The new virus

Three members of New Zealand's cricket team tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday shortly before a warmup match against Sussex. Fast bowler Blair Tickner, batter Henry Nicholls and bowling coach Shane Jurgensen began five days of isolation in their hotel rooms, the team said. The four-day warmup match — the first of two — was scheduled to go ahead. England is hosting New Zealand for three Tests beginning June 2 at Lord's before the series heads to Trent Bridge starting June 10 and then Headingley from June 23. The Black Caps won the inaugural World Test Championship final last June when they defeated India. New Zealand captain Kane Williamson is currently at home awaiting the birth of his second child. New Zealand is also missing Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Daryl Mitchell, who are playing in the Indian Premier League. … [Read more...] about New Zealand confirms 3 positive COVID cases on tour in England

A transgender male model has been announced as the face of a new campaign aiming to challenge the stigma around periods. Kenny Jones, 23, appears alongside activists, fashion designers and writers in the ‘I’M ON’ campaign launched by period subscription service Pink Parcel. Jones, who was christened Kelsey, has spoken out about how he suffered with his periods when transitioning at a young age - he was 14 when he came out as trans and 16 when he shaved his head and changed his name. Before he started taking hormone blockers at the age of 17, the north west London-based model still had periods every month. “During my transition I did have to deal with experiencing periods each month and many of the negative stereotypes that can come along with it,” Jones said. “Assuming periods are inhibiting to people tends to perpetuate period shame even more, and makes people even more reluctant to talk about them. “I always found the fact that no one seemed to openly talk about … [Read more...] about Transgender male model fronts new period campaign

Planto, a Hong Kong-based online banking solutions provider, has partnered with Cogo, a New Zealand-headquartered carbon footprint tracking fintech firm, to develop a software for the city’s banks that encourages consumers and small businesses to cut their greenhouse gas emissions. The carbon footprint calculator that they have jointly developed will allow consumers and small businesses to see the carbon emissions associated with their daily spending or operations, and give them suggestions on how to lower their impact, executives told the Post . “People care more and want to know more about sustainability, but they don’t know what actions they can take to reduce their footprint. Our software is an enabler, at no cost to [consumers], to understand what their footprint is and what are some ways that they can take to [reduce] it,” said Julie Lindenberg, Cogo’s CEO in the Asia-Pacific region . Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? … [Read more...] about Hong Kong’s Planto ties up with New Zealand fintech firm Cogo to create awareness about sustainability, launch carbon footprint

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, May 22 (Borneo Bulletin/ANN): Brunei recorded 271 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, bringing the national tally of confirmed cases to 146,315. Of this, 267 cases were detected through the antigen rapid tests (ARTs), and four from the 267 RT-PCR laboratory tests performed in the past 24 hours. No Covid-19 fatalities were recorded in the past 24 hours. The latest COVID updates were shared by Minister of Defence II Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Awang Halbi Mohd Yussof during the daily press conference yesterday. The minister said, “No cases are found categorised in Category 5, requiring treatment in the intensive care unit and no cases are reported in Category 4, requiring respiratory assistance and close monitoring.” Three hundred and thirty cases have recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 144,387. Meanwhile, there are 1,707 active cases, with 11 receiving treatment in hospitals and 1,696 undergoing self-isolation. … [Read more...] about Brunei: 33 per cent of children in age group five-11 have received second dose of vaccination; 271 new cases reported

Ehab Galal has been named as the new coach of Egypt, replacing Carlos Queiroz who left the role this week, officials confirmed on Tuesday. IPL FULL COVERAGE | SCHEDULE | RESULTS | ORANGE CAP | PURPLE CAP The 54-year-old is currently in charge of Pyramids FC in the Egyptian Premier League, who he joined at the start of the season and has led to the quarter-finals of the African Confederation Cup. Galal will be tasked with lifting the mood of the national team after they lost on penalties to Senegal in the final of the recent Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon. Last month they fell to the same opponents in the final African qualifying round for the World Cup in Qatar, also via spot-kicks. His first assignment will be the 2023 Cup of Nations qualifiers that kick off in June. The draw for those will take place on Tuesday. Queiroz had discussions with the Egyptian Football Association about staying on as coach, but local media reported the two parties could not agree … [Read more...] about Ehab Galal Named New Coach of Egypt

