalation. AFP, REUTERS, BLOOMBERG
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/as-gaza-deaths-top-25000-hamas-defends-attacks-that-sparked-war
| 2024-01-22T00:36:20Z
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All Black Quinn Tupaea explains how disastrous knee injury ‘definitely helped'
All Blacks midfielder Quinn Tupaea has explained how a lengthy stint on the sidelines “definitely helped” him become a better athlete ahead of a return to Super Rugby action in 2024.
Tupaea hasm’t represented the Hamilton-based Chiefs since 2022. Since then, the 24-year-old had both become a regular All Blacks squad member and had his World Cup dream dashed.
After entering the fray of Test rugby against Tonga in Auckland a few years ago, Tupaea became a regular member of the All Blacks’ plans under then-coach Ian Foster.
But then, quite literally in an instant, Tupaea’s Test career took a turn for the worse. Playing against the Wallabies in Melbourne, the rising star was cut down by lock Darcy Swain.
Tupaea fell to the ground after being hit around the knee. If you were there at Marvel Stadium that night you’d agree there was a palpable sense of concern.
That injury kept the New Zealand international on the sidelines for quite some time.
“(I’m) definitely more resilient now,” Tupaea told Newshub. “Around my body, my rehab.
“It’s definitely helped me. (I’ve) made friendships along the way, and it’s good to have a different perspective from the outside looking in.”
Wallabies lock Darcy Swain, who was still relatively new to Test rugby at that stage as well, sent the All Black a message the next day – but Tupaea didn’t respond.
Filled with a sense of anger with the World Cup only about a year away, Tupaea’s dreams of playing on the sport’s biggest stage took a hit. As we now know, he didn’t recover in time.
But on top of the international heartache, Tupaea had to watch on as the Chiefs almost claimed Super Rugby Pacific glory in 2023, but they lost to the Crusaders in a home final.
“It was very tough to watch last year, especially how well (the Chiefs) were going,” Tupaea said.
“Hopefully I can add a little bit on the field this year and we can go one step better.
“It’s definitely something we can use for fire,” he added. “But I guess we’ve put it behind us and we’re focussed for the new year.”
The Chiefs will open their 2024 campaign at home to the Crusaders – a direct rematch of last year’s Super Rugby Pacific final – on February 23.
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https://www.rugbypass.com/news/quinn-tupaea-explains-how-disastrous-knee-injury-definitely-helped-me/
| 2024-01-22T01:01:01Z
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It was quite the family affair when Taylor Swift joined Travis Kelce's brother, Jason, and his sister-in-law, Kylie, for an exciting Kansas City Chiefs game against the Buffalo Bills.
Along with Cara Delevingne and Brittany Mahomes, they gathered in a VIP suite in upstate New York, braving the cold to cheer on the team.
Taylor, known for her vibrant personality and style, made a bold statement with her outfit choice.
She was clad in a striking $1,800 red-and-white varsity jacket, paired with a matching red beanie and her iconic red lipstick.
"We love you so much!!!!," she wrote on Instagram, showcasing her unwavering support for the Chiefs.
Jason sported a red T-shirt featuring his brother Travis’ nickname, "Big Yeti," a nod to their “New Heights” podcast merchandise. Kylie opted for a chic black coat to stay warm in the suite.
This event marked a first for Taylor, 34, being seen with Travis' brother, despite having grown close to Travis' parents, Donna and Ed Kelce. It remains unclear if Taylor had previously met Jason, 36, and Kylie in private before this public outing.
Jason's attendance at the game was significant as it was his first time supporting his brother Travis in person this season.
Jason, a renowned NFL center for the Philadelphia Eagles, saw his season end with a loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With his 13-year football career potentially nearing its end, both NFL fans and Swifties have been honoring him.
"Here I am crying over the loss of Taylor’s boyfriend’s brother," a fan tweeted, reflecting the emotional investment Taylor's fans have developed in Jason's career.
Jason has humorously been dubbed the "president of Tayvis nation" by fans, highlighting his role in exploring Travis' romance with Taylor on their podcast.
"Why am I sitting here crying over my emotional support pop star’s boyfriend's brother crying over maybe not playing football anymore. Make it make sense," a Swiftie tweeted, illustrating the crossover interest between Taylor's music fans and the sports world.
The connection between Travis and Taylor may have been sparked by Jason's podcast, where Travis opened up about attending one of Taylor's concerts. "I tried — and failed — to give the pop star my phone number," Travis shared on the podcast.
This candid confession went viral, catching Taylor's attention and leading to the beginning of their romance.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/fashion/celebrity-style/511767/taylor-swift-cozies-up-with-jason-and-kylie-kelce-at-travis-latest-game/
| 2024-01-22T01:56:23Z
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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty explored the role of AI in the Ukraine war by analyzing views from several experts. Euromaidan Press summarized them for you.
Ukrainian AI outperforms US and China
The pace of AI development in Ukraine is more impressive than in the US and China, claims Benjamin Jensen, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Future of Warfare Initiative.
“Ukraine is doing it because they’re building it from the bottom up, and it’s antifragile … it’s small, it’s scalable, it works, and they know what to do it. We’re trying to do it very Pentagonese from the top down, which means we’re going to spend tens of billions of dollars for a couple of high-profile failures versus spending,” Jensen explained to Fox News.
The US media explains to Americans that programmers and engineers are involved in AI applications in Ukraine. Many drones are made in “kitchens,” and then successful practices are launched into mass production rather than imposed by authorities.
In the war, Ukraine leverages Western AI developments for diverse tasks – collecting evidence of war crimes and locating suspected war criminals; controlling drones and targeting; detecting Russian disinformation and propaganda; demining; and reconstruction planning.
However, the US also plans to unveil a new modernization doctrine in the long term, said former Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley.
“A third of the armed forces will be robotized,” Milley told Voice of America, noting increased use of AI and quantum computing.
He believes AI will be pivotal in shaping future wars.
Ukraine still relies on US
Yet Ukraine still needs US AI capabilities: James Hess, a professor at the American State University System’s School of Security and Global Studies, argues Ukraine requires America’s vast data processing abilities to understand the battlefield fully.
“To understand the battlefield environment is time-consuming and its complex, and that’s, of course, why it’s so important because the amount of data is overwhelming,” Hess explained to Fox News.
The Times depicted Ukraine’s shock at US company Clearview AI’s facial recognition skills – how, with just one photo of a Russian soldier, it revealed his name, hometown, and social media profiles, even with grainy or partially obscured images.
Clearview has become the Ukrainian government’s “secret weapon,” told the Times Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Leonid Tymchenko. More than 1,500 officials across 18 Ukrainian government agencies are using the facial recognition tool, which has helped them identify more than 230,000 Russian soldiers and officials who have participated in the military invasion.
Clearview provides its tools to Ukraine free of charge.
Warnings for Ukraine
Clearview AI faces accusations of illegally gathering data and selling access. Human rights groups caution that Ukraine may find it difficult to restrain Clearview’s use after the war ends. This could enable mass surveillance or other abuses that even jeopardize Ukraine’s EU aspirations. Several European states have ruled some Clearview actions unlawful, levying heavy fines and banning its collection of facial data on their citizens.
However, Ukraine’s professed commitment to democracy and the rule of law provides reasonable hope that Clearview’s application will face oversight.
Russia’s “cyber-gulag”
In contrast, the Kremlin’s control of Russian citizens has already been labeled a “cyber-gulag” in American media.
“Russia under President Vladimir Putin has harnessed digital technology to track, censor and control the population, building what some call a “cyber gulag” — a dark reference to the labor camps that held political prisoners in Soviet times,” wrote the Associated Press.
Moreover, to crack down on opponents, the Kremlin wields American-made technologies, Reuters concluded after analyzing over 2,000 court cases.
To sum up, Ukraine deserves access to advanced AI systems, which could be key to its wartime victory. However, Ukraine must restrict its use post-conflict to prevent mass surveillance or privacy violations that would mimic Russia’s repressive “cyber-gulag” – undermining the human rights and freedoms Ukraine stands for.
Read more:
- Hear and destroy: Ukrainian artificial intelligence project Zvook helps shoot down Russian missiles
- Ukraine seeks to expand battlefield tech with AI integration
- Five Ukrainian defense tech startups taking on Russia’s brute force
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/01/22/ai-is-key-to-ukraines-victory-says-new-analysis/
| 2024-01-22T02:05:37Z
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Military
Russian natural gas company in Leningrad Oblast on fire. Explosions and a fire broke out early on 21 January at the Ust-Luga natural gas terminal operated by Russian company Novatek, Russia’s largest independent natural gas producer.
Ukraine drones shut down Russian gas giant Novatek’s fuel plant. The Baltic Sea gas-condensate plant isn’t operating, Bloomberg reports.
Ukrainian military deny role in deadly strike on market in Russian-occupied Donetsk. 28 people were killed and 30 more injured in a shelling attack on a market in Russian-occupied Donetsk, according to Moscow-installed authorities.
25 dead in occupied Donetsk shelling: Russia blames Ukraine, but is it true?. Moscow blames Kyiv; however, occupied Donetsk could also have been shelled by the Russian forces to intimidate local residents and discredit the Ukrainian government.
Ukrainian military deny role in deadly strike on market in Russian-occupied Donetsk. 28 people were killed and 30 more injured in a shelling attack on a market in Russian-occupied Donetsk, according to Moscow-installed authorities.
Russia shelled Donetsk Oblast 11 times over past day, injuring 2 people. Russian attack on the oblast resulted in damaging 34 civilian facilities – 31 residential buildings, administrative buildings, cars, and power lines.
Russians shelled Kurakhove in Donetsk Oblast, killing young man. Russians aim to seize all of Donetsk Oblast, with a portion under Ukraine’s control.
Ukraine builds its own “Surovikin line” – Telegraph. The “”Surovikin Line”” refers to the massive defensive fortifications built by Russian forces in 2023 on occupied Ukrainian territory.
British Intel: Russia intensifies its assault along frontline, suffers more losses. According to the UK intel, a key enabler for this is the freezing ground conditions, which allow cross-country movement of armored vehicles.
ISW: Russian forces captured Khrokmalne in Kharkiv Oblast. Volodymyr Fitio, spokesman for Ukraine’s Land Forces Command, said on 21 Jan. Ukrainian troops have withdrawn from Krokhmalne village in the Kupiansk sector to more prepared positions.
As of 21 Jan 2024, the approximate losses of weapons and military equipment of the Russian Armed Forces from the beginning of the invasion to the present day:
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- Personnel: 376030 (+760)
- Tanks: 6181 (+10)
- APV: 11466 (+11)
- Artillery systems: 8875 (+7)
- MLRS: 968 (+1)
- Anti-aircraft systems: 655 (+1)
- Aircraft: 331
- Helicopters: 324
- UAV: 6936 (+2)
- Cruise missiles : 1818
- Warships/boats: 23
- Submarines: 1
- Vehicles and fuel tanks: 11862 (+14)
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Intelligence and technology
AI is key to Ukraine’s victory, says new analysis. Western experts argue that the development of AI in the Ukraine war is striking.
Russia reports downing 4 drones over Smolensk Oblast. 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.
Political and legal developments
Zelenskyy: “No need to mobilise 500,000 Ukrainians”. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy resisted calls for mobilizing 500,000 more Ukrainian troops, questioning the rationale, costs and his priority for preserving lives, the Channel 4 interview revealed.
Ukraine’s police identify five suspects in harassment of investigative journalist. Residents from Kyiv, Zhytomyr, and Cherkasy oblasts are suspected of an intimidation attempt targeting journalist Yuriy Nikolov, who is known for his corruption investigations into military procurement practices.
International
Netherlands provides mobile field hospital to Ukraine. Adaptable to frigid conditions and equipped with 36 intensive care beds, the Dutch mobile hospital delivered to Ukraine’s Border Guard Service will provide care to wounded soldiers.
Read our earlier daily review here.
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/01/22/russo-ukrainian-war-day-697-ukraine-drones-strike-russian-gas-giant-bloodshed-in-occupied-donetsk-as-shelling-kills-28/
| 2024-01-22T02:06:17Z
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PUTRAJAYA - A former finance minister, a Tan Sri businessman and key government officials are among “a long list” of individuals whom graft investigators are expected to call up in a probe into alleged graft involving the procurement and management of the government’s fleet of vehicles worth RM4.5 billion (S$1.27 billion).
Confirming that his officers had raided the businessman’s residence and four companies on Jan 18, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said a long list of individuals would be called up to explain two issues.
“We want to find out as to why this company was given the job to manage the government’s vehicles. Secondly, we also want an explanation as to why the intention to give this (same) project to another company was cancelled despite it having received the Letter of Intent (LOI) from the Finance Ministry,” Azam told The Star.
It was reported that this company claimed to have been picked to manage the fleet concession through a LOI issued in 2018 but was terminated before the actual award was set to be announced.
The company had since filed a suit against the government.
To a question, Azam said the former finance minister would be called as he could help shed light on the two issues in question.
“We will have the information and explanation to this, given his position at the time. It is also possible for us to call up a former prime minister to determine if he is aware of the matter as it happened during his administration,” he said. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/many-to-be-called-over-malaysia-s-macc-raids
| 2024-01-22T02:07:57Z
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PETALING JAYA - Padi farmers are getting hot and bothered in anticipation of prolonged drier and warmer weather expected up north in the peninsula due to the effects of an ongoing El Nino weather event.
Already, parts of Kedah, which accounts for about 40 per cent of Malaysia’s total rice production and is known as the country’s rice bowl, have not seen rain since late December.
Farmers Area Organisations Pendang Selatan chairman Abdullah Mohamad said parts of Kedah had not received any rainfall for the second consecutive month.
“For the past month, the weather has been extremely hot and unbearable.
“The scorching weather will continue until the second season,” he said, adding that padi fields in some highland areas have been affected by the dry season. “We have started planting but with the arrival of the dry season, we have stopped fertilising and watering to reduce losses.”
“Otherwise, if we continue fertilising, the plants will not grow,” Mr Abdullah said, adding that some rice farmers in the Pendang Selatan area had also ceased fertilising and watering their fields due to the dried-up water sources nearby.
However, padi fields in the Muda Agricultural Development Authority (Mada) area are currently unaffected as it has been raining there.
Padi farmers, said Mr Abdullah, were currently intently observing the weather conditions.
“If there is rainfall in the next two weeks, they can begin planting in April.
“This is a recurring cycle that cannot be avoided.
“Due to the hot weather and the scarcity of water sources in highland areas, even pumping river water for irrigation cannot sustain the entire season. The rivers will also dry up,” he said.
Kedah Padi Planters Federation member Wan Maharuddin Sulaiman expressed concerns about the adverse impact of the prolonged dry spell in the Pokok Sena area.
“For almost a month now, there has been no rain, and the scorching weather has created a breeding ground for rice pests like caterpillars. This poses a significant threat to our rice harvest,” he said when contacted.
Acknowledging the challenges faced by rice farmers, he highlighted the current struggle with pest infestations in many fields.
“It’s challenging to predict the weather, and the emergence of rice pests is not something farmers can control. If it doesn’t rain soon, without sufficient water, it will undoubtedly affect the rice harvest.
“The rice we planted has been growing for two months, and the extent of the damage can only be determined after the rice is harvested.
“It’s understood that some areas have already started harvesting early,” he added.
He also expressed concerns that excessive pesticide spraying could lead to soil contamination in the rice fields, leaving farmers with limited options at the moment.
Climate experts warned in 2023 that preparations must be made in anticipation of water shortages and higher grain prices in view of El Nino, which is expected to exacerbate the dry and warm weather up north in the beginning of 2024.
They warned that the drier and warmer conditions would not only affect Malaysia, but also other crop-growing nations in the region, which the country relies on for rice and grain imports.
According to a statement from the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) on Dec 31, most international climate models predicted atmospheric conditions in the Pacific Ocean to be consistent with a strong El Nino lasting until the second quarter of the year.
“The El Nino phenomenon can cause drier weather and usually occurs for a period of between nine and 12 months, and sometimes can last up to two years,” it said.
On Oct 6, 2023, MetMalaysia deputy director-general of operations Lim Ze Hui was quoted as saying that data from March to April 2023 showed extreme heat hovering in the 35 deg C to 36 dec C range in Malaysia, as well as in Thailand, Vietnam, India and southern China, which recorded temperatures of up to 45 deg C, and that there were worries that this would repeat come March and April with temperatures being higher due to El Nino.
El Nino is a naturally occurring climate pattern associated with the warming of the ocean surface in the Pacific Ocean.
Mada had said earlier in 2024 that drawing on past experiences, it remained proactive in monitoring current weather changes and staying prepared for potential El Nino situations.
“This involves close attention to weather forecasts and heeding warnings from MetMalaysia.
“Mada will closely monitor rice planting activities to ensure the efficient distribution of water supply in line with predefined phases. As a precaution during El Nino occurrences, Mada optimises the use of reuse pump stations to conserve water from dams and deploys mobile pumps to supply water to highlands and problematic areas,” it said.
Mada also urged farmers to expedite their activities, strictly adhering to the designated rice planting schedule.
“Recommendations include implementing wet rotation and conducting planting activities in accordance with established phases. Collaborative efforts among farmers in judiciously managing water at the rice padi level are essential to ensure optimal water distribution and prevent wastage,” it said. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/no-rain-a-pain-for-padi-farmers
| 2024-01-22T02:08:08Z
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HONG KONG – Hedge fund founders in Asia are jumping ship to global giants ranging from Citadel to Millennium Management, as the struggles of capital raising and pressure to make higher returns curb the attractiveness for some managers’ solo endeavours.
Torq Capital Management chief investment officer Avinash Abraham is closing his firm to rejoin Citadel as a portfolio manager, while macro manager Ayan Sen returned to Millennium in 2024, marking the end of his more than five-year stint running his own Navik Capital in Singapore.
Smaller hedge fund firms are facing a difficult capital-raising environment and an increasingly costly war for talent. While there have always been isolated cases, and it is too early to know how many more will follow, high interest rates have driven up expected returns and are forecast to tilt more Asia-based hedge fund entrepreneurs in favour of embracing the bigger global so-called pod firms, or platforms.
“It’s just hard to get investors on board, harder now than it has been for a long, long time, because so many investors just pile the money into platforms,” said Mr John Mullally, Hong Kong managing director of recruiting firm Robert Walters.
While some industry followers were surprised when Mr Abraham, the former head of Balyasny Asset Management Asia, announced that he was shutting up shop in his December newsletter, others before him have made similar moves. Mr Panich Prompat, now a portfolio manager at Dymon Asia Capital, joined Millennium in 2021 after running his firm for three years. Citadel in 2020 hired back Mr Nick Taylor, who set up his own event-driven hedge fund in Hong Kong after an earlier stint with Citadel.
In the three quarters ending June 2023, hedge fund closures in the region outstripped new starts by at least two to one, according to Preqin estimates. There were still more funds shutting than opening in the third quarter of 2023, even as the gap narrowed.
Mr Abraham began his investment career as an analyst at Och-Ziff Capital Management and honed his skills at Citadel between 2005 and 2009 before his seven-year Balyasny stint, according to his LinkedIn profile and regulatory records. He founded Torq in Hong Kong in 2016 and won the backing of Blue Pool Capital, which invested billions of dollars for wealthy clients including Alibaba Group Holding co-founders Jack Ma and Joseph Tsai. Torq declined to comment further.
From a modest beginning of US$160 million (S$214 million), Torq expanded assets to a peak of US$1.5 billion in the first quarter of 2022. But the firm struggled to recover after a 3.7 per cent loss that year, despite topping the 16.5 per cent slump in a Eurekahedge index of Asia-Pacific stock hedge funds and the fund’s small gain in 2023.
Investors once favoured hedge funds of a moderate size that specialise in a single strategy and charge lower fees. Fledgling funds often produce superior returns due to their ability to trade in and out of positions unnoticed, as well as explore profitable opportunities too small for larger rivals.
In recent years, however, allocators like pensions and foundations have increasingly gravitated towards large firms whose diverse investment pods help churn out consistent returns, even in market downturns.
Since 2017, 55 pod shops have nearly tripled their combined assets to US$368 billion, during a period of tepid growth for the rest of the global industry, according to a September report from Goldman Sachs prime brokers.
Armed with fresh money and often an ability to pass on some or all expenses to clients, those firms hired aggressively to maintain their edge. They now command 27 per cent of global industry headcount, the Goldman Sachs report showed.
In Hong Kong, licensed employees of 10 pod shops surged to 596 by Jan 12, almost three times the 2019 figure, according to Webb-site.com, which aggregates data from the local securities regulator. Their expansion has been increasing industry pay pressure.
Industry veteran and chief executive officer of PAG, Mr Chris Gradel, said some employees from its hedge fund platform business were poached by rivals with eight-figure signing bonuses. Outside direct rivals and banks, the likes of Torq and Pinpoint Asset Management have been primary hiring targets, as funds that trade with carefully balanced long and short wagers have historically been a small subset of the Asian industry.
Two portfolio managers who were among Torq’s most senior investors from its early days departed for such rivals in the past year. Mr Martin Kronborg was poached by Millennium and Mr Sojiro Konishi is heading to Balyasny, according to the regulatory registry and a previous Bloomberg report.
Pod shops are notorious for their high staff turnover. Many job candidates still prefer single-manager hedge funds with bottom-up research styles, longer investment holding periods and job security, said Mr Mullally.
Still, “there is a certain degree of inevitability that there will be fewer single-manager shops launched”, he added. “You will see some other single-manager shops inevitably find that it’s just too difficult to lift over time.” BLOOMBERG
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/asia-hedge-fund-founders-shut-shop-for-big-pay-at-global-giants
| 2024-01-22T02:08:18Z
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MELBOURNE – Wyloo Metals, the private nickel producer owned by billionaire Andrew Forrest, is shutting down its Western Australian mines due to a sharp slump in prices for the key transition metal.
The mines near Kambalda will go into care and maintenance from May 31, the company said in a statement on Jan 22.
