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NBA tightens health protocols as COVID-19 affects season

NBA players should stay at their residences when they are at home and in their hotels when on the road for at least the next two weeks, the league said on Tuesday in a list of new health protocols designed to limit COVID-19’s impact on the season.

The league, which postponed one game on Sunday and three games this week due to the virus, is trying to avoid a league-wide suspension of play like the one that derailed it in March before it returned in a “bubble” environment in Orlando in July.

The NBA said the new protocols, which take effect immediately, were issued “in response to the surge of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases across the country and an uptick among NBA teams requiring potential player quarantines.”

Players and team staff can leave their homes to attend team-related activities, exercise outside, perform essential activities or as a result of extraordinary circumstances, the protocols said.

While at hotels, players and team staff are prohibited from leaving expect for team activities or emergencies. They are also barred from interacting with non-team guests.

Players and coaches must wear face masks at all times on the bench and in the locker room, according to the protocols, which were endorsed by the players’ union.

“Upon exiting the game, and prior to returning to the bench, players can sit in ‘cool down chairs,’ arranged at least 12 feet from the bench with each chair six feet apart, where facemasks are not required,” according to the protocols.

Players must also limit their pre- and post-game interactions to elbow and fist bumps and maintain six feet of distance as much as possible.

Elsewhere the rules limited the length of team meetings, mandated that massages and physical therapy at a hotel occur in a ballroom or other large open space, and prohibited players from arriving at the arena more than three hours before tip-off.

The league on Sunday said it had no plans to put its season on hold, as teams struggle to make available a league-mandated eight-man roster for games due to injuries and COVID-19 contact tracing. — Reuters

Los Angeles Lakers ground Houston Rockets again 117-100

LEBRON James scored 22 of his game-high 26 points in the first half and the Los Angeles Lakers posted their second runaway victory over the Houston Rockets in as many games, rolling to a 117-100 victory on Tuesday at Toyota Center in Houston.

The Lakers, who led by as many as 27 points in their 120-102 win on Sunday, matched that advantage on a Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 3-pointer at the 3:35 mark of the second quarter. The Lakers led wire to wire while remaining perfect on the road, combining stingy defense with blistering perimeter shooting in the first quarter to build a 35-14 lead entering the second.

James made four of nine 3-pointers and added eight rebounds and five assists. Five other Lakers joined James in double figures, with Anthony Davis posting 19 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots in just 29 minutes. The starting backcourt of Dennis Schroeder and Caldwell-Pope combined for 28 points on 11-for-18 shooting with six rebounds and four steals.

Christian Wood paired 18 points with eight rebounds while James Harden added 16 points, seven rebounds, and six assists for Houston. The Rockets continued their poor shooting from deep, finishing 12 of 40 on 3s while shooting just 39.2% overall. Harden missed five of six treys and shot five of 16 overall.

The Lakers turned a 12-0 run into a 28-10 advantage in the first quarter, getting 3s from Caldwell-Pope and James while recording three blocks and forcing two turnovers during the rally. The Lakers entered the second quarter with a plus-8 advantage on the glass and eight fast-break points while limiting the Rockets to 6-for-21 shooting.

SIXERS 137 – HEAT 134 OT
Joel Embiid scored 35 of his 45 points in the second half and overtime (OT) to lift the host Philadelphia 76ers past the Miami Heat 137-134 on Tuesday.

NETS 122 – NUGGETS 116
Kevin Durant totaled 34 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds as Brooklyn overcame an 18-point deficit to post a victory over Denver in New York.

JAZZ 117 – CAVALIERS 87
Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points and Jordan Clarkson added 21 to lift visiting Utah to a victory over Cleveland.

SPURS 112 – THUNDER 102
Lonnie Walker IV scored 24 points to lead San Antonio to a victory at Oklahoma City. San Antonio forced 13 Thunder turnovers, converting them into 26 points on the other end, while Oklahoma City managed just two points off four Spurs turnovers. Keldon Johnson had 18 points for the Spurs and Patty Mills contributed 17. — Reuters

Pogba sends United clear at the top with win at Burnley

BURNLEY, England — Manchester United moved three points clear at the top of the Premier League after a Paul Pogba goal gave them a hard-fought 1-0 win over Burnley at a freezing Turf Moor on Tuesday.

The victory, in the re-arranged fixture, put United on 36 points from 17 games with rivals Liverpool on 33 points ahead of the clash between the two sides at Anfield on Sunday.

The breakthrough came in the 71st minute when Marcus Rashford floated in a ball from the right, which Pogba met with a volley that deflected off the outstretched leg of Burnley defender Matt Lowton and beat the wrong-footed Nick Pope.

It is the first time United have been top of the league after 17 games since December 2012 and the victory was their seventh in eight games away from Old Trafford.

While United did not create as much as they would have expected against a team in 16th place, it was a determined and aggressive display from Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s side.

“We had to dig in and earn it, and we did,” said the United manager.

“We feel very confident going into games. Away from home, we have really done well. We have to believe in ourselves and we do. We’ve done a great job, it’s good times. It’s a test against the champions (on Sunday) who have been fantastic, that’s a great test for us,” he said.

