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Towards a new routine

WHAT HAD JARRED our comfortable routine in the last year was a feeling of uncertainty on when the curve would flatten, and the acquisition and distribution of the new vaccine. For the latter, there is also the uncertainty of hitting herd (or heard) immunity with surveys showing the low acceptance rate for the vaccine.

Are we going for a new normal to be comfortable with? We are hoping for our new comfort zone amid lockdown levels that promise to lift… and then not yet. The economy too is looking for some comfort.

The “comfort zone” is a combination of routine (waking up without the alarm), manageable expectations (the car will start when you turn the ignition key), self-confidence (yes, your zipper is zipped) and stable relationships (you recognize the person behind the face mask in the office).

The steady rise of unexpected developments (the curve is rising again) can make the quest for equilibrium a losing battle. Did you sign up for the vaccine, whenever it is available and whatever brand gets there first?

Leaving the comfort zone is seldom a self-initiated move. Still, risk-taking is necessary to move up the food chain. Being too comfortable with the status quo for too long can be self-defeating. It means missing out on new opportunities and playing it too safe.

The “comfort zone” refers to indoor temperature where one can enjoy mental and physical well-being. It is an equilibrium state where the body neither sweats nor shivers, estimated to be between 28 to 30 degrees centigrade. Achieving this neither-hot-nor-cold state doesn’t seem to be an ambitious goal.

In the world of the investment analyst, this state of “neither hot nor cold” is called the “Goldilocks state.” Reference is to the tale of the Goldilocks who breaks into the dining table of the bears and sampling the three bowls of porridge of varying temperatures and settling for the bowl that was “just right.” This same exercise for chairs and beds of the three bears is part of the story.

The comfort of the equilibrium state is anyway temporary. Even in nature, fledglings are pushed out of their comfortable nest by their well-intentioned mother to force her chicks to try flying out after just comfortably lying around and being fed worms in the nest.

So, being pushed out of a nest, even by those who do not consider your well-being can be a blessing in disguise. After a momentary sense of confusion, the new state (accompanied by a sense of falling) can test the new wings. The exercise can also end with a loud thud and losing consciousness.

Leaving the comfort zone of routine does not always lead to a happy ending.

Even for the truly comfortable, while affliction is not exactly desired, there is the realization that the state of not perspiring and not shivering is not ideal. It invites boredom and a desire for “something more.”

The search for discomfort, or risk-taking, acquires different forms lumped together as signs of a “mid-life crisis.” Usually, in one’s mid-forties after achieving mid-life goals, or accepting that they need to be scaled down, something crazy beckons. It is in this mid-life period (more than halfway through one’s life expectancy) that wild things beckon — he seemed so financially secure and then he bought a food franchise for siomai and ran off with the lead vocalist of a rock band. He liked her tattoos.

Jumping off a bridge is not the suicidal event it seems at first, only an extreme sport, if there is a bungee rope attaching the body to the structure. The choice is not binary then — leaving or staying in the comfort zone. One can leave without having to totally cut off ties to comfort and sanity. Wandering off a little to explore heat or cold can be invigorating. Why else do the tropical natives like to experience snow?

The revised normal may be upon us late this year. Will working again in the office, or a hybrid option of sometimes staying home, bring about a new comfort zone?

The new paradigm may be like a trip to a foreign country where every day is a new city tour. There is still the opportunity to get back to the hotel at the end of the day, and recharge… unless our booking has suddenly been canceled.

 

Tony Samson is Chairman and CEO, TOUCH xda

ar.samson@yahoo.com

Local professional hoops league seeks to be ‘busier’ in Season 46

THE PHILIPPINE BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION is looking to be busier in its coming Season 46 after a muted year in 2020 where there was only one tournament staged because of the pandemic. — PBA IMAGES

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter

THE Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) was rendered limited in what it was able to do last year because of the pandemic and is now seeking to be “busier” for its Season 46.

Speaking at a media briefing on Tuesday afternoon, PBA officials, led by chairman Ricky Vargas and commissioner Willie Marcial, shared that they have crafted a “packed” schedule for its coming season, putting consideration on what they are allowed to do during this time of the pandemic.

Among the offerings they want to give fans are two conferences running for 10 months and the league’s inaugural 3×3 tournament.

