AFP – In the forest, in the kitchen and even in fashion, mushrooms are everywhere.
They are even poised to become the new stars of your beauty routine.
Prized for their nourishing and anti-ageing properties, as well as for their natural origin, they are a treat for skin and hair that is dehydrated or suffering the effects of seasonal weather.
Some people don’t find them particularly appetising, yet mushrooms have unsuspected benefits, both for skin and for health in general.
This has not escaped the attention of the beauty industry, which has made them an essential ingredient in oils, soaps, serums, hair masks, creams and more.
In fact, mushrooms are finding their place in a host of cosmetics, sharing the benefits of their moisturising, antioxidant, revitalising, soothing and firming properties, depending on the variety you choose.
REISHI AND CHAGA MUSHROOM
Many mushroom species are said to have skin benefits, such as tremella or shiitake, which come straight from Asia.
But the beauty industry is particularly interested in reishi and chaga mushrooms.
The former, sometimes known as the “mushroom of immortality”, is considered a miracle ingredient in Japan, South Korea and China, and is said to fight against dry and dehydrated skin, signs of skin ageing and redness. Chaga fungus, meanwhile, is rich in antioxidants, and is also considered a great ally against the signs of ageing, redness and external aggression.
Highly prized, these two ingredients are gradually being used in cosmetics, particularly in Europe and the United States.
CHANTRELLES AND BUTTON MUSHROOMS
More surprisingly, other species of mushrooms are being carefully studied by the cosmetics industry, and are already making their way into some beauty products.
This is the case of the chanterelle, rich in vitamins and potassium, which has become a must-have in hair care.
Or so promises the Madara Cosmetics brand, having made it a key ingredient in one of its ranges designed to repair, nourish and protect hair.
The common white mushroom, sometimes called a button mushroom and more commonly found on pizzas than in cosmetics is not to be overlooked either, as it is said to have protective properties thanks to its high vitamin and mineral content.
The Lush brand has made use of these benefits with a protective, nourishing and revitalising solid oil.
Not content with revolutionising the fashion industry, by serving as the source of a new vegan and eco-responsible material, mushrooms could now be set to shake up the beauty industry, and become the star ingredient of 2023.
BEIRUT (AP) – For years, the people of Aleppo bore the brunt of bombardment and fighting when their city, once Syria’s largest and most cosmopolitan, was among the civil war’s fiercest battle zones.
Even that didn’t prepare them for the new devastation and terror wreaked by this week’s earthquake.
The natural disaster piled on many human-made ones, multiplying the suffering in Aleppo and Syria more broadly.
Fighting largely halted in Aleppo in 2016, but only a small number of the numerous damaged and destroyed buildings had been rebuilt. The population has also more recently struggled with Syria’s economic downslide, which has sent food prices soaring and residents thrown into poverty. The shock of the quake is all too much.
Hovig Shehrian said that during the worst of the war in Aleppo, in 2014, he and his parents fled their home in a front-line area because of the shelling and sniper fire. For years, they moved from neighbourhood to neighbourhood to avoid the fighting.
“It was part of our daily routine. Whenever we heard a sound, we left, we knew who to call and what to do,” the 24-year-old said.
ABOVE & BELOW: A man stands among the rubbles of the aftermath of the earthquake in Aleppo, Syria; and rescuers carry the body of a victim from a destroyed building after a devastating earthquake rocked Syria and Turkiye. PHOTOS: AP
People visits the courtyard of the heavily-damaged Great Mosque of Aleppo in the Old City of Aleppo, SyriaResidents walk through the destruction of Salaheddine in the eastern Aleppo
“But… we didn’t know what to do with the earthquake. I was worried we were going to die.”
Monday’s pre-dawn 7.8-magnitude quake, centred about 112 kilometres away in Turkiye, jolted Aleppans awake and sent them fleeing into the street under a cold winter rain.
Dozens of buildings across the city collapsed. More than 360 people were killed in the city and hundreds of others were injured. Workers were still digging three days later through the rubble, looking for the dead and the survivors. Across southern Turkiye and northern Syria, more than 11,000 were killed.
Even those whose buildings still stood remain afraid to return. Many are sheltering in schools. A Maronite Christian monastery took in more than 800 people, particularly women, children and the elderly, crammed into every room.
“Until now we are not sleeping in our homes. Some people are sleeping in their cars,” said the secretary-general of Christian denominations Imad al-Khal in Aleppo, who was helping organise shelters.
For many, the earthquake was a new sort of terror, a shock even after what they endured during the war.
For Aleppo, the war was a long and brutal siege. Rebels captured the eastern part of the city in 2012, soon after Syria’s civil war began.
For the next years, Russian-backed government forces battled to uproot them.
