AP – At first glance, Ash Barty’s retirement from tennis might be hard to fathom.
She is still only 25, after all. And she’s been thriving with a racket in her hands lately: number in the WTA rankings for 114 consecutive weeks, the champion at two of the past three Grand Slam tournaments, an 11-0 record this season.
So, to some, it seems natural to ask: Why stop now?
But Barty made clear, both in her announcement via social media on Wednesday and in other things she’s said and done over time, that she learned to measure success and fulfillment in ways that are uncommon – and certainly have little to do with the number beside her name or how many trophies reside in her home.
Listen, for example, to what the Australian said during an interview with the Associated Press in March 2019, back before she had won any of her trio of major singles championships, before she had ranked inside the Top 10, and three years before telling the world she was ready to stop for good.
“I know if I keep doing things the right way and keep going about things the right way, enjoying the process and the journey, those results will come. If they don’t, it’s not the end of the world,” she said. “And if they do, I can sit back, celebrate and just enjoy them.”
It was believable then. Her latest news is believable now, even if there surely are folks wondering whether this will stick. Barty already did take a break years ago before returning, but she said the feeling is different this time. What’s key to remember is Barty does things her way, on her timetable, and for her own reasons, and there is nothing wrong with that, as much as fans of tennis would like to see her continue competing.
Barty’s style of play was unique and varied, reliant on a mix of backhand slices and big serves and forehands. In an era when many players will speak quite plainly about not worrying about what is happening on the other side of the net, Barty was as adept at analysing, dissecting and dismantling an opponent’s game as anyone.
Yet Barty is so self-aware, so focussed on what’s best for her, that it makes perfect sense that she would head for the exit at the height of her powers rather than in any state of decline.
Barty was a prodigy who won a Wimbledon junior title at 15 in 2011, left the tour for nearly two years in 2014 because of burnout and the burden of expectations, played pro cricket, and later discussed how that hiatus made her a better player and person.
She always wanted to win Wimbledon, and did last year. She always wanted to win the Australian Open, and did in January.
There were other on-court triumphs, millions of dollars in prize money and endorsements, and icon status at home.
“I know that people may not understand it, and I’m OK with that,” she said. “Because I know that for me, Ash Barty the person has so many dreams that she wants to chase after that don’t necessarily involve travelling the world, being away from my family, being away from my home.”
The Royal Brunei Police Force (RBPF) will conduct the Mara Lasak exercise tomorrow from 6am to 11.30am.
The exercise will start from Simpang 189 of Jalan Dang Kumala, Rimba, through Agro Tungku area, The Empire Brunei, Bukit Shahbandar Recreational Park, before returning to Simpang 189 of Jalan Dang Kumala, Rimba.
The public is advised to be cautious when around the area and to not be alarmed.
SINGAPORE (CNA) – Singapore will significantly relax COVID-19 safety measures, but will also continue to take a “measured approach” to opening up, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday.
This approach has “served us well over the past two years”, said Lee in a national address.
“After this major step, we will wait a while to let the situation stabilise. If all goes well, we will ease up further.”
Earlier, he said that Singapore will allow gatherings in groups of up to 10 people, and that the wearing of masks outdoors will be optional, from March 29.
Singapore will also increase the capacity limit for workplaces and events.
But the country should also be “psychologically prepared for more twists and turns ahead”, he cautioned.
People wear face masks in Orchard Road, Singapore. PHOTO: CNA
“With more interactions, we too may see another wave of cases, and Omicron will not be the last variant we encounter. The virus will continue to evolve,” said Lee.
“Hopefully, new variants will become progressively milder and more flu-like. But it is also possible that more aggressive and dangerous mutants will turn up, just like Delta did.”
If that happens, Singapore may have to backtrack and tighten up restrictions again, he said.
“We cannot rule this out, even though we hope it will not be necessary. But whatever happens, we now have the knowledge and the means to keep everyone safe.”
This could mean giving everyone another booster jab, or administering an updated vaccine, Lee said.
The Prime Minister also announced that Singapore will ease travel restrictions substantially with a new vaccinated travel framework.
Lee said that Singapore was cautious earlier because of uncertainty over the Omicron variant’s impact, but imported cases now constitute only a very small proportion of cases.
“We can therefore safely open up our borders,” he said.
He added that Singapore will “drastically streamline” testing and quarantine requirements for travellers, and that the COVID-19 multi-ministry task force will provide details.
