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Yankees’ Corey Kluber stops Rangers to join no-hit parade

ANOTHER day, another no-hitter.

New York Yankees right-hander Corey Kluber became the sixth pitcher to fire a no-hitter this season, beating the Texas Rangers (2-0) on Wednesday in Arlington, Texas.

It was the second no-no in two days after the Detroit Tigers’ Spencer Turnbull accomplished the feat on Tuesday against the Seattle Mariners.

Kluber (4-2) walked one and struck out nine, facing one batter over the minimum. Charlie Culberson was the lone Texas baserunner, as he drew a one-out walk in the third inning. Kluber, who retired the final 20 batters he faced, threw 71 of his 101 pitches for strikes.

Kluber began the ninth at 93 pitches and needed two pitches to get Culberson on a grounder to second. He got the second out when right fielder Tyler Wade made a running catch on a liner by pinch hitter David Dahl, then completed his gem by retiring Willie Calhoun on a groundout to second.

After the game ended, Kluber was mobbed by his teammates and received a standing ovation from the crowd.

“I think it was a special night,” Kluber said. “I’ve never been part of (a no-hitter), witnessed one or thrown one, so I think more than anything just a lot of fun to be a part of.”

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, “I had butterflies in that ninth inning. I’m getting a little emotional now. Getting to witness that was really, really special.

“Man, what a performance, what can you say. I’m just so happy for him. He’s such a pro and (we’re) talking about a guy that’s been an amazing pitcher in his career and he’s got another defining and special moment.”

The no-hitter was the first for the Yankees since David Cone’s perfect game against the Montreal Expos on July 18, 1999. Kluber authored the 12th no-hitter in franchise history, including Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers.

The Yankees backed Kluber with two runs in the sixth. Kyle Higashioka walked to open the inning. Wade, who entered the game after right fielder Ryan LaMarre injured his right hamstring running to first base in the third, roped a triple to right-center field to drive in Higashioka.

Wade made it 2-0 when he scored on DJ LeMahieu’s sacrifice fly to shallow left field.

Kluber, 35, was making his ninth start as a Yankee after joining the team as a free agent on a one-year, $11-million deal in January.

The American League Cy Young Award winner for the Cleveland Indians in 2014 and 2017, Kluber was with the Rangers last year. He made just one appearance, lasting one inning, before a shoulder ailment sent him to the injured list for the remainder of the season.

Kluber joins the 2021 no-hitter list that includes the San Diego Padres’ Joe Musgrove (April 9 against the Rangers), the Chicago White Sox’s Carlos Rodon (April 14 against the Cleveland Indians), the Baltimore Orioles’ John Means (May 5 against the Mariners) the Cincinnati Reds’ Wade Miley (May 7 against the Indians) and Turnbull.

The Rangers joined the Indians and Mariners in having been no-hit twice this season. The Texas franchise was held hitless for the sixth time, including once when the team was the Washington Senators.

The Arizona Diamondbacks’ Madison Bumgarner threw a seven-inning no-hitter against the Atlanta Braves in the second game of an April 25 doubleheader, but Major League Baseball doesn’t count that game as an official no-hitter.

Texas rookie Hyeon-Jong Yang (0-1) allowed two runs and three hits in 5 1/3 innings. He walked four and struck out two while throwing a career-high 74 pitches in his second career start. — Reuters

Mbappe magic sets up PSG for French Cup victory

PARIS — Kylian Mbappe set up the first goal and grabbed one of his own as Paris St.-Germain retained the French Cup with a 2-0 victory over Monaco in Wednesday’s final at the Stade de France.

Quick thinking by Mbappe   disposes Axel Disasi in his own penalty area, as the Monaco defender let a short pass from goalkeeper Radoslaw Majecki slip under his feet, set up a 19th-minute opener for Mauro Icardi.

Mbappe took the ball away and, displaying quick feet, passed square for Icardi to tuck the ball home from close range.

With team mate Neymar suspended and watching from the empty stands, Mbappe was able to dominate the contest with his talent and pace and added the second goal in the 81st minute.

Angel Di Maria set him up with a short through-ball and the World Cup winner lifted his finish over Majecki to make sure of the outcome.

