COPENHAGEN (AP) – Christian Eriksen is set to train with the Denmark squad and could make his return to the national team in tomorrow’s (Sunday, 3.45am Brunei time) friendly match against the Netherlands, Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand said.
It would be Eriksen’s first appearance for Denmark since he collapsed after suffering a cardiac arrest during a European Championship game in June.
He has resumed his playing career in the past few weeks at Premier League club Brentford but missed the match against Leicester last Sunday after contracting COVID-19.
Eriksen will join up with the Danish national team later, Danish broadcaster DR said, and will be ready to train ahead of the match at the Johan Cruyff Arena – where he used to play for Dutch club Ajax.
“We just have to look at what exactly he has done at Brentford, where he started training again on Sunday,” Hjulmand said on Wednesday.
“Before that, he had missed the workouts for four days. We have to see how much he has done when we get the latest data.”
Hjulmand said the most likely scenario is that Eriksen, who has been fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, will start on the bench against the Netherlands. Denmark then plays Serbia in a friendly at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen on Tuesday.
“He is 100 per cent ready to play at Parken,” Hjulmand said.
Denmark’s midfielder Christian Eriksen and teammates train at the Marbella Football Centre in San Pedro de Alcantara. PHOTO: AFP
SINGAPORE (AFP) – Singapore will lift restrictions for all vaccinated travellers from next week, with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday hailing it as a “major milestone” in the aviation hub’s efforts to live with COVID-19.
The city-state is the latest Asian country to ease travel restrictions in a region that has generally been more reluctant to lift barriers than Europe and North America.
A gateway for many travellers arriving in the Asia-Pacific, Singapore had already started quarantine-free travel schemes with some countries in recent months.
From April 1, fully vaccinated adults and unvaccinated children will be allowed to enter the country without quarantining, as long as they take a pre-departure test, officials said.
Lee said Singapore had reached a “major milestone” in its efforts to live with the virus.
Easing travel curbs will “reconnect Singapore with the world”, he said in a televised address.
“It will give a much-needed boost to businesses, particularly the tourism sector, and it will help Singapore reclaim its position as a business and aviation hub.”
A person displays a mobile phone showing Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong delivering a speech. PHOTO: AFPPeople ride on a boat tour passing in front of the Marina Bay Sands hotel and resort in Singapore. PHOTO: AFP
Only travellers on a “restricted list” will face curbs in entering Singapore, although there are currently no countries on the list.
A raft of other coronavirus measures were also eased, with people in Singapore no longer required to wear masks outside, and limits on group sizes raised to 10, up from five previously.
At the start of the pandemic, the country of 5.5 million kept COVID-19 cases low through border closures and a tough lockdown. It has faced sizeable outbreaks since last year and, with some of the world’s highest vaccination rates, authorities have shifted to a policy of living with the virus.
The pandemic plunged Singapore into its worst-ever recession in 2020 as the trading hub closed its borders.
International visitor arrivals dropped to just 2.7 million that year from more than 19 million
in 2019.
Singapore’s approach stands in contrast to rival financial hub Hong Kong, where arrivals are still required to undergo lengthy quarantines in hotels.
Following Singapore’s announcement, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam was forced to defend her administration’s approach, insisting the Chinese city remained an “attractive” financial centre.
“The policies and measures to be adopted by each government in combatting COVID differ,” she said.
Like mainland China, Hong Kong has stuck to a zero-COVID policy, but the approach has led to an exodus of foreign and local residents, and failed to stop a fierce Omicron outbreak in recent months.
STOCKHOLM (AFP) – Russia will “destroy freedom” in Europe and pursue its neighbours, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Swedish lawmakers in an address yesterday.
“If Ukraine wouldn’t endure and protect ourselves, it would mean that… all neighbours of Russia are in danger from now on,” he said in a video link speech that got a standing ovation.
“Russia went to war against Ukraine because they want to advance further in Europe, they want to destroy freedom in Europe.
“This is a fundamental challenge for the European security and defence system”, he said, calling for Europe to issue hard-hitting weekly sanctions packages against Russia.
He warned Sweden that Moscow had its Baltic Sea island of Gotland in its sights.
