Facebook Instagram Linkedin Twitter Youtube
Home Blog Page 1910

Cavs 8-0 start

It may well be too early in the season to contend that the Cavaliers will be among the handful of bona fide contenders for the hardware. After all, they’re just a tenth into their 2024-25 campaign, and eight games do not 82 make. That said, there have shown more than enough to back up the claim that they’re for real. They’re certainly better than their immediate past selves, never mind that they did little to tweak a roster pundits believed had to be shored up in the offseason. Instead, they opted for a coaching change that, even this early, has made them look like geniuses.

Indeed, newly installed bench tactician Kenny Atkinson has worked wonders on the Cavaliers’ offense. Resolving to hit the ground running, he chucked their backcourt-heavy predilections in favor of more egalitarian sets that have made them far less predictable. More importantly, they have translated their faster pace into efficient point production. Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland remain instigators, but have happily ceded usage in favor of supposed liabilities Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Meanwhile, erstwhile starter Caris LeVert has figured well as a reserve, with less touches but relatively better output.

To be fair, the Cavaliers are due for some regression. As the rest of the league becomes more familiar with their improved style of play, and as opponents get to prepare for effective counters, they will find themselves bereft of the element of surprise that has helped them through their 8-0 start. The flipside, of course, is that the confidence they continue to build will translate to precise execution even under pressure. Repetitions beget success, especially in the crunch.

For the Cavaliers, consistency will be the determinants of their lasting power. They have upped their three-point attempts significantly, but have been so judicious as to likewise hike up their percentages. And because their defense has remained stout, they boast of a point differential that is well in the double digits. They’re having fun to boot — proud of a run the wine and gold haven’t seen in nearly half a century, but cognizant of the fact that they’re merely laying the groundwork for the real work that lies ahead.

 

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.

Chinese group accused of hacking Singapore telco

FREEPIK

SINGAPORE Telecommunications Ltd., Singapore’s largest mobile carrier, was breached by Chinese state-sponsored hackers this summer as part of a broader campaign against telecommunications companies and other critical infrastructure operators around the world, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The previously undisclosed breach was discovered in June, and investigators believe it was pulled off by a hacking group known as Volt Typhoon, according to the two people, who asked not to be identified to discuss a confidential investigation. Officials in the US, Australia, Canada, the UK and New Zealand — the “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing alliance — warned earlier this year that Volt Typhoon was embedding itself inside compromised IT networks to give China the ability to conduct disruptive cyberattacks in the event of a military conflict with the West.

The breach of Singtel, a carrier with operations throughout Southeast Asia and Australia, was seen as a test run by China for further hacks against US telecommunications companies, and information from the attack has provided clues about the expanding scope of suspected Chinese attacks against critical infrastructure abroad, including in the US, the people said.

In an e-mailed response to queries from Bloomberg News, Singtel didn’t directly address questions about the alleged breach. “We understand the importance of network resilience, especially because we are a key infrastructure service provider,” the company said. “That’s why we adopt industry best practices and work with industry-leading security partners to continuously monitor and promptly address the threats that we face on a daily basis. We also regularly review and enhance our cybersecurity capabilities and defenses to protect our critical assets from evolving threats.”

A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, Liu Pengyu, said he wasn’t aware of the specifics, as relayed by Bloomberg, but that in general, China firmly opposes and combats cyberattacks and cybertheft.

Read More: US Investigating Breach of Telecoms by China-Linked Hackers

The US is currently battling its own suspected Chinese attacks of political campaigns and telecommunications companies. Officials have described the telecom breaches as one of the most damaging campaigns on record by suspected Chinese hackers and one that they are still seeking to fully understand and contain.

In the US telecommunications attacks, which investigators have attributed to another Chinese group called Salt Typhoon, AT&T, Inc. and Verizon Communications, Inc. are among those breached, and the hackers potentially accessed systems the federal government uses for court-authorized network wiretapping requests, the Wall Street Journal reported in early October. US intelligence officials think the Chinese hacking group that Microsoft Corp. dubbed Salt Typhoon may have been inside US telecommunications companies for months and found a route into an access point for legally authorized wiretapping, according to a person familiar with their views.