Almond: A Novel AUTHOR : Won-pyung Sohn (Author), Sandy Joosun Lee (Translator) PUBLISHER : HarperVia "The Emissary" meets "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime" in this poignant and triumphant story about how love, friendship and persistence can change a life forever. This story is, in short, about a monster meeting another monster. One of the monsters is me. [TONGBANG BOOKS] Yunjae was born with a brain condition called alexithymia that makes it hard for him to feel emotions like fear or anger. He does not have friends—the two almond-shaped neurons located deep in his brain have seen to that—but his devoted mother and grandmother provide him with a safe and content life. Their little home above his mother’s used bookstore is decorated with colorful Post-it notes that remind him when to smile, when to say "thank you" and when to laugh. Then on Christmas Eve—Yunjae’s 16th birthday—everything changes. A shocking act of random violence shatters his world, … [Read more...] about 2020.10.29 New Arrivals

A determined woman refused to sulk when her wedding had to be postponed due to Covid , and used the extra time to lose more than 11 stone ahead of her new big day. Melissa Williams, from Bridgend, south Wales, was heartbroken when the pandemic scuppered her plans to wed fiancé Chris in the summer of 2020. But she soon let the lockdown delay inspire her to slim right down for when she did finally ie the knot, WalesOnline report. The mum was 25st 4lbs and a size 30 when she was due to get hitched nearly two years ago, but when she walked down the aisle in April the 27-year-old was almost half the size. However, it wasn't all good news - she did so well that had to go out and buy a brand new wedding dress, after buying one which fit her perfectly just as Covid arrived. She picked her dress out before the big day had to be shelved ( Image: @bypassing_my_problems / CATERS NEWS) She was glad the wedding was off - and looked spectacular in her new gown two … [Read more...] about Mum used Covid wedding delay to shed whopping 11 stone – and had to buy whole new dress

COVID-19 could end up taking down two presidents—the one who was grossly incompetent , and the one who expected to ride a vaccine to victory over the coronavirus. In other words, Donald Trump might very well have been re-elected if he had handled COVID responsibly. And while Joe Biden’s been an improvement, the perception of his management of the pandemic isn’t great, and that could be his undoing. A New York Times analysis of Biden’s decline in the polls from the mid-50s to his current 42 percent reveals that the downward pressure started well before the messy August 2021 exit from Afghanistan took its toll . The slippage in Biden’s numbers, in fact, coincided with the rise of the more transmissible Delta variant and with it, a growing awareness among the public that the administration’s cheery declaration of a post-vaccine “summer of freedom” had turned into something quite different. Biden’s Independence Day celebration was “the domestic equivalent of Mission … [Read more...] about Biden Needs to Fix His COVID Screwups if He Wants to Win Re-Election in 2024

The storyline is a familiar one: An idealistic new teacher, full of hope and enthusiasm, embarks on a career at a tough urban school. The plot then takes one of two typical turns: Either the fervent novice, facing the unyielding and ever-increasing pressures of the classroom, leaves teaching and emerges with insights on improving urban schools—or the newbie, due solely to individual moxie and an untiring work ethic, achieves seemingly miraculous results with a hard-to-teach student population. One of the latest iterations of this all-too-common narrative is found in a new memoir on teaching that has seen its share of plaudits and detractors . In The Battle for Room 314: My Year of Hope and Despair in a New York City High School , Ed Boland recounts his brief stint in 2006 teaching ninth-grade history at Henry Street School for International Studies on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Boland encounters numerous challenges in teaching children with what he describes as “ … [Read more...] about The Problem With Books About Urban-Education Heroes

Photographs by Tony Luong O n a Friday afternoon in mid-April, Gladys Vega received a disturbing message: A woman hospitalized with COVID-19 needed food for the 11-year-old daughter she’d left at home. Worried that the girl would go hungry, Vega rushed out of her office and into the tangle of downtown Chelsea, Massachusetts, a 1.8-square-mile city across the Mystic River from Boston. The 52-year-old Vega, wearing a black tracksuit, a highlighter-yellow T-shirt, and a little bit of matching eye glitter, jumped out of the car so quickly, I could barely keep up. She approached a narrow brick apartment building and asked the people on the stoop to open the front door. “You don’t have to worry; I’m not immigration,” Vega said in Spanish. “Let me in.” Vega was accustomed to convincing fearful Chelsea residents to trust her. More and more restrictive federal immigration measures had motivated some locals—day laborers, food-factory workers, janitors, and other employees now deemed … [Read more...] about How Fear Spreads the Coronavirus