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It's no secret Princess Anne's ethical fashion credentials are one of her greatest sartorial assets. From leading trends with her psychedelic silky skirts of the sixties to being a three-time Vogue cover girl in the 1970s, the Princess has long been a royal trendsetter.
Yet unlike many style muses of the modern era, Princess Anne's fashion prowess is uniquely timeless. At 73, she has gained a reputation for being able to effortlessly style garments she wore in her twenties, often choosing to rewear her favourite clothes time and time again across decades.
Rewearing clothes may seem like nothing remarkable, but for a royal lady with access to the world's most coveted designers and fashion houses at her feet, Princess Anne's devotion to sustainable fashion is more than impressive.
When asked why she chooses to recycle outfits the Princess told Vanity Fair in 2020: "Because I'm quite mean."
She added: "I still try and buy materials and have them made up because I just think that's more fun. It also helps to support those who still manufacture in this country. We mustn't forget we've got those skills, and there are still places that do a fantastic job."
MORE ROYAL STYLE
From her fit-and-flare outfits from the 80s to her Royal Ascot repeats, see the best of Princess Anne's outfit repeats below.
Princess Anne's pink satin gown
After wearing a Barbie pink puff-sleeved gown with a contrasting chequered skirt to the BAFTAs in 1984, the thrifty royal reworked the sleeves of the dress and wore it to the Save the Children Festival of Trees more than 15 years later.
Princess Anne's cream and navy coat
The royal's everlasting love affair with her cream and navy coat started in her thirties when she wore it to Royal Ascot in June 1980. With a timeless silhouette, contrasting shoulders and a modest midi length, the versatile coat has become one of the royal's most-worn outerwear garments.
She later wore it to the Epsom Derby in 1985, then again in 2015 and 2018.
Princess Anne's festive blue coat
While many use Christmas Day as an opportunity to wear something new, Princess Anne chose to wear the same blue coat lined with a chic faux fur collar to church in Sandringham three years in a row. It's been in her wardrobe for more than 50 years, with the royal first debuting it in 1983.
Princess Anne's poignant all-black outfit
Whilst in Edinburgh shortly after her late mother the Queen's death in 2022, Princess Anne looked poised and elegant in a sleek black jacket fastened with a pearlescent pin.
The fit-and-flare jacket carved a feminine silhouette. Elevating the royal's respectful ensemble, which consisted of a smart ebony pencil skirt, she added sheer tights and an understated black headpiece.
The mother-of-two previously wore the garment - which is at least 25 years old - at the funeral of Princess Diana in 1997.
Princess Anne's 40-year-old Royal Ascot outfit
Mustard yellow had a renaissance in recent years. Luckily for Princess Anne, an immaculate yellow dress has remained in her wardrobe for more than four decades. The unique dress has been worn to Trooping the Colour, Epsom Derby, Royal Ascot and more several times between 1980 - 2023.
Princess Anne's forest green coat
The Princess Royal wore a sentimental green coat dress to an engagement at Imperial College London in January this year. Anne's choice of outfit was particularly poignant, considering she had previously worn it at her father Prince Philip's memorial service in 2022, following his death aged 99 in April 2021.
Princess Anne's wedding guest florals
In 2008, at Lady Rose Windsor’s wedding, Princess Anne was resplendent in the frilly florals from Charles and Diana’s marriage in 1981.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/fashion/royal-style/512224/princess-anne-best-outfit-repeats/
| 2024-01-28T19:28:33Z
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Hoda Kotb has been waiting to share some big news close to her heart with her loyal fans, and couldn't hold it in any longer!
Over the weekend, the Today Show star took to Instagram to reveal that she has been working on a new children's book, that is now available to pre-order.
Hoda - a doting mom-of-two - was seen sitting in a recording studio while holding onto the first copy of her latest book, Hope is a Rainbow, which will be available to buy from March 5.
The story focuses on finding hope in ordinary places, and appears to be a subtle tribute to Hoda's youngest daughter Hope Catherine, four.
In the footage, which can be viewed above, Hoda tells fans that she had kept the news "close to the vest" but was now allowed to share details of the upcoming book.
What's more, Hoda's book will be released just a few weeks after her co-star Savannah Guthrie's. Savannah has been busy promoting her book on her own social media channels.
The mother-of-two has written a Christian book called Mostly What God Wants, which is available to buy from February 20.
Hoda and Savannah will be supporting each other during the buildup to their respective book launches.
Hoda has already been listed as one of Savannah's guest co-hosts on her book tour, and will be by Savannah's side on February 22 when the star leads a discussion about faith, in relation to her book, at the 92NY Center for Culture & Arts.
The event is titled 'Savannah Guthrie in Conversation with Hoda Kotb: Reflections on Faith,' and is available for fans to either go in person, or view online.
Hope is a Rainbow is not Hoda's first book, in fact, the TV favorite is a New York Times bestselling author. In October 2010, Hoda released her autobiography, Hoda: How I Survived War Zones, Bad Hair, Cancer, and Kathie Lee, which went on to be a New York Times bestseller.
Three years later, she released a second book, Ten Years Later: Six People Who Faced Adversity and Transformed Their Lives, which focuses on six stories from six individuals who all faced a life-changing event, which is revisited a decade later.
In total, Hoda has released seven books, including two children's books. In 2018, she wrote I've Loved You Since Forever, followed by You Are My Happy, released the following year. Her latest book to date was released in 2020, titled This Just Speaks To Me.
Read more HELLO! US stories here
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/film/512229/today-hoda-kotb-long-awaited-announcement-following-in-co-stars-footsteps/
| 2024-01-28T19:28:39Z
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In her now two decades in the spotlight, Kim Kardashian has built a wide-ranging, highly-covetable, money-making empire.
To date, the reality star, 43, has launched ventures in video gaming, skincare, make-up, shapewear and loungewear, and even in the world of private equity – with more to come.
That leaves her four kids with Kanye West – North, ten, Saint, eight, Chicago, six, and Psalm, four – with plenty of options to choose from should they want to follow in their mom's footsteps in any which way, and she has her thoughts.
Speaking with Bustle about her re-entry into the beauty world since the closing of her line KKW Beauty, Kim shared insight into how her two daughters, North and Chicago, reap the benefits of having access to their mom's impressive make-up collection.
The mom-of-four didn't hesitate to share: "They are always trying to use everything that I have in my drawers," adding: "I think it's a fun game for them."
It comes as no surprise to her fans, who are familiar with ten-year-old North's hilarious TikTok videos posted to her shared account with Kim. Many of them see the tween excitedly experimenting with a variety of skincare and make-up products, and they routinely garner millions of likes and views.
Kim noted: "It's art for them to try to do makeup, which is so fun for me to watch," and continued: "It's like they want to play with their friends and do it, and then they want to just wash it right off."
MORE: Kim Kardashian and Kanye West make very rare appearance together with daughter Chicago and son Saint
MORE: Kim Kardashian shares shocking 'ego-centric' tour of office complete with sunbed
She added: "I'm down for the artistry. I think it's fun when they're trying it all and expressing themselves."
Then, asked whether either of them might turn their artistry into a run for the CEO chair, Kim shared: "I think that they will have their own ideas of what they want to do," maintaining: "And if one of 'em wants to take it over, they gladly can."
MORE: Kim Kardashian's daughter North West unveils dramatic teeth transformation – photos
"I would love them to be involved," she expressed, though added: "But I also want them to do whatever makes them happy. And that could be totally not in the beauty business and that would be OK with me."
Back in 2020, Kim sold a 20% stake of SKKN to New York-based beauty company Coty, and at the time the brand boasted a $1 billion valuation.
Moreover, as of last year, the New York Times reported that her shapewear brand Skims was officially valued at $4 billion, after it raised $270 million in a funding round. Per Forbes, Kim has a net worth of $1.7 billion. (Her ex-husband was previously on the Forbes billionaire list for three years, but following his split from Adidas over his antisemitic remarks, the outlet now reports he has an estimated net worth of $400 million).
Get the lowdown on the biggest, hottest celebrity news, features and profiles coming out of the U.S. Sign up to our HELLO! Hollywood newsletter and get them delivered straight to your inbox.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/healthandbeauty/mother-and-baby/512225/kim-kardashian-daughters-involvement-billion-dollar-beauty-empire/
| 2024-01-28T19:28:45Z
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Sheryl Crow is incredibly private when it comes to her family life, but over the weekend, the singer shared an incredible story about her son and his close bond with another famous face.
During the Environmental Media Association's (EMA) annual awards event held in Los Angeles on Saturday January 27, Sheryl stood up on stage to honor her good friend, Laura Dern, who had been awarded the Ongoing Commitment Award at the gala.
During her speech at the star-studded event, which was attended by HELLO!, Sheryl spoke lovingly of her son Wyatt, 16, and his sweet relationship with Laura.
She said: "[My son] came into this world wanting to be a marine biologist – he wants to do that or be a professional fly fisherman because they make a shit ton of money – but after doing a deep dive into Laura Dern, of course, he knew her from Star Wars, from Jurassic Park, but wait, she works with Oceana to help to save the oceans and she fly fishes? Mom has the coolest friends of all.
"But what I love the most about him admiring her is that he didn't really know that she was one of the very first people to hold him when he came from home, from the hospital, threw him his baby shower when he was just fresh out of the packaging. And so here I am getting to honor Laura who is in so many ways, an inspiration to my life, but also to my kids' lives."
Sheryl - a mom of two boys - was talking about Wyatt, having previously opened up about Laura helping to arrange his baby shower.
The singer adopted her oldest son Wyatt as a newborn in 2007, followed by his younger brother Levi, in 2010. The doting mom chose to adopt them as a single parent after three of her relationships didn't work out, and she's been a inspirational role model for many other single parents.
During a chat about motherhood in October 2021, Sherly sat down with Today's Hoda Kotb, who has also adopted two children.
She said: "You have a family around you who will stand at the altar with you at baptism and say, 'We are his community or her community'. "The story I was telling myself limited what I thought I could have until somebody stepped in and said … Families look like all different things."
Both Wyatt and Levi are musical like their mom, with the singer telling E! News: "They're into pop music and they're into rap music, and they're also into country music. They're both really into Zach Bryan right now, so I'm learning. I'm getting educated on what's current and what's hitting right now."
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/healthandbeauty/mother-and-baby/512227/sheryl-crow-rare-confession-teen-son-wyatt-bond-with-famous-star/
| 2024-01-28T19:28:51Z
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Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves are celebrating a special day in the family – Camila's 41st birthday! The Brazilian model and designer marks another year around the sun on January 28.
Just in time for their special day, it's their teenage son Levi who kicks things off with a sweet dedication to his famous mom.
Watch below as the 15-year-old shares a special birthday video for Camila as he affectionately addresses her as "the bomb,"...
The teen, who already has over 300k followers on his recently-started Instagram account, received a barrage of sweet messages from famous followers and friends alike, gushing over his sweet wish and praising Matthew and Camila for their parenting.
Not one to fall behind, though, 54-year-old Matthew shared his own message for his wife of nearly 12 years, posting a photograph of them lounging together.
"Exceptional ambiance. #happybrithday hot mamma," he wrote alongside his photo, and fans quickly began bombarding the comments with birthday wishes of their own.
A delighted Camila shared a video of herself on Instagram strutting into her new year in a gorgeous floral and animal-print dress, reminiscent of Jennifer Lopez' famous Versace gown.
The dress fit her like a bodysuit with a deeply plunging neckline and dramatic sleeves and a cape flowing behind her as she penned: "It's MY BIRTHDAY!!! Cheers to celebrate!!! (With @pantalonestequila off course)"
MORE: Who is Matthew McConaughey's wife Camila Alves: Marriage, children and more
She revealed that she'd been "crying already multiple times today" thanks to some of her birthday dedications, including from Levi. "Means so much you!! So much gratitude."
The Oscar-winning actor recently released the children's book Just Because inspired by his three kids, Levi, Vida, 15, and Livingston, 11, and gave several interviews where he opened up about his own parenting style, specifically concerning the decision to let Levi join social media at 15.
In an appearance on Today with Hoda and Jenna, he said of his oldest: "Oh he wanted it early on, probably when he was 12, definitely 13. Definitely 14. And we waited till he was 15.
MORE: Matthew McConaughey's latest appearance alongside son Levi, 15, sparks debate among fans
"We tried to look at the up falls and the downfalls. It's not like sending your kid off to college, but it is like sending your kids off with a bunch of strangers into the world."
He explained that he and Camila first spent the time discussing the good and bad of social media, adding: "[We spent] two years trying to really define what social media is to him. Let's talk about the assets. Let's talk about the traps. Let's talk about what you wanna tell."
MORE: Matthew McConaughey's son Levi shares rare family photos in heartfelt tribute to famous dad
Matthew explained his worry that "the world's telling you and strangers are telling you who you are and if you should feel confident about yourself."
The Dallas Buyers Club actor continued: "Because what happens a lot of times with young people and social media is they wake up in the morning and the first thing on their mind is, 'What will be a good post?' instead of, 'What do I want to do today?'"
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/healthandbeauty/mother-and-baby/512228/matthew-mcconaughey-son-levi-dedication-mom-camila-alves-watch/
| 2024-01-28T19:29:01Z
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It's been a long few weeks for Janette Manrara, who has been forced to leave baby daughter Lyra behind in Manchester with her husband Aljaz Skorjanec while she hosts the Strictly Come Dancing Live! tour, culminating in Glasgow.
Taking to Instagram to share an emotional update after wrapping the final show of the first leg of the tour, Janette confessed how relieved she was to be heading home. Speaking in the sweet video below, the star said she couldn't wait to finally see her little girl, whom she welcomed into the world six months ago today.
"I'm coming home!!!! I get to celebrate 6 months with you in my life today! Cannot wait to hold you in my arms. When they say time flies, it really does! I love you my beautiful Lyra," she enthused alongside a cute snap of her smiling daughter.
"You are my everything and life has become the most incredible adventure now having you in it. I love you and your ati @aljazskorjanec with all my heart and soul."
Janette's fans couldn't help but notice that Lyra's front teeth had come in, marking a major milestone for the little girl.
"Look at the smile and do I spy teeth?," one commented, while another enthused: "Omg has lil lady got teeth!!!!"
Another cute photo showed how much Janette had been missing Lyra during the tour, FaceTiming Aljaz backstage at every chance she could get.
Janette recently confessed her gig hosting the Strictly tour has been incredibly tough, and marked the longest she's ever been away from her daughter.
The tour took Janette to Sheffield and Newcastle-upon-Tyne before heading to Glasgow this weekend. Luckily, Aljaz was able to visit Janette on the road so she could see her baby girl.
The couple, who welcomed Lyra in July last year, were over the moon when Janette fell pregnant naturally just as they prepared to start their IVF journey.
Aljaz exclusively told HELLO!: "We were preparing for IVF mentally and physically and then it was just a relief to finally have that positive test. I have so much respect for any parent that goes through IVF, not just for what it puts them through physically but mentally too."
DISCOVER:
As for Janette, she's been loving every moment of motherhood. She told us: "That love is so deep; nothing else compares. You can see she’s learning and developing… She's the most amazing baby."
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/healthandbeauty/mother-and-baby/512232/strictly-janette-manrara-emotional-update-baby-lyra-tour/
| 2024-01-28T19:29:07Z
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BERLIN - Forward Niclas Fuellkrug scored a hat-trick to earn hosts Borussia Dortmund a 3-1 victory over VfL Bochum in their Ruhr valley derby on Sunday and lift them into the top four with their third straight league win this year.
Germany striker Fuellkrug opened his account with a seventh-minute penalty to put the hosts in front.
They looked in complete control until a series of defensive blunders on the stroke of halftime sent Bochum's Patrick Osterhage through. His cutback was turned into the Dortmund goal by defender Nico Schlotterbeck for an own goal.
Dortmund's Youssoufa Moukoko missed several golden chances after the break and it was Fuellkrug who restored order, rising high above two defenders to head in a Marcel Sabitzer cross in the 72nd.
He completed his hat-trick in stoppage time with a second well-taken penalty for his ninth league goal of the season.
The result moves Dortmund into fourth place on 36 points, leaving RB Leipzig in fifth on 33. The top four teams qualify automatically for next season's Champions League group stage.
VfB Stuttgart are third on 37 following their 5-2 win over Leipzig on Saturday. Bayer Leverkusen are top on 49. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/fuellkrug-hat-trick-fires-dortmund-to-3-1-bochum-win-and-into-fourth-spot
| 2024-01-28T19:45:43Z
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ROME - Lazio and champions Napoli played out a 0-0 draw at the Stadio Olimpico in Serie A on Sunday as both teams struggled to create opportunities in a clash between last season's top two sides.
Lazio thought they had taken the lead seconds after the restart with a stunning bicycle kick from forward Valentin Castellanos but his effort was ruled out for offside.
Lazio are sixth in the standings on 34 points, two points behind fourth-placed Atalanta and level with Fiorentina, in fifth, who host Inter Milan later on Sunday.
Napoli sit ninth with 32 points. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/lazio-and-napoli-share-spoils-in-goalless-draw
| 2024-01-28T19:45:54Z
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AL RAYYAN, Qatar - Asian Cup debutants Tajikistan upset the United Arab Emirates 5-3 in a penalty shootout on Sunday to advance to the quarter-finals and keep their dream run alive after the game ended 1-1 after extra time.
Tajikistan were on course to become the first team in 32 years to win their maiden knockout game in the tournament through Vahdat Hanonov's first-half goal before Khalifa Al Hammadi forced extra time with a stoppage-time header.
In the shootout, UAE's Caio Canedo had his effort saved by goalkeeper Rustam Yatimov before Alisher Shukurov scored the decisive spot kick to create history for the central Asian nation.
After a cagey start, Tajikistan took the lead on the half-hour mark when Hanonov climbed over the defence to head home Zoir Dzhuraboev's cross, with the ball creeping over the line after UAE keeper Khalid Eisa attempted a save.
Tajikistan came out roaring in the second half too and had several opportunities on the counter-attack they failed to capitalise on against a shell-shocked UAE whose coach Paulo Bento cut a frustrated figure in the dugout.
Alisher Dzhalilov and Nuriddin Khamrokulov spurned golden opportunities to double Tajikistan's lead in the second half and UAE eventually made them pay in second-half stoppage time when Khalifa Al Hammadi headed home to force extra time.
But the UAE fans were stunned into silence when Tajikistan converted all their spot kicks to spark wild celebrations. Tajikistan will find out their quarter-final opponents on Monday when Iraq face Jordan. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/tajikistan-stun-uae-on-penalties-to-move-into-asian-cup-quarter-finals
| 2024-01-28T19:46:04Z
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CHISINAU - Moldova's top negotiator in resolving the three-decade-old dispute with its pro-Russian Transdniestria separatist enclave on Sunday ruled out any role for Russia in finding a solution as long as it was engaged in its war in Ukraine.
Deputy Prime Minister Oleg Serebrian made his comments on national radio as Moldova's pro-European government pressed ahead with its drive to secure European Union membership.
The country's prime minister on Saturday said the newly appointed minister for European Affairs would head Moldova's team at membership talks, which were the green light by European Union leaders last month.
Serebrian said the 5+2 Transdniestria negotiating process in place for 20 years -- which included Russia and Ukraine as well as the United States and European Union as observers -- could serve no purpose as long as Russia pursued its invasion.
"Returning to that format for a peaceful settlement depends on improved relations between Moscow and Kyiv," he said. "It has not been officially disbanded, but it is frozen."
Little progress could be expected for now on the "third basket" of the talks dealing with the enclave's future status in a country lying between Ukraine and Romania.
Serebrian said Moldova's priority for 2024 was proceeding with gradual integration with the EU. President Maia Sandu, who denounces Russia's invasion of Ukraine, has called for a greater role for the EU in resolving the standoff with Transdniestria.
Transdniestria split from Moldova before the 1991 collapse of Soviet rule and fought a brief war against the newly independent state, but has remained on the country's eastern fringe for more than 30 years with a minimum of turmoil. It has no international recognition and is heavily dependent on Moscow.
The two sides hold periodic one-on-one talks, but the latest round this month was beset by new Moldovan customs duties -- part of its EU membership drive -- denounced by the separatists as harmful to its businesses.
Transdniestrian negotiators say they will no longer attend talks in areas controlled by the government as they fear arrest under new tougher laws against separatism.
Prime Minister Dorin Recean on Saturday announced in a video presentation that Cristina Gherasimov, previously foreign ministry secretary of state, would serve as European integration minister and chief negotiator in negotiations on EU membership.
Gherasimov will also head a new European Integration Bureau dedicated to proceeding with those talks. Her appointment, and that of new Foreign Minister Mihail Popsoi, followed the resignation last week of Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/moldovan-negotiator-rules-out-moscow-role-in-solving-separatist-issue
| 2024-01-28T19:46:14Z
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Former central bank Governor Mark Carney on Sunday said he supported Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau leading the Liberal Party into the next federal election, quashing speculation that Carney would mount his own leadership bid.
Canada will hold an election by the end of 2025 and current polling suggests the Liberals would be clobbered by the opposition Conservatives if the vote were held today, fuelling speculation the Liberals may look to replace Trudeau after nearly nine years as prime minister.
Last week, Liberal lawmaker Ken McDonald called for a leadership review in an interview, before walking back his comments.
Carney, a former Bank of England and Bank of Canada governor, has been touted as a potential successor and in November said he had not ruled out a future leadership run.
However, in an interview with Canadian broadcaster CTV on Sunday, Carney said he backed Trudeau.
"In the near term, the prime minister is going to be the leader of the Liberal Party in the next election...and I support him," Carney said.
The prime minister's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/ex-central-banker-carney-backs-trudeau-to-lead-liberals-in-canadas-next-election
| 2024-01-28T19:46:25Z
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JERUSALEM - Talks held on Sunday initiated by Qatar, the United States and Egypt to broker a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas were "constructive" but meaningful gaps remain, a statement from the Israeli prime minister's office said.
The statement said the summit was held in Europe and that the parties would continue to hold discussions during additional meetings planned for later this week.
"There are still significant gaps in which the parties will continue to discuss this week in additional mutual meetings," the statement said. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/israeli-pms-office-says-summit-to-negotiate-hostage-deal-was-constructive-but-gaps-remain
| 2024-01-28T19:46:35Z
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WASHINGTON - Three U.S. service members were killed and as many as 34 wounded, United States officials said on Sunday, after a drone attack in Jordan that they linked to Iranian-backed militants.
The attack is a major escalation of the tensions in the Middle East sparked by Hamas' attack in Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel's retaliatory strikes that have devastated Gaza. TOM COTTON, REPUBLICAN U.S. SENATOR FROM ARKANSAS
"The only answer to these attacks must be devastating military retaliation against Iran’s terrorist forces, both in Iran and across the Middle East."
JACKY ROSEN, DEMOCRATIC U.S. SENATOR FROM NEVADA
"Iran must be held accountable."
RICK SCOTT, REPUBLICAN U.S. SENATOR FROM FLORIDA
"Iran is blatantly questioning U.S. strength & resolve thanks to @JoeBiden’s appeasement of the world’s largest sponsor of terrorism. It must end."
DAN SULLIVAN, REPUBLICAN U.S. SENATOR FROM ALASKA
"Iranian terrorist proxies have crossed a red line with the reported killing of 3 brave U.S. service members and wounding of dozens more." REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/reaction-to-drone-strike-on-us-troops-in-jordan
| 2024-01-28T19:46:45Z
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France will transfer 3,000 artillery shells to Ukraine per month, according to Lt-Gen Ivan Havryliuk, Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister, who said that in an interview with the NV.
Shortly before the latest meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) for military support of Ukraine, the Group’s Coalition of Artillery convened its first meeting in Paris on 18 January. The US- and France-led artillery coalition comprises 23 nations.
Havryliuk said the Ukrainian delegation highlighted to 22 backers the needs of the Ukrainian troops based “on the objective picture at the front and possible scenarios,” while the coalition members assured Ukraine of their further support. The countries discussed the provision of artillery equipment, spare parts for artillery systems, shells, improving the intelligence and fire control capabilities of the Ukrainian forces, and organizing the repairs of artillery weapons.
The Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister says that the fact that Russia is ramping up the production capacity of its military-industrial complex facilities and purchasing ammunition and missiles abroad shows that “the Kremlin is not going to abandon its aggressive plans.”
“Regarding 155-mm shells for French artillery systems, French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu said that France would be able to provide the Ukrainian army with 3,000 shells per month,” Havryliuk noted.
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/01/28/ukraine-defense-ministry-france-to-supply-ukraine-with-3000-artillery-shells-monthly/
| 2024-01-28T19:49:13Z
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Killings against environmental defenders are on the rise, doubling over the last 15 years. According to a study published in the journal Nature Sustainability, more people die each year from defending the environment than UK and Australian soldiers are killed in overseas combat.
These stats are supported by data collected by international NGO Global Witness, who published a report titled Enemies of the State? last week. Their research shows that – taken as a mean – more than three people were killed every week in 2018. This doesn’t include the countless others who have been threatened, arrested, and jailed.
"As demand for products like timber, palm oil and minerals continue to grow, governments, companies and criminal gangs are routinely stealing land and trashing habitats in pursuit of profit," write Global Witness. "When the ordinary people who live on these lands take a stand, they come up against companies’ private security, state forces, contract killers, or in less violent confrontations, teams of aggressive lawyers."
The Philippines topped the list for the country with the most killings (30 in total), overtaking Brazil for the first time since Global Witness began keeping tally in 2012. This was followed by Colombia (24), India (23), Brazil (20), Guatemala (16), Mexico (14), and the DRC (8). There were 164 deaths worldwide recorded in 2018. Still, Global Witness believes this figure is an underestimate, with many more likely to go unreported and un-investigated.
What's more, according to the study authors, 1,558 people in 50 countries were killed for defending the environment between 2002 and 2017 – twice the number of UK and Australian soldiers killed on active duty in the same period. At least 185 occurred in 2017, with indigenous peoples facing the brunt of the killings (30 percent). Just over 10 percent of these murders ended in a conviction.
But these killings are just the tip of the iceberg with non-lethal violence and intimidation also playing a role, not to mention the use of various legal systems to snuff out dissenting voices and slash their funding.
Global Witness point to the steady rise of "populist strongmen", who have stamped out protest under the guise of national security. Think: Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, who has advocated the opening up of indigenous land to miners and agriculturists while overseeing a ramp-up in deforestation rates, or Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, who "red-tags" rights activists of all stripes as communist sympathizers, insurgents, and terrorists. There was a 71 percent jump in the number of murders between 2016 (when Duterte took office) and 2017.
Meanwhile, in the States, retaliation against environmental activists might not be quite so violent, but Donald Trump’s White House has clamped down on protests and undermined environmentalists at the same time as ripping up legislation and loosening regulations designed to protect the environment. The report cites a bill passed in South Dakota that gave state and local governments greater power when it comes to disciplining those involved in the pipeline protests.
While it can be difficult to determine who exactly is responsible, the authors say they were able to link state security forces to as many as 40 of the killings in 2018. Hitmen, criminal gangs, landowners, and other private entities were suspected in another 40 cases.
When it comes to the industries with the most blood on their hand, the mining industry takes first place, accounting for 43 of the killings in 2018. This was followed by agribusiness (21), water and dams (17), logging (13), and poaching (9).
"We can never undo the sacrifices made by those documented in this report or the damage done to their loved ones," Global Witness adds. "But we can ensure their deaths were not entirely in vain by calling on our governments to urgently tackle the problems that they put their lives on the line to highlight. We should protect and empower the courageous individuals who follow their lead – for their sake and for ours."
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https://www.iflscience.com/an-average-of-more-than-3-environmental-defenders-were-killed-per-week-of-2018-53295
| 2024-01-28T20:43:36Z
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JAKARTA – As the black presidential car with the recognisable red plate and mini Indonesian flag zoomed down a busy city street in Central Java, a hand emerged from a window with two fingers raised in the air.
The “two-finger salute” is synonymous with presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto and his running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the President’s son, as it refers to the identity number – one, two or three – the pair had drawn, which will also appear on the Feb 14 ballot.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/president-jokowi-comes-down-from-the-mountain-as-indonesia-election-nears
| 2024-01-28T21:18:13Z
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SINGAPORE – The global demand for gloves is increasing and glove maker Top Glove is upbeat about its financial prospects for 2024.
Its share prices have jumped in recent months and the firm expects to be back in the black by the end of the 2024 financial year, said founder and executive chairman Lim Wee Chai in an exclusive interview.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/glove-manufacturer-top-glove-sees-growth-prospects-as-demand-booms
| 2024-01-28T21:18:24Z
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SINGAPORE - Fewer Housing Board flat upgraders made the leap into private housing for a second straight year as resale flat price growth and the volume of HDB resale transactions tapered, while private home prices and mortgage rates remain high.
This could have implications for the overall market, in particular the suburban market – which is popular with HDB upgraders – as more than 4,400 new condos are expected to be launched in the suburbs in 2024, according to OrangeTee & Tie.
This would account for around 50 per cent of the up to 8,800 new units expected to be launched in the year, the real estate agency estimated.
With Singapore’s private residential prices growing at a slower pace and up to 40 new launches coming onstream in 2024, buyers may stay on the sidelines as they evaluate the options and wait for prices to moderate further.
Already, signs of price resistance have set in as new private home sales, excluding executive condominiums (ECs), sank to a 15-year low of 6,421 units in 2023, even as the number of newly launched units that year jumped to 7,551 units from 4,528 units in 2022.
And while demand from local owner-occupiers for suburban non-landed homes and new launches have fuelled a price rally in this submarket – like J’den in Jurong East which set a benchmark record at $2,451 per sq foot (psf) – observers question how long this will last.
Tellingly, the number of HDB upgraders acquiring new and resale private homes has dropped in recent years.
A total of 4,714 new and resale non-landed private homes were bought by those with HDB addresses in 2023, down 25.7 per cent from 6,344 in 2022.
Transactions were down 36.3 per cent in 2022 from 9,960 in 2021, said PropNex, citing the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) Realis data.
In comparison, a total of 9,795 new and resale non-landed private homes were bought by those with private addresses, down 15.3 per cent from 2022’s 11,562, which was down 31.3 per cent from 16,822 in 2021.
