NEW YORK (AFP) -Eyeing an Omicron surge that has exacerbated United States (US) labour stress especially in frontline industries, US President Joe Biden’s administration is betting shorter Covid-19 quarantine times will lessen the economic hit from the latest variant.
The announcement on Monday to cut isolation times in half was cheered by airlines and hospitality industries, but sharply criticised by labour unions who question whether public health concerns have been short-changed.
Economists generally offered muted praise as they analyse the Omicron impact, which caused staff shortages that led to thousands of flight cancellations over the holiday weekend, halted theatre performances and professional sports competitions, and is expected to slow growth in the first quarter of 2022.
The new guidance cuts the isolation period for asymptomatic Covid-19 cases in half to five days followed by five days of wearing a mask when around others.
It is a relief to business that already had been struggling to fill open positions and return to normal.
Houston restauranteur Dimitri Fetokakis, whose three-restaurant chain employs about 120, welcomed the announcement both because of the tight labour pool and as a sign of progress in navigating the pandemic.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Stephen Curry became the first player in NBA history to make 3,000 career three-pointers on Tuesday night in a game where the Denver Nuggets barely held off the NBA-leading Golden State Warriors 89-86.
Denver’s Nikola Jokic blocked a potential game-tying shot by Jonathan Kuminga in the final seconds to preserve the win after his team nearly blew a 24-point halftime lead.
The Warriors got one more chance to tie the game, but Andre Iguodala missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our guys,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “I thought Will Barton, down the stretch, made a couple of big, big plays.”
Barton had 21 points, while Jokic led Denver with 22 points, 18 rebounds, five assists and
four steals.
“Nikola having 18 rebounds, 22 points and making a key, key play down the stretch is why he’s a great player,” Malone said.
Denver Nuggets forward JaMychal Green dunks the ball. PHOTO: AP
“You need those types of plays to pull out wins like this.”
Andrew Wiggins had 21 points and eight rebounds for Golden State in his first game back from the league’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
Curry, who scored 21 of his 23 points in the second half, made a corner three-pointer late in the third quarter to give him 157 consecutive games with a three-point field goal. It ties his own NBA record, which he set from 2014-16.
The Warriors trailed 60-36 at the half, but kept Denver down offensively while opening the third quarter on a 17-5 run to cut Denver’s lead to 65-53. They pulled within five on a Curry step-back three-pointer with 7:20 remaining in the fourth quarter before he made back-to-back three-pointers to cut the Nuggets’ lead to 84-82 with 2:08 left.
Golden State tied the game at 84 on a dunk by Gary Payton II with 1:04 remaining. Barton put the Nuggets back in front 86-84 with a tip-in on the ensuing possession and Denver held on to win despite scoring just 29 points in the second half.
“They were the aggressor from the start,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
“I loved the way we fought back in the second half and gave ourselves a chance… Really proud of the guys for the effort, but obviously we’ve got to play better.”
The Nuggets started the game on a 10-0 run and built a 31-16 lead after the first quarter.
Curry remained scoreless deep into the first half, finally getting his first points with 2:08 remaining in the second quarter.
BRUSSELS (AP) – In a setback for the Belgian government, an advisory body on Tuesday suspended a Cabinet-ordered closure of part of the cultural sector- saying that new coronavirus restrictions imposed on theatres are unreasonable.
Under new restrictions that took effect last Sunday, movie houses, concert halls and art centres were ordered to shut their doors.
Some stayed open in protest. The order came despite the assessment of the scientific committee advising the government that going to such places poses no extra risk to
public health.
In an emergency procedure, the Council of State ruled that measures concerning theatres were “not proportionate”, and didn’t provide enough motives to “understand why going to cultural sector performance venues was particularly dangerous for public health.”
The Council of State is an advisory body that has legal powers to overturn government decisions it considers unlawful.
The ruling came after a member of a production company launched an urgent appeal against the government decision to ensure that an end of year play could go ahead in suburban Brussels. It’s expected to impact on the entire sector.
