SYDNEY (AP) – New coronavirus infections soared again in Australia yesterday to a record of more than 32,000, just days after surpassing 10,000 for the first time.
Experts say the explosion is being driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant and a recent relaxation of restrictions in Sydney and other areas.
More than 15,000 of the new cases were reported in Sydney. Another 5,000 cases came from elsewhere in New South Wales state, while almost 6,000 were confirmed in Victoria state, home to the second largest city of Melbourne.
Health care workers administer COVID-19 tests at a drive-through clinic in Sydney, Friday. (AAP Image via AP)
While hospitalisations and deaths have been increasing from the surge, so far they haven’t reached comparative levels seen in previous outbreaks.
And many cities went ahead with New Year’s Eve celebrations, including the famous fireworks display from the Sydney Harbor Bridge and Sydney Opera House.
Authorities were expecting far smaller crowds than in pre-pandemic years, when as many as one million revellers would crowd inner Sydney. Prime Minister Scott Morrison remained upbeat despite the rising virus numbers and the many natural challenges the nation has recently faced.
“Despite the pandemic, despite the floods, the fires, continuing drought in some areas, the cyclones, the lockdowns, even mice plagues, Australia is stronger today than we were a year ago. And we’re safer,” Morrison said in a New Year’s Eve message.
“We have one of the lowest death rates and the highest vaccination rates from COVID anywhere in the world,” he said.
In New South Wales state, officials reported six new deaths while 763 patients were hospitalised, including 69 in intensive care.
The state hasn’t been able to keep up with demand for tests, leaving people to wait for hours.
But state Premier Dominic Perrottet said the health system was coping overall.
“While the case numbers are substantially increasing, compared to where we were with the delta variant, our position remains incredibly strong,” he said.
“Our number one priority here in New South Wales is to keep our people safe and that will continue to be our priority as we move through this next phase.”
MANILA (CNA) – The Philippine death toll from Typhoon Rai has crossed the 400 mark, the disaster agency said yesterday, as officials in some hard-hit provinces appealed for more supplies of food, water and shelter materials about two weeks after the storm struck.
Rai was the 15th and deadliest typhoon to hit the Southeast Asian nation this year. Reported deaths had reached 405, mostly due to drowning, fallen trees and landslides, National Disaster Agency Chief Ricardo Jalad, told a news conference. He said 82 were missing and 1,147 injured.
More than 530,000 houses were damaged, a third of which were totally wrecked, while damage to infrastructure and agriculture was estimated at PHP23.4 billion (USD459 million), Jalad said.
The typhoon affected nearly 4.5 million people, including about 500,000 sheltering in evacuation centres, government data showed. It made landfall as a category 5 typhoon on December 16, and left a trail of destruction in the provinces of Bohol, Cebu, and Surigao del Norte, including the holiday island of Siargao, and the Dinagat Islands.
In central Philippine provinces, disaster and government officials have been grappling with inadequate relief supplies for thousands of residents still without power and water.
“Our problem is shelter, those who lost roofs, especially now that this is rainy season in the province,” Surigao del Norte Governor Francisco Matugas told ANC news channel.
Rai’s swath of destruction revived memories of typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded, which killed 6,300 people in the Philippines in 2013.
A family takes shelter after losing their home to Typhoon Rai. PHOTO: AFP
THE WASHINGTON POST – I had a lot of babysitters before I turned 12, women who would watch me and my brother after school, and sometimes make us dinner when my parents had to work late. Lina, who was born in Manila, was one of my favourites. Among other things, she instilled in me a love for the salty, lightly spiced tang of adobo.
Lina’s kitchen was tight, so when she started making dinner, I’d lean over the white Formica breakfast bar and watch her rummage through her crisper drawers and pantry, lining ingredients up between the sink and stove. Almost every meal would start with an onion, which she’d pass to me to peel as she started to prep. “Every person is an onion,” she’d sometimes say, “full of hidden layers”.