“We’re looking forward to a 10-month PBA season. We want to give as much as basketball as possible to the fans,” said Mr. Vargas, representing the TNT team in the board and who will remain as PBA chairman for Season 46.

He also assured that the PBA is in good standing despite the challenges and difficulties presented to the league the last two years.

“We’re looking good in spite of all the challenges in 2019 and the pandemic in 2020. If we can do this right in 2021, this season 46, we will be able to recover our financial standing,” added the PBA official.

Also at the media briefing were vice-chairman Bobby Rosales (Terrafirma) and board members Al Panlilio (Meralco) and Dickie Bachmann (Alaska).

The planned 10-month PBA season is divided into four months for the Philippine Cup and six months for the Governors’ Cup.

The league is batting for a semi-bubble setup this time around as it admitted that doing a full bubble, like what was done in the lone tournament last year where all participants were holed up in Clark, Pampanga, for three months, will be expensive.

It has written to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) for the PBA to hold a semi-bubble tournament which will have participants confining their travel to home-game venue-home.

The PBA is also hoping to stage its tournaments within the National Capital Region.

The All-Filipino Philippine Cup is targeted to begin on April 11.

The Governors’ Cup, meanwhile, will be a double round-robin tournament with 6’5” imports.

Also included in the PBA season 46 calendar is a three-conference 3×3 competition, which will have 18 legs culminating in a grand championship.

All the competing teams in the PBA will field a 3×3 squad save for Alaska, whose board representative Bachmann is the chairman of the inaugural season of the event.

Guest teams are set to be part of the competition. PBA three-on-three matches are slated to be played every Friday and Saturday.

VACCINES
Meanwhile, Mr. Marcial said the professional league has applied to avail vaccines for the coronavirus.

The PBA chief shared that they have reached out to the Philippine Red Cross and the league is already in the list of private groups purchasing a vaccine.

They were also happy to announce that MVP Group top boss Manny V. Pangilinan has pledged 3,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine when it becomes available in the country.

“We’re hoping that before the Governors’ Cup, the players are already vaccinated. That will make things easier,” said Mr. Vargas.

Jenel Lausa to have new opponent in Brave debut

FILIPINO flyweight fighter Jenel “The Demolition Man” Lausa will have a new opponent when he makes his Brave Combat Federation (CF) debut on Thursday in Bahrain.

In an announcement made on Tuesday, Brave said the mixed martial arts-returning Lausa (7-5) now battles Ryskulbek Ibraimov of Kyrgyzstan in his first fight with the promotion in place of Rahmatullah Yousufzai of Afghanistan.

Mr. Yousufzai withdrew from the scheduled fight with Mr. Lausa at “Brave CF 47: Asian Domination,” forcing Brave to look for a last-minute replacement.

Stepping in is Mr. Ibraimov (18-8), who incidentally found himself on the same boat as Mr. Lausa when his supposed opponent on the same card withdrew days before the fight.

The Kyrgyzstan fighter was to take on Kazakhstan’s Asu Almabaev.

Mr. Ibraimov, 29, is one of the top flyweights to emerge from Kyrgyzstan. Of his victories to date, six came by way of submission and three by knockout.

He is expected to present a tough challenge to Iloilo native Lausa, who will be having his first MMA fight since 2018.

Mr. Lausa was a former flyweight champion at Pacific X-treme Combat before taking his act to the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he stayed for two years.

Apart from MMA, Mr. Lausa likewise made his mark inside the boxing ring, owning a perfect 10-0-1 standing with six knockouts. He captured the Philippine Boxing Federation Super Bantamweight Championship in 2016 and then clinched the Global Boxing Organization Asia-Pacific Super Featherweight Title three years later.

Brave CF 47 is headlined by the lightweight world title eliminator between Filipino Rolando “Dy Incredible” Dy and Kyrgyzstan’s Abdisalam Kubanychbek. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Ten-man Porto stun Juventus to reach last eight

TURIN, Italy — Defiant 10-man Porto upset Juventus to reach the Champions League quarter-finals on away goals after a 4-4 aggregate draw despite losing 3-2 to the Italians following extra time in a thrilling clash that went to the wire on Tuesday.

Sérgio Oliveira’s low free kick for Porto’s second goal in the extra period went through the legs of Cristiano Ronaldo in the Juve wall and squeezed past goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny’s despairing dive to strike what proved to be the decisive blow.