Mbappe’s goal came a minute after he had hit the crossbar with a clever chip from outside the penalty area having spotted Majecki off his line.

It was one of few chances in a largely dour final, played behind closed doors, that only came alive in the last 15 minutes.

PSG retained their title and extended to 14 their record number of wins in the cup. Monaco had won five previous times but last in 1991. They were last in the final in 2010 when PSG also beat them.

“We work every day to experience this type of emotion, reward and recognition. The work of a whole group, the staff, and the supporters who could not be here. We think about them a lot, this title is also for them,” Mbappe said.

“When you play for PSG, one of the biggest clubs in the world, the biggest club in the country, every title counts to go down in history. We want to be part of this story, it’s a great step today.”

PSG defender Alessandro Florenzi had a powerful shot tipped over by Majecki in the first half while Monaco created the better opportunities after the break.

PSG goalkeeper Keylor Navas made two good saves from Wissam Ben Yedder and Krepin Diatta and saw an errant cross rebound back into play off his crossbar.

But any hopes of a comeback were swiftly ended by the pace and vision of Mbappe as he settled the outcome.

Both clubs now turn their attention to the end of the Ligue 1 season on Sunday where they hold out hopes of winning the title. PSG are second, one point behind leaders Lille, while Monaco are three points adrift. — Reuters

West Ham close in on Europa League spot with win over West Brom

WEST BROMWICH, England — Late goals by Angelo Ogbonna and Michail Antonio secured a 3-1 Premier League victory for West Ham United at relegated West Bromwich Albion to move them closer to securing a Europa League spot on Wednesday.

West Ham’s Declan Rice struck the post with a penalty in the opening minute and the visitors fell behind after 27 minutes when Matheus Pereira’s corner went in off Tomas Soucek.

Big Czech Soucek made amends, however, by equalizing in first-half stoppage time.

Ogbonna bundled West Ham in front in the 82nd minute before Antonio wrapped up the points six minutes later.

West Ham moved into sixth spot on 62 points, three ahead of Tottenham Hotspur and Everton, with one game left.

One point against Southampton on Sunday would secure West Ham a place in next season’s Europa League and their highest top-flight finish since they ended fifth in 1999.

West Brom manager Sam Allardyce, who took charge in December after Slaven Bilic was sacked, confirmed after the game that he would step down at the end of the season.

“I am not long-term. They need long term. They need planning for next season to get back up and beyond,” Allardyce said.

West Ham’s bid for an unlikely top-four finish had fizzled out after a run of one win in five league games before their trip to a West Brom side managed by their old boss.

Tottenham’s earlier defeat at home by Aston Villa opened the door for David Moyes’ side and they are now tantalizingly close to a return to European competition for the first time since they were involved in the Europa League in 2016.

“We have been playing really well but tonight we did not play really well, but it shows we can win in other ways,” Moyes, in his second spell as West Ham boss, told reporters.

“I am delighted but it is not done. I will go away and sit back and enjoy it and look at the permutations, we have to win our game and then there is no danger.”

When Rice smashed his penalty against the post and Pereira gave West Brom the lead it looked as though West Ham might squander their chance to take advantage of Tottenham’s result.

Soucek scored from point-blank range in first-half stoppage time with his 10th goal of the season.

West Ham struggled to impose themselves after the break although Aaron Cresswell curled a sublime free kick against the outside of the post and Pablo Fornals wasted a chance.

Ogbonna was on hand to bundle in a corner in the 82nd minute to put West Ham in front and they sealed the points on the counter-attack as Jesse Lingard fed Antonio to score.

With their home fans roaring them on on Sunday, West Ham’s European destiny is in their own hands.

“Overall, we have earned it this year but we have a bit to do yet and hopefully, we can get over the line,” Moyes said. — Reuters

IOC reassures anxious Japan that Olympics will be safe

TOKYO — The International Olympic Committee (IOC) reassured an anxious Japan on Wednesday that the Tokyo Olympics would be safe for athletes as well as the host community, amid mounting opposition to the Games and fears it will fuel a spike in COVID-19 cases.

