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SAN FRANCISCO – The Golden State Warriors paid an emotional tribute to Dejan Milojevic on Jan 24, as the team returned to play for the first time since their Serbian assistant coach died last week from a heart attack.
In a moving ceremony ahead of the 134-112 National Basketball Association (NBA) home win over the Atlanta Hawks, Golden State head coach Steve Kerr led a lengthy ovation to salute the 46-year-old affectionately known as “Deki”.
Golden State players wore team jerseys emblazoned with Milojevic’s name while the Serbian national anthem was played in honour of the late coach.
The players then placed their jerseys on Milojevic’s usual seat on the Warriors bench.
The Warriors also wore T-shirts with the word “Brate” – “brother” in Serbian – during the warm-up. That gesture was mirrored in Dallas, where Mavericks star Luka Doncic wore the same T-shirt ahead of his team’s clash with Phoenix.
“The world lost a beautiful soul last week,” Kerr told a hushed Chase Centre crowd. “Deki was a wonderful friend, a hell of a basketball coach, a great man and most importantly, a beautiful grandson, son, husband and father.
“What he meant to us is a huge part of who we are. He’s a part of our soul. The outpouring of love that we received this past week from all over the world... is a direct reflection of the joy and love that he brought to everybody he met.
“So tonight, rather than a moment of silence, I’d like for all of us to give Deki an ovation that he can hear up in heaven.”
While several Golden State players appeared to be overcome with emotion during the tributes, with Klay Thompson and Draymond Green both choking back tears, the team were able to rally to victory over Atlanta.
Stephen Curry finished with 25 points, Thompson bagged 24, while Jonathan Kuminga poured in 25 off the bench from a perfect 11-of-11 shooting display.
Curry admitted afterwards that the emotion of the occasion had been challenging.
“It was tough,” he said. “It’s been a very long week for everybody in our organisation, understanding how we wanted to honour, and pay tribute to Deki and what he meant to our family.
“It’s tough looking over at his chair. But coach challenged us to utilise all those emotions and get lost in the game. It was weird at first but this is our sanctuary.
“We know Deki would like nothing more than to see us go out there and compete as best we can. It feels really good to get a win.”
Milojevic, who played in Spain and Turkey as well as his homeland, where he began his coaching career, joined the Warriors as an assistant in 2021.
He was part of the staff on the team who won the NBA championship in 2022.
He died last week after collapsing during a team dinner in Salt Lake City, plunging the Warriors and the NBA community into mourning.
The Warriors will play with a patch bearing Milojevic’s initials – “DM” – on team jerseys for the remainder of the season. A DM logo inside a heart will also remain on the Warriors home court for the rest of the season.
In the Phoenix game, Devin Booker produced another high-scoring gem to help the Suns notch a seventh-straight victory. The guard, who scored 52 points in a victory over New Orleans on Jan 19, finished with 46 points in a 132-109 rout of Doncic’s Mavericks in Texas.
Booker was backed by 20 points from Bradley Beal while Grayson Allen had 15 and Kevin Durant 12.
In Washington, the Minnesota Timberwolves returned to winning ways after back-to-back losses with a 118-107 victory over the Wizards.
Anthony Edwards led the Wolves’ scoring with 38 points while Karl-Anthony Towns had another solid night with 27 points, six rebounds and three assists. AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/basketball/golden-state-warriors-pay-tribute-to-coach-dejan-milojevic-in-first-game-after-death
| 2024-01-25T07:10:54Z
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LONDON - British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that more aid trucks must be able to enter Gaza and an immediate humanitarian pause is needed to help those trapped in a "desperate situation".
Cameron, who is on a visit to the Middle East and met separately with Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday, announced Britain and Qatar are working together to get more aid into Gaza, with a first joint consignment containing tents being flown into Egypt on Thursday before travelling by road to Gaza.
Israel, which denies holding up aid, launched an air and ground war in Gaza after Hamas militants stormed across its border on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking hostages, about 130 of whom remain in captivity.
Israel's response has left more than 25,000 dead and caused a severe humanitarian crisis, with most of Gaza's 2.3 million people left homeless and acutely short of food, water, medicine and fuel.
"The scale of suffering in Gaza is unimaginable. More must be done, faster, to help people trapped in this desperate situation," Cameron said. "We have trebled our assistance for Gaza ... But our efforts will only make a difference if aid gets to those who need it most."
"As I said to PM Netanyahu ... far more trucks need to be able to enter Gaza and more crossings need to open. We need an immediate humanitarian pause to get aid in and hostages out, followed by a sustainable ceasefire."
Cameron pushed Israeli leaders for the port of Ashdod to be used for the delivery of aid into Gaza, his office said. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/uks-cameron-tells-israel-more-aid-needs-to-be-able-to-enter-gaza
| 2024-01-25T07:11:04Z
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NEW DELHI -India's government has not told its defence personnel to pull out from Maldives following a request from Male, Indian Navy Chief Admiral R. Hari Kumar told broadcaster CNN-News 18 on Thursday.
India's ties with Maldives have come under strain after Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu's election win last year pledging to end his country's "India First" policy and later calling for withdrawal of Indian troops by March 15.
Muizzu's decisions are seen as a pivot away from India to build stronger ties with China in a region where New Delhi and Beijing compete for influence.
"We await instructions, whatever is the decision," Kumar said when asked about the return of defence personnel from Maldives, adding that New Delhi has "not really" issued any communication to the navy so far.
A contingent of around 80 Indian soldiers are stationed on the Indian Ocean archipelago nation to provide support for military equipment given to Male by New Delhi and assist in humanitarian activities. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/india-has-not-told-its-defence-personnel-to-pull-out-from-maldives-navy-chief
| 2024-01-25T07:11:14Z
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TALLAHASSEE - The Florida House of Representatives approved on Jan 24 a Bill aimed at barring children aged 16 and younger from social media platforms, following similar action in several states to limit online risks to young teenagers.
Passed by a bipartisan vote of 106 to 13, the measure would require social media platforms to terminate the accounts of anyone under 17 years old and use a third-party verification system to screen out underage users.
“We must address the harmful effects social media platforms have on the development and well-being of our kids,” said Florida House Speaker Paul Renner.
“Florida has a compelling state interest and duty to protect our children, their mental health and their childhood.”
The Bill would also require firms to permanently delete personal information collected from the terminated accounts and let parents bring civil suits against those failing to do so.
The legislation now goes to the Florida state Senate for consideration. Republicans control both chambers of the state legislature.
Sponsors said the measure was necessary to protect children from depression, anxiety and other mental health woes that they say are linked to excessive use of social media, whose addictive aspects, critics say, make children especially vulnerable.
Opponents argued that the Bill goes too far, with some urging less restrictive measures, such as letting parents opt in or out of allowing their children to use social media.
Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, opposed the legislation, usually referred to as HB1, saying it would limit parental discretion and raise data privacy concerns.
“HB 1 would require each new social media user, from a 13-year-old in Miami to a 73-year-old from Boca Raton, to provide possibly sensitive identifying information, such as a driver’s licence or birth certificate to a third-party organisation to verify their age,” Meta’s Caulder Childs told the House’s Judiciary Committee at a hearing on Jan 17.
Meta says it supports federal legislation for online app stores to secure parents’ approval for downloads by teenagers younger than 16.
The Florida measure does not identify any Internet companies by name.
Instead, it defines a social media platform as an online forum that tracks account holders’ activity by letting them create user profiles, then upload content or view the content or activities of other users and interact with, or track, them.
Among the defining social media functions highlighted by the Bill are “addictive, harmful or deceptive design features” or those that induce “an excessive or compulsive need to use or engage with” the platform.
But the measure exempts websites and applications whose predominant function is e-mail, messaging or texting, as well as streaming services, news, sports and entertainment sites, along with online shopping, gaming and academic sites.
Utah became the first US state to adopt laws regulating children’s access to social media in March 2023, followed by others, such as Arkansas, Louisiana, Ohio and Texas, according to a legislative analysis prepared for the Florida Bill.
It said numerous other states were also contemplating similar regulations.
The European Union in 2015 passed a law requiring parental consent for a child to access social media, the analysis added. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/florida-lawmakers-vote-to-restrict-childrens-access-to-social-media
| 2024-01-25T07:11:25Z
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The Pokemon Company 'Intends to Investigate' Palworld Over Possible IP Infringement - News
by William D'Angelo , posted 3 hours ago / 662 ViewsThe Pokemon Company has issued a statement regarding Palworld and the potential intellectual property infringement with the game.
"We have received many inquiries regarding another company’s game released in January 2024," said The Pokemon Company in a statement. "We have not granted any permission for the use of Pokémon intellectual property or assets in that game. We intend to investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to the Pokémon.
"We will continue to cherish and nurture each and every Pokémon and its world, and work to bring the world together through Pokémon in the future."
The Pokemon Company doesn't mention Palworld by name, however, a game released in January 2024 that might have infringed on intellectual property rights related to the Pokémon indicates they are talking about Palworld.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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How about stop being lazy and not take the Pokemon IP for granted and actually try to make a proper Pokemon experience like Palworld?
They own the Pokemon IP, they can do whatever they want with it. It's the fandom they should not be taking for granted. Sorry to be splitting hairs but this detail is important.
They own the IP, they don't have a right to sales if the customers don't want to.
I highly doubt there is any copyright infringement. Pretty much all of the designs I have seen are different enough to be safe under law, just like earlier Pokemon-like games such as TemTem and Nexomon.
How about instead of harassing your competition, you take a look at what your competition is doing right? Take an analytical look at Palworld and try and learn why people like it so much, so that you can improve future Pokemon games. Because let's face it, right now, looking at user reviews, Palworld with it's 93% positive feedback on Steam has been better received by gamers than any Pokemon game since Pokemon Platinum, and Palworld user reviews are lightyears above the last 2 main series generations in particular, Sword/Shield and Scarlet/Violet, with only Legends Arceus user scores coming close to Palworld out of the Nintendo Switch Pokemon games.
I wouldn't sue them for the Pokemon ripoffs, but id be questioning the Zelda mechanics and Temperature gauge stolen directly from BOTW?
I mean if Nintendo wants to try and sue over that they can, but I doubt they have those mechanics trademarked, as far as I know they don't trademark gameplay mechanics, like say Warner Bros did with their Nemesis system.
But this is Pokemon Company releasing this statement, not Nintendo, they are separate entities with Nintendo only owning a partial share of Pokemon Company afaik.
Pretty sure Nintendo did patent some kind of gameplay mechanic from TotK just last year. So it is entirely possible, but I don't think it's probable.
They used AI for their designs and there is a lot of evidence that AI directly stole aspects of many designs.
Not surprised that nintendo wants to defend it's copyright.
The Pokemon Company didnt seem to care until the game sold really well.
If they go to court for this, they'd have to explain why the myriad of other Catch'em All - Pokémon clones were left alone (and in some cases allowed on Nintendo platforms).
Yep, makes it look like they are only targeting this one because it made alot more money than the others like TemTem and Nexomon.
Because they didn't steal art using AI and not like Pokemon invented the formula. Shin Megami Tensei existed before it.
Hope so, game is stupid.
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https://www.vgchartz.com/article/459733/the-pokemon-company-intends-to-investigate-palworld-over-possible-ip-infringement/
| 2024-01-25T08:02:32Z
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ASTANA – In a recent report released by the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), Kazakhstan has emerged as a powerhouse in regional investment activity, reported EDB’s telegram channel on Jan. 24.
According to Anton Malakhov, head of projects in EDB Research, the monitoring focuses on three key aspects related to the cumulative mutual foreign direct investment associated with Kazakhstan.
The country has positioned itself as a frontrunner among exporters of direct investment in the broader Eurasian region. Notable beneficiaries of this investment surge include Georgia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Russia, and Uzbekistan.
The report underscores Kazakhstan’s steadfast ascent as the primary recipient of accumulated mutual investments in the Eurasian region. By the end of the first half of 2023, Kazakhstan commanded an impressive 27.2% share, marking an increase from 26.6% recorded at the beginning of 2022.
Kazakhstan has solidified its standing as the principal regional investor in Central Asia, with the volume of accumulated intraregional investments nearly doubling over the past seven years.
EDB analysts highlight that the cumulative total of mutual direct investments in the Eurasian region reached a substantial $48.8 billion by the end of the first half of 2023.
The EDB’s Monitoring of Mutual Investments relies on a comprehensive database of investment projects, providing detailed insights into accumulated mutual direct investments across the Eurasian region. The coverage spans Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine.
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https://astanatimes.com/2024/01/edb-report-kazakhstan-leads-regional-investment-activity-in-eurasia/
| 2024-01-25T08:11:17Z
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ASTANA – Germany’s AMK Global GmbH company plans to build a waste processing plant in Taraz, reported the Zhambyl Region akimat (local administration) press service on Jan. 24.
Akim (mayor) of the Zhambyl Region Yerbol Karashukeyev held talks with the General Director of ThiemeBieg & Associates Torsten Thieme to discuss the project implementation.
A waste processing plant with a capacity of 500 tons per day will employ 100 people. The company plans to invest 140 million euros (US$152.3 million). AMK Global GmbH, using advanced technologies developed by the University of Munich, will recycle up to 80% of waste. The enterprise will operate an automatic waste sorting line.
It is also planned to establish the production of by-products such as oxygen, nitrogen, compost, carbon fiber and clean aviation fuel.
A gradual increase in capacity will allow for the transporting and processing of waste at the landfill.
“The waste recycling plant is a very important facility. We strongly support projects aimed at protecting the environment. Now it is important to move from discussion to concrete actions. City authorities and relevant departments, in close cooperation with the company, will study the project and provide its full support,” Karashukeyev.
As part of the working visit, representatives of the German company will inspect the test site in the region.
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https://astanatimes.com/2024/01/german-investor-plans-to-build-waste-processing-plant-in-taraz/
| 2024-01-25T08:11:23Z
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ASTANA – Information technologies (IT) and digitalization, healthcare, tourism and education have been identified as key fields where Kazakhstan and India can expand and forge new partnerships, according to Ambassador of India to Kazakhstan T.V. Nagendra Prasad.
In an interview with The Astana Times, Prasad spoke of trade and investment, cultural ties and educational exchanges that are key to the future of bilateral relations. The ambassador also touched on Central Asia’s role in Indian foreign policy.
India and Central Asia
According to Prasad, the Central Asian region holds strategic importance for India as it considers the region its “extended neighborhood.”
“Besides its historical linkages, due to its strategic location, Central Asia is crucial for security, connectivity and trade and economic relations. Kazakhstan obviously has a significant place as the largest country and economy in the region. Its rich abundant natural resources, including minerals, growing economy and adaptability to technology have huge potential for India-Kazakh cooperation across the sectors,” said Prasad.
The momentum in this relationship can be gauged by the fact that India has established various institutionalized mechanisms to engage and strengthen ties with Central Asia.
In 2019, India initiated the India-Central Asia Dialogue, a ministerial-level dialogue between foreign ministers of India and the five Central Asian states. Then, in 2022, India launched the India-Central Asia Summit at the level of heads of state and the government.
Prasad said those mechanisms would take the bilateral relationship to the next level, anticipating important developments in trade and investment benefiting both sides.
Trade
“Kazakhstan is India’s largest trade and investment partner in Central Asia. Total bilateral trade between India and Kazakhstan amounted to $1 billion in 2023,” said Prasad.
Kazakhstan’s top exports to India are petroleum oils, hydrogen, silver, asbestos and ferroalloys, while India exports pharmaceuticals, electronics, tea, motor vehicles and ceramics.
“However, only a fraction of trade potential has been realized to date, leaving huge scope across the sectors. India is the fifth-largest economy in the world and is the fastest-growing economy. India’s large market, growing economy and growing Kazakhstan’s economy with aspiring young populations have much to collaborate in pharma, energy, infrastructure, IT and digital development,” said Prasad.
Several bilateral institutional mechanisms have been created to foster trade and deepen ties between the two countries, such as the India-Kazakhstan Inter-Governmental Commission (IGC), Joint Working Groups (JWGs) and India-Central Asia Business Council.
“We should make use of these mechanisms to promote bilateral trade. Kazakhstan can look for a role in the manufacturing and distributing of several products with the collaboration of the Indian industry. I am happy to note that Kazakhstan took part in the Vibrant Gujarat Summit recently to explore the opportunities. On its platform, the participating countries discussed issues of socio-economic development and promising projects for foreign investment,” said Prasad.
The IT sector and digitalization, in particular, have much potential, according to the ambassador.
“Digitalization sectors have significant potential for cooperation between India and Kazakhstan. In particular, both countries have a strong IT infrastructure, talented information technology specialists and the ease of adoption by people, for example, cashless transactions,” he said.
“Kazakhstan is increasingly focusing on developing its technology and innovation sector, with a growing startup ecosystem and government support for IT development. Indian tech companies and startups can consider partnering with Kazakh counterparts or investing in the growing IT and innovation sector,” added Prasad.
Investment
The inflow of foreign direct investment from India to Kazakhstan over the past 25 years amounted to $414 million, said Prasad. As of January, 563 Indian legal entities, branches, representative offices and joint ventures are registered in Kazakhstan.
“Kazakhstan has significant potential in the energy sector. Indian companies can explore opportunities for investment in renewable energy, such as solar and wind power. Indian companies with expertise in construction, engineering and project management can explore opportunities in metals and mining, infrastructure projects, including transportation, logistics including ports, railways and urban development, automobiles,” said Prasad.
“It is important to note that the Indian private sector is investing in a big way abroad and Kazakhstan fits well into it. I am confident that the future holds promise for Indian investors in Kazakhstan,” he added.
With India being known as the pharma and vaccine capital of the world, there is much potential to invest in Kazakhstan’s pharmaceutical manufacturing, medical equipment and healthcare services as well.
Tourism
In 2023, Indian visitors ranked among the top five visitor groups to Kazakhstan, according to the Kazakh Ministry of Tourism and Sports.
The ambassador said Kazakhstan has been blessed with a rich history and beauty that attracts Indians to visit the country.
Now, both countries are working together to ensure further growth in tourism by easing the visa requirements.
“The recent developments include Kazakhstan’s offer of 14 days visa-free travel to Indian tourists. India’s extension of the e-visa facility to Kazakh citizens has also smoothened travel. Added to this, there has been an increase in air connectivity in the Almaty – Delhi, Almaty – Mumbai and Shymkent – Delhi sectors besides regular chartered flights to Goa. Likewise, there is an increased tourism to royal palaces in Rajasthan, Nature of Kerala, Beaches of Goa and Biodiversity of North-East,” said Prasad.
India has also emerged as a highly reliable and cost-effective medical tourism destination. Medical tourism represents significant potential for cooperation between India and Kazakhstan, according to Prasad.
Culture and education
“Cultural connection between our two countries based on people-to-people exchanges has been there for centuries,” said Prasad.
In 1994, India established its Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre (SVCC) in Kazakhstan. That was the launch of an important step that is a road map for cultural exchange between the countries for decades to come.
SVCC provides facilities for learning Indian dance, music and yoga to Kazakh people at its premises. It also facilitates the projection of Kazakh culture in India.
Last year, several Kazakh artists visited India to showcase their performing art traditions. Eighty Kazakh artists took part in the Lakshminarayana Global Music Festival in India, highlighting the rich culture of the two countries.
The two countries have also signed a historic India-Kazakhstan Cultural Exchange Program in 2022 with the aim to promote cultural exchanges and dialogues.
“I am happy to note that the cultural exchanges are growing constantly,” said Prasad.
India and Kazakhstan have also joined forces to develop educational exchange programs. Approximately 9,800 Indian students are studying in Kazakh medical universities.
“The inflow of Indian students in Kazakh medical universities located in various cities contributes significantly to strengthening bonds between our countries,” said Prasad.
India also provides academic opportunities for a substantial number of Kazakh students every year to study under the fully paid Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) program and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) scholarship.
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https://astanatimes.com/2024/01/indian-ambassador-highlights-promising-partnerships-in-it-digitalization-and-healthcare/
| 2024-01-25T08:11:30Z
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ASTANA – National Commission for Women’s Affairs, Family and Demographic Policy wrapped up the outcomes of their work in 2023 and set goals for this year during a Jan. 24 meeting, reported the Ministry of Culture and Information press service.
“2023 was a productive year for the commission, which focused on exploring a wide range of trending topics in the field of protecting the rights of women and children and became a popular dialogue platform between the authorities, civil society and international organizations,” said Chair of National Commission for Women’s Affairs, Family and Demographic Policy Aida Balayeva.
According to Balayeva, last year, the commission experts took part in developing amendments to the Social Code, Administrative Offences Code and the Criminal Code. A draft law has been created to introduce amendments and additions to some legislative acts to ensure women’s rights and children’s safety.
In 2023, the expert groups traveled to the country’s regions to analyze problems, assess regional features, and develop solutions to urgent topics. Based on the results of monitoring and expert analysis, several initiatives have been prepared to ensure the safety of children in private preschool institutions and summer camps and prevent harassment, bullying and suicide among children.
The One Stop Service project was launched to provide free legal and psychological assistance to victims of violence. As part of the project, support was provided for investigating 36 criminal cases against women and children. Eleven resonant cases were taken under exceptional control.
A special methodology has been developed for lawyers involved in cases to protect women and children. An algorithm for rapid response to cases of child abuse was prepared and implemented into the practices of government agencies.
The experts have implemented seven socially valuable projects, including three charity projects with the Samruk Kazyna Sovereign Wealth Fund.
The national commission prioritizes tasks of fulfilling international obligations in family and gender policy and the development of international cooperation.
This year, the commission will focus on strengthening the legal culture and zero tolerance for law violators, encouraging public discussion with various target groups, enhancing moral and family values, and empowering women.
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https://astanatimes.com/2024/01/national-commission-for-womens-affairs-family-and-demographic-policy-wraps-up-2023-sets-priorities-for-this-year/
| 2024-01-25T08:11:36Z
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ASTANA – In 2023, net profit of the Samruk Kazyna Sovereign Wealth Fund reached 1.9 trillion tenge (US$4.25 billion) according to preliminary calculations, said Samruk Kazyna Chairman Nurlan Zhakupov at a Jan. 24 public council meeting, reported the fund’s press service.
“In 2022 the average oil price was 99$ per barrel, and in 2023 it was 81$, which means that the price of oil tightened up by almost 20%. Also, amid growing domestic demand, the volume of gas exports has decreased. At the same time, gas prices on the internal market are much lower than export prices. We have achieved the results comparable to 2022 in terms of net profit owing to effective liquidity management and treasury portfolio,” he said.
According to Zhakupov, the holding has adopted a unified policy for managing free cash in national companies, negotiated with banks and improved the conditions for placing the fund’s money. The holding more than doubled the target for profitability in terms of free liquidity.
The fund paid a record number of dividends worth 238 billion tenge (US$532 million) to the state this year.
The meeting was attended by nearly 40 people, including fund managers, deputies of Parliament, public and government figures, financial experts, and others.
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https://astanatimes.com/2024/01/samruk-kazyna-sovereign-wealth-funds-net-profit-exceeds-4-billion-in-2023/
| 2024-01-25T08:11:43Z
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The Princess of Wales has spent over a week in hospital following her successful abdominal surgery. Her husband Prince William is holding the fort at home and looking after their children Prince George, ten, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five.
And while being in charge of the kids won't faze "confident" William, fortunately for him, he has a strong support network nearby.
Kate's parents Carole and Michael Middleton live in Bucklebury, Berkshire, about a 40-minute drive away from the Wales' family home in Windsor. Her younger sister Pippa, who shares three children with husband James Matthews, is also based in Berkshire.
"The Middletons are a really close family and Carole is a very hands-on grandmother, and I'm sure she will be at the helm. She often picks the kids up," Ingrid Seward, editor in chief of Majesty magazine, told HELLO!.
"Pippa has children of her own now, but I'm sure she will help by offering to have the kids round for tea and that kind of thing."
Ingrid added: "William is incredibly supportive as a husband. It's pretty unusual for the Prince of Wales to cancel engagements because his wife isn't well – that certainly wouldn't have happened in the past – but he's a modern man whose family is more important to him than anything else."
Princess Kate, 42, was admitted to hospital last week for planned surgery on her abdominal area. William has been spending time at her bedside; he was photographed visiting her at The London Clinic shortly after Kensington Palace made the health announcement.
But he has also temporarily stepped back from his royal role to look after his three children. He has cleared his diary of official visits and meetings, with no mentions of William in the Court Circular – the daily record of royal engagements – since Kate was admitted.
He gets on famously well with his parents-in-law and Carole has often been spotted arriving at Kensington Palace, where the Waleses used to live, to help with babysitting duties. She is also known to take her grandchildren on fun outings such as to the local petting zoo and on bike rides.
Describing herself as a "hands-on" grandmother, Carole previously told Good Housekeeping: "I want to run down the hills, climb the trees and go through the tunnel at the playground. As long as I am able to, that's what I'll be doing. I cook with them, I muck around dancing, we go on bike rides."
Pippa, meanwhile, has her hands full with her three young children, but has always been supportive of her big sister Kate. She is the proud mum to Arthur, six, Grace, who turns three in March, and Rose, one.
The Matthews family live in a spectacular £15million home in Berkshire, which features a staggering 30 rooms and around 150 acres of grounds that houses a walled garden and greenhouses.
LISTEN to A Right Royal Podcast and find out why Prince William was 'really hurt' by Prince Harry's 'veiled criticisms of Kate':
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/511885/carole-pippa-middleton-helping-princess-kate-during-hospital-stay/
| 2024-01-25T08:14:32Z
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Denmark’s Defense Ministry has unveiled a $13.2 million aid package for Ukraine, aimed at strengthening Kyiv’s defense capabilities against Russian cyber attacks.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine represents the first modern war with a major cyber warfare component, blending traditional trench warfare akin to early 20th-century conflicts with a highly innovative struggle for cyber dominance. Denmark is a key player in the Ukraine IT Coalition, an initiative spearheaded by Estonia and Luxembourg since September 2023 to enhance Kyiv’s cybersecurity amid the Russian-Ukraine war.
Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen, in a January 24 press release, highlighted the new $13.2 million donation as “an important contribution to the long-term support for the strengthening of Ukraine’s cyber defense,” according to Newsweek.
“We have on several occasions delivered donations that support the cyber defense and the critical IT infrastructure in Ukraine. It is therefore also natural that we contribute to the support of Ukraine in an area where we are already active,” Poulsen said the the release.
Recently, Denmark announced the allocation of $21 million for the reconstruction of Mykolaiv, which includes projects in the agricultural sector aimed at demining agricultural land, providing cogeneration plants, as well as the reconstruction of a dormitory at Mykolaiv State Agrarian University for fire safety.
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/01/25/denmark-provides-13-2-million-to-enhance-ukraine-cyber-capabilities-against-russia/
| 2024-01-25T08:32:19Z
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At a joint press conference with Slovak PM Robert Fico in Berlin on 24 January, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated that Germany and Ukraine are nearing an agreement on security assurances, according to Ukrinform.
On 12 January in Kyiv, Ukraine, and the UK signed a bilateral agreement focusing on military cooperation and security guarantees for Ukraine in the event of another Russian attack. Ukraine was also engaging in negotiations for similar agreements with over a dozen countries, including the US, Canada, and France.
Scholz mentioned his intensive discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, including a call earlier that day, and anticipated future talks. A key topic in their recent conversation was the “security partnership,” which both nations are actively developing.