AT&T declined to comment. Verizon didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Through those intrusions, the hackers are believed to have targeted the phones of former President Donald Trump, running mate JD Vance and Trump family members, as well as members of Vice-President Kamala Harris’ campaign staff and others, the New York Times has reported.

In the case of the alleged Singtel breach, one of the people familiar with that incident said the attack relied on a tool known as a web shell.

In August, researchers at Lumen Technologies Inc. said in a blog post they assessed with “moderate confidence” that Volt Typhoon had used such a web shell. A sample of the malware was first uploaded to VirusTotal, a popular site for security experts to research malicious code, on June 7 by an unidentified entity in Singapore, according to Lumen researchers. The web shell allowed hackers to intercept and gather credentials to gain access to a customer’s network disguised as a bona fide user, they said.

The hackers then breached four US firms, including internet service providers, and another in India, according to Lumen researchers.

General Timothy Haugh, director of the National Security Agency, said in early October that the investigations into the latest telecommunications breaches were at an early stage. Later that month, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said they had identified specific malicious activity by actors affiliated with the Chinese government and immediately notified affected companies and “rendered technical assistance.”

A spokesperson for the National Security Council last week referred to the “ongoing investigation and mitigation efforts,” but directed further questions to the FBI and CISA.

Singtel uncovered the breach of its network after detecting suspicious data traffic in a core back-end router and finding what it believed was sophisticated, and possibly state-sponsored, malware on it, according to the other person familiar with the investigation. The malware was in “listening” mode and didn’t appear to have been activated for espionage or any other purpose, the person said, adding that it reinforced a suspicion that the attack was either a test run of a new hacking capability or that its purpose was to create a strategic access point for future attacks.

PHILIPPINE TELCO HACKED?
There is evidence that Salt Typhoon reached the US at least as early as spring 2024, and possibly long before, and investigators tracking the group think it has infiltrated other telecommunications companies throughout Asia, including in Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, according to two people familiar with those efforts.

The National Security Agency (NSA) has warned since 2022 that telecommunications infrastructure was vulnerable to Chinese hacking. Volt Typhoon has been active since at least mid-2020, having attacked sensitive networks in Guam and elsewhere in the US with a goal of burrowing into critical infrastructure and staying undetected for as long as possible.

The hacks by both Chinese Typhoon groups have alarmed Western officials and raised concerns about the number and severity of backdoors — a way to get around security tools and gain high-level access to a computer system — that China has placed inside critical IT systems. Those entry points could be used to conduct espionage or prepare the battlespace for use in a potential military conflict with the West.

Chinese hackers have long been accused of conducting espionage attacks against the US — including, most notably, the theft of security clearance applications for tens of millions of US government workers held by the Office of Personnel Management. But officials say the latest hacks go a step further and in some cases suggest China may be amassing capabilities to disrupt or degrade critical services in the US and abroad.

Paul Nakasone, a retired general who led the NSA for nearly six years until February, told reporters in October that the latest telecommunications hacks by Salt Typhoon were distinguished by their scale, and that the two Chinese groups represent a tremendous challenge for the government. “I am not pleased in terms of where we’re at with either of the Typhoons,” he said. — Bloomberg

World’s first wooden satellite, developed in Japan, heads to space

TAKAO DOI, a former Japanese astronaut and professor at Kyoto University, holds an engineering model of LignoSat during an interview with Reuters at his laboratory at Kyoto University in Kyoto, Japan, Oct. 25, 2024. — REUTERS

KYOTO — The world’s first wooden satellite, built by Japanese researchers, was launched into space on Tuesday, in an early test of using timber in lunar and Mars exploration.

LignoSat, developed by Kyoto University and homebuilder Sumitomo Forestry, will be flown to the International Space Station on a SpaceX mission, and later released into orbit about 400 km (250 miles) above the Earth.

Named after the Latin word for “wood,” the palm-sized LignoSat is tasked to demonstrate the cosmic potential of the renewable material as humans explore living in space.

“With timber, a material we can produce by ourselves, we will be able to build houses, live and work in space forever,” said Takao Doi, an astronaut who has flown on the Space Shuttle and studies human space activities at Kyoto University.

With a 50-year plan of planting trees and building timber houses on the moon and Mars, Mr. Doi’s team decided to develop a NASA-certified wooden satellite to prove wood is a space-grade material.

