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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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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/philippines-and-us-intend-to-hold-2-plus-2-meeting-in-march-envoy-says
| 2024-01-29T00:22:23
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/philippines-and-us-intend-to-hold-2-plus-2-meeting-in-march-envoy-says
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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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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/morning-briefing-top-stories-from-the-straits-times-on-jan-29-2024
| 2024-01-29T00:22:34
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/morning-briefing-top-stories-from-the-straits-times-on-jan-29-2024
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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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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/dr-congo-beat-egypt-on-penalties-in-cup-of-nations-last-16
| 2024-01-29T00:22:44
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/dr-congo-beat-egypt-on-penalties-in-cup-of-nations-last-16
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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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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/nfl-chiefs-down-ravens-to-reach-fourth-super-bowl-in-five-years
| 2024-01-29T00:22:54
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/nfl-chiefs-down-ravens-to-reach-fourth-super-bowl-in-five-years
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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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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/finland-s-former-pm-to-face-diplomat-in-presidential-run-off
| 2024-01-29T00:23:05
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/finland-s-former-pm-to-face-diplomat-in-presidential-run-off
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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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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/uk-government-to-ban-disposable-vapes-to-prevent-use-by-children
| 2024-01-29T00:23:15
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/uk-government-to-ban-disposable-vapes-to-prevent-use-by-children
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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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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/japan-pauses-funding-to-unrwa-extremely-concerned-about-allegations
| 2024-01-29T01:54:43
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/japan-pauses-funding-to-unrwa-extremely-concerned-about-allegations
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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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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/japan-says-moon-lander-resumed-operations
| 2024-01-29T01:54:54
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/japan-says-moon-lander-resumed-operations
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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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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/sarawak-premier-urges-opposition-to-stop-undercutting-malaysian-pm-anwar
| 2024-01-29T01:55:05
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/sarawak-premier-urges-opposition-to-stop-undercutting-malaysian-pm-anwar
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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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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/capitaland-ascott-trust-posts-141-rise-in-second-half-dps-to-38-cents
| 2024-01-29T01:55:15
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/capitaland-ascott-trust-posts-141-rise-in-second-half-dps-to-38-cents
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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
| 2024-01-29T01:55:26
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/china-securities-regulator-suspends-restricted-share-lending
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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
| 2024-01-29T01:55:36
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/embattled-china-evergrande-back-in-court-for-liquidation-hearing
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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
| 2024-01-29T01:55:47
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/mas-keeps-singdollar-policy-unchanged-lowers-overall-inflation-forecast-for-2024
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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
| 2024-01-29T01:55:57
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/uk-job-vacancies-fall-by-most-in-3-years-in-sign-labour-market-is-cooling
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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
| 2024-01-29T01:56:07
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https://www.straitstimes.com/multimedia/photos/in-pictures-italy-venice-carnival
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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
| 2024-01-29T01:56:18
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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
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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
| 2024-01-29T01:56:28
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/antony-spares-manchester-uniteds-blushes-after-newport-threaten-fa-cup-shock
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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
| 2024-01-29T01:56:38
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/from-small-fry-to-dark-horses-coach-segrt-makes-tajikistan-dream-at-asian-cup
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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
| 2024-01-29T01:56:49
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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
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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
| 2024-01-29T01:56:59
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/tennis/jannik-sinner-relishing-chance-to-dance-in-pressure-storm-after-australian-open-win
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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
| 2024-01-29T01:57:09
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/mexico-activists-protest-return-of-bullfights-to-capital
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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
| 2024-01-29T01:57:20
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/jordan-egypt-condemn-terrorist-attack-that-killed-3-us-soldiers
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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
| 2024-01-29T01:57:30
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/bayer-ordered-to-pay-us225-billion-to-us-man-in-latest-roundup-trial
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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:
-
- 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/
| 2024-01-29T03:02:23
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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/
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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
| 2024-01-29T03:26:51
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/australias-resources-minister-seeks-investment-from-skorea-japan
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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
| 2024-01-29T03:27:01
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/malaysia-s-ex-finance-minister-charged-with-failure-to-declare-assets
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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
| 2024-01-29T03:27:11
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/myanmar-junta-sends-senior-official-to-attend-asean-foreign-ministers-meeting
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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
| 2024-01-29T03:27:22
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/agribusiness-giant-adm-postpones-some-executive-bonuses-amid-accounting-probe-staff-memo
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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
| 2024-01-29T03:27:32
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/london-s-homes-haven-t-been-this-affordable-in-a-decade
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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
| 2024-01-29T03:27:43
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/vitorias-days-as-egypt-coach-may-be-numbered-after-afcon-exit
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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
| 2024-01-29T03:27:53
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/tennis/tennis-needs-the-next-generation-says-grand-slam-champion-sinner
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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
| 2024-01-29T03:28:03
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/with-generals-barred-myanmar-junta-sends-bureaucrat-to-asean-meeting
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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
| 2024-01-29T04:58:59
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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
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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
| 2024-01-29T04:59:10
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/us-wants-cloud-firms-to-reveal-foreign-clients-in-china-ai-race
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HONG KONG – A Hong Kong court on Jan 29 ordered China Evergrande Group, the world’s most indebted developer, to be liquidated.
The move could send shockwaves through already-fragile Chinese capital and property markets. Such a process could be complicated, with potential political considerations, given the many authorities involved.
What happens after the order to liquidate?
Once a liquidation order is issued, a provisional liquidator and then an official liquidator will be appointed to take control and prepare to sell the developer’s assets to repay its debts.
The liquidators could propose a new debt restructuring plan to offshore creditors holding US$23 billion (S$30.8 billion) of debt in Evergrande if they determine the company had enough assets or if a white knight investor appeared. They would also investigate the company’s affairs and could refer any suspected misconduct by directors to Hong Kong prosecutors.
Evergrande could appeal a liquidation order, but the liquidation process would proceed pending appeal.
Shares in Evergrande and its listed subsidiaries were suspended from trading after the liquidation order. Listing rules require a company to demonstrate a business structure with sufficient operations and asset values.
How much might creditors recover?
Evergrande cited a Deloitte analysis during a Hong Kong court hearing in July that estimated a recovery rate of 3.4 per cent if the developer were liquidated.
However, after Evergrande said in September its flagship unit and its chairman Hui Ka Yan were being investigated by the authorities for unspecified crimes, creditors now expect a recovery rate of less than 3 per cent.
Evergrande’s dollar bonds were bid at around one cent on the dollar on Jan 26.
Most of Evergrande’s assets have been sold or seized by creditors, leaving its two units listed in Hong Kong – Evergrande Property Services Group and Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group. Their combined market capitalisation had dropped to US$973 million as at Jan 26.
A liquidator could sell Evergrande’s holdings in the two units, although it might be difficult to find buyers.
After a liquidation, the liquidator could take control of Evergrande’s subsidiaries across mainland China by replacing their legal representatives one by one, a process that could take months or years.
Insolvency experts said it would be a challenge for the liquidator to change the representatives as Guangzhou, where Evergrande is based, is not one of the three Chinese cities that mutually recognise liquidation orders with Hong Kong.
Even if a liquidator were to take possession of the units that have onshore projects, many of these have already been taken over by creditors, frozen by courts, have little value left or are even in negative equity because of falling property prices.
How big a blow is this to China’s property market?
While a winding-up of the developer, with US$240 billion of assets, would send shockwaves through already-fragile capital markets, experts said it would not offer a blueprint on how liquidation might unfold for other embattled developers.
Given the sheer size of Evergrande’s projects and debt, the process would involve many authorities and political considerations.
Completing ongoing home construction projects will be a top priority for the company, the sector and the government. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/what-happens-next-after-china-evergrande-ordered-to-wind-up
| 2024-01-29T04:59:20
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/what-happens-next-after-china-evergrande-ordered-to-wind-up
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SINGAPORE – Marina Bay Sands (MBS) has received approval from the authorities to develop a fourth tower, paving the way for a planned expansion of the integrated resort to be carried out.
According to the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) data for commercial projects with development approvals as at the end of the fourth quarter of 2023, MBS was given the green light for a hotel and retail development next to its current three towers on an empty plot that is flanked by Bayfront Avenue, Sheares Avenue and Sheares Link.
URA’s data, released on Jan 26, indicates that the new tower will have 153,100 sq m of hotel space over 587 rooms and 12,185 sq m of retail space.
MBS previously announced in April 2019 that its fourth tower would house 1,000 all-suite rooms.
Asked about the discrepancy in room numbers, MBS declined to give more information.
The integrated resort, which opened in April 2010, currently has a gross floor area of 581,400 sq m, including about 1,850 rooms and suites and about 74,000 sq m of retail and dining space.
On Jan 24, parent company Las Vegas Sands (LVS) said in its earnings presentation for the fourth quarter of 2023 that “the budget and timing of the MBS expansion are subject to revision based upon the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and other factors”.