Protest over closure of cinemas and theatres in Belgium. PHOTO: AP
Brunei Darussalam detected four new COVID-19 cases yesterday, with three local and one import case. This brings the national tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases to 15,465.
Minister of Health Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham bin Haji Jaafar revealed these details during the daily press conference yesterday.
The minister said the cases were detected from 2,675 laboratory tests conducted in the past 24 hours. The rate of positive cases yesterday was 0.1 per cent.
One case recovered yesterday, bringing the total number of recoveries in the Sultanate to 15,265 while the total active cases is 100. Meanwhile, the bed occupancy rate at isolation centres is 2.7 per cent.
The minister said, “One case is still in Category 5 receiving treatment at the intensive care unit requiring artificial ventilation and an additional heart-lung machine (ECMO).”
The minister said as of December 28, 94.5 per cent of the population have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine while 93.2 per cent were administered two shots. Some 17.9 per cent have received three doses of the vaccine.
Minister of Home Affairs Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Haji Awang Abu Bakar bin Haji Apong and Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah were also present.
Minister of Home Affairs Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Haji Awang Abu Bakar bin Haji Apong, Minister of Health Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham bin Haji Jaafar and Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah during the daily press conference. PHOTO: JAMES KON
SINGAPORE (CNA) – The cub born to giant pandas Kai Kai and Jia Jia has been named after the results of a public vote were announced yesterday.
The winning name – Le Le – garnered more than 31,000 votes. Overall, more than 64,000 votes were submitted in the online poll held from November 3-7 to decide the name of the first Singapore-born giant panda.
The word ‘Le’ comes from ‘Shi Le Po’, which is an ancient Chinese name for Singapore and in use since the country’s beginning as a trading port, Mandai Wildlife Group said in a press release.
The term is also a transliteration of the Malay term selat, which means straits, indicative of Singapore’s geographical location, it added.
Other names shortlisted for the vote were Hong Hong, Xin Le, Xin Yang and Xin Yuan.
The giant panda cub Le Le in its nursery. PHOTO: CNA
Guests heading to River Wonders will be able to visit Le Le in its new glass-fronted nursery at the Giant Panda Forest from today, Mandai Wildlife Group added.
“The viewing periods coincide with Jia Jia’s feeding and exercise sessions when she is comfortable to leave little Le Le on his own,” the group said in the press release.
“Each viewing window, which ranges between 20 and 30 minutes, may vary depending on the comfort level of both mother and son, and will be reviewed and adjusted over the next few weeks.”
“We are overjoyed that our panda cub now has a name, and one that is proudly indicative of his birth city,” said Mandai Wildlife Group’s Deputy CEO of Life Sciences and Operations Dr Cheng Wen-Haur.
The announcement was made by Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat and Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng at a virtual ceremony after the 17th Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) meeting between Singapore and China.
NEW YORK (AP) – Forty years ago, the programmers at PBS were eager to experiment, so they took a chance and started a new series on animal behaviour in the wild called Nature.
The show featured hourlong documentaries from natural landscapes all around the world, and at first, didn’t even have narration so it could be sold in any television market, without any language barrier.
It was a hit.
Nature is celebrating its anniversary this season, which includes an extended look at the Rocky Mountains, American horses, a close examination of bees and, of course, some adorable penguins.
While the series has evolved over the years, there’s one person who has been there since the beginning. Fred Kaufman started as a production assistant on a three-month stint and has now been the show’s executive producer for the last 30 years.
Kaufman said Nature has become even more compelling to viewers because the science, filmmaking and technology is better.
Elephants approaching a waterhole in Tsavo East National Park, Kenya in a scene from the documentary series ‘Nature’. PHOTO: AP
He’s also proud of the show’s storytelling and attention to global warming and the environment.
In a recent interview with The Associated Press (AP), Kaufman talked about the evolution of the show, the stories that have made the most impact and how viral videos have helped the genre.
AP: How has technology changed the show over 40 years? KAUFMAN: When HD came it was like, ‘Whoa!’ All of a sudden, you saw the detail that you didn’t see before, so that was a big difference.
Lenses have gotten better, more diversified. That’s a big difference.
Drones!