Speaking via videoconference that was broadcast alongside senior Japanese officials in Tokyo, IOC chief Thomas Bach said he believed more than 80% of residents of the Olympic Village would be vaccinated or booked for vaccination ahead of the Games set to start on July 23.

He rejected growing calls to cancel the global sporting showpiece, already delayed once due to the pandemic, saying that other sporting events had proved the Olympics could go ahead with strong COVID precautions.

Bach’s comments came as Japan kept up its battle on a fourth wave of infections, although a slow vaccination campaign has undermined already shaky public confidence that the Games should proceed.

“Together with our Japanese partners and friends, I can only re-emphasize this full commitment of the IOC to organize safe Olympic and Paralympic games for everybody,” Bach said.

“To accomplish this, we are now fully focused on the delivery of the Olympic Games.”

Less than 30% of medics in Japan’s major cities have been vaccinated against the coronavirus, with just 65 days left to the start of the Olympics, the Nikkei newspaper said.

Cabinet figures showed this week that three months into Japan’s vaccination push, less than 40% of its medical workers were fully inoculated.

The problem is especially pronounced in the capital, Tokyo, which plays host to the Games, and other large population centres, where the rate of fully vaccinated medical workers was less than 30%, the Nikkei added.

Much of the vaccine supply was concentrated in large hospitals, and there had been problems in the reservation systems for medical staff, it said.

The slow pace of vaccinations of doctors and nurses has been among the complaints cited by medical groups that oppose the Games.

Requests for about 200 doctors and 500 nurses to help out with the Games are unrealistic, said Kenyu Sumie, the chairman of a group representing more than 100,000 doctors and dentists in Japan.

“It’s impossible to think about dispatching them (to the Olympics) when they haven’t even received their own two shots,” Sumie told Reuters on Wednesday. “There is no way that the Olympics can be safely held at this point.”

Bach said the IOC would do its part to keep the Japanese public safe, by having additional medical personnel as part of the NOC delegations to support the medical operations and the strict implementation of the COVID 19 countermeasures.

STATES OF EMERGENCY
Much of Japan, including the key cities of Tokyo and Osaka, is under a state of emergency until month-end to rein in infections. The southern prefecture of Okinawa will request its own emergency declaration as new infections reached record highs, it said on Wednesday.

Japan aims to inoculate most of its 36 million people older than 65 by the end of July. To reach that target, it hopes to deliver about a million shots a day, or three times faster than the current pace.

So far, just 3.7% of the population of 126 million have received at least one vaccine shot, the lowest rate among wealthy countries. Initially, the holdup was scant supplies of the vaccine developed by Pfizer, Inc and BioNTech SE , the only one approved by regulators.

But arrivals of the Pfizer vaccine have increased dramatically in May, and Japan is expected to approve Moderna, Inc’s candidate this week for use in mass vaccination centers. The shot developed by AstraZeneca PLC is also being considered by domestic regulators.

As supply bottlenecks eased, problems with vaccine reservation systems and manpower shortages have cropped up. The government is looking into letting pharmacists give the injections, after a similar move regarding dentists last month. — Reuters

Lakers prevailed

The Lakers flirted with danger from the get-go. They certainly couldn’t have had a worse start, with LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Dennis Schröder — their three primary scorers — all misfiring. And considering their inability to play up to potential, they were fortunate to be down by just 13 at the break; had their defense been any less outstanding, the Warriors would have been able to pad the deficit.

For the Lakers, half time provided much-needed introspection and adjustment. If yesterday’s play-in match ultimately wound up in their favor, it was because of their versatility. They went the small ball route from the third quarter on, sacrificing the playing time of centers Andre Drummond and Montrezl Harrell in favor of putting Davis at the slot and thereby freeing the lane for incursions by playmakers James and Schröder.

At the same time, the Lakers benefited from their depth. With Schröder continuing to play below par, they possessed the luxury of turning to such notables as Alex Caruso and Wesley Matthews in order to offset the lack of production. That said, they needed extraordinary contributions from their proven one-two punch in Davis and James. The former came up with timely shots en route to 13 points in the fourth period, while the latter — apart from finishing with a triple-double — delivered a 34-foot three-point shot under duress for the game winner.