LVS added that project costs are expected to “meaningfully exceed” the initial US$3.3 billion (S$4.5 billion) estimates – inclusive of land – that were made in 2019, due to “inflation, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, higher labour and material costs, and other factors”.
Design, development and programming work for the fourth tower “remain ongoing, with a focus on increasing the leisure and business tourism appeal of Singapore and MBS”, LVS said.
It was reported in March 2023 that MBS had been given until April 8, 2024, to commence construction for the expansion – the second extension of a construction deadline under a development agreement LVS signed with the Singapore Tourism Board in April 2019.
MBS now has until April 8, 2028, to complete its fourth tower, on land it has leased until August 2066.
The tower is to comprise all-suite rooms, and will be accompanied by a live performance arena that seats at least 15,000 spectators, as well as additional Mice (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) capacity and luxury retail offerings.
A sky roof with a swimming pool and “other tourist attractions” will top the new tower, said LVS.
URA’s approval of MBS’ development plans follows the agency’s approval in the third quarter of 2023 of an expansion to Resorts World Sentosa (RWS).
RWS has permission from URA to erect a hotel and retail development at Sentosa Gateway, comprising 66,995 sq m of hotel space over 700 rooms, and 21,243 sq m of retail space.
RWS’ parent company Genting Singapore said in November 2023 that the waterfront development’s construction will begin in 2024, and that its board had approved an investment of about $6.8 billion to expand and rejuvenate the integrated resort, up from the $4.5 billion it had originally committed in April 2019.
In the first 11 months of 2023, Singapore received 12.37 million visitors, about twice the 6.31 million who visited in 2022.
Annual visitorship hit a record 19.12 million in 2019, a number the country has yet to return to since the pandemic.
Separately, the Ministry of Education was in the last quarter of 2023 granted development approvals for an office and retail development in North Buona Vista Drive.
The development is to have 58,627 sq m of office space and 762 sq m of retail space. ST has asked the ministry, whose building is located at 1 North Buona Vista Drive, for more information on the project.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/mbs-gets-ura-approval-to-build-587-room-fourth-tower-down-from-previous-1000-room-plan
| 2024-01-29T04:59:31
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/mbs-gets-ura-approval-to-build-587-room-fourth-tower-down-from-previous-1000-room-plan
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SYDNEY - Skipper Kraigg Brathwaite credited injured pride for West Indies' extraordinary upset of Australia in Brisbane on Sunday and said the Caribbean islanders needed more test cricket if they were to continue their revival.
West Indies were once the most feared team in the test game but expectations have lowered over years of decline, and Brathwaite's touring squad were given little chance of success when they arrived in Australia to play the World Test Championship winners.
Those expectations were lowered still after a 10-wicket mauling in the first test in Adelaide but, spearheaded by young quick Shamar Joseph, they staged a remarkable turnaround to beat their hosts by eight runs in a Gabba thriller on Sunday.
Brathwaite said comments by former Australian pace bowler Rodney Hogg had cut particularly deep.
"Rodney Hogg said we were pathetic and hopeless, so that was our motivation. I want to ask him: 'Are these muscles big enough for you?'" he retorted in the post-match ceremony on Sunday.
"We wanted to let him know that we heard him," Brathwaite added in his news conference. "We planned well as a group, but we saw his words and that was extra motivation for us as well.
"Test match cricket is never easy ... when you have a guy disrespecting West Indies, and us players that are playing, it is hurtful."
It was a first test win for West Indies over the men in the baggy green caps since 2003 and the first in Australia since 1997.
Brathwaite said it was essential that West Indies had more opportunities to play the longest format of the game if they were to build on the Brisbane triumph.
"I do believe we should be playing more test cricket more consistently," Brathwaite said.
"That's my cry. I always believe the more you play, especially when it's (matches) close together, you learn as batsmen and bowlers.
"So this is a message for whoever it may be that we need more test cricket."
Perhaps the best news for Brathwaite was that young quick Joseph, who played through the pain to take a match-winning 7-68 at the Gabba and was named Man of the Series after his first two tests, was committed to the format.
"It's my dream to play test cricket for West Indies," he told reporters.
"There will be times when T20s might come around (but) I will always be available to play test cricket for West Indies, no matter how much money comes towards me.
"I will always be here to play test cricket." REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/hurt-drove-brisbane-miracle-but-west-indies-want-more-tests
| 2024-01-29T04:59:41
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/hurt-drove-brisbane-miracle-but-west-indies-want-more-tests
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Ancient Weapon Holly Releases March 8 for PS5, Switch, and PC - News
by William D'Angelo , posted 3 hours ago / 330 ViewsPublisher and developer Acquire, and publisher Aniplex announced the tense roguelike action game, Ancient Weapon Holly, will launch for the PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam on March 8. It will also launch at a later date for the PlayStation 4.
View a trailer of the game below:
Read details on the game below:
Holly, a humanoid weapon sealed deep within a labyrinth due to its potential to cause humanity’s downfall, swears vengeance upon humans after awakening from a slumber that spanned thousands of years.
Experience a tense roguelike action game where you protect the source of your stolen power, the altar. Destroy gates that block your way and aim to clear stages. Use the magic stones you acquire to evolve Holly and expand the altar to deepen your strategies.
Story
Long ago, when humans were still developing advanced civilizations, a war engulfed the world.
Among the multitude of weapons created, an autonomous weapon resembling a young girl was completed. Her arms could crack the earth like a whip, demolish any building in her path, and her red eyes mercilessly killed people one after another.
This girl was named “Holly” by the people, and due to her overwhelming power, she was sealed deep within the earth.
After tens of thousands of years, the only emotion Holly felt upon awakening from her slumber in the dark magic ruins was an insurmountable hatred for humans.
Even though her weapon functions have degraded and she can now only slightly damage the ground or walls, Holly’s vendetta against the world above has just begun.
Intense Combat
In the dungeons, a moment’s hesitation can be deadly. Breath-taking, intense combat awaits you. Face enemies with overwhelming strength and seize the fleeting moments of opportunity for strategic battles.
Strategically Lure Enemies into Pitfalls
Break the ground and block the enemy’s path. This is your way to survive. Predict the enemy’s movements, create pitfalls, and capture them all. Strategic foresight, rather than straightforward combat, is essential in this game.
Exhilarating Action of Burying Enemies in Pitfalls
Lure enemies into pitfalls and bury them with your own hands. The thrill of this moment is one of the game’s main attractions.
Deepen Strategy with Holly’s Evolution and Altar Unlocking
Defeat enemies to acquire enhancement items. Use these items to evolve Holly and unlock the altar’s functions! Experience a deepening of strategies as you play. With a skill tree format, a variety of enhancements are possible based on your strategy.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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https://www.vgchartz.com/article/459755/ancient-weapon-holly-releases-march-8-for-ps5-switch-and-pc/
| 2024-01-29T06:30:02
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https://www.vgchartz.com/article/459755/ancient-weapon-holly-releases-march-8-for-ps5-switch-and-pc/
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Eextraction Dungeon Crawler Dungeonborne Announced for PC - News
by William D'Angelo , posted 3 hours ago / 269 ViewsDeveloper Mithril Interactive has announced extraction experience dungeon crawler, Dungeonborne, for PC via Steam. An open alpha will be available from February 2 to 12 as part of Steam Next Fest: February 2024.
View the announcement trailer below:
Read details on the game below:
Dungeon Crawling, Evolved
At its core, Dungeonborne is an extraction experience dungeon crawler in which players band together in small groups or play solo to seek treasure on the backdrop of a gritty gothic setting overrun by monsters and other adventurers. Sharp tactical wit, team composition and terrain understanding will all contribute towards success as adventurers are thrust into dangerous situations with nothing but a sword and a dream.
The traditional dungeon crawler experience is further enhanced by features outside of the established genre, including:
- The “extraction” mechanic, giving players the option to finish their adventure and safely secure their loot, or venture further to seek more at the cost of losing it all should they perish. This is further enhanced by the addition of a safezone that shrinks with time, adding a layer of battle royale pressure and influencing decision making as adventurers attempt to escape with their haul.
- An array of player classes that are highly specialised, from household fantasy classes such as Rogue and Priest that embody traditional genre tropes to more specialized options such as the Pyromancer and Cryomancer that rain destruction and freeze enemies in place, or the Death Knight class built around imprisoning enemies and manipulating the battlefield..
- Environmental combat, from utilizing high ground, shadows and traps to gain advantage, to transforming into a mimic chest and ambushing greedy opponents. Combat is further enhanced by a flask and potion system that allows players to utilize alchemic concoctions to either heal themselves or deal damage to their foes.
- Extensive crafting and enhancement systems that further improve loot that players acquire, deepening and expanding buildcrafting.