“I assume that we will finalize this soon… I have a feeling that we are on the verge of finalizing negotiations,” the Chancellor said, promising to announce the details once the deal is signed.
Chancellor Scholz assured on behalf of Germany that Berlin will support Ukraine for as long as it takes, citing the existential threat to Ukraine’s sovereignty from the Russian war, underscored by President Putin’s overtly imperialist rhetoric.
Scholz refuted the notion that the war’s persistence is due to a lack of dialogue between Kyiv and Moscow, reminding that over 200 meetings had occurred under the Minsk agreements and the Normandy format before 24 February 2022, yet Russia still launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“No country seeks peace as much as Ukraine. But two years into this war, we must admit that there is no easy solution in sight,” Scholz said.
Read also:
- UK security deal with Ukraine: Budapest Memorandum 2.0 or road to NATO?
- Reuters: France to send long-range missiles to Ukraine, Macron to finalize security deal in Kyiv
- Ukraine launches security guarantee talks with Romania
- Ukraine is negotiating security agreements with six more countries after the UK
- A security agreement with the UK is bilateral. Ukraine will also assist if the UK faces any future aggression—Prime Minister
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| 2024-01-25T08:32:59Z
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SYDNEY - A tropical cyclone off the coast of northern Australia was upgraded to the “severe” category three on Jan 25, hours before it was set to make landfall along the coastline bordering the Great Barrier Reef, the second such cyclone in the area since December.
The Bureau of Meteorology said tropical cyclone Kirrily will cross the coast near the tourist town of Townsville on the night of Jan 25, bringing with it wind gusts of up to 165km per hour.
Intense rain accompanying the cyclone may cause life-threatening flash flooding in the storm’s path and those within 100km of coastline north and south of Townsville should shelter in a safe place, the bureau said.
Queensland Premier Steven Miles said on Jan 25 before the storm was upgraded that residents should prepare to be without power for potentially days. A day earlier, he announced 100 extra emergency staff had been sent to the area.
“We’re prepared and ready for the worst, now we wait and hope for the best,” he said at a news conference. “Our message to Queenslanders is, now is the time to make sure you are ready.”
Category three storms are two rungs away from the most dangerous and can destroy caravans as well as lay waste to crops and trees.
The latest storm warnings come roughly a month after tropical cyclone Jasper caused widespread damage across the region.
Townsville airport was closed on Jan 25 and public events for the Australia Day holiday on Jan 26 have been cancelled. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/australianz/tropical-cyclone-upgraded-to-severe-as-it-approaches-australian-coast
| 2024-01-25T08:41:41Z
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SHANGHAI - Clean-energy projects were the largest driver of China’s economic growth in 2023, with Beijing investing nearly as much in decarbonisation infrastructure as total global investment in fossil fuels, according to a report released on Jan 25.
China is the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases driving climate change, but it is also the top producer of wind and solar energy.
Faced with soaring energy consumption, the country has turbocharged its use of renewables – but also in 2022 approved its largest expansion of coal-fired power plants since 2015, despite President Xi Jinping pledging to peak CO2 emissions between 2026 and 2030.
Investment in “clean-energy” sectors accounted for 40 per cent of China’s GDP expansion in 2023, researchers at the Finland-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (Crea) said in a new report on Jan 25.
“With Chinese investment growing by just 1.5 trillion yuan (S$283 billion) in 2023 overall, the analysis shows that clean energy accounted for all of the growth, while investment in sectors such as real estate shrank,” the report said.
The researchers examined investment in solar power, electric vehicles (EVs), energy efficiency, railways, energy storage, electricity grids, wind, nuclear and hydropower.
These sectors received US$890 billion (S$1.2 trillion) in investment, almost as much as the total global investment in fossil fuels in 2023, Crea researchers said.
“Without the growth from clean-energy sectors, China’s GDP would have missed the government’s growth target of ‘around 5 per cent’, rising by only 3.0 per cent instead of 5.2 per cent,” the researchers found.
“China’s reliance on the clean technology sectors to drive growth and achieve key economic targets boosts their economic and political importance,” they added. “It could also support an accelerated energy transition.”
EV glut
They warned, however, that China could soon have excess capacity in the sector, and that “there is a limit to how much solar power, batteries and other clean technology can be absorbed”.
“In order to keep driving growth in investment, clean technology manufacturing would need to not only absorb as much capital as it did in 2023 but keep increasing investment year after year,” the researchers said.
The threat of overcapacity is beginning to trouble Chinese policymakers, with Vice-Minister of Industry Xin Guobin saying that some businesses had been “blindly rushing in and building redundant new energy vehicle projects”.
Mr Xin said at a press conference last week that the government would take measures to crack down on unnecessary EV projects.
Buoyed by years of government subsidies, China’s electric car industry has exploded in the past decade, with homegrown BYD overtaking US carmaker Tesla in electric vehicle sales last quarter.
Between 2014 and the end of 2022, the Chinese government said it had spent more than 200 billion yuan on subsidies and tax breaks for EV purchases alone.
Companies in other industries are looking to grab a share of the pie, including consumer electronics giant Xiaomi, which unveiled its first electric car model in December.
Chinese EV firms now face problems, however, including “insufficient consumer demand” and trade barriers in other markets, with many businesses still struggling to make a profit, Mr Xin warned at a press conference on Jan 19.
International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol warned last week that trade barriers in the clean energy sector could slow down the global energy transition.
Both the United States and European countries have signalled they might adopt more protectionist policies to buttress their own green sectors.
Washington is considering raising tariffs on Chinese EVs, as well as other goods like solar cells, media reports said in December.
EVs are already subjected to a 25 per cent import fee introduced on Chinese automobiles during Donald Trump’s administration.
In October, the EU announced a probe into China’s EV subsidies after accusations that the resulting products undercut European competitors.
The bloc is also mulling a separate investigation into Chinese support for its manufacturers of wind turbines. AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/clean-energy-largest-driver-of-chinese-gdp-growth-in-2023-report
| 2024-01-25T08:41:52Z
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TOKYO – The crowning of Ukrainian-born model Karolina Shiino as the winner of the Miss Japan contest this week has triggered a social media debate on what it means to be, and look, Japanese.
The 26-year-old model, who was born in Ukraine and looks Caucasian, has lived in Japan for more than 20 years and is a naturalised citizen.
Over the years, Japan has further opened its doors to foreigners as a way to reverse its declining birth rate, one of the lowest in the world.
“I live as a Japanese person, but there have been racial barriers and many instances where I wasn’t accepted,” Ms Shiino said in fluent Japanese during a tearful acceptance on Jan 25.
“I’m just filled with so much gratitude that I have really been accepted as a Japanese person today,” she said.
Several people took to social media to question whether Ms Shiino is truly the face of Japan.
“So, someone who doesn’t have a drop of Japanese blood and has no trace of Japanese-ness is going to represent Japanese women?” said one person on the social media platform X.
Others said she has the right to represent the country she belongs to.
“If you have Japanese citizenship, then you are Japanese. Isn’t that all there is to say? What more is there to prove?” another X user said.
The reaction to Ms Shiino’s victory echoes the firestorm that surrounded Ms Ariana Miyamoto, the daughter of a Japanese mother and African-American father, who represented Japan in the Miss Universe pageant in 2015.
But Ms Shiino hopes people will see past her looks.
On the beauty competition’s website, she wrote that although she looks foreign, she is Japanese in spirit. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/foreign-born-miss-japan-sparks-debate-on-what-it-means-to-be-japanese
| 2024-01-25T08:42:02Z
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HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s top court on Jan 25 overturned the acquittal of activist and human rights lawyer Chow Hang Tung of inciting others to join an unauthorised vigil to remember victims of China’s 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.
Chow won an appeal at the High Court in December 2022 against her conviction and sentence over the banned candlelit vigil in 2021 which commemorated victims of the pro-democracy crackdown in and around Tiananmen Square.
However, a panel of five judges, including Chief Justice Andrew Cheung, permanent judges Roberto Ribeiro, Joseph Fok and Johnson Lam, and non-permanent judge Anthony Gleeson, unanimously ruled in favour of the prosecution on Jan 25.
Chow will face a retrial.
Despite the High Court overturning her conviction on the charge of inciting unauthorised assembly, Chow was denied bail and has remained in jail as she faces a separate national security charge.
She has been detained since September 2021 at a maximum security women’s prison and continues from behind bars to defy Beijing’s campaign to subjugate the city.
Chow, 39, a human-rights lawyer, was the former vice-chairwoman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, a now-disbanded group that previously organised the annual candlelit vigil.
She was charged with incitement to subversion alongside two former alliance leaders, Albert Ho and Lee Cheuk Yan, who also remain in custody while awaiting trial. The security trial is expected to begin in the second half of 2024.
The charge of incitement to subversion carries a sentence of up to 10 years’ imprisonment.
The national security law imposed by Beijing on the financial hub in 2020 punishes subversion, collusion with foreign forces and terrorism with up to life in prison.
Both the Hong Kong and Chinese governments said the law, which has been criticised by some Western governments and human rights groups, is necessary to restore stability after anti-government protests in 2019. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/hong-kong-s-top-court-overturns-acquittal-of-human-rights-lawyer
| 2024-01-25T08:42:13Z
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TOKYO – The Pokemon Company said on Jan 25 it will investigate and take action over any infringement of its intellectual property rights, after a viral game from a Japanese developer became dubbed “Pokemon with guns”.
Survival adventure game Palworld from developer PocketPair, in which players can use guns to capture and train cute creatures known as “pals”, is in early access on video game distribution service Steam.
It has sold more than eight million copies since its Jan 18 release.
The title, which is also available on the Xbox, has received praise from reviewers for its gameplay while generating debate over perceived similarities with the family-friendly Pokemon series.
“We have received libellous comments about our artists and some tweets that seem close to death threats,” PocketPair CEO Takuro Mizobe said earlier this week in a post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
PocketPair was not immediately reachable for comment.
The Pokemon Company said in a statement that it has “received many inquiries regarding another company’s game released in January 2024”.
“We intend to investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to the Pokemon,” the company said.
The Pokemon Company was set up with investment from gaming companies Nintendo, Game Freak and Creatures.
Nintendo said it does not comment on individual cases. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/pokemon-co-to-defend-intellectual-property-after-viral-game-sparks-plagiarism-debate
| 2024-01-25T08:42:23Z
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YANGON – Fighters from a Myanmar ethnic minority armed group have seized control of a port town after more than two months of intense clashes with junta troops, they said.
The Arakan Army (AA) said late on Jan 24 that it “completely controlled” Pauktaw, a town of 20,000 people close to a crucial deep-water port in the capital of western Rakhine state.
AA fighters briefly seized Pauktaw in November 2023, shattering a fragile ceasefire that had largely held since the military’s coup in 2021.
The junta has used artillery and naval ships to bombard the town almost daily since, and strafed it with gunfire from helicopters, residents have told AFP.
New Google Earth images of Pauktaw showed a block of the downtown area reduced almost entirely to rubble and damage to several buildings near its harbour.
Several buildings in the police station compound were destroyed too.
AFP was unable to confirm the AA claim, and communications with Pauktaw remained patchy.
A source close to the AA told AFP earlier this week that its fighters were conducting “clearance operations” in the town.
On Jan 23, the AA said “intense” clashes were ongoing in the town.
The junta has not commented on recent clashes in Pauktaw.
Around 18,000 people had been displaced from the area owing to fighting, the United Nations said in November.
Pauktaw is 25km east of the state capital Sittwe, home to a deep-water port partly financed by India as it seeks to deepen economic linkages with Myanmar.
Earlier this week, Myanmar’s chambers of commerce hosted talks with an Indian business delegation on “upgrading” operations at Sittwe port, the junta-backed media reported on Jan 25.
Travel between Sittwe and Pauktaw was severely restricted by new military gates and checkpoints, a Pauktaw resident currently in Sittwe told AFP on Jan 25, requesting anonymity for security reasons.
In its Jan 24 statement, the AA said “intense” clashes were ongoing in Mrauk-U, Minbya, Kyauktaw and Rathedaung towns in Rakhine, without giving details.
The AA has fought an on-off war for years seeking more autonomy for the state’s ethnic Rakhine population.
It is one of dozens of ethnic minority armed groups that have battled Myanmar’s military since independence from Britain in 1948.
Some groups want greater autonomy, while others simply want the right to run the lucrative trade in jade, drugs and timber in their territories.
The clashes in Rakhine come as the military and ethnic minority armed groups in northern Shan state accuse each other of breaching a China-brokered ceasefire.
Fighting had raged along the border with China since late October, with the military losing control of several towns and vital trade crossings to its northern neighbour. AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/myanmar-ethnic-minority-fighters-claim-control-of-port-town
| 2024-01-25T08:42:34Z
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BANGKOK – Asset managers in Thailand will soon be able to set up funds to invest in forestry and tree planting projects, as regulators seek to diversify the capital markets and provide funding to sectors that champion the goal of carbon neutrality.
The “green investment trusts”, as Thai regulators are calling them, will initially be limited to investments in projects that generate income from carbon credits, said Dr Pornanong Budsaratragoon, secretary-general of the Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Complete details and rules for the so-called green funds will be hammered out by mid-year after input from various stakeholders, she said.
“The new category of trusts will cater to the rising appetite for green financial products beyond just bonds and loans,” the SEC chief said in a recent interview. “The offering process will be much more streamlined than that for fixed-income securities.”
Thailand has set a 2050 target for carbon neutrality, sparking a wave of investment in both the public and private sectors. However, scrutiny has been raised after some high-profile projects were found to be over-claiming their benefits towards conservation and emissions reduction.
Thailand, South-east Asia’s second-biggest economy, in September launched its first carbon credit exchange. The new carbon market, called FTIX, will be operated by the Federation of Thai Industries, which comprises about 12,000 private companies across 45 sectors.
The World Bank is seeking to reduce overcounting of carbon credits and outright fraud by implementing stricter monitoring and verification protocols that, among other things, ensure that reforestation efforts do not lead to the clearing of trees elsewhere.
The SEC will establish protocols so that licensed green trusts comply with emissions tallies and carbon-credit reviews from certified agencies, Dr Pornanong said. The regulator is also promoting local companies to raise funds for green projects via tokens and other digital assets, she said. BLOOMBERG
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/thailand-promises-genuine-green-investment-funds-to-meet-carbon-targets
| 2024-01-25T08:42:44Z
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BEIJING - Singapore and China will kick off their mutual 30-day visa-free arrangement on Feb 9, in time for the Chinese New Year holidays.
The agreement, signed on Jan 25 by officials from both sides, will allow ordinary passport holders from Singapore and China to enter each other’s country without the need for a visa, and for a stay of up to 30 days.
The exemption was first announced in December 2023 when Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong was in China for an annual top-level meeting between the two governments on cooperation and joint projects. The visa scheme was expected to begin in early 2024.
China reinstated a 15-day visa-free policy for Singaporeans earlier in July 2023, after a suspension of more than three years because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
On Jan 25, Chinese media reported the start date of the new 30-day visa-free scheme, adding that China now has “comprehensive” mutual visa exemption arrangements with at least 22 countries including Singapore.
More than 3.5 million Chinese tourists visited Singapore in 2019, but post-Covid arrivals have not rebounded to such levels.
This year’s Chinese New Year falls on Feb 10.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/singapore-china-mutual-visa-exemption-to-start-on-feb-9-in-time-for-cny-holidays
| 2024-01-25T08:42:55Z
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SEOUL - A health warning from South Korea's food ministry has urged people not to eat fried toothpicks made of starch in a shape resembling curly fries, after the practice went viral in social media posts.
Video clips showing people consuming the deep-fried starch toothpicks with seasoning such as powdered cheese have racked up thousands of likes and shares on TikTok and Instagram.
"Their safety as food has not been verified," the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said in a posting on Wednesday on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. "Please do not eat (them)."
Videos of the toothpicks, a sanitary product, being fried in oil and eaten were going viral, it added.
Food colouring is used to impart a green hue to the toothpicks, made from sweet potato or corn starch, which are seen as being environmentally friendly and biodegradable.
Often used in restaurants in South Korea, they can also be used to pick up finger foods.
Online eating shows, called "Mukbang", which often show people eating an excessive amount of food or unusual dishes, are popular in South Korea.
"It's very crispy," one TikTok user said in a video, while crunching up fried toothpicks. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-korea-warns-against-social-media-trend-of-eating-fried-toothpicks
| 2024-01-25T08:43:06Z
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SINGAPORE – Few consumers would place furniture shops at the cutting edge of technology, but local store Scanteak reckons it makes a good fit.
One of its initiatives is to employ an augmented reality feature on its website that allows customers to visualise furniture pieces in their own homes before making a purchase.
This feature was introduced in 2023 as part of Scanteak’s broader digitalisation efforts in collaboration with Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG), which is also helping the firm implement an artificial intelligence-based network in its internal systems.
These initiatives have improved Scanteak’s operational efficiency and lowered costs by reducing repetitive tasks across sales, customer service, accounting and administrative duties by approximately 40 per cent.
Scanteak is just one of 18,000 local enterprises which worked with EnterpriseSG in 2023 on projects to build new business capabilities, innovate and expand overseas.
Around 3,000 of these companies are expected to generate $16.4 billion in revenue and create 21,500 skilled jobs within the next three to five years, EnterpriseSG said in its annual review report on Jan 25.
The other 15,000 companies partnered with EnterpriseSG for fundamental capability building, or adopting digital solutions like inventory or human resource management systems. They also pursued initiatives to explore fresh market opportunities, such as participation in overseas trade fairs.
About $10.2 billion of the $16.4 billion in projected revenue is expected to come from enhanced cost competitiveness through automation, process redesign and offshoring projects.
Internationalisation efforts, including business strategy development, international branding and marketing, are anticipated to contribute $5.2 billion, while $1 billion is expected from the development of new products and services.
EnterpriseSG also helped local firms secure deals and grow their presence in overseas markets through 460 projects in 2023.
One example is Singapore fashion label Love Bonito, which opened a pop-up store in New York in June 2023.
The firm, which entered the US market in 2019 through EnterpriseSG’s Scale-Up Programme, also has a presence in regional markets like Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines.
Love Bonito is expecting international markets to contribute to 50 per cent of its total revenue by the end of 2024.
EnterpriseSG chief executive Lee Chuan Teck noted that Singapore’s companies faced multiple challenges in 2023, including a global manufacturing recession caused by a build-up of inventory during the pandemic, increased trade and investment barriers, higher interest rates and a poor fund-raising environment.
Mr Lee said: “Many businesses in Singapore felt it more acutely because, unlike other countries, we also have rising rent and labour costs.”
EnterpriseSG expects the manufacturing sector to rebound and inflationary pressures to ease in 2024, but it also warned that “long-term structural challenges” will remain.
Mr Lee noted that although more economic tailwinds can be anticipated in 2024, Singapore is constrained by limited resources, which are expected to get worse.
“It is likely that the global economy will continue to fragment; trade tensions between both large and small countries are unlikely to ease anytime soon,” he added.
EnterpriseSG plans to bolster connections between small and medium-sized enterprises and large companies here, exploring opportunities for co-innovation, market expansion and process improvements.
It will also expand collaborations with local and international partners to broaden market access for Singapore’s companies.
EnterpriseSG announced on Jan 24 that Mr Lee will become the agency’s executive chairman in April, succeeding Mr Peter Ong, who retires as non-executive chairman on Mar 2024.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/firms-to-create-21500-jobs-generate-164b-in-revenue-after-help-from-enterprise-singapore-in-2023
| 2024-01-25T08:43:16Z
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SINGAPORE – Investors looking for healthy yields ought to give locally listed real estate investment trusts (Reits) a good look, say analysts.
They are averaging distribution per unit (DPU) of about 6 per cent, which is not to be sneezed at, given benchmark 10-year Singapore government bond yields are hovering at around 2.9 per cent.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/s-reits-face-headwinds-but-offer-attractive-yields-analysts
| 2024-01-25T08:43:27Z
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My Father Was A Rock Star!
Theatregoers will recognise writer-director-actress Aidli Mosbit, but fewer will know about her pop singer father Salleh Mosbit.
The theatre veteran shares an unexpected tidbit in a new podcast series, The Objects That Made Us. Her object is an old EP record made by her father when he was in a band called Les Kafilas, which was part of a 1960s music phenomenon called Pop Yeh Yeh – influenced by Western pop music of the time.
The home-grown music scene then was heaving, and there was a healthy number of Malay kampung boys who formed bands to play pop music.
Aidli will speak about her father and the Pop Yeh Yeh sensation at a talk on Feb 18 at the Grassroots Book Room.
The podcast, supported by the National Heritage Board, features some engaging human interest stories. Created by former Lianhe Zaobao reporters Amy Sim and Yap Seow Choong, it excavates history and heritage through the personal artefacts belonging to guests.
Another interesting episode features pop historian and collector Su Zhangkai, who talks about the thriving world of Chinese tabloids in post-war Singapore. He has lent some of his substantial memorabilia collection to the ongoing Wang Sha And Ye Feng exhibition at the Asian Film Archive.
Where: Grassroots Book Room, 25 Bukit Pasoh Road
When: Feb 18, 4pm
MRT: Outram Park
Admission: Free with registration at str.sg/GRoK
Info: E-mail Amy Sim on skokeng@yahoo.com
Make Your Own Book With Clara Chow And Call For Volunteers
Join poet-editor Tse Hao Gang and writer Clara Chow for this hands-on discussion where participants can chat about writing and creation while making their own chapbooks.
Tse, who is working on his print and pamphlet initiative Paper Jam, is one of Sing Lit Station’s Jalan Besar Fellows for 2024.
Another Jalan Besar Fellow, muralist Anne Neo Hui Ting, is canvassing for ideas and volunteers for her community art project, Lit! Our Community Canvas, on Jan 28. If you have a favourite Singlit book and want to paint a wall, take part in her first brainstorming session and share some ideas.
Where: Sing Lit Station, 22 Dickson Road
When: Make Your Own Book, Jan 27, 1.30pm; Call For Volunteers, Jan 28, 10am
MRT: Jalan Besar
Admission: $10 for Make Your Own Book from peatix.com; free for Call For Volunteers
Info: www.singlitstation.com
Of Time And Classics
Ding Yi Music Company is teaming up with Taiwan’s Taoyuan Chinese Orchestra for the second edition of this series.
Of Time And Classics revisits traditional Chinese chamber music with its programme, which includes Spring Dawn On The Emerald Lake and Fishermen’s Song Of Victory.
There will be an unexpected bonus for one lucky audience member. Vote for your favourite work of the evening and you could win a painting by Chinese painter Ren Jianhui, which is valued at more than $10,000. The work is donated by Qiu Zhai Art Foundation.
Where: Victoria Concert Hall, 11 Empress Place
When: Jan 28, 7.30pm
MRT: Raffles Place
Admission: $28 and $38 from Sistic (go to sistic.com.sg or call 6348-5555)
Info: www.dingyimusic.com/of-time-and-classics-2
Sprezzatura
International collaborations are back in full swing on the concert scene. Red Dot Baroque, Singapore’s first professional baroque ensemble, is teaming up with guest musicians from Italian orchestra La Risonanza for an evening of music played with unusual instruments.
This concert will feature, among other rarities, the theorbo (long-necked lute) and sackbut (baroque trombone). Expect to hear period-authentic deliveries of the programme of songs of love and heartbreak by Monteverdi, Cavalli and Strozz.
Where: The Arts House Chamber, 1 Old Parliament Lane
When: Jan 28, 7.30pm
MRT: Raffles Place/City Hall
Admission: $35 from Eventbrite
Info: www.reddotbaroque.com/concerts
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/arts/arts-picks-sing-lit-station-events-ding-yi-music-company-and-red-dot-baroque-s-collaborations
| 2024-01-25T08:43:38Z
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SEOUL – A household name in South Korea for his starring roles in crime-action franchise films such as Train To Busan (2016) and The Outlaws (2017), actor Don Lee – also known as Ma Dong-seok – has joined hands with his long-time partner, martial arts director Heo Myeong-haeng, for Netflix original film Badland Hunters.
The dystopian action film, which premieres on the streaming platform on Jan 26, is Heo’s directorial debut film.
Set in a post-earthquake Seoul where society has completely collapsed, fearless hunter Nam-san (Don Lee) goes out to rescue Soo-na (Roh Jeong-eui), a teenager who has been kidnapped by Yang Gi-soo (Lee Hee-jun), a doctor who survived the earthquake.
Lee Jun-young plays Nam-san’s partner, Ji-wan, while An Ji-hye stars as special forces sergeant Eun-ho, who helps Nam-san and Ji-wan.
Heo – who has designed the action sequences of many hit action flicks, including The Roundup films (2022 and 2023), Hunt (2022), Train To Busan and I Saw the Devil (2011) – said he focused on designing fantasy-like action sequences.
“I tried to design the action sequences based on the main keyword of the film – survival – more than anything else,” Heo, 45, told reporters during a press conference held in Seoul on Jan 16.
He stressed that Badland Hunters has nothing to do with popular post-apocalypse flick Concrete Utopia (2023), contrary to speculation that the two works share the same world view.
Don Lee, 52, who also starred in Marvel’s Eternals (2021), said while many of his previous action works reflect real-world situations, Badland Hunters involves a lot of unprecedented “K-action” sequences. Lee and Heo worked together to take the film from screenplay to production.
“While many of my actions involve a lot of boxing-inspired punches, Badland Hunters contains a mix of various actions derived from jiu-jitsu – something that is only possible amid an apocalypse setting and fantasy-like world view,” Lee said.
As long-time partners in action flicks, Lee expressed deep trust in Heo.
“While many think that designing action is just about making moves, it requires a lot of understanding of emotion and drama.
“I’m sure that Heo already knows a lot about movie directing in that context. So I wanted him to debut as a director,” he said, adding that he also suggested fellow actor Lee Hee-jun for the project, after the two worked together in The Unjust (2010).
Meanwhile, Heo’s other upcoming film The Roundup: Punishment, which also stars Don Lee, was invited to premiere at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival’s Special Gala segment in February. It is the first time for a South Korean action series to be invited to premiere at the festival.
The Roundup: Punishment, the fourth instalment of South Korea’s mega-hit action franchise, revolves around detective Ma Seok-do (Don Lee) who returns as a “monster cop” to take down former special forces agent Baek Chang-gi (Kim Moo-yul) and genius IT company CEO Jang Dong-chul (Lee Dong-hwi), by joining forces with former gang leader Jang Yi-soo (Park Ji-hwan).
The Roundup: Punishment is slated for a May release. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/post-apocalypse-movie-badland-hunters-is-packed-with-don-lee-action
| 2024-01-25T08:43:48Z
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SINGAPORE – The supervisor of a moving company was fined $8,000 on Jan 23 after he was found guilty of illegally disposing of unwanted furniture.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) said in a statement on Jan 25 that Siow Wei Wen had been engaged to move unwanted furniture from a vacated office in Beach Road to a recycling facility in Sungei Kadut Drive in the Kranji area on Jan 30, 2023.
Instead, Siow discarded the items at a secluded spot in Kheam Hock Road, off Lornie Highway, the agency added.
“The illegal disposal of waste is a serious offence as it pollutes the environment and can pose a hazard to public health. NEA will not hesitate to take strict enforcement action against any person who disposes of waste illegally,” said the agency.
For his actions, Siow could have been fined up to $50,000 or jailed for up to 12 months.
A repeat offender can be fined up to $100,000 and be jailed anywhere between one and 12 months.
