MADRID (AFP) – A woman accused by her ex-husband of kidnapping their two boys to prevent them from being vaccinated against COVID-19 turned herself into the authorities on Wednesday, officials said.
The 46-year-old woman was wanted for “kidnapping minors” after her ex-husband, who lives near the southern city of Seville, filed a complaint with police in mid-December accusing her of taking the boys aged 14 and 12 without authorisation, a judicial source told AFP.
The man said he had not seen the boys since November 4 when he received a letter from his former wife saying she planned to remove them from their school just days after a court ruled he had the right to decide whether the children should be vaccinated.
The woman turned herself into the authorities on Wednesday morning in Seville with the two boys and a judge ordered her to be remanded in custody pending charges, the source said.
The two minors were handed over to their father on Wednesday afternoon, a spokesman for Spain´s Guardia Civil police force said.
NAIROBI (AFP) – A United States (US) fast-food chain has triggered an online furore in Kenya after it ran out of fries, with local Twitter users threatening a boycott because it does not use locally sourced potatoes.
“You love our chips a little too much, and we’ve run out. Sorry!” the fast-food chain admitted on Twitter this week, offering its customers various alternatives.
The franchise’s Regional Boss Jacques Theunissen said it had become the latest casualty of global shipping disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
“It has to do with delays in shipping lines due to the Covid situation,” he told local news outlet Business Daily.
He said the fast-food chain was hoping to resolve the shortage with the expected arrival of a container-load of potatoes this week.
KFC Kenya blamed the potato shortage on shipping disruptions caused by the Covid pandemic. PHOTO: AFP
But it was his admission that the company does not source potatoes from local farmers that ignited a Twitter storm among Kenyans.
“All suppliers need to go through the global quality assurance approval process and we cannot bypass that even if we run out to ensure that our food is safe for consumption by our customers,” Theunissen said.
With the news coming during Kenya’s potato harvesting season, many took to social media to call for people to snub the fast-food giant.
“If you are a true Kenyan, you should not eat chips prepared by the fast-food chain! Eat chips elsewhere,” one user tweeted.
The fried chicken franchise entered the Kenyan market in 2011 and has 35 outlets across the East African region.
Kenya grows more than 60 different varieties of potatoes, with farmers currently struggling with a glut.
In an apparent U-turn, the fast-food chain said on Tuesday it had initiated plans to source potatoes from Kenyan farmers, adding it was already doing so for other goods such as poultry, vegetables, flour and ice cream.
Competitors were quick to take advantage of the gaffe to promote their own chips, with Burger King tweeting: “We have enough fries for everyone.”
PARIS (AFP) – The most basic everyday activities, from working to shopping and going to school, have completely transformed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and may never be the same again.
As the world marks nearly two years since China announced the first death from COVID-19 – a 61-year-old man in Wuhan – on January 11, 2020, here’s a look at how our lives have been fundamentally altered by the virus.
WFH
As the virus marched across the globe, governments ordered citizens to stay inside – forcing billions of people to hastily set up home offices.
Remote working, working from home (WFH) all quickly became staples in our new pandemic vernacular.
Even as lockdowns eased, working from home at least some of the time has remained the norm for many.
In 2021, the percentage of people working remotely hit 32 per cent, up from just 17 per cent in 2019, according to consulting firm Gartner.
For others, the pandemic prompted a change of jobs or demands for better conditions.
In the United States (US), tens of thousands of workers from hospitals to Hollywood walked off the job last year in a movement dubbed “Striketober” to protest long hours and poor pay.
Visitors passing by signs reminding them of sanitary precautions they must take as they enter Saint-Louis hospital of the AP-HP in Paris on May 28, as France eases lockdown measures taken to curb the spread of the COVID-19. PHOTO: AFP
E-COMMERCE BOOM
With billions bunkered down at home, businesses of all kinds had to quickly pivot, and online sales for everything from groceries to meals, clothes and furniture rapidly boomed.
Online sales rose 38 per cent in the first third of 2021 compared to the same period a year before, according to the Adobe Digital Economy Index.
It even brought some shoppers online for the first time who aren’t likely to leave soon, Gaelle Le Floch of consulting firm Kantar told AFP.
“We saw new customers, more senior citizens, who became regular shoppers,” she said.
PLANES, TRAINS AND… BICYCLES
Between border closures and travel restrictions, the tourism sector was pummelled by the pandemic.
Experts warn the air and rail industries may not return to normal before 2024.
Air travel was worst affected, with worldwide traffic dropping by two-thirds in 2020.