United skipper Harry Maguire had an effort ruled out in the first half after referee Kevin Friend ruled he had pushed Erik Pieters as he rose to head in a Luke Shaw cross at the back post.

Burnley applied some late pressure and felt they should have had a penalty when the ball appeared to hit Maguire’s arm. James Tarkowski had a great chance to grab a point for the Clarets, but failed to make good contact from a goalscoring position.

United should have wrapped up the win in the final minutes but Anthony Martial, through on goal, was denied by the legs of Pope.

Burnley were gritty and aggressive, but Jüergen Klopp’s Liverpool side at Anfield will offer a very different prospect. — Reuters

Worried about Earth’s future? The outlook is worse than what scientists can grasp

Anyone with even a passing interest in the global environment knows all is not well. But just how bad is the situation? Our new paper shows the outlook for life on Earth is more dire than is generally understood.

The research published today reviews more than 150 studies to produce a stark summary of the state of the natural world. We outline the likely future trends in biodiversity decline, mass extinction, climate disruption, and planetary toxification. We clarify the gravity of the human predicament and provide a timely snapshot of the crises that must be addressed now.

The problems, all tied to human consumption and population growth, will almost certainly worsen over coming decades. The damage will be felt for centuries and threatens the survival of all species, including our own.

Our paper was authored by 17 leading scientists, including those from Flinders University, Stanford University, and the University of California, Los Angeles. Our message might not be popular, and indeed is frightening. But scientists must be candid and accurate if humanity is to understand the enormity of the challenges we face.

GETTING TO GRIPS WITH THE PROBLEM
First, we reviewed the extent to which experts grasp the scale of the threats to the biosphere and its lifeforms, including humanity. Alarmingly, the research shows future environmental conditions will be far more dangerous than experts currently believe.

This is largely because academics tend to specialize in one discipline, which means they’re in many cases unfamiliar with the complex system in which planetary-scale problems — and their potential solutions — exist.

What’s more, positive change can be impeded by governments rejecting or ignoring scientific advice, and ignorance of human behavior by both technical experts and policymakers.

More broadly, the human optimism bias — thinking bad things are more likely to befall others than yourself — means many people underestimate the environmental crisis.

NUMBERS DON’T LIE
Our research also reviewed the current state of the global environment. While the problems are too numerous to cover in full here, they include:

• A halving of vegetation biomass since the agricultural revolution around 11,000 years ago. Overall, humans have altered almost two-thirds of Earth’s land surface.

• About 1,300 documented species extinctions over the past 500 years, with many more unrecorded. More broadly, population sizes of animal species have declined by more than two-thirds over the last 50 years, suggesting more extinctions are imminent.

• About one million plant and animal species globally threatened with extinction. The combined mass of wild mammals today is less than one-quarter the mass before humans started colonizing the planet. Insects are also disappearing rapidly in many regions

• 85% of the global wetland area lost in 300 years, and more than 65% of the oceans compromised to some extent by humans

• A halving of live coral cover on reefs in less than 200 years and a decrease in seagrass extent by 10% per decade over the last century. About 40% of kelp forests have declined in abundance, and the number of large predatory fishes is fewer than 30% of that a century ago.

A BAD SITUATION ONLY GETTING WORSE
The human population has reached 7.8 billion — double what it was in 1970 — and is set to reach about 10 billion by 2050. More people equals more food insecurity, soil degradation, plastic pollution, and biodiversity loss.

High population densities make pandemics more likely. They also drive overcrowding, unemployment, housing shortages, and deteriorating infrastructure, and can spark conflicts leading to insurrections, terrorism, and war.

Essentially, humans have created an ecological Ponzi scheme. Consumption, as a percentage of Earth’s capacity to regenerate itself, has grown from 73% in 1960 to more than 170% today.

High-consuming countries like Australia, Canada, and the US use multiple units of fossil-fuel energy to produce one energy unit of food. Energy consumption will therefore increase in the near future, especially as the global middle class grows.

Then there’s climate change. Humanity has already exceeded global warming of 1°C this century, and will almost assuredly exceed 1.5°C between 2030 and 2052. Even if all nations party to the Paris Agreement ratify their commitments, warming would still reach between 2.6°C and 3.1°C by 2100.

THE DANGER OF POLITICAL IMPOTENCE
Our paper found global policymaking falls far short of addressing these existential threats. Securing Earth’s future requires prudent, long-term decisions. However this is impeded by short-term interests, and an economic system that concentrates wealth among a few individuals.

Right-wing populist leaders with anti-environment agendas are on the rise, and in many countries, environmental protest groups have been labeled “terrorists.” Environmentalism has become weaponized as a political ideology, rather than properly viewed as a universal mode of self-preservation.

Financed disinformation campaigns against climate action and forest protection, for example, protect short-term profits and claim meaningful environmental action is too costly — while ignoring the broader cost of not acting. By and large, it appears unlikely business investments will shift at sufficient scale to avoid environmental catastrophe.