Wyloo, which bought the mines only six months ago, informed BHP Group that it will not be able to fulfil a nickel off-take agreement that is due to expire at the end of 2025, a spokesperson said.
Prices for nickel – used to make stainless steel and batteries for electric vehicles – have slumped in the past year, mainly driven by a flood of cheap supply from Indonesia that is threatening to disrupt the industry.
Earlier in January, First Quantum Minerals said it will halt mining at its nickel and cobalt operation in Australia and cut a third of its workforce in response to weaker metal prices and higher costs.
The closure of Wyloo’s Kambalda mines comes after BHP, the world’s biggest miner, last week warned that it could be forced to write down the value of its nickel to mitigate the crash in prices.
Wyloo, which owns assets in Canada and Australia, in 2023 entered into a joint venture agreement with IGO Limited to produce battery-ready materials at a plant near Perth. Despite the shutdown of the mines, it is studying developing its own nickel concentrator in the Kambalda region, Wyloo said in the statement. BLOOMBERG
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/australian-tycoon-andrew-forrest-shuts-nickel-mines-after-prices-crash
| 2024-01-22T02:08:29Z
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/morning-briefing-top-stories-from-the-straits-times-on-jan-22-2024
| 2024-01-22T02:08:39Z
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FLORIDA - New Zealand’s Lydia Ko is a winner once again, opening the 2024 LPGA season by claiming the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions title on Sunday in Orlando, Florida.
Ko was a 36-hole co-leader and finished the third round with a two-stroke lead. Her two-under-par 70 in Sunday’s final round was enough to finish at 14-under 274 for the week at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club.
Alexa Pano (70) started and finished the day two shots behind Ko and placed second at 12 under. Canada’s Brooke Henderson, the defending champion, placed third at 10 under after a 68.
The event was exclusive to players who have won on the LPGA Tour in the past two seasons. Ko was in the field on the strength of three victories in 2022, but she did not win an official event stateside in 2023.
Now the 26-year-old has her 20th career LPGA title. She is the seventh to reach the mark before turning 27.
“I think the finish that I had last year, not only winning Grant Thornton (a mixed-team exhibition) but I played really well in Korea and in Malaysia,” said Ko, who takes up residence in Orlando. “Maybe if I had found the keys that I found then a little earlier, maybe I could have had a better season.
“I think if you keep going down a spiral of thinking like ‘What if,’ it’s endless. I worked hard in the two weeks leading up to this event. To win at home has been nice.”
Ko’s lead was not seriously threatened after she birdied Nos. 6, 9 and 10 to move to 15 under before her first bogey at the par-five 11th. Pano struggled out of the gate, with two bogeys and two birdies over her first 15 holes.
By the time Pano birdied Nos. 16 and 17, it was too little, too late. Ko birdied No. 15 before a closing bogey.
Henderson had her best round of the week, with all four of her birdies coming in a five-hole stretch at Nos. 7-11 while she stayed bogey-free.
“The game plan was to try and climb the leaderboard as much as possible, stick to the game plan,” Henderson said. “To shoot minus-four in these conditions, I’m really happy with. It was very cold and very windy.”
Cheyenne Knight (69), Ally Ewing (72) and Japan’s Ayaka Furue (71) tied for fourth at eight under. Rose Zhang started her first full season on tour with a T7 finish with England’s Charley Hull, as both players shot 71 and finished seven under. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/golf/lydia-ko-back-in-winner-s-circle-at-golf-s-tournament-of-champions
| 2024-01-22T02:08:49Z
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NIVELLES - Sitting at her home in the Belgian town of Nivelles, acid attack survivor and campaigner Patricia Lefranc flicks through a sleek book of pictures of her shot by British fashion photographer Rankin.
In one, she holds a photo of herself before the devastating 2009 attack by an ex. Others show her in different poses throughout the lookbook, a photo catalogue typically used by fashion brands.
“I have learnt to see myself after (the attack). If I had seen this photo of myself five or six years ago, I would have been in tears,” Ms Lefranc said.
“It’s going to sound harsh to say it – but, I’ve learnt (to live with) this ugliness. It’s me.”
Ms Lefranc, 59, features in a new campaign by Rankin and charity Acid Survivors Trust International (ASTi) seeking to raise awareness about the devastating effects of acid violence and the geographical correlation between industry use of corrosives, namely in fashion and textiles, and the frequency of attacks.
“Areas that were impacted by acid violence in countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, Pakistan are those areas where there’s a large industrial fashion base,” ASTi executive director Jaf Shah told Reuters.
“The lookbook is an advocacy tool designed to raise awareness and encourage companies to take action to help prevent attacks by introducing stricter controls around corrosive substances that have been weaponized by predominantly men against women.”
He said the lookbook’s target audience were senior executives working in the fashion industry.
As well as portraits of Lefranc, the “Tear Couture” lookbook focuses on countries with textile industries and acid attacks that have occurred there.
Mr Shah said at least 10,000 acid attacks occur each year around the world, but under-reporting remains a big issue.
“Very few countries have acid attacks as a specific offence so we don’t really know the total number of attacks occurring globally,” he said.
Ms Lefranc’s since jailed attacker, who she says harassed her after she split with him, had posed as a delivery man when he doused her with acid.
“I was crawling on my arms, I couldn’t walk, and I saw that my arm was melting like an aspirin and I said to myself ‘You’re dying here’,” she said.
The mother of three, whose face and body are laced with scars, spent three months in a coma after the attack and has undergone over 100 operations.
“I simply said to myself, ‘Look, if you’re still alive, it’s for a reason. There must be a reason’,” she said.
“Even before what happened I was a fighter, I was always busy, and I did not want to stay locked up at home and give him the satisfaction.” REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/acid-attack-survivor-fronts-fashion-book-in-new-awareness-campaign
| 2024-01-22T02:09:00Z
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LONDON - British fruit and vegetable farmers will hold a scarecrow protest outside of Parliament on Jan 22 morning as they fight for survival against “unfair” treatment by the country’s six largest supermarket chains.
Demonstrators will place 49 scarecrows outside the British legislature to illustrate the fact that 49 per cent of farmers say they are on the brink of leaving the industry, said Guy Singh-Watson, one of the protest organisers.
“British agriculture is on its knees,” said Singh-Watson, the founder of the firm Riverford Organic, which initiated the petition.
Singh-Watson says government policies have failed to provide adequate support for farmers and were rarely enforced.
“The livelihoods of our farmers are being laid to waste,” he added.
The farmers want the supermarkets to adhere to “fair” purchasing agreements, including buying agreed quantities and paying the agreed amount on time “without exception”.
They say unfair purchasing agreements by the chains Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi and Lidl will drive many of them out of business in the next 12 months.
The protest will be held as lawmakers debate a petition by the farmers to overhaul the grocery supply chain code of practice.
The petition, which has more than 112,000 signatures, asks the government to ensure that retailers “buy what they agreed”, “pay what they agreed” and to pay on time.
“Without fairer treatment for farmers, the reality is the destruction of British farming along with the landscape, wildlife and rural communities it once supported,” said Singh-Watson.
William White, a co-ordinator at the Sustain alliance for sustainable farming, said the protest aims to send “a stark message” that only strong regulation from the government can ensure farmers get a fair deal for the food they produce.
A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said fruit and vegetable farmers are crucial to the resilience of the UK’s food system to the wider economy.
“It is only right that British farmers and growers should be paid a fair price, and our review into the fairness of the supply chain will help address these concerns,” it said.
Farming and food leaders sent an open letter to the supermarkets last year, saying their buying practics were “all too often imbalanced, short term and wasteful” and leave farmers “struggling to survive”.
Supermarkets sometimes reject whole crops “at the last minute”, the letter said.
“Good food ends up rotting in the field. Farmers are left without payment for their crops. And without a stable, reliable income, they are struggling to survive.” AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/uk-fruit-and-veg-farmers-to-make-scarecrow-protest-for-survival
| 2024-01-22T02:09:10Z
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CALIFORNIA - The prehistoric megalodon is known as one of the most fearsome creatures the world has ever known, a horrifyingly giant shark immortalised in the monster movie The Meg.
But after re-analysing the fossil evidence, scientists said on Jan 22 they now think the shark was significantly thinner than previously thought.
While the 2018 B-movie starring Jason Statham depicted a megalodon preying on modern-day humans, the shark actually went extinct around 3.6 million years ago.
Previous research has suggested it could have been up to 20 metres long.
But size estimates have varied widely because they were based on the only remaining fossils of the shark, which are teeth and vertebrae.
And scientists had assumed that the megalodon had a similar stocky body shape to its modern descendant, the great white shark.
However a better model may be the thinner mako shark, according to an international team of researchers behind a study in the journal Palaeontologia Electronica.
“Our team re-examined the fossil record, and discovered the megalodon was more slender” than had been thought, University of California, Riverside biologist Phillip Sternes said in a statement.
But in bad news for Jason Statham in the next Meg movie, the shark actually may have been even longer than previously believed.
“It still would have been a formidable predator at the top of the ancient marine food chain, but it would have behaved differently based on this new understanding of its body,” Sternes added.
In better news for the hapless human victims in a possible future Meg movie, the megalodon “may not have been a powerful swimmer” compared to the great white shark, said study co-author Kenshu Shimada, a paleobiologist at DePaul University in Chicago.
It also may have had to hunt less due to a longer digestive canal.
This could also affect the mystery of the megalodon’s extinction.
It was previously theorised that the shark died off because there was less prey around. But its updated body image could point towards a different culprit.
“I believe there were a combination of factors that led to the extinction, but one of them may have been the emergence of the great white shark, which was possibly more agile, making it an even better predator than the megalodon,” Sternes said.
Shimada said that knowing the Otodus megalodon’s true shape would require finding a more complete skeleton.
“The fact that we still don’t know exactly how O. megalodon looked keeps our imagination going,” he added. AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/the-meg-shark-was-actually-quite-thin-scientists-say
| 2024-01-22T02:09:21Z
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WASHINGTON - Two United States Navy Seals who went missing in the Gulf of Aden earlier this month during a raid on an Iranian ship have not been located following an exhaustive search and their status has been changed to deceased, military officials said on Jan 21.
The Seals were reported missing after boarding the vessel in a Jan 11 operation near the coast of Somali, the US Central Command said on X.
“We mourn the loss of our two Naval Special Warfare warriors, and we will forever honour their sacrifice and example. Our prayers are with the Seals’ families, friends, the US Navy, and the entire Special Operations community during this time,” Centcom Commander General Michael Erik Kurilla said in a statement.
A joint operation carried out by the United States, Spain and Japan searched more than 21,000 square miles of ocean for the missing Seals, Centcom said in the statement.
That mission had now become a recovery operation, Centcom said.
The US has carried out a string of strikes against Houthi targets in response to Houthi attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea that have disrupted global trade and raised fears of supply bottlenecks.
US Central Command forces on Jan 21 struck a Houthi anti-ship missile that was aimed into the Gulf of Aden and prepared to launch, the US military said.
The Houthis, who control the most populous parts of Yemen, have claimed their attacks on commercial ships are aimed at supporting the Palestinians in Israel’s war in Gaza.
The Houthi movement has vowed to keep up attacks despite the strikes last week against radar and missile capabilities. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/us-navy-says-two-missing-seals-died-in-raid-on-iran-ship
| 2024-01-22T02:09:31Z
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Young Crusader Dominic Gardiner following in the footsteps of greatness
Dominic Gardiner was a postcard student at St Bede’s College in Christchurch. The 2019 head prefect was in the First XI cricket and First XV rugby teams representing the New Zealand Schools in the later code.
His father Angus Gardiner has been General Manager of the Crusaders since 2016. He oversees recruitment, contracting, and staff culture. There is no one better if seven titles are the true measure of success.
Angus himself was a flanker for the Crusaders. He helped them win their first two Super Rugby titles in 1998 and 1999.
With such pedigree it’s little surprise Dominic pursued a professional rugby career. He’s already been part of two Super Rugby triumphs. But what did the 22-year-old learn about life when in such an important, and seemingly preordained, leadership role at school?
“I think I underestimated the impact you can have on people,” Gardiner told RugbyPass.
“A conversation with a junior could have a lasting impact. As head boy you got to interact with other leaders from around the country and were given opportunities others don’t get. That builds confidence and knowledge.
“At St Bede’s they really stressed good values. Character traits like loyalty, discipline, and hard work mattered. Some teachers had been there for years. Every successful place has those people. I loved First XV games at home where boys would let the chainsaw rip and get behind us. St Bede’s builds a passion and character which doesn’t leave you.”
And they’re darn good at producing loose forwards. In the past two decades Elliot Dixon (All Blacks), Josh Navidi (Wales), Hiroki Yamamoto, Shunsuke Nunomaki, Michael Letich, Sione Lavemai (Japan), and Alejandro Martin Nieto Serra (Uruguay) have been capped internationals. Super Rugby regulars James Lentjes and Charlie Gamble are old boys too.
Gardiner led the 2019 First XV under coaches Dwayne Prendergast and Daniel Winchester to a 16-3 record. The school magazine noted Gardiner had “an elite edge in his game.”
“Dwayne and Dan were big on expressing yourself. They removed that fear of failure by encouraging you to back yourself, be fearless, and move on quickly to the next job if you make a mistake,” Garnder said.
Gardiner quickly graduated to the Canterbury NPC team in 2021. He has already amassed 19 games, 16 wins, and four tries.
His Crusaders debut was in a 33-12 win against Moana Pasifika in March 2022. That season he managed 139 minutes in six appearances under the careful eye of coach Scott Robertson.
“Razor takes extra responsibility for the loose forwards so it will be different without him around. Because he’s been there and done that, he understands how you’re feeling, and his feedback is constructive. The other thing the public doesn’t see with Razor is that he’s a very technical coach. His attention to detail is immense.”
In 2023 the Crusaders faced an injury crisis so serious they used 48 players and 39-year-old John Afoa was summoned out of retirement in France to cover prop. Gardiner more than tripled his minutes. He didn’t expect to participate in the finals but produced a heroic 24 minutes off the bench in the 25-20 win over the Chiefs in the Super Rugby decider in Hamilton.
A cut and bloody Gardiner made eight tackles and held his nerve against a Chiefs loose forward trio that featured three All Blacks.
“Most of the credit for that victory belongs to the coaching staff. They create that belief we can step up in the big moments,” Gardiner said.
“Personally, that final was redeeming. I’d been beaten up physically in my first game in Hamilton. I got stuck in a hole early and it got deeper. It was a baptism of fire.
“I’m not typically a nervous kind of guy but during the final, I was thinking the bench is the worst place to be. You can’t impact the game. When I went on, I didn’t want to take a backward step for anyone.”
If the officiating of Super Rugby is like that at the Rugby World Cup, then flankers might be forced to play with more trepidation. More than any other position flankers are prone to incur the wrath of referees.
“Consistency is the one thing players and fans want to see. I think we get that in New Zealand most of the time. Sometimes at the World Cup, it was a sweepstake on if it would be yellow or red,” Gardiner said.
Following seven titles and 99 wins in 118 matches Scott Roberston has moved on to the All Blacks. The Crusaders start their title defence on February 23 with a final replay against the Chiefs in Hamilton. Former Canterbury lock Rob Penney is the new coach.
“Rob is a different person and commutator, but he brings a lot of experience. I feel there is a lot of continuity across the coaching staff and that Crusaders ethos is still intact,” Gardiner warned.
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https://www.rugbypass.com/news/crusader-dominic-gardiner-following-in-the-footsteps-of-greatness/
| 2024-01-22T02:32:36Z
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Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen wows fans by ‘playing rugby’ in NFL playoffs
It seems that former Wales wing Louis Rees-Zammit could slot into the Buffalo Bills’ backfield with a sense of familiarity after quarterback Josh Allen wowed fans by “playing rugby.”
During the Bills’ divisional round matchup with Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs during the NFL playoffs, Allen sent social media into a frenzy just 30 seconds into the contest.
With their first offensive drive of the contest, the Bills needed some Josh Allen magic to retain possession as they prepared for a 3rd & 17. ‘Rugby’ was that magic.
Allen, 27, ran the ball upfield before finding running back Ty Johnson with a backwards pass. It may not have been an underhand pass but rugby fans are praising the move.
Josh allen playing rugby. Offensive inovator pic.twitter.com/qnsv9qb2uB
— PFT Commenter (@PFTCommenter) January 21, 2024
Josh Allen would be an incredible rugby player. pic.twitter.com/mpuhX9m37V
— Poindexter (@Ahclem53) January 22, 2024
Could Josh Allen make the USA Rugby team @PFTCommenter? Maybe get him ready for 2031?
— PWagon (@PWagon60) January 22, 2024
Josh Allen throwing a rugby forward pass haha
— Rich (@BatesInThePlace) January 21, 2024
Josh Allen playing rugby aht here 🤣🤣
— 🦏🤙🏽💪🏽 (@theONEryno) January 21, 2024
Josh Allen is playing rugby out here 😂
— Texas High School Pros (@TxHsPros) January 21, 2024
Josh Allen playing rugby early. Advantage Bills.
— marshall newhouse (@MNewhouse73) January 21, 2024
🚨 JOSH ALLEN LEARNED RUGBY 🚨
— Michael Ritter (@MikeSteveRitter) January 21, 2024
This isn’t the first time that Allen has stunned fans with a rugby-like move against the Chiefs either. Another social media user was blown away by the quarterbacks’ hurdle in 2022.
That one video generated plenty of chatter online, too, with more than 350 reactions, 47 retweets and 19 comments.
Josh Allen has that rugby factor! Love this kid so much! Sick view of the KC hurdle! GO BILLS!!! #BillsMafia pic.twitter.com/XPIOuTAYSy
— Biondo Art ? (@BiondoArt) October 19, 2022
Looking to avenge last year’s playoff loss to the Chiefs, who went on to win the Super Bowl, Allen has let his actions do the talking as the quarterback led the way for the Bills.
Allen had completed all by five pass attempts during the opening half, which saw the Bills’ main man pass for 111 yards.
But Allen was especially impressive with the run game. Off only eight carries, the quarterback ran for 51 yards and two game-changing touchdowns. The Bills led 17-13 at half-time.
There’s no denying that plays like this make the Bills a perfect candidate to utilise Louis Rees-Zammitt’s skillset within the NFL.
The former Wales wing has been released from his rugby duties to pursue an opportunity with the NFL International Player Pathway (IPP).
“Gloucester Rugby has been a huge part of my life. From the start at Hartpury College and my first professional rugby contract with Gloucester in 2020, to my Wales and Lions caps; the Club has been central to my development as a player, and I’m so grateful for their support,” Rees-Zammitt said.
“I will always be very proud of my time at Kingsholm and want to particularly thank the incredible fans who make the Club so special. Also, to my teammates, to George Skivington and Alex Brown, thank you for giving me such special memories and for supporting this next stage of my career.
“I have had the incredible honour of playing rugby for my country which, as a proud Welshman, I’ve never taken for granted. However, I believe that this is the right time for me to realise another professional goal of playing American football in the US. Those opportunities don’t come around very often.”
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https://www.rugbypass.com/news/quarterback-josh-allen-wows-fans-by-playing-rugby-in-nfl-playoffs/
| 2024-01-22T02:32:43Z
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At the New York premiere of her latest Amazon Prime Video film, Expats, Nicole Kidman truly captivated the crowd.
The acclaimed Hollywood actress, aged 56, braved the chilly weather in a stunning backless black gown, showcasing her impressively toned figure.
Her structured frock, complete with a cowl neck design and a daring high split in the skirt, highlighted her well-defined back and six-pack abs.
Nicole chose to let her attire be the centerpiece of her look, accessorizing with understated yet elegant drop diamond earrings and a sophisticated watch.
Her strawberry blonde locks flowed freely, and she opted for a copper-toned eyeshadow palette and a rosy lip, enhancing her natural beauty.
In a recent conversation with Stellar's Something To Talk About podcast, Nicole opened up about her journey in Hollywood, particularly as a woman in her fifties.
Reflecting on the buzz created by her 2022 Vanity Fair micro-skirt photoshoot, she shared her philosophy of not letting others' opinions dictate her choices.
"I make the most random, crazy choices. I call it 'teenage choices' because I don't ever think of the consequences," she revealed.
Nicole emphasized her inclination to make decisions based on feeling rather than external expectations or pressures.
Nicole's fearless approach to her fashion choices is a testament to her confidence and self-assuredness.
"I just try to keep in that place, because otherwise I think you get scared or worried about what people think," she added.
She further expressed her preference to remain uninformed about public reactions to her choices, saying, "Don't tell me. I don't really want to know. It'll stop me from doing what I want to do."
In a candid conversation on the “Radio Times” podcast, she also revealed how her stature has been a source of personal discomfort and why it has even led her to lie about her true height.
Reflecting on her experiences, Nicole shared the teasing she endured during her younger years. “I was teased. I was called ‘Stalky.’ They’d always be like, ‘How’s the air up there?’” she recalled. This teasing left a lasting impact, influencing how she perceives her height in both personal and professional settings.
Nicole also divulged that people often express surprise at her height, commenting, “‘You’re so much taller than I thought,’” which has led her to grapple with her appearance, especially in high-profile events.
On the professional front, Nicole continues to make strides in her production endeavors with her company Blossom Films.
Following the success of Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, she is set to collaborate again with producer Per Saari in the upcoming Binge series The Last Anniversary.
This series, adapted from a novel by Liane Moriarty, published in 2006, revolves around a woman who inherits a house on a mysterious island. Filming in Sydney with Australian actors, Nicole is excited about showcasing Australian talent and accents to a global audience.
"Australian accents, an Australian project with Australian accents for the world. This has been a long time in the making," she remarked at last year's SXSW Festival.
Nicole also shared her admiration for Liane Moriarty, noting their commonalities and the strong friendship they've developed.
"She is the same age, she has got kids, she has gone through similar things at different times. She has become a great friend," she said of the author.
