Indonesian student's selfies fetch US$1 million in NFT sales - The Straits Times

SEMARANG (AFP, THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - An Indonesian college student has become an Internet sensation after trade in the digital rights to his selfies fetched more than US$1 million (S$1.3 million) on a platform for non-fungible tokens (NFT).

Mr Sultan Gustaf Al Ghozali, who studies computer science at a university in the central city of Semarang, has taken a picture of himself sitting in front of his computer almost every day for the last five years.

He intended to use the collection of nearly 1,000 selfies to create a timelapse video for his graduation day.

But after learning about blockchain technology, the 22-year-old decided to upload the photos to NFT trading platform OpenSea under the title “Ghozali Everyday”.

“I was thinking it might be funny if one of the collectors collected my face,” Mr Ghozali told reporters at his university’s campus on Thursday (Jan 13).

“I never thought anybody would want to buy the selfies, which is why I only priced them at $3,” he said.

But on Friday, one selfie was available for 0.247 of the cryptocurrency ether (S$1,086) after demand shot up.

NFTs have transformed digital items ranging from illustrations to memes into virtual collectors’ items that cannot be duplicated.

Mr Ghozali started to upload his selfies in late December, but it was not until a celebrity chef snapped some up last week and promoted Mr Ghozali on his social media account that sales took off.

In the next few days more than 400 people bought ownership of his expressionless photos.

As of Friday afternoon, Mr Ghozali’s collection had reached a total trade volume of 317 ether, equivalent to more than US$1 million.

“To be honest I still haven’t got the courage to tell my parents, they would be wondering where I got the money from,” Mr Ghozali laughed.

On his Twitter account, where he has more than 16,000 followers, the student often offers updates on his OpenSea statistics.

“Today (I) sold more than 230+ (selfies) and until now I don’t understand why you want to buy #NFT photos of me !!! but i thank you guys for 5 years of effort paid off,” he tweeted on Tuesday.

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2022-01-15 08:45:00Z
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Reaction to Australian government cancelling Djokovic visa again - CNA

MELBOURNE : Following are reactions to Australia cancelling Novak Djokovic's visa for a second time on Friday on the grounds that the world tennis number one, who has not been vaccinated against COVID-19, may pose a health risk.

The move effectively ends his bid for a record 21st Grand Slam title at the Jan. 17-30 Australian Open.

AUSTRALIAN PM SCOTT MORRISON

"I note the Minister for Immigration's decision in relation to Mr Novak Djokovic's visa.

"I understand that following careful consideration, action has been taken by the Minister to cancel Mr Djokovic's visa held on health and good order grounds, on the basis that it was in the public interest to do so.

"This pandemic has been incredibly difficult for every Australian but we have stuck together and saved lives and livelihoods."

FORMER AUSTRALIAN PM KEVIN RUDD

"What a surprise! Morrison's govt cancels Djokovic's visa to win the weekend media cycle - showing us all how hairy chested he is. Why on earth did they issue the visa in the first place? One big political distraction from empty shelves & the national shortage of boosters & RATs."

THREE-TIMES GRAND SLAM CHAMPION ANDY MURRAY

"It's unfortunate that it's ended up in this sort of situation, and who knows? I don't know what route he goes down, if he can appeal that and, you know, how long that takes, and can he still be out practicing whilst that process is going on or still competing in the tournament?

"Just want it to get resolved. I think it would be good for everyone if that was the case. It just seems like it's dragged on for quite a long time now, and yeah, not great for the tennis, not great for the Australian Open, not great for Novak."

OPPOSITION LABOUR LEADER ANTHONY ALBANESE

"(Scott Morrison) has been using this Novak Djokovic saga as a distraction from the shortages in our supermarkets, the shortages in our chemists, the shortages of workers, the uncertainty that people have had over kids' boosters and the return to school and all the rest of it.

"But what we have from a government is day after day after day not making a decision where it is now almost 60 days since his visa was granted."

SEVEN-TIMES GRAND SLAM CHAMPION JUSTINE HENIN

"I think it's the best thing he doesn't play at the moment.

"When something is so complicated, I don't say that Djokovic doesn't have to fight, because he thought it was the right thing to do, but I think now it's been proved that so many Australian people don't want him to play.

"So maybe it's better for everyone, for tennis, for the tournament, and maybe for him, that he doesn't play the tournament."

DARREN CAHILL, COACH AND FORMER PLAYER

"Fault lies everywhere here. It's been a mess. Novak, TA, Vic Gov, Federal Gov. It should've been a hard rule entering this country considering what the folks have been thru. Get vaccinated and come play the AO, or if not maybe see you in 23'. No wiggle room."

FORMER SERBIAN TENNIS PLAYER JANKO TIPSAREVIC

"Toxic Shame on each and everyone involved in this process..."

LOU RICCIARDI, FAN AT MELBOURNE PARK TOLD REUTERS

"I do agree with what the government has done. Rules are rules. If you break the rules there are a lot of consequences.