Sweden re-opened its garrison on Gotland in 2018, in the wake of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, after shutting it down in 2004. “It would mean that you are in danger, because it is only the sea that divides you and this aggressive policy,” he said.
Ukrainian servicemen load a fragment of a rocket onto a truck outside a building in Kyiv. PHOTO: AFP
“Russian propagandists already discuss on air, on TV broadcasts, how Russia will occupy Gotland and how they will control it for decades,” he added.
“They think it would be comfortable to put anti-defence systems and bases there to cover the advance on the Baltic states.”
Zelenskyy thanked Sweden for its support, after it agreed to ship weapons to a country at war for the first time since 1939.
Not a member of NATO and officially militarily non-aligned, Stockholm yesterday announced a second delivery of 5,000 anti-tank launchers.
Support for NATO membership has soared in Sweden since Russia’s invasion, but Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson has so far ruled out the idea.
Joining the alliance risks “destabilising” northern Europe, she said.
HERAT, AFGHANISTAN (AFP) – In the middle of a bazaar in western Afghanistan, Arezo Akrimi takes out her smartphone and, after a few taps of the screen, changes some cryptocurrency for a bundle of hard cash.
Arezo, 19, is one of a hundred students in Herat receiving around USD200 a month in cryptocurrency since September thanks to an American NGO Code To Inspire.
This sum, which she converts at a bureau de change into Afghanis, is crucial for the rent and to help feed her family of six.
Since the Taleban returned in August, Afghanistan’s economy has virtually collapsed and the country is in the grip of a crisis caused by the seizure of billions of dollars of assets held abroad.
But digital currencies and their decentralised architecture, impervious to international sanctions, are allowing a handful of young Afghans to avoid the worst of the crisis.
“It was very surprising for me to learn that this could be used in Afghanistan,” Arezo told AFP.
“It was really helpful.”
University student Arezo Akrimi exchanges cryptocurrency for cash at a currency exchange office in Herat. PHOTO: AFP
Code To Inspire was founded to teach computer programming to women in Herat, but its hi-tech approach is now also helping students get funds in the economically deprived nation.
Bank transfers to Afghanistan are almost impossible currently, to prevent funds from falling into the hands of Islamist fundamentalists.
But even those with money in a bank struggle to get it out – individuals are limited to withdrawing the equivalent of USD200 a week, and businesses USD2,000.
Customers have to queue for hours even for those transactions.
Cryptocurrency transfers have allowed the NGO to circumvent these obstacles while ensuring that each donation gets to those who need it most, founder Fereshteh Forough told AFP.
“Crypto is an incredible way to overcome all kinds of political and economic sanctions, but also a tool that can change the lives of people living in an authoritarian regime,” says the American, whose parents fled Afghanistan in the 1980s.
To guarantee the financial security of its students, the NGO avoids paying them in bitcoins, the best-known cryptocurrency but whose price regularly swings wildly.
Instead, it favours the BUSD, a so-called “stablecoin” whose price is backed by the dollar.
“One BUSD is one dollar,” says Forough.
Beyond this humanitarian initiative, cryptocurrencies are gaining other followers in Herat, according to forex dealer Hamidullah Temori.
He has seen an influx of new customers over the past six months, many of whom regularly come to convert cryptoassets sent by relatives from abroad into Afghanis.
“Since the Taleban came to power (cryptocurrency) transfers to and from abroad have increased by 80 per cent,” he told AFP.
Transfers are instantaneous and commissions are much lower than transactions made through Western Union or hawala, the over-the-counter system traditionally favoured by Afghans.
In Kabul, Noor Ahmad Haidar has become a crypto convert by force of circumstance.
The young man, who started exporting saffron to the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada in early 2021, now has 90 per cent of his orders paid for in bitcoins.
“I avoid going through the chaotic process of bank transfers,” he says.
“Since August, it has really become the only option available, and the most convenient for me.”
Its growing popularity in Afghanistan was noted by Chainalysis in its 2021 Global Cryptocurrency Adoption Index, which ranked the country 20th out of 154 countries for “grassroots take-up”.