Porto had dominated the first half and took the lead in the 19th minute with Oliveira’s penalty taking them into the break in front as they looked comfortable at the Juventus Stadium.

But with the first attack of the second half Juve’s Federico Chiesa, who scored their goal in the 2-1 last-16, first-leg defeat in Portugal, arrowed a strike into the top corner to give his side hope four minutes after the restart.

The game turned further in Juve’s favour as Mehdi Taremi needlessly got sent off for picking up a second yellow card in the 54th minute for kicking the ball away, with Chiesa leveling the scoreline on aggregate with a header in the 63rd.

The hosts had chances to win the tie, but the game went to extra time and the drama was far from over as Porto won a free kick, which Oliveira drilled home in the 115th minute to spark wild celebrations amongst the players and coaching staff.

Adrien Rabiot’s header three minutes from the end of extra-time for the hosts ensured a grandstand finish in an enthralling encounter, but Porto managed to hold on for a famous victory.

The win was a fitting way to mark the 17th anniversary of the night José Mourinho’s Porto side knocked Manchester United out in dramatic style en route to winning the Champions League.

“These games are marked in the history of the club,” Porto coach Sérgio Conceição said. “The players dignified the fans with the passion they have.

“We suffered but also created difficulties for Juventus. We were a real team. Congratulations to the players, they did a fantastic job. After Taremi’s expulsion, we showed the Porto DNA. We never stopped believing.”

PORTO ATTACK
From the start, it was clear Porto were not content to sit on the first-leg lead, with eight shots at goal inside 25 minutes.

They got the chance to deservedly go ahead on the night when Merih Demiral fouled Taremi in the penalty area, with Oliveira converting his third Champions League spot kick of the season.

Porto had more shots in the first half than they had managed in the opening 45 minutes of any Champions League knockout tie away from home since April 2009, but from the first attack of the second half, Chiesa pounced to score for Juve.

Then came what looked like the game’s turning point. Already on a yellow card, Taremi booted the ball away after the referee blew for a free kick to Juventus, earning him a second caution.

When Chiesa’s header hit the net from a Juan Cuadrado cross, Andrea Pirlo’s side seemed on course to reach the last eight.

But Porto would not lie down, with veteran defender Pepe throwing himself at everything. Ronaldo had a great chance that he uncharacteristically headed wide, before Chiesa was denied by a brilliant save from Porto keeper Agustín Marchesín.

Right at the end of normal time, Cuadrado thought he had won the tie only for his curled strike to hit the crossbar.

A first penalty shootout in the Champions League since the 2016 final loomed, with Porto defending manfully. But with a rare attack, they won the free-kick that decided the contest.

As many expected, Ronaldo did have a hand in the decisive goal but not as he would have wanted, as the ball passed through his legs as he jumped in the wall, with Szczęsny unable to keep Oliveira’s low strike out of the Juve goal.

Following Rabiot’s headed reply, there were plenty of Porto heart-in-mouth moments, penalty appeals waved away and last-ditch blocks, but they deservedly got over the line. — Reuters

MPBL South Division finals rubber match postponed

THE scheduled rubber match in the South Division finals of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) Lakan Season on Wednesday did not push through in accordance with the league’s health and safety protocols.

The win-or-go home game between Basilan Steel and the Davao Occidental Tigers was forced to be canceled as the entire Steel delegation was put under seven-day quarantine after being classified as persons under investigation with one of its players testing positive for the coronavirus.

The player, who was not identified by the league, had already been isolated while the rest of the team were put under quarantine as per protocols set by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).

The Game Three Southern Division Finals match between Basilan and Davao Occidental, scheduled at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, was supposed to kick off the MPBL’s return after a year-long hiatus because of the pandemic.

The Northern Division Finals rubber match between the San Juan Knights and the Makati Super Crunch, however, pushed through in a “bubble” setup inside the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority in Zambales.

“We are under seven-day quarantine,” confirmed Basilan head coach Jerson Cabiltes whose team arrived in the league’s bubble on March 8.

Every Steel player and official will undergo another round of swab testing after seven days. If the results are negative, the league will then reschedule the win-or-go-home tiff.

Basilan stunned Davao Occidental, 74-72, on March 9 last year to take the opener of the three-game series that was held at the RDR Gymnasium in Tagum City.