"It's unfortunate for the Open but ... the Open is bigger than just one man. The other players have got to just put up with what's happened and hope there's no distractions.

"I feel the government did the right thing to keep us healthy and safe."

(Compiled by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Chopra, William Maclean, Catherine Evans)

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2022-01-14 09:19:52Z
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Japanese PM’s call to drink more milk successful, mass disposal averted - SoraNews24

We did it!

Late last year, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida addressed the nation and talked about various measure to deal with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. He not only discussed measures to prevent the spread of the virus but also ways to mitigate its effect on the economy.

It was then that he issued an urgent call to arms that may define his entire term as Prime Minister…in my mind at least.

“I am asking the people of Japan to use milk in cooking and to drink cups of milk always through the New Year’s holiday in order to prevent a mass disposal.”

According to the prime minister’s plea, the milk producers of Japan were sitting on a huge 5,000-ton glut of white crude caused mainly by canceled school lunches throughout the pandemic. If this milk could find no home, it would have to be spilled, and despite our best efforts to tell people not to, some were sure to cry over it.

Online reaction to the news was initially lukewarm, with many demanding they lower the price first or just use it to make butter and yogurt. However, it turned out the silent majority had stepped up and drank milk like there was no tomorrow, because on 12 January the Japan Dairy Association, also known as J-Milk, announced that the crisis had been adverted and the mass disposal milk was no longer necessary. And since kids have recently gone back to school after the holidays, the demand for milk as a part of their lunches has returned to its normal balance.

▼ J-Milk issued a thank you to the entire country for the support.

Image: J-Milk

In addition, it turned out that the dairy industry was indeed going full-tilt to process as much of the milk as possible into products like butter and cheese. So we should give them all a big hand for their roles too, especially if it results in some cheaper stuff from them down the line.

We all worked hard. How about some butter sushi for everyone?

Image: ©SoraNews24

Many of the cynical online comments attached to the initial news of the surplus seem to have given way to sighs of relief and people declaring that they had pitched in over the holidays.

“I was a little worried and bought an extra carton over the holidays. I’m glad it worked out!”
“I like Lawson hot milks, but could only drink about a liter myself.”
“Great! My kids love milk so I bought a lot at the end of the year.”
“My whole family likes milk so we got more than usual and drank it all when we got together.”
“I drank so much milk.”
“Happy Nyu Year! [‘gyunyu’ is the Japanese word for cow’s milk]“
“I don’t drink milk but I put it in my coffee so I’m grateful for this.”

I too did my part for the cause by having a large box of The Elf on the Shelf cereal airlifted in, and many a crepe was made throughout the holidays as well. I even took to dunking my Oreos in tall glasses of milk, which was difficult as I converted to eating them exclusively in spam-Oreo sandwiches back in 2020.

It goes to show that we all have to make sacrifices sometimes, but when the chips are down and the challenge is mildly enjoyable, together we really can make a difference.

Source: FNN, Hachima Kiko
Top image: ©SoraNews24
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2022-01-14 06:00:13Z
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UK's Prince Andrew loses royal and military links - CNA

LONDON: The Royal Family removed Prince Andrew's military links and royal patronages on Thursday (Jan 13) and said he will no longer be known as "His Royal Highness", as the son of Queen Elizabeth fights a US lawsuit in which he is accused of sex abuse.

Andrew, 61, the Duke of York, was forced to step down from public duties in 2019 because of his connections to convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and after a disastrous BBC TV interview which the prince had hoped would clear his name.

Thursday's move by the royal family means he will now lose all his royal connections.

"With the queen's approval and agreement, The Duke of York’s military affiliations and royal patronages have been returned to the queen," Buckingham Palace said in a statement.

"The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen."

On Wednesday, Andrew's lawyers failed to persuade a US judge to dismiss a civil lawsuit in which Virginia Giuffre accuses him of sexually abusing her when she was a teenager.

US District Judge Lewis Kaplan said Giuffre, 38, could pursue claims that Andrew battered her and intentionally caused her emotional distress while Epstein - a financier who killed himself in jail in August 2019 while awaiting his sex trafficking trial - was trafficking her.

The prince, the 95-year-old queen's second son, has denied Giuffre's accusations that he forced her to have sex more than two decades ago at a London home of former Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, and abused her at two Epstein properties.

The judge's decision means Andrew could be forced to give evidence at a trial which could begin between September and December 2022 if no settlement were reached.

'MARATHON NOT A SPRINT'

"Given the robustness with which Judge Kaplan greeted our arguments, we are unsurprised by the ruling," a source close to Andrew said.

"However, it was not a judgement on the merits of Ms Giuffre's allegations. This is a marathon not a sprint and the Duke will continue to defend himself against these claims."

A representative for Giuffre did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Andrew's links to Epstein had led to a swathe of damaging media reports, leading the prince to decide to do an TV interview in November 2019 which he hoped would resolve the matter.

It instead led to ridicule and further questions, and as the controversy grew, Buckingham Palace had increasingly distanced itself from the prince, declining to comment and referring all questions to his lawyers.