Get the lowdown on the biggest, hottest celebrity news, features and profiles coming out of the U.S. Sign up to our HELLO! Hollywood newsletter and get them delivered straight to your inbox.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/fashion/celebrity-style/511768/nicole-kidman-56-steals-the-show-in-an-incredibly-revealing-dress-see-best-photos/
| 2024-01-22T03:10:54Z
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SYDNEY - Two Australian resource-rich regions are bracing themselves for potentially damaging storms that could lead to flooding, the latest threats after months of extreme weather events.
A tropical low developing in the Coral Sea off Queensland state is likely to become a cyclone by Jan 23, the nation’s Bureau of Meteorology said.
The system is expected to cross the coast around the middle of the week, with a severe impact likely. If the storm crosses the coast, the bureau expects it to weaken and move further south over land, which may trigger heavy rainfall near coal-mining regions.
Meanwhile, a separate tropical low that has hit the Northern Territory has now entered Western Australia state and is forecast to impact the Pilbara region in the coming days.
The system is expected to bring intense rainfall as its slowly moves near or just off the iron ore mining hub’s coast from Jan 24, with a risk it could later strengthen into a tropical cyclone.
Multiple areas in the Northern Territory remain on flood watch.
These latest threats come just over a month after Cyclone Jasper triggered destructive flooding and winds in the country’s north.
The current tropical low in Queensland is expected to cross the coast around the same region that was impacted by Cyclone Jasper.
The Insurance Council of Australia declared that event an “insurance catastrophe”.
“We would obviously be concerned if there was to be any further impact on those areas that were already hit by Tropical Cyclone Jasper, and that are very much still in recovery mode,” Australian Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt said in a television interview on Jan 22.
Queensland is the nation’s biggest producer of sugar and has a large resources industry. That includes production of metallurgical and thermal coal, LNG, and base metals including copper, lead and zinc.
Meanwhile, the Pilbara region hosts massive iron ore operations for companies including BHP Group, Rio Tinto Group and Fortescue, as well as LNG projects operated by Chevon and Woodside Energy Group.
The weather bureau said in October it expected a below-average number of tropical cyclones in 2023-24 due to El Niño.
While that pattern often leads to hotter and drier conditions in the continent’s east, the nation’s summer so far has been marked by a prolonged deluge of rain that has inundated homes and damaged crops from sugar to wheat.
Australia’s cyclone season typically runs from November to April. BLOOMBERG
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/australianz/two-australian-resource-rich-regions-facing-destructive-storms
| 2024-01-22T03:40:18Z
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SEOUL - Born as Yoon-hwa in South Korea in 1974, she became Petra Zwart of the Netherlands at the age of one.
Her adoptive Dutch family provided a warm and welcoming home to both Ms Zwart and her biological brother, who was adopted at the age of five.
Even so, Ms Zwart recalls finding it difficult to fit in as a child, due to her East Asian appearance being different, “like an ugly duckling”.
She and her brother are among the nearly 170,000 babies that South Korea has sent overseas for adoption since 1953.
Despite much criticism of transnational adoption from Korea, it has not stopped. In 2022, some 142 Korean babies were sent abroad.
Upon hearing the latest adoption figures, Ms Zwart could not help but ask: “Why is this still happening?
“Now that South Korea has become a prosperous country, and we all know a lot more about the consequences of transracial adoption, knowing it is not always in the best interest of the child, isn’t it time to take another approach?”
South Korea, according to one study, ranked fifth globally in terms of the number of children sent abroad for international adoption in 2021.
A lucrative business
The history of the country’s international adoptions traces back to 1953 when an estimated 100,000 children were orphaned and homeless in the wake of the Korean War. In exceptional circumstances like that, or in the case of a major disaster, it is not uncommon for a large number of overseas adoptions to occur in a short period of time.
However, overseas adoption did not subside in South Korea after stability returned. On the contrary, adoptions boomed in the following decades. At its peak in 1985, 8,837 babies were sent overseas, equivalent to 1.35 per cent of babies born in the country that year.
Even today, although the figures are not as high as before, the country still gives up a large number of its children for international adoption. In 2022, 142 babies were sent away for adoption, down from 755 babies in 2012.
According to a study by Dr Peter Selman from Newcastle University in the UK, between 2004 and 2021, South Korea was among the top seven nations that placed children up for transnational adoption, with 16,051 children sent away over that period. In 2021, it ranked fifth, after Colombia, India, Ukraine and Thailand.
Of all children who were given new homes through adoption, international match-ups accounted for some 40 per cent to 44 per cent, with the share remaining more or less stable despite the overall decline in total adoptions worldwide.
Experts assert that while there are clear incentives for private adoption agencies to arrange international adoptions, the government has been inactive about improving child welfare and the broader social situation that leads to babies being given up for adoption.
They say that this reality has resulted in the bitter irony of South Korea continuing to send babies abroad despite its cripplingly low birth rate.
Four agencies handle international adoptions: Holt Children’s Services, the Korea Social Service, Korea Welfare Services and the Eastern Social Welfare Society.
Between 2018 and 2022, the four agencies sent a combined 1,183 children overseas and received a total of 22.1 billion won (S$22.2 million) in commission fees, according to the office of Representative Choi Yeon-sook from the People Power Party, citing information from the Welfare Ministry. On average, the fees received by agencies amounted to 18.7 million won per child.
Those fees were on top of the 2.7 million won the agencies received from the government for each adoption arranged. This amount is the same for domestic and international cases.
Soongsil University social welfare professor Noh Hye-ryun, who worked at Holt in 1981, said overseas adoptions are clearly preferred by South Korea’s agencies.
“Compared with domestic adoption, overseas adoption brings in over 10 times the money with much less work. Adoption agencies also don’t have to deal with post-adoption matters because the children are taken care of by cooperating agencies in the country where they are adopted,” Professor Noh said.
Post-adoption management includes overseeing the well-being of adoptees in new homes.
Neglecting this responsibility can have severe social repercussions, as demonstrated by the tragic death of Jeong-in, a victim of child abuse at the hands of her adoptive mother, in October 2020.
Holt had arranged the child’s placement, and following the child’s death and subsequent public outrage, the chairperson of the agency resigned.
Another mother of two adopted daughters, who wished to disclose only her surname Chang, told The Korea Herald that she had sought to adopt her second child after the incident.
However, she was told by all four adoption agencies that there were “no available babies”, and she had to wait for 2½ years before finally being able to adopt her second daughter.
Prof Noh said that with the lack of government oversight, the four adoption agencies had been allowed to profit from baby brokering.
“Korean babies, who were healthy and young, were sent overseas at the highest prices,” she said, citing her own analysis of the agencies’ adoption paperwork in April 2023.
The adoption of Korean babies required the highest commission fees, compared with other leading child-sending countries, which included China, Colombia and India. The Korean babies sent abroad for adoption were also much younger.
While other countries would adopt children aged between one and 16 years old with commission fees of below US$10,000 (S$13,400), South Korea would send away babies aged between 12 and 16 months, with fees as high as US$26,500 per infant, Prof Noh said, citing documents she had reviewed.
During the 1980s, at the peak of the overseas adoption boom in South Korea, employees at Holt were earning an average monthly salary of around 250,000 won while commission fees for each overseas adoption were three million won – a huge amount at the time.
None of the four adoption agencies responded to The Herald’s request for interviews.
Big change coming in 2025
A major change to the current adoption system is expected in July 2025, when the revised Special Act on Domestic Adoption is set to take effect. The government’s role in adoption will be reinforced, and agencies that receive commissions for adoptions will face penalties. Receiving commissions from parents hoping to adopt a baby is already illegal, but there is no provision for punishment.
Additionally, by July 2025, the South Korean government intends to ratify the Hague Adoption Convention, which serves to safeguard the rights of children adopted internationally.
South Korea signed the global convention in 2013 but has yet to ratify it due to issues such as local adoption law not aligning with the standards outlined in the convention.
The key principle of the convention is that a child should be raised within their biological family, allowing overseas adoption only when a nation cannot find a family domestically that is capable of protecting the child. The agencies responsible for overseas adoption under the convention must operate as non-profit organisations.
Miss Choi said: “In order to comply with the Hague Convention signed by 104 countries, including Korea, to protect children’s human rights in adoption and to prevent kidnapping and human trafficking, adoption-related Bills were passed in the National Assembly in July (2023).”
She stressed that the government should not waste time and allow the current problems to go unchallenged, as it is still two years before the law is supposed to take effect.
Destigmatise single mothers
In addition to efforts to curb overseas adoptions, the government should devise comprehensive local adoption programmes and strategies to better protect babies in need of care, experts say.
Such efforts could include the expansion of foster care systems and the provision of support to single mothers to help alleviate their financial or child-rearing burdens.
Sejong University social welfare professor Park Hyun-sun said: “In Korea, there is a prevalent perception that foster care is only temporary protection, and there is still a low awareness of its need as a form of permanent care.”
In 2022, the number of children who needed protection stood at 1,881. Out of them, 802 were in family fostering, while 567 were in childcare facilities such as orphanages.
Professor Park said children need a continuous relationship with a stable foster family, as well as individual attention.
“This can only be possible within a family environment. It is necessary to expand the importance of foster parents,” she said.
She emphasised that the government should extend support for foster parents, such as granting them legal guardian status. This would allow foster parents to take the child to a hospital or on a trip, and make foster parents eligible for parental benefits.
The fact that most of the babies sent overseas were born to single mothers shows where the government’s focus should lie. Experts say greater social and institutional efforts are needed to support single mothers in order to enable biological parents to raise their own children.
According to South Korea’s Ministry of Health and Welfare, the percentage of unmarried mothers among children sent overseas for adoption reached 99.7 per cent in 2018, 100 per cent in 2019, 99.6 per cent in 2020, and 99.5 per cent in 2021.
Adoption Solidarity Forum’s former chief Shin Phil-sik said: “Although government support has increased for single mothers, their economic burden is still very large. Many single mothers are experiencing difficulties due to social prejudice and economic problems during pregnancy and childbirth.”
According to a 2019 survey conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, which involved 1,247 single mothers, 41.8 per cent of respondents cited “financial difficulties” as the most challenging aspect during pregnancy.
In another study by Korean National Police University professor Kim Seong-hee, which analysed 46 first-trial judgments of cases indicted for infanticide between 2013 and 2020, 45 of the defendants were single, and only one was confirmed to be married. When examining the motives for the infanticides, it was found that 40 cases involved the murders driven by the “fear of being pregnant outside marriage and this fact becoming known to those around them”.
Mr Bastiaan Flikweert, a member of the Netherlands Korean Rights Group, said South Korea still harbours deep-seated distrust and indifference towards single mothers.
“While there may be various policy measures to enhance domestic adoption, it’s crucial to initially address why, in the first place, babies cannot be raised within their own families by single mothers in Korean society,” said Mr Flikweert, whose parents were both adopted from South Korea to the Netherlands.
“Babies available for adoption don’t simply exist automatically. They are not a constant presence,” he said. “Rather than solely focusing on promoting adoption, the government should fundamentally consider how babies can be raised within their biological families.”
Thirty years after Ms Zwart was sent to the Netherlands, she returned to South Korea for the first time in 2005 and was reunited with her biological family. It turned out that she had a lot in common with her older Korean sister, and she recognised so much of her sister in herself. However, Ms Zwart felt sad that she was not able to communicate with her biological family due to the language barrier.
When she first met her biological mother, the reunion was emotionally charged. She felt that her mother seemed cold and distant. Later, Ms Zwart came to understand that her biological mother felt ashamed about having put her up for adoption, a revelation which broke her heart.
“Despite my feelings for her, I could relate because I was a mum too, aware that all a mother wants for her child is the best, and giving me up must have been an incredibly difficult decision for her to make.” THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/despite-s-korea-s-low-birth-rate-babies-are-being-sent-overseas-for-adoption-why
| 2024-01-22T03:40:29Z
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TAIPEI – Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said it had detected six more Chinese balloons flying over the Taiwan Strait on Jan 21, one of which crossed the island, the latest in a spate of such balloons the ministry says it has seen over the past month and a half.
In a strongly worded statement earlier in January, the ministry accused China of threatening aviation safety and waging psychological warfare on the island’s people with the balloons, days before Taiwan’s Jan 13 elections.
China’s Defence Ministry, which in December 2023 declined to comment on the balloons, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China claims Taiwan as its own territory, despite the strong objections of the government in Taipei.
The potential for China to use balloons for spying became a global issue in February 2023 when the United States shot down what it said was a Chinese surveillance balloon. China said the balloon was a civilian craft that accidentally drifted astray.
The latest incident was revealed by the ministry on Monday in its daily report on Chinese military activities over the past 24 hours. It said six balloons had flown over the strait’s sensitive median line on Jan 21.
However, only one crossed Taiwan island, at its southern tip, according to a map the ministry provided.
The other five balloons flew to the north of Taiwan but did not fly over land, the ministry said.
The balloons all headed east before vanishing, it added.
The Taiwan Strait’s median line previously served as an unofficial barrier between Taiwan and China, but Chinese fighter jets, drones and now balloons regularly fly over it.
China says it does not recognise the existence of the median line. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/taiwan-says-it-spots-six-more-chinese-balloons-one-crossed-island
| 2024-01-22T03:40:39Z
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SHANGHAI – China’s commercial lenders held their benchmark lending rates steady on Jan 22, in line with the central bank’s decision to maintain policy rates amid concerns over pressures on the renminbi.
The one-year loan prime rate (LPR) was held at 3.45 per cent, matching the consensus forecast by economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The five-year rate, a reference for mortgages, was kept steady at 4.2 per cent as projected, data from the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) showed.
The steady rates underscore Beijing’s reluctance to flood the economy with monetary stimulus. They also illustrate the desire to ensure the existing amount of credit is used efficiently, since fast-growing money supply has yet to translate into a significant improvement in actual borrowing.
While cutting rates can boost dwindling confidence, Beijing has to balance any easing with the need to bolster the nation’s massive banking system and safeguard the renminbi.
The LPRs are based on the interest rates that 20 banks offer their best customers. They are quoted as a spread over the central bank’s one-year policy rate, or the medium-term lending facility rate, which was kept unchanged at 2.5 per cent last week. The PBOC, which publishes the LPRs monthly, is seen as having significant sway over them.
Investors have so far been underwhelmed by Beijing’s policies to keep economic momentum going. Official data released last week failed to shake off several of the concerns most persistently weighing on the world’s second-largest economy.
While China hit its roughly 5 per cent growth target in 2023, it is recording its worst deflationary streak since the Asian financial crisis of 1997/1998. Home prices fell in December by the most since 2015, underscoring the scale of the real estate crash.
China’s top leaders have said at recent policy meetings that they will maintain supportive monetary policy. Economists expect that to translate into moderate cuts to PBOC policy interest rates and trims to the amount of money banks must hold, known as the reserve requirement ratio, as soon as in the first quarter. BLOOMBERG
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/china-leaves-lending-benchmark-rates-unchanged
| 2024-01-22T03:40:50Z
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SHANGHAI – Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang celebrated the new year with staff during his first trip to China in four years, a low-key tour that coincided with growing concerns about Beijing’s ability to get around United States chip restrictions.
He visited Nvidia’s offices in Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing earlier in January, according to a person familiar with the matter. Images and video of the 60-year-old donning colourful traditional garb and dancing with staff emerged online over the weekend. It was not clear if he had held formal meetings with other executives or officials, said the person.
Mr Huang embarked on his tour – first reported by state newspapers off Chinese social media posts – as Nvidia’s artificial intelligence accelerators become pivotal in a tech race between Washington and Beijing. Mr Huang has warned that an escalation in sanctions designed to cut off the flow of AI training chips could drive Chinese firms to develop their own alternatives. That could harm American tech leaders in the long run, he has said. The Nvidia co-founder named Huawei Technologies – which in 2023 alarmed Washington by including an advanced made-in-China processor in a smartphone – as a potential rival.
An Nvidia representative confirmed Mr Huang had celebrated the upcoming Chinese New Year with staff, without elaborating.
Nvidia, which more than tripled its market value in 2023 thanks largely to its pivotal role in AI development, is up another 20 per cent in 2024 as investors bet on its sector leadership. It has designed versions of its semiconductors for China that it says are compliant with successive rounds of US sanctions, as Washington watches closely.
Among the social media posts, one person describing himself as an Nvidia staffer shared an image of Mr Huang handing over a raffled Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 graphics card. The CEO has since moved on to Taiwan, according to local newspaper EDN, for his fourth visit to the island in less than a year. BLOOMBERG
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/nvidia-ceo-makes-first-china-tour-in-years-as-us-curbs-roil-ai
| 2024-01-22T03:41:00Z
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SEOUL – Growth in South Korean exports moderated at the start of 2024, suggesting any recovery in global trade this year could be bumpy.
The value of shipments adjusted for working-day differences increased 2.2 per cent from a year earlier in the first 20 days of January, according to data released on Jan 22 by the Trade Ministry. Headline exports fell 1 per cent. Overall imports declined by 18.2 per cent, resulting in a trade shortfall of US$2.6 billion (S$3.5 billion).
The daily average growth for the first 20 days compares with the full-month daily average growth of about 14 per cent in December.
South Korea’s exports emerged from a year-long slump in late 2023, led by a pickup in memory chip prices and demand for products including petrochemicals and displays. Chip exports rose about 20 per cent in the latest period.
Should that trend hold, South Korea’s exports will probably rise by 7.9 per cent in 2024, while imports increase 3.3 per cent, according to forecasts by the Korea International Trade Association.
South Korea is a major player in international commerce, and the role its industries play in worldwide supply chains makes its trade data a leading indicator for global consumer demand. Jan 19’s data offers signs of a slow recovery after a prolonged period during which higher interest rates weighed on sentiment.
Automobiles shipped 2.6 per cent more compared with the same period in 2023, the customs office said. Shipments of steel products fell 7.4 per cent, while wireless communications devices sold 24.2 per cent less. Exports of ships jumped 89.8 per cent.
The United States overtook China in December as South Korea’s largest export destination, indicating a potential shift in economic ties as political tensions between Washington and Beijing reshape global trade.
For the first 20 days of January, China regained its position as the biggest buyer of South Korean goods, accounting for 20.4 per cent. The US took 18.6 per cent, the second most, the customs office said.
Economic woes in China are among headwinds affecting South Korea’s trade. A raft of major elections across the world will contribute to geopolitical uncertainties for commerce as well.
Exports to China edged up 0.1 per cent from a year earlier, customs data showed. Shipments to the US increased 3.6 per cent and those to Taiwan jumped 21.4 per cent. Exports to the European Union dropped 9.4 per cent, while those to Japan fell 4.1 per cent. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/south-korea-s-early-trade-data-indicate-patchy-exports-recovery
| 2024-01-22T03:41:10Z
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Nikola Jokic scored 42 points on 15-of-20 shooting and pulled down 12 rebounds, and the visiting Denver Nuggets beat the struggling Washington Wizards 113-104 on Sunday night.
Jokic, who had eight assists, is shooting 74.6 percent from the field in the last 12 games, leading Denver to eight wins in that span.
Michael Porter Jr. and Jamal Murray scored 19 points apiece, Aaron Gordon contributed 11 points and 10 rebounds and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope finished with 10 points for the Nuggets.
Tyus Jones had 15 points and 13 assists, Kyle Kuzma scored 17, Daniel Gafford also scored 15 points and Landry Shamet and Marvin Bagley III added 14 points off the bench for Washington.
Denver led by nine after the first quarter but the Wizards rallied to tie it at 37-all early in the second. The Nuggets led 49-48 with 4:30 left in the period before pulling away.
Gordon had a dunk and a layup, Jokic scored and fed Porter for a dunk and Murray hit a 20-footer in a 13-1 run. Washington cut it to 10 at the half on Bilal Coulibaly's corner 3-pointer at the horn.
Denver stretched the lead to 70-54 on Porter's 3-pointer early in the third but the Wizards hung tough. Gafford scored on a putback, and Kuzma split a pair of free throws before scoring on three straight possessions to cut the deficit to 72-63.
Following a Nuggets timeout, Gordon converted a three-point play and Jokic fed Murray for a basket to kickstart another run. Jokic took over after that, scoring 10 straight Denver points to establish an 89-73 lead.
Shamet ended the quarter by making five free throws to make it 89-78 heading into the fourth.
The Wizards got within nine points twice on Corey Kispert's reverse layup and two free throws. But Murray hit two foul shots and a layup off a steal to give the Nuggets a 103-90 lead with 5:09 left.
Jones hit a floating jumper to make it an 11-point game but Porter and Caldwell-Pope hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put Denver up 109-92, safely ahead for the rest of the way.
--Field Level Media REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/basketball/nuggets-roll-past-wizards-as-nikola-jokic-pours-in-42
| 2024-01-22T03:41:21Z
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Twenty-year-old Nick Dunlap became the first amateur to win a PGA Tour event since Phil Mickelson in 1991 by capturing The American Express title on Sunday in La Quinta, Calif.
Dunlap got up and down for par at the 72nd hole at the PGA West Pete Dye Stadium Course to shoot 2-under 70 for the round and 29-under 259 for the week, one ahead of South Africa's Christiaan Bezuidenhout.
The reigning U.S. Amateur champion and sophomore at Alabama is just the third amateur to win on tour since 1957, joining Mickelson (1991 Northern Telecom Open) and Scott Verplank (1985 Western Open). Dunlap is also the second-youngest tour winner in 90 years, behind Jordan Spieth's win at the 2013 John Deere Classic as a 19-year-old.
"Honestly, I felt the script today was already written," Dunlap said after his round. "I was going to go give it everything I had. Whether that's I shoot 75 or 65 or 70, I just was going to give it everything I had."
He called the emotions he experienced down the stretch "nothing like I had ever felt."
The win gives Dunlap a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour and qualifies him for The Players Championship, the Masters and the PGA Championship. He does not take home any winnings, but he has a suddenly difficult decision about whether to leave Alabama early and turn pro.
"I don't know," Dunlap told PGA Tour Radio. "I have to take a second to let what just happened sink in a little bit. That's a decision that's not just about me. It affects a lot of people, and obviously I'm going to try to enjoy this."