For the non-landed resale market, more buyers with HDB addresses appear to be delaying their upgrading plans in hopes of mortgage rates moderating, as the average transacted price of resale homes ticked up to nearly $1.8 million in 2023 from $1.76 million in 2022, PropNex chief executive Ismail Gafoor said.
Trading up is getting harder for HDB upgraders as the growth in resale flat prices has not kept pace with that of private residential property prices in 2023.
Ms Chia Siew Chuin, JLL’s head of residential research for Singapore, attributed the drop in private home sales to buyers with HDB addresses to slower resale flat price growth following the ramp-up in the supply of Build-To-Order flats and recent rounds of cooling measures.
Compared with a 10.4 per cent jump in 2022, HDB resale flat prices gained just 4.9 per cent in 2023. Private residential property prices grew 6.8 per cent in 2023, compared with 8.6 per cent in 2022.
As a result, some buyers with HDB addresses may sit it out in hopes of lower interest rates in the second half of 2024, or switch to new executive condominiums (ECs), priced at around $1,406 psf in 2023, according to Huttons – a 34 per cent discount to new suburban private property prices.
But even new EC launches have seen slower take-up rates over the past year, as new unit prices rose amid low unsold supply, said Mr Nicholas Mak, chief research officer of property search portal Mogul.sg
When Copen Grand EC in Tengah Garden Walk was launched in October 2022, 73 per cent of its 639 units were sold at an average price of $1,300 psf over the launch weekend.
Three months later, Tenet in Tampines Street 62 sold 72 per cent of its 618 units at an average price of $1,360 psf.
In August 2023, Altura in Bukit Batok moved 61 per cent of its 360 units at an average price of $1,433 psf during its launch.
Six months later, Lumina Grand, the sole EC launch in 2024, sold about 53 per cent, or 269, of its 512 units at its launch on Jan 27 at an average price of $1,464 psf after an early bird discount of $8,000.
New condo prices in the suburbs, in comparison, have surged past the $2,000 psf benchmark in recent months due to limited new supply. In 2023, prices in this submarket jumped the most – 13.7 per cent – the highest annual increase since 2010.
In recent years, new suburban condo supply has been limited, with an average of 3,495 units launched annually from 2019 to 2023. This compared with an average of 9,860 units launched annually from 2009 to 2013, according to OrangeTee & Tie.
But the addition of more than 4,400 new suburban condo units could slow price growth in this submarket in 2024, it said.
Upcoming suburban launches include the 440-unit Sora in Yuan Ching Road, the 533-unit Lentor Mansion, and the 345-unit Government Land Sales site in Champions Way in Woodlands awarded to City Developments for $904 psf per plot ratio.
Analysts are divided over whether HDB upgrader demand could be hurt by a drop in the number of HDB resale transactions with cash over valuation (COV), which refers to the difference between the sale price of a flat and its actual HDB valuation, and which is paid for in cash by the buyer.
About 15 per cent of buyers forked out COV for their flats in the fourth quarter of 2023, down from almost 30 per cent in the same period in 2022, National Development Minister Desmond Lee said earlier in January.
Mr Gafoor argued that a low proportion of COV transactions does not necessarily mean that private housing demand will be affected.
He believes this demand is influenced more by the employment rate, income growth, mortgage rates and market sentiment.
Declining resale flat transactions, on the other hand, could point to a shrinking pool of HDB upgraders for the private housing market, he said.
Resale flat transactions in the fourth quarter of 2023 fell 2.2 per cent to 6,547 – the lowest volume for the fourth quarter since 2020 – from 6,695 in the third quarter. In 2023, total resale flat volumes dropped 4.2 per cent to 26,735 units from 27,896 in 2022.
There are signs of a slowdown in the private residential market as well. Overall sales take-up rates at new launches with at least 100 units have dropped to about 55 per cent in 2023 from 72 per cent in 2022, JLL noted.
In the face of more competition and uncertain market conditions, some developers may delay launches, while others may up the ante with marketing strategies, including opening show-flats during the Chinese New Year holiday in February, Mr Mak said.
JLL’s Ms Chia believes developers could adopt a more sensitive pricing strategy, but she does not expect major price corrections due to high land and development costs, ample liquidity, and hopes of an economic recovery as well as interest rate cuts in the second half of 2024.
If a moderation in interest rates really happens in the second half, that could boost sentiment among residential property buyers somewhat.
But even with more buyers coming to terms with the new norm of 3 per cent to 3.5 per cent mortgage rates, the days of exuberant buying may be gone. This is especially so given the sizeable launch pipeline in 2024, the current inflationary environment, and recent rounds of cooling measures.
Therefore, it will be interesting to see what marketing strategies developers will employ to boost sales of new projects that have to be launched in 2024, and even existing ones, in a slowing private residential market.
And whether buyers – including HDB upgraders – will bite.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/fewer-hdb-upgraders-buying-private-homes-suggests-more-are-priced-out
| 2024-01-28T21:18:34Z
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SINGAPORE - Many here are not well-prepared financially to cope with cancer if and when it strikes, a study has found.
About four in 10 of those polled said they would not be financially prepared to manage the costs of cancer treatment.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/how-to-plan-financially-for-unexpected-health-issues-like-cancer
| 2024-01-28T21:18:44Z
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SINGAPORE – There is an old saying in the market that as January goes, so does the rest of the year.
So far, January has turned out to be a rather good month for the markets, despite some scattered turbulence. Most markets have clambered their way to higher ground.
Wall Street, the home to the world’s most influential market, has shown remarkable resilience despite concerns over an economic slowdown, elevated inflation, high interest rates and geopolitical jitters.
Last Friday’s closing at 38,109.43 points for the Dow Jones Industrial Index marked a 0.65 per cent weekly gain and a rise of 1.11 per cent for the month of January to-date.
Despite sliding on Jan 26 amid concerns about Intel’s earnings, the S&P 500, seen as a more representative gauge of Wall Street stocks, rose 1.06 per cent last week to 4,890.97. This marked a solid 2.54 per cent gain for the month.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained another 0.94 per cent for the week to 15,455.36 points, adding up its monthly gain to an impressive 2.96 per cent.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index ended at 3,159.53 on Jan 26, 7.24 points up from Jan 19’s close at 3,152.29 points as the month saw over $122 million of net institutional outflow. There has been some noticeable weakness by the ST Index’s component stocks like DBS, OCBC and UOB.
Interestingly enough, activity on the Singapore bourse appears to be turning to selected second-liners, many of which are seen as trading at attractive price-earnings multiples. Notable names included Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Sats, ST Engineering and ComfortDelGro.
So what is next?
As this column suggested at the start of 2024, the outlook for the market for the year appears benign. Much of the risks from the previous year which also flowed into 2024 – inflation, interest rates, supply chain issues – have already been priced in.
In short, investors face “known knowns” (borrowing the words of the late Donald Rumsfeld), and are adjusting their strategies accordingly.
Meanwhile, some data is also turning market friendly.
On Jan 26, the closely watched US December inflation data suggested that price rises are drifting closer to the Federal Reserve’s target, while consumer spending remained sturdy despite weakening personal income growth and falling savings. The Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, the personal consumption expenditure rose just 0.2 per cent in December, and 2.9 per cent from a year ago. The 12-month inflation rate is the lowest since March 2021.
That said, according to CME FedWatch tool, traders are pricing in a more than 97 per cent likelihood that the Fed leaves interest rates unchanged at its policy meeting this week.
This view was underscored by “FedSpeak” last week.
Bank of Atlanta president Raphael Bostic reiterated that he does not see the US central bank cutting rates until the third quarter. His Philadelphia counterpart, Mr Patrick Harker, said his expectation remains that inflation will continue to ebb towards the 2 per cent target.
Well-respected Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller warned that the US central bank should take a cautious and systematic approach when it begins cutting interest rates, a process that can start in 2024 in the absence of a rebound in inflation.
“As long as inflation doesn’t rebound and stay elevated, I believe the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) will be able to lower the target range for the federal funds rate this year,” Mr Waller said at a virtual event hosted by the Brookings Institution on Jan 16.
Investors are slowly coming to terms with reality and the possibility that the Fed may not cut rates during the January-June period.
This recalibration will cause some market volatility in the short term, but will not derail markets in the medium term if the economy slows down but avoids a hard landing, inflation cools further, and the Fed cuts rates starting during the third quarter and continues to do so progressively over the next three years.
In Singapore, one sector to watch is the S-Reits, whose earnings reporting season begins soon.
While the upcoming earnings reports will see the flow-through of higher interest rates, a potential cut in rates in 2024 could be a catalyst for this segment, according to Mr Krishna Guha of Maybank Securities.
He reckons that Suntec Reit, CDL Hospitality Reit and Far East Hospitality Trust would have the highest distribution per unit (DPU) rises if rates fall. He is also upbeat on CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, CapitaLand Ascendas, Fraser Logistics and Commercial Trust and Lendlease Global Commercial Reit.
Overall, while the outlook for the market remains generally positive, expect volatility, says Mr Vasu Menon, managing director of investment strategy at OCBC Bank.
“Market probability of a March Fed rate cut has fallen sharply from nearly 90 per cent at the start of January to below 60 per cent now,” he pointed out.
But going further down the year, one “known unknown” is geopolitics.
BCA Research reckons that the upcoming US elections and commodity volatility will be factors to watch.
“The US is on the brink of a major election, the outcome of which could reduce its willingness to engage with the outside world. So, states seeking to carve out their own spheres of influence are incentivised to raise the economic costs to the US and discourage its influence in their regions.
“These states can do this by interfering in key trading routes in their regions. As a result, geopolitical threats to maritime choke points are a structural as well as cyclical problem and will persist due to the revival of superpower competition,” BCA Research noted.
The week ahead is going to be a packed one for market watchers.
Besides the Fed gathering on Jan 31, there are earnings reports and the US employment report.
The consensus forecast by Bloomberg projects that US payrolls rose by 185,000 in January following a December gain of 216,000, while the unemployment rate and wage growth are expected to remain unchanged at 3.7 per cent and 4.1 per cent respectively. Such figures, which show a resilient US labour market, could go further into pushing back on expectations for early Fed rate cuts.
China’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) is due on Jan 31, and may paint a slightly less bleak picture ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday.
The economic agenda for this week includes preliminary fourth-quarter GDP growth estimates for both the euro zone and Germany, the European Commission’s sentiment indices and the US Conference Board consumer conference index on Jan 30 and manufacturing PMIs on Jan 31 and Feb 1.
Barring a major shock, the market is likely to continue grinding higher through February amid continuing news and data flows.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/markets-grind-higher-despite-volatility-and-risks
| 2024-01-28T21:19:05Z
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Singapore’s ability to adapt to the changing global economic and geopolitical landscape has been a hallmark of its development. Having made its name in basic manufacturing in the 1970s and precision components in the 1980s, Singapore is now a regional services hub, central to international flows of trade, investment, finance and talent.
To continue that success into the future, Singapore will need to evolve again – this time to respond to the urgent and complex challenges posed by climate change.
As daunting as that sounds, this also presents an opportunity for the country to play to two of its core strengths: innovation, to design the clean technology that will help the world decarbonise, and finance, to deliver that technology at scale.
Singapore is the most innovative economy in Asia, according to the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s Global Innovation Index, published in September 2023. And the country recently entered the top 10 in a global ranking of start-up ecosystems by US research company Startup Genome, rising to eighth from 18th and overtaking Seoul, Shanghai and Tokyo in the process.
Singapore’s status as a finance and capital hub has also grown in recent years. It now manages around $5 trillion of assets, with more than three-quarters coming from overseas investors.
With this combination of expertise and financial clout, Singapore is well placed to become a global centre for excellence in cleantech. As the world searches for solutions to the climate crisis, that would be an invaluable next step in the city’s ongoing evolution.
Incentives to act
Accelerating cleantech investment will be critical to Singapore’s future in more ways than one.
Singapore is one of the lowest-lying nations in the world, with an average elevation of only 15m above sea level, so it is particularly vulnerable to flooding from rising sea levels. It faces constraints due to its small size and lack of natural resources. Labour costs are high, and access to clean energy is limited by the lack of available land for solar or wind farms.
On top of all this, Singapore needs to find new ways to create high-quality, future-proofed jobs for citizens at a time when the costs of living and property prices are rising.
Cleantech helps to solve this development conundrum. It does not require vast amounts of natural resources or low-cost labour. But it can help to position Singapore’s economy for long-term growth by leveraging its strengths as a hub for talent, academic research and investment.
Developing and embracing new technologies for the energy transition – such as those that can make construction, shipping or aviation less carbon-intensive – creates an opportunity for Singapore’s economy to evolve once again. Supporting and commercialising innovation in these fields will allow the country to maintain a leading position in high-value global supply chains as they decarbonise.
Leading from the top
The Government has recognised the importance of the green economy and has made cleantech innovation a core component of the nationwide Green Plan. It is supporting research into sustainable technologies through agencies such as the National Environment Agency and the Economic Development Board (EDB), and is promoting itself as a regional hub for new, technology-enabled business models such as carbon trading. The EDB has estimated that carbon trading services could add up to US$5.6 billion (S$7.5 billion) of value to the economy by 2050.
What’s more, initiatives like the Singapore Government-backed Sustainable Development Open Innovation Challenge provide invaluable funding and mentorship to start-ups. And the city’s world-class research institutions, such as the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University, have centres dedicated to sustainability and cleantech.
The Government also sees technology as a tool to mobilise financial resources for green investments. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) launched an ESG Impact Hub in 2022 to support the building of tech solutions to address the environmental, social and governance (ESG) needs of corporates and financial institutions, such as measurement and reporting of climate and sustainability data.
MAS is also expanding its scope of tax incentives for single-family offices in Singapore to encourage them to invest in local environmental and social causes. That includes extending tax incentive coverage to blended finance structures – a form of financing typically used to fund sustainable developments – and recognising overseas climate-related investments.
Where innovation and finance meet
With a supportive policy environment, more companies are using Singapore as the springboard for their cleantech ventures. The list of start-ups able to access funding in Singapore includes companies working on agri-tech, green hydrogen, battery recycling, energy efficiency software, energy storage technology and bioenergy. And a number of multinationals have chosen Singapore for major investments into sustainable aviation fuel, bio-based polymers and clean mobility, among others.
At the early stage of the investment life cycle, Singapore provides ready access to a vibrant ecosystem of 4,000 start-ups, 220 venture capital firms and over 200 accelerators – many of which are increasingly focused on cleantech and sustainability.
Singapore-based Antler, for example, has embedded ESG metrics in a partnership that will give Antler’s portfolio companies access to banking services from HSBC, including venture debt and working capital.
Some companies are already building whole business models around cleantech innovation. For others, it’s about taking the first step in applying technology to reducing emissions or contributing to climate resilience.
Singapore has a lot to offer them all; its commitment to – and vested interest in – the success of cleantech is clear. It may soon be rivalling London, New York and even Silicon Valley as a sustainability tech hub. One thing is for sure: the city will not be standing still.
- The writer is the managing director and head of commercial banking, HSBC Singapore.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/why-cleantech-is-mission-critical-for-singapore
| 2024-01-28T21:19:16Z
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One of the most well-established patterns in measuring public opinion is that every generation tends to move as one in terms of its politics and general ideology.
Its members share the same formative experiences, reach life’s big milestones at the same time and intermingle in the same spaces. So how should we make sense of reports that Gen Z is hyper-progressive on certain issues but surprisingly conservative on others?
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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/a-new-global-gender-divide-is-emerging
| 2024-01-28T21:19:36Z
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On Jan 31, Malaysia will get a new king. The crown will pass from Pahang’s Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah to Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar of Johor. The handover will be one that reinforces tradition while setting the stage for testing new boundaries for Malaysia’s political institutions.
The selection of Johor’s Sultan as Malaysia’s 17th monarch reinforces tradition in that it keeps to the unique system of rotational rule by the country’s nine hereditary rulers laid down since independence.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/assertive-new-king-sets-malaysian-politics-up-for-tests-in-balance-of-power
| 2024-01-28T21:19:46Z
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We refer to the letters by Ms Ryna Tan Chwee Eng (Set a limit to employer’s liability for maid’s medical bills, Jan 16) and Ms Stacey Low Loon (Stuck with a hefty bill now because maid has a communicable disease, Jan 18).
It is mandatory for employers to provide medical insurance for their migrant domestic workers (MDWs). The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) regularly reviews the coverage of medical insurance policies for MDWs. This ensures adequate medical care for MDWs while balancing financial protection for their employers against large medical bills.
From July 1, 2023, employers have been required to purchase medical insurance with an annual claim limit of at least $60,000 for their MDWs, up from the previous $15,000. The increased claim limit also applies to any sub-limit on inpatient care for medical situations, including communicable diseases such as tuberculosis.
Employers who are keen to obtain additional coverage against larger unforeseen medical bills can take up insurance plans that are readily available in the market. Employers who face financial difficulties in paying for their MDW’s medical bills can approach medical social workers at public healthcare institutions for assistance.
Doris Kuek
Director, Foreign Manpower Policy
Workplace Policy and Strategy Division
Ministry of Manpower
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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/forum/forum-enhanced-mandatory-medical-insurance-covers-bills-in-most-cases
| 2024-01-28T21:19:57Z
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After a gruelling day of deciphering intricate formulas and tackling lengthy questions, students often welcome some “me time”. That is when they turn to co-curricular activities (CCAs), designed to cater to their interests and to alleviate the academic pressure they face.
However, when students stay back in school regularly for extended training sessions to excel in their CCA, they risk getting burned out.
Juggling the demanding requirements of academics and co-curricular pursuits can take a physical and mental toll on a student’s health, highlighting the importance of maintaining a sustainable balance between the two.
Simple and effective measures to mitigate the risk of burnout include having regular breaks and speaking to trusted adults.
I find that teachers in charge of CCAs are always willing to listen to students’ concerns and give feedback.
Only with good time management and a supportive environment that lets students express their concerns freely can students enjoy their time in school, excelling in both academics and CCAs.
Haley Ng En Ning, 16
Secondary 4
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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/forum/forum-good-time-management-and-supportive-environment-will-let-students-handle-stress-better
| 2024-01-28T21:20:07Z
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I refer to the letter suggesting that polyclinics open for 24 hours so that hospital accident and emergency departments are not overwhelmed (Can polyclinics open 24 hours to take the load off A&E departments?, Jan 24).
Running a polyclinic is a complex process. Besides healthcare professionals like family physicians, who take several years to be trained, polyclinics also require a large team of nurses, health attendants and technicians, among others, to function.
Healthcare workers are in short supply worldwide right now. It is unrealistic to expect the authorities to be able to continue bringing in foreign healthcare workers in large numbers.
Opening a 24x7 clinic is even more challenging. Finding staff to work night shifts or on public holidays is difficult. Just like other people, healthcare workers also want to finish their work by 6pm and enjoy the rest of the evening with their families. If they have school-going children or aged parents to take care of, it becomes even tougher for them to work night shifts or weekends.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) has put in a lot of resources to build new polyclinics and upgrade existing ones, with several expected to be operational over the next few years.
The current plan would have to be completed first before we can think about setting up 24x7 polyclinics.
I urge all Singaporeans to take heed of MOH’s advice to go to the A&E department only for medical emergencies, and to consult their family physicians for non-urgent medical conditions.
Desmond Wai (Dr)
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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/forum/forum-not-easy-to-set-up-24-hour-polyclinics
| 2024-01-28T21:20:17Z
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We refer to the article “Companies selling insects as food in limbo over SFA approval delay” (Jan 22) and Forum writer Eric J. Brooks’ letter “Demand for insect-based food should come not only from producers” (Jan 23).
The commercial farming of insects for human consumption has been promoted by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and is receiving greater commercial interest.
The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) is watching such developments closely and has received queries on the import of insects as food into Singapore. SFA first conducted a public consultation on the regulation of insects and insect products in end-2022, and is incorporating feedback to determine the necessary requirements for the import, processing and farming of insects as food in Singapore.
SFA’s priority is to ensure the safety of food consumed in Singapore. As the insect industry is nascent and insects are a new food item here, it is necessary for SFA to put in place the regulatory levers before insects are approved as food to safeguard food safety, and more time is needed to establish the required regulations and implementation plan.
SFA is still finalising the implementation details and aims to introduce the regulatory framework in the first half of this year. We will work closely with food business operators to ensure that they are able to meet SFA’s regulatory requirements before insects and insect products are permitted for sale as food for human consumption in Singapore.
Tan Han Kiat
Senior Director, Licensing Division
Singapore Food Agency
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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/forum/forum-regulatory-framework-for-consumption-of-insects-likely-in-first-half-of-year
| 2024-01-28T21:20:28Z
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Being at the centre of a new technological revolution, it was not surprising that artificial intelligence (AI) was the dominant theme at the recent summit involving global corporate leaders and politicians in Davos. A lot of attention was focused on the dangers posed by AI through deepfakes and other forms of misinformation, the need for international regulation of AI and how companies can use AI to meet their sustainability goals. While these are all important objectives, concerns about AI’s impact on jobs and labour markets did not get much of an airing.
But with companies already deploying AI and the technology spreading rapidly, its impact on jobs is gaining urgency. The International Monetary Fund has estimated that about 40 per cent of jobs worldwide are exposed to disruption by AI. In advanced economies, which have a higher share of professionals in their workforces, about 60 per cent of jobs could be affected. This is not necessarily cause for alarm: Experts have pointed out that AI has the potential to complement workers and make them more productive, not just displace them.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/st-editorial/spread-gains-from-ai-minimise-its-costs
| 2024-01-28T21:20:38Z
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Fifty years ago, on Jan 31, 1974, four men, armed with submachine guns and explosives, infiltrated the Shell oil refinery on Pulau Bukom, off the southern shore of Singapore. They tried to blow up three oil tanks but succeeded in setting ablaze only one of them before the alarms were raised. To escape, they hijacked a ferry, steering for the high seas.
When Singapore’s security forces cut off their escape route, the encircled attackers, holding the five-man ferry crew hostage at gunpoint, threatened to blow up the remaining explosives. A stand-off for eight tense days ensued, dubbed the Laju incident after the name of the ferry.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/the-laju-incident-a-reminder-about-singapore-s-security-and-the-palestine-issue
| 2024-01-28T21:20:59Z
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Most people like to talk about the weather. It’s often a good conversation starter – just mention how you were drenched at a Coldplay concert; it’s a great way to get people’s attention pretty quickly.
Mention climate change, however, and it is often a different reaction, often expressed in a sigh, a shrug or both, signalling a mix of “this is beyond me” resignation and lack of interest.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/what-has-your-kopi-c-and-coldplay-concert-got-to-do-with-global-warming
| 2024-01-28T21:21:09Z
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In an episode of The Sopranos, a popular television series that started airing in the 1990s, a gangster tells Tony, from the titular family, that he wants to retire. “What are you, a hockey player?” Tony snaps back.
Non-fictional non-criminals who are considering an end to their working lives need not worry about broken fingers or other bodily harm. But they must still contend with other potentially painful losses: of income, purpose or, most poignantly, relevance.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/why-you-should-never-retire
| 2024-01-28T21:21:20Z
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SINGAPORE - Five-year-old Chelsea Kiew likes to play with Lego, loves to eat cheese sticks, and one of her favourite places to visit is the zoo.
She is just like any typical kindergarten child, said her father, 35-year-old business analyst Raymond Kiew.
But Chelsea’s birth in 2018 was anything but normal.
She was born extremely premature at 22 weeks – or over five months – of pregnancy, and is the only baby born in Singapore at 22 weeks in the past decade to have survived.
A baby is considered full term from the 37th week onwards.
Dr Tan Pih Lin, a senior consultant at the department of neonatology at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH), said that globally, less than 1 per cent to 2 per cent of babies are born at 22 weeks.
Dr Tan said of her patient: “Chelsea is the only survivor at 22 weeks gestation in Singapore, which makes it an extremely rare and unique case.”
Chelsea’s mother, Madam Lin Hsiao Chi, a housewife in her 30s, said her daughter was as small as a 100Plus bottle, referring to the isotonic drink bottle, when she was born.
To be exact, she weighed 510g and measured 28cm in length at birth. Newborns usually weigh between 2.5kg and 3.5kg.
Dr Tan said that Chelsea’s chances of survival were close to zero at birth.
She went through a slew of life-sustaining treatments and spent 166 days, or more than five months, in hospital before she was discharged.
Mr Kiew said that Chelsea, who turns six in May 2024, is very fortunate as she has no major complications from her premature birth.
She has a small hole in her heart, which requires regular check-ups.
Mr Kiew said: “We don’t see any impact from the hole in her heart. She can still run about, take part in all activities, depending on her mood.”
But she is on the smaller side – weighing about 15kg and standing at 1.05m tall.
Dr Tan said Chelsea is healthy and growing well. The girl has no medical or health issues apart from hereditary astigmatism, myopia and allergic rhinitis.
On Jan 9, Minister of State for Home Affairs and Social and Family Development Sun Xueling said that only one baby born at 22 weeks in Singapore in the past decade survived. Ms Sun said this at the second reading of the Stillbirths and Births (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill.
Ms Sun did not name the child, whom she described as a “miracle baby”, but added that such cases are extremely rare. The Straits Times found out that the child is Chelsea.
Under the Bill, the definition of stillbirth will refer to the death of a baby born after the 24th week of pregnancy. This is up from after the 22nd week now.
The change comes after doctors expressed concern that the threshold of 22 weeks of pregnancy may be misinterpreted as an indication of foetal viability, which refers to the ability of a baby born prematurely to survive outside the womb.
This may cause confusion among parents facing difficult and important decisions about medical interventions for their unborn child.
Ms Sun said that local medical and scientific evidence points to 24 weeks of pregnancy as the threshold for foetal viability.
She said reviews by the Ministry of Health in 2018 and 2022 concluded that the survival rate of a premature baby born at 22 weeks is close to zero, while the foetal viability of babies born at 24 weeks is about 50 per cent.
About 8 per cent of all babies born in 2022 were premature babies, defined in the Report on Registration of Births and Deaths 2022 as those born at or before 36 weeks.
A total of 112 babies – or 0.3 per cent of all babies – were born at under 28 weeks in 2022, the report published by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority stated.
Chelsea’s birth came as a shock to her parents. She is their only child.
Madam Lin suddenly went into labour at home and her husband helped to deliver the baby, guided by emergency medical services staff over the phone.
Recounting the experience, Madam Lin said: “I was petrified. But when I heard her crying, at least I knew she was alive.”
Both mother and daughter were rushed to KKH, where doctors told them the prognosis for Chelsea was very poor. She needed 100 per cent oxygen and maximum ventilator support to help her breathe.
There were a few times during her hospital stay when doctors thought she might not survive, but she pulled through.
Mr Kiew said: “We visited her every day, told her stories and encouraged her to believe in herself and explore the world. We believe such support is crucial for premature babies.”
Dr Tan said that most babies born at 22 weeks show little or no signs of life at birth, and especially so for those born at home – referring to spontaneous deliveries, where no drugs or other techniques are used to induce labour.
But Chelsea was extremely active at birth, with a good heart rate, among other health indicators, she said.
Her hospital bill eventually came up to $330,000. But the Kiews paid about $3,000 with MediSave, after subsidies and MediShield.
Dr Tan said Chelsea had chronic lung disease, which required respiratory support for nine months after her discharge. She later recovered and grew out of the condition.
She was also fed with a feeding tube for a period of time, Mr Kiew said.
Dr Tan said the girl has not had any health nor medical concerns in relation to her premature birth.
Her parents said Chelsea is an independent child, who likes to draw, sing and dance.
“She’s very sensible, like she can see when I come back from office looking tired, and she’ll cover me with a blanket,” Mr Kiew said.
“She’s a bit of an introvert. She will spend a lot of time observing you before she will play with you.”
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/baby-born-at-22-weeks-in-s-pore-defies-the-odds-and-is-now-a-healthy-five-year-old
| 2024-01-28T21:21:30Z
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In this series, manpower reporter Tay Hong Yi offers practical answers to candid questions on navigating workplace challenges and getting ahead in your career. Get more tips by signing up to The Straits Times’ HeadSTart newsletter.
Q: A colleague asked me about my salary package and the bonus I received. Is it appropriate for me to tell them?
A: Employment contracts commonly emphasise that one’s remuneration is private and confidential, says Mr Glen Chua, senior manager at recruitment firm Robert Walters Singapore.
“Nevertheless, there is a growing trend in which employees share their pay data, viewing it as a means to promote fairness and transparency within the workforce,” he notes.
However, he adds: “Despite this shift, it is crucial to acknowledge the possible implications of revealing sensitive salary information, as it may impact workplace relations, considering the inherently confidential nature of discussions about pay.”
In considering whether to disclose their own salary, employees should consider company policy, personal comfort, and potential implications for workplace dynamics, says Ms Annie Lim, a certified Institute for Human Resource Professionals (IHRP) senior professional.
“While acceptable in certain contexts like close friendships or transparent cultures, it is not universally appropriate.”
Ms Lim notes that employees may seek their peers’ figures for benchmarking or to address disparities or inequities.
However, those uncomfortable with disclosing their pay can politely decline, emphasising their need for privacy and expressing a preference to keep compensation information confidential, she suggests.
She also advises employees facing such questions to suggest that their colleague ask the human resources department or company management these compensation-related questions.
Salaries and bonuses can vary between individuals even within the same job role, notes Ms Archana Srinivasan, another IHRP senior professional.
Factors that affect the figures include performance, specialisation within the role, demand and supply, seniority in the role and the company’s financial resources.
Any disclosure should be done discreetly and only when one deems it necessary, says Ms Srinivasan.
“For example, if the request comes from a credible source where confidentiality will be maintained, I’d then be comfortable sharing the details,” she adds.
She also says that while it may seem all right to exchange salary details with close friends, individuals need to consider the risk of the figures being disseminated further.
“Having said that, if it is a friend who is changing jobs and trying to understand the pay levels, then we may provide a salary range as guidance rather than one specific figure.”
Ms Srinivasan also says that pay secrecy is an unstated expectation in Asia and employers generally do not encourage employees to discuss such information widely.