Like a ballerina, Lina transitioned swiftly from precise, quick movements to calm efficiency as she cooked. I’d watch her turn on the rice cooker, add rice, oil, salt and water, and set it with a few beeps. Then, she’d put a large pot on an electric burner to start heating up as she sliced the onion into half-moons and opened a package of chicken, usually drumsticks and thighs. They’d get seared in the pot alongside the garlic and onions. Even if I wasn’t watching her, I knew we were having adobo when the smell of vinegar and black peppercorns, heady and alive, hit the hot metal and started to tickle my nose.
Though adobo is a Spanish word, the technique for making Philippine adobo predates the centuries-long Spanish colonisation of and rule over the 7,000-island archipelago. In the Philippines, adobo is both a preparation – the process of marinating and infusing ingredients with vinegar and other flavourings – and the resulting dish. Some versions take more than a day to make; others, like the basic recipe I adapted below, can be on the table in an hour.
There are probably thousands of variations – adobo can be made around any protein or vegetable; it can be wet or dry, sweet or spicy, silky or thick as soft wool – but they are united by the sour, briny punch of vinegar.
Chicken Adobo (above) and Tofu Abodo. PHOTOS: THE WASHINGTON POST
Vinegar was long employed as a preservative in the days before reliable refrigeration, so many cultures developed an affinity for the flavour. But in adobo, vinegar doesn’t sit slyly in the background – it dominates. That said, as with every great dish, a good adobo is all about balance.
“If you taste the sauce right after you add the liquids, it’ll be too tart. Over time, the sauce mellows into something slightly sour yet balanced,” writes chef Nicole Ponseca, in I Am a Filipino: And This Is How We Cook, a cookbook she wrote with Miguel Trinidad and Rachel Wharton.
“Some people add coconut milk; some cooks add a bit of sweetness in the form of sugar, honey, ripe fruit or even preserves to round out the adobo’s sharp acidity and saltiness,” Ponseca writes. “Think of it like you do music: the notes are familiar, but the arrangement is what makes it unique.”
FILIPINO ADOBO
Active time: 20 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Two to three servings
Filipino adobo, a stew known for its pungency – from vinegar, soy sauce, garlic and peppercorns or chiles – is an incredibly adaptable dish. The proportions of its key ingredients can be added in varying ratios to suit the tastes of the cook, meaning that no two adobos are exactly alike. It’s traditionally made with cane vinegar and light soy sauce; sometimes lime juice or sugar is added, as well.
This version, adapted from The Filipino Cookbook by Miki Garcia and I Am a Filipino by Nicole Ponseca and Miguel Trinidad, uses onions for a touch of sweetness and can be made with either chicken or tofu. If you have time, you can marinate the protein overnight, but it’s not necessary.
If adobo is unfamiliar to you, make this recipe as written before playing around with it. Here are a few suggested variations:
Instead of chicken or tofu, you can use an equal weight of meat, cut into one-inch cubes. You also can use a whole cauliflower, cut into eight roughly equal chunks – or combine two of these options in one pot.
The onion isn’t as crucial as the garlic; so skip it if you must. If you enjoy garlic, use more than the recipe suggests.
Cane vinegar or coconut vinegar are traditional here; but white or rice vinegar work, too. In addition to the onions and garlic, you could add: sliced mushrooms, chopped tomatoes or slices of fresh sweet or hot peppers.
To spice things up, consider adding: more peppercorns, a cinnamon stick, a star anise pod and/or a couple of cloves.
If using tofu, there’s no need to season it with salt before searing.
If you don’t have cane vinegar, use white or rice vinegar plus two teaspoons of brown sugar. Instead of soy sauce, you can use liquid aminos. If using coconut aminos, which are sweeter, add half teaspoon fine sea salt or table salt, or more to taste.
Storage Notes: Leftovers can be refrigerated in a covered container for up to four days.
