Come January 17, Years 7, 8 and 9 students will be required to undertake antigen rapid testing prior to their classes in the morning. They will also need to repeat the same process for religious classes in the afternoon.
It is such a waste of resources. Will the authorities consider allowing these children to take the test in the morning and the result brought forward to the afternoon session?
Puzzled Parent
AFP – The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the Nobel Peace Prize, said on Thursday that Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who won the honour in 2019, bore special responsibility for ending the bloodshed in Tigray.
“As Prime Minister and winner of the Peace Prize, Abiy Ahmed has a special responsibility to end the conflict and contribute to peace,” Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the committee, said in a statement to AFP.
Northern Ethiopia has been beset by conflict since November 2020 when Ahmed sent troops into Tigray after accusing the region’s ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), of attacks on federal army camps.
The fighting between forces loyal to Abiy and the TPLF and their allies has killed thousands of people and forced several million from their homes.
Tigray is under what the United Nations calls a de facto blockade that is preventing life-saving medicine and food from reaching millions, including hundreds of thousands in famine-like conditions.
“The humanitarian situation is very serious and it is not acceptable that humanitarian aid does not get through sufficiently,” Reiss-Andersen said.
Speaking at a press conference, Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth appealed for countries to press Abiy to allow aid to get through.
“The big threat there is the Ethiopian government’s blockade of humanitarian assistance that is desperately needed by millions of people in the region,” Roth told reporters. “This is a classic case of collective punishment. This is not punishing Tigrayan military forces. It is punishing the people… in Tigray,” he added. The conflict in Tigray has sparked calls to strip Abiy of the Nobel, but this is not possible under the award’s statutes.
The Norwegian committee said it could not comment on what factors were emphasised when the prize was awarded to Abiy beyond “the reasons given in connection with the award”, as the panel’s discussions are confidential.
Abiy’s prize “was awarded on the basis of his efforts and the legitimate expectations that existed in 2019”, Reiss-Andersen said.
“The peace initiatives that Abiy Ahmed launched and for which he received the Nobel Prize were based on his contribution to the peace agreement with Eritrea and his comprehensive political initiative for democracy and the development of civil rights.”
Fadley Faisal
Road users are advised to exercise caution when driving through the Kiarong underpass along the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Highway tonight due to ongoing works, said the Public Works Department in a statement.
Works to replace the lighting in the underpass, where traffic will be vulnerable will be carried out tonight from 10pm to 4am and is expected to last until January 18.
While works are underway there will be half-lane closures on both directions of the motorways.
MEXICO CITY (AP) – Mexico’s immigration agency said on Thursday 105 of its agents have been reported to the internal affairs office for allegedly corrupt behaviour.
The National Immigration Institute did not describe the purported wrongdoing, but said it was combatting extortion, as when border agents demand bribes to allow people to enter the country.
A sample of that corruption temptations was on display on January 6, when a group of Venezuelan migrants landed at the Mexico City airport.
The National Immigration Institute said that when the migrants lined up at immigration checkpoints, an agent reported that each one had a USD100 bill tucked into their passport.
The Venezuelans said they put the bills in the passports by mistake. They did not have the proper papers to enter Mexico, and were sent back to their country.
Mexico said earlier this month it will begin requiring travel visas for Venezuelans starting January 21, after a surge in the number of migrants trying to reach the United States
(US) border.
PARIS (AFP) – Thawing Arctic permafrost laden with billions of tonnes of greenhouse gases not only threatens the region’s critical infrastructure but life across the planet, according a comprehensive scientific review.
Nearly 70 per cent of the roads, pipelines, cities and industry – mostly in Russia – built on the region’s softening ground are highly vulnerable to acute damage by mid-century, according to one of half-a-dozen studies on permafrost published this week by Nature.
Another study warns that methane and CO2 escaping from long-frozen soil could accelerate warming and overwhelm global efforts to cap the rise in Earth’s temperature at livable levels.
Exposure of highly combustible organic matter no longer locked away by ice is also fuelling unprecedented wildfires, making permafrost a triple threat, the studies report.
Blanketing a quarter of the northern hemisphere’s land mass, permafrost contains twice the carbon currently in the atmosphere, and triple the amount emitted by human activity since 1850.
By definition, it is ground that has been at temperatures colder than zero degrees Celsius for over two years, though much permafrost is thousands of years old.