Syrian and Russian airstrikes and shelling flattened entire blocks. Bodies were found in the river dividing the two parts of the city. On the government-held western side, residents faced regular mortar and rocket fire from opposition fighters.
A final offensive led to months of urban fighting, finally ending in December 2016 with government victory. Opposition fighters and supporters were evacuated, and government control imposed over the entire city. Activist groups estimate some 31,000 people were killed in the four years of fighting, and almost the entire population of the eastern sector was displaced.
Aleppo became a symbol of how President Bashar Al-Assad succeeded in clawing back most opposition held territory around Syria’s heartland with backing from Russia and Iran at the cost of horrific destruction. The opposition holds a last, small enclave in the northwest, centred on Idlib province and parts of Aleppo province, which was also devastated by Monday’s quake.
But Aleppo never recovered. Any reconstruction has been by individuals. The city’s current population remains well below its pre-2011 population of 4.5 million. Much of the eastern sector remains in ruins and empty.
Buildings damaged during the war or built shoddily during the fighting regularly collapse. One collapse, on January 22, left 16 people dead. Another in September killed 11 people, including three children.
Aleppo was once the industrial powerhouse of Syria, said Armenak Tokmajyan, a non-resident fellow at Carnegie Middle East who is originally from the city.
Now, he said, it’s economically marginalised, basic infrastructure in gas and electricity is lacking, and its population which had hoped for improvements after fighting ended only saw things get worse.
They have also now experienced the physical and psychological blow of the earthquake, Tokmajyan said. “It left them wondering, do they really deserve this fate or not? I think the trauma is big and it will take some time until they swallow this really bitter pill after (more than) 10 years of war.”
Rodin Allouch, an Aleppo native, covered the war for a Syrian TV station.
“I used to be on the front line, getting video shots, getting scoops. I was never scared.
Rockets and shells were falling and everything, but my morale was high,” he recalled.
The earthquake was different. “I don’t know what the earthquake did to us exactly. We felt we were going to join God. It was the first time in my life I got scared.”
During the war, he had to leave his neighbourhood in the eastern sector and rent an apartment on the western side.
But the quake has displaced him yet again. As their building shook, he, his wife and four children fled to a nearby garden.
Allouch said he won’t return until the building is inspected and repaired. It still stands, but has many cracks. The family will instead stay in a ground-floor store front nearby that he rented.
“It is safer to be down (on ground floor) if there is an earthquake,” he said, but complained that there is no fuel for heating. “Life is so miserable.”
Many others in Aleppo have been displaced more than once. Farouk al-Abdullah fled his farm south of Aleppo city during the war. Since then, he has been living with his two wives, 11 children and 70-year-old mother in Jenderis, an opposition-held town in Aleppo province.
Their building there collapsed completely in the earthquake, though the entire family was able to escape.
He said the earthquake, with its destruction everywhere and its aftermath, watching rescue crews pull bodies out of the rubble, “are much more horrible than during the war”.
And while war may be senseless, those in it often have a cause they are sacrificing for and wrest some meaning out of the death and destruction.
The war’s devastation in Aleppo at least “is somehow a proof that we weren’t defeated easily”, said Wissam Zarqa, an opposition supporter from the city who was there throughout the siege and now lives in the Turkish capital Ankara.
“But the destruction of natural disasters is all pain and nothing else but pain.”
The use of a cutting-edge digital platform designed by Mindtrex Academy to enhance student learning experiences through gamified learning experiences has led to improvements in Primary School Assessment (PSR) exams with over 5,000 students coming from 50 private and public schools using the digital platform.
These 50 schools include Bandar Seri Begawan Arab Preparatory School, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Arabic School, PGGMB Primary School and Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Primary School.
“Every difficulty has a solution, and I found that solution at Mindtrex Academy. Thank you for all the content provided and thank you also for creating this application for students to increase their skills and knowledge. Alhamdulillah, with every effort made, most of our students got excellent results in the PSR exam,” said a teacher from a private school.
“I would also like to thank Mindtrex Academy for providing good content to increase my knowledge and make it easier for me to understand, especially in difficult subjects,” said Haikal Danish, one of the application’s star users that managed to lead the live leaderboard and achieved a 5 A’sresult in the PSR examination.
The company’s commitment to providing students with access to technology and learning resources aligns with the to Brunei National Curriculum.
A teacher in a group photo with his students. PHOTO: LYNA MOHAMAD
CNA – Prior investigations by authorities on the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines found that all purchases were approved by the required government bodies, said former Malaysian health minister Khairy Jamaluddin on Wednesday.
Khairy said this in response to claims by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of irregularities in the procurement process of vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In an interview with The Star, Khairy said that investigations by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) which was conducted in 2021 found that the procurement of vaccines was “proper”.
“This was confirmed by the PAC, which investigated the matter,” said Khairy, who was the science, technology, and innovation minister at the time.