The Tigers were able to knot the series two days later after an 81-76 win at Lamitan Capitol Gym in the Steel’s home turf.

The pandemic forced the league to stop play afterward as the pandemic made its presence felt further in the country.

The MPBL was cleared to resume its stalled Lakan Season last week through new protocols set by the government. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Paul Pierce and Chris Bosh headline 2021 Hall of Fame finalists

NBA (National Basketball Association) stars Chris Bosh and Paul Pierce, WNBA great Lauren Jackson and Villanova coach Jay Wright are among the 14 finalists announced Tuesday for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2021.

Those four are among the nine first-time finalists up for election, along with five previous finalists.

The Class of 2021 will be unveiled on May 16 and the enshrinement ceremony is scheduled for September.

Bosh was an 11-time All-Star and two-time NBA champion. Pierce made 10 All-Star teams and was a Finals MVP; Jackson was a seven-time Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) All-Star and three-time MVP. Wright led Villanova to two NCAA men’s basketball national championships.

The other first-time finalists are: Rick Adelman, the ninth most winning coach in NBA history; five-time champion and five-time All-Defensive Team selection Michael Cooper; seven-time WNBA All-Star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Yolanda Griffith; NCAA national champion and WNBA Coach of the Year Marianne Stanley; and Bill Russell as the first Black NBA head coach (he was inducted as a player in 1975).

Previous finalists up for consideration again are Leta Andrews, the all-time most winning high school coach; five-time NBA All-Star Tim Hardaway; consensus collegiate Player of the Year Marques Johnson; four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Ben Wallace; and five-time NBA All-Star Chris Webber.

The Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020 enshrinement ceremony was delayed and relocated from Springfield, Mass., due to COVID-19. It will take place at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut from May 14-16. — Reuters

Vaccine rollout boosts global economic outlook — OECD

PARIS — The global economic outlook has brightened as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine rollouts speed up in some countries and the United States launches a vast new stimulus package, the OECD said on Tuesday, hiking its forecasts.

The world economy is set to rebound this year with 5.6% growth and expand 4.0% next year, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said in its interim economic outlook.

That marked a sharp increase from its last outlook in early December, when the Paris-based policy forum forecast global growth of 4.2% this year and 3.7% next year.

But significant risks loom over the improved outlook, notably in the form of how fast authorities get vaccine shots to people, how soon restrictions are lifted and whether new variants of the coronavirus are kept in check.

“Not vaccinating fast enough risks undermining the fiscal stimulus that has been put in place,” OECD chief economist Laurence Boone told an online news conference.

Singling out Europe for its slow rollout, she said government money injected into the economy risked ending up in consumers’ savings if they cannot soon return to more normal lives.

Global gross domestic product was seen returning to pre-pandemic levels by the middle of this year, albeit with large divergences between countries.

“The pace of vaccinations is not fast enough to consolidate the recovery, we need to go much faster and we need to do much better,” Ms. Boone said.

While the vaccine rollout would give a shot in the arm to the global economy, the United States’ planned $1.9 trillion stimulus package would cascade down to other countries, adding more than a percentage point to global growth.

The US economy would grow 6.5% this year and 4.0% next year, the OECD said, ramping up its forecasts from expectations in December for 3.2% in 2021 and 3.5% in 2022.

The OECD estimated the package, which includes $400 billion in one-time payments of $1,400 to many Americans, would boost US output by around 3% to 4% on average in its first full year.

With public money flooding into the world’s biggest economy, the package could lead to the creation of up to 3 million US jobs by the end of the year but could also increase inflation by 0.75 percentage points per year on average in the first two years.

Meanwhile, the stimulus would be a boon for the United States’ major trading partners, boosting growth by 0.5-1 percentage points in Canada and Mexico, and between 0.25-0.5 in euro area and China, the OECD said. — Reuters

Dirt-cheap flights on offer as airlines rebuild networks

DIRT-CHEAP FARES are popping up from airlines brave enough to expand or start out amid the COVID crisis, as they try to eke out sales and get a jump on competitors that have pared back operations.

Airlines worldwide cut $1 billion of expenses a day last year to cope with the slump in passengers, and that’s given them some wiggle room to lower ticket prices. More broadly, cost savings are emerging for carriers as unwanted planes become available on the cheap. Thousands of laid off flight crew are also eager for work, allowing some airlines to go on hiring sprees.