CHANGING COURSE
Fundamental change is required to avoid this ghastly future. Specifically, we and many others suggest:

• abolishing the goal of perpetual economic growth

• revealing the true cost of products and activities by forcing those who damage the environment to pay for its restoration, such as through carbon pricing

• rapidly eliminating fossil fuels

• regulating markets by curtailing monopolization and limiting undue corporate influence on policy

• reigning in corporate lobbying of political representatives

• educating and empowering women across the globe, including giving them control over family planning.

DON’T LOOK AWAY
Many organizations and individuals are devoted to achieving these aims. However their messages have not sufficiently penetrated the policy, economic, political, and academic realms to make much difference.

Failing to acknowledge the magnitude and gravity of problems facing humanity is not just naïve, it’s dangerous. And science has a big role to play here.

Scientists must not sugarcoat the overwhelming challenges ahead. Instead, they should tell it like it is. Anything else is at best misleading, and at worst potentially lethal for the human enterprise.

 

Corey J. A. Bradshaw is a Matthew Flinders Professor of Global Ecology and Models Theme Leader for the ARC Center of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Flinders University. Daniel T. Blumstein is a Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, Paul Ehrlich is President of the Center for Conservation Biology, and a Bing Professor of Population Studies, Stanford University.

No to ‘Cha-cha’ before the fiesta

Congress should reconsider its plan to deliberate within the year any proposed changes to the 1987 Constitution, and then to later convene as a constituent assembly to amend the charter. The House leadership’s plan is to ratify any proposed charter changes in a plebiscite that can be held also during the May 2022 national and local elections.

Constitutional review can be done, but only after the May 2022 elections, which are just 15 months away. Any changes to the charter can wait until a new Congress is in place. We have already waited 34 years to make these changes, what is another 18 months? The 1935 Constitution was not amended until 1973, or about 38 years after.

Timing will always be suspect if constitutional review is done on or before a presidential election year. When the 1971 Constitutional Convention reviewed the 1935 Constitution, convention delegates were elected in November 1970. The convention was convened in June 1971. The presidential election was originally set for November 1972, about 18 months away, but it was never held as Martial Law was declared just two months before.

One can appreciate Congress’ sense of urgency. The intention, according to the House leadership, is to amend the “restrictive economic provisions” of the 1987 Constitution to help the economy recover from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The charter will be amended to allow Congress to pass bills that can “free up the economy to foreign investors.”

The plan appeals even to government economic managers, with Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III saying he is for “opening up the economy in all areas possible, with the exception of land ownership [because] the issue of land ownership is so emotional.” He also says liberalization “challenges local [producers], and they respond positively if there is good support.”

As for Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua, he wants Congress to instead prioritize already pending bills, such as proposed amendments to the Public Service Act (PSA), Retail Trade Liberalization Act (RTL), and Foreign Investment Act (FIA). “These are urgently needed to help attract more investments and create jobs,” he was quoted in a report.

This was seconded by Budget Assistant Secretary Rolando U. Toledo, who said “these bills will help promote a more sustainable and resilient external sector, whilst increasing the inflow of foreign investments and generating more jobs for the Filipino people.” The three bills were already approved by the House, but counterpart measures are pending at the Senate.

I support Secretary Chua’s call for prioritizing suitable alternatives to constitutional amendments. Approving these three economic bills can go a long way in reassuring investors and the market that the Philippines is ready to do business despite the pandemic. The challenge is convincing senators to prioritize these three items in their legislative calendar for 2021.

A new Congress in June 2022 can initiate a review of the economy’s performance and decide whether or not to still pursue amendments to the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution. By then, a mass vaccination plan for COVID-19 may also already be in place. It will also be more evident whether the three “laws” were actually beneficial or if they need further support.

Also, by mid-2022, there will be greater clarity as to where the Philippine economy is going and what businesses need support to either survive or to grow. We may also see greater stability in the world economy. We may also have a better idea which industries and technologies are attracting more capital and greater interest from investors.

My reluctance to support constitutional changes now stem from the lack of clarity whether as a constituent assembly, the House and the Senate will vote separately or together as one, on any proposed changes to the Constitution. My position is that given a bicameral legislature, then the two chambers should vote separately. I am uncertain, however, if this is how legislators see it.

Also, I am inclined to agree with the Makati Business Club (MBC) that charter change now may be “highly divisive” and “will only raise fears that other constitutional changes, some of which may be highly controversial, may be introduced and passed.” Instead, the MBC said, a new Congress in 2022 can be asked to “commit to initiate steps for the adoption of such [economic] provisions within the first 12 months of their term.”

Economic and political conditions are so fluid now that nobody really knows what’s going to happen in 2021 and 2022. Of course, this is not reason enough to just sit on our hands in the meantime. But constitutional changes are major undertakings that are not to be taken lightly. More patience and further study may be the more prudent thing to do for now.

We cannot afford any further instability. Things have been bad, and they can still get worse given the rising trend in COVID-19 cases. Thousands have died, and thousands more get infected every day. We are still far from securing vaccines for the majority. And the virus has been mutating, which can still render present vaccines useless by the time they become available to us.

