CNA – Liverpool have to start working on their player recruitment plans for the summer transfer window regardless of their Champions League status next season, manager Juergen Klopp (AFP, pic below) said, highlighting the spending power of other Premier League clubs.
Liverpool lost 5-2 to Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 clash and they are eighth in the league, seven points adrift of the fourth spot which secures Champions League qualification, albeit with two games in hand.
“I’m sorry that I cannot guarantee Champions League at this moment but we fight for it and it is not done yet,” Klopp told reporters.
“But it is tricky and it will be a late decision. We have to start work earlier before we know where we will end up position-wise and European competition-wise. These things are clear.” Liverpool are six-times Champions League winners, last lifting the trophy in 2018-19.
“I think we played five years in a row in the Champions League, which is massive money, and went to the final three times in that time, which is also massive from a money point of view,” added Klopp.
“We built a stand, we built a training ground, and the club is in a really good place, but around us obviously a few people (clubs) are speeding up a little bit and you cannot ignore that. We cannot ignore these kind of things.”
Liverpool’s American owner John Henry has said there are no plans to sell the club but they are open to investment, even as Manchester United explore a sale while Chelsea and Newcastle United are already under wealthy ownerships.
MANILA (AFP) – Philippine protesters held a noisy rally yesterday for the 37th anniversary of the “People Power” revolution, which ousted President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s dictator father and sent the family into exile.
It was the first commemoration of the uprising since Marcos Jr took office in June 2022. He has praised his father’s 20-year regime, which critics describe as a dark period of human rights abuses and corruption that left the country impoverished.
As leftist rock music blared over a loudspeaker, hundreds of protesters, including survivors of the elder Marcos’s martial law crackdown that led to the killing, torture and imprisonment of thousands of political foes and critics, marched on the “People Power” monument in Manila in memory of the brutal era.
Some chanted “Marcos, Duterte all the same, fascist dictators”, in reference to former president Rodrigo Duterte and his successor Marcos Jr, as about 200 police with shields stood by.
Veteran rights activist Sister Mary John Mananzan urged protesters to “remain vigilant” following the return of the Marcoses to power.
Nearly four decades on from the toppling of Marcos Sr, Julio Montinola, 53, told AFP the challenge was to keep the “message and spirit” of the uprising alive.
“Unfortunately, it did not resonate with the next generation,” said Montinola. “The bottom line is he (Marcos Jr) was elected by the people.”
Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte releases white pigeons at the People’s Power Monument in Quezon city, Philippines. PHOTO: AP
Thirteen-year-old Kyle Navera said he had heard “bad things happened” to people who opposed Marcos Sr.
“It looks like he (Marcos Jr) is starting (to become like his dad). I hope he does not go down that path,” Navera said, referring to the ongoing deadly drug war started by Marcos Jr’s predecessor Rodrigo Duterte.
Marcos Jr sent a large wreath of white flowers to the monument, which is near the city’s main thoroughfare where the bloodless uprising had been held.
In a statement, Marcos Jr recalled “those times of tribulation and how we came out of them united and stronger as a nation”.
“I once again offer my hand of reconciliation to those with different political persuasions to come together as one in forging a better society,” Marcos Jr said.
As an ailing Marcos Sr desperately clung to power in 1986, hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets of the capital for four days in a military-backed uprising against his regime.
The clan, including Marcos Jr, fled the presidential palace on February 25 on US military aircraft with bags and boxes stuffed with jewels, gold and cash.
After the patriarch’s death in Hawaii in 1989, the family returned to the Philippines to rebuild their political power base and rehabilitate their name.
Their efforts culminated with Marcos Jr’s victory in the May 2022 presidential election, following a massive social media misinformation campaign whitewashing the family’s history.
Cristina Palabay of human rights alliance Karapatan fears the Marcos clan is still determined to cleanse their name and hold on to their “ill-gotten wealth”, which is estimated to be in the billions of dollars.
FRANKFURT (XINHUA) – Companies in the European Union (EU) that went bust set a record high in the fourth quarter of 2022 since the start of the data collection in 2015, a report from EU statistics agency Eurostat indicated.
With a substantial growth of 26.8 per cent from the previous quarter, bankruptcy declarations in the EU reached the highest level of 113.1, an index used to gauge the bankruptcy level in the EU compared to the benchmark of 100 in 2015.
