KATRA/SRINAGAR, (AFP) – Twelve people were crushed to death in a stampede at an Indian shrine yesterday as tens of thousands of pilgrims massed, officials said.
The disaster unfolded in darkness at around 3am on the packed route to the Vaishno Devi shrine in Kashmir, visited by millions every year.
“People fell over each other… It was difficult to figure out whose leg or arms were tangled with whose,” survivor Ravinder told AFP by phone.
“I helped pick up eight bodies by the time ambulances arrived after about half an hour. I feel lucky to be alive but am still shaking with memory of what I saw,” he said.
Video footage showed terrified pilgrims clinging onto metal rafters to escape the rush and the blue lights of small minivan ambulances flashing in the darkness as they tried to rush to hospitals through huge crowds.
Officials sought to blame an alleged altercation between two groups of youth and a rush of people for New Year’s Day. “Police and officials… were quick to respond (after the altercation), and the order within the crowd was immediately restored,” local police chief Dilbag Singh told the Press Trust of India news agency.
“But by that time, the damage had been done,” he said.
But witnesses said that the authorities were badly organised, something denied by the shrine’s management.
MOUNT MAUNGANUI, NEW ZEALAND (AP) – After a brief interruption Devon Conway continued his prolific run-making in test cricket with an innings of 122 which guided New Zealand to 258-5 at stumps yesterday on the first day of the first cricket test against Bangladesh.
South Africa-born Conway erupted onto the international scene in 2021 at the age of 29 with a double century in his first test innings and since has been a stand-out in all three formats. Within the space of four tests he now has scored a double century, a century and two half centuries: 501 runs at an average of 83. He also averages 75 in one-day internationals and 50 in Twenty20s.
A broken hand suffered at the T20 World Cup in November put a brief stop to his accumulation of runs and records. He quickly picked up on Saturday where he left off, placing New Zealand in a strong position at stumps after losing the toss.
Rusty when he commenced his innings after New Zealand lost captain Tom Latham in the fourth over when it was 1-1, Conway navigated the difficult first hour, then flourished, reaching his century after tea from 186 balls.
He seemed impregnable until he was finally out for 122 in the over before the second new ball was taken, to the relatively benign spin bowling of Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque. Stretching forward to an unthreatening delivery which turned down the leg side, Conway got a faint edge which carried to wicketkeeper Liton Das.
Devon Conway of New Zealand celebrates his century during play on day one of the first cricket test against Bangladesh. PHOTO: AP
Through the day he had partnerships of 138 with Will Young (52), 50 with Ross Taylor who has out for 31 in his penultimate test and 38 with Henry Nicholls who was 32 not out at stumps. Tom Blundell was out for 11 in the last over of the day.
“I think (the pleasing thing) was just the partnerships we had throughout the day. It was nice to spend some time with Ross Taylor in the middle,” Conway said. “It was nice to contribute, especially after not playing for such a long period of time.
“It was challenging. The wicket was quite green this morning and we knew if we got through that tough period it would always get easier to bat on.”
The score at stumps didn’t fairly reflect the effort of the Bangladesh who worked tirelessly to support the decision of Mominul to bowl on winning the toss.
There was moisture in the Bay Oval pitch and Bangladesh seamers Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam were ascendant in the first hour, sending back Latham and troubling Conway and Young.
Hitting good lengths with an upright seam, the bowlers found movement away from the right handers and tied down the New Zealand batsmen who eked out only one run between the first and the ninth overs. Shoriful, who dismissed Latham and later Taylor, had 1-7 from his first five overs.
Conway struggled early, surviving a review for lbw before he had scored and teasing gully with a catching chance soon after.
But as the pitch dried and switched its support from the bowlers to batsmen he settled, then began to flourish. Two fours off Shoriful in the 21st over were a sign of things to come.
He went to lunch on 36 and reached his third half century in four tests from 101 balls with a six from the spin bowling of Mehidy Hasan Miraz in an over in which he also hit two fours.
Conway had put on 138 for the second wicket with Will Young when Young was run out in the 49th over. With the bowlers struggling to find the means to a breakthrough, New Zealand wasted Young’s wickets when he set off for a single to mid-wicket and Conway sent him back. An accurate throw to the keeper saw Young run out for a hard-earned 52.