“Early 1900s airplanes were made of wood,” said Kyoto University forest science professor Koji Murata. “A wooden satellite should be feasible, too.”

Wood is more durable in space than on Earth because there’s no water or oxygen that would rot or inflame it, Mr. Murata added.

A wooden satellite also minimizes the environmental impact at the end of its life, the researchers say.

Decommissioned satellites must re-enter the atmosphere to avoid becoming space debris. Conventional metal satellites create aluminum oxide particles during re-entry, but wooden ones would just burn up with less pollution, Mr. Doi said.

“Metal satellites might be banned in the future,” Mr. Doi said. “If we can prove our first wooden satellite works, we want to pitch it to Elon Musk’s SpaceX.”

INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION
The researchers found that honoki, a kind of magnolia tree native in Japan and traditionally used for sword sheaths, is most suited for spacecraft, after a 10-month experiment aboard the International Space Station.

LignoSat is made of honoki, using a traditional Japanese crafts technique without screws or glue.

Once deployed, LignoSat will stay in the orbit for six months, with the electronic components onboard measuring how wood endures the extreme environment of space, where temperatures fluctuate from -100 to 100 degrees Celsius every 45 minutes as it orbits from darkness to sunlight.

LignoSat will also gauge wood’s ability to reduce the impact of space radiation on semiconductors, making it useful for applications such as data center construction, said Kenji Kariya, a manager at Sumitomo Forestry Tsukuba Research Institute.

“It may seem outdated, but wood is actually cutting-edge technology as civilization heads to the moon and Mars,” he said. “Expansion to space could invigorate the timber industry.” — Reuters

More troops reinforce rescue efforts in flood-hit Spain

A CAR leans precariously against a wall after severe flooding in Utiel, Spain, Oct. 30, 2024. — REUTERS

PAIPORTA, Spain — Another 2,500 soldiers arrived in the flood-hit east of Spain on Monday to reinforce efforts to locate bodies and clear debris, as government officials traded blame over how the worst flooding in decades has been handled and as first aid packages were being readied.

Public anger is mounting over the disaster that has killed at least 217 people with dozens of others still unaccounted for. Almost all of the deaths occurred in the Valencia region and more than 60 in the suburb of Paiporta.

The army sent about 5,000 soldiers over the weekend to help distribute food and water, clean up streets and guard against looters and a further 2,500 would join them, Defence Minister Margarita Robles told state-owned radio RNE.

A warship with 104 marine infantry soldiers as well as trucks with food and water arrived in Valencia port even as a strong hailstorm pummeled Barcelona some 300 km (186 miles) to the north.

On Monday evening, Spanish minister Felix Bolanos from the Socialist Party said Tuesday’s cabinet would declare some of the worst hit villages by the floods in the regions of Valencia, Andalusia, Castile La Mancha and Catalonia as “severely affected areas” so that they can be entitled to emergency funds.

He added that the government would approve on Tuesday a package of relief measures to help people cope with the situation without giving further details.

Later, the regional head of Valencia, Carlos Mazon, said that his region would separately hand out each household 6,000 euros ($6,524) and make available at least 200,000 euros to help each town face urgent spending needs.

In total, Mazon, of the conservative People’s Party, said the region would request from Spain’s central government a first aid package worth around 31.4 billion euros, including funds to reconstruct key infrastructure.

On Monday, airport operator AENA said about 50 flights due to take off from Barcelona’s partially flooded El Prat airport were cancelled or severely delayed, while 17 due to land there were diverted. Some local train services were also canceled.

Rescuers used drones and water pumps to search and clear underground carparks and garages. They also scanned river mouths where currents may have deposited more bodies.

“With these drones we can send them inside the garages and have a first visual of what’s going on,” police spokesperson Ricardo Gutierrez said.

Opposition politicians accused the left-wing central government of acting too slowly to warn residents and send in rescuers.

Mazon on Monday had previously said the Hydrographic Confederation of Jucar (CHJ), which measures the flow of rivers and ravines for the state, had cancelled a planned alert three times.

But Madrid said the CHJ does not issue flood risk alerts, which are the responsibility of Spain’s regional governments.

DELAYED RESPONSE
Locals criticized late alerts from authorities about the dangers and a perceived delayed response by emergency services.