Years ago, if you wanted to get an aerial, you had to hire a helicopter at 400 bucks an hour and pay for the fuel and an operator and just pray that you can get everything you want in an hour that was like a big deal.
Now you put up a drone, one person flies a drone: rocksteady shot. It really allows you to see a landscape, gives you a new perspective on animals and places.… But I think one of the single most important developments is that wildlife films, behaviour, little snippets, have become so viral on social media.
I mean, they’re fun, they’re dramatic, they’re exciting. Chances are you’ve never seen this before.
AP: How does the show approach which places and animals to cover? KAUFMAN: Everything we do is from the animal’s perspective. It’s from the perspective of wild places and wild lands. What’s the animal’s perspective on that?
You’re showing it from the photographer’s perspective, but can we shift and make it from the animal’s perspective?
And so, it’s…kind of calibrating your thinking and script because it represents the animal’s point of view. What do they need? What are the resources for a healthy environment? How does farming and climate change impact them?
So that’s kind of what we go to when we’re thinking about a topic and when we’re reviewing the film. Are we being a voice for the natural world?
AP: How have you observed the effects of global warming? KAUFMAN: The most obvious visuals are the shrinking polar caps, particularly in the Arctic.
We’re seeing that polar bears are spending more time swimming and not on ice flows because there are less of them.
So, they’re more in the open ocean. And this leads to fatigue and they need more food to eat. And they’re suffering because of that. And that’s sort of the most obvious example that we’re all seeing.
But climate change is affecting migrations, and birds, for example, migrate following the paths of flowers and food sources that come out because when that day gets longer and the sun shines and it’s warmer and plants bloom, et cetera, birds follow those paths.
Now, with global warming, some of those events are happening earlier than usual.
So, the birds are showing up late or they’re showing up too early, and it’s messing with the nutrition and the food they need to carry on their migration.
AP: Which shows have had the biggest impact? KAUFMAN: One thing I’m super proud of is many, many years ago, we were the first to bring attention to the colony collapse disorder with the bees. And so that one turned out to be a very big story, and it’s still a story.
AP: What is it about nature that still captures people? KAUFMAN: The most thrilling thing about being in nature is probably going on an African safari, which just isn’t like anything in the world.
I mean, you do feel insignificant when you’re out there and you see these big gorgeous, iconic animals up close.
It’s surprising how close these animals come, and you see these magnificent landscapes that go on for miles
It’s awe inspiring. It really gets into you and stays with you and you know, you get goose bumps.
We were in a vehicle in the middle of a herd of about 60 elephants in Africa and my heart was racing. I don’t know why. It was just a reaction to being amongst these big wild animals – and elephants are in a class by themselves.
And of course, you know, you feel that they’re aware of you in a way other animals aren’t.
There’s a consciousness there. And so, there are moments like that I think everybody experiences, whether you’re in Yellowstone National Park or even Central Park, where it just has a calming influence about it.
MANILA (AFP) – The Philippines has ordered two new warships from South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries, Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Tuesday, modernising Manila’s navy.
The Philippine Navy had become run down in recent decades – even featuring United States (US) craft from World War II – until Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s predecessor, Benigno Aquino, began a modest modernisation programme in 2010. Tuesday’s PHP28 billion (USD556 million) deal with the South Korean shipbuilding giant comes five years after the firm also won a contract to build two new frigates for the Philippine Navy.
Corvettes and frigates are small, fast warships mainly used to protect other vessels from attack.
“This project will give the Philippine Navy two modern corvettes that are capable of anti-ship, anti-submarine and anti-air warfare missions,” Lorenzana said in a speech at the signing ceremony in Manila.
The deal “will ensure commonality and interoperability with our existing assets”, he added, as well as “ease of maintenance and repairs”.
Manila has since acquired two former US Coast Guard cutters and three landing craft from Australia, as well as coast guard patrol vessels from Japan, in an effort to bolster its presence in the South China Sea.
Relatives of Philippine Navy sailors waving their national flags as the navy’s newly-acquired vessel, the Pohang-class corvette BRP Conrado Yap (PS39), docks at the international port in Manila. PHOTO: AFP
BRASILIA, BRAZIL (AP) – A total of 116 cities in the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia were in a state of emergency because of flooding on Tuesday due to heavy rains that have been pounding the region since the end of November.