Dunlap opened the tournament 64-65-60, having racked up 10 birdies and an eagle to shoot 12 under at La Quinta Country Club in Saturday's third round.
He began Sunday with a three-shot lead over Sam Burns but found the water on the par-4 seventh hole and made double bogey. Dunlap responded with birdies at Nos. 8 and 14, and after chipping to 10 1/2 feet at the par-5 16th, he sank a birdie putt to tie Burns at 29 under.
"I told (caddie Hunter Hamrick) that we hadn't faced much adversity yet, and hitting my ball in the water on 7, it tested everything I had," Dunlap said. "I missed a couple putts that I thought I was going to make. ... I went over a scenario for today probably a million times and it's never going to go how you plan, and it didn't.
"I'm so happy to be standing here."
Dunlap then landed his tee shot at the par-3 17th on the island green and Burns proceeded to find the water.
Dunlap made par but hit his tee shot at No. 18 landed on a mound far right of the fairway. After Burns found the water for the second straight hole, Dunlap's second shot traveled 194 yards and rolled down a different mound into a far corner of the fairway, setting up another remarkable chip to 6 feet.
Bezuidenhout, meanwhile, eagled the par-4 15th and birdied the 18th to polish off a bogey-free 65 and make Dunlap's final par putt necessary to avoid a playoff.
"(Hamrick) was so calm all day, his attitude never changed," Dunlap said. "Just kind of, his last thing is, like, ‘Man, this is inside left, you made a million of these putts before, it's just another one.'"
Bezuidenhout, who received the winner's share of the prize money, lauded the amateur's accomplishment.
"It's amazing," Bezuidenhout said. "Actually, I heard his name last year when he won the U.S. Amateur. Yeah, he's obviously a hell of a player and congrats to him and hopefully he can be out on the PGA Tour soon, and we all can get to play with him."
Justin Thomas played in the final group with Dunlap and Burns. Thomas attended Alabama and roomed with Dunlap's caddie there. Thomas shot 4-under 68 to tie for third at 27 under with Kevin Yu of Taiwan (63) and Xander Schauffele (65). Thomas finished his round with a 15-foot birdie putt, then watched Dunlap have his crowning moment.
Burns, meanwhile, finished with two double bogeys and carded a 71, tying for sixth at 25 under with Michael Kim (65) and Canadian Adam Hadwin (67).
--Field Level Media REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/golf/amateur-nick-dunlap-makes-history-by-winning-american-express
| 2024-01-22T03:41:31Z
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Kirill Kaprizov scored three times to record his third career hat trick as the Minnesota Wild topped the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 on Sunday in Raleigh, N.C.
Joel Eriksson Ek and Jake Middleton also scored and Filip Gustavsson made 40 saves for the Wild, who have won three of their past four games. Eriksson Ek also had a pair of assists, as did Brock Faber.
Kaprizov has now scored five goals in the past two games.
Martin Necas and Michael Bunting scored for the Hurricanes, who completed a six-game homestand with a 3-2-1 record. Goalie Antti Raanta stopped 14 shots in a game that Carolina seemed to dominate at times.
The Hurricanes, who went 0-for-4 on power plays, lost for just the third time in their past 11 games. After scoring five power-play goals on Friday night at Florida, the Wild were 0-for-2 on the man advantage on Sunday.
Kaprizov now has 18 goals on the season, completing his hat trick with an empty-net tally with 2:01 left in the game. Middleton then capped the scoring with an empty-netter of his own just over a minute later.
The Wild used a strong forecheck to set up Eriksson Ek's 19th marker of the season, which came with 10:28 remaining in the third period to make it 3-2 -- just 1:15 after Bunting had tied things at 2.
Necas, who was in his second game back after missing just over two weeks with an upper-body injury, contributed a point for the second straight game. His 11th goal of the season came at 14:02 of the first period to open the scoring.
Kaprizov tied the game with 2:17 left in the opening frame, tipping in the puck off Alex Goligoski's delivery. Kaprizov's second goal of the game came at 6:18 of the second.
The Hurricanes played without winger Andrei Svechnikov, who is dealing with an upper-body injury.
--Field Level Media REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/kirill-kaprizov-nets-hat-trick-as-wild-take-care-of-hurricanes
| 2024-01-22T03:41:42Z
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Brodie Retallick reveals what he told Peter O’Mahony after World Cup thriller
Former All Blacks lock Brodie Retallick has revealed what was said between him and Irish flanker Peter O’Mahony after last year’s thrilling World Cup quarter-final at Stade de France.
While New Zealand led their favoured opponents by 28-24 in October, Ireland had all the possession as the clock ticked beyond the 80-minute mark and into ‘final play’ territory.
Playmaker and captain Johnny Sexton steered the Irish around the park as they fought desperately for the go-ahead points, but time wasn’t on their side.
Veteran All Blacks lock Sam Whitelock secured a match-winning penalty at the breakdown which saw the New Zealanders march on and Ireland’s quarter-final curse continue.
With a full house watching on – including what felt like half of Dublin – emotions were riding high for both teams, and that carried on beyond the full-time whistle.
All Blacks centre Rieko Ioane apparently shared some words with Sexton, while lock Brodie Retallick reportedly told Peter O’Mahony: “Oi Peter, four more years you ****wit.”
Ireland had beaten the All Blacks in a series on New Zealand for the first time the year before, and the rivalry and passion that stemmed from those Tests lived on at the Parisian venue.
“I said what was reported,” Retallick said on the What a Lad podcast.
“When they beat us in Wellington in that series, he was just into us on the field, spraying us left, right, and centre.
“I enjoy it – when you’re having your day, you let them know it, but I’m definitely going to give it back when we’re having our day, and what better moment than that one right there, that’s for sure.”
The All Blacks were not expected to win that Test. For the first time in World Cup history, New Zealand were widely considered the underdogs ahead of that quarter-final.
But after shocking the rugby world with a win over Andy Farrell’s men, New Zealand dominated Argentina a week later in the semis – setting up a blockbuster in the World Cup final.
Defending champions South Africa waited for them in the final, and after a red card to All Blacks captain Sam Cane during the first half, the Springboks held on for a one-point win.
“When we played South Africa at Twickenham 10 weeks before that game, we had a similar scenario so we’d actually put in heaps of time (into training that),” Retallick explained.
“We went to Germany after that game and probably for a day and a half we’re just recreating a scenario – red cards, yellow cards, different players out, what we would do.
“So when it happened it wasn’t a shock because we were prepared for it.
“But I guess at the end of the day, (when) two of the best teams are going at it, there’s not much room, there’s not much opportunity and we just didn’t quite get the opportunities to get across the line and they were able to squeeze it.”
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https://www.rugbypass.com/news/brodie-retallick-reveals-what-he-told-peter-omahony-after-world-cup-thriller/
| 2024-01-22T04:03:54Z
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Megalodon (Otodus megalodon) just got a tentative makeover thanks to new research that has estimated its body form. The study leaned on "three critical pieces of information" that have become available in recent years, and it paints a very different picture of this enormous bloodthirsty fish.
The first piece in the tryptic puzzle was the temperature of the megalodon's blood, with researchers concluding that it was warm-blooded, just like the modern great white shark its body form has previously been modeled off. However, it wasn’t the only one to join the warm-blooded club.
Basking sharks that feed on plankton and are still alive today were also found to be warm-blooded, which was interesting because they’re slow, sluggish swimmers – a trait typically associated with cold-blooded animals. This told researchers that being warm-blooded didn’t necessarily make megalodon a fast swimmer.
The third piece of critical information was that megalodon was found to like be a slow-cruising shark based on an analysis of its scales. In short, two out of the three cast doubt on the great white’s body form being a suitable comparison for megalodon.
“The previously published reconstruction of the vertebral column of Megalodon based on an incomplete set of fossil vertebrae of the species from Belgium was measured to be 11.1 meters [36.4 feet] without accounting for the length of the head or tail,” study co-lead Kenshu Shimada, a palaeobiologist at DePaul University in Chicago, told IFLScience. Shimada co-led a huge team of well-known shark experts with Phillip Sternes, a doctoral candidate at the University of California at Riverside.
“However, the same megalodon individual was previously calculated to be just 9.2 meters [30.2 feet], including the head and the tail, based on the size ratio of the largest vertebral diameters between the modern great white shark individuals of known body lengths and the megalodon fossil," he continued.
“While the previous studies were stuck with the idea that megalodon ought to have looked like the modern great white shark, our new study highlights the discrepancy in size estimates and emphasizes the empirical fossil evidence – the fact that the megalodon individual could not have measured less than 11.1 meters where that measurement does not even account for the head and tail lengths. Therefore, our general conclusion is that megalodon must have had a slender body compared to the body proportion seen in the modern great white shark.”
Like modern sharks, megalodon’s skeleton would’ve been made up of cartilage. This doesn’t preserve well in the fossil record, which is why confidently concluding what they looked like is a tricky task. For now, at least, it seems we should be more open-minded about what this ancient apex predator might have looked like.
That is, until we find one crucial thing...
“Our study suggests that we need to think 'outside the box' when it comes to inferring the biology of Megalodon, where the modern great white shark may not necessarily serve as a good modern analog for assessing at least certain aspects of its biology,” concluded Kenshu. “The reality is that we need the discovery of one or more complete Megalodon skeletons to be confident of megalodon's body form.”
The study is published in the journal Palaeontologia Electronica.
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https://www.iflscience.com/mighty-megalodon-mightve-been-long-and-slender-rather-than-a-monstrous-potato-72540
| 2024-01-22T04:56:07Z
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Recently, North West, the 10-year-old daughter of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, shared a series of new photos on social media, giving fans a glimpse into her life.
On the TikTok page she shares with her mother Kim, 43, North posted a "photo dump" that included various snapshots of her with friends, showcasing different outfits from various events.
Among these photos were also a couple featuring her younger sister, Chicago, aged six. Notably, two of these images also included their famous Kardashian mother.
These selfies, taken outdoors under a white overhang that provided shade, captured a candid moment between Kim and Chicago.
Interestingly, in these shots, the Skims founder was without any makeup, and North chose not to apply any filters to the photos, allowing her mother's natural look, complete with wrinkles and imperfections, to be seen unaltered.
North playfully captioned one of the photos with Kim, "Such a good picture," accompanied by several crying-laughing emojis, seemingly mocking her mother in a light-hearted manner.
In addition to these, North’s video slideshow featured a screenshot of Kim on Facetime, where the Kardashians star was seen giving a huge pout and widening her eyes at the camera.
The image, highlighting Kim's large lips and tilt of her head towards her phone, appeared to be unedited, showcasing her natural appearance without any makeup.
Fans speculated that North might have leaked these images from Kim's phone. Discussions ensued on Reddit, with comments focusing on Kim's appearance, such as "That filler mustache going strong" and "The lips look painful."
This week, Kim faced criticism for allowing North to get diamond grills for her teeth, a fashion statement that sees North following in her father Kanye’s footsteps.
North showcased her new tooth bling in a TikTok video, which raised concerns among some fans. "Man, I'm worried about that kid," one person commented, while another expressed concern about the potential impact of these decisions in the future:
"I'm genuinely concerned for how much damage this child is going to do to herself and those around her over the next ten years."
Coinciding with this, Kanye and his dental team announced his acquisition of a full set of titanium dentures.
In North's video, she was seen wearing a tie-dye tee with a print from The Simpsons, but the focus was on her teeth, where two of her top teeth and six on the bottom were adorned with tiny diamonds.
This decision by Kim to allow North such extravagant dental work sparked debate online, with fans criticizing the move. In an online thread, fans bashed Kim for allowing her daughter to get 'whatever she wants,' highlighting concerns about the implications of such freedom in a child's life.
The leak of the unedited photo of Kim by North also left fans in shock, showcasing a different side of the Kardashian lifestyle, one that is less curated and more candid.
Get the lowdown on the biggest, hottest celebrity news, features and profiles coming out of the U.S. Sign up to our HELLO! Hollywood newsletter and get them delivered straight to your inbox.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/healthandbeauty/mother-and-baby/511769/kim-kardashians-daughter-north-west-10-sparks-debate-as-she-leaks-makeup-free-selfies-of-mom/
| 2024-01-22T05:09:17Z
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Kourtney Kardashian has recently given her fans a sneak peek into the major construction happening at her lavish $12 million Palm Springs mansion.
The 44-year-old shared a brief video on Saturday, showcasing a construction zone in the courtyard of her vacation home in La Quinta, California. "Hi construction zone," she captioned, revealing piles of dirt and debris outside her home's large panel windows.
Purchased in May 2021, this single-level property boasts six bedrooms and eight bathrooms, featuring a tranquil courtyard with a sitting area and fire pit.
The ongoing construction suggests that the Lemme founder and reality TV star is planning a significant makeover for this space.
The house also offers panoramic views of the Santa Rosa Mountains and overlooks the 16th tee of the Tom Fazio-designed golf course. It was initially listed for $13,995,000 in February 2021.
This renovation project comes just weeks after Kourtney and her husband, Travis Barker, 48, welcomed their son, Rocky Thirteen Barker.
The couple, who tied the knot in 2021, has been under scrutiny for their parenting choices, particularly after the birth of their newborn.
Critics have accused Kourtney and Travis of neglecting their other children, focusing solely on their new baby.
Kourtney is a mother to Mason, 14, Reign, 9, and Penelope, 11, with her ex Scott Disick, 40. Meanwhile, Travis shares Landon, 20, and Alabama, 18, with his ex-wife Shanna Moakler, 49.
The couple recently made a public appearance together at the Emmy Awards on January 15, where Kourtney posted a picture of them in matching outfits with the caption, "Rocky’s parents."
This post sparked backlash, with some fans questioning her attention to her other children. "Did she forget about her other kids?" one commenter asked. Others urged her to remember all her children, warning against singling out one child over the others.
Despite these criticisms, Kourtney and Travis frequently share glimpses of their life with Rocky on social media.
They recently gave fans a look inside his nursery on TikTok, and Kourtney shared a selfie from New Year's Eve wearing a necklace with Rocky's name.
The unique name of their son, Rocky Thirteen Barker, was explained by Travis during a conversation with his daughter Alabama for Complex's GOAT Talk video series in July.
He shared that the name Rocky was inspired by Rocky George of the band Suicidal Tendencies and the movie "Rocky," while the number 13 holds a special significance for him.
Kourtney and Travis, who reside with their family in Calabasas, were good friends for years before their relationship turned romantic in 2021.
Their marriage in 2022 and the birth of Rocky mark new chapters in their lives, blending their family with love and shared experiences.
Get the lowdown on the biggest, hottest celebrity news, features and profiles coming out of the U.S. Sign up to our HELLO! Hollywood newsletter and get them delivered straight to your inbox.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/homes/511770/kourtney-kardashian-reveals-major-update-at-12m-desert-home-just-months-after-giving-birth/
| 2024-01-22T05:09:23Z
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BEIJING – Forty-seven people were buried in a landslide in China’s south-western Yunnan province on Jan 22, state media reported.
The landslide took place at 5.51am in Zhenxiong County, state news agency Xinhua reported, citing local authorities.
State broadcaster CCTV said around 18 households were buried in the landslide, and that more than 200 people were “urgently evacuated” from the area.
Authorities have launched an emergency response involving over 200 rescue workers as well as dozens of fire engines and other equipment, according to CCTV.
Footage shared on social media by a local broadcaster showed emergency workers in orange jumpsuits and helmets picking through piles of collapsed masonry amid towering mountains dusted with snow.
Efforts to establish what happened are underway, state news agency Xinhua reported.
Landslides are common in Yunnan, a remote region of China where steep mountain ranges butt against the Himalayan plateau.
China has experienced a string of natural disasters in recent months, some following extreme weather events.
Over 20 people died when heavy rains triggered a landslide near the northern city of Xi’an in August 2023.
And in June that year, a landslide in southwestern Sichuan province killed 19 people. AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/47-buried-in-south-west-china-landslide
| 2024-01-22T05:12:38Z
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JAKARTA – A South Korea-born lawyer who is running for a seat in Indonesia’s national Parliament is attracting buzz on social media.
Mr Kim Chong-Sung, 58, who became an Indonesian citizen 10 years ago, even uses “K-pop” as his campaign slogan, but it carries a meaning beyond the common reference to South Korean popular music.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/k-pop-campaign-indonesia-s-first-election-candidate-from-s-korea-sets-social-media-abuzz
| 2024-01-22T05:12:48Z
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SINGAPORE - A prolonged slump in nickel prices is stress-testing producers worldwide, raising the prospect of sweeping mine closures that will deepen Indonesia’s dominance of global supply.
The metal used in stainless steel and electric-vehicle (EV) batteries is down more than 40 per cent from a year ago amid a growing global glut. That’s piling pressure on higher-cost operations and could pose the greatest risk to new projects outside Indonesia.
So far, the main casualties are in Australia. On Jan 22, billionaire Andrew Forrest’s nickel producer Wyloo Metals said it’s shutting down mines. BHP Group last week warned on prospects for its Nickel West operation, while First Quantum Minerals suspended a mine.
But production in Indonesia - which already accounts for half of global supply - may prove more resistant to output cuts. The South-east Asian nation has emerged as a global nickel hub after billions of dollars of investment in efficient plants that benefit from inexpensive labour, cheap power and readily available raw materials.
“Indonesian projects are more flexible in absorbing the impacts of lower nickel prices,” said Allan Ray Restauro, an analyst at BloombergNEF. That means overall global supply will keep rising despite output curbs elsewhere, he said.
Low prices
The flood of new supply from Indonesia in the past two years has overwhelmed demand at a time when metals markets are under pressure from a sputtering global economy. For nickel, softer demand growth from the EV sector is also a headwind, and prices have recently traded near US$16,000 a ton, close to their lowest level since 2021.
Mallee Resources’ Avebury mine in Tasmania, and a project by IGO Ltd. are also at risk, according to BloombergNEF. Calls to the two firms were not immediately answered.
BHP said last Thursday (Jan 18) it’s reviewing the Nickel West business, and may be forced to write down the value of the assets. First Quantum said it would suspend its Ravensthorpe nickel facility in Western Australia and cut a third of its workforce, while Forrest’s Wyloo is shutting mines near Kambalda. All blamed low prices.
Citigroup sees nickel falling to US$15,500 a ton in the next three months. The bank recently slashed its forecast for average prices this quarter to US$16,000 a ton, from US$18,000 a ton.
To be sure, Indonesia has its own uncertainties. A December accident that killed 21 people has triggered calls in the country for tighter regulation of the nickel industry ahead of a presidential election next month. One of the three candidates to become vice-president criticized how the incumbent government has managed the sector during a televised debate on Sunday.
Testing times
The announcements by BHP and First Quantum add to other signs of stress. Glencore said in September that it will only keep funding the struggling Koniambo Nickel mine until next month. Nickel plants in the French territory of New Caledonia are seen at risk of closure, the French government said last year.
“A lot of supply is still coming in from Indonesia, and we will need nickel prices to go lower to constrain supply growth in Indonesia,” said Nikhil Shah, principal analyst for base metals at CRU Group.
Nickel’s woes reflect the dynamics of other battery-materials markets, which have seen prices sink after surprisingly strong growth in supply. Demand for nickel and cobalt have suffered too as EV makers adopt types of batteries that don’t use either of them.
Despite the potential for further cuts in mine supply, the market will remain in surplus this year, given higher primary nickel output coming from Indonesia and China, said Jason Sappor, senior analyst at S&P Global Commodity Insights.
“We expect nickel prices to remain subdued this year,” Mr Sappor said. BLOOMBERG
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/nickel-price-crash-seen-strengthening-indonesia-s-grip-on-supply
| 2024-01-22T05:12:58Z
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SINGAPORE – The company co-founded by Do Kwon and under probe for a US$40 billion ($$53.6 billion) cryptocurrency crash has filed for protection against bankruptcy in the United States.
Singapore-registered Terraform Labs, which is behind stablecoin TerraUSD, said on Jan 22 that it made the application in a bankruptcy court in Delaware.
The firm said the move would “enable it to continue its operations and support for the Terra community and ecosystem”.
It added that the filing would let it execute its business plan while navigating ongoing legal proceedings, including representative litigation pending in Singapore and in the US, which involves the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Terraform Labs said it intended to meet all financial obligations to employees and vendors during the Chapter 11 case and did not require additional financing to do so. Reports said the firm had listed assets and liabilities in the range of US$100 million to US$500 million.
Mr Chris Amani, chief executive of Terraform Labs, said: “The Terra community and ecosystem have shown unprecedented resilience in the face of adversity, and this action is necessary to allow us to continue working towards our collective goals while resolving the legal challenges that remain outstanding.”
He added that the decision ensured it is able to continue working with the community on infrastructure, innovative tools and products, and other ecosystem support.
“We have overcome significant challenges before and, against long odds, the ecosystem survived and even grew in new ways post-depeg; we look forward to the successful resolution of the outstanding legal proceedings,” Mr Amani said.
The SEC has launched a civil trial against Terraform Labs and Kwon for allegedly orchestrating a US$40 billion cryptocurrency fraud via his algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD and sister token Luna.
A stablecoin is a digital token that usually has a valuation of US$1 and is pegged to or backed by fiat currency or other cryptocurrencies or commodities on a one-to-one basis.
In the case of TerraUSD, the stablecoin was backed by Luna, with both tied to the Terra blockchain.
TerraUSD used algorithms and trader incentives linked to Luna to maintain the dollar peg but both tokens crashed spectacularly in May 2022, wiping out more than US$40 billion of investors’ monies.
SEC alleges that from April 2018 until the scheme’s collapse in May 2022, Terraform Labs and Kwon raised billions of dollars from investors by offering and selling an interconnected suite of crypto asset securities, many in unregistered transactions.
The crash of TerraUSD and Luna triggered the fall of many crypto firms, including prominent ones such as hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, Singapore lender Hodlnaut, brokerage Voyager Digital and lender Celsius Network.
The collapse of TerraUSD and Luna eventually sparked a massive crypto winter or market sell-off that lasted much of 2023.