By the end of 2021, it had only reached half of 2019 levels as travel restrictions remained in place in many countries.
Even as travel picked up following initial lockdowns, chaos remains the norm in airports as passengers line up to show vaccine passes or negative COVID tests.
Cities around the world also saw a drop in public transportation such as trains over fears of the virus spreading and as more people stayed home.
Cycling grew in popularity – but so did commuting by car.
ZOOM LEARNING
As adults stayed home to work, so too did students, with hundreds of millions of children and teens suddenly logging onto Zoom and other platforms for online classes.
UNESCO, the UN’s culture and education authority, has called the pandemic the worst-ever education crisis.
School systems in most countries saw at least some period of complete closure.
The worst impacts have been in low- and middle-income countries where 53 per cent of children already suffered from a lack of access to schooling.
That proportion could increase to 70 per cent, according to the World Bank.
In some parts of the world – including Brazil, Pakistan, India, South Africa and Mexico – a significant drop in math and reading skills has been reported.
HUNGER AND HEALTHCARE
The pandemic has led to the greatest rise in hunger worldwide in 15 years, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The number of people who do not have enough to eat increased 18 per cent over the last year, the agency said.
The problem extended beyond food access, as an additional 20 million people fell into extreme poverty in 2021, according to UN agency OCHA.
The pandemic also plunged health systems into chaos and slowed progress on campaigns to eradicate other diseases ravaging the world’s poorest populations, such as HIV and tuberculosis.
The three-day orientation programme for the new batch of Year 7 students at Menglait Secondary School concluded with an ice-breaking session between teachers and the new students yesterday.
Students engaged in introduction sessions and were briefed on the preparation of attending physical classes.
A sharing session was also held by representative of the school library Haji Sulaiman bin Haji Aman, followed by a session on Growth Mind Set led by Afrizah binti Haji Ahmad and Hajah Yusmawati binti Haji Alim.
Students also participated in an activity with the school Counsellor Hajah Mal Hafiza binti Haji Malek.
Principal Huzaimi bin Moksin congratulated the students and reminded them to obey the school’s rules and regulations.
Students and teachers during the ice-breaking session. PHOTO: LYNA MOHAMAD
ISKANDAR PUTERI, JOHOR (CNA) – The Johor state assembly has passed a Bill to lower the eligible age for election candidates contesting state seats from 21 to 18.
The amendment to Article 16 of the Johor State Constitution (Amendment) Enactment 2021 was tabled by Chief Minister Hasni Mohammad yesterday. It was approved unanimously by all assemblymen after a third reading.
In a statement after the Bill was passed, Hasni said that the amendment was one of the various youth empowerment initiatives by the Johor state government.
“I am of the opinion that the youth empowerment efforts should not only be focussed on democratisation, but should be more holistic and inclusive, encompassing economic, intellectual and voluntary empowerment in an organised and continuous manner,” he wrote.
The decision to lower the minimum age was agreed upon at the 137th Chief Minister’s Meeting chaired by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob in November.
During the meeting, a decision was made to allow individuals aged 18 to become candidates in the general election, state elections and by-elections.
Before Johor, several states had amended their respective state constitutions to allow for this provision. These include Sabah, Perlis, Terengganu, Sarawak, Kelantan, Perak, Penang and Kedah.
In July 2019, the federal parliament approved a Bill to lower the voting age from 21 to 18.
Last September, Ismail Sabri included ‘Undi 18’, the constitutional amendment allowing 18-year-olds to vote and stand for elections in the near future, as part of his offer to implement a number of Parliamentary and government administration transformations after he came to power.
Undi 18 later became a component of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the federal government and main opposition bloc Pakatan Harapan (PH) to establish bipartisan cooperation for the sake of political stability.
The Johor state assembly meeting on January 6. PHOTO: CNA
SYDNEY (AFP) – World number two Daniil Medvedev battled past seventh-ranked Matteo Berrettini and returned to court to win the deciding doubles to keep defending champions Russia on track for another ATP Cup title as they swept into the semi-finals yesterday.
Medvedev, who is set to be the top seed at this month’s Australian Open with Novak Djokovic facing deportation over a visa issue, was dominant in the first set.
But the gritty big-serving Italian battled back to win a second set tie-break before the Russian got a crucial break in game three of the third set to carve out a 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4 win.
Russian number two Roman Safiullin earlier lost 7-6 (8/6), 6-3 to world number 10 Jannik Sinner with the tie forced into a doubles shoot-out.
Medvedev played just five doubles matches in 2021, but has fronted up for three so far in Sydney and partnered with Safiullin again to keep their unbeaten record intact, digging deep to beat Berrettini and Sinner 5-7, 6-4, 10-5.