Employees typically discuss salaries to understand if they are paid right, both in absolute terms and relative to their colleagues, she says.
“In this context, a company’s reward philosophy and pay parity become very important.”
She adds: “There will always be differences, but as human resources practitioners we should do our best to help employees understand why those differences exist.”
Have a question? Send it to askst@sph.com.sg
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/jobs/askst-jobs-should-you-tell-a-colleague-how-much-you-earn
| 2024-01-28T21:21:41Z
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SINGAPORE – The nation’s ambitious quest to map the DNA of 100,000 people has reached the halfway mark in just over a year, with about 50,000 people’s genomes – or complete set of genes – sequenced so far.
This is a significant step towards the larger goal of mapping the genes of up to one million people by 2027.
As at mid-December 2023, about 80,000 Singapore residents between the ages of 21 and 84 had stepped forward to have a comprehensive health check done and their biological samples – including blood, urine and saliva – collected to help the country build a large population health database.
The participants’ blood samples are anonymised, packed in dry ice and sent for DNA extraction before DNA sequencing is done.
The genomic data is analysed and encrypted before it is deposited into a secure database developed by genomics technology firm Illumina.
Once all 100,000 participants’ genes have been mapped, the database is set to be one of Asia’s leading reference genome databases, as Singapore’s ethnic diversity captures more than 80 per cent of Asia’s diversity.
The collection of 100,000 genome sequences will comprise 20 petabytes, or 20 million GB, of data – equivalent to about 200,000 high-definition movies.
The project, Precise-SG100K, which started in late 2022, is coordinated by the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine.
Precise stands for Precision Health Research, Singapore, which is an entity set up to coordinate the second phase of the 10-year National Precision Medicine programme. SG100K, a comprehensive population health study of 100,000 Singaporeans, is a key partner of the programme.
Precision medicine is a targeted approach to disease treatment and prevention that takes into account individual differences in genes, environments and lifestyles. Threads of genetic material can unravel clues about a person’s risk of cancer or chronic disease, for example.
Patients who happen to carry genetic variants or “faulty genes” could have bad reactions to medications intended to treat their health problems.
One goal of the 10-year precision health programme, which ends in 2027, is to map the genes of around one million people. The programme is currently in its second phase, and the SG100K project is a key component of it.
In a website post dated Dec 11, 2023, Precise marked the milestone of completing 50,000 genome sequences by recognising its partners from the healthcare sector, academia and industry.
Among them were Illumina, which also provided the sequencing technology and equipment, and local biotech firm NovogeneAIT, which carries out the whole genome sequencing, churning out more than 760 whole genomes every week.
The 80,000 participants to date were recruited from four cohort studies, including Health for Life in Singapore (Helios), led by the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine. Helios participants have to undergo a five-hour check-up that includes undergoing a cognitive test, having their biological samples obtained, their body composition measured, and other things. Identifiers, like their NRIC, will be removed.
The other studies are from the National University of Singapore Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, the Singapore Eye Research Institute and the National Heart Centre Singapore.
Asians, especially South-east Asians, are known to be under-represented in genomic programmes, making up only about 3 per cent of existing population health studies globally.
Under the 10-year precision medicine programme, a local database containing 10,000 genome sequences was completed a few years ago as part of a pilot.
From that cohort, scientists learnt that nearly every individual carries at least one genetic variant that can interact poorly with a drug. This finding was in a 2022 research paper published in the Nature Communications scientific journal.
A predominant drug at play is the blood thinner warfarin, which Asians are known to be sensitive to and need lower dosages for.
From the 10,000 sequences, millions of genetic variants – previously undetected in Western studies – were revealed.
Precise is now calling for researchers to submit proposals that will unearth more health and precision medicine insights from the 50,000 completed sequences.
According to Precise’s website, applications end on Jan 31.
A strong precision medicine landscape needs genetics professionals, infrastructure and genetics literacy in both people and doctors. These are still being developed in Singapore.
Illumina’s head of Singapore, Mr Simon Giuliano, noted that genomics is a new science, and, like other countries in the Asia-Pacific, there is still a shortage of genetics-trained workers in Singapore, from counsellors to bioinformaticians.
“Patient awareness and understanding, accessibility and cost are common barriers cited across the world for the low uptake of genetic and cascade testing worldwide, especially in oncology,” he said.
Cascade testing refers to screening relatives who may be at risk of genetic conditions, after someone in the family has been diagnosed with a hereditary disease.
“Since genomics is a relatively new field of medicine, often regulatory frameworks governing how it is deployed in clinical practice are still evolving too.
“The good news is that education and training are starting to accelerate, and capability in Singapore is advancing,” added Mr Giuliano.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/project-to-map-dna-of-100000-people-in-s-pore-at-halfway-mark
| 2024-01-28T21:22:02Z
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Wildlife photography at its best on display at Science Centre Singapore
The prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is organised annually by London’s Natural History Museum. The competition draws entries depicting the astounding diversity of the natural world, taken by people of all ages and experience levels. Participating entries and the winning photos for 2023 are on display at the Science Centre Singapore until October 2024. Entry to the exhibition is free with admission tickets to the centre. Here are some highlights.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/wildlife-photography-at-its-best-on-display-at-science-centre-singapore
| 2024-01-28T21:22:23Z
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ABIDJAN - Guinea scored with the last kick of the game to end the giant-killing run of Equatorial Guinea at the Africa Cup of Nations and book themselves a slot in the quarter-finals with a 1-0 victory at Alassane Ouattara Olympic Stadium on Sunday.
Mohamed Bayo’s superb glancing header in the eighth minute of stoppage time proved the difference after Equatorial Guinea, who were down to 10 men in the second half, missed a penalty.
Guinea now meet the winner of Sunday’s later game between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Egypt in San Pedro.
Guinea ended a long sequence of losing in the knockout stage of the Cup of Nations but took their time, and rode their luck, to claim victory. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/last-gasp-win-for-guinea-sees-them-into-cup-of-nations-quarter-finals
| 2024-01-28T21:22:33Z
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Former NHL player Alex Formenton has been charged by police in London, Canada, in connection with an investigation into an alleged sexual assault by several members of Canada’s 2018 world junior team, his legal team said on Sunday.
The charges are related to an alleged group sexual assault of a woman in June 2018 following a Hockey Canada golf and gala event where the junior team was being honoured for their gold medal win at the world junior championships.
"The London Police have charged several players, including Alex Formenton, in connection with an accusation made in 2018," his lawyer Daniel Brown said in an email sent to Reuters.
"Alex will vigorously defend his innocence and asks that people not rush to judgment without hearing all of the evidence."
Formenton, 24, played 109 games for the Ottawa Senators from the 2017-18 season through 2021-22.
When contacted by Reuters, London Police said in an email: "We will provide full updates at our press conference on Feb. 5." REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/former-nhl-player-formenton-charged-by-police-in-canada
| 2024-01-28T21:22:44Z
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The PGA Tour announced the 16 members who will serve on the Player Advisory Council in 2024, a pivotal year that will help shape the future of the tour.
Nine players have agreed to join the PAC, which the PGA Tour said "advises and consults" with the PGA Tour Policy Board and commissioner Jay Monahan.
Among the topics facing the PGA Tour leadership is the ongoing negotiations with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund over how to achieve a partnership that involves the LIV Golf League and DP World Tour.
The PGA Tour also reportedly has teamed with U.S.-based Strategic Sports Group, which is making a cash investment to help fund a new for-profit entity, PGA Tour Enterprises.
Newly appointed to the council are Lanto Griffin, Nick Hardy, Grayson Murray, Seamus Power, Adam Schenk, Nick Taylor, Josh Teater, Justin Thomas and Camilo Villegas, replacements for outgoing players.
Griffin and Murray are among 20 players who sent a letter to the board in December insisting that all discussions about the tour's future be transparent.
Returning members of the council are Sam Burns, Brian Harman, Max Homa, Mackenzie Hughes, Keith Mitchell, Scottie Scheffler and Kevin Streelman.
The board asked Streelman and Villegas to run for chairman of the Player Advisory Council in an election that ends Feb. 27. The winner will replace Jordan Spieth on the board on Jan. 1 and serve a three-year term. Other players on the PGA Tour Policy Board are Patrick Cantlay, Peter Malnati, Adam Scott, Webb Simpson and Tiger Woods.
--Field Level Media REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/golf/pga-tour-sets-2024-player-advisory-council
| 2024-01-28T21:22:54Z
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JERUSALEM - Hundreds of members of the Israeli settler community gathered for a convention in Jerusalem on Sunday calling for Israel to rebuild settlements in Gaza and the northern part of the Occupied West Bank.
Israel withdrew its military and settlers from Gaza in 2005 after a 38-year occupation, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said it does not intend to maintain a permanent presence again, but that Israel would maintain security control for an indefinite period.
There has been little clarity, however, about Israel's longer-term intentions, and countries including the United States have said that Gaza should be governed by Palestinians.
The conference was organized by the right-wing Nahala organization, which advocates for Jewish settlement expansion in territories including the West Bank, where they are classified as illegal by international and humanitarian groups and where violent clashes between settlers and Palestinians are frequent.
The conference, titled "Settlement Brings Security," was not organized by the Israeli government, though its hard-right coalition has been criticized for supporting settlement expansion, a position seen as hindering a possible future two-sate solution with the Palestinians.
Israel's Channel 12 reported that 12 ministers from Netanyahu's Likud party, along with public security minister Itamar Ben Gvir and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich - both from far-right parties in the governing coalition - attended the conference.
Smotrich said that many of the children who were evacuated from settlements in Gaza had returned as soldiers to fight in a war with Hamas and that he stood against the government's decision to evacuate Jewish settlements from Gaza in the past.
"We knew what that would bring and we tried to prevent it," Smotrich said in a speech. "Without settlements there is no security."
The crowd roared with enthusiastic chants to rebuild Jewish communities in Gaza.
Ben Gvir said he had protested the evacuation of Jewish settlements from Gaza and warned it would bring "rockets upon Sderot" and "rockets upon Ashkelon" in southern Israel.
"We yelled and we warned," Ben Gvir said. "If don't want another October 7, we need to return home and control the land." REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/israeli-settlers-hold-conference-on-resettlement-in-gaza
| 2024-01-28T21:23:05Z
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PENGLAI, Shandong – Penglai, a place in China’s eastern Shandong province, is said to be the realm of the Eight Immortals of Chinese legend, where food never runs out and wine glasses are magically refilled.
And it is hoping to enchant more people with its alcoholic brews.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/china-s-grape-growing-region-penglai-on-a-quest-to-make-its-wines-fine?utm_campaign=STPicks
| 2024-01-28T21:23:25Z
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It’s a joyous ritual almost as old as Singapore itself: A young couple get hitched, buy an HDB flat, renovate it and then hold the formal wedding ceremony once the dream home is ready.
All heartwarming so far, but in one recent case, the happy-ever-after was over in the blink of an eye and the couple ended up fighting over their newly bought flat.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/invest/newly-weds-divorced-and-fought-over-hdb-flat-even-before-moving-in?utm_campaign=STPicks
| 2024-01-28T21:23:46Z
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Over the years, the design of HDB blocks has changed noticeably to keep up with the changing needs of Singaporeans.
HDB has always prioritised building communities, not just a home, says Dr Liu Thai Ker, Singapore’s master planner from 1969 to 1989. He had a hand in building 20 of 27 HDB towns.
When Dr Liu joined the HDB as the head of design and research in 1969, he set up units staffed with not just architects and engineers but also sociologists.
With the help of sociologists, Dr Liu’s team looked at the complaints and sought to improve the living environment for residents. “When you see our public housing today, what you see is concrete and steel, but behind that, there’s a lot of software thinking among the sociologists,” he says.
Today, more than 80 per cent of Singaporeans live in HDB flats.
IT STARTED WITH THE SLAB BLOCK
The HDB was set up in 1960, replacing the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT), to solve the severe housing shortage and improve the poor living conditions faced by a rapidly growing population.
The SIT, established in 1927, was initially tasked with improving Singapore's infrastructure such as planning roads. In the 1930s, it was also involved in constructing low-cost public housing.
Housing built in the 1960s were mainly long slab blocks consisting of basic, small flats lined along a common corridor. These were easy and quick to construct, and their simple design kept costs low.
But slab blocks have one drawback: They could not be built too high. Such blocks commonly ranged from 10 to 16 storeys high, with Block 105 Henderson Crescent completed in 1974 holding the record at 24 storeys.
As there were no pre-existing guidelines, architects had to design the flats from scratch. They had to figure out how best to fit the flats along the corridors, what to include within the flats and where residents might hang their clothes to dry.
Let’s take a closer look at one such slab block in Singapore.
This means that residents will frequently have the chance to bump into their immediate neighbours at the lift lobby and common areas, allowing them to get more familiar with each other over time, says Dr Liu.
“So when you step out of your flat, you can have five or six neighbours to socialise with and therefore you don’t feel like you’re living alone in this big new town,” he adds.
Most slab blocks were built between the 1960s and 1980s.
Older slab blocks built in the 1960s have staircases that are external and ground floors with flats.
Nowadays, slab blocks are no longer pure slab blocks, says architectural photographer Darren Soh. There will typically be a lift shaft protruding from the slab block.
In 2001, HDB embarked on a massive Lift Upgrading Programme to retroactively add new lifts to older blocks to provide lift access on every floor.
At the start of the programme, there were more than 5,300 HDB blocks without full lift access. Today, there remain about 140 HDB blocks without direct lift access.
Due to the prohibitive cost of lift technology in the 1960s, lift access was available only on some floors, rather than every floor.
The void deck, a communal space
In 1963, Block 26 Jalan Klinik in Bukit Merah became the first block to have a void deck. But it was only in 1973 that keeping the ground floor as an open space for residents became the norm. Before that, HDB blocks were built with flats on the ground floor.
Dr Liu says: Just like the “courtyard in the sky”, the void deck was created with the same aim of providing a communal space for neighbours to interact with one another.
It was designed to be large and flexible. Today, the void deck has several functions. It may house convenient shops, sundry shops or a resident’s corner.
It is also a place for people to celebrate milestones, like weddings. At other times, it is a place for sombre gatherings such as funeral wakes.
NEXT CAME THE POINT BLOCK
By the 1970s, as more people resettled from attap houses to flats, the HDB switched gears from rushing to house a nation to providing people with more than just a roof over their heads.
As the HDB gained experience and confidence, block designs took on more variations in shape, height and features.
Blocks were designed to make the most of topographical features — such as slopes and bends in the lay of the land — while still adhering to the basic principles of good housing.
Compared with flats built in the previous decade, those built in the 1970s had better designs, improved toilets, storerooms and wider corridors.
As flats took on a different look, so did the block shapes. In addition to the traditional rectangular slab blocks, newer blocks took on interesting shapes such as L, U, Y, square and point blocks.
Many of these blocks, with their distinctive designs, have since become iconic landmarks of the towns they are located in.
The point block design has two main advantages over that of the slab block.
By eliminating common corridors and placing flats on the four corners of every floor, the point block design allows each flat to have windows on up to three sides for ample lighting and cross-ventilation.
In addition, it offers greater privacy as no windows open onto common areas.
The demand for larger flats also increased. Between the 1970s and 1980s, HDB started to develop flat types such as four- and five-room flats.
We previously reported on how the interior of HDB homes have changed over the decades. Read more about it here.
Along the way, some blocks were built as a combination of a slab and a point block, such as Rowell Court in Little India, which was completed in 1982.
The slab blocks are made up of mostly three-room flats, while the point blocks are made up of either four- or five-room flats. In the 1970s, point blocks were also more expensive to build, which meant that only upper middle-class families could afford them.
Combining both the slab and point block, and thus flat types, into a single block provides more opportunities for families of different social classes to become neighbours.
It also offers an interesting skyline and provides visual relief, says Dr Liu.
WHAT MAKES UP A NEW TOWN?
To ensure residents are well-served with amenities, town centres are built at the geographical centre of a town, with neighbourhoods ringed around it.
Each neighbourhood — accommodating about 4,000 to 6,000 flats — is served by a neighbourhood centre with food outlets, provision shops, community centres and other facilities.
One level below the neighbourhood is the precinct, which is about 3ha to 4ha, says Dr Liu.
Each precinct of about 600 to 800 units is clustered around shared facilities such as open areas or commercial spaces.
The size, scale, layout and design of precincts is such that residents could share common facilities such as children’s playgrounds and courts for various sports.
Distinctive features, including in the street furniture, and new building designs are introduced at both the town and precinct levels.
The precinct, which is unique to Singapore, was born out of the desire to foster a sense of community and identity, says Dr Liu.
Toa Payoh, developed in the 1960s, is HDB’s first comprehensively planned satellite town.
Ang Mo Kio, Bedok and Clementi towns followed soon after, offering residents mixed-use developments that allow a “live-work-play” environment.
In the 1980s and 1990s, added emphasis was placed on strengthening town identity.
Towns built in this period include Bishan, which has red-brick and pitched roof blocks; Potong Pasir, which has sloping rooftops; Sengkang, which has marine motifs such as stilt-like structures on block facades; and Pasir Ris, which has blue and white pitched roofs.
Colour is one cost-effective way to differentiate HDB blocks, says Mr Soh. Some towns have used paintings and murals to much greater effect than others.
For instance, there is an often-photographed TV test pattern block in Tampines Street 42 and a rainbow block in Hougang Avenue 7.
Architectural historian Chang Jiat-Hwee says block painting also serves a basic function — it is great for keeping algae at bay in Singapore’s tropical climate and helps to maintain a certain image of the block.
Mr Soh and Mr Chang, along with design writer Justin Zhuang, co-authored Everyday Modernism: Architecture & Society In Singapore. The book’s 33 essays and more than 100 photos provide insights to and celebrate Singapore’s modernist architecture.
Geometric shapes are another popular way to differentiate precincts. It is most common in blocks built in the 1990s, when Singapore entered a period of “post-modernism”.
These motifs, which are on block facades, are largely decorative with little to no functional purpose. But they allow residents to tell others exactly where they live based on the motifs, which form a sense of identity.
Up to that point in time, public criticism was that modernist architecture — with its functional and utilitarian nature — was bland and standardised, says Mr Zhuang.
These motifs, along with the wave of post-modernism architecture – an eclectic, irreverent style of architecture – seek to deliberately rebut that, to show that public housing can be different, he adds.
Architects also took inspiration from local heritage objects. In Hong Lim Complex, the pitched roofs and arches pay homage to the shophouses in the surrounding area.
Each HDB town also looks different, depending on when most of its blocks were built. For example, Toa Payoh has a mix of blocks built in different decades. When you step into Toa Payoh, you will find blocks completed in the 2010s and several old slab blocks completed in the 1960s with units on the ground floor.
On the other hand, most blocks in Pasir Ris were completed in the 1990s – which was the post-modernist era when the HDB was experimenting with geometric shapes.
Singapore’s HDB towns have different growth periods. Here are the number of blocks built each year, split by town.
The void deck, reimagined
Void decks have evolved over the years in their form and function.
At 56 Pipit Road in MacPherson, residents have turned their void deck into an art gallery – featuring copies of some Vincent van Gogh’s famous paintings, such as the Sunflowers and Wheatfield With Crows.
There are two conceptions of space, says Mr Zhuang in his book.
The first is one that is intended and planned by the state, such as to be a venue for weddings, funerals and community events. The other is as “lived spaces” that take on new life as people unlock uses it was never created for, such as a community library.
HIGH DENSITY LIVING IN THE CITY
In the 2000s, public housing started to scale new heights.
Blocks were built taller and more innovatively. HDB introduced more flat types such as three-generation flats and paid more attention to the landscaping in public areas. Facilities catering to different age groups such as playgrounds, fitness stations and eldercare centres were introduced.
An example of this is The Pinnacle@Duxton in Tanjong Pagar.
Completed in December 2009, the 50-storey development is not only an icon of public housing in Singapore but also a visual milestone of the HDB’s achievements and experiments over the previous 50 years.
Public housing projects were built taller after the HDB was set up in 1960 to solve Singapore’s housing crisis.
High-density living – where more people live in a smaller area – can be stifling if not done well.
The main challenge is to make a high-density environment feel liveable and green, say architects Khoo Peng Beng and Belinda Huang of Arc Studio.
And they would know – The Pinnacle@Duxton is the Singaporean couple’s brainchild.
The linking of the bridges turned out to have a positive knock-on effect as blocks, now linked, could share mechanical and electrical equipment, says Ms Huang.
Spaces that were typically meant for water tanks or generators were then freed up for other public facilities, such as an 800m jogging track on the sky bridge.
In a way, they were reclaiming land from the air and returning spaces to the people, says Mr Khoo.
Each skybridge is home to a sky garden. Activities on it are quiet and peaceful, making it a contemplative space for families and residents.
The architects were unable to build a swimming pool due to safety regulations by the HDB. So, they decided to create a “beach”.
The Pinnacle@Duxton sits on the exact site of the first public housing estate in the Tanjong Pagar where two 10-storey blocks comprising 334 rental flats once stood in 1964.
A foundation stone laid by founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in 1963 still stands in the Heritage Garden within the estate, along with other heritage trees.
Greenery became a feature in several public housing projects after The Pinnacle@Duxton was completed in 2009.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his 2023 National Day Rally referenced the foundation stone, saying that it occupies a pride of place to remind each new generation that the Singapore we live in today is inherited from those who came before.
One of the main constraints in designing the development was the irregular-shaped site. Its location at the fringe of the CBD meant that access to the site was tight, and construction crews had to minimise traffic disruptions.
The current arrangement of the seven blocks was the best option to minimise overlooking between flats and maximise views, air and light flow, says Mr Khoo.
From a bird’s eye view, the seven blocks form the shape of a question mark. “Some people have joked that it looks like a scoop, to scoop up fortunes. It really depends on how you look at it,” adds Mr Khoo.
One of his favourite things about The Pinnacle@Duxton is the different views one can get from the sky gardens because of the way blocks are arranged.
Back to... square one? Block designs have become more streamlined and simpler since the 2000s.
Head to newer towns and estates such as Punggol and Bidadari, and it is easy to tell which are Build-To-Order (BTO) blocks from their facade design and window placements.
This is mainly due to the advanced precast technology that is increasingly being adopted by the construction industry.
Precast modules are made identical – similar to Lego blocks – so that they can be easily stacked up – and as a result, the blocks started looking standardised again.
The main differences in today’s blocks built under the BTO scheme is in the facade design, colour scheme and shape, says Mr Soh.
The slab block has largely been done away with, as most Singaporeans these days expect privacy and to have fewer neighbours, he adds.
While some may argue that blocks in newer towns lack personality or distinguishing features than older blocks, precincts and towns are set apart in other ways.
Landscape features such as parks and amenities are used to give an identity to a space, rather than solely relying on architecture, says Mr Chang.
An example is Punggol’s Waterway Park. At 4.2km, it’s Singapore’s longest man-made waterway, meandering through the north-eastern town.
From void decks to pavilions
Newer blocks no longer have the large, open void decks of older slab blocks. “I kind of miss the void deck,” says Mr Zhuang.
In blocks completed in the last 10 years, barriers block off the void deck, so one can only enter the void deck through designated points, says Mr Soh.
“But they are slowly moving away from that,” he said, adding that HDB has found new ways to design the blocks to keep the void deck open while still adhering to safety measures.
Over the years, the void deck has evolved into other types of community spaces, says Mr Soh.
On top of community living rooms, precinct pavilions have also been introduced as social spaces in place of the old void deck. Precinct pavilions were first seen in housing projects completed in 1992, such as those in Pasir Ris, Choa Chu Kang, and Jurong West. They are sheltered structures where residents can hold community functions such as weddings and funeral wakes.
Public housing is a work in progress, says Mr Soh. “What’s most interesting to me about the HDB is that it's constantly trying to improve how public housing is built, lived in and used by people.”
For instance, home owners at The Pinnacle@Duxton are able hack some dry walls within their unit for a flexible layout. Since 2014, HDB has been installing dry walls as internal partition walls where possible so people can opt for open kitchens and knock down walls to combine rooms.
When designing The Pinnacle@Duxton, the intention was to have a space that could age in place, where generations of people living in it could transform their homes according to their needs, says Mr Khoo.
Design decisions like these could also have an impact on the lifespan of a building, which is a factor to consider in designing future public housing, he adds.
“So maybe, The Pinnacle@Duxton could have a second or third life.”
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https://www.straitstimes.com/multimedia/graphics/2023/12/hdb-flat-design-evolution/index.html?shell
| 2024-01-28T21:24:07Z
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There is nothing spectacular about the void deck at my Housing Board block. As is the case in thousands of other blocks in Singapore, it is perfectly unremarkable – the usual bicycle racks, stone table and seats, rows of mailboxes. Except that for a couple of days in early January, there was a small DIY cupboard house, tucked next to a circuit box.
Who was it meant for? That would have been Ginger, a young community cat that had been a welcome fixture at my block for a few years, with an Instagram account to her name. But then she vanished in mid-December 2023.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/in-memory-of-ginger-the-community-cat-gone-without-a-trace?utm_campaign=STPicks
| 2024-01-28T21:24:38Z
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SINGAPORE – Conflicts, like the latest fighting in the Middle East and Ukraine, as well as other sensitive topics such as the recent mass shooting in Prague have dominated the news.
Some involve political or religious issues, and information – both real and fake – is propagated widely over the Internet.
As a result, kids, tweens and teens may stumble across images, videos or stories of these conflicts whether through the platforms they frequent – such as Reddit, Instagram and TikTok – or hear about them from their friends and contacts.
Dealing with violence, religious conflict and fake news
Violence is often the most gruesome and obvious issue. In Gaza, at least 25,000 people have died as at Jan 21, according to its Ministry of Health. Violent images, including those involving children, are often unavoidable on the news and social media.
In Prague, a shooter who was identified as a postgraduate student gunned down 15 people in a university and opened fire from a rooftop, injuring passers-by. Images and videos of the incident in the Czech Republic, or of other shootings in schools and malls elsewhere, have been shared on social media and children may have come across them.
Religion is another topic which parents may want to tackle in conversations. For instance, in the Middle East, opinions have been influenced by religious lines, in no small part due to issues such as the anti-Semitic viewpoints of the Hamas charter or the use of religious imagery by Israeli leaders to justify its actions.
A third issue is the flood of fake information – whether deliberate or not – some of which may come from official sources. For instance, around the time of the October 2023 shooting at Siam Paragon in Bangkok, Thailand, one viral video that first appeared on Douyin claiming to be footage of the shooting was actually from an emergency drill shot months before in a Thai airport.
As big users of social media and the Internet, kids are likely to come across and be influenced by fake information.
While some fake stories may seem harmless or funny at first, other doctored information may warp people’s sense of the world or situations, change their value systems or create problems such as anxiety, psychological distress or endanger their physical safety.
Hard to avoid the headlines
Parents may have reservations about starting a conversation with their child about a sensitive issue such as war.
Dr Rebecca Chan, from the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, says parents may not know whether a child is cognitively or socio-emotionally mature enough, or do not want to burden their children with social anxiety, among other things.
The lecturer from the psychology and child and human development academic group adds: “Adults need to ask themselves, ‘What’s the purpose of bringing these topics to my children’s attention?’”
If a child has difficulty processing fragments of information picked up from listening to adult conversations, conversations with classmates, or social media and news reports, “then it would be appropriate to have a conversation with the child... rather than protect or limit their exposure”, she says.
This would help them process their thoughts, feelings, questions, anxiety or fear.
While some experts say it may not be ideal to discuss these topics if the children are too young, others say it is very likely they would have heard about it, and parents need to address that.
Mr Chong Ee Jay, a family life specialist from charity organisation Focus on the Family Singapore, says while parents may not have broached a sensitive subject like the ongoing war in Gaza with their children, their kids may have heard about it from their friends, even as early as in the pre-school years.
“If you know they are hearing about it or exposed to it in the media, such as if the television is on, you can use it as a segue into what is happening in the world right now,” says Mr Chong, who has been counselling and advising youth and families for 16 years.
It is not only about delivering the facts, but also a way to talk about the values of your family, he adds.
Let children lead the conversation
Experts say it is important to let the child or teenager lead the conversation.
This means allowing the young person to voice his or her points of view first. The adult can also ask questions, such as “What else have your friends said?” or “How much do you know about that?”
Mr Chong says: “A lot of youth tell me that their parents will come up with a lot of concerns and say, ‘Don’t do this, don’t do that.’ Immediately, when that happens, the child shuts down.”
The key is to have a dialogue, “not to convert them to your point of view, but to understand them better”, he advises.
Dr Chan says: “Don’t dismiss their worries or concerns. Do not turn the conversation into who is right or wrong, or ‘I know more than you.’”
Instead, focus on peaceful resolutions. For instance, parents could talk about how humanitarian aid, such as communities offering refugees shelter, or countries raising funds or sending blankets and food to affected communities.
Or, in the case of the war in Ukraine, parents can discuss possible outcomes for the conflict to end without further bloodshed.
Such a conversation is also a good way to gain some insights into how your child thinks and processes information, she added.
When it comes to talking about religion, Mr Ahmad Firdaus Daud, a spokesman and volunteer with community organisation Roses of Peace, suggests starting a conversation from “a position of humility and respect”.
“We can broach many difficult conversations with the right etiquette. People can disagree with one another respectfully and politely, without gaslighting or ad hominem attacks.”
Choose words carefully
You may be caught off guard if your child asks you about a sensitive topic and you have not yet had the chance to form an opinion.
In that case, it is okay to deflect the conversation, “but you can’t deflect it forever”, Mr Chong says.
“Don’t sweep it under the carpet. Say, ‘Let mum and dad have some thought about it and we will come back to you tomorrow,’” he adds.
Then ensure you take the time to do your own reading and research.
Mr Chong says: “Take the time to think about where you stand on the issue and, more importantly, the reason for it.”
Dr Chan also notes the importance of avoiding words that would stereotype people based on their religion, gender, colour, race or nationality. For instance, do not say, “All terrorists are (a particular nationality or race)”.
“Instead, use words that promote equity and respect, and words that promote perspective-taking, empathy and peace,” she adds.