This simplified vaccinated travel framework will let Singaporeans travel abroad more easily – “almost like before COVID-19”, Lee said. It will also lift most restrictions for fully vaccinated visitors entering Singapore, he said.
“This will reconnect Singapore with the world. 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,” said Lee.
THE STAR – The High Court was yesterday told that the management of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) had conned former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the company’s board of directors (BOD) into entering an investment agreement with its purported business partner PetroSaudi International Limited (PSI).
Former non-executive director of 1MDB Tan Sri Ismee Ismail, 58, who agreed with Najib’s lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah’s suggestion, also admitted that several members of the management had misled Najib and the BOD by crafting detailed proposals to enter into the investment agreement.
The lawyer then suggested that the said proposals were crafted by 1MDB’s former general counsel Jasmine Loo Ai Swan, former chief financial officer Azmi Tahir and Casey Tang Keng Chee (former executive director) and Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi (former chief executive officer).
Muhammad Shafee: This is a 100 per cent con job. All the proposals were crafted by the 1MDB management. It was detailed crafting by the management. Ismee replied “yes”.
The senior counsel was referring to the deal where 1MDB agreed to convert its 40 per cent stake in the joint venture company 1MDB-PetroSaudi International Limited that it had bought at USD1 billion, into an Islamic loan to the same joint venture company.
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak at the Kuala Lumpur High Court. PHOTO: THE MALAY MAIL
The deal saw 1MDB agreeing to sell off the 40 per cent share to the joint venture company, by giving, on paper, the Islamic loan via Murabahah notes to the joint venture company at a value of USD1.2 billion.
With the conversion to the Murabahah notes, the joint venture company would on paper owe USD1.2 billion to 1MDB, effectively giving 1MDB a paper profit of USD200 million after accounting for the initial USD1 billion.
Explaining further on the conversion to the Murabahah notes, Muhammad Shafee told the court that the 1MDB management did a “magic show”, whereby the sovereign wealth fund would get the USD1.2 billion on paper, but not the actual cash.
Muhammad Shafee: From Shahrol Azral’s testimony, we got to know that he was being directed by fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, purportedly it was from Najib to do this (proposals).
This was a very detailed nitty-gritty of paperwork convincing enough for the BOD. Do you agree with me? Ismee replied “yes”.
Muhammad Shafee: In your wildest imagination, do you think Najib, the then PM would be involved in directing on how to con 1MDB? Can you imagine? Ismee answered “I don’t think any PM would have time for that”.
To another question, the 13th prosecution witness also agreed that 1MDB faced difficulties during an audit process when audit firm Ernst & Young (E&Y) queried on the USD700 million which was transferred out from 1MDB to the joint venture.
Muhammad Shafee: Do you agree with me that the management was dragging its feet for so long and not answering E&Y? Ismee replied “yes”.
LONDON (AP) – Former England striker Jermain Defoe announced his retirement from football yesterday at the age of 39, ending a 22-year professional career in which he became one of the Premier League’s greatest scorers.
Defoe scored 20 goals in 57 games for his country and was in England’s squad for the World Cup in 2010 and the European Championship in 2012.
At club level, he played for English teams West Ham, Tottenham, Portsmouth and Sunderland as well as Rangers in Scotland. Defoe is the ninth-highest scorer in Premier League history with 162 goals in 496 appearances.
The final appearance of his career saw him come on as a substitute for Sunderland in a 0-0 draw at Lincoln in a third-division match last Saturday.
In a post on social media announcing his retirement, Defoe devoted special thanks to his mother.
“You gave me a ball at two years old,” he wrote, “and you made me believe my dream could happen”.
MOGADISHU (AFP) – The death toll from twin attacks in central Somalia on Wednesday night has climbed above 30, the police chief in Beledweyne district told AFP yesterday.
“We are still trying to establish the overall number of casualties, but so far we have confirmed that more than 30 people were killed in the second blast alone, which was caused by a car bomb,” said Colonel Isak Ali Abdulle.
“The terrorists carried out the first attack using a suicide bomber and readied a car loaded with explosives in front of a hospital to cause more casualties,” he said.
“These were devastating simultaneous attacks which damaged property as well as causing mass civilian casualties.”
The first attack in Beledweyne killed two local lawmakers, including Amina Mohamed Abdi and several of her guards as she campaigned for re-election. The second occurred minutes later outside the hospital and left cars in charred, twisted ruins.
The attacks occurred the same day as three people were killed near Mogadishu’s airport in an attack claimed by the insurgent group Al-Shabaab.