NEA said that as at July 1, 2023, causing or permitting the dumping or disposal of waste in a public place is an offence and that enforcement action can be taken against supervisors who instruct their workers to do so.
The public can report suspected illegal disposals via the NEA’s online feedback form, the myENV mobile app or call its hotline on 1800-CALL-NEA (1800-2255-632).
When reporting a suspected illegal disposal, the public can help the authorities by giving details such as the date, time and location as well as the registration number of vehicles involved, as well as supporting photos or video clips.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/8000-fine-for-man-who-illegally-dumped-furniture-in-bukit-timah-area
| 2024-01-25T08:43:59Z
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SINGAPORE - A 51-year-old motorcyclist was pronounced dead by a paramedic after an accident in Tuas in the morning of Jan 24.
The police and the Singapore Civil Defence Force said they were alerted to the accident involving a male motorcyclist in Tuas South Avenue 3 towards Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim at about 7.45am.
The vehicle is believed to have skidded, added the police.
In a video posted on Facebook group Singapore Roads Accident, a blue tent is seen on the roadside grass verge next to a toppled motorcycle. The two leftmost lanes are cordoned off by police vehicles.
Police investigations are ongoing.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/man-dies-after-his-motorcycle-skids-in-tuas
| 2024-01-25T08:44:09Z
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SINGAPORE - A plan by Malaysia to set up a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) to study a 2018 decision to drop a review of an international court’s ruling on three disputed islets including Pedra Branca is a Malaysian “internal matter” and will not affect bilateral ties, Singapore said on Jan 25.
Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in response to a query from The Straits Times, said in a statement: “The Royal Commission of Inquiry is an internal matter of Malaysia.
“We do not see this affecting the good bilateral relations between Singapore and Malaysia.”
MFA said the International Court of Justice awarded sovereignty over Pedra Branca to Singapore in the case concerning sovereignty over Pedra Branca, Middle Rocks and South Ledge on May 23, 2008.
“Both Singapore and Malaysia have publicly announced that they will accept and abide by the Court’s decision which is final,” the statement added.
Malaysia’s Chief Secretary to the Government, Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali, said on Jan 24: “The Cabinet has agreed to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry to study the handling of cases related to Batu Puteh, Batuan Tengah and Tubir Selatan.”
Malaysia uses Malay names to refer to Pedra Branca (Batu Puteh) and the two maritime outcrops – Middle Rocks (Batuan Tengah) and South Ledge (Tubir Selatan).
Mr Zuki said Malaysia’s King will approve the members of the commission, who will be chosen for their expertise in judicial, legal and public administration matters, and “who can carry out a transparent, fair and equal investigation”.
The decisions to drop the review were made by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad when he became prime minister after the 2018 polls.
Pedra Branca is located at the eastern entrance of the Singapore Strait, about 24 nautical miles east of Singapore. To its south are Middle Rocks and South Ledge.
The ICJ in 2008 awarded sovereignty over Pedra Branca to Singapore, after both countries took the territorial dispute to the court.
The court also decided that sovereignty over Middle Rocks belonged to Malaysia, and sovereignty over South Ledge belonged to the state in the territorial waters in which it is located.
Malaysia and Singapore have set up a joint technical committee to draw the maritime boundary around Pedra Branca and Middle Rocks, and to determine the ownership of South Ledge.
Both countries said in 2008 that they would accept and abide by the court’s decision, which is final.
However, Malaysia in 2017, under then Premier Najib Razak, started an application for revision of the ICJ’s 2008 decision, citing new evidence that it had. A hearing was subsequently set for June 2018.
But Dr Mahathir decided in May 2018 to abandon the proceedings.
Under the ICJ statute, an application for revision cannot be made more than 10 years after the court’s judgment on May 23, 2008.
In December 2022, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim instructed then Attorney-General Idrus Harun to review matters pertaining to claims over Pedra Branca, which he said would allow negotiations with Singapore over the island to be more fruitful.
In January 2023, the Attorney-General’s Chambers said it was studying the recommendations made by a special task force the government had set up previously.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/singapore-says-kuala-lumpur-s-royal-inquiry-into-pedra-branca-an-internal-matter-of-malaysia
| 2024-01-25T08:44:19Z
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ABIDJAN - Stars like Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Victor Osimhen are the headline acts at the Africa Cup of Nations but they rub shoulders at the tournament with journeymen who, for a fleeting week or two, get to enjoy an extraordinary opportunity.
The African championship boasts an increasingly eclectic cast of characters, particularly in recent decades with the expansion of the tournament to 24 teams, with many countries searching for talent beyond their shores.
It means a musician playing football in his spare time was among the more than 600 footballers at the tournament in the Ivory Coast, along with a player who was delivering takeaways just months ago and another who was first contacted on LinkedIn.
Mozambique striker Stanley Ratifo, whose side were eliminated on Monday, has returned to Pforzheim where he plays in the fifth tier of German football.
The son of a Mozambican contract worker in the former East Germany, he was born in Halle, but gave up on his dream of becoming a professional player at FC Cologne, where he made it to the fringes of the first team but was never offered a deal.
He had a music career to fall back on, however, and took up work with a label based in Pforzheim, in the south west of Germany. He has almost 9,000 listeners a month on Spotify, and his best-known song “PradaShades” has 224,000 streams.
“But the passion for football didn’t let me go,” he explained, so he went to the local club and asked to train and was promptly asked to join.
Once back playing regularly, he approached Mozambique. They invited him to come and play and he scored on his debut.
Now he trains daily, plays music at night and every few months goes off on international duty.
“I can walk across the street in Germany and no one knows who I am but in Mozambique people are always stopping me.”
The 20-year-old Dutch-born Miano Danilo van den Bos
had also given up on a professional career at Dutch second division outfit FC Eindhoven.
'IS THIS A JOKE?'
He was delivering spare ribs for a takeaway in his home town in Veldhoven before joining an academy in Spain for players looking to keep fit while searching for other opportunities in the game.
His mother is Tanzanian and the family go on holiday there every two years but he is not sure how Tanzania coach Adel Amrouche got to hear about him.
“I answered a call and it is the national coach. I thought: ‘is this a joke?’”
He was invited to a training camp before the Cup of Nations and did enough to impress and win a place in the squad. "My mother burst into tears," he said of when he heard he had been chosen.
Cape Verde Islands defender Roberto Lopes, whose country were surprise Group B winners, is Dublin-born.
Although a regular league winner with Shamrock Rovers, he had no thoughts of an international career, not least for the small Portuguese-speaking island archipelago from where his father hailed.
"I set up a LinkedIn profile when I was in college but never really looked at it. I got a message from the then-coach Rui Aguas but he wrote to me in Portuguese. I just thought it was a spam message and I took no notice of it. And then about nine months later, he messaged me back, saying, 'Hi Roberto, have you had a chance to consider what I said to you?'” Lopes explained.
"I felt so rude for not having replied to him months earlier. I copied the message and put it into Google Translate. And it basically said: 'We're looking at getting new players into the Cape Verde squad and would you be interested in declaring for Cape Verde?”
Lopes said he needed no second invitation. This was before the last Cup of Nations finals in Cameroon where he played all the matches and he has continued to be a regular throughout the tournament in the Ivory Coast where the Cape Verdians have been one of the outstanding teams. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-25T08:44:30Z
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MELBOURNE - Order of play on the main court on the 13th day of the Australian Open on Friday (times local, prefix number denotes seeding):
* Day session: From 12 p.m. (0100 GMT)
* Night session: From 7:30 p.m. (0830 GMT)
ROD LAVER ARENA
Mixed Doubles final
3-Hsieh Su-wei (Chinese Taipei)/Jan Zielinski (Poland) v 2-Desirae Krawczyk (U.S.)/Neal Skupski (United Kingdom)
Men's Singles semi-finals (not before 0230 p.m.)
1-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) v 4-Jannik Sinner (Italy)
Night session
3-Daniil Medvedev (Russia) v 6-Alexander Zverev (Germany) REUTERS
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| 2024-01-25T08:44:40Z
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TOKYO - Behind the global success of Japanese video games lies a delicate task: Appealing to overseas players whose expectations on issues such as sexism are increasingly influencing the content of major titles.
With the majority of sales for big games now outside Japan, everything from slang words to characters’ costumes must be carefully considered for a global audience.
It is a complex process that has come a long way since the “Wild West” of the 1980s and 90s, one high-profile “localisation” team told AFP.
“There were no rules, no ‘industry standards’, and the quality of localisation could vary greatly from one title to the next,” said the SEGA of America team who worked on “Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth” – the latest title in the hit “Yakuza” series, releasing on Jan 26.
Back then, translators faced constraints including too-small text boxes, and sometimes game developers did the job themselves in less-than-perfect English.
It also meant that many games from the era, especially dialogue-heavy ones, never made it out of Japan.
“Thankfully, the industry – and perhaps more importantly consumers – have changed a lot since those days, and we are now able to be more faithful to the cultural and emotional content of Japanese games than ever,” the SEGA team said.
Localisation is now integral to the design process, with international gamers in mind from the start.
One key example is “how Japanese game developers dress their heroines” as the #MeToo movement changes mindsets, said Franck Genty, senior localisation manager at Japanese game giant Bandai Namco.
“We tell them that the cleavage is a bit too exposed, or the skirt is a bit too short,” he told AFP.
“Before, they weren’t very flexible, but they’ve become more proactive on such subjects.”
‘Puck Man’
The puzzle of game localisation affected the 1980 arcade sensation “Pac-Man”, with the direct translation “Puck Man” deemed too risky because it could be vandalised.
Some top-selling games including Mario, Final Fantasy and Pokemon involve fantasy worlds that are not overtly Japanese, offering some flexibility for their adaptation.
But the task becomes trickier for series such as “Yakuza”, which are set in real-life locations and use slang from Japan’s underworld.
Getting it right is important: around 70 per cent of revenue from recent titles in the “Yakuza” series is from overseas.
But in recent years, booming interest in manga comics, anime cartoons and wider Japanese culture has made the job easier.
“People know what ramen is now ... we don’t need to say ‘noodles’ any more,” Genty said.
His team at the European headquarters of Bandai Namco has adapted games including the “Tekken” fighting series and the smash-hit role-playing game “Elden Ring” into a dozen languages.
The job is as much a cultural challenge as a linguistic one, said Pierre Froget, localisation project manager at Bandai.
“The player, whichever country they’re from, should understand and feel the same thing as someone playing in the original language,” he said.
“No longer acceptable”
A better understanding of Japanese culture among players means adaptations can be more subtle – the “Yakuza” series is now called “Like a Dragon”, closer to the original Japanese.
LGBTQ caricatures and sexist cliches have also been axed.
“Many representations which were normal in Japan in the first ‘Like a Dragon’ games are no longer acceptable today,” Masayoshi Yokoyama, the series’ executive producer, told AFP.
“We ask our teams in the United States and Europe to read the game’s script, and they tell us if they see things that wouldn’t be acceptable in their country,” he said.
Changes often focus on “alcohol, politics or religion”, Froget said, while cultural reference points also differ.
“When there are people dressed in black boots and big leather coats, in Europe that could bring to mind a Nazi uniform,” he said.
With global release dates now the norm, these decisions must be made under tighter deadlines than before.
And despite improved communication between developers and localisation teams, challenges remain – especially when translating a game into languages other than English.
“Efforts have been made to understand the needs of the English-speaking world,” Froget said.
But for German, which has longer sentences and other linguistic quirks, localisation is sometimes “seen as an extra difficulty” by design teams.
Even so, Froget believes in his mission: “To create connections to Japanese culture and help Europeans discover its depth, while respecting both the game and the player.”AFP
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| 2024-01-25T08:44:50Z
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SINGAPORE – Polluting companies could be liable for trillions of dollars in damages from climate lawsuits, said researchers in a recently published study.
They added that many investors and regulators are not taking the growing risk of climate litigation fully into account at a time when companies’ climate-related financial risks are growing.
Climate-related financial risks are typically measured by physical risks and transition risks.
Physical risks focus on such as the impacts of worsening climate – for example, storms, floods or wildfires – on company supply chains and infrastructure such as factories.
Transition risks are also closely examined by investors and regulators and include policies that set emissions reduction targets or a price on carbon emissions, or that of costly older polluting assets made redundant by cleaner energy technology that is cheaper and more efficient.
The study, published on Jan 12, was led by the Oxford Sustainable Law Programme at the University of Oxford.
“If you’re a proactive investor or regulator, you need to be thinking about this now,” said study co-author Arjuna Dibley, head of the University of Melbourne’s Sustainable Finance Hub.
Nearly 2,500 climate lawsuits have been filed globally to date in dozens of countries and their growing impact presents significant risks for some of the world’s biggest carbon emitters, the study said.
A number of cases are looking at the link between a polluter’s historic emissions and costly climate impacts.
“The basic logic is that because greenhouse gas emissions are cumulative in the atmosphere, firms that have a long history of emitting large amounts of these emissions face the largest potential liability,” Dr Arjuna told The Straits Times.
“There have not been cases yet that have landed on exactly that point, but they will come and there are lots of test cases at the moment in train,” he added.
Successful litigation would redirect costs incurred because of climate change, including adaptation measures, to greenhouse gas emitters, the study said.
In one of the most prominent cases, Peruvian farmer Luciano Lliuya is suing Germany’s largest electricity producer RWE, which is estimated to be responsible for about 0.5 per cent of the world’s industrial greenhouse gas emissions.
He is deeply worried that glacial melting above his town of Huaraz in Peru could cause a major lake to burst and wipe out his farm and the town.
The suit, supported by non-governmental group Germanwatch, alleges that RWE, having knowingly contributed to climate change by emitting substantial volumes of greenhouse gases for many years, bore some measure of responsibility for the melting of mountain glaciers near Huaraz and the swelling of Lake Palcacocha.
Mr Lliuya is seeking a small amount of compensation from RWE to help fund a new dam and drainage system to reduce the risks to the lake, and an acknowledgement of responsibility that RWE’s emissions have contributed to the warming that is speeding up the glacial melting.
The case is ongoing and two German judges visited the swollen lake in 2022 to conduct their own investigations.
Two other closely watched cases will be heard by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea (Itlos).
The United Nations General Assembly in 2023 asked the ICJ to provide an advisory opinion. In particular, the court has been asked to consider the obligations of states under international law to ensure the protection of the climate system from mankind’s emissions of greenhouse gases for present and future generations.
Itlos has been requested to provide an advisory opinion on states’ obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to address marine pollution resulting from climate change. This includes adverse effects such as ocean warming and sea level rise.
Advisory opinions from these bodies are not legally binding but they could directly influence the domestic laws and policies effected by states, said Ms Elizabeth Wu, international economic lawyer with the Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law at the National University of Singapore.
This in turn could lead to changes in laws that affect firms’ legal obligations. This has implications for Singapore.
“Due to the lack of clarity as legal rules evolve internationally and domestically, the corporate sector in Singapore should be cognisant that present assessments of climate litigation and regulatory risk may be inadequate,” she said.
“Legal rules on attribution, causation, transboundary pollution and the manner in which climate science is treated as evidence further inform assessments of firms’ potential liability and quantum of damages,” she added.
However, she said Singapore’s legal community is well-placed to provide greater clarity and guidance on the risks to companies, “particularly as appropriate for Asia”.
The researchers set out a number of ways climate-related legal risks could be better assessed by investors and regulators.
One of these is a market-based analysis. This looks at past successful climate lawsuits to see whether they’ve had any impact on the share price of a company, for instance. “That then that could be a proxy for how litigation in particular could affect companies going forward,” said Dr Dibley.
Another is attribution of climate change damages. Attribution science is a rapidly evolving area. This quantifies how climate change influences the intensity and likelihood of a particular extreme-weather event. Climate cases have already started hearing evidence from scientists in this area and as climate impacts worsen and attribution science keeps advancing, it is likely to become a powerful tool in court against big polluters.
Climate litigation risk analysis also needs to calculate the social cost of carbon – which is an estimate of the cost, in dollars, of the damage done to lives and livelihoods by each additional tonne of carbon emissions. Different jurisdictions use different estimates and it can be well over US$100 (S$134) a tonne.
That makes the social impact of emissions “very substantial” for a big historical emitter, such as a major fossil fuel firm, Dr Dibley said.
It also leaves big polluters vulnerable to litigation risks from climate-vulnerable nations, such as low-lying Pacific islands, which want to hold fossil fuel giants accountable for worsening damage from storms and sea level rise and to pay for the losses and adaptation costs.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/climate-litigation-a-trillion-dollar-risk-for-big-polluters-study
| 2024-01-25T08:45:01Z
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PARIS - French farmers damaged food products coming in on trucks from outside France, BFM TV reported on Thursday, as their nationwide protests to demand better pay and living conditions showed no signs of abating.
BFM TV showed images of what it said was fruit that had come from Spain lying damaged by the side of the A7 motorway in southern France. Many French farmers complain they are being hit by unfair competition from overseas.
Another group of farmers set off in a convoy of tractors on Thursday morning on the RN12 major road artery near Paris, as demonstrators maintained their threat of converging on the capital en masse. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-25T08:45:11Z
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ISTANBUL - The U.S. ambassador to Turkey said he anticipates that President Tayyip Erdogan will give a final sign-off on Sweden's NATO membership within days, triggering rapid steps toward U.S. Congress endorsing a sale of F-16 fighter jets to Ankara.
In an exclusive interview on Thursday, Ambassador Jeff Flake said that once the formal ratification document is received in Washington, the U.S. State Department will immediately send Congress notification of the F-16s sale.
Turkey's parliament ratified Sweden's NATO membership bid on Tuesday, clearing a major hurdle to expanding the Western military alliance after 20 months of delay.
Erdogan needs to sign the legislation, which then would be published in Turkey's Official Gazette. The instrument of accession for Sweden also needs to be sent to Washington.
Asked whether he expected this "within days", Flake, a former U.S. Republican senator, told Reuters: "Yes, I do."
"I see no reason why, with the parliament having acted here, that Turkey would wait," he said. "So I would expect as soon as that is conveyed to Washington, then congressional notification (of the F-16 sales) will happen."
"The president here needs to sign it and then the instrument needs to be conveyed to Washington," he told Reuters by phone. "As soon as that happens, then we expect notification to happen. And official notification will happen."
Both Erdogan and members of the U.S. Congress had tied Turkey's backing of Sweden's NATO bid with congressional approval of the $20 billion sale of Lockheed Martin aircraft and modernization kits to Turkey.
U.S. President Joe Biden sent a letter to leaders of key Capitol Hill committees on Wednesday informing them of his intention to begin the formal notification process for the F-16 sale once Ankara completes Sweden's NATO accession process. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/us-envoy-sees-rapid-f-16s-sale-to-turkey-after-sweden-nato-bid-sign-off
| 2024-01-25T08:45:22Z
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MANAUS – Climate change was the primary culprit behind the devastating Amazon drought in 2023, while the weather phenomenon El Niño played a smaller role, scientists have found.
The drought was 30 times more likely to occur with human-caused climate change, according to a new study by World Weather Attribution (WWA), an international group of scientists that analyses extreme weather events to determine the influence of global warming. The study looked at the drought during the six-month period from June through November.
“As the Amazon drought worsened in 2023, many people pointed to El Niño to explain the event,” said Dr Ben Clarke, lead author of the study. “While El Niño did lead to even lower levels of rainfall, our study shows that climate change is the main driver of the drought through its influence on higher temperatures.”
The Amazon has recently experienced periods of rainfall, but it is still unknown whether El Niño will become stronger through the spring and whether the drought will continue.
Stretching across Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and other nations, the vast Amazon rainforest is a hotspot of biodiversity and the world’s most important carbon sink, making it critical to the global climate system. Deforestation and rising temperatures have pushed the rainforest to a drier state, which threatens its capacity to absorb carbon.
The intense drought impacted 30 million people who rely on the Amazon River and its tributaries. Crops withered and boats were unable to navigate waterways to bring supplies. Communities, particularly Indigenous and river communities, found themselves isolated. Fish migration patterns changed due to warmer waters, imperilling an important food source.
The drought also contributed to the spread of wildfire and the die-off of swaths of river life, including 150 pink dolphins. Large-scale farming and cattle ranching reduced moisture retention in the soil, worsening conditions.
Dr Simone Athayde, an environmental anthropologist and researcher at the University of Florida, said local Indigenous communities recognised water levels were lower in spring 2023 but did not expect the drought to be so severe.
Based on the US Drought Monitor scale, this was an “exceptional” or level 4 drought. Without climate change, it would have been less intense and classified as a category 2 “severe drought,” according to the WWA study. The Amazon also saw severe droughts in 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020, although the 2023 event was singular in some respects.
In a world with warming of 2 deg C above pre-industrial levels, the Amazon could see four times as many agricultural droughts of this magnitude every 10 to 15 years, meaning reduced rainfall, soil water and reservoir levels, the researchers found.
“We’re going into unprecedented territory now, and we predict in the future things are getting more intense by today’s standards. We will have to invent new categories” to classify events, Dr Clarke said.
The dry season is lengthening, a dangerous sign for the future, said Dr Regina Rodrigues, a study author and professor of oceanography and climate at Brazil’s Federal University of Santa Catarina.
The region must become better prepared for drought, said Dr Athayde, with plans for how to deliver emergency medications in isolated regions and secure food production, among other steps.
“More than ever, we need to control deforestation and promote restoration,” Dr Athayde said. “We have this window of opportunity for the Amazonian nations to connect and to coordinate on these issues.” BLOOMBERG
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| 2024-01-25T08:45:32Z
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SOPERTON, Georgia – The world’s first plant using ethanol to make lower-polluting jet fuel has opened in the United States, a development that Iowa corn growers and biofuel producers say is a wake-up call to move faster to decarbonise.
Illinois-based LanzaJet formally unveiled its US$200 million (S$268 million) facility in rural Georgia at an event on Jan 24 with investors, including Suncor Energy and IAG’s British Airways, as well as US Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and local officials.
The plant, which received US government funds, plans to use biofuel made from both traditional raw materials, including American-grown corn, as well as from advanced technologies, LanzaJet chief executive Jimmy Samartzis said in an interview.
Located in Soperton, Georgia, the facility will produce 37.9 million litres of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel per year.
US President Joe Biden has called for at least 11.4 billion litres of overall SAF production annually by 2030.
The opening prompted Iowa groups to warn that farmers and ethanol makers in the top US corn-producing state are at risk of missing out on the chance to significantly profit from the developing market for SAF.
“No Iowa ethanol plant currently has a carbon intensity score low enough to qualify as an ingredient to make SAF,” according to a statement from the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association and Iowa Corn Promotion Board.
By contrast, Brazil, which mainly makes ethanol from sugarcane, produces over 26.5 billion litres of ethanol with a carbon score expected to qualify for SAF production, the groups said. BLOOMBERG
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| 2024-01-25T08:45:42Z
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BEIJING - China criticised the United States on Jan 25 for causing "trouble and provocation" after the US Navy sailed its first warship through the sensitive Taiwan Strait since presidential and parliamentary elections on the island.
China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control. Taiwan says only the island’s people can decide their future.
"US warships and planes have caused trouble and provocation on China's doorstep, and carried out large-scale, high-frequency activities in waters and airspace around China," Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Colonel Wu Qian told reporters at a monthly briefing.
The US Navy said the destroyer USS John Finn transited through a corridor in the Taiwan Strait that was "beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state".
Mr Wu said China's response in driving away the ship was "justified, reasonable, professional and restrained".
He added that China's military will "continue to organise relevant military operations" around the Taiwan Strait on a regular basis as part of its training, as analysts predict frequent drills in the run-up to Taiwan President-elect William Lai's inauguration in May.
When asked about a potential meeting between newly appointed Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun and his US counterpart, Mr Wu said China "displays an open attitude to bilateral dialogues at all levels", without confirming any meeting.
The Chinese and US militaries held two days of talks in Washington earlier this month after both sides resumed high-level military contact last autumn. Pentagon officials say communication between the two militaries is key to preventing a miscalculation from spiralling into conflict.
Separately, on the Philippines' plans to reinforce construction in the contested Spratly Islands, Mr Wu accused Manila of "violating China's sovereignty and making provocations in the South China Sea" while "in collusion with external powers".
On the India-China border dispute, Mr Wu said border tensions were "an issue left over from history and not the whole of China-India relations", and said it was "unwise and inappropriate" for New Delhi to link the issue to bilateral relations.
A senior Indian official said this month that India could ease its heightened scrutiny of Chinese investments if the two countries' border remained peaceful, the first signal that the four-year-old curbs could be lifted.
China also denied that it has provided any weapons or equipment to the Middle East conflict, after reports that the Israeli military had found Hamas militants used Chinese-made weaponry in the Gaza Strip. REUTERS
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BEIJING - A Chinese defence ministry spokesperson said on Thursday that India-China border tensions were "an issue left over from history and not the whole of China-India relations".
"It is unwise and inappropriate for the Indian side to insist on linking the border situation with bilateral relations," spokesperson Wu Qian told a monthly press briefing.
A senior Indian official told Reuters earlier this month that India could ease its heightened scrutiny of Chinese investments if the two countries' border remained peaceful, the first signal that the four-year-old curbs could be lifted. REUTERS
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SEOUL - A South Korean member of Parliament for the ruling People Power Party was rushed to hospital after being attacked on Jan 25, Yonhap news agency reported, adding that her attacker was arrested at the scene.
Other news outlets said Ms Bae Hyun-jin was struck in the head with an object by an unidentified assailant in the affluent Gangnam district of the capital Seoul and that she had been bleeding when taken to the hospital.
Her party and the Gangnam police station were not immediately available for comment.
The leader of the country’s opposition Democratic Party Lee Jae-myung was stabbed with a knife in the neck earlier in January and was hospitalised, requiring surgery to repair a lacerated blood vessel. Mr Lee left hospital eight days later. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/south-korea-member-of-parliament-attacked-yonhap-news-agency
| 2024-01-25T10:14:35Z
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BEIJING – The population of giant pandas in the wild has nearly doubled as China steps up its conservation efforts.
China’s National Forestry and Grassland Administration said on Jan 25 there are now around 1,900 pandas in the wild from some 1,100 in the 1980s.
This has been due to China’s efforts to protect the specie, considered a national treasure, said Mr Zhang Yue, an official with the administration.
The Giant Panda National Park was established in October 2021, covering a total area of over 22,000 sq km and providing a home to around 72 per cent of the wild giant panda population.
Protected areas for giant pandas have grown from 1.39 million ha to 2.58 million ha since 2012.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature has adjusted the status of giant pandas from “endangered” to “vulnerable”.
“This indicates that China’s giant panda conservation efforts have been recognised by the international wildlife conservation community,” Mr Zhang said.
The global captive population of giant pandas, meanwhile, has now reached 728, with 46 pandas successfully bred in captivity in 2023.
The genetic diversity of captive giant pandas has also improved. The current captive population of giant pandas can maintain 90 per cent genetic diversity for up to 200 years.
As for giant pandas living abroad, Mr Zhang said China has organised field inspections and assessments of 23 overseas cooperation institutions in 19 countries since 2023.
“The cooperation institutions generally meet the requirements in terms of venue construction, feeding and nursing, and disease prevention and control measures,” Mr Zhang said, adding that pandas living abroad are generally “in good health”.