Parents may ask their children, “If you were in their shoes, what would you do?” or “How do you think your friend would feel?”
Mr Firdaus adds that misconceptions about religions “arise from ignorance or having a limited or skewed understanding”.
If a child has a misconception of a particular religion, he advises encouraging them to study its history, make friends with those from that religion, and join inter-faith activities and dialogues. They can also read up on the beliefs of that religion, should they wish, and the adult should lead by example.
When it comes to fake news, similarly, pick your words carefully, so your tone does not convey an “I’m right, you’re wrong” message. This may shut down conversations and opportunities for discussion.
Instead, ask for more information, such as where they saw the news, what made them believe it was true, or how they felt after seeing this information.
This may give the parent more intel about the sites they are visiting or the beliefs they are building. The adult can then guide the child to, say, tell the difference between a satirical website and a factual source, or to tell if someone is stating an opinion, a prediction or a fact.
Create trust and strengthen family ties
Ultimately, being able to have conversations, especially about difficult topics, creates trust and develops the ability to tackle problems, which is essential to strengthening familial relationships.
Mr Firdaus says: “We need to have difficult conversations on religion and religious differences with our children and with one another, if we want to retain unity and social cohesion against extremist minorities.”
He adds that it is fine to “show a little bit of vulnerability and admit that even adults may not have answers”.
It gives parents a chance to talk about who their family is.
“We can then instead share the principles and values from which we can draw out answers to difficult questions, and the tools or skills we need to find the right information for difficult questions,” he says.
Mr Chong agrees, saying that when it comes to building a strong parent-child relationship, “you cannot run away from these kinds of long-haul conversations”.
How to talk to kids of any age about war and other headline news
Dr Rebecca Chan, a lecturer from the psychology and child and human development academic group of the National Institute of Education, shares tips on how to approach kids, based on their age.
Age four and younger: At this age, a child’s reasoning is more intuitive than logical. He may also have limited language communication skills, even as he develops an emerging sense of right and wrong.
Should a child at this age be exposed to images of wars or other kinds of violence, an adult can answer his questions honestly and in a developmentally age-appropriate way.
For instance, say “Yes, this is a picture of people in pain”, without going into too much detail.
Age five to seven: You can use simple language to have a conversation about violence with children in this age group. At this age, they are able to state what is good or bad behaviour, and right or wrong, among other things. Parents can explain how certain actions, such as forcing a dog to sit by shoving it or pushing someone away to snatch their toys, are considered as violence.
Age seven to 12: Primary school children show more awareness of rules and their purpose, as well as the consequences if rules are broken. They may be curious to seek out the underlying reasons of what actually triggered the war or conflict, for instance.
Adults need to be honest with them – say “I don’t know” if you really don’t know what’s going on – without giving more detail than necessary.
Age 12 to 15: Kids in this age group tend to question logic and choices, engage in thought experiments and are open to a variety of perspectives. They are able to negotiate and debate ideas as an outlet for expressing their ideas.
Adults can engage them in more sophisticated discussions, with the aim of helping them develop a sense of responsibility and their role in making their immediate community a better place to live in.
Adults can help them to see things from a more systemic perspective. For instance, they can explain that, while Ukraine is far away from Singapore, the war there can impact people here because of the global nature of trade in fuel and food.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/parenting-education/how-to-talk-to-your-children-about-sensitive-news-topics-such-as-wars?utm_campaign=STPicks
| 2024-01-28T21:24:48Z
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SINGAPORE - Five-year-old Chelsea Kiew likes to play with Lego, loves to eat cheese sticks, and one of her favourite places to visit is the zoo.
She is just like any typical kindergarten child, said her father, 35-year-old business analyst Raymond Kiew.
But Chelsea’s birth in 2018 was anything but normal.
She was born extremely premature at 22 weeks – or over five months – of pregnancy, and is the only baby born in Singapore at 22 weeks in the past decade to have survived.
A baby is considered full term from the 37th week onwards.
Dr Tan Pih Lin, a senior consultant at the department of neonatology at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH), said that globally, less than 1 per cent to 2 per cent of babies are born at 22 weeks.
Dr Tan said of her patient: “Chelsea is the only survivor at 22 weeks gestation in Singapore, which makes it an extremely rare and unique case.”
Chelsea’s mother, Madam Lin Hsiao Chi, a housewife in her 30s, said her daughter was as small as a 100Plus bottle, referring to the isotonic drink bottle, when she was born.
To be exact, she weighed 510g and measured 28cm in length at birth. Newborns usually weigh between 2.5kg and 3.5kg.
Dr Tan said that Chelsea’s chances of survival were close to zero at birth.
She went through a slew of life-sustaining treatments and spent 166 days, or more than five months, in hospital before she was discharged.
Mr Kiew said that Chelsea, who turns six in May 2024, is very fortunate as she has no major complications from her premature birth.
She has a small hole in her heart, which requires regular check-ups.
Mr Kiew said: “We don’t see any impact from the hole in her heart. She can still run about, take part in all activities, depending on her mood.”
But she is on the smaller side – weighing about 15kg and standing at 1.05m tall.
Dr Tan said Chelsea is healthy and growing well. The girl has no medical or health issues apart from hereditary astigmatism, myopia and allergic rhinitis.
On Jan 9, Minister of State for Home Affairs and Social and Family Development Sun Xueling said that only one baby born at 22 weeks in Singapore in the past decade survived. Ms Sun said this at the second reading of the Stillbirths and Births (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill.
Ms Sun did not name the child, whom she described as a “miracle baby”, but added that such cases are extremely rare. The Straits Times found out that the child is Chelsea.
Under the Bill, the definition of stillbirth will refer to the death of a baby born after the 24th week of pregnancy. This is up from after the 22nd week now.
The change comes after doctors expressed concern that the threshold of 22 weeks of pregnancy may be misinterpreted as an indication of foetal viability, which refers to the ability of a baby born prematurely to survive outside the womb.
This may cause confusion among parents facing difficult and important decisions about medical interventions for their unborn child.
Ms Sun said that local medical and scientific evidence points to 24 weeks of pregnancy as the threshold for foetal viability.
She said reviews by the Ministry of Health in 2018 and 2022 concluded that the survival rate of a premature baby born at 22 weeks is close to zero, while the foetal viability of babies born at 24 weeks is about 50 per cent.
About 8 per cent of all babies born in 2022 were premature babies, defined in the Report on Registration of Births and Deaths 2022 as those born at or before 36 weeks.
A total of 112 babies – or 0.3 per cent of all babies – were born at under 28 weeks in 2022, the report published by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority stated.
Chelsea’s birth came as a shock to her parents. She is their only child.
Madam Lin suddenly went into labour at home and her husband helped to deliver the baby, guided by emergency medical services staff over the phone.
Recounting the experience, Madam Lin said: “I was petrified. But when I heard her crying, at least I knew she was alive.”
Both mother and daughter were rushed to KKH, where doctors told them the prognosis for Chelsea was very poor. She needed 100 per cent oxygen and maximum ventilator support to help her breathe.
There were a few times during her hospital stay when doctors thought she might not survive, but she pulled through.
Mr Kiew said: “We visited her every day, told her stories and encouraged her to believe in herself and explore the world. We believe such support is crucial for premature babies.”
Dr Tan said that most babies born at 22 weeks show little or no signs of life at birth, and especially so for those born at home – referring to spontaneous deliveries, where no drugs or other techniques are used to induce labour.
But Chelsea was extremely active at birth, with a good heart rate, among other health indicators, she said.
Her hospital bill eventually came up to $330,000. But the Kiews paid about $3,000 with MediSave, after subsidies and MediShield.
Dr Tan said Chelsea had chronic lung disease, which required respiratory support for nine months after her discharge. She later recovered and grew out of the condition.
She was also fed with a feeding tube for a period of time, Mr Kiew said.
Dr Tan said the girl has not had any health nor medical concerns in relation to her premature birth.
Her parents said Chelsea is an independent child, who likes to draw, sing and dance.
“She’s very sensible, like she can see when I come back from office looking tired, and she’ll cover me with a blanket,” Mr Kiew said.
“She’s a bit of an introvert. She will spend a lot of time observing you before she will play with you.”
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/baby-born-at-22-weeks-in-s-pore-defies-the-odds-and-is-now-a-healthy-five-year-old?utm_campaign=STPicks
| 2024-01-28T21:24:59Z
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Gisele Bündchen is mourning the passing of her mother Vania Nonnenmacher, who has reportedly died after a battle with cancer aged 75.
Brazilian outlet GZH first reported the news Sunday afternoon, citing a statement from the Hospital Moinhos de Vento in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Though the announcement does not share which kind of cancer Vania had been diagnosed with, it did reveal she was admitted into the hospital on January 26.
Gisele has yet to address her mother's passing. She is one of six girls, including her twin sister Patricia, plus Rafaela, Graziela, Gabriela and Raquel.
The Brazilian supermodel, who was born in Horizontina, in Brazil's state of Rio Grande do Sul, has always been close with her family members. She has long been spotted vacationing in her home country, both during her years living in Massachusetts with ex-husband Tom Brady, and since her move to Florida as well.
She also has her mom to thank for kickstarting her modeling career. Though Gisele had grown up with aspirations of becoming a volleyball player, in 1993, her mom enrolled her and her twin sister Patricia in a modeling course. They eventually won a trip to various Brazilian cities, during which Gisele was discovered by Elite Model Management at a shopping mall.
Last year, after moving from Tampa Bay – where Tom played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – to Miami following her split from the retired NFL star, Gisele opened up about favoring Florida for its proximity to Brazil.
MORE: Gisele confesses 'pushback' from kids amid divorce from Tom Brady
MORE: Tom Brady sparks debate with cryptic quote a year after split from Gisele Bündchen
Speaking with People at the Luz Alliance Gala in Miami to benefit the Brazil Foundation, she said: "I am loving Miami. I love the sunshine and people are very warm and welcoming, it feels like home."
"It also is easier to go to Brazil from here," she noted at the time, adding that it makes her "so happy" that her five siblings can "visit a lot more now."
She also said her kids Benjamin Rein, 14, and Vivian Lake, 11, were loving Miami as well, and further shared: "Spending time together as they are growing up is so important and it's such a gift to be making lifelong memories with them, I feel blessed."
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/celebrities/512236/gisele-bundchen-mother-vania-dead/
| 2024-01-28T21:44:12Z
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Rebel Wilson is going all out to ensure her fiancée Ramona Agruma feels celebrated for her milestone birthday weekend.
The Pitch Perfect actress, 43, whisked the birthday lady off to a lavish, party-filled weekend in Las Vegas, in honor of her 40th birthday.
The Sydney-native and Los Angeles-based clothing designer first went public with their relationship in 2022, and have since celebrated an engagement in Disney, and the arrival of their daughter Royce Lillian, who just turned one.
As the pair winded down from their busy, Las Vegas weekend, Rebel took to Instagram to share a glimpse of the festivities.
She first shared a photo posing next to Ramona – looking chic in a baby pink Dior coat – at the Resort Worlds hotel, followed by a group shot alongside their friends joining in on the fun. "She's on the strip! Happy 40th birthday Ramona my darling!!" she captioned the post.
Rebel also shared a separate, quite star-studded post, in which Ramona and her are smiling ear-to-ear posing backstage next to none other than Kylie Minogue, who recently started her Las Vegas residency, "More Than A Residency," at The Venetian Resort.
In the happy pic, Rebel looks glamorous in a figure-hugging, black midi dress with a belt and baby pink feather boa, while Ramona is dazzling in a shimmery metallic dress paired with a baby blue fur jacket.
MORE: Rebel Wilson poses in swimsuit as she talks 30lb 'weight gain' in heartbreaking confession
MORE: Rebel Wilson convinces fans she has full body tattoos – see striking photo
She also included a sweet video where Kylie and her are serenading Ramona with "happy birthday."
"We should be so LUCKY (Lucky, lucky, lucky!)" the mom-of-one wrote in her caption – referring to the Australian popstar's 1987 hit "I Should Be So Lucky" – and added: "Ramona's actual 40th spent singing and dancing with the legend herself KYLIE."
"Best birthday ever! Thank you my love," Ramona replied in the comments section under the post, which was promptly flooded with celebratory messages for her from fans, while others branded the photo with Kylie "iconic."
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| 2024-01-28T21:44:18Z
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Goldie Hawn is living life and living large, and it looks like she's currently in New York City and taking in a show with a star-studded group.
The 78-year-old beloved actress was spotted just before the weekend at the Hayes Theater on Broadway, catching a performance of the new dramatic play Appropriate.
The play made its Broadway debut back in November and stars Sarah Paulson, Elle Fanning, and Corey Stoll, all of whom appeared in a photo from behind-the-scenes with Goldie.
Celebrity stylist Brad Goreski shared a snapshot after the performance as he went backstage to meet the cast, and with him were the Private Benjamin star, Demi Moore, and her tiny little dog, Pilaf.
Brad wrote: "Last night was one of those magical New York evenings when you go to the theater and experience a show that is so electric it stays with you! @mssarahcatharinepaulson, @ellefanning & #coreystoll are so incredible in 'Appropriate' I was blown away.
"Brenden Jacobs Jenkins' writing is masterful and this cast is just outstanding. If you can get a ticket to this show go! It's just wow!"
Goldie herself looked spectacular, keeping things simple and chic in a figure-hugging black sweater with a pair of pants and a chain with a bejeweled pendant that shone through.
On the family front, the Oscar-winning star is eagerly awaiting the arrival of her seventh grandchild through her son Wyatt Russell and his wife Meredith Hagner, and even attended her daughter-in-law's baby shower last week to celebrate.
SEE: Goldie Hawn's best family photos with famous children as she prepares to become a grandmother again
The couple are due to welcome their second son in February and are already the parents of Buddy Prine Russell, who turned three over the holidays. Check out a recap of the family so far below...
During a recent appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Wyatt and his dad Kurt Russell, who starred together in the series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, talked about the joys of parenting.
He also brought up the duality of celebrating his son's birthday, which happens to fall the day after Christmas, saying: "We do Christmas, 25th – we wake up, we do the Christmas. It's nuts. It's a disaster most of the day. It's great most of the day."
MORE: Goldie Hawn wows in skintight leggings in unexpected home video
But when it came to celebrate Buddy's birthday the next day, after a tiring day of holiday activities, while his parents tried to be enthusiastic, the toddler wasn't having it. "[He] goes to sleep, wakes up. Mer and I are like, 'Buddy, it's your birthday!' Like, 'Gotta get excited.'
"And he goes – and he's 3 – he goes, 'Ugh! Not now!'"
As they broke down laughing, the Black Mirror star added: "We're like, 'You got it! That's the right answer! You're learning well.' Like, no one wants to celebrate your birthday."
Kurt, 72, celebrated the idea of being a grandfather with his longtime partner of four decades Goldie, saying: "It's fun to watch, it really is, with all of our kids – with Ollie and Kate's kids, and Uncle Boston comes over to everybody's house. We are very fortunate."
Wyatt's half-siblings include Kate Hudson, who is a mom-of-three, Oliver Hudson, who is a dad-of-three, and Boston Russell, the only one of the family to eschew the spotlight.
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/fashion/celebrity-style/512238/goldie-hawn-rare-star-studded-night-out-figure-hugging-black-outfit-photo/
| 2024-01-28T21:44:24Z
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Jennifer Lopez is back, and how! The star is prepping to release her first album in nearly a decade, This Is Me…Now, which drops on February 16.
Until then, the 54-year-old entertainer is teasing fans with a lead single, "Can't Get Enough," which was released earlier in January, and a remix with rapper Latto.
Now, Jennifer is planning to release a music video for the remix, and fans already can't get enough of the teaser visual she dropped on Instagram.
The singer shared a compilation of moments from the video, many of which saw her dancing in a palatial setting, while also flaunting her supremely toned physique in a black string bikini.
At one point, she sings straight to the camera while getting drenched under a fountain in the two-piece, and it's interspersed with shots of JLo and Latto in a red lit background. The new video drops on Monday, January 29.
Fans immediately began leaving comments like: "This is gonna be so good!" and: "Just made my day, you look FIRE," and a slew of flame emojis.
A music video for the original song was released alongside the track itself and features the singer poking fun at her highly-publicized love life, seeing her in a pair of spectacular wedding gowns cycle and dance through a rotating series of grooms, one of which is her friend Derek Hough.
However, the euphoric video ends on a more somber note, as JLo alludes to her perception in the media and among her former partners as the clip concludes with her at a marriage counselor's office listening to some of her exes' complaints, like "She doesn't listen! She thinks I'm her employee. All she cares about is work."
The album is a follow-up and sister album of sorts to 2002's This Is Me…Then, which came out at the height of publicity surrounding the first time she had gotten together with her now-husband Ben Affleck.
The initial frenzy surrounding their relationship was what caused their engagement to end, but fate brought them back together when they rekindled their romance years later in 2021. In 2022, they finally tied the knot, with her upcoming record serving as a tribute to her husband and their romance.
MORE: Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck's luxe St. Barts getaway: all the best photos
In a YouTube livestream after the release of the "Can't Get Enough" video, Jennifer revealed that she did in fact get Ben's advice while making the clip. "Not that he's ever really made videos or anything like that, but I just trust his opinion and his ideas."
She explained: "Nobody kind of knows my story or me more than he does. I really feel like he gets me and he understands me, obviously."
MORE: Jennifer Lopez admits she and Ben Affleck still have 'PTSD' from their first romance
In an interview with Zane Lowe, she teased what the album would entail and how it was impacted by her marriage to the Oscar-winning actor and filmmaker. "The whole message of the album then is: This love exists. This is a real love.
"Now I think what the message of the album is very much – if you were wondering if you have, like me at times, lost hope, almost given up: Don't. Because true love does exist, and some things do last forever, and that's real."
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/fashion/celebrity-style/512239/jennifer-lopez-tiny-black-string-bikini-fans-go-wild-teases-new-release/
| 2024-01-28T21:44:30Z
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Scott Disick is a doting dad, and his fans have enjoyed seeing a rare glimpse of his home life in a new video posted over the weekend.
The reality star took to Instagram to share a sweet video featuring his daughter Penelope, 11, and several friends, including cousin North West, running down the stairs while playing Sophie Ellis Bexter's song, Murder on the Dance Floor.
In the video, which can be viewed below, Penelope is seen leading the group, who are following her while shining their phone torches on her.
As she reaches the bottom of the stairs, she breaks out in dance. In the caption, Scott simply wrote: "Huge Saturday night for me and the girls."
Scott's fans were quick to comment, praising his fun parenting style. "You seem such a fun dad," one wrote, while another remarked: "Scott seems the most normal parent, love it." A third added: "Now Scott is an absolute true father, love it!"
Other fans were worried that the children had watched Saltburn, as they appeared to be recreating a scene from the movie. However, as recreating the scene is a current trend on TikTok, it's highly unlikely they have.
Khloe Kardashian also enjoyed watching her nieces steal the show in the video, adding to the comments section a slew of red love heart emojis.
Scott shares Penelope, along with sons Mason, 14, and Reign, nine, with ex Kourtney Kardashian. Kourtney is also mom to newborn son Rocky Thirteen, who she welcomed with husband Travis Barker in November.
Recently, Lucy Shrimpton, Parenting Expert at The Baby Show and founder of The Sleep Nanny, gave her analysis on the star's parenting style, and in particular, what she's adopting when it comes to parenting baby Rocky.
"Kourtney Kardashian-Barker is a devoted mum, evidently wanting to give her children the very best start in life. She adopts a 'gentle' and 'loving' approach," she explained to HELLO!.
"While her sister confesses that she is the stricter of the two, tending to get more ‘frazzled’, Kourtney tends to take things in her stride, particularly since having therapy. She is a mindful parent, aware of the time and effort she puts into becoming the best parent she can be, attempting to be present as much as possible.
"She’s said that she is more 'lenient' with her children allowing them to skip school if they’ve had a 'hard day', showing that she really listens to her children when they need a break, especially during difficult times.
"Now, with her youngest, Rocky 13, she has chosen to use the attachment style with a strong emphasis on emotional responsiveness and physical touch, creating secure emotional bonds that will allow her children to flourish in the future."
Read more HELLO! US stories here
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/healthandbeauty/mother-and-baby/512233/kourtney-kardashian-ex-scott-disick-praised-parenting-new-video-daughter-penelope-dancing/
| 2024-01-28T21:44:36Z
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Woodworking expert Will Kirk has been delighting his fans of late by sharing several glimpses into life at home with his little girl.
The Repair Shop star has now revealed that his one-year-old daughter, whose name he has never made public, is taking after him – and even has a toy toolbelt so she can play at being just like daddy. An adorable photo of the toddler showed a child's toolbelt strapped to her waist, featuring all the essentials including a pair of fake pliers and a wooden saw, as well as her cuddly toy bunny rabbit.
He joked: "Two easy ways to help inspire the next generation of craftsman: 1. Get them on the tools early. 2. Hide copies of The Repair Shop book in the children's area of the library. What other ways would you suggest?"
Will's fans shared their own experiences of growing up and getting into DIY and building things, and the star's Instagram post was soon flooded with words of advice.
One fan commented: "2 is an extra incentive, but 1 for sure! I received a toolbox (with small adult sized, real tools) for my 7th birthday. So I could improve my fort building skills. 30 years later that same toolbox and those original tools (with lots of other tools I bought over the years) helped me renovate my first home as a homeowner."
"As she gets older, and wanders into your workshop to hang out, let her help u if she wants. Because those times of just hanging out, talking, will become cherished memories. I've always been Daddy's girl and as a kid I just wanted to do whatever dad was doing. Mowing the lawn, or trimming hedges or whatever. My dad has always been my hero. Just let her spend time with you. Which I'm sure you already know. I'm 50 now, my dad is 80 and battling Parkinson's Disease. The memories I have of time spent with my dad are many. So memories are all around to be made," another sweetly penned.
Another suggested making sure the youngster has access to the right reading materials. "Big picture illustration books on taking things apart and putting them back together. Get broken radios or random things for them to practice on. If they love nature, get them making things out of wood or willow etc. I adored all these things as a kid and I’m a Countryside Ranger now; finally retrained 5yrs ago to live out my childhood dream," they wrote.
The BBC star, who shares his daughter with wife Polly Snowdon, recently revealed his little girl had been having a go at painting her grandma's house.
Will had been helping with a paint job at his mum's and joked that she was left "disappointed" by his work.
"My mum was so disappointed with my painting that she's now called in the professionals for the final coat," he wrote alongside a snap of his daughter wielding a paintbrush.
And over the festive period, the TV personality posted a photograph of his little girl gazing up at a Christmas tree, holding her first ever stocking for Santa.
Will issued a special thank you to his "wonderful mate" and co-star Dominic Chinea for handmaking the sentimental item.
When HELLO! recently asked how life as a dad has been treating him, Will said: "Absolutely amazing. I love her so much. It was quite tricky to leave home this morning to come down to The Repair Shop because she's so sweet in the mornings and she just looks up at you and she'd just woken up."
RELATED: The Repair Shop's Will Kirk marks 'special moments' with wife and daughter in family photo
He added: "I'm absolutely in love. It's the best thing I've ever done I think, having a child."
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/healthandbeauty/mother-and-baby/512234/repair-shop-will-kirk-daughter-toy-toolbelt-advice/
| 2024-01-28T21:44:42Z
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Jennifer Garner is incredibly down-to-earth and has made sure her three children benefit from as normal a childhood as possible, all while growing up in Hollywood.
Recently, the 13 Going on 30 actress opened up about her home life during a chat with Dr. Aliza Pressman, in the latest episode of her podcast, Raising Good Humans.
During the conversation, Jennifer gave an insight into a family tradition she has been doing every New Years' Eve with her three children, Violet, 18, Seraphina, 13, and Samuel, 11.
"On New Year's Eve, my kids and I, we always do something, we write down something we want to let go of, something we want to manifest, etc," she said.
The doting mom - who shares her two daughters and son with ex-husband Ben Affleck - added: "They never show it to me, I wish! I let them have their privacy whatever...!"
During the chat, Jennifer also spoke about how her number one hope for all her children was for them to have a sense of humor.
"Funny is number one. Please be funny, that's why I had you," she joked. Luckily, it appears she got her wish: "Check, check, check, that's one thing, thank god!" she concluded.
It's been an eventful few years for Jennifer's children, who have gained two stepsiblings after their dad Ben married Jennifer Lopez in 2022.
JLo's 14-year-old twins, Emme and Max, appear to have formed strong bonds with Violet, Seraphina and Samuel, and have been pictured out and about with them on several occasions, always smiling and looking happy and carefree.
Jennifer has even taken Seraphina and Emme out for the day on a trip to Disneyland in May. JLo, meanwhile, gave an insight into her twins' bond with Jennifer and Ben's children in an interview with Vogue.
The Let's Get Loud hitmaker said: "The transition is a process that needs to be handled with so much care. They have so many feelings. They're teens."
She continued: "But it’s going really well so far. What I hope to cultivate with our family is that his kids have a new ally in me and my kids have a new ally in him, someone who really loves and cares about them but can have a different perspective and help me see things that I can't see with my kids because I'm so emotionally tied up."
The singer also fondly credited how strong her children are growing up to be, saying: "This generation is beautifully aware and involved and brave… I want my kids to stand up for themselves and the things they care about."
Parenting expert Lucy Shrimpton recently gave an insight into mother-of-three Jennifer's parenting style during a chat with HELLO!.
She said: "Jennifer Garner seems like the type of mum you’d just want to be friends with – or have! She seems laid back, caring, present and confident." What's more, the 13 Going on 30 actress recently asked her children for advice when it came to playing a teenager in the recent movie Family Switch.
Lucy observed: "By taking advice from her kids on her professional career Jennifer shows that she values their opinion, and she should as after all it is their demographic that her films often want to target! Not only is she encouraging them as she shows that she trusts their opinion but she is teaching them to listen to others’ advice and be open minded to their thoughts.”
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https://www.hellomagazine.com/healthandbeauty/mother-and-baby/512237/jennifer-garner-wishes-her-children-were-less-private-rare-interview/
| 2024-01-28T21:44:48Z
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Russia’s army needs 10-15 years for reconstitution and is no longer capable of conducting large-scale attacks, deploying F-16s in Ukraine is stymied by the need to have pristine airfields, and Ukraine’s engineers have startled allies by successfully jury-rigging Western missiles like HARMs onto Soviet-era jets once deemed incompatible.
Nevertheless, full exploitation of advanced arms requires mastering complex skills from piloting to maintenance over a longer timeline. This, as well as the West paying the “price of democracy” for making complex decisions, are the main limiting factors of military support for Ukraine, says Andras Racz, defense and military expert, Senior Research Fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations.
Russian capabilities
You argued that long-term defense cooperation between Ukraine and European countries is well-established for the long term. Do you believe this collaboration will endure even in the worst-case scenario of war development?
Absolutely, yes. The Russian army is no longer capable of conducting large-scale attacks. Whichever way the war goes, there is an independent Ukraine, and there will be an independent Ukraine with a large experienced army. And that is why all established defense industrial ties will prevail.
Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi mentioned 150,000 killed Russians. We don’t know whether it’s exactly 150, 145, or 155, but it is a big amount, and they have lost a decisive majority of their modern land weapon systems. 95% of Russia’s losses are suffered either by the land forces or by the VDV.
It would take Russia 10 to 15 years to reconstitute its army, even if the war stops today. That is why the Russian army is not able to conduct large-scale attacks like at the beginning of the war.
Currently, three battalions at most are attacking at the same time. 22 months ago, Russia attacked with nearly 200,000 people in all directions. Last spring, they already shortened the front line to the Donbas. Thereafter, they shortened the front line to Bakhmut. Now even shorter section of the front line when they are attacking Avdiivka.
Being unable to conduct large-scale attacks does not mean Russians can’t put up a good defense. They are still strong in defense. But I don’t think that this Russian army could conquer any big Ukrainian cities. Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv — no chances.
Counteroffensive and challenges
The discourse in Ukraine is shifting, focusing more on the challenges ahead rather than those that have been overcome. What about Ukrainian capabilities, especially given the densely mined front line?
First, about the pessimism. It’s absolutely natural. Ukraine has been in a full-scale war for 22 months. Really few European countries have this experience. If you count the whole war combined from 2014 on, it’s nearly 10 years.
The last time when Europe had a 10-year-long war was 300 years ago, the War of the Spanish Succession. Nobody in Europe had such a long war like you have. Being tired is absolutely normal.
Effectiveness of Russian soldiers grows, Ukrainian company commander says
The fact that the counteroffensive failed doesn’t mean that Ukraine lost. Many people think that these things are the same, but they are not. It only means that you couldn’t liberate more territories at the moment. 18% of Ukraine’s territories are still occupied, but it’s not a strategic defeat. It is leading possibly towards a stalemate, but not towards a debate.
When it comes to the actual status of the Ukrainian armed forces, I respect secrecy. I know very, very few details, but I don’t speak about them. The only thing I can say is what has been said publicly.
Russian mines and demining techniques
The Soviet and Russian armies had standards on deploying minefields – how many square meters, how many mines. Russians have exceeded these standards.
Former minister Reznikov mentioned that there are four or five mines per square meter. In some instances, they don’t even bury the mines. Literally, there are millions of them. This is unprecedented.
Western heavy demining vehicles encounter situations where Russians place two, three, or four anti-tank mines stacked below each other. When these mines detonate together, even the sturdiest demining machines get damaged. This is essentially mine warfare.
Deminers on the frontline can only operate during the night to avoid being targeted. They crawl forward and engage in manual demining. In a single shift, one sapper can clear 100 meters, but only in a 60-centimeter-wide path. It’s an intense process and very dangerous, obviously.
Can the demining drones developed by small teams in Ukraine play a role?
Absolutely. Mechanized demining is the way to go forward. Land drones, aerosol-based demining or other technologies. But these things take time.
Once you develop the model – let’s say a land drone – the army has to test it. After approval, mass production must start. Then you need to train crews and deploy it.
EU and NATO strategic interests and cooperation with Ukraine
I heard from a retired Ukrainian general that the West will persist in aiding Ukraine, driven by its interest in the Ukrainian Army, its capabilities, and experience. In your view, what are the specific aspects that pique the West’s interest in the Ukrainian Army?
