WELLINGTON (AFP) – Protester numbers outside New Zealand’s parliament swelled yesterday as police scaled back efforts to clear anti-vaccine demonstrators involved in violent clashes a day earlier.
A festive mood prevailed at a makeshift tent settlement inhabitants have dubbed “Camp Freedom”, with music and dancing as police looked on from behind barricades.
It was a stark contrast to the fiery scenes on Thursday, when a phalanx of officers attempted to evict the protesters, arresting 122 people and using pepper spray to quell scuffles.
Wellington police described the hands-off tactics as a “measured approach”, pointing to the presence of children in the crowd.
“Police are continuing to monitor and contain protest activity at parliament grounds,” Superintendent Corrie Parnell said in a statement.
I would like to applaud the authorities for their efforts in bringing us to the Endemic Phase. It has brought relief to the populace, especially parents with children of schooling age, as the second COVID-19 wave last August was rather taxing on parents. They found themselves having to juggle between working from home and assisting their children in remote learning.
However, I believe that school re-opening should have been done systematically, by carrying out a pilot study beforehand to test the water, instead of basing the decision on parents’ votes. For example, a blended programme of three-day remote learning and two-day face-to-face classes for students at ‘O’, ‘A’ and tertiary levels. If the pilot appeared feasible, the authorities could then extend the programme to students at lower levels.
Not only would the systematic rollout allow for a better understanding of how new-normal education may impact the students, it would also provide ample time for teachers and students of low levels to make the necessary preparations for school re-opening.
At present, students of certain age group are still restricted to online learning, but such an arrangement is putting these parents in a predicament as almost all companies have called for the return of their employees to the workplace.
The question becomes: Why are children between five and 10 not allowed to attend physical classes when younger children are able to reunite with their peers?
I’m in full support of the national strategies in tackling the pandemic. After all, we are enjoying the Endemic Phase as a result of their hard work.
However, it would be good if the authorities could put the parents at ease, especially those with children between five and 10, by helping us understand the reason behind the decision on school re-opening.
DES MOINES, IOWA (AP) – Without much fuss and even less public attention, the nation’s egg producers are in the midst of a multibillion-dollar shift to cage-free eggs that is dramatically changing the lives of millions of hens in response to new laws and demands from restaurant chains.
In a decade, the percentage of hens in cage-free housing has soared from four per cent in 2010 to 28 per cent in 2020, and that figure is expected to more than double to about 70 per cent in the next four years.
The change marks one of the animal welfare movement’s biggest successes after years of battles with the food industry. The transition has cost billions of dollars for producers who initially resisted calls for more humane treatment of chickens but have since fully embraced the new reality. Pushed by voter initiatives in California and other states as well as pressure from fast food restaurant chains and major grocers, egg producers are freeing chickens from cages and letting them move throughout hen houses.
“What we producers failed to realise early on was that the people funding all the animal rights activist groups, they were our customers. And at the end of the day, we have to listen to our customers,” said Marcus Rust, the CEO of Indiana-based Rose Acre Farms, the nation’s second-largest egg producer.
Vice president for farm animal protection at the Humane Society of the United States Josh Balk noted the abruptness of the about face. This is “an entire industry that at one point fought tooth and nail not to make any changes,” he said.
To a great extent, the industry concluded it didn’t have another choice.
Beginning in about 2015, McDonald’s, Burger King and other national restaurant chains as well as dozens of grocers and food manufacturers responded to pressure from animal welfare groups by announcing their commitment to cage-free eggs. That was followed by laws requiring cage-free housing in California and similar rules in at least seven other states – Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington.
McDonald’s, which buys about two billion eggs annually, said it gradually shifted to cage-free after concluding it was desired by customers. Many companies widely promoted their move to cage-free as good for their brand’s image.
Earlier, animal welfare groups, especially the Humane Society, had organised shareholder campaigns, conducted undercover investigations of chicken farms and filed federal complaints. A Gallup poll from 2015 found that nearly two-thirds of Americans thought animals deserved protection from harm and exploitation.
CNA – The Philippines Commission on Elections (COMELEC) on Thursday dismissed a series of complaints seeking to disqualify presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr, removing a major hurdle for the frontrunner in the May 9 contest.
The commission’s first division decided there was no merit in the complaints, which centred on Marcos’ conviction for failing to file tax returns while in public office from 1982 to 1985.
The petitioners argued that conviction should have made him ineligible to run in any election, citing a tax law that prescribes a lifetime ban.
But commissioners on Thursday said that penalty was introduced in 1986, after the offence was committed and could not be applied retroactively. They also said the court that upheld his conviction did not disqualify him.
“A penalty that would deprive a citizen of his political right to be voted for in an election should be clearly, unequivocally, and expressly stated in the decision,” COMELEC said.
“The witholding of such right cannot be made dependent on a mere proposition that the penalty of perpetual disqualification… is deemed written in the decision,” it added.
Members of Akbayan Partylist gather outside the Commission on Elections in Manila. PHOTO: REUTERS
Marcos’ spokesman Vic Rodriguez in a statement commended the commissioners for “upholding the law by dismissing cases that we have long described as nuisance petitions”.
Another COMELEC division last month dismissed a similar complaint seeking to block Marcos from seeking office, ruling that his prior tax violations should not derail his run.
Opponents of 64-year-old Marcos denounced the ruling and petitioners said they would challenge the decision. Losing parties can appeal to the Supreme Court.
Despite his popularity in the run-up to the polls, Marcos, the only son and namesake of the late dictator overthrown in a 1986 “People Power” uprising, remains a divisive figure in the Philippines, with deep resentment of his family among thousands of victims of abuses under its two-decade rule.
LOS ANGELES (AFP) – LeBron James and Kevin Durant picked their teams for the NBA All-Star Game on Thursday, James making Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo the first selection while James Harden went last.
Brooklyn Nets star Durant, who will captain one of the teams in the midseason exhibition in Cleveland on February 20, declined to select Harden with the penultimate pick.
Hours before, Harden was reportedly traded from the Nets to the Philadelphia 76ers in a blockbuster deal that will bring Ben Simmons, Seth Curry and Andre Drummond to Brooklyn.
That meant Harden went to Team LeBron, which has won the last four editions of the contest since the format shifted from an Eastern Conference versus Western Conference format.
The current system has the captains choose their players from the starters and reserves selected by fans, fellow players and coaches.
On the televised draft programme, James made two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Antetokounmpo the first selection, while Durant – who won’t play because of a knee injury – made 76ers star Joel Embiid his first pick.
James’ starting lineup will also feature Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry, Chicago’s DeMar DeRozan and reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic.
Durant’s starting five will also feature rising Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant, Boston’s Jayson Tatum, Atlanta’s Trae Young and Golden State’s Andrew Wiggins.
James’s reserves are Luka Doncic, Chris Paul, Jimmy Butler, Donovan Mitchell, Fred VanVleet, Harden and Darius Garland – who James said he selected because he knew Durant wanted him.
Team Durant’s reserves are Devin Booker, Karl-Anthony Towns, Zach LaVine, Dejounte Murray, Khris Middleton, LaMelo Ball and Rudy Gobert.
Durant will be out for a bit of revenge after his team fell to Team LeBron in last season’s All-Star game.
“This is the perfect time, being back in Cleveland,” Durant said of a chance to avenge that defeat in James’ home state. “I think it’ll be good to give him a game there.”
ISTANBUL (AP) – Mehmet Bogday said his jaw dropped when he saw his electricity bill – it was higher than the rent he pays for his Istanbul restaurant selling traditional Turkish wraps, and more than double what he paid a month ago.
“This is unsustainable,” said Bogday, who owns the Asmali Mescit Durumcusu restaurant. “If it continues this way, we will have to lay off staff. If it continues this way, we won’t be able to make this work. We’ll either downsize, or close and go sit at home.”
Spiking energy prices are raising utility bills from Poland to the United Kingdom, leaving people struggling to make ends meet and small businesses uncertain about much longer they can stay afloat. In response, governments across Europe are rushing to pass aid to ease the hit as energy prices drive a record rise in inflation.
Nowhere is that squeeze felt more acutely than in Turkey, where inflation has soared to nearly 50 per cent and exorbitant electricity bills are stirring protests and fears about how small businesses, like Bogday’s restaurant, can survive.
Protests over electricity price hikes broke out across Turkey this week, including some where police fired tear gas to disperse crowds. People are posting their electricity bills on social media to show how costs are untenable. Shopkeepers are displaying notices decrying high bills on shop windows, while others have gathered outside electric companies and set their bills on fire.
Like the rest of Europe, electricity generation in Turkey requires energy sources that have surged in price, including natural gas, whose supply is low. A huge drop in the value of Turkey’s currency is driving the price spike in imported gas.
People burn their electricity bills during a protest in Ankara, Turkey. PHOTO: AP
Since COVID-19 first appeared, the world has seen a shift towards contactless interactions.
As a result, authorities have been urging for the populace to embrace digital transformation as the new normal.
However, I believe that the national aspiration of a digital future can only be truly realised if all parties do their part.
I was recently applying for a loan when I was told to produce a clearance letter before proceeding. It wasn’t my first time asking for a loan. So, if the system had been updated, they would have been able to access my entire history of loan applications, thus negating the need for a new clearance letter.
I hope that the authorities could look into speeding up their digitalisation plans, to allow us to work together to rid the country of the coronavirus once and for all.
LONDON (AP) – European scientists have taken a significant step closer to mastering a technology that could allow them to one day harness nuclear fusion, providing a clean and almost limitless source of energy, British officials said on Wednesday.
Researchers at the Joint European Torus (JET) experiment near Oxford managed to produce a record amount of heat energy over a five-second period, which was the duration of the experiment, the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) said.
The 59 megajoules of sustained fusion energy produced were more than double the previous record achieved in 1997.
The agency said the result was “the clearest demonstration worldwide of the potential for fusion energy to deliver safe and sustainable low-carbon energy”.
“If we can maintain fusion for five seconds, we can do it for five minutes and then five hours as we scale up our operations in future machines,” said Programme Manager for EUROfusion Tony Donne. “This is a big moment for every one of us and the entire fusion community.”
CEO of the UKAEA Ian Chapman said the results were a “huge step closer to conquering one of the biggest scientific and engineering challenges of them all”.
Duke of Cambridge Britain’s Prince William, talks with CEO of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) Professor Ian Chapman (L), Nanna Heiberg (2nd R) and Head of Engineering Design Unit Joseph Milnes, alongside the MAST Upgrade chamber, during his visit to the UKAEA at the Culham Science Centre in Abingdon, near Oxford in southern England on October 18, 2018. PHOTO: AP
The facility, also known as JET, is home to the world’s largest and most powerful operational tokamak – a donut-shaped device that is considered one promising method for performing controlled fusion.
Scientists who were not involved in the project believed it was a significant result, but still a very long way from achieving commercial fusion power.
Researchers around the world have long been working on nuclear fusion technology, trying different approaches. The ultimate goal is to generate power the way the sun generates heat, by pressing hydrogen atoms so close to each other that they combine into helium, which releases torrents of energy.
Carolyn Kuranz at the University of Michigan called the development “very exciting” and a step toward achieving “ignition”, or when the fuel can continue to “burn” on its own and produce more energy than what’s needed to spark the initial reaction.
She said the results appeared “very promising” for ITER, a much larger experimental fusion facility in southern France that uses the same technology and is backed by many European countries, the United States, China, Japan, India, South Korea and Russia. It is expected to begin operation in 2026.
Fusion expert at the University of Rochester Riccardo Betti said the achievement lay mainly in sustaining the reaction at high performance levels for five seconds, significantly longer than previously achieved in a tokamak.
The amount of power gained was still well below the amount needed to perform the experiment, he added.
An emeritus professor of energy conversion at the University of Newcastle Ian Fells described the new record as a landmark in fusion research. “Now it is up to the engineers to translate this into carbon-free electricity and mitigate the problem of climate change,” he said. “Ten to 20 years could see commercialisation.”
Stephanie Diem of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, said the technology used by JET to achieve the result, using magnets to control ultra-hot plasma, show that harnessing fusion – a process that occurs naturally in the stars – is physically feasible.
“The next milestone on the horizon for magnetic fusion is to demonstrate scientific breakeven, where the amount of energy produced from fusion reactions exceeds that going into the device,” she said.
Rival teams are racing to perfect other methods for controlling fusion and have also recently reported significant progress.
Scientists hope that fusion reactors might one day provide a source of emissions-free energy without any of the risks of conventional nuclear power.
COLOMBO (AFP) – A Sri Lankan tourist guide who taunted a wild elephant and posted the video on TikTok has been fined for animal cruelty, officials said yesterday, in a case that triggered a public outcry.
Wildlife authorities identified Shashika Gimhan Dhananjaya Rajasinghe through social media posts and a court issued him a fine of LKR200,000 (USD1,000), a sum about 20 times the monthly minimum wage in Sri Lanka.
His social media accounts have since been taken down but the video showing him tormenting the elephant is still being shared on several platforms.
In the 20-second clip the man cannot be seen but a blue vehicle with flashing lights aggressively pursues the animal off-road in the north-central city of Habarana.
Walking backwards, the dazzled elephant tries to shelter behind a tree. Outraged social media users called for tough action against the tour guide.
“The fine alone is not enough to deter this type of cruelty,” Asian elephant expert Jayantha Jayewardene told AFP.
“They should have locked up his vehicle and banned him from wildlife parks.”
There have been recent reports of tour guides driving very close to wild animals in national parks and using firecrackers to scare them off when they turn aggressive.
Sri Lanka tightened wildlife protection laws last year and brought in regulations to protect elephants, which are considered sacred and a national treasure.
Capturing wild elephants is a criminal offence punishable by death, but prosecutions are rare.
A security guard contained an electrical fire involving paper and hand sanitiser storage boxes at a cafe in Gadong on Thursday. No casualties were reported.
According to the Fire and Rescue Department (FRD), a call received at 6.25am led to the dispatch of five firefighters from the Bandar Seri Begawan Fire Station. The team was led by Station Officer Haji Abdul Rahman bin Maitamit.
Upon arrival, the firefighters found the fire doused by Alfian bin Naim using a 1.5-kilogramme dry powder fire extinguisher.
The cause and estimated damages are under investigation. The matter was handed over to the electrical team.
Buildings must be equipped with fire extinguishers and fire blankets, advised the FRD, adding that electrical switches must be switched off after use or before leaving the premises, and electrical wiring maintenance done by accredited companies in accordance with the standards issued by the Electrical Department.
The building where the fire was reported. PHOTO: FRD