Businesses and consumers have learned to adapt to the situation. A lot of changes have happened, and more changes will happen still. In this context, perhaps changes to the Public Service Act, the Retail Trade Liberalization Act, and the Foreign Investment Act may be enough for 2021 or until mid-2022. Constitutional amendments can come after the May 2022 Fiesta.

 

Marvin Tort is a former managing editor of BusinessWorld, and a former chairman of the Philippines Press Council

matort@yahoo.com

Money in a liquid state

WATER and its liquid properties provide some paradigms for business and the economy. “Liquidity” for instance refers to the flow of money in the economy and on a personal level describes how much cash one has on hand, also called a cash flow. (Does this signify that cash just passes through and goes somewhere else?) A high level of liquid assets above operating expenses can describe an individual as swimming in cash.

Where one swims can also determine the perception of success in a career. Ponds are used for these aquatic exertions. Are you a small fish in a big pond? Or a big fish in a small one?

A pond is much smaller than a lake or an ocean. Fishes in the ocean provide a somewhat biblical slant (you will be fishers of men) though they can refer to job applicants too. Or even romantic prospects — there are so many fish in the sea. This one is a consoling thought for those who let one or two get away.

The combination of fishes and the pools of water they swim in can indicate career prospects. Thus, someone treading water in a large and profitable company with huge benefits, but occupying a low-tier position like senior manager in a structure where Vice-Presidents are a dime a dozen, is said to be a small fish in a big pond.

If this swimmer decides to move to a start-up fintech company in a low-rent office building, enticed by shares (sweat equity) and a glorified title like Chief Technology Officer (CTO), he is said to have turned into a big fish in a small pond. The big payoff is expected when the company lists with an IPO. This presumes that the IPO price kicks up on the first day of listing.

Why does anyone changing jobs feel compelled to describe himself as a small creature with fins swimming in a body of water? Why not simply admit that one has been forced to leave even if the big pond was indeed comfortable for fishes big and small? The pond as metaphor is intended to avoid embarrassing exchanges. Moves are somehow required to be perceived as voluntary, even planned.

Other watery metaphors are applied to economics and business.

The “trickle-down” effect refers to income distribution in macroeconomics. The theory holds that lower taxes at the top will trickle benefits to those lower down the income scale. This premise is contested by those who feel not even a splash coming from the top. The tax cut can even get out of the system into a safe haven.

A “pissing contest” which requires expelling liquid through a very small aperture, refers to the rat race. The supposition is that vitality (often associated with youth) allows the pisser to launch his liquid waste a longer distance. Here, the incontinent veteran suffers in comparison. The latter’s drippy effort on the amber stuff can make this urinary contest too one-sided. Size is not the issue here, only the speed and distance of delivery.

“Walking on water” is also a phrase used in business. It describes the divine attributes of those newly poached from stints abroad at stratospheric compensation levels and introduced as miracle workers — please welcome Divine Grace as our new CFO. She is known to walk on water, except in a storm. The new hire is expected to occasionally turn water into wine and raise assets from the dead.

“Passing water” is the reaction of cowed subordinates. The expulsion of liquid here is an involuntary reaction to water walkers. They also figure significantly in pissing contests. (See above)

Being “under water,” unless one’s business involves aquatic entertainment for socially distanced bar habitués drinking mojito and gazing through thick glass walls, denotes an unfortunate condition. It is ironically an illiquid state.

As for “sunk cost,” this refers to failed investments which should no longer affect future financial decisions. It is considered a bad strategy to tote up past losses when making new decisions, like acquiring a new company. This time let’s look closely at the valuation.

As for old acquaintances catching up with you, and how you’re doing in terms of the waterworks, it’s best to be vague. (I’m just keeping my head above water.) Such ambiguity allows conversation to move on to other problems, which can be dismissed as water under the bridge.

And in moments of economic difficulties, sometimes an offer of comfort can be irresistibly liquid. Need a drink?

 

Tony Samson is Chairman and CEO, TOUCH xda

ar.samson@yahoo.com

Scientists raise doubts about AstraZeneca vaccine efficacy

SYDNEY — Australian scientists have raised questions over the efficacy of the AstraZeneca coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine in establishing herd immunity, calling for a pause on its widespread rollout as the country recorded one new coronavirus case on Wednesday.

The opposition to the vaccine casts a cloud over Australia’s immunization plans with 53 million doses of the AstraZeneca jab already on hand.

“The question is really whether it is able to provide herd immunity. We are playing a long game here. We don’t know how long that will take,” said Professor Stephen Turner, the president of the Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology (ASI).

Mr. Turner added that the government must pivot towards getting more of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.

Experts, including Mr. Turner, cited data showing the AstraZeneca jab had 62% efficacy compared with over 90% for the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine.

In a statement, the ASI said Mr. Turner was speaking as an expert in immunology and that the body did not advocate a pause to the rollout as widely reported by local media.

Earlier, Turner told the Sydney Morning Herald the AstraZeneca vaccine is not one “I would be deploying widely because of that lower efficacy.”

Australia has 10 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, though neither AstraZeneca nor Pfizer have approval from the country’s drug regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).

AstraZeneca did not immediately respond to an email request for comment.