When joint training in west-Ukrainian Yavoriv training ground started [after 2014 – ed.], many Western soldiers arrived to teach the Ukrainians how to fight. As it turned out there is a lot for Western instructors to learn as well. This cooperation has been mutually beneficial.
Right now, globally, the Ukrainian Army knows how to fight the Russian Army the best.
But let’s start from the strategic level. Ukraine’s security is inseparable from the security of the EU and NATO. If Ukraine falls, or had Ukraine fallen last February, then we would have Russian border guards at the Polish, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian borders. And we know that the Russians wouldn’t stop.
On a strategic scale, Ukraine is clearly defending the EU and NATO countries. Their vast strategic interest is not only in keeping Ukraine in the fight but helping Ukraine to win.
Ukraine’s victory, Russian defeat now EU goal, draft foreign affairs report says
Since 2016, there is a deep and comprehensive free trade agreement between Ukraine and the EU. There is massive economic cooperation and interest. If Russia wins, all this goes up in smoke.
Ukraine is a huge market for European business. It possesses significant innovation, research and development potential, offering ample room for growth. Prior to the full-scale escalation, Ukraine was an integral part of the German automotive supply chains. Cables and components crucial for car production in Slovakia and Hungary were manufactured in Ukraine.
In terms of agricultural goods, Ukraine has been one of the largest exporters of grain, corn, wheat, and various food products to the world market. Had Ukraine fallen, a void in the world market would have emerged, leading to famine, migration, and numerous problems.
It is no coincidence that the West is helping so much to operate the grain corridor. This corridor, which now extends beyond the Danube and includes Odesa ports, is made possible because Ukraine successfully countered the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
Ukraine regained control of the so-called Boiko Towers, which are water and sea gas draining facilities near Zmiinyi (Snake) Island. These facilities were captured by the Russians in 2014. They installed numerous sensors there. With these sensors, they had surveillance over the entire western basin of the Black Sea.
However, during the summer of 2023, a special operation conducted by Ukraine liberated the Boiko Towers and removed the sensors. Russia found itself practically blind in this area, allowing cargo ships to navigate freely. The Black Sea Fleet is no longer present in the western Black Sea.
Russia could attempt certain actions, when cargo ships are in transit, but American drones are typically monitoring the situation. These drones aren’t armed but are equipped with sensors.
If a Russian ship attempts to approach, the American drone relays information to Ukrainian coastal defense, triggering the launch of Neptune missiles. It’s a successful cooperation in information sharing.
That’s why the Russian Black Sea Fleet is unable to hinder the grain export corridor. Instead, they try to destroy port infrastructure, which has unfortunately seen some success.
Technical aspects of delivering F-16s and other sophisticated weapons
You mentioned Western interest in supporting Ukraine for border safety. But why is Western aid to Ukraine so slow? Many in Ukraine just don’t understand why this support is, as Neil Ferguson called it, being drip-fed?
Drip-feeding means that you only give small drops and the amount doesn’t grow. In fact, the amount grows really fast both in terms of diversity and financial resources.
A year ago, the debate was still going on about tanks. Fighter jets were not even in the making. Everybody was afraid of what would happen if the grain corridor collapses. Ukraine had no weapons of longer range than HIMARS.
Where are we now? Training on the F-16 is already going on. Storm Shadow is here, SCALP is here. Taurus will hopefully come soon, with a 500 km range, in a few months. You already have the ATACMs, still the short version, but Ukraine could give fairly inconvenient moments for the Russian helicopters in Berdiansk. That was an ugly surprise for them. The EU is already discussing a €50 billion of financial support for the next four years. This is not drip feeding.
Air Force: F-16 to become Ukraine’s main combat aircraft, Gripen may become additional option
- The first problem is bureaucratic and political inertia. In democratic countries it takes a lot of time to make a joint decision. And Ukraine knows a lot about political debates, this is not Russia, you always have debates. If we decide to invest €50 billion for Ukraine, we either have to take that 50 billion from somewhere, or we have to increase our own budget, to which every member state has to agree.
- Second, when it comes to logistics, the more modern weapon systems, the more complicated logistics become. Giving the Javelins was very easy, because Ukraine had Javelins already since 2016. The Trump administration provided Ukraine with a small number of them. Ukrainian soldiers were trained to train other Ukrainian soldiers. In February 2022, handing over these weapons was simple, and people could use them almost immediately.
Created in three days, Ukraine’s territorial defense ruined Russian plans to capture Kyiv
The same goes for the NLAW, the British-made light anti-tank weapon: if you are trained on one man-portable anti-tank weapon, you can learn to use a new one in two weeks. If you’re a sniper, you can learn another sniper rifle in a very short time.
When it comes to artillery, it’s already more complicated. You have to deploy the maintenance, the fuel, the lubricants, and the spare parts. You have to retrain Ukrainian artillery from Soviet weapons to Western weapons. Tanks are even more complicated – much heavier, much more complex logistics. When you give a Javelin, you need one soldier, one Javelin. For deploying artillery, not only the artillerist should be trained but also maintenance guys. And you have to organize the constant supply of shells.
When it comes to F-16s, the process becomes more complicated. Not only do the pilots have to learn to fly the aircraft and the maintenance crews have to learn to service them: airfields have to be modernized.
Soviet-made aircraft like the MiG-29 are designed to tolerate primitive airfields with potential debris and can operate even with some dirt or stones ingested into their engines. The F-16 has a more sensitive engine that requires clean, prepared airfield surfaces to prevent any foreign objects from being sucked in and causing damage. Western military thinking has traditionally emphasized air power more, not considering that aircraft may need to take off from improvised airfields.
That is why you must modernize the airfield for the F-16s; literally, nothing can be on the ground. There are separate units dealing with keeping the airfield clean. Because if the jet engine takes in a single stone, you’re done. Not only do you have to modernize your airfield, you must keep those airfields protected. Russians would be happy to strike the modernized airfields.
Finally, in order to start learning to fly the F-16, pilots had to learn English – not the type of English you use in the shop, the type of English you’re able to understand in a combat situation on the radio.
Media: Ukraine expects to receive F-16 fighter jets in spring 2024
The interesting aspect is that within every training program, particularly concerning anti-tank missiles, artillery, and tanks, the recurring theme from open-source information indicates that Ukrainian soldiers grasp the material at a much quicker pace than what the training program originally anticipated. For example, when you have a training program for eight weeks, Ukrainians have been able to learn it in five weeks. But still, you need to learn the five weeks. And that’s still the basics.
With more complex weapon systems, if you operate it improperly, it breaks down. To be honest, many Western weapons were operated improperly in the beginning; it was inevitable. When you’re fighting to protect Kyiv, you don’t count shots made to fight the tank. The problem is that these kinds of mistakes can be very well used for disinformation purposes to shape public opinion.
At the same time, so many things were done by Ukraine that nobody expected. Nobody ever thought that it was possible to integrate the AGM-88 HARM anti-radar missile into Soviet aircraft. Ukrainian engineers did it, and it’s indeed operational. This was an unpleasant surprise for the Russians.
I think all politicians have a lot of responsibility in explaining to the public that we are slow with the F-16s not because we want Ukraine to bleed. F-16s are slow to deliver because they are really complex systems.
Policy of the West towards Russia
A widespread argument in Ukraine is that the West doesn’t have a strategic policy towards Russia. Do you think it’s a problem as well?
Politics is also there. We would be very happy to be one collective West, but we aren’t. And there is a lot of inertia.
Look at Finland and Sweden. The two countries have been neutral for several decades. Decades of neutrality changed instantly after the feeling of being directly threatened. For other countries that don’t have a direct neighborhood with Russia, let’s say, like Portugal, Spain, or Italy, the priorities are different.
When the European peace facility was designed more than two years ago, nobody ever expected that we were going to buy ammunition and send it to Ukraine via something called “peace facility.”
Yet, we are doing it. It’s just slow. But being slow is the price you pay for democracy.
Russia’s nuclear blackmail failed
Of course, there are scenarios planned and exercised for extreme cases. Let’s say nuclear escalation. There are very definite plans. But these are the things that will hopefully never be activated. As long as the war remains in its current intensity, and this is the most likely scenario, the probability of a nuclear escalation is very low, not zero, but very low, and much lower than at the beginning.
Because of Russia’s capabilities or because of the price Russia would pay?
And not only from the West.
China?
China and India as well. Last autumn, details are not known, but both the Chinese and the Indian leadership explicitly told the Russians that any kind of nuclear escalation or man-made nuclear disaster (Zaporizhzhia NPP) would be unacceptable. And the US promised the Russians, again details are not known, a conventional but extremely destructive reply, meaning strikes with high precision weapons against key Russian military assets.
This is not something Russia would risk. From Moscow’s perspective, a single tactical nuclear weapon wouldn’t even change the situation because the front line is too spread. Risking US military strikes, Western sanctions, Indian sanctions, and Chinese sanctions for Avdiivka?
“Not how it looks in motivational videos”: Ukrainian combat medic dispels myths about war
Russians are very good at information deterrence. Medvedev speaks about nuclear strikes all the time. But if you look at the key players, the people who really matter – Putin, Patrushev, Shoigu, Gerasimov – they don’t speak about nuclear escalation.
Concerning Western deterrence, the Russians may be stronger in tactical nuclear weapons, but escalation is not feasible with tactical weapons alone: it requires a strategic approach. The West significantly outmatches Russia in air force and naval power. The only domain where Russia in Europe was previously stronger — land forces — diminished due to losses in Ukraine.
In the Baltic states, there were concerns about a potential Russian attack. Back then, NATO wouldn’t have been able to protect the Baltic states swiftly enough because Russians would have been too quick to occupy these countries, even at the cost of heavy losses.
The discussion within NATO had been not how to defend the Baltic states (it had been impossible) but how to liberate the Baltic states after the Russian occupation.
While it’s still an issue, the strength of the Russian Western military district has declined. The Russian army is no longer capable of launching a successful land attack against NATO.
Related:
- Five realistic scenarios of war in Ukraine in 2024: GLOBSEC report
- “Do not despair.” Ex-minister Zagorodnyuk on lessons from Ukraine’s counteroffensive
- Ex-Minister Zagorodnyuk: Ukraine can defeat Russia, but West must commit to total victory
- With billions invested, Ukraine-EU defense cooperation gains momentum
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/01/28/defense-expert-ukraine-aid-ramps-up-fast-despite-western-bureaucracy-isnt-drip-feeding/
| 2024-01-28T22:01:53Z
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Russia targeted Kyiv with at least one North Korean ballistic missile, and while the exact model, KN-23 or KN-24, is uncertain, the debris was located after the missile was intercepted, as reported by Defense Express.
Russia is increasingly leaning on military imports from authoritarian nations like Iran and North Korea in its war against Ukraine. North Korea supplies the full range of artillery munitions and some short-range ballistic missiles. The first debris of a North Korean missile was earlier documented in northeastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv City.
In a recent missile attack by Russia on Kyiv, a North Korean ballistic missile was used. Residents of Kyiv found and photographed its debris, subsequently sending the images to the Defense Express editorial team.
Defense Express notes that the images display a large fragment of the missile body, featuring markings unusual for Russian missiles and seemingly tampered with to erase them. The application of large serial numbers is distinct to North Korea, possibly to suggest a larger arsenal, whereas Russia typically does not mark its missiles in this way.
“It is currently difficult to accurately identify the wreckage and say whether it was KN-23 or KN-24. Because after it was shot down, the wreckage was most likely scattered over a fairly large area,” Defense Express says.
The identification of missile wreckage, like in the case of the North Korean missile used in Kharkiv, is difficult due to scarce information. Previously, DPRK missiles rarely left their territory, usually ending up in the sea, as observed by Defense Express.
Read also:
- Mapping North Korea’s discreet artillery ammo route to Russia
- Russia hits 2 million large-caliber munitions yearly; 500k shortfall covered by North Korea
- Ukraine reports first evidence of North Korean missile used by Russia
- North Korea may sell tactical guided missiles to Russia in addition to short-range ballistic missiles, Seoul says
- North Korea uses Ukraine “as test site for nuclear-capable missiles,” South Korea says at UN SC meeting
- US calls UN Security Council meeting over North Korea’s missile supply to Russia
- North Korea supplies ballistic missiles, launchers to Russia, White House confirms
- Ghost ships reveal North Korea’s secret arms trade with Russia, posing threat to Ukraine – Bloomberg
- North Korea supplies Russia with full range of artillery ammo, including gun and mortar shells, rockets
- North Korean arms transfers to Russia estimated over 500,000 artillery rounds in two months, OSINT group says
- Seoul: North Korea likely sends missiles as well as shells to Russia
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/01/28/russia-targeted-kyiv-with-at-least-one-north-korean-ballistic-missile-in-recent-attack-photos/
| 2024-01-28T22:02:33Z
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A massive embezzlement scheme at Ukraine’s Defense Ministry has been exposed in a joint operation by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) and top military leadership, SBU says. The agency says nearly UAH 1.5 billion (about $40 million) budgeted for 100,000 mortar shells was swindled by shady weapons contractors and complicit bureaucrats.
SBU notes the crime documentation was carried out with the full assistance of the incumbent Defense Minister, and the investigators found that former and current officials tasked with arms procurement conspired with executives of the major state-owned defense supplier Lviv Arsenal. The perpetrators set up a dodgy contract in August 2022 to purchase a huge batch of ammunition using Lviv Arsenal as a front company.
According to SBU, as soon as the full amount was transferred to Lviv Arsenal’s accounts based on the contract, its executives rerouted the money flows. Most of the funds ended up in the account of a foreign entity that was supposed to be the actual exporter of the ammo. However, not a single shell has reached the Ukrainian Army so far.
“That entity did not send any shells to Ukraine and withdrew the received funds into the shadows, transferring them to the accounts of another affiliated structure in the Balkans. The rest of the amount from the Defense Ministry remained on the accounts of the Ukrainian company in one of the capital’s banks,” SBU reported.
SBU says its officers documented the scheme of embezzlement of state funds and identified all persons involved in the scheme. As a result, five people have been notified of charges in the case including former and sitting procurement bosses at the Defense Ministry. The SBU security agency detained one suspect while trying to escape Ukraine. The rest await similar restrictive measures.
The defendants have been charged with part 5 of article 191 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code (misappropriation, embezzlement of property, or seizure of it through abuse of office, committed by an organized group).
“In particular, the notes of suspicion were received by the former and current heads of the Department of Military and Technical Policy, Development of Armaments and Military Equipment of the Ministry of Defense, the head and commercial director of Lviv Arsenal, as well as their accomplice, a representative of a foreign commercial structure,” SBU reported, adding that the suspects face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.
The stolen funds have been arrested thanks to SBU’s actions, and the issue of their return to Ukraine’s budget is being resolved, the agency says.
Previously, Ukrainian journalists revealed that one of the Ukrainian defense contractors supplying food to Ukraine’s military inflated egg prices, and used profits to buy luxury hotels abroad.
Earlier, Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) also reported that Vasyl Lozynskyi, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine and former acting Minister of Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine, was detained on 21 January 2023. The anti-graft agency suspects that he might have created an intricate embezzlement scheme that involved other Ukraine’s officials.
Read also:
- Media: Supplier for Ukraine’s army acquires Croatian hotels
- Ukraine passes anti-corruption laws to advance EU integration
- Top Ukrainian officials resign in anti-corruption drive
- SBU Cybersecurity destroys Russian surveillance systems, a tank, artillery guns (video)
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/01/28/sbu-uncovers-that-officials-arms-dealers-steal-some-40-mn-budget-for-100k-mortar-shells/
| 2024-01-28T22:03:13Z
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SEOUL - North Korea tested its new strategic cruise missiles for the second time in a week on Jan 28, calling it a newly developed submarine-launched cruise missile (SLCM), accelerating its navy's nuclear armament, state news agency KCNA reported on Jan 29.
Leader Kim Jong Un supervised the test of the missile, called "Pulhwasal-3-31," which is identical to the strategic cruise missiles that the North said last week were under development.
KCNA said the missiles flew above the sea off the country's east coast for 7,421 seconds and 7,445 seconds and hit an unspecified island target, indicating the flight time exceeded two hours.
Mr Kim called the test a success, KCNA said, "which is of strategic significance in carrying out the plan...for modernising the army which aims at building a powerful naval force."
South Korea's military said on Jan 28 that the North fired multiple cruise missiles off its coast but did not provide details.
North Korea's ballistic missiles are typically more controversial and are explicitly banned under UN Security Council resolutions.
But analysts have said intermediate-range cruise missiles were no less a threat than ballistic missiles and are a serious capability for North Korea.
In recent months, the North has tested an array of weapons that include ballistic missile systems that are under development and an underwater drone.
Mr Kim separately inspected the construction of a nuclear submarine and discussed issues related to the manufacturing of other types of new warships, KCNA said. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/north-korea-tests-submarine-launched-cruise-missile-kcna-says
| 2024-01-28T22:50:09Z
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Weekly Money FM Podcasts (29 Jan 2024)
Can the US’ posture dollars fight China’s foray into the Indo-Pacific? (featuring Mr Pushan Dutt, professor of economics, INSEAD)
Build your wealth in 2024 with 5 simple money hacks! (featuring Mr Tim Phillips, founder, TimTalksMoney)
Will the recovery path for Asian currencies be choppy this year? (featuring Mr Jerome Tay, investment manager, asian fixed income team, abrdn)
SingPost enables real-time eCommerce logistics with Boomi (featuring Mr Noel Singgih, group chief information officer, SingPost)
Saturday Mornings: Singapore’s ground-breaking AI curriculum for middle school students teaches tech and ethics (Ms Tammy Murphy, head of school, XCL World Academy and Dr Taniya Mishra, chief executive, SureStart and Leonardo Neves & teaching fellow, Harvard University)
Crypto payments could be more common with more services offering digital option (Mr Jag Foo, head of business development,SafeHeron)
Discover Money FM 89.3 Podcasts: http://www.moneyfm893.sg/podcast/
SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/
Spotify: https://str.sg/JWVx
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/weekly-money-fm-podcasts-build-your-wealth-in-2024-with-5-simple-money-hacks
| 2024-01-28T22:50:19Z
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SINGAPORE - The personal data of more than 320,000 people was allegedly stolen from healthcare provider Fullerton Health Group some months ago and put up for sale on an online portal popular with hackers.
The person – whose identity is unknown – said the data being sold belonged to patients who had visited a Fullerton clinic in Singapore. Fullerton has more than 30 clinics in its stable, including one in Shenton Way.
On Dec 30, 2023, a sample containing the personal details of 28 people was put up for sale online.
The seller claimed that the data – available for US$500 (S$672) – was stolen some time in August 2023, in an attempt to falsely pass it off as new information.
However, it was merely a rehash of information belonging to Fullerton Health customers stolen in October 2021 in a data breach, which led to the personal details of 133,866 patients and 23,034 employees of its corporate clients being leaked.
The personal information in these files included identity card numbers, contact details, bank account numbers and codes and health information.
Fullerton Health was fined $58,000 by the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) in June 2023 over the breach.
PDPC, in its findings, said it took into account Fullerton Health’s annual turnover, and settled on the five-figure sum as a “proportionate and effective” penalty that would serve as a deterrent.
Fullerton Health’s revenue crossed $800 million in 2021, when the maximum financial penalty that could be imposed under the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) was $1 million.
Changes to the law in October 2022 meant that errant firms face a maximum fine that works out to 10 per cent of a firm’s annual turnover in Singapore, or $1 million, whichever is higher.
However, since April 2016, the highest recorded penalty imposed on a firm in breach of data protection rules has been $750,000, in 2019. In that case, information technology vendor Integrated Health Information Systems (IHiS) was penalised after a cyber attack involving SingHealth, which compromised the personal information of 1.5 million patients, including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
SingHealth was not spared either – it had a $250,000 fine imposed on it despite delegating its cyber-security operations entirely to IHiS.
But are these penalties heavy enough to force businesses to make sure critical data is better protected?
Prevention is better than cure
PDPA rules came into force on Oct 15, 2012, and serve as the minimum standard for the protection of personal data in Singapore. The law aims to balance the right of individuals to protect their personal data and the need for organisations to collect, use or disclose data for legitimate and reasonable purposes.
Organisations are required to first get consent before being allowed to get hold of personal data belonging to customers or clients, and use it for any purpose.
When a data breach occurs, the company is required to inform the PDPC if it affects at least 500 people. If it involves personal data that is likely to result in significant harm if compromised, then the company will need to inform both the PDPC and those who are affected.
Fines help to hold organisations accountable, but such penalties are ultimately reactive, said Ms Joanne Wong, vice-president of international markets at cyber-security firm LogRhythm.
“They may have limited impact in preventing further breaches from happening again,” she added.
Worse, once someone’s personal information is put up online, it can be abused in many different ways.
Sometimes, this may not always happen immediately, especially since the Internet has a long memory, said Mr Kevin Reed, chief information security officer at cyber-security firm Acronis.
Already, fraudsters have been making use of stolen data to craft personalised phishing campaigns, and trying to pass themselves off as trusted businesses or retailers by using victims’ personal information in correspondences.
When personal data is compromised, it could lead to identity theft and financial loss as cyber criminals make use of information such as identity card numbers and bank account details to impersonate individuals.
Instead of simply relying on penalties as an incentive for organisations to take data security seriously, both experts said stronger pre-emptive measures need to be adopted.
Tougher rules, for instance in the form of higher industry standards, and encouraging the sharing of best practices, would be a more holistic approach, said Ms Wong.
The approach now is punitive and reactive, and the focus could shift to one that is more preventive, she added.
Mr Steve Tan, a partner and deputy head of technology, media and telecommunications at law firm Rajah and Tann, said the PDPA is not meant to be “punitive or retributive in nature”.
What is clear is that the PDPC has been effective in enforcing the rules, based simply on the number of published decisions – about 300 since 2014 – put up on its website.
The law is robust enough, but Mr Tan said he hopes for provisions that will set higher standards for IT vendors. He added that in several cases he was involved in, companies were found to have flouted PDPA rules because of negligence on the part of such third-party vendors.
He said: “When it comes to small and medium-sized enterprises, a lot of the time, they don’t have money for their own IT teams, so they outsource.
“If the vendors they get aren’t doing their jobs properly, these businesses wouldn’t know any better. But when a data breach occurs, they’ll be held responsible as well, since they’re the ones controlling the data.”
Mr Reed said a rethink about data collection could also be useful, as companies tend to collect more data than they need.
He said: “Unfortunately, there’s this perception that companies will lose their competitive edge if they don’t collect all the data that they can, but is that really necessary?
“It’s actually a liability, and while they need to exercise more care in their handling of it, they should also question if they really need every piece of information from their customers.”
Would harsher financial penalties help?
In other parts of the world, the maximum financial penalty that can be imposed on companies that have experienced data breaches tends to be higher than in Singapore.
Australia in 2022 increased the maximum amount to A$50 million (S$44 million), three times the value of any benefit obtained through the misuse of information, or 30 per cent of a company’s adjusted turnover in the given period, whichever is higher.
The adjusted turnover refers to a company’s turnover during the period of the breach, instead of its annual figure.
In the United States, different states have their own ways of assessing how much the penalties need to be.
However, the US Federal Trade Commission, which oversees consumer privacy and security, has regularly levied fines of millions of dollars.
In 2019, American credit reporting agency Equifax was made to pay at least US$575 million (S$772 million) as part of a settlement after a 2017 data breach exposed the data of 147 million customers. Some of the money was given to customers as compensation.
The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on the other hand sets the amount at €20 million (S$29.2 million) or 4 per cent of an organisation’s worldwide annual revenue, whichever is higher.
In the aftermath of its exit from the EU or Brexit, Britain put in place its own version of GDPR laws. The maximum fine is similar – set at £17.5 million (S$29.9 million) or 4 per cent of an organisation’s worldwide annual revenue.
Although fines in Singapore have not reached such amounts, and sometimes seem like a small sum, Mr Tan said the law has to be neutral. For instance, the fine issued to a person who parks on a double yellow line is not pegged to the person’s annual income.
In response to queries, a PDPC spokesman said: “Generally, financial penalties imposed on organisations will be calibrated based on certain considerations, including the scale and egregiousness of the incident.”
He added that the regulator will not hesitate to impose high penalties in appropriate and deserving cases.
Those who have suffered some form of loss or damage as a direct result of the data breach can also pursue a civil action against the organisation that held the data, but these are few and far between, said Mr Tan.
Mr Jonathan Kok, who is a partner in the technology and intellectual property team at Withers KhattarWong, said that unlike in the US, where class-action lawsuits are common, it is rare for such actions to be undertaken in Singapore. “This could be due to several factors, including the perceived difficulty in proving direct harm, legal costs and the relatively swift response of regulatory bodies like the PDPC,” he added.
Forcing businesses to pay compensation as part of the financial penalties could also be a double-edged sword, he said, as it might lead to higher operational costs for businesses, which might then be passed on to consumers.
Ultimately, Mr Reed said, forcing firms to compensate data breach victims will not lead to better outcomes.
He said: “It’s a lost cause. The data’s already out there, and companies will not magically become more secure just by making them pay more in fines.
“You cannot reimburse people who have had their data stolen, since it can be used by anyone, anytime down the road. No single payment can compensate for that.”
Singapore firms under siege
In 2023 alone, The Straits Times reported several data breaches involving Singapore companies.
In many of the cases, people’s personal data is put up for sale on the Dark Web – a part of the Internet where illegal products and services can be found.
Often, they are the handiwork of ransomware gangs – groups of cyber criminals that extort firms by encrypting their data.
Cyber-security firm Palo Alto Network’s Unit 42 – in its 2023 Ransomware and Extortion Report – said gangs use data theft as a form of extortion.
Between mid-2021 and late 2022, 53 per cent of ransomware incidents involved negotiations after cyber criminals threatened to leak stolen data, the report said.
The trend is expected to continue because the tactic works, it added.
A separate report by cyber-security firm Sophos found that Singapore had the highest rate of ransomware attacks in the world – 84 per cent of Singapore organisations surveyed reported being victims, compared with 65 per cent the year before.
The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore warned in 2022 that ransomware attacks are expected to climb amid rapid digitalisation worldwide. It added that the number of attacks was up 54 per cent here from 2020 to 2021.
In December alone, at least 10 Singapore companies allegedly suffered data breaches, according to threat intelligence platform FalconFeeds.io. Ransomware gangs were responsible for the breaches in many of the cases.
One of them, ASA Holidays, was allegedly targeted by the BianLian gang, which claimed to have access to 736GB of the travel agency’s data. This included internal e-mail correspondences, and the personal data of clients.
ST was unable to independently verify the allegations, as samples were not provided on the ransomware gang’s website on the Dark Web. Only the personal information of several employees, including the agency’s founder, was made available. ASA Holidays declined to comment.
However, PDPC on Dec 21 said it was aware of the report and had contacted the travel agency for more information.
A week earlier, another Singapore firm – Commonwealth Capital – was hit by the same ransomware gang.
This time, it claimed to have access to 2TB of the investment firm’s data, although, again, no samples were provided.
Commonwealth Capital group chief human resources officer Audrey Koh said her firm was the victim of a cyber attack, but declined to give details, including how many people were affected.
She said the firm has taken steps to protect the interests of employees and partners, including informing them of the incident. Reports have also been lodged with the police, the PDPC and the Singapore Cyber Emergency Response Team.
Mr Nathan Hall, the vice-president for Asia-Pacific and Japan at data management firm Pure Storage, said such cyber attacks and data breaches are expected to become increasingly common in the coming years.
The situation is expected to “get worse as the world increasingly digitalises”, he added.
He said: “With technological advancements outpacing regulations, there is an urgent need to rethink how we approach data protection.”
Mr Scott Jarkoff, the director for the strategic threat advisory group for the Asia-Pacific and Japan, and Europe, Middle East and Africa at cyber-security firm CrowdStrike, said the impacts of such breaches have increased as well.
These could range from loss of customer trust and reputational damage to a complete inability to conduct business and, eventually, a halt in operations.
Mr Jarkoff said: “Sometimes, an initial data breach is just the first step in a longer intrusion campaign targeting an organisation for further exploitation. The best way to protect against cyber attacks is by preventing breaches in the first place.”
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/is-your-confidential-info-safe-more-can-be-done-to-beef-up-personal-data-protection-rules-say-experts
| 2024-01-28T22:50:30Z
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Samuel Lino and Memphis Depay scored a goal in each half to give Atletico Madrid a comfortable 2-0 home win over Valencia on Sunday which moved Diego Simeone's side to third in the LaLiga standings.
Atletico could have won by a larger margin if it wasn't for Valencia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili who excelled for the visitors, keeping the game level until five minutes into first-half stoppage time, when Lino scored with a low shot.
The hosts kept dominating in the second half and extended their lead in the 57th minute with a diving header by Depay from a Nahuel Molina cross.
With the win, Atletico moved to third in the standings on 44 points, level with Barcelona but ahead on goal difference.
Real Madrid are second on 54 points, one behind surprise leaders Girona who have played one game more than their nearest rivals. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/atletico-breeze-past-valencia-to-move-to-third
| 2024-01-28T22:50:40Z
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Former Panama striker Luis "Matador" Tejada, who won more than 100 caps for his country, died on Sunday at the age of 41, the Panamanian Football Federation (FEPAFUT) has said.
Tejada was playing in a veterans game on the outskirts of Panama City before he collapsed and was taken to a clinic for medical attention where he was pronounced dead, local media said.
FEPAFUT paid tribute to Tejada, who played a key role in helping Panama qualify for their first World Cup in 2018.
"Synonymous of development and football in our country. We express our sincere condolences. We will never forget you matador," FEPAFUT said in a post on X.
Tejada played 108 games for the national team and is their top-scorer with 43 goals. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/former-panama-striker-matador-tejada-dies-at-age-41
| 2024-01-28T22:50:50Z
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FLORENCE - An early header by Lautaro Martinez secured Inter Milan a 1-0 win at Fiorentina in Serie A on Sunday as Simone Inzaghi's side reclaimed the top spot with a game in hand.
Martinez scored in the 14th minute, nodding in a corner from a tight angle.