Russia’s Roman Safiullin and teammate Danill Medvedev in action during their doubles match against Italy’s Jannik Sinner and Matteo Berrettini at the ATP Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Australia. PHOTO: AP
“What we did amazing today was we were in a tough position at one point, and every change, every shot we had to make we tried to discuss it, and it worked,” said Medvedev of the doubles.
“Roman stated playing unbelievable and we had some crazy rallies, it was amazing.”
Medvedev and Berrettini met in singles for the first time since the 2021 ATP Cup final, when the Russian ran out a 6-4, 6-2 winner to seal the trophy for his team, and he again had the edge.
Known on tour as ‘Deep Court Daniil’, he took up his customary position near the back wall to return serve, breaking twice in the first set.
The match turned in the third set when Medvedev’s service return earned him three break points to establish a 2-1 lead. He held serve for 3-1 and there was no way back for the Italian.
“I made some bad decisions in the second set so I tried to learn from that in the third. I served well throughout the match and that helped me,” added Medvedev, who led the ATP Tour with 63 match wins last year.
The Roberto Bautista Agut-led Spain and Hubert Hurkacz’s Poland have already made the last four and play each other today.
If Alexander Zverev’s Germany beat Canada then Britain will become the last semi-finalist. But if Canada win they will go through at Britain’s expense.
Britain keep their hopes alive by toppling the United States 2-1.
ROME (AFP) – Italy’s government said on Wednesday that it would make vaccination against COVID-19 compulsory from February 15 for everyone over the age of 50, in a bid to battle surging infections.
“We want to slow down the curve of contagion and encourage Italians who have not yet been vaccinated to do so,” Prime Minister Mario Draghi said during a Cabinet meeting at which the measure was adopted, according to a statement.
“We are working in particular on the age groups that are most at risk of being hospitalised, to reduce pressure on hospital to save lives,” he added.
The new decree obliges people over 50 who do not work to get vaccinated, and those who do work to obtain a vaccine pass – which effectively covers all over 50s.
In another statement, the government said that “the vaccine pass will be necessary for people over 50 in the public and private sectors to access their workplace from February 15”.
Out of Italy’s 59 million people, 28 million are over the age of 50, according to the Istat national statistics agency.
Late last month the government said that from January 10 a vaccination pass would be required to use public transport and access hotels, restaurant terraces and gyms.
Previously a health pass giving proof of vaccination – or a recent negative test – had been required.
As in much of Western Europe, Italy has seen its COVID cases soar in recent days, recording 189,000 on Wednesday, up from more than 170,000 on Tuesday.
Italy was the European country first hit by the pandemic in early 2020 and still has one of the highest death tolls, at more than 138,000.
FRANKFURT (AFP) – German industrial orders rebounded in November after a sharp drop in October, official data showed yesterday, despite persistent shortages in raw materials and components weighing on the sector.
The indicator, which gives a foretaste of industrial production, climbed by 3.7 per cent in November over the previous month, having fallen by 5.8 per cent in October, according to revised figures from the federal statistics agency Destatis.
The figures were a “positive impulse for the economic outlook”, the Economy Ministry said in a statement, while noting that “economic activity continues to be hampered by supply bottlenecks”.
The country’s flagship auto industry, which was plagued by shortages of key components throughout 2021, saw orders increase by seven per cent in November, having experienced a 4.7 per cent fall the month before.
Whether those orders could be filled promptly will depend on whether supply chain issues subside in the new year.
Germany’s Economy Ministry said the figures were a ‘positive impulse for the economic outlook’. PHOTO: AFP
The lack of semiconductors, a key part for both conventional and electric vehicles, pushed car sales in Germany to their lowest level since reunification in 1990, after a sharp drop in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Producers of other transportation modes, such as planes and boats, saw incoming orders grow by 32 per cent on October pushed by a raft of major orders.
International demand, which suffered particularly in October, increased by eight per cent over the previous month.
Order growth from inside the eurozone was particularly strong, up 13.1 per cent, while those from other countries rose five per cent.
Domestic orders meanwhile slipped 2.5 per cent on the previous month, as the government imposed new health restrictions to tackle increasing numbers of coronavirus cases.
PARIS (AFP) – Two years ago, a previously unknown virus plunged humanity into an unprecedented global crisis that has transformed our daily lives – and significantly expanded scientific knowledge.
IN THE AIR
In the early months of the pandemic, the prevailing scientific advice was that frequent handwashing would help stop the spread of COVID-19.