- An in-game auction house that allows players to sell items they’ve acquired on their latest adventure, or buy other players’ weapons and armor before venturing out again
A Forsaken Realm Where Treasure Awaits
Dungeonborne is set in a bleak, medieval world lined with gothic spires and monsters hiding in dark corners. The forsaken realm players find themselves in has a soul of its own, resurrecting the dead to raise arms once more and protect the treasures and riches that players seek.
Brave adventurers will storm castle ramparts and raid treasuries in elaborate environments built in Unreal Engine 5. To deepen immersion, Dungeonborne will also feature stereoscopic spatial audio creating subtle, almost illusory sounds of footsteps, the creaking of a door and other background sounds. Watchful players will notice these subtle audio cues, and sharp minds will use this knowledge to their advantage.
Freeze and Burn, Slay and Raise
Drawing heavily on its RPG inspiration, Dungeonborne features a range of classes and races to choose between. Human and undead will be available in the upcoming open alpha with more to follow, allowing players to combine different archetypes and experiment with team compositions as they venture within.
The player classes of Dungeonborne expand outside of genre traditions, too. Aside from traditional class tropes such as rogues, priests and fighters, additional specialized classes that will be available include:
- Cryomancer, a mage versed in ice magic that can conjure snowstorms to slow enemies, or encase themselves in a protective ice barrier if danger draws near.
- Swordmaster, a master of warfare that can rain psionic blades on their opponent, dealing massive damage.
- Pyromancer, a wizard well versed in the art of fiery destruction, capable of casting pyroblasts and burning everything in their vicinity to a crisp.
- Death Knight, an undead warrior brought to life by necromancy capable of gripping foes with spectral chains and pulling them towards their doom.
Craft Your Tools of Destruction, or Accumulate Wealth
On top of class-specific spells and attacks, Dungeonborne’s crafting and trading systems further advance the dungeon crawler combat by adding extra layers. Once players emerge from the dungeon, they can set about selling their haul off at the in-game auction house and filling their coffers, re-equipping it for their next adventure or enhancing it altogether. Every piece of loot has its value, whether it can be broken down to crafting resources and used on other pieces of equipment or further enchanted.
Steam Next Fest Open Alpha
Players keen to experience Dungeonborne for themselves are invited to participate in a limited demo of the game that will be part of Steam Next Fest, officially launching on February 2 at 10:00 a.m. PT / 1:00 p.m. ET / 7:00 p.m. CET up until February 12 at 10:00 a.m. PT / 1:00 p.m. ET / 7:00 p.m. CET. For more information about the open alpha, check out the official Dungeonborne Steam page.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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https://www.vgchartz.com/article/459756/eextraction-dungeon-crawler-dungeonborne-announced-for-pc/
| 2024-01-29T06:30:10
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https://www.vgchartz.com/article/459756/eextraction-dungeon-crawler-dungeonborne-announced-for-pc/
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Hogwarts Legacy Sales Top 24 Million Units - Sales
by William D'Angelo , posted 2 hours ago / 407 ViewsPublisher Warner Bros. Games has told Variety the open-world action RPG, Hogwarts Legacy, has sold over 24 million units worldwide. As previously stated, Warner Bros. Games says Hogwarts Legacy was the best-selling video game worldwide in 2023.
As the game nears its one-year anniversary it was revealed the PlayStation-exclusive content for the game will be coming to other platforms this Summer, along with more updates and features.
"As we near the one-year anniversary of Hogwarts Legacy, we wanted to let our community know that the Hogwarts Legacy PlayStation-exclusive content will be available on other platforms later this summer, along with additional updates and features for the game," reads a tweet from the official Hogwarts Legacy Twitter account. "Stay tuned in the coming months for more details on what’s coming to Hogwarts Legacy this year."
As we near the one-year anniversary of Hogwarts Legacy, we wanted to let our community know that the Hogwarts Legacy PlayStation-exclusive content will be available on other platforms later this summer, along with additional updates and features for the game. Stay tuned in the…
— Hogwarts Legacy (@HogwartsLegacy) January 26, 2024
Hogwarts Legacy released for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC in February 2023, for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in May 2023, and for the Nintendo Switch in November 2023.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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https://www.vgchartz.com/article/459757/hogwarts-legacy-sales-top-24-million-units/
| 2024-01-29T06:30:18
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https://www.vgchartz.com/article/459757/hogwarts-legacy-sales-top-24-million-units/
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Cliff Bleszinski is 'Down to Consult' on Gears of War - News
by William D'Angelo , posted 2 hours ago / 322 ViewsCliff Bleszinski, the creator and director of the original Gears of War trilogy, has released a statement via Twitter about his desire to return to the franchise he created and Microsoft would be "smart" to enlist him from a "PR standpoint alone."
"Look, we've been over this a million times re: Gears," said Bleszinski. "I'm down to consult. Give my two cents. Crickets. I understand that Gears will always be an enormous part of my legacy. I appreciate and respect that.
"That said, MS/Coalition haven’t hit me up. OK. It is what it is. If they were smart, they’d enlist me for my input because just from a PR standpoint alone it would be gold. But nothing. Ah well. It is what it is. So be it."
Bleszinski last worked on the Gears of War franchise in 2011 as a designer on Gears of War 3.
A statement. pic.twitter.com/Hvpq9IsQW2
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) January 27, 2024
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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https://www.vgchartz.com/article/459758/cliff-bleszinski-is-down-to-consult-on-gears-of-war/
| 2024-01-29T06:30:25
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https://www.vgchartz.com/article/459758/cliff-bleszinski-is-down-to-consult-on-gears-of-war/
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MANILA - Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on Jan 29 said talks on maritime cooperation between his country and Vietnam would be one of the cornerstones forged in a strategic partnership with its Southeast Asian neighbour.
"We hope to strengthen this aspect during my visit to promote peace and stability in our region," Mr Marcos said in a statement before leaving for Hanoi for a two-day state visit.
Mr Marcos is expected to meet Vietnam's top officials and work on agreements on coastguard cooperation and rice supply. Vietnam is a major rice exporter and the Philippines is one of the world's biggest importers of the grain.
Mr Marcos said he hopes his visit would bring their relations to greater heights and “usher in a new era of friendship and cooperation”, with talks on trade, investment, education and tourism, as well as “regional and multilateral issues of concern”.
Vietnam and the Philippines have overlapping claims in the South China Sea, but have generally friendly relations compared to the heightened tensions between Manila and Beijing over disputed waters.
Ties between the Philippines and China have deteriorated this past year, coinciding with a tougher stand by Manila and overtures by Mr Marcos to forge stronger military relations with the United States.
The South China Sea, a conduit for more than US$3 trillion (S$4 trillion) in annual ship-borne commerce, is claimed almost entirely by China via a U-shaped line policed by its vast coastguard fleet, which cuts into the exclusive economic zones of Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.
In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague said China's claims had no legal basis, a decision Beijing has rejected. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/philippines-marcos-says-maritime-cooperation-a-cornerstones-in-vietnam-visit
| 2024-01-29T06:31:08
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/philippines-marcos-says-maritime-cooperation-a-cornerstones-in-vietnam-visit
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KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s King has called for political stability at the end of his five-year reign, which saw his deep involvement in picking three prime ministers between 2020 and 2022.
The unprecedented intervention by the constitutional monarch in politics followed dizzying crossovers by MPs, after Umno-led Barisan Nasional was toppled from power in the 2018 general election for the first time since the country’s independence in 1957.
“There were challenging times during my reign,” said Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah in a group interview on Jan 3 with selected media.
“I feel that I have tried to do the best I can to stabilise the country’s political scenario, even though not drastically, but at least to retain harmony and stability until now,” said the 64-year old king, who is also the ruler of Pahang state.
When asked about the latest purported plot to topple the government, dubbed the “Dubai Move” as its opponents allegedly met in that city, the King said: “I don’t know if there is any truth in it or not.
“Let’s move on. The government should govern the country. Don’t politicise (things) so much. They should focus on developing the country and uniting the people. Let’s not be too parochial and narrow-minded.”
He said it was important to have a stable country and government to attract foreign investors.
“We can’t afford to have an unstable government. We want investors, who can create jobs. Stability is very important. We can’t continue to fight. We want to develop our country,” he said.
“If you change the government every year, it doesn’t guarantee you anything. That is a fact.”
Malaysia’s Constitution follows the Westminster model, with the monarch playing a largely constitutional role, and acting on advice from the ruling government.
The king, however, is allowed to pick whoever he believes will command a majority in the 222-strong Parliament.
Under a system unique in the world, hereditary rulers of nine of Malaysia‘s 13 states take turns to become the Agong, or king, for a five-year term.
The other four states – former British protectorates of Penang, Melaka, Sarawak and Sabah – are led by governors.
Sultan Abdullah was appointed the 16th Malaysian king on Jan 31, 2019, after the previous king, Sultan Muhammad V of Kelantan, abdicated after just three years.
On Jan 31, 2024, Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar of Johor, 65, will become the new king.