INGREDIENTS
– 1.5 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and/or legs patted dry, or 14 ounces extra-firm tofu, drained, pressed, cut into four or five thick slices and patted dry
– A quarter teaspoon fine sea salt or table salt (optional)
– Two tablespoons coconut oil or vegetable oil
– One small yellow onion (4 ounces) sliced
– Five cloves garlic, lightly smashed
– Half cup cane vinegar
– Half cup light or low-sodium soy sauce
– Water, as needed
– One teaspoon black peppercorn
– Three bay leaves
– Steamed white rice, for serving
DIRECTIONS
If using chicken, season it with the salt. In a large, lidded pot or Dutch oven over high heat, heat the oil until you see a few wisps of smoke. Using tongs, transfer the protein – if using chicken, skin side down – into the pot. Cook, undisturbed, until the protein has browned and the chicken skin has rendered some of its fat, three to four minutes. Turn the pieces over, and reduce the heat to low.
Add the onion and garlic, and allow the garlic to slightly brown, about two minutes (the onions may not be browned at this point, and that is fine). Add the vinegar, soy sauce, 1/2 cup water, peppercorns and bay leaves, taking care as the liquid may sputter. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil before lowering the heat to maintain a steady but gentle simmer.
Cover and cook, stirring and turning proteins over once or twice, until the chicken is cooked through or the tofu has taken on the dark colour of the sauce, 30 to 40 minutes. If the liquid appears to be evaporating during cooking, add water, 1/2 cup at a time, to compensate. The finished sauce should be thin but pungent.
Taste, and adjust the seasonings, if desired; discard the bay leaves. Spoon some rice into plates or shallow bowls and divide the stew, sauce, any rendered chicken fat and peppercorns among each dish before serving.
Team BFFS took home BND500 for winning the Virtual Treasure Hunt Holiday Edition 2021 hosted by Brunei Events on Sunday as part of the Brunei December Festival 2021.
Meanwhile, team Four Foragers netted BND400 as second prize winners while in third place was team Web Warriors, who received BND300.
All three were returning teams from the first Virtual Treasure Hunt hosted in November.
In groups of four, 12 teams were given four hours to solve riddles and challenges, and to submit their answers by noon for the chance to win cash prizes and join a lucky draw.
The event began with a team check-in via Zoom at 7.45am, followed by a short recitation of Doa and briefing before flagging off at 8am.
By 3.30pm, the teams assembled via Zoom for the announcement of the winners.
Prior to the announcement, the event also saw answers for the hunt revealed and over half of the participants winning lucky draw prizes such as Pova mobile phone and a one-night stay at the Radisson Hotel, as well as dining vouchers from RBC, The Brunei Hotel and Mulia Hotel.
The event also saw a goodie bag distribution for the participants held via contactless drive-through.
STOCKHOLM (AFP) – IKEA will hike its prices by an average of nine per cent next year due to ongoing supply and transportation disruptions, the company that operates most of the Swedish furniture giant’s stores said.
Thursday’s announcement comes as pandemic-fuelled shortages and shipping challenges ramp up inflation and pinch economies globally, with consumers increasingly feeling the bite.
“Like many other industries, IKEA continues to face significant transport and raw material constraints driving up costs, with no anticipated break in the foreseeable future,” Ingka Group, the holding company that owns 90 per cent of IKEA’s stores, said in a statement.
These higher costs – which are mostly being felt in North America and Europe – will now have to be passed on to customers, it added.
“The average of the increase in Ingka Group is around nine per cent globally, with variations across Ingka Group countries and the range, reflecting localised inflationary pressures, including commodity and supply chain issues,” Ingka group said.
According to the company, Ikea franchisor Inter Ikea Group absorbed costs amounting to EUR250 million (USD283 million) across 2021 due to these logistical tensions, which were exacerbated by the rebound in demand after the first phase of the pandemic.
LEVITTOWN, UNITED STATES (AFP) – As Joshua Waldorf was running for a third term on the Pennsbury school board in November, one particularly heated debate triggered a flood of vitriolic messages to his inbox – one of them urging him to shoot himself.
In a shift mirrored in cities across America, his local council overseeing schools in the leafy suburbs of Philadelphia had unwittingly become a battleground in the politicised culture wars roiling the nation.
The hateful messages aimed at Waldorf were just one example of the flow of anonymous slurs and threats directed at him and fellow members of the nine-seat board in past months – as their once studious meetings turned to angry shouting matches.