Kwon, a South Korean national, also faces related US criminal charges over fraud and market manipulation. He was arrested in Montenegro in March 2023. There is also an extradition request from his native South Korea.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/singapore-based-terraform-labs-files-for-bankruptcy-in-us-after-536-billion-crypto-crash
| 2024-01-22T05:13:09Z
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Today in Pictures, Jan 22, 2024
Fiery Saint Antoni festival in Spain, International Hot Air Balloon Festival in Switzerland, and other photos from around the world in Today in Pictures.
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A man rides his horse through the fire during the Matxa portion of it during Saint Antoni festival in Vilanova D'Alcolea, in Castellon, eastern Spain on Jan 20. Saint Antoni festival is held every year from 16 until 18 January.
PHOTO : EPA-EFE
Hot-air balloons take off during the 44th International Hot Air Balloon Festival in Chateau-d'Oex, Switzerland in January 20.
PHOTO : EPA-EFE
View of a gentoo (Pygoscelis papua) penguin with its breeding at the Paraiso island in the Gerlache Strait -which separates the Palmer Archipelago from the Antarctic Peninsula, on Jan 20.
PHOTO : AFP
A priest performs evening rituals on the banks of Sarayu River, in Ayodhya on Jan 21, on the eve of the consecration ceremony of a temple to Hindu deity Ram.
PHOTO : AFP
A Tokaido Shinkansen high-speed bullet train passes through the Shiodome district of Tokyo on January 21.
PHOTO : AFP
La Rochelle's South African wing Dillyn Leyds (rear) tackles Sale's English scrum-half Gus Warr (front) during the European Rugby Champions Cup Pool 4 rugby union match between Sale Sharks and Stade Rochelais (La Rochelle), at the Salford Community Stadium, west of Manchester in north-west England on Jan 21.
PHOTO : AFP
This handout photograph published on the official Telegram account of the governor of the Leningrad region Aleksandr Drozdenko on Jan 21, shows rescuers working to extinguish a fire at a natural gas terminal in the Russian Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga.
PHOTO AFP
Visitors walk amid colorful candy-land themed sculptures at the Great and Grand Sweet Destination, an ice-cream cafe and theme park in Pattaya on Jan 20.
PHOTO : AFP
A person looks at photos of people who were killed and kidnapped during the October 7 attack by Hamas gunmen from Gaza, at the site of the Nova festival, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Reim, southern Israel, Jan 21, 2024.
PHOTO : REUTERS
People visit an art installation at Winter Lights festival in Canary Wharf, London, Britain on Jan 21.
PHOTO : REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/multimedia/photos/today-in-pictures-jan-22-2024
| 2024-01-22T05:13:19Z
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SINGAPORE – More people suffered from hard-to-kick coughs in Singapore as respiratory viruses hit high gear in the last few months of 2023.
General practitioners The Straits Times spoke to said while it is common for people to have a cough at the end of the year, largely due to the colder and wetter weather, they saw upticks in the number of patients battling lingering coughs and returning to their clinics repeatedly.
Dr Dana Elliott Srither, a GP with more than 20 years of experience, said: “While we do not know what the specific viral causes are because we do not routinely test like how we did for Covid-19, we are certain it is a top symptom of the nasty mix of common cold, influenza, and even Covid-19.”
At Singapore’s 25 polyclinics, the number of cases of acute respiratory infections went up during the year-end.
According to the Ministry of Health (MOH) data for the week ending Dec 2, there was an average of 2,970 cases of acute respiratory infections seen a day at the polyclinics. This number went up to an average of 3,590 cases daily a week later.
Dr Sewa Duu Wen, who heads the Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine at the Singapore General Hospital, said the year-end damp weather can create favourable conditions for virus survival.
“(The) moisture in the air may enhance virus viability and airborne transmission, potentially contributing to the persistence of respiratory infections during the rainy season. There is also some evidence suggesting that lower body temperature may reduce host immunity and predispose one to risk of respiratory tract infections,” he said.
Dr Sewa added that it is possible to contract multiple respiratory viruses successively or even concurrently, as they share similar transmission routes.
“At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, we noticed a reduction in the rate of other common viral respiratory tract infections due to the highly transmissible Covid-19 strain ‘outperforming’ other virus infections. Now we are seeing the re-emergence of infections such as influenza. The overlapping symptoms and seasonal nature of these viruses contribute to the increased likelihood of back-to-back infections,” he said.
One such person who took months to shake off her cough is communications executive Leong Pei Yi, 36. Her cough started in August 2023 from a bout of flu and lingered despite other symptoms going away.
“It was a thick, phlegmy cough from deep within the lungs, and it lasted about three to four months. I had to use strength to cough and purge the phlegm from my chest every time. Yet the phlegm, which was dark yellow and sometimes green, persisted,” Ms Leong said.
She was given flu medication and decongestant Fluimucil to clear the viscous mucus, but she “got sicker and the mucus got darker and thicker”.
“After two courses of antibiotics, the coughing and congestion in the chest did not subside,” she added.
Her sleep was disrupted as she would wake up a few times in the middle of the night. She was overwhelmed by the coughing, often disturbing her parents, who are light sleepers, in the next room.
“I was extremely exhausted all the time and was convinced I was going to die. I found it difficult to function at work as I was constantly worried that the people around me were annoyed or concerned,” she said.
Ms Leong believed her health had been weakened by Covid-19, which she caught in July 2022.
“The Covid cough then was a dry and itchy. It was a hacking sort of cough that would start out of the blue. It also lasted for about four months,” Ms Leong said.
Like Ms Leong, entrepreneur Vikram Mengi, 54, has a long-drawn dry and itchy cough that “started about a week or so” after he recovered from Covid-19 infection in December.
“(It was because of) mucus that dripped and irritated the back of my throat. I could not say it affected my everyday life, except for when I cough and was being an irritant. I was a bit socially awkward then because, as you know, people seemed concerned when someone coughed,” he said.
Mr Mengi was prescribed Flumicil and nasal spray “that should do the job”.
But he is still coughing, saying: “It is a slow process.”
Dr Sewa said most respiratory infections are self-limiting and do not lead to prolonged or permanent lung damage. However, a severe lung infection can lead to critically low oxygen level and become a disseminated infection affecting multiple organs, posing a threat to one’s survival.
“The population at risk include those of extreme ages (very young and very old), patients with multiple health diseases or those with weakened immune systems. Timely medical intervention and appropriate treatment are crucial to prevent lasting lung damage,” he said.
Dr Sewa advised individuals above 65 to prioritise annual influenza vaccinations apart from just taking pneumococcal vaccinations, and to consider other relevant vaccines.
“Pneumococcal vaccinations primarily target bacterial infection from Streptococcus pneumoniae. They do not prevent all respiratory infections,” he said, referring to the bacteria that is the cause of about 70 per cent of pneumonia cases.
“Additionally, the elderly may face age-related decline in immune function... We must also emphasise the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, including regular exercise, balanced nutrition and adequate sleep, to support overall immune function,” he added.
As for Ms Leong, she turned to traditional Chinese medicine after suffering for months and “finally saw improvements over a week”.
“I continued taking the prescription for another week and was prescribed supplements to strengthen my lungs. Eventually, there was no more lingering cough,” she said.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/increase-in-hard-to-kick-coughs-due-to-year-end-rise-in-acute-respiratory-infections
| 2024-01-22T05:13:29Z
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SINGAPORE – Searching for a scholarship to support your higher education and future career?
The Straits Times Scholars’ Choice (www.scholarschoice.com.sg) is a one-stop website for polytechnic to university students. You can access useful resources and details of scholarship programmes offered by more than 40 organisations.
To help you find the right match, try the user-friendly Scholarships Comparison feature. It allows you to assess up to five scholarship listings at a glance, so you can make better decisions.
You can also gain valuable insights from in-depth interviews with current and former scholars from both the private and public sectors.
One of them is Mr Timothy Yap, who was awarded the Singapore Police Force Scholarship and the President’s Scholarship in 2013.
He went on to read law at the University of Oxford and pursue a master’s at Harvard Law School.
Today, the 30-year-old is the head of investigation at the Singapore Police Force’s Bedok Division, leading a branch of more than 150 officers.
Another inspiring read is Mr Joshua Wong’s journey, who was offered the Singapore Digital Scholarship by the Infocomm Media Development Authority in 2015.
He chose to attend the University of Cambridge, where he pursued a computer science degree specialising in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.
In 2020, Mr Wong co-founded generative AI platform Hypotenuse AI, which now has more than 500,000 users worldwide, including Fortune 500 companies.
The 29-year-old was on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list in 2023.
You can stand a chance to secure a scholarship like them too. Check out some of the best opportunities at www.scholarschoice.com.sg
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/parenting-education/snag-that-scholarship-to-support-your-higher-education-and-future-career
| 2024-01-22T05:13:40Z
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MELBOURNE - Highlights of the ninth day of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Monday, all times local (GMT +11):
1422 YASTREMSKA UPSETS AZARENKA
Dayana Yastremska sent twice champion Victoria Azarenka tumbling out of the Australian Open as the 23-year-old Ukrainian prevailed 7-6(6) 6-4 to book a spot in her first Melbourne Park quarter-final.
1408 NOSKOVA INTO QUARTERS AFTER SVITOLINA RETIRES
Czech teenager Linda Noskova reached her first Grand Slam quarter-final after former world number three Elina Svitolina retired due to an injury.
The Ukrainian was trailing 3-0 in the first set and had already taken a medical timeout when she was forced to quit due to what appeared to be an issue with her lower back.
READ MORE
Australian Open order of play on Monday
Cazaux and Noskova aim to resume giant-slaying runs in Melbourne
Easy does it as Djokovic leads top seeds into Melbourne quarter-final
De Minaur left devastated after believing he could progress in Open
Andreeva says previous wins over Krejcikova only added to pressure
Tsitsipas sees Australian Open exit as another chance to evolve
Sinner comes through Khachanov test to reach quarter-finals
Fritz stuns Tsitsipas to reach last eight in Melbourne
No 'triple bagel' but Djokovic thumps Mannarino to reach quarters
Clinical Sabalenka strides into Melbourne quarter-finals
Gauff stays perfect to reach first Melbourne quarter-final
1213 - FOURTH ROUND ACTION UNDERWAY ON DAY NINE
Fourth round action got underway as scheduled at Melbourne Park when twice champion Victoria Azarenka took to Rod Laver Arena to play Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska.
There were blustery conditions at Melbourne Park with the temperature a cool 19 degrees Celsius (66 fahrenheit). REUTERS
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| 2024-01-22T05:13:50Z
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MELBOURNE - Qualifier Dayana Yastremska continued her fairytale run into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Monday with a 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 upset of twice former champion and 18th seed Victoria Azarenka.
The Ukrainian world No. 93, who stunned Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in the first round, had to fight hard but was rewarded for her aggression with 38 winners to forge on into a half of the draw devoid of top 10 seeds.
"I feel like my heart is going to jump out of my body," the 23-year-old said after the biggest win of her career.
"I was losing the tiebreak, I was losing the second set, I was always felt like I was running behind the train. But I think I'm a little bit of a fighter so that's why I won this match."
In a punishing baseline battle with virtually no net play, Yastremska got the first of the six breaks of serve in the opening set only for Azarenka to rattle off the next four games to edge in front.
Azarenka, back-to-back champion in 2012-2013 and a Melbourne semi-finalist last year, served for the set but Yastremska kept up the pressure through five deuces and finally converted her fourth break point to force a tiebreak.
The tiebreak was just as tight but the Ukrainian sealed it with her 21st winner, a blistering forehand that was just too fast and too deep for 34-year-old Azarenka.
Both players took lengthy bathroom breaks after the first set and Belarusian Azarenka came out firing, racing to a 3-0 lead almost before Yastremska had time to catch her breath.
The Ukrainian stalled Azarenka's progress and then went back on the attack, finding her rasping winners again to win five straight games.
She held her nerve serving for the match two games later, lashing across one more big backhand to set up a meeting with Czech world number 50 Linda Noskova in her first Grand Slam quarter-final. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/tennis/ukrainian-qualifier-yastremska-reaches-quarter-finals-on-fairytale-run
| 2024-01-22T05:14:01Z
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Most Disappointing Game of 2023 - Article
by Craig S , posted 1 hour ago / 261 ViewsWho doesn't love a good dose of schadenfreude every now and then? There was no shortage of that on offer in terms of video games last year, hidden in plain sight amongst the more genuine disappointments (I'll leave it for you to decide which category each of the following games falls into).
One unfortunate trend when it comes to the biggest disappointments of the last year was that so many were new IPs, including Bethesda's latest major release Starfield, the Arkane Studio B-team's abortive attempt at a co-op vampire shooter, and Square Enix's action RPG Forspoken. Mega-franchise Call of Duty and the perennially delayed The Lord of the Rings: Gollum round out the list of Nominees.
The Shortlist:
Redfall
Forspoken
Starfield
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
The 'Runner Up':
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum
It probably doesn't augur well if you're one of the first 9th generation games to be announced but don't launch until four years later. Take a widely and wildly popular IP, add in a developer most well-known for developing point-and-click adventure titles attempting an entirely different genre, delay the game not once but several times, and you have a recipe for one of the worst and most disappointing games of the year
The 'Winner':
Starfield
There's a certain irony in Bethesda releasing one of its least buggy games - and an ambitious and highly anticipated new IP at that - and it nonetheless proving a disappointment to many. Much like Cyberpunk 2077 winning this same award back in 2020, Starfield isn't a bad game and it's certainly nowhere near the worst game of the year, but the gulf between expectations and reality was so wide that it resulted in a community backlash. Another parallel would be a game that it's often closely compared to: No Man's Sky. It was eviscerated at launch but a lot of hard work and frequent updates from Hello Games have salvaged its reputation.
These three titles are cautionary tales of how hype built up by developer promises, when mixed in with fan expectation that goes unchecked, almost inevitably results in disappointment. And yet those two other examples do show that there's a path for redemption for Starfield, if Bethesda is willing to commit to constantly improving it.
More Articles
I mean... even within the context of being "disappointing," Starfield's top spot feels too absurd. Even if the early trailers weren't super promising, I at least figured Redfall would properly function at launch. Being such an obvious stain on Arkane's legacy hits with more oomph than any other options imo.
We got exactly to what Todd sold us on
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https://www.vgchartz.com/article/459461/most-disappointing-game-of-2023/
| 2024-01-22T06:41:20Z
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Passengers travelling with Asiana Airlines on international flights will be weighed when they depart Gimpo International Airport in Seoul over the next 10 days.
The second-largest carrier in South Korea said it will regularly measure the weight of passengers, including carry-on baggage, to calculate the average weight from Jan 22 to 31.
The data will be collected anonymously and will not be used for any other purpose other than to calculate the average passenger weight, said the airline.
Passengers will be requested to stand on a weighing scale in their full attire and with their carry-on bags, but they can decline to participate in this exercise.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the standard weight is used to distribute the aircraft’s weight and enhance operational safety.
The data will provide airlines with information on how much additional fuel planes should carry, the agency added.
The airline also conducted a similar exercise between Dec 12, 2023, and Dec 21, 2023.
Prior to that, Korean Air and Air New Zealand have also weighed passengers in 2023.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/some-asiana-airlines-passengers-to-be-weighed-before-international-flights
| 2024-01-22T06:45:00Z
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AYODHYA, India - Thousands of Indians danced in the streets, wearing saffron garments and waving saffron flags as they chanted religious slogans ahead of the Jan 22 opening of a grand temple to the Hindu god Lord Ram on a site they believe to be his birthplace.
The ceremony in the northern city of Ayodhya is being projected as a historic event for the Hindu majority of the world's most populous nation, as Prime Minister Narenda Modi's party bids for a rare third term in elections due by May.
"The construction of the Ram Temple is an instrument to unite the country," Mr Modi said in a message published on newspaper front pages ahead of a spectacle that will be watched by millions of Indians at home and abroad.
The temple delivers on a key 35-year-old promise by Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
It has been a contentious political issue that helped catapult the party to prominence and power.
Its site was bitterly contested for decades, with both Hindus and Muslims claiming it in a dispute.
In 1992, a Hindu mob destroyed a 16th century mosque that stood at the site, sparking nationwide riots that killed 2,000 people, mostly Muslims.
India's 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 to build the Babri Masjid, or mosque, in 1528.
In 2019, the Supreme Court handed over the land to Hindus and ordered allotment of a separate plot to Muslims where construction of a new mosque is yet to begin.
The main event on Jan 22 is set to start at 12.20pm local time and run for about 40 minutes, when a blindfold on a 130cm tall, black stone deity will be removed amid rituals finishing consecration ceremonies begun more than a week ago.
Nearly 8,000 people are expected to attend the invitation-only ceremony, from top business leaders to movie stars and sportspersons.
More than 10,000 police personnel have fanned out across the city of 3 million people to provide security and keep out gatecrashers.
The temple opens to the public on Jan 23 and its management expects at least 100,000 visitors a day for the first few months.
The consecration has ignited religious fervour across India with many states declaring a holiday on Jan 22, stock markets shut and homes and businesses illuminated after Mr Modi called for it to be marked as another Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.
"Just in sheer magnitude ... this event has almost no precedent in history. It is a watershed moment," commentator Pratap Bhanu Mehta wrote in the Indian Express newspaper. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/india-counts-down-to-opening-of-grand-ram-temple-in-ayodhya
| 2024-01-22T06:45:11Z
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MANILA - The Philippines condemns the latest "provocative action" by Chinese coastguard against Filipino fishermen, the spokesperson of the National Security Council said on Monday.
Jonathan Malaya in a television interview was referring to a report by the Philippine coastguard at the weekend about a Jan 12 incident where it said Chinese coastguard instructed fishermen to return sea shells collected near the disputed Scarborough Shoal, then drove them away. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/philippines-condemns-provocative-action-by-chinese-coastguard-against-filipino-fishermen
| 2024-01-22T06:45:22Z
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MUMBAI - Sony Group has officially notified Zee Entertainment Enterprises it plans to call off the merger between its India unit and the media network, ending a two-year acquisition saga and leaving Zee vulnerable to competition as rivals bulk up.
The Japanese entertainment giant sent a termination letter to Zee early on Jan 22 and is expected to disclose it to the exchange later, said people familiar with the plan.
Sony cited conditions of the merger agreement not being met as the reason for the termination, according to the letter seen by Bloomberg.
A Sony spokeswoman declined to comment. A representative for Zee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The move follows a stalemate between the companies over whether Zee’s chief executive officer Punit Goenka would lead the merged entity amid an investigation into his conduct by India’s capital markets regulator. The standoff now appears to have scuttled the deal, which would have created a US$10 billion (S$13.4 billion) media giant with the financial muscle to take on global powerhouses Netflix and Amazon.com.
Bloomberg News reported on Jan 8 that Sony was planning to call off the merger as the two sides failed to resolve the leadership dispute. Zee said later that they were still in talks to complete the merger.
If Mr Goenka is ousted from Zee, which has seen deteriorating financial health, Sony can potentially reconsider another merger proposal, according to one of the people. Zee’s profit for the year ended March 31 dropped 95 per cent to 478 million rupees (S$7.7 million) compared with the previous period.
The termination letter from Sony came after a 30-day grace period ended over the weekend when the two sides couldn’t reach an agreement on a deadline set in late December.
The last-lap tussle over leadership was the single biggest hurdle for the deal - Zee was insisting that Mr Goenka would lead the new entity as agreed in the 2021 pact, while Sony was wary of his appointment given the regulatory probe against him.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) alleged in June that the Mumbai-based media house faked the recovery of loans to cover private financing deals by its founder, Subhash Chandra. Mr Chandra and his son, Goenka, “abused their position” and siphoned off funds, Sebi said in an interim order, barring Mr Goenka from executive or director appointments in listed companies.
While Mr Goenka got a reprieve from an appellate authority against the Sebi order, Sony viewed the ongoing probe as a corporate governance issue, Bloomberg reported earlier.
The collapsed deal, which had received almost all regulatory approvals, would have created an entertainment behemoth in which Sony was supposed to own a 50.86 per cent stake, with Mr Goenka’s family owning 3.99 per cent.
Sony, which will now have to redraw its media plans for the world’s most-populous country, was expected to benefit from Zee’s deep library of content in regional Indian languages and its bouquet of dozens of local television channels.
Zee not only faces financial vulnerability and investor angst, it’s also going to compete against stronger rivals as Reliance Industries and Walt Disney plow on in their talks to merge their India media operations. BLOOMBERG
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/sony-sends-termination-letter-to-zee-over-india-merger
| 2024-01-22T06:45:32Z
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LOS ANGELES – The Plastics rule North Shore High once again in the remake of the 2004 Mean Girls, which won most popular at the North American box office for the second weekend in a row, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported on Jan 21.
The tale of high school survival starring Angourie Rice, Renee Rapp, Auli’i Cravalho, Avantika and Bebe Wood topped the box office with an estimated weekend take of US$11.7 million (S$15.7 million).
New girl Cady Heron (Rice) is invited to joins the Plastics, an A-list girl clique ruled by mean Regina George (Rapp) and her minions Gretchen (Wood) and Karen (Avantika). But everything changes when Cady decides to take down the queen bee once and for all.
Tina Fey, the writer behind the reboot and the original film, plays math teacher Ms Norbury, in a cameo-studded film featuring drop-ins by the 2004 lead Lindsay Lohan, as well as Ashley Park who played Gretchen Wieners in the Broadway musical in 2017.
Mean Girls opens in Singapore on Feb 22.
With no major new releases to shake things up in the Jan 19 through Jan 21 period, the order of the top five films remained unchanged from the prior weekend. Hollywood is hoping for a boost before the Oscar nomination announcement on Jan 23.
In second place was The Beekeeper at US$8.5 million. Jason Statham stars as a former commando seeking vengeance against a criminal group whose cruel scams lead to the suicide of an elderly woman, a friend of his, played by Phylicia Rashad.
Hanging tight in third in its sixth week out was Wonka at US$6.4 million. The fantasy musical, starring Timothee Chalamet as the eccentric chocolate maker, has taken in US$344 million internationally.