Fiorentina had a chance to level from the spot 15 minutes from time but a powerless attempt by substitute Nicolas Gonzalez was comfortably saved by Yann Sommer after the hosts were awarded a penalty for the goalkeeper's foul on M'Bala Nzola.
Inter moved back to top spot in the standings on 54 points, one ahead of second-placed Juventus who have played one game more. Fiorentina are fifth with 34 points, also with a game in hand. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/martinez-sends-inter-back-to-top-spot-with-1-0-win-at-fiorentina
| 2024-01-28T22:51:01Z
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PARIS - Paris St Germain gave up a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at home to Brest on Sunday as the hosts missed the chance to extend their Ligue 1 lead.
Luis Enrique's side, who finished with 10 men after Bradley Barcola was sent off in stoppage time, remained top with 44 points, six clear of second-placed Nice. Brest are third with 35 points, one ahead of AS Monaco.
Marco Asensio opened the scoring in the 38th minute with a close-range volley from a brilliant chipped pass from Barcola to score his first league goal since September.
Randal Kolo Muani doubled the lead by tapping in a loose ball from close range after Brest goalkeeper Marco Bizot blocked Asensio's effort just before halftime.
Brest pulled one back 10 minutes into the second half as Mahdi Camara's shot from inside the box bounced off PSG defender Danilo and past keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Substitute Mathias Pereira Lage equalised with a classy back-heel in the 80th minute when Martin Satriano found him in the six-yard box after a fine solo run from the left.
PSG's slim hopes of victory faded as they were reduced to 10 men after Barcola's second yellow card in stoppage time. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/psg-give-up-two-goal-lead-to-draw-2-2-with-brest
| 2024-01-28T22:51:11Z
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BERLIN - President Volodymyr Zelensky voiced the danger of the Ukraine conflict escalating into World War Three, as he pressed his case for support from nations ranging from Germany to the United States in an interview on Jan 28.
“It seems to me that the Chancellor (Olaf Scholz) is aware of this risk,” Mr Zelensky told German state broadcaster ARD, adding that if Russia hit a Nato country, it would be “the beginning of the Third World War”.
Asked whether he was disappointed that Germany did not plan to supply Ukraine with Taurus cruise missiles, he said he was only disappointed Germany had not played “the role it should have played in the first occupation of Ukraine”.
Referring to the weakness of the West’s response to Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014 that was a precursor for Moscow’s invasion in February 2022, he said it was not just about the German response.
“It’s not just about Olaf Scholz,” he said. “It concerns European leaders and the US.”
In the US, Mr Zelensky said Ukraine has support from across the political divide. “There are individual Republicans who do not support Ukraine, but the vast majority of Democrats and Republicans support Ukraine,” he said.
On whether a second term of Donald Trump in the White House would affect support for his country, he said US policy does not depend on a single person. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/seeking-western-support-zelenskiy-voices-world-war-risk
| 2024-01-28T22:51:22Z
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KYIV - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made public his income over a two-year period on Jan 28 as part of a drive to promote transparency and root out endemic corruption.
In a post on the presidential website, he noted that his income had declined in 2021 and further in 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine at the end of February. It was the first time he had declared his income publicly.
In 2021, the year before the invasion, he and his family reported income of 10.8 million hryvnias (S$383,868), down 12 million hryvnias from the previous year. The 2021 figure included income from the sale of US$142,000 (S$190,413) of government bonds.
In 2022, the Zelensky family’s income fell further to 3.7 million hryvnias as he earned less rental income from real estate he owned because of the outbreak of the war.
Mr Zelensky has called for public officials to disclose their incomes as part of efforts to increase transparency and eliminate corruption as Ukraine tries to meet the stringent requirements for its bid to join the European Union.
Western allies providing weaponry and financial assistance as well as international bodies like the International Monetary Fund have also sought assurances on efforts to eliminate corruption.
On Jan 27, Ukraine’s SBU security service said it had uncovered a corruption scheme in the purchase of arms by the country’s military totalling the equivalent of about US$40 million.
It said an investigation had “exposed officials of the Ministry of Defence and managers of arms supplier Lviv Arsenal, who stole nearly 1.5 billion hryvnias in the purchase of shells”.
Former and current high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Defence and heads of affiliated companies are reportedly involved in the embezzlement.
The embezzlement, the SBU said, involved the purchase of 100,000 mortar shells for the military. Payment was made in advance, with some funds transferred abroad. But no arms were ever provided.
Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention, one of several bodies devoted to exposing and eliminating graft, reopened a register on declared income to public scrutiny last month. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/ukraines-zelenskiy-publishes-income-as-part-of-transparency-drive
| 2024-01-28T22:51:32Z
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WASHINGTON - The unmanned aerial drone attack that killed three U.S. service members and wounded dozens in northeastern Jordan on Sunday is the latest by Iran-aligned militia groups in Iraq and Syria.
The groups oppose Israel's campaign in Gaza, which has killed more than 26,000, and hold the U.S. partly responsible. They have attacked U.S. troops in the region over 150 times since the war started in response to Hamas's October 7 attack in Israel that killed about 1,200. About 2,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq and 900 in Syria to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State militants.
Here is a timeline of major attacks since then:
OCT. 18 - U.S. forces in Iraq are targeted in two separate drone attacks. One of the drones is intercepted but still explodes, causing minor injuries and damaging some equipment.
OCT. 19 - U.S. forces in Syria bring down two drones targeting them, leading to some minor injuries. Separately, drones and rockets target two bases housing U.S. forces in Iraq.
OCT. 26 - An Iran-backed militia launches a drone at an air base that penetrates U.S. air defenses and crashes into the barracks housing American troops but fails to detonate. A service member suffers a concussion from the impact.
NOV. 17 - U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria are attacked three times; a drone attack in Syria injures a service member who quickly returns to duty while two other attacks in Iraq fail to cause damage or injuries.
NOV. 23 - U.S. and international forces in northeastern Syria are attacked with drones and rockets four times in 24 hours, but suffer no casualties and only minor damage.
DEC. 25 - A one-way drone attack in Iraq by Iran-aligned militants leaves one U.S. service member in critical condition and wounds two other U.S. personnel.
JAN. 9 - A U.S. air strike on a rocket launcher foils an attack on an air base in Iraq.
JAN. 20 - Four U.S. personnel suffer traumatic brain injuries after Iran-backed militias fire multiple ballistic missiles and rockets at an air base in Iraq. REUTERS
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Three US troops killed, up to 34 injured in Jordan drone strike linked to Iran
Three US service members were killed and dozens may be wounded after an unmanned aerial drone attack on US forces stationed in northeastern Jordan near the Syrian border, President Joe Biden and US officials said on Jan 28.
Biden blamed Iran-backed groups for the attack, the first deadly strike against US forces since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October and sent shock waves throughout the Middle East.
“While we are still gathering the facts of this attack, we know it was carried out by radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq,” Biden said in a statement.
World’s largest cruise ship sets sail, bringing concerns about methane emissions
The world’s largest cruise ship is set for its maiden voyage on Jan 27, but environmental groups are concerned that the liquefied natural gas-powered vessel - and other giant cruise liners to follow - will leak harmful methane into the atmosphere.
Royal Caribbean International’s Icon of the Seas sets sail from Miami with capacity for 8,000 passengers across 20 decks, taking advantage of the surging popularity of cruises.
The ship is built to run on liquefied natural gas (LNG), which burns more cleanly than traditional marine fuel but poses greater risks for methane emissions. Environmental groups say methane leakage from the ship’s engines is an unacceptable risk to the climate because of its short-term harmful effects.
Former Philippine leader’s son calls President Marcos ‘lazy’, urges him to quit
Former Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte’s son urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr to resign on Jan 28, calling him lazy and uncompassionate in a deepening rift between the two politically powerful families.
Marcos teamed up with Duterte’s daughter Sara to make her vice-president in their 2022 election win. But cracks in the families’ alliance have emerged as the incumbent has veered away from his predecessor’s anti-drugs and foreign policies.
Sebastian Duterte, who is mayor of Philippines’ third most populous city Davao, said there had been a resurgence in crime after his father’s hardline campaign had been relaxed.
US says its Israel policy unchanged after report on leveraging weapon sales
The White House said on Jan 28 there was no change in its Israel policy after NBC News reported the United States was discussing using weapon sales to Israel as leverage to convince the Israeli government to scale back its military assault in Gaza.
“Israel has a right and obligation to defend themselves against the threat of Hamas, while abiding by international humanitarian law and protecting civilian lives, and we remain committed to support Israel in its fight against Hamas. We have done so since Oct 7, and will continue to. There has not been a change in our policy,” a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said.
NBC News reported earlier on Jan 28 that at the direction of the White House, the Pentagon has been reviewing what weaponry Israel has requested that could be used as leverage. The report cited sources and said no final decisions were made.
Liverpool through to FA Cup fifth round, Wolves win game marked by fan violence
Liverpool cruised into the fifth round of the FA Cup with a 5-2 rout of Championship side Norwich City on Jan 28, to kick off Juergen Klopp’s long goodbye at Anfield.
Liverpool’s beloved manager announced on Jan 27 that he would leave the Merseyside team at the end of this season, his ninth at the helm.
The eight-times FA Cup winners had goals from Curtis Jones, Darwin Nunez, Dioga Jota, Virgil van Dijk and Ryan Gravenberch.
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MANILA - The Philippines and the United States intend to hold a "2-plus-2 meeting" of top diplomatic and defence officials in Manila in March, the Philippine ambassador to Washington said on Monday.
In a phone message, Jose Manuel Romualdez confirmed a Nikkei report citing sources on the discussions. He said there is an "intention" to hold a meeting, and the plan is "still a work in progress."
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin are expected to meet with counterparts Enrique Manalo and Gilberto Teodoro in March, the first of such dialogue in the Philippines since the format began in 2012, Nikkei reported.
Romualdez did not respond to a question on what will be the agenda of the planned meeting, which comes at a time of simmering tensions between the Philippines and China over the South China Sea.
The Philippines is a treaty ally of the United States.
There was no immediate comment from the Philippines' defense secretary, the Philippine foreign ministry, and the U.S. embassy in Manila. REUTERS
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Project to map DNA of 100,000 people in S’pore at halfway mark
WIth 100,000 participants’ genes mapped, it is set to be one of Asia’s leading reference genome databases.
Fewer HDB upgraders buying private homes suggests more are priced out
Trading up is getting harder as resale flat price growth has not kept pace with that of private home prices in 2023.
53% of units sold at first executive condo launch of 2024
Interactive: How Singapore builds communities in the sky
From slab block to towers 50 storeys tall, architects share how HDB block designs have evolved.
Three US troops killed, up to 34 injured in Jordan drone strike linked to Iran
President Jokowi ‘comes down from the mountain’ as Indonesia election nears
Critics think he will throw his weight behind Prabowo-Gibran, although he has not publicly endorsed anyone.
Baby born at 22 weeks in S’pore defies the odds and is now a healthy five-year-old
Her doctor said Chelsea is the only baby born in Singapore at 22 weeks in the past decade to have survived.
Place pets with licensed boarding facilities, AVS tells owners following dog’s death
AVS said that licensing for such services is put in place to safeguard animal welfare.
How to plan financially for unexpected health issues like cancer
42% of respondents in a survey said they would not be financially prepared to manage the costs of cancer.
What has your kopi-c and Cold Play concert got to do with global warming?
Climate change is often seen as a topic for politicians and scientists. But it touches us every day, writes David Fogarty.
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SAN PEDRO, Ivory Coast - Egypt goalkeeper Mohamed Abou Gabal missed his penalty in the shootout as the Democratic Republic of Congo claimed an epic 8-7 victory following a tense 1-1 draw in their Africa Cup of Nations last-16 clash in San Pedro on Sunday.
Abou Gabal clipped the crossbar with his effort and then opposite number Lionel Mpasi scored against him as record seven-times winners Egypt bowed out at the Laurent Pokou Stadium, sparking jubilant scenes for the Congolese, who now play Guinea in the quarter-finals in Abidjan on Friday.
Meschack Elia gave DR Congo the lead in the game when he headed in virtually on the goal-line, but the advantage lasted nine minutes before Mostafa Mohamed scored his fourth goal of the tournament from the penalty spot on the stroke of halftime.
Egypt midfielder Mohamed Hamdy received a red card in extra time, after which The Pharaohs, without injured talisman Mohamed Salah, stopped attacking and held on as the game went to a shootout.
The last time DR Congo beat Egypt in a Cup of Nations clash was in the semi-finals 50 years ago when they went on to lift the trophy.
It was a fourth draw in a row for both sides in the Ivory Coast this year, while for Egypt it was a sixth in a row dating back to the last tournament in Cameroon and a fifth extra-time in succession in knockout games.
That lack of a killer touch came back to haunt them as they could not finish the game in the 90 minutes, and once Hamdy received his marching orders it was always going to be a battle in the sweltering heat of San Pedro.
DR Congo took the lead on 37 minutes when Yoann Wissa’s deflected cross from the left was headed over the line by Elia. The goal emanated from a quick throw-in that Egypt felt should have been theirs, and as such were slow to react when the Congolese re-started play.
But Egypt levelled in first-half injury-time when Congolese defender Dylan Batubinsika struck the face of Ahmed Hegazi with an extended arm during an aerial dual in the penalty-box, and a spot-kick was awarded after a VAR review.
In the absence of Salah, Mohamed stepped up to confidently convert and net his fourth goal of the tournament, though he would later miss in the shootout.
Mohamed became the first Egyptian player to score in their first four matches at a Cup of Nations finals, and the third to score in four matches overall after Ali Abo Gresha (1974) and Gedo (2010).
DR Congo striker Cedric Bakambu turned a cross wide of the post when well-placed early in the second half, and Chancel Mbemba headed over moments later as the game went to extra time and ultimately spot-kicks. REUTERS
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The Kansas City Chiefs beat the top seeded Baltimore Ravens 17-10 to claim the AFC championship on Sunday and earn a trip to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in five years.
Patrick Mahomes completed 30 passes for 241 yards and one touchdown that to Travis Kelce in the first quarter that had pop star girlfriend Taylor Swift jumping up and down in jubilation in a private box at Baltimore's at M&T Bank Stadium.
The Chiefs now head to Las Vegas for the Feb. 11 Super Bowl where they will defend their crown against either the San Francisco 49ers or Detroit Lions who meet later on Sunday in the NFC championship game.
No team has won back-to-back NFL titles since Tom Brady led the New England Patriots to Vince Lombardi trophies in 2004 and 2005. REUTERS
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HELSINKI - Finland’s presidential race saw former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb and previous foreign minister Pekka Haavisto barrel past other candidates to face each other in a run-off in two weeks.
Mr Stubb took home about 27 per cent of the votes, followed by Mr Haavisto with about 26 per cent, the Justice Ministry said on Jan 28.
Mr Stubb and Mr Haavisto are set to go into a run-off on Feb 11.
Almost 75 per cent of the electorate cast a ballot, the biggest turnout in nearly two decades.
Voters in Nato’s newest member are selecting a top diplomat and supreme commander for the defence forces to guard the military alliance’s longest stretch of border against its main adversary, Russia.
At stake is who will succeed President Sauli Niinisto, 75, as he is no longer eligible to run after serving two consecutive six-year terms.
The one seen as the most adept at steering foreign and security policy will likely appeal to the electorate.
The president’s role in leading Finland’s foreign policy grew in significance during Mr Niinisto’s second term after Russia’s unexpected all-out invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, which fundamentally altered Europe’s security calculus.
After a radical rethink, Finland joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) in 2023.
“For us, foreign and security policy is existential,” Mr Stubb, 55, said. “In that sense, we are quite unified in the big picture, whether it’s Nato membership or things linked to that.”
When Finland joined Nato, Russia vowed a response.
That began late 2023, when scores of asylum seekers began arriving at the 1,300km border separating the two countries.
Finnish authorities soon termed the events a hybrid operation after determining Russian officials were assisting the migrants to put pressure on the Nordic country.
Finland responded by closing checkpoints, and the frontier remains shut to date.
“We are very aligned on the key security policy questions – Nato membership, Finland’s defence cooperation agreement with the US and on being tough on the Russian border,” the 65-year-old Mr Haavisto said. “It’s not a bad thing that Finns are so unanimous on the central foreign policy issues.”
The leadership contest has been the most riveting in decades as Mr Stubb and Mr Haavisto went into Jan 28’s election night in a tight race with Speaker of Parliament Jussi Halla-aho of the nationalist Finns Party.
Mr Halla-aho finished the race with 19 per cent backing and Bank of Finland Governor Olli Rehn with about 15 per cent.
Mr Stubb has held all the top ministerial posts in Finland, including the finance and foreign affairs portfolios. Most recently a professor at European University Institute in Florence, Italy, Mr Stubb has a PhD in international relations.
He is an avid athlete, having completed numerous marathons and triathlons, including the celebrated Ironman World Championships.
As a teenager, he played ice hockey and golf, which took him to study at Furman University in South Carolina.
When he served as prime minister, he even faced criticism for allegedly prioritising sport over political responsibilities. The Swedish-speaking Finn communicates fluently in a number of languages and has published 16 books.
Mr Haavisto is running for president for a third time, having gone against Mr Niinisto twice.
The veteran diplomat steered Finland into Nato as foreign minister, navigating sensitive negotiations to make membership a reality. He’s also helped broker peace in Darfur as a special representative of the European Union.
Mr Haavisto is one of the early members of Finland’s Green Party and the only out gay candidate in the race.
Mr Haavisto lists literature, Beetle cars, and wooden boats as his hobbies, and has also gained popularity by spinning records from the 1960s and 1970s under the pseudonym DJ Pexi, including at campaign events in recent weeks.
At the end of the night, Mr Stubb told his campaign team to work hard, be humble and play fair – while Mr Haavisto put out a plea for donations to help win over voters whose candidates did not make it into the second round. BLOOMBERG
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LONDON - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will announce plans to ban the sale of disposable vapes to prevent their use by children, and reiterate the government's intention to introduce a law preventing younger generations from buying tobacco.
Under the new powers, there would be restrictions on vape flavours, a requirement for plain packaging, and changes to how vapes, or e-cigarettes, are displayed to make them less attractive to children.
Shops will have to move vapes out of sight of children and away from the sweet counter. Any retailer selling tobacco or vapes to underage customers face “on the spot” fines of up to £2,500 (S$4,257), under the legistation. Vaping alternatives - such as nicotine pouches - will also be banned for children.
“Alongside our commitment to stop children who turn 15 this year or younger from ever legally being sold cigarettes, these changes will leave a lasting legacy by protecting our children’s health for the long term,” Mr Sunak is set to announce on Jan 29.
Smoking is Britain's biggest preventable killer, causing one out of four cancer-related deaths, or some 80,000 a year, the government says.
In October, Mr Sunak announced plans to pass a law which would mean that anyone born on or after Jan 1, 2009, would be unable to buy tobacco in their lifetime.
While vapes are seen as key to helping people quit smoking, there has been concern they could be driving nicotine addiction among young people, with 9 per cent of 11- to 15-year-olds now using them, the government said.
Disposable vapes have driven the increase. The proportion of 11- to 17-year-old vapers using disposables increasing almost nine-fold in the last two years, it said.
The World Health Organisation said in December that all vape flavours should be banned.
However, industry groups and the UK Vaping Industry Association argue that vapes pose significantly lower health risks than tobacco, and flavours were key in encouraging smokers to switch.
“I have an obligation to do what I think is the right thing for our country in the long term,” Mr Sunak said. “That is why I am taking bold action to ban disposable vapes – which have driven the rise in youth vaping – and bring forward new powers to restrict vape flavours, introduce plain packaging and change how vapes are displayed in shops.”
The government says that along with the health benefits, the ban on disposable vapes would help the environment, with five million thrown away each week. That, it says, is “equivalent to the lithium batteries of 5,000 electric vehicles”.
Bold action ‘always needed’
The Welsh and Scottish governments will also introduce the ban. The Northern Ireland Assembly is not sitting since the collapse of power sharing two years ago.
In a preemptive strike against potential smugglers, £30 million of new funding a year will be provided to bolster enforcement agencies, including the UK Border Force.
Health professionals welcomed the move.
“Bold action was always needed to curb youth vaping and banning disposables is a meaningful step in the right direction,” said Mike McKean, vice-president for policy at The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.
“I’m also extremely pleased to see further much needed restrictions on flavours, packaging, and marketing of vapes.”
But the legislation also has detractors.
“While the state has a duty to protect children from harm, adults must be able to make their own choices,” said Liz Truss, the former prime minister. “Banning the sale of tobacco products to anyone born in 2009 or later will create an absurd situation where adults enjoy different rights based on their birth date. A Conservative government should not be seeking to extend the nanny state.” REUTERS, BLOOMBERG
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TOKYO - Japan late on Jan 28 said it has decided to suspend additional funding to the United Nations’ agency for Palestinians in Gaza while the agency conducts an investigation into an allegation that its staff was involved in the Oct 7 attack on Israel.
Japan is “extremely concerned about the alleged involvement of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff members in the terror attack on Israel” and has been “strongly urging UNRWA to conduct the investigation in a prompt and complete manner”, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
UN officials have urged countries, including top donors the US and Germany, to reconsider their funding pauses for UNRWA. Japan is the sixth biggest donor to the agency, according to the UNRWA’s 2022 data. REUTERS
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| 2024-01-29T01:54:43Z
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TOKYO - Japan’s Moon lander has resumed operations, the space agency said on Jan 29, indicating that power had been restored.
After it landed on Jan 20, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) had said that problems with the craft’s solar batteries meant they were not generating power.
“Last evening we succeeded in establishing communication with Slim, and resumed operations,” Jaxa said on X, formerly Twitter, referring to the lander’s full name, Smart Lander for Investigating Moon.
“We immediately started scientific observations with MBC, and have successfully obtained first light for 10-band observation,” it said, referring to the lander’s multiband spectroscopic camera.
The agency posted on X an image shot by the Slim of “toy poodle”, a rock observed near the lander.
The touchdown made Japan only the fifth nation to achieve a soft lunar landing, after the United States, the Soviet Union, China and India.
But around three hours after landing, Jaxa decided to switch Slim off with 12 per cent power remaining to allow for a possible resumption when the sun’s angle changed.
The lander achieved its goal of landing within 100m of its target, touching down 55m away.
That is much more precise than the usual landing zone range that experts put at several kilometres.
Slim was aiming for a crater where the Moon’s mantle, the usually deep inner layer beneath its crust, is believed to be exposed on the surface.
Two probes detached successfully, Jaxa said – one with a transmitter and another designed to trundle around the lunar surface beaming images to Earth.
This shape-shifting mini-rover, slightly bigger than a tennis ball, was co-developed by the firm behind the Transformer toys.
Russia, China and other countries from South Korea to the United Arab Emirates are also trying their luck to reach the Moon.
US firm Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander began leaking fuel after takeoff in January, dooming its mission.
Then contact with the spaceship was lost over a remote area of the South Pacific after it likely burned up in the Earth’s atmosphere on its return.
Nasa has also postponed plans for crewed lunar missions under its Artemis programme.
Two previous Japanese lunar missions – one public and one private – have failed.
In 2022, the country unsuccessfully sent a lunar probe named Omotenashi as part of the United States’ Artemis 1 mission.
In April, Japanese startup Ispace tried in vain to become the first private company to land on the Moon, losing communication with its craft after what it described as a “hard landing”. AFP
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KUCHING, Sarawak - A key backer of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s fragile ruling alliance urged the nation’s politicians to stop undermining the government, arguing the country needs political stability to focus on pressing economic challenges.
Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg – who leads Malaysia’s largest state, Sarawak, on the island of Borneo – said he’s told his political colleagues to “stop creating so many problems” for the 14-month-old government.
That followed reports that opposition leaders met in Dubai in December 2023 to discuss undercutting Datuk Seri Anwar, Malaysia’s fifth prime minister since 2018.
“There are many external problems that can affect us,” the premier told Bloomberg News in his office in Kuching city.
“We must be able to look at ourselves and how we can strengthen our own competitive advantage,” he said, adding that “leaders cannot concentrate” if domestic politicians keep creating instability.
The warning from Mr Abang Jo, as the 73-year-old premier is popularly known, comes just over a year after he threw the support of his state’s ruling coalition, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), behind Mr Anwar when the 2022 elections produced a hung Parliament.
GPS – which has 23 seats in Malaysia’s 222-member Lower House – had been courted by both Mr Anwar and his rival, Muhyiddin Yassin, after the vote.
“We want a stable federal government regardless of who is in power,” Mr Abang Johari said.
Ever since then-Prime Minister Najib Razak stepped down following the 2018 election, Malaysia’s prime ministers have lasted less than two years on the job on average.
Moody’s Investors Service echoed Mr Abang Johari’s concerns about the economic impact of the political turmoil.
In a Jan 16 report, Moody’s said, “Entrenched concerns around the stability of the unity government risks fomenting negative investor perceptions of Malaysia’s political risks and policy gridlock, hampering the country’s longer term economic competitiveness.”
The tumult has weighed on Malaysia’s currency, with the ringgit the worst performing currency since the start of 2023 among emerging markets in Asia.
It hasn’t reversed that slide in 2024, falling 2.9 per cent against the dollar this month.
Support for Mr Anwar also tumbled to 50 per cent late 2023 from 68 per cent in December 2022.
About 43 per cent of respondents said they were dissatisfied with the economy, up from 19 per cent soon after he took power.
But with Mr Anwar staving off his political opponents for now, the partnership Mr Abang Johari has established with the federal government has been a boon for Sarawak and its population of about 2.8 million.
The premier said he’s pressing ahead with plans for Sarawak to own its own bank, port and airline, while providing free tertiary education for locals.
“Abang Johari and Anwar need each other,” said Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi, a socio-political analyst from Universiti Malaya.
He said the state’s voters might not take kindly to the alternative to Mr Anwar – the Islamic party PAS, the biggest national opposition party.
Sarawak is the only state in Malaysia with a majority non-Muslim population.
Economic ambitions
In the interview, Mr Abang Johari said he’s happy with how Mr Anwar has dealt with Sarawak, having facilitated the transfer of Bintulu port, north-east of Kuching, to the state and backed Sarawak’s takeover of Malaysia Airlines’ subsidiary, MASWings – a move that will make Sarawak the first Malaysian state with its own airline.
Mr Abang Johari said the airline is a strategic asset for the state, which wants to see airfares stabilise to help boost travel to Borneo, an island divided between Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.
“We are an island, you have to fly,” he said. “If we don’t stabilise the price, then we are in a difficult situation.”
Sarawak also looks set to finalise a deal to have its own bank in the coming days. Mr Abang Johari said there is a “bank on the market” and that an effort to seek regulatory approvals for a takeover are underway.
Affin Bank, previously reported as being the lender of interest to Sarawak, has announced a special briefing with Mr Abang Johari in Kuala Lumpur on Jan 30. The bank is majority-controlled by the Armed Forces Pension Fund.
“Sarawak used to have banks,” he said. “Then they were all absorbed into bigger, centralised banking groups. We don’t have a banking instrument to boost our small and medium enterprises.”
Mr Abang Johari has been adept at flexing his influence, said Universiti Malaya’s Dr Awang Azman.
“Federal power is quite weak,” he said. “They are using the weakness to gain more power.”
Despite the emphasis on Sarawak’s autonomy, Mr Abang Johari said his state remains committed to Malaysia.
After Sarawak was recognised as a high-income state by the World Bank in 2023, Mr Abang Johari said his next challenge is to boost incomes in rural areas, where poverty rates remain high.
As part of that effort, he said that starting in 2026, Sarawak will provide free tertiary education for locals studying in Sarawak-owned universities – a first for a Malaysian state.
Political heritage
The son of Sarawak’s first governor, Mr Abang Johari has had a role in every administration since 1982. Yet beyond being an influential voice in national politics, he never sought a formal role in the federal government.
He moved quickly in 2018, when the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition lost federal power for the first time since independence.
The premier led his Sarawak-based alliance out of BN and rebranded it as a regional power, emphasising a “Sarawak First” theme.
His GPS coalition now controls 80 of 82 state assembly seats – a feat that Sarawak’s longest tenured chief minister, former Governor Taib Mahmud, didn’t manage to achieve in 33 years in power.
And while Sarawak’s economy under Tun Taib was oriented toward heavy industries, logging and fossil fuels, Mr Abang Johari – whose government changed the title of his role to premier from chief minister – says he is trying to shift the state toward new energy sources, attracting talent and putting less emphasis on forestry.
“His time is different, my time is different,” Mr Abang Johari said of Mr Taib, who retired in January at age 87. BLOOMBERG
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SINGAPORE - CapitaLand Ascott Trust (Clas) on Jan 29 posted a 14.1 per cent rise in distribution per stapled security (DPS) to 3.8 cents for the second half ended Dec 31, 2023, from 3.33 cents in the year-ago period.
The managers attributed the growth mainly to stronger performance and contributions from new properties.
DPS remained unchanged on a year-on-year basis at three cents, after excluding one-off items related to realised exchange gains arising from the repayment of foreign currency bank loans and the settlement of cross-currency interest rate swaps.
Revenue for the half-year period stood at $397.6 million, up 12.4 per cent from the $353.8 million recorded in the same period the year before.
The managers attributed the increase to higher revenue from its existing portfolio and $18.2 million in additional contributions from acquisitions. This was partially offset by a drop in revenue from the divestment of four French properties in September 2023.
The stapled group acquired nine properties in Australia, France, Japan, Vietnam and the US, two turnkey rental housing properties in Japan, two turnkey rental housing properties in Japan and three properties in Indonesia, Ireland and the UK.
It recorded a 10 per cent increase in revenue per available unit of $157 for for the second half of 2023.
Clas’ total distribution was up 24.4 per cent to $140.8 million from $113.2 million in the same period the previous year. The distribution will be paid out on Feb 29, after the record date on Feb 6.
For the full year ended Dec 31, 2023, DPS rose 15.9 per cent on the year to 6.57 cents from 5.67 cents. After adjusting for one-off items, DPS stood at 5.44 cents, up 14 per cent from 4.79 cents recorded in the same period the year before.