“I’ve been pretty consistent in terms of my views,” Waldorf, a 58-year-old businessman, told AFP as the board prepared to meet in an elementary school gym in Fallsington, in a leafy neighbourhood of family homes. “But I’m being vilified for those that I wasn’t 18 months ago.”
In much of the United States (US), locally elected school boards are tasked with governing a community’s public schools – deciding who to hire as superintendent to manage day-to-day operations, which textbooks to buy, and what education policies to enact.
But over the past year, with the country in the grip of the Covid-19 pandemic and a historic reckoning over race relations, the boards have had to rule on far more charged issues – prompting intense backlash from parents often bitterly divided along political lines.
ABOVE & BELOW: A Pennsbury School Board meeting in Levittown, Pennsylvania; and students from Walt Disney Elementary School receive a certificates of appreciation. PHOTOS: AFP
The audience during the Pennsbury School Board meeting
For choosing to require students and staff to wear masks, the Pennsbury School Board – all Democrats – were accused of “child abuse”, and seeking to “dehumanise” students.
After hiring a specialist in “equity, diversity, and education” last year, the board came under fire from parents convinced they had “far left radical agenda to indoctrinate students”.
POLARISATION
School boards from coast to coast have had similar experiences, reflecting “a national polarisation now seeping into other levels of government”, according to Dan Hopkins, a political scientist at the University of Pennsylvania.
“By and large, school board politics in the US tend to be relatively uneventful and relatively free of emotion,” Hopkins told AFP.
But now, he said, “the really contentious questions that occupy national politics are finding their way” into the meetings.
In Pennsbury, things took a turn for the worse after the board appointed Dr Cherrissa Gibson – a local assistant principal – to a newly created role overseeing diversity and equity in the district’s 10 elementary schools, three middle schools, and one high school.
Her first audit in April 2021 found “an underrepresentation of professional staff of colour”, as well as a disproportionate level of discipline targetting Black students.
Situated in the woodsy outer suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsbury has about 10,000 students, of whom 75 per cent are white, seven per cent are Black, eight per cent are Asian, and four per cent are Hispanic, according to the district’s website.
For District Superintendent Thomas Smith, the audit was a way to help “ensure that every student regardless of where they come from, regardless of their gender, or regardless of the colour of their skin are treated equally.”
But opponents, like 54-year-old Simon Campbell, believe such initiatives only sharpen divisions.
“It is all about trying to stereotype people by race, by gender and separate them and then customise education based upon those separations,” said the former school board member and stock trader.
“Basically kids are being taught that if you’re Black… you are impoverished and need help from the government,” he told AFP. “If you’re white, then you are an oppressor.”
Campbell, who no longer has children in the school district, posts videos of his remarks at school board meetings to YouTube, where he now has more than 30,000 subscribers.
Like other disgruntled parents, he has been invited to appear on conservative radio and television programs to discuss so-called “critical race theory”.
The term, which refers to the study of persistent racism in social institutions, has been seized upon by Republicans to broadly attack Democrats’ racial equity policies in what has become a lightning rod for conservatives across the country.
MISINFORMATION
Christine Toy Dragoni, the outgoing Pennsbury school board president, blames a national “campaign of misinformation” for the intensity of the backlash.
“People are being gaslighted,” she told AFP.
The 50-year-old psychotherapist said the deluge of e-mails began after videos of heated board meeting exchanges went viral online.
Most of the e-mails wished bad things “happen” to the board members, versus direct threats, but “when they do it repeatedly, you start to worry”, said Dragoni.
“Are they going to take the next step and, you know, take action on their words?”
The risk of violence is real: many school districts have been forced to ramp up police presence at board meetings, to remove unruly attendees, as well as to escort members to and from their cars.
Two months ago, US Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a memo directing the FBI and federal prosecutors to meet with local law enforcement to discuss strategies for addressing threats against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff.
Republicans and conservative media seized on the memo, accusing the Biden administration of weaponising law enforcement to intimidate parents.
“People are within silos,” said Waldorf, who won re-election in November, “we’ve lost the ability to compromise.”