Rom-com Anyone But You placed fourth at US$5.4 million. A sleeper hit, the film has just passed the US$100 million mark globally, making it the highest-grossing R-rated comedy since Bridget Jones’s Baby in 2016, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell play two people who meet and instantly connect before being tripped up by a series of crossed signals.
And in fifth was Migration, a family-friendly animation about a goofy family of mallard ducks flying from New England to Jamaica, at US$5.3 million. AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/teen-comedy-mean-girls-fetches-top-spot-at-us-box-office
| 2024-01-22T06:45:43Z
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SINGAPORE – I cannot make out what he is saying. The wind is roaring and I am fighting to stabilise my legs.
But the instructor signals with his index finger, and I remember the code.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/travel/family-cruising-on-royal-caribbean
| 2024-01-22T06:45:53Z
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SINGAPORE – Never have I ever been given “homework” while on holiday.
A recent trip to Morocco with my best friend left us feeling harassed after fending off pushy demands from hotel staff and tour operators to write reviews.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/travel/reviewing-the-reviews-for-savvy-travel
| 2024-01-22T06:46:03Z
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SINGAPORE – A driver and his two passengers are on the run after their car crashed into another vehicle along Farrer Road on Jan 21.
Photos of the aftermath of the accident posted on Facebook show a grey Honda car with a crumpled bonnet against a kerb, with its licence plate on the ground.
In one of the photos, a machete can be seen in the driver’s footwell.
When contacted, police said that they were alerted to a case of hit-and-run involving two cars along Farrer Road towards Adam Road at about 10.25pm.
A 61-year-old male car driver was taken conscious to hospital.
The police added that the other car driver and his two passengers had left the scene, and efforts to trace them were under way.
Police investigations are ongoing.
The Straits Times has contacted the Singapore Civil Defence Force for comment.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/3-at-large-after-hit-and-run-accident-along-farrer-road-machete-found-in-car
| 2024-01-22T06:46:14Z
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SINGAPORE – A former Woodlands Health (WH) nurse, who was deployed at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital (NTFGH) when he allegedly accessed patients’ bank card details, was handed 22 charges including cheating on Jan 22.
Muhammad Ilyas Mohamed Noor, 23, is also accused of other offences including unauthorised modification of computer material.
The Singaporean, who was then working for the healthcare group, is said to have committed most of the offences while working at the hospital in Jurong East Street 21 in late 2022.
The victims’ losses totalled more than $12,000, the police said.
Responding to queries from The Straits Times, a WH spokesperson said: “We are aware of a case involving a former (WH) nurse who allegedly made unauthorised transactions using patients’ credit card details while working at (NTFGH).
“We are unable to comment further as the matter is now before the court.”
In a statement on Jan 21, the police said a male patient had spotted an unknown man rummaging through his personal items.
The police did not disclose when this alleged incident took place, but the patient could not check his belongings at the time as he had just woken up and was feeling drowsy.
Later, the patient discovered that his bank card details had been used to perform multiple unauthorised transactions. He alerted the police on Sept 17, 2022.
Officers from Jurong Police Division subsequently arrested Ilyas after an investigation.
The police said in their statement: “Investigations revealed that the man... had accessed the bank card details of patients under his care, such as accessing victims’ phones for their banking credentials and committing a myriad of offences by using the information obtained.
“Further investigations revealed that the man is also allegedly involved in other similar cases involving victims who were patients of the hospital, with losses amounting to more than $12,000.”
Ilyas is expected to plead guilty on March 4.
Offenders convicted of cheating can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined.
Those convicted of unauthorised modification of computer material can be jailed for up to three years and fined up to $10,000 for each charge.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/ex-woodlands-health-nurse-who-allegedly-accessed-patients-bank-card-details-given-22-charges
| 2024-01-22T06:46:24Z
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SINGAPORE – The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) foiled an attempt to smuggle 13,000 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes into Singapore through Tuas Checkpoint, the largest such haul for 2023.
ICA revealed in a Facebook post on Jan 22 that the cartons of contraband were hidden with cellophane tape in a Malaysia-registered lorry.
These were uncovered by officers on Dec 21, 2023, after the lorry was directed for enhanced checks.
The case has been referred to the Singapore Customs for further investigation, ICA said.
At the start of 2023, on Jan 18, the authority had seized 12,708 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes at Tuas Checkpoint, the largest haul for the year at the time.
In November the same year, ICA thwarted three attempts in one day to smuggle duty-unpaid cigarettes into Singapore through Woodlands Checkpoint.
Buying, selling, conveying, delivering, storing, keeping, possessing or dealing with duty-unpaid goods are serious offences under the Customs Act and Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act.
Offenders can be fined up to 40 times the amount of duty and GST evaded, jailed for up to six years, or both.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/ica-seizes-13000-cartons-of-contraband-cigarettes-largest-haul-for-2023
| 2024-01-22T06:46:35Z
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SINGAPORE – The two-man SAF medical team deployed to Egypt have started treating civilian casualties from Gaza, the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) said in a media statement on Jan 22.
The pair - Lieutenant-Colonel (Dr) Nazirul Hannan Abdul Aziz, a specialist in emergency medicine, and Military Expert 3 Jimmy Woo Ying Ming, who specialises as an operating theatre scrub nurse and in perioperative nursing - arrived on Jan 18.
They have been providing medical aid at Egypt’s El Arish port on board the French Armed Forces’ FS Dixmude, a landing helicopter dock with modern hospital facilities, which has been treating casualties from Gaza, said Mindef.
Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen wrote in a Facebook post on Jan 22 that LTC Nazirul and ME3 Woo started work immediately after arriving in Egypt.
LTC Nazirul, though Mindef’s statement, said that he and ME3 Woo have been working closely with the French medical team to provide the necessary medical care, including initial stabilisation and wound management.
“We are thankful for the opportunity to be part of the larger effort in supporting the humanitarian assistance for Gaza,” he said.
Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, more than 25,000 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-controlled health ministry in the territory on Jan 21.
In November 2023, a Republic of Singapore Air Force plane with 46 SAF personnel – including pilots, aircrew, engineers and army security personnel – carried supplies like medicine, sanitation items and food for civilians in Gaza to Egypt.
The supplies were provided to the Egyptian Red Crescent, which distributed them to civilians in Gaza.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/saf-medical-team-treats-civilians-from-gaza-in-egypt
| 2024-01-22T06:46:45Z
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New Zealand's Lydia Ko is a winner once again, opening the 2024 LPGA season by claiming the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions title on Sunday in Orlando, Fla.
Ko was a 36-hole co-leader and finished the third round with a two-stroke lead. Her 2-under-par 70 in Sunday's final round was enough to finish at 14-under 274 for the week at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club.
Alexa Pano (70) started and finished the day two shots behind Ko and placed second at 12 under. Canada's Brooke Henderson, the defending champion, placed third at 10 under after a 68.
The event was exclusive to players who have won on the LPGA Tour in the past two seasons. Ko was in the field on the strength of three victories in 2022, but she did not win an official event stateside in 2023.
Now the 26-year-old has her 20th career LPGA title. She is the seventh to reach the mark before turning 27.
"I think the finish that I had last year, not only winning Grant Thornton (a mixed-team exhibition) but I played really well in Korea and in Malaysia," said Ko, who takes up residence in Orlando. "Maybe if I had found the keys that I found then a little earlier, maybe I could have had a better season.
"I think if you keep going down a spiral of thinking like ‘What if,' it's endless. I worked hard in the two weeks leading up to this event. To win at home has been nice."
Ko's lead was not seriously threatened after she birdied Nos. 6, 9 and 10 to move to 15 under before her first bogey at the par-5 11th. Pano struggled out of the gate, with two bogeys and two birdies over her first 15 holes.
By the time Pano birdied Nos. 16 and 17, it was too little, too late. Ko birdied No. 15 before a closing bogey.
Henderson had her best round of the week, with all four of her birdies coming in a five-hole stretch at Nos. 7-11 while she stayed bogey-free.
"The game plan was to try and climb the leaderboard as much as possible, stick to the game plan," Henderson said. "To shoot minus-4 in these conditions, I'm really happy with. It was very cold and very windy."
Cheyenne Knight (69), Ally Ewing (72) and Japan's Ayaka Furue (71) tied for fourth at 8 under. Rose Zhang started her first full season on tour with a T7 finish with England's Charley Hull, as both players shot 71 and finished 7 under.
--Field Level Media REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/golf/lydia-ko-back-in-winners-circle-at-tournament-of-champions
| 2024-01-22T06:46:55Z
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The lack of curiosity killed a cat in Russia recently, when train staff threw it out of the locomotive into a snowy environment without thinking that it could have belonged to a passenger on board.
The feline’s death sparked outrage on Russian social media, with users accusing different parties for its tragic fate.
Many blamed the conductor who found the cat wandering in the train, while others accused the cat’s owners, presumably for being irresponsible. Yet others pointed the finger at the train company, Russian Railways (RZhD), for how it handles animals.
The incident occurred on Jan 11. The cat named Twix was travelling with its owner’s stepfather from the Russian city of Yekaterinburg to St Petersburg.
Less than halfway through the journey, Twix escaped from its travel crate, the BBC reported. Some passengers said they spotted it walking through a carriage.
Twix eventually encountered a female conductor. Thinking Twix was a stray, the conductor threw the ginger-and-white cat into the snow during a stop at the Russian city of Kirov, about 800km north-east of Moscow.
There are conflicting reports about what transpired next, according to news website Russia Today.
The family of the deceased cat said the stepfather reached out to conductors immediately after the train left Kirov. Other media reports said he noticed the cat’s disappearance only hours later.
There were also differing accounts about what had happened to Twix.
The conductor insisted the cat had simply run off. However, CCTV footage from railway station cameras showed a person throwing the feline off the train.
That footage circulated widely on social media, Russia Today reported, after which hundreds of volunteers began a search for Twix in areas around Kirov’s railway station.
More than a week after its disappearance, Twix’s body was found on Jan 20 and identified by its owners.
Some reports said Twix died from an animal bite and frostbite.
According to the BBC, many areas of Russia were hit by a cold spell at the time. Kirov, for example, had recorded temperatures as low as minus 30 deg C.
One of Twix’s owners told state media he planned to take legal action.
An online petition has garnered at least 200,000 signatures demanding the sacking of the female conductor, who has not been identified.
Another petition, which has received more than 64,000 signatures, is calling for criminal proceedings to be launched against her.
However, the local police have so far refused to do so, Russia Today reported. The authorities said no criminal offence has actually been committed.
Meanwhile, Russian Railways has apologised for the incident. It pledged to review its rules on transporting animals.
“Conductors will be prohibited from kicking animals from the train: In such situations, provisions will be made to hand over the animal to workers at stopping points, followed by calling representatives of animal protection organisations,” the company said in a statement.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/russian-netizens-bay-for-blood-after-train-staff-throws-cat-out-into-freezing-cold
| 2024-01-22T06:47:07Z
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Ever wondered what it looks like inside an opera singer? No, us neither. But it turns out, it's pretty interesting and very weird.
Scientists at Freiburg Institute for Musician's Medicine thought it would be a good idea to stick Michael Volle, a German baritone singer, in front of an MRI scanner and watch him sing an aria from Richard Wagner's 1845 opera "Tannhäuser".
Once you get over the initial weirdness, you’re able to see all the subtle – and not so subtle – movements from the vocal chords, mouth, tongue, and windpipes that go towards creating a booming operatic singing voice.
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https://www.iflscience.com/what-opera-singer-looks-inside-35509
| 2024-01-22T08:03:20Z
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ATHENS, Greece – With a deluge of foreign visitors fuelling seemingly non-stop development on the once pristine Greek islands, local residents and officials are beginning to fight back, moving to curb a wave of construction that has started to cause water shortages and is altering cultural identity.
Tourism is crucial in Greece, accounting for one-fifth of the country’s economic output, and communities on many islands depend on it.
But critics say the development has spiralled out of control in some areas, particularly on islands such as Mykonos and Paros, where large-scale hotel complexes have mushroomed in recent years.
Teachers and other professionals in those and other Cycladic islands, a popular cluster in the Aegean Sea, have struggled to find affordable housing amid an influx of visitors and home buyers, fuelling growing protests by locals over the repercussions of rampant tourism.
The islands, at the forefront of Greece’s tourism boom, are facing increasingly urgent calls to preserve their natural and cultural heritage.
The number of foreign arrivals to Greece broke another record in 2023, with 30.9 million in the first 10 months of the year, according to the Bank of Greece. It is an increase of 17 per cent over the previous year, surpassing pre-pandemic tourism levels.
To meet demand, 461 new hotels opened on Greece’s southern Aegean islands from 2020 to 2023, according to data from the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels compiled by the Athens-based Research Institute for Tourism.
Of those, 126 were opened in 2023, according to the institute.
The proliferation of swimming pools has put a serious strain on water supply on Cycladic islands such as Sifnos and Tinos, and the aggressive expansion of seaside bars over pristine beaches on many islands has generated backlash from locals.
Conservationists and architects are also leading a push to preserve the character of the Cyclades, which they say is at risk of being obliterated amid a real estate-driven homogenisation of vacation destinations.
The Athens-based Museum of Cycladic Art, which showcases the unique marble figurines that were produced on those islands in antiquity and influenced the course of Western art, is working with local authorities and associations to the same end.
Greece’s tourism minister Olga Kefalogianni pledged recently that untrammelled growth would no longer go unchecked.
“We have a clear vision and goal for the sustainability of destinations and of our tourism product,” she said in December at a conference in Athens.
She added that there will be a greater emphasis on protecting the natural environment and cultural identity of individual destinations, with legislation being drafted to support that effort.
Those pressing for change are not convinced.
Mr Ioannis Spilanis, head of the Aegean Sustainable Tourism Observatory and a former general secretary for island policy at Greece’s shipping ministry, said: “It’s very easy to talk about sustainable development, but all they actually do is approve new investments.”
A native of Serifos, Mr Spilanis was one of several experts who addressed a November conference on Mykonos about how tourism has radically changed the Cyclades.
The event was organised by local authorities who appealed to a top Greek court over a project for a five-star hotel complex and a marina for superyachts. The court allowed the development, but curtailed the marina’s size.
Mr Nikos Chrysogelos, a former member of the European Parliament with the Ecologist Greens party, who has launched a Cyclades-wide sustainability initiative, said developers were overlooking the singular features of the Cyclades and treating them like city suburbs.
“You used to see farm buildings, dry stone walls. There was a harmony to the landscape,” said the Sifnos native. “Now, you see roads, hotel complexes, high walls. It could be Dubai or Athens.”
Mr Nikos Belios, a secondary school principal and the head of the local farmers’ and beekeepers’ cooperative, said Sifnos had experienced an influx of investors “from all over the planet, building colossal structures, like fortresses, with huge walls” to cater to wealthy tourists.
“They arrive, they load up their Cayennes, Jeeps or Hummers, and they lock themselves away,” he said of the tourists. “They have no interest in Sifnos – it’s a dot on the map for them.”
In 2023, Ms Maria Nadali, mayor of Sifnos, urged the Greek government to put the brakes on tourist development. This included banning the construction of further private swimming pools and “cave houses” built into mountain slopes, a trend that she said was altering the island’s morphology and unique architectural physiognomy.
The Museum of Cycladic Art has also become involved, trying to help islanders protect the islands’ natural environment and heritage.
It is holding programmes on eight islands, with topics including preserving the ancient marble quarries of Paros – the source of many Cycladic antiquities – and documenting and promoting traditional water management practices on Andros.
“We’re trying to help them protect their heritage,” said the museum’s chief executive and president Kassandra Marinopoulou, citing key threats such as increased tourism, the abandonment of local traditions and the effects of climate change.
The initiative also aims to support cultural tourism on the islands, with digital walking tours and the promotion of local gastronomy, said Ms Marinopoulou, whose family is from Andros.
“We don’t want the Cycladic food to disappear because the younger generations sell the family taverna and it becomes a sushi bar,” she said.
“What visitors want is authenticity. They don’t want to see something they’ve seen in Ibiza – that’s not authentic.”
Amid the glut of five-star hotels, some businesses are seeking to promote “slow travel” as an alternative model that supports local communities rather than sidelining them.
One of those, travel start-up Boundless Life, exposes foreign visitors to local culture with pottery workshops, textile factory visits and Greek lessons.
“When choosing new Boundless locations, we’re very keen on identifying cultural gems and protecting them,” said Ms Elodie Ferchaud, a founder of the start-up, which has brought scores of foreign families to Syros for three-month stays.
But many natives of the Cycladic islands say that a full overhaul of Greece’s tourism model is needed.
“We need to find a way to survive,” Mr Spilanis said. “Destroying the very assets you’re sitting on is not the way.” NYTIMES
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/travel/in-greece-locals-push-back-as-wave-of-construction-alters-their-islands
| 2024-01-22T08:17:08Z
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MELBOURNE - Australia opener Usman Khawaja will return to training on Tuesday after being cleared to play the second test against West Indies in Brisbane this week.
The 37-year-old batsman retired hurt last 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 has been cleared to play the second test match against the West Indies in Brisbane," the team said in a statement on Monday.
"Khawaja was assessed again today and has no symptoms of delayed concussion. He will train at the Gabba tomorrow."
Australia faced the prospect of searching for a new opener for the second time in the series if Khawaja had been unfit to play in the day-night test, which begins at the Gabba 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. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/australias-khawaja-cleared-to-play-second-west-indies-test
| 2024-01-22T08:17:29Z
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PARIS – The racist abuse suffered by AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan at Udinese and Coventry City midfielder Kasey Palmer in an English second tier match at Sheffield Wednesday were just the latest examples of the ugliness plaguing football.
Fifa chief Gianni Infantino described the incidents as “totally abhorrent” and demanded the implementation of an automatic forfeit of games for teams whose fans commit racist abuse.
AFP Sport looks at the issues in Europe’s top five leagues:
Italy
Racism in Italian stadiums is nothing new, but several incidents have recently been highly publicised, due to the personalities or reactions of the players targeted.
Marc-Andre Zoro of Ivory Coast was one of the first to take a stand in 2005 when he picked up the ball and prepared to leave the pitch. At the time, his Messina teammates convinced him to return to the game.
Stars like Samuel Eto’o, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Mario Balotelli and most recently Romelu Lukaku have been victims of racism from supporters.
The incident on Jan 20 was depressingly familiar for French international Maignan – in 2021, he was targeted by Juventus supporters.
“I am neither the first nor the last to whom this will happen. As long as these events are treated as ‘isolated incidents’,” Maignan said.
Spain
Real Madrid’s Brazilian attacker Vinicius Jr has been the target of recurring racism.
After he was hung in effigy from a bridge in the Spanish capital by Atletico Madrid fans in 2023, four people being charged with a hate crime.
In June, Infantino met with Vinicius to defend the player and sent out a message to referees to tackle the issue all the way up to national level.
Barcelona’s Eto’o endured a barrage of vitriol from Real Zaragoza fans in 2005, being subject to monkey chants and having peanuts thrown at him.
Eto’o danced in front of his tormentors after scoring in a 4-1 win.
“I danced like a monkey because they treated me like a monkey,” said the former Cameroon star. Zaragoza were fined just 9,000 euros.
In 2014, after a banana was thrown at him, Brazil’s Dani Alves, picked it up and ate it slowly before taking a corner.
England
England internationals Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, three black players, were all targeted after missing their penalties in the Euro 2020 final against Italy.
In October 2023, the English football authorities launched another campaign against racism.
They vowed to “continue to put pressure on social media companies to do more to eliminate hate from their platforms.”
However, Coventry’s Palmer was doubtful of any lasting improvement.
“Racism is a disgrace... it has no place in the world, let alone football,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“I’m black and proud and I am raising my three kids to be the exact same. I’ll be honest, it feels like things will never change, no matter how hard we try.”
France
Ligue 1 has recently suffered several episodes of violence between football hooligans, but racist behaviour appears rarer than in Spain or Italy.
A recent incident, however, caused great debate. Two Lyon supporters are being prosecuted for making Nazi salutes and shouting racist abuse at Marseille in October 2023.
A few days earlier, in the third division, a Nancy supporter made monkey chants during a match against Red Star. The club identified the individual and handed him a five-year stadium ban.
Germany
Germany has cleaned up its stadiums, at least in the Bundesliga, but racism is expressed on social media.
In 2023, Bayern published statements of support for French players Dayot Upamecano and Mathys Tel, victims of online attacks after poor performances.
The last serious incident in the stands dates back to 2021, and also demonstrates the sensitivity of the Germans on the issue.
A third-division match was called off after half an hour following monkey chants from a spectator. Both clubs, Duisburg and Osnabruck, backed the decision. AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/racism-in-european-football-league-by-league
| 2024-01-22T08:17:40Z
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Talking points from the week in Asian football:
QATAR MAINTAIN PERFECT START TO ASIAN CUP TITLE DEFENCE
Defending champions and tournaments hosts Qatar became the first nation to progress to the last 16 of the Asian Cup, where they have been joined by Australia, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
Qatar's 1-0 win over Tajikistan followed their opening 3-0 victory over Lebanon and guaranteed progress to the next round.
Australia beat Syria 1-0 to advance while Iran's 1-0 victory over Hong Kong took them through. Saudi Arabia secured their berth with a 2-0 win over Kyrgyzstan.
Pre-tournament favourites Japan suffered a surprise 2-1 defeat by Iraq while South Korea needed a stoppage time own goal from Yazan Al Arab to claim a 2-2 draw with Jordan.
SOUTH KOREANS LOSE FIRST-CHOICE GOALKEEPER KIM
South Korea goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu has been ruled out for the remainder of the Asian Cup after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament during training.
Coach Juergen Klinsmann confirmed on Friday his first-choice goalkeeper will miss the rest of the tournament as the Koreans look to win the title for the first time in 64 years.
"We're very sad about Seung-gyu's injury but it's part of sport, it happens in tournaments but we have to move on," Klinsmann said.