In the aftermath, the Lakers looked relieved; they knew they dodged a bullet, with scoring champion Stephen Curry starting slow and ending sloppy. Still, the Most Valuable Player candidate did all he could to keep the Warriors close until the final play; double, even triple coverage could not prevent him from putting up a whopping 37 points on six of nine shooting from beyond the arc and 12 of 23 overall.

Considering how much the Lakers had to lean on Davis and James, it’s fair to argue if the exertion will affect their competitiveness in the first round of the playoffs. With the red-hot Suns lying in wait, they need to be at their sharpest simply to keep pace. Else, they may find their confidence exposed as irrational, and their campaign to defend their title meeting an abrupt end.

 

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.

Vaccine hesitancy makes citizens ‘sitting ducks,’ doctors’ group says

REUTERS
PEOPLE are silhouetted against the Sydney Opera House at sunset in Australia, Nov. 2, 2016. — REUTERS

SYDNEY — Australia’s peak medical body on Thursday warned the country’s residents were “sitting ducks” for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), as business leaders call for the international border to be reopened faster despite a sluggish national vaccination drive.

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) said it was worried many Australians were delaying getting vaccinated because of the country’s success in stamping out the virus, and urged authorities to roll out a more effective advertising campaign.

“Seeing what is happening overseas where there is a tsunami of COVID and also the development of variants, we’re sitting ducks … until we get a significant portion of the population vaccinated, particularly those over 50,” AMA Vice President Chris Moy told ABC Radio.

Australia closed its international borders in March 2020 to mostly non-citizens and permanent residents, helping keep COVID-19 cases relatively low. It has recorded just under 30,000 cases and 910 deaths.

However, it has reported a spate of small infection outbreaks in recent months linked to health security breaches at hotels where returning travelers are required to serve a two-week quarantine period.

The AMA said vaccine hesitancy increases the risks of those breaches.

Australia’s federal government budget assumes vaccination of the country’s 20 million adult population will be completed by the end of year. The rollout has speeded up in recent weeks — around a third of the 3.3 million doses administered so far were given in the last three weeks — but remains behind many other developed nations.

Industries hit by the pandemic have been pressing the federal government to fast-track border reopening plans from the current schedule of the middle of next year.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has so far rejected those requests, citing the emergence of new variants overseas.

Qantas on Thursday said Australia should open its borders once the vaccine rollout is complete, with the airlines aligning the resumption of its international flights based on the country’s immunization drive.

A report in the Guardian newspaper said the global airline industry body IATA is in talks with the Australian government about a new digital certificate that could unlock quarantine-free overseas travel for vaccinated Australians. 

Morrison’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Guardian report. — Reuters

China says US warship illegally enters its territory in S. China Sea

PIXABAY

BEIJING — China said on Thursday a US warship had illegally entered its territorial waters in the South China Sea, the latest salvo in the two nations’ dispute over Beijing’s territorial claims in the busy waterway.

In a statement, the Chinese military’s Southern Theater Command said the USS Curtis Wilbur entered the waters near the Paracel Islands without permission, adding that its ships and planes followed the US vessel.

It added that China opposed the US action, which it said violated its sovereignty and undermined regional peace and stability.

South China Sea has emerged as one of many flashpoints in the testy Sino-US relations, with Washington rejecting what it has called unlawful territorial claims asserted by Beijing in the resources-rich waters. US warships have passed through the South China Sea with increasing frequency in recent years, a show of force against the Chinese claims.

The US Navy said later on Thursday the USS Curtis Wilbur “asserted navigational rights and freedoms” near the Paracel Islands, over which China, Taiwan and Vietnam all claim sovereignty.

“The unilateral imposition of any authorization or advance-notification requirement for innocent passage is not permitted by international law,” the US Navy’s 7th Fleet said in a statement. — Reuters

US weighs changes to COVID-19 travel restrictions

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has been weighing changes to sweeping travel restrictions that bar much of the world’s population from coming to the United States, but has reached no decisions, government and industry officials told Reuters.