Revenue for the full-year period was up 19.8 per cent to $744.6 million, while total distribution climbed 24.9 per cent to $237 million.
Clas’ stapled securities were trading up 1.5 cents, or 1.6 per cent, at 94.5 cents as at 9.12am on Jan 29, after its earnings announcement. THE BUSINESS TIMES
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SHANGHAI - China’s securities regulator said it will fully suspend the lending of restricted shares effective from Jan 29, in policymakers’ latest attempt to stabilise the country’s stock markets following recent sharp falls.
A string of supportive policies by Beijing including a deep cut to bank reserves helped lift Chinese stocks off 5-year lows early last week but they retreated again last Friday (Jan 26), reflecting deep investor pessimism over the outlook for markets and the shaky economy.
Analysts and investors say Beijing needs to roll out more support measures to revive consumer and business confidence and get activity back on a more solid footing.
Restricted shares are often offered to company employees or investors with certain limits on their sale, but they can be lent to others for trading purposes, such as short-selling, which can add pressure on markets during a prolonged slump.
The move will “highlight fairness and reasonableness, reduce the efficiency of securities lending, and restrict the advantages of institutions in the use of information and tools, giving all types of investors more time to digest market information and creating a fairer market order,” the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said a statement published on its official WeChat account.
The CSRC added that the move would “resolutely” crack down on illegal activities that use securities lending to reduce holdings and cash out.
The regulator also said it will limit the efficiency of some securities lending in the securities refinancing market from March 18.
Last October, the CSRC restricted securities lending businesses and tightened scrutiny of improper regulatory arbitrage by imposing higher margin requirements.
China’s stock market tumbled in 2023 and has extended its slide in the new year. Though the blue-chip CSI300 Index has recovered some ground, it still down about 3 per cent year to date.
Small Chinese investors are scrambling even harder than foreigners to exit the crumbling stock markets, sending premiums on global index funds skyrocketing as they search for exposure to anything but the sputtering domestic economy.
China’s economy grew 5.2 per cent for 2023, slightly above the government’s target, but the comparison was flattered by a weak, Covid lockdown-hit 2022 and the recovery has been highly uneven.
December data showed lacklustre consumption and the fastest fall in home prices for nine years, with the property market in a deep crisis.
Both Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges said they will suspend securities lending by strategic investors during lockup periods, effective from Jan 29. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/china-securities-regulator-suspends-restricted-share-lending
| 2024-01-29T01:55:26Z
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HONG KONG – China property giant Evergrande faces imminent liquidation after its overseas creditors failed to reach an 11th-hour deal this weekend to restructure the sprawling real-estate company, the Wall Street Journal reported on Jan 28, citing people familiar with the matter.
Talks between the company and its top creditors kicked off last week over a new plan that would have allowed the company to continue its operations, according to the report.
Evergrande, the world’s most indebted developer with more than US$300 billion (S$402.6 billion) of total liabilities, sent a struggling property sector into a tailspin when it defaulted on its debt in 2021. The low point for the firm deepened a debt crisis in the sector and sparked many other company defaults in a damaging economic blow that, to this day, remains a drag on growth.
A liquidation ruling of the developer, which has US$240 billion of assets, would likely jolt already-fragile Chinese capital and property markets. Low investor and consumer confidence remains a major drag on China’s economy, and any fresh hit to markets could further undermine policymakers’ efforts to rejuvenate growth.
The liquidation process could be complicated, with potential political considerations, given the many authorities involved.
But it is expected to have little impact on the company’s operations, including home construction projects in the near term, as it could take months or years for the offshore liquidator appointed by the creditors to take control of subsidiaries across mainland China – a different jurisdiction from Hong Kong.
Evergrande had been working on a US$23 billion debt revamp plan with the ad hoc bond holder group for almost two years. Its original plan was scuppered in late September when it said its billionaire founder Hui Ka Yan was under investigation for suspected crimes.
The ad hoc group, which was “firmly opposed” to the revised terms proposed by Evergrande in December, plans to join a petition to liquidate Evergrande at the hearing on Jan 29, which could increase the chances of an immediate liquidation order from the court, Reuters reported last week.
The winding-up petition was first filed in June 2022 by Top Shine, an investor in Evergrande unit Fangchebao, which said the developer had failed to honour an agreement to repurchase shares it had bought in the subsidiary.
The winding-up proceedings have been adjourned multiple times and Hong Kong High Court Justice Linda Chan has said previously that the December hearing would be the last before a decision was made whether to liquidate Evergrande in the absence of a “concrete” restructuring plan. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/embattled-china-evergrande-back-in-court-for-liquidation-hearing
| 2024-01-29T01:55:36Z
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SINGAPORE – Singapore’s central bank kept unchanged its monetary policy stance that is aimed at strengthening the trade-weighted Singapore dollar to fight still-elevated inflation.
While core inflation – which excludes private transport and accommodation costs to better reflect the expenses of local households – has surprised on the upside, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) expects overall inflation to ease at a faster pace in 2024.
It lowered its estimate for overall inflation in 2024 to 2.5 per cent to 3.5 per cent, down from a previous projection of between 3 per cent and 4 per cent. But it kept its core inflation projection unchanged at an average of 2.5 per cent to 3.5 per cent for 2024.
MAS said on Jan 29 that it will maintain the prevailing rate of appreciation of the Singapore dollar nominal effective exchange rate (S$Neer) policy band, with no change to the width of the band or level at which it is centred.
“Current monetary policy settings remain appropriate. The sustained appreciation of the policy band will continue to dampen imported inflation and curb domestic cost pressures, thus ensuring medium-term price stability,” the central bank said in the first of its quarterly monetary policy statements.
MAS said that with certificate of entitlement (COE) premiums falling since November and the larger COE supply this year compared with 2023, overall inflation in 2024 is now forecast to be lower.
All 19 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News had expected MAS to maintain its overall policy settings.
The decision to stand pat was widely expected after data last week showed that core inflation rose in December from a month earlier after easing for several months. The full-year rate of increase in core prices also came in higher than the average in 2022.
December’s core inflation accelerated to 3.3 per cent year on year from 3.2 per cent in November. It averaged 4.2 per cent in 2023, up from 4.1 per cent in 2022.
Overall inflation also rose, to 3.7 per cent in December from 3.6 per cent in November. For the whole of 2023, it averaged 4.8 per cent, down from 6.1 per cent in 2022.
Inflation rates in 2023 were impacted by the increase in the goods and services tax (GST) rate to 8 per cent, MAS and Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) had said in their monthly joint inflation statement on Jan 23, which noted other price increases, such as for bus and train fares – which took effect in late 2023 – and electricity and gas tariffs in the first quarter of 2024.
MAS said on Jan 29: “Core inflation is expected to rise in the current quarter due in part to the one-off impact of the 1 percentage point hike in the GST from January this year, as well as the increase in the carbon tax.
“Water prices will rise from the second quarter of this year amid increases in production costs. Inflation for certain services components, including public transport and healthcare, could also stay elevated as less frequently adjusted prices rise to catch up with higher cost levels.”
However, MAS added: “Setting aside the transitory impact of the GST increase, core inflation is forecast to decline gradually over 2024. Lower imported costs and a slower pace of domestic cost increases should underpin the moderating trend in inflation.”
This is MAS’ first monetary policy statement since it shifted to a quarterly schedule from biannual reviews previously. It is also the first policy statement under new managing director Chia Der Jiun, who replaced Ravi Menon on Jan 1.
The central bank is also hopeful for export-driven Singapore’s economic growth to pick up later in 2024, even as the near-term outlook remains depressed by the lagged effects of elevated interest rates in advanced economies.
MAS said “global final demand should pick up later this year, as lower inflation sustains private consumption expenditure, and monetary policy settings in the major economies turn more supportive”.
It said gross domestic product growth is projected to come in between 1 per cent and 3 per cent in 2024, after the economy expanded by 1.2 per cent in 2023.
Unlike most central banks worldwide that set benchmark interest rates to manage inflation, MAS uses the Singapore dollar against a trade-weighted basket of currencies as the main monetary policy tool to cool import costs – the main contributor to inflation here.
The central bank undertakes to ensure the S$Neer is kept within the boundaries – width and centre – of its policy band. This is done mainly through intervention operations – the sale or purchase of Singapore dollars – in the spot foreign exchange market.
Forex intervention operations involve the sale or purchase of US dollars against the Singdollar. Singdollar-US dollar intervention is the preferred operation as this is by far the most liquid currency pair traded.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/mas-keeps-singdollar-policy-unchanged-lowers-overall-inflation-forecast-for-2024
| 2024-01-29T01:55:47Z
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LONDON - Job vacancies in Britain fell by the most in more than three years in December, another sign a red-hot labour market is cooling.
Figures in the latest job market report published by online portal Adzuna showed advertised vacancies declined 6.95 per cent in December, the largest drop since June 2020. Early data suggests January will see a similar sized fall, marking what could be the start of a difficult year for jobseekers, Adzuna said.
“Hiring is clearly slowing down but worryingly this data also suggests that there’s been little if any rebound in activity in the new year,” said Tony Wilson, director at the Institute for Employment Studies.
“Ordinarily, we would expect quite a strong bounce back in recruitment after Christmas, but the fact that this hasn’t happened this year suggests that a lot of firms are holding back given wider uncertainty in the economy,” he said.
The shift may ease upward pressure on wages that’s been a symptom of persistent inflationary pressures the Bank of England (BOE) is trying to rein in. The central bank is concerned that average earnings are rising too quickly for inflation to return sustainably to the 2 per cent target.
Consumer price growth peaked in 2022 at 11.1 per cent and is still double the target at 4 per cent. The BOE has raised rates to 5.25 per cent from 0.1 per cent in December 2021 to tame inflation and is expected to leave them on hold at that level on Feb 1.
The year has started with a wave of announcements about job cuts. Tata is axing 2,800 jobs at its Port Talbot steel works, UK banks are cutting hundreds of jobs and the fund manager Abrdn is getting rid of 500 positions.
At the same time, health and rail workers have been striking for better pay as people across the country seek above-inflation pay rises to make up for real-term cuts in earnings in 2022 and 2023.
The economy weakened in January, according to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) employer group’s monthly “growth indicator,” which found that private sector activity fell in the three months to January. Activity has now been flat or falling for the last year and a half, the CBI said.
The data from Adzuna, which is used by the BOE and the Office for National Statistics, also showed the December fall was the largest since the series began in 2016, excluding the period April to June 2020 at the start of the pandemic.
Competition for jobs rose to its highest level since September 2021, with 1.68 jobseekers per vacancy - up from its lowest level since the start of the pandemic of 1.45 last June. Pay growth remains firm, with average advertised salaries up 0.96 per cent in the month to £37,577 (S$64,030). January and February will be critical for the BOE as annual pay settlements are agreed.
“Jobseekers hoping for a positive start to the year won’t be happy to see December’s data with roles down nearly 7 per cent compared to November and nearly 13 per cent compared to the same time in 2022,” said Andrew Hunter, Adzuna’s co-founder.
“This will likely continue into January with data so far indicating that jobs are expected to drop further before they begin picking up. Yet salaries have remained strong despite the dip in vacancies.” BLOOMBERG
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/uk-job-vacancies-fall-by-most-in-3-years-in-sign-labour-market-is-cooling
| 2024-01-29T01:55:57Z
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In Pictures: Italy’s Venice Carnival
This annual festival held in Venice, Italy, is famous for its elaborate costumes and masks. This year’s edition celebrates “Marco Polo’s Amazing Journey”, paying homage to the 700th anniversary of the Venetian explorer’s death.
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https://str.sg/rRve
A masked reveller in a period costume posing during the pre-opening of the 2024 Venice Carnival on Jan 27, 2024. The carnival will take place from Feb 3 to 13, celebrating "Marco Polo's Amazing Journey".
PHOTO: AFP
A masked reveller taking part in the carnival in St. Mark's Square on Jan 27, 2024.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Kicking off the carnival, a boat in the shape of a giant rat leads a procession of boats during the Pantegana Regatta on the Grand Canal, on Jan 28, 2024.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Dressed up revellers sailing their decorated boats on the Grand Canal during the traditional parade on Jan 28, 2024.
PHOTO: AFP
Masked revellers taking part in the carnival in St. Mark's Square on Jan 27, 2024.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Masked revellers wearing period costumes posing in St. Mark's Square on Jan 28, 2024.
PHOTO: AFP
Revellers rowing during the masquerade parade on the Grand Canal on Jan 28, 2024.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Participants dressed in imaginative and flamboyant costumes rowing animal-shaped boats during the Pantegana Regatta on the Grand Canal on Jan 28, 2024.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Dressed up revellers sailing their decorated boats across the Grand Canal for the water parade on Jan 28, 2024.
PHOTO: AFP
A masked reveller in a period costume posing on Jan 28, 2024.
PHOTO: AFP
A masked reveller in a period costume posing next to the Ponte dei Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs) during the pre-opening of the carnival on Jan 27, 2024.
PHOTO: AFP
A dressed up reveller sailing on the Grand Canal during the traditional parade as part of the carnival on Jan 28, 2024.
PHOTO: AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/multimedia/photos/in-pictures-italy-venice-carnival
| 2024-01-29T01:56:07Z
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SINGAPORE - Young people are less likely to think it is necessary to marry and have children, but most still aspire to do so, a new survey has found.
They are held back by practical concerns such as wanting to first advance their careers and build a comfortable life, as well as the cost and stress of raising children.
These were among the findings of the Institute of Policy Studies’ (IPS) pre-conference poll shared at the Singapore Perspectives conference on Jan 29. The survey was done to get a sense of Singaporeans’ attitudes and views towards issues like family, well-being, work and other areas.
It found that the young are reporting higher levels of loneliness, and cost of living is top of the list of social issues that Singaporeans are most concerned about.
A representative sample of 2,356 Singapore residents were polled between November and December 2023 in three groups: aged 21 to 34, 35 to 49, and 50 to 64.
While 70 per cent of the youngest group thought it was not necessary to get married, 58 per cent of the middle group and 50 per cent of the oldest group concurred.
And 72 per cent of the youngest group feel it is not necessary to have children in a marriage, compared with 63 per cent in the middle group and 49 per cent in the oldest group.
Despite this, 68 per cent of the youngest respondents foresee themselves getting married, and 67 per cent hope to have children.
Across all age groups, the top two reasons for not dating or getting married are that they have not met the right person yet and that they prefer to remain single.
Younger respondents are more likely to cite having other priorities, such as their job and self-discovery, and a lack of time and energy, as their reasons for not dating, and being deterred from getting married by the cost of doing so.
Older respondents are more likely to cite a preference to remain single as their reason for not dating or getting married.
High cost and stress emerged as the top reasons for not wanting to have children across all age groups.
“They almost have checkboxes these days before they can consider marriage and parenthood. They want to check off their job, they want the ability to have their own home and a comfortable life, being able to travel twice or three times a year… And then the rest,” said Dr Chew Han Ei, senior research fellow at IPS.
Dr Kalpana Vignehsa, senior research fellow at IPS who conducted the poll, said: “So they are raising themselves to not identify so strongly with marriage and parenthood that it affects their fulfilment… It doesn’t necessarily have to be a really bad thing because if you can’t control the eventual outcome, you are a little bit protected if it’s not going to affect your sense of identity and fulfilment.”
Dr Chew said the young worry about the cost of housing, the middle group about the cost of their children’s education, and the oldest group about the cost of necessities like food and healthcare costs.
Younger respondents are more likely to report higher levels of social isolation. More than half of them find it easier to talk to people online and feel anxious if they have to interact with others in person. Only three in 10 of those aged 50 to 64 feel the same way.
Younger respondents are more likely to hope to see greater mental health support in schools and workplaces.
Mental health support ranks third on the list of social issues that younger people care about, while this concern comes in the eighth place for the oldest group, which aligns with how this group has a stronger stigma against mental health, said Dr Chew.
“They are at the life stage where they should be making transitions to the workplace, transitions to higher education, and they missed out on a lot of these opportunities during the pandemic. They don’t go for orientations, they don’t go for their immersion programmes overseas. And there’s no water cooler conversations at the workplace,” he said.
On concerns around work, younger respondents surveyed are more worried about their work prospects, such as getting their desired salary, position, benefits and working conditions.
Given the opportunity, 55 per cent of young respondents would move overseas to work, compared with 45 per cent of the middle group and 33 per cent of the oldest group.
The young feel more prepared for tech disruptions in the workplace, with 53 per cent feeling prepared for the eventual adoption of tech such as generative artificial intelligence, Web3 and blockchain in the workplace, compared with 48 per cent in the middle group and 46 per cent in the oldest group.
Younger respondents polled tend to be more civically engaged, compared with their older counterparts. The younger group participate in such activities both online and offline, and feel more empowered to create change.
Dr Wong Chin Yi, a research fellow at IPS who conducted the study with Dr Kalpana, said it was encouraging to see young people involved in civic engagement.
“The age range of 21 to 34 is past the age range where we have more mandatory forms of civic engagement in schools. But this suggests to us that even if we’re past that age, youth continue to be civically engaged.”
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/most-young-singaporeans-feel-it-is-not-necessary-to-marry-but-almost-7-in-10-want-to-poll
| 2024-01-29T01:56:18Z
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NEWPORT, Wales - Manchester United survived a major FA Cup scare from Newport County as Antony’s first goal this season inspired a dramatic 4-2 victory over the fourth-tier minnows on Jan 29.
Erik ten Hag’s side were in danger of falling victim to an epic giant-killing after blowing a two-goal lead at Rodney Parade.
Bruno Fernandes put United ahead and Kobbie Mainoo’s first goal for the club doubled their lead in the first half of the fourth round clash.
But Bryn Morris pulled one back for plucky Newport – currently 16th in League Two – before Will Evans rocked United with his second half equaliser.
With United wobbling, Antony was their unlikely saviour as the Brazil forward bagged his first goal since April after a difficult campaign marred by poor form and domestic violence allegations that he denies.
Rasmus Hojlund put a flattering gloss on the scoreline for United when he netted in stoppage-time.
United’s victory came on another problematic day for Ten Hag, who had to fend off reports of a row with Marcus Rashford.
Ten Hag, whose side are languishing in eighth place in the Premier League and have been eliminated from the Champions League, explained Rashford’s absence from the team by saying he had “reported ill”.
However, reports claimed the 26-year-old England forward had been in a nightclub in Northern Ireland on Jan 25 evening, hours before failing to attend training the next day.
Asked specifically about that Ten Hag said, “It’s an internal matter. I will deal with it.”
All the ingredients for a shock were there, given United’s spluttering form this term and Newport’s past FA Cup heroics.
A raucous crowd, some waving homemade tinfoil FA Cups, crammed into the tiny, ramshackle stadium in the hope of witnessing history.
Temporary seating was added to accomodate demand for tickets, while enterprising fans climbed on scaffolding outside the ground to catch the action.
Newport memorably knocked Leicester out of the FA Cup in 2019, but initially it seemed United would easily avoid becoming another victim of the FA Cup’s rich history of upsets.
Ten Hag had taken no chances as he named a strong side featuring all United’s key players.
A flowing move produced United’s opener in the seventh minute as Luke Shaw’s pass was deftly flicked into Fernandes’s path by Antony and the Portugal midfielder finished with authority from the edge of the area.
Mainoo doubled United’s lead in the 13th minute, sweeping his shot into the far corner from 10 yards after Diogo Dalot picked out the young midfielder.
United looked set to win by a huge margin when Alejandro Garnacho sprinted onto Lisandro Martinez’s raking pass and lashed his shot off the crossbar.
But the underdogs reduced the deficit completely against the run of play in the 36th minute.
Morris pounced on a loose ball 25 yards from goal and smashed a superb volley that took a deflection off Martinez before looping past debutant keeper Altay Bayindir into the far corner.
United should have been out of sight by half-time but chances came and went, the most glaring when Nick Townsend plunged to his right to deny Fernandes.
In the 47th minute, Adam Lewis’s cross arrowed towards Evans and the forward got there just ahead of Raphael Varane, meeting it with a flick that deflected in off the United defender’s boot.
It was a dream come true for Evans, an ex-farmer and teacher who only two years ago was playing in the Welsh leagues.
United were on the ropes but Newport could not deliver the knockout blow and Ten Hag’s men regained the lead in the 68th minute.
Shaw cleverly dragged the ball back to create space for a shot that cannoned off the post to Antony, who calmly slotted into the empty net.
To Ten Hag’s immense relief, Hojlund finished from close-range after a goal-mouth scramble to end any chance of late embarrassment. AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/antony-spares-manchester-uniteds-blushes-after-newport-threaten-fa-cup-shock
| 2024-01-29T01:56:28Z
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DOHA - Tajikistan coach Petar Segrt is warm and affable with a booming voice but after gaining popularity for his charm at the Asian Cup, he is now turning heads after his side's dream run to the quarter-finals.
The only team making their debut at the tournament in Qatar, Tajikistan were the competition's minnows and were barely given a second look when the 24-team group stage got underway.
But they shocked the continent by first reaching the knockout stage before delivering the upset of the tournament by eliminating the United Arab Emirates on penalties in the last 16 on Sunday.
"We are now the dark horses in this tournament. Nobody knows how far we can go. I have no limits for my players, they've surprised me again," the 57-year-old Segrt told reporters.
A well-travelled coach who has taken charge of teams such as Georgia, Afghanistan and Maldives, the Croatian has become a national hero in Tajikistan in the past week.
His demeanour and showmanship came across as a ploy to shift the limelight away from his young squad, and the tactic has clearly worked.
"It's like when you have children, you must wait for the right moment," Segrt had said when he was asked whether his personality protected his team during the group stage.
"Now they are ready... I will still try to put all the pressure on me, but they must work like adults and do it themselves."
Conceding only one goal against Qatar, a comeback win over Lebanon and nearly beating UAE in 90 minutes before dumping them out in the shootout is proof that his team is perhaps better than their ranking of 106 would suggest.
"We are among the eight best teams in Asia," said Segrt, whose side will next face either Iraq or Jordan.
CENTRE OF ATTENTION
Croatia's Segrt makes a point of shaking everyone's hand in the room before his press conferences.
It is something he says he has done out of respect for 27 years.
"I come from a very poor (background), a very difficult situation in old Yugoslavia and in Germany. I learned to respect everybody because for me, as a child it was very difficult," he said.
"I never forget where I come from... I think I have an honest soul, this is my most important thing."
His style of management has clearly struck a chord with his young players, who engulfed him and broke his glasses when they qualified for the last-16.
"He's very positive every time, very kind. But he knows when he has to be friendly and kind, and when he has to be hard and strict towards us," Tajikistan defender Zoir Dzhuraboev said.
When some players sat on the turf in the dugout before the shootout against the UAE, Segrt sternly asked them to get back on their feet and present a united front, standing shoulder to shoulder.
"I think the most important thing is to make harmony between people," he said. "A coach who can make and bring harmony to the people, this is a good coach and a successful coach."
Segrt's contract runs out after the Asian Cup but there is no question where his loyalty lies.
"We'll see in the next few days but I must say that Tajikistan is my first country," he said. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/from-small-fry-to-dark-horses-coach-segrt-makes-tajikistan-dream-at-asian-cup
| 2024-01-29T01:56:38Z
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FLORIDA - Nelly Korda made a downhill par putt on the second play-off hole to defeat Lydia Ko of New Zealand and win the LPGA Drive On Championship on Jan 28 at Bradenton (Florida) Country Club.
Korda, a Bradenton native, nabbed her ninth career LPGA victory despite squandering a four-shot lead to start the day.
After both Korda and Ko returned to the par-four 18th hole for the play-off, and made par the first time through, Korda’s approach shot on the second go-round at the hole rolled off the back of the green toward the hospitality tent. Ko landed her shot on the green, but after Korda chipped on, Ko’s long birdie putt stopped several feet short.
Ko then watched her uphill par putt lip out. Korda calmly delivered her six-footer to the centre of the cup before celebrating with the home crowd.
“Even when I was down, they were so, so positive and keeping me in it,” Korda said on the Golf Channel broadcast. “It was just such a grind out there, so back and forth... I can’t even believe it right now.”
Korda and Ko took much different paths to finish 72 holes in 11-under 273. Ko posted a two-under 69 Sunday and Korda signed for a two-over 73.
Korda went one over on the front nine, and her hopes took a blow with a bogey-double bogey-bogey stretch at Nos. 14-16.
Ko then made a remarkable eagle at the par-five 17th hole to grab sole possession of the lead. Her second shot narrowly avoided water, bounced up onto the green and rolled to inside a foot of the hole.
Shortly after Ko’s tap-in eagle, Korda made her own eagle putt at No. 17 from nearly off the green. Ko parred No. 18, meaning Korda needed birdie to tie, and she dialed up an approach shot that nestled within inches of the pin, necessitating the playoff.
“I honestly thought that the tournament was over going into 17,” said Korda, 25. “I just kinda gave myself a chance. I knew that if I got that eagle in, I’d have to birdie the last hole. I always seem to make it very dramatic and interesting. There’s no better feeling to do it in front of a home crowd.”
Ko won last week’s season opener and continued her red-hot start to the season. Had she won Sunday, she would have bagged her 20th career LPGA victory – qualifying for the LPGA Hall of Fame. The second play-off hole did her in.
“I actually hit a good stroke on (the second putt), it just broke a little bit more than I thought,” the 26-year-old Ko said. “The first putt, it’s difficult, I think, when there’s a lot of grain. I honestly didn’t think I hit it that far short but obviously I misjudged the slope and the grain of it. But I played really solid today.”
Megan Khang made three birdies in her first seven holes to 12 under for the event but bogeyed Nos. 9, 14, 15 and 16. She settled for a one-over 72 and finished alone in third place at eight under.
Lucy Li (69) and Japan’s Ayaka Furue (73) tied for fifth at seven under. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/golf/nelly-korda-outlasts-lydia-ko-in-play-off-to-win-golf-s-drive-on-championship
| 2024-01-29T01:56:49Z
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MELBOURNE - A composed Jannik Sinner is ready for what comes next after winning a maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, saying he likes to “dance in the pressure storm”.
Ever since bursting on the scene as a 17-year-old in 2019, the Italian has been touted as one of tennis’ future greats.
It has been a five-year grind to reach the pinnacle with his come-from-behind five-set victory over Daniil Medvedev in Melbourne on Jan 28, and the prodigious young talent is taking it in his stride.
“I’m extremely happy that I am in this position now. I have a great team behind me who knows what I have to do,” he said of the extra spotlight that will now inevitably fall on him.
He pointed to having Darren Cahill in his corner as a coach, with the Australian having been there and done that.
Cahill guided Lleyton Hewitt to become the second youngest player ranked world No. 1 before coaching Andre Agassi to become the oldest player to achieve the feat.
He has also worked with a host of other high-profile players including Andy Murray and Simona Halep, guiding the Romanian to the French Open title.
“With Darren, he has a lot of experience. He has been through this already a number of times,” said Sinner.
“So, you know, it’s all part of the process. Obviously having this trophy, it’s an amazing feeling. I feel grateful to have this here.
“But I know that I have to work even harder, because the opponents,... will find the way to beat me and I have to be prepared. Let’s see what’s coming in the future.”
A striking aspect of Sinner’s time in Melbourne was his calm and composed demeanour, even when he found himself in trouble.
Against an ultra-aggressive Medvedev, he did not panic when he fell two sets behind, instead looking for chinks in the Russian’s armour and when a chance arose, he took it.
“There is always pressure, but the pressure is something good. You have to take it in a good way. It’s a privilege, no?,” he said.
“So yes, I like to dance in the pressure storm. Personally, I like it, because that’s where most of the time I bring out my best tennis. I’m also quite relaxed in this occasion, because I always try to enjoy being on the court.”
The 22-year-old is the first Italian man to win a Grand Slam since Adriano Panatta in 1976 and the youngest man to win the Australian Open since Novak Djokovic in 2008.
It capped a highly successful six months for Sinner, who clinched his maiden ATP Masters crown in Toronto last August.
He backed that up with titles in Beijing and Vienna before reaching the championship match on home soil at November’s ATP Finals and guiding Italy to Davis Cup success.
For Sinner, it has been the result of long-term thinking by him and his team.
“I think what I did not last year, but two years ago, getting to know my body better, getting to know my team better. This was a very important step for me,” he said.
“Then last year we tried to have some more results. That made me believe that I can compete against the best players in the world.
“But (here) I still have to process it, because beating Novak in the semis and then Daniil in the final, they are tough players to beat.
“So it’s a great moment for me and my team, but we also know that we have to improve if we want to have another chance to hold a big trophy again.” AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/tennis/jannik-sinner-relishing-chance-to-dance-in-pressure-storm-after-australian-open-win
| 2024-01-29T01:56:59Z
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MEXICO CITY - Animal rights defenders in Mexico City on Sunday marched to protest the return of the centuries-old spectacle of bullfighting to the capital after almost two years.
"Torture is not art, it is not culture," demonstrators shouted near the Plaza Mexico bullring. "Yes to bulls, no to bullfighting."
Mexico's capital held its first bullfight in almost two years on Sunday, after the Supreme Court paved the way for the spectacle's return in December.
Bullfights have been held in Mexico since the 16th century.
While a ruling suspended bullfighting in 2022 as a precautionary measure amid a longer-running case, the Supreme Court struck that decision down. Activists hope a final resolution will come later this year. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/mexico-activists-protest-return-of-bullfights-to-capital
| 2024-01-29T01:57:09Z
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AMMAN - Jordan has condemned the “terrorist attack” on a military advance post just inside its border with Syria that killed three US military members and injured dozens on Jan 28.
It is the first time American military personnel have been killed by hostile fire in the Middle East since the start of the war between Israel and Iran-backed Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip following the Palestinian militant group’s attack on Israel on Oct 7.
Jordanian government spokesman Muhannad Mubaidin expressed condolences to the United States and said the attack “did not result in any casualties among officers of the Jordan Armed Forces”.
In the first official statement on the attack, staunch US ally Jordan said it was working with Washington to fight terrorism. Earlier, a government spokesperson had said the attack was on a US base in Syria adjacent to the border but not on Jordanian soil.
The attack also drew condemnation from Egypt and Israel.