"We keep him in our thoughts and we fight for him. What I told the team was that we are here and we have a mission, that is to stay till the end of the tournament."
WELLINGTON STAY TOP IN AUSTRALIA AFTER LATE RUFER PENALTY
Wellington Phoenix held Melbourne Victory 1-1 on Friday as the New Zealand-based club maintained their slender lead in Australia despite playing the second period with 10 men after Tim Payne was sent off in first-half stoppage time.
Alex Rufer's 95th minute penalty cancelled out Connor Chapman's 78th minute opener to earn Wellington a share of the points.
"We knew going into halftime it was going to be a battle," said Rufer. "We conceded a poor goal but ... we knew we'd get a chance and (the penalty) was the chance. We took it and we're really, really happy with the point."
CHINESE SIDE DALIAN PRO CLOSES DUE TO 'HISTORICAL DEBTS'
Chinese Super League club Dalian Pro announced on Wednesday their dissolution with immediate effect after failing to be granted a licence for the upcoming season.
The club, once coached by Rafa Benitez, finished 15th in the 16-team top flight last season to avoid relegation but will not participate in the new campaign.
"Despite the efforts of many parties, the club was unable to operate normally due to historical debts that could not be resolved and ultimately failed to pass the league admission for the 2024 season," Dalian said in a statement. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/the-week-in-asian-football-6
| 2024-01-22T08:17:50Z
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MELBOURNE - World number three Daniil Medvedev struggled to contain the power of Portugal's Nuno Borges at the Australian Open on Monday but the Russian emerged with a 6-3 7-6(4) 5-7 6-1 victory to reach quarter-finals.
Twice a runner-up at Melbourne Park, Medvedev squandered a big lead in the third set but got back on track in the fourth to set up a last eight meeting with Pole Hubert Hurkacz, who beat French wild card Arthur Cazaux.
"Third set was tough physically because he was playing very aggressive," said Medvedev.
"Like, as I soon as I would hit one shot in a rally that was not aggressive or deep enough, he would go full power. It was pretty impressive.
"I didn't play long enough or good enough, missed too much, some double faults."
The 27-year-old, who reached the final in 2021 and 2022, was rock solid in the first set, where he did not face a single break point, and pulled away from Borges after building a 4-2 lead to seal the set in 35 minutes.
World number 69 Borges, who reached the fourth round by stunning 13th seed Grigor Dimitrov, came out fighting in the second set, mixing up his game with delicate drop shots and traded breaks with his opponent before fading in the tiebreak.
The Portuguese 26-year-old looked on course for a straight sets defeat as former U.S. Open champion Medvedev edged ahead in the third after recovering from a break but things began to fall apart for the Russian.
After saving four break points to hold for 5-2 he wasted two match points as the double faults began to pile up.
Borges continued to serve and volley with devastating effect and claimed five successive games to pull a set back.
Fans hoping for an upset were left disappointed, however, as Medvedev steadied the ship and sailed through the fourth set, which he claimed when Borges went long with a forehand.
"I hoped it wouldn't be five sets. I'm happy it wasn't," said Medvedev, who was taken the distance by Emil Ruusuvuori earlier in the tournament.
"Before this match I was feeling 100% but he made me run.
"That's why I missed so much in the third set, I was pretty dead. In the fourth I managed to raise my energy levels and now I'm tired again. One day off, I should be okay." REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/tennis/medvedev-sees-off-borges-to-reach-australian-open-quarter-finals
| 2024-01-22T08:18:00Z
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HOUSTON – Exxon Mobil Corp filed a lawsuit on Jan 21 against US and Dutch climate activist investors in an effort to remove what it describes as their “extreme agenda” from the ballot at its annual shareholder meetings, and force a stricter interpretation of SEC rule-making.
The Texas oil giant is seeking a declaratory judgment from the US District Court in Fort Worth to exclude from its annual meeting in 2024 a proposal from Follow This and Arjuna Capital to accelerate greenhouse-gas emission cuts. Exxon argues that a judgment in its favour would tighten the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) interpretation of the rules around what proposals get on proxy ballots across corporate America.
Follow This and Arjuna Capital have “become shareholders solely to campaign for change through shareholder proposals that are calculated to diminish the company’s existing business,” Exxon said in the complaint. They “are aided in their efforts by a flawed shareholder proposal and proxy voting process that does not serve investors’ interests and has become ripe for abuse.”
Follow This and Arjuna did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside of normal office hours.
Publicly traded companies typically debate the merits of individual proposals with the SEC, which can advise whether they be excluded from the ballot. But critics of the process, including Exxon, claim the SEC’s advice can vary widely depending which administration is in office. The number of environmental and social proposals voted on has more than doubled over the past two proxy seasons, according to the SEC.
Exxon’s decision to seek legal judgment rather than go through the SEC is highly unusual and marks an aggressive pushback against climate activists who use shareholder voting to influence boardroom strategy. It also comes as the US Supreme Court questions a longstanding legal doctrine known as the “Chevron doctrine” that gives federal agencies wide latitude to interpret unclear mandates from Congress.
In December, Follow This and Arjuna submitted a proposal calling for a “further accelerating” of Exxon’s emission reduction plans that include Scope 3 emissions, in other words the pollution from customers burning the company’s oil and gas.
Chief executive officer Darren Woods is a vocal critic of Scope 3 emissions accounting, saying it’s misleading and doesn’t capture overall emission-reduction efforts. A similar proposal in 2023 gained just over 10 per cent of shareholder support, down from 27 per cent in 2022.
“The 2024 Proposal does not seek to improve ExxonMobil’s economic performance or create shareholder value,” the company said in the complaint. “Like the previous proposals, it is designed instead to serve Arjuna’s and Follow This’s agenda to “shrink” the very company in which they are investing”.
Exxon is seeking to have the proposal excluded on two counts: that it interferes with the ordinary course of business, and that shareholders have rejected similar proposals multiple times. Exxon was one of the highest profile targets of the ESG movement, losing a proxy battle against first-time activist Engine No 1 in 2021, which forced it to replace a quarter of its board with new directors. Engine No 1 isn’t named in the complaint.
Exxon isn’t seeking monetary relief from the activist investors.
Proposals by Amsterdam-based non-profit Follow This and Massachusetts-based Arjuna Capital have become a fixture on the ballots of Big Oil’s annual meetings, mostly encouraging oil majors to set greenhouse gas emission targets that align with the Paris Agreement. While most proposals have been rejected, support steadily rose from 2015 through 2021 before dropping more recently.
Since the investors began their campaigns nearly a decade ago, all five Western oil majors have set ambitious emissions targets for 2050, with Shell and BP taking heed of activists’ recommendations to reduce customers’ emissions. Exxon has an ambition to become net-zero by 2050 for Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, in other words the pollution from its production processes and the energy it consumes. But the company has rejected all targets associated with pollution caused by the use of its oil and gas. BLOOMBERG
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/exxon-sues-esg-investors-to-stop-climate-proposals-on-ballot
| 2024-01-22T08:18:11Z
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WASHINGTON - The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) late on Jan 21 recommended airlines operating Boeing 737-900ER jets inspect door plugs to ensure they are properly secured, after some operators reported unspecified issues with bolts upon inspections.
The recommendation follows the FAA’s grounding of 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 planes after the midair cabin blowout of a door plug on an eight-week-old Alaska Airlines Max 9 jet on Jan 5.
The 737-900ER is not part of the newer Max fleet but has the same door plug design that allows for the addition of an extra emergency exit door when carriers opt to install more seats.
The FAA issued a “Safety Alert for Operators” disclosing some airlines have conducted additional inspections on the 737-900ER mid-exit door plugs “and have noted findings with bolts during the maintenance inspections”.
It recommended air carriers perform key portions of a fuselage plug assembly maintenance procedure related to the four bolts used to secure the door plug to the airframe “as soon as possible”.
A Boeing spokesperson said in an e-mail that “we fully support the FAA and our customers in this action”.
Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, the only two US carriers that use Max 9, said in January they had found loose parts on multiple grounded Max 9 aircraft during preliminary checks. They have had to cancel thousands of flights in January because of the grounding.
United said on Jan 21 it was extending the cancellation of its Max 9 flights until Jan 26.
Both carriers said they had begun inspections of the door plugs on their 737-900ER fleets.
United, which has 136 737-900ER aircraft, expects the inspections “to be completed in the next few days without disruption to our customers”.
Alaska said its inspections began several days ago and it has “had no findings to date and expects to complete the remainder of our 900ER fleet without disruption to our operations”.
Delta Air Lines, which operates the 900ER, said it had “elected to take proactive measures to inspect our 737-900ER fleet” and does not anticipate any operational impacts.
The Boeing 737-900ER has more than 11 million hours of operation and 3.9 million flight cycles. The FAA said the door plug “has not been an issue with this model” and by contrast, the Max 9 that experienced the door-plug issue was a new plane with a low number of flights.
On Jan 17, the FAA said inspections of an initial group of 40 Boeing 737 Max 9 jets had been completed, a key hurdle to eventually ungrounding the model. The FAA is continuing to review data from those inspections.
It said on Jan 21 that the Max 9 will “remain grounded until the FAA is satisfied they are safe to return to service”. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/us-authorities-say-more-boeing-737-planes-should-get-checks-after-max-9-incident
| 2024-01-22T08:18:21Z
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Vera fans can breathe a sigh of relief as there will be more episodes of the beloved ITV drama. The show's star Brenda Blethyn confirmed its future in response to a fan on X following the third episode of series 13, which aired on Sunday night.
Taking to X, one viewer wrote: "Why are lots here saying this is the last #Vera ?? Have I missed something??"
In response, Brenda penned: "It's not the last."
ITV also confirmed the good news on Sunday, revealing that the series will return with two more episodes, which will be filmed in the spring.
The announcement comes following uncertainty over the show's future. Ahead of the series 13 premiere, Brenda told ITV that she wouldn't have returned to the drama had David Leon not agreed to reprise his role as DI Joe Ashworth, and that she wasn't planning on filming "many more" episodes.
"I wouldn't have continued if David had not agreed to come back," said the 77-year-old. "I just didn't want to start another board game with somebody else when I know I'm not going to do many more. And who would want to do it anyway?"
When asked about the show's future, Brenda said that a new season was unlikely. "At the moment there is nothing planned," she previously revealed. "But that's not to say they're not talking about it. There might be a winding up. I don't know. Ann Cleeves is also writing her 11th Vera book. So, there's also that to consider. But a whole series? I think not. We'll see."
While ITV has yet to release any plot details about the upcoming two episodes, we expect to see David return in the role of DI Joe to solve more crimes in the North East.
Sharing his thoughts on further episodes beyond series 13, David previously told ITV: "Vera will continue for as long as the demand for it remains and Brenda feels like she can continue to surprise herself and be challenged by it.
"She puts so much into it and it is an exhausting shoot. In the past usually filming four feature films back to back."
He went on to say that filming the show is "a real challenge" as the cast and crew usually film "three or four feature-length films back to back".
READ: Why did Vera star David Leon leave the series?
"It requires a level of energy and dedication that means you are just living in that bubble for several months," explained the actor. "Your life gets put on hold. That's what it demands.
"I think one of the reasons Vera has endured is you have these films that usually drop at the beginning of the year and you are left as an audience wanting more," he continued, adding: "We'll just have to wait and see if there will be."
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/film/511771/vera-brenda-blethyn-fresh-comment-show-future-after-series-13-finale/
| 2024-01-22T09:32:18Z
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Call the Midwife viewers were left "sobbing" during Sunday night's episode, which saw fan favourite character Fred Buckle narrowly escape death. The shopkeeper, played by Cliff Parisi, came close to dying after being diagnosed with tetanus following a cut to his hand.
Near the beginning of the episode, Fred suffered a minor injury to his hand whilst repairing a lawnmower. While he initially seemed fine, he later collapsed during a visit to Nonnatus House.
Nurse Trixie Franklin soon diagnosed Fred with tetanus, which she warned could be fatal. Despite being treated with penicillin, Fred's health continued to decline and he was quickly put on a ventilator in intensive care, where he remained unresponsive.
Thankfully, during a hospital visit from his son Reggie and Sister Monica Joan, Fred made a miraculous recovery and managed to open his eyes. While Fred faces a long road of recovery ahead, it looks like he's not going anywhere.
Taking to X, fans expressed their relief over Fred's recovery. One viewer penned: "@CallTheMidwife1 was on top form tonight! Bawled like a baby watching Fred in the hospital. Reggie & Violet need a hug," while another added: "I'm so glad Fred pulled through I was fully sobbing."
A third person wrote: "Sobbed my way through a good 45 minutes of @CallTheMidwife1. I've now realised I'm not emotionally ready for anything to happen to any of them. Especially Fred!" while a fourth was also in tears, adding: " #Callthemidwife another excellent episode which had me sobbing from start to finish. There's no way you can lose Fred a total fighter."
Many fans also pleaded with the show not to kill off any beloved characters. One person asked: "Can we make a clear rule going forward please @BBCOne? Some characters are not to be messed with, these clearly include Fred, and of course Dr Turner @StephenMcGann. The nation can't take it #CallTheMidwife."
A second added: "#CallTheMidwife dear production team, unwritten rule. Nothing… that is NOTHING bad is to happen to Fred or Sister Monica Joan, I just couldn't deal with it."
In previous seasons of the popular period drama, fans have been left heartbroken by the shocking deaths of cherished characters, including Nurse Barbara and Sister Evangelina.
Back in season seven, Nurse Barbara, played by Charlotte Ritchie, was diagnosed with septicaemia after contracting meningitis and tragically passed away.
Similarly, Sister Evangelina (Pam Ferris) met her tragic end after suffering a stroke in the season five finale.
Fans clearly still haven't forgotten the heart-rending deaths, with Fred's near demise serving as a reminder. Taking to X on during Sunday's episode, one person wrote: "This is a Barbara and Sister Evangelina level tragic episode."
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/film/511772/call-the-midwife-viewers-sobbing-after-fan-favourite-character-nearly-dies/
| 2024-01-22T09:32:24Z
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Sarah Ferguson has addressed fans following her diagnosis with malignant melanoma. Taking to Instagram on Monday morning to share a throwback picture from Austria where she was receiving treatment, the 64-year-old revealed her shock but confessed she is in "good spirits".
She wrote: "I have been taking some time to myself as I have been diagnosed with malignant melanoma, a form of skin cancer, my second cancer diagnosis within a year after I was diagnosed with breast cancer this summer and underwent a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. It was thanks to the great vigilance of my dermatologist that the melanoma was detected when it was.
"Naturally another cancer diagnosis has been a shock but I’m in good spirits and grateful for the many messages of love and support."
The disease was discovered after several moles were removed when she was treated for breast cancer in June. One of the moles was found to be cancerous and doctors are working to establish if it was caught early.
Urging fans to get anything suspicious on their bodies checked, Sarah added: "I believe my experience underlines the importance of checking the size, shape, colour and texture and emergence of new moles that can be a sign of melanoma and urge anyone who is reading this to be diligent."
Sarah, who is being treated at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London by Dr Andrew Furness, consultant medical oncologist, and by Catherine Borysiewicz, consultant dermatologist at the King Edward VII Hospital in London, is now at home recuperating.
The mother-of-two went on to thank the medical team who have been helping her, writing: "I am incredibly thankful to the medical teams that have supported me through both of these experiences with cancer and to the MAYRLIFE Clinic for taking gentle care of me in the past weeks, allowing me time for recuperation. I am resting with family at home now, feeling blessed to have their love and support."
On Sunday, a representative revealed Sarah's recent diagnosis in a statement, which read: "Following her diagnosis with an early form of breast cancer this summer, Sarah, Duchess of York has now been diagnosed with malignant melanoma.
"Her dermatologist asked that several moles were removed and analysed at the same time as the Duchess was undergoing reconstructive surgery following her mastectomy, and one of these has been identified as cancerous.
"She is undergoing further investigations to ensure that this has been caught in the early stages. Clearly, another diagnosis so soon after treatment for breast cancer has been distressing but the Duchess remains in good spirits.
"The Duchess wants to thank the entire medical team which has supported her, particularly her dermatologist whose vigilance ensured the illness was detected when it was. She believes her experience underlines the importance of checking the size, shape, colour and texture and emergence of new moles that can be a sign of melanoma."
LISTEN: A Right Royal Podcast - Abdications
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/511773/sarah-ferguson-breaks-silence-diagnosed-malignant-melanoma/
| 2024-01-22T09:32:30Z
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CLAY TOWNSHIP — Two of three trustees abruptly resigned on Thursday, Jan. 11.
Resigning were Dale Winner, who served as trustee chairman, and Duane Heuker, who was elected to the seat in the Nov. 7, 2023 election.
The remaining trustee is Kyle Groh, who was elected to his first term in the Nov. 7 election.
In addition to the two trustees resignations, Kevin Garlitz quit as the township’s zoning inspector.
According to Clay Township Fiscal Officer Mark Brownfield, neither the two trustees nor Garlitz stated to him their reason for their resignations.
Brownfield also said there was no indication Winner and Heuker planned to resign during the Monday, Jan. 8, meeting and a special meeting held Wednesday, Jan. 10.
Brownfield said the trustees held executive sessions after both meetings. But he said he didn’t know what was discussed because he was not present in the two meetings.
Brownfield indicated neither Winner nor Heuker mentioned anything about resigning at the conclusion of the two executive sessions.
“On Wednesday, they came out of that (executive) meeting and adjourned the meeting and the next day the two trustees resigned,” Brownfield said.
Brownfield said Garlitz, who attended the Jan. 8 meeting, gave no indication he planned to quit.
Brownfield said Garlitz did not attend the Jan. 10 meeting.
Brownfield said Winner, Heuker and Garlitz presented their letters of resignation to him on Jan. 11 because he is the keeper of the records.
“I don’t approve those,” Brownfield said of the resignations. “What I do is write that I received them, but I did not accept or approve the resignations because I don’t have any authority to do that. I’m simply the keeper of the records.”
Brownfield said the next step is to replace Winner and Heuker.
Brownfield indicated a five-member panel made up of Clay township residents will select the replacement for Heuker.
Brownfield said the replacement process, which is allowed by the state of Ohio, was made possible because Heuker selected the five-member panel when he filed with the Montgomery County Board of Elections to run for the position.
“The five-member panel needs to convene and they literally appoint the replacement for the person who left,” Brownfield said.
Brownfield said three of the five members must approve the selection.
Brownfield said if the five members cannot agree on a replacement, a Montgomery County probate judge will make the selection.
Brownfield said the selection must be made within 30 days of Heuker’s resignation.
Brownfield said since Winner didn’t select a five-member panel, Groh and the newly appointed trustee will chose Winner’s replacement.
Winner’s replacement must also be named within 30 days of Winner’s resignation.
The township needs a minimum of two trustees to conduct business. Until a second trustee is appointed, all township business matters have been placed on hold.
Winner’s resignation letter stated: “to Clay Township Board of Trustees: “I am resigning my position of Clay Township Trustee effective immediately. I appreciate greatly the opportunity that was afforded to me by the citizens of the Township to give my service and I stand behind the work that I have done. It was my pleasure to work alongside the staff of the Township. I wish them well.”
Heuker’s resignation letter simply stated “Effective immediately: as of 1-11-24 I resign as Clay Township trustee.”
Winner began serving as a trustee when he replaced Robin Lehman in June of 2015.
Winner was elected to the remaining two years of Lehman’s term in November of 2015.
In 2017, Winner was defeated by Jeff Requarth, who served as trustee until he resigned in June of 2019 due to moving out of the township.
Winner was selected to replace Requarth in July of 2019.
Winner was re-elected as trustee in November of 2021.
Heuker was appointed on July 3, 2023 to replace Brownfield, who resigned as trustee June 1 to assume the township fiscal officer position from Holly Buchanan.
Reach Terry Baver at [email protected].
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https://www.registerherald.com/2024/01/19/2-clay-township-trustees-resign/
| 2024-01-22T09:41:39Z
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KETTERING — Last season Preble Shawnee used a loss at The Beacon Orthopaedics Flyin’ to the Hoop Invitational to fuel a run to a league title and a trip to the regional final.
After suffering its first setback of the season, a 66-48 loss to Lloyd Memorial (Ky.) in this year’s FTTH Invitational on Monday, Jan. 15, at Trent Arena, Preble Shawnee Coach Jake Turner hopes to use the game as a learning experience for a repeat of last season.
“We’re getting there. I told them in the locker we’re not where we need to be,” Turner said. “I hope this wakes them up. We’ve kind of been saying this for a while now. We’re nowhere close to where we need to be right now. And I hope this is a wake-up call for them because I’m not happy with where we’re at and that’s all me and I have to figured out how to get us there. We got to have some guys step up though. I mean, we only play usually six, seven sometimes. We got to find a couple more guys to get some of these guys breathers and we just got to play better. We got to be better.”
The Arrows, now 12-1, are currently ranked No. 3 in the latest Division III state rankings despite the loss.
Shawnee trailed just 13-12 after the opening quarter and was down 23-20 with just over four minutes left in the first half before the Juggernauts went on a 10-0 run late in the half to take control.
Shawnee fell behind by as many as 16 in the third quarter and trailed by 17 (52-35) with just under seven minutes remaining in the game. A 10-2 run got the Arrows within 54-45 with 3:20 left in the game.
“Wasn’t our day. I thought we did a good job of continuing to compete, not quit. (We) got down multiple times by double digits. I think we got it to eight maybe in the fourth quarter or nine,” Turner said. “We got down early and it kind of took out our game plan. We weren’t able to do what we thought would give them some issues. We had to play a lot faster than we would have liked to. Defensively we had to scramble a lot more than we wanted to. We put ourselves in a bad situation, but they made a lot of plays. They’re a good team. They’re hot right now. I think this is eight straight wins for them. Got really good player. They’re well coached. Good team their guys made plays and made shots.”
Mason Shrout led the Arrows with 22 points, 14 rebounds and four assists. Brayden Robinette added 11 points and four rebounds. Brody Morton tossed in seven to go along with six rebounds and Isaac Blankenship added six points and five rebounds.