But General Javier Marcos, commander of the army’s emergency response services, said he had ordered 500 soldiers to be deployed within 15 minutes of seeing the flood warning on Tuesday who were able to enter hard-hit areas.

“The degree of destruction is so great that mobility is limited,” he said. “It is so complex that it requires two things: discipline and patience.”

On Sunday, some residents in Paiporta slung mud at Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and King Felipe and his wife, Queen Letizia, chanting: “murderers, murderers!”

The prime minister was also struck during the protests, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said in an interview on TVE, blaming a handful of extremists for the trouble.

“The majority of people gathered are absolutely peaceful people who have lost everything and whose anger we evidently understand,” Mr. Grande-Marlaska said.

Locals in Paiporta said anger boiled over because they felt authorities were using them for a photo opportunity.

They denied that the crowd was full of extremists.

Belen, a 50-year-old supermarket cashier who lost both her cars during the flood, said she was angry with both the national and regional governments about how slowly help has arrived.

“That’s what hurts us, that they only come here for a photo,” she said. “They’re all the same dog with different collars. They’re all scum.”

A protest planned in Valencia on Saturday will call for Mazon to step down.

A daily protest in Madrid outside the headquarters of Sanchez’s Socialist party drew more people on Sunday, about 600, due to anger over the floods, according to El Pais newspaper.

The anger vented against all sides reflects a general disillusionment with the political class, analysts at Eurointelligence wrote in a note on Monday. “If the aftermath turns into a big finger-pointing exercise, it will probably deepen that anti-politics sentiment,” it said.

Lack of clarity over the numbers of dead and missing has added to frustration. A landline has been set up for relatives to report the missing, with the government saying “dozens and dozens” are still unaccounted for.

Coroner services on Monday said 190 autopsies had been performed, and 111 people identified.

The midweek torrential rains caused rivers to swell, engulfing streets and ground floors of buildings, and sweeping away cars and masonry in tides of mud.

Sonia Luque, coordinator of the Network of Road Assistance Companies, said more than 100,000 cars were damaged.

It was the worst flood-related disaster in Europe in five decades. Scientists say extreme weather is more frequent due to climate change. Meteorologists think the warming of the Mediterranean, which increases water evaporation, plays a key role in making torrential rains more severe. — Reuters

Britain to ban smoking outside schools, hospitals and playgrounds

WIRESTOCK-FREEPIK

LONDON — The British government plans to ban smoking outside schools, hospitals and playgrounds as a way of reducing the pressure on the state-run National Health Service (NHS) and the cost to taxpayers.

The government’s Tobacco and Vapes Bill will be introduced to parliament on Tuesday involving some of the world’s strictest anti-smoking rules, including banning younger people from smoking.

However, the government abandoned plans for a ban on smoking outside pubs and cafes after concerns were raised about the impact on the hospitality industry.

“Unless we act to help people stay healthy, the rising tide of ill-health in our society threatens to overwhelm and bankrupt our NHS,” the health minister Wes Streeting said in a statement. “This historic legislation will save thousands of lives.”

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in August he supported the idea of banning smoking in outdoor spaces, such as pub gardens.

The British Beer and Pub Association said that plan was “deeply concerning” and would have a “devastating impact” on venues already struggling with rising costs.

A poll by YouGov in September found more than three-quarters of people in Britain would support a ban on smoking outside hospitals but were more divided on introducing the measures in pub gardens.

The government said it will be given powers in the new legislation to ban smoking outside specific outdoor spaces such as children’s playgrounds, schools and hospitals. But the plans will be subject to consultation.

The previous Conservative government had announced similar measures to create the first smoke-free generation. However, those plans failed to become law before the general election in the summer when the party lost power.

The new legislation ensures anyone aged 15 this year, or younger, will be banned from buying cigarettes, and aims to make vapes less appealing to children.

The government said smoking causes about 80,000 deaths a year and costs the economy 21.8 billion pounds ($28.22 billion) a year in lost productivity and health and care costs — far outweighing tax receipts.

Britain banned smoking in almost all enclosed public spaces, including bars and workplaces, in 2007.