The fall of Umno in the May 2018 general election led to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad becoming prime minister for the second time – this time as chief of a new ruling alliance led by Pakatan Harapan (PH).
But Dr Mahathir resigned on Feb 24, 2020 amid infighting within the PH alliance, forcing Sultan Abdullah to intervene to pick a new prime minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who leads Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia.
Another political turmoil erupted in August 2021, with the king forced to become a referee again to choose an MP whom he believed would command a majority in Parliament. The person was then Umno vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who became the shortest-ruling premier at 15 months.
And following an inconclusive November 2022 general election that again threatened to descend into political chaos, the king picked Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the prime minister.
That was just over 14 months ago.
In the interview, Sultan Abdullah urged Malaysians to give PM Anwar time to rule.
“It is not easy to gauge any government in one year’s time. There will be weaknesses here and there. What the PM is trying to do is to reduce all the legacy problems. You can’t do it in a year. We need to give it time to see its strengths and weaknesses.”
“We already have a democratic process, an election every five years. So let the government rule for four to five years, not just change it after a year.”
Recounting what happened after the 2022 general election, Sultan Abdullah said he had wanted all the parties to form a stable administration in the form of a unity government.
“There was no single majority. So what I did was to offer (the plan) to all the parties. I began with Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Tan Sri Hadi Awang (of Perikatan Nasional) but they rejected it outright. So what choice do I have?”
He said he had met with whoever was the prime minister weekly – a total of 157 times over the last five years – for about an hour each time to discuss the country’s affairs.
Sultan Abdullah also navigated the country through the Covid-19 pandemic amid the change of prime ministers, and the ensuing state of emergency.
Elaborating on the role of the royal institution, he said it was important to uphold and strengthen it.
“The royal institution is very important for this multi-racial multi-religious country. It must be upheld for the sake of the nation and the future generation. The institution must be strengthened. Not (for the king) to be idolised but to remain as a protector of the people and the administration.”
School students should be taught about the role of the monarchy while the royal rulers must also know their responsibilities, he said.
“It takes two to tango. I am not saying I am perfect. I am reminding myself and others to help the people. Meanwhile, the people should get closer to the royal institution, not avoid it. It is their right.”
On relations with close neighbour Singapore, Sultan Abdullah said: “I had four PMs under my reign, they have settled a lot of issues, whether big or small. Most of the issues have been settled in principle.
“In terms of the relationship between government and government, it has always been good, and people to people, we welcome Singaporeans to Malaysia. There are a lot of Singaporeans coming to Johor, cross-border. And that helps the economy in Johor.”
Also at the interview was Queen Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah, who said: “And we love Singapore as well.”
During his five-year reign, Sultan Abdullah has emerged as a popular figure with a casual style of ruling, often shunning protocol when meeting ordinary Malaysians. Pictures of him handing out meals to journalists camping outside the Istana gates during the political crises, and queueing behind others to buy food at KFC endeared him to many people.
Among the most memorable times for him were meeting regular Malaysians and taking wefies, he said, adding that they gave him the impetus to carry out his duties.
Tunku Azizah is known for her culinary skills and charities such as the Tunku Azizah Fertility Foundation. She is frequently seen at flood relief shelters, cooking food for displaced victims.
A tour of Borneo which the king and his family undertook in September 2023 saw massive crowds waiting to meet them.
On Jan 17, 2024, a special news bulletin read by the royal couple was aired on TV3, drawing praises from netizens.
“He takes his job seriously. His job in life is only to serve the people. He sets aside everything else,” Tunku Azizah said of her husband.
“I can’t disturb him when he is reading the Cabinet papers, he reads them until he gets neck pain.”
Said Sultan Abdullah: “It is not as easy as one thinks to be a king.”
He has compiled seven notebooks on his observations during his reign.
“I am an avid reader, and I delved into the country’s administration matters. I found it very interesting,” he added.
With his family now slated to return to their home state of Pahang, he hopes that his legacy as king will be remembered fondly.
“I may not be the king of Malaysia after January, but I can be the king of all of your hearts,” said Sultan Abdullah.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/let-s-move-on-malaysia-s-king-calls-for-political-stability-at-the-end-of-five-year-reign
| 2024-01-29T06:31:19
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/let-s-move-on-malaysia-s-king-calls-for-political-stability-at-the-end-of-five-year-reign
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JOHOR BAHRU - A Malaysian petrol station owner pleaded not guilty at the Sessions Court here to two charges of allowing a foreign-registered vehicle to fill up 250 litres of diesel on two occasions each in 2023, a quantity higher than what is allowed under the law.
Soraya Md Tamyes, 38, claimed trial after the charges were read out in front of Judge Datuk Che Wan Zaidi Che Wan Ibrahim on Jan 29.
On the first charge, Soraya violated the regulation on the prohibition and control of the sale of petrol and diesel by a retail licence holder of a gas station operator dated June 17, 2022.
The regulation allows the sale of diesel of not more than 20 litres to foreign vehicles, including motorcycles, in a single receipt within a day.
Soraya allegedly sold 250 litres of diesel to a Singapore-registered bus on May 19, 2023, at 11.04am at a petrol station in Jalan Kempas Baru, Tebrau.
The act is a violation under Regulation 12A of the Supply Control Regulations 1974, which is punishable under Section 22(1) of the Supply Control Act 1961.
It carries a maximum fine of RM1 million (S$284,000), a maximum jail sentence of three years, or both, upon conviction.
On the second charge, Soraya had allegedly sold another 250 litres to the same bus at the same location at 10.34am on May 30, 2023.
The case was prosecuted by Johor Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry deputy public prosecutor Muhamad Sabiq Muhamad Subri, while Soraya was not represented.
The court has set Feb 28 for the next mention. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/malaysian-petrol-kiosk-owner-claims-trial-to-letting-singapore-registered-bus-pump-500-litres-diesel
| 2024-01-29T06:31:29
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/malaysian-petrol-kiosk-owner-claims-trial-to-letting-singapore-registered-bus-pump-500-litres-diesel
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LOS ANGELES – American pop music icon Taylor Swift is reportedly ready to make a lightning trip from Japan in February to see boyfriend Travis Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl.
Swift and Kelce, both 34, exchanged a lingering on-field embrace on Jan 28 after the reigning champion Chiefs beat the Baltimore Ravens 17-10 to book their fourth trip in five years to the National Football League’s (NFL) championship extravaganza, which will be held on Feb 11 in Las Vegas.
American pundit Ian Rapoport of NFL Network and NFL.com, citing unnamed sources, said Swift will be there – even though she has an Eras tour performance in Tokyo the night before the big game.
In a video posted on X – formerly Twitter – before the Chiefs-Ravens game, Rapoport explains the international travel maths, reckoning Swift can finish a performance in Tokyo, hop on a plane and make it to Vegas “just in time to party”.
Her presence would pump up the volume on what is already one of the biggest annual events on the American calendar.
Swift has smashed industry records in 2024 with her tour, which is estimated to bring in almost US$2 billion (S$2.7 billion) along with a film of the musical cavalcade.
Amid her blossoming romance with Kelce, the Chiefs’ superstar tight end, she has also found time to attend a string of NFL games, bringing America’s most popular spectator sport a new wave of fans as her hundreds of millions of social media followers trace her every move.
From her first appearance at a game in Kansas City in September – when she sat in a luxury box with Kelce’s mother, Donna, fueling rumors of a romance – the NFL has unapologetically embraced the Swift phenomenon.
“The Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce news has been a pop cultural moment we’ve leaned into in real time,” the league said in a statement responding to early criticism of the breathless coverage surrounding Swift’s arrival on the NFL scene.
“It’s an intersection of sport and entertainment, and we’ve seen an incredible amount of positivity around the sport,” it said.
By the time the American Football Conference (AFC) Championship game rolled around on Jan 28, Swift had become a regular presence at Chiefs games.
Her celebration with Kelce and the rest of the team provided a joyous end to a week in which artificial intelligence-generated fake porn images purporting to be of Swift sparked outrage. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called the images “alarming”.
One of the images was seen some 47 million times on X before being removed. As of Jan 28, the platform was still not allowing searches of Swift’s name.
There were still plenty of posts, however, about Swift and the Super Bowl, most of them illustrated with the tender post-game moment she shared with Kelce.
Kelce caught 11 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown, surpassing the legendary Jerry Rice in the record books for most all-time post-season catches.
Swift was by Kelce’s side as he hoisted the AFC Championship trophy, quoting not his sweetheart but the Beastie Boys when he yelled: “You’ve gotta fight for your right to party!” AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/mad-dash-taylor-swift-will-have-to-speed-across-globe-to-see-travis-kelce-in-super-bowl
| 2024-01-29T06:31:39
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/mad-dash-taylor-swift-will-have-to-speed-across-globe-to-see-travis-kelce-in-super-bowl
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THE NETHERLANDS – At a distance, I think I am looking at a brook with amazingly blue water. But as I approach, I realise it is a swathe of hyacinths cleverly planted between trees and shrubs.