"This is now about the protection of the royal family's reputation. This is likely to do, and is already doing, considerable reputational damage - it's being followed around the world," the BBC's royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell said.

The US conviction last month of his friend Ghislaine Maxwell on sex trafficking and other charges of recruiting and grooming underage girls for Epstein to abuse, together with his own case, had left his reputation in the British media in tatters.

A royal source said the decision over Andrew came after wide discussions among the Windsors, and that his military affiliations and patronages would be redistributed to other members of the family.

Earlier, an open letter to the queen, signed by more than 150 veterans calling for Andrew too have his military titles taken away and "if necessary, that he be dishonourably discharged", was published by the anti-monarchy campaign group Republic.

They called for Elizabeth to take immediate action because her son had been "uncooperative and less than truthful" about his relationship with Epstein, and had brought the armed services he represented into disrepute.

"Regardless of the result of Virginia Giuffre’s civil case against Prince Andrew, his position in Britain's armed forces is now untenable," the veterans' letter said.

The scandal surrounding Andrew comes on the heels of the damage caused after the queen's grandson Prince Harry and his American wife Meghan quit royal duties to forge new careers in Los Angeles, later accusing the royal household of racism.

They too were stripped of all their patronages, the 'His and Her Royal Highness' titles, and Harry also lost his prized military roles.

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2022-01-13 18:39:00Z
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Indonesia relaxes export ban to allow 37 coal vessels to depart - CNA

JAKARTA: Indonesia, the world's biggest thermal coal exporter, has allowed 37 loaded coal vessels to depart after they secured approvals from authorities, the Coordinating Ministry of Maritime and Investment Affairs said on Thursday (Jan 13).

In a statement, the ministry said an export ban implemented on Jan 1 had been eased for miners that had met a requirement to sell a portion of their output for local power generation after the state utility procured enough coal at power stations to ensure 15 days of operations.

"I request that this is supervised closely so this also becomes a moment for us to improve domestic governance," Luhut Pandjaitan, coordinating minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs, said in the statement.

The 37 vessels included 14 ships whose clearance was announced earlier in the week. It was not immediately known how much coal the vessels carried.

Sending shockwaves through global energy markets, Indonesia set the export ban after state power company Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) reported critically low coal stocks at power plants that left Indonesia on the brink of widespread power outages.

Indonesian authorities blamed the coal supply crisis on miners failing to meet a so-called Domestic Market Obligation (DMO), requiring them to sell 25 per cent of output to local buyers with a price cap at US$70 per tonne for power plants.

The government has been lobbied by coal miners and also some of its biggest buyers including Japan and South Korea to ease the export ban.

There were about 120 vessels either loading or waiting to load off Indonesian's coal ports in Kalimantan on the island of Borneo on Wednesday, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.

The ministry said in the statement on Thursday that mining companies that had met their sales contract with PLN and 100 per cent of their DMO requirements for 2021 would now be allowed to begin exporting.

Miners that had not fulfilled their PLN contracts and DMO would face fines, it said.

Citi in a research note on Jan 5 estimated around 490 out of 631 coal miners in the country had not yet fulfilled their DMO obligation. These 490 coal miners represent about 35 per cent to 40 per cent of Indonesia's total production, it added.

According to minutes of a meeting between miners and the trade ministry earlier this month, 418 miners did not sell any of their coal to local generators last year.

Indonesia's two largest coal groups, PT Bumi Resources and Adaro Energy, as well as state coal miner Bukit Asam, were among companies who said in stock exchange filings they have met DMO requirements.

Bumi Resources director Dileep Srivastava said on Thursday said the company was awaiting formal confirmation from the government but said an easing would be a positive development.

An Adaro spokesperson said its ships were yet to leave port as of Thursday morning.

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2022-01-13 00:29:00Z
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Omicron less severe than Delta but still poses danger for unvaccinated: WHO - CNA

The highly infectious Omicron coronavirus variant causes less severe disease than the Delta strain but it remains a "dangerous virus", particularly for those who are unvaccinated, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday (Jan 12).

Speaking at a news briefing, director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said more than 90 countries were yet to meet the target of vaccinating 40 per cent of their populations and more than 85 per cent of people in Africa were yet to receive a single dose.

"We mustn't allow this virus a free ride or wave the white flag, especially when so many people around the globe remain unvaccinated," he said.

In its weekly epidemiological report on Tuesday, the WHO said cases increased by 55 per cent, or 15 million, in the week to Jan 9 from a week earlier - by far the most cases reported in a single week.

"This huge spike in infections is being driven by the Omicron variant, which is rapidly replacing Delta in almost all countries," Tedros said.

He said the majority of people hospitalised around the world with COVID-19 were unvaccinated and that if transmission was not curtailed there was greater risk of another variant emerging that could be even more transmissible, and more deadly, than Omicron.

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2022-01-12 21:12:00Z
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WHO says new vaccine to combat Omicron likely needed amid fears variant could infect half of Europe - South China Morning Post

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2022-01-12 12:03:40Z
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