Cancer Research UK said this led to an estimated 1.9 million fewer smokers, and research in the British Medical Journal estimated there were 1,200 fewer hospital admissions for heart attacks the following year. — Reuters

North Korea fires multiple short-range missiles, condemns military drills

FREEPIK

SEOUL/TOKYO — North Korea fired at least seven short-range ballistic missiles on Tuesday off its east coast, Japan’s Defense minister said, soon after Pyongyang condemned military drills by its rivals and just hours before the US election.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister condemned the drills involving the United States, Japan and South Korea, in a report published on state media KCNA.

At least seven missiles flew to an altitude of 100 km (62 miles) and covered a range of 400 km before falling outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone into the ocean, Japan’s Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said.

They were fired at around 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday (2230 GMT on Monday) from the vicinity of Sariwon, North Hwanghae Province, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

The United States was consulting closely with South Korea, Japan and other regional allies after the launches, and continued to monitor the situation, the US military said.

The latest launch follows North Korea’s test last week of a huge new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile dubbed Hwasong-19, and comes hours before voting opens in the US presidential election.

“If the ICBM was meant for the US, the latest ballistic missiles are for South Korea,” said Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.

“Directly, it is to protest the joint air drills by South Korea, US and Japan. Indirectly it is to show off their presence last minute before the US presidential election,” said Mr. Yang, who also saw the intent as to deflect the international community’s attention away from criticizing the dispatch of North Korean troops to Russia.

North Korean state media KCNA on Tuesday said Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, condemned the recent military drills by the United States, Japan and South Korea as threats and said they justify North Korea’s nuclear reinforcement.

The missile launch also came after Russian President Vladimir Putin unexpectedly met North Korea’s foreign minister Choe Son Hui on Monday.

During Mr. Putin’s surprise meeting in the Kremlin with Choe, the pair shook hands for a full minute at a time of mounting concern in the West that North Korean soldiers are about to enter the Ukraine war on Moscow’s side.

On Monday, the US also called out Russia and China at the United Nations (UN) Security Council for “shamelessly protecting” and emboldening North Korea to further violate UN sanctions by advancing its ballistic missile, nuclear, and weapons of mass destruction programmes.

South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun noted late last month that North Korea “would want to exaggerate their existence around the season of the US presidential election before and after the election” by show of force such as an intercontinental missile test or another nuclear test. — Reuters

NATO-type Southeast Asian security group not feasible, Philippines minister says

DEFENSE SECRETARY GILBERTO C. TEODORO, JR. — DND

MANILA – A security grouping in Southeast Asia similar to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is not possible at present given diverging interests and alliances in the region, the Philippines‘ Defense Secretary said on Tuesday.

Asked about the prospect of a NATO equivalent in Southeast Asia, Gilberto Teodoro told a security forum that ASEAN’s complex “dichotomies and divergence in country interests” would make it challenging to set up a unified military alliance.

“For example, we have a pre-ASEAN defense alliance with the United States. We continue to build alliances with like-minded countries,” he said in a security forum in Manila.

“Other ASEAN countries have built alliances with China.”

The remarks come after Japan’s new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, prior to taking office, had floated the idea of establishing an “Asian NATO”, a proposal that has gained no traction and was rejected by the United States and India.

Japan’s foreign minister later said such an idea was not aimed at countering a specific country, when asked if it had China in mind. Teodoro said he would rather ASEAN recognized that China was “overstepping” in the South China Sea. There have been recent clashes over territorial claims with the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia.

China and U.S. ally the Philippines have been at loggerheads over a series of confrontations near disputed areas in the South China Sea. Manila has accused China’s coast guard of aggression and Beijing has said it is responding to what it calls repeated provocations and territorial incursions.

“Getting some principles or some reactions regarding the expansive activities and admittedly illegal activities of China in the South China Sea is a very good first step, and that’s what we should be working on,” Mr. Teodoro said.

The Philippines has called on Southeast Asian leaders and China to urgently speed up negotiations on a code of conduct for the South China Sea, to manage differences and reduce tension.

In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea have no legal basis, siding with the Philippines which brought the case. Beijing has rejected the ruling. – Reuters

Lindela hosts biggest travel anniversary in the Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — Lindela Travel and Tours recently celebrated its 12th anniversary with an extraordinary event that united people from around the globe.