Cities in at least five other states in Brazil’s north and southeast have also been flooded in recent days.
In Bahia, flooding has affected more than 470,000 people. In at least 50 cities, water surged into homes and businesses, and people were forced to abandon their belongings.
Official data from the state government say 34,163 people have been made homeless and almost 43,000 are displaced.
There have been a total of 21 deaths and 358 people injured since the beginning of the month.
This is the heaviest period of rainfall for Bahia in the last 32 years, according to the website of the National Center for Monitoring and Alerts of Natural Disasters, a government agency. In southern Bahia, it rained more than five times the normal amount for this time of the year.
Residents clean out their flooded homes in Itapetinga, Bahia state in Brazil. PHOTO: AP
In an interview with local radio stations on Tuesday morning, Bahia Governor Rui Costa compared the situation to a “bombardment”. He also said that coronavirus vaccines were lost in the floods of some cities.
“Some municipal health offices and medicine depots were completely under water,” he said.
On Tuesday, the population of at least four municipalities in Bahia received warnings to leave their homes because of the increased flow of the Pardo River due to the opening of the Machado Mineiro dam’s sluice gates in neighboring Minas Gerais state, according to the state government’s advisory office.
Bahia’s Civil Defence superintendent, Colonel Miguel Filho, told The Associated Press that there are still flooded and isolated cities, and rains are still ongoing.
“Our first response is to help, then to shelter, to care for the population in the shelters by giving humanitarian aid, with sheets, blankets, food,” he said.
He added that at least five dams in Bahia are at risk of bursting. Bridges and federal and state roads in the state were destroyed and have been provisionally rebuilt to allow food and other items to be brought to people in need.
“We still don’t have a complete list of all the damage caused, the amount of structures that will need to be replaced,” Governor Costa said.
The federal government has authorised emergency spending totaling BRL80 million (USD14.2 million) for Bahia alone. Additional funds will be directed to other regions also affected by the rains in recent weeks, and which are still suffering the consequences.
BIREUN, INDONESIA (AFP) – Indonesia yesterday said it will let dozens of Rohingya refugees come ashore after protests from locals and the international community over its plan to push them into Malaysian waters.
At least 100 mostly women and children aboard a stricken wooden vessel off Aceh province were denied refuge in Indonesia, where authorities on Tuesday said they planned to push them into the neighbouring Southeast Asian country after fixing their boat.
After a day-long meeting yesterday between officials in the coastal town of Bireun, Jakarta backtracked and said the refugees’ boat would be towed to shore on humanitarian grounds.
“The decision was taken after considering the emergency condition of the refugees on that boat,” said Head of the national taskforce on refugees Armed Wijaya.
The Rohingya boat is now about 80 kilometres from Bireun and would be pulled ashore, he said without elaborating on the timing.
“As it is now in the middle of the pandemic, all refugees will undergo medical screening,” he said, adding that the taskforce will coordinate with related stakeholders to provide shelter and logistics for the refugees.
Indonesian authorities first spotted the wooden boat two days ago, stranded about 70 nautical miles off the Indonesian coast, according to a local navy commander. Local fishermen had alerted them on December 25, one of them said.
On Tuesday, Amnesty International and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) called on the government to let the stranded group of Rohingya refugees land.
The earlier plan by authorities in Aceh to send the refugees into Malaysia also angered locals in Bireun, where a group of fishermen yesterday organised a protest demanding authorities to instead allow the Rohingya to disembark.
“We saw videos of their condition on social media. They need water and food. They must be treated with kindness as human beings,” Bireun resident Wahyudi told AFP by telephone.
“We, Acehnese, used to have the same experience with the Rohingya. We were in a prolonged conflict. We fled crossing the sea and were helped by people from various countries such as Malaysia, Australia.”
A wooden boat transporting Rohingya refugees after it was intercepted in the waters off Bireuen, Aceh province. FILE PHOTO: AFP