Historical data from Eurostat show that the index started to pick up since the second quarter of 2020 and went up precipitously throughout 2022.
The figure in the fourth quarter reflected a deteriorating situation in which companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), are grappling with diminishing demand, soaring production and a gloomy future.
All business sectors reported an increase in bankruptcy declarations, with transportation and storage, accommodation and food services, and education, health and social activities bearing the brunt with increases of 72.2 per cent, 39.4 per cent and 29.5 per cent.
The SMEs were at bay in particular. Due to the soaring production cost incurred by an energy crisis, the number of bankruptcies in France jumped by 50 per cent and the SME bankruptcies climbed by 78 per cent year-on-year in 2022, with more than 30 per cent of them filing for a closure in the fourth quarter, according to Altares, a commercial data company in France.
Director of research at Altares Thierry Millon noted that the local economic network would be impacted when SMEs went bust.
Customers shop at a market in Cascais, Portugal. PHOTO: XINHUA
Some analysts believe that the dramatic growth of bankruptcies in the EU can be largely attributed to factors including the slowdown of economic growth, surging energy prices, diminishing government support, soaring wages and financing costs.
In parallel, multi rounds of sanctions imposed by the EU on Russia have backfired, compounding the energy crisis and supply chain disruptions which in turn pile pressure on companies.
The price hikes of energy products have left companies in limbo and put the question of survival into the whole industry, said executive officer of German Retail Federation Stefan Genth.
As the economy goes sluggish, companies that are not able to transfer the lifted production cost to customers at a time when the demand is weak are in the storm eye, said partner of the German consultancy Falkensteg Tillmann Peeters.
The rolling back of government support for companies also played a crucial role in the rise of bankruptcies, according to chief economist James Watson of BusinessEurope, the confederation of European Business.
In 2020, governments of some European countries came up with a host of supportive measures to help companies that were hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The government support, coupled with a lucrative low interest rate, helped some companies stay aloof in the pandemic.
As long as the government support is gone, an increasing number of companies that would not have survived without government bailout filed for bankruptcy.
In the second half of 2022, the number of companies declaring a bankruptcy in France rose by 16 per cent after the French government ended supportive measures.
When government support becomes weaker and wages and financing costs climb, the companies that are struggling for survival will find it a mission impossible, said chief economist of Allianz Ludovic Subran.
The road ahead is bumpy for European companies. All the factors that are threatening the survival are still in play, and the first quarter of 2023 will be a difficult time for the companies, said Millon.
The trend of increasing bankruptcies in Europe will not come to an end in the near term, Peeters noted.
The High Commission of India in Brunei Darussalam celebrated the 12th World Hindi Diwas 2023 on Friday at India House, the official residence of the High Commissioner of India to Brunei Darussalam.
Nearly 150 local children, teachers, children of overseas community, local-nationals, and Indian diaspora members attended the event.
Indian High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam Alok Amitabh Dimri, read out Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s message.
The Indian High Commissioner encouraged the guests and children to learn and use Hindi in their daily lives, touched on efforts towards spreading awareness about Hindi on the global stage and shared highlights from the World Hindi Conference.
The high commissioner also spoke of the International Year of Millets 2023 and its health benefits.
A quiz based in both Malay and Hindi languages, cultural performances by schoolchildren and the presentation of gifts to the children were among the event highlights.
High Commissioner of India to Brunei Darussalam Alok Amitabh Dimri and the children in a group photo. PHOTO: HIGH COMMISSION OF INDIA
ROME (AFP) – An Italian policeman who blindfolded a United States teen suspect following the murder of another officer in Rome in 2019 was handed a two-month suspended sentence Friday, Italian news media reported.
The blindfolding of Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, then 18, during a police interrogation after the stabbing dead of officer Mario Cerciello in July 2019 sparked widespread criticism, even as horror over the crime led to an outpouring of public grief.
In convicting officer Fabio Manganaro on Friday for abuse of authority, Judge Alfonso Sabella also ordered EUR5,000 (USD5,274) to be paid to Natale-Hjorth, now 22.
Natale-Hjorth and his friend Finnegan Elder were convicted in 2021 of murdering Cerciello in a botched drug bust while on vacation in Rome. They were given life sentences that were later reduced under appeal to 22 and 24 years, respectively.
Those sentences are due to be considered by Italy’s Supreme Court next month.