He maintained that the procurement was conducted with the approval of necessary parties.
“All vaccine procurement was made with approval from the Cabinet and the Treasury, taking into account views from all agencies,” he was quoted as saying by The Star.
Khairy added that he is confident to answer any questions about the procurements during the tabling of a White Paper by the health ministry in the next parliament session.
According to Bernama, Anwar claimed earlier on Wednesday that some parts of the COVID-19 vaccine procurement were signed off by the then-health minister without the approval of the attorney general.
“This White Paper will be tabled because, in the early stage, irregularities were detected. It is believed that (the procurement of vaccines) did not follow regulations or the required process.
“The procurement of certain types of the vaccine was very doubtful in terms of the amount and cost involved,” the prime minister said at a post-Cabinet meeting press conference.
Anwar added that those responsible should give an explanation on the matter, though no names were specified.
In 2021, Mr Khairy, then-health minister Dr Adham Baba and health director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah were investigated on the use and procurement of COVID-19 vaccines.
The New Straits Times reported then that the PAC was satisfied with the clarifications provided by them on the vaccine procurement.
“The proceeding was in line with PAC’s hopes to ensure that the government spending is transparent and truly benefits the people as a whole,” PAC chairman Wong Kah Woh reportedly said.
According to Bernama, the finance ministry had during the pandemic delegated powers to the health ministry as well as the science, technology and innovation ministry to finalise the procurement of vaccines at their respective ministry level.
This was part of efforts to facilitate the implementation of the country’s vaccination programme to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.
HARTFORD (AP) – A former University of Connecticut student pleaded guilty to murder and other charges on Wednesday for killing a man and severely wounding another with a sword in 2020 – one of two deadly attacks that led to a six-day manhunt in several states that ended with his capture in Maryland.
Peter Manfredonia, 26, from Newtown, Connecticut, agreed to a 55-year prison sentence during a hearing at Rockville Superior Court. Sentencing was set for April 20. He also is expected to plead guilty in connection with the second attack next week in state court in Milford, his lawyer said.
Manfredonia answered questions from the judge about the plea agreement during the hearing, but did not say anything else. He pleaded guilty to murder, assault and home invasion.
State’s Attorney Matthew Gedansky said the victims and their families in both cases supported the plea bargain, which was the result of months of discussions.
Manfredonia’s lawyer, Michael Dolan, called the plea agreement “a fair resolution” based on the evidence and seriousness of the charges. He said Manfredonia will plead guilty in the second case on February 16 and receive another 55-year sentence, to run concurrently with the sentence in the other case.
Peter Manfredonia during an appearance in Superior Court in the United States. PHOTO: AP
ZURICH (AP) – The 10-plus minutes of stoppage time that were a regular feature of games at the World Cup in Qatar are back on football’s agenda.
FIFA’s rule-making panel IFAB put additional time on the agenda published on Wednesday for its annual meeting next month.
Changes agreed on March 4 can take effect next season.
Talks are scheduled on “possible measures to create fairer conditions for both teams in terms of the amount of time available in a match, with a particular focus on a stricter calculation of additional time”.
Games of 100 minutes became routine at the last World Cup as referees followed FIFA advice to add on more accurate amounts for stoppages due to goal celebrations, injuries, video reviews and substitutions. The directive was part of a long-standing FIFA aim to create more active playing time on the field and give fans and viewers better value.
Fourth referee Salima Mukansanga shows the extra time during a World Cup group D match between Tunisia and France at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar. PHOTO: AP
It led to record-setting long games at the World Cup with a slew of stoppage-time additions of more than 10 minutes early in the tournament.
Though a head injury helped to cause 14-plus minutes of stoppage time in the first half of England-Iran, there were more than 13 minutes added to the second half of Saudi Arabia’s stunning 2-1 win over eventual champion Argentina.
The United States’ 1-1 draw with Wales on the second day of the tournament kicked off at 10pm in Doha and finished the next day once almost 11 minutes were added to the second half. Organisers such as individual domestic leagues have not followed FIFA’s example, though some said they were unwilling to change policy midseason and would revisit the subject in the offseason.
FIFA trials at the Club World Cup in Morocco of live broadcasts during video reviews of communications between match officials will also be discussed at the IFAB meeting in London.
Other subjects include allowing an extra substitute for teams when a player sustains a suspected concussion, though not the emergency temporary replacements requested by the global players’ union FIFPRO and some head injury experts.
The IFAB panel includes representative of FIFA and the four British football federations. The voting structure weighted toward FIFA means football’s world body can veto any proposal.
HONG KONG (AFP) – Markets mostly fell yesterday on the prospect of United States (US) interest rates going higher, and for longer, as officials try to cool the economy and bring decades-high inflation under control.