He said China will further improve the international cooperation management mechanism for giant pandas, carry out regular daily health monitoring and field inspection and assessment, and continue to strengthen cooperation with international partners for the protection of endangered species and biodiversity. XINHUA
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/wild-panda-population-nearly-doubles-as-china-steps-up-conservation-efforts
| 2024-01-25T10:14:45Z
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NEW DELHI - India will oppose any curbs on its subsidies to poor fishermen at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and demand a moratorium on fishing subsidies from advanced countries including the United States, and the European Union, three government officials said.
New Delhi is planning to push its demand for extending subsidies to its roughly nine million poor fishermen operating up to 200 nautical miles from its coast at the WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13), to be held in Abu Dhabi from Feb. 26 to 29, senior government officials told reporters.
In the next round of talks on fisheries, India will demand with like-minded members that advanced countries should agree to a 25-year moratorium on subsidies to their fishing industry operating in international waters, the officials said.
Officials declined to be identified according to government policy on discussions at international forums.
Einar Gunnarsson, chair of the WTO's fisheries subsidies negotiations committee, has said members will work to reach an agreement on the draft for submission to ministers, aiming to curb subsidies contributing to over-capacity and over-fishing.
In 2022, WTO members reached an initial deal to cut billions of subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing or fishing of over-fished stocks.
India still has to ratify the agreement, which requires the approval of two-thirds of the WTO's 164 members to become operational. So far, 55 members including China, the U.S. and many African countries have ratified the agreement.
India is likely to ratify the agreement later this year after the general elections, said one of the officials with direct knowledge of the matter.
The commerce ministry, which is leading India's negotiations at the WTO, declined to comment.
Global fishing subsidies are estimated at $35.4 billion, according to a 2019 study published in Marine Policy, and China, the EU, the United States, South Korea and Japan are among the top subsidisers.
Developing nations like India need differential treatment for their fishing industry in coming years, which is largely dominated by poor fishermen, officials said. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/india-to-oppose-curbs-on-subsidies-to-poor-fishermen-at-wto-meet
| 2024-01-25T10:14:56Z
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BANGKOK – Thai opposition lawmaker Pita Limjaroenrat returned to Parliament a day after the country’s top court cleared him of allegations he had violated election rules, vowing to scrutinise government policies including a multi-billion-baht cash handout scheme.
Mr Pita resumed his lawmaker duties on Jan 25, after the Constitutional Court said his equity stake in a defunct media firm didn’t violate election rules, thus acquitting him of the first of two high-profile legal challenges he had to face this month and ending his six-month suspension.
The Election Commission brought the case in 2023 against Mr Pita, 43, after his reformist Move Forward Party won the most parliamentary seats in a general election in May. Shortly after the vote, a pro-democracy coalition made him its candidate for prime minister. But the media shareholding allegations were cited to thwart his bid for premiership and threatened to disqualify him as a lawmaker.
A different multi-party coalition that excluded Move Forward was then forged, backed by the military-appointed Senate, resulting in a different businessman-turned-politician, Mr Srettha Thavisin, becoming Thailand’s prime minister and finance minister in August.
“I see it as a detour. There’s still the destination that I have to get to, even with six months lost,” Mr Pita told reporters at Parliament House. Among his focuses will be a scrutiny into some key government policy proposals, he said, including a 500 billion baht (S$18.7 billion) cash-handout program to most Thai adults that has spurred concerns over long-term fiscal discipline.
Move Forward may also reinstate Mr Pita as its leader in an annual party meeting scheduled in April, after he stepped down last year following his suspension.
The party’s performance in the May 2023 election led to an earthquake in Thai politics, given that its progressive platform openly defied the country’s royalist establishment. The Pita-led result challenged wealthy and entrenched conservatives who opposed proposals to break business monopolies, rewrite the constitution and amend the country’s lese majeste law.
The court ruling focused on Mr Pita’s claims that he only managed shares of now-defunct ITV as part of an estate left after the 2006 death of his father and that ITV was not a media business since its government contract was ended in 2007.
Thailand’s constitution bars those seeking public office from owning shares in media firms. After his opponents raised the issue following the election, all 42,000 shares, or 0.003 per cent of ITV’s total, were transferred to his younger brother.
To be sure, Mr Pita’s challenges are far from over. He and Move Forward will return to the Constitutional Court next week to hear another verdict about whether the charter was violated by the party’s campaign pledges to amend the lese majeste law that protects the monarchy from defamation, a much more serious allegation.
Next week’s ruling – if guilty – could prompt the Election Commission to file another petition seeking a dissolution of Move Forward and a ban on its leaders from active politics – similar to a verdict almost four years ago that quashed Move Forward’s predecessor, Future Forward.
“I anticipate some overhanging charges to keep Move Forward off balance and to give the court and the Election Commission a button that they can push later on,” said Dr Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a professor of political science at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. “It depends on when they think of you as enough of a threat that something has to be done.” BLOOMBERG
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/former-thai-pm-candidate-pita-returns-to-parliament-after-first-court-case-cleared
| 2024-01-25T10:15:06Z
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SINGAPORE - Companies’ adoption of environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics is increasingly tied to the salaries of top executives in Asia-Pacific, in line with global trends.
More Asia-Pacific firms are including ESG metrics in evaluating top executives’ pay packages, with 77 per cent of them doing so in 2023, up from 63 per cent in 2022, a study by insurance broker WTW said.
It added that disclosures on how top executives’ performances are evaluated are a common practice in Australia, Japan and Singapore, but less so in other Asia-Pacific markets.
“In these three countries, the use of ESG metrics is comparable to Europe and North America,” the report said.
Ms Zhu Xujing, the Asia-Pacific leader for the executive compensation board advisory at WTW, said: “The use of ESG measures in executive incentive plans in Asia-Pacific are considerably influenced by the level of disclosure requirements in each country.”
She noted that although disclosures are not as strong in markets like China, Hong Kong, India and Malaysia, companies there are picking up the pace in their ESG commitments and aligning business practices with ESG priorities.
The report looked at 352 firms in seven markets in Asia-Pacific, of which 40 were from Singapore, including publicly-listed firms Sembcorp, Keppel, Singtel and CapitaLand.
Of the 40 Singapore firms, 30 gave information about their executive incentive metrics, and 28 disclosed ESG metrics.
In Asia-Pacific, 75 per cent, or 264 of the 352 firms, disclosed their executive incentive metrics in 2023.
This is lower than in Europe and North America, where all companies WTW looked at disclosed some information about the metrics used in pay packages.
The study noted that of the 264 companies that disclosed their executive incentive metrics, 204 said they use at least one ESG metric in their pay packages for top executives.
In line with other regions, the metrics related to human capital and carbon emission reduction are the most common across all ESG categories in Asia Pacific.
Among the social metrics, employee engagement and staff safety are the most common in executive incentive plans. Metrics related to diversity, equity and inclusion are slightly less common in Asia-Pacific than in other regions, the report said.
Companies in consumer staples, energy, financials and utilities were more likely to adopt ESG metrics than other industries in 2023, noted Ms Zhu.
The study found that energy is the only sector where all firms in the region use at least one ESG metric.
Meanwhile, only half of the firms in the information technology sector in the region use at least one ESG metric.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/more-asia-pacific-firms-tie-top-executives-pay-to-esg-goals-says-report
| 2024-01-25T10:15:16Z
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SINGAPORE – Fans of Ha Seok-jin can pit their wits against the South Korean star when he comes to Singapore in February.
The actor, who reportedly has an IQ of 152, is set to grace the stage at Capitol Theatre for the Problematic: Ha Seok-jin Fan Meet on Feb 3.
This is his first fan meet outside South Korea and celebrates his 20th anniversary in show business.
The 41-year-old is known for his performances in popular dramas such as 4 Legendary Witches (2014 to 2015), Drinking Solo (2016) and Radiant Office (2017).
He recently won the Netflix reality survival show The Devil’s Plan (2023 to present), walking away with 250 million won (S$250,000) in prize money after beating 11 other contestants.
At the event in Singapore, he will play games and interact with the audience. Fans will be tasked to solve puzzles inspired by The Devil’s Plan and variety show Problematic Men (2015 to 2020), in which Ha was one of the cast members.
Book It/Problematic: Ha Seok-jin Fan Meet (Singapore)
Where: Capitol Theatre, 17 Stamford Road
When: Feb 3, 2pm
Admission: Tickets from $98 to $258 via Sistic (go to str.sg/gyJs or call 6348-5555)
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/actor-ha-seok-jin-winner-of-the-devil-s-plan-to-hold-fan-meet-in-singapore
| 2024-01-25T10:15:27Z
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SINGAPORE – Additional tickets released for American pop star Taylor Swift’s concerts at the National Stadium have sold out.
The tickets were released online on Ticketmaster on Jan 25 at 10am. By about 3pm, fans still trying to buy them were denied, as none of the ticket categories were available by then.
These tickets – priced from $88 to $1,228 – were additional ones for the singer’s The Eras Tour concerts, which will take place over six nights between March 2 and 9.
Fans who were given an access code when tickets first went on sale in July 2023 received an e-mail from Ticketmaster on Jan 19 stating that they had the opportunity to buy the additional tickets.
Fans who tried to buy tickets from the link in the e-mail reported receiving queue numbers that exceeded one million, although some whose queue numbers were in the low six digits managed to score tickets. Each buyer with the access code could purchase up to four tickets.
Singapore is the only South-east Asian stop in Swift’s global tour. The National Stadium has a capacity of up to 55,000.
Tickets to fellow American pop star Bruno Mars’ additional concert on April 3 also went on sale on Jan 25, at 12pm.
Concert organiser Live Nation Singapore added a third show for the singer after his April 5 and 6 shows sold out quickly on Jan 20. Tickets are priced from $108 to $598.
At 5.30pm on Jan 25, single seat tickets and standing pen tickets were still available.
Mars’ tour includes other Asian stops such as Macau and Tokyo in January and Bangkok in March.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/additional-tickets-to-taylor-swift-s-singapore-concerts-have-sold-out
| 2024-01-25T10:15:37Z
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SINGAPORE – Thunderstorms are not stopping Coldplay fans from enjoying the British band’s concerts at the National Stadium.
After all, this is “Coldplay week”, according to Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.
On Jan 24, Mr Wong shared a 30-second reel titled “What song are you listening to?” on Instagram, telling his 178,000 followers that he was listening to Yellow, Coldplay’s 2000 chart-topping hit.
“As all of you know, the band are in town. This is Coldplay week in Singapore,” said Mr Wong, 51.
“If you are going for the concert, have fun and enjoy yourself. If you are unable to get the ticket like me, it’s all right. There are still many other ways to enjoy their music.”
While Mr Wong, an avid music lover and skilled guitar player, might not have scored tickets to catch Coldplay in person, more than 50,000 fans braved the storm on Jan 24 for the band’s second show.
News presenter Glenda Chong shared her experience of getting caught in the rain on the way to the concert.
“We braved a wet, wet, wet Wednesday just to watch this band play. Enjoyed ourselves so much,” wrote the 51-year-old Singapore on Instagram.
The stadium is an enclosed arena, but concertgoers in the West Zone were exposed to the elements due to the open section of the roof.
Photos and videos shared on social media showed concertgoers wading through ankle-deep water as they trudged through flooded walkways on their way home after the concert.
Day 3 of Coldplay’s six-night Music Of The Spheres World Tour in Singapore continues on Jan 26.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/dpm-wong-this-is-coldplay-week-in-singapore
| 2024-01-25T10:15:47Z
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SINGAPORE – A bevy of Chinese stars will descend on Singapore this weekend, as the widely anticipated Yuewen Global IP Awards will be held at the Sands Grand Ballroom on Jan 27 in collaboration with Marina Bay Sands (MBS).
According to marketing banners at MBS, one of the biggest names who will be present at the awards is actor Dylan Wang.
The 25-year-old is best known for playing the role of Daoming Si, the rich and cocky protagonist of Chinese drama Meteor Garden (2018), a remake of the popular Taiwanese drama series Meteor Garden (2001 to 2002), based on the Japanese manga series Boys Over Flowers.
The actor gained wider recognition after starring in the Chinese fantasy drama Love Between Fairy And Devil (2022), alongside actress Esther Yu.
Other stars who will be present include actor Lin Gengxin, who rose to fame for his role as the 14th Prince in the time-travel drama Scarlet Heart (2011), as well as actor Zhang Yunlong and singer Tiger Hu, two alumni of the popular reality series Call Me By Fire (2021 to present).
Other celebrities include actress Kitty Zhang Yuqi, who became famous after starring in Hong Kong comic actor Stephen Chow’s 2008 film CJ7, and singer Gong Linna, who shot to fame on the Internet with her performance of the lyricless song Tante.
Kitty Zhang, 36, and Gong, 48, are also alumni of the popular reality series Sisters Who Make Waves (2020 to present), the female predecessor of Call Me By Fire.
Also seen on the marketing banner is Singapore singer Kit Chan.
Taking place for the first time outside China, the Yuewen Global IP Awards celebrates Chinese literature and recognises the work of distinguished Chinese writers, creators and artists in the creative field, across multiple mediums including animation, film, television and video games.
The 120-minute ceremony on Jan 27 at 7pm is a pre-recorded event and will be broadcast on Tencent Video on Feb 5.
Fans can purchase tickets priced at $368 from www.marinabaysands.com/entertainment/shows/2023-yuewen-global-ip-awards… and via Sistic (go to sistic.com.sg or call 6348-5555).
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/stars-such-as-dylan-wang-lin-gengxin-and-kit-chan-to-gather-in-singapore-for-chinese-awards
| 2024-01-25T10:15:58Z
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SINGAPORE – The annual rush to pick out a Chinese New Year outfit has begun.
The season has long been regarded as a cash cow for clothing brands, with some generating more revenue from the month alone than the rest of the year combined.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/style/from-cheongsam-to-matching-sets-where-to-shop-for-your-chinese-new-year-2024-outfits
| 2024-01-25T10:16:08Z
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SINGAPORE – A woman who poured boiling soup from a hotpot on her male friend after an argument has been sentenced to four years’ jail.
Lim Si Hui, 33, pleaded guilty on Jan 2 to a charge of voluntarily causing grievous hurt to Mr Martin Boey, 26. Another charge of slapping him was taken into consideration for sentencing.
The Straits Times reported previously that Lim and Mr Boey got into an argument at FML Bar in Prinsep Street on April 19, 2022.
Lim’s mobile phone was damaged in the process and she slapped Mr Boey in anger. Soon after, Mr Boey left the bar to have supper with friends at a nearby restaurant while Lim waited for her husband at the bar.
But her anger did not subside – in fact, she got angrier after she told her husband what happened and wanted to confront the victim. Her husband tried in vain to stop her.
At the restaurant where Mr Boey was dining, Lim went to his table and flipped a hotpot with boiling soup on him as he was seated.
Mr Boey experienced excruciating pain and even lost consciousness for a short while before he was taken to hospital.
He was found to have suffered burns on 31 per cent of his total body surface area and required skin grafting procedures.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Santhra Aiyyasamy sought a jail term of 5½ to six years for Lim, noting that her attack caused Mr Boey to suffer extensive injuries and permanent scars.
Lim’s lawyer Amolat Singh argued for a jail term of 2½ to three years, saying there was no premeditation involved in her attack.
Mr Singh also said Mr Boey had provoked Lim by throwing her phone on the floor and trying to bend it.
For the offence of voluntarily causing grievous hurt, an offender can be jailed for life, or jailed for up to 15 years and fined or caned. However, Lim cannot be caned as she is a woman.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/4-years-jail-for-woman-who-poured-boiling-soup-on-friend-after-argument
| 2024-01-25T10:16:19Z
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SINGAPORE – A director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) who was charged over the use of diplomatic bags has been allowed by a district court to visit Tokyo for three weeks for leisure.
Gilbert Oh Hin Kwan, 45, was handed three charges on Nov 23, 2023, alleging that he deceived or abetted the deception of MFA, and gave false information to a public servant.
The Singaporean is said to have dishonestly concealed from MFA in December 2022 that a package containing boxes of Panadol sent from Singapore to Beijing via the diplomatic bag service was for a personal acquaintance rather than for his colleague, Mr Dion Loke Cheng Wang.
Oh is also accused of abetting Mr Loke in cheating MFA on Jan 12, 2023, by instigating Mr Loke to dispatch a package containing luxury watches from China to Singapore via the diplomatic bag service, when the package belonged to and was intended for someone else instead of Mr Loke.
A diplomatic bag is used for sending official correspondence and items to and from the ministry and its overseas offices, such as embassies or consulates. It is sealed and protected by diplomatic immunity and cannot be opened, searched or seized by Customs.
On Jan 19, 2023, Oh also allegedly lied to then MFA deputy secretary Ong Eng Chuan that the luxury watches in the package carried by Mr Loke into Singapore on Jan 17 that year belonged to Oh’s father.
Oh’s case was heard again on Jan 25, 2024, during which he applied to visit Tokyo from Jan 28 to Feb 20 for leisure.
The purpose of the trip is to explore and negotiate the possible sale and purchase of property in Tokyo, and to visit his pottery master, who is “of old age and remains frail”, according to court records.
Oh also intends to visit his partner’s family during the 24-day trip.
District Judge Brenda Tan granted the request on the condition that Oh provides an additional $10,000 bail on top of his current bail of the same amount.
He must also give his complete travel itinerary to the investigation officer before his departure, as well as details on where he will be staying and contact numbers.
He must surrender his passport to the officer within 24 hours upon his return.
Oh is represented by Mr Shashi Nathan and Ms Harjeet Kaur from Withers KhattarWong.
His case will be heard again on Feb 22.
MFA told The Straits Times previously that Oh has been on no-pay leave while investigations are ongoing. It did not specify when investigations began.
“MFA expects all its staff to uphold the highest standards of conduct. As the matter is currently before the courts, MFA is unable to comment further,” it added.
For deceiving MFA, Oh can be jailed for up to three years and fined. The offence of abetting the cheating of MFA carries the same maximum punishment.
For giving false information to a public servant, Oh can be fined and jailed for up to two years.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/mfa-director-general-charged-over-use-of-diplomatic-bags-allowed-to-visit-tokyo-for-leisure
| 2024-01-25T10:16:29Z
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SINGAPORE - It is important for society to work together to tackle the feelings of hatred that people may have for those who are different, said Minister of State for Home Affairs Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim on Jan 25.
While speaking to the media on the sidelines of the Malay/Muslim Organisation Rehabilitation Network conference at the Singapore Expo, Associate Professor Faishal was asked about the case involving a 16-year-old self-radicalised Singaporean, who had identified himself as a white supremacist and was given a restriction order under the Internal Security Act.
The Internal Security Department (ISD) said on Jan 24 the Secondary 4 student, who had been radicalised by online far-right extremist propaganda, was handed the restriction order in November 2023.
By early 2023, the youth had developed an intense hatred of communities targeted by far-right extremists, including African Americans, Arabs, and LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) individuals.
He had chanced upon videos by foreign far-right political commentator and white supremacist Paul Nicholas Miller and was exposed to violent extremist material online in 2022.
Prof Faishal said even though there are both upstream and recovery programmes, Singapore society is still exposed to outside developments, through the Internet or social media.
He said: “What’s important is how we can work together with society, families, parents, to build a positive life, a compassionate life where we respect one another and distance ourselves from extremist aspects that can affect not just the lives of others but also their own lives.”
These extremist aspects “end up reinforcing feelings of hate and loneliness, which may translate into expressing that deep hatred to people who are different”, he added.
While under the restriction order, the youth will have to undergo a rehabilitation programme aimed at countering the violent extremist ideologies he had absorbed online.
ISD said it will help him learn that his racial supremacist views are incompatible with Singapore’s multiracial and multi-religious society.
Prof Faishal said that it is important to inculcate the importance of mutual respect in those who could potentially develop extremist views. He added: “What we want is to hopefully help them understand the importance of respecting one another, and view Singapore as one country where people of different races and religions come together.
“They need to respect everyone, understand other races and religions, so that we can tackle this issue together, and how people in Singapore, despite having different races and religions, can still live peacefully side by side.”
Addressing the development of negative aspects on the Internet and social media, he said that “with a positive approach, at school, at home, and within society, we can build a peaceful society that respects each other”.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/important-for-society-to-work-together-to-tackle-hate-of-people-who-are-different-faishal
| 2024-01-25T10:16:39Z
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HYDERABAD, India - England were all out for 246 in their first innings on day one of the opening test against India at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Thursday.
Skipper Ben Stokes, who elected to bat after winning the toss, was the top scorer for the tourists with a belligerent 70 that included three sixes.
Spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja claimed three wickets apiece for India in the first match of the five-test series. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/england-246-all-out-in-opening-test-against-india
| 2024-01-25T10:16:50Z
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Arsenal captain Leah Williamson said she was delighted to be back on the pitch after rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) nine months ago.
The 26-year-old, who also captains her country, missed England's run to the final of the Women's World Cup last year, where they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Spain.
She made her return, coming on as a substitute, during Arsenal's 6-0 win over Reading in the Women's League Cup on Wednesday. Williamson went on to assist Beth Mead's goal.
"It's been a long journey but it has gone really quickly," Williamson told Sky Sports News. "Special people get you through tough times. I love playing football for Arsenal. I'm just happy to be back and try and help my team." REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/arsenals-williamson-happy-to-be-back-after-nine-month-injury-layoff
| 2024-01-25T10:17:00Z
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UEFA's Chief of Football Zvonimir Boban has said he was leaving European soccer's governing body in protest against its president Aleksandar Ceferin's move to support changes in statutes that would allow him to extend his term in office.
Boban, a former AC Milan midfielder and captain of Croatia, announced his decision in an open letter published by Croatian website Telesport.
"I'm sorry and I'm sad, but I'm leaving UEFA," Boban said in the letter.
Boban added that the reason for his departure was Ceferin's support for a proposal to change UEFA's rules at its next Congress on Feb. 8 in Paris that would allow him to stand for re-election when his current four-year term ends in 2027.
UEFA's current rules prevent the president and members of the Executive Committee from running for office more than three times, or staying in their posts for more than 12 years.
"Paradoxically, it was Ceferin who proposed and launched the package of reforms in 2017 that were supposed to protect UEFA and European football," Boban said.
"His departure from these values and changes in the main reforms are difficult to understand, especially in this delicate football time.
"If I were to accept such a difficult and wrong decision and turn my head, I would be going against the principles and general values in which I deeply believe.
"I am not playing any hero, and I know very well that many are of the same opinion — perhaps naive, but certainly correct."
Ceferin was re-elected UEFA president unopposed at the governing body's Ordinary Congress in Lisbon in April last year. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/uefa-chief-of-football-quits-over-row-with-ceferin
| 2024-01-25T10:17:10Z
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After making history at The American Express last week, University of Alabama sophomore Nick Dunlap rose to the top of the World Amateur Golf Ranking on Wednesday.
Dunlap shot a 29-under-par 259 at PGA West in La Quinta, Calif., to become the first amateur to win a PGA Tour event since 1991, allowing him to move from third to first in the amateur rankings. He also shot up to 68th in the Official World Golf Ranking.
With the victory, the 20-year-old Dunlap secured PGA Tour status through at least 2026. He is set to meet with family, coaches and advisers in Tuscaloosa, Ala., this week to discuss future plans.
If Dunlap decides to go pro, he would receive exemptions into the seven signature events remaining on the Tour's schedule, with the next one -- the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am -- set to tee off next week.
Dunlap passed Gordon Sargent and South African Christo Lamprecht on the way to the No. 1 spot in the amateur rankings.
--Field Level Media REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/golf/nick-dunlap-takes-over-no-1-amateur-world-ranking
| 2024-01-25T10:17:21Z
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SINGAPORE – A revolution was going on in Chen Xingtong’s head as she made her way around Sentosa Golf Club’s Tanjong Course on Jan 25, even though the Singaporean golfer cut a calm and composed figure on the greens.
Singing tunes from the musical Hamilton – which covers the life of United States’ founding father Alexander Hamilton and his involvement in the American Revolution – to herself were what got the 15-year-old through the second round of the national qualifier for the HSBC Women’s World Championship.
Going into the final day with a four-stroke lead, her unusual method helped Xingtong keep calm as flight mates Amanda Tan and Aloysa Atienza trailed closely behind.
She shot a two-over 74 to card an even-par 144 total to finish four strokes ahead of her rivals and to earn a coveted debut at the US$1.8 million (S$2.4 million) tournament, which will be held from Feb 29-March 3 at Sentosa.
Fellow amateur Atienza (74) and professional Tan (72), who has made five appearances at the HSBC event, were tied second with a four-over 148 total.
The Singapore Sports School student said: “It kept my mind off the scores and focused on individual shots instead of scoring.
“I didn’t want to focus on other people and try to compare myself to their shots and scores so singing Hamilton is just one of the ways to do that.”
Xingtong had no expectations going into the qualifying event, but she enjoyed a good start on Jan 24 with a two-under 70 that included four birdies and two bogeys , making her the only golfer in the nine-player field to go under par in the first round.
She posted bogeys on the 10th and 18th in the second round but held on to her lead to emerge the winner.
She said: “I’m really excited and a bit nervous. I’ve achieved my dream of being able to play in an LPGA Tour event, which is a big goal of mine.
“It’s my first time, I’m anticipating it. It’s a lot of emotions, I don’t know how to put it into words.”
Just a year ago, Xingtong had watched some of the world’s best golfers, including Thailand’s world No. 10 Atthaya Thitikul, in action from outside the ropes.
Now, she is relishing the opportunity to play alongside and learn from these LPGA stars.
“It’ll be a great chance to be able to compare myself with them and learn how they play to improve my game,” said the 1.72m competitive swimmer turned golfer, whose goal is to make the cut.
“It was great (to follow them in 2023) but now that I’m able to play on the course that day, it’ll be a totally different experience.”
Singapore Golf Association assistant general manager Samuel Nee noted that Xingtong, who won her first international title at the Selangor Amateur Open golf championship in 2023, is a rare talent.
He said: “Her ability to cut out things is good. She’s able to get into the zone and focus.
“They were playing with tournament tees for the qualifiers so to be able to shoot a respectable even-par over two days speaks volumes because she has the length and the finesse around the greens.
“We’re quite excited to see where she can go.”
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/singapore-s-chen-xingtong-15-wins-qualifer-to-earn-debut-at-golf-s-hsbc-women-s-world-championship
| 2024-01-25T10:17:31Z
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MELBOURNE - Jannik Sinner seemed to have Novak Djokovic's number at the end of last year when he beat the Serb twice in 11 days but the Italian knows facing the world number one in the Australian Open semi-finals is the acid test of his Grand Slam ambitions.
Sinner is as close as he has ever come to winning a major, having also reached the semis of Wimbledon last year, where the 22-year-old was beaten handily by Djokovic.
Motoring through the Melbourne Park draw without dropping a set, Sinner has shown both patience and power to send his rivals packing. He also showed no shortage of resilience to beat Russian fifth seed Andrey Rublev in the last round.
But he will need power, patience, resilience and a whole lot more on Friday if he is to defeat Djokovic, who is looking to move past Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam crowns by winning an 11th Australian Open title.
The Serb lost to Sinner in the group stage of the ATP Finals in November, and while he turned the tables on the Italian in the final, he then lost to him again in their singles match-up at the Davis Cup.
Sinner tasted yet another victory against Djokovic in the Davis Cup doubles as Italy won the title for the first time in nearly 50 years.
After putting Rublev to the sword on Tuesday, Sinner said he felt "lucky" to be facing Djokovic again in the final match of the day session on Rod Laver Arena.