Elder, now 23, admitted to stabbing Cerciello with an 11-inch knife on a dark street, but he and Natale-Hjorth testified they were jumped from behind by Cerciello and his partner, both in plain clothes, and did not know the men were police.
The prosecution’s main witness, Cerciello’s partner Andrea Varriale, testified that the officers approached the teens from the front and identified themselves as police before being attacked.
Defence lawyers for Elder and Natale-Hjorth have said the lower and appeals courts have both ignored evidence supporting the teenagers’ version of the events.
The coffin containing the body of Carabinieri’s officer Mario Cerciello Rega is carried in his hometown of Somma Vesuviana, near Naples, Italy. PHOTO: AP
Meragang Sixth Form Centre (PTEM) welcomed some 330 students with a singing of the national anthem, recitation of Doa and reading of the school oath yesterday.
Principal Moss bin Mat Juni said the school looks forward to working and helping new students achieve their academic goals.
The school song, he said, reflects the values and aspirations of the school community.
The school aspires to be a leading sixth form institution known for academic excellence and preparing students for future success, said the PTEM team, adding that experienced and qualified teachers allow the school to provide a dynamic and innovative learning environment.
The school’s state-of-the-art facilities support students with the resources to achieve academic success.
The school also offers a range of extracurricular activities that help students develop their social skills and pursue their interests.
PTEM students also have the opportunity to participate in various leadership and community service programmes and the centre is committed to ensuring that students have access to the latest technologies and digital resources such as laptops and high-speed Internet connectivity.
Yesterday also saw the dissolving of the previous parents-teacher association and the re-election of its new members.
New students of Meragang Sixth Form CentreParents during the orientation. PHOTOS: PTEM
LONDON (AP) – The parent of British Airways reported its first full-year profit since the start of the pandemic as COVID-19 travel restrictions were eased and said it continues to see strong bookings for leisure travel.
International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG), which also owns Spain’s Iberia and Vueling and Irish carrier Aer Lingus, said on Friday that it expects adjusted profit to grow this year after a weak first quarter.
CEO Luis Gallego said that although bookings are strong so far in 2023, business travel still lags behind leisure travel, which contributes to the company’s outlook for a first-quarter operating loss of about EUR200 million.
Still, IAG forecast full-year operating profit – which excludes certain costs – to be between EUR1.8 billion to EUR2.3 billion, up from EUR1.26 billion in 2022.
The recovery at the Anglo-Spanish company follows similar upbeat reports from other airlines including Air France-KLM that have seen their fortunes improve on strong travel demand coming out of the worst part of the pandemic.
IAG said it earned an after-tax profit of EUR232 million in the fourth quarter and EUR431 million for the full year. Analysts expected full-year earnings of EUR397 million, according to a FactSet survey. The company lost EUR2.93 billion in 2021.
Full-year revenue nearly tripled, to more than EUR23 billion.
The company’s airlines were back to about 87 per cent of pre-pandemic flying by the end of last year. The drop was sharpest at British Airways, partly because of traffic limits at London’s Heathrow Airport, which struggled to cope with rising demand.
A British Airways airplane at Lisbon Airport, Portugal. PHOTO: AP
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND (AP) – For the second day in a row rain came to New Zealand’s rescue in the second cricket test, saving it from an even greater mauling by England.
On the first day the rain came after only 65 overs when England already was 315-3. With Harry Brook making 186 and Joe Root an unbeaten 153 in a 302-run partnership, England was able to declare its first innings at 435-8.
And when the rain came again yesterday not long after tea, New Zealand was 138-7, still 297 behind. Tom Blundell was 25 and Tim Southee on 23.
James Anderson with 3-37 and Jack Leach with 3-45 wrecked the New Zealand first innings and sent the home team to the locker room in a light shower, welcoming the chance of a reprieve.
Brook dominated New Zealand on the first day and was 184 – his highest test score and fourth century in five tests – when the rain came on the first day. Root was 101. Brook faced only seven balls yesterday before he was out for 186 but Root turned his 29th century into the 13th score of his career in excess of 150. From the start of the day, England appeared to be racing towards a declaration and it came this time after 87 overs.
“I certainly felt I found a way to manage the situation throughout this game,” Root said. “At the time I did it was great to be able to just calm things down and wrestle a bit of momentum back in our favour.