On October 5, 2024, Lindela hosted the largest travel anniversary celebration ever seen in the Philippines, showcasing not only its achievements in the travel industry but also its comprehensive immigration and visa consultancy services. With a global theme symbolizing Lindela’s international reach, the celebration highlighted its expertise in guiding clients through both travel adventures and visa processes.

A celebration that transcended borders

Lindela’s 12th anniversary gala was a monumental occasion, reflecting the company’s growth and success worldwide.

The “Around-the-World” theme incorporated elements from various cultures, emphasizing Lindela’s ability to connect people with diverse destinations. Over 1,000 guests attended, including key industry figures, loyal clients, business partners, supporters from the tourism sectors and Lindela production.

The evening was a vibrant celebration of Lindela’s two core services: Lindela Travel and Tours, which offers tailor-made travel experiences and Lindela Immigration and Visa Consultancy, which provides expert guidance to clients seeking visas for travel, work or migration.

This dual offering positions Lindela as a leader in both tourism and visa assistance, making it a trusted name for clients worldwide.

Lindela Travel and Tours: Your gateway to the world

For the past 12 years, Lindela Travel and Tours has crafted exceptional travel experiences for clients globally. From organizing customized tour packages to booking flights and accommodations, Lindela ensures that every detail of a client’s journey is meticulously handled. Their ability to deliver seamless, stress-free travel experiences sets them apart in the industry.

The anniversary event allowed Lindela to showcase its diverse travel offerings, including international tours, exclusive travel deals and eco-friendly tourism initiatives.

The slogan “Shake the World” perfectly encapsulates Lindela’s commitment to providing travelers with unforgettable adventures, whether they’re exploring new cultures, relaxing on a tropical island, or embarking on a city getaway.

Lindela Immigration and Visa Consultancy: Opening doors to new opportunities

Lindela Immigration and Visa Consultancy division plays a crucial role in making dreams a reality.

From visa assistance for short-term travel to long-term visa solutions, Lindela’s team of experts helps clients navigate the complexities of international travel and settlement.

Their services encompass everything from visa applications to ensuring compliance with immigration regulations, making them a reliable partner for individuals and families seeking to relocate or explore opportunities abroad.

The anniversary gala celebrated this vital aspect of Lindela’s services, highlighting the success stories of clients who have benefited from the consultancy’s expert guidance.

Whether assisting travelers with tourist visas or helping individuals secure immigration pathways, Lindela’s visa consultancy continues to be a trusted resource, making the world more accessible.

A symbol of leadership and teamwork

At the heart of Lindela’s success is a strong foundation of leadership and teamwork.

The creative director of the anniversary gala embodied this spirit, ensuring the event not only celebrated Lindela’s achievements but also reflected its vision for the future.

The company’s dedication to fostering leadership and teamwork is evident in every aspect of its operations, from organizing complex tours to managing visa applications for global clients.

The gala featured a variety of performances, cultural displays, and presentations that showcased Lindela’s global outlook and commitment to making travel and immigration accessible to everyone.

Prizes such as visa assistance, flight tickets, and accommodation packages were awarded, further demonstrating Lindela’s dedication to helping clients embark on their dream journeys.

A milestone to remember

As Lindela Travel and Tours celebrated its 12th anniversary, the event not only reflected its success but also laid the foundation for future growth.

The company’s ongoing commitment to eco-friendly tourism, local community support, and personalized travel solutions ensures it will remain a leader in the travel industry.

Likewise, its immigration and visa consultancy division will continue to help clients navigate international opportunities, opening doors to new experiences and horizons.

 

To relive the highlights of Lindela’s 12th anniversary celebration, Watch here.

Stay updated on Lindela’s future initiatives, travel packages, and visa consultancy services by following them online. Follow Lindela Travel and Tours on its website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and YouTube.

Join the conversation with #lindelashaketheworld12years. Follow Lindela Immigration Visa Consultancy Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or visit https://visa.lindelatravel.com.

 

Spotlight is BusinessWorld’s sponsored section that allows advertisers to amplify their brand and connect with BusinessWorld’s audience by publishing their stories on the BusinessWorld Web site. For more information, send an email to online@bworldonline.com.

Join us on Viber at https://bit.ly/3hv6bLA to get more updates and subscribe to BusinessWorld’s titles and get exclusive content through www.bworld-x.com.