Hyacinths are top-heavy and tend to bend or droop, but these are rising so perkily, I think there must be pins next to the flowers to prop them up. I have heard that the gardeners of Keukenhof in the Netherlands are so fastidious, they would do things like that.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/travel/a-stream-of-hyacinths-springtime-garden-in-the-netherlands-is-tulip-filled-too
| 2024-01-29T06:31:50
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/travel/a-stream-of-hyacinths-springtime-garden-in-the-netherlands-is-tulip-filled-too
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Today in Pictures, Jan 29, 2024
Italy’s Jannik Sinner winning the Australian Open tennis tournament, a couple kissing in the mist in Venice, and other photos from around the world in Today in Pictures.
Desmond Foo
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https://str.sg/gGPe
Italy's Jannik Sinner posing with the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup after his victory against Russia's Daniil Medvedev during their men's singles final match on day 15 of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on Jan 28.
PHOTO : AFP
A couple kissing in the mist at Piazza San Marco in Venice late on Jan 27. The 2024 Venice Carnival will take place from Feb 3 to 13 and will celebrate the Orient "Marco Polo's Amazing Journey".
PHOTO : AFP
Pedestrians walk across a street on a foggy winter morning at the outskirts of Amritsar, India on Jan 27.
PHOTO : AFP
This image grab taken from AFPTV footage shows Leonardo Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" (La Joconde) painting doused in soup after two environmental activists from the collective dubbed "Riposte Alimentaire" (Food Retaliation) hurled food at the artwork, at the Louvre museum in Paris, on Jan 28.
PHOTO : AFP
A masked reveller wearing a period costume poses during the pre-opening of the carnival in Venice on Jan 27.
PHOTO : AFP
Pavel Kolmakov of Kazakhstan warms up on the course during the 2024 Waterville Freestyle World Cup freestyle skiing competition on Jan 27.
PHOTO : AFP
Demonstrators hold a canvas with a detail of Spanish painter Pablo Picasso's masterpiece "Guernica" depicting a mother, and wave a giant Palestinian flag during a protest in solidarity with the Palestinian people under the slogan "SOS Gaza", on La Concha beach in the Spanish Basque city of San Sebastian on Jan 28.
PHOTO : AFP
Men dressed in costumes participate in the International Festival of the Masquerade Games in Pernik, Bulgaria, on Jan 27.
PHOTO : REUTERS
An aerial shot shows bullet trains at a maintenance base in Nanjing, China on Jan 26. The world's largest annual human migration is expected to set a new record of 9 billion passenger trips during the 40-day travel peak for China's Spring Festival.
PHOTO : EPA-EFE
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https://www.straitstimes.com/multimedia/photos/today-in-pictures-jan-29-2024
| 2024-01-29T06:32:00
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https://www.straitstimes.com/multimedia/photos/today-in-pictures-jan-29-2024
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SINGAPORE – Sixteen people were charged in court on Jan 29 for corruption and cheating offences. They include employees from The British Council, Sephora Asia, Fei Siong Food Management, SMRT’s business arm Stellar Lifestyle and ComfortDelgro’s advertising arm Moove Media.
Low Lee Soon, a 61-year-old arts director of Moove Media, is accused of accepting bribes worth $160,000 in the form of cash loans from Xu Zhiping, 38, who is a shareholder of advertising firms Channelbytes, Channelink and Multiverse Media.
Xu had allegedly conspired with Jane Hong Hoe Chun, 53, who is director of the three advertising companies, to advance their business interests with Moove Media and ComfortDelGro Corporation. Their charge sheets do not state the contracts the companies were involved in.
While investigating Low, Xu and Hong, the Corruption Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) said in a statement on Jan 29 that it discovered offences involving another 13 individuals who were charged on Jan 29.
They include Muhammadd Fauzi bin Abdul Rahman, 41, who is said to have accepted bribes worth around $506,107 from Xu, Hong, Lee Lian Hiang – a 55-year-old director of BuildCool Engineering – and Tan Han Leong – a 44-year-old director of Secured Retail Solutions – between March 2019 and January 2022.
Muhammadd Fauzi was a store planning manager of Pan Pacific Retail Management Singapore at the time.
In November 2021, Muhammadd Fauzi also allegedly cheated Hong of $500 by deceiving her that ChannelBytes needed to hire a security guard to replace a television at DonDonDonki’s Tampines store, which was under his company’s management, when there was no such need.
Tan Ming Yean, 42, an employee of Stellar Lifestyle, is accused of accepting bribes worth $7,212 from Xu to advance the business interests of Channelbytes and Channelink with Stellar Lifestyle.
Low Kim Yong, a 44-year-old assistant project manager at Sephora Asia, is said to have accepted cash bribes worth $32,518, and a used Microsoft laptop from four individuals to advance their business interests with Sephora. The four are Xu, Lee, Tan Han Leong and Tan Chee Heng, 64, who is director of Design Delta.
Lee Kok Keong, 50, director of resources at The British Council – the United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities – allegedly received cash bribes worth $100,300 from Lee Lian Hiang and Ong Seck Cheng, director of Encompass Construction.
Tan Han Leong allegedly conspired with Moh Jun Hao – a 45-year-old sales consultant at Secured Retail Solutions – to give cash bribes worth around $5,000 to Benjamin Ting Ping Lin – a 34-year-old IT executive at Fei Siong Food Management – and two other employees from co-working space provider Found8 and Fish & Co. Restaurants.
Ting is also accused of giving $500 to an individual as an inducement to prevent the individual from exposing the corrupt dealings between Fei Siong and Secured Retail Solutions.
Lee Lian Hiang allegedly gave bribes worth $12,800 to Au Yong Siong Fatt, 49, and Juraimee Ab Hamid, 48, to advance the business interests of BuildCool Engineering with Civil Service Club and Home TeamNS, respectively, between 2018 and 2021.
Au Yong was an external consultant at the Civil Service Club and Juraimee was a senior operations executive at Home Team NS (Bukit Batok) at the time.
In September 2020, Lee Lian Hiang also allegedly conspired with Tan Wee Meng, a project supervisor at BuildCool, to give Juraimee falsified quotations to mislead Home TeamNS into believing that Triple L Aircon and Triple L Aircon & Engineering had bids for projects when they did not.
All 16 individuals were charged under the Prevent of Corruption Act, which carries a maximum punishment of a $100,000 fine and a five-year jail term for each offence.
Those convicted of cheating can be fined and sentenced to up to three years’ jail.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/16-charged-with-corruption-in-relation-to-advertisement-and-servicing-contracts
| 2024-01-29T06:32:10
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/16-charged-with-corruption-in-relation-to-advertisement-and-servicing-contracts
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SINGAPORE - A teacher failed to keep a proper lookout while driving a car, resulting in a collision with an elderly motorcyclist who suffered injuries including rib fractures.
David Chang Hao Hsi, 45, a teacher at CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School at the time of the accident, was fined $2,300 on Jan 29 after he pleaded guilty to causing hurt to another person while driving without reasonable consideration for other road users.
He was also disqualified from holding or obtaining all classes of driving licences for 15 months.
Chang had failed to keep a proper lookout while making a left turn from the slip road of Lorong 1 Toa Payoh into Lorong 6 at around 6.45am on Feb 24, 2022.
Chang’s car then encroached into an elderly motorcyclist’s path and a collision occurred between the two vehicles.
Defence lawyer Foo Ho Chew said that Chang took the 75-year-old rider to hospital and the victim was warded for three days.
Responding to queries from The Straits Times, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said that it takes a serious view of staff misconduct and will take disciplinary action against those who fail to adhere to its standards of conduct and discipline.
Its spokesperson added: “MOE will follow up with disciplinary proceedings, if need be, after the court case has concluded.”
In his mitigation plea, Mr Foo told the court that the weather was stormy at the time of the accident.
He said: “The unlit surroundings and the heavy rain beating against the windscreen caused visibility to be very poor indeed... Under the circumstances, our client was moving very cautiously and slowly forward.
“He could only see up to a short distance of a few metres in the front, side and back.”
Mr Foo also said that after the accident occurred, Chang got out of his vehicle to help the motorcyclist and took him to the hospital.
Chang had accompanied the victim until his admission was settled, added the lawyer.
The court heard that the teacher, who is remorseful, has since sold his car and had decided to not go behind the steering wheel of a car again.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/teacher-fined-23k-over-road-accident-that-left-elderly-motorcyclist-with-multiple-fractures
| 2024-01-29T06:32:21
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/teacher-fined-23k-over-road-accident-that-left-elderly-motorcyclist-with-multiple-fractures
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SINGAPORE – An 80-year-old driver lost control of her car and crashed through the fence of a police station in Clementi on Jan 27.
In response to queries, the police said they were alerted at about 5.55pm to an accident involving a car that was believed to have skidded at 6 Lempeng Drive.