"This is one of the biggest tournaments in the world; happy that I can play against the number one in the world — he's won here some times — but it's going to be tough," he said.
"The only thing I can control is that I will give 100% and fight for every ball. We'll see what the outcome will be."
The other semi-final on Friday pits 2021 U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev against big-serving Alexander Zverev in the night session.
Medvedev, who is looking to book his place in a third Melbourne final in four years, has won 11 of his 18 matches against his German opponent but the Russian's fitness is being tested to the fullest.
The third seed has won only one match in straight sets so far, and after an epic five-set quarter-final victory over Hubert Hurkacz on Wednesday he said he felt "destroyed".
Zverev sent out a statement of intent with a clinical win over second seed Carlos Alcaraz — his first over a top-five rival at a major — and is hoping for a reversal of fortunes after losing five of their last six meetings.
"He has been kicking my ass in recent matches. I'm hoping that this will be the place that changes," Zverev said.
"I hope I can get some support in the match." REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/tennis/high-noon-in-melbourne-sees-sinner-gunning-for-djokovic
| 2024-01-25T10:17:42Z
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LONDON – The insurance industry is grappling with a new kind of weather risk that is increasingly driving its biggest loss category.
While no single weather event caused more than US$10 billion (S$13.4 billion) in losses for insurers in 2023, there were 37 thunderstorms that each cost at least US$1 billion, according to a report by management consultancy firm Aon. That is more than ever before and way above the average of 14 such storms in a single year, the insurance broker said.
The development is forcing the industry to rethink some of its risk assumptions amid a clear uptick in the number of thunderstorms across Europe and the US. Severe so-called convective storms, which are characterised by heavy rain and intense winds, accounted for about US$70 billion of insured losses globally in 2023, Aon estimates. That is equivalent to 59 per cent of losses from all natural disasters, according to its report.
“The increase in severe convective storms surprised us,” Mr Michal Lorinc, head of catastrophe insight at Aon, said in an interview. “It means that companies need to evaluate their portfolios, and to look at future scenarios.”
A large chunk of 2023’s losses stemmed from “relentless” thunderstorm activity, according to Aon. That includes 25 severe convective storms, of which 21 occurred in the US. All but one of the global billion-dollar events were weather-related, Aon said in its report.
Others in the industry have made similar observations. Recently published research by Swiss Re Institute showed that global thunderstorm losses in 2023 were almost 90 per cent higher than the previous five-year average of US$32 billion, and more than double the previous 10-year average of US$27 billion.
Earlier in January, Munich Re’s chief climate scientist Ernst Rauch said insurers are having to rethink how to classify storms.
“We used to refer to regional thunderstorms as secondary perils because they only cause small or medium-sized damage on their own,” he said in an interview. “But as the number of thunderstorms increases, we have to think about a new classification.”
According to Ms Karen Clark, a pioneer in modelling catastrophe risk, there is growing market interest in so-called secondary perils. It is also a development that is creating opportunities for catastrophe bonds, says Ms Clark, co-founder of Boston-based Karen Clark & Co.
All told, global insurance losses in 2023 exceeded US$100 billion for the fourth year in a row, according to Aon. New Zealand, Italy, Greece, Slovenia and Croatia all recorded their costliest weather-related insurance events on record.
The level of unprotected risk also is considerable. Insurance covered only 31 per cent, or US$118 billion of the estimated US$380 billion of total losses for the year, according to Aon’s figures.
Extreme weather can undermine corporate physical infrastructure as well as supply chains. It also can threaten the health of workers who toil outdoors for industries such as construction, agriculture and real estate. In 2023, 24 countries and territories broke or tied their previous maximum temperature records, according to Aon. BLOOMBERG
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/after-94b-hit-insurers-confront-new-weather-risk-that-is-driving-their-biggest-losses
| 2024-01-25T10:17:52Z
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VIENNA - An Austrian court has ordered the conditional transfer of 88-year-old incestuous rapist Josef Fritzl to a regular prison from a prison psychiatric unit, his lawyer told reporters on Thursday after the hearing.
Fritzl, who has now changed his name, raped his daughter as he held her captive for 24 years, fathering her seven children. He has been in prison since his conviction in 2009 for incest, rape, enslavement, coercion and the murder, by neglect, of his newborn son in a dungeon under his house. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/austrian-incest-rapist-fritzl-to-transfer-to-regular-prison-lawyer-says
| 2024-01-25T10:18:02Z
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BUDAPEST - Hungary's opposition will probably request and extraordinary parliament session to ratify Sweden's NATO accession but their effort will likely faily, speaker of the Parliament Laszlo Kover told website index.hu on Thursday.
Kover added that he "feels no particular urgency, there is no extraordinary situation" regarding Sweden's NATO accession bid. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/hungary-feels-no-urgency-regarding-swedens-nato-accession-parliament-speaker
| 2024-01-25T10:18:13Z
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LISBON - Thousands of off-duty police officers in plain clothes on Wednesday protested in Lisbon for better wages, demanding the same increases in hazard pay that the outgoing government recently granted to the criminal investigation police (PJ).
In late November, after Prime Minister Antonio Costa's resignation but while he still had full powers to make long-term decisions, the government approved hazard pay rises for the PJ that can reach almost 700 euros ($763) per month and are retroactive to January 2023.
Since then, Public Security Police (PSP) officers and members of the National Republican Guard (GNR) - which patrols motorways and rural areas - have held rallies in several cities protesting what they described as discriminatory treatment.
"We demand the same treatment that was given to the PJ (because) it has to do with higher wages," said the head of the SUP police union, Humberto de Carvalho.
He added that members of the PSP and the GNR had "practically the same competences as those of the PJ".
The protesters gathered in a square in downtown Lisbon and started a silent march towards parliament, where they only planned to sing the national anthem.
Interior Minister Jose Luis Carneiro has said the caretaker government can no longer decide on wage increases and that it would be up to the next administration emerging from the March 10 election to "assume new budgetary responsibilities".
Police union association ASPP said on Tuesday that the average hazard pay in the PSP was currently between 380 and 420 euros per month, while in the PJ it has reached 1,000 euros.
In a statement on Friday, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said that professionals from the GNR and PSP, as well as from other police forces, must have a compensation regime equivalent to that of the PJ. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/thousands-of-portuguese-police-protest-over-wages-hazard-pay
| 2024-01-25T10:18:23Z
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KYIV - Russia launched 14 attack drones and five missiles at Ukraine overnight, Ukraine's air force said on Thursday, with air defence systems destroying 11 of the drones.
The air force said on its Telegram messaging channel that Russia targeted mainly southern Ukraine.
Odesa regional Governor Oleh Kiper said on Telegram that two people were injured during the attack on the Black Sea port city.
"Despite the effective and fruitful work of air defence to repel enemy attacks, unfortunately, an industrial facility was hit in Odesa, and residential buildings and civilian infrastructure were damaged," Kiper said.
Reuters could not independently verify the report. There was no immediate comment from Russia. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/ukraine-says-it-shoots-down-11-of-14-russian-drones
| 2024-01-25T10:18:34Z
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MOSCOW - The United Nations said it opened a Russian bank account in 2022 as Western sanctions complicated the use of normal payment channels and has received membership fees from three Russian banks to a U.N. climate funding programme since then.
Sovcombank, one of Russia's 13 most important credit institutions according to the central bank, on Monday said the U.N. had opened an account with an undisclosed, non-sanctioned Russian lender, to allow for transactions in roubles.
"There has been a Russian bank account opened by the U.N. Secretariat, consistent with our policy to assist all member states to pay their assessed contributions, failing which they lose their right to vote," a U.N. spokesperson said.
"Opening the account was necessary, as other normal channels of payment were having challenges arising from the sanctions," the spokesperson said, with the bank account used to receive assessed and voluntary contributions to the U.N.
Western countries imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia's financial system after it started what Moscow calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine in February 2022.
In 2022, the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) placed Sovcombank on its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, effectively kicking it out of the U.S. financial system, banning trade with Americans and freezing its U.S. assets.
The bank is now seeking a U.S. Treasury licence to pay membership fees for the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), testing the waters in Washington for special exemptions for certain transactions by Russian banks.
A UNEP spokesperson said $114,000 in membership fees from three Russian banks that are part of the UNEP FI has been received.
Sovcombank's OFAC licence application is still pending. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/un-opened-russian-bank-account-to-enable-climate-payments-amid-sanctions
| 2024-01-25T10:18:44Z
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Marcus Smith frequently tops the charts for eluding tacklers, and trying to pin him down for this interview was a similarly there-one-minute-gone-the-next experience.
For a couple of days my journalistic fingers were left pawing at thin air, like the galaxy of hapless defenders who had gone before. And understandably so. Marcus Smith is a man on a busy schedule; a man in demand whose stock continues to rise – a rare talent, a natural showman, a serial collector of player-of-the-match awards (just ask Danny Care), an exuberant nugget of athletic creativity, a man with a point to prove this Six Nations. Marcus Smith is a bright young symbol of an established sport’s new chapter.
But even the greatest showmen and the brightest symbols need a breather, lest they burn out. After the World Cup, Smith admits he was mentally run down. Not quite himself. Not quite right. Slightly rootless after so many months away with England. The love for the game in danger of ebbing away. He needed a reset. He needed a break.
A perpetual bundle of energy, enterprise and all-round positivity, Smith is not a person with whom one would associate the tag ‘burnout risk’. Yet English rugby, especially in the wake of Owen Farrell’s international sabbatical, needs to protect the Icarus wings of superstars such as Smith. A character in an Ernest Hemingway novel says of bankruptcy that it happened “gradually and then suddenly”. And so it is with burnout. Yet Smith is vigilant with regard to his own wellbeing. Feeling out of sorts in late autumn, the 24-year-old was quick to identify his fatigue and acknowledge he was not feeling himself. He talked things through with those closest to him, and worked with his club Harlequins to ensure he could have some proper R and R. In short, he showed a good slice of emotional intelligence – both for himself and others.
“I was definitely feeling it from a mental point of view, more so than physically,” he says. “If I’m honest, the first few weeks of returning to Quins I didn’t feel myself. I felt a bit tired, I felt run down. But I shifted my energy, shifted my mindset and hopefully I delivered some better performances the last few weeks in order to help the team.
“I’ve been trying my hardest to do that but during the first few weeks [after the World Cup] I definitely found that hard. I feel much better now.”
He does indeed look well, a healthy glow about him following an early January break to Dubai – a dose of winter sun Quins boss Billy Millard recognised his playmaker needed. Polite and personable (he asks about my own new year before I can ask him about his), Smith is also honest. Honest about everything from his health to matters of faith.
After the highs of the World Cup and how much pressure and scrutiny you’re under there, I came back to Quins…Being able to refresh my mind and shift my mindset was key – to attack what was in front of me
Coming back to London from the hot fires of media scrutiny in France, Smith gradually found his feet again. The fly-half’s fondness and gratitude to Quins – the club which has been his rugby home for a decade – is obvious. If the England camp is where Smith attracts the most headlines, it’s at Quins where he feels most nurtured.
“I guess [it was about] finding the love of the game,” he says. “Quins is a club I love dearly. Quins have supported me ever since I was 14 and obviously it was very different to the England training. Being able to be at home and have the comforts of my own space played a big part [in refreshing me]. But also understanding the challenges ahead.
“After the highs of the World Cup and how much pressure and scrutiny you’re under there, I came back to Quins. And while those things are still present it’s a different competition and a different thing in itself. Being able to refresh my mind and shift my mindset was key – to attack what was in front of me.”
And attack he has. His performances in December and January, as my colleague Nick Bishop has sharply analysed, carved apart defences, both in body and mind. In the Champions Cup encounter at Racing 92, Smith delivered arguably the try of the round with a dummy and step back against the grain.
But it wasn’t just a single moment of brilliance, it was a performance of sustained control. The long-range drop-goal on the cusp of half-time was a puncture wound to Parisian hopes, and showed how Smith the bravura ball-player can be Smith the pragmatist. And bouncing around at Twickenham a few days later, Smith did it all again – guiding Quins to a win over Gloucester with another drop-goal and yet more lashings of style.
“Again?” mouthed his half-back partner Care with grinning theatricality when Smith was announced as player of the match. Yes, again, Danny. And again and again.
Yet Smith can navigate the hard times as well as the good. There is a tough interior beneath the coiffured exterior. Less than a year ago, Smith started at fly-half when France subjected England to a record 53-10 home defeat. It was grim. To some it might have been utterly deflating, but Smith seems to have taken it in his (hitch-kicking) stride.
Smith the boy has become the Smith the man before our eyes, but the boyishness remains. Yet he has always had to grow up quickly. In just over 12 months, he went from captaining his school, Brighton College, to being an apprentice in the England senior squad. That takes some maturity and some resilience. And that resilience, he says, comes from his closest relationships: with his family, his girlfriend, and with God.
“Family means everything to me, and if they’re happy at home and they’re happy in their own lives it allows me to express myself on the field,” he says. “My mum pushes me to the limit – she’s my chief motivator. My brothers are probably my biggest critics but they’re all so supportive. My dad is always there for me and he probably understands rugby slightly more than my mum, so he gives me a few pointers. It’s about ensuring my mind is in a healthy place and talking to them and talking to my girlfriend allows me to get things off my chest and digest them, which I think is massively important, especially with the long, rigorous schedule that we have.
Like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods before him, there is a sense that Smith can elevate his sport to new markets and, crucially, attract a younger constituency.
“My mum’s very Catholic and we used to go to church a lot when I was younger and I always try and go whenever I can. If I’ve got a spare moment, I’ll always try and go down there and show gratitude for everything God’s given me and my family.
“I always try and pray with my mum. It gives me an extra bit of strength and allows me to trust what’s happening is happening for a reason and to get on with it, enjoy my life and be grateful – think about what I do have as opposed to what I don’t. I’m so lucky and privileged to be in the position I am. Obviously, I couldn’t have done it without hard work but the talent and people I’ve been blessed with have made it possible, and that’s down to God.”
Such talent is widely recognised – not least by one of the biggest talent agencies of them all. Smith entered the stable of uber-marketable rugby rock stars in March 2023 when he signed with Roc Nation Sports International, the sports agency founded by US rapper Jay-Z. In so doing he joined a gilded list of modern rugby’s elite which includes Siya Kolisi, Cheslin Kolbe, Maro Itoje, Ellis Genge and Ardie Savea. It was a deal accompanied by a slick TikTok. One comment below the video spoke volumes: “my family absolutely love u especially my mum”. Smith, with an Instagram following closing in on quarter-of-a-million, has just that kind of cross-generational, multimedia appeal rugby needs.
The big brands are after his signature as much as young fans are after a selfie. The Nike swoosh on his jumper speaks of his commercial clout, while he sips from his Optimum Nutrition shake throughout our interview. Nike and others realise he is an athlete who can transcend his particular sport, and maybe even sport itself. Like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods before him, there is a sense Smith can elevate his game to new markets and, crucially, attract a younger constituency. And with a certain Welsh winger exiting rugby stage left for the NFL, the ball is in Smith’s hands.
It says something about a rugby star when a particular attacking move – it could be a step, it could be a type of pass – becomes synonymous with them. And so it is with the Smith hitch-kick, a step which encapsulates his attacking instinct, the identification of space, the controlled balletic flamboyance. But it’s not just his legs that hitch-kick; his brain does too. As with all the top attacking fly-halves, Smith’s little grey cells appear to work a heartbeat quicker than those around him. The ability to translate decision into action is always rapid, often devastating.
Will Smith be given licence to play his instinctive game this Six Nations or will it be something more contained? Perhaps a fusion of the two – the type of fusion which yielded decisive drop-kicks against Racing and Gloucester.
I think the foundations Steve and the coaching team made during the World Cup and pre-World Cup have been amazing, and we’ve hopefully got the foundations of a brilliant team for the next few years. I think we can really kick on.
Smith is uncompromisingly ambitious when asked about his and England’s goals for the championship: a Grand Slam. But he also recognises the need for the squad, which contains seven uncapped players, to gel and evolve as a new World Cup cycle begins.
“It will be difficult as it is every year – everyone loves playing England – but we’ve got to aim high, and to win the tournament and a Grand Slam will be our aim,” says Smith, who has 30 caps so far. “Ultimately, we need to develop as a team and I know the boys selected will give their all, not just for the people in the group but for the country as well. We want to make them proud and happy.
“I think the foundations Steve [Borthwick] and the coaching team made during the World Cup and pre-World Cup have been amazing, hopefully the foundations of a brilliant team for the next few years.
“If we can sing off the same hymn sheet and bounce ideas off one another and move the team forward it’s only going to be beneficial for all of us. That’s definitely at the forefront of our minds to develop as individuals. If given the opportunity I want to play in a tactically smart way to enable us to hopefully lift the trophy at the end of it. But we know that’s going to take a lot of hard work and cohesion and I’m definitely ready for the challenge.”
Part of the challenge is competing with George Ford and Fin Smith for the starting fly-half spot, and establishing what the England outside-half hierarchy looks like in Owen Farrell’s absence. Farrell’s decision to miss the Six Nations in order to prioritise his and his family’s mental health will, surely, have ended the brief World Cup experiment of deploying Smith at full-back.
Yet Smith is confident the former England captain’s presence will continue to influence the squad, even from afar.
“First and foremost, I can’t speak highly enough of Faz – what he’s done for me personally, how he’s helped me ever since I was an apprentice,” says Smith with no little earnestness. “He’s always had his arm around me and always given me his honest feedback. He’s always willing to help and he’s always been approachable, and I’m very grateful to have a person like him to go up to and ask his opinion. I really appreciate his honesty. It’s going to be a big spot to fill but I’m sure he’s going to be supporting us and sharing his thoughts and opinions, because he’s a tremendous leader and I wish him well with this period of rest.
“We’re in a very privileged position where we’re able to be scrutinised and praised, and I wouldn’t change it for the world. However, we are also human, it does take its toll. For Owen to be captain of England and Saracens for a long time probably has pressures I wouldn’t even understand. To be able to perform well at the weekend you need to have a clear mind and with all those pressures – I’ve felt a few – sometimes you do need a break and you do need to rest the mind because it’s a rigorous season and an emotional rollercoaster.”
After his own mini-break and with his own mind rested, Marcus Smith seems ready to buckle up for the international ride. And to no doubt hitch-kick his way past a few more tacklers yet.
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https://www.rugbypass.com/plus/marcus-smith-i-felt-run-down-being-able-to-refresh-my-mind-was-key/
| 2024-01-25T10:52:58Z
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Big news, everyone: the sausage catastrophe has been reproduced with tiny balls.
Look. It’s a little-known fact in mathematics, but the more difficult your theorem is to prove, the sillier its name has to be. Take, for example, the fact that there is no nonvanishing continuous tangent vector field on even-dimensional n-spheres – or to use its common name, the hairy ball theorem. Or, hey, need an algorithm to determine whether a set of sections provides a basis for the Mordell–Weil abelian group of a given elliptic surface? Why not try the Cox-Zucker machine! And let’s not even start on all the theorems and concepts named after Tits.
We tell you this only to make it clear that despite sounding like the kind of weird punk band your parents used to listen to in 1976, Sphere Packing and the Sausage Catastrophe are actually a big deal in math circles – and a recent paper confirming a long-suspected result on the problem is genuinely impressive and important.
Indeed, “the theory of infinite packings of convex bodies, in particular, lattice packings of spheres is a fundamental and classical topic in mathematics,” wrote mathematicians Martin Henk and Jörg Wills, who were not involved in this new result, back in 2020.
“[It] plays a role in various branches of mathematics [such] as number theory, group theory, geometry of numbers, algebra, and [it] has numerous applications to coding theory, cryptography, crystallography and more,” they noted.
So, what exactly is this problem that has such wide applicability? Well, in a word: balls.
More specifically, it’s this: what is the most efficient way to pack balls? It sounds like an easy question – all the hardest ones do – but it has evaded a definite answer for centuries. Even the solutions we do have seem weirdly overcomplicated: for instance, we’ve known since 2005, and been pretty sure since 1611, that the best way in three dimensions is to use the “cannonball” method – yes, like how pirates used to do – but only if you have an infinite number of them. Which, let’s face it, even the saltiest of seadogs did not.
Unfortunately, that’s the kind of nonsense you end up with when you let mathematicians tackle a simple problem – which is why this new result came from a group of physicists, instead.
“In reality, however, all packings are inherently finite, which means that their extension is limited in space,” the researchers write (classic non-mathematical starting point there). “This raises the question of what is the most efficient way to pack equally-sized spheres in either a container with a predefined shape, or inside a flexible container like the smallest convex hull that encloses the spheres.”
And unlike Kepler’s clusters of cannonballs, the answer is totally unintuitive: it’s a sausage. At least, at first.
“One of my students observed a linear packing, but it was quite puzzling,” Hanumantha Rao Vutukuri, assistant professor in experimental physics at the University of Twente, told New Scientist. His team hadn’t even been thinking about this Keplerian puzzler at the time; they were experimenting with putting spherical nanoscale particles inside microscopic containers known as vesicles.
“We thought that there was some fluke, so he repeated it a couple of times and every time he observed similar results,” Vutukuri said. “I was wondering, ‘why is this happening?’”
Now, was it unexpected? Yes. But was it completely unpredictable? No – and in fact, it was predicted, by mathematician Fejes Tóth all the way back in 1975. Proving it, however, was a different story – and the team ran up against some challenges pretty early on in their experiments.
“The vesicles kept rupturing with more than nine particles,” said Marjolein Dijkstra, Professor of Soft Condensed Matter at Utrecht University, in a statement. “This prevented us from testing how the stacking of particles would change if we added more than nine.”
Luckily, we have something Kepler never had: computers. Faced with these burst vesicles, the researchers moved instead to computer simulations of the problem, investigating the most efficient way to pack now up to 150 balls.
And it’s a good thing they went so high. Had they stopped at 55, they would only have obtained half an answer – because at 56, something catastrophic happened.
Literally. It’s called the “sausage catastrophe.” It’s when “a sudden transition in the packing density occurs from a linear to a cluster arrangement, where the coordinates of the particles extend in all three dimensions,” the paper explains – in other words, all of a sudden, it becomes more efficient to make a smush of balls, like Kepler did, than a line.
That, ultimately, is why we should care about this weird problem. Not just because it’s fun and provides closure to Kepler’s pirate friends, but because it shows that experiments really can have an important place in math.
“Our systematic investigation of these clusters with various shapes has allowed us to directly prove, with a practical approach inspired by the physics of colloids, the existence of previously unidentified clusters that exhibit a packing efficiency that is superior to the sausage configuration,” the team writes. “Nevertheless, it remains to be determined whether mathematical proofs can be developed for the packing of these clusters and for the entire Fejes Tóth conjecture.”
“Finite sphere packing is still an open and intriguing problem,” they conclude. “We believe that our work can serve as a catalyst for further research in this direction.”
The paper is published in the journal Nature Communications.
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https://www.iflscience.com/too-many-balls-will-cause-a-sausage-catastrophe-and-now-theres-finally-proof-72620
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Overall Game of the Year 2023 - Article
by Evan Norris , posted 2 hours ago / 475 ViewsWhen all is said and done, 2023 will be remembered as one of the best years of the ninth generation. It was a time when every platform and every corner of the industry got in on the fun. PC gamers enjoyed exclusives like Against the Storm and Videoverse, not to mention scores of multiplatform games. The PlayStation 5, previously lacking in console exclusives, received two highly-anticipated titles in Final Fantasy XVI and Marvel's Spider-Man 2. Xbox came out of left field with the surprise hit of 2023, Hi-Fi RUSH. And Nintendo, heading toward the tail end of the Switch era, gave us a year to remember thanks to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and Pikmin 4.
It's a testament to the greatness of 2023 that more than half of the aforementioned titles didn't make the cut-off for Overall Game of the Year. Those that did make it onto the Shortlist below are each special in their own way. Alan Wake 2, a long time in the making, dazzled players with its cutting-edge graphics and brilliant narrative. Baldur's Gate III wowed critics and consumers alike with an amazing cast of characters and dizzying gameplay freedom. Final Fantasy XVI impressed with its beautiful cut-scenes and fresh take on action combat. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, a game under the shadow of impossibly high expectations, invigorated its audience with endless opportunities for experimentation. And Resident Evil 4 riffed on an 18-year-old formula, in some instances improving on one of the best games of all time.
The Shortlist:
Alan Wake 2
Baldur's Gate III
Final Fantasy XVI
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Resident Evil 4
The Runner-Up:
Baldur's Gate III
Baldur's Gate III is a massive achievement, on all fronts. It blends tactical turn-based combat with opulent production design, stellar storytelling & world-building, and amazing music & voice acting. Its fictional world feels alive and urgent, and its characters seem incredibly real. But its greatest achievement is the way it invites players to make choices, be creative, and live with the consequences of their decisions and actions. No video game can truly recreate the open-ended freedom of tabletop role-playing games managed by a human GM, but Baldur's Gate III, thanks to its living, breathing world and interconnected moving parts, manages to approximate that freedom as closely as possible. The result is a generation-defining role-playing game.
The Winner:
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
It's difficult to talk about The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom without referencing its predecessor, Breath of the Wild, our pick for Overall Game of the Year 2017. Breath of the Wild captured lightning in a bottle, and in the process changed the fortunes of the Zelda franchise, the Switch, and, in some ways, Nintendo in general. Tears, being an iterative sequel released in the twilight years of the Switch, can't compete with that. But it doesn't have to. Judged on its own merits, it's a phenomenal open-world game that surpasses its forebear in several important areas.
Since 2017, The Legend of Zelda has been all about freedom: freedom of choice, of movement, and of experimentation. Tears of the Kingdom elaborates on those items, granting players an obscenely large sandbox in which to explore, and a set of imaginative, intuitive tools with which to alter (and in some cases bend the reality of) that sandbox. When that spatial and mechanical audacity combines with the traditional tenets of Zelda — evocative production design, colorful characters, dangerous dungeons, and riveting action-adventure gameplay — the results are spectacular.
Does that mean it's better than Breath of the Wild? Maybe, maybe not. That's a question that will be debated by fans for years to come. For now, though, one thing is crystal clear: Tears of the Kingdom is our pick for Overall Game of the Year 2023.
Previous Winners
Elden Ring
Metroid Dread
The Last of Us Part II
Resident Evil 2
God of War
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Rocket League
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
Super Mario 3D World
Journey
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Mass Effect 2
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
LittleBigPlanet
BioShock
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https://www.vgchartz.com/article/459542/overall-game-of-the-year-2023/
| 2024-01-25T11:06:09Z
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Claudia Schiffer was seen stepping onto the red carpet last night for the Argylle premiere in London and followers of Hollywood's most fashionable might have recognised her gorgeous gown.
The supermodel, 53, looked sensational as she headed out in a silver and acid yellow checkerboard Versace gown made from chainmail fabric in the main with lacy panels down each side. The high-shine garment clung to Claudia's stunning figure and had a super flattering lace over the cups of the bodice.
The 90s icon paired the piece with a pair of ultra-trendy silver kitten heels with a bow attached to the toe and a coordinating box clutch. She added an unusual silver bracelet in a triangle shape as well as an array of rings in mismatched metals.
Her signature blonde locks were worn straight for a windswept look and she was seen clutching onto the arm of her director husband Matthew Vaughn as she sported a grungy dark grey smokey eye and super nude lipstick.