I’m seeking clarification from the authorities regarding local students going overseas for further studies, and if they need travel medical insurance with COVID-19 coverage.
According to the website, Brunei citizens and permanent residents, who are currently residing in a foreign country for work or studies, are not required to purchase a travel medical insurance before the travel date if they are to return to the foreign country after entering the Sultanate for a short trip.
My question is: Does a local student, who is currently in Brunei and is set to travel overseas for further studies, need to get a travel medical insurance before departing the Sultanate as his/her travel will not be considered a short trip?
I hope the authorities could respond to our query soon, to clear the air regarding the procedures and necessary documents in these pandemic times.
LONDON (AFP) – Scottish Premiership club Celtic yesterday announced the signing of Japanese trio Yosuke Ideguchi, Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate, with manager Ange Postecoglou saying they would “excite” the fans.
International midfielder Ideguchi, 25, will arrive on a long-term deal from Gamba Osaka and the versatile Hatate, 24, joins from Kawasaki Frontale
Forward Maeda, 24, who is also a Japan international, will join from Yokohama F Marinos, initially on loan until the end of the season but with a compulsory purchase clause included.
Postecoglou was in charge for more than three years at Yokohama F Marinos before he took over at Celtic earlier this year, and he is confident the three players will thrive in Glasgow.
“We are really pleased to bring in these guys to Celtic and I think they are players who will excite our fans,” he said.
“Clearly I am well aware of their attributes and I think in bringing all three to the club we are bringing even more quality, personality and energy to the squad to work with the players who have done so well for us already this season.
“They are all really at the peak of their careers, ambitious to achieve more success and I am sure at this particular time we will be getting their best years.”
AFP – The European Union (EU) called on Thursday for an international arms embargo on Myanmar’s junta and for toughening its own sanctions following last week’s massacre of more than 30 people.
The killings took place on December 24 in eastern Kayah state, where pro-democracy rebels have been fighting the military, which took over the government from the democratically elected administration in February.
The EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said “the appalling act of violence perpetrated by the military regime” on civilians and humanitarian workers underlined the “urgent need” to hold the junta accountable.
“In view of the escalating violence in Myanmar, increased international preventive action is required, including an arms embargo,” Borrell said in a statement.
“The EU also stands ready to impose further sanctions against the military regime,” he added. His call for an international arms embargo echoed one Tuesday from the United States (US).
People fleeing due to fighting between the Myanmar military and the Karen National Union (KNU) line up to receive food at a temporary lodging, PHOTO: AFP
Western nations have long restricted weapons to Myanmar’s military, which even during the pre-coup democratic transition faced allegations of crimes against humanity for a bloody campaign against the Rohingya minority.
The United Nations General Assembly voted in June to prevent arms shipments into Myanmar, but the measure was symbolic as it was not taken up by the more powerful Security Council.
China and Russia, which hold veto power on the Security Council – as well as neighbouring India – are the major arms providers to Myanmar.
Myanmar has been in chaos since a military coup in February, with more than 1,300 people killed in a crackdown by security forces, according to a local monitoring group.
Since the coup, the EU has imposed targetted sanctions on the Myanmar military, its leaders and entities.
The bloc also halted EU financial assistance to the government and froze assistance that could be seen as legitimising the military regime.
Borrell said “the targeting of civilians and humanitarian actors is unacceptable and a blatant violation of human rights and international law, including humanitarian law”.
He called for “full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to” Myanmar’s people while demanding full protection for humanitarian workers and medical personnel.
International charity Save the Children said two of its employees were among those killed in the massacre.
The EU said it will continue providing humanitarian aid to the people.
AFP/PR TIMES – A model displays a creation from fashion brand HxCx by Japanese designer Takashi Kido for the 2022 Spring/Summer collection at Tokyo Fashion.
The theme of the collection is ‘POWER POP’, designed with consideration for destruction and construction. Fashion, as typified by second-hand clothing, deteriorates and destroys new things, but it continues to change by repeating the cycle of being reconstructed with the addition of new essences. Kido expressed the process by mixing the culture of the 80’s and 90’s that he had experienced.