Toxic smog wreathes India’s capital as winter nears

CROWDED New Delhi street — WIKIPEDIA/UNSPLASH

NEW DELHI – A toxic smog shrouded the Indian capital on Tuesday, driving air quality in some areas into the “severe” range ahead of winter, when cold air traps pollutants and brings a spike in respiratory illnesses.

The mix of smoke, emissions, and dust is an annual problem for authorities in New Delhi, with vehicles, construction dust, and smoke from farm fires in the adjoining northern states of Punjab and Haryana among the major contributors.

“The outlook for the subsequent six days: the air quality is likely to be in the ‘very poor’ to ‘severe’ category,” said the earth sciences ministry.

The city’s overall score on an air quality index kept by India’s top pollution authorities was ‘very poor’ at 384, the ministry added, and was likely to stay there until Thursday.

An index range of 401 to 500 falls into the ‘severe’ category, implying it affects healthy people, but is more serious for those already fighting disease.

Ministry data showed farm fires have increasingly swelled the pollution over the last three days, for a share of more than 23% on Monday, from about 15% on Saturday.

About a third of the city’s 39 monitoring stations showed a ‘severe’ score of more than 400 on Tuesday, said the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), well short of an air quality score of zero to 50 that it rates as ‘good’.

Swiss group IQAir also rated Delhi the world’s second most polluted city on Tuesday, after Lahore in neighboring Pakistan, where authorities also took emergency measures in the wake of Sunday’s unprecedented pollution levels.

The government in the eastern province of Punjab, home to Lahore, has blamed deteriorating air quality on pollution wafting in from India, an issue it has vowed to take up with its neighbor through the foreign ministry. – Reuters

Burberry’s new CEO faces outlet store and pricing dilemmas

LONDON/PARIS– Burberry’s new CEO Joshua Schulman faces an uphill task to turn around the British luxury brand whose sales have declined sharply while its share price has dropped 40% this year, stoking speculation it could be a takeover target.

The luxury sector as a whole has been hit as high interest rates and inflation have increased consumer reluctance to spend, but Burberry has underperformed its peers.

Its shares rallied on Monday, however, following a report Italy’s Moncler was considering a bid. Both companies declined to comment.

Mr. Schulman, the company’s fourth CEO in 10 years, previously held the top job at Coach and at Michael Kors, and is expected to set out a new strategy for Burberry at half-year results on Nov 14.

Some investors and analysts say Burberry’s roughly 56 outlet stores should be top priority for Mr. Schulman as they could detract from attempts to push the brand to the higher end of the luxury space.

Burberry uses outlet stores in China, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States to clear excess stock, and sell previous-year collections of Burberry’s classic trench coats, check pattern scarves and bags at steep discounts.

“Burberry has been trying to elevate the brand, but the outlet exposure jeopardized and compromised this strategy,” said HSBC analyst Aurelie Husson-Dumoutier.

“A trench coat from the 2019 collection is not that different to the 2024 collection, so if I can buy it at half the price, why wouldn’t I?” she added.

Cutting its outlet exposure would be costly as the stores account for close to 30% of sales and 50% of profitability, according to HSBC estimates.

But it could be necessary if Burberry is aiming for the higher end, which would also mean a higher share price valuation, analysts say.

“If Burberry were to go down the premium brand route (like Coach), the price-to-earnings multiple the market applies to these brands can be half that of true luxury players,” said Bank of America analyst Ashley Wallace.

“The complication is that Burberry is a little bit in the middle right now.”

 

CREATIVE DIRECTION

While Burberry has had a series of CEOs in a decade, the brand has also seen three creative directors in the last seven years – from Christopher Bailey to Riccardo Tisci, and now Daniel Lee – each bringing different styles, logos and fonts that some say have confused the brand identity.

Lee, who joined the brand two years ago, made his name at Bottega Veneta with a series of top-selling “it” shoes and bags like the 3,140-pound ($4,071) “Jodie” that reimagined the Italian brand’s trademark intrecciato woven leather and drew in Gen-Z shoppers.

Lee’s designs for Burberry have yet to find the same level of success and rumors have swirled about his future at the brand. Burberry Chairman Gerry Murphy told analysts in July that they “should not assume any change in creative leadership”.

Sasha Kachanova, consumer analyst at asset manager abrdn, said Burberry is known more for apparel and less for leather goods, so delivering a viral bag or shoe might take longer.