Followers of Hollywood red carpet looks will have noticed that Claudia picked the almost identical Versace dress that Anne Hathaway rocked to the Clooney Foundation For Justice's 'The Albies' held at The New York Public Library in New York City last September.
Anne styled the designer gown which was in a lime green and silver colourway with a floral lace crossover panel over the waistline in a similar fashion to Claudia. The Devil Wears Prada actress, 41, added a silver shoulder bag which she carried in her hand and channeled Claudia's same energy with the metallic bow-adorned heels.
The Princess Diaries star brought a retro feel to the look with her hairstyle. She wore her long brunette locks in a half-up 60s bouffant style that Priscilla Presley would be proud of. Anne wore a softer, warmer eyeshadow look to Claudia's vampy look and added a silver pendant necklace to complete her look.
Claudia is clearly not afraid of a re-wear. The supermodel previously rocked the garment on the runway at the Versace fashion show during the Milan Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2024 last September 2023 in Milan.
Beyond the supermodel sporting Anne's dress, we couldn't help but notice her unusual accessory. Claudia ditched the silver clutch and was seen holding a backpack in a fitting argyle yellow print housing her cat Chip, who is starring in Argylle, who peeked out from a window in the bag.
Claudia was seen posing alongside the movie's stars. Dua Lipa, 28, looked so glamorous in a floor-length sequin-covered dress in a deep cherry hue that matched her cherry cola hair. Meanwhile, Bryce Dallas Howard, 42, stunned in a plunging sparkly dress in a dark emerald shade, and Ariana DeBose, 33, wowed in a blazer dress with a sheer piece of fabric mimicking a skirt.
DISCOVER: Claudia Schiffer’s bikini photo causes a stir as she celebrates her 53rd birthday
She was seen arriving at the Versace party during Fashion Week in Milan wearing a gorgeous sky blue cut-out piece with rhinestone detailing and added the same bow-adorned heels.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/fashion/celebrity-style/512021/claudia-schiffer-surprises-same-slinky-chainmail-dress-anne-hathaway-photos/
| 2024-01-25T11:14:24Z
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Sofia Vergara became very vocal during an awkward moment on The Kelly Clarkson Show on Wednesday.
The moment, which can be watched below, saw the Modern Family actress tell the host to "shut up" during a divisive conversation about her role as Griselda Blanco in the new Netflix series, Griselda.
Sofia had to undergo a major transformation to play the drug lord so when Kelly underplayed the makeover, Sofia passionately put her in her place.
Kelly kicked off the conversation while watching a clip of Sofia getting her prosthetics to play the part.
"This is incredible," she said, before adding: "I feel like they only changed your nose or something."
This pushed a button for Sofia who quickly fired back with one word: "What?" she exclaimed before Kelly tried to explain what she meant. "Are you crazy?" Sofia fought back as the American Idol alum attempted to make things better.
"Whatever they did, it looks slight," she quipped, which only made things worse as Sofia retaliated by saying: "No Kelly, it took hours."
Kelly said that while it probably took an age, it didn't appear to look that way and that the "slight" change "completely changed your being."
But this sent Sofia off the deep end as she shouted: "Shut up. It was a wig," as Kelly laughed at her guest and tenderly grabbed her arm, proving their interaction was all in jest.
But Sofia clearly still wanted to get things off her chest and proclaimed: "It was a lot. They did a lot to me! It was teeth. It was a wig. It was a nose. It was plastic from here to here."
Kelly clarified her statement by saying the makeup team "did such a good job that it looks seamless."
Griselda is out on Netflix today (January 25) and Sofia and the cast have been busy promoting the highly anticipated series.
Speaking about her gripping new drama in which she plays Griselda who was once one of the world's most prominent drug lords, she said: "I didn't want to create a story where there was a happy ending. I wanted change."
The role is a far cry from her character, the lovable Gloria Delgado-Pritchett in Modern Family which made Sofia a household name.
Sofia has taken on the challenge of playing Griselda with gusto and explained why she wanted to embrace this role."There were many things that I loved about that character because as an actor getting the opportunity to be someone so complex was fascinating," she said. "I don't understand many things about her but I took on the role because I'm Colombian, I'm a woman, I'm a mother and I'm an immigrant."
Get the lowdown on the biggest, hottest celebrity news, features and profiles coming out of the U.S. Sign up to our HELLO! Hollywood newsletterand get them delivered straight to your inbox.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/film/512016/sofia-vergara-tells-kelly-clarkson-shut-up-during-disagreement-on-air-moment-griselda-transformation-watch/
| 2024-01-25T11:14:30Z
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Sarah Ferguson shared a health update while leaving the King William VII hospital in Marylebone, London on Wednesday, just days after revealing her skin cancer diagnosis.
Smiling as she left hospital, the Duchess, who was wearing a navy blue blazer and matching skirt, responded to fans who asked how she was doing. She replied: "I'm fine, thank you," according to The Mirror.
On Monday, Sarah took to Instagram to reassure fans that she was in "good spirits" despite the shock of her diagnosis. Sharing a throwback photo from Austria where she was receiving treatment, Sarah penned: "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 cancer was discovered after several moles were removed and analysed while the royal was being treated for breast cancer in June last year.
The Duchess went on to urge fans to check for any suspicious symptoms. "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," she wrote.
Sarah's melanoma diagnosis was revealed on Sunday via a statement from a representative 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."
It continued: "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."
Sarah, who is now recuperating at home, is currently being treated by Dr Andrew Furness, consultant medical oncologist at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, and by Catherine Borysiewicz, consultant dermatologist at the King Edward VII Hospital, where she was spotted leaving on Wednesday.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/512013/sarah-ferguson-reveals-health-update-spotted-leaving-hospital/
| 2024-01-25T11:14:36Z
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King Harald of Norway was quizzed on whether he would ever abdicate following his Danish counterpart Queen Margrethe's shock decision to step down earlier this month.
Speaking to press on Tuesday at Faktisk.no, a non-profit fact-checking organisation in Oslo, King Harald, who attended the engagement using crutches, said: "No, I stand by what I said all along. I have taken an oath to the Storting (the Norwegian parliament) and it lasts for life."
The 86-year-old monarch succeeded to the Norwegian throne in January 1991 on the death of his father King Olav V. Like his father and grandfather before him, he adopted the motto, "We give our all for Norway." Four days later, Harald swore an oath to uphold the constitution in the Storting.
While Harald may not be in the best health – he spent a week in hospital last May after being treated for an infection; he underwent a leg operation in 2022; and he also contracted coronavirus twice during the pandemic – an abdication is looking even more unlikely because of his heir.
Harald's son and heir apparent Crown Prince Haakon is married to Crown Princess Mette-Marit, who has experienced a number of health issues herself in recent years.
"It's a very fine balancing test to have," Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine, said on HELLO!'s A Right Royal Podcast.
Listen to the podcast below to find out exactly what Joe had to say about the prospect of a Norwegian abdication.
Mette-Marit, the future Queen Consort of Norway, was notably absent from the royal family's Christmas portrait session after contracting a mystery illness.
The mother-of-three, 50, also went on sick leave for two weeks in September. It was never confirmed why the Crown Princess needed time away from the royal spotlight, though it was presumed that the leave was linked to chronic pulmonary fibrosis, a condition that causes scarring on the lungs that she was diagnosed with in 2018.
Pulmonary fibrosis can mean that breathing becomes increasingly difficult. The condition is rare among those under 50 and is most common in people over 70. Symptoms include tiredness, a persistent dry cough and shortness of breath.
King Harald's abdication comments come shortly after Queen Margrethe of Denmark stepped down as monarch on 14 January. Her son Crown Prince Frederik was proclaimed King alongside his wife, the new Queen Mary.
While Margrethe's New Year's Eve announcement was a shock to many, including her own sons Frederik and Prince Joachim who were only told three days before, the abdication has come at the right time, according to Juliet Rieden, editor at large at The Australian's Women's Weekly.
"It definitely came out of the blue," Juliet told HELLO!. "But I think she's a very pragmatic Queen. She saw the popularity of Frederik and Mary. She saw the vitality that they could give to the monarchy moving forward. And their eldest son Crown Prince Christian has just turned 18 and is clearly very serious about the role of heir. So, everything is in place."
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/512023/king-harald-norway-sets-record-straight-abdication/
| 2024-01-25T11:14:42Z
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The cost-of-living crisis has transformed many of us into money-saving experts as we attempt to minimise those looming energy bills. While the cost of running a tumble dryer varies with each model, there's no doubt that the tumble dryer is one of the most energy-sapping appliances to run, especially in larger households.
But luckily, there's an affordable solution. Heated clothes airers are soaring in popularity right now, and for good reason. A cheap and effective alternative to tumble dryers, they circulate hot air around your clothes, while reducing creases and ironing time.
Interested? Amazon, Lakeland, Dunelm and more have a range of heated clothes airers ready to shop, and you'll be glad you invested – seriously, they can cost as little as 4p an hour!
Do heated clothes airers use much electricity?
Heated clothes airers use less electricity than tumble dryers, with some costing as little as 4p an hour to run, making them a cost-efficient way to dry clothes quickly.
How we chose the best heated clothes airers
- Variety: I've chosen a range of heated clothes airers to choose from, including electric clothes airers, folding airers for space-saving, three-tier airers and more.
- Price: The clothes airers in the list range in price from affordable to high-end, so there should be something to suit every budget.
- Energy-saving: Some of the heated clothes airers in the list cost as little as 7p an hour to run, making them a great addition to your home to keep heated bills to a minimum.
Lakeland 3-Tier Heated Air Dryer
Cost to run: 9p per hour
Dimensions: 70cm x 74cm x 132.5cm
Shipping: £3.95 or free with a £60 spend
Returns: Three-year guarantee
Lakeland's heated airer can hold up to 15kg of wet laundry, thanks to its strong thermostatically controlled bars that won't overheat. Costing 10p an hour to run, for ultra-efficient performance, you can also invest in the matching cover which keeps the heat in, speeds up clothes drying and doubles up as a storage bag for your airer too.
Amazon Electric Clothes Dryer
Dimensions: (H) 148 cm x (W) 70cm x (D) 48cm
Shipping: Free delivery
Amazon's electric clothes dryer dries your clothes using warm air generated by a powerful 1300W motor. Able to hold up to 15kg of damp clothing (approximately. 25 separate items), if you hang smaller items on two tiers you'll be able to fit up to 50 items.
JML Dri Buddi Heated Air Dryer
Dimensions: 160cm x 70cm x 70cm
Shipping: From £3.95
Returns: Within 30 days
Keep your garments dry and crisp with the Dri Buddi, which can hold up to 10 kilos of damp clothing at a time and give safe and gentle drying without any damage. It dries your clothes using a warm air motor that helps to drop out creases and leaves your garments feeling crisp and fresh with a 'line-dried' feel - saves on ironing!
Dunelm 2-Tier Heated Clothes Airer
Cost to run: 6p per hour
Dimensions: 99cm x 10.5cm x 72cm
Shipping: £3.95 or free with £40 spend
Returns: Within 28 days
Ideal for small spaces, Dunelm's heated clothes airer is suitable for up to 10kg of washing. Heated to speed up the drying process, this 220-watt airer costs just 6p an hour to run, plus it can be folded away neatly after use.
Argos Minky Wing Heated Clothes Airer with Cover
Cost to run: 8p per hour
Dimensions: 94cm x 148cm x 54cm
Shipping: From £3.95
Returns: Within 30 days
Unlike most models, this heated clothes airer comes with a cover that helps retain heat and improve overall drying performance. Economical to run, it'll cost up to 8p an hour, saving you plenty of money on energy bills.
Lakeland Heated Clothes Drying Pod
Cost to run: 30p per hour
Dimensions: 62cm x 146cm
Shipping: £3.95 or free with a £60 spend
Returns: Three-year guarantee
This heated dryer pod costs slightly more pennies an hour to run, but it's guaranteed to dry clothes much faster than most electric clothes airers, plus it's actually gentler on fabrics than the standard tumble dryer.
It features a fan built into the base that heats air up to 70°C and then blows it up into the pod, drying your clothes. Simply arrange your garments on hangers, hook them onto the rail at the top, fit the zip-fronted fabric cover around them and switch it on.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/shopping/512010/best-heated-clothes-airers-dryers/
| 2024-01-25T11:14:48Z
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If you're looking for the perfect gift for a teenage girl or a young adult, you might want to check out our list of cool - but affordable - jewellery brands - especially as Valentine's Day is coming up.
Plus, we reached out to jewellery designer Laura Gravestock to find out if you really need to spend a lot of money on jewellery and how to make your jewellery last.
What kind of jewellery looks the most expensive on?
Laura said: "I’m loving heavier rings, earrings and pendants at the moment, for a more expensive look without the hefty price tag – when a piece has more weight, we automatically equate it with value. I also love the layered look when it comes to necklaces – mix and match different chain styles and pendants for an eclectic, curated look that gives off the vibe you’re styling heirlooms that have been passed down to you."
Best affordable jewellery that can be personalised - at a glance
Laura said: "Not at all! There are so many brilliant independent jewellery brands creating affordable jewellery from precious materials, it’s just a case of knowing what to look for. I’d always recommend checking what pieces are made from, and opt for sterling silver, gold vermeil (layers of real gold applied to sterling silver – A.K.A gold plated) and 9ct gold, as these demi-fine pieces hold their value more than base metals such as brass or stainless steel, and are far less likely to cause allergic reactions. If you look after these pieces, they should last you far longer than cheaper alternatives. My pieces start at just £20 for sterling silver earrings – and even my solid gold heart rings are only £125, for something you’ll keep forever."
How we chose the best affordable jewellery brands
Style & trends: We wanted this edit to be stylish so we looked at the brands favoured by the fash pack.
Inclusions under £200: Preferably less, in fact. Affordable has a different meaning to everyone, but we tried to keep the edit consistent with mid-priced jewellery brands.
Sustainability: Where possible we chose jewellery responsibly made and consciously sourced.
1/26
Pandora Sparkling Handwritten Love Collier Necklace
Pandora Jewellery
It's no secret that young girls love Pandora - you just need to walk past a shop on a busy Saturday afternoon to see that! It might be known for cute charms and easy-to-buy gifts, but there are some seriously chic cool-girl jewellery styles on site.
2/26
Monica Vinader Birthstone Necklace
Monica Vinader Jewellery
Monica Vinader - a jewellery brand loved by Princess Kate - is a firm favourite in the HELLO! office. This birthstone necklace is perfect for a special gift. If you're looking for a January birthday stone, this is the stone of commitment. Red garnet is said to bring loyalty and trust. You can also add a complimentary engraving to the reverse for an extra thoughtful touch.
3/26
Swarovski Angelic Collection Earrings
Swarovski Jewellery
Swarovski, well, you just can't go wrong with this brand. It's always a success when it comes to gifting a partner or a loved one. These earrings from the Angelic Collection would be a great idea for a present - so sparkly! And they're on sale.
4/26
Missoma Floating Charm Choker
Missoma Jewellery
Meet The Founder
The founder, Marisa Hordern, is all about championing women and she’s a strong believer that jewellery is all about decorating life and bringing small moments of happiness to your day.
Just ask Meghan Markle! Missoma is an excellent choice for young adults and it’s virtually impossible to not choose a great piece. Whether you’re looking for silver, gold, or personalised, this brand has all the crowd-pleasers for the best treat.
Recently the brand has expanded to fine jewellery, so as well as finding personalised, chic pieces, you can also invest in forever jewellery, as well.
5/26
Edge of Ember Medium Gold Hoops
Edge of Ember Jewellery
This brand has the royal seal of approval as well - Meghan has worn this jewellery brand on a number of occasions as well. Having launched in 2014, Edge of Ember is now an all-female operation that aims to help customers make empowered choices about fashion and a positive impact in the world. The brand works with artisan groups and small-scale factories in Asia that are run in an ethical manner.
Founders Jezz & Asha work with an incredible team of highly passionate designers & creators, and have enlisted the likes of Stacey Solomon, Gemma Owen and Olivia Atwood to create collections.
Customise the beloved doodle heart from Stacey Solomon's Abbott Lyon collection on this gold necklace when you choose the birthstone that sits alongside it. It's the perfect everyday piece, whether you want to wear it on its own or layer it with your other favourites.
7/26
Rachel Jackson x Dawn O'Porter Rainbow Pave Boogie Necklace
Rachel Jackson Jewellery
Dawn O'Porter's collection with jewellery brand Rachel Jackson is so on brand - and perfect for anyone who loves sparkle and having fun. This luxe, rainbow pave BOOGIE necklace is the perfect 'ooh where did you get that from?' necklace.
8/26
Thomas Sabo Pearl Stud Earrings
Thomas Sabo Jewellery
Thomas Sabo is a great destination for reasonable jewellery, wherther you're looking for gifting ideas or purchases for yourself. Pearls are a cute idea and if you don't currently have any in your jewellery box, these delicately shimmering pearl ear studs are 0.7 cm in size and consist of cultured freshwater pearls and a push-fit fastening of 925 Sterling silver. And in case you need more convincing, the pearl is a symbol of love.
9/26
Soru Angelica Gold Hoop Earrings
Soru Jewellery
Meet The Founders
Founded in 2013 by two half English-Sicilian sisters Francesca Kelly and Marianna Doyle in Solihull. The pair absolutely loved jewellery, and their summer trips to Sicily to see family inspired them to create stand out pieces of jewellery at attainable prices.
You will have heard of Soru Jewellery - or you'll have spotted it on Instagram before, that's for sure! Each piece is ethically handmade using gold plated sterling silver and semi-precious gemstones. Oh, and the brand has one major royal fan - and that's the Duchess of Cambridge who has been spotted wearing Soru Jewellery on more than one occasion. Opening up one of these gifts will bring a smile to anyone's face.
10/26
Amelia Scott Esme Stud Earrings
Amelia Scott Jewellery
Meet The Founder
You might think that the founder is called Amelia Scott, but that's not the case. It's actually London-based jewellery designer Jane Hebden.
Previously Head of Creative at a well-known watch and jewellery brand, with the pieces she designed stocked in the likes of Selfridges and Harvey Nichols, Jane was awarded Retail Jewellers 30 Under 30 Rising Star Award in 2020, and several Watch Pro Awards for pieces she designed over the years. Uninspired by the minimalist brands on the market, Jane has now decided to use her 10 years of industry experience to start designing pieces that reflect her own personal style and the fun she loves to have with accessories and colour.
Lockdown initiated the shift in her career, telling us: “I started to find my most ‘colourful self’ during and after lockdown - wearing colour really does improve my mood and I wanted to share the joy of colours with others, which was my main motivation to start the brand."
The brand is set to become a go-to for wearable, unexpected palettes and sophisticated sparkle.
Our choice? These Esme studs - so elegant! And the best bit? Amelia Scott is packaged in a beautiful branded velvet gift box.
11/26
Astley Clarke Gold Pearl Anklet
Astley Clarke Jewellery
Astley Clarke is a luxury British brand celebrating design and craftsmanship. The brand only works with noble metals, semi-precious and precious gemstones, and natural diamonds, which are responsibly sourced and adhere to the Kimberley Process. Astley Clarke also supports Theirworld, a charity that champions women’s and children’s causes in the developing world.
12/26
Ernest Jones Sterling Silver Diamond Heart Necklace
Ernest Jones Jewellery
We love this heart shaped necklace, there are even diamond engagement rings on offer - perfect for anyone planning a Valentine's Day proposal.
13/26
Mejuri Heart Station Bracelet
Mejuri Jewellery
Meet The Founder
The CEO of Mujui, Noura Sakkijha, said: "I founded Mejuri because I saw a jewellery industry that was built for men gifting women and not women celebrating themselves. To me, the truest expression of Mejuri is mutual uplift: all of us supporting each other, and you, our community, feeling empowered to invest in yourself and, in turn, the community around you.”
You'll find a lovely mix of affordable and luxury pieces on site, and there's a new drop each week. We dare you not to find something that you truly love.
14/26
Frida & Florence Waltz Of Hearts Gold Necklace
Frida & Florence Jewellery
The 19K gold vermeil Waltz of Hearts necklace features five small hearts hanging from an adjustable chain. In the centre you'll find a zirconia heart - a sparkly little reminder of your eternal love.
15/26
L’ERA Diamond Rectangle Hoops
L’ERA Jewellery
Meet The Founder
Founded by Angele and Lara, L’ERA was borne out of a passion for diamonds and a desire to make them accessible to everyone. Angele, with her background in the jewellery industry, set out on a mission to offer high-quality, beautiful, lab-grown diamonds.
Affordable AND insane quality, it's a no-brainer, really! At L'ERA, their belief is that every piece of jewellery tells a story and gives a freedom of expression. Sustainability is a huge focus for the brand and exclusively only offer lab-grown diamonds.
16/26
Heavenly London The Gold Norma Bracelet
Heavenly London Jewellery
Meet The Founder
Heavenly London (formerly known as Heavenyl Necklaces) is the brainchild of Belinda Scott, who started the online business from the kitchen table in 1998.
The company is run day-to-day by her daughter Madeleine, who also has inherited the same love of jewellery, leaving Belinda to focus on the ever-changing designs and new collections.
You'll have seen Heavenly London on Instagram after bonafide Instagram star Flavia Stuttgen launched her 'Bisou Bisou!' collaboration with the brand.
17/26
Carrie Elizabeth x Zoe Sugg Intentions Lucky Pearl & Chain Bracelet
Carrie Elizabeth Jewellery
Meet The Founder
Essex-born Carrie took the leap of faith to give up her day job as a jewellery buyer and create her own jewellery brand. Very early into her career she found herself in Kate Moss’s home talking her through her collection - and the pinch-me moment catapulted her to fame.
As well as her own stunning range of jewels she also recently created a capsule collection with Zoe Sugg and Fearne Cotton and NotOnTheHighStreet.
18/26
Celeste Starre Bamboo Bright Earrings
Celeste Starre Jewellery
Meet The Founder
Founded by Andraya Kenton, the jewellery brand Celeste Starre was inspired by Andraya’s great grandmother Celeste who had ran off to New York in the thirties to chase her dreams.
Spotted on Lucy Mecklenburgh, Fearne Cotton and the Little Mix girls, this is an exciting jewellery brand ideal for a young girl who’s just starting her love of jewels.
19/26
CARAT* London Kadin Cuff
CARAT* London Jewellery
Meet The Founder
Born 17 years ago by founder and CEO Scott Thompson, he had the idea of wanting to be inclusive rather than exclusive and now he and his wife Heidi continue their passion for creating beautiful - and affordable - diamonds.
Add a touch of edge to your ear game with the elegant Kadin Ear Cuff. Featuring a marquise stone and a polished yellow gold bar accented with a dainty row of microsettings.
20/26
Laura Gravestock RSxLG Open Hearts Chunky Hoop Earrings
Laura Gravestock Jewellery
Meet The Founder
Luxury British jewellery brand Laura Gravestock Jewellery was founded in 2009 by designer and owner, Laura Gravestock.
Loved by celebrities and influencers alike, Laura's jewellery is covetable with a playful twist. Recently Laura collaborated with style maven Rachel Stevens and it's a smash hit with fans.
21/26
Astrid & Miyu Navette Bracelet
Astrid & Miyu Jewellery
Give them a piece of jewellery that they'll treasure - without having to break the bank. Astrid and Miyu is all about stacking necklaces for a glam look - so start them off on their journey with our top picks of gorgeous base necklaces. They also have some stunning earring options, from stylish hoops to ear cuffs. Enjoy!
22/26
Maudella Cordelia Earrings
Maudella Jewellery
Maudella is a new jewellery brand on our radar and we're impressed with the mix of contemporary everyday styles on site, as well as some timeless classics. A lot of the pieces come in both 18ct gold or white gold plating and starts from £35 to £130. The brand spent a huge amount of time and investment developing their packaging, making sure all the boxes are 100% recyclable. Typically, jewellery brands use velvet, foam or plastic inserts to hold their pieces in place inside the box, and they've tried to avoid that. The inserts are made from recyclable paper wrapped card, and working with new factories who use FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified paper and soy ink for packaging production. Maudella is one to watch!
23/26
Rosie Fortescue Jewellery Freshwater Pearl & Neon Thread Bracelet
Rosie Fortescue Jewellery
Meet The Founder
Rosie needs no introduction. The Made in Chelsea star started her London-based Demi-fine jewellery brand back in 2015 and since then it has gone from strength to strength.
If you’re looking for a colourful gift, this is definitely it. Rosie’s latest collection features colourful tennis bracelets which make the most perfect gift to the magpie in your life.
24/26
Sif Jakobs Ring Ellisse Grande Ring
Sif Jakobs Jewellery
The award-winning Danish brand, which launched in 2009, is all about affordable luxury. Celebrities love it, too. From Ellie Goulding to Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry and Dua Lipa.
25/26
Coeur De Lion Square Layer Bracelet
Coeur De Lion Jewellery
Coeur De Lion has been delighting jewellery lovers all over the world for almost 35 years. The jewellery is produced by hand in Germany. Instead of always using new resources, Coeur De Lion wants to help you look after your jewellery properly and, if necessary, repair it. That is part of its sustainability pledge.
26/26
Aurum + Grey Handwritten Necklace
Aurum + Grey Jewellery
Meet The Founder
Jewellery brand AURUM + GREY was born in 2015 by Talya Paskin, who was inspired to create her own jewellery line when she struggled to find special gifts for her bridesmaids when planning her wedding.
Aurum + Grey has been spotted on ALL the celebs; from the Kardashians to Laura Whitmore, Millie Mackintosh, Holly Willoughby and some of Instagram’s coolest influencers. The ideal gift for any fashion-conscious teen.
5 ways to look after your jewellery
Laura Gravestock, the designer and owner of luxury British jewellery brand Laura Gravestock Jewellery, said: "Taking care of your jewellery is the key to longevity - like most things, jewellery is not indestructible!"
Always take your jewellery off when swimming, bathing, and working out.
Take your rings off when you wash your hands or use sanitiser.
Chemicals damage all jewellery, and this includes perfumes, body lotions, hairspray…always put these on before your jewellery, let them dry, and put your jewellery on as the final step of your routine!
Avoid wearing your jewellery in places where it’s likely to get snagged and pulled or bashed – so ideally take pieces off before bed, and if you’re planning on doing any cleaning, take jewellery off first so it doesn’t get damaged.
It’s also worth checking if the company you buy your jewellery from offers a re-plating or jewellery refurbishment service – for a small charge you can send your pieces back to them to be cleaned, polished and if needed, re-plated so it comes back to you looking as good as new.
Meet the expert
Laura Gravestock is the designer and owner of luxury British jewellery brand Laura Gravestock Jewellery, founded in 2009. Taking inspiration from her surroundings, be it her childhood spent in the Middle East & Spain, or the super-trendy part of East London where she lived for over a decade, Laura creates covetable, luxury jewellery with a playful twist. Laura designs jewellery that makes you smile when you wear it, and you never want to take off!
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/shopping/512022/best-affordable-jewellery-brands-for-girls-and-women/
| 2024-01-25T11:14:55Z
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Netflix's latest miniseries Griselda explores the life of real-life crime boss Griselda Blanco, a businesswoman turned notorious cocaine trafficker who became 'The Godmother' of Miami's drug empire in the 1970s.