European Union (EU) countries agreed on Wednesday to ease COVID-19 travel restrictions on non-EU visitors ahead of the summer tourist season, a move that could open the bloc’s door to all Britons and to vaccinated Americans.

Ambassadors from the 27 EU countries approved a European Commission proposal from May 3 to loosen the criteria to determine “safe” countries and to let in fully vaccinated tourists from elsewhere, EU sources said.

Biden administration agencies have been holding meetings for more than a month and reaching out to industry officials about when and how they could begin to unwind the travel restrictions first imposed in early 2020 in response to COVID-19 that bar much of the world’s population from entering the United States.

Asked whether the United States would allow vaccinated Europeans to enter, a White House spokesman said there were no changes in travel restrictions planned at the moment.

The US Travel Association said it hoped the “European Union’s risk-based, science-driven plan to reopen international travel will hopefully spur the US to heed the many calls for a plan and timetable to safely reopen our borders.”

US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told a news conference on Wednesday that any decision to lift restrictions “ultimately is a public health decision and there is an interagency process and obviously the CDC (US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)” is taking a leading role.

Mr. Buttigieg added: “There are two ways of looking at this — one is to look at countries, the other is to look at travelers,” in terms of trying to maximize safety and allow for more travel.

A coalition of US and European travel, airline, union, business and airport groups has called for a full reopening of the US-UK air travel market “as soon as safely possible” — and hopes both government will lift restrictions by early June.

Nearly all of Europe still bans most US travelers from visiting, while Britain allows American visitors but requires a 10-day quarantine on arrival and two COVID-19 tests.

Since early 2020, the United States has barred nearly all non-US citizens who have recently been in the UK and much of Europe, as well as China, Iran and Brazil. This year, Washington added South Africa and India to the list. — Reuters

Thailand to prioritize vaccines for workers to revive economy

REUTERS

THAILAND is adding workers to the front of the vaccination queue in an effort to buttress the economy as a raging COVID outbreak threatens to delay plans to reopen borders for foreign tourists.

Millions of employees under the social security program in Bangkok, the nation’s capital and financial hub, and nine provinces with large economies will get their shots along with other priority groups, including senior citizens and individuals with underlying conditions, according to Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha.

“This group is an important engine to the nation’s economy,” Mr. Prayuth said late Wednesday. Workers in other provinces will be able to get inoculated as more vaccines become available, he said.

Thailand has administered about 2.4 million shots and its pace of vaccinations has been slow due to limited supply of jabs. The nation of almost 70 million people has so far focused on health-care and front-line workers, and residents in regions that have an ongoing outbreak, or are preparing to reopen for vaccinated tourists this year.

Thailand has slashed its growth outlook for this year, citing the delay in reopening borders to foreign tourists and slow pace of vaccination. The economy may expand between 1.5% and 2.5% this year, less than the 2.5%-3.5% forecast in February, the National Economic and Social Development Council said Monday.

Mr. Prayuth’s administration expects the delivery of millions of doses of vaccines starting in June to help kickstart its mass rollout program. Bangkok, the epicenter of the current outbreak, aims to inoculate 70% of its residents by July, while Phuket, a resort island gearing up for a July tourism reopening, also sets a similar target for the islanders.

“Thailand’s plan to reopen Phuket to vaccinated tourists from July 1 and to expand that program to a number of other provinces, including Bangkok, in October appears ambitious to us,” Barclays Plc economists Brian Tan and Shreya Sodhani wrote in a report Wednesday. “In our base case, we think Phuket will reopen for tourism in September, followed by a few more provinces in December. We expect Bangkok to be reopened last, and only late next year.” — Bloomberg

A year into the pandemic, small businesses are still solidifying digital marketing efforts

PIXABAY

By Patricia B. Mirasol 

Wanderskye, a travel and everyday essentials brand, beefed up its digital presence to keep afloat during the pandemic. 

“Social media has been our ally …,” said Wanderskye Chief Executive Officer Bianca S. Larrañaga. “When the pandemic hit, we didn’t stop our social media efforts and made sure we kept our presence felt despite what’s happening in the world.”  