Tom Delic, portfolio manager at Momentum, which holds Burberry shares, said he would like to see “a refocus on the core ranges Burberry is known for”.

He also questioned Burberry’s pricing, saying it had raised prices too fast and too hard, potentially alienating aspirational luxury shoppers, especially younger ones.

“It is a classic brand but the collection they have doesn’t resonate much with the younger audience,” said 26-year-old Kishica Arora, while shopping in the Burberry outlet in Hackney, east London, which sold items such as the “Snip” quilted crossbody bag for 1,795 pounds ($2,327.40), half the list price of 3,590 pounds.

She was finding “great deals” on discounted T-shirts and other basic items featuring Burberry’s classic plaid, but said she would not buy Burberry at full price.

“I would rather go to Jacquemus, because that’s a little more trendy,” she said. – Reuters

Philippines calls evacuations, puts troops on standby for Typhoon Yinxing

Source: PAGASA

MANILA – The Philippines ordered evacuations, stockpiled food and put soldiers on standby in preparation for Typhoon Yinxing, officials said on Tuesday, as the storm barrels towards northeastern towns where it could make landfall this week.

The storm centre of the typhoon, packing winds of 120 kph (75 mph) was estimated to be 590 km (367 miles) from the eastern town of Baler in the province of Aurora, state weather agency Pag-asa said.

The local government ministry had called for those in remote communities to evacuate in advance, as rescuers could prove unable to reach them during the onslaught of the storm, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said.

“Various government agencies have combined efforts to issue early warnings, plan ahead and pre-position the goods and services needed,” Mr. Teodoro told a briefing.

Food is being stockpiled, soldiers are on standby to help in rescue efforts, and dams are releasing water ahead of time to prevent flooding, officials added.

The storm could hit land between Thursday evening and Friday morning around the northern province of Cagayan, bringing torrential rain to towns in its path, said weather agency official Nathaniel Servando, though it could still swerve away.

About 24 million people could be directly affected by the typhoon, said civil defense administrator Ariel Nepomuceno.

The storm is the third in less than a month to menace the Philippines, after Storm Trami and Super Typhoon Kong-rey pound the main island of Luzon in recent weeks, killing 151, with 21 missing, civil defense figures show.

“We have learned a lot. That’s why our processes have been adjusted,” Mr. Teodoro added.

Around 20 tropical storms strike the Philippines each year on average, bringing heavy rains, strong winds, and deadly landslides. – Reuters

 

Wrong claims by Musk on US election got 2 billion views on X in 2024, report says

FILE PHOTO: Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, attends the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre in Paris, France, June 16, 2023. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo

WASHINGTON – False or misleading claims by billionaire Elon Musk about the U.S. election have amassed 2 billion views on social media platform X this year, according to a report by non-profit group Center for Countering Digital Hate.

 

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT

Government officials and voting rights advocates in the U.S. have warned about election-related misinformation while urging social media platforms, including X, to take steps to remove any false information about the vote.

Mr. Musk, who owns X, is a supporter for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump who faces Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris in what polls show to be a tight race for the White House. Mr. Musk endorsed Mr. Trump in July.

 

BY THE NUMBERS

At least 87 of Mr. Musk’s posts this year have promoted claims about the U.S. election that fact-checkers have rated as false or misleading, amassing 2 billion views, according to the Center for Countering Digital Hate.

Mr. Musk’s political posts have amassed 17.1 billion views since he endorsed Donald Trump in July – over twice as many views as all the U.S. political campaigning ads that X has recorded in its political ads disclosure dataset in the same period, the non-profit group added.

X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

CONTEXT

Among posts by Mr. Musk that were described in the report as false or misleading were those claiming “voter importation” such as “a triple digit” rise over the past four years in undocumented immigrants in battleground states, as well as posts questioning “the integrity of voting.”

Last week, the same non-profit said the crowd-sourced fact-checking feature of Mr. Musk’s X, Community Notes, was not countering false claims about the U.S. election. – Reuters

1...1,9091,9101,911...13,707Page 1,910 of 13,707
© 2024 BusinessWorld Publishing.
All rights reserved.
Read our privacy guidelines
Facebook Instagram Linkedin Twitter Youtube