The six-parter, which stars Modern Family's Sofia Vergara in the titular role, is a "fictionalised" version of events that tells how Griselda's "lethal blend of unsuspected savagery and charm" allowed her to form one of the most profitable cartels in history and become a central figure in the violent Miami drug wars.
While she may have been known as 'The Godmother' of the criminal underworld, Griselda was in fact a mother to four sons. But what happened to them and where are they now?
Who are Griselda Blanco's sons?
During her first marriage to document forger Carlos Trujillo, Griselda welcomed three sons: Osvaldo, also known as "Ozzy", Dixon and Uber. All three were born before Griselda had reached the age of 21.
A decade later, Griselda and Carlos split up, and the crime boss had her ex-husband killed over a business disagreement, earning her the moniker: 'Black Widow'.
During her third marriage to killer Darlo Sepúlveda, Griselda welcomed her youngest son Michael Corleone, who was named after Al Pacino's character in the iconic gangster film, The Godfather.
In 1983, Darlo left Griselda and attempted to kidnap Michael and take him to Columbia after he and his ex-wife disagreed over custody. The mother of four reportedly paid to have Darlo assassinated and her son returned to the US.
Griselda herself met an undignified end when she was shot and killed by two mystery assailants outside a butcher's shop in 2012. The identity of the killers remains unknown.
What happened to Griselda's four sons?
Michael Corleone Blanco is Griselda's only surviving son.
By the age of nine, Michael had joined the family business and survived seven assassination attempts as a young boy. He went on to become a major figure in his mother's empire after she was sentenced to 25 years for trafficking and effectively took charge of the business at the age of 12 as his other brothers were in jail.
Speaking to The Sunday Mirror in 2020, Michael said of his mother: "My mother was no saint. She had to survive to do her thing. But at the end of the day, she was my mother. I will forever honour and respect her. I love her."
Michael later decided to turn his back on the family business in search of a life away from crime. But in 2012, he got the call about Griselda's death.
"It was a call I had been dreading for years," he said. "I'd spoken to her at two that morning. They said to me, 'Michael, I'm standing over your mother's dead body.' Right then and there it was, all right, do I kill a whole bunch of people just in case?"
"Even right now it brings tears to my eyes because I was with my boys when I got that phone call. I was teaching my youngest one how to swim.
"I said, 'I'm not going to let these kids live the life that I lived.' But to get out of that life you have to let certain individuals know there won't be any retributions. It was taken care of in the old country, Colombia," he added.
Michael now lives in Miami with his wife and three children. He runs a lifestyle brand, Pure Blanco and is releasing a book about his mother titled, My Mother, The Godmother, and the True Story of Michael Corleone Blanco, the Son of Griselda Blanco.
The entrepreneur has also filed a lawsuit against Sofia Vergara and Netflix for using the unauthorized "image, likeness and/or identity" of family members in the new series.
Griselda's other three sons, Osvaldo, Dixon and Uber, were all killed. The Netflix drama depicts all three deaths, showing Dixon killed while walking to his car, Uber targeted during a drug deal and Ozzy murdered in a nightclub.
Griselda is now streaming on Netflix.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/film/512029/where-are-griselda-blanco-children-now-netflix/
| 2024-01-25T11:27:34Z
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We love to see a glamorous throwback ‘fit, especially when it’s Victoria Beckham-approved.
Just yesterday Victoria Beckham posted on her Instagram story to wish her BFF Eva Longoria a big congratulations for her recent Academy Awards nomination for Best Original Song in her latest Directorial role for the film Flamin' Hot.
The image was a throwback pic from the designer’s collection launch last March, however, we think the backless ensemble is set to take out a top spot in 2024’s most trending occasion wear category.
Back in March of last year, the mother of four and wife to David Beckham took to her Instagram to debut the backless halterneck gown, telling her 32.6 million followers that she loves how "refined, sexy and playful it is." The dress features a white silk front complete with a plunging neckline and a halter neck tie. The floaty white front is attached to a slim-fitted black skirt which has a voluminous train which cascades for almost a meter.
White has been doing the rounds on both the red carpet and runways, sported by the likes of Keri Russell, Gillian Anderson and Natasha Lyonne at this year's most recent Golden Globe awards. The trend has been on the rise "since the end of autumn/beginning of winter 2023. Dresses in opulent white and ivory hues dominated in all forms on the red carpet this year," explains Hello! Fashion's Lauren Ramsay.
It seems that the red carpet isn't the only place that white is being sported. Both Princess Kate and Anne Hathaway have been donning the trend while out and about, proving that an all-white ensemble is unmatched when it comes to chic winter style.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/hfm/fashion-trends/512019/vb-honours-eva-longorias-oscar-nomination-in-2024s-chicest-dress-trend/
| 2024-01-25T11:27:40Z
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle might have swapped the Crown Estate in Windsor for sunny California four years ago, but the interiors at their Montecito mansion remain fit for royalty.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex moved into their grand nine-bedroom home, estimated to be worth around $30 million, in the summer of 2020 after initially residing at close friend Tyler Perry's abode and fans of the royal couple have been given the occasional glimpse inside over the years.
Prior to Prince Harry and Meghan moving in, the couple's sprawling mansion was listed on Giggster with a few photos giving a sneak peek inside, and one photo showed off their dining room – which wouldn't look out of place in Windsor Castle.
Like most of the rooms in their mansion, the dining area has high ceilings and, in the photo taken before they moved in, had wooden panels on the ceiling. The snap also shows a large open walkway leading from the main entrance hall, allowing lots of light to run through.
The table also had a large chandelier above it and plenty of seating space for when the royal couple host dinner parties. The room also had carpet fitted, adding an element of cosiness, and the huge fireplace taking up the height of the feature wall makes it even grander.
However, Prince Harry and Meghan have likely redecorated the dining area to suit their taste and style, but the couple no doubt enjoy making the most of the large room as a family of four.
Looking at more up-to-date snaps from their gorgeous house, we can only imagine that the dining room has had the ultimate California glow-up. In their six-episode Netflix series, Harry & Meghan, plenty of personal video footage gave fans a look at their design interiors.
One room we love is their home office, which is the perfect place for the royal couple to hold meetings with their colleagues and clients of their philanthropic business venture, Archewell Productions.
MORE: 9 things Prince Harry said about Princess Kate in Spare one year on
MORE: Why Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced pregnancy at Princess Eugenie's wedding
The room features a large desk for the Duke and Duchess to work from, as well as a stunning seating area for when they hold in-person chats with their team. There is also a huge California print on the wall above the fireplace, again mirroring the regal and grand theme of the home.
While giving a video conference call, Prince Harry was sitting on the sofa in their living room and we couldn't help but marvel at how beautifully it has been designed.
The sofa is grey-beige in color, with patterned cushions scattered around to add dimension and comfort. Behind the couch sits a console table adorned with gorgeous flowers, candles, vases and coffee table books.
Both the office and the living room are neutral-toned which, by the looks of it, is a theme that has been carried throughout their home. If the two rooms are anything to go by, we imagine their dining room is totally chic and complements the rest of the house perfectly.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/homes/512025/prince-harry-and-meghan-markles-grand-dining-room-at-montecito-mansion-fit-for-a-castle/
| 2024-01-25T11:27:46Z
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If you grab a jar of honey out of the kitchen cupboard (or your jar of royal honey out of the bedside table), you’ll be able to see an expiration date stamped across the packaging. But does honey ever really “expire”? And if not, why?
The components that make up honey are, crucially, nothing to do with bee vomit. In fact, despite being made up of at least 181 substances, honey is essentially just mostly sugar and water. While its exact composition differs depending on bee species, plants, and even weather, the inclusion of gluconic acid and other organic acids makes honey – you guessed it – acidic. As well as being mildly acidic, honey also has antibacterial properties which help prevent the growth of bacteria.
So, the answer to the question “does honey ever go bad?” is no, not really. As long as you store your honey in the right conditions, it can remain delicious for a very very long time. Honey’s unique ability to stand the test of time has made it a popular ingredient for centuries, with records of it being used as far back as 5500 BCE.
What makes honey last?
Honey is produced in the bee’s honey sac, or honey stomach, and it gets its flavor from the type of flower the nectar is collected from. The honey sac is a specialized organ that works as a store for nectar or water, enabling the bee to safely transport it back to the hive. Once home, the bee will regurgitate the nectar in a process called trophallaxis, and begin adding sugar-inverting enzymes to the nectar to create honey.
As bees add the enzyme glucose oxidase to the nectar, which converts sugar into gluconic acid, hydrogen peroxide is also produced. The presence of hydrogen peroxide – a chemical that is also used to clean wounds, although that is no longer recommended – contributes to the antibacterial properties of honey. Today, medical-grade honey is even used to treat drug-resistant bacterial infections.
This unique composition, and comparatively low water content, is what makes honey impervious to the growth of bacteria and fungi. Its high sugar content (honey has a carbohydrate content of around 80 percent) increases the osmotic pressure of honey, causing water to be drawn out of microbe cells, halting their growth and reproduction. Additionally, the low water content prevents fermentation and breakdown of the honey.
While it has been thought that honey’s acidity, with an average pH of 3.9, contributed to its longevity, studies comparing honey with low and high acidity levels found no significant difference in antimicrobial activity.
Can honey ever go off?
While the expiration date you see on the packaging of honey is largely there as a manufacturing requirement and to help keep track of produce, there are still a few ways honey can turn against you.
Avoiding moisture is the key to keeping your honey in good shape. Always store it in an air-tight container in a dry area to prevent contact with moisture that could allow microorganisms to multiply.
Additionally, as honey is a natural product, there is always a slight risk of contamination from dust, dirt, and the bees’ digestive tract. However, these contaminants are generally found in very low quantities and the composition of honey should prevent any growth of bacteria from contaminants.
Honey can also be considered toxic if the pollen has been collected from flowers containing plant toxins. “Mad honey” is made from the nectar of rhododendrons and, despite claims of having medicinal properties, can cause nausea, hallucinations, and even death if consumed in high quantities.
But while the risk factors surrounding consuming old honey remain very low, it’s likely you will see your honey crystalize at some point. Crystallization in honey happens as the sugar and water separate, and the process is sped up when the honey is kept at colder temperatures. Crystalized honey will appear paler, opaque, and harder than regular honey. It also releases more water during the crystallization process, slightly increasing the risk of fermentation.
So, as long as you take good care of your honey, it could potentially outlive you – so better start considering who gets the honey inheritance.
All “explainer” articles are confirmed by fact checkers to be correct at time of publishing. Text, images, and links may be edited, removed, or added to at a later date to keep information current.
The content of this article is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.
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https://www.iflscience.com/does-honey-go-bad-72619
| 2024-01-25T11:40:51Z
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BEIJING – China may have helped secure a truce among warring parties in neighbouring Myanmar, but its peacemaking effort is unlikely to bring about a more lasting solution to the intractable crisis.
Experts believe China is acting to secure its interests, and is unlikely to go further and facilitate dialogue between key players, including the ruling junta and the ousted civilian National Unity Government (NUG), which has been in exile following the February 2021 anti-democracy coup.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/china-mediated-ceasefire-in-myanmar-but-questions-remain-if-it-can-lead-to-lasting-peace
| 2024-01-25T11:46:57Z
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A court in military-run Myanmar has put up for auction the villa where ex-leader and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi spent 15 years under house arrest, and set starting bids at 315 billion kyats ($90 million), a source said on Thursday.
Suu Kyi, back in detention since the military overthrew her government in 2021, has been embroiled in a decades-long legal dispute with her brother over ownership of the lakeside villa.
A person with knowledge of the proceedings said the court-ordered auction will be held at the house on March 20.
"If there is a buyer, the house will be sold. We will have to see whether there will be a buyer or not," added the source, who declined to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media. Court officials were not available for comment.
The Nobel laureate was detained at the decrepit, colonial-style residence on Yangon's Inya Lake until 2012, when she moved to the capital Naypyitaw to attend parliament after her release.
She gave impassioned speeches to crowds of supporters over the metal gates of the house and it has been the site of some of her most high-profile meetings, including with former U.S. president Barack Obama and secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
The 78-year-old's estranged brother, Aung San Oo first sued in 2000 for a share of the property, which is registered under the name of their mother, Khin Kyi.
The court ruled the siblings must share the proceeds from any sale of the house. Aung San Oo, was not immediately available for the comment.
Suu Kyi remains in detention, though her whereabouts are unknown. She faces 27 years in prison convictions for crimes ranging from treason and bribery to violations of the telecommunications law, allegations she denies.
World leaders and pro-democracy activists have repeatedly called for her release. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/myanmar-ex-leader-suu-kyis-house-arrest-site-worth-at-least-90mln-court
| 2024-01-25T11:46:58Z
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BANGKOK – China and Thailand are set to sign an agreement to waive visa requirements for travellers between the two countries from March 1, as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is due to visit the South-east Asian nation this week.
Mr Wang will sign the deal for China, a major source of foreign visitors for Thailand, during his visit from Jan 26 to 29, the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Jan 25.
The agreement will come weeks after Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin revealed that the bilateral deal was being discussed ahead of the expiration on Feb 29 of a temporary visa exemption for Chinese visitors.
Mr Wang’s visit to Thailand, the first since July 2022, is aimed at enhancing cooperation between the two countries on trade, investment, security and tourism, and in exchanging views on regional and international issues, the Thai Foreign Ministry said.
Chinese tourists were Thailand’s largest group of visitors before the Covid-19 pandemic and are seen as key to a sustained recovery of the country’s tourism industry, which is a main driver of its economic growth.
Travellers from the Chinese mainland accounted for more than 25 per cent of the 40 million foreign visitors in 2019 but made up only about 3.5 million out of the 28 million tourists in 2023.
Thailand is targeting 35 million foreign arrivals in 2024, including eight million from China. The return of Chinese tourists is expected to accelerate when the new visa privilege starts, said Mr Bill Heinecke, chairman of the Bangkok-based hospitality giant Minor International earlier this week.
Thai government spokesman Chai Wacharonke earlier in January said that under the new arrangement to be signed, Chinese tourists will be allowed to stay in Thailand for a maximum of 30 days per entry, and vice versa for Thai tourists in China. A total of 90 days’ stay is allowed in case of multiple entries within 180 days, Mr Chai had said.
In 2023, Thailand also issued temporary visa waivers for travellers from Russia, Kazakhstan, India and Taiwan, and it has also been planning to allow longer stays for tourists from specific countries to spur spending. BLOOMBERG
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/china-thailand-to-sign-pact-on-visa-free-travel-starting-march
| 2024-01-25T11:46:59Z
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BANGKOK – Singapore’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan will visit Laos from Jan 26 to 29, first for bilateral meetings with Lao leaders in Vientiane, and then the Asean foreign ministers’ retreat in Luang Prabang.
In Vientiane from Jan 26 to 27, he will kick off commemorative activities for the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Singapore and Laos.
He will call on Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone and meet Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith as well as Mr Thongsavanh Phomvihane, head of the external relations committee of Lao People’s Revolutionary Party. Discussion in the capital will centre on ways to strengthen bilateral and regional cooperation, including in emerging areas such as renewable energy and carbon credits.
Dr Balakrishnan will also meet Singaporeans in Vientiane, and host a reception for Lao alumni of the Singapore Cooperation Programme, a technical assistance scheme that has trained more than 16,000 Lao officials since 1992.
At the Asean foreign ministers’ retreat on Jan 28 and 29, he will discuss with other foreign ministers the bloc’s priorities for 2024. These include how to deepen digital integration, and work with Asean’s external partners to maintain an open, inclusive and stable regional order.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/foreign-minister-vivian-balakrishnan-to-visit-laos-from-jan-26-to-29
| 2024-01-25T11:47:01Z
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An algorithm rolled out by the government in an Indian state to verify welfare claimants has been “killing off” its citizens.
Now, those erroneously declared dead by the system are going to extraordinary lengths to prove that they are still alive.
A report that ran in the news network Al Jazeera took up the story of 102-year-old Dhuli Chand, who had to put together a mock wedding procession just to prove to officials in his town in the north Indian state of Haryana that he was, in fact, not dead yet.
During his wedding procession, he sat on a chariot holding a placard declaring, in the local dialect, “thara foofa zinda hai”, or “your uncle is still alive”.
He had to organise this elaborate display after he suddenly stopped receiving his monthly pension of about 2,750 rupees (S$44) six months earlier because he was declared “dead” in government records.
The bureaucratic snafu happened after Haryana began using the Family Identity Data Repository or the Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP) database to determine the eligibility of welfare claimants.
Misbehaving algorithm
The PPP is an exclusive eight-digit identifier assigned to each family within the state.
It contains vital information such as birth and death records, marriage details, employment history, property ownership and income tax data.
It is meant to verify eligibility for welfare programmes.
But PPP wrongly marked Mr Chand as dead, and officials refused to rectify the error even after he met them repeatedly.
“We went to the district offices at least 10 times, out of which five times he (Chand) also accompanied us,” Mr Chand’s grandson Naresh told Al Jazeera.
“Even after several attempts to get this anomaly corrected at the government offices, and after filing a grievance complaint on the chief minister’s portal, nothing happened,” he said.
It took a wedding procession before the state’s officials finally conceded to release Mr Chand’s pension.
Al Jazeera said Mr Chand’s case is not an isolated one.
Some 277,115 elderly citizens and 52,479 widows were declared dead and lost their pensions since the PPP was rolled out in Haryana in 2020, according to data obtained by Al Jazeera.
But several thousands were actually still alive, and they had to navigate a maze of red tape before they could have their information corrected.
‘Single source of truth’
State officials insist the programme remains an effective tool in processing welfare claims.
“PPP was easing and improving the delivery of services to the right beneficiaries and preventing leakages through the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning. The interlinking of different databases was done to get an integrated database which was the ‘single source of truth’,” Ms Sofia Dahiya, secretary of the Citizen Resources Information Department that handles the functioning of PPP, told Al Jazeera.
After Mr Chand’s “wedding procession” hit the headlines, thousands thronged the district offices of Haryana’s social welfare department.
In response, the government opened grievance redressal camps across Haryana to review PPP data.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has revealed that out of the total 63,353 beneficiaries whose old-age pensions were halted based on PPP data, 44,050 were later found to be eligible.
Mr Khattar said the government has since corrected most of the erroneous records.
But media reports suggest that errors still persist.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-asia/thousands-in-india-go-to-great-lengths-to-prove-they-are-alive-after-being-killed-by-an-algorithm
| 2024-01-25T11:47:12Z
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KYIV - Ukraine will do everything possible to secure an international investigation into the downing of a Russian military transport plane, the country's ombudsman said on Thursday, a day after Moscow accused Kyiv of deliberately shooting it down.
Russia said the Ilyushin Il-76 military plane was carrying 65 captured Ukrainian soldiers to a prisoner exchange when it was downed on Wednesday near the the Russian city of Belgorod near the Ukrainian border, killing all 74 people on board.
Kyiv has challenged parts of Moscow's narrative and has not confirmed that Ukrainian prisoners were on board.
"We demand a recognised international investigation," ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets told national television, adding he would send letters to the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross calling for such a probe.
"Regarding an international investigation, I believe that we will do our part to make it happen. But I am convinced that... the Russians will make loud statements but will not allow anyone in. They will not hand over any materials for analysis and will simply blame Ukraine," he said.
"According to my information, I cannot say positively that there were indeed prisoners of war. We did not see any indication that there was such a large number of people on the plane," Lubinets added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday evening that greater clarity was needed about what happened, particularly when it came to who was on board, and accused Russia of "playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners".
Russia has branded the downing of the plane a "terrorist act". On Thursday the Kremlin said nobody could say at this stage how the incident would affect future prisoner swaps. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/ukraine-calls-for-international-probe-into-downing-of-russian-military-plane
| 2024-01-25T11:47:22Z
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SINGAPORE – A regional rally failed to prevent the local market from sinking ever so slightly into the red on Jan 25 with investors searching in vain for some inspiration.
The uncertain mood here left the Straits Times Index (STI) down 0.2 per cent or 5.69 points at 3,147.64 with losers nipping ahead of gainers 281 to 268, with 1.4 billion shares worth $920.2 million changing hands.
Singapore Airlines was the STI’s biggest gainer, climbing 1.7 per cent to $6.64, while real estate investment trust Mapletree Logistics Trust trailed the blue-chip field, sliding 4.3 per cent to $1.56.
Seatrium continued to be the most actively traded by volume this week, with 139.2 million shares done. The counter was down 0.9 per cent to 10.5 cents.
Other regional bourses ended in the black after a positive session on Wall Street overnight, with the “Magnificent Seven” tech stocks driving key indexes higher, including the S&P 500, which racked up its fourth straight record close.
The tech surge pushed Microsoft to a $3 trillion market cap.
South Korea’s Kospi and Japan’s Nikkei 225 were both up 0.03 per cent while the ASX 200 climbed 0.5 per cent to a three-week high before the Australia Day holiday on Jan 26.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 2 per cent and the Shanghai Composite added 3 per cent.
IG market analyst Yeap Jun Rong said the Hang Seng is attempting to pare earlier losses on the latest announcement by the Chinese authorities. China’s central bank had said that it will cut the amount of cash that banks are required to hold as reserves from next month.
However, he was of the view that the index’s showing might not be sustained: “As we have seen over the past year, intermittent bounces on supportive policies have failed to sustain, which may potentially mean more of the same this time round.” THE BUSINESS TIMES
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/singapore-shares-dip-bucking-regional-rally
| 2024-01-25T11:47:33Z
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What is the outlook for interest rates and the impact on stocks and bonds? What is the outlook for Singapore and China? And is it time to exit fixed deposits and invest in what, exactly? Genevieve Cua interrogates Kelvin Tay from UBS Wealth Management.
Synopsis: Learn to protect and grow your wealth in this monthly Business Times podcast series for affluent individuals, hosted by BT wealth editor Genevieve Cua.
This episode is brought to you by UBS Wealth Management.
Highlights of the conversation:
01:47 Impact of the Fed’s funds rate on stocks and bonds
04:42 Which elections will wield the biggest impact on markets?
07:12 Outlook for economy and asset growth
11:13 China’s outlook
15:15 Risks not adequately priced in markets
17:15 Most important asset allocation calls for 2024
More about:
UBS Wealth Management
https://www.ubs.com/sg/en/wealth-management.html
Written and hosted by: Genevieve Cua (gen@sph.com.sg)
With Kelvin Tay, chief investment officer of UBS Wealth Management
Edited by: Howie Lim and Claressa Monteiro
Produced by: Genevieve Cua & Howie Lim
Engineered by: Joann Chai Pei Chieh
Executive producer: Claressa Monteiro
A podcast by BT Podcasts, The Business Times, SPH Media
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| 2024-01-25T11:47:43Z
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SINGAPORE – An eatery in Little India plagued by rat and cockroach infestations has had its licence suspended for two weeks from Jan 23 to Feb 5, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said on Jan 23.
Al-Mustafa Restaurant, located at 11 Lembu Road, was penalised after the SFA conducted a routine inspection and found multiple violations of food safety standards.
Responding to queries from The Straits Times, the SFA said that its officers observed rat and cockroach infestations in the premises of the restaurant during the inspection.
The SFA added: “The licensee failed to keep its licensed premises clean, which includes the refreshment area and food preparation area.”
The eatery has accrued 16 demerit points within a 12-month period, resulting in a fine totalling $1,100.
The demerit points were allocated for three offences: two separate instances of failing to keep the licensed premises free of infestation, which received six points each, and failing to keep the premises clean, which contributed four points.
Under the SFA’s demerit point system, a food operator that accumulates 12 or more points within a year may have its licence suspended for either two or four weeks, or cancelled.
In addition, all food handlers at the suspended premises are required to retake and pass the WSQ Food Safety Course Level 1 before resuming work.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/al-mustafa-restaurant-in-little-india-suspended-for-two-weeks-over-rat-and-roach-infestation
| 2024-01-25T11:47:53Z
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SINGAPORE – A former lawyer who misappropriated nearly $480,000 that three clients had entrusted to him was sentenced to three years and 11 months’ jail on Jan 25.
Gurdaib Singh Pala Singh, 70, committed the offences between 2011 and 2016.
Even though he was struck off the rolls in 2018, he continued to act as an advocate and solicitor for a man the following year.
In July 2023, Singh, who used to be a lawyer at Gurdaib Cheong & Partners (GCP), pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal breach of trust involving nearly $459,000 and an offence under the Legal Profession Act.
A third criminal breach of trust charge involving another $21,000 was considered during sentencing.
In December 2010, a man identified as Mr Zulkifli Osman engaged GCP to provide services relating to the sale of his late father’s flat.
The flat was sold on July 29, 2011, and GCP later received the sale proceeds of more than $356,000 on Mr Zulkifli’s behalf.
It was then agreed between Mr Zulkifli and Singh that out of that sum, Mr Zulkifli’s brother was to receive $138,876.50.
On Dec 15, 2011, Mr Zulkifli deposited $138,876 into GCP’s client account to be held in escrow as his brother’s share of the sales proceeds.
But between Dec 20, 2011, and May 3, 2012, Singh misappropriated Mr Zulkifli’s funds in GCP’s client account by issuing cheques for other purposes, such as paying the firm’s office expenses.
Unaware that the monies had been fully expended, Mr Zulkifli made three requests to Singh between August 2012 and July 2014 to withdraw a portion of it.
To meet the request, Singh disbursed a total of $10,156 to Mr Zulkifli by using money in the GCP client account that belonged to the firm’s other clients.
In June 2015, Mr Zulkifli asked Singh to withdraw the remaining $128,720 from the funds, but the offender failed to disburse any money to him.
In an unrelated case, a company called CH Assets International entered into a memorandum of agreement to borrow US$10 million (S$13.4 million) from United Kingdom-incorporated firm OCS Capital on Nov 5, 2014.
That same day, CH Assets and Singh signed an escrow agreement that the latter prepared.
Nine days later, CH Assets deposited $320,000 into GCP’s client account as a deposit for the loan.
In earlier proceedings, Deputy Public Prosecutor Norman Yew said that between Nov 18 and Dec 23, 2014, Singh misappropriated the monies and used them to pay for items such as GCP’s office expenses.
In June 2015, CH Assets asked Singh to return its funds as OCS Capital did not provide the loan to it.
After repeated requests for the money, Singh handed $5,000 to CH Assets in September 2015. CH Assets then alerted the Law Society of Singapore on Sept 15, 2015.
The DPP said that from September 2015 onwards, Singh made restitution totalling $58,000 to CH Assets over nine payments.
Singh was struck off the rolls on Feb 27, 2018.
Despite this, he agreed to represent a man in divorce proceedings after the latter met him in September 2019.
Singh did not tell him that he had been struck off the rolls.
Between Sept 7 and 27, 2019, the man paid him $1,750. The following month, Singh sent the man a draft affidavit which the former lawyer had prepared, and it was later filed with the courts.
Afterwards, Singh did not provide the man with any updates on the matter. On Jan 12, 2020, the man asked Singh for a full refund as he no longer wanted his services.
Singh has since returned $1,000 to him, said DPP Yew.
The former lawyer’s bail was set at $100,000 on Jan 25 and he is expected to surrender himself at the State Courts on Feb 15 to begin serving his sentence.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/jail-for-ex-lawyer-who-misappropriated-almost-480k-of-clients-money
| 2024-01-25T11:48:04Z
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/evening-update-today-s-headlines-from-the-straits-times-on-jan-25-2024
| 2024-01-25T11:48:14Z
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MADRID - A Spanish High Court judge proposed on Thursday that former football federation chief Luis Rubiales stand trial over the kiss he planted on player Jenni Hermoso's lips after Spain's victory in the Women's World Cup.