EFFECTIVE, SAFE, HIGH QUALITY
Australia’s chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, attempted to thwart the concerns around its efficacy, saying the AstraZeneca jab was “effective,” “safe” and of “high quality”.

“The great advantage of the AstraZeneca vaccine is it’s being made here in Australia,” Mr. Kelly said. “It will be available as soon as the TGA gives its tick, which we expect that it will in February.”

Mr. Kelly said Australia will have more data by February as well as “real-world information” coming from London, which has already rolled out the vaccine.

Australia has been more successful than many other countries in managing the pandemic, with total infections in the country of 25 million people at about 28,600, with 909 deaths.

Its success is largely attributable to closed borders and widespread compliance with social-distancing rules, along with aggressive testing and tracing programmes.

Given the low case numbers and community transmission rates, some experts say Australia could afford waiting for a more effective vaccine.

“The government needs to be flexible in its rollout decisions once we have a better understanding of the efficacy of the other vaccines,” said Adrian Esterman, chair of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the University of South Australia.

Australia recorded one new local coronavirus case in its most populous state of New South Wales on Wednesday.

In Queensland, hundreds of hotel quarantine guests were forced to restart their isolation after a handful of cases in the facility were linked to the highly contagious UK virus strain. — Reuters

Indonesia starts vaccination drive as COVID-19 deaths hit record

JAKARTA — Indonesia launched one of the world’s biggest COVID-19 vaccination campaigns on Wednesday with President Joko Widodo getting the first shot of a Chinese vaccine as his country fights one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in Asia.

The drive aims to inoculate 181.5 million people, with the first to be vaccinated receiving the CoronaVac vaccine from China’s Sinovac Biotech, which Indonesia authorized for emergency use on Monday.

Dressed in a white shirt and wearing a mask, the president, who is known as Jokowi, got his shot at the presidential palace.

“Vaccination is important to break the chain of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) transmission and give protection to us and safety to every Indonesian and help accelerate economic recovery,” Mr. Jokowi said after getting his injection.

Some other officials being vaccinated showed off their shot marks to waiting journalists and flexed their arms.

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin has said nearly 1.5 million medical workers would be inoculated by February, followed by public servants and the general population within 15 months.

Unlike many countries, Indonesia intends to inoculate its working population first, rather than the elderly, partly because it does not have enough data from clinical trials on CoronaVac’s efficacy on older people.

Indonesia on Tuesday reported a daily record 302 coronavirus deaths, taking fatalities to 24,645. Its infections are at their peak, averaging more than 9,000 a day, with 846,765 total cases.

Indonesia’s stocks have risen in the last few days, helped by the launch of vaccinations, with the main index opening up around 0.7% on Wednesday.

“Vaccinations contributed a fairly positive market sentiment,” said Hans Kwee, director at investment manager Anugerah Mega Investama.

‘NOT ONE BULLET’
Southeast Asia’s largest economy suffered its first recession in more than two decades last year due to pandemic, with the government estimating a contraction of as much as 2.2%.

The government has said two-thirds of the 270 million population must be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity, with the cost of the programme expected to be more than 74 trillion rupiah ($5.26 billion).

Olivia Herlinda, a researcher at the Center for Indonesia’s Strategic Development Initiatives, said authorities had not taken into account the vaccine efficacy and virus reproduction rate to justify its herd immunity focus.

Epidemiologist Masdalina Pane said that vaccines had to be accompanied by increased testing and tracing.

“There’s not one bullet,” she said.

Mr. Budi said Indonesia’s testing and tracing needed improving, adding there was an imbalance in testing resources across the archipelago.

Indonesia has said its trials showed CoronaVac has an efficacy rate of 65.3%, but Brazilian researchers said on Tuesday the vaccine was only 50.4% effective.

Indonesia’s food and drugs authority BPOM did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bambang Heriyanto, corporate secretary of Bio Farma, the Indonesian company involved in the trials, said the Brazilian data was still above the 50% benchmark set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Turkish researchers said in December CoronaVac showed a 91.25% efficacy based on interim analysis.

Indonesia expects to get another 122.5 million doses of CoronaVac by January 2022, with about 30 million doses due by the end of the first quarter this year.

It has also secured nearly 330 million doses of other vaccines, including from AstraZeneca and Pfizer and its partner BioNTech.  — Reuters

With some Republicans on board, US House Democrats press forward on impeachment vote

WASHINGTON — With at least five Republicans joining their push to impeach President Donald Trump over the storming of the US Capitol, Democrats in the House of Representatives stood poised for a history-making vote to try to remove the president from office.

With eight days remaining in Mr. Trump’s term, the House will vote on Wednesday on an article of impeachment accusing the Republican of inciting insurrection in a speech to his followers last week before a mob of them stormed the Capitol, leaving five dead.

That would trigger a trial in the still Republican-controlled Senate, although it was unclear whether enough time or political appetite remained to expel Mr. Trump.

Democrats moved forward on an impeachment vote after a effort to persuade Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment of the US Constitution to remove Mr. Trump was rejected by Mr. Pence on Tuesday evening.