Health authorities urged people not to touch their faces with soiled hands and shared techniques on how to apply soap, while in many countries hand sanitisers became ubiquitous.
But as the pandemic wore on and scientists were able to study real world examples of how the virus spread – at a choir practice, in a bus or across a restaurant – a consensus emerged that this disease was largely transmitted through the air.
The virus travels in clouds of particles that we emit when we breathe and especially when we speak, shout or sing.
In a closed and poorly ventilated room, these aerosols can float and drift in the air for a long time, greatly increasing the risk of infection.
People queue for COVID-19 coronavirus tests, as hospitality and tourism workers are tested on Khao San Road, in Bangkok. PHOTO: AFP
But the importance of good ventilation to disperse these contaminated clouds – like clearing cigarette smoke – is not always well understood by the general public.
“There was a communication error: we scientists were not clear enough about ventilation,” said Arnaud Fontanet, of France’s Scientific Council, a body that guides government policy.
“When scientists talk about protective measures, we have to make it clear to people that ventilation is a part of it,” he told AFP.
FLIP-FLOP ON FACE COVERINGS
As a direct result of the awareness of aerosol transmission, the discourse on masks has radically changed in two years.
Initially, the World Health Organization (WHO) and many governments insisted that masks should only be used by caregivers, patients and their close relatives and not by the general public.
But many supporters of generalised mask wearing saw that as a way to conserve limited supplies and prevent a shortage for caregivers.
By spring 2020, there was an abrupt policy change and the mask became an essential tool in the fight against the pandemic, becoming mandatory in some places.
As more contagious variants have emerged, people have been advised to ditch their simpler fabric masks in favour of the super filtration of surgical masks.
And with the surge of the extremely contagious Omicron variant, many scientists are now advising people to wear even more protective masks like the FFP2 or N95 when in crowded indoor spaces.
VACCINES: A GAME CHANGER
The coronavirus has claimed millions of lives around the world since it first emerged two years ago, but that toll would have been far higher if it had not been for vaccines developed in record time.
Against all expectations, the pandemic showed that it is possible to design new vaccines against an unprecedented disease, and then start administering them worldwide in less than a year.
In the past, that process typically took 10 times longer.
Just over a year after the start of the global vaccination campaign, around half of the planet’s population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the University of Oxford’s website Our World in Data.
However, the vaccine rollout has confirmed fears that protection against the virus would be mired in inequalities between rich and poor countries.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wants 70 per cent of the world’s population to be vaccinated by July and has called for an end to vaccine hoarding by richer nations.
“If we end inequity, we end the pandemic,” he said in his New Year message.
…BUT NO MAGIC BULLET
Vaccines have been hugely effective at protecting against serious forms of COVID-19.
But they have been less effective at stopping the pandemic because they do not prevent people from spreading the virus.
Their overall effectiveness also decreases over time, while they have been shown to generate a weaker antibody response against the latest variants – Omicron and previously Delta – than against the historical strain of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.
Although there is mounting evidence that Omicron is milder than previous variants, rich countries have scrambled to accelerate booster campaigns to restore protection against infection.
This has heightened fears that rich countries will continue to monopolise vaccine doses, even as the virus spreads in poorer nations where people have less access to protection.
It is also not yet clear how long the effects of booster shots will last, and experts have warned that relying on them can only be a short-term strategy.
The WHO’s top COVID pandemic expert Maria Van Kerkhove stressed that vaccines must reach vulnerable people around the world, while public health measures like testing, isolation and masks will remain crucial.
“Vaccines AND, not Vaccines ONLY will end the #COVID19 pandemic. No one solution is enough,” she tweeted.
The Ministry of Education, in collaboration with Datastream Digital Sdn Bhd (DST), Progresif Sdn Bhd and Mach Telecommunications Systems Sdn Bhd (MachTel) will offer short messaging service (SMS) for the 2021 Primary School Assessment (PSR) examination results.
Those who wish to subscribe must register online through the Ministry of Education’s website at www.moe.gov.bn or e-Darussalam at www.gov.bn.
Subscribers can also register through their mobile phones via SMS and will input the following text; MOE <space> REG <space> [CENTRE CODE] <space> [CANDIDATE NUMBER] and send to 8885555 for DST subscribers or 38666 for Progresif subscribers.
No charges will be applied for registration through the Ministry of Education’s website or mobile phones.
Examination results will only be sent to subscribers via SMS upon approval from the Department of Examinations, Ministry of Education to release the results. Subscribers will be charged BND3 for each SMS result received.
For information email moeresults@machbrunei.com or visit http://www.machbrunei.com/moe/.