That is where the Clementi Police Division Headquarters and Clementi Neighbourhood Police Centre were relocated on Oct 31, 2023. The headquarters moved from 20 Clementi Avenue 5 to make way for the construction of the Cross Island MRT Line.
The driver and her 80-year-old male passenger were conscious when taken to the National University Hospital.
A nearby resident, who wanted to be identified only as Mr Su, told Shin Min Daily News that he had heard the sound of brakes screeching, followed by a loud noise.
Mr Su, 56, said that Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) vehicles arrived at the scene in under five minutes.
The driver was rescued quickly, but SCDF officers took at least 15 minutes to get the passenger out, he added.
A photo submitted by Mr Su to the Chinese-language evening daily shows a stationary black car on a grass patch at the police station, with police and SCDF officers around it.
The fence appeared to be temporarily repaired with metal sheets, Shin Min said.
Police investigations are under way.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/elderly-woman-crashes-car-through-fence-at-clementi-police-division-hq
| 2024-01-29T06:32:31
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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/elderly-woman-crashes-car-through-fence-at-clementi-police-division-hq
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Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag said Marcus Rashford's absence for their FA Cup fourth-round fixture against Newport County was an "internal matter" after the Premier League club said the forward "was not well enough" to be in the squad.
United said in a statement before their 4-2 win that the 26-year-old England international had "stayed at Carrington to train as he recovers".
"He reported ill and the rest is an internal matter," Ten Hag said on Sunday. "It is an internal matter. As I said, we will deal with it. I will deal with it."
Rashford, United's Player of the Year in the last campaign, has four goals and six assists in all competitions this season. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/rashford-absence-an-internal-matter-says-ten-hag
| 2024-01-29T06:32:42
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https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/rashford-absence-an-internal-matter-says-ten-hag
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WASHINGTON - Complaints of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian discrimination and hate in the U.S. rose by about 180% in the three months after Oct. 7 following Hamas' attack on Israel and Israel's subsequent assault on Hamas-governed Gaza, an advocacy group said on Monday.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
Rights advocates have noted a rise in Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian bias in the U.S. and elsewhere since the eruption of war in the Middle East. Among incidents in the U.S. that raised alarm were a November shooting in Vermont where three students of Palestinian descent were shot and the fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old Palestinian American child in Illinois in October.
BY THE NUMBERS
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said on Monday it has received 3,578 complaints during the last three months of 2023, amid what it called "an ongoing wave of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian hate."
The figure is a 178% rise from complaints in the same period from a year earlier.
Complaints of employment discrimination led the list with 662 instances; hate crimes and hate incidents were reported 472 times; and education discrimination 448 times, the organization said.
Earlier this month, the Anti-Defamation League said that in the three months after Oct. 7, U.S. antisemitic incidents rose by 360% compared to the prior year.
CONTEXT: US SECURITY ALERTS
The U.S. government recently issued security guidance for faith-based communities amid heightened antisemitism and Islamophobia since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas that killed 1,200, and Israel's subsequent military retaliation in Gaza that the local health ministry says has killed over 26,000 Palestinians or more than 1% of Gaza's 2.3 million population.
The U.S. Justice Department is monitoring rising threats against Jews and Muslims amid the conflict. President Joe Biden has condemned antisemitism and Islamophobia. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/anti-muslim-incidents-jump-in-us-amid-israel-gaza-war
| 2024-01-29T06:32:52
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/anti-muslim-incidents-jump-in-us-amid-israel-gaza-war
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DUBAI - Iran carried out the death sentences of four people on Monday that it says were linked to an Israeli intelligence operation, after the Supreme Court rejected their appeal, Iranian state media reported.
The defendants were accused of illegally entering Iranian territory from Iraq's Kurdistan region to carry out a bombing operation in an Isfahan-based factory producing equipment for Iran's Ministry of Defence.
Their operation was meant to take place in the summer of 2022 on behalf of Israel's Mossad and was averted by Iranian intelligence, according to the reports.
Iran and Israel are longtime foes and are currently locked in a row over Iran's nuclear programme. Israel accuses Iran of backing militant attacks against it, while Iran says Israel has carried out a number of killings of Iranian officials and scientists. Israel does not confirm nor deny such actions. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/iran-executes-four-people-it-says-are-linked-to-israeli-intelligence-state-media
| 2024-01-29T06:33:02
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/iran-executes-four-people-it-says-are-linked-to-israeli-intelligence-state-media
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HONG KONG - China's Supreme Court and Hong Kong's Department of Justice said on Monday that they signed an arrangement on the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgements in civil and commercial cases effective immediately in both places.
The arrangement reduces the need for parties to re-litigate the same dispute in the mainland and Hong Kong courts, reducing the risks, legal costs and time usually associated with the cross boundary enforcement of such judgements, Hong Kong's Department of Justice said in a statement.
It is unclear how the reciprocal recognition and enforcement arrangement would work in practise as there has been no previous precedent with the mainland.
Hong Kong is the only jurisdiction to have an arrangement with the mainland on reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgements with such a wide coverage, it said.
The move comes as Hong Kong prepares to enact a new round of national security laws this year known as Article 23 that is expected to further tighten China's grip, and include counter-espionage legislation that could strengthen official control over foreign institutions.
When Hong Kong reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997, Beijing promised the city a high degree of autonomy including the right to free speech and protest.
Western critics say Beijing has reneged on those promises amid the current national security law crackdown that has been used to arrest over 280 pro-democracy activists and politicians including leading China critic Jimmy Lai.
Lai's trial has become a diplomatic focal point and a key test for the financial hub's judicial independence and freedoms, with diplomats including those from the U.S., Britain, the European Union, Canada and Australia in attendance.
Justice Secretary Paul Lam said that the new civil and commercial arrangement showcased the unique advantages enjoyed by Hong Kong under the "one country, two systems" formula that the city is governed under.
It will make the option of choosing Hong Kong with its common law system which the "international business community is familiar with and have confidence in, as the jurisdiction to resolve any contractual dispute more attractive," knowing that a Hong Kong judgement may be recognised and enforced all over the mainland, Lam said.
"This will be conducive to enhancing Hong Kong's status as an international legal and dispute resolution services centre. It may also make investors and business people from other countries more ready to explore investment and business opportunities on the mainland." REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/china-hk-sign-arrangement-on-reciprocal-recognition-of-civil-commercial-cases
| 2024-01-29T08:03:19
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/china-hk-sign-arrangement-on-reciprocal-recognition-of-civil-commercial-cases
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SYDNEY - Papua New Guinea is in early talks with China on a potential security and policing deal, Foreign Minister Justin Tkachenko told Reuters, weeks after deadly riots in the South Pacific nation's capital.
Amid jostling between Washington and Beijing for influence in the Pacific, the biggest Pacific Islands nation, Papua New Guinea (PNG), has previously said Australia and the United States are its security partners, while China is an important economic partner.
China approached PNG in September with an offer to assist its police force with training, equipment and surveillance technology, Tkachenko said in an interview with Reuters on Monday. Talks continued last week.
"We deal with China at this stage only at economic and trade level. They are one of our biggest trading partners, but they have offered to assist our policing and security on the internal security side," Tkachenko said.
PNG will assess if the Chinese offer duplicates security and policing assistance already being offered by Australia and the United States, he said.
"It is still in early stages of negotiation with our Commissioner of Police and our Minister of Internal Security," he said.
"They have offered it to us, but we have not accepted it at this point in time."
China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
China is a "strong economic partner" of PNG, and the two nations formed diplomatic ties in 1975, Tkachenko said.
PNG signed a A$200 million ($132 million) security deal with Australia last month to boost policing, and days later Prime Minister James Marape told an investment conference in Sydney that he had not held talks with China on security when he visited Beijing in October.
PNG had chosen Australia and the United States as security partners, he said.
Riots in the PNG capital Port Moresby earlier in January left at least 16 dead, with major retail stores burnt and looted, after police held a strike over pay. Marape's government called in the PNG defence force to restore order, but didn't seek Australia's help.
China's embassy complained to PNG over the safety risk to Chinese citizens living in Port Moresby.
PNG struck a Defence Cooperation Agreement with the United States during a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in May, giving the U.S. military access to PNG ports and airports.
Tkachenko said PNG would not do anything to jeopardise its defence and security relationships with Australia or the U.S., and was not a "fence-sitter".
Riots in neighbouring Solomon Islands in 2021 saw China strike security and policing pacts with Manasseh Sogavare's government a year later, alarming Washington and Canberra.
Australia's Pacific Minister Pat Conroy pledged A$35 million in policing assistance to neighbouring East Timor on Monday during an official visit, amid concern in Canberra that Beijing is again aggressively targeting the police and security sectors in the Pacific.