“I don’t think it’s just in response to the Taleban taking over,” says Kim Grauer, the firm’s director of research.
“It’s also because we’re at a time when there are more solutions that allow you to trade cryptocurrencies on your phone and more people understand what it is.”
Still, while the momentum is growing the volume of trading remains very low, and will remain so due to the lack of Internet access and high levels of illiteracy in Afghanistan, she says.
But for those who can venture into this world, cryptocurrencies could be a lifeline.
TOKYO (AP) – Shareholders of embattled Japanese electronics and energy giant Toshiba Corp voted down a major restructuring plan yesterday, in a setback for the company’s management.
The plan proposed last month called for splitting Tokyo-based Toshiba Corp. into two companies, one focussed on infrastructure and the other on devices. The latter would have been spun off.
Some shareholders, including foreign investment funds and United States (US)-based proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholders Services, opposed the plan.
Toshiba management had scrapped an earlier proposal for a three-way split and put forward the latest plan, which was put to a vote at yesterday’s extraordinary shareholders’ meeting.
That new plan failed to win a majority of votes, in a huge setback for Toshiba management, which had defended the new plan as less costly and more stable. One top executive had characterised the move as the company’s “last chance” to fix its brand power and win back people’s trust.
Shareholders also rejected a proposal from major shareholder 3D Investment Partners, based in Singapore, asking for a fuller objective review of strategic alternatives, including a buyout.
During the meeting, shareholders, including several who identified themselves as former Toshiba workers, got up and said the restructuring plan wasn’t in the best interests of Toshiba or its employees. Others said splitting a company won’t produce value.
Toshiba management had defended the new plan as less costly and more stable than possible alternatives. Toshiba’s fortunes have fallen since the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, when a tsunami in northeastern Japan sent three reactors into meltdowns. Toshiba is involved with the costly and precarious decommissioning effort, which will take decades.
Toshiba Corp logo at the company’s building in Kawasaki near Tokyo. PHOTO: AP
CNA – Why is the mascara marketed as “waterproof” smudging up a storm under your eyes? Have you been duped? Is it false advertising? And who else has been in a situation where your so-called waterproof eyeliner has lost its battle against humidity and is making a break for it down your face?
Here are a few reasons why your waterproof makeup may not be working well for you, and tips on how to prevent your face armour from washing off with the next tropical downpour.
YOU’RE MISTAKING YOUR MASCARA FOR A SMUDGE-PROOF ONE, WHEN IT’S MERELY WATERPROOF
The enemy of mascara isn’t actually sweat, rain or humidity. It’s oil. Your waterproof mascara will probably survive a slight drizzle if you’ve forgotten your umbrella, and maybe even a weepy K-drama, but if you have oily eyelids, it’s unlikely to make it past teatime without smudging.
After all, it’s not oil-proof. When applying mascara, don’t use face oil on your lids or any other oil-based makeup product, especially if you have oily skin. Instead, use a primer on eyelids, and lightly dust the area under your eyes with powder. This will keep the oils at bay and help your waterproof mascara stay in its place.
YOUR WATERPROOF LIPSTICK WILL SURVIVE WATER, BUT IT WON’T SURVIVE CHAR KWAY TEOW
Those waterproof lip stains and lip tints really work – when well-applied (apply and blend with finger, blot, apply another layer and blend), they won’t stain your face mask, and will last through a swim or a sweaty hot yoga sesh.
But once fried chicken, Korean BBQ, Hokkien mee or anything supremely oily comes into the picture and makes contact, don’t expect your lippie to hang around. Oils are natural makeup removers and will eventually remove all traces of even the best lip stain.
One way to get around it? Eat very, very carefully, and don’t let the oily bits touch your lips. Open wide.
NOT KNOWING WHAT WATERPROOF MAKEUP REALLY DOES
Waterproof makeup such as waterproof foundation is often heavy and creates a barrier on the skin that keeps out moisture and may contain ingredients to help it adhere to your skin.
These may clog pores and cause skin irritation. They are also harder to remove than normal makeup.
Using waterproof makeup sparingly and only when you really need it (if you’re doing a wedding photo shoot in high humidity, for example) is key to making it work well for you.