AP – Stocks capped a quiet day of trading with modest losses on Friday, even as Wall Street closed the books on another banner year.
The S&P 500 finished with a gain of 26.9 per cent for the year, or a total return of 28.7 per cent, including dividends. That’s nearly as much as the benchmark index gained in 2019. The Nasdaq composite, powered by Big Tech stocks, climbed 21.4 per cent in 2021.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 18.7 per cent, with Home Depot and Microsoft leading the way.
“It’s the third year in a row of incredible gains,” said TD Ameritrade chief strategist JJ Kinahan.
“The market itself was just amazingly strong.”
A wave of consumer demand fueled by the re-opening of economies pumped up corporate profits more than expected in 2021, which helped keep investors in a buying mood.
Wall Street also got a boost from the Federal Reserve, which kept its key short-term interest rate near zero all year.
That helped keep borrowing costs for companies low and stock valuations high. Investors expect the Fed to start pushing rates higher next year.
There was also intense interest in so-called ‘meme stocks’, in which large groups of individual investors bought up shares of beaten-down companies like GameStop and AMC Entertainment, causing institutional investors like hedge funds to lose billions. The soaring stock market also led to an explosion in initial public offerings, including online broker Robinhood and electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive.
Along the way, the S&P 500 set 70 all-time highs, its most recent one on Wednesday.
In the post-World War II era, that’s the most new highs for the index since the 77 it set in 1954.
The market kept setting new highs despite plenty of challenges, including rising inflation, global supply chain disruptions and outbreaks of more contagious variants of the COVID-19 virus.
“Although there are a lot of things that people were nervous about all year and continue to be nervous about as we head to ’22, at the end of the day the US (stock) market still seems to be the best game in town,” Kinahan said.
Still, the fast-spreading Omicron variant and uncertainty over global supply chain disruptions remain overhangs going into the year.
So is the looming end of the Federal Reserve’s easy-money policies.
The central bank has signaled plans to speed up its reduction in monthly bond purchases that have helped keep interest rates low. The shift in policy sets the stage for the Fed to begin raising rates as early as the first half of next year.
Trading was very slow on Friday, with most of Wall Street on vacation and many fund managers already closed out of their positions for 2021.
The major indexes spent much of the day flipping between small gains and losses. The S&P 500 fell 12.55 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 4,766.18. The Dow slid 59.78 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 36,338.30. The Nasdaq fell 96.59 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 15,644.97.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies slipped 3.48 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 2,245.31. The index ended the year with a gain of 13.7 per cent.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note held steady at 1.51 per cent after the bond market closed at 2pm Eastern ahead of the New Year’s Day holiday.
TOKYO (CNA) – Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said yesterday he would refocus his efforts on foreign policy and pledged to make 2022 the year of diplomacy, in a New Year statement posted on his website.
“The deft handling of diplomatic and security issues and the establishment of a stable administration is crucial, as the international situation surrounding us becomes increasingly difficult and complex,” Kishida said.
He added that a strong emphasis on universal ideals, as well as efforts to resolve global issues and protect the lives of the people would be the three guiding principles of what he called “a diplomacy of realism for the new era”.
Kishida also promised to prioritise tackling COVID-19 as Japan sees a spread of the Omicron variant, and pursue efforts to close the wealth gap and create a sustainable economy by creating a “new type of capitalism” for the country.
The United States (US) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) moved Brunei to Level 3 on December 28, 2021 from Level 4 three months prior.
In its COVID-19 travel advisories weekly update, the Sultanate, along with Argentina (previously at Level 2) were added to Level 3, meaning one must be fully vaccinated before travelling to the Sultanate.
The four-level system categorises international destinations into the following levels: Level 4 (Very high level of COVID-19) – one should avoid travel to this destination; Level 3 (High level of COVID-19) – one must be fully vaccinated before travel.
Unvaccinated travellers should avoid non-essential travel to this destination.
Level 2 is moderate level of COVID-19 and one must be fully vaccinated before travel. Unvaccinated travellers at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19 should avoid non-essential travel to the destination. Level 1 is low level of COVID-19 and individuals must be fully vaccinated before travelling to the destination.