Lloyd Memorial was led by 6-8 junior E.J. Walker, who has more than 20 Division I scholarship offers, with 21 points and seven rebounds.
Falling behind early forced the Arrows to go with a smaller lineup, which limited the play of the Arrows 6-foot, 8 inch center Logan Hawley.
“We thought smaller gave us the best chance to win and get another shooter in there, kind of space it out, give Mason some areas to drive to the rim. I thought Mason got some easy ones when we did take Logan out a little bit,” Turner said. “So, we wanted to go smaller to get a chance to hit some threes. I thought we had some open ones, some went in and out, but we just thought the small lineup gave us a chance to get back into the game.”
Turner praised the play of Shrout, who is headed to Purdue Fort Wayne next season.
“He played his tail off,” Turner said. “He made a lot of plays, kept us in the game. We ask him to do a whole lot. He’s got to do a whole lot for us and that’s just part of being the guy and he does a great job. He’s doing a good job leading these young guys. We got a lot of young guys, inexperienced, that are playing so he’s doing a good job with them. But I was just proud of his effort not giving up just keep fighting and fight and fight and he’s a gamer. That’s who he is.”
Turner said playing in FTTH, one of biggest basketball invitational in the country, is an experience his team won’t forget, but also can use it as a learning experience.
“To play in this environment, this event, this is a great event, one of the best ones around here in high school basketball to have that opportunity to get this experience for these guys, they won’t forget this. But also, I think last year helped us in the long run with that game. I’m hoping the same this year. We can go back (and) look at some things that maybe we did differently that can help us down the road. We got a lot of big games coming up.”
The Arrows were scheduled to play at Twin Valley South on Friday, Jan. 19 then travel to Fenwick on Tuesday, Jan. 23.
Reach Eddie Mowen Jr. at 937-683-4061 and follow on X @emowenjr.
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https://www.registerherald.com/2024/01/19/arrows-off-target-in-ftth-falls-to-lloyd-memorial-66-48/
| 2024-01-22T09:41:46Z
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ENGLEWOOD – City council passed a resolution Tuesday,Jan. 9, designating the section of the city that will hold garage sales without a permit required n May 31 and June 1.
All properties located south of W. Wenger Road and north of Interstate 70 was designated for the garage sale area. The same section was also designated for this year’s sidewalk repair program.
A contract was awarded to Innovative Custom Construction Enhancement Development, LLC (ICCED, LLC) for the sidewalk program. This is the first year since 2003 that a new contractor was awarded the project due to Coate Construction not being able to continue the bid price from 2003.
Six companies submitted bid proposals for the project. The cost will increase this year to $10 per square foot for 4-inch sidewalk, $14 per square foot for 6-inch sidewalk, $48 per lineal foot for curb replacement, and $22 per square foot for drive approach repairs.
The previous cost was $5 per square foot of 4-inch sidewalk, $5.50 per square foot for 6-inch sidewalk, $18 per lineal foot of curb replacement, and $5.70 per square foot of drive approach repairs.
The city has a documented, established policy requiring property owners to properly maintain sidewalks, curbs, and drive approaches on or abutting their properties by of a “sidewalk program.”
Residents have the option of executing the repairs but most rely on the city contractor to perform the work as it is more affordable and convenient.
The city will inspect sidewalks, curbing, and drive approaches in the identified geographic area to determine deficiencies as well as notify property owners. The city anticipates that not all sidewalks, curbing and drive approaches identified as defective will be privately repaired.
The cost for the repair work is not to exceed $200,000 within the designated area.
Reach Ron Nunnari by email: [email protected].
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https://www.registerherald.com/2024/01/19/city-sets-garage-sales-sidewalk-repair-area/
| 2024-01-22T09:41:52Z
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EATON — During its Monday, Jan. 15, meeting, Eaton City Council passed an emergency ordinance placing a 9-month moratorium on adult-use cannabis operators within the city limits.
“As we all know, Issue 2 passed last year which allows recreational cannabis,” Eaton Law Director Ryan Brunk told council. “Many cities have moved to the moratorium. You can’t stop the recreational use of marijuana, but what you can regulate though, as a local municipal government is the selling and the growing. We do already have a ban on growing medical marijuana but there’s some discussion on whether that legal ban will then follow recreational marijuana. There is legislation in the state house right now to put it all under the purview and the code section relating to medical marijuana that hasn’t been passed yet. So, what this does is just give us time, and it’s nine months to decide how we want to regulate it if we want to regulate like we did medical marijuana.”
State Issue 2 enacted Ohio Revised Code Chapter 3780 which legalized the growing, processing, and selling of cannabis for adult use in the State of Ohio and was effective Dec. 7, 2023
According to the ordinance, Ohio Revised Code Chapter 3780 authorizes municipalities to entirely prohibit or limit the number of adult use cannabis operators in their jurisdiction; and Article 18 of the Ohio State Constitution grants authority to municipalities to exercise all powers of local self-government, including the ability to limit land use.
“And, whereas, City Council and staff require time to research the benefits and consequences related to adult use cannabis operators within the City of Eaton to determine whether such activities should be allowed, limited, or entirely prohibited; and whereas a moratorium of 9 months on adult use cannabis operators in the city will allow city council and staff time to accomplish the city’s goals stated herein and will help ensure the public peace, health, safety and welfare,” the ordinance continues, “now, therefore, be it ordained by the council of the City of Eaton, Ohio, that:
“City Council imposes a moratorium of 9 months on adult use cannabis operators in the City of Eaton. Thus, no adult use cannabis operators shall locate or operate in and the issuance and processing of any permits or authorizations related to adult use cannabis operators in the City of Eaton is prohibited during this 9 month period. The purpose of this moratorium is to allow City Council and staff time to study Issue 2 and subsequent legislation to determine benefits, consequences, the limiting of, or prohibiting adult use cannabis operators within the City limits and to prepare necessary legislation.”
It continues, “City council instructs staff to review State Issue 2 and subsequent legislation regarding adult cannabis use and make recommendations regarding any potential changes to the city’s codified ordinances related to these activities for city council’sconsideration.
“This ordinance is declared to be an emergency measure necessary for the immediate preservation of the peace, health, safety, and general welfare of the citizens of Eaton and in order to institute the moratorium immediately as Issue 2 is now effective. Therefore, this Ordinance is effective immediately upon its adoption.”
Council voted unanimously to declare the emergency and adopt the moratorium effective Monday, Jan. 15.
Councilman Chris Carr questioned where the selection of 9 months came from. According to Brunk, that was simply the longest he’d seen other cities use in their moratoriums, giving the city the longest amount of time possible.
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https://www.registerherald.com/2024/01/19/eaton-approves-cannabis-operation-moratorium/
| 2024-01-22T09:41:58Z
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EATON — During its Monday, Jan. 15, meeting, Eaton City Council heard from two Preble County residents regarding a potential solar installation outside city limits.
Nathan Hake, 121 Alexander Road, approached council to discuss an application regarding solar panels property owners wish to install on acreage just north of Eaton.
“I think it’s vitally important that the city of Eaton consider this because it has long lasting effects on residents with multiple facets. The property in question on 127 North borders the City of Eaton property limits or annexation limits on the north,” Hake said during the public comment portion of the meeting. “I think that’s important because I’m sure that at some point in the future, the city may wish to consider its growth north. And this is proposed as I believe a 20-year lease and it’s extendable pretty well in perpetuity. If this is a 20, 30, 40-year project, it’s gonna limit the City of Eaton’s growth or have some impact on the city’s growth to the north. So, I think that’s pretty important.”
Hake went on to point out what solar panels are made of. “And one of them that is very important is cadmium. I’m sure a lot of you may have heard of nickel cadmium batteries. That’s why it’s dangerous to throw batteries into the landfill. Well, the same mineral is in the solar panels.” He provided council members with a handout from the EPA. “It is describes by the EPA dangerous pollutants to water wells and water systems, aquifers and so on and so forth, and listed as potential danger to those water wells is cadmium,” he noted.
“In a perfect scenario, in a perfect condition, the solar panels are perfectly safe,” Hake said. “Perfectly safe if you can guarantee me that they will not catch fire and you can guarantee me that they will not get hit with a hail storm or wind storm or we won’t have a hurricane like we did in 2008 that came through this town. That they’re not going to get hit by a tornado. If they’re not going to get hit with hail and other natural disasters that we commonly have in this county. And if you could guarantee all those things, we don’t have anything to worry about. But I don’t think any of us can guarantee that. I think that it would be very wise to take an ounce of prevention for a pound of cure here and look at the potential impacts that cadmium could have on every single resident in this town.”
Hake went on to share his belief the proposed project is a danger to the city’s water supply and back-up wells, and that the Eaton Fire/EMS Division is “ill-equipped” to deal with a fire at such a solar installation.
“We appreciate your comments and information submitted to us and we’ll take it into consideration,” Mayor Matt Venable told Hake. “Again, as a reminder, this this property is outside of our jurisdiction. We have no control over what goes on outside of Eaton when it comes to zoning. So, keep that in mind.”
“I’m here today to ask on behalf of citizens of Eaton,” Hake told council. “And I own property in Eaton and several of these other people behind me do as well. You guys obviously don’t control the zoning. However, being that you do control a neighboring property, this is well within the purview of your concern. Because this property will become your neighbor — this solar field could become your neighbor.”
Hake reminded those in attendance the issue would go before the Preble County Board of Zoning Appeals on Tuesday, Jan. 23, at 7:30 p.m.
“What I’m here to ask for you guys to do is to consider the passing of a resolution by your counsel to be delivered to the board of zoning appeals stating your concerns about potential damage to your water supply,” Hake said. “Because if this would go in, and even though it’s not under your control, you guys still have a duty and obligation to your citizens to ensure clean, healthy drinking water and you have the opportunity to go speak before the BZA.”
Hake asked council to ask the BZA, should they approve the project, that they put certain conditions on it, including but not limited to training and outfitting the fire division for dealing with solar installation fires.
David Hurst, 1495 Surface Road, also approached council to voice concerns for the fire division’s ability to fight fires at solar installations.
Council took no action at the meeting.
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https://www.registerherald.com/2024/01/19/eaton-city-council-hears-from-group-against-solar/
| 2024-01-22T09:42:05Z
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BROOKVILLE — With the onset of frigid temperatures invading the Miami Valley, dog owners are wondering if it is OK to leave them outside.
Brookville Animal Hospital veterinarian Lydia McKinsey said it depends on “the breed of the dog” and if the dog is acclimated to the cold weather.
McKinsey pointed out there are many dog breeds that thrive in cold temperatures.
“Bernese mountain dogs, for instance, are happy with temperatures that are negative 10 degrees. That’s no big deal.” McKinsey continued.
She also noted that huskies are another breed of dog that love the cold and snowy weather.
But she pointed out that even dogs that are well-adapted for the cold must have adequate shelter if they are kept outside.
“The big thing with cold weather is making sure they have shelter,” McKinsey said.
“They should have bedding material like straw, cedar chips or something like that to keep them insulated,” she said, adding the bedding insulation should be kept off the ground.
McKinsey said in addition to the bedding, dogs also need some kind of “insulated wind break.”
“It can be something like a traditional dog house. They also make insulated igloos for some of these guys,” McKinsey said.
McKinsey also noted the shelter should be just large enough for the dog to get inside and turn around.
“It would be similar to a kennel where they would be able to get in, turn around and be able to lie down,” McKinsey said.
McKinsey viewed the use of a heat lamp to help keep the dog warm as a “double-edged sword.”
“When using a heat lamp you risk a burn injury to the dog or there could be a fire,” McKinsey said.
“Typically, if you have an insulated dog house, with the bedding insulated off the ground, that should keep them warm,” McKinsey said.
McKinsey noted it is important to provide plenty of fresh water for an outside dog living in the cold.
McKinsey said electric heating bowls that prevent the water from freezing are available.
“But some people may not have one as an option, in which then they would just be changing out the water three or four times a day because the water is going to freeze,” McKinsey said.
McKinsey also said outside dogs need more food when the temperatures are cold.
“If the dog is living outside the calorie need increases, so you need to increase the amount of food that is offered to them,” McKinsey said.
“If the dog is not an outdoor dog and just occasionally goes outside, additional food is not needed,” McKinsey continued.
McKinsey said it is important to regularly check on the outside dog to make sure it has adequate food and water and is in good health.
McKinsey advises dog owners, whose dog lives inside, to purchase a coat or jacket for it to wear when going for walks in cold weather.
McKinsey said that is especially the case for dogs with short hair.
McKinsey also said there are boots available for dogs that will protect their feet from ice and salt.
“If you don’t have boots or if your dog doesn’t tolerate them, make sure you wash their feet to remove the salt because they can actually get salt toxicity from licking and cleaning their feet,” McKinsey said.
McKinsey said people who have an outdoor cat should also provide it with a warm shelter.
People who have an outside cat, can go to www.alleycat.org/resources/how-to-build-an-outdoor-shelter/ to obtain instructions on how to make a shelter to protect the cat from cold temperatures.
The Brookville Animal Hospital is located at 506 Western Avenue. The telephone number is (937) 833-2740.
Reach Terry Baver at [email protected].
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https://www.registerherald.com/2024/01/19/keep-your-pet-safe-in-cold-weather/
| 2024-01-22T09:42:11Z
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NEW PARIS — National Trail School Board started off the year 2024 with its annual reorganizational meeting, followed by the first regular January meeting on Jan. 11. Following are some of the highlights of the meetings.
First order of business was appointing Mindy Ward to fill a vacant board seat from Jan. 11 through Dec. 31 of 2025. The board appointed Cindy Lee to continue as board president and David Harris as vice president.
Administrative appointments included Superintendent Bob Fischer as 2024 Legislative Liaison as well as 2024 Preble County Youth Foundation Representative and Lee as 2024 Student Achievement Liaison.
Fischer also was approved to employ temporary personnel, accept resignations and enter into contractual agreements for services needed in emergency situations. He will also apply for grants and serve as designee appeals of student suspensions.
The district treasurer’s duties were outlined and approved as well.
The board also designated The Register-Herald as the district’s official newspaper.
Special recognitions began the regular meeting that followed, including special mention of the board members for Board Member Appreciation Month. They are President Cindy Lee, Vice President David Harris and board members Greg McWhinney, Mindy Ward and Gary Moore.
Special recognition also was given to elementary-school, middle-school and high-school students for December 2023 as well as to Eagle Scouts and FFA students for State Parliament Procedure.
Elementary Students of the Month were kindergarten student Kean Alldred, first-grade student Breeley Boggs, second-grade student Rylie Foster, third-grader Madison Baldwin, fourth-grader Levi Combs and Specials – Abbey Blumenstock.
Middle School Students of the Month were fifth-graders Kayley Dibrell, Bradley Hart and Joseph Layne. Sixth-graders were Olivia Stone, AJ Byrd and Violet Couvutsakil. Seventh-graders were Samantha Bowers, Blake Reid and Cain Bond. Eighth-graders were Eva Swartzell, Sammy Gardner and Lane Gebhart.
High School Students of the Month were ninth-grader Jonathan Tilton, tenth-grader Evie Hoffman, eleventh-graders Mason Gibson and Ethan Kosier and twelfth-grader Gretchen Lee.
Eagle Scouts recognized were Blake Osswald and Ethan Kosier.
FFA Advanced Parliamentary Procedure State Qualifiers recognized were Grace Osswald, Megan Irvin,
Tayten Reynolds, Grant Deaton, Morgan House and Lexi Hake.
FFA Novice Parliamentary Procedure State Qualifiers recognized were Jaelynn Remakes, Clire Osswald, Madisyn Mann, Jenna Deaton, Molli Deaton, Maya Palmer, Tucker Mitchell and James Morgan.
The next regular meeting of the National Trail Local Schools Board of Education will be at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 27, at the National Trail School K-12 Facility.
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https://www.registerherald.com/2024/01/19/national-trail-recognizes-staff-students/
| 2024-01-22T09:42:17Z
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EATON — The Preble County District Library has released the following calendar of programming and events for the month of January.
New: Weekly Winter Storytimes & Crafts for Kids
Many of our branches offer weekly in-person storytimes for kids of All ages. Our storytimes are formulated around Every Child Ready to Read initiative, focusing on the five early literacy practices of reading, singing, playing, talking, and writing. Some crafts may get a little messy.
• Every Monday at New Paris at 5:30 p.m.: Storytime
• Every Tuesday at Camden at 5:30 p.m.: Little Ones Storytime
• Every Saturday at West Alexandria at 11 a.m.: Magical World of Storytime
New: Eaton Storytimes – Winter Session Registration Open
Runs through Feb. 8. Registration is required. To register, cAll the Eaton Branch at 937-456-4331.
• Mother Goose Storytime (birth-age 3): Wednesday or Thursday at 10:30 a.m.
• Eaton Library Mice Storytime (age 3-Pre-K): Wednesday or Thursday at 10:30 a.m.
• Family Storytime (birth-age 5): Thursday at 4:45 p.m.
• After School Crew Storytime (age 6-12): Thursday at 4:45 p.m.
New: Kids Grab & Go Crafts – All Branches
January’s Kids Grab & Go kit is a Winter Diorama craft.
Kids grab & go kits are available at All branches unless noted otherwise. Contact your local branch to reserve a kit while supplies last.
New: Tween/Teen Grab & Go Crafts – All Branches
January’s Tween/Teen Grab & Go kit is a lip balm craft.
Tween/Teen grab & go kits are available at All branches unless noted otherwise. Contact your local branch to reserve a kit while supplies last.
New: Adulting Can Be Fun!
The Preble County District Library offers various adult craft and social programs in January at several of our locations throughout Preble County. Some programs require registration, please cAll the hosting branch for details.
• Saturday, Jan. 20 at 11 a.m. at PC Room: Intro to Genealogy Part One
• Thursday, Jan. 25 at 6 p.m. at Camden: Adult Game Night
• Wednesday, Jan. 31 at 6 p.m. at Eaton: AYA Book Club
New: Weekly Teen Programs at the Eaton Branch
On Tuesdays at 3:30 p.m., teens in grades 6-12 can come to the Eaton Branch to enjoy activities such as coloring and simple crafting, board games, video games, and more!
• Tuesday, Jan. 23 at 3:30 p.m. at Eaton: Needle Felting
• Tuesday, Jan. 30 at 3:30 p.m. at Eaton: Monthly Movie
New: Family Crafts and Activities
The Preble County District Library offers various craft and social programs for kids, teens, and families in January at several of our locations throughout Preble County.
• Tuesday, Jan. 23 at 5:30 p.m. at West Alexandria: Kids Book Club
• Tuesday, Jan. 23 during open hours at New Paris: Board Game Day
• Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 4:30 p.m. at West Manchester: Clothespin Snowman
• Thursday, Jan. 25 at 4:30 p.m. at Eldorado: Clothespin Snowman
New: Build Something New with LEGO Programs
Let your imagination run wild as Preble County District Library hosts LEGO Club. LEGO Club is kids and teens to show off their Master Builder skills. If you bring LEGOs from home, please label them in a container with your child’s name.
• Saturday, Jan. 27 at noon at West Alexandria: Lego Club
• Monday, Jan. 29 at 4:30 p.m. at Eaton: Lego Club
• Tuesday, Jan. 30 during open hours at New Paris: After School Lego Time
New: Notes From Helen – Jan. 22, 24-25 at West Elkton during open hours
We are inspired by our longtime patron, Helen, who often takes the time to write us a handwritten thank-you note when returning her books. An art that seems to be almost lost in a time where a quick text or email is used instead. Amongst the hustle and bustle of our busy schedules, let’s take the time to write a handwritten note or card to someone special! We will have a variety of stationery to choose from. We hope to see you then!
New: Bluey Day! Saturday, Jan. 27 at 1 p.m. at Eaton
Are you a fan of the lovable puppy Bluey, her Mum, Dad, and little sister Bingo? Then this program is for you! Join us for a Bluey filled afternoon. We’ll have crafts, games, prizes, and more! Feel free to come in your best Bluey costume or attire!
Other Library Program Offerings:
Book a Librarian
Would you like to learn more about computers? Do you have a new tablet or smartphone you’d like to learn more about? The Reference Librarian is happy to help! Book an appointment on Monday afternoons between 1-4 for assistance with: tablets/e-readers, computers, Microsoft Office, Internet, resumes and job searching, using the library catalog, and research. Call 937-456-5562, email preblerefatpreblelibrary.org, or stop by the library in person to set up an appointment!
Explore & More Adventure Pass Program
Explore & More NOW with your PCDL Library Card! We are excited to introduce our newest service, the Explore & More Adventure Pass Program, enabling PCDL patrons to borrow passes using their library card. This one-time pass, which must be checked out in person at the Eaton Branch, grants patrons limited free access to attractions that would otherwise charge admission fees.
Participating organizations include The Dayton Art Institute, Boonshoft Museum of Discovery, Johnston Farm & Indian Agency, and Carillon Historical Park.
*Each organization sets its own rules for how many individuals are covered under its passes and which days the passes will be honored. Patrons are advised to cAll the organization ahead of their visit for hours and rules.
Don’t Throw Away Local History – Contact the Preble Co. Genealogy Room, Instead!
The Preble Co. Genealogy Room is interested in archiving any local and family historical items you might come across as you clean. This includes (but is not limited to): old paperwork/documents/records, family bibles with family information, pictures of Preble Co. residents, landmarks, and properties, old maps and land records and any items having to do with the history of Preble County, its families and the surrounding areas.
If you come across an item as you clean and wish to donate it to the PC Room, please contact us at 937-456-4970 Monday -Thursday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Friday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., or by email at [email protected].
Preble Co. Records Online – families, obituaries, marriages, historic landmarks, and more
Search the library’s in-house Genealogical & Historical Records collections. Visit https://preblelibrary.org/genealogy to get started on your search! Family files can also be researched in person at the PC Room. To view a list of All PC Room resources, visit https://preblelibrary.org/genealogy/holdings.
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https://www.registerherald.com/2024/01/19/pcdl-january-programming-3/
| 2024-01-22T09:42:23Z
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