“I do not believe that such a course of action is in the best interest of our Nation or consistent with our Constitution,” Mr. Pence said in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Despite the letter, the House passed a resolution formally calling on Mr. Pence to act. The final vote was 223-205 in favor.

While that was occurring, Mr. Trump’s iron grip on his party was showing further signs of slipping as at least four Republicans, including a member of the House leadership, said they would vote for his second impeachment — a prospect no president before Mr. Trump has faced.

Representative Liz Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican, said: “There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”

Mr. Trump “summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack” on the Capitol on Jan. 6, Ms. Cheney, the daughter of former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney, said in a statement, adding: “I will vote to impeach the president.”

Three other Republican House members, John Katko, Adam Kinzinger and Fred Upton, said they would also vote for impeachment.

Republican leaders in the House did not urge their members to vote against impeaching Mr. Trump, saying it was a matter of individual conscience.  

‘DEMONSTRATED NO REMORSE’
In his first public appearance since last Wednesday’s riot, Mr. Trump showed no contrition on Tuesday for his speech, in which he repeated his false claim that President-elect Joe Biden’s victory was illegitimate. Mr. Biden will be sworn in as president on Jan. 20.

“What I said was totally appropriate,” Mr. Trump told reporters on Tuesday in his first public foray since the assault on the Capitol.

At a meeting to set the rules for Wednesday’s impeachment vote, Democratic Representative David Cicilline told the House Rules Committee that the impeachment drive had the support of 217 lawmakers — enough to impeach Mr. Trump.

Mr. Cicilline, who helped craft the impeachment measure, said Mr. Trump “has had almost a week to do the right thing. He has refused to resign, he has failed to take responsibility, he has demonstrated no remorse.”

House Republicans who opposed the impeachment drive argued Democrats were going too far, as Mr. Trump was on the verge of leaving office.

“This is scary where this goes, because this is about more than about impeaching the president of the United States. This is about canceling the president and canceling all the people you guys disagree with,” said Republican Representative Jim Jordan, a leading Trump ally when the president was impeached in 2019 after encouraging the government of Ukraine to dig up political dirt on Mr. Biden.

The New York Times reported that the Republican majority leader of the US Senate, Mitch McConnell, was said to be pleased about the Democratic impeachment push, suggesting Mr. Trump’s party was looking to move on from him after the attack on Congress.

Mr. McConnell believes the impeachment effort will make it easier to purge Mr. Trump from the party, the Times said.

If Mr. Trump is impeached by the House, he would have a trial in the Senate to determine his guilt. A two-thirds majority of the Senate is needed to convict him, meaning at least 17 Republicans in the 100-member chamber would have to vote for conviction.

“I don’t think you would have a hard time finding 17 Republicans to convict” with a tightly drawn article of impeachment, a former Senate Republican leadership aide told Reuters. “I think for McConnell, there’s a very strong impulse for this (the Capitol assault) not to define the party.”

Ms. Pelosi on Tuesday named nine impeachment “managers,” who would present the House’s case for impeachment during a Senate trial, but it remained unclear how swiftly such a trial would take place if the House votes to impeach.

Mr. McConnell has said no trial could begin until the chamber returns from its recess on Jan. 19.

But Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is set to become the majority leader after two Democrats from Georgia are seated and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is sworn in, told reporters the Senate could be recalled to handle the matter.

Democrats could also use an impeachment trial to push through a vote blocking Mr. Trump from running for office again.

Rather than a two-thirds vote, a simple Senate majority is needed to disqualify Mr. Trump from future office. There is disagreement among legal experts as to whether a conviction on an impeachment charge would be needed before a disqualification vote. A different part of the Constitution, the 14th Amendment, also provides a procedure for disqualifying Mr. Trump from future office with a simple majority of both chambers.

Mr. Trump has said he plans to run again in 2024.  — Reuters

When it comes to New Year’s resolutions, losing weight and quitting smoking are among the most popular

To kick the smoking habit, a doctor recommended anticipating roadblocks and determining specific triggers so that that they can be managed.

Losing weight and quitting smoking are among the most popular resolutions at the start of the new year. 

“Kung desidido ka, hindi mo na ipipilit ang bawal [If you’ve already made up your mind, then you’re not going to do what’s not healthy for you],” said Dr. Patrick Siy, an endocrinologist, during a recent health forum organized by the Philippine Society of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism (PSEDM) and the Philippine College of Chest Physicians (PCCP).  

To kick the smoking habit, Dr. Glynna Ong-Cabrera, an internal medicine and cardiovascular and pulmonary physiotherapist, recommended five Ds, a few of which can also be used to curb the desire to stress eat.

“Anticipate your roadblocks and determine your specific triggers so you can manage them,” she said. “Triggers can be managed with the five D’s: delays, distraction, doing something else, deep breathing, and drinking water.”

DIET AND EXERCISE
To shed pounds, the two most important aspects to focus on are diet and exercise. Diabetics have to limit their intake of carbohydrates and sugary drinks, as well as set aside time for physical movement 30 minutes a day. 

Portion control must be enforced, even during special occasions. “You will never run out of occasions to attend. There’s always a birthday or an anniversary you’ll be invited to. If you’ve made the decision to live healthy, you can still enjoy special occasions, but you have to limit your intake,” said Mr. Siy.