“Egypt affirmed its strong condemnation of any terrorist acts that threaten the security and stability of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, expressing full solidarity with Jordan in this delicate situation... Egypt emphasised the necessity of confronting all forms of terrorism and rejecting all manifestations of violence to ensure the stability of the regio,” its foreign ministry said in a statement.
Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz said: “We stand united in our values and battle against a common enemy. Their sacrifice will always be remembered. Rest in peace. Wishing a speedy recovery to the injured.”
The US military said the attack occurred at a base in north-eastern Jordan, near the Syrian border. It did not name the base, but a person familiar with the matter identified it as Tower 22 in Jordan.
A senior Jordanian security source told Reuters that Jordan had recently appealed for more advanced US defence hardware and support because of worries Iran and its proxies could become embroiled more deeply in any wider Middle East conflagration.
Jordan recently alerted Washington to the urgent need to bolster its defences against Iranian-backed militias building up their strength on Jordan’s borders with Iraq and Syria, the official said.
There has been growing concern within the Jordanian military and security establishment that Iranian militias who now hold sway in southern Syria were exploiting the Gaza war to achieve a security breakthrough.
Iran’s influence in Syria has expanded since Tehran’s allies, including Lebanese group Hezbollah, helped Syrian President Bashar al-Assad quell a rebellion that erupted in 2011.
Iranian-backed militias hold sway on Syria’s southern border with Jordan, and Amman blames them and Iran for running a drug smuggling business.
Some Jordanian officials say that pro-Iranian militias in both Iraq and Syria, which have been escalating attacks on US bases in the area since the Israel-Hamas war, are also using the drug war to pile pressure on Jordan, a US ally that hosts hundreds of American troops.
Jordan had also requested Patriot air defence systems from Washington as part of its growing concern about being caught in the crossfire if the war in Gaza pulls in Iran and its well-armed regional militias on the kingdom’s borders.
The presence of US troops in Jordan is a sensitive matter in a country where anti-US sentiment runs high because of Washington’s support for Israel in its war against Hamas.
Jordan’s government signed a defence deal with the United States in January 2021, offering US forces “unimpeded access” to several Jordanian military facilities, storage sites for pre-positioning equipment, and other installations. REUTERS, AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/jordan-egypt-condemn-terrorist-attack-that-killed-3-us-soldiers
| 2024-01-29T01:57:20Z
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WASHINTON - Bayer has been ordered to pay US$2.25 billion (S$3.02 billion) to a Pennsylvania man who said he developed cancer from exposure to the company’s Roundup weedkiller, the man’s attorneys said.
A jury in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas found that Mr John McKivision’s non-Hodgkins lymphoma was the result of using Roundup for yard work at his house for a period of several years. The verdict includes US$250 million in compensatory damages and US$2 billion in punitive damages.
“The jury’s punitive damages award sends a clear message that this multi-national corporation needs top to bottom change,” Mr Tom Kline and Mr Jason Itkin, Mr McKivision’s attorneys, said in a joint statement on Jan 26.
Bayer in a statement said it disagreed “with the jury’s adverse verdict that conflicts with the overwhelming weight of scientific evidence and worldwide regulatory and scientific assessments, and believe that we have strong arguments on appeal to get this verdict overturned and the unconstitutionally excessive damage award eliminated or reduced”.
Bayer added that some previous damages awards had been reduced by more than 90 per cent.
The verdict comes after five other recent wins late last year by plaintiffs suing Bayer over Roundup, though the company won the most recent such trial in December, as well as a string of earlier trials. In all, it has won 10 of the last 16 Roundup trials.
Around 165,000 claims have been made in the United States against the company for personal injuries allegedly caused by Roundup, which Bayer acquired as part of its US$63 billion purchase of US agro-chemical company Monsanto in 2018. Most plaintiffs, like Mr McKivision, allege that the product caused them to develop non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
Bayer has said that decades of studies have shown Roundup and its active ingredient, glyphosate, are safe for human use.
Roundup is among the most widely used weedkillers in the United States, though the company phased out its sales for home use last year.
In 2020, Bayer settled most of the then-pending Roundup cases for up to US$9.6 billion but failed to get a settlement covering future cases. More than 50,000 claims remain pending.
Last year’s string of losses produced verdicts against the company totaling more than US$2 billion. Bayer is appealing those verdicts, which include large punitive damages awards that are likely to be reduced because they exceed US Supreme Court guidance.
The losses had led some investors to question Bayer’s legal strategy in defending the Roundup cases. The company said in November that it would continue fighting the cases in court and had “no appetite to write humongous cheques” to settle them.
The company had even considered a plan to break off its crop science business, in part due to concerns about Roundup liability, though it said earlier this month that it was putting those plans aside for now and focusing on internal reorganisation.
More Roundup trials are expected later this year. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/bayer-ordered-to-pay-us225-billion-to-us-man-in-latest-roundup-trial
| 2024-01-29T01:57:30Z
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Exclusives
Military
Commander: Ukraine would win faster if allowed to hit Russia with Western weapons. Ukraine’s navy commander, Vice Admiral Oleksiy Neizhpapa, told Sky News that the war course would have been very different had Ukrainian forces been allowed to use Western munitions without restrictions from the very beginning. He also named two main objectives of Ukrainian operations in the Black Sea.
Intelligence and technology
Telegraph: Russian military spending seven times higher than NATO average. According to only official information, Russia spends 29% of all public expenditures on defense, while the NATO average is 4.3%, including the vast 11% contribution from the USA. The actual number may be even more in favor of Russia due to a large part of classified expenditures.
Insider: Taiwan becomes Russia’s top supplier of precision machine tools. An investigation has exposed how Russia has tapped Taiwan as its primary source of banned high-tech machine tools by evading sanctions through intermediaries in Türkiye and China
International
Scholz urges EU states to provide more aid to Ukraine. Scholz urges the EU member nations to send Ukraine more aid, with Germany committing €7 billion in 2024, over half the bloc’s total funding.
France accuses Russia of fake news campaign after debunked mercenary strike. France’s defense minister has slammed what he called Russian fake news aimed at discrediting French nationals fighting alongside Ukraine.
Humanitarian and social impact
Russian rockets attack civilian residences in Ukraine’s Myrnohrad at night, injuring three, including 15-year-old. In the early hours of 28 January 2024, Russian forces launched a missile attack on a residential area of Myrnohrad in Donetsk Oblast, 30 kilometers from the frontline.
Political and legal developments
UK intel: arson attacks on Russian military enlistment centers double over six months. This may indicate people’s distrust of the government’s promise not to carry out a new wave of mobilization.
Hungary far-right party calls for seizing Ukraine’s Zakarpattia if Russia wins. The leader of the Hungarian party Mi Hazank (Our Homeland), Laszlo Toroczkai, stated that his party would lay claim to Ukraine’s Zakarpattia region if Ukraine loses its statehood due to the war with Russia.
Avon continues doing business in Russia despite Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. BBC investigation shows Avon expanding Russia operations – UK-headquartered cosmetics firm still making products outside Moscow and recruiting Russian sales agents during Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
New developments
SBU uncovers that officials, arms dealers steal some $40 mn budget for 100K mortar shells. Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), in collaboration with top military officials, has exposed a massive embezzlement scheme within the Defense Ministry, involving about $40 million earmarked for 100,000 mortar shells, implicating dubious arms contractors and bureaucrats, the SBU reports.
Read our earlier daily review here
As of 28 Jan 2024, the approximate losses of weapons and military equipment of the Russian Armed Forces from the beginning of the invasion to the present day:
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- Personnel: 382110 (+740)
- Tanks: 6280 (+9)
- APV: 11671 (+19)
- Artillery systems: 9097 (+12)
- MLRS: 972
- Anti-aircraft systems: 660
- Aircraft: 331
- Helicopters: 324
- UAV: 7041 (+4)
- Cruise missiles: 1845
- Warships/boats: 23
- Submarines: 1
- Vehicles and fuel tanks: 12103 (+31)
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https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/01/29/russo-ukrainian-war-day-704-russia-uses-north-korean-missiles-in-latest-attack-on-kyiv/
| 2024-01-29T03:02:23Z
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MELBOURNE - Australia's resources minister has begun a week long trip to South Korea and Japan to discuss gas exports and critical minerals opportunities, as its government on Monday released a "prospectus" of 52 investment ready critical minerals projects.
The resources-rich nation is seeking investment from allies in projects to develop minerals critical to green energy and at risk of supply chain disruption, spanning rare earths processing to various cobalt and nickel producing mines and plants.
"Australia's critical minerals are key to the world's energy transformation," said Minister Madeleine King in a statement.
"But we need to attract investment to get these minerals out of the ground, to process them here, to build the batteries, wind turbines and solar panels required make the switch to a lower carbon economy," she said.
King will be meeting Japan's trade minister Ken Saito, and South Korean trade and energy minister Duk-geun Ahn, she said in a statement.
The minister is also expected to engage her counterparts on natural gas as Australia develops its future gas policy, given both nations are large customers of the major exporter.
The push for investment comes amid a global downturn in prices for electric vehicle battery materials lithium and nickel, which have been hit by slower-than-expected electric vehicle uptake. For nickel, a flood of Indonesian supply has also hit prices.
Already this year, a string of Australian nickel projects have been iced, including part of BHP's operations in the state of Western Australia. More are expected as miners report production this week.
King spent last week meeting industry leaders at several round tables in the country's resources heartland of Western Australia state amid announcements of closures and job cuts.
She pledged support for the sector and said she was determined to ensure Australian miners could compete with cheaper but lower grade minerals produced in less environmentally friendly ways overseas.
Last week, an Australian mining association said it had called for a 10% production tax credit, deferral of royalties and funding for shared infrastructure, among other measures at its meetings with the senior ministers. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/australias-resources-minister-seeks-investment-from-skorea-japan
| 2024-01-29T03:26:51Z
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Former Malaysian finance minister Daim Zainuddin was charged on Jan 29 with allegedly failing to declare his assets.
Prosecutors alleged that Daim failed to declare ownership in 38 companies; 25 lands and properties in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang and Kedah; and two investment fund accounts under the country’s anti-graft laws.
The 85-year-old, who served as finance minister twice between 1984 and 2001, pleaded not guilty in a court in Kuala Lumpur.
If found guilty, Daim faces a maximum prison term of five years and a RM100,000 (S$28,373) fine.
Judge Azura Alwi set bail at RM280,000 but did not impose any additional conditions after Daim’s lawyer, Mr M. Puravalen, told the court that his client is “not going anywhere” due to his health condition.
Daim, who arrived in court in a wheelchair with his family, was a kidney transplant patient, has hearing difficulties and suffered from minor strokes. One of his eyes was removed due to a fungal eye infection, Mr Puravalen said.
Judge Azura also advised parties in the case not to issue any statements and set March 22 for the next mention.
On Jan 23, Daim’s wife, Na’imah Abdul Khalid, was charged with failing to disclose her assets to graft investigators.
Daim is a close ally of former two-time prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.
He is a fierce critic of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who came to power in 2022 vowing to stamp out high-level corruption.
The country’s anti-graft agency has said it is investigating Daim, who has called the probe into his affairs a “political witch-hunt”.
Tun Dr Mahathir has also claimed that the investigation is politically motivated.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission had explained that the investigation carried out against Daim is based on existing laws and information from the Pandora Papers, which shone a light on tax evasion by the rich and powerful around the world.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/malaysia-s-ex-finance-minister-charged-with-failure-to-declare-assets
| 2024-01-29T03:27:01Z
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LUANG PRABANG – Myanmar’s military junta, barred from sending political appointees to high-level Asean meetings since the 2021 coup, on Jan 29 sent a senior official to take part in the Asean Foreign Ministers’ Retreat in Laos.
Ms Marlar Than Htaik, permanent secretary of the foreign ministry under the control of Myanmar junta, represented Myanmar alongside Asean foreign ministers as the retreat began on Monday morning in Luang Prabang.
Myanmar’s seat had been left empty at Asean leaders’ and foreign ministers’ meetings after the coup.
The political and humanitarian crisis in Myanmar has deepened since the coup, with escalating military clashes in its north swelling its displaced population to 2.6 million as at the end of 2023.
Criminal syndicates have exploited the political vacuum created by the turmoil in Myanmar to ramp up the production of narcotics and run online scams targeting the region and beyond.
Asean has not been able to make much headway on its three-year-old blueprint towards a resolution in the country, which called for a end to violence in the country, the appointment of an Asean special envoy who would then meet with all relevant stakeholders, as well as the provision of humanitarian aid to Myanmar.
The current Asean special envoy on Myanmar, veteran Lao diplomat Alounkeo Kittikhoun, has held meetings with Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing as well as Ms Zin Mar Aung, the foreign minister of the rival National Unity Government.
In view of the junta’s resistance towards Asean’s peace plan, the bloc had limited Myanmar’s representation at certain high-level meetings to non-political appointees, essentially shutting out Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and its foreign minister Than Swe.
The junta had responded by not sending a senior official in place, which meant that Myanmar was not represented at these meetings until now.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/myanmar-junta-sends-senior-official-to-attend-asean-foreign-ministers-meeting
| 2024-01-29T03:27:11Z
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NEW YORK – Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) will delay paying performance bonuses to some executives until its financial statements are completed and audited, according to a staff memo seen by Reuters.
The delay, detailed in a memo sent to staff on Jan 25, comes days after ADM sidelined its chief financial officer and brought in outside lawyers to launch an investigation into accounting practices last week.
The investigation is focused on the nutrition segment, a relatively small unit of the grains trading giant’s business that played an outsized role in executive compensation.
Compensation from ADM’s performance incentive plan for members of the company’s executive council, including any who retired in 2023, would be postponed, the note said. ADM declined to comment.
Payments to other employees would be paid in March on the company’s normal schedule, according to the staff memo.
The executive council includes several top executives and heads of other ADM businesses. According to the company’s website, which details what it calls its senior leadership, of the 19 people listed, 14 are cited as being members of the executive council in their biographies.
News of the investigation into accounting practices sent ADM shares tumbling 24 per cent on Jan 22, the biggest fall since 1929, according to the Center for Research in Security Prices.
ADM has delayed the release of its full-year 2023 financial results until further notice.
The probe focuses on ADM’s nutrition reporting segment and “intersegment transactions”, the company has said. It started after ADM received a request for information from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), ADM said. The SEC declined to comment.
A change by ADM’s compensation and succession committee in 2020 tied half of long-term executive compensation to operating profit growth of the nutrition segment, according to ADM proxy statements.
The nutrition unit accounted for just 9.3 per cent of ADM revenue that year, LSEG data showed.
ADM in 2023 reported average nutrition operating profit growth from 2020 to 2022 of a larger-than-forecast 21.4 per cent and which topped the company’s average adjusted return on invested capital target.
As a result, seven ADM executives were awarded more than 841,000 performance share units (PSUs), twice the targeted payout, the proxy statements showed.
Those PSUs were valued at nearly US$69 million (S$92.5 million) when they vested in February 2023. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/agribusiness-giant-adm-postpones-some-executive-bonuses-amid-accounting-probe-staff-memo
| 2024-01-29T03:27:22Z
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LONDON – London homes are now the most affordable they have been since 2014, although they are still by far the most expensive relative to earnings in Britain despite their underperformance.
Data from online sales portal Zoopla showed that London houses now cost 13 times the average earnings of a British worker, down from more than 15 times at their peak in 2016. Britain’s departure from the European Union, along with tax changes and shifts in house prices and wages, was responsible for the move.
The figures show that the London market is slowly cooling after exorbitant growth that pushed house prices out of reach for many younger buyers. Improving affordability could help a recovery in demand in the capital, which has seen lower transactions and weaker house price growth in the last seven years.
The property market in London has been hit by a tax clampdown aimed at investors and foreign buyers, along with Brexit and changing working patterns after the pandemic. London house prices have climbed just 13 per cent since 2016, compared with a 34 per cent rise in Britain, according to Zoopla.
However, it is still by far the most expensive part of the country for home buyers. Prices in the Midlands, northern England, Wales and Scotland are all well below eight times average earnings.
Zoopla’s report confirmed that the housing market started 2024 on the front foot after the cooling in mortgage rates. Sales agreed are up 13 per cent year on year, with new buyer demand jumping 21 per cent in London. The supply of homes is up by more than a fifth compared with a year ago.
“It’s a positive start to the year, with all key measures of housing activity higher than a year ago,” said Mr Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla. “The fall in mortgage rates has led to a rebound in buyer demand and sales following a weaker second half of 2023, when many movers put decisions on hold.” BLOOMBERG
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/london-s-homes-haven-t-been-this-affordable-in-a-decade
| 2024-01-29T03:27:32Z
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Egypt coach Rui Vitoria faces an uncertain future after their embarrassing last 16 exit at the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday, with critics pointing the finger at him following a series of lacklustre displays.
The record seven-time African champions lost 8-7 on penalties to the Democratic Republic of Congo following a 1-1 draw after extra time in San Pedro.
DR Congo had the majority of chances and could have settled the game in extra time when Egypt went down to 10 men after Mohamed Hamdy was sent off for a second bookable offence.
Portuguese coach Vitoria attributed the defeat to bad luck, saying there are "happy and sad moments" in football.
"Sometimes you do your best, but the result does not come as you expect it," he told reporters.
Toothless in attack and shaky at the back, Egypt bowed out of the tournament without a single win, having sneaked into the knockout stage with three 2-2 draws in their group.
Their cause was not helped by the loss of some key players to injury, including talisman Mohamed Salah and first-choice goalkeeper Mohamed El Shennawy.
Their poor displays in the Ivory Coast were in stark contrast to their fine run under Vitoria before the tournament. Egypt won 12 times in 14 games under the 53-year-old before heading to the Nations Cup, losing only once.
"Vitoria is primarily responsible for Egypt's elimination," the team's former defender Wael Gomaa, who won three Nations Cup titles from 2006 to 2010, said on beIN Sports.
"He brought out the worst in the players, and he lacked a creative touch.
"We were supposed to at least reach the semi-finals because our path was easier than the competitors." REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/vitorias-days-as-egypt-coach-may-be-numbered-after-afcon-exit
| 2024-01-29T03:27:43Z
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MELBOURNE - Jannik Sinner was not about to announce the end of the "Big Three" after his breakthrough Grand Slam triumph at the Australian Open but the 22-year-old Italian does believe tennis needs a fresh generation of champions.
His five-set victory over Daniil Medvedev on Jan 28 made him the first Melbourne Park winner in 10 years not named Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal or Roger Federer – the trio of multiple champions who have dominated tennis for two decades.
Djokovic's incredible success into his mid-thirties has delayed the decline of the "Big Three" but with Federer now retired and Nadal looking set to join him this year, a huge gap is opening up at the top of the game.
With his Melbourne triumph, Sinner has joined 20-year-old Carlos Alcaraz in the Grand Slam winners' club, spearheading a clutch of players of a similar age coming through.
"It's quite unpredictable what's coming in the future but still it's nice to be part of this generation," Sinner said as he was photographed with his trophy in Melbourne's Botanical Gardens on Jan 29.
"I think the next generation is something that this sport needs and it's also a little bit of a game-changer."
Sinner was the youngest Australian Open men's champion since Djokovic won the first of his 10 Melbourne Park titles in 2008 and even though he beat the 24-time Grand Slam champion in the semi-finals, the Italian was not inviting comparisons.
"He is a different league," he said. "I'm just happy I have this trophy for this year and then we see what's coming. There is still a lot of work to do but I will enjoy my process and then we see what I can achieve in the future."
As impressive as the clean hitting that has taken Sinner into the elite of men's tennis was his cool demeanour on court on Jan 28 as he withstood an early barrage from Medvedev before rallying from two sets down to clinch the title.
Although he fell to the Rod Laver Arena court after converting championship point, there was no huge outpouring of emotions as Sinner celebrated the biggest victory of his career.
"There were so many emotions in my head and the hard work and the sacrifices I've done throughout my career," he explained.
"Sharing this moment with my team was maybe the best feeling I've had until now.
"It's great emotions, I was just happy, yesterday I still maybe couldn't believe and now I'm starting to realise it, so it's a great feeling."
Sinner said he celebrated his dream start to the new season in understated fashion – a meal with his close-knit team in the early hours of Jan 29 morning – but said it would be straight back to work as he looked to build on his breakthrough.
He pointed to having Darren Cahill in his corner as a coach, with the Australian having been there and done that.
Cahill guided Lleyton Hewitt to become the second youngest player ranked world No. 1 before coaching Andre Agassi to become the oldest player to achieve the feat.
He has also worked with a host of other high-profile players including Andy Murray and Simona Halep, guiding the Romanian to the French Open title.
“With Darren, he has a lot of experience. He has been through this already a number of times,” said Sinner.
“So, you know, it’s all part of the process. Obviously having this trophy, it’s an amazing feeling. I feel grateful to have this here. But I know that I have to work even harder, because the opponents... will find the way to beat me and I have to be prepared.”
He is ready for what comes next, adding: “There is always pressure, but the pressure is something good. You have to take it in a good way. It’s a privilege, no?
“So yes, I like to dance in the pressure storm. Personally, I like it, because that’s where most of the time I bring out my best tennis. I’m also quite relaxed in this occasion, because I always try to enjoy being on the court.” AFP, REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/tennis/tennis-needs-the-next-generation-says-grand-slam-champion-sinner
| 2024-01-29T03:27:53Z
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Military-ruled Myanmar sent a bureaucrat to Monday's meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers in Laos, Indonesia's top diplomat said, adding the move was in line with ASEAN's policy on the conflict-torn country's attendance.
Myanmar's ruling generals remain barred from key meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) over their failure to implement a peace plan agreed with the bloc two months after a 2021 coup that unleashed chaos in the country.
ASEAN has a policy of inviting Myanmar to send what it calls a "non-political" representative instead, but the junta has in the past two years declined, furious over what it calls ASEAN interference in its internal affairs.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, in a text message to Reuters, said Myanmar's acting permanent secretary of its foreign ministry, Malar Than Htike, was in Laos for Monday's talks.
The information was confirmed by two other diplomatic sources.
"The point is there's no changes in ASEAN policy," Retno said. "Myanmar shall not affect ASEAN decision making."
Retno last year led a behind-the-scenes effort to try to start dialogue between warring parties in Myanmar, where pro-democracy militias allied with a shadow government and ethnic minority armies have waged a rebellion against the junta.
The military government has refused to take part in dialogue with what it calls "terrorists".
Myanmar has been locked in crisis since the 2021 coup, with at least two million people displaced by fighting and human rights groups accusing the junta of excessive use of force and widespread atrocities against civilians, which it denies. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/with-generals-barred-myanmar-junta-sends-bureaucrat-to-asean-meeting
| 2024-01-29T03:28:03Z
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BEIJING - A recent revelation that four science fiction and fantasy works and writers have been declared ineligible for the prestigious literary Hugo Awards, has raised concerns over censorship by the Chinese authorities.
The international literary community has been up in arms over the past week over the unexplained disqualifications, which include works involving Chinese history by two authors who were born in the mainland and now reside overseas.
The Hugo Awards in 2023 was co-administered by members of the Chinese sci-fi industry. The awards were part of the World Science Fiction Convention, or Worldcon, which was held in Chengdu, Sichuan province, in October 2023.
Chinese-American author R. F. Kuang’s book, Babel: Or The Necessity Of Violence, was one of the four nominees in four categories who were marked as “not eligible” when delayed full voting results for the Hugo were released online on Jan 20.
Babel was tipped to win Best Novel, given that it had topped bestseller lists and already bagged the US-based Nebula and Locus awards – two other top sci-fi and fantasy literary accolades – earlier in 2023. Babel had received the third-highest number of nominations in the 15-title longlist.
The other works and authors excluded were Xiran Jay Zhao, a Chinese-Canadian YouTuber and writer who was longlisted for the Astounding Award given to new writers; an episode of the Sandman TV series by celebrated author Neil Gaiman for Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form); and Mr Paul Weimer in the Best Fan Writer category.
All four writers have made public statements, saying they have not received official reasons for their exclusion. Ms Kuang wrote that “no reason for Babel’s ineligibility was given to me or my team”.
“Until (a reason) is provided that explains why the book was eligible for the Nebula and Locus awards, which it won, and not the Hugos, I assume this was a matter of undesirability rather than ineligibility,” she posted on Jan 23 on Bluesky – a social media platform that is an alternative to X.
When pressed by angry fans on his Facebook page, Mr Dave McCarty, the co-head of the Hugo Awards Selection Executive Department, denied that the Chinese authorities had any role to play in the exclusions. Mr McCarty leads the department alongside Professor Jiang Zhenyu, a Chinese sci-fi expert from Sichuan University.
“There was no communication between the Hugo administration team and the Chinese government in any official manner,” wrote Mr McCarty, which only sparked more responses speculating about self-censorship.
The Hugo team of the Chengdu Worldcon did not respond to ST’s e-mail query by press time. But its previous statement was that “after reviewing the Constitution and the rules we must follow, the administration team determined those works/persons were not eligible”.
Chinese sci-fi author Chen Qiufan described the controversy as frustrating and disappointing, and believes it has undone years of hard work by the Chinese sci-fi industry, including writers, fans and publishers, to promote the genre.
“It’s causing serious damage to the reputation of Chinese sci-fi,” he told ST, adding that the lack of explanation for the disqualifications was unacceptable.
“It will be even more difficult to get published and export our authors and works to the international market because people might have biases and presumptions.”
The Chinese sci-fi industry has been on the surge in the past decade since Liu Cixin’s Three-Body Problem received international acclaim after it was translated to English in 2014. The Chengdu Worldcon was the first one to be held in China since 1939, after a growth in Chinese sci-fi fans helped to secure the required votes at the Washington D.C. Worldcon in 2021.
But the current episode could be a rare high-profile case of the industry running up against a tight censorship environment that is wary of not just content critical of the Chinese government and its policies, but also fictional works that offer different versions of history from the official narrative.
Ms Kuang’s Babel, published in August 2022, is a fantasy work describing an alternate history set in London at the height of the British Empire, with a protagonist from Canton, China, and seen as a commentary on colonialism and race. The protagonist from her 2018 book The Poppy War was inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong.
Xiran Jay Zhao’s breakout 2021 novel Iron Widow is a reimagining of the rise of China’s first and only female emperor Wu Zetian in a futuristic setting.
Ms Angie Wang, an illustrator and cartoonist based in Los Angeles who also appeared to be frustrated by the episode, said more communication between Western sci-fi fans and their Chinese counterparts would be helpful.
While there is legitimate criticism of the organising team for how they have mangled the Hugo awards, there is also a lot of suspicion from Western fans who assumed the worst, she told ST by e-mail.
The annual Hugo Awards are administered by the committee organising the Worldcon, who are typically volunteers and varies from year to year. Fans nominate and vote for their favourite works in 15 categories.
The full voting results were released on the official Hugo Awards website on Jan 20, right on the dot of the three-month period organisers are obliged to release them by. Past full results have been released as early as a few days from when the winners were announced.
Works eligible for the Hugos must meet criteria such as being from the sci-fi or fantasy genres, published in the previous year, and meet the stated length for each category, such as 40,000 words or more for Best Novel.
Analyst Adam Ni, who runs China Neican, a prominent newsletter on Chinese current affairs, said that in general, censorship in China has been on the rise in the past decade. But not every instance of censorship would be coercive, such as outright bans.
The authorities only need to make a case or two to provide examples, he said, such as issuing a fine to a media company or a platform to send a message.
“Often the pressure is indirect, in the form of illustrated cases, announcements, commentary or informal discussions between officials and media actors,” he added.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/unexplained-exclusion-of-sci-fi-works-for-top-award-raises-issue-of-chinese-censorship
| 2024-01-29T04:58:59Z
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WASHINGTON – The United States wants cloud services providers such as Amazon.com and Microsoft to actively investigate and call out foreign clients developing artificial intelligence (AI) applications on their platforms, escalating a tech conflict between Washington and Beijing.
The Biden administration proposal, scheduled for release on Jan 29, requires such firms to reveal foreign customers’ names and IP addresses. Amazon and its peers, which include Alphabet’s Google, would have to devise a budget for collecting those details and report any suspicious activity, according to a draft rule published on Jan 28.
If implemented, Washington could use those requirements to choke off a major avenue through which Chinese firms access the data centres and servers crucial to training and hosting AI.
They also place the onus of collecting, storing and analysing customer data on the cloud services, a burden not unlike strict know-your-customer rules that govern the financial industry.
US cloud providers have worried that restrictions on their activities with overseas users without comparable measures by allied countries risks disadvantaging American firms.
Representatives of Microsoft, Amazon and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside normal US hours. A Commerce Department spokesperson referred Bloomberg to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo’s comments last week.
Ms Raimondo said on Jan 26 that her team is working to eradicate national security threats posed by AI development, an effort likely to focus on firms from China. Washington, which has already worked to constrain Beijing’s access to the most advanced semiconductors, wants to limit Chinese firms’ ability to develop AI with potential military capabilities.
“These models getting in the hands of non-state actors or people that aren’t our allies is very dangerous,” Ms Raimondo said in Washington.
President Joe Biden in October directed the Commerce Department to require such disclosures in an effort to detect foreign actors that might use AI to launch what the proposal dubs “malicious cyber-enabled activities”.
The US is asking for comments on the proposed rule until April 29 before finalising the regulation.
The Commerce Department said it may provide an exception to the identification rules for the foreign subsidiaries of US cloud providers. It also referred to commenters so far who have pushed for the broadest possible definition of a US cloud service, adding that it will clarify whether foreign subsidiaries fall under the rules.
China’s development of AI and other next-generation technologies is a top concern for the Biden administration, which sees Beijing as its primary global strategic competitor.
Washington has tried to rein in China’s advances by restricting chip exports to the country and sanctioning individual Chinese firms, but the country’s tech leaders have managed to make significant breakthroughs despite US curbs.
The US in October tightened its controls to cover more chips, equipment and geographies. One key update targeted Chinese-headquartered companies operating in more than 40 countries, an attempt to prevent those firms from using other nations as intermediaries to secure semiconductors they cannot access at home. BLOOMBERG
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/us-wants-cloud-firms-to-reveal-foreign-clients-in-china-ai-race
| 2024-01-29T04:59:10Z
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