The Al-Qaeda-linked extremists frequently attack civilian, military and government targets in Somalia’s capital and outside.
NEW YORK (AP) – Most pop stars take some time before they hit the big time, putting out a few albums before one sticks. With Rick Astley, it took just his first song.
“With me, it’s like, song one – Boom! Number one all over the world,” he said via Zoom. “I was just trying to write something that you could sing along to in the chorus.”
That album was 1987’s multi-platinum debut Whenever You Need Somebody, with, of course, that single Never Gonna Give You Up that went from radio earworm to Internet prank sensation.
It’s been 35 years since Astley’s debut and BMG is marking the anniversary in May with a two-CD set and digital release that boasts the remastered original album plus B-sides, remixes and Astley’s own reimagined versions of the album’s original singles.
Astley was only 20 and 21 while recording Whenever You Need Somebody with the songwriting and record production trio known as Stock, Aitken and Waterman, who had crafted songs for Bananarama and Dead or Alive.
“I was just happy to be in a professional recording studio, making noises with guys who were having hit records,” said Astley, who came from a small town in the north of England. He knew nothing about the recording process. “I was inexperienced, I guess, and naïve.”
Never Gonna Give You Up spent two weeks at number one on the United States (US) Billboard Hot 100 and Together Forever spent a week atop the same chart. The songs It Would Take A Strong Strong Man and She Wants To Dance With Me also made it into the top 10. Listening to it again, the album fits today’s ’80s-vibing, dance soundscape very well.
He would make more albums, leave the business for many years and then reemerge with the strong albums 50 in 2016 and Beautiful Life in 2018, dogged by rick-rolling – when a promised link on a website turns out instead to be an Astley video – but making his peace with it.
Shortly after the anniversary release of his debut album, Astley will join New Kids on the Block, Salt-N-Pepa, and En Vogue for the 57-date Mixtape 2022 US arena tour. He credits Whenever You Need Somebody for all of it, for basically making his career.
“The overwhelming thing is just gratitude. If I’m honest, it’s simply that. I’ve had a really nice, comfortable existence because I got to make a pop record in 1987.”
Singer Rick Astley poses for photos in New York. PHOTO: AP
In the report titled ‘Bringing smiles to dedicated employees’ published on Page 6 on March 22, the second paragraph should read as “MPC Chief Executive Officer Zeng Caili presented the donations to recipients who had completed their home isolation and quarantine order (QO), witnessed by Chief Operating Officer Fazilah Yassin and Chief Financial Officer Lyu Guoli” and not as stated.
CNA/THE NEW YORK TIMES – The past few years have not been kind to my lower back. Between the physical tolls of pregnancy, parenting and working from home, I have a constant stiff, achy feeling in my lower spine.
I am not alone: It’s estimated that up to 80 per cent of Americans will develop lower back pain during their lifetime, with 15 to 20 per cent of adults reporting it in an average year.
Could exercise prevent some of this pain?
The short answer is maybe. A consistent mixture of cardio and dedicated core work can help.
However, exercise alone is not a guarantee of pain relief, as there are a number of mistakes that many of us, even experienced athletes, may make.
THE SPINE IS SUSCEPTIBLE TO PAIN WHEN CORE MUSCLES ARE WEAK
“The lower back is the centre point of our whole body,” said an interventional pain specialist at Baylor College of Medicine Dr Krishna Shah. The spine has to be mobile, able to bend and twist in multiple directions, while also bearing the weight of our body.
Surrounding the spine are the core muscles. Although we tend to think of our core as the abdominals, it also includes the deep back muscles, as well as the hip muscles, quadriceps and hamstrings, which support our spine and pelvis.
Core muscles work similarly to a back brace, keeping the midsection stable and upright.
The simplest way to strengthen your spine is to move regularly throughout the day, in whatever capacity works for youWorking the deep core mucles is crucial to avoid future back pain. One way to activate your deep core muscles is by doing planks, whether it’s a regular plank, a side plank or some of the many other variations
That’s why wearing a brace provides short-term pain relief for patients with lower back pain, but relying on one too much can weaken their core muscles. Instead, the goal should be to strengthen those muscles enough to do the brace’s job.
“If you can develop your own internal brace, that is more effective,” said a neurosurgeon and spine specialist at Houston Methodist Hospital Dr Sean Barber.