If you use it daily and for long hours, it may wreak havoc on your skin. Instead, use primers and setting sprays to help your makeup last longer, and trot out the waterproof stuff only when really necessary.
NOT USING THE RIGHT PRODUCTS UNDER YOUR WATERPROOF MAKEUP FOR YOUR SKIN TYPE
As mentioned, waterproof makeup isn’t oil-proof. On oily skin, it can still slide right off. Use a silicone-based primer to block oils and create a base for the makeup to stick to. For those with dry skin, heavy waterproof makeup can feel uncomfortable and dehydrating, so make sure you moisturise first so the makeup doesn’t get flaky and so your skin doesn’t get dehydrated further.
THINKING THAT YOUR WATERPROOF MAKEUP NEEDS NO EXTRA WORK THROUGHOUT THE DAY AFTER YOU APPLY IT
Like pets and plants, you need to check in on your waterproof makeup every once in a while.
Thinking that it can do no wrong is a mistake, as changing weather conditions, skin conditions and emotions can derail even the best-primed and most impeccably-applied eyeliner, eyebrow or mascara.
Don’t feel bad if you have to wipe off a little smudged eyeliner or mascara by mid-day. No one, and no makeup, even highly-raved waterproof eyeliners, is perfect.
FORGETTING THAT CRUCIAL LAST STEP – SETTING YOUR MAKEUP
Even waterproof makeup needs that last seal of approval – the mistake might be in thinking that just because you’re using waterproof foundation or eyeliner, there’s no need for finishing spray or setting powder.
To give your look its best chance of looking pristine till the wee hours, spritz on a setting spray to form a film against the elements and help further waterproof your look. Setting powder does the same thing – dust it over the finished makeup to keep out anything that may mess with your work of art.
AP – Prince William has expressed his “profound sorrow” for slavery during a visit to Jamaica, though he stopped short of offering the apology demanded by protesters who are also seeking reparations for Britain’s role in the slave trade.
William, second in line to the throne, made the comments while addressing a dinner in Kingston, Jamaica’s capital. He echoed the words of his father, the Prince of Wales, who described the slave trade as an “appalling atrocity” during a visit to Barbados last year, when that Caribbean nation severed its ties to the British crown and became a republic.
“I want to express my profound sorrow,” William said. “Slavery was abhorrent, and it should never have happened.”
The prince and his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, are on a weeklong trip to Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas designed to strengthen Britain’s ties with Commonwealth nations as Queen Elizabeth II marks 70 years on the throne.
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said on Wednesday that his country intends to sever its ties to the monarchy and become fully independent.
The queen, William’s grandmother, remains the head of state for Jamaica and 13 other countries that were once British colonies.
William’s comments underscore the sensitivity of the trip in a country where Britain’s legacy as Jamaica’s colonial ruler during the era of enslaved African labour is still controversial. The prince said anniversaries such as the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, which is marked today, provide a moment for “reflection”.
Protesters in Jamaica have spoken out against the trip, demonstrating outside the British High Commission on Tuesday with raised fists and wearing T-shirts emblazoned with a pair of shackled Black wrists surrounded by the phrases “Seh Yuh Sorry!” and “Apologise now!”
People protest to demand an apology and slavery reparations during a visit to the former British colony by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. PHOTO: AP
Molnupiravir, an anti-viral pill administered for COVID-19 treatment in helping to reduce the number of cases for Categories 4 and 5, has been provided for a specified number of patients.
Minister of Health Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham bin Haji Jaafar said this in response to a question on the effectiveness of the anti-viral pill at the daily press conference yesterday.
“Only a few people have been given the anti-viral pill and it has yet to show a significant impact,” the minister said.
“However, the number of those being treated in Categories 4 and 5 is also not much.
“It is hoped that the anti-viral pill (Molnupiravir) will help reduce the number of patients being classified into those two categories,” he said.
The number of new confirmed cases yesterday showed a decline, with 775 cases for the first time this month.
The minister added, “We express our gratitude and are aware that the success is due to not only the government’s efforts but also from everyone’s prayers.”
The minister hoped the number of new cases will decrease and prayed that everyone will be protected by Allah the Almighty.
AP – World shares were mostly lower yesterday following a retreat on Wall Street as leaders prepared to meet in Europe to discuss the Ukraine crisis.
United States (US) President Joe Biden was to attend the meetings in Brussels, where sanctions and the Russian oil embargo will likely top the agendas.
Shares rose in Moscow after Russia’s exchange resumed trading under heavy restrictions nearly one month after shares plunged and the exchange was shut down following the invasion of Ukraine.
Limits are in place to prevent the kind of massive sell-off that occurred in anticipation of crushing financial and economic sanctions from Western nations. Foreign shareholders will be unable to sell shares – a restriction Russia imposed to counter Western sanctions against its financial system and the weakening ruble.
Trading was allowed in 33 of the 50 companies that are part of the country’s benchmark MOEX index, including air carrier Aeroflot, state-owned gas producer Gazprom and the oil company Rosneft, according to a central bank announcement about the re-opening.
The index was up 8.9 per cent by mid-morning Moscow time.
Investors were watching to see the outcome of the meetings of NATO and a European leaders summit.
American flags fly outside the New York Stock exchange. PHOTO: AP
Germany’s DAX lost 1.3 per cent to 14,283.65. In Paris the CAC 40 declined 1.2 per cent to 6,581.43. Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 0.2 per cent to 7,460.63. The future for the S&P 500 was 0.4 per cent higher while the contract for the Dow industrials rose 0.3 per cent.
In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 25 rose 0.3 per cent to 28,110.39. In Seoul, the Kospi declined 0.5 per cent to 2,729.66, while the Shanghai Composite index gave up 0.6 per cent to 3,250.26.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong sank one per cent to 21,929.68. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.1 per cent higher, to 7,387.10.
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 fell 1.2 per cent, with more than 80 per cent of the stocks in the benchmark index closing lower. The Dow slid 1.3 per cent. Both indexes are now on pace for a weekly loss.
The Nasdaq fell 1.3 per cent. Smaller company stocks also lost ground. The Russell 2000 fell 1.7 per cent.
Energy stocks rose as crude oil prices climbed more than five per cent. Hess rose 4.6 per cent for the biggest gain in the S&P 500.
The attack on Ukraine has pushed already surging energy and other commodity prices even higher.
“Pressure points are building again with oil back on the boil, resulting in stagflation weighing on sentiment again,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
US benchmark crude oil lost USD1.09 to USD113.84 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It rose USD5.66 to settle at USD114.93 per barrel on Wednesday.
A barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, gained 41 cents to USD118.16 per barrel. Prices are up more than 50 per cent in 2022 so far, raising concerns about the impact on a wide range of consumer goods and consumer spending overall.
Many of the higher costs incurred by businesses have been passed on to consumers and higher prices for food, clothing and other goods could lead them to cut spending, resulting in slower economic growth.
Central banks have been reacting by raising interest rates to try and counter the impact from inflation.
Bond yields have been rising overall as the market prepares for higher interest rates, but they eased back on Wednesday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 2.33 per cent from 2.37 per cent from Tuesday.
LONDON (AP) – The British government will allow Chelsea to sell some tickets again after easing the terms of its sanctioning licence, ensuring the Champions League quarterfinal against Real Madrid is not played at an empty Stamford Bridge while denying the club the ability to gain financially.
The reigning European and world champions had been banned from selling tickets after owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned. The oligarch’s assets were frozen but the government has now allowed GBP30 million (USD40 million) to be released from Chelsea’s parent company, Fordstam, for the club to meet it costs.
It equates to about a month’s wages. Chelsea has been granted a licence to continue operating as a club but with strict limitations.
The updated licence allows the sale of tickets to all home fans for the visit of Madrid for the Champions League first leg. Chelsea cannot sell new tickets for home Premier League games to its fans – only existing season ticket holders can attend – but away fans can now buy tickets. Chelsea supporters will be able to purchase tickets for away games.
The Premier League said it would collect all ticket proceeds that, in agreement with Chelsea, “will be donated to charity to benefit victims of the war in Ukraine”.