Conroy will on Tuesday visit Nauru, which switched diplomatic ties from Taiwan to Beijing this month. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/china-papua-new-guinea-in-talks-on-policing-security-cooperation-minister
| 2024-01-29T08:03:30
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/china-papua-new-guinea-in-talks-on-policing-security-cooperation-minister
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TAIPEI - A pilots’ union late on Jan 28 reached a deal with Taiwan’s Eva Airways to avert a strike that had been threatened over the crucial Chinese New Year holiday in a dispute over salaries and working conditions.
Taoyuan Union of Pilots said last week its members had voted to authorise a strike after accusing Eva of not raising salaries enough and employing too many foreign pilots.
The union, which represents mostly long-haul pilots, had raised the prospect of striking over the week-long Chinese New Year holiday starting February.
After talks facilitated by the government, the union said it had reached a four point agreement with the airline, with Eva agreeing to raise salaries and hire foreign pilots only if there is a “special need”.
Eva, in a statement to the Taiwan stock exchange, said it had reached a “consensus” with the union and confirmed it had signed the agreement.
Eva shares closed 4.9 per cent higher on Jan 29, outperforming the broader market’s 0.7 per cent gain.
Employee salaries and benefits will continue to be improved in the future, the airline added in a separate statement.
Taiwan Vice-Premier Cheng Wen-tsan witnessed the signing of the agreement, Taiwan’s Transport Ministry said.
Eva, best known internationally for the Hello Kitty livery on some of its jets, operates flights to many destinations around Asia as well as to North America, Europe and Australia. It is Taiwan’s second-largest carrier after China Airlines. REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/pilots-union-reaches-deal-with-taiwan-s-eva-air-averting-strike
| 2024-01-29T08:03:40
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/pilots-union-reaches-deal-with-taiwan-s-eva-air-averting-strike
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TOKYO - Three men are suing the Japanese government, citing a pattern of racially motivated police harassment and asking for improved practices and about 3 million yen ($27,192) each in compensation.
The suit is unusual in Japan, a historically homogeneous place with little precedent for punishing racial discrimination.
The plaintiffs – two permanent residents and one a foreign-born Japanese citizen – are seeking to show that disparate treatment based on race violates the Constitution and international human rights agreements.
Plaintiffs say they have been repeatedly stopped for questioning by police for no apparent reason, and had their belongings searched, according to a summary of the case provided by lawyers.
One, an African American who has lived in Japan for more than a decade and has a Japanese family, said he’d been stopped more than 15 times before he decided to join the suit.
Another, a Pacific Islander, said he’d been questioned about 100 times.
“If police officers are allowed to discriminate, then it creates this image from the top to the citizens that discrimination is OK,” said Mr Moe Miyashita, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs.
“On the other hand, if the police, the national government and other public organisations tell people that they can’t do this, it sends a strong message to the general public that discrimination is wrong.”
The suit names the Japanese government and the Tokyo Metropolitan and Aichi prefecture governments.
All three declined to comment on the case. The National Police Agency did not immediately respond to questions about the suit.
The lawsuit adds to simmering questions about how Japan will manage the growing diversity of its population.
To make up for its shrinking workforce, the country is increasingly reliant on immigrants. Foreign workers now number a record-high of two million, according to the most recent government data.
Awareness of racism and racial profiling has been rising since a 2021 viral video showed a police officer admitting he’d searched a mixed-race man because “many people with dreadlocks carry drugs.”
The US Embassy in Tokyo warned US citizens about racial profiling by Japanese police on their X account.
Japan’s Constitution explicitly bans race-based discrimination, and the country is a signatory to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Nevertheless, a study by the Tokyo Bar Association showed that among 2,000 respondents of foreign background, over 60 per cent said they had been questioned by police and about 77 per cent of those questioned said there was no apparent reason other than the fact they appeared foreign.
“More people are starting to recognise that these issues are happening,” Mr Miyashita said. “I think this is just the beginning.” BLOOMBERG
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/racial-profiling-allegations-spark-lawsuit-against-japan-police
| 2024-01-29T08:03:50
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/racial-profiling-allegations-spark-lawsuit-against-japan-police
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VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis said in an interview published on Monday he is confident critics of his decision to allow blessings for same-sex couples will eventually understand it, except for Africans who are "a special case".
Blessings were allowed last month in a document called Fiducia Supplicans (Supplicating Trust), which has caused widespread debate in the Catholic Church, with particularly strong resistance coming from African bishops.
"Those who protest vehemently belong to small ideological groups," Francis told Italian newspaper La Stampa, adding: "A special case are Africans: for them homosexuality is something 'bad' from a cultural point of view, they don't tolerate it".
"But in general, I trust that gradually everyone will be reassured by the spirit of the 'Fiducia Supplicans' declaration by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith: it aims to include, not divide," the pope continued.
Already last week, Francis appeared to acknowledge the pushback the document unleashed, especially in Africa, where bishops have effectively rejected it and where in some countries same-sex activity can lead to prison or even the death penalty.
He said that when the blessings are given, priests should "naturally take into account the context, the sensitivities, the places where one lives and the most appropriate ways to do it".
In the interview with La Stampa, Francis confirmed he is scheduled to welcome at the Vatican the president of his native Argentina, Javier Milei, on Feb. 11, and that finally visiting the country is a possibility.
He said his agenda for 2024 currently includes trips to Belgium, East Timor, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.
Speaking about his health, which has taken some knocks in recent years with hospitalisations, mobility problems and cancelled trips or events, the 87-year-old said, "there are some aches and pains but it's better now, I'm fine." REUTERS
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/pope-says-africans-are-special-case-when-it-comes-to-lgbt-blessings
| 2024-01-29T08:04:01
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/pope-says-africans-are-special-case-when-it-comes-to-lgbt-blessings
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SINGAPORE –The Red Sea shipping crisis is sending waves through Asia’s fuel markets, hoisting costs even on routes that do not use the waterway, while spurring sellers to reduce cargo premiums to offset the higher freight.
Rates for shipping products such as petrol have jumped as some vessels sail longer distances to avoid the Red Sea, after attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels. This has tightened the market, first boosting costs of long-distance routes via the Middle East, and now spilling into voyages within Asia.
The cost of shipping 35,000 tonnes of fuel from South Korea to Singapore jumped almost 50 per cent over the last week to more than US$49,000 (S$65,700) a day, the highest since 2022, according to Baltic Exchange data. Meanwhile, the cost of larger tankers connecting the Middle East to Japan has hit the highest since 2020
Global commodity markets, especially for crude oil and related products, are transfixed by the stand-off, which worsened in recent days after a fuel-laden tanker – the Marlin Luanda, operated on behalf of trading giant Trafigura Group – was set ablaze by a Houthi missile. The rebel group has been attacking merchant ships in support of Hamas against Israel, prompting retaliatory strikes led by the United States.
“The most recent attack on a laden tanker suggests things are getting worse, and not better,” said Mr Anoop Singh, global head of shipping research at Oil Brokerage.
The diversions have added 3 per cent to demand for clean tankers, which carry refined products, and about 1 per cent to dirty-tanker demand, he said.
Given the upsurge in freight costs, there are signs that fuel producers are having to slash cargo prices to keep supplies affordable for customers amid lukewarm buying interest for gasoil and jet fuel.
SK Energy sold three gasoil cargoes last week for February-to-March loading at a steeper discount to regional benchmarks, traders said. The refiner also cancelled an offer of a jet fuel cargo due to low bids. BLOOMBERG
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/red-sea-shipping-crisis-sends-tremors-through-asia-fuel-markets
| 2024-01-29T08:04:11
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https://www.straitstimes.com/business/red-sea-shipping-crisis-sends-tremors-through-asia-fuel-markets
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SEOUL – K-pop girl group (G)I-dle have suspended all activities ahead of the release of their second full-length album on Jan 29, due to the health issues of two of the quintet’s members.
“Minnie and Yuqi visited the hospital the previous day due to fever and migraines,” the group’s agency Cube Entertainment said on Jan 27.
“We decided to suspend all schedules of the two members and they will focus on getting enough rest and treatment following the medical team’s instructions.”
Cube Entertainment added that (G)I-dle’s future activities will be rescheduled based on the artistes’ conditions.
The group’s other members are Miyeon, Soyeon and Shuhua.
(G)I-dle concluded their second concert tour, I Am Free-ty World Tour, in Singapore in October 2023.
While a press conference – which was scheduled for Jan 29 to celebrate the release of (G)I-dle’s new album, titled 2 – was cancelled, the album will be released as scheduled on music sites on Jan 29.
(G)I-dle were embroiled in a controversy last week when the lyrics of the new album’s pre-release track, Wife, were criticised for being sexually suggestive.
Public broadcaster KBS said the lyrics should be revised for broadcast, but the girl group decided not to do so as it is not the title track of the album.