Digital sales through the brand’s website and shopping platforms like Shopee now make up 40% of Wanderskye’s total monthly sales. Prior to the pandemic, that figure was 5%, as most sales were made through mall terminals alongside retail shops such as The Travel Club. 

THE RIGHT CHANNELS
Digital marketing includes leveraging websites, search engines, social media, and e-mail to reach customers. 

“It is about choosing the right channels for your brand, depending on your target market,” said Vanya P. Tantoco, freelancer and owner of digital agency Z Digital Studios. Where social management is for brand consistency (which helps with platform algorithms), ad placement or management is for reaching more potential customers and yielding better sales. 

Online consumer behavior has evolved a year into the pandemic, with more Filipinos embracing e-commerce. An April 2021 by ShopBack, an Asia Pacific pre-shopping portal, found that 92% of Filipino shoppers purchase from online marketplaces such as Amazon, Lazada, and Shopee and another 71.3% buy from other online platforms — such as brand websites and social media — when they offer exclusive brand promotions, wider selections, and better discounts. 

This is a jump from the findings of an April 2020 report by We Are Social, Hootsuite, and Kepios, which found that 23% of Filipino Internet users spent more time shopping online.  

KEY INDICATORS 
Numbers and results are important indicators of digital marketing success, said Reiner Cadiz, chief executive officer of digital marketing agency iAdvertise Solutions, in a May 17 webinar organized by The Manila Times.  

“No matter how great the product, no matter how great the service of a company, if no one sees the content the company puts up, then all that effort is wasted,” he said in the vernacular. 

The agency’s sister company, iWatch, has community of more than 600,000 members to help newbies gain the traction needed to garner results online. The numbers provided by their team, Mr. Cadiz said, are both guaranteed and organic, translating to real leads and sales.  

Among the clients in iAdvertise’s roster is digital banking solutions provider PearlPay Solutions, whose explainer YouTube video generated 2.4 million views with the help of the agency. 

MANAGING EXPECTATIONS
Results don’t happen overnight, cautioned Ms. Tantoco. “What’s challenging for us is whenever clients expect immediate results,” she said. “They feel like since digital is fast-paced, they can expect changes in 24 hours when, in fact, it’s more than that.”  

Z Digital Studios sets expectations at the onset by having a minimum number of months for every contract, the better to monitor each account’s growth and set better key performance indicators each month. “It’s really the process of putting your brand into the intricate webspace and finding the right spot for your audience to find you and get results,” said Ms. Tantoco.   

Among the clients of Z Digital Studios is Wanderskye, which is solidifying its marketing strategies and adding Google Ads as a new growth channel. “We understand the need to reach our customers digitally to make it easy for them to buy our products without leaving their homes,” Ms. Larrañaga  said. “This way, we’ll be able to be where our customers need us when they need us.” 

Bitcoin struggles for footing on worries over China, leverage

TOKYO – Bitcoin regained some ground on Thursday from the previous session’s brutal slide to four-month lows but was weighed down by concerns over tighter regulation in China and unease over the extent of leveraged positions in the cryptocurrency world.

Bitcoin, the biggest and most popular cryptocurrency , rose 8.75% to touch $40,000, after plunging 14% on Wednesday to its lowest since late January.

Smaller rival ether was up 6.6% at $2,600 at 0630 GMT, but in extremely volatile trading after its 28% tumble on Wednesday.

Wednesday’s declines in both digital assets were their biggest daily percentage moves in more than a year as investors rushed to exit trades that until recently were heartily outperforming traditional markets such as stocks and bonds.

The latest catalyst was a statement by Chinese financial industry groups on Tuesday banning institutions from offering cryptocurrency registration, trading, clearing, and settlement.

But bitcoin had been under pressure for almost a week after a series of tweets from carmaker Tesla’s chief Elon Musk, a major cryptocurrency backer, chiefly his reversal on Tesla accepting bitcoin as payment.

While Beijing has taken steps before to block access domestically to cryptocurrency exchanges, its latest directive was broader.

It bans the use of cryptocurrencies in payment and settlement, and prohibits institutions from providing crypto-related products or exchange services between cryptocurrencies and the yuan or foreign currencies.