Ultra-cheap fares could help revive the market by luring back customers who’ve been reluctant to fly due to border restrictions and lengthy quarantines. Vaccine rollouts add to the bullishness, even with air passenger travel in an unprecedented funk and a return to pre-crisis levels not expected before 2024.

Here’s a rundown of some of the latest industry moves:

VACATION TRAVEL
With the US vaccination program gathering pace, Las Vegas-based Allegiant Travel Co. has embarked on the second-largest network expansion in its history. Allegiant is adding 36 new non-stop routes from cities including Austin, San Diego, Indianapolis and Albany.

“There is a lot of pent-up demand for travel to cities that offer a gateway to great outdoor experiences,” said Drew Wells, Allegiant’s senior vice president of revenue. One-way fares on the new routes cost as little as $39.

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines Co. is conducting its biggest network expansion since 2013, starting or planning services at 17 airports including beach and mountain vacation destinations.

Southwest is also adding flights for the first time at the major airports in Houston, Chicago and Miami in a bid to win more business travelers.

As demand cratered last year, average US domestic fares fell to $245 in the third quarter, the lowest on record, the Department of Transportation said in January. That was 30% down from the same quarter in 2019.

The prices reflect the carnage across the industry. Some 425,000 industry jobs have been lost, and commercial airline traffic remains 45% below pre-pandemic levels, according to data from FlightAware. Highly contagious COVID-19 mutations have dashed previous hopes of an imminent rebound.

THREE’S A CROWD
Little known outside Australia, Regional Express Holdings Ltd. (Rex) has decided now is the time to go up against Qantas Airways Ltd. and Virgin Australia Airlines on one of the world’s busiest routes — Sydney-Melbourne. Backed by Asian private-equity firm PAG, Rex last week launched full-service flights between the cities on leased Boeing Co. 737s that include eight business-class seats. Tickets start at A$79 ($62) one-way and the airline has said it will offer as many as nine return trips a day.

It’s a major step for Rex, which mostly operates smaller propeller planes. The company secured a “significant reduction” on normal rates on its 737s and aims to add flights to other Australian state capitals, according to Deputy Chairman John Sharp. “There’s never been a better time to set up a domestic airline operation in Australia,” he said.

For a trip from Melbourne to Sydney on June 10, Virgin Australia is matching Rex’s fares, while Qantas flights start at A$109, according to their websites.

DOUBLING UP
Canada’s Flair Airlines Ltd. is betting that pent-up demand to see friends and family will spur a domestic travel recovery in the Northern Hemisphere summer. The ultra-low-cost carrier is bulking up its fleet and almost doubling its network, with fares starting at C$39 ($31).

Edmonton-based Flair is leasing 13 new Boeing 737 Max jets from one of its investors, 777 Partners, after the aircraft was cleared to fly again in January by Canada’s aviation regulator.

“Affordable air travel within Canada is the first step in restarting travel and tourism,” President Stephen Jones said last month.

ALL-YOU-CAN-FLY DEALS
Crunched by border restrictions in Southeast Asia, low-cost airline AirAsia Group Bhd. is front loading its revenue recovery by selling 599-ringgit ($146) travel passes that allow unlimited flights in Malaysia and the Asean region for a year. The all-you-can-fly offer ran from Mar. 3-7, and doesn’t include taxes, fees and other add-ons.

AirAsia doesn’t expect to start services to most of Southeast Asia before the third quarter, so the travel pass means it can book income months before costs are incurred. The airline can also control the number of flights available to pass holders, capping the overall redemption cost of the deal.

It’s a proven model. Last June, China Eastern Airlines Corp. was among Chinese carriers promoting unlimited weekend flights for the rest of the year for a single fee of 3,322 yuan ($510).

LOW-COST, LONG-HAUL
Deutsche Lufthansa AG expects cooped-up Germans will be overcome by wanderlust when lockdown finishes, and is starting a new airline to cater to them: Eurowings Discover, aimed at the low-cost, long-haul market.

Executives hope the carrier will enable Lufthansa to profit from a faster recovery in leisure flying as its core operations struggle due to a collapse in intercontinental corporate travel.