In its Key Information for Travellers to Brunei, the CDC said travellers should follow the country’s requirements, including wearing a mask and staying six feet apart from others.
THE WASHINGTON POST – “Soup is a warm way of getting to know a culture and its people,” writes cookbook author Pati Jinich. She calls this vivid soup made with oysters and chipotles in adobo one of her all-time favourites.
Count us in as well as enthusiastic fans of the spicy-smoky base, plump oysters and soft-crisp texture, achieved with vegetables that are both pureed and left diced.
A little work is rewarded with lots of punch.
The recipe, which comes from Jinich’s latest cookbook, Treasures of the Mexican Table, is both a primer and a guide to more adventurous cooking.
The preface to her throat-tickling oyster soup teaches readers to cook the oysters gently and quickly, “so they taste and feel like a seafood version of foie gras.”
Si, Pati!
Chipotle Oyster Soup. PHOTO: THE WASHINGTON POST
SOPA DE OSTION AL CHIPOTLE (CHIPOTLE OYSTER SOUP)
Vegetables can be diced up to one day ahead. Leftover soup can be refrigerated for up to three days without the oysters. Gently reheat over low heat. If planning to refrigerate the soup, consume all of the oysters and, if desired, start another batch of oysters the following day.
INGREDIENTS
– One and a half pounds ripe tomatoes, peeled
– Three tablespoons vegetable oil
– One large white onion, finely chopped
– Five ribs finely chopped celery, divided
– Five medium carrots, finely chopped, divided
– Two large leeks, white and light green parts, well-rinsed and finely chopped, divided
– Five garlic cloves, finely chopped
– Three chipotles in adobo, finely chopped, plus one tablespoon of the sauce
– One dried chile de árbol, stemmed and chopped
– One pound shucked oysters with their juices
– Half teaspoon fine salt, or more to taste
– One teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
– Five cups shrimp, chicken or vegetable broth
– Chopped fresh cilantro leaves, for serving
– Lime wedges, for serving
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the broiler, with the rack five to six inches from the heat source. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with foil and place the tomatoes on top. Broil for 10 to 12 minutes, turning the tomatoes halfway through, or until charred and mushy. Remove from the oven. (Alternately, you can roast the tomatoes on a comal or in a large skillet over medium heat, turning them every four to five minutes, until soft and singed, for about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.)
When the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, finely chop them and transfer to a one-and-a-half-quart bowl. Make sure to tip any juices from the baking sheet into the bowl.
In a large pot over medium heat, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until softened, five to six minutes. Stir in two-thirds of each: celery, carrots and leeks, and cook until wilted, three to four minutes.
Clear a space in the middle of the pot and add the garlic, chipotles with the adobo sauce and chile de arbol. Cook, stirring, for one minute, then mix with the vegetables and cook for one more minute.
Add the tomatoes, the oyster juices, salt and oregano, bring to a simmer and cook until the mixture thickens a bit, six to seven minutes. Add the broth, bring to a simmer and cook until the color darkens and the soup thickens slightly, about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let cool slightly.
Working in batches, transfer the soup to a blender and puree until smooth. Wash and dry the pot.
If you want a silky texture, place a sieve over the pot and strain the soup through it; otherwise, just return the soup to the pot. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and add the remaining half cup of each celery, carrots and leeks. Simmer until the vegetables are cooked to al dente and the soup is a little thicker, four to five minutes. Stir in the shucked oysters and any remaining juices and cook until barely cooked through, about one minute. Turn off the heat.
Ladle into soup bowls, garnish with the cilantro and offer your guests lime wedges for squeezing in the soup.
THE WASHINGTON POST – As Alexandria Country Day School’s sixth-graders created miniature 3D printed villages to address homelessness, they learned lessons far beyond technology.
“It Takes a Village” began as a project for a science class – inspired by life-size 3-D printed homes built by Austin, Texas-based technology company Icon, whose mission is to make dignified, affordable housing available to everyone.
No strangers to classroom 3D projects, the students were fascinated by Icon’s use of a similar process to create homes made of inexpensive concrete-like material. Unlike standard construction methods, the process of building interior and exterior walls of these durable homes takes just a few days.