The ideal meal serving, he added, would be to fill a fourth of a standard-sized, nine-inch plate with lean protein such as fish or chicken, a fourth with complex carbohydrates such as brown rice, and the rest with fruits and leafy vegetables. 

Considering the other food items that constitute one’s diet is also important. Milk tea, for instance, has tapioca pearls that contain sugar; three-in-one coffee is equivalent to a three-fourths cup of rice; and sugar-free mamon is equivalent to one cup of rice (one can have sugar-free mamon instead of rice, said Mr. Siy).

VAPING IS STILL SMOKING
Quitting smoking, meanwhile, will not only benefit smokers but also those around them, because secondhand smoke exposure can also cause an increased risk for health problems such as lung cancer and high blood pressure. 

Ms. Ong-Cabrera pointed out that cigarette contains toxins including formaldehyde (used for embalming corpses), naphthalene (used to kill cockroaches); and cadmium (used to manufacture batteries and plastics). 

E-cigarettes are just as harmful. Over 80 chemicals that have been found in e-liquid and e-cigarette vapors as of 2019. These chemicals include acrolein (an herbicide used to kill weeds) and propylene glycol (used to make paint solvent). 

As of February 2020, 2,807 e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury (EVALI) cases were reported to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, resulting in 68 deaths. 

In the Philippines, the first vaping-related illness was confirmed by the Department of Health in November 2019. The Lancet Respiratory Medicine also reported that those who use e-cigarettes, or use it with tobacco, were at a five-times or seven-times increased risk of a COVID-19 diagnosis, as compared to non-users.

“It [vaping] is not a smoking cessation strategy because it also entails a lot of ill effects,” said Ms. Ong-Cabrer. “Ang nag-quit because of vape, hindi nag-quit ’yun. Nag-shift lang [Those who quit smoking because of vape didn’t really quit. They just shifted to a different type of smoking].” — Patricia B. Mirasol

He was one of Asia’s richest men, now he’s fending off debt collectors

Shares of property tycoon Pan Sutong’s Goldin Financial Holdings Ltd. plunged and with most of his properties locked up as collateral for loans, he has fallen off the list of the world’s 500 wealthiest people. Goldin Financial’s eponymous skyscraper is at the heart of an asset grab by creditors after the company failed to make timely payments on its outstanding debt. Photo via Goldin Financial/goldinfinancial.com

In just five years, Hong Kong property tycoon Pan Sutong has gone from ranking among Asia’s wealthiest people to having his company’s flagship skyscraper seized by creditors chasing more than $1 billion of debt.

It’s a swift fall from grace for Mr. Pan, 57, who was Asia’s fourth-richest man in 2015 with a net worth of $27 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. But after shares of his Goldin Financial Holdings Ltd. plunged and with most of his properties locked up as collateral for loans, he has fallen off the list of the world’s 500 wealthiest people.

Mr. Pan’s initial wealth came not from property but from dealing in and then manufacturing electronics, an area he ventured into after moving to Hong Kong from California, where he’d spent his teens skipping school and hanging out at his family’s chain of Chinese restaurants. Pan transitioned to property investing in 2008, a few years into a red-hot boom that would mint numerous fortunes in Hong Kong and make it one of the world’s most expensive real estate markets.

He now joins other investors in the city who over-extended themselves during the boom, only to be undone as months of civil unrest and the coronavirus pandemic plunged Hong Kong into its worst recession on record.

Tang Shing-bor, a veteran investor known as the “Shop King” for his vast holdings of retail properties, is seeking to sell billions of dollars of real estate. A group of investors who paid $5.2 billion for The Center in the world’s most-expensive office deal, have been unable to flip floors as the market ground to a halt last year.

“Asset seizures are very company-specific,” said Edward Chan, a credit analyst at S&P Global Ratings in Hong Kong. “If property seizures happen then the company must be in a very bad financial position, with high debt and leverage.” Mr. Chan declined to comment specifically on Goldin Financial’s situation because S&P doesn’t cover the developer.

Even a $1.1 billion loan in September from CK Asset Holdings Ltd., backed by Hong Kong’s second wealthiest man Li Ka-shing, wasn’t enough to help Goldin Financial.

The loan, offered to a unit that owned the firm’s flagship Goldin Financial Global Centre office tower, was to repay borrowings of HK$3.4 billion by intermediary parent companies, Debtwire reported in August. It’s unclear why the CK Asset loan wasn’t used to clear the debt, but the security trustee on the loan is applying to a Bermuda court for Goldin Financial to be wound up. The next court hearing will be held on February 12, according to a Goldin Financial filing.

Mr. Pan, and Goldin Financial, racked up around HK$38 billion ($4.9 billion) of debt between May 2017 and September 2020 for four Hong Kong properties, according to stock exchange filings and data compiled by Bloomberg. At least $1 billion of that debt remains outstanding and tied to Goldin, according to company filings last month.

The latest available figures show Goldin’s net debt to Ebitda, a key measure of leverage, was about nine times at the end of 2018. That compares with a ratio of 2.3 times at the end of 2019 for Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd., the city’s biggest developer, and around 2 times for smaller developer HKR International Ltd.