DZ Bank estimated Germans collectively saved around 393 billion euros ($466 billion) last year. Looking to tap those savings, Eurowings Discover is offering flights from Frankfurt to Namibia or the Dominican Republic from around 600 euros return on Airbus SE A330 jets. — Bloomberg

Hard hit by COVID-19, migrants seen facing ‘invisible wall’

BOGOTA — From Australia to Egypt, migrants and refugees have been especially hard hit by job losses and economic pain during the coronavirus pandemic, with many struggling to access healthcare and state aid, a survey showed on Tuesday.

The survey, published in a report by the Red Cross Red Crescent (RCRC) Global Migration Lab, included 3,250 interviews with migrants in eight countries — Australia, Colombia, Egypt, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Sudan, Sweden and Britain.

Migrant workers are over-represented in hard-hit sectors such as food production and hospitality, meaning they have been disproportionately affected by layoffs and wage losses linked to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the report said.

Migrants also make up a significant share of key workers in healthcare, scientific research, food supply chains, and those making personal protective equipment (PPE).

Yet the pandemic has led to the “intentional exclusion of migrants from COVID-19 prevention and support programmes,” such as government cash transfers, the report said.

In Australia, nearly 90% of migrants surveyed online said they were financially worse off because of the pandemic, while in Egypt, nearly 80% said their income had fallen by between 70% and 100% due to COVID-19 restrictions.

In Africa’s Sahel region, some migrants without work prior to the pandemic have resorted to begging and most were not able to make enough money to cover their basic needs, the survey found.

“Our research reveals what we are calling an ‘invisible wall’ that has blocked migrants — particularly those undocumented or in an irregular situation — from accessing basic services,” Jagan Chapagain, secretary general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, (IFRC) said in a statement.

Some nations, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Britain, have introduced measures to ensure migrants — regardless of their immigration status — have free access to COVID-19 testing and screening, the report noted.

But elsewhere, migrants have been unable to access COVID-19 care because they do not have a national identity or social security number.

This barrier is likely to also affect access to vaccinations even if migrants are eligible by law to receive coronavirus jabs, the report warned.

“The inclusion of migrants into national COVID-19 policies does not necessarily translate into inclusive and effective access in practice,” Mr. Chapagain said.

In some countries, migrants need to register online to get COVID-19 vaccinations, which can exclude some due to their limited internet access and language barriers, the report said.

It also said migrants reported being hesitant to consult a doctor, seek treatment, and register for the COVID-19 vaccine due to fears of disclosing information which may be shared with immigration authorities to arrest, detain or deport them. — Thomson Reuters Foundation

Meghan and Harry’s revelations not yet fatal for British monarchy

LONDON — Prince Harry and Meghan’s TV interview in which they talked of racism, neglect and feuding inside the royal family is the biggest challenge to the British monarchy this century, but supporters say it will survive, at least while Elizabeth is queen.

Meghan and Harry’s accusations underscore just how hard the taxpayer-funded institution, which traces its roots through 1,000 years of British and English history, has found it to adapt to a meritocratic world and intense media scrutiny.

The monarchy, headed by Queen Elizabeth, will try to ride out the turmoil and then quietly reform — as it did in the abdication crisis in 1936 when Edward VIII gave up his throne for American divorcee Wallis Simpson, or in the public anger following the death of Harry’s mother Princess Diana in 1997.

But there may be lasting damage, and with Britain nearing the end of its second Elizabethan age, a looming conflict of generations.

“This is a grim moment, there’s no doubt, for the family,” a former senior royal aide told Reuters.

“It’s very easy in these moments — and we are in a moment — to think dark thoughts about the future of the monarchy. I think it’s pretty secure, but there’s no denying that this is a meaningful blow and a difficult crisis for them to navigate.”

Plotting a path out of the crisis will fall to Elizabeth, 94, her son and heir Prince Charles, 72, and his eldest son Prince William, 38, plus a small group of advisers such as the queen’s private secretary Edward Young, 54, and Charles’ private secretary Clive Alderton, 53.

Ultimately the final decision will rest with Elizabeth — effectively chairman of “the Firm” — with input from Charles and William, though they will also have guidance from advisers and could consult Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Those top three royals gathered at Sandringham, the monarch’s country retreat, in early 2020 to hash out a possible compromise for Harry and Meghan as they stepped back from official duties.

FAMILY MATTER
Around 40 hours after the interview aired, Elizabeth issued a statement to say the royals were saddened by the challenging experiences of Harry and Meghan and promised to privately address revelations about a racist remark about their son.