Acute back pain is often the result of pulling or straining a muscle while trying a movement that requires a muscle that has become weak or stiff. If this muscle can’t provide the needed force, then the pressure shifts to the spine in a way that leads to pain.
Developing core strength, flexibility and muscular control can help you avoid these pulled or strained muscles.
EXERCISE STRENGTHENS THE SPINE
The simplest way to strengthen your spine is to move regularly throughout the day, in whatever capacity works for you. This might mean increasing your daily steps, taking short walks during the workday or prioritising a slightly longer walk in the morning or evening.
People who are physically active tend to have lower rates of back pain, and a recent meta-analysis of 25 studies found that the most effective way to prevent lower back pain from recurring was regular exercise, preferably combined with some form of physical education.
“Exercise doesn’t cure everybody, but on average, it’s an effective intervention,” said a professor of physiotherapy at Macquarie University and one of the authors of the study Mark Hancock. There is no single type of exercise that has been shown to be effective, he said. “If you are doing a variety of exercises, then you are likely getting all the things you need,” he said, adding, “It’s just like your diet.”
Physical activity also strengthens the bones and cartilage of the spine, protecting against age-related degeneration, and increases blood flow to cartilage discs in the spine that don’t receive a lot of blood supply, Shah said.
If you have time, try some fast walking or jogging. A number of studies suggest that runners have thicker, healthier cartilage discs in their spine than people who aren’t active.
WORK THE NEGLECTED DEEP CORE MUSCLES
Working the core is crucial to avoiding future back pain, but that doesn’t mean shredding your abs to look like Chris Hemsworth. Popular core-strengthening exercises, such as crunches or situps, primarily work the larger, exterior muscles, while neglecting the deeper muscles.
For instance, the transverse abdominis is a delicate sheetlike deep muscle that wraps the midsection like a corset. There is also the multifidus, a muscle that lines the spine, with a number of extensions that wrap each individual vertebra, similar to the way a bicycle chain wraps the sprocket.
“It doesn’t take that much effort to activate these deep muscles, but they are neglected because you can’t see them” when you are at the beach, said a physical therapist at the New Jersey Centre of Physical Therapy who specialises in treating lower back pain Femi Betiku.
People with six-packs can still have lower back pain, he added, if they are working only the stronger, outer muscles.
The deeper muscles get engaged during movements requiring more control than raw power. One way to activate your deep core muscles is by doing planks, whether it’s a regular plank, a side plank or some of the many other variations.
If holding a regular plank is uncomfortable, start with your knees on the ground, then progress to balancing on your toes.
Shah also suggested squats, push-ups and bridges. To build and maintain core strength, he recommends two to three sessions of dedicated core work a week. “This is a lifestyle change,” he said.
There are also sports and physical activities that require light contraction of the core, such as kayaking, cycling, dancing, barre classes, boxing, rock climbing and swimming. Any activity that requires a certain level of control over the midsection will help activate and engage those deeper muscles.
WORK ON CONTROLLING THE SPINE
In addition to strengthening exercises, emerging research suggests it’s important to develop muscular coordination and spine control. This is just as true for athletes, who focus on performance and sometimes neglect exercises aimed at controlling the spine and pelvis.
In a 2018 study, researchers compared elite athletes to a population of moderately active people. Half of each group had lower back pain.
To the researchers’ surprise, both elite athletes and regular people with lower back pain had a similar stiffness in and lack of control over their spine, which is indicative of a similar pattern of weakness in their back muscles.
“The key factor is how able you are to control your muscles,” said a researcher at the Humboldt University of Berlin and the lead author of the study Maria Moreno Catala.
To combat this, Betiku recommended Pilates because, in addition to strengthening the deeper core muscles, the exercises promote muscular control. For a number of the exercises, the spine either remains stable or moves very slowly, which develops muscle control along the spine when it is in different positions.
Incorporating Pilates into your fitness routine can be as simple as doing short workout videos, many of which require little to no equipment, two to three times a week.
INCORPORATE AN ELEMENT OF INSTABILITY INTO YOUR WORKOUT
The slow, controlled movements in exercises like Pilates teach your muscles to move the spine efficiently. The next step is to start exercising in a more variable environment, which develops even more coordination and control.
In another study, Moreno Catala and her collaborators found that adding instability to exercises – like balancing on an uneven surface or even working out in a noisy environment – was effective at relieving lower back pain.
Moreno Catala said it is less about the amount of muscular strength and more about the ability to finely control the activation and deactivation of all the muscles that stabilise the spine.