“When you’re batting at the other end to Brook at the minute he’s making your life a lot easier. It was quite nice to bounce off him and we restore that calmness in the dressing room. A partnership like that is always going to set things up nicely.”
Ollie Pope of England celebrates after taking a close in catch to dismiss Daryl Mitchell of New Zealand on the second day of the second cricket test at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, New Zealand. PHOTO: AP
James Anderson once again took apart the New Zealand top order as he or Stuart Broad had done in England’s win in the first test at Mount Maunganui. He dismissed Devon Conway (0) with only the fifth ball of the New Zealand innings, then had Kane Williamson (4) and Will Young (2).
New Zealand’s recovery was led by Tom Latham who made 35 and raised the total to 60-4 before he swept at Leach and was caught at slip by Root as the ball grazed the top of his glove.
Leach then removed Henry Nicholls (30) and Daryl Mitchell (13) to reassert England’s superiority. Southee and Blundell helped a little to steady New Zealand before the rain came.
The New Zealand bowlers also enjoyed a little success early on the second day and with the older ball, though England always was hurrying to a declaration.
That rain which fell lightly throughout the night appeared to have freshened the Basin Reserve pitch and there was movement for the seamers and turn for spinner Michael Bracewell even before New Zealand took the second new ball after 80 overs.
Brooks’ forceful innings came to an end in an ironic manner. He played rare straight-bat defence at a ball from Matt Henry but made such sweet contact that the ball carried back to the bowler who made a juggled catch.
Ben Foakes dismissal was also ungainly. The England wicketkeeper attempted to flick a ball from Bracewell down the leg side but lost his balance, toppled forward and was stumped by his opposite Tom Blundell.
Ben Stokes stepped outside leg stump to thrash a ball from Neil Wagner through the covers but only managed to spoon it to the substitute fielder Scott Kuggeleijn. Ollie Robinson also fell to Henry who ended with 4-100.
The world’s best test bowler, Anderson, didn’t take long to add to his haul of 7-54 from the first test, dismissing Conway in his first over.
The ball passed the outside edge of Conway’s bat without making much of a sound. But Foakes and the slip field went up and convinced Stokes to review the not out decision.
Replays clearly showed a faint edge.
Williamson who has been chronically out of form dangled his bat at a ball from Anderson which was wide of off stump and going away, presenting an easy catch to Foakes.
ANN/THE STAR – A two-month-old Malaysian infant died after her brother is believed to have inadvertently rolled onto her while she was sleeping.
Their father, Meor Syazalee Sha @ Meor Sha, 38, said his daughter Maryam Sofea was sleeping with his wife and him at their home in Taman Bidara Setia. “When we woke up, our five-year-old son was beside us,” he said on Friday.
Meor Syazalee Sha, who is a lecturer at Masjid Tanah here, said his daughter was lifeless when they tried to wake her up on Thursday morning.
The couple has three sons, aged nine, six and five. Meor Syazalee Sha said he accepted the incident as fate and hoped no one would make negative comments or speculate about the case.
Alor Gajah OCPD Supt Arshad Abu confirmed the incident.
BEIRUT (AP) – A drone strike believed to have been carried out by the United States (US)-led coalition in northwestern Syria on Friday killed two operatives with an al-Qaeda-linked group, Syrian opposition activists said.
The two militants were killed while riding a motorcycle near the northern village of Qah, close to the Turkish border, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, and several other activist collectives.
There was no immediate comment from the US military. The strike was the latest in a series of attacks over the past years targeting al-Qaeda-linked militants in northwestern Syria.
The opposition’s Syrian Civil Defence, also known as White Helmets, said its members extinguished a fire caused by the drone strike, adding that two “unknown persons” were killed.
The Observatory said the two were members of Horas al-Din.
The group includes hardcore al-Qaeda members who broke away from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the strongest insurgent group in Idlib province.
Idlib is the last major rebel enclave in war-torn Syria. The Observatory also said that one of the two killed men was an Iraqi citizen.
In June last year, a drone strike by the US-led coalition in Idlib province killed a senior member of Horas al-Din Abu Hamzah al Yemeni.
In 2017, a US airstrike killed a former aide to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda’s second in command in Syria, Abu al-Kheir al-Masri.
A former top US envoy to the coalition battling the Islamic State group, Brett McGurk, said at the time when he was in the post that Idlib is the largest al-Qaeda haven since bin Laden’s days in Afghanistan.