Temperatures in the Arctic region have risen two to three times more quickly over the last half-century than for the world as a whole – two to three degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
The region has also seen a series of freakish weather anomalies, with temperatures in winter flaring up to 40°C above previous averages.
Permafrost itself has, on average, warmed nearly 0.4°C from 2007 to 2016, “raising concerns about the rapid rate of thaw and potential old carbon release” noted researchers led by Kimberley Miner, a scientist at the California Institute of Technology’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Their study projects a loss of some four million square kilometres of permafrost by 2100 even under a scenario in which greenhouse gas emissions are significantly reduced in the coming decades.
Rising temperatures are not the only driver of accelerated melting.
Arctic wildfires rapidly expand the layer of permafrost subject to thawing, the researchers point out.
As the climate warms, these remote, uncontrolled blazes are projected to increase 130 per cent to 350 per cent by mid-century, releasing more and more permafrost carbon.
Indeed, thawing renders buried organic carbon more flammable, giving rise to “zombie fires” that smoulder throughout frigid winters before igniting again in Spring and Summer.
“These below-ground fires could release legacy carbon from environments previously thought to be fire-resistant,” Miner and colleagues warned.
The most immediate threat is to the region’s infrastructure.
Northern hemisphere permafrost supports some 120,000 buildings, 40,000 kilometres of roads and 9,500 kilometres of pipelines, according to another study led by a scientist at Finland’s University of Oulu Jan Hjort.
“The strength of soil drops substantially as temperatures rise above the melting point and ground ice melts,” the study noted.
No country is more vulnerable than Russia, where several large cities and substantial industrial plant sit atop frozen soil.
Some 80 per cent of buildings in the city of Vorkuta are already showing deformations caused by shifting permafrost.
Nearly half of oil and gas extraction fields in the Russian Arctic are in areas with permafrost hazards threatening current infrastructure and future developments.
In 2020, a fuel tank ruptured after its supports suddenly sank into the ground near the Siberian city of Norilsk, spilling 21,000 tonnes of diesel into nearby rivers.
Thawing permafrost was blamed for weakening the plant’s foundation.
North America does not have large industrial centres built on permafrost, but tens of thousands of kilometres of roads and pipelines are increasingly vulnerable, too.
While scientists know far more than a decade ago, basic questions remain unanswered as to how much carbon may be released as Arctic soil warms.
As a result, “permafrost dynamics are often not included in Earth system models”, which means their potential impact of Earth’s rising temperature are not adequately taken into account, Miner and colleagues note.
This is especially true, they warn, for the sudden structural collapse of permafrost, a process known as thermokarst.
It is also still an open question as to whether climate shifts will cause the Arctic region to become drier or wetter.
The answer has huge implications. “In a greener, wetter Arctic, plants will offset some or all permafrost carbon emissions,” the authors noted.
In a browner, drier Arctic, however, CO2 emissions from decomposing soils and the amount of ever-more flammable fuels for wildfires will increase.
Permafrost covers 30 million square kilometres, roughly half of it in the Arctic, and a million square kilometres across the Tibetan Plateau. Most of the rest was covered when seas rose at the end of the last ice age.
AFP/VOGUE – Emporio Armani collection traversed the key Armanian territory of androgynous tailoring, threw in a liberal scattering of eccentrico styling, diverted via some non-specific but definitely non-Italian references in silhouette and watercolor-esque patterning, and returned periodically to versions of an ingeniously engineered triple-hemmed party dress.
As ever, there were more looks than photos on Vogue Runway because Armani sent out his models in clusters, the larger groupings serving to emphasise the specific fashion chapter of the broader narrative he was charting. The transition was from a menswear section featuring some typically gorgeous jackets teamed with palm-printed ties that were worn above slides. This suddenly segued to some almost decadently technical all-white but piped sportswear featuring the horizontally-lined 7 of the EA logo: cycling shorts and sneakers apart, it was hard to tell exactly which sport they were made for, but it looked cool. Then another switch: crushed silk linen tailoring with kimono collar accents. And then another, and another…
It all, though, looked purely Armani. This was a show that demonstrated how constant reinvention within the parameters of constant design values creates a formula through which a label can remain forever young. Auguri, Emporio.