Months of slowing price rises fuelled hopes the Federal Reserve (Fed) could soon pause its tightening drive or even cut rates this year, but that optimism was dealt a blow last Friday by data showing the jobs market remains strong.
And key members of the central bank have lined up this week to acknowledge that while there had been progress in the inflation battle, there would be more pain to come before things got easier.
After bank boss Jerome Powell on Tuesday reiterated last week’s post-meeting statement that he saw more hikes in the pipeline, several top officials provided further insight on Wednesday.
New York Fed Chief John Williams said the policy board needed to “attain a sufficiently restrictive stance of policy” and then “maintain that for a few years to make sure we get inflation to two percent”, the bank’s inflation target.
Governor Christopher Waller added, “It might be a long fight, with interest rates higher for longer than some are currently expecting.”
A person on a bicycle in front of an electronic stock board showing Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo, Japan. PHOTO: AP
Meanwhile, Minneapolis boss Neel Kashkari warned there was “not yet much evidence, in my judgement, that the rate hikes that we’ve done so far are having much effect on the labour market”.
“We need to bring the labour market into balance, so that tells me we need to do more.”
The comments came after a closely watched US jobs report showed more than half a million new posts were created last month, far more than expected.
With the world’s top economy still showing resilience despite almost a year of rate hikes and surging prices, observers said traders’ hopes for a rate cut this year were fading.
Some are now predicting they could go as high as six per cent, almost one percentage point above what is currently being priced in.
“I don’t think the Fed will cut within this year,” Tribeca Investment Partners’ Jun Bei Liu told Bloomberg Television.
“The Fed was behind the curve in terms of putting up their interest rate, and they certainly are going to be very slow in cutting the interest rate.”
All three main indexes on Wall Street ended lower on Wednesday, led by tech firms, and most of Asia followed suit.
Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Wellington, Mumbai, Bangkok, Manila and Jakarta were all in the red.
However, Hong Kong and Shanghai rose more than one per cent apiece on China reopening hopes and bargain-buying after a string of losses at the start of February.
Mumbai-listed shares of the troubled Adani conglomerate tanked again after global stock index compiler MSCI said it was reviewing the status of equities in the group.
Adani Enterprises plunged more than 11 per cent.
“MSCI has determined that the characteristics of certain investors have sufficient uncertainty that they should no longer be designated as free float pursuant to our methodology,” the firm added.
“This determination has triggered a free float review of the Adani Group securities.”
MSCI defines a free float as the proportion of shares that can be bought publicly in share markets by international investors.
The business empire of Indian billionaire Gautam Adani lost over USD100 billion in value after US short-selling investment group Hindenburg Research accused it of artificially inflating share prices.
London and Paris opened higher, as did Frankfurt even as data showed German inflation picked up slightly last month.
ANN/THE STAR – After months of speculation about Hong Kong actress Charmaine Sheh (The Star, pic below) making a TVB comeback, HK01 reported yesterday that she will be returning to the broadcaster for a new drama News Queen.
This will be Sheh’s first TVB show in seven years since A Time of Love2 in 2016.
According to reports, the drama is based off the Jennifer Aniston-Reese Witherspoon series The Morning Show where senior news anchors fight for the highly coveted prime time news spot.
The show is produced by Return Of The Cuckoo’s Chung Cheng and will begin filming in March.
News Queen is set to reunite Sheh with her A Time Of Love co-star Kenneth Ma and ex-TVB actress Selena Lee, who left the station in 2019.
On working with the former TVB A-lister again, Lee said, “We worked together in dramas like When Easterly Showers Fall On The Sunny West (2008), Beyond The Realm Of Conscience (2009) and Can’t Buy Me Love (2010).
“We haven’t seen each other in many years, so I’m really excited to work with her again.”
Hong Kong media reported that TVB’s ratings had been plummeting in recent years due to an exodus of its well-known faces, and the broadcaster is allegedly turning to acclaimed actors like Sheh to retain viewers’ support.
Sheh’s past drama Can’t Buy Me Love was the highest rated TVB show of 2010 – with 2.14 million viewers.
The series also earned her a Best Actress win at the 16th Asian Television Awards.
The War And Beauty star left TVB in 2016 after her contract expired. She then went on to develop a career in China and found success with the 2018 series Story Of Yanxi Palace.
His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam yesterday called on the Public Service Commission (SPA) and the Public Service Department (JPA) to review hiring practices amid perceptions that recruitment procedures were inefficient and unfair.
The two government agencies are responsible for supplying qualified workforce to the public sector, said the monarch in a titah on Thursday during an unscheduled visit to the JPA.
His Majesty said there are “public grievances” on recruitment. “It is less efficient when there is delay in application process for a post, and it is less fair when it comes to matters relating to interview and written test which are seen to have many weaknesses.”