Throughout its history, the monarchy has had to cope with wars, revolution and civil strife. But in the last century, the greatest threat has come from within its own ranks.

The abdication crisis unexpectedly propelled George VI, a shy man who had a stammer, onto the throne in a turn of events which ultimately led to his daughter Elizabeth II, now 94, becoming queen, a role she has held for a record 69 years.

During that time, the greatest existential threat came in the tumult of the 1990s, when the institution struggled to cope with scandals and wrecked marriages, not least that of Charles to the late Diana.

After the death of Diana, then-Prime Minister Tony Blair convinced Charles to persuade the queen to come to London to be seen to address the nation, though there were tensions then between the PM’s team and the Palace’s advisers.

Mr. Blair felt the Palace had been slow to respond and parachuted his own PR chief in to help it deal with the crisis.

There are concerns the monarchy is again being pushed to the precipice — this time due to accusations of racism and neglect by Meghan and Harry, the sixth-in-line to the throne and younger brother of future king, William.

“The royal family has faced far greater challenges in its existence and although front pages are fulminating with the hype that this is the greatest crisis that’s hit the royal family, that’s tosh,” Mark Borkowski, one of Britain’s leading public relations experts, told Reuters.

ROYALS LIKE PANDAS?
Novelist Hilary Mantel, whose trilogy about the court of Tudor King Henry VIII garnered two Booker prizes, likened the royal family to pandas, “expensive to conserve and ill-adapted to any modern environment.”

“But aren’t they interesting? Aren’t they nice to look at?” Mantel wrote in a 2013 essay. “Some people find them endearing; some pity them for their precarious situation; everybody stares at them, and however airy the enclosure they inhabit, it’s still a cage.”

Harry admitted he had felt confined.

“I was trapped but I didn’t know I was trapped,” he said. “Trapped within the system, like the rest of my family are. My father and my brother, they’re trapped. They don’t get to leave and I have huge compassion for that.”

Polls show the British public overwhelmingly support the queen, and even republicans admit there is absolutely no prospect of any constitutional upheaval while Elizabeth is monarch.

But approval for Charles — who Harry said he felt had let him down — is much lower.

The furore comes in the midst of a “culture war,” often portrayed as a rift between an older generation wishing to protect Britain’s history and heritage from a “woke” youth, who see their elders as blocking moves to end racial and social injustice.

A snap survey carried out after the interview indicated that the British public’s sympathies lay more with the queen and other royal family members than with Harry and Meghan, but were split on whether the couple had been treated unfairly, with younger people tending to take the couple’s side while those over 65 did not.

Mr. Borkowski said the generation who grew up when Elizabeth came to the throne were dying out and the monarchy had to think about its future.

“This throws up many, many questions that need to be answered because of what Meghan and Harry have unveiled by opening up some wounds and pitching a battle in the heat of the culture wars,” he said. — Reuters

Brands hope to cash in on Clubhouse audio app frenzy

Last month, during a live game show on audio-chat app Clubhouse, tech entrepreneur and investor Noah Lichtenstein and his co-hosts handed out $3,200 in prizes funded by Square Inc.-owned payment company Cash App, which sponsored the event.

Days later, top executives from Restaurant Brands International, owner of fast-food chains Burger King and Popeyes, created their own Clubhouse room to let people quiz them on anything they wanted after their quarterly financial report in an event billed as “Open Kitchen.”

The invite-only app, which launched last March, does not currently offer paid advertising. But the service that regularly draws big crowds into audio chat rooms lured by surprise appearances by the likes of musician Drake and billionaire Elon Musk, is also quickly attracting big companies hoping to reach the estimated 8 million users who have downloaded the hottest new digital platform since TikTok.

Brands are experimenting on Clubhouse in wide-ranging ways without a playbook. Some companies are offering money to well-known Clubhouse creators to sponsor their audio rooms. Others see opportunities to generate free buzz or get live feedback on their products, Clubhouse hosts said.

So frenzied is the business interest that “It’s getting to the point where brands are investing and paying for people to advise them on how to use Clubhouse effectively,” said Kat Cole, a business adviser, investor, and host of a weekly Clubhouse room called “Office Hours.”