HOBART, AUSTRALIA (AFP) – Travis Head scored a magnificent century to put Australia in command on the first day of the fifth and final Ashes Test against England in Hobart yesterday.
At tea, Australia were 215-5, with Cameron Green on 57 and Alex Carey one.
Head came to the crease with Australia reeling at 12-3, but counter-attacked brilliantly to reach his fourth Test century in just 112 balls, with 12 boundaries.
However, one ball after reaching his century in the day-night match, he chipped Chris Woakes to mid-off, where Ollie Robinson – who bowled only one over in the twilight session due to back soreness – took a simple catch.
Head’s 101 was a superb response to a much-changed England’s complete dominance in the first 10 overs.
England captain Joe Root won the toss and sent the hosts in to bat in overcast conditions and on a real green-top of a wicket.
England, who have already lost the series, had Australia on the ropes at 12-3 after 10 overs, with Stuart Broad and Robinson almost unplayable in perfect bowling conditions.
They removed David Warner and Steve Smith for ducks and Usman Khawaja for six, and should have had Marnus Labuschagne for no score.
However, the game swung back towards Australia when Head and Labuschagne launched a revival, attacking change bowlers Mark Wood and Woakes.
Wood has bowled well all series but his extra pace negated the conditions and Labuschagne and Head went on the attack.
Wood’s first three overs went for 31, while at the other end, Woakes also took some punishment, his first five overs costing 23 runs.
Root was forced to bring Broad back into the attack and in the second-last over before the first break he struck in an almost comical manner.
Labuschagne, on 44, stepped across to the offside to try and play Broad through the onside, but was clean-bowled when he overbalanced attempting the shot, the Australian finishing sprawled on the ground as the ball crashed into his stumps.
Robinson and Broad must have felt like they were playing on an English ground as the ball nipped around off the seam and moved in the air.
Robinson, who was recalled to the side after missing the Sydney Test – one of five changes for England – struck first when he drew an edge from Warner, the ball flying to Zak Crawley at second slip.
Broad then claimed the wicket of Khawaja, caught by Root at first slip, bringing Smith to the crease.
But Smith, so often England’s tormentor, lasted just two balls before edging to Crawley and giving Robinson his second wicket.
The junction at Kampong Lugu that leads to Kampong Kupang poses a danger to motorists as it is obstructed by the forest. It is especially challenging during rush hours, with road users unsure if there is an approaching car.
An accident or near accident per month is not uncommon.
With the soon-to-be-completed Lugu highway underpass and a housing project nearby, I can foresee the road being busier than ever. I hope the authorities could come up with a way to make the junction safer for frequent users.
MF
James Kon
The MINI showroom at the QAF Centre is offering exclusive privileges to visitors until tomorrow as part of the MINI Test Drive event.
Visitors can enjoy privileges such as a 3.75-per-cent special interest rate, complimentary three months installment, service packages up to five years, extended warranty up to five years as well as a lucky angpao Dip ranging up to BND888.
The public can test drive the Mini Countryman, Mini Cooper S 5-door as well as Mini One 3 Door and will get a gift while stocks last.
In addition, visitors can trade in their vehicle for a brand new Mini by sending in their vehicle detail to get an evaluation for trade in value. The MINI showroom is open from 9am to 5pm.
SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Jack Dorsey on Thursday announced that his digital payments firm Block is building a system to make it easier for people to mine bitcoin.
Dorsey said in a tweet that Block, formerly known as Square, is “officially building an open bitcoin mining system”, following through on an idea floated publicly late last year.
In November, Twitter co-founder Dorsey announced his departure from the social media platform, allowing him to concentrate on his digital payments firm as it expands into cryptocurrency.
Block changed its name from Square late last year to denote a broader mission that includes blockchain and economic empowerment. Hardware and software teams at Block will openly collaborate with the cryptocurrency community outside the San Francisco-based company, aiming to create a mining system that could be used by anyone, according to Dorsey’s tweets.
Block Hardware General Manager Thomas Templeton said on Twitter that the project’s aim was: “To make mining more distributed and efficient in every way, from buying, to set up, to maintenance, to mining. We see it as a long-term need for a future that is fully decentralised and permissionless.”
No timeline was given for when Block’s system might be ready. Block is also working on a wallet for storing cryptocurrency, using similar open collaboration.