Chris Weston, head of research at brokerage Pepperstone in Melbourne, pointed to how $9.13 billion of cryptocurrency positions had been liquidated across exchanges over 24 hours, and $532 billion in total volume transacted.

“It’s too early to say if the rebound we’ve seen off the lows in crypto has legs, but as we roll into Asian trade, I question if we will get a chance to catch our breath or is there more volatility in store?” he said.

The slide forced some investors to close out leveraged positions in cryptocurrency derivatives, which caused prices to fall further and knocked digital assets down into a lower trading range, traders said.

James Quinn, managing director at Q9 Capital, a Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency private wealth manager, said there wasn’t that much evidence of extended leverage in these cryptos and that the selling reflected huge crowded positions in ether.

Ether was up six-fold until the selloff, stealing a march over bitcoin this year after being widely used in non-fungible tokens on digital art platforms.

“To me, this is just as much of a spot led selloff as it is a reflection of people de-leveraging futures and swaps products,” Quinn said.

“Sometimes a market event is looking for a cause. I think this is about positioning. Over the long term, maybe it’s positive because a very crowded trade from a lot of new entrants means there are a lot of new entrants.”

Bitcoin may fall a little further but is likely to stabilise around $30,000, said Justin d’Anethan, head of exchange sales at Diginex, a Singapore-based digital asset market.

Digital assets have been on a wild ride this year as a growing number of retail and institutional investors bet that bitcoin and other crypto currencies will gain mainstream acceptance, but large price swings are common. Bitcoin is up 27% so far this year, and intra-day volatility has spiked to near 300% this week.

Prominent crypto backers such as MicroStrategy Inc’s CEO Michael Saylor, Ark Invest’s Chief Executive Cathie Wood and Musk indicated their support for bitcoin as it plunged on Wednesday.

While some retail traders saw missed opportunities in the slide, others saw the rout as a chance to pick up digital assets on the cheap.

“Bitcoin broke down technically,” said Michael Oliveri, an independent New York-based equity trader who was formerly a partner at First New York Securities.

“It was an easy short setup actually. I’m annoyed I didn’t short it. I wouldn’t chase it now.”

Milko Markov, an independent London-based trader, said he had been buying ether.

“Those with a bit more experience in the crypto market know two cardinal rules: don’t leverage and dollar cost average,” he said. – Reuters

Hong Kong court denies jury trial to first person charged under national security law

STOCK PHOTO

HONG KONG – The first person charged under the national security law in Hong Kong will face a trial without jury, the city’s High Court ruled on Thursday, in a landmark decision which marks a departure from the global financial hub’s common law traditions.

Police say Tong Ying-kit, carried a sign reading “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,” and drove his motorbike into officers during a protest on July 1, knocking several down on the narrow street before falling over and getting arrested.

It was the first day on which the national security law was in force. The law punishes anything authorities deem as secession, separatism, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison.

Mr. Tong, 24, was among more than 300 demonstrators against the new law who were arrested that day, and was charged with inciting separatism and terrorism.

In February, Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng informed the defendant’s legal team his trial will be heard by three judges appointed for national security cases, instead of a jury, citing “the personal safety of jurors and their family members”.

Mr. Tong then filed for a judicial review of the decision.

Judge Alex Lee at the High Court rejected the application, saying in a written judgement on Thursday “there is nothing inherently unreasonable in directing a trial by a panel of three judges sitting without a jury, when there is a perceived risk of the personal safety of jurors and their family members or that due administration of justice might be impaired”.

Hong Kong’s Judiciary describes trial by jury as one of the most important features of the city’s legal system, a common law tradition designed to offer defendants additional protection against the possibility of authorities overreaching their power.

Article 46 of the new law – drafted by Beijing, where courts are controlled by the Communist Party and conviction rates are close to 100% – states three instances where juries can be scrapped: protecting state secrets, cases involving foreign forces and protecting the personal safety of jurors.

Mr. Tong has also been repeatedly denied bail. Hong Kong’s common law has traditionally allowed defendants to seek release unless prosecutors can show lawful grounds for their detention.

In another departure from common law practices, the burden is now placed on the defendant to prove they will not break the law if released on bail.

The trial is due to start on June 23.

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