Companies have long nurtured corporate profiles on Facebook , which boasts 2.8 billion users, or Twitter with 192 million users. On Clubhouse accounts must be tied to an individual with their real name, though brands may create a Clubhouse room and host content from them, said a Clubhouse spokeswoman.

Restaurant Brands International (RBI) Chief Executive Jose Cil used the app to take questions ranging from how he entered the restaurant business to the similarities between fast-food chains and fine-dining establishments, all while in the back of an Uber, said Duncan Fulton, chief corporate officer at RBI.

Mr. Cil and other executives enjoyed Clubhouse so much that RBI’s global Popeyes team plan to host their own session, Mr. Fulton added.

Clubhouse stands out from other platforms because it gives users a shot at speaking with a major CEO or celebrity, said Ishan Goel, a brand strategist and founder of Goel Strategies, which has worked with clients like Colgate and Darden Restaurants.

“I’m telling (executives) to just jump on,” Mr. Goel said. “Gen Z and younger millennials want to know who’s behind the scenes at these companies.”

Last week, a group of Clubhouse’s top 40 creators, who were brought together to advise the app’s founders, launched a new company called Audio Collective to create a more formal structure to match brands with hosts. The company will help decide on sponsorship pricing and assist hosts with planning their events, said Catherine Connors, one of the founders of Audio Collective and a former Disney executive.

While the app lacks advertising formats, some hosts are experimenting with inserting information about sponsors into the conversations. Shondra Washington, an Audio Collective founder and president of investment firm TBC-Capital, said she discussed her need for a new computer to incorporate mention of Upsie, a startup that provides warranties for tech devices and recently sponsored her Clubhouse room called “CrowdHouse.”

Upsie’s sponsorship was disclosed verbally and in the title and description of the Clubhouse room.

The sponsorship took place during the holidays around the launch of the highly sought-after Sony PlayStation 5, and led to an uptick in the number of visits to Upsie’s website, Washington said. “It was the perfect time to talk about it.”

Some brands that missed the boat on hot services like TikTok, a short form video-sharing app, are trying to get ahead of the curve by diving into Clubhouse, even as the platform currently lacks analytics that help companies measure how well their marketing worked, Mr. Lichtenstein said.

The largest prize to date that was awarded by Mr. Lichtenstein’s Clubhouse room called “I AM WOW $” which is sponsored by Cash App, was $1,600 to a musician from Texas who was out of work, he said.

“I can’t say for Cash App how they measure (the effectiveness) of this, but delivering this much joy to people has to have a lot of value,” Mr. Lichtenstein said. — Sheila Dang/Reuters

Coalition eyes 100-day target for new vaccines against disease epidemics

LONDON — An international coalition set up to prepare for future infectious disease threats set out what it called its “moonshot” plan on Wednesday to ensure new vaccines against emerging disease epidemics are developed within 100 days.

Launching a $3.5 billion five-year strategy to tackle future pandemic risks, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) said more needs to be done urgently to mitigate the threat posed by new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) variants, and to prepare for new infectious diseases.

Compressing vaccine development timelines to 100 days would make them around a third as long as it took the world to develop the first COVID-19 vaccines, CEPI said in a statement.

It called on governments, global health organizations, and other partners to back what it said was a “critical investment in global health security” and to take advantage of “the revolution in vaccinology that has been catalyzed by COVID-19.”

“We now have the tools to dramatically reduce or eliminate the risk of future epidemics and pandemics,” CEPI’s chief executive Richard Hatchett said. “We must invest now in the vaccines and biologic countermeasures that we need, while linking these investments with commitments to equitable access.”

CEPI, which was created in 2017 with initial donor funding from Germany, Japan, and Norway and from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust global health charity, has played a key role in funding the early development of a range of candidate vaccines against COVID-19.

Its plan for 2022–2026 is now focused on honing and adjusting vaccines for use against the SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses, as well as preparing for as yet unknown emerging disease threats.

To be able to squeeze vaccine development timelines down to 100 days, CEPI said, researchers and drug developers would need to exploit the capabilities of so-called rapid response platform technologies, such as the mRNA approach used in COVID-19 shots developed by Pfizer-BioNtech and Moderna for example.

It would also involve working with global drug regulators to streamline the requirements needed for vaccines to be approved, and linking up manufacturing facilities to enable rapid production of pandemic vaccines, CEPI said. — Kate Kelland/Reuters

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