While creating their mini 3-D buildings, the students explored how such technology allows design freedom and quick changes. Mathematical conversions helped get the proportions right. For example, a real 25-foot-by-20-foot one-bedroom house would be printed as 40-millimetre-by-32-millimetre for their mini village.
Salwa Seman, 11, said that getting the dimensions and settings correct before construction began was challenging as she created a curved-wall amphitheatre.
ABOVE & BELOW: Alexandria Country Day School sixth-graders Luke Wazorko, 11, and Sean Campbell, 12, working on a miniature village; and Salwa Seman, 11, uses an app to design an amphitheatre for one of the mini villages. PHOTOS: THE WASHINGTON POST
“If the temperature of the printer is too hot or cold, or if the printed walls are too thin, the structures might fail,” she said.
“You learn from your mistakes and make adjustments,” said classmate Zoe Mandel, 11.
The tech-focused project quickly evolved into “an exercise in empathy, innovation and collaboration designed to bring about lasting change,” said science teacher Alison McDonald.
“When most people think of helping the homeless, they think of food and clothing drives,” said Juliet Galicia, 11. While necessary, those are temporary fixes. Even housing by itself is not a complete solution.
In designing their leave-homelessness-behind neighbourhoods, priorities were shelter, food stores, schools, and health and religious centres.
But to build a sense of belonging and purpose, the miniature communities also emphasised areas for frequent interaction among residents.
“We wanted to include extras that would make it feel more like a real community,” said Luke Wazorko, 11.
A community garden, a place to raise chickens, an amphitheatre for shared events, bus stops for access to jobs, and infrastructure for WiFi and cellphones to help in job searches were important features to offer formerly homeless residents.
“They get it!” said Amber Fogarty, president of Mobile Loaves & Fishes, a non-profit organisation tackling homelessness in Austin, after learning about the sixth-graders’ project.
“The biggest cause of long-term homelessness is a catastrophic loss in family relationships,” she said. “Housing alone will never solve homelessness, but community will. People need a place where they are known, nurtured and loved.”
Mobile Loaves & Fishes’ creation, Community First Village, offers tiny homes, stationary recreational vehicles and a few 3D printed homes as affordable, permanent housing options to end chronic homelessness.
That community’s design and those created by the Alexandria sixth-graders emphasise walkability and interaction with others. Each incorporates ponds and green space on the edge of the community, for fishing and quiet moments, and “makerspaces” for creating products to sell.
Delighted with the students’ practical priorities, Fogarty noted that Community First also includes front porches on each of its housing styles to encourage daily connections between people.
Referring to such student projects, she said, “Imagine the possibilities. How can you use your brains and hearts to solve problems?”
FUTURE OF 3-D PRINTED HOUSES
Many companies around the world are experimenting with this technology.
So far, only interior and exterior walls are 3D printed. A team of three to four people complete that task using a computer app operated by a tablet or smartphone and monitoring the process. A nozzle squeezes out the concrete mix in a pre-programmed pattern, building up layers until a basic house structure is formed. Roofing, doors, windows and finishing still need carpenters, plumbers, electricians and painters.
Designs are adaptable to individual preferences.
Mobile Loaves and Fishes’ Amber Fogarty said, “It’s a journey of discovery. We don’t know what the future holds for this new technology, but we’re excited about the innovative possibilities.”
NEW YORK (AP) – The Westminster Kennel Club’s annual dog show has become the latest event to be postponed or cancelled in New York as the number of coronavirus cases surges.
The club’s board of governors announced on Wednesday it was postponing its 2022 event, scheduled for late January, to later in the year. A new date wasn’t given.
“The health and safety of all participants in the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show are paramount,” the group said in a statement. “We appreciate the community’s continued interest and support as we delay the show to a time when we can safely convene.”
First held in 1877, the dog show attracts thousands of competitors from around the United States (US) and is normally held in February, with semi-final and final rounds at Madison Square Garden. Last year, it was moved to June and held outdoors at the Lyndhurst estate in suburban Tarrytown, north of New York City.
Spectators weren’t allowed, and human participants had to be vaccinated or newly tested.