The court said in a statement that the judge, Francisco de Jorge, also sought a trial for former women's team coach Jorge Vilda, as well as Albert Luque, the men's team's sport director, and Ruben Rivera, the federation's marketing chief, for pressuring Hermoso to say the kiss was consensual.
The court quoted the judge as saying that, contrary to Rubiales' statements, the investigation showed the kiss "was not consensual and was a unilateral and surprising initiative".
Prosecutors and lawyers can still present their arguments, after which the court will decide whether and when to call the trial. Up until now, the case has been handled by an investigative judge.
The 33-year-old forward - Spain's all-time top scorer - lodged a criminal complaint of sexual assault and coercion in September over the kiss on the winners' podium on Aug. 20, saying she felt "vulnerable and a victim of an aggression".
The case shocked the sporting world and society in Spain and abroad, prompting protests and further accusations by women that prominent or powerful men had forced intimacy on them.
In Spain, the social media hashtag #SeAcabo ("It's over") became a rallying cry.
Beside the kiss itself, the judge found evidence Rubiales and the co-defendants may have committed a related offence in their coordinated action to make Hermoso "record a video in which she would say the kiss was consensual."
Hermoso refused and eventually filed the criminal complaint. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/spanish-judge-wants-ex-soccer-boss-rubiales-to-stand-trial-in-kiss-case
| 2024-01-25T11:48:25Z
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MELBOURNE - Aryna Sabalenka took a big step towards retaining her Australian Open crown by beating American fourth seed Coco Gauff 7-6(2) 6-4 in a thriller on Thursday to reach the final where she will meet Zheng Qinwen or qualifier Dayana Yastremska.
In a rematch of their U.S. Open final in September, the two reigning hardcourt Grand Slam champions made contrasting starts as Belarusian Sabalenka fired an ace and revved up her forehand to hold before pouncing on two double faults by Gauff to break.
Gauff hit back right away and the pair swapped breaks again but the 19-year-old New York champion continued to teeter on her serve, allowing Sabalenka to settle her nerves after going 6-5 down in a frantic spell to clinch the first set in a tiebreak.
The pair were locked together until 4-4 in the second set as Sabalenka countered Gauff's speed with power and the 25-year-old second seed edged ahead with a decisive break when the teenager hit a shot long before sealing victory with two massive serves. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/tennis/superb-sabalenka-beats-gauff-to-reach-australian-open-final
| 2024-01-25T11:48:35Z
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WASHINGTON - Americans are unhappy about a looming election rematch between Democratic President Joe Biden and his Republican predecessor Donald Trump, but that won't stop them from voting, a Reuters/Ipsos poll this week found.
As Trump handily beat his sole remaining primary challenger, Nikki Haley, some 67% of respondents polled Monday through Wednesday said they were "tired of seeing the same candidates in presidential elections and want someone new." Still, just 18% said they would not vote if Biden and Trump were their choice.
"I hate to think that we're constantly navigating the lesser of two evils," said Kimberly Sofge, a 56-year-old project manager in Washington, D.C., this week. "I honestly feel that we can do better."
The two candidates themselves seem ready for a rematch following Trump's back-to-back wins in Iowa and New Hampshire, with the White House regarding Trump as a beatable challenger, and Trump fuming because Haley did not immediately drop out of the Republican race.
The nationwide poll of 1,250 U.S. adults showed Trump leading Biden 40% to 34% with the rest unsure or planning to vote for someone else or no one. The poll had a margin of error of three percentage points.
That represented a gain for Trump after a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted earlier this month showed him and Biden tied, though a nationwide survey does not capture the subtleties of the electoral college contest that will be decided this fall in just a handful of competitive states.
Trump's six-point lead held even when respondents were given the option of voting for third-party candidates, including anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with Trump drawing 36% support, Biden 30% and Kennedy 8%.
Slightly more than half of respondents said they were dissatisfied with the U.S. two-party system, with just one in four satisfied by it.
Whitney Tallarico, 33, a consultant interviewed in Washington, is among those considering an alternative.
"The independents don't really have a voice. Polarizing characters usually take the front seat, and it's a little sad for our country," Tallarico said this week. Asked whether she would vote for Biden or Trump, she said, "I'll probably go for a third party."
AGE ISSUE
Overall, the poll gave numerous signs that voters are not happy with their choices.
Seventy percent of respondents - including about half of Democrats - agreed with a statement that Biden should not seek re-election. Fifty-six percent of people responding to the poll said Trump should not run, including about a third of Republicans.
Biden has been weighed down by the widespread view that at 81, already the oldest person ever to be U.S. president, he is too old for the job.
Three-quarters of poll respondents agreed with a statement that Biden was too old to work in government, while half said the same about Trump, who at 77 would also be among the oldest U.S. leaders ever if returned to the White House. Just over half of Democrats saw Biden as too old while a third of Republicans viewed Trump that way.
Haley, 52, is trying to marshal dissatisfaction to turn around her well-financed but flagging campaign.
"Most Americans do not want a rematch between Biden and Trump," she said on Tuesday after her loss to Trump in New Hampshire. "The first party to retire its 80-year-old candidate is going to be the party that wins this election."
The new poll showed Trump with a towering nationwide lead over Haley - 64% to 19% - as they prepare for the Feb. 24 Republican nomination contest in South Carolina, which Haley led as governor 2011-2017.
Turnout could still be high in the November general election in part because voters from both parties are highly motivated to beat the other side.
Fifty-nine percent of respondents who said they planned to vote for Biden said they were motivated primarily by opposition to Trump, while Trump voters were more positive about their candidate and his policies, with just 39% describing their vote as one against Biden.
Anti-Trump sentiment helped Biden defeat Trump in the 2020 election, when a record-high share of eligible voters cast ballots.
Another factor that could weigh on Trump: 55% of Republicans in the poll said he should be convicted and sentenced to prison if he broke the law. Trump, who is currently facing four criminal prosecutions, has argued in court that he should be immune to prosecution for actions taken while he was president.
To be sure, most Republicans do not think he is guilty - only one in five Republican respondents said it was believable that Trump solicited election fraud, one of the key charges against him, and four out of five said his political opponents were abusing the legal system to derail his presidential bid. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/americans-dismayed-by-biden-trump-2024-rematch-reutersipsos-poll-finds
| 2024-01-25T11:48:45Z
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KYIV - Three major Ukrainian state organisations reported on Thursday cyberattacks or problems with their information resources.
Ukraine's state-run energy company Naftogaz said one of the data centres had been hit by a "large-scale cyberattack."
"Our websites and call centre are currently down," it said on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukrainian national postal service Ukrposhta reported a "significant technical failure" in its IT systems.
"Last night there was an attack on the information infrastructure of our partners," Ukrposhta head Ihor Smeliansky said on Telegram.
The company said its specialists were working to fix the problem and restore full operation.
Ukrtransbezpeka, a state transport safety agency, which maintains the border crossing system for Ukrainian drivers, also reported problems with its data centre.
Ukrainian resources are often the target of cyber attacks, which authorities blame on Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Last month, services of Ukraine's biggest mobile operator Kyivstar, were knocked out after hackers used an employee's compromised account to carry out the attack. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/several-ukrainian-state-run-bodies-report-cyber-attacks
| 2024-01-25T11:48:56Z
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LONDON - The president of Europe's human rights court said on Thursday there was a legal obligation on states to comply with its injunctions in response to Britain's threat to ignore such orders over its plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda.
In order to enact this plan, a bill is going through the British parliament which the government admits might not be compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights and would give ministers the power to decide whether to comply with injunctions from the European Court of Human Rights.
"There is a clear legal obligation under the convention for states to comply with Rule 39 measures," Siofra O’Leary, the President of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), told reporters.
Last June, the ECtHR issued an injunction - known as interim measures under Rule 39 - to prevent the first deportations of asylum seekers to the east African nation.
In November, the UK Supreme Court ruled that the policy was unlawful because of failings in the Rwandan system meant it would breach a number of international laws and conventions.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak remains determined to put the policy into operation amid pressure from right-wing lawmakers in his Conservative Party and voter concern about thousands of asylum seekers arriving without permission across the Channel in small boats.
Last week, lawmakers in the British parliament's lower House of Commons backed Sunak's 'Safety of Rwanda Bill' which would allow the Britain to ignore any ECtHR orders, a power the prime minister has said he was prepared to use.
"I've been crystal clear, repeatedly, that I won't let a foreign court stop us from getting flights off, and getting this deterrent up and running," he said. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/uk-must-comply-with-human-rights-court-orders-president-says
| 2024-01-25T11:49:06Z
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GAZA/DOHA/JERUSALEM - Israeli forces relentlessly bombarded areas around two hospitals in Gaza's main southern city Khan Younis on Thursday, pinning down large numbers of displaced people, residents said, in an offensive to take Hamas' main stronghold in the enclave's south.
Gaza health officials said at least 50 Palestinians had been killed in Khan Younis in the past 24 hours, including two children in an Israeli air strike that hit a residential home.
The city is now encircled by Israeli armoured forces and under almost non-stop aerial and ground fire, residents say.
Palestinian medics said Israeli tanks had cut off and were shelling targets around the city's two main still-functioning hospitals, Nasser and Al-Amal, trapping medical teams, patients and displaced people sheltering inside or nearby.
Most of the Gaza Strip's 2.3 million population is now squeezed into Khan Younis and towns just north and south of it, after being driven out of its northern half earlier in Israel's blitz of the Hamas-ruled territory, now in its fourth month.
Israeli forces' siege of Khan Younis' main hospitals, which Israel says Hamas militants use as bases for attacks - something the Islamist group and hospital staff deny - have made it near impossible for rescue crews to reach the wounded and dead.
The fusillade from advancing Israeli forces forced many displaced people to set out again in search of ever dwindling places of safe shelter, medics and residents said.
Residents had said on Wednesday that Israeli announcements warning them to leave areas in the line of fire came only after the operation was under way and the main road out of Khan Younis already shut.
On Wednesday, the United Nations said Israeli tanks struck a large U.N. compound in Gaza sheltering displaced Palestinians, killing at least nine people and wounding 75. But Israel denied its forces were responsible, suggesting Hamas might have launched the shelling. It said it was reviewing the incident.
Israel said Hamas had "command and control centres, outposts and security headquarters" in the vicinity, which it described as "a dense area" with civilians as well as the premises of several hospitals where it said militants were active.
At least 25,700 people have been killed in Gaza, one of the world's most densely populated and widely impoverished places, Palestinian health officials say, with large tracts of the heavily built-up enclave flattened by Israeli bombing.
Israel unleashed its war to eradicate Hamas after militants stormed through the border fence in a shock incursion into nearby Israeli towns and bases on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and seizing around 240 hostages.
LIVES OF 1.5 MILLION PEOPLE ENDANGERED
The International Committee of the Red Cross said less than 20% of the narrow coastal enclave - around 60 square km (23 sq miles) - was now refuge to more than 1.5 million people in the south "where the dramatic escalation of fighting threatens their survival".
"Every hospital in the Gaza Strip is over-crowded and short on medical supplies, fuel, food and water. Many are housing thousands of displaced families. And now two more facilities (in Khan Younis) risk being lost due to the fighting. The cumulative impact on the health system is devastating and urgent action must be taken," the ICRC said in a statement.
Thomas White, director of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees in Gaza, on Thursday deplored Israel's military operations in neighbourhoods teeming with vulnerable civilians.
"Heavy fighting near the remaining hospitals in Khan Younis, including Nasser and Al Amal, has effectively encircled these facilities, leaving terrified staff, patients and displaced people trapped inside," he said in a statement.
"Al Khair hospital has shut down after patients, including women who had just undergone C-section surgeries, were evacuated in the middle of the night."
In north Gaza, residents said they had almost completely run out of food, especially flour, and have been grinding down livestock feed to replenish it.
The Israeli military said on Thursday it had killed more than 9,000 Hamas militants and lost 220 soldiers in 3-1/2-month-old war. Reuters was unable to verify the figures.
In its latest update, the Israeli military said forces had carried out targeted raids with precision air strikes and snipers to take out multiple Hamas command centres and militant emplacements in Khan Younis, including the Al Amal district.
"In close-quarters combat, the soldiers eliminated the terrorists, and various weapons were discovered in the process," it said in a statement.
Israeli forces also raided several militant compounds in central and north Gaza, in one case calling in a helicopter gunship to strike and kill fighters inside, the statement added.
Gaza's conflict threaten to destabilise the Middle East, stoking hostilities ranging from the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the Israel-Lebanon border region, Syria, Iraq and Red Sea shipping lanes crucial to international trade.
In the West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry that exercises limited self rule there, said at least 370 people had been killed in Israeli army raids or clashes since Oct. 7.
On Thursday, health officials said Israeli forces shot dead a 24-year-old Palestinian man in a village near Jenin after soldiers surrounded the man's family house and a shootout broke out, according to the dead man's family.
Further away in the Red Sea, Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi forces have since November been attacking shipping in professed solidarity with Palestinians against Israel's onslaught in Gaza.
In the latest Red Sea incident, Maersk said explosions nearby forced two ships operated by its U.S. subsidiary and carrying U.S. military supplies to turn around when they were transiting the Bab al-Mandab Strait off Yemen, accompanied by the U.S. Navy. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-25T11:49:16Z
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TEL AVIV - As a child, Sarah Jackson survived the Nazi Holocaust. On Oct. 7 last year, she found herself sheltering three Israelis fleeing the deadliest attack on Jews since World War Two.
Ahead of Saturday's International Holocaust Remembrance Day, they were reunited for the first time since Hamas gunmen tore through revellers at the outdoor Nova music festival in southern Israel, killing more than 360 people at the site and dragging others back to Gaza.
Jackson said the events, which triggered Israel's military offensive in Gaza, had all happened very quickly.
"I live second house to the gate (kibbutz entrance). I see some people on the road... And those lovely people came into my house," she said.
"They went to the front door, they locked the door and I have a very big armchair in the corner and they put the armchair to the door, and we all went into the shelter."
Ilya Pisatzkov, 34, was one of those who joined her.
"The gunshots were coming from everywhere," she said. "We jumped to the car, started driving. When we started driving we saw a grenade which fell literally several metres from us, it was all in smoke, and, and we drove away."
Pisatzkov and his friends managed to drive about two km (1.2 miles) to nearby Kibbutz Sa'ad. Passing bodies strewn along the road, they managed to evade Hamas ambushes. A total of 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed on Oct. 7.
Nearly four months on, the four met again, smiles and hugs as they looked at selfies from that day in Jackson's shelter.
"You're the one who fell asleep in my bed, right?" she asked Benel Fransis, one of the three.
COMMEMORATING THE HOLOCAUST
The emotional reunion started with 88-year-old Jackson recounting her experiences of loss, hiding and perseverance while growing up as a Jewish child in wartime Poland and Siberia.
She was four years old when the war started. Her family sought hiding in Siberia and after years of displacement and hearing that relatives perished in the Holocaust, her parents decided to immigrate to Israel in 1949.
Jackson gave her testimony as part of an Israeli grassroots initiative of informal gatherings in people's private homes to commemorate the Holocaust.
The event, titled 'Zikaron Basalon' (Remembrance in the Living Room), brings together Holocaust survivors or descendants of survivors who share their accounts with younger people.
For some survivors, Hamas' attack recalled past atrocities. Adding to their distress, antisemitism has been on the rise as Israel presses on with its war in Gaza, where it has vowed to eliminate Hamas and more than 25,700 Palestinian have been killed.
"I couldn't believe it's happening again," said Jackson. It's very hard for me."
Nonetheless, Jackson is hopeful better times will come to the region.
"You can come to agreements without war," she said. "I hope that people will learn to, if they want to change, it's possible, to change without war, don't you think so?" REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/revellers-who-fled-hamas-reunite-with-holocaust-survivor-who-sheltered-them
| 2024-01-25T11:49:27Z
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JERUSALEM - More than three months into the war in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is being challenged by members of his own war cabinet about strategy, pressured by Washington over post-war Gaza plans and hemmed in by his far-right ministers.
He is also facing mounting demands by the families of hostages still held in Gaza.
Below are details on key players in government.
PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU
The longest-serving Israeli leader, Netanyahu built his reputation as a security hawk on the back of his time as a junior officer in an elite special forces unit that carried out some of the country's most daring operations.
But he has faced mounting fury at the failures that allowed the Oct. 7 attack to take place.
In his sixth term as prime minister, Netanyahu, 74, heads one of Israel's most right-wing coalitions. He is one of three who has a vote on the Gaza war strategy in the war cabinet.
DEFENCE MINISTER YOAV GALLANT
A member of Netanyahu's conservative Likud party, Gallant, 65, began military service as a navy frogman and had been slated to become armed forces chief in 2011, but stepped aside over allegations that he carried out building work on his home without a permit.
Gallant, 65, said in a statement to mark 100 days of the war that only military pressure would achieve the twin aims of destroying Hamas and freeing the hostages, in line with Netanyahu. But he also called for the cabinet to set diplomatic goals and discuss plans for post-war Gaza.
Gallant also has a vote in the war cabinet. He has worn only black since the fighting erupted and said he feels as if the hostages are his own children.
MINISTER BENNY GANTZ
Former military chief and defence minister Benny Gantz and members of his centrist party agreed to join Netanyahu's coalition after the Hamas attack.
The 64-year-old, Netanyahu's main political rival in opinion polls, is the third member of the war cabinet to have a vote.
STRATEGIC AFFAIRS MINISTER RON DERMER
A former ambassador to Washington, Dermer was key to forging Israeli relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in 2020 in a diplomatic drive by the Republican administration of then-U.S. President Donald Trump. He is a member of the war cabinet.
MINISTER AND FORMER MILITARY CHIEF GADI EISENKOT
Eisenkot, 63, who lost a son and a nephew to Gaza fighting in December, went public with his criticism of the war's strategy in a Jan. 19 TV interview, saying a deal was needed to free remaining hostages.
Also a war cabinet member, he said the fate of the hostages should take priority over other aims, even if that meant missing out on an opportunity to take out the political leader of Hamas.
FINANCE MINISTER BEZALEL SMOTRICH
A West Bank settler who heads the hardline Religious Zionism party, Smotrich leads the Treasury under a rotation deal with Aryeh Deri from the religious Shas Party.
Smotrich, 43, opposes Palestinian statehood.
His cabinet duties include a role within the defence ministry overseeing West Bank settlements, which he wants to see expanded and, eventually, annexed by Israel.
He responded to reports of a possible truce with Hamas as saying that it would imperil the Israeli offensive.
NATIONAL SECURITY MINISTER ITAMAR BEN-GVIR
A West Bank settler who heads the far-right Jewish Power party, Ben-Gvir is the minister in charge of police.
The 47-year-old opposes Palestinian statehood and has advocated the dismantling of the interim Palestinian Authority government set up in the 1990s.
In 2007, he was convicted of incitement against Arabs and support for terrorism. He is now a lawyer. He responded to reports of a truce as saying: "In favour of a return of a hostages, against a bad deal."
FOREIGN MINISTER ISRAEL KATZ
Katz, 68, became foreign minister under a rotation deal with Eli Cohen, 51, who became energy minister. Both men are members of Netanyahu's conservative Likud party.
SHAS PARTY LEADER ARYEH DERI
Deri, 64, an ultra-Orthodox rabbi, is the veteran leader of Shas, which draws support from religious Jews of Middle Eastern descent. Barred from cabinet positions following legal challenges over his past convictions for financial misconduct, he has served as informal adviser to Netanyahu and other top decision makers.
Shas, along with another ultra-Orthodox party in the coalition, United Torah Judaism, has long raised concerns among secular liberals by demanding welfare benefits and military draft exemptions for its constituents. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/the-key-people-in-israels-government
| 2024-01-25T11:49:37Z
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NEW YORK - Donald Trump may go face-to-face with the writer E. Jean Carroll in open court on Thursday, to convince jurors he shouldn't pay her any damages despite being liable for having defamed and sexually abused her.
Lawyers for Carroll are expected to wrap up their case in federal court in Manhattan, and Trump could testify in his own defense after they finish.
Carroll, 80, is suing over Trump's June 2019 denials that he raped her in the mid-1990s in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in Manhattan. The former Elle magazine advice columnist is seeking at least $10 million.
Trump, 77, has consistently denied wrongdoing, claiming he had known Carroll despite photos showing them together, and accusing her of making up the rape to boost sales of her memoir.
The trial has become an element of Trump's third White House run, with the Republican frontrunner shuttling between the courtroom and campaign stops, while criticizing Carroll, the judge and the judicial process online and at press conferences.
Jurors last heard testimony a week ago, before the trial was delayed because of COVID-19 concerns relating to a juror and one of Trump's lawyers.
Last May, another jury ordered Trump to pay Carroll $5 million after he denied her rape claim in October 2022.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who has presided at both trials, has ruled that the first trial established that Trump defamed and sexually abused Carroll.
The only issues for the nine jurors in the current trial is how much money Trump should pay Carroll, if any, for damaging her reputation - and how much, if any, he should pay as punishment and to dissuade him from defaming her again.
A damages expert testified on Carroll's behalf that the damage to her reputation could be as high as $12.1 million.
Trump's legal team has said damages should be nominal or zero, and that Carroll has gained more than whatever she might have lost by pursuing and gaining her newfound game.
Kaplan last week warned Trump not to use the courtroom to air political grievances, after one of Carroll's lawyers complained that jurors might have overheard Trump calling the case a "witch hunt" and "con job."
The judge has spent 29 years on the federal bench. He is known for his no-nonsense approach, and for expressing impatience with lawyers and witnesses who don't follow his instructions.
Kaplan could interrupt or shut down Trump's testimony, or throw him out of the courtroom, if Trump persisted in speaking out of turn, or digressed from the issues the jury will consider.
On Jan. 11, when another judge asked Trump if he could stick to the facts if allowed to give a closing statement in the New York attorney general's civil fraud case against him, Trump responded by attacking the judge and proclaiming the case a politically inspired sham.
Carroll's lawyers have warned that Trump might try to "sow chaos" if he testified, because his defiance might aid him politically. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/trump-on-deck-to-testify-at-e-jean-carroll-trial
| 2024-01-25T11:49:48Z
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Bellingcat’s investigative journalist Christo Grozev has helped expose a covert Russian military intelligence unit called 29155, a special forces team carrying out sabotage and assassinations across Europe, as he told The Insider. The emails obtained by investigators shed light on Russia’s overconfidence about a quick victory against Ukraine that never materialized.
29155 was created in 2007 or 2008 when Putin decided that “the world is an enemy.” The large unit’s subdivision consists of about 70 Russian short-term undercover agents specializing in assassinations. Grozev said they are behind high-profile attacks like the 2018 Novichok poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal in the UK.
Bellingcat has obtained insider emails about Russia’s failed plan to quickly assassinate President Zelenskyy and the people around him. The emails were sent by a Russian intel officer who was part of an advanced kill team deployed to Kyiv early in the full-scale invasion.
Grozev said the unencrypted emails showed the Russians expected a one-week war in Ukraine and were disappointed when it dragged on. But the officer was stuck for months as part of the unsuccessful mission targeting Zelenskyy.
With Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin now dead, Putin seemingly singled out 29155 commander General Andrey Averyanov as his successor, handling Russian security ties abroad.
Grozev also called Putin critic and chess Grandmaster Garry Kasparov to warn that a 29155 agent had infiltrated Russian exile groups to get close to him. “It was again a blood-curdling discovery to see this spy… trained in assassination, to be so close to Kasparov,” Grozev said.
He believes exposing the unit’s plots has “disabled a generation of killers.” But it also put Grozev on Russia’s kill list, which he learned from an intelligence insider.
Previously, Grozev’s open-source intelligence project Bellingcat extensively covered Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, namely regarding Russia’s downing of the MH-17 flight in 2014.
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/01/25/bellingcats-investigator-uncovers-special-russian-kill-team-sabotage-plots-across-europe/
| 2024-01-25T12:40:54Z
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On the morning of 25 January, a cyber attack made at least three major Ukrainian e-services temporarily inaccessible, according to Liga. Those affected were the Shliakh information system allowing the male civil volunteers to cross the border, and the online client services of Naftogaz oil and gas company and the Ukrposhta national postal operator.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine represents the first modern war with a major cyber warfare component, blending traditional trench warfare akin to early 20th-century conflicts with a highly innovative struggle for cyber dominance. Both Russia and Ukraine conduct cyber attacks on each other’s IT systems.
“A large-scale cyberattack on one of the data centers used by our companies has been recorded. The websites and call center are down,” Naftogaz said in a statement addressed to its customers and the customers and the customers of its subsidiary, Gas Distribution Networks of Ukraine.
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/01/25/massive-cyber-attack-hits-ukrainian-e-services/
| 2024-01-25T12:41:34Z
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A vacuum distillation column at an oil refinery caught fire in Russia’s Tuapse City overnight on 25 January, according to the local Russian authorities. Local sources spotted drones in the sky before three explosions occurred, followed by the blaze. Russian Telegram channel Mash claimed that three drones were shot down, but their debris crashed, causing the fire. Citing its sources, Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne says the incident was a drone strike conducted by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) as part of an air raid campaign targeting fuel facilities on Russian territory.
The Tuapse oil refinery is at least the fourth fuel facility in Russia hit by Ukrainian long-range suicide drones over the last week. pic.twitter.com/2oTUWDcdSa
— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) January 25, 2024
Tuapse is a port city on the Black Sea coast in Russia’s southwestern region of Krasnodar Krai, separated from Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula by the Kerch Strait. The Krasnodar region is crucial in sustaining Russian military operations in Ukraine’s south.
The Tuapse air attack continues a series of fires at fuel facilities across Russia, which occurred on 18-21 January in the Leningrad, Tambov, and Bryansk oblasts, disrupting Russian logistics and industrial operations.
Media: Ukrainian drones strike oil depot in Saint Petersburg
The fire in Tuapse was localized nearly five hours following the outbreak of the blaze. According to the local governor of Tuapse district, Sergey Boyko, there were no casualties. The Sochi airport, some 100 kilometers away from the Tuapse oil refinery, was temporarily shut down for three hours in order to “ensure flight safety.”
“The SBU is striking deep into Russia and continues to attack facilities that are not only important for the Russian economy but also provide fuel for enemy troops. There will be many surprises ahead,” Suspilne’s security source said.
Earlier, on 22 January, Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communications of Ukraine said that the military installations in the territory of Russia are legitimate targets for Ukraine after Russia had started its full-scale invasion of the country.
“The oil industry is the main source of income for the Russian Federation to finance its aggressive war,” the Stratcom statement reads.
As a major Russian military logistics hub, Krasnodar Krai saw several Ukrainian attacks on fuel infrastructure before:
- On 3 May, a blaze broke out at an oil depot on Russia’s Taman Peninsula in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai.
- On 4 May 2023, a drone attack started a fire at the Ilsky oil refinery which might have been the third Ukrainian air attack on Russian fuel facilities over the span of a few days.
- On 5 May 2023, another explosion occurred on the premises of the Ilskiy oil refinery.
- On 29 October 2023, an explosion targeted the Afipsky oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar region, causing a huge fire at the facility.
Read more:
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/01/25/russias-black-sea-port-oil-refinery-engulfed-in-flames-after-another-drone-raid/
| 2024-01-25T12:42:14Z
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