With more than 1.8 million pre-orders as at Jan 24, 2 will be the group’s second million-seller following their sixth EP, I Feel, released in May 2023. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/k-pop-girl-group-gi-dle-s-activities-halted-by-health-issues
| 2024-01-29T08:04:21
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/k-pop-girl-group-gi-dle-s-activities-halted-by-health-issues
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GERARDMER, France – South Korean film-maker Jason Yu was awarded the prestigious Gerardmer International Fantastic Film Festival Grand Prix on Jan 28 for his first feature-length offering, Sleep.
The 34-year-old’s movie is a comedy horror about the lives of a couple – played by late actor Lee Sun-kyun and actress Jung Yu-mi – being turned upside down after the husband’s nightmarish sleepwalking habits terrorise his wife.
Lee died at the age of 48 on Dec 27 in an apparent suicide amid gruelling police investigations into accusations of his alleged drug use.
The Jury Prize was awarded to Amelia’s Children by Portuguese film-maker Gabriel Abrantes and Frenchwoman Celine Rouzet’s En Attendant La Nuit (For Night Will Come).
Amelia’s Children is about a man who believes himself to be an orphan, but then finds his family. En Attendant La Nuit is about a teenager who needs human blood to survive and falls in love with his neighbour.
When Evil Lurks by Argentine Demian Rugna won both the Critics’ Prize and Audience Award, while Briton Barnaby Clay’s The Seeding picked up the Great East Region Youth Jury Award.
Transylvanie by Frenchman Rodrigue Huart was awarded the Short Film Grand Prize.
The Gerardmer festival specialises in films from the fantasy, science fiction and horror genres. AFP
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/late-south-korean-actor-lee-sun-kyuns-sleep-wins-top-award-at-french-film-festival
| 2024-01-29T08:04:32
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/late-south-korean-actor-lee-sun-kyuns-sleep-wins-top-award-at-french-film-festival
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SINGAPORE – Singapore collectibles company Mighty Jaxx is releasing eight figurines inspired by the spy action comedy Argylle.
Directed by English film-maker Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class, 2011; the Kingsman film series, 2014 to 2017), the movie stars Henry Cavill, Bryce Dallas Howard and Sam Rockwell.
Opening in Singapore cinemas on Feb 1, it revolves around reclusive spy novelist Elly Conway (Howard), who is sucked into the dangerous world of espionage when the plots of her fictional books begin to mirror the covert actions of a real-life spy organisation.
Four Mighty Jaxx figurines can be seen in a book-signing scene featuring Howard. She is seated at a desk and on it are models of characters that appear in her book.
Mr Jackson Aw, 35, founder and chief executive of Mighty Jaxx, says that the in-movie appearance of the collectibles is a “thrilling milestone” for the firm, which was founded in 2012.
“We are proud to make our debut on the Hollywood stage,” he says.
In addition to designing collectibles, the company created the 2023 interactive experience Stranger Things – The Encounter: Singapore for the Netflix series Stranger Things (2016 to present).
It has also worked with brands such as The Walt Disney Company, Hasbro, Formula One, Toei Animation and Adidas.
In 2021, Mighty Jaxx was approached by Vaughn’s production company Marv Studios.
“They were working on a movie that required distinctive props – toys based on characters in the movie,” says Mr Aw in an e-mail interview.
The Marv team offered pointers on the form of the toys, but left Mighty Jaxx to define the final look.
“We were asked to prepare four characters and their packaging, all of which would be prominently displayed in the scenes being shot in October 2021.”
After the Marv team saw the first four characters, it asked the home-grown company for four more, says Mr Aw.
“It was surreal seeing our collectibles on the big screen,” he adds.
Mighty Jaxx is the exclusive partner releasing the Argylle Movie Collectibles Series, which includes eight 10-inch (25.4cm) polystone characters and retails at US$169 (S$226) each.
The collection is available for pre-order at mightyjaxx.com worldwide from Feb 2.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/seen-on-the-big-screen-singapore-company-mighty-jaxx-s-figurines-in-spy-movie-argylle
| 2024-01-29T08:04:42
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/seen-on-the-big-screen-singapore-company-mighty-jaxx-s-figurines-in-spy-movie-argylle
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UNITED STATES – Of the more than 60 nations I have visited, the three most similar to my home country Australia are England, Ireland and the United States.
There are three reasons: England settled Australia. I have Irish ancestry, and can relate to the Irish people who were among the first residents of English colonies. And American entertainment has long shaped Australian pop culture.
When I first visited the US as a 10-year-old, I could barely believe I was in the land of Disney, the National Basketball Association, Hollywood and the World Wrestling Federation. The entire family holiday was a waking dream.
Last September, I finally returned, 31 years later. Despite considering myself familiar with the US, four things still surprised me as a traveller. They also made me consider how best to maximise a trip to this big country.
Here are four tips.
1. With cars, bigger is not better
The first thing I noticed when I exited Los Angeles International Airport was the massive size of the vehicles. Every second driver sat in something closer to a truck than a car.
Then, my brother arrived to pick me up in a huge GMC Acadia.
Compared with my nifty Honda Civic in Australia, this beast was nearly twice as heavy and had an engine more than double the size. And that cost us.
We spent a fortune on petrol while driving around Los Angeles, and then north through Santa Barbara, Monterey and San Francisco.
My Ireland-based brother had booked a much smaller car for our trip, but was offered the hulking GMC as an upgrade when he arrived at the auto-rental company.
That happened again when we landed in Atlanta from San Francisco to begin our second driving journey. This time, we declined the upgrade. Instead, we picked a Chevrolet Equinox, a much lighter vehicle with an engine half the size.
Our daily petrol bill was immediately halved. So, do not get seduced by the enormous sport utility vehicles that many car-rental companies will offer, often at no additional cost. You will not need their extra space and you will quickly become frustrated by their running costs.
My brother and I are both big guys, and even we did not require the excess of interior room provided by the giant GMC.
2. With hotels, bigger is better
The fixation with making everything supersized extends to American hotels.
As I mentioned, my brother and I are both large. We are not built to sleep in single beds.
On our previous trips in Europe and Asia, it was difficult to find twin rooms with beds that were both double or larger in size.
There is no such problem in the US. When we checked into our first hotel, in the Koreatown area of Los Angeles, I celebrated when the receptionist told us we had two queen beds in our room.
“That’s pretty standard in the US,” he responded, filling me with hope about our subsequent nights.
He was right. Each of the 10 hotels we stayed in during our US trip had two queen beds. What was more, all but two of our rooms were also spacious, with plenty of room for a couch, an armchair and a desk.
3. Food is expensive, so have brunches instead
When I picked up the menu, I was astonished. For breakfast, we chose a modest diner in a working-class neighbourhood of Los Angeles, expecting it to be fairly cheap.
Instead, the prices were double what we would pay in an equivalent venue in Australia or Ireland. Once we included tax and tip, it was almost $100 for our meal, although each of us ordered just a cup of coffee and a plate of sausage, bacon, hash brown and egg.
This trend continued across our trip, even at fast-food places like McDonald’s. My overall food expenses were almost double what I budgeted for.
To get around this, we searched for hotels in our price range that included a buffet breakfast.
Many hotels let us add breakfast to our booking for about half of what we would pay for that meal in a restaurant. Then, we ate late and heartily each morning.
By filling up on breakfast, at about 10am near the end of the buffet service, we could skip lunch. We would not be properly hungry again until the evening, needing only a protein bar in the mid-afternoon.
My rough calculations found that this approach saved us at least $60 a day, which added up to about $1,000 over our trip.
4. Expect huge differences in culture within the US
I was certainly naive in this respect. I had read and heard many times about the differences in culture and atmosphere in different parts of the US, but to experience these social chasms was another thing.
While Australia is similar in land area to the US, I have never noticed much of a difference between the way people behave and think in Perth versus in Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane.
In the US, however, the contrasts we felt in a matter of days were jarring.
In famously progressive San Francisco, a naked man wearing only sneakers and a hat strolled past us in broad daylight in the Castro neighbourhood. No one paid him any mind. He was just being free and easy.
While this was an odd experience, I adored the inclusive culture of San Francisco.
A few days later, I was taken back in time to the bad old days in the heavily right-wing state of Tennessee. At a petrol station, I overheard two middle-aged men openly having a bigoted conversation.
I do not intend to generalise about any locations I visited, but suffice to say, there were some which had uncomfortable vibes that I do not wish to experience again.
I must say, though, that across the entire US trip, people were consistently polite and friendly to me. While this vast country clearly has myriad social problems, it deserves its reputation as a warm, hospitable destination.
But be prepared to see starkly different sides of American society.
- The writer is an Australian journalist and photographer who grew up on US sitcoms, sports and music, and just completed a dream trip driving across this nation with his brother.
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/travel/revisiting-america-after-31-years-tips-to-save-and-live-big-in-a-supersized-country
| 2024-01-29T08:04:52
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https://www.straitstimes.com/life/travel/revisiting-america-after-31-years-tips-to-save-and-live-big-in-a-supersized-country
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