“We think the size of the muscle is the most important quality, but it’s also the quality of activation that is important,” she said.
Choosing sports that include an element of reactivity, whether it’s hiking on a rocky surface or reacting to a sudden tennis volley, can result in a similar level of muscular development and control. Body weight exercises, such as push-ups, pull-ups, burpees and squats, also help, since they require full-body coordination, rather than the isolated movement of lifting weights.
Like many, I am guilty of working the outer core muscles while neglecting the deeper ones.
But for the past few weeks, I’ve started doing some short Pilates videos, 10 to 20 minutes each, focussing on slow, controlled movements. Two weeks in, the stiff feeling in my back started to fade, disappearing for hours at a time. As it turned out, all my lower back really needed was to develop a little more coordination and control.
DOHA, QATAR (AP) – At first glance, the Souq Waqif clinic in the historic centre of Doha could be any other state-of-the-art hospital.
Nurses in blue scrubs move briskly through the bright wards, conducting rounds. Radiology and operating rooms whir with the beeps and blinks of monitors.
Specialists squint at X-rays and masked doctors make incisions with all the high-tech tools of modern surgery on hand.
There’s just one thing: The rooms are filled with falcons.
In the tiny, wealthy emirate of Qatar, the desert birds are among the nation’s most pampered residents.
Long revered across the Arabian Peninsula for their ferocity and hunting prowess, falcons today serve as sheikhly status symbols recalling a Bedouin past.
The bond between falconers and their falcons has been an inspiration since the Paleolithic period, when drawings of the creatures first appeared on cave walls.
ABOVE & BELOW: A man with his gyrfalcon at the Souq Waqif Falcon Hospital in Doha, Qatar; and a peregrine falcon waits to be seen for a procedure. PHOTOS: AP
Although less fashionable now than in the days of yore, the art of falconry is still passed down from one generation to the next in Qatar and other oil-rich sheikhdoms of the Persian Gulf. With demand growing in recent years, clubs that teach the sport have sprouted up across the region. Falcons compete in an increasing number of races and beauty contests.
The finest falcons fetch at least a few thousand dollars and Qataris spare no expense to maintain their good health.
“The establishment of the hospital was to support the hobby and heritage of raising falcons.
… it’s a pastime that stretches its veins into multiple generations,” Souq Waqif hospital director Dr Ikdam Al Karkhi recently told The Associated Press. “Keeping them alive and well is an essential duty.”
Public hospitals like Souq Waqif offer expert care to sick and wounded hawks, roughly 30,000 a year. The marbled reception area bustles with owners and handlers bringing their birds in for check-ups, medical tests, feather replacements, orthopedic surgeries – and even something akin to mani-pedis.
Falcon nail filing is very serious business, as birds transplanted from the desert wild to opulent homes in skyscraper-studded Doha or bred in captivity cannot easily find sharp surfaces on which to trim their talons.
The falcon’s hunt may be a long-venerated tradition, but it’s also grisly work. The cornered prey at times puts up a fight, clawing an attacking falcon and hobbling its wings. Each of a falcon’s feathers is vital to its flight, necessitating careful feather replacement after a scuffle.
Doctors pull from a bank of shed feathers to find one that perfectly matches the wounded bird’s breed – plumage of the same pattern, length and color.
“If these damaged feathers remain, it can cause loss or reduction of the bird’s fitness,” Al Karkhi said. “They must be treated.”
Hospital surgeons treat other casualties of the hunt, too. Falcons’ beaks and talons suffer damage from all that swooping and plunging and gobbling.
In the clinic waiting room, falcons perch regally on their owners’ gloved wrists.
The Qatari men in their flowing white robes treat the prized birds like children, stroking their feathers and misting their beaks with water.
“If a person is neglecting their bird, it’s a huge problem,” said Hamad Al Mehshadi, a falcon festival manager taking his raptor for a regular medical checkup. “When one holds onto their bird, it is something else. The love of the bird is extraordinary.”
Oil wealth and global business may have transformed Doha into a futuristic capital with a gleaming array of skyscrapers and megaprojects, including giant stadiums soon to host millions of soccer fans for the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup.
But Souq Waqif still sees a steady stream of 150 falcons a day – a sign that the echoes of Qatar’s ancient past are not lost.
“Even the look that a falcon and its owner share, it’s different than any other look,” Al Karkhi said. Falconers “feel the loyalty of this bird – a fierce warrior in the wild and yet a pet in my hand.”