Mr. Pan moved from manufacturing consumer electronics such as mobile phones and MP3 players to property in 2008, when he renamed his electronics firm Goldin Properties Holdings Ltd. and purchased a listed company, christening it Goldin Financial. Goldin Properties was delisted in 2017 and Mr. Pan owns a controlling stake in both firms.

Goldin Financial’s downfall can be traced back to Mr. Pan’s strategy of splitting ownership of properties between the company and his own private interests.

Between 2011 and 2020, Pan and Goldin Financial purchased one commercial and two residential properties. Goldin Financial took a 60% ownership stake, while Pan eventually held 40% privately. There was a similar ownership structure for a majority stake in a third residential plot.

But starting in 2018, Mr. Pan decided he wanted to take full ownership of one of the residential properties and a majority stake in another, which are located in Kowloon’s prestigious Ho Man Tin neighborhood and offered good profit potential.

In turn, he sold his share in the other two assets to his listed company. These included 40% stakes in the Goldin Financial Global Centre, his firm’s flagship office tower that was saddled with debt, and an expensive land parcel near the former Kai Tak airport that would have been costly to develop.

As a result, Mr. Pan became sole guarantor for a HK$7.19 billion loan for one of the residential developments, according to people familiar with the matter. At least four banks involved in the loan didn’t agree to the terms of the deal and exited, they said, declining to be identified as they aren’t authorized to speak publicly. This made it harder for Goldin Financial to close subsequent credit lines.

Mr. Pan didn’t respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Goldin Financial said the company doesn’t comment on Mr. Pan’s investments that aren’t related to the company and wouldn’t provide information about its own financial situation beyond previous announcements.

The Kai Tak project subsequently hit snags. In late 2019, Goldin Financial failed to raise a loan partly to fund development of the site, the people said. The firm later sold the plot for about HK$3.5 billion, less than half what it had paid in 2018, stock exchange filings and a government land tender announcement show.

The company’s eponymous skyscraper is at the heart of an asset grab by creditors after Goldin Financial failed to make timely payments on its outstanding debt. In July, lenders of the HK$3.4 billion loan demanded immediate repayment, while holders of a HK$6.8 billion senior bond threatened to take over the office block, which had been pledged as security.

Eventually, the receivers linked to the bonds successfully applied to Hong Kong’s High Court to take control of the 27-story building, and were granted ownership in September. They have since entered an agreement to sell the building after a months-long tender.

Goldin said in an exchange filing on Sunday that it’s been told by the receivers that the skyscraper’s sale will be sufficient to repay both the bond and the outstanding loan. The listed company also said that its board is confident that once the sale is completed, legal proceedings relating to the bond and the loan “will be resolved amicably.”

The sale will put Goldin Financial in the unenviable position of going from landlord to tenant as the building housing its headquarters passes from its ownership, a move that mirrors Pan’s own decline in fortunes. — Apple Lam and Shawna Kwan/Bloomberg

Half of women put off by macho language in job adverts

While 80% of women said they would not consider working in engineering, 56% were interested in the job once the advert had been rephrased, including replacing the word “engineer” with “network coordinator.”

LONDON — Biased language in some job adverts in Britain deters as many as one in two women from applying, a study said on Wednesday, amid a push to attract more women to male-dominated sectors.

Openreach, which operates most of the country’s broadband network, found that women’s interest in applying for an engineering job increased by more than 200% when changes were made to language in an advert.

The company asked 2,000 women about two different adverts for the same job, and found they were put off by macho phrases like “being on the road in your van” and “getting your hands dirty” and mention of climbing a telegraph pole.

“We were amazed to see just how much of a difference language makes,” said Kevin Brady, human resources director for Openreach, which is seeking to recruit women for 500 out of 2,500 new engineering jobs this year—10 times historic levels.

“We hope that this will be the catalyst for helping to break down barriers stopping women from considering a role in engineering.”

While 80% of women said they would not consider working in engineering, 56% were interested in the job once the advert had been rephrased, including replacing the word “engineer” with “network coordinator.”

The new advert also listed skills in more neutral language, stipulating that applicants should not be afraid of heights and be good at getting things done.

Just over 3% of Openreach engineers are women compared to 11% of engineers nationally.

With a quarter of respondents, who were aged 18 to 55, saying they still believed certain roles were more suited to men, the researchers said the findings had implications for many other industries.

Lawmaker Caroline Nokes, chair of parliament’s women and equalities committee, said encouraging more women into engineering had been a battle for decades.

“This study takes a big step towards removing barriers which would stop women even considering themselves for roles they are perfectly capable of doing.”

Hilary Leevers, chief executive of Engineering UK which works to increase diversity in the sector, urged other companies to review the language they used in advertisements.

The study, carried out with linguistic specialists Linguistic Landscapes, also showed 55% of respondents were possibly considering a new career because of the pandemic.

“There has never been a more important time to tear down barriers to recruitment and open up previously closed sectors,” Openreach’s Mr. Brady said. — Emma Batha/Thomson Reuters Foundation

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