A Pekingese named Wasabi won best in show, beating out a whippet, a French bulldog, an old English sheepdog, a German shorthaired pointer, a Samoyed and a West Highland white terrier.
With COVID-19 cases now exploding around the US, the postponement comes less than two weeks after more than 8,500 canines, owners and handlers converged for another top US dog show, the American Kennel Club National Championship in Orlando, Florida.
ABOVE & BELOW: A handler running with her dog before the judges at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show in Tarrytown; and Wasabi, a Pekingese, resting on the winner’s podium with its trophy and ribbons. PHOTOS: AP
LHOKSEUMAWE, INDONESIA (AP) – A group of 120 Rohingya Muslims disembarked from a boat that had drifted for days off Indonesia’s northernmost province of Aceh and was towed by a navy ship into port, officials said on Friday.
The refugees’ wooden boat was reportedly leaking and had a damaged engine.
Efforts to rescue its passengers, who are overwhelmingly women and children, began after Indonesia’s government on Wednesday said it would allow them to dock because conditions on the boat were so severe.
The broken-down boat was towed by a navy ship early Thursday from its location about 85 kilometres off the coast of Bireuen, a district in Aceh, toward Krueng Geukueh seaport in neighbouring Lhokseumawe, a coastal town in the North Aceh district, said navy western fleet command spokesman Colonel La Ode M Holib.
High waves and bad weather hampered the rescue operation, and the navy ship was moving five knots per hour to keep the towed boat from capsizing, Holib said. The boat docked safely just after midnight on Friday.
Authorities used buses to move the Rohingya refugees from the port to a nearby warehouse, providing temporary shelter amid heavy monsoon rains. The refugees will all be tested for the coronavirus, Holib added.
Rohingya refugees in a wooden boat at Krueng Geukueh Port in North Aceh, Indonesia. PHOTO: AP
The boat was first sighted by local fishermen last Sunday about 96 kilometres off the coast of Bireuen, said leader of the local tribal fishing community Badruddin Yunus.
He said fishermen provided food, water and clothes to the passengers, including 60 women, 51 children and nine men, who said they wanted to go to Malaysia and had been at sea for 28 days before the boat’s engine broke down.
Videos obtained by The Associated Press from the Indonesian navy showed the refugees’ wooden boat packed with dozens of members of the Rohingya ethnic community floating at sea.
Women and children onboard cried out for help as the navy ship approached their boat, and officers in an inflatable boat were delivering food and other supplies to them.
The United Nations (UN) refugee agency said it was ready to assist Indonesia’s government and local community in preparing for the Rohingya, including establishing a quarantine process in line with international public health protocols amid the pandemic.
More than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled from Myanmar to refugee camps in Bangladesh since August 2017, when the Myanmar military launched a clearance operation in response to attacks by a rebel group.
Myanmar security forces have been accused of mass rapes, killings and the burning of thousands of homes.
Groups of Rohingya have attempted to leave the crowded camps in Bangladesh and travel by sea in hazardous voyages to other Muslim-majority countries in the region.
MONACO (AFP) – Club Brugge boss Philippe Clement is set to take over from Niko Kovac as coach of Ligue 1 side Monaco, a source close to the club told AFP on Friday.
Former Bayern Munich coach Kovac was sacked on Thursday, but his dismissal has not yet been made official.
According to sources, Clement has accepted a two-and-a-half year contract with the Principality side.
Clement, 47, has coached Club Brugge since May 2019 leading them to the last two Belgian league titles, with the club currently second in the table.
The former Belgian international midfielder previously led Genk to the Belgian league title in 2019.
Kovac, 50, was told of the decision to terminate his contract which ran until 2023 by the club’s board late on Thursday.
The former Croatia international took over the under-performing French side from Robert Moreno in July 2020 on a three-year deal with the option of a further season.
Monaco finished third last season but were eliminated in the Champions League’s qualifiers and are sixth in the French table, 17 points behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).
There were reported tensions between Kovac and squad members including captain Wissam Ben Yedder.
Kovac took Monaco to May’s French Cup final, where they lost to PSG and they started this season with three defeats